Coburn Kids

I can hardly believe my little girl is 7 years old now! Well, Gena had a wonderful 2-part birthday. On Oct. 18th we decided to go down to Frightmares at Lagoon instead of having a full-blown birthday party for her. Adessa and her loved it!  You can check out some of the action below:

Adessa and Gena in a plane

Gena convincing Adessa that this ride will be fun. (Yes, that’s a look of terror on Adessa… but she did indeed have fun!)

On the swings!

Next I have some pics from Caden’s surgery.

Getting dressed in his surgery PJ’s

Playing in the waiting room before surgery

After surgery in his hospital room

Then we have the big day of Gena’s birthday. I have to give some explanation with these pictures though, there was a Halloween Carnival for the Jordan Child Development Center (Caden’s OT and Speech Pathologist) that we went to last night. So the girls were able to get dressed up in their costumes so here’s your sneak peek.  Just to give an explanation on these costumes too… *ahem* I told the girls they were going to do Halloween right this year.  (Plus, I really doubt next year I’ll be able to pick what they can do for Halloween now that Gena is getting older, so this was my last year to pick anything out.) Which means none of the all ready dozens of princess costumes they can wear any other day of the year in their dress up clothes, and just add to that collection.  (I sound so mean, but there has to be another mom out there who has dressed her daughter up for one-too-many princess parties like I have!) They still wanted to be pretty though so we compromised and did midnight fairies.  This is the result, and they LOVE IT!

Gena pulls off Goth a little too well….

And the pictures from her family birthday party are below, because we celebrated that right after the carnival:

Gena with her cake

Eating cake!  It was a Hannah Montana cake.

We got Gena her own set of scriptures with her name engraved on them. She went to bed last night reading them… it was enough to bring a tear to my eye! 

First off, the girls primary program on Sunday was adorable.  The girls looked great and they did their parts perfect.  Adessa didn’t even need her teacher’s help as she had memorized her part.  They sang beautifully and Grandma and Grandpa were able to come and see them.

Caden’s surgery was at 8:45 AM in the morning and he was just so happy to have all of mommy and daddy’s attention. What was really cool is that we were able to go back with him this time.  Since it was only being done in the dental operating room both Daniel and I went back and were able to hold his hand as he went to sleep.

Caden wearing his surgery PJ’s and in the waiting room

We spent only a 1/2 hour in the waiting room. Dr. Romney, who removed his palate prosthesis came out first and actually gave us the piece.  I thought it would be larger, and those screws… owwww. Dr. Park, who did the ear tubes, came out next and Caden did great.

Caden’s little palate prosthesis, look at the screw!

I went back to the recovery room with him and he was awake. Once again, his nurse couldn’t believe how wonderful he was. No crying or fussing afterwards just checking everything out.  Back in the post-op room I swear every single kid in there was crying or screaming.  The noise level was incredible.  Caden fussed a bit but never cried. What a great lil’ guy huh?!

Caden after surgery, no he does not look happy.

So he’s home and doing great. We’ve got him on just a bit of Tyelnol.

Labor Day weekend was wonderful. The girls and Daniel spent Friday boating at our lake, which they loved. Saturday we decided to take the girls up to the mountains for lunch.  They did not want to leave! We were enjoying hiking around and seeing all the trees and plants. They really loved the river too. Later that day the girls and Daniel went back to our community pool while Caden took his nap.

Daniel and the girls in the mountains

Sunday was my little nephew Ethan’s 3rd birthday party. We started out at a park but the wind was terrible so we headed over to their house for cake and ice cream. The girls always love to see their cousin and play with him.

The girls at Ethan’s Bday

Grandma with Caden

Cousin Ethan with Aunt Angie and Uncle Ryan

On Monday, we headed to my Dad’s Labor Day Picnic he has for his union. It was rainy at the start but turned out wonderful, even a little cool. They gave away some awesome prizes of books and games and there were some blow-up slides to keep the girls entertained.

It was so nice to spend the weekend with the girls and they certainly enjoyed themselves.

Adessa also started dance classes on Thursday.  She was so excited to get all dressed up in her dance clothes and had a blast.  Her teacher said she was just great, following directions and was all smiles and giggles the whole time.

Adessa in her dance clothes

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.

Pioneer Day, the 24th, we spent at my parent’s home for a pot luck and fireworks.  I love my parent’s street and neighborhood.  Every year they all get together for the 4th and/or 24th and they BBQ and set off fireworks.  It’s such a blast to see all the kids running around together and it’s just so fun. Not to mention that no night is complete without illegal fireworks from Wyoming.    We didn’t get home until 11:00 PM and the girls just passed out.

The next day, Friday, we all went to Lagoon.  I can definitely tell that my kids are getting older, because we stayed for 8 hours at Lagoon without a single problem.  It used to be, when they were younger, that 3 hours was tops before they were just too tired and the meltdowns would start.  Let’s also take into account it was 100 degrees outside! We had such a fabulous time. Daniel stayed with Caden who was a doll, and I took the girls on the rides. Gena also went on her first “grown-up” ride, the Wild Mouse. I thought she would be terrified but she begged to go again! We didn’t leave until almost 10:30 PM. For little girls whose bedtime is 8pm they did fabulous.

Gena and Adessa waiting to go into Lagoon. Adessa was sad it was taking so long to get the tickets.

Adessa on the boats

Gena riding with other kids on the merry-go-round

Adessa on the merry-go-round

Caden hanging out in his stroller in 100 degree weather!

Saturday was haircuts and shoe shopping. The girls love to get their haircut. We bring them to Cookie Cutters where they can sit in these little cars and watch videos. It’s worth it’s weight in gold if you have a child like what Gena used to be trying to cut her hair.  The first time we went there it took 4 people to entertain and cut Gena’s hair she was so upset. Afterwards we went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for treats and Adessa insisted on a picture with the bear there:

Gena is back in school now. Her first day of 2nd grade was yesterday and Daddy walked her to school. She’s in one of the portables this year, the new Eastlake school hasn’t opened yet so their school is crowded. She’s also excited to see that some of the kids from her 1st grade class are in her 2nd grade class too.

Gena 2nd Grade

Gena 1st Grade

Caden – Has a 102 fever right now.  I really think it’s just from teething.  I know that the docs all say that teething shouldn’t give that high of a fever but I remember Gena and Adessa both having the same thing.  We’ll see how it does today.  I just gave him some Tylenol and he’s down for a nap.  Might be taking him to the doctor later on today. Is now officially sitting up, yeah! And we are making plans for his very 1st birthday coming up on August 1st.

Adessa – Getting excited for school in 2 weeks. She can’t wait to go back, and 3 days a week now as well! She’s sad because I haven’t bought her back-to-school clothes yet.

Genevieve- Goes back to school in 5 days! So busy getting her some new clothes (she grows like a weed), getting both the girls haircuts.  I also need to make an appointment for pictures for all 3 kids.

This weekend we have planned: Thursday – Dinner and fireworks at my parents for Pioneer Day! Friday – Lagoon (we’ve promised the girls all summer and since Gena starts school soon thought this would be a good weekend… only to find out it’s supposed to be 100 degrees that day!!!) Saturday – Haircuts and clothes/shoe shopping for the girls.

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.