Update on the Turkey

Christian weighed in yesterday at 13 pounds 11 ounces and measured 25 and 1/2 inches. WOW! Our little guy sure is growing. He is on the low end of the scale as far as his weight is concerned. The nurse said it is probably due to him eating more baby food and because he is VERY active. Christian is doing extremely well developmentally. Right now he wants to grab everything, including his artificial nose. Lately he has no problem at all grabbing it and yanking it right off. Of course he then tries to put it in his mouth, causing Jason and I to have a panic attack! The thing that puts my heart at ease is that Christian has really yanked hard on his trach, to the point where he was making his eyes water and he was coughing, and while Jason and I are attempting to pry his tiny hands off his artificial nose, Christian is smiling and laughing! He thinks it is hilarious!!! Like he is making a joke or something. I think he likes seeing mom and dad sweat. :) Thank goodness he has never pulled his trach out. I always tell myself (and Jason) that worse case scenario is he pulls it out and we just put it right back in. I mean we change the trach out every 2 weeks. If it is out we just put it back. Simple. Right??

He has had it in for 6 months now. He is making more sounds which is very encouraging. When we saw Dr. Milczeck on June 5th he said to make an appointment for sometime right after Labor Day. I have been trying to get that appointment scheduled since the beginning of June and was only able to finally get a date last week. He was scheduled for September 12th to have his bronchoscopy. Then I received a call the very next day from Dr. Milczeck's office saying that they needed to change the date because he couldn't do surgery that day. The next available date was October 10th. So that is when we take Christian back to Portland for Dr. Milczeck to take a look at his airway. It was extremely frustrating trying to get the appointment scheduled only to have the end result be an appointment nearly 2 months after the date Dr. Milczeck said he wanted to see Christian. At the same time he will have had the trach in nearly 8 months and that means extra time to heal and grow before they take a look at his airway. Jason and I are not expecting that Christian will be ready to have the trach removed, only hoping and praying that Dr. Milczeck sees improvement in his airway.

So that is the up to date news on the little Turkey!

Jason and I LOVE this picture!!! We think it is the funniest thing. Christian is obsessed with feet. He is always trying to grab peoples feet and this picture shows him touching his daddy's foot (which was clean by the way, well as clean as a foot can be I guess!) and he was so tickled! It was like he felt like he had accomplished something. All those failed attempts of trying to get his dad's foot before and now finally he has dad's foot in hand! We think it is the cutest pic ever!

My Bro

Casey Horn

My Brother

Can you tell we are related????

Always a goofball!

Most ALWAYS Annoying :)

Two Stooges

Cheeseheads :)

One GREAT Uncle!

Love Ya Bro!

Morning Coffee for Two

I love when Friday morning comes because Jason is off for the weekend and we have three full days together. I LOVE having morning coffee with him, talking about our plans for the weekend, still in our pj's, staring in awe at our amazing miracle boy, Christian. The smell fills the house with its warm, inviting aroma. The morning light fills our kitchen and dining room, casting a soft glow. It is my absolute favorite time of day. I breathe in deeply, taking it all in. Life is good.

A Grandpa's Love

You can see in these pictures that Christian shares a specal bond with his "chubby papa." That is the name that my dad gave himself, chubby papa. :) He left on Saturday and it is always a sad event watching him drive away. When he was here we had a house full of family every night, sharing meals and laughter, past memories, all the while creating new ones. I love watching my dad with Christian. While he was here he introduced Christian to popsicles and Tonka trucks. They took early morning walks and late afternoon naps together. He taught Christian to give him a five. Such sweet little things that mean so much.
We love you "Chubby Papa" and are counting the days till we see you again!

My Mom

OK. So, I know for a FACT that I have the most adorable mother in the world! She has been working ALL summer on her white picket fence. She has been painting and painting and painting some more! Now she is finally finished and she has a picture perfect white picket fence in front of her cuter-than-ever house. Plus, she obtained a killer tan doing all that work. Talk about a bonus! Anyway, I love my mom very much and I am so proud of her. Way to go Mom!

Thank You!!

Saturday was my birthday and I turned 29. It is hard for me to believe that I am that age, not that I am someone who gets down about getting older, it is just that I don't really feel like a 29 year old. Anyway, I know this is going to be a fantastic year! Thank you all for your warm wishes, cards, emails, and fun gifts! I am truly blessed with some of the best friends and family a girl could have. My brother Jamie and his girlfriend Amy gave me the cutest little cake ever!

Jason and Christian gave me a beautiful birthday bouquet.

Thanks again to everyone for making my birthday so special! I love you!

My dad arrived in town on Saturday afternoon and it has been so great having him here. He will head back to Utah next Saturday. The week is already going by so quickly. Christian absolutely adores his Grandpa and I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual. I wish that my dad lived closer so that we could have more days together like these. All we can do is treasure this time right now and hope that his next visit will be soon. He brought Christian some Tonka trucks and I snapped some pretty cute pics of him "checking them out."Christian just loves snuggling with his Grandpa Horn

More Cute Pics of Our Little Guy!

Storytime with Daddy

I just love these pics that I took the other night while Jason was reading to Christian before bed. These two guys are the loves of my life. I absolutely treasure moments like these.

Working on "ME"

So I have started a journey towards working on a better "ME." Honestly, it seems like I have been going down this same road all my life but with only one foot heading in the right direction. I can count the times that I have felt comfortable in my own skin on one hand, and still have fingers to spare. This is something that I am not proud to say. And yet, I have never been the type of person who can stay disciplined long enough to really do anything about it either.


Why am I so hard on myself? Do I really believe that the size of jeans I wear determines the type of person I am? Is everyone I pass in the grocery store really zeroing in on my every flaw? Even typing out these questions seem so ridiculous!! The sad part is that ALL of the women in my life have felt something similar to those feelings. I am talking about extraordinary, beautiful, caring, funny, talented and graceful women. When words like that come out of their mouths all I can think is "Are you kidding me???How can you not see how FABULOUS you are????" The truth is that society has posted a description of what equals beauty and we as women are constantly reminded that we just don't quite fit the mold. How crazy is that?



I am about to turn 29 this month and if there is one thing I have learned in my 29 years is that true beauty is not something to be seen. Beauty is my son caressing my face as he is about to fall asleep. It is my husband laughing at me being my "silly-self" because he truly "gets me". Beauty is staying up till midnight with a friend drinking iced tea and talking, talking, talking. It is the way my parents look at my son. It's the changing of the way the air feels in the morning when Fall is upon us. Beauty is holding hands just because. It is the phone call from an old friend. Beauty is hearing a child laugh. It is the quietness of a new fallen snow. Beauty is watching my grandparents hold hands because they are still in love after all these years. It is the sound of waves crashing, rain pouring, and birds chirping. Beauty is feeling God's love in your most desperate of times. The list could go on and on and every one's list is unique to themselves. My point is that beauty is everywhere. It is in ME and it is in YOU.

I am making changes in my life to feel better about being me. This starts with realizing that there is nothing wrong with me the way I am, right this very minute. God made me who I am and He thinks I am perfect.

So a few weeks ago I decided that I would change my lifestyle and start preparing meals that are healthy for me and my family. I wanted to take control over what I put into my body because I really do feel better when I eat better. I still allow myself to enjoy the really good foods too, only in moderation. I am doing my best to eliminate the word "DIET" from my vocabulary. I have started working out with Jason in the evenings and it is actually quite fun. It is wonderful that we are able to work out together. We put Christian downstairs with us in his exersaucer and so it has become a family event. I can tell you that I am sore from lifting weights and it makes me feel empowered. I am making positive changes and I can feel it. I am working towards a better ME. Not because I want to fit into the mold that society thinks I should, but because I want to be around to experience all of the real beauty that the world has to offer. It is my hope that by choosing to live a healthier lifestyle I am doing the best I can to ensure that I stick around a little longer. I have definitely made the decision to quit beating myself up over little things that don't even matter. I embrace myself fully and acknowledge all the beauty that is ME. I am choosing to love myself just the way I am, and by finally coming to the point in my life where I can honestly say that (and mean it), I am now fully aware of just how much I want to take really good care of myself! It took me a long time to get here but I now have both feet on the right path.

Fun Pics of our Cutie-Patooty