Christmas Eve Breakfast

We spent Christmas Eve morning with my parents.

We went to Belgian Waffle Inn for Breakfast.

Julie and Tammy
Aunt Lisa and Claire
Corbin


Brad ordered waffles with Vanilla Ice cream. He ate ALL of it.

Silly boys.
After breakfast we went to Grandma Moose's house and made cookies for Santa Clause.

Shrinky Dinks

Nanny bought some Shrinky Dink ornimants for the kids to make.

Watching them shrink


Admiring their work.

Surgery

I had my hysterectomy surgery on the 5th of December. There was a mix of emotions that day. I was heartbroken that I would no longer be able to have children but relieved that my health would be better. It was a hard decision but the right one.

After the surgery I had a really hard time recovering. I was still in a lot of pain from the previous c-section surgery and I still had the blood clots. The week before Christmas I had a fever again with severe abdominal pain. I called my OB who told me to go straight to the hospital. I was admitted again with an infection. I had a blot clot that was attached to my bladder that was infected. Since I would be in the hospital for several days we sent the kids to Salt Lake so family could help us. Brad and Claire went to nanny and papa's house and Harrison went to Grandma and Grandpa Moose's house.

Being in the hospital right before Christmas was so difficult. The nurses and aids would come into the room and ask if I missed my kids. I would burst into tears EVERY time. Then stop crying just in time for someone to ask again. At one point I walked down the hall and hid by the window for a while to avoid the question. They put me on several IV antibiotics. The decision was finally made to drain the abscess. They don't like to surgically go in and remove them because it can cause the infection to spread to other places. The decided to aspirate it with a needle through CAT scan guidance. I am not going to lie... I was WAY nervous. Thank goodness they sedated me once I got to radiology. Then I didn't care about anything. After 4 days in the hospital the pain had subsided and the fevers were gone.

The kids on the other hand had a hay-day. It was a week of Party. Brad got to go ice fishing with Papa and Matt and Claire got to bake and be with Nanny.

After I was released from the hospital we headed to Salt Lake to spend Christmas our family.

Little Dancer

Claire had her first dance recital in December. She did such a good job. She was such a ham on stage. There was a solo part and she did a funny break dance across the stage. Then looked around to see if anyone saw her do it. Her dad gave her flowers at the end. I don't know what she liked best...the actual dancing or wearing bright red lipstick and mascara.

Updates...

I sat down tonight and did a MAJOR update. I wish I was more consistent....but it is what it is. I do what I can.

We are slowly trying to catch up on sleep and adjust to a new person in our family. I think we are catching on. The kids have been so helpful and loving to their new brother.

We have been battling so much illness in our family. Claire had pneumonia last week and Brad and Randy are starting with the coughing. Luckily Harrison has dodged it...knock on wood. It kills Brad and Claire to not hold or get too close to their brother. Harrison is getting the Synagis shots (to prevent RSV). His lungs are still so fragile from being premature and having Respiratory Distress Syndrome. We have tried so hard to keep him away from crowds and germs. It is going to be a long RSV season.

I am slowly getting better. When I delivered my platelets were low (a side effect of pre-eclampsia) so my incision bled more than normal. I developed several hematomas (blood clots) the size of golf balls and one the size of a baseball around my incision. My muscle couldn't heal. Then the hematomas became abscessed. I have no idea how?? I was put on antibiotics and it seemed to clear up. I had several days of feeling great. Then the day before Thanksgiving and after being off antibiotics for 3 days it hit me again. This time it was like a ton of bricks. I had a fever of 103 and I could barely get out of bed. My incision burned like fire and every inch of my body ached. My white blood cells were elevated. My doctor was back and forth about admitting me to the hospital then decided to try one more time with oral antibiotic. I was put on 2 very strong antibiotics. Thank goodness I woke up the next morning feeling better. The last thing I wanted to do was spend Thanksgiving in a hospital!!! I am scheduled for surgery on Monday the 5th to have a hysterectomy. I can't wait to have it over with so I can start a new healthy chapter in my life. It has been a hard 2 years struggling with my health. I want my body back!!!

There are several new posts. Maybe next time I wont wait a whole month to post updates.

Little Babes

While Kendra was in Logan for Claire's birthday I asked her to take a few pictures of Harrison. She did Reagan's pictures a few weeks ago and I think they turned out great!!! She is so talented.

Reagan Amy Fischer ...



Harrison Mathias Fischer...




The other morning I was messing around with our camera and wanted a close up of Harrison's hands. They wont be this little for much longer.

It makes me think of how dependent a child is on their mother.

99.9% of a mothers time is given to their children.


Then I got the idea to put all of our hands together.

I love ALL these hands. I would do anything for them...even give them the extra 0.1%

Gratitude

I woke up to this beautiful sunrise on Thanksgiving morning. It was the perfect way to start the day. I sat in my bay window while I fed Harrison. It gave me time to reflect on how many wonderful things I have in my life.

Lately I had been feeling discouraged. It was difficult to be on bed rest, have a NICU baby, then struggle with a very difficult recovery while trying to care for an infant and two other children. I think most mothers go through that. At least I hope I am not the only one. When I get emotional Randy always has words of encouragement and love. He gently reminds me of all the wonderful and beautiful things I have to be grateful for. Then I feel silly for being discouraged.

I have such deep gratitude for a loving Heavenly Father who trusted me with three of his amazing children. I am thankful for a hard working husband. I am thankful for my home and the ability for us to provide for our family. I am thankful for my parents who raised me in the gospel and have supported me, helped me, and made me feel proud of my accomplishments. I am thankful for the spirit. I have missed going to church and feeding my soul. I can't wait to get back. I am thankful for the Savior and his unselfish sacrifice for me.

I have it GOOD. My life is VERY blessed.

Thanksgiving Preview Dinner

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving Brad asked if we could make a special Thanksgiving dinner to surprise dad. It was fun cooking with my kiddos. The kids even got to use my special dishes that night.

Growing up I remember BIG Thanksgiving dinners with my HUGE family. We never got to use nice dishes it was always paper and we usually had it at a church because there were just so many of us. I enjoyed this nice quiet intimate dinner with my little family.

Claire's Birthday

I can't believe my little girl is 4 years old!!! She is so sassy and full of life. She loves to be the center of attention. She has been such a good helper to me while I've been sick and loves to help her baby brother. She is still off the charts in height. She has been wearing a size 6 for the past six months.

To start out the day she requested blueberry pancakes. She was so excited to blow out her first set of candles for the day.





Celebrating with her cousin Reagan



We had chili bread bowls for dinner



Our neighbor's little boy Wyatt was so cute. He was getting treats food and snacks from every single person in the house. He was so cute.

Claire is really into Cowgirls this year. She asked for a real pony for her birthday. We are lame and told her she could only have a toy one.








She was spoiled ROTTEN with all the nice gifts.

Her Nanny sewed her this cute nightgown and sleeping pony. I have to convince her to put on real clothes in the morning because she wants to wear the nightgown 24/7.

The next day we took Claire out for traditional Birthday Lunch. She of course chose Chili's. She never wants the kids menu. She always ends up eating the regular entrees. She has very mature taste buds.

She loved her Birthday shake....what a cutie!!

Meeting Baby Reagan

Tim and Kamie came to spend the weekend with us before Thanksgiving. Brad and Claire were so excited to meet Reagan. They didn't get to go to the hospital so they had only seen pictures.

The babies were happy to be together again but annoyed at how many pictures we took.
Tim and Kamie make such good parents. It was a much needed visit. We LOVED having them stay. I hated saying goodbye.