A Winter Wonderland

For the first time in 80 years, we had a white Christmas in Dallas, TX. Can you believe it?! There is snow everywhere! The storm came through on Christmas Eve and started to melt by the next day, but there are still some patches of ice and snow on the ground. It has been very exciting for the boys…Evan and Daddy made some snowballs and threw them in the street (or at least Manish claims that is what he threw them at). Ethan, on the other hand, would not touch the snow because it was “dirty,” and he was very concerned about it getting the cars dirty! Aiden, of course, is more interested with his little toy cars than anything else. The boys are in love with the Christmas lights, and every time we see a light display, they beg to “find more Christmas trees, pleeeeeeeeeeassse?” As we were driving the other day, we saw a lighted nativity scene, and were trying to explain it to the boys. As we drove away, Ethan very sweetly said, “Find more baby Jesus, please?”

The boys loved opening their Christmas presents, and ‘helping’ everyone else, too! They are old enough now to enjoy opening gifts and are beginning to understand the concept of gift-giving. Although it was a very hectic day for everyone, the best part by far was watching the kids enjoy opening their gifts.

Aiden Update:
The doctors in Boston helped identify the cause of the bleeding and it has now almost completely stopped. He is still having some episodes of pain, but they are not as frequent as they were previously. They believe that the undiagnosed J-tube problems caused so much trauma and irritation to the tract that he developed ulcers in his large intestines. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done other than correcting the problem and waiting for them to heal. Because the site was so inflamed and irritated, the surgeon had to put in a longer tube until some of the swelling had gone done. Since the swelling has gone down, that tube is now too large and has started causing some irritation. On Monday (12/28), Aiden will have a minor surgical procedure to replace that J-tube. Please pray that everything will go well and that the combination of the ulcers healing and new tube will help him feel better.

In January, Aiden will go back into the Intensive Feeding Program at Our Children’s House (a pediatric rehab hospital) here in Dallas. The program will be all day, every day for 5 weeks. This is the same feeding program that he started in March, but was unable to finish due to respiratory issues. Aiden’s medical team feels that this is the best ‘next step’ for him at this point, and we will see how well he does and how much he can handle. It would be wonderful if he is able to start eating more by mouth, and could get to the point where we would only have to use tube feedings supplementally. He desparately wants to eat by mouth, so please pray that everything will go well and that (health-wise) he will be able to handle it. This will also be hard on Ethan and Evan, as they cannot understand why Mommy and Aiden are suddenly gone all day. We are still trying to work out coverage so that we have someone to care for them throughout the program, which is another prayer request. Please pray that all of these details will work out and that the program will be successful for Aiden.

As we count our many blessing and begin a new year, we are so grateful for each of you, our family and friends, and so thankful for your continued support,kind thoughts and faithful prayers for our family and specifically for Aiden’s health. From our family to yours, we wish you a very happy and healthy New Year in 2010!

 

Christmas fun with Aunt Amisha: Evan helped decorate the gingerbread house

Ethan was also a big helper

Good job, boys! They are so proud of their work!

A rare picture of all three together

They loved looking at the Christmas trees at the Great Wolf Lodge

Wow, they all sat still long enough for a picture

Of course, Aiden thinks he is a little king

And another one…this is a record

A very rare picture of everyone together

Evan was a little frightened of the Christmas Carousel at first, but had a good time

Aunt Aleta stood with Ethan

Aiden loved it!

Ethan is ready to stop

They also got to look at the bear

Frozen water

Snow is everywhere

Evan is loving Christmas!

Ethan too

And of course…

Boys, that is not your gift

Time to unwrap

Nothing is better than cars

Especially for Aiden

They love their Aunt

Evan explores his new toys

Another one to open

Aiden was too busy with his new car to care about any other gifts

Loving them!

Another one for Ethan

DVDs (or as they say, “V-V-D”)

Aiden finally moved on to his coloring pad

You too, Aiden! I had no idea you could write!

Evan explores…he loves coloring and this is perfect

Bedlam!

This picture describes the day…messy, bedlam, crazy…but happy and full

Aiden loves playing with the bus

Ethan has gotten very good at building towers

Evan is so adorable

What a mess!

He hates having dirty hands

Mommy and her babies

Wild man

So cute!

The boys getting their medicine right before bedtime

Time to brush

Ethan, are you up to no good?

Cute little bear (with a milk mustache)

Don’t stick your hand in front of the camera

Amisha takes Aiden for a ride

The weather outside is frightful…

And its even cold indoors! The temperature has been as low as 21 degrees which is truly insane in Texas. Back in the northeast, that was nothing. It even snowed several days ago!

We have a ton of images from Thanksgiving. Among other things, the boys love to destroy things, drive, play with computers, collect acorns, go for walks and stare at the moon. On that last point, we think we know who the “man in the moon” really is. Take a look below.

The boys love to build big towers!

And then laugh when they knock them down

Aiden, show me your smile

Ethan, you are not supposed to be rocking the chair!

Buddies

Ethan is flying so high!

Grandpa loves his little hairball

Evan is showing Uncle Sachin how to use the Blackberry

Grandma taking Aiden for a stroll

Uncle Sachin knows how to get the boys moving along by showing them the phone

Time for a picture break!

What a face!

Two going on sixteen

Meanwhile, Aiden is playing hide’n’seek with Grandma

Evan goes head first!

Ethan, wrong way!

Climbing

Sliding

Swinging

Grandpa gives Ethan a big push

Aiden loves his Papa

The higher the better

Aiden wants to be pushed

The man in the moon (and now we all know who that is)

Evan is trying to find Mr. Moon

Grandpa helps him

So sweet

A penny for your thoughts, Aiden

Papa teaches them about money

Aiden takes a slide

Aiden, don’t look so intimidated

Papa and Ethan walk home together

One little…

Two little…

Three little Indians.

The real chief

The assistant chief

Sharing is caring

The twins in their very own car!

Amisha shows the boys how to play with their new race track

Excuse me, can I bother you for directions?

Cold, wet, and naked….not the best time for a picture

Tongue action

The twins have moved on from their ABC’s to health science

Mr. Owl gets night time kisses

Someone looks tired

Ethan is so focused

Twins, it is very cold outside so bundle up

Aiden, please leave your shoes on

Rascal!

Daddy and “Ethey”

Daddy shielding his boo bear from the cold

Aiden, put your gloves on! It’s cooooold.

Amisha bundled up

Evan collects acorns

While Aiden laughts it up

Amisha and Ethey pose for a picture

And then he runs away

Little Turkey is back…

After his 5th trip to Boston, Aiden is back home! And he is very excited to be back! He has developed some new “statements” such as “uh-huh, uh-huh, O-kaaaay” and “Ok…buh buye..have a nice day.” He says these quite a bit and is even more wound up as he is currently on oral steriods. Unfortunately, he developed some atelectasis’ from the procedures, allergies, etc. (hence, the reason for the steroids).

During his stay in Boston, his feeding tube was replaced. Within a couple of days, it was out of place and they had to put in a new type of feeding tube. Hopefully, we won’t have the same issue because fixing it requires surgery.

Please continue to keep him in your prayers. He is very happy and doing reasonably well but with Aiden, we never know!

The boys had a great Thanksgiving with Papa, Grandma, “Oak” (Uncle) and Amisha.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Amisha reads to the twins

Ethan is all ready for his phone conference

Evan is very concerned about his cuticles!

Evan is making sure Aunt Amisha is clipping to his liking

So curious…

…Or maybe worried

Now it’s Ethan’s turn!

He watches with interest…

Evan inspects Amisha’s handiwork

So full of life!

Running free at the Dallas Arboretum!

Peek-a-boo!

The twins had fun in this makeshift house

Whatcha looking at?

Here they come

B-ball

The boys had so much fun with Aunt Aleta!

The twins favorite puzzle

The wheels on the bus go…

Aiden looking for Mr. Sun

Aiden and Amisha play together

Very focused

So excited to be home!

Aiden found the perfect spot for hide-n-seek

Ethan showing everyone he can eat like a big boy

Coloring with new markers from Aunt Tonya

The boys LOVE to color!

Aiden showing grandma his work

A little Picasso

Creech Family

The Creech’s were a joy to shoot! This Family Shoot took place at the Dallas Arboretum where little Kaelyn enjoyed herself on this beautiful day and so did mom and dad! One of the many things I love about Texas, 78 degree weather in the middle of November! Here are some favorites:

Love the sunglasses!

This was mom’s favorite

Loving dad, caring mom…little Kay could care less!

Another favorite

Pumpkins everywhere!

Skipping together was fun

Kay is sandwiched!

Playing hid and seek with daddy

Mom and her baby

Having fun

One of my favories

The Arboretum had great places for pictures

A Win, a Walk, a Worm and a (mini) War

The Win: Number 27! That is how many times the New York Yankees have won the World Series! I had several late nights watching the World Series and then there was the off-year elections. Between these historic televised events 🙂 and Ethan still coughing during the night, I have not had that much sleep this week. Hopefully, the next few days will be restful.

The Walk: Amisha and I took the boys for a walk. It was interesting because of…

The Worm: At first, they were intrigued. Then, Evan wanted to feed the worm an acorn. And then…it was over. See the images below for more details.

The War: E&E had fun pushing each other around in the laundry basket. But, some dissension arose over who ‘owned’ the basket.

For more details, see images below. Also, we posted some video (it is over the last few weeks).

 

 

Evan

Ethan (and his doggy)

Ethan, and his cracker

Outdoors Ethan

Outdoors Evan

He is looking for Mr. Moon

I love the outfit!

Little Ethan, come to me

They LOVE picking up the acorns

Evan, don’t run away!

Ethan wants to climb over

Boo-balicious

Throwing acorns

Having fun!

They found a worm

Ethan was intrigued

Evan tried to feed it an acorn

He tried real hard

This looks like trouble for the worm

Right after this image was taken, Evan’s foot landed on…the poor little worm

Ethan loves running

Beautiful outdoors

Ethan, who do you see?

Twins…classic.

Ethan loves being pushed

But Evan decided it was his turn…and used a pillow to force Ethan out

Apparently, it worked

Ethan decided to play with his toys than battle the little bear