3 Months Old!

It's hard to believe, but it has been three months since Maycee came to our family. She has been such a blessing to us and a pure joy. She is always happy, except when hungry or poopy. She loves to be carted around by Chloee and even takes baths with Jolee and Chloee. Chloee has turned out to be a huge help with her and I am so grateful for that! Maycee is growing like a weed and filling out her chubby Swanson cheeks nicely. She is smiling a lot now and has even given her siblings a few giggles. There are times when I just want to freeze the clock and not let her get any bigger, but I am trying to enjoy her as much as I can. We can't imagine our life without her and we are so blessed to have her in our family. She is really growing. Maycee weighs 13 lbs. 4 oz. and is in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. I don't know what size category her cheeks are in though.

Christmas Day

What a weekend! Now that the craziness of Christmas is over, I have some time to reflect on just how special family time can be. We were able to have everyone down for Christmas this year, and while Hawaii is an amazing place to spend Christmas, we were glad to be able to make new memories together in our new home.  Of course we had the usual traditions of stockings (I actually have a fireplace in which to hang those stockings now), a jam-packed Christmas tree with presents spilling out everywhere, and the yummy Christmas dinner which Papa heads up. 

It was so fun to watch all the kids open their presents. Santa even brought gifts for Abbi and Kenny, but I think they had the most fun playing with their cousins.

This year, being that we now live on a lake, we decided to start a new family Christmas tradition of playing a game of pond hockey. We invited a few family friends to come play and the game was on! We had so much fun, even though the ice was too rough to skate on. We figured playing in shoes leveled the field since Aaron and Miles are both pretty good players for a couple of old guys. Speaking of old guys, my 62 year old dad even got in the game. While he doesn't make the best goalie, he kept right up with the big boys.

 

He shoots, but I don't think he scored! You are awesome, Dad!

 

Bruno even tried to get in the game. Notice how warm out it was...it was around 40 degrees and we were in t-shirts! Gotta love Alaska!

 

Here is Rizz showing off his mad goalie skills.

 

Here is Aaron schooling Becky. I know Bex, you are pretty dang good.

 

Jaron decided to skip the game and go sledding on our dirt pile instead. What a great day and wonderful Christmas in 2009! Can't wait for next year.

Spelling Stud

Every year since Haylee was in the fourth grade, a Swanson has competed in the school spelling bee. Once again, Brady was one of three in his class to make it to the bee. He made it to the 6th round, but got tricked by the silent "n" in the word "solemn". He says he knew how to spell the word, but it can be stressful competing in front of the whole school. We are really proud of Brady and his excellent spelling and look forward to seeing him compete in the coming years. Way to go dude! 

Merry Christmas!

Another year has come to a close, and what a year it has been. We were blessed with another amazing Swanson baby in our little Maycee. We have finished our dream home (almost), our kids are healthy and happy, and life can't get much better. We are so grateful for our countless blessings that Heavenly Father continues to poor out on our family. We are grateful for His son, our Savior and eldest brother, who loves us so much. May you and your family feel the warmth of His love now and all year long. We love you all.

Our sweet Maycee is the best Christmas present ever.

 

Thanks to Grandma Lynn for the darling Christmas dresses. They were a big hit at church!

For family home evening this week, we all (Hansens, Ponds, and us) went to a local church sponsored reenactment of the city of Bethlehem during Christ's birth. They did a wonderful job with real animals, several shops of the day, the tax collector, and even wicked King Herod. It was a bit chilly, but well worth it. 

 

My Maycee was safe from Herod, but poor Becky kept getting asked if her baby was a boy. Logan was safe, but he did play baby Jesus in the ward Christmas party this year.

More Driving

The good news is that Haylee made her club volleyball team. The bad news is that I will be driving two more nights a week on top of the other two nights a week I already drive for the boys' hockey. Oh yeah, I didn't count the two trips I make for scouts, plus the daily car pool run. Anyway, we are so excited for Haylee making a team. The competition was really tough this year and she really thought she would not make a team. She is getting more confident in her skills and it must have showed. While I am eager for her to get some more playing time in, I am not looking forward to being on the road, with 5 other kids in tow. Oh well, she will be driving soon enough. Way to go Haylee!! 

Maycee Update

Our Maycee girl is growing fast. She is almost three months old already! We took her to Providence Hospital yesterday for a check up on her urinary reflux. She was very good during the ultrasound and I think she actually liked the warm goo they put on her belly. The good news is that her kidneys look beautiful, nothing wrong with those. Her bladder looks fine too, but is a little thick in the lining. I don't really know what that means, but the doc wasn't too concerned. The biggest issue is that her reflux is a solid 3, 5 being the worst. The greatest risk for her is to get multiple UTI's which could potentially scar her kidneys, leading to possible kidney failure. So, to prevent this from happening, she is on 2 doses of antibiotics everyday for most likely until she is around 18 months. At that point, we will need to see how she is doing. There is a 50 percent chance she will out grow the reflux. If she does not, she will most likely need a procedure called deflux that is 90 percent effective in correcting her problem. It is a simple procedure done as a day patient and she won't even need to be cut. We are grateful she is so healthy and happy in all other ways. She is so fun now as she is smiling and cooing at all her adoring fans. Please continue to keep Maycee in your prayers that she will not get any urinary tract infections, that her kidneys will stay healthy, and that her reflux will clear on its own. Thank you to all who love us so much.

Christmas Cheer

We tried wrangling the kids the other night for our family Christmas photo. This one was in the reject pile, but summed up the bliss of taking pictures of 6 kids. Be afraid Jaron, be very afraid!!

Twinners

It's scary how genetics work. When Maycee was born, I wasn't sure who she resembled. I saw a lot of Chloee in her, but she has Jolee's nose. As she has "unfolded" from her newborn face, I am seeing more and more of Chloee. Aside from eye color, Maycee and Chloee really do look a lot alike. Now if Maycee's personality turns out like Chloee's, I am in trouble!! I don't think I can do another Chloee. I love the child dearly, but she really keeps the drama in our family.

Chloee in the dip net boat on the Kenai. (5 months)
 

Maycee at 2 months.

Good thing Chloee is darling if I do say so myself.

Killing Time

So I am looking through our pictures and I stumble across these beauties. I have no idea when or where they took these, but obviously they are in the car, and I am not. I think I was in the grocery store. Not to worry, they are under the oh so responsible supervision of their big sister.

 

You can see that Jolee is captivated by the movie they are watching. Car DVD players: the best invention ever!

 

Look at the bright side, at least they aren't killing eachother.

A Blessed Day

This past weekend, we had the whole family down for Maycee's blessing. This day served as another reminder for us just how blessed we are to have Maycee with us and apart of our eternal family. How grateful we are that the Lord blessed her with health after such a rough start to her life.

Anyway, it was a great time had by all. We had the family, plus Hansens and Ponds over for a pre-blessing brunch because Miles, Shane and Uncle Rizz helped Aaron in the blessing circle. Aaron did a wonderful job; he even missed out on the yummy brunch because he chose to fast before the blessing. How grateful I am for such an amazing husband and father to our kids!

 

If you asked me if I ever thought I would have six kids, I would have laughed, but here we are. I don't think life could get much better.

 

All the Souter cousins. Aren't they cute?

 

We love our Maycee Moo.

I just thought this was the cutest. Papa loves to nap with the babies, but who wouldn't?

5 Weeks Today

Maycee is officially growing up too fast. It seems like the more kids you have, the faster the time flies. It's probably because we are so busy with the craziness of life with 6 kids that we don't make the time to just sit and enjoy her. Maycee is 5 weeks old today and growing like a weed. She really likes to eat and her rolls are filling out nicely. She is such a good baby, and probably our best sleeper (thank you NICU for getting her on a sleep schedule). Aaron says that the extra sleep she gives us at night is money well spent. 

Some of Maycee's favorite things are sleeping, eating, and pooping. She is on the verge of smiling and still tends to go cross-eyed when you get too close. We got the camera out for some impromptu shots, but she really didn't cooperate with the facial expressions. We hope to get some better shots in a week. For now, enjoy...

Man was she mad here. She so did not like being posed with her legs under her; love the flower though.

Gotta have the baby feet pics...

You Go Girl

 

No, Haylee doesn't have to go pee here, she is getting ready for some action at the net! With all of the exciting Maycee events of the last month, we haven't had the time to post on Haylee's volleyball endeavors. Now that her season has ended, I wanted to share how fun it was to watch Haylee grow over the season. She is now jumping for her spikes (see pic below) and she even got her serve. She is going to be great as her skill develops and we can't wait to cheer her on over the coming years. Go Stars!!

I Feel Old!

My first born is 15 years old today!! Most people say I don't look old enough to have a 15 year old, and yes, we started young, but it's kind of nice when people think Haylee is my sister. Haylee has been an amazing kid from day one, and we are so grateful to have her in our family. Being a first born myself, I know how tough it can be to be the guinea pig for your parents. While the teenage years are most surely challenging at times, Haylee has been so fun for us. She has an amazingly strong sense of who she is and knows what she wants. She is a strong leader among her peers and is a confindant young woman. She will go far in this life and we can't wait to see where she takes us next! Next year, driving and dating...not if we can help it!!! 

She so loves me!!

My first and last born girls. Crazy how time flies.

3 Weeks Old...already!

It's hard to believe, but Maycee is 3 weeks old today. I feel like we were robbed of her first 2 weeks, so I am trying to make up for lost time. She had her well baby check up with Doc Anderson today and he says all looks great for her. She is up to 8 pounds today and has definitely found her appetite! She will be pudgy in no time. 

She is proving to be a very good baby, which is reassuring because we thought after her stubborn entrance into the world, she would be quite the handful. She is already used to the craziness of being the 6th born in a very busy household. Now on top of everything else the kids fight over, we now have to contend with who's turn it is to hold the baby.

Here are some pics we took of her first day at home. 

She has 3 doting sisters that, for now, can't get enough of her. Give it a few years and they will be singing a different tune. Haylee is the house baby hog, but a great help with Maycee. 

The grandma's were so relieved to see Maycee as they both worried to no end while we were away. Our parents were so helpful while we were gone and it was so nice not to worry about our kids. They slaved away doing laundry (at the laundry mat no less), cooking (in a less than complete kitchen), cleaning construction debris from the house, and driving carpools. Thanks again you guys! 

Maycee has 2 amazing older brothers that are sure to protect her as she grows. We still need to get a shot with Brady holding her.

This shot is classic. Jolee had just woke up from a nap and she was seeing this mysterious baby she had heard everyone talking about for the first time. She is absolutely in love with her baby sister! Check out Aaron's playoff beard! Needless to say, the beard came off a few minutes after I got home. 

Going, going, gone!

I am happy to say that I am posting this from home!! Maycee and I were able to bust out of the NICU a little early and we got home Thursday. It has been such a whirlwind here with our family enjoying Maycee that I haven't gotten time to post, but I couldn't keep you all in suspense any longer! You are all so amazing in the love and support you have shown our family through this trial, and we are eternally grateful to each and every one of you for your efforts on our behalf! There are too many of you to count, but you all know who you are and Aaron and I certainly feel blessed to have each of you in our lives. 

Anyway, on to our superstar. I wanted to post some pics of our last days in the NICU. Maycee really did recover quite quickly once the PPHN was resolved. She only needed one extra dose of morphine in her weaning process and when it came to feeding, she took to it quite naturally. We had a night nurse named Claudia and she reminded me of one of those stern, Norwegian type women that are all business. I was a little hesitant to leave the night Claudia was assigned to our baby, but we came back the next morning and Maycee had taken two full feedings by bottle for this woman. This is a big deal because the more they feed on their own, the quicker the feeding tube can come out. As for breathing support, Maycee had a nasal cannula that gave her a little oxygen and as of Tuesday night at midnight, she was off that completely. It was a little scary watching her breathe on her own, but amazing!

Here is a shot of her with her last 2 tubes, the nasal cannula and a feeding tube.

Once the cannula was pulled, she was down to just the feeding tube (which she ended up taking out herself on 2 occasions).  After she was eating all they wanted her to through the bottle and nursing she...

was on her own. They still kept her on a heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation monitor for another day, but having her thriving on her own was the day we were waiting for.

 

After all she had been through, her nurse, Julie, and I figured Maycee deserved a spa day. This quickly became a bath photo shoot as Julie loved our camera. She was having so much fun posing Maycee and even strategically placing bubbles to make the shot just right. Maycee is still hooked up to her monitors here, but no, she was not in any danger of being electrocuted.

 

Finally, Maycee's last test before we could leave was the car seat test. She had to sit in this thing for an hour and a half while hooked up to her monitors to make sure she could handle it. Doesn't she look so enthused? 

All in all, our time in the NICU was incredible. The nursing and doctor staff is amazing, the little babies are incredible, and it really is a special place where little miracles happen every day. I wouldn't want to go back anytime soon, but I am grateful for our lessons we learned there and pray for the parents and babies still fighting their own battles. 

As a side note, Maycee is doing really well and by all accounts, is a totally normal newborn. Our last test did show that she has a slight to moderate case of reflux in her urinary tract where her urine back flows through the ureters up to the kidneys. This could lead to potential kidney infections which would not be good. At this point, she is on a low dose of daily antibiotics to stave off any UTI's (otherwise known as urinary tract infections). She has to go back for more scans in 6 weeks, but we hope and pray this condition will resolve on its own. The docs are optimistic, but we really hope she will outgrow this. If she doesn't she would require surgery to re implant her ureters properly in her kidneys. So, Maycee is still in need of your prayers, but for now, we are enjoying her more than words can say.