Coburn Kids

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.

Caden has been the biggest pill with eating!  Gets 2 oz.’s down him and he believes he’s done.  In other news though, on June 17th Caden is going to get his Mic-Key button!  Which will be so nice not to have this tube hanging out of him all the time. He’s doing really well on solids though, taking about 3 tbl.’s at a time so that’s nice.

Gena and Adessa are now in the same karate class together, which makes life so much easier.  It’s coming to the end of the school year, Gena is out on June 6th and Adessa’s last day is June 19th.

I’m so glad it’s warmer now too!  I take Adessa and Caden to walk to pick up Gena from school and they love it.  We’re getting our front yard redone as well.  We had a case of grubs last year that ate up our grass.  We didn’t catch it as it was happening of course because that was when myself and Caden were in the hospital and there was just literally no time to worry about a lawn at that point. So I decided we are just going to rip up the entire front.  We’re putting in nice grass, I’m going to redo our planter beds.  Get some new plants that I actually might like (the ones we have now just make it look like we constantly have weeds).  I’ve decided I hate ground cover as well, impossible to weed in and around so I’m excited to get started on that.

I’ve been on a cleaning spree as well.  Throwing out clothes, toys, furniture, everything.  Daniel must stop me soon or we’ll have nothing left.   I just have too much sitting around the house and I really want to get organized.  I plan on staying very busy this summer!

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.

I thought it would be fun to see a progression of Caden over the past few months:

Caden the day he was born. All 1 lb. 11 oz. of him -

Caden at 4 months old. 120 days in the NICU, and his first day out. 8 lb. 1 oz. -

Caden at 8 months old taken yesterday. 14 lb. 5 oz. -

And then with his 2 sisters! He wouldn’t smile for anything at the camera -

My girls did something so cute yesterday with their Daddy. The decided to play church since General Conference was on. So Genevieve wanted to make a ‘program’ like we have at church so that they could do it properly. You can see the pic’s of the program to the left. The first picture is the front, that’s a picture of the temple on it. Then inside she made the program to follow:

1……. I am a Child of God (song)
2……. Testumoney (testimony)
3…… Bred (bread)
4….. Whater (water)
5….. Panr (prayer)
6…… Thak you for the earh (thank you for the earth, a song she made up)
7….. class

(I promise she can spell better if she really puts her mind to it, but I’m not one to hinder creativity here!) It was adorable. At the top she has that we are the 2nd Ward.

Daddy conducted, Adessa passed the sacrament and Gena sang her solo. There were no talks, which I’m just assuming she wanted to skip the most “boring” part of church for her. It’s amazing though watching them play and seeing though just how much they pick up. What they notice and how they perceive something is supposed to be. There are times where you wonder if they listen, and this is in regards to any activity really. Are they learning anything at school? Are they really paying attention in church? Do they actually pay attention to the activities we do for them. I tell you, it can be quite the eye-opener when they play house and if one of them is the mommy how they act. Like seeing yourself through your kids eyes. I’ve cringed once or twice.

First, Caden’s eye test was today at Primary Children’s.  He was fussy, not sure why… he’s been a bit fussy the last 2 days. But he passed and doesn’t need glasses!  The doctor said that if he had the laser surgery done on his eyes (which Caden didn’t) he would almost for sure by now need glasses.  The next risk factor is Stage 3 ROP (which Caden had in both eyes) so we’ll be going back every 6 months to check. The next risk factor after that is prematurity in general (introduce Gena here and her near-sightedness) and then genetics. So that was interesting.

Gena’s also been having a lot of problems with her ears lately.  From random pain to feeling like she can’t hear out of them. Gena has had problems with her ears since she was a baby.  Starting at 4 weeks old when she got her first double ear infection. As a baby she would go through 3 rounds of antibiotics each time for it.  I can’t even count how many ear infections she’s had. Even last year we had to take her to a Kid’s after hours clinic because her ear was hurting so bad.  The Doctor at that time stated her eardrum was about to burst from the infection. I don’t know why none of Gena’s pediatricians over the years haven’t suggested an ENT for her but with the random ear pain and trouble hearing I’m thinking I need to ask for an ENT appointment for her just to be safe.

On to Karate.  GENA GOT HER YELLOW STRIPE BELT!  I put emphasis on that because Gena is so proud of herself and she worked so hard.  Adessa also had a good day at Karate and got her first black bit of tape on her white belt for leadership.  Their Master puts different colored electrical tape on their belts so that the kids can see how they are progressing.

So tomorrow Caden has his appointment with the OT in the morning and then all the kids are having a sleep over at Grandma’s house that night. (Well Caden is just a 1/2 sleep over). So Mommy and Daddy are very excited to be able to go out ALONE for the first time in… I can’t even remember.

Today was crazy. First off, Daniel had to take off work because I had a 10 AM appointment up at Primary Children’s with Dr. Jackson who is a GI specialist. So Daniel took the girl’s out for breakfast, the mall and then a visit to Grandma’s work while I took Caden. The appointment went well, they believe he needs a G-tube and we are going to schedule his surgery in the next couple of days. Dr. Jackson took the time to draw me a good detailed picture of what they do and what’s involved so that was especially nice.

I met Daniel and the girls for lunch then we headed home. Genevieve had her eye doctor appointment at 4:00 so Daniel took both girls to that. Genevieve is near-sighted and because they closed at 5pm we then headed to another mall to LensCrafters. We found Genevieve a cute pair of Barbie glasses. She loves the black case they come in, it’s like a purse with a wrist strap and she’s very excited about it all. She must have tried on 2 dozen eyeglasses before settling on the pair she got. Nothing was off limits to her.

While this was happening Daniel took Caden and Adessa through the mall. They passed a window outside a jewelery shop and Adessa saw the tall chair just inside. She asked Daddy what it was for and Daddy replied “it’s where you sit to get your ear’s pierced.” That’s all it took. The rest of the time was Adessa BEGGING to get her ear’s pierced. We tried to talk her out of it, told her point blank it’s like “shoving a nail through your ear, it’s going to hurt.” Her response? “I promise I’ll be extra brave.” It was heart breaking. We even had the store employees come over and explain to her how it was done and what was involved. She was persistent. I always said that I would get my girl’s ear’s pierced when they asked for it but c’mon… SHE’S 3!

And…. Adessa now has pierced ears. I can’t believe I let my 3 year old pierce her ears. I’m still shaking my head over it. She wanted it even after every explanation and she didn’t even cry when they did it. She didn’t even flinch!! She picked out pretty pink flowers and she is just in love with them. She was so proud she went around telling every single person who would even glance at her how brave she was and that she got her ear’s pierced. I was about to have a heart attack when they did it and she just sat there and was the bravest little girl. We asked Gena if she wanted her’s pierced and her response “No Way!” Do I even need to mention that Adessa is very independent? She’ll be ready to move out by 12 at this rate. But we are teaching her how to take good care of them, that she can’t take them out for 6-8 weeks and how to twist them. She’s on board with everything.

We went to the Grizzlies hockey game last night and the girls had a blast. That’s a pic of them to the left with Daniel, sorry about the quality. It was taken with Daniel’s cell phone and I have no idea why Adessa looks sad in here as she was having fun.

We found out how badly Genevieve needs glasses. She couldn’t see the scoreboard… I had no idea her vision might be that bad. She’s only 6!! We had her try on Daniel’s glasses and she could suddenly see the score that much better. So optometrist appointment will be made this week for her. I feel really bad for some reason. I remember getting glasses at 8, and Gena is worried she’ll look ugly. I told her we’ll get her the prettiest and cutest glasses we could. A 6 year old should not feel that she’s going to look ugly!

Adessa was cute at the game, she insisted we were supporting the “Lambs” and every time the grizzlies got the puck she would call out “Go Lambs!” Gena was making up cheers for the teams the entire time. We didn’t get to stay the entire game, we left about a 1/2 hour before the game was supposed to be over because they were just getting too tired.

Grandma and Grandpa had a blast babysitting Caden though. Caden was his proper smiley self and fell asleep in Grandma’s arms while she was feeding him. I love that lil’ smile of his.

And the girls had a Primary Activity today for Easter, Adessa’s first primary activity so she was quite excited. Tomorrow, Sunday the 9th, is Caden’s blessing. I’ll put down the address for those that are coming.

11685 S. Kestrel Rise Rd (4510 W.)
South Jordan UT
Sacrament Meeting starts at 11:00 am

Afterwards we’ll have those that came over for lunch. Hope to see you there!

We went to the Zoo on Saturday, which turned out to be perfect. We were afraid it might rain but it turned out to be in the 50′s and was wonderful. March is definitely the time to go, it’s cool, ALL the animals are out. We saw everything walking around and moving, versus when you go in the summer and the animals are hidden in the shade and just lying there. The bears, the tigers, elephant’s, penguins, zebra’s, monkey, the puma’s. Adessa had begged to see the puma’s and I didn’t realize that cougars went by so many other names like mountain lions, puma’s, etc. So it was a blast. It was Caden’s first trip to the zoo, which he celebrated by sleeping the entire time.

After that the kid’s were just exhausted so while they slept in the car with Daniel, I ran in and got Caden’s blessing outfit at the store. It’s adorable, very comfy and he’ll look dashing in it I’m sure. Fits him just perfect as well, he’s in size 0-3 months with certain 3-6 months fitting him. Anything labeled just 6 months drown him still. Caden is 7 months old now (4 months adjusted) and a solid 13 pounds.

Caden’s Nurse came on Tuesday to play with him. Also some exciting news, Caden rolled over for the first time! He was so proud of himself and all smiles and giggles. We have an upper GI study next Thursday at Primary Children’s for him to see if everything is all right since Caden’s eating is getting progressively worse. I don’t really think it will tell us much since I believe the problem is with his coordination and muscles in the mouth more then something with his digestion but you never know.

Below you can see another pic of the girls and Caden sleeping at the zoo: