FLASHBACK: DECEMBER 2019

 

We started off December of 2019 strong!!  We decorated our whole house and Christmas the Elf showed up on December 1st with our North Pole breakfast.  He actually just showed up yesterday and as I am looking at pictures, I noticed that Treyton had those yellow football pants on in both....December 1st, 2019 and December 1st, 2020!  Hah!!  

I can't find their exact pajamas from last year but they were Burt's Bees and THESE are really similar!

Our stocking are probably my favorite part of all of our Christmas decorations.  I feel like they symbolize so much.  When we weren't sure what our family would look like as we went through fertility treatments, I wasn't sure that we would ever have a full mantle of stockings.  I catch myself staring at them in awe!  They are from Pottery Barn and I highly suggest you wait until they go on their 50% off sale! ;-)

I bought these white balls when we were in the NICU with the girls and I met the girl outside of the hospital as she dropped them off to me.  I hope I am able to keep them from shattering forever!

I headed to London with my brother and mom to watch Emmy compete in the Miss World competition.  It was the first time that I have ever been overseas and the first time that I left my kids for 6 days!

Olive Coat  Sorel Boots (the BEST boots to walk around in all day)

We saw some really neat buildings with a TON of history.  It is crazy how large and old most of them are. We also saw where most of the royal family resides.  I

Emmy made top 40 out of 120 other girls!  It was crazy to hear what they did for a month in London and to see a pageant in person.

The morning after the pageant, my brother proposed in the tallest building in London!  

I got pictures like this from daycare and found out that they were all starting to get sick.

Girls Coats (different pattern)

And then on the last day of my trip, Gavin took Taylor to the ER because she was so lethargic and she was admitted with RSV.  She got to stay for two nights due to low oxygen levels.

Treyton missed a full week of school with similar symptoms!

Taylor made it home on Tuesday...

And Trynlee was admitted to a different hospital on Wednesday.  The ER doc about sent us home but I had to put my foot down a bit and tell him I didn't feel comfortable with that.

She seemed to be doing okay and maybe getting better...

And then her respiratory stats started to crash and we had to watch her be loaded onto the helicopter to be flown to the University Hospital for more intensive care.  I really hope to not ever have to watch one of my children be put into one of these again.  The care team that transported her was phenomenal and called us as soon as they got her to her PICU room and updated us with how she was doing.

She spent 11 days in the hospital, 9 in the PICU, over Christmas!  It was so HARD being separated from our other kids and not being able to be in two spots at once.  Gavin and I took turns being with them and taking them to Christmases with our families and spending time with her at the hospital.

On her last night, she got moved up to the 10th floor and we could see over the football field.  Look at her pretty (raw) face without any oxygen support.

This kid was a champ and bounced between family members that loved on him while Gavin and I were with his sisters!  On this particular day, Kolton took him ice skating on our pond.

Our elf continued to bounce around our house and I would get daily pictures of his hiding spots.

I snuck him in for a haircut while I was home with them one day.  We love us some Aunt Dani haircuts, although I will say that during COVID, I have learned to give a pretty good one myself. :-)

Iowa City put on a parade of lights outside of the Children's Hospital and Child Life team passed out glow sticks to wave at their windows.  I am still in awe of the Child Life team and everything they do!  She wasn't feeling great this night but at least held it.  Her nurse moved her bed to the window so she could see out.

The night she came home they opened up presents from us and some of our parents came to see her!

Kolton and Emmy asked the three of them to be in their wedding!

The girls got their ranger from my parents and Treyton got a dirt bike.

Peg Perego Ranger

We made it to a family Christmas with the 5 of us!  And I was 18 weeks pregnant!

We moved them to our downstairs bedrooms to make room for Baby #4!

The girls moved out of their cribs and into big girl beds!  While we were waiting on their beds, we transitioned like this.  They thought they were pretty big stuff!

We got to celebrate with all of their cousins!  There were 9 under 6 at Christmas of 2019 and now 10 under 7 in 2020.  There are no dull moments when we are all together!

They got to go to their daycare Christmas party!  How cute are these pictures!

And celebrate the real reason for the season!  How cool are all of the costumes that they got dressed up in!?!  We had a shepherd and two lambs!

If you made it this far, I can't thank our family and friends and a lot of you for all of your support through this month.  From helping while I was in London, to supporting us in any way possible when we were in the hospital.  When they say it takes a village, they aren't lying!