Catching Up...Part 2

After a hiatus from the family blog, I wrote an overview post in July. Seems I need to do that again to finish out the year!

September started with a 2-night stay in the hospital when Verity's reflux led to significant vomiting and some tests showed she had a UTI. At least she got to meet her Great-Uncle Rande and Great-Aunt Jo who visited with Grandma J!

The end of September we got to host my parents for their first Colorado visit since we moved here! It was a quiet few days, all foggy until the morning they drove away!

September 28: Verity's 7-month birthday!

In early October we hosted dear friends Herb and Joyce Zick, who were traveling and sharing with folks about their mission and calling to Italy. We are grateful for their friendship and prayers for our family.

Somehow, despite multiple appointments each week, whether taking Verity to various specialty clinics or having in-home therapy sessions, we did actually manage to do SOME school work...by the grace of God! A lot of our education, both last year and this year, seems to revolve around Verity--learning about her condition, learning how to help her grow and develop, learning how to unconditionally love and care for someone who is "different."

We also learned about the hazards of living in a dry climate, lol.

October 18 Charis turned 17 and Arden turned 14! We had different parties, but Charis made both of the cakes!

Moving on to November...look how big Rhema has gotten! She loves our "Baby Doll," though now her verbal skills have taken off, she can mostly pronounce "Verity" (sounds more like "Berity") but now and then still calls her Baby Doll.

November 2-3 Verity had a 24-hour pH probe done, which showed us that despite being on a medication, she was still having a lot of acidity in her reflux. We changed meds, but this was an ongoing problem for the next 7 weeks as we dealt with a LOT of vomiting and learned that not only was Verity NOT gaining weight, but she actually was starting to lose weight when we were monitoring her in December. (More details about all of this are on her blog.)

Dressed up for church! We continue to be thankful for the connections we have with our new church family.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, we took our kids to the North Pole outside the city for a day with their cousins Anders and Cade, plus Uncle Joel, Aunt Sarah, and Grandma J. The weather cooperated, and our nurse was home with Verity, who would not have done well in the cool, windy conditions, not to mention we were always paranoid about her vomiting. :-( But it was a fantastic day, full of memories that included lots of rides and a powdered sugar dust storm from funnel cakes, lol.

WOW--we caught Arden with a normal smile, lol! This is at church, and his and Tobin's friend Noah is standing between them. We are grateful for our friendship with Noah and his family.

I didn't take a lot of photos on Thanksgiving Day (which was the day after my 43rd birthday), but I love this one of some of my favorite people in our kitchen finishing last-minute preparations...and drinking buttered rum, lol.

We often post photos of our little ones, but here is a shot of my men!!!! Tobin and Arden are growing up so fast, and they are a joy and delight (most of the time, ha) with their quick wits that keep us laughing. When I look at this picture, as well as the one above with Charis in it, I am in awe at how quickly time has passed--how can we have THREE teenagers?! I absolutely love being their mom!!

November ended with a sleep study for Verity, which revealed severe obstructive apnea, for which we were given oxygen supplies so she can have 1/32 lpm of oxygen at night. We are still working on doing this consistently, as she hates the nasal cannula, sigh.

We've had the pleasure of getting together with our dear friends Bill and Mellisa and their crew--Ted and Bill (or Bill and Ted, lol) were best friends throughout high school, and we've been able to maintain our ties throughout the years. They are moving to Indiana soon, so we are cramming in some visits before they leave CO!

The second weekend of December, Charis and I took a road trip! We went to Utah for the Young Living Beauty School, at which we received lots of goodies and learned some wonderful tips for using the new Savvy Minerals make-up line (non-toxic skin care and make-up?! Yes, please!) plus heard good sessions on taking care of ourselves from the inside out. It was so fun to get that one-on-one time together, from the 560-mile drive each way to sharing time in the hotel and during the event itself. I love being Charis's mom and seeing the beautiful young lady she has already become!!

Verity's first Christmas!!! Followed by her 10-month birthday on December 28! Who would have thought a year ago that we would get to celebrate with this sweet little bundle?! And we got the best gift for her--learning that a slow, continuous, 24-hour feed allows her to keep nutrients INSIDE her body. The last week or so has shown us such a huge difference...Verity is clearly happier, resting better (although still up multiple times at night), and interacting more. We are so grateful that at least for now, we do not have to consider surgery to help prevent the vomiting. We will enjoy this solution as long as we can!

We had a wonderful and fairly quiet (considering, lol) Christmas at home, with Grandma J spending several days with us. What a joy and a blessing to be together to remember the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and KING!