Super Duper Halloween

Our sleepy pumpkin
Brett entertaining Nicholas
Eating & watching football

Grandpa making soothing sounds for Ella
Hanging out in their Halloween colors

Nick & Ella and cousins Zoie & Alex

Our pumpkinsLook at all the candy Nicholas got trick-or-treating

Halloween was so fun this year! I made chicken tortilla soup for dinner (it was my first time making soup and it turned out really yummy). My parents, my two brothers, and their girlfriends came over for dinner and Eric & Tina brought red velvet cupcakes for dessert. Nicholas went trick-or-treating with daddy and his cousins in our neighborhood and he had a great time! It was a wonderful way the spend one of my favorite holidays!

Trick-or-Treating at Shriners

This morning we loaded up a cute little monkey and ladybug and drove to Shriner's for trick-or-treating. We met our good friends, the VanderZandens, there and enjoyed walking through Wonderland and a Pirate island. The VanderZandens have a daughter the same age as Nicholas (who also has SMA) named Kayla and she did a great job maneuvering around and driving her power chair. Nicholas got some candy but he also got a cool spider ring, a plastic Shrek figurine, and a sticker. Ella slept through the whole event but I guess that's what most six week-old babies would do. It was a wonderful morning and Nicholas had a great time!

Sleeping Peacefully

Our little munchkin was fussy before nap time this afternoon so I put her in her swing and turned on the womb sound effects for her to listen to. Within about 10 minutes our little sweetheart was sound asleep and has been that way for the past two hours. Normally Ella doesn't enjoy being in her swing and will want to be taken out of it after a few minutes, but today it did it's job and helped lull her to sleep. So now the house is quiet with two sleeping children and mommy is able to get lots done!

Blowing Bubbles

Happy bathing boy

Watching bubbles out of the corner of his eye

Yesterday when I gave Nicholas his evening bath, we decided to blow bubbles in the tub. I blew some for awhile and then he wanted to try so I held the wand near his mouth and, low and behold, he blew enough breath out of his mouth to make some bubbles! It was the cutest thing and he was so proud of himself. He had tried to blow bubbles several times before but couldn't quite do it, so I think he felt a genuine sense of accomplishment when he created bubbles of his own. Way to go little man!

The Wonder of Technology

Today Nicholas has been exploring technology. First, he listened to The Jungle Book on his Story Reader which was given to him by one of his occupational therapists at Shriners. He did a great job of turning each page when the reader chimed. Later, he used mommy's iPod Touch and played the piano, made calls on Toddler Phone, and created works of art on Doodle Buddy. Hopefully, we will be able to get him his own iPad soon...I know the bigger screen would be much easier for him to navigate. It's great that we live in a time where technology is so assessable. I know our little guy really appreciates it!

Ella is One Month Old

Today our baby girl is one-month old! To celebrate her first month with us, we used the money her Great-Grandma Hargrave gave her for her baptism and bought her a play gym. She seemed to like laying on her back gazing at all the colorful dangling toys. She even reached up and grabbed one of the teethers and put it in her mouth. She is such a sweet baby who loves to eat all the time. We all adore her and are so happy God sent her to us!

Playtime Happy Hour

No, it's not what it sounds like...mommy having a few cocktails while the kiddos play-I am nursing so no drinks for me...it's just that around 4:30ish I have been dedicating about 2 hours of interactive playtime with my kiddos. I crank the music on my play list, get out all sorts of fun toys for Nicholas and we sing, laugh, and play. We have other periods of playtime during the day, but this playtime is different because it's messy, silly, and totally fun! I just feel like sometimes I have so much to do during the day (laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, nursing, etc) that I wasn't spending quality time with my kids which left Nicholas watching way too much Nick Jr. during the day, so I implemented a time that works for all of us to come together and have some fun.

Ella spent some of her playtime on her tummy

Nicholas and I did several things tonight...coloring, puzzles, playing cars...but his favorite was stacking and knocking down blocks.

At the end of playtime the kiddos cuddled together while we sang some songs. It was day 2 of playtime happy hour and I am starting to look forward to this time of day when I get to spend quality time with my children!

Power Wheelchair

Today we went to Shriner's Children's Hospital where Nicholas as physical therapy every Wednesday morning. Each week he practices driving the power wheelchair and since having baby Ella, I hadn't been able to go with him, Jeff had been taking him each week. Today was my first time to take him since she was born and I was so excited to watch him drive! His PT & OT, Molly & Denee, got him an infra-red device for driving that is much, much easier for him to use than the joystick he was using before. He did great driving all around the gym with it! I was so excited to see him maneuvering better than he was before. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos or video, but I promise to bring my camera with me next week.

Yay for awesome people to help with all of Nicholas's ever-changing needs!!

Ella's Baptism

Today was baby Ella's baptism at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. She wore the same baptismal gown that I wore at my baptism 30 years ago-which was so special for me. My brother, Eric, and his fiance, Tina, agreed to be her Godparents and bought her the beautiful cross pictured above for her bedroom. It was a lovely, intimate ceremony attended by our family. I got welled up when Father Mitchell said special blessings forJeff and me as Ella's parents. The words in the blessing were truly beautiful. Ella did a great job...no crying the entire time and even opened her eyes when Father Mitchell poured the holy water over her head. It was a wonderfully memorable day!

Babies & Besties

As I mentioned in a previous post, my best friend, Lyndsey, was here when Ella was born and stayed for a couple weeks afterward. She took several photos of our kiddos and our family while she was here and recently wrote a blog post on her stay. It's a beautiful post and it touched my heart so I wanted to share it with all of my readers...simply click on the link below and enjoy!


http://wwwjacknlola.blogspot.com/2010/10/elizabeth-rose-gustafson.html

3 Weeks Old

Little Miss Ella is three weeks-old already and we have enjoyed every minute with her! She's a sweet baby who loves to eat, sleep, and cuddle. We are starting to get settled into a routine and mommy is slowly but surely getting a bit more sleep each night. We love our baby girl. She is a welcome addition to our family!