Coburn Kids

Just as an update, Caden’s blood test results came back normal.  When I asked the nurse who reviewed them about his hemoglobin she thought we were looking for anemia… had to tell her it was the opposite actually.  His hemoglobin came back at 13.6, they said 13.5 is high so he’s just slightly over that mark. So nothing to worry about there.  It’s hard though to have your heart and mind be put through the wringer with these tests.  Wondering about the worst, but Caden just keeps on truckin’ on.

This week I have Gena and Adessa’s hearing tests on Thursday.  With the amount of ear infections they’ve had, and the fact that Gena has complained previously about thing sounding muffled I figured it was better safe then sorry.  Daniel also has early hearing loss so that’s a factor too. Then on Friday is Caden’s appointment with the ENT.  They sent over the referral but I’m not sure who exactly we’ll be seeing yet but that’s at 11 AM up at Primary Children’s.

In other news, Adessa has now been signed up for dance.  She has been begging to go to dance classes for at least a year now but I could never find one that would work with our schedule.  So now, starting on Sept. 4th she’ll go every Thurs. from 12-12:45 PM.  She’s super excited and we even got her new dance clothes and she’s just prancing around the house in them. I’ll have to get some pictures up of her in her dance clothes. The best part about the dance classes is that they are at our neighborhood community center as well. So very convenient.

My little baby is 1 year old! It’s so amazing for me to think of what was happening 1 year ago, in the hospital, my baby in the hospital… and now he’s a big 1 year old at 19 pounds and doing so well. For Caden’s birthday party we invited over family and he unfortunately didn’t make it to present time. He was too tired by 7pm!  He had his shots that day at the doctor so it wasn’t surprising. We made sure that he got his smash cake and had fun with that. He was just mesmerized by the feel and texture. You can see some pictures below:

 Gena and Adessa while we blow up balloons for Caden’s party

Caden having fun smashing his cake

Gena and Adessa blowing out Caden’s birthday candles (he was asleep by then)

 Adessa was very excited for her first day of preschool. She was anxiously awaiting all morning to go, a full 2 hours beforehand she was insistent on leaving. She had a “great day” as she put it when I picked her up from preschool. You can see pics of her leaving for her big first day here:

 Adessa getting ready to get in the car

 Adessa in the car ready to go to preschool

I’ve been terrible about updating lately.  I have pics to post and more but I’ll write this really quick here at midnight.

Caden – Still not eating his bottle in the mornings.  Taking about 2-3 oz. during his other feedings.  The only bottle where I can get 6 oz. in him is around 3PM. His new tooth is shiny, pearly white and almost all the way in now.  He has a new toy that he just loves, I’ll have to post pics.  He still fits in his 3-6 month clothing.  He’s 11 1/2 months old and still in 3-6 month clothing!!!! Blows me away.  A lot of the 6-9 month clothes fit him loose but some are still too big.  He’s rolling over onto his tummy still very well.  He’s using those arms to push himself up, still no sitting.  3 weeks and he turns a year old, I’m still holding out that he’ll be sitting independently by 1 year old!  We’ll see.

Adessa – Our cutie pie, pure entertainment.  We can’t let the girl see commercials anymore.  She doesn’t go for the toy commercials, it’s everything else.  Apparently we just MUST buy an aqua globe (it waters plants), vegetable & fruit bags that keep them fresh longer, and some cleaning product that will get out any stain.  She’s a marketer’s dream.

Genevieve – Goes back to school in just 2 weeks to the 2nd grade. She’s excited but nervous.  Adessa and her have really been into the pretend play lately and it’s so cute to watch them play house, doctor, church, superheroes, and anything else they come up with. I could just take them into my arms and smush them when they play so cute together.

This weekend Daniel and I are headed down to Las Vegas for our 9th wedding anniversary. Should be fun, very hot though.  It will be my first time leaving Caden overnight though (k, not counting his first 4 months in the NICU). A part of me is just torn to leave that little bundle.  That smile of his and his entire personality is just golden.  I seriously can not help some mornings not to rush in there and tell him “good morning” and pick him up out of his crib and cover him with kisses and hugs.

I’ll post up some pics tomorrow for everyone.

What a fun 4th of July we had! My parents invited us up to Idaho Falls with them for the big fireworks show that they put on up there and it was fantastic.  The girls and Caden were so excellent on the ride up there, 4 hours long, and on the way back.  Both times they started to get whiny the last 1/2 hour from the hotel/home but they made it through with flying colors. The got to go swimming both days so that was our bribery tool!

We had a nice dinner at the Shilo Inn at 7:30PM, Gena and Adessa both found new friends that they just danced and giggled the night away with. The fireworks were awesome and the girls just loved them.  This was Caden’s very first 4th of July too and he slept through most of it.   Fireworks didn’t seem to bother him a bit. We didn’t even get back to our hotel room until 11 PM that night so I’m very impressed the girls and Caden didn’t have any problems.

We did have all 5 of us in a hotel room!  Daniel and I on the king, Gena in a comfy chair, Adessa on the floor and Caden in a playpen. Was pretty good except for Caden’s 20  minute “thumping” session at midnight.  He loves to bring his feet up and thump them down on the crib.  Daniel and I were laughing, hard to do at midnight, because what else can we do?! Adessa, of course, woke up at 6am on the dot.  Like she does every day.  Announcing to everyone by pulling open the curtains that its “morning time!”

After that we went and fed ducks and geese along the river then walked down to the Idaho Falls waterfalls which were very pretty.

In other news, Caden is getting his first tooth!  Also exciting, he’s finally started rolling over as well.  It’s weird to see other kids who are his age and just a month or 2 older who are walking, eating and exploring while we are all grins that he can finally roll (it’s a 4-5 month old skill).  He’s working on his sitting but not there yet, falls over within a couple of seconds. We’re trying to get him to bear more weight on his arms, trying to get his legs up underneath him so that he can hopefully get to the crawling stage in a few months. In the next 6 months we are hoping that he will master sitting up and maybe standing. Genevieve was a late walker at 17 months and never crawled.  Adessa was pretty average.  So I’m not worried about anything yet.  He continues to be the best lil’ baby ever and is always full of grins and smiles.

What a fun week we had. We were able to go to the West Fest Carnival. The girls had a blast, it was hot but we went earlier in the day so no lines. So that was worth it. Genevieve was quite sad that she’s now too tall to go on a lot of the kids rides though. You have to be 48″ or smaller and she is a solid 50″ now. I can’t believe how tall she is, no one believes she’s only 6! She was “comforted” by the fact that she now qualifies to ride all the big adult rides at Lagoon this year.  She plans on taking advantage of that. Adessa is right there at average at 40″ tall.

The girls got a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s house as well. Which they love. They also were able to go see Wall-E this weekend, another big treat.

I have been on a cleaning spree as well. Made my laundry room pristine. Cleaned and organized the game closet. I’ve been pulling up our ground cover in front because it’s horrid looking. I know it’s supposed to be this wonderful drought-resistant ground cover but it looks like weeds to me if you aren’t close up to it. The girls have been helping with that as well and have been a big help! So we’ve definitely been keeping busy this summer so far.

All right, lots to tell you about over the past 2 weeks. First off, I’m fully recovered from pneumonia. That was a terrible experience I never hope to relive. No one else got sick except Caden is a bit congested with a cough. No fever or anything though.

Adessa had her preschool program on June 10th and was so excited for it. She was very excited to be going up on the “big stage” and singing with her classmates. Grandma and Grandpa came as well and she was a cutie.

Adessa doesn’t know how to smile spontaneously. She clenches her teeth, it’s also impossible to get her to look AT the camera.

Getting her participation certificate.

With her teacher, Ms. Heidi (again, she can’t connect that you have to look at the camera).

After the program!

Then Genevieve’s school had their annual carnival on June 13th, which we went to and the girls loved because of the blow up rides. Caden was a doll and just enjoyed being outside and hanging out.

Action shot!

Gena coming off a ride

Caden being a cutie!

Then the girls had their Stake Primary Activity on June 14th during the afternoon, it was about the Book of Mormon and they had to dress up. So I got a bed sheet and made little costumes for them. I wasn’t able to see it but apparently at the activity Adessa had to be a Flamingo and watch over baby Jesus. I guess they were short on farm animal costumes!

Don’t they look cute! They both said they were Mary.

Then it was Adessa’s birthday party later that day! She’s turning 4. We decided to go to a park this year… easy, simple, don’t have to clean up the house. The girls loved it and they all had a good time.

Getting ready to leave for the park.

The girls with their cousin Ethan eating dinner.

Adessa with her cake.

Blowing out her candles!

Opening presents

More presents!

So it’s been busy, busy. Later today I am taking Caden up to Primary Children’s in the GI clinic to get his PEG tube replaced with the Mic-Key button. Uncle Jason is coming over to watch Gena and Adessa which is so sweet of him. I’m very excited to get rid of the tube and have something that will sit more flush with his tummy. As an eating update, Caden is doing worse and worse on the bottle. His first feeding of the day we can barely get 2 oz.’s in him. We are having to do the feeding tube more and we can’t figure out why he doesn’t want to finish his bottles. He’s doing okay on solids, seems to enjoy them but has a very strong tongue thrust so we’re working on that.

This weekend was Gena’s last day of horseback riding, she had a blast with her lessons. Afterwards, Daddy and Gena joined Adessa, Caden and I at the West Jordan Veteran’s Memorial Park.  They have an awesome western themed playground there that we were scoping out for Adessa’s birthday party in June. Caden wouldn’t eat at all while we were there.  Refused the bottle, I think the wind has something to do with it.  Earlier this month he wouldn’t eat at the baby blessing either and that was outside.  Maybe it’s too much stimulation there.  So he went almost 6 hours without a bottle.  No, he wasn’t fussy at all (everyone asks if he gets fussy when he hasn’t eaten).  Went to sleep on the car ride home.

Later on we all went outside for a nice BBQ and the girls played in their pool.  They loved today and it was great for Daniel and I as well. You can also see pics below of Caden stylin’ in his new hat and sunglasses.

This picture was taken on Friday. Adessa saw a Spongebob episode with “scary bikers” and announced she wanted to be a scary mean biker.  So I put her in my leather jacket and got her a hat.  She went outside on her little bike and became very upset when people who walked by her weren’t scared.  It was adorable.  She eventually gave up and told me that apparently only boys can be scary bikers and girls were mermaids.

Its been a while, I apologize. So much going on! Caden had his 9 month appointment and weighs just under 16 1/2 pounds. So he hasn’t done much in the gaining department, we fell off the growth charts again. The boy is still in 3-6 month or just 6 month clothes (depending on the brand) and is 26.5″ long. He looks so much bigger then that! His head size isn’t on the growth chart either but he just looks older to me.

He’s not sitting up yet but he has started solid foods! That’s him to the left having rice cereal for the first time. He likes them, will take about 3 tablespoons of rice cereal at a time. Doesn’t seem to bother him too much, except I’ve now been introduced to what all cleft mom’s told me about and that’s the food coming out of the nose. If he swallows wrong or puts his tongue up there it all just comes up the soft palate. I can’t even imagine what that feels like. Daniel and I are pro’s now with his G-tube and it doesn’t seem to bother Caden anymore. He lays on his stomach now and is just back to his happy content self. He’s still doing a bottle really well, 5 oz.’s at a time, but when he refuses the bottle he does it completely. You can’t even get an ounce in him before he throws a fit.

Genevieve started her horseback riding lessons and adores them. She can not get enough of them and is even more excited because on Monday she has a big 10-15 minute oral presentation for first grade. So all weekend we’ve been working on posters and was even able to get a bridle, reins, saddle pad, horse shoes and pictures of her on her horse she works with Pepper. Yes… she’s all ready asked for her own horse.

Adessa is still being a pill with preschool. It took me 20 minutes to leave her the other day. The poor girl is torn I think. She wants to be so independent. She tells me all the time “no mommy I can do this myself” and “Mommy I don’t need you I’m a big girl” for everything. Then the next minute she turns around and tells me not to leave. I think this is just a phase though, that’s she’s just torn with trying to be a big girl and yet not wanting to let go. It’s sweet but can be frustrating.

Friday night has to be in my Top 10 of worst nights ever. First off, as you may know, Adessa was sick on Wednesday and I foolishly made the comment that not one of us was feeling the least bit ill…. I shouldn’t say things like that. Friday I wasn’t feeling so hot, was kind of dragging and so was Daniel. Nothing serious though. I pick up Genevieve from school and she tells me she thew up twice at school and tried to call. It was at the end of the day though and I was all ready at the school waiting for her. So we go home where Gena gets sick every 20 minutes. I’m starting to feel sicker and sicker but am really writing it off that I’m just around it with Gena because Daniel and I have Grandma and Grandpa coming over that night and I am determined to get my night out! I was trying to convince myself it was just a little thing and that Gena would be over it in just a couple of hours like Adessa was.

Well, around 4pm that’s about it. I am officially sick and can barely take care of myself let alone Gena. Daniel makes it home a little after 5 and by then I can barely move out of bed. At 8pm Daniel now starts to get sick and I’m passed out in bed. Daniel and I were making comments that we were wondering if it was something we all ate but that the true test would be if Caden got sick as well. At midnight in comes Caden who is now sick. Adessa is the only one feeling good at this point. It’s a true test of endurance as a parent to be so sick you can barely drag yourself out of bed but STILL have to take care of your sick kids. All I can think about the entire time is that I’m so glad it happened this weekend and not this upcoming weekend, because I have no idea what we would have done with Caden’s surgery and all.

We’re all over it though, no lasting effects. Except the fact that it’s possible to lose 6 pounds in 24 hours.

Adessa is sick right now. Threw up 3 times last night. No idea what’s wrong as no one else is feeling the littlest bit ill. No fever, just holds her tummy and says she doesn’t feel okay.

Thought I would write some amusing stories about Adessa, to catch you up Daniel and I refer to Adessa as “pure entertainment”. Sit with her in a room for 20 minutes and she’ll be doing something that just has you shaking your head or laughing. So the latest things she’s into include making drink recipes. Her latest “creation” involved crystal light, doritos and lifesavers all mixed into water. The other day it was chocolate, peanut M&M’s and flour in water. It’s crazy. She actually tries them too…. hmmm, sick = weird drink recipes using ingredients that probably should NOT go together… it’s all falling into place!

A week ago Adessa came out wearing one of her daddy’s shirts and announced sadly it was “too handsome” for her. Daniel and I looked at each other and realized she meant “too big”.

She loves her lil’ brother so much, she comes over and just starts kissing him all over his face and arms and says “I just can’t stop kissing you! You’re so cute!”

She likes to sleep on the floor. We’ll go in there some nights and she’s dragged her pillow and blankets to the floor and sleeps on the heater.

The girl likes broccoli. We go to a restaurant and instead of fries or anything else they have she specifically asks for broccoli. The waiters and waitresses are amazed by her. Bring the girl to a salad bar and she’s set. She loves salad. Her favorite drink is also ice with fresh water. It’s her preference of choice. She’s crazy.

She has our jobs all picked out for us as well. Gena is going to be a mommy. Caden is going to be a policeman. She’s going to be a doctor. I’m going to be a pink turtle (I have no idea why I don’t get a job but instead change species.)

She loves to play outside. To swing, run around, climb, draw on the sidewalk, ride a bike.

She has the prettiest hair in the entire world.  It’s a strawberry-blondish with brown.  It’s just… indescribable.  And it’s so straight!  She’ll probably hate that when she’s older, just like the curly heads hate those curls they have.