Skipping December 2012 (for now)/January 2013

I'll post about December sometime. Realizing it's almost the end of January, though, kinda spurred me on to start blogging about the present first...so I don't get any further behind!

For the first time in years, we had no plans for New Year's Eve. We have always loved ringing in the new year with friends, but it was nice to not do anything at all, too. In fact, we treated it like any other night and put the kids to bed at their normal bedtime. Not before snapping pictures of them in the crown Lyla wore her first NYE! Seth and I had a nice night just relaxing and talking about all the ways God had blessed us in 2012 and all we were looking forward to in 2013.

Seth was off from work January 1st so we took Lyla bowling while Granny kept Rex

 It was a fun day with our girl

 We hadn't been bowling as a family since January 2009

 She makes the funniest faces

 Taking some pointers from Daddy

 Too funny

 Love these two

 I think Lyla took this one of me

 Then we took one for Dad

 We bowled two games and Lyla held her own. She came up with her own technique and we all had a blast!

 Since I failed to take any pictures of decorating the tree, I took a couple of us UN-decorating it. 

 

 

I love this goofy expression!

 

 Lyla and I made stainglass with leftover crayons

 She wasn't sure what we were doing or how it would turn out

 She loves being crafty just like her mom!

 Rex loves his hand

 This was after he had gotten his RSV vaccine for the month and he is still as happy as ever

Every night before I go to bed, I check on both kids--I have even been known to hold my finger under Rex's nose to feel him breathing. Don't judge.

Rex almost always looks like this

 

And Lyla loves to be surrounded by her animals...and she apparently needs to sleep on 4 pillows at one time

Rex started physical therapy in December and it is already helping him so much!

He is rolling over on his own!

 He loves his bug rattle

 Almost there...

 Ta da!

 

 He also knows how to roll back to his back and is always very proud of himself

January also brought a new discovery

Rex has been hiding 2 BIG teeth under that tongue he loves to stick out all the time!

 Lyla was sick with strep throat and missed a whole week of school--well, 3 days really because Monday was MLK Day and Friday was a snow day. Either way, she was sick the whole week. Thankfully, she was healed and ready to go back Monday. I was glad because her school celebrated the 100th day of school! The Kindergarteners were asked to dress like they are 100 years old. We put baby powder in Lyla's hair, she wore glasses I wore for Halloween several years ago and carried a cane Granny loaned her that belonged to one of her great grandparents. They had a fun day and I am so glad she didn't miss out!

Jump Rope for Heart!

Grace, the daughter of a friend of mine, is participating in a fundraiser called Jump Rope for Heart and she has decided to sponsor Rex! Please consider supporting her as she helps Rex and kids just like him who have special hearts!

 Grace Jarman's "Jump Rope for Heart" Fundraising Page!

Wrapping Up 2012: November

I realized I forgot to include the pictures we had made in late October in my last post so I'll start this post with them! At a missions fundraiser, we (both families) bid on the photography services of our church Youth Minister and set the date for what ended up being the coldest day of October. It was freezing and drizzling. Kristie's neighbor let us use their barn, though, which made for some very cool and unique shots.

MARTIN FAMILY PICTURES

 

So blessed.

NOW for November!

 Lyla and I shopped for and packed two shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. It was such a fun experience. To represent Kentucky, we included toy horses in each box. We were able to print a barcode for our boxes and later received an email letting us know our boxes were delivered to children living in the Democratic Republic of Congo!

 The Men's Basketball Team of my alma mater, Transylvania University, played University of Kentucky's team and on facebook, Transy asked alumni to post pictures showing "Pioneer Spirit." Should Rex get ALL kinds of scholarship money, he could be a member of the Class of 2034.

 Lyla got strep...for the 2nd time this school year.

 I love this picture of Rex just chillaxin' with his Daddy.

 I like what the dad of another baby at church said about his son, "the only thing that tastes better than his right thumb is his left thumb."

 Rex is getting stronger and stronger and getting better neck control, too.

  Lyla loves playing with Rex

Rex loves it, too

They have such a special connection

 Rex is just not ready for the exersaucer.

 We even tried stuffing pillows around him.

Oh, well. He'll get there.

7 MONTH PICTURES

I am not the greatest photographer to begin with and I don't have a great camera so I'm lucky to get one or two good shots. That doesn't stop me from taking a million "imperfect" pictures, though.

 We started outside, but it was just too windy

 Wish there were no shadows in this one

 or this one

Some of my favorites are below, though.

 Those two show so much personality in pictures! 

I love them so much!

 Rex's open mouth and serious eyebrows tell me he was talking in this one.

 Lyla put her hand on his head all on her own. Precious.

 Lyla stood over him with a toy trying to get him to smile.

Happiest 7-month old I've ever known!

 Just showing off my brilliant Kindergartener's mad math skills and her penmanship.

She did that all by herself!

 Rex feels the same way about carrots as he does rice cereal.

 This random picture cracks me up!

 Lyla was so excited about being an Indian at her class Thanksgiving party

 Such a ham

 My little Class Clown

 I love this genuine smile/laugh

 Anyone have a caption for this one?

 She is growing up so fast

THANKSGIVING 2012

 

 Lyla got to open Rex's and her gifts from Uncle Ken and AJ

 I was excited that they gave her Guess Who?--one of my childhood favorites.

 Hopefully Dad won't kill me for posting this one Seth must have snapped while I was cleaning out their fridge. Notice the pen and paper in my hand--I was writing down expired stuff I was tossing so Dad would know what he needed to replace. Unfortunately, I didn't give him that list soon enough because Dad had to run to Kroger on Thanksgiving Day to replace a bottle of salad dressing he needed for a recipe. He says it was still good...I said, "it didnt' move when I turned the bottle upside down." He forgave me, of course.

 Getting to sing around the piano brought back some great memories. I love being a part of a musical family.

 Aunt Alison and Lyla used a painting kit Mom had

  It's definitely one-of-a-kind, I can tell you that

 Lyla and her cousin, Justin

HUNT FAMILY PICTURES

Jensen, my nephew, Jesse's girlfriend, was kind enough to take some pictures of our family. 

Below are just some of them.

SETH'S BIRTHDAY

 Rex sported his camo pjs-Daddy's favorite


Lyla, the photo-bomber

I got creative with the candles. Don't count them-read them.

Seth requested jell-o cake which Lyla and I made together.

 In late November, we took Rex to an opthamalogist to have his left eye checked out. We knew he had a clogged duct on that eye and his cardiologist suggested the "droopiness" was due to Horners Syndrome. Horners occurs when a nerve that runs from the eyelid all the way down the side of your torso gets severed, nicked, damaged, or bruise. Since they went under his arm for his surgery, Dr. Klein felt like that nerve could have been damaged. The opthamalogist agreed. She was glad the cardiologist suggested it because without Rex's having had a "reason" to have Horners, the other cause would be a rare cancer. I won't lie--I cried that night and off-and-on some of the next day. Rex's life hasn't been a smooth one, but everything has been "treatable." There is nothing scarier than hearing the word CANCER from a doctor--even if it is being ruled out. It entered HER mind which is scary enough for me. You might notice in the picture above and the one below with Suzanne that his eyes are equal in size. That's because the way they test for Horners is to put a drop in the affected eye and see if it dilates to match the unaffected eye. It did. 

Thankfully, Rex's case is mild and it is not affecting his vision at all. We even feel like the size difference is less noticeable lately and yesterday (January 10) at his cardiology appointment, Dr. Klein thought the same thing. He will have a follow-up in April to check the clogged duct and make sure the Horners is still mild.

So, that's NOVEMBER! DECEMBER will likely take more than one post, but I'll get caught up one of these days. Until then, Happy New Year!