Halloween Carnival

Dylan attended his first school carnival in his adorable Scooby Doo costume! We also have a costume for Austin, but it was too hot for him to wear it inside. It will be much better for Halloween night. As it was, Dylan only lasted for about 30 minutes in his costume! I hope he will do better on Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

Here are a few pictures of us carving pumpkins.

Cornbelly's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Fest

We had a great time at Cornbelly's. There were so many activities that it was really hard to get to everything. We missed the haunted hayride, but we managed to do most of the activities in the four hours we were there. Dylan enjoyed the peddle cars the most, while Austin loved playing in the corn box.

Mike elevates his broken wrist for some pain relief. He broke it while playing basketball during lunch at work. He severely sprained his left ankle as well. He was briefly on crutches, but was able to walk better this day.






Dylan was so excited to jump at first, but once he was popped up in the air from the other jumpers, he immediately headed off. Oh well, maybe next year!






I took this picture after we were home, but I thought it was a great shot and I wanted to include it.

Here is a short video of the day. Enjoy!

Fall Harvest Festival

We had a great time at the fall harvest festival at Thanksgiving Point. Here are a few pictures from our day!

Alpine Loop (Fall Foliage)

We finally got out to see the fall foliage in the mountains. The Alpine Loop is a 25-mile scenic route through our nearby mountains. The two-lane road is lovely, though quite scary at times! I think I actually may have hyperventilated as we curved around shear cliffs! I tried to take several pictures since I don't think I could stomach another ride! Don't forget to watch the brief video at the end of this post.






Bridal Vail Falls


This is a short video of our trip.

Surgery Day

Austin had surgery this Monday to repair his soft and hard palate, revise his lip repair and insert ear tubes. The entire procedure took about 3 hours and he was admitted to the hospital for one night. Our surgeon reported that it went very well and he did not expect any complications or secondary surgeries. Austin was in quite a bit of pain and slept for most of the day and night following surgery. This time he did sleep in the crib so Mike and I did not have to take turns holding him all night like we did when he had his initial lip repair at 8 weeks. However, it was still exhausting and quite uncomfortable to sleep in the hospital. We were discharged about 12:30pm the day after surgery.


Austin was very hungry before surgery and I could not get a picture of him when he wasn't crying in the pre-0p area. He was actually doing very well for the first hour prior to surgery, but about 15 minutes before taking him back he just didn't stop fussing. He was only calm when Mike walked around with him.


This was taken about 30 minutes after surgery. There was more blood around his mouth this time since his palate was also repaired.


Austin was much better at the time of discharge. There was still quite a bit of swelling, but otherwise he was doing good.

First Day of School!

We enrolled Dylan in a unique Toddler class this week. He will be participating as a "model peer" for other toddlers with speech and/or other developmental delays. These weekly classes are designed to help prepare toddlers for preschool with a focus on cognitive and language development and improving social skills. This is a wonderful way for Dylan to develop readiness skills for preschool and help others with developmental delays. A perfect win-win situation!

Dylan absolutely loved the class! He was so excited to participate and adjusted great. He is a little difficult to keep on task, but responded well to redirection. The teacher was also very impressed with his bathroom skills and reported that he used the potty twice during the class without prompting. I think he really liked the toddler sized toilet which made it more fun to use.





Dylan's first art project at school. They glued fur and a feather to a lion.

Palate Prosthesis Removed

Austin had his palate prosthesis removed today in preparation for his upcoming palate repair surgery. He was put under general anesthesia and required intubation during the procedure. It took about five minutes to take out and he was roused from anesthesia after about twenty minutes. The doctor also gave us the prosthesis to take home for the scrapbook!

Overall, Austin did very well and he appears to be recovering quickly. He was discharged only an hour or so after surgery. He sounds slightly hoarse and has a little trouble getting used to an open palate again when drinking from a bottle. We were told that he should adjust soon, but to expect some food to escape into his nasal cavity. Luckily he will only have this problem temporarily. On the bright side, he may drool less without the prosthesis!


"Check out my bedhead hair!"


The nurse checks Austin's vitals before surgery.


Waiting in the pre-op area. He was getting pretty fussy, not having eaten since 8pm the night before!


In the post-op room after finally drinking some formula! All the providers at Primary Children's were fantastic and just loved little Austin!


Palate prosthesis with screws.

A Day at the Aquarium

It was a fun day at the local aquarium! Dylan really enjoyed seeing all the exhibits this year as opposed to last year when he basically just loved running around the place, barely stopping to look at anything. Austin was as laid back as ever and just basked in the new environment. Be sure to watch the attached video!

This is the video of us at the aquarium. Enjoy!

School Carnival

Here we are at the local elementary school's carnival. It was great that we could just walk a couple blocks from home. Austin slept in the stroller almost the entire time. Dylan loved watching all the activities, but he is still pretty nervous about rides, even the big inflatable slides. He was able to jump in the bouncer and went on one slide with Mike. He refused to ride the little train and was pretty much scared of everything else. Fortunately, there were midway games and he loved winning the prizes and candy. Maybe next time he will brave the rides!