Celebrate

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary! I am making a special dinner for Jeff tonight and we are exchanging gifts. On Saturday evening we have a "date night" planned for our anniversary. My mom and dad gave us a gift certificate to Cinetopia so we plan on having dinner and watching a movie there. We are both looking forward to some one-on-one time together.

I love you, Jeff. You have brought laughter, joy, and peace into my life. Cheers to two wonderful years of wedded bliss!

Puzzles

Tonight the three of us spent a relaxing evening at home. Nicholas spent almost 2 hours of the evening in his stander playing with some puzzles. Nicholas's second cousin, Talon, gave us his old wooden puzzles over a year ago, and Nicholas is starting to really enjoy playing with them. We used his blue tray to prop the puzzle up and he grabbed the little wooden knobs and pulled the pieces out. He wasn't too interested in pulling them back, however, instead he liked throwing them on the floor for mommy or daddy to fetch. Tomorrow we will try the puzzles again at less of an incline to see if Nicholas can place the puzzle pieces back in position after removing them.

After Nicholas went to sleep, I worked on the 3rd draft of my research paper for my final class at Washington State University Vancouver. I will be so happy to graduate with my masters degree in education in December and be done writing research papers forever! Jeff watched some shows he recorded on our new DVR, which is a fabulous invention. I love fast-forwarding through commercials! Plus, I can never say there's nothing good on TV, because I usually always have something recorded, therefore, no more wasting time changing channels in search of "good" TV.

Jeff and I also googled the traditional gift for our second wedding anniversary and discovered it's cotton. Year one was paper and we were really creative in finding gifts for each other, so this year we are carrying on that tradition and buying a gift made from cotton. I am hoping for clothes (since I haven't shopped for myself in months) and told Jeff as much. I cannot believe we will be celebrating 2 years of wedded bliss on Wednesday! In some ways it seems as if it's flown by, and in other ways it seems as if we've been married for years (in a very good way). I am a lucky wife to have Jeff as my husband!

Unite for the Cure Update

Wow! With the help of friends and family, we have raised $3,795 so far! We are only $1,205 away from our goal! We would like to thank a few more people who have made donations for Nicholas in the last few weeks:

Paul Jumpp, Ernie & Ann Reiberg, Yoko Schlueter, Jon & Annette Gaston, Bob & Jean Morris, Cheryl Lewiski, Paul & Donna Hargrave, John & Dawn Hagensen, and Nicky Feinstein.

We also wanted to remind our readers that this Monday, September 28th is the kick-off day for our second fundraiser. Beauty Temptations Salon in Washougal has a variety of gift baskets to be raffled off through mid-November. Tickets are $1.00 each and the baskets are awesome! Here is a list of the goodies that are available:

1) The Twilight Series (hardcover) courtesy of Debbie Leifsen
2) Clothing/Accessories Basket courtesy of Katie Lewis
3) Tutoring Basket courtesy of Jessica Gustafson
4) Cooking Basket courtesy of Debbie Leifsen
5) Wine and Catering Basket courtesy of K Syrah
6) Photography Basket courtesy of Polka Dot Photography
7) Scentsy Basket courtesy of Jennifer Davis
8) Beauty Basket courtesy of Beauty Temptations
9) Movie Basket courtesy of Regal Cinemas
10) Scrapbook Basket courtesy of Stacy Fritz

Stop by Beauty Temptations and purchase your raffle tickets to benefit the Gustafson Family and Unite for the Cure...you may end up winning some fabulous prizes!

Ity Bitty Baby Visit

Yesterday afternoon a high school/college friend of mine, Jenelle, came over with her baby, Justin. Justin was born near the end of July, so he's still ity bitty and he's the cutest baby ever! (Other than Nicholas, of course)! It was nice to visit after not seeing each other for several months. Nicholas was happy to meet Justin and very gentle when he touched him. Justin smiled at Nicholas and kicked his legs when they were laying next to one another on the floor. They were both a couple of cuties!

Thanks for visiting Jenelle & Justin. Come see us again soon!

Sleep Study

Last night Nicholas and I ventured into Portland for his sleep study with Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU). The sleep study didn't take place at the hospital, it was at the Marriott Hotel in a huge suite! We got there at 8:00pm for check -in and the sleep technician, Zach, spent about 45 minutes hooking Nicholas up to all the electrodes you see in these photos. Nicholas was relaxed and patient the whole time and enjoyed watching the premiere of Dancing with the Stars with mommy.
The sleep study was conducted to see if Nicholas is having any sleep apnea episodes at night, which will determine if he needs a BiPap machine for breathing while he sleeps.

Our lovely, comfortable suite that had a kitchenette, a lounge area, a luxurious bathroom, and a king size bed. What a nice place for a sleep study!

After Nicholas was all hooked up to the numerous monitors, it was after 9:00pm and he was tired. None of the monitors seemed to bother him, except for the one in front of his nostrils that monitored his CO2 intake/output. He kept trying to pull it off before he fell asleep.


Both Nicholas and I ended up sleeping wonderfully. We feel asleep around 9:30pm and woke up every so often when the sleep technician came in to adjust monitors that had moved while Nicholas was sleeping. Nicholas only semi-woke-up a total of 3 times just to move from side to back or vice versa or to have his binky placed back in his mouth. I felt relieved in the morning when we awoke that we each got a good 8 hours of sleep!

We are so lucky to have such a laid-back, easygoing baby!

*Update (9/23/09)* I just received a phone call from Nicholas's pulmonologist, Dr. Link, with the results of his sleep study. He said that Nicholas's oxygen levels and carbon dioxide levels were a normal range (95-98%), that he had no apnea episodes during the night, and lots of REM sleep periods. He commented that it was one of the best sleep study results he had seen in quite awhile. We are so pleased that Nicholas is doing well!

16 Months-Old

Today Nicholas is 16 months! Jeff adjusted his stander so he stands fully upright and he is loving it! It has complete head control and can reach and play with the toys on his tray much better than before when he was at an incline. We are amazed by how much he is moving lately. He is wiggling his body, swaying his legs from side-to-side, and reaching a grabbing for things all the time. We are thrilled that he is demonstrating a lot of independent movement.
Jeff's Aunt Stacy bought these squishy, squeaky blocks for him and he loves them! We stack them up on his tray and he pushes them off one by one. He spent an hour doing that last night and nearly two hours pushing them off today.

I made tacos for dinner and Nicholas had his first "olive finger" experience. I put four olives on his fingers and he enjoyed biting each one off. Although, he must not have really liked the taste of them because he kept spitting each one out.

Mommy and Daddy love you, Nicholas!

Mother Theresa's Prayer

A friend sent me this beautiful prayer and I really needed to take time and reflect on it today. Often times people close to us think they know what they're talking about (when they really have no idea) and try to force us to see their way of thinking. Unfortunately, we are dealing with this right now. I know that God is with our family on every step of our journey and we count on Him for strength and guidance. I am going to try and remember these words when I start to feel upset or frustrated. Here are the beautiful words from Mother Theresa:

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank; people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

Raffle to benefit Unite for the Cure

Beauty Temptations in Washougal has a variety of gift baskets on display in the waiting area that will be raffled off starting September 28th through mid November to help the Gustafson Family raise money for Unite for the Cure. Raffle tickets are $1.00 each and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the charity.

Here is a sneak peak at the basket goodies that are available:

1) The Twilight Series (hardcover) courtesy of Debbie Leifsen

2) Clothing/Accessories Basket courtesy of Katie Lewis

3) Tutoring Services Basket courtesy of Jessica Gustafson

4) Cooking Basket courtesy of Debbie Leifsen

5) Wine and Catering Basket courtesy of K Syrah

6) Photography Basket courtesy of Jenifer Johnston of Polka Dot Photography

7) Scentsy Basket courtesy of Jennifer Davis

8) Beauty Basket courtesy of Beauty Temptations

9) Movie Basket courtesy of Regal Cinemas

10) Scrapbook Basket courtesy of Stacy Fritz

Beauty Temptations is located at: 2001 E St Washougal, WA 98671. The phone number is (360) 335-1646. Please stop by Beauty Temptations to check out the gift baskets and make a donation to this worthy cause!

Fall Routine

We are slowly easing into our new fall routine. I started my new office hours this week, which allows me to spend more time with Nicholas during the day. He only goes to my mom's house once a week now instead of twice a week like he did during the summer months.

My new work schedule also allows more father/son bonding time. Nicholas will spend Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings with daddy while mommy goes to work.
Nicholas can now easily spend 1.5 hours in his stander. He plays with his favorite toys and watches either Baby Einstein videos or his favorite cartoons on television. We have more time for the stander now because Nicholas is opting out of an afternoon nap on most days. He usually takes a 3 hour nap from 11:00am to 2:00pm and is not wanting to sleep at all in the early evening. It's been harder for me to adjust to no afternoon nap than it is for him! He's also getting two cough assist treatments per day: one in the morning and one in the early evening. He still is not fond of them, but fusses less and less with each treatment.

Another adjustment to our routine is the foods Nicholas is eating. Because he has not gained much weight in the last several months, we are adding butter to almost everything he eats. He is also drinking Pedia Sure in the morning instead of Next Step formula. We have also been adding yummy fattening foods like: Jello pudding cups, cheese, Tollhouse Club crackers, chocolate chip cookies, and Tillamook yogurt.
With all that food we know it's important that Nicholas get plenty of fiber, which means that he has been eating re-fried beans quite often. And let me tell you that makes him so happy! He would eat rice and beans every day if we would let him. He has been asserting his independence with feeding himself. He will shake his head "no" and refuse to eat if I try to feed him. However, once I hand over the spoon, he'll eat and eat to his hearts' content.

Now that fall is (officially) only a few days away, we are starting to look forward to all the fun holidays and activities the fall season brings!

Success!

Our first fundraiser for Unite for the Cure was a complete success! Jenifer Johnston of Polka Dot Photography donated her time and talent and took photographs for nine families today. With Jenifer's help and each family's generous donation we raised $1,585 toward our goal! Jeff and I are so grateful to each an every one of you who participated in this fantastic event! Another big thanks goes out to Brienne, who was Jenifer's assistant for the day. The two of them made a great team!

It was so fun to see so many wonderful families today at the event and I was thrilled to meet another family who recently joined Unite for the Cure, the McClays, who live a short distance from us. They have the cutest little girl, Kylie, who is seven-years-old with SMA type 2.

Thank you Jenifer, Brienne, the Rogers family, the Lewis family, the McClay family, the Howard family, the Purdin family, the Valencia family, the Curtis family & the Watson sisters for helping us with our very first fundraiser!