Christmas Letter 2009

For those of you that didn't receive our annual Christmas Letter (if there is anyone that didn't receive one), here it is.

Dear Family and Friends:

2009 was a year full of stuff,

That we’re happy to leave behind,

Here’s a recap with more than enough,

To make us lose our minds.

Corbin is in a real preschool now,

He’s learning to socialize,

When it comes to smarts, the teacher says “wow!”

But he’s still painfully shy.

He’s a great kid, he’s now five years old,

And what a helpful age,

He cleans the bathroom to lighten mom’s load,

She’s really enjoying this stage.

Dex is a wild and crazy boy,

He’s got energy to spare,

Anything fragile, he will destroy,

But he’s still our sweet Dexy-bear.

He’s talking now, which thrills us all,

Just started a little late,

If we don’t understand, we know who to call,

Corbin can always translate.

Ivy is a fighter, a real superstar,

She amazes us everyday,

She makes us realize how blessed we are,

We wouldn’t have it any other way.

She can say four words, like thank you and uh-oh,

She’s small and happy too,

And with surgery behind her, she’s starting to grow,

She’s got some catching up to do.

Scott’s a great guy, husband, and dad,

The kids think he’s so fun,

He has a lot to do, but he’s not mad,

He still manages to get it all done.

Rochelle has been stressed this year,

But the stress is going down,

She’s writing a book to keep her mind clear,

And can’t find a reason to frown.

We really are blessed, we know it’s true,

We have a lot to be thankful for,

We look forward to a better year or two,

And the challenges we have in store.

Merry Christmas!

Love:

Scott, Rochelle, Corbin, Dexter, and Ivy Brunson

Growing Growing Growing

Ivy had her 1 yr old well baby check today. We had to wait 6 weeks after surgery for her to get her immunizations. She is coming along great. She weighed in at 15 lbs 2 oz (still under 3rd percentile) and is just under 27 inches tall (a little less than the 10th percentile).

She is still the most pleasant girl on earth and is an absolute joy in our lives. She still isn't quite crawling (getting close though), and loves to scoot around in circles on her bottom. She recently decided that she loves to stand. She can cruise a little bit on the furniture, but gets nervous if we aren't right there holding onto her, and she can't stand up without us helping her get her feet placed under her correctly. She continues to work with a physical therapist twice a month, and actually really enjoys it.

She is doing pretty well with eating too. She is up to 3 feedings of baby food a day, and hardly ever throws up (unless I try to secretly throw in some kind of baby food meat). Her pediatrician also gave the go ahead to try out a toddler formula in place of her regular baby formula. Since she has such a sensitive stomach we have to be careful and take it slow, but we look forward to moving on from the super expensive pregestimil that is only sold in one or two stores in the whole valley.

Later this month Scott and I are looking forward to our first experience of leaving Ivy to be tended by someone that is unrelated (they'll be watching the boys too, but the boys are veterans now). This is quite nerve-wracking for me, but I really need to learn to trust others. Our Bishop, Bishop Fenn, and his wife, Nicole (one of my visiting teachers), are going to take on the job so that we can attend the Dotcomsecrets Christmas Party. The kids probably couldn't be in better hands! Wish me luck to not die from worry, or call 50 times while we're gone.

Birthday Party

We had a combined birthday party for Ivy and Corbin. Ivy turned 1, Corbin is turning 5 on the 16th. Thanks to everyone that came to the party. We had a lot of fun!

Ivy's ladybug cake

The mother-load

Corbin has been asking for a remote-control car for weeks!

Yay! Food!

Ivy enjoyed a plastic spoon ALMOST more than her toys!

A collection of Curious George books. Corbin is in heaven!

Ellie breaking in the doll stroller

A new doll

Checking out the ladybug cake

Goin' for the antennae

yummy

playing with her new dolls

Chasing the hummer while daddy drives

Ivy's First Birthday!

Can you believe its been a year? I can't! Well Ivy turns one year old on saturday, so in honor of our miracle girl, Scott made this FANTASTIC video. Enjoy it, it really shows how amazing and adorable she truly is. Happy Birthday Ivy! We are so proud of you, and love you so much. I hope there will be a million more happy memories with you.

Click HERE if the video below isn't working

Happy at Home

We're home! We spent exactly 2 weeks in Salt Lake for Ivy's surgery. Everything (as I'm sure you know) went much better than last time. We are so happy to be back home, and back to our regular life. Corbin is back in school, they are back to riding their bikes everyday (even though its cold). We're taking walks, and looking at neighbors halloween decorations. Ivy is her same adorable self, making us giggle with the cute things she does. She's healing like a champ, and hasn't needed any pain medication in 4 or 5 days, and no longer needs oxygen. She's just my little hero! It will probably be a while before we are able to go to church or anywhere else again, which makes us sad, but we have to avoid crowds because of swine flu and rsv. Ivy can't get the regular swine flu mist vaccine because she received blood transfusions during surgery, so we have to wait til they get the shot kind in our area. And since we all live together, we all have to get the shot version too, which could be a while! Anyway, here are some pics from the last few days. Enjoy.

Sunset from the drive home, I just thought it was pretty.

Ivy enjoying the outdoors.

Now we have two wiggle bikes, and the boys are loving them.

More wiggle bike fun.

Getting some use out of their mario/luigi hats before halloween.

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen!

And more cuteness....

Corbin really missed his bike!

Ivy is Home

Ivy has proven over her last 8 days in the hospital that she is still wolverine baby. After a rough day yesterday, waiting for a sedated echo, and not being allowed to eat because of it, we were ready to be done with the hospital. So imagine our excitement of being let out today!! Scott and I walked off the elevator into the Surgical unit, and they informed us we could leave even before we walked in Ivy's room. So exciting. We were home (well, Marde's home in Sandy) before 1:00pm. Ivy is doing well, although she is going to have to be on oxygen for a while again, and she got one new medication. We have to be careful picking her up and putting her down for about six weeks, but other than that, we can play and be normal again. We are so happy with her, she amazes us everyday. We are going to stay here until the weekend to give her chest a little more time to heal before she's strapped into the carseat for such a long drive, but at least we don't have to go to the hospital anymore, or leave her there crying and broken hearted at our walking away. 8 days is WAY better than 7 weeks, we'll take it!

Last night, after she was finally allowed to eat again.

After we arrived this morning. She was so happy to see daddy, who she hadn't seen since Sunday.

Getting ready to go.

Bye, bye Drs, and nurses, I won't miss you!

Eating and playing with her shoes right before we left. Life is good again!

Still Doing Great

So when we arrived at the hospital this morning Ivy had all her tubes and wires already out! All she has left is one IV in her foot, and her oxygen. We moved from the picu to the surgical unit because she is doing so great! We gave her a sponge bath, and were able to hold her again. Another awesome day!