We Will Miss You President Hinckley

We were very sad to hear about the passing of President Hinckley, our church's prophet. He was such a wonderful man and we will miss him greatly. I am also sad that Tate will not get the opportunity to know him.

My Other Baby

I know that most (ok, all) of this blog has been dedicated to my little Taters. Today, I want to dedicate this entry to my other baby, Nathan. :) He is the best husband in the world and has been so great through all of this stuff with Tate. He does so much for Tate and me and we couldn't make it without him. My friend, Jaci, "tagged" me with this little thing about our husbands, so I thought I would put it up just to say how much I love Nathan!! His birthday is the day before Tate's surgery, so I want to do as much for him now before things get crazy. I love you Nathan!!

What is his name? Nathan Aaron Hess
How long have you been together? Since Nov 4 2003
How long did you date? From Nov until we were married in Sept 04
How old his he? 26, almost 27!!
Who eats more? Me, for sure, even though that is embarassing to say. Nathan hardly eats anything and I am a girl who loves to eat. I don't think he enjoys it as much as I do (which would explain why he doesn't struggle with his weight!).
Who said I love you first? I did. It was kind of dorky, but I said "I think I love you." Don't ask how soon it was either. Hey, I knew he was the one!!
Who is taller? Nathan is taller for sure.
Who can sing better? I'd have to say me since Nathan doesn't really like to sing. But, I am no Beyonce.
Who is smarter? We like to think that we are both smart (we love to play tv game shows to prove it!). But, I would say that Nathan is smarter. He knows so much about so many things and he practically has a photographic memory!
Who does the laundry? I mostly do the laundry, but Nathan also does his share. We mostly split most of the household stuff.
Who pays the bills? I do because it is so much fun! :)
Who sleeps in the right side? If you are laying in the bed, I do. Do most girls sleep on that side?Who mows the lawn? I have never mowed a lawn in my life. I don't even know how to work the lawn mower. So, poor little Nathan sweats it out while mowing our lawn.
Who cooks dinner? I do. But, Nathie can be very help at picking up food for us if I am not in the mood to cook.
Who is more stubborn? We are both pretty easy going, especially with each other.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me, but I wouldn't leave until he did. I was asking for it!
Who asked who out first? We were both interested in each other and asked to be set up. So, I guess it was mutual. I definitely made sure it happened though!
Who proposed? Nathan did even though I spent the hours before complaining that we weren't engaged (what a baby!!). I can't believe he still asked me!!
Who has more friends? Probably Nathan because everyone loves him. We really don't do too much with friends since we love being with each other and with our little boy.
Who is more sensitive? If this question is asking who cries more, than I win for sure. I cry at any sign of conflict. I know, it is very mature.
Who wears the pants? What does this even mean? All I know is that Nathan and I are VERY respectful of each other and nobody is in charge of anyone around here! :)

Well, Tate is getting upset because I am not staring at him (spoiled baby!). I hope Nathan doesn't mind that I posted this. I love you Nath!

Tiny Tater Tots

We haven't had much time to blog over the last week because things have been a little crazy. My dad came to visit from Kentucky and we had a really great time hanging out and playing with Tate. Tate loves seeing his grandpa! Wednesday and Thursday, we were at Primary Children's Hospital most of the day. The first day we met with Dr. Schmelzer, who is a plastic surgeon in the cranial/facial surgery department. We weren't too impressed with him and felt like we were being sold a very invasive procedure that we didn't feel comfortable with. The next day we met with Dr. Brockmeyer, who is the pediatric neurosurgeon. We really liked him and felt great about the procedure called Strip Craniectomy. It is not as invasive as cranial vault surgery (which Dr. Schmelzer tried to sell us on), but it has been very effective. We scheduled Tate's surgery for Monday February 11. Dr. Brockmeyer told us that the surgery takes an hour total, there is no ICU stay and Tate will probably go home on Wednesday morning. Also, he won't need to wear a helmet! We feel really good about this procedure, but are still researching and reading all we can about it to make sure it is the best choice for our baby boy. Today, Tate had his four month doctors appointment (I feel like we have been living at the doctors with 5 visits over the last week and a half). Can you believe he is already four months old?? I can't!! Shelley (Nathan's sister) took us to the appointment (thank you Shelley!!!) because my car broke down. The old Nissan Sentra is struggling these days and I am actually surprised it took that long to break down. I guess when it rains, it pours, huh? The appointment today went well and Tate got his shots. He cried for a little bit but calmed down and was smiling within a few minutes. The doctor also prescribed Prevacid to Taters for acid reflux. Hopefully that will help him because he has had a hard time eating lately. Other than that he is a healthy boy!! :) Really, he is just so sweet and smiley that you wouldn't know anything is going on with him. We are really blessed to have this little boy that we are CRAZY ABOUT! Thanks to everyone for their calls, prayers, and comments! Here are a few of the latest pictures to lighten up this blog a bit!

Update On Our Baby Boy

It has taken me a few days to be able to blog about this. I know that everyone is concerned, so I think that I am ready. We took Tate to the hospital on Monday for his CT scan. He was so sweet and cute. They had to strap him down to keep him still while they ran him through the machine. Only one person could stay in the room and Nathan stayed with him cause he just couldn't leave him. (They are so cute together.) Tate was perfectly still, stared at Nathan and smiled the whole time. The radiologist said that most babies scream and he was surprised at how calm he was. Of course, he commented on how cute he was also!

Our pediatrician called us later that night and said that he had talked to the radiologist and they confirmed that the CT scan was abnormal and it looked like Craniosynostosis. He referred us to a cranial facial surgeon up at Primary Children's. We decided to get a second opinion and took Tate to Dr. Holmes (who delivered him). He confirmed that it was Craniosynostosis and that it could only be corrected by surgery.

For those of you who don't know anything about Craniosynostosis (which I would assume is almost everyone that hasn't talked to us about it):

"Craniosynostosis is a congenital anomaly characterized by the premature closure of one or more cranial sutures (the fibrous joints between the bones of the skull). The disorder results in an abnormal skull and head shape."

What this means, is that two of the plates in his skull have fused prematurely (closing his soft spot). Because of this, his skull can't grow normally, which means that his brain can't grow normally either. The type that Tate has (sagital) is the most common where the top two plates have fused, resulting in his head being long and narrow instead of round. (This is how they caught it; the doctor noticed that his head was not round.) Tate doesn't have a severe case and it is hard to tell that his head is mishapen unless you know what you are looking for. Tate's brain is perfect at this point and there has been no pressure or anything. The surgery is to prevent any future problems when his brain grows more (and it will because he is SUPER SMART!). :)

This is a picture that shows a normal skull (left) vs. Craniosyntosis. Now, any of you who have seen our little Taters knows that his isn't this bad or obvious, but this can give you a good idea of what Craniosynostosis looks like.

We have a consultation with a surgeon up at Primary Children's next Wednesday (Jan 23). He will tell us then more about the surgery and I think we will schedule it. They like to do the surgery before the baby is 4-5 months and Tate is 3 1/2 months now. We will keep everyone posted. We really really appreciate everyone's fasting, prayers and calls. We love you all!

Here is an article that was written by a doctor at Primary Children's Hospital with more information about the condition and the surgery (for any of you who are interested):

http://intermountainhealthcare.org/xp/public/documents/pcmc/tg_05_07.pdf

Goodbye to the Cowboys for the Year

It was a sad day for our beloved Cowboys. They lost their playoff game to the Giants. Nathan was sad because they haven't won a playoff game since he was 15 years old. It would have been really fun to see them in the super bowl (or at least play one more week). We did have fun all getting dressed up in Cowboys gear to support them. Everyone please be extra nice to Nathan as he is very sad about their loss. :(

Today is a Better Day

Tate is feeling better today. The poor little thing hadn't really slept well in days and last night he made up for it. He feel asleep about 7:00 and slept for 5 hours at a time and slept until 8:00 this morning. Poor little thing was just tuckered out. He is smiley and happy like always. I sure do love this little boy. Also, thanks to everyone for their kind words and prayers! It is nice to know so many people care about us!

Kind of a Crappy Week.....

So, this has been a bit of a lame week. First of all, I started work this week. I have to go into the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I work from home for the rest of the week. Not too bad (you would think). Well, Tuesday I took my little boy to my sister's house. I thought I would be fine but I took forever to leave him and then I cried for an hour. Everyone at work probably thinks I am a crazy person because all they had to do was mention Tate and I cried. Then, I had only been at work for about an hour and a half when my sister called and said that Tate wasn't doing well. I was worried that he was sick because he hasn't been sleeping well AT ALL the past few days. He has only been sleeping about 2-3 hours at a time (of course this happens the week I have to go back to work). So, I ran over to my sisters and cuddled my Taters and fed him and he was just fine. We ended up taking him to to doctors yesterday because he isn't quite acting like himself. I was worried he had an ear infection, but it turns out he has a little sore throat and virus. Poor little baby....

While we were at the doctor, the doctor said that he was concerned about the shape of Tate's head. We have to go to the hospital on Monday to have a CT scan for Taters. They are worried that the bones in his head have fused prematurely, which doesn't allow his head to grow normally. It is called Craniosynostosis for anyone who cares. So, please keep our little boy in your prayers and hopefully, this will just be something that will clear up on its own and he won't need surgery. The thought of that is way too much for me..........

To top everything off, the weather here SUCKS. For those of you in Utah, you know what I am talking about. It just keeps dumping more and more snow. It is only about three weeks into winter and I am already sick of it? Anyone else sick of this snow and wishing they lived somewhere warm?

Tummy Time

Tate has just recently started loving being on his tummy. Here is a picture of him from today when we were having fun watching him do his baby push ups. He is such a strong boy.

Tate is Changing so Much

Tate is changing so much everyday. He seems to have gone through a growth spurt because none of his old clothes fit him anymore. He is now officially wearing 3-6 month clothing! He has been sucking on his hands for quite awhile, but he just recently learned to open his hand up and just suck his little thumb. He looks so cute doing it and it can keep him happy for awhile. He is so much fun. We are currently working on rolling over and getting him ready to crawl. He loves doing little push ups when he is on his tummy. He also loves to smile, laugh and make all sorts of little sounds. What a cute boy!