Getting Back To Normal

Watching and playing with Boaz just after changing him.

 We are finally for the most part over this horrible cold. Boaz has still had a rough week with congestion and cough, but hopefully he will be fully over it and back to being my good nurser soon.

Boaz in his Carhartts!

Boaz and his Monkey. He loves sleeping with it, and is starting to play with it and chew on  its hands when  he is awake.

 Last weekend Dave rearranged the kids room and moved beds all around. Cassia now has a big girl bed, Abigail is in the toddler bed, and Boaz's crib is in the boys room ready for him to move in once he is over this cold. Cassia has been loving her new bed with flower sheets. Abigail enjoys her new bed and the freedom it allows. Every night and nap time she climbs out and gets in bed with Cassia. When we discuss that she needs to sleep in her bed she says "no, sissers bed" with a huge smile. After going in to her room every two minutes for about 15 minutes to put Abby back in her bed she will finally give up and sleep in her own bed.

Nap Time! It is such a struggle to get Abby to sleep in her bed, but so stinking cute how she likes to climb in bed with Sister.

 We have spent the week getting back into our routine. After being on vacation and then sick for a month it has been nice to be back in our routine of chores, playing outside with Daisy, and our good/bad behavior chart. Davey and I have also gotten back on track with school time. He has been working hard on his phonics and learning a lot. For his practice time he likes to read to Boaz and Boaz enjoys the attention. Cassia and I have also been working on her school. Not as much since she doesn't enjoy it as much as Davey, but she is also doing really well. She has all, but 3 of her capital letters down and we are going to be starting the lowercase letters next week.

Davey doing school and reading to Boaz.

Boaz helping Daddy work on the Jimmy.

Abigail helping Mommy clean the bathroom.

Colds and Christmas Vacation

The day we got back from Christmas break the kids and I all came down with this horrible cold. Unfortunately we are on week 2 and it is still plauging us. The girls both have ear infections and are still struggling with runny noses. Davey is doing the best out of all of us and just has a deep cough now. Seeing him getting better shows there is hope for the rest of us.
Last Tuesday Boaz had his 2 month check up. Everything is looking good for him. He is now 12lbs 2oz and growing great. The nurse measured his head twice not believing the measuremnet which is in the 75-95th percentile.
Since we have been sick we don't have too many stories to share from the past two weeks, but figured I could show some pictures from our Christmas Vacation. We had a blast with Dave's family first celebrating Christmas, playing with Cousin Westin, going on a hike, and just enjoying time with family. Then we traveled down to my family and enjoyed our second Christmas, playing with little cousin Elliottt, taking pictures and bringing in the New Year with the whole Sunderson and Clark Clan. We truly enjoyed seeing all the family and friends we were able too, but it never seems like enough time to see everyone. Hope you all are doing well and having a great start to this New Year.

Boaz getting smothered with kisses.

Davey made it all by himself!

2 bumps on a log - Abigail and Cousin Westin

Grandpa and kiddos taking a break on our hike.

Dunham Family (missing a few Haacks:) )

Nana and Boaz

Abby on motorcycle with Daddy.

All the cousins at the Long's house.

Abby's not so sure about Bo cuddling.

Bo and Elliott first time playing.

Family time in the spa

Boaz's first time in the spa - he enjoyed it!

Picture time at Sycamore Grove - Thanks Aunt Danielle!

Cassia holding Cousin Elliott - and loving it!

Merry Christmas

 I am busily trying to get everything together for Christmas and our trip out to California so I don't have much time to write. I do want to say merry Christmas to you all and hope you have a blessed Christmas spending time with friends and family. We are super excited to be able to visit both our families this next week and I am sure we will have lots of stories and pictures to share. 

Boaz sleeping in one morning.

Boys playing together. Davey loves getting Bo to smile.

Davey has been doing really well in learning to read. We have been going through the Hooked on Phonics and he has been loving it and doing really well with sounding out his words. Below is a video of him reading his first book. 

Fun Weekends

Boaz doing some tummy time

I want to start this post with our miracle. In my last post I shared how Boaz was scheduled for surgery on Dec. 12th. A little less than a week after meeting with the surgeon and him telling us we needed to do surgery since Boaz's belly button wouldn't heal on its own, Bo's belly button was completely healed. The hole is fully closed and it is no longer oozing. I waited a week before calling the surgeon figuring it might open up again, but it never did. When I called the doctor they said since it looks good we can canel the surgey. Thank you all for your prayers. Praise God for healing Boaz and keeping him from having to go through surgery.

Boaz helping mommy in the kitchen. This is also where he sits for dinner time:)

We all had a fun filled Thanksgiving weekend. We enjoyed spending Thanksgiving day at home enjoying our family. Friday I got to do a little black Friday shopping. Saturday we celebrated my birthday going out to breakfast, getting me a cover for my new ipad :) and getting our Christmas tree out at the tree farm. Sunday we went down to San Antonio to celebrate Davey's birthday at Rainforest Cafe. Davey loved seeing all the animals, but poor Abigail sure was scared of the thunder storms.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Picking our Christmas tree. Can you find Boaz?

There he is - nice and snug!

This past weekend was packed with fun too. Saturday I helped work at an event my MOPS church put on called Bethlehem Village. I tried to explain it to the kids as they dropped me off before naps. After naps they came back when my shift was over and we walked around the different booths. When the kids came they told Dave they were excited to where mommy works and if it has lots of windows like daddy's work. They still talk about Bethlehem Village as mommy's work.

The kids at Bethlehem Village - They really are stair-steps!

On Sunday Davey had his birthday party at our house where they made forts and had a war with nerf guns. All the kids (and Dads) had a blast, then we enjoyed some ice cream cake that Davey helped me make. That evening we finally got the chance to decorate our Christmas Tree. The kids loved looking at the different ornaments and putting them on the tree. This year Cassia got to put the angel on the top.

Cassia putting the angel on the top.

Welcoming Baby Boaz

Here are each of the kids birth pictures.  Can you guess who each one is? 

 As you all know our biggest news is little Boaz Jon Dunahm. He arrived at 2:32am on Wednesday Oct. 26. He was 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches long. It was a smooth delivery that got a little scary at the end. Boaz's heart beat started dropping with every contraction once I was about 9cm. Labor went quickly from there and once he was born we found out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, which was causing his heart rate to drop. Even though the cord was around his neck he was perfectly healthy and I was so thankful to finally get to hold my beautiful baby boy. It is hard to believe that was already 3 weeks ago. Boaz is a great nurser, which is a huge answer to prayer and has been gaining about 1 pound a week. Last Monday he was already up to 9lbs 3oz.

The Dunham Boys!

 Davey, Cassia, and Abigail all love Boaz so much. Our first night home from the hospital, when they had to go to bed, they asked worriedly if Boaz would still be here in the morning. Abigail seems to be the most interested in Boaz. When I am nursing him she brings me a blanket for him, whether it is cold or not. Whenever Abigail is near Boaz she always asks if she can give him a kiss. All three of the kids love holding Boaz. Throughout the day they will ask to hold him. One day I came out of my room to find Abigail on the couch with my boppy pillow around her and her arms up asking for Bo. 

Always giving kisses

 We were blessed to have my mom for the 1st week of Boaz's life and then my sister Janine came for 2 more weeks to help with the kids and around the house. This past Wednesday Janine went back home and we have survived 2 days on our own. We are slowly starting to figure out how to be a family of four kids as dinner has been pushed later some nights as I finish nursing Boaz, and sometimes Boaz has to wait a little to nurse as I get the kiddos down to nap. Like I said we are slowly figuring it out and I am excited to figure out and get into a routine again. 

Camo hat and booties Aunt Janine made. Too Cute!

 On Monday Boaz had an appointment for the Dr. to look at his belly button. Bo's umbilical stump fell off at about 6 days old and ever since his belly button has been wet and slightly oozy. At his 2 week check up the Dr. put silver nitrate on it to help it close up. That didn't seem to do anything for him, so on Monday the Dr. looked at it and scheduled us for an ultrasound to see what was going on inside his belly. Tuesday we had the ultrasound and things looked good, but there was some swelling. Our pediatrician then referred us to a pediatric surgeon to get another opinion on what could be wrong with Boaz's belly button and how to heal it. On Thursday we met with the pediatric surgeon and he found that there is a cyst just under Boaz's belly button that is attached to the tract that the umbilical cord was attached to. He said that it will not heal on its own so Bo will need to have it surgically removed. The Dr. wants to wait until Boaz is 6 weeks old so there is less risk involved with the anesthesia. It seems that it will be minor outpatient surgery, but Boaz will need to be put fully under with the anesthesia. We are scheduled for Dec. 12th to have the surgery. The cyst and surgery seem to be minor, but we would still appreciate your prayers for the surgery and his healing. 

Mommy and Boaz

I know it is random, but thought you would like to see our Halloween costumes - Peter Pan with his fairies!

Answers for baby pics - 1-Abigail 2-Cassia 3-Davey 4-Boaz