A Nelson Finale...

It's happening. 

Our #3!

...And our final.

This can explain why things have been a little quiet here on our end.

I've been very tired (and nauseous), but I'm just about done with the first trimester. 

I'm sorry if you are close to us, and only finding out right now. 

It has been a very uncertain pregnancy to begin with. I had a subchorionic hemorrhage, and was at a threatened miscarriage just until days ago, when it was confirmed that the blood clot disappeared. 

It was such a relief to see the baby on the ultrasound screen, dancing away, showing us that he/she is here, and doing well. 

We are very happy and excited to welcome this new baby into our family. 

Prayers for a healthy baby and pregnancy are welcome and would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you, and lots of love from all of us,

Victoria, Justin, Moriah, Jadon, and Baby #3

Family Assessment

For those of you who know us, understand that we have always been passionate about serving families who have children with acute or chronic illnesses. We have experienced it all with our own daughter, Moriah, and know how challenging these situations can be. We have a heart to change that, and to give back...
One day, we hope to create an organization that supports the well-being of families in alike circumstances. However, we want to get a feel for the needs that are out there. If you can so kindly take a moment to fill this out, and even pass it on, we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you, friends.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Moriah...Walking!!!

Over Moriah's school break, we took her to our local track, and had her practice walking with her walker! Despite having a fever, she did a great job, and we are so proud of her!

Luckily, Nano and Maji were here so that Moriah could show off her new skills

I love that face

When she finally got tired, we put her back in her wheelchair, and then I went running around the track with her. I didn't get very far. Her wheelchair is a beast, and I was huffing and puffing by the end of the lap. I don't know how Justin runs with her. 

Anyone heard of a wheelchair jogger that would be able to hold all her equipment? 

Last year, we had started taking her with us to the track and saw she liked it. 

However, Moriah and Co. are a bit much to run with. 

You know what...scratch that question. 

I know she will be walking soon, and then running faster than us =)

We are so proud of you and all your hard work, Moriah!
Thank you to Nurse Sharon and Moriah's teachers and therapists at preschool for working with her to reach this goal.
It is beyond amazing to see...

Jan/Feb Review

 Besides each of us fighting colds these past two months and having the excitement of M's Birthday, we have had a few more bursts of fun in between with friends and family.
Our friends, Callie and Sarah, were in town from Florida for Callie's heart cath. We met this beautiful family years ago while in the Ronald McDonald House, and have stayed in touch ever since. 

Please check out Callie's story at Caring for Callie, and keep her in your prayers. 

This sweet girl is waiting on the next surgery to repair her heart. 

(p.s. M isn't wearing a bullet proof vest as it may look. It's a weight vest to help her when she's feeling out sorts with her sensory issues).

Additionally, we had Teta Vera, Justin's Aunt come spend the weekend with us. Teta, as usual, spoiled the kids, and spent the whole time playing with them.

She even made us delicious stuffed bell peppers, and Jadon gobbled it up. That was a first for him!

 Auntie Nina and Summer, spent another weekend with us, and we enjoyed fun girl time going to breakfast and getting our nails done. 

We have had casual times at home, going on morning walks in the wagon

And going horseback riding on Daddy

                                

We had some dinner parties with our friends, the Tenny's and the Helveston's

And all the kids enjoyed being together

And after Moriah's party, we got to go to Glori's 1st Birthday party at the farm!

Moriah got to hit her first piñata

And she was so happy with the pencil that she got out of it (I love piñatas that don't only have candy!)

Happy 1st to our sweet Glori, and her wonderful parents!

My kids, of course, eat cake like it's their job. Look at those looks of concentration.

We feel blessed to be surrounded by amazing friends and family. 

Thank you January and February for a couple of good months!

Ice Cream Party!!

Exactly one month later, we finally got around to celebrating Moriah's 5th Birthday with friends and family!

We had an ice cream party in honor of M's favorite food =)

And boy, was this girl excited!

Nano and Maji were up for the weekend

And Philippe and Baba came to join the fun for the party

I think Nano was first to dig in =)

Yummm

Ice cream makes everyone happy...and a bunch of happy people in one place makes for a good party

L to R: Sharon, Nano, Henry's mom Houng, Shannon and little Savannah

...Especially when you get to re-connect with old friends. Right, Sue? =)       

Our house turned into baby central, and I was a little scared to walk in case I stepped on someone, but it was so much fun to watch them all play together

Vince made Vivian one of the yummiest ice cream bowls, with just about every topping there was =)

And Jason squirted whip cream in Glori's mouth, telling her "Don't tell Mom!" 

Justin does this with Jadon and Moriah...must be a guy thing...

As if ice cream wasn't enough sugar, we had Birthday cake too. I'm so glad we did.
It was my favorite part when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Moriah. She got really quiet, and listened, especially when everyone sang her name...I had a mom-moment and got teary-eyed because I knew Moriah understood we were celebrating her...

She just had so much fun playing with her buddies!

Moriah, Glori, and Vivian were all catching up on some girl time

And Vivian and Moriah shared some sweet "friend" moments

(when the girls were babies, Hannah, Viv's Mom, gave me a picture frame that said "Two Peas in a Pod." I haven't had the right picture to put in that frame until now...almost 5 years later).

I don't think Moriah stopped laughing the whole party. She had the best time.

Thank you to all of our friends and family for celebrating Moriah with us. 

I know she could feel the love!

<3

No Words

Just as hard as it is for Moriah to learn how to walk, so is learning to share for Jadon.

They will both get it eventually.

101: Vesicostomy Follow-Up

 I wanted to do a follow-up to my original 101: Vesicostomy post.

There are a couple things that have changed since then.

We originally used cloth diaper inserts to place over the vesicostomy stoma (this stoma drains pretty continuously). However, after about a year of using the cloth diapers, we have seen the absorbency has decreased drastically. We know that this is from the creams we use to protect M's skin from breaking down. But because the cloth diapers stopped being as absorbent, the urine was breaking down M's skin even more. I heard about a stripping process you can do with the cloth diapers to take them back to their original state, however, we really don't have the time or energy to put towards doing this.

Thus, we changed to using disposable size 3 diapers to place over the stoma, and her skin has been looking great.  

When I took the first picture of M's stoma, it was still pretty inflamed, and healing from surgery. 

 It has been close to a year since the surgery, and this is what the stoma looks like now.
Much, much better!

In order to keep the skin protected, M's vesicostomy diaper gets changed about every 3 hours or so . She will still get a rash here and there (it's most likely yeast due to all the urine), but it's manageable and doesn't usually last for too long. We apply Nystatin whenever it appears. 

I wanted to add that she will still get pretty drenched at times, and on some days it seems like we are changing her outfits every few hours. On the whole, we have a pretty good system, but we do bring extra change of clothes with us everywhere we go.

It's almost been a year, and she has had only one UTI. She used to get them every 4 to 6 weeks. 

We are so thankful that there was an option to help M feel better, and become so much stronger. Since she hasn't had to use her energy towards fighting the infections, she's been able to focus on learning to walk ...and chase her brother all around. Along with having her buddy, Brobee, by her side, this girl has been a happy camper.

Bay Area Photographer: Liz de Puydt

Last September, we had the pleasure of having our family pictures taken by a beloved Bay Area Photographer, Liz de Puydt. 

We met Liz many years ago, when she took photos for Moriah at CRC for HOPE Magazine. She captured some of the sweetest moments, and we were so happy to be able to have our family photographed by her a second time...especially since we have Jadon to include in on the mix. 

I. mean, look at this photo of Moriah...isn't it simply angelic?

And this of Jadon, of his piercing blue eyes. Just beautiful.

We were not an easy bunch to photograph with Jadon and Moriah moving non-stop. 

 But, Liz, still managed to capture the essence of our family. 

<3<3<3<3

This last one is one of my favorites with Jadon trying to escape, and that silly grin on Moriah's face. 

These are my kids to a T, and Liz captured them perfectly!

Thank you, Liz, for these pictures that we will cherish forever. 

Please feel free to visit Liz's website to check out her amazing work!

www.ldpphotography.com