Elijah's First Birthday Party- Snapshots

Elijah's First Birthday Party- Festivities

A nice small party with Grandma and Grandpa and Elijah's best pal- Clara!

I did a "Dump Truck" theme with party stuff I found last year for dirt cheap on clearance! It pays to think ahead! I made his cake look like a mound of dirt:) It was fun!

Arianna

Sophia

Ella

Elijah enjoying his cake!

Opening presents- each of the girls picked out something for him. He liked their taste!

He REALLY liked this tiger from Grandma and Grandpa- it was adorable!

Me and my little man!
Thank you EVERYONE who came!
It meant a lot that you were there and thank you for the gifts-
Elijah was playing with them all when we got home (so were his sisters:)

Another Man's Junk

This past Friday and Saturday, we had a HUGE 9 family yard sale at Autumn Gardners house- yes, 9 families! It was HUGE! It was SO much fun! I was able to help out without children for a few hours on Friday (thanks, Lina!) and then all day on Saturday (thanks Mark!)
It was such a good break to hang out with friends, catch up and sit in the sun!

Erika, Christie, Autumn, Dawn, Alyssa, Caroline, Laura, Katie and I all participated. Here is how we kept ourselves organized and in touch with our husbands!

Christie was our "banker" figuring all the money out in the end. I made out really good!
Getting rid of baby stuff, maternity clothes, kids clothes and pre-4 children clothes (that I will never fit into again) really paid off!

Erika and her girls plus Aspen.

the host: Autumn Garnder- THANK YOU for opening your house and yard for the madness!

Elijah has 2 more teeth

Yep, Elijah has 2 more teeth- middle top 2! So now there are 4 all together- here he is 11 months old. He has learned to say Yeah, growl like a tiger and walk with the help of toys.

He is quite the little man.

This Makes me Smile!

Mark LOVES to wrestle with the kids- it makes me smile-
I am SO thankful my kids have a daddy who loves them
and LOVES to spend time with them making them laugh!
We have a GREAT family...

Elijah Litzner Update

Elijah had his surgery last Wed and he did really well- Here's Giles recap of the surgery...

Elijah here--
Hey guys, I'm a little tuckered out...had kinda a big day. Just went in for a "routine diaphragmatic hernia operation" and somehow came out with no appendix. Must have signed the wrong dotted line or something. Surgery went very well (so I'm told, didn't get a chance to watch since I was kinda knocked out). The shocking news is that I was missing about 90% of my diaphragm! Yep, I kinda had to sit down once I heard that too. The surgery went something like this: they gave me a dose of the knock out stuff (they told me to count down from 10 in spanish, but I never made it that far---I was out), then the doctor (Dr. Oldham) and his team went to work making an incision about two inches or so just below my ribs. Once open, they took their time delicately moving my stomach, liver, intestines, and other miscellaneous parts into their proper location. They thought my left lung might only be a nubby, but it turns out that it's about 50% whole (I'm a glass half full kinda guy). All in all the surgery went pretty smoothly---4 hours of smoothly. They capped off the adventure by actually taking my appendix too--and you thought I was joking. It's not actually gone yet, just tied off until it decides to hitch a ride to my diaper (if ya know what I mean). The reason for the whole appendix ordeal is that my tummy is all mixed up like a tossed salad and would be in the wrong spot; so if in the future I happened to need my appendix out it could throw the doctors a little curve ball. And finally, I'm wheeled back to my cozy little Pod (E25) awaiting the finishing touches on Friday. They left my tummy open so everything can get adjusted to their new home. If they sewed me up nice and tight, then my little lungs would have a fit and my tummy would hurt a whole lot. So back to the O.R. on Friday for a couple of stitches, and maybe we'll stop off for some ice cream (if I can pay off the nurses).

Just want to warn you though, I am going to be a lot sicker for the next couple of days before I start to get better. Instead of tubes going in through my mouth, the doctors stuck them through my nose! Daddy already warned me that just because the doctor put tubes in my nose doesn't mean that I can stick things in my nose as I get older (just between you and me, I told him what he wanted to hear but we'll have to see what cool objects life brings my way). So, I'm gonna look a little different for a while, but sometimes you have to go through the tough stuff before you can get better. Hey, the doctor had to cut me wide open and do lots of ouchy things in order for me to even have a chance to heal and live a normal life. God has to do that to us sometimes too. Even though we don't want to go through the tough times---you know, the really ouchy times of life like trials and tests---God has to put us under the knife, to move things in place and even remove other things so we can live the life we were meant to live. So if God has to bring you to the O.R. don't fight it. Just submit to the Master Surgeon...and live.

So, keep praying everyone! He got sewed up on Friday and still seems to be stable... More updates later!

Where has the year gone?

Well, the school year has come to a close- My twins have learned SO much its amazing! They can read small words, write all their letters, count to 100 and their coloring is so pretty:)
Here is Miss Sophia on her last day of school (above) and on her first day (below)
She really has changed!

And Miss Arianna on her last day (above) and fist day (below).
Arianna really seemed to mature SO much socially-
she LOVES playing and talking with other kids- she is very outgoing
while Sophia tends to be more shy and plays by herself.

Miss Barrows (above) and Miss Curry (below) worked with the girls every day.
They LOVE their teachers!
I didnt have a picture on the first day because they were so shy-
look how far they've come!
We bought and signed a coffee cup for Miss Curry
and a plant holder for Mrs Barrows as end of the year gifts.
I cannot thank them both enough for the love and encouragement
and wisdom they gave my girls this year.
And most of all for their love for God that the girls saw and heard every day.

And Mr Davis ( you made it on my blog:)

The girls LOVED this part of the school day when at 8am,

they would be greeted by Mr. Davis who always was ready with
a smile, a hello and a piece of chocolate to start their school day!
Even Ella caught on and would ask every morning to go see Mr. Davis
(she needs to wait two more years and it will be her turn!)
We made Mr. Davis a mug that the girls drew pictures on-
they were so excited to give it to him!

Its been a GREAT school year and I cannot rave enough about Silverstate and the teachers and staff that have made such a BIG difference in my kids lives! We will (hopefully) be sending them there next year to start Kindergarten with Mrs. Johnson:)
Now, on to a FUN FILLED summer...