Michael's birthday party

Michael is going to start a preschool group soon with 3 other kids in the ward, and he had some of them over to both get to know them and celebrate his birthday. 2 of them made it, while the 3rd ended up going to urgent care instead (nursemaid's elbow). It was such a nice, little party. Michael and Enoch both seemed to have a really good time. I'm convinced that little kids actually do like smaller parties better than big ones. Or maybe that's just my kids, and my genes rubbing off on them too, since I've never been a fan of the loudness and craziness that large groups bring.

We had mini burgers, story time, trampoline time with balloons, bubbles, and cupcakes. Simple and sweet.

It was Sharon's idea to read stories, and I was initially really hesitant. Sometimes I'm lazy and don't want to put in the effort to get animated, but once we got started the kids all loved it and I had a great time.

The birthday boy was the only one who cried all night :)

Peter seems to be doing great. It's still unclear when he got CMV, but things are indicating it was probably in utero. Not great news, but he's doing so well and seems so normal that we are comforted.

Peter's blessing, Michael's Birthday celebration

We blessed Peter today. It was great to have Mom and Dad be able to come for the weekend. They flew in for less than 48 hours, and by the time they left today Enoch was laying down in front of the doorway to block their exit. We were so happy to have them here and it was a great weekend.

Michael turns 2 on August 12th, but we decided to celebrate his birthday now while Grandma and Grandpa are here.

We got him a.... new bike! He was really excited.

This picture is funny because it shows how a lot of the evening went, with everyone in their own little world

Enoch has gotten very good at his glider bike, and Michael really looks up to him. The following video is hilarious.






Several other photos of playing with bikes, the children's museum, etc

This angry-birds-like catapult game was fun

Grandma and grandpa brought some surprises, some of the biggest hits were lizards that would stretch and stick to walls

CMV, our wonderful boys

Wrote this a week ago and didn't get around to publishing it.... Last week we found out Peter had CMV growing in his urine. CMV often causes permanent hearing damage in babies that were infected during pregnancy but appeared fine at birth. This caused (is causing) us a lot of distress at the time. Follow up tests are somewhat inconclusive, so we are still watching and waiting and occasionally making a lot of loud noises while Peter is sleeping to prove to ourselves that he can still hear us. It seems most likely that he will be fine, however, and we count ourselves lucky and continue to hope for the best. I've spent a fair amount of time in a children's hospital recently, and I've seen what it's like for parents to deal with severely disabled children. It's a challenge that I can't imagine facing and I'm so grateful that Peter seems to be doing well.

In this picture I think you can tell his unique features. He looks different from his brothers.

Little fatty: he was born at 7 lb 7 oz and is now about 12 lbs!

With all the excitement around Peter, we try not to neglect Enoch and Michael. Luckily, we have amazing extended family who haven't forgotten them either!! Thank you Aunt Shelley and Aunt Kerri!

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