Trav, Brand, Lexi, Hunter and Tate

Happy Birthday to Our Precious Little Girl!

2014-01-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Lexi turned 7 yesterday! She is everything to me and I absolutely adore our little girl. She is such a sweetheart and is so beautiful inside and out. This past week she cut her hair so that she could donate it to Locks of Love. We had never talked to her about this, she came up with it on her own.

Lexi has always been a comforter. She spends her days looking for those that may be hurting or feeling left out. She is quick to try and make them feel better. A couple of weeks ago she told Brandi she needed two sandwiches in her lunch. Brandi was a little confused because she rarely eats all of her lunch. When Brandi asked Lexi about it she could tell she was a little hesitant to tell her why she wanted two sandwiches. Eventually she told her that there was a little boy in her grade that didn't ever have enough lunch and she wanted to give him a sandwich.

She has had to grow up much faster than we would like and has faced some very difficult challenges in her young life. Tate and Lexi had a very special bond. Lexi really wanted a little sister so she could share her room. When we had our ultrasound and found out Tate was a boy we were a little nervous to tell Lexi. The initial disappointment about having another little brother lasted about 1 second and then she was happily thinking of all the things she can do with another little brother. His missing hand was the coolest thing to Lexi and she was always so proud to show it off to strangers. It was always fun to watch their reaction and that awkward moment as they tried to find the words to say.

While I will probably never publicly share the details of the horrific night that Tate passed away, there is one thing that I would like to share in honor of our sweet girl. Lexi had snuck into our bed that night. When Brandi found Tate it was about 4am and she yelled for me to help. There was a ton of panic and commotion in our room as we rushed to call 911 and start CPR. I picked Tate up and as I was leaving our bedroom I looked at Lexi and she was awake, but completely calm. Our eyes met for a brief second as I rushed to the dining room and I could tell that she was being comforted by our Savior at that very moment. We had fireman and police officers throughout our house that morning and she remained calm the whole time and even was able to go back to sleep.

The hospital was a devastating experience on all that were there. Eventually we recognized that we had two sweet children at home that had no idea what was going on. Without saying anything, Brandi and I knew we had to be the ones to tell them and that we needed to hug Lexi and Hunter as soon as possible to help us with the grief. Leaving the hospital without our sweet Tate was horrendous. Ever since that moment we have lived our lives feeling like a piece of us is missing and that we are constantly forgetting something.

As we drove home we committed to each other that we would not allow this to tear us apart, but that it would bind us together forever. When we got home some of our family was there and the kids were just starting to wake up. We grabbed Hunter and had him come with us into Lexi’s room. There are no guidelines for breaking news like this to your children, so we just prayed for guidance and hoped we could tell them in a way that would not be too devastating for them.

We told them that Tate had gone to live with his Heavenly Father again and Lexi immediately understood and began crying. Hunter understood as well, but his little emotions didn’t know how to handle the news. He started laughing as tears were streaming down his cheeks. I think in his mind he wanted us to be playing a trick and everything was okay, but he could sense it was real and he was very sad. The next thing that happened absolutely shocked me and verified my observation from earlier that morning that the Savior had been comforting Lexi. She got all cheery and told us that it was okay because Jesus would take care of him and that he would be resurrected and get his hand back and we would be able to see him again. I honestly feel that Lexi had the best understanding of the Plan of Salvation than anyone we talked to during the entire process.

This is how she lives her life. She tries her hardest to find the positive in any situation and has a very tender heart. Lexi and Hunter have helped Brandi and I as we grieve, and try to put on a strong act for everyone. Our children are our strength and motivation to keep on going. Whenever things get tough I think of Lexi and how brave she has been as she deals with very difficult emotions. Through it all she has remained our upbeat, happy little girl that is constantly looking for others she can help. I am so grateful to be her Daddy and I am grateful that she recognizes when I am the one that needs help.

Lexi you are absolutely beautiful and I hope you had a great birthday. Mom and I will always be your biggest fans!

So much to be grateful for...

2013-11-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Holidays are very difficult around our house lately. It feels as though we are just going through the motions trying to make them good experiences for Lexi and Hunter. I have approached this Thanksgiving with much apprehension, knowing it will be another difficult holiday without our sweet Tate.

With how much pain and sorrow we have experienced this past year, we still have so much to be grateful for. We are lucky to be Tate's family while he was on this Earth and we are lucky that we get to be his Family forever. I am a different man since becoming Tate's dad and I hope to someday have the same joy, love and compassion that Tate demonstrated every day of his life.

I am not sure if I can explain this very well, but I always knew one of my children would have some special circumstances that would need extra care. Brandi likes to share a story about when we were leaving the hospital how I was not affected by the news we had received that Tate would be missing his left hand. My first comment was almost of excitement that he could hunt with a crossbow, which is pretty awesome. It didn’t phase me like it should have because I had been prepared from an early age to receive the news we received that day. Tate was going to be our special little boy and I couldn’t wait to meet him.

Tate immediately brought so much peace and happiness into our family, it was incredible to feel the change in our home. After we brought him home from the hospital it was a very busy time trying to figure out what we needed to do to help him continue to grow and develop. It seemed like he had a Dr. appointment with a different specialist every week and the feeding tube was absolutely foreign to us. It could have been an extremely stressful time for our family, but it wasn’t. I am sure people watched us from afar and could only see chaos as we tried to figure everything out.

There is no doubt in my mind that the savior stayed very close to our precious Tate throughout his life. Through all of the craziness, Tate had the most peaceful presence about him. Anytime Brandi or I felt stressed we would hold Tate and all of our worries would go away. Hearing stories from people that had the privilege of knowing Tate brings so much joy to Brandi and I because we know they felt how incredible Tate is as well. It is amazing to me to see how many lives Tate touched in his short life.

I am absolutely honored that I was selected to be the Father of such an amazing little boy and I am so grateful for all that Tate has taught me. I see the world differently now. I am so grateful Tate has Lexi and Hunter as siblings because they are perfect for him. They took such good care of him and were so proud of his many accomplishments. I know that they will continue to take good care of others as Tate taught them to see the world through a different perspective. There is so much good in the world. This thanksgiving we hope everyone will see people differently and reach out to those that may be struggling with physical or emotional challenges and help them.

We love our little boo with all of our hearts! I am so grateful that he makes sure we knew he loves us everyday as well.

Happy 2nd Birthday Tate

2013-10-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

I know we only had him 18 months, not 4 years, but this song fits him perfectly!

10/18/2013

Dear Tate,

Today is your 2nd Birthday, but just like your 1st Birthday, it is not the Birthday that I had planned for you.

Last year I stayed up very late the night before your birthday putting the very last touches on your party stuff. It was a wild animal 1st Birthday party in honor of our 1st wild year with you. I remember wrapping water bottles with new “Tate is One” labels. Everything was perfectly planned and ready, so I went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night sick and in a lot of pain. Then the puking started and just kept going. Daddy got up and could tell I wasn’t feeling good, he asked me if I was going to be okay. I told him of course, it’s our baby boy’s 1st birthday we have lots of fun things to do today, I am going to be fine. But, I wasn’t, I couldn’t even stand up to get you out of your crib without throwing up. I knew I was going to need some help, so I called your Grandma Trace who rushed right over. The pain in my side was getting worse and I was starting to realize that something was really wrong. I told my Mom I needed to go get checked somewhere. She called Whitney to come watch you, Lexi and Hunter.

When Whitney arrived I walked into the family room and saw you. I couldn’t leave until I held you. I asked Whitney to bring you to me as I sat in our recliner. She placed you in my arms and I just held you. Then the tears started rolling down my cheeks. Looking back now that moment reminds me a lot of the day you were born and the nurse placed you in my arms. It was a special moment for the two of us. I was in so much pain physically, but I knew that I had to hold my little guy on his birthday. I remember asking Whitney, “Why did this have to happen today? Any other day would have been fine, but not today.” Then I went to the hospital and found out I had to have my appendix removed. I asked the Doctors if they could give me a pill or something just so I could get through your perfect party I had planned or if I could come back later and get my appendix out then, but they only laughed at me. The party had to wait.

At the time everyone told me that it was fine and that you were only one, so you wouldn’t remember. That there would be a lot more birthdays for me to be a part of and that it wasn’t a big deal. But, when I was thinking about this earlier this week, how I missed the only birthday that you would have here on this earth I was feeling robbed. I told your Daddy that if I knew that was going to be the only birthday I got to share with you that I probably would have sat in the recliner holding you all day and just let me appendix burst, because that wouldn’t hurt as much as it hurts not having you here for your 2nd birthday. I am very aware that our little family’s life does not go the way we planned, but this just seemed so unfair to me. Why couldn’t I have just one birthday with you?

And then it hit me…because of what happened with my appendix we celebrated your birthday for a good 2 weeks. I came home from the hospital the day after your birthday and I sat and held you in the recliner again and you and I opened all your presents. We opened them slowly and let you play with each one as we went. There was no need to hurry to get through everyone’s gifts. It was just us, so we took our time. Then everyday there seemed to be more presents or another way to celebrate you and your birthday. We had the perfect birthday party for you that was planned; it just came a week later. Everyone who was at your party can tell you what an amazing one-year-old boy you were. You sat on the floor and opened each gift and put on quite the show for everyone. You clapped and screamed “Yay” for your gifts. You were so excited at the party and we had unwrapped so many gifts since your actual birthday that you knew exactly what you were doing. I loved watching you entertain everyone and be the star. It was a very happy birthday and I am so glad we got to stretch it out over a couple of weeks. We like to party at our house and we really celebrated your first birthday!

Now it’s your 2nd birthday and this one is not the party I had planned either. I should be planning the perfect outfit for you to wear at your party, not wondering when your headstone is going to be finished. I should be decorating with Mickey Mouse all over the house, but we are not. We are meeting family at the cemetery and letting a bunch of balloons go up to heaven for you. I would give anything to hold you in my arms today. I know you are close; otherwise I wouldn’t make it through the tough days like today. I miss you so much. I can’t even dream how amazing you must be. If Heavenly Father needs you more than I need you right now, you must be doing something very important. And I am so proud of you! Your Daddy and I feel so lucky to have you in our family.

Lexi and Hunter love you so much and still make you a big part of our everyday life. I watch them and I am always wondering what you would be doing if you were here with them. Would you still look in the mirror and yell, “Hunter! Hunter!”? Would you still let your sister hug you as tight as she can without complaining? Would you still get all the kids yelling “Ahhhhh!” as we drive up the washboard dirt road to the cabin? Would you still sing “Happy Birthday” with your famous long drawn out “Haaaaaa…”? Oh, what wonderful things would you be doing right now?

It hurts so much and I can’t plan the perfect 2nd Birthday party that I always wanted for you. But, even if I knew the heartache losing you would cause our little family, I would not trade you for anything. Having you on earth for 18 months was so special and we treasure every moment you were here. You have touched so many people and made them better. We are so lucky to be your family! We love you precious boy and can’t wait to be with you forever, we will do everything we can to make sure that we get our forever with you. Thank you for watching over us and for coming to our family. Our parties here on earth may not have gone the way we planned, but that just means we get to have a bigger party in heaven! Happy Birthday Tate, Mommy loves you!

The definition of resilience is bouncing back after adversity...

2013-10-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

I read an article on the Primary Children's blog. The blog article is about bouncing back as a family after you experience some trials. I love this quote from the article:

The definition of resilience is bouncing back after adversity. Resilient people have skills they can draw on to see them through difficult life events such as the death of a family member, serious illness, and divorce.

We lost our sweet little boy 6 months ago today. The feelings of hopelessness and despair that we felt as we left the hospital without his little body that April morning are still very fresh for Brandi and I. It feels as though time stopped that morning. While we realize life has gone on, my mind seems to be stuck in that hospital room as I watched the Dr's and nurses do all that they could to save Tate while I watched helplessly pleading with our Heavenly Father to let him stay with us.

I want to be strong for Brandi and the kids all of the time and be the resilient person that I know I need to be. It is tough to do that as it feels like my mind is stuck on replay of the last couple of days of Tate's life. When I am struggling with it all the most I know Tate is close by watching down on me and helping me get through it, along with our amazing friends and family.

As active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we recently had our semi-annual general conference. This is a two day event within our church where our leaders speak to us and give us council and direction as we navigate this crazy life we are living. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has always been my favorite apostle due to his direct and poignant talks. This past Saturday he gave a talk entitled Like a Broken Vessel that felt like he was speaking directly to me and I am sure there were many members throughout the world that felt the same way. The closing of his talk was incredible and gave me comfort and peace that I will see my little buddy again and what an amazing reunion it will be:

Trust in God. Hold on in His love. Know that one day the dawn will break brightly and all shadows of mortality will flee. Though we may feel we are “like a broken vessel,” as the Psalmist says, we must remember, that vessel is in the hands of the divine potter. Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed. While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgmental, and kind.
I testify of the holy Resurrection, that unspeakable cornerstone gift in the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ! With the Apostle Paul, I testify that that which was sown in corruption will one day be raised in incorruption and that which was sown in weakness will ultimately be raised in power. I bear witness of that day when loved ones whom we knew to have disabilities in mortality will stand before us glorified and grand, breathtakingly perfect in body and mind. What a thrilling moment that will be! I do not know whether we will be happier for ourselves that we have witnessed such a miracle or happier for them that they are fully perfect and finally “free at last.”¹² Until that hour when Christ’s consummate gift is evident to us all, may we live by faith, hold fast to hope, and show “compassion one of another.”

The past six months have been the hardest times of our lives. As a family I feel like we are closer than ever as we have been forced to be resilient. Tate has taught us how to be stronger and without him continuing to help us, there is no way we would be able to function as we continue to mourn.

I love the strength I feel when I am with Brandi and the kiddos. My wife is absolutely amazing as she continues to watch over Lexi and Hunter with such great care while her heart is broken due to missing Tate. Tate had the best mommy he could have ever had and I can't wait to see her hold him again.

We are grateful for all of the help, support and prayers we have received the past six months. Thank you for "being merciful, nonjudgmental, and kind" as we mourn the loss of our sweet boy. I have heard many times that time heals all wounds, but six months into this it feels like there is no cure for this wound. I miss him more than ever and I can't wait to give Tate a huge hug and tell him how much I love him. He taught me so much in his 18 months on earth and I am so grateful and blessed that I was picked to be the Father of such an amazing little boy!

How Did We Get Here?

2013-06-17T13:13:00.002-07:00

How did we get here? This is the question Brandi and I asked each other as we stood over our sweet Tate's grave a couple weeks ago. It seems like everything since April 11, 2013 has been a blur and as reality continues to set in the sting only seems to get sharper.

We have had to make decisions that no parent should ever have to make. As I write this we have been in the midst of deciding what we should put on our child's headstone. We want Tate to be in our arms so badly, celebrating all of his amazing milestones. We want to kiss his cheeks and watch him scoot across the floor. We want to cuddle him as he falls asleep and think about how we can make his life as wonderful as possible. Instead we are picking out his headstone and reflecting on his amazing life.

How did we get here? I am not sure if I can write out what happened leading up to Tate returning to our Heavenly Father. It was very unexpected and very shocking and the details of that week are so vivid to Brandi and I. Brandi and I have replayed that week in our minds more than you could ever imagine, it is still so fresh and painful to think that it really happened.

We love our little Tate so much and our hearts ache to be with him again. The pain is unbearable at times and all we can do is hug Lexi and Hunter and do our best to help each other get through it. The hardest part for me is knowing there is nothing I can do to help take the pain away from Brandi and the kids. This is a tough thing we all have to deal with and it breaks my heart to see Brandi and the kids hurting so badly because they miss our little buddy.

We are so grateful for everyone that has supported us through it all! We can never thank everyone enough for all of the love and support our family has received.

We have created a website for Tate where we have written down a lot of our memories and anyone is free to write blog posts about Tate for our family to have forever. We want to keep the website private, so you have to register first then you can share any memories or stories you may have. We read through it often and we are grateful for everyone that has contributed so far. The website is, TateJacobson.com.

We love and miss our little buddy! The only thing that keeps us going is the knowledge that we will be with him again someday and that our family can be forever.

My Little Buddy

2012-09-24T14:25:00.002-07:00

Hunter had his 4th birthday in August and I realized today that we never posted anything about it.

His birthday was awesome, we did a skateboarding party with all of his friends and family. He is really into skateboarding so it was a blast for him to show off his skills to everyone. Rather than talking about his party I want to share why hunter is my little buddy.

While growing up I always had a special relationship with my Dad. We did everything together and to this day we still hang out all the time. Wether we are going hunting, to a BYU football game or Skiing there is always something going on. I always wanted to have a boy that loved to spend time with me and do the things that I love to do with me.

When we found out we were having a boy I was so excited. I know I said all of the cliche things like "It doesn't matter if it is a boy or a girl I will love them no matter what" and that is true. However, while looking at the ultrasound and it was confirmed that we were having a boy I about jumped through the ceiling I was so excited! I couldn't wait to teach him all of the things I love and spend time with him. The day Hunter was born i remember sitting in the hospital room and holding him and talking to him. I probably talked to him for a couple of hours about all of the fun times we were going to have up hunting, told him all about BYU Football, how I would coach his soccer teams, teach him how to ski and the list goes on.

We have always had a very special bond and I admire Hunter so much. He has the biggest heart of anyone I know and he is always taking care of other people, especially his Mother. I can't tease Brandi without Hunter telling me to stop it and sticking up for her. Yes, I have been punched in the face by Hunter as he has come to the defense of his Mother and I love it.

While I have always loved Hunter with all of my heart, my love for him has grown so much more than I thought possible the past year. Everyone that reads this Blog knows about Tate and the special circumstances Heavenly Father has entrusted him with. I will admit I worry about Tate all of the time. I worry that other kids will be mean to him and he will have a hard time growing up. Whenever I get worried about Tate I immediately think of Hunter. It is not a coincidence that Hunter is Tate's older brother.

Hunter loves his little brother so much and is so protective of him already. Ever since Tate was born Hunter has always placed toys in his car seat so he can play with them. We have never asked him to do this, but Hunter is very consistent in making sure Tate has something to play with. In addition to that he has never used Tate's disabilities as an excuse for him. He has never mentioned anything he won't be able to do because he is missing his hand. It has never crossed his mind, rather he is always telling us how Tate will be just fine and that he can't wait to play Football, Baseball, Soccer and everything else Hunter loves with Tate.

As I have watched Hunter this past year my appreciation for our Heavenly Fathers plan has grown. Hunter is meant to be here and one of his purposes in life is to take care of Tate and make sure he is protected. Lexi is exactly the same and I could do a whole other post about Lexi and how she is so special as Hunter and Tate's older sister.

Hunter is my little buddy and I am so grateful I have him as my son. Every morning when he wakes up he asks me if I have work that day. If I say I do I can see the disappointment in his face. If I say "no" he immediately asks if I have any meetings (He is not a big fan of my new church calling and the meetings that come with it). When I answer that I don't have any other commitments his face lights up and he immediately starts planning our entire day together. I hope I make him feel as loved as he makes me feel. I love spending time with him as he is so full of life and so much fun to be around!

Here are a few pictures from my phone of some of the things Hunter has been up to lately, as you can see all of the playing he does really wears him out!

I love going to the BYU games with Hunter! I think I love BYU Football almost as much as he does and it is so fun to see how excited he gets when we are going to the games.

Hunter loves skateboarding lately and he has got me into it as well. We love going out in our circle and skateboarding. This day he decided it would be fun to get his Jeep and run me over while I was practicing. This picture was taken as I was trying to get away, but shortly after I took this he rammed me as I was trying to put my phone away and knocked me off my board.

Here is his mad skateboarding skills.

This is the bow Hunter got for his 4th birthday. We were able to go hunting quite a bit this year and it is always a blast to have him by my side. We may scare every squirrel out of the woods, but it is so much fun! We even had Lexi come with us a few times this year and we all had a great time.

Here is my Dad with all of his grandkids that went hunting with us opening weekend. It was so fun to see how much fun these kids had together up in the mountains.

Lexi and Hunter have so much fun playing together lately. It has been fun to watch them get along so well and have so much fun discovering life together.

Hunter could play sports all day long! I love that he is so passionate about the things he loves to do. He is quite the athlete and I look forward to watching and helping him in whatever sport he decides to play as he grows up.

He is a great helper and we are so proud of the boy he is growing up to be. I love you Hunter Bug and I hope you had an awesome 4th birthday!

Happy Birthday Brandi... The Dirty 30!

2012-07-12T06:32:00.001-07:00

Brandi, you are an amazing person and I am lucky that I get to call you mine.

I hope Brandi doesn't mind if I share this story, but 12 years ago on her Birthday I almost made the biggest mistake of my life. Clearly she was out of my league and I was lucky enough to be her friend, let alone dating her. I adored Brandi and wanted to be with her all the time.

I gave her a card, some Diet Coke and a dozen roses for her birthday that year and in the card I kind of called it off. I wasn't sure that she liked me as much as I liked her so I thought I would set her free to date other people.

Luckily, Brandi was much wiser than I am. For anyone that knows Brandi well, you know that she is a very confident girl. She was not going to allow me to end things and insisted that we hang out that night. We hung out that night, she told me that she really liked me and I was ecstatic that my plan failed. The rest is history and I can always point to her 18th birthday as the night that I truly began falling in love with her.

Today she is 30 and I am more in love with her now than I have ever been. It is amazing to look at everything we have gone through the past 12 years and see how much our love has grown. I love being married to my best friend!

The kids absolutely adore you and I am lucky I get to be with you! Happy birthday sweetheart, hope you have a great day today!

Our Perfect Baby

2012-04-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Recently Brandi shared an article on FaceBook that really hit home for us. You can read the article by clicking here.

While Brandi was pregnant we had a lot of different Doctors try to diagnose what was "wrong" with Tate. I have written about it before, but at one point we had a Dr. tell us to expect to only have Tate for a short amount of time. This was absolutely devastating to us, but we were prepared for anything.

We finally met with one of the top ultrasound Doctors in the world and he analyzed Tate very thoroughly. After his examination he gave us great news that Tate looked to be okay and that none of the issues going on looked to be life threatening.

We were ecstatic and upon telling family and friends the great news there was one response that rubbed us the wrong way. I know they didn't mean to offend us at all, and to be honest before we were pregnant with Tate we may have said something similar. Their response to Tate's improved diagnosis was "You guy's must be living right!" There are plenty of people "living right" that have children with special needs and other disabilities. I suppose it is all about perspective. I love this quote from the article:

I know we all have in our mind what we think our children should be like, but just because something different comes along it doesn't mean that a mistake was made. It just means that we need to adjust our previous expectations thinking that we "deserve" a certain kind of baby.

We also had a lot of people mention that they were praying and fasting for a miracle that Tate would have his hand when he was born. Brandi and I would just laugh because that is like telling Heavenly Father that he made a mistake and we have faith that he will fix it. We would simply ask them to pray that we would be able to help him as his parents, but that we believed Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he created Tate.

We are so grateful that we have this perfect child in our family. Tate will always be our perfect baby, because he is exactly how our Heavenly Father intended him to be!

We are so grateful for all of the love and support we have felt from our family and friends, we can never thank you enough!

On another note, my Dad sent me this awesome article from Outdoor Life the other day and it got me so excited to take Tate hunting! Hunter is so excited to go hunting this year and he always talks about when he can teach Tate about hunting as well. Our little champion is going to be just fine!

Trav's Surprise Birthday Party

2012-03-13T07:48:00.006-07:00

Usually Trav gets a Barbie birthday cake, this started on his 18 birthday when I answered him "YES" to Prom with a Barbie birthday cake. Little did he know that for the rest of his life he would be getting a Barbie birthday cake. But, this year was 30 so I thought he needed a darker birthday theme...

Travis will always be the 17 year old boy I fell in love with,
but unlike some there is nothing we can do to stop aging.

Travis EDWARD JACOBson is 30!I gave Trav a "Twilight" themed birthday, his name just made it too easy!

My parents helped me get their house all decked out!

Can you find Travis in the Twilight Family picture?

Prizes for our games. Thank you to everyone who humored me with the Team Edward, Team Jacob, Team Alice night game! We had people running all over my parents yard looking for little red rocks in the dark.

My cute prego little sis! Hopefully baby Kaden makes his appearance this week.

The food

Everyone had to have their own set of fangs for this party.

Some of our nephews dressed up as werewolves, how cute are they?

The cake

Of course Trav took his cake around to all the kids and let them take a bite. It's a Travis tradition!

My awesome Dad, thanks for setting up the Forks woods in your house!

Tate chilling with his glow stick. My kids were in their Twilight red colors for the night. Lexi and Hunter wore vampire capes and fangs too, but they were running around having so much fun with everyone that I didn't get one picture of the two of them in costume.

My awesome Dad, thanks for setting up the Forks woods in your house!

It was a great party, thank you to everyone who came!
It was really important for me to make Trav's birthday extra special this year. It has been a crazy year for our family and I want him to know how lucky I am that he is mine. I love you babe and I am so grateful for all you do for our little family. You are an amazing husband and daddy. So glad we got to show you how much we love you by giving you a Twilight birthday!
Happy Birthday Trav! Bring on the 30's!

Tate's Surgery

2012-02-28T21:29:00.008-07:00

Last Thursday was Tate's big surgery day. We got up to Primary Children's Medical Center at 6:30 am and checked in. Then it was off to the exam room for one last medical check to make sure Tate was healthy enough for surgery.

Here is the before picture of his tummy.

Then it was time to dress him in the cutest little hospital scrubs.

Is he adorable or what?

We met with our surgeon and he autographed Tate's tummy, I guess that way they know they have the right patient. Then the anesthesiologist came in and explained his part of the surgery. After that we had a short walk down a little hallway and the anesthesiologist told us that this was a good place to say good-bye. Trav and I kissed our baby boy, handed him to the doctor, and watched him take Tate through the operating room doors. I may have cried a little bit, it was not an easy parent moment. But Trav was so good to me, as usual, he gave me a big hug and told me that everything was going to be okay. We decided to go down to the cafeteria for a little bit, I really needed a distraction.When we came back upstairs to the waiting room the first person we saw was our surgeon searching the waiting room looking for us. We knew that Tate's surgery should not be close to being over and worry set in that something may be wrong. It was only a second before our surgeon reassured us that Tate was doing fine, but that was a horrible second. Then the surgeon told us that he would like to talk with us in one of the consultation rooms... we buckled up for whatever was coming. The surgeon explained that once he got in to Tate's stomach he found that Tate had Malrotation and would need a Ladd's Procedure. He also found that Tate's appendix was on the wrong side, so he said it would be best to also remove his appendix. Usually with the G-tube placement they just go in through the belly button, but with these extra procedures now the surgeon had to make a small incision on Tate's tummy. We signed some more forms, giving permission for the other procedures and then sent the surgeon back to the operating room. Trav knew we were in need of another distraction, after our slight heart attacks from seeing our surgeon in the waiting room, so he thought it would be a good idea to kick my butt at Phase 10 while we waited.

After what seemed like a very long time our surgeon came in and told us that everything had gone well and that Tate was doing well. Trav went back to see Tate before me, they only let one person per patient in the post-op room. A nurse walked Trav back to see Tate and then came back to the waiting room and found me. She told me that I was married to a very special guy and that Travis was so sweet and tender with Tate.
I love this picture, Trav is an amazing Daddy!Such a sweet little face.Chilling in his hospital crib.So many wires on our little guy.Our hospital room... room 4310. We had this room last time we stayed at Primary's too. We even had some of the same nurses that we had last time. All the nurses love Tate, because he is such an easy patient. He didn't complain nearly enough about everything he had been through.The after picture of his little tummy...Originally the plan was just to stay at the hospital overnight, but with the added procedures our surgeon told us to expect to stay 4-5 days. But, Tate is a little champ and got us out of there in 3 days! Our nurse told us that his lucky number must be 26, because last time we were discharged on October 26th and this time we were discharged on February 26th. Tate always amazes us and his doctor's. Tate's surgery went so well and we feel so blessed. We were surprised by the added procedures, but really feel that it was a blessing to find and take care of those other things. Thank you to all our friends and family who have been thinking of our little guy!
Thanks for all the prayers, fasting, treats, baby sitting, text messages, emails, and phone calls. The Jacobson family feels overwhelmed by the kindness of those around us again!

We came home Sunday and Tate is doing fantastic! Here is our happy baby boy laughing...

If you want to receive email updates when we have a new post on our blog click on the new subscribe button on the right of our page.

Ski Utah!

2012-02-21T22:46:00.007-07:00

The cutest little ski bunny!For Presidents' Day we took Lexi and Hunter skiing for the first time! I know Trav has always dreamed of the day he would take his little kids skiing and so it was a very exciting day. We skipped the rope tow and went straight for the chair lift. They both did great and it was so cute to see these little ones skiing down the mountain.

All ready to ski!

Daddy and his three year old, Hunter

Daddy and his five year old, Lexi

We had some good teachers help us with the kids, Grandpa J. and Uncle Ty...
Lexi and Grandpa J.

Uncle Ty and Hunter
(Mommy was the official photographer and I can't believe I didn't have anyone snap a picture of me with my cuties, next time.)

Lexi's feet got a little tired at the end and I think Hunter's cheeks stayed that rosy for at least 2 hours after we left Alta. Such a fun ski day, can't wait for the next one. So proud of my little skiers!

I think Hunter asked me if we could go skiing again today about 50 times. He is such a little Travis! So proud of my little skiers!

In other news,
look who's 4 months old...Weighing in at 11 pounds 7 ounces!
Tate is having surgery on Thursday and will be getting a GJ tube. We are excited to take the next step with Tate's care and can't wait to get that tube out of his nose. Tate is the best baby, we always say that he laughs more than he cries!Please remember Tate in your prayers this week! Love you all!

Our Little Diva

2012-02-13T18:04:00.002-07:00

Driving in the car today...

Lexi: Mom, what is lava?
Me: It's the hot stuff that comes out of volcano's.
Lexi: Why do girls say "If ya wanna be my lava?"

Yes, the Jacobson's rock out to Spice Girls with our kids!

Shy

2012-02-02T23:48:00.003-07:00

Today I had to take all three kids to the doctor... strep throat!

On our way I was giving the kids a little pep-talk, telling them to listen to the doctor and the nurses and to do what they tell them so they can feel better. Last time Hunter did not want to stand on the scale, so I was trying to get him to cooperate better this time. After I finished my little pep talk Hunter said,
"Guess what Mom? I will do that this time, because I am only shy at pretty girls!"

Tate's Blessing Day

2011-12-19T22:40:00.005-07:00

Tate's Blessing Day

Tate was blessed on December 10th, 2011.
This little guy looked so sweet in his blessing outfit!
We had such a great day with lot's of family and friends. I think our family filled the entire middle section of the chapel. Trav did a great job and Tate's blessing was very special. I loved seeing Tate surrounded by a big circle of strong men during the blessing. It reminded me of all the support he will have throughout his life. Travis shared his testimony during Sacrament Meeting and it is something that I will never forget, just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. I am so lucky to have Trav and I am so glad that he holds the priesthood and is able to bless our children.
This day was extra special to me and I was so glad that it was finally here. During my pregnancy with Tate I thought about his blessing day a lot and because of what some of the Doctors told us, I sometimes wondered if we would have Tate long enough to get to this day. (I know terrible thoughts to have during a pregnancy, thank goodness he is just here now and doing so well.) Tate's blessing day meant so much to me and I feel very overwhelmed, in a good way, to be Tate's Mommy.
Okay, enough deep thoughts by Brandi, let's get to the pictures!

Check out this boy's eyelashes!

I am so excited to have a baby with hair, here is another cute one without his hat. His shoes are styling too!

Our Family

Aunt Natalie and Uncle Jason

Uncle Shane and Aunt Nikki

Grandma Trace and Grandpa Scott

Britt, Uncle Zachy and Aunt Carly

Uncle Ty and Aunt Em

Choo-Choo, Uncle Garrett and Aunt Kristen

Aunt Whitney and Uncle TJ

Uncle Allen and Aunt Heather

Grandpa and Grandma J

Mommy and Daddy

Thank you to everyone who shared this special day with us. We feel very blessed and very loved!

Runaways

2011-12-16T22:42:00.002-07:00

The other day Lexi and Hunter came up to us and said,
"We are running away, but don't worry we will be right back!"
As you can see they packed up all their essentials and were ready to go.

Okay kiddos, just leave your baby brother here please.

If you see our runaways please remind them that they promised their parents that they would be right back.

Jonah...

2011-12-07T09:48:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks after I returned home from my mission I was called into the Young Men in my ward. Ever since then I have always been called into the YM within a month or two of moving into every ward we have lived in. I love it and I love my current calling to be over the Teachers Quorum.

The Young Men are at such an awesome age where they have everything ahead of them and you can truly see their lives change. The current group of Young Men I am working with are some of the best I have ever been around. They are full of energy and do everything asked of them. In fact this next year our ward will have 8 new eagle scouts and it is because of how hard the boys have been working.

I saw this video posted over on Single Dad Laughing and it broke my heart. Jonah is the same age as the boys I am currently working with so it really hit close to home for me. I really hope that none of the boys I am working with are going through anything like this, but the reality is I know some of them probably are.

I wish there was a quick cure to end bullying. It makes me sick that kids are being bullied right now and it makes me worry about what my kids will experience as they go through school. When I was in High School I wasn't the smartest kid around and I didn't always hang out with the nicest kids. I wouldn't consider myself a bully at all, but I know I wasn't as nice as I could have been to everyone.

I wish I could go back and be as nice to everyone as possible throughout school. I wish I could go back and look for kids at school like Jonah and help them more. I wish I could go back and just be a friend to them and be there for them.

Online Shopping

2011-11-22T10:00:00.005-07:00

During the holiday season I usually love to go out shopping in all the craziness to hunt for the perfect gifts for all the people we love. But, this year the thought of trying to leave the house with a 4yr. old, a 3 yr. old, and a newborn with a feeding tube just seems way too exhausting.

Thank goodness I have a techy husband who has shown me the wonderful world of online shopping! Now all I have to do is click, wait for a delivery man to bring everything to my door (the kiddos love this part), wrap (my favorite part), and I am done!

Plus it gives me way more time to stay all snuggled up with this little guy...

Many of you know Trav and I have some websites that we work on. If you are planning on staying in to do some online shopping this year we would love it if you bought through our links.
We get a commission every time someone buys through our links. With the medical bills pouring in, we could really use some extra money this year.

It's easy to find, just go to the top of this blog and click on the tab that says "Places we Shop Online". Sometimes our links will get you better prices than you can get anywhere else, but the prices will never be higher just because you clicked through our link to buy something. There are a lot of popular stores like Amazon, Kohls, Target, Overstock.com, KMart, Old Navy, Gap, Fanzz, Cabelas, etc.

Check it out!

If you know of anyone that does a lot of online shopping, and would like to help us out just by clicking through our links, feel free to pass along the link to our page with the banners.

Thanks so much for helping out! Hope everyone gets in lots of snuggle time this year while they are doing their online shopping!

Thankful....

2011-11-17T16:29:00.006-07:00

This last week for family home evening we dressed up as Indians and Pilgrims to teach the kids about Thanksgiving...

I know, none of you had any idea the pilgrims were so fierce! The kids had a great time and they have loved learning about Thanksgiving. Last week we made a "Thankful" poster (that they are standing in front of in this picture). I told them that throughout the month we could fill it up, so we would have 100 things they were thankful for. They filled it up the first night!

Well, I am feeling extra thankful this Holiday Season and wanted to share what I am most thankful for...

This little guy! I am so happy to have Tate here. He is such a precious boy and brings such a strong spirit to our family. He is such a little snuggler and I love it!

I'm thankful for them...

These three and Tate are my whole world and I love them so much!

I am thankful for children who love each other!

I love it that when ever I go to check on Tate I usually find that Hunter has stuck a toy right next to him, just in case Tate decides he wants to play.

Hunter is really excited to have a brother to play with.

I am thankful that my kids like to dress up on Halloween...

...or any other day of the week, just because

I am thankful for sleep!

I am thankful for medical technology.
This week Tate had another swallow study, this is where he drinks a special liquid that shows up on an X-ray so you can watch it go down. This study showed that Tate was getting a little bit of fluid in his lungs when he would drink his bottle. From just watching him on the outside you couldn't tell at all, he was showing no signs of aspirating. Luckily the X-ray could see what we couldn't. It was not a lot of fluid going into his lungs, but it was enough to put him at high risk for getting pneumonia. After this test they decided to give Tate an NJ Tube, this is a tube that goes all the way down into his small intestines. His tube is connected to a pump that runs 24/7. In a few weeks we will repeat the swallow study and then see what we need to do for him. Last Friday I took Tate in to be weighed and he was only 6 lbs. 4 oz. (same as his birth weight). Our pediatrician explained to me that for Tate drinking a bottle is like running a marathon, so he was burning a lot of calories every feeding. I am thankful that we have a tube that can feed our little boy. It has given us peace of mind that Tate is being fed safely and should put some weight on him soon. Tate is doing so good! We continue to feel your prayers, so thank you!

I am thankful for Lexi and Hunter being so understanding of our life right now!
I am so glad they are only 17 months apart and are best friends. Feeding Tate and all his doctors appointments take up a lot of my time lately. I love Lexi and Hunter so much for entertaining each other! Yes, my house is full of forts, ninja turtles and dress ups. If you knock on my door you will probably be greeted by a child who has written all over themselves with marker. But, they are happy amazing children who are really good to their Mommy!

Most of all I am thankful for this man...

I have been in love with Trav for a long time, but I have never been more thankful and in love with him than I am now. This last pregnancy and the last month have been crazy and I know that I would have fallen apart somewhere along the way if I did not have Trav to get me through. Thanks babe for being the most amazing person I know, I am so lucky to have you!

Last, but not least I am so thankful for our family and friends! We have felt so much love from everyone over the last month and it means a lot to us.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Home Sweet Home

2011-10-29T16:52:00.010-07:00

Tate came home this week! Life has been a big blur since Tate arrived and it is so nice to have the whole family sleeping under the same roof again. We are a happy family of 5!
Travis told the birthing story earlier on the blog and I love the way he said it, but here are a few of my thoughts from Tate's birth... The moment that Tate came into this world was probably one of the scariest moments of my life, and not just because when I looked down Travis was the one delivering the baby! It was so scary because I had spent the last 20 weeks worrying about what this baby was going to be like. I had heard so many things from so many doctors and I still had no idea what to expect. We knew one thing for sure and that was that he would be missing his left hand, that was Tate's first surprise for us, but everything else was a big question mark. For 20 weeks I had tried to push out all the "what if" thoughts, but they still came and most of the terrified me. Now the moment was finally here when we were going to meet our special little boy that would be full of surprises for us. I was scared out of my mind until I heard his little cry. A lot of the doctors we have met with have said that Tate has a very different cry, but that cry was one of the best sounds I have ever heard. It meant that he was here and that he was breathing and that was all I needed to know in that moment to be completely relieved! It was one of the happiest moments of my life when I got to hold Tate and see him crying, and breathing, and wiggling around.
They took Tate to the Nursery and wheeled me up to my room where a bunch of our family members were waiting for me. I talked with our family and waited for Travis to bring Tate up to meet them all. It seemed to me like it was taking a little bit longer than normal, and when Trav walked in my hospital room without Tate I could tell from the look on his face that something wasn't quite right. He told our family that we needed a minute and then I knew something was wrong. That scariness I was feeling in the delivery room set in again and I buckled up to hear some bad news. Then Trav told me that the doctors thought that Tate had Moebius Syndrome. I really had no idea what that was, but I knew that whatever Moebius Syndrome was we could deal with it. It was just another surprise that our boy came with. They had taken Tate to the NICU and I really wanted to go see him. I didn't think so at the time, but my epidural wearing off during delivery became a big blessing to me. Since my legs were completely back to normal I was able to go down to the NICU and see Tate. The NICU nurse let me hold him as she read to us out of a text book the details about Moebius Syndrome. I don't know if I really heard anything she was reading, but looking down at my little boy I knew that everything was going to be okay.

Feeding Tate is a big challenge. Most of our time in the NICU at St. Marks we spent trying different ways to get Tate to drink his bottle.

The day I was discharged from the hospital was hard for me, but Trav ordered a bunch of photos of Tate and made sure that we put pictures of him up all over the house. It is not easy to leave the hospital without your baby after you have given birth, but the nurses at St. Marks liked to call Tate "The Man" and he had stolen a little piece of all their hearts, so that made it a little easier on us.
The next few days were full of driving back and forth from the hospital and finding babysitters for Lexi and Hunter. It was hard, and it was frustrating, and emotional. One of Tate's doctors told us that they don't usually let kids into the NICU, but since Tate wasn't really having breathing issues if we wanted to our kids could visit with Tate in the bonding room they have. (Usually kids only get to look through the window into the NICU.) We brought Lexi and Hunter up to the hospital and got to have our little family all in the same room all alone for the first time since Tate was born. It was so sweet to see the kids hold Tate and check him out for the first time. After going back and forth and feeling like life was a crazy mess, being all together in that tiny hospital room was amazing, and happy, and wonderful!

Big Sister

Big BrotherLittle BrotherThese two couldn't wait to get their hands on him!

St. Marks was so good to us and after they had done all they could for Tate they decided to transfer him up to Primary Children's Hospital. Tate's first road trip was in an ambulance on the way up to Primary's. I know that everyone is well aware of how jealous I am that Travis has actually delivered a baby, but do you all know how jealous Travis is that I got to ride in the ambulance with Tate?

All buckled up, ready to go!

The life flight team came into St. Marks and it was like they were famous people or something. The people who work for Primary's really know what they are doing and everyone stood in awe to watch them work. We said good bye to all our friends at St. Marks and up the mountain we went.

Meanwhile, back at the house...

Arriving at Primary Children's Hospital was a little overwhelming. The hospital is so big and there are so many people everywhere. They decided to move Tate to the Infant Unit instead of the NICU, because he was such a stable boy when it came to heart rate and oxygen levels. This meant that Tate got to stay in a hospital bedroom. The room was a shared room, so we did have a roommate, but I got to stay in the room with Tate as much as I wanted. Mommy loved that part!
Our time at Primary's was very busy. There was a constant flow of doctors and nurses coming in and out of our room just to see Tate. Since he is a "one in a million" baby, he had a lot of medical professionals coming to visit him. We saw physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, feeding specialists, orthopedics, neurologists, geneticists, ophthalmologists and our very own pediatric team of doctors while we were there. Tate was awesome, it was like he knew exactly what the routine was. A new doctor would walk in to look at him and he would stick his nub straight up in the air like he knew they were there to check him out.

Tate was such a good patient as all these doctors came to see him. At one point the pediatric team as well as some other doctors were surrounding his crib. There were probably about 10 of them and one student opened his diapers to check things out. In that instant Tate exploded all over the students hand and all of the doctors around Tate's crib jumped. It was the first time this pediatric student had been shot at by a little one and it was hilarious. I wish I would have taken a picture of my little man surrounded by so many doctor's. This kid was the most popular kid at the hospital. Many of the doctors told us that they had heard we were coming or that they recognized his name out on the boards and wanted to come meet him.

The best quote of the whole experience came from our doctor when he looked at us, as serious as can be, and said "He is probably going to be right handed." Really... ya think?

Another great thing about being on the Infant Unit at Primary's was that Lexi and Hunter could come and visit. They loved coming to see their brother and they really loved playing in the Primary Children's Hospital play room. I swear this hospital is like the Disneyland of all hospitals! They didn't want to leave!

Finally it was time to bring Tate home! Before we left the hospital the nurses trained Trav and I on feeding tubes. Travis even put Tate's feeding tube in before we left. (Also, he helped circumsize Tate this week! Yes, maybe he should be a Doctor after the last 10 days!)Tate has a hard time eating so he came home with his feeding tube. We are bottle feeding him, but can only feed him for a half hour. That way he doesn't burn more calories than he is taking in. So, after we bottle feed him we give whatever is left to him through the feeding tube.

The day we brought Tate home was such a happy day!

Being at home is awesome and very busy! Lucky for me I have two big helpers who are always next to me ready to "help". Feeding Tate is a big job and we figure that between pumping and feeding him with the bottle and the tube that we are spending about 12 hours a day just feeding Tate. Trav has been amazing and even gets up in the middle of the night with me to help cut down the feeding time a little bit. It is busy, but we are so happy to have Tate home!

Bath Time

Tate continues to surprise us! We feel like he is like bringing home our first baby again, because we are having to learn so many new things. This time around we are truly appreciating every little step that Tate takes. The other day he stuck his tongue out at me and I felt like it was a huge accomplishment. It is amazing how many things we took for granted with Lexi and Hunter. Like the fact that they just knew how to eat when they were born. Or that we got to take them home with from the hospital the day I left and not a week later.

Walking around Primary Children's Hospital was a big eye opener for us. I look at some of the kids up there and see their parents faces and I feel so blessed. Tate has his challenges, but it could be a lot worse. As I walked the halls at the hospital I kept thinking of Marjorie Pay Hinckley's quote, "Be nice to people, everyone is fighting their own battle."

Thanks so much to all of our family and friends who have been there for us throughout this pregnancy and the last ten days. We have felt your love, support and prayers! So many phone calls, texts, facebook messages, visits, meals, treats, and all the babysitters who have helped watch our wild ones for us. We feel very loved and want you to know that we love you all back. Tate is such a blessing to our little family and has taught us so much already. This little guy is so strong and I can't wait for him to keep surprising us!

In Halloween news, our kids are changing costumes with every party and getting very creative. Tonight they went to Trunk-or-Treat, can you guess what they are?

Puss in Boots and Soft Paws, yes Grandma and Grandpa took them to see "Puss in Boots" today. Other costumes have included: Tumbelina, Batman, Smurfette, Spiderman, ballerina, football player, and Hannah Montana.

Announcing Tate Timothy Jacobson

2011-10-25T23:53:00.001-07:00

We are pleased to announce our new little guy, Tate!

We have been very excited to meet Tate! To say this pregnancy was tough is a bit of an understatement. Here is the story of his birth according to Travis.

At our 20 week Ultrasound (around Memorial Day) we found out that Tate was missing his left hand. Everything else at that time looked fairly normal, so we quickly accepted the fact that he would learn to do things differently and that he would be fine.

The first thing I said to Brandi as we were leaving the Ultrasound that day is that I was excited because Tate could hunt with a crossbow and he would probably have the most success in our group because of it. A couple of weeks earlier I told my Brother Jason that I wanted to hunt with a crossbow and that I had been checking them out on our website, AddictedtoHunting.com. He informed me that you can only hunt with a crossbow if you have some sort of a disability, so I was initially pretty jealous of Tate because I am a horrible shot with my bow and a crossbow would help me a ton.

We had several follow up appointments with the Ultrasound Dr's and they were pretty frustrating. They were searching for anything that could be wrong due to his hand and we heard a lot of speculation. We were told that we should prepare to only have Tate with us for about a day, but that he could live a full happy life as well. Needless to say there was a lot of worrying and guessing about what we were about to face.

After a couple of appointments we had one of the nurses call and re-schedule one of our Ultrasounds so that we could meet with Dr. Ball. She said he was one of the best and Brandi's obgyn spoke very highly of him. We met with him and he told us to not worry about what the other Dr's had told us. He said as long as Tate was growing he would be fine. We took that to heart and kept that with us through the pregnancy, but we knew there could be additional issues to his hand.

It was a long pregnancy full of guessing and wondering what our little guy would be like. We eventually told the kids about Tate's hand, using a Mr. Potato Head, and you can imagine the funny looks we have received as Lexi tells everyone what is so "awesome" about her little brother. She is always quick to point out that it is okay that he doesn't have a left hand because Jesus will give him one someday.

Brandi was induced with Tate early last week and he finally made his arrival around 8:30 on October 18th. The delivery started out like both of our other kids. I ordered the epidural for Brandi as early as I could so that we could have a nice relaxing day at the hospital. After several hours she finally started progressing and she was in a lot of discomfort. She would push the button for her medicine and nothing was coming out and she felt like she could feel everything. We got the nurse in to check her and she was definitely ready to go.

During the delivery of Hunter and Lexi my role was to basically support Brandi. When Dr. Yamashiro came in he asked me how involved I wanted to be, so I told him as involved as I could be. Much to Brandi's dismay he made the nurse go get a pair of gloves for me and a gown and told me I was going to catch the baby. To be honest I had no idea what that really meant. I thought as involved as I can be meant to cut the cord.

As I was putting on my gown and gloves Brandi was yelling at me to hurry up, apparently she was hurting pretty bad. Although she was trying to steal away from my shining moment, I wouldn't let her. I could recognize she was pretty jealous that I was going to do something she had never done before, and I have forgiven her for yelling at me to hurry up and put the dang gloves on.

Dr. Yamashiro positioned me below Brandi and told me how to deliver Tate. While I am a little upset that I was too busy to video tape the whole delivery and share it with everyone on YouTube, it was pretty exciting preparing to catch Tate. Dr. Yamashiro helped me quite a bit, but for the most part I delivered Tate into the world. It was amazing and I am pretty sure I will be much more relaxed driving to the hospital with our next baby because I am fairly confident I could do it again. Just kidding Brandi.

I really wish I had a picture of me in my gown and gloves, but Brandi was too impatient to take a picture. You will just have to take my word for it that I looked very legit!

Here is our first family picture with the three kiddos.

The kids are so excited Tate is here and it is so fun to watch them kiss him and tell him stories. We know that Lexi and Hunter are ready to be the older siblings that Tate needs in his life!

After he was born they noticed he wasn't sucking and they also noticed that he didn't move his facial muscles a lot. They moved him to the nicu so that he could get an IV while he learned how to eat. That night our pediatrician called me and talked to me about what they think Tate had. Tate has Moebius Syndrome.

Don't worry if you have never heard of it, none of the nurses or other Dr's really had either. We have been trying to learn as much as we can and it was incredible up at Primary's to see how many Dr's, nurses and students wanted to swing by to check out Tate. He was like a new toy for them to play with and they wanted to learn as much as they could before we took him home.

It is a very rare syndrome that affects about 2-20 kids out of a million. We have been trying to learn as much as we can about it and we will continue to learn what we can do to help him with it. The good news is that it is not life threatening and once he learns how to eat he will be able to come home.

Here is a good definition of what Moebius Syndrome is:

Moebius syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that is present at birth. It primarily affects the 6th and 7th cranial nerves, leaving those with the condition unable to move their faces (they can’t smile, frown, suck, grimace or blink their eyes) and unable to move their eyes laterally.
Other cranial nerves may be affected, especially the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th, 10th and 12th. There may be skeletal involvement causing hand/feet anomalies and/or club feet. Respiratory problems, speech and swallowing disorders, visual impairments, sensory integration dysfunction, sleep disorders, and weak upper body strength may also be present. Approximately 30% of children with Moebius syndrome are on the autism spectrum.

We love Tate so much and we are so happy that he is a part of our family! Thanks to everyone for all of the love and support through the pregnancy and now that Tate is here. There have been a lot of people praying for Tate and we are so grateful to know that he has such a strong support group to help him with anything he needs.

I can't wait to buy him his first crossbow and get him out hunting with me!

BYU Thursday Hero

2011-10-14T09:33:00.001-07:00

It has been kind of a rough year for BYU, in that we got beat up by Utah and it looks as if our BIG 12 dreams may be ruined due to us not being able to play on Sunday. These things, in addition to Tate coming, has made my interest in Football this year not be nearly as high as it has been the past several years. Don't get me wrong, I am still attending the games and watching all of the away games on TV. I am just not watching the post game shows and reading every article as much as I used to. Luckily, Hunter is a crazy BYU fan and has kept me focused on the season and our Cougars due to his dedication. Every Thursday BYU does a Thursday's heroes and I would be a liar if I said Brandi and I have not shed a tear while watching some of these clips. This weeks may have been my favorite yet. I love watching Emma Lou run up to Bronco and give him a big hug!

Even though it has been a rough year on the field and we may not get into the conference I have dreamed of BYU playing in, it is still great to be a Cougar!

Waiting for number 3...

2011-10-11T09:10:00.002-07:00

We are so excited to get baby number 3 here! Can't wait to meet this little guy, hoping he will arrive sometime this weekend. It feels like life has finally slowed down a little and we are ready to get him here.

The last few weeks Trav has been coaching Hunter's soccer team. (Usually Lex plays too, but since she had a broken arm she sat out this season.) Hunter is such a stud on the soccer field. You will not find a kid out there with a better run than him, he is very serious and seeing him run always makes me smile. His team was called "The Smurfs", Lexi may have had some influence on the team. Hunter's favorite part of the game was putting his hand in with the rest of his team and yelling "Smurfs" so loud that it scared the parents. His proudest moment of the season was when he tackled a girl that was on the other team. We should have been prepared for that, when Trav asked him if he wanted to play soccer this fall Hunter said, "I want to play football Dad!"

We love our little soccer player!Lexi started dance this fall and has been loving it. We got her in the same class as a bunch of the girls in our ward, even though she is at least a year younger than the youngest one she fits in great! Her favorite part of dance is riding in the carpool to and from dance. She feels like such a big girl that she gets to ride in her friends cars without Mommy. She is constantly leaping around the house practicing her moves!

This morning the first thing Lexi said to me when she woke up was, "Mom I need a Diet Coke!"
Then she ran to the fridge and yelled back to me, "Don't worry, I will bring you one too!"
Now that we are going to be out numbered by the boys I am extra grateful to have my little girl!

Our kids are incredible and I feel so blessed that we are getting another one! Can't wait to meet him!

Huntin' Buddies

2011-09-28T16:55:00.003-07:00

We had such a fun summer and not enough time to blog about it.
Back in August the boys spent a few weekends hunting. This year they decided it was time to get the little guys up hunting too!

Hunter and Carson... such cute boys!

Carson is lovingly referred to by our family as "Choo-choo".
If you couldn't tell, Hunter kind of likes hanging out with him.

Hunter where did you go?Uncle Garrett with Choo-choo.I know Trav has dreamed of hunting with his little boy since the day we found out Hunter was coming. He loves being in the mountains and camping with his little buddy.Grandpa J. and the boys.

I can only imagine what inspired this ninja move by Hunter.

Uncle Allen with his boy's, Colby and Brody... and Hunter too.

I think the little guys loved their first time hunting and will be looking forward to many more hunting trips with their Daddy's!

Brandi and Camping

2011-08-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

Many of you may know that Brandi is not much of a camper. You may also know that I absolutely love camping. This has been a conflict our entire married lives.

I tried to take Brandi camping once, but as we were headed up our car broke down and we had to head back to get it fixed. I am not pointing fingers on how the car broke down, but it was a little fishy. I have never been able to get her to go again. I am pretty sure going to the Cabin is close enough to "camping" in her mind.

We are in the middle of hunting season here in Utah, which means I am out camping with my Dad and brothers every weekend. I love it! I took Hunter the first weekend and we had a blast. However, it is always a little bit of a struggle when Labor Day weekend comes up. I have Monday off, so it is a great weekend to hunt. On the other hand, I have Monday off and it is a great weekend to do something with my family.

In an effort to be able to hunt and still spend time with my family I asked Brandi if she wanted to come up with us this weekend and enjoy Labor Day weekend out in the woods. This clip is almost identical to the response Brandi gave me:

Looks like it will just be me and Hunter again this weekend. I love you babe! We need to go "camping" at the cabin again soon.

Hunter's Birthday Party

2011-08-19T08:47:00.005-07:00

Our Hunter Bug turned 3!

This little guy is so much fun and so easy to please. For his party this year we had all of our family over to roast hotdogs and marshmallows over a fire in our backyard.
Can't get enough of this boy's faces!

Hunter had lot's of cousin's to help him open all the presents he got.

Typical Hunter, give him a ball and the kid is happy! I think for every birthday his favorite gift will always be a simple ball.

Hunter and his buddy Uncle Jason.

He changed his mind about 100 times about what he wanted his party theme to be, but finally decided on Spider Man.

What little boy doesn't love a fire pit?

His "no-egg" birthday cake made by Mommy.

Loved having so much family, and some good friends too, to party with.

The party was a blast, but it was missing someone very special... the Party Planner Lexi.

About 15 minutes before the party started Lexi was running around our living room and fell and hurt her arm. We knew she was really hurt when she wouldn't even come out to greet all the party guests. After going back and forth between taking care of her and rushing Hunter through his presents Trav and I decided to leave the party and take Lexi to the Doctor. She fractured her arm just above the elbow. The minute they got her soft cast on our little girl was back to her sweet self and ready to party. The only problem was the party was over. So, we got to have all of Trav's scouts over a couple nights later to recreate the whole campfire party!

Happy Birthday Hunter Bug! And a big thanks to all our family and friends who made the party so much fun for Hunter. I don't even think he realized that Trav and I skipped a little bit of his party to take Lexi to the Doctor. He felt so special and important! We love our Hunter Bug!