What a Journey...

Well I am finally getting this on our blog - most of you have all seen the story and pic's on Facebook or the email updates so I'm not going to write the whole story just the highlights in the order they happened! You can also go see more on Facebook if you want!

We welcomed our precious baby James into the world on February 23rd at 4:05pm at the Logan Regional Hospital! He looked really good when he was first born but quickly turned purple and wasn't breathing right, so the nurses & doctors were very quick to figure out what was wrong and found out that he had a left congenital diaphragmatic hernia and needed to be quickly life flighted to Primary Children's hospital right away to have surgery. For those of you that don't know what that is it's where he got a hole in his diaphragm at some point during the pregnancy and all his intestines and Bowell's were up where his lung is and it pushed his heart over to where the right lung is. Normally in a case like this it happens early in the womb and the lung doesn't have room to develop. But James' case was very lucky since he had to of gotten it later in the pregnancy since it didn't show up on the 20wk ultrasound and his lung was pretty much fully developed. So he had the best case scenario w/what he had! All of this was so sudden and we had no idea he had any sort of problems so needless to say it was a very emotional and rough time for us as parents and as a family. Our life was turned upside down in just minutes but we are so blessed b/c the surgery was so successful and he was seriously a rock star the 2 weeks he was there! Babies w/that condition are always there minimum a month if not more so this was a complete miracle to bring him home that soon, he just progressed so well it was unbelievable!

He's home now and has been for 12 days now and we are all just falling in love w/him so much more everyday! I just can't believe he'll be a month old tomorrow, wow how time flies by so fast! What a champ, he's doing so well, eating great, growing perfect and is just a really mellow baby so far - we're very blessed! Thanks to all of you that kept him in your prayers and put his name in the temple and fasted for him, we know that all those prayers and love is what made this a miracle! He has no long term side affects that should ever affect his life down the road and should live to be a normal and healthy man! We are so grateful to have such amazing family, friends and neighbors. We had so much help and don't ever want that to go unnoticed or unappreciated! Thanks to all of you we love and appreciate you so much!!

These are pics before I went in to have the C-section. Waiting and ready to have this baby!!! (At this point I was extremely excited to finally have a normal healthy baby in my room at the hospital and be full term, wow would I be surprised) Also I was very happy they let me have my mom & Brian both in during the C-section, they usually only let 1 person but I didn't see the harm in asking and they actually said yes!! Little did we know that I would need my mom more than ever in that surgery room since Brian had to rush out w/our baby and I couldn't go! She was a great support system for me and mom I'm so thankful for all you did while you were here and the sacrifices you made for us - we love you!

Here he was perfect and we didn't know of his condition yet

7lbs 4oz 20"long - Wow I've never had a baby bigger than 5lbs or 17"long I was exstatic!

Here he is starting to show signs of something being wrong and his color doesn't look right. I heard him stop crying and was watching the whole time and would ask why isn't he crying (or making noise) and they would tell me he's fine but deep down I had a bad feeling and no matter what they would try to say to me I knew something wasn't right) I've been through this too many times! Of course I didn't want to be right on this one but sadly I was.

Here they are having to give him oxygen so he could breath. Daddy was by his side the entire time! I think it's so precious to see him holding on to his dad's hand!

Here he is all ready for his big trip in the helicopter - this boy got to ride in one before me and he's only maybe an hour old!! It was so sad to see him w/all those tubes and wires, very scary!

His first days of life at Primary Children's Hospital. He is on a ventilator and really drugged up so he wasn't in so much pain. Brian went up to SLC soon after the helicopter left to be w/James - thankfully I had my mom around to help at the house w/the kids but I did get a little lonely at night not having my husband there to share the experience with but all the support we had really helped a lot!

He was stable enough to go into surgery on Friday February 26th at 8am in the morning! So I begged my doctor to release me early so I could be there for it. He kindly did but I had to go w/my staples in b/c they weren't ready to be taken out yet. Stocked up w/painkillers and we're ready to go see our boy! Grandma got to be there for it too so that was special for her.

This is the first time I saw James. It was really late the night before surgery!

This is his amazing surgeon Dr. Meyers, who did the surgery. Also the before and after x-rays when the surgery was done! It was amazing that he has a full left lung, they were baffled at how great it looked!

Here he is the day after surgery he got the ventilator taken out and is just on oxygen! The nurse practitioner who took it out said to me how amazing it was b/c she's never in her career taken one out that soon after surgery and w/his condition! She called him a Superstar!! One of the many nicknames the nurses and doctors had for him!!

Here's his battle wound from surgery!

Then the next day he was moved to another room that was less critical and could have 1 nurse for 2 patients!

Then he graduated to a crib which was one step further to reaching the goals he had to obtain before being released!

Then finally he got that dang Anderson tube out of his mouth..he hated that thing! It helped them to know what was coming out of his stomach and watch the progression of his bowels and stomach to be sure it was all healing and doing what it was suppose to.

Graduating to clothes!! It was fun to finally dress him it made me feel like he was a real baby!

My first feeding w/him! He did awesome! They gave him my breast milk in a bottle and he had to progressively work up to breastfeeding! He was a great eater...

The kids got to come up and have a sibling visit for their first time!! They didn't get to go in and see him but just seeing me and where mommy, daddy & James have been the past 2 weeks was good for them to see. Also there is an awesome kids room there that they loved and would of played in all day if we let them but it was really nice so they had stuff to do while waiting around!

Then here we are no more bottle!!! Mommy's in heaven he is really a real baby now :)

Here he is - his first time in the car seat doing the car seat test the day we got to take him home. They have you do it for as long as the trip is to be sure his oxygen levels stay good while in it! He passed w/flying colors - this boy just wanted to go home!!

Here we are just finished dressing him in his really sweet going home outfit! He was mostly happy just not at this particular moment! Time to go home :)

Here are the rooms we had at the Ronald McDonald house we were so lucky to stay at while here. It was an amazing place w/great amenities! It was perfect & felt like home away from home!


March 10th, and he's home!!! What an amazing day we're so lucky to have this little miracle in our family! He is such a precious boy and we bond w/him more and more every day!

This is what his scar looked like the day we came home - it is healing so well! Well that's the journey of our baby James Loran Hirschi! His name is also special b/c he's named after both his grandfathers, his mommy and both his twin brothers! He is a very special boy and deserves a special name!

Ice Fishing!!!

After all the chaos of the holidays were over it was time for some relaxing Ice fishing!! Well so they thought ;) Just word to the wise if you think fishing will be relaxing when taking 2 toddler's & a wild puppy then you have another thing coming!! Brian and his dad still had tons of fun though and loved sharing those memories w/Spencer & Gavin! It was the boys' first time Ice fishing and I'm sure the boys absolutely loved it - until they got too cold!! Anyway just wanted to post these cute pics Brian got of their adventure in the beginning of this new year!!

Out with the old & in with the new!!!

But will always treasure the memories this last year has brought! We just got back from Washington for Christmas and are all missing the family already but finally getting settled back into everyday life. Here are pic's of the fun trip we had together w/lot's of fun adventures!

Waiting at the airport for our plane to board!

The first night we got in all the boys took the older kids to get our 'real' Christmas tree for the upstairs. Grandma loves getting to watch the grandkids decorate the real tree so we got a super deal since it was only 4 days before Christmas! They got a $60 tree for $8 bucks! There was a lot of snow in Yakima before we came but the day we came in it had warmed up and rained so most the snow was gone but the kids found a snow pile and immediately started throwing snow balls

For Family night dad & Brian put the lights on the tree, the grandkids put all the ornaments mom had from all the years of us kids growing up on the tree and us girls finished up decorating mom's house w/the rest of the decorations that hadn't gotten up yet! And of course we couldn't have a day w/out the daily wrestling match between all the kids! Spencer was in HEAVEN...He loves to wrestle and all the kids in our family love it too so he got to wrestle someone everyday while we were there...and most the time his wrestling partner was either his 4 yr old cousin Logan or his grandpa! Grandpa is usually always the instigator but the kids love it! What a first night to start out our holiday vacation - bring on the fun!

Here is the end result when the kids were all done!



The next day was big kid day w/Brian & Adam at the slopes! They went up to White Pass ski resort w/Brooklynn, Danny & Ezzy! This was Brooklynn's 2nd attempt at skiing & both Danny & Ezzy's first time ever along w/their daddy Adam! So basically Brian was the only one up there that really knew what he was doing but it all turned out great! The kids LOVED it, no injuries, and I think Adam even had a great time even though he was learning too! I have a feeling Brian will be making skiers & snowboarders out of our children b/c so far they LOVE it!

Wednesday was a fun night too but I didn't capture any pictures! I made the famous Applesauce bread for my dad so we could do our traditional caroling drop offs to his families he home teaches! It was fun to see the families we visited that I grew up around. And the singing was fun too! On the way to one of the houses we drove past a parade of BIG trucks (semi's, coke truck, etc.) all decked out in Christmas lights & decorated w/Christmas decor! They also played holiday music w/a loud speaker on there trucks as they drove by it was a really cool sight to see and I wish we could of taken pics but it was too dark and they were moving so they wouldn't of turned out anyway. There was about 5 of them all driving slowly like a parade it was a perfect ending to our caroling night!! And Brian actually sang too!! He's such a trooper...love that boy :)

Christmas Eve day Rachel put on a cookie decorating party w/yummy hot chocolate! She had some friends from high school come w/their kids and it was fun seeing them, what a blast from the past! Brooklynn was digging this activity she is very crafty! I was shocked that all Spencer wanted to do was play outside when there were cookies to be had! This was his reaction when I tried getting him to come in and decorate cookies (if you can see it w/those big sunglasses on, he kept those things on the whole time he was outside, he thought he was pretty dang cool) - so I let him play and he just enjoyed eating the cookies after they were decorated he is a true boy that's for sure!!!

Then for Christmas Eve night we had lot's of family over for a Christmas Program! It started out with the Christmas Story that my dad narrated while all the kids were in their costumes and played the parts in the story! Brooklynn was very lucky and got to be Mary and Spencer well let's just say he was a wandering Shepherd! He of course didn't stand around Joseph & Mary like he was suppose to but hey at least he kept his outfit on and he was good until he decided it was more fun to try and use the cane as a weapon ;) Very humorous night - let's just say all my family and extended family really got to see how full my hands are w/this boy! Then at the end cousin Victoria (the Angel) sang Silent Night to everyone and it was very beautiful she has a good voice! Then each of our families were in charge of doing a devotional which we read about how the song Silent Night came about. Then it ended w/some fun games! We all got presents & lot's of candy by the end of the night - Thanks mom & Leticia for putting on those cool games it was a lot of fun! Definitely many laughs and love going around that night at the Penning home!

Then there was Christmas Day! Kids all woke up early and started on the stockings! Then all the kids opened up their gifts from Santa, Grandma & Grandpa! Then once the kids were done and playing w/their new stuff us adults got to open ours! Started out a little hectic but ended very nicely and of course went by way too fast like always. Then onto making Dinner - very busy doing that so I didn't get many pictures that day. But the dinner was fabulous and delicious as always! My mom is the best at Turkey's it was so moist and yummy! Later I attempted some Oreo balls dipped in Chocolate (thanks to Colleen Widmer & sharing her recipe) and oh man they are so good, very rich but so worth it! Then no more cooking -- Turkey sandwiches and leftovers for the rest of the day and night! We relaxed & played games the rest of the day! And spent some time w/our good friends the Gagnier's and Fox's! It was a good day and the best part I think were the pies and games, games & more games! Oh ya and the Turkey sandwiches too.


Then on Saturday the last day w/the McCrackens before they left back to Vegas we had a sledding day! Had to drive a while to get to snow but they all had a blast so it was worth it. I of course can't sled so I didn't go and stayed back w/my mom & sisters. Rach had to pack for the trip home and that was a perfect opportunity since everyone was out of the house! So it was some nice quiet time at the house which didn't happen very often.

During the trip the kids had so much fun even just at the house! They watched Christmas shows, played together, played outside a little, the little one's rode bikes since there the little trikes that can be inside and whenever I couldn't find Spencer he was inevitably upstairs in my sister's apartment playing w/Logan & Haiden and their awesome boy toys! He loved it up there!!! Him and Logan really got along so well this time I think their both coming into a good age and play together so well, most of the time! It was really nice for both mama's!!

Then that evening (Sat night day after Christmas) we celebrated Logan's 4th Birthday! His Birthday is Dec 26th so Adam & Lindsey made an awesome Spiderman Birthday cake...They put a lot of time into it and it turned out amazing! Adam LOVES decorating cakes so Lindsey is always excited for his cakes every other Christmas when he's around to decorate it for her! And while we were doing it we sang to Brooklynn and gave her presents as well since we were all together and her Birthday is Jan 6 which is this next week! I can't believe I'll have a 9 yr old ~ Life sure flies by so fast! Thanks Logan for sharing your Birthday party w/Brooklynn what a fun party!

Then Sunday I got to go to the ward I grew up in and see my dad up on the stand conducting since he's the Bishop and this was his month to conduct! Saw many familiar faces and it was a good spiritual day! My lifelong friend Josie and I are only 4wks apart in our pregnancy's so we had to get a picture together before I left! She is due Feb 8th and having a girl so I had fun picking out a gift for her, I love buying girl gifts!! It's crazy how many of my friends/family are pregnant at the same time w/me and so close together too. It's an amazing experience and won't ever take it for granted.

We left Yakima on Tuesday afternoon and that was a very sad day for me. I miss them all so much already and especially all the game playing I got in too! And the chocolate pie, laughing so hard I cry, just being in the same room as my loved ones, making yummy meals together, baking yummy desserts together, the leftovers, laughing at the kids while wrestling w/grandpa or eachother, the togetherness of family all of it I miss so much and I don't know what I'd do w/out being able to have memories to hold onto cause that's what get's me through until the next time I'm w/all of them. Thanks family for being the best family ever and having such loving hearts, love you all! Hope everyone has a great New Year w/many loving memories to hold onto as well!

Santa, Snowmobiling & Spongebob...Oh Yeah~~

What a grin!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE when my kids aren't afraid of Santa and will give me a darn cute smile!! Even better when it's a smile this mischievious, so hillarious :) And of course when Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas it's not surprising to hear 'cookies' come out of his mouth! Our little cookie monster!!

We just did our yearly traditional breaking in the new snowmobile party up in the sinks of Logan Canyon! What a fun day! Very cold but so worth it. Had some great friends show up and experience it for the first time and some old friends that we don't get to see very often come up too! And of course family - so good to have such great family members, makes for great company! Thanks to everyone that came to help put those miles and time on the machines so we can start renting them out :) And of course Brian making the yummy chili & hot cocoa to warm us all up - soooo good!

This had to make the blog! So Spencer is a Spongebob fanatic - if that's even possible at 33 mths old! But apparently it is, just fyi! I've been packing for our trip on Monday and found Spencer w/his suitcase (which he rolls around the house all day long getting sooo excited to go to Washington) laying on the floor watching nonother then -- yes Spongebob but of course couldn't be w/out the suitcase for one minute while watching it, it's almost like he thinks if he let's it go or out of his sight he won't get to go! It is the cutest thing and just makes me smile!

We are all excited for our trip and get to leave early Monday morning and be gone for 8 days w/lots of family & many many Christmas calories but hey I don't care this is my favorite time of year and wether I'm pregnant & use that as an excuse or exercising and trying to watch my weight I am ALWAYS eating eating eating during the holidays and don't care at all!!!! It's the best time of year and that is one reason why b/c of the good food & treats! So don't judge me just let it go and have yourself the best Christmas ever w/tons of good food no matter how many calories it has or how much it will clog your arteries you only have one life so live it to your heart's content!! Merry Christmas everyone!! :) Love you all!

November & December Catch up~~~

This was our first picture taken of all three of us together, and of course I can't remember how many weeks I was but I know it was in November so I am pretty sure I am around 24 wks or close to it in this picture. The pregnancy is going pretty well still so far so I'm very grateful for that! Right now I'm 28 1/2 wks so now in my third trimester...yay that means I'm almost done and get to see the little man soon! Randi is at the same point as I am in this picture and Ginger is only 3 wks behind us so we're all pretty close! It would be fun to have Debra closer to us so we could all 4 get a pic before we have the little tykes but this will have to do :)

I'll be 29 wks on Saturday which brings up so many different emotions for me. The twins were born at 29 wks 7 years ago and just being pregnant at that point is so weird for me to think that at this point they were born and so very tiny. It's funny how different milestones remind you of different events in your life, which some bring happy feelings but others can bring mixed emotions or sadness. It's been long enough for me emotionally to have really dealt w/that part of it but I still have my moments from time to time, which especially this milestone can bring up more sad feelings just b/c I'm pregnant and emotional (hormonal) however you look at it! But I just felt I wanted to write these feelings down to have them documented and they are a part of our family and I don't talk about them as much as I should. I love you babies and I know your my guardian angels in heaven protecting this pregnancy and I know your the angels who got me to 37 wks w/Spencer, your so special and you are loved by so many! You will be in my thoughts constantly on Saturday...

These are mostly of Brooklynn's Cheer camp adventure & their performance at the SkyView's Basketball game. I have wanted to put her in different camps but it's really hard to work around only having her every other weekend. And it has always seemed to land on a weekend she's w/her dad and this time it worked out for once so I was so excited! She was a little timid at first but loved it and was so excited after it was done! She had the camp on a Saturday which we got to go see what they learned in the afternoon when it was over. Then they performed that next Friday night at the Basketball game which still worked out perfect b/c her dad got to see her perform and then just take her to his place afterwards so she got to do all the parts that were involved it made for a very happy mama :) She even got a really cute T-Shirt out of it! Also there is a couple pics of Spencer & Brooklynn w/their fun cousins, I had to throw those pics in there b/c they were so cute and they all had such a ball playing together! It's been a while since we've had both Randi & Ginger here w/their kids overnight so they got a ton of playtime in together - it was a fun night & day! Especially thanks to Brian since he watched all of them by himself for a couple hours so we could get some shopping done together just the three of us and no kids to haul around! He is a trooper - Grandma & Grandpa helped us out that day too so thanks to all of you for letting us have some good quality girl - shopping time!! So fun!

Here is what's been happening in December so far - The years we're here for Thanksgiving we traditionally put up Christmas decorations and the tree! We got it all set up but didn't decorate the tree until Brooklynn got home from her dad's to do it as a family! Spencer was so cute he spent most of the time on that ladder! He couldn't believe that he actually wasn't getting in trouble for being on it so he took full advantage of it! He did really well for his first year of decorating (well actually really doing it himself) now that he's at that age. We were so proud - and Brooklynn was a good big sister helping him learn how to do it!

Then my good friend Kris invited me to bring Spencer to a parent tot tumbling class w/her and Duncan. We went to check it out and Spencer LOVES it! It get's him out of the house and being active. He needs ALOT of work on the class part of it - he always just wants to do his own thing and not wait in line for his turn or sit in the circle for stretches he just takes off and cries when we make him sit and listen. So I'm glad I'm doing this b/c it shows me that he needs a lot of practice in the 'class' situations especially since he'll be starting pre-school next fall! There's no way he could sit in a class right now so this is great practice for that. But he loves all the tumbling tricks, trampoline, balance beam, zip line you name it he loves it just don't ask him to wait in line or take part in the class right now - we'll get there I'm sure!!! (I hope) Brian wanted to go and check it out w/us so that's the only way I was able to get pics! And all the running after him and the up & down it takes to do the class Brian may be going more often than not b/c I'm not getting any smaller that's for sure and boy do I run out of breath so quick - what is up w/that, I feel like I'm 80 years old!!! It's fun to see Brian involved though in these things and it's good for Spencer too!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well here I am posting Thanksgiving quickly as I promised but did I take any pictures of Thanksgiving this year - of course not! Completely forgot and didn't even think about it until now wanting to post it. Boy have I lost my mind lately! Hopefully it comes back after this baby is born. So instead I thought I'd post some pictures that Brian has taken of the animals. It is really nice that they get along so well, it definitely helps out.

We found out not too long ago that Jesse our cat only has 50% kidney function. He had issues this past summer and we almost lost him but he recovered weighing all odds which was amazing - he only had 30% chance of surviving and he came through w/flying colors! But when we took him in to get him nudered they did the normal tests to be sure he was totally healthy to get it done the tests came back not so good. Basically they said he only had 50% chance of kidney function and that he won't live as long as most cats. But he is such a good cat and so strong that we should get a good amount of years out of him just not the normal amount. So we are thankful as a family to have whatever amount of time we have left w/him and that he is so good w/the dog and the kids. I can't believe the torture he puts up w/from Spencer - Some days are better than others but he can really get pretty rough w/Jesse. He is learning though and hopefully won't be so bad down the road when he understands better.

Just some of the things I am grateful for are:

Home
A happy family
Parents
Pregnancy
Yummy food

Transportation
Health
Abundance of friends
Neighbors
Kids
Service
Giving to others
Ice cream
Vacations
I love my husband
New baby on the way
Gospel

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are thinking about what your grateful for every day and never loosing sight of those things!