Sibling Dynamics

A few days after Christmas we drove to LaGrande where almost all of Eric's family had congregated.  It was great to see most everybody, especially Eli and his family that are soon moving to D.C.. Tate has to sit in the smaller middle seat of the Honda on road trips and get slapped by his siblings on either side. He thinks it's funny when Henry hits him.  He doesn't think it's funny when Avery hits him.

Jolly and Bright

We were lucky this Christmas morning to have Grandma the Photographer present!  These are my favorite shots of their faces on their most favorite morning of the year =)  Henry had soaked his pajamas, and Eric got him cleaned up and changed.  Later that day, Eric asked me, "Why is Henry wearing a 'Happy Birthday' shirt?".  It still makes me laugh because Eric put it on him =)  Anyway, Christmas was fun and relaxing this year at home with the family.

Surgery Success

All right, here's the nitty-gritty of Henry's health this past fall.  He had a groinal hernia, which is different than an adult hernia. Although it looked awful, and it's visibility came and went, Henry never showed any discomfort.  He had a hole somewhere in there (diaphragm???) that never sealed up, letting fluid ebb and flow through.  This is more common in boys than girls, and if it doesn't seal on it's own in the first year of life, surgery is usually the way to go. 

So we drove to Spokane three days before Christmas with Henry while my mom watched Tate and Avery at home.  They had a jolly good time since mom is not a winter wimp like I am, and she took them to the park even though it's FREEZING!  Surgery was early, so we stayed the night and reported to the Sacred Heart bright and early.  Henry was hungry since we couldn't feed him until after the procedure.  They had a nice kid-friendly waiting room with cars and blocks.  Then they gave him some medicine to relax him for his separation from us and whisked him away to the operating room.  Dr. Nancy Starr was really good and it took about an hour and a half to sew him back together in there.  She said that the hole was bigger than expected.  He woke up and tried to sit up right away.  He never even cried!  We were able to drive home about an hour after surgery and he was on pain meds for only a day and a half.  It is amazing how quickly he recovered from this procedure!  He was running around by Christmas.  We are so happy that things have gone smoothly and that he is healthy!