Shawn and Julie Yates

Peek-A-Boo!

2012-01-24T15:47:00.000-08:00

Or little girl turned 10 months old yesterday, time has begun to FLY since she's been doing well!!

Jumpin' for Joy!

2011-11-17T16:31:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it?! Before Emma was born we didn't know if she'd have any mobility in her legs or feet... Just look at her go! (Shawn and I are jumpin' for joy, too!!) She is such a miracle. Last week her doctor started her on regular calorie formula because she's gaining weight so well. In fact, he even said she was "pudgy". Who knew that could fell like such a compliment! :) Also, the other day we were at the dentist and a complete stranger who had no clue of her past said, "She looks so healthy!" I just smiled and thanked her, but inside I was beaming. I could've never imagined that by the time Emma was almost 8 months old she would be just like any other baby. There is always the worry that her shunt might clog or that her ankles and feet may not work just right when she gets older, but all is well. In fact, her physical therapist was very impressed with her ankles. When she puts her weight on them while we hold her up they stay nice and straight without rolling or collapsing.

Oh my gosh, talk about kisses that just melt your heart.

Look what I can do mom!

This is an outfit I wore when I was a baby.

For the love of food!!

Our little lady bug.

No More Feeding Tube!!!!!!

2011-09-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Emma! Today is her 6 month birthday and there is so much to celebrate! She was eating so well that on August 15th we took her feeding tube out for a 2 week trial run. Now, almost 6 weeks later, she's still going strong! Her weight gain hasn't been consistently an ounce a day like her pediatrician Dr. Terashima would like, but at least she hasn't lost weight. I tell you what, it is sure nice to not have to always worry about her pulling it out (especially now that she is a lot more coordinated with her hands) or it getting wrapped around her neck, or catching the end in chairs when you stand up, etc, etc... Not to mention how nice it is to not have to wash all the syringes. I finally took the back-up tube and face tape out of her diaper bag yesterday and it was so liberating! She is still on a higher calorie formula for now (27 cal.) but we hope to slowly back it down to the normal 20 cal.

Dr. Garnreiter, Emma's cardiologist at Primary Children's, saw her 2 weeks ago and said that her heart murmur (VSD) is still there but continues to improve. He took her off the Lasix which was her only medicine at this point... No more medications to keep track of (another HOORAY)! We won't need to go back to cardiology until she's a year old. :)

Emma's shunt incisions have healed beautifully and it continues to work properly. She scratches at it a lot on the side of her head and when I asked the neurosurgeon about it he said that is very common because it itches while it's still healing. I asked my dad if his shunt itches and he says that it does and he has to rub it. Poor little thing, I just keep her finger nails trimmed and hope she doesn't scratch it too hard.

Developmentally she is right on track according to Susan the physical therapist. We couldn't be more thrilled that the spina bifida itself has had such a relatively small impact on her motor skills... We will know more as she gets older if it will impact her ability to walk, but things are looking good. Below is a picture of her learning to sit up that I took 2 weeks ago.

Our Little Aggie

Sweet girl, 5 months old.

On to bigger and better (I think) things, like rice cereal...

...and sweet potatoes!!

I love to see those tiny toes wiggle against all odds!

Learning to sit up!

Now that takes some skill.

Shunt Surgery - July 19, 2011

2011-07-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

Emma's shunt surgery went really well. The hardest part for Shawn and I was as she was comming out of surgery, She was really disoriented still from the anesthesia. She looked so confused and when she started to cry her voice was really hoarse from the breathing tube that had made her throat raw. Hardly any sound came out at all and it was heart wrenching. She had a brief allergic reaction to either the Betadine or Lortab, but the recovery went well otherwise. I was able to stay in her room overnight and we were home by 12:30 the next afternoon. The only pain medication she had been on was Tylenol and she was doing great... Until about an hour after we got home. Then the crying (screaming) began. We finally were able to get her some Percocet at 11:00pm and she was finally able to get some rest. The surgery involved two incisions on her head and one on her tummy (the fluid drains down a tube into her abdomen where it is absorbed). She will need the shunt for the rest of her life. Unfortunately they tend to plug up and malfunction and she may need to have it replaced anywhere from 5 times in the first year to once in 5 years, we'll hope for the latter. She is doing great now, almost two weeks later. We have noticed a big improvement in her hand/eye coordination and overall development, she smiles a lot more and has even started to laugh! :)

Ok, It's just sad that they have hospital gowns that small.

With G-ma and G-pa Vernon post surgery.

Emma and Grandpa are now "shunt buddies". You can see the drainage tube under her skin running down the right side of her head.

Luckily they only needed to shave a small section of hair.

Daddy is funny!

An Eventful Day

2011-07-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

We met with Emma's Neurosurgeon today at Primary Children's. She hasn't thrown up for a few days... but she is in pain. She has serious crying (screaming) fits through out the day for anywhere from 20 min to 2 and a half hours. At night she either sleeps for eight hours straight from exhaustion or fusses every hour. It's so hard to know what the problem is with any baby who cries so we have been trying everything under the sun from different formulas to gas medication with no success but were still confused since she hasn't been showing some of the "classic" signs of hydrocephalus (being unable to look up, rapid increase of head circumference, etc.). The neurosurgeon ordered another CT scan to compare with the one we had done in April and I took a picture of the computer screen comparing the two (see below).

Her second CT scan at almost 4 months old.

CT Scan of a normal brain. http://www.seattlechildrens.org/medical-conditions/chromosomal-genetic-conditions/hydrocephalus/

Looking at a cross section of Emma's brain from above, the dark shapes in the center are the ventricals that have spinal fluid built up in them. The image on the right was on April 23rd and on the left July 18th (today).

She is scheduled for surgery to get a shunt at 8:15 tomorrow morning. I'm nervous about her having to go through the surgery, but can't handle another minute of seeing her in pain and not being able to comfort her. I just hope it helps.

Such hard work!

2011-07-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Journey Continues

2011-07-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Emma is doing so well overall. I can't believe she'll be 4 months old in a week and a half! She still hasn't needed to get a shunt and the hole in her heart continues to close on its own. Also, her kidneys are completely better and we only have to give her one medicine once a day for her heart rather than four medicines multiple times a day. Unfortunately she has been sick for the last five days with an upset stomach, the poor thing. :( We're going to the doctor again this afternoon.

Our little skittle.

That frown absolutely KILLS me!

Getting fed by cousin Christsia at Snowbird.

Just a small sample of the never ending things I get to wash all day long. :)

Who knew that it could be so bright outside even when you're in the shade? We had her feeding tube out for six days but she didn't gain enough weight so we had to put it back in. :(

Apparently her Uncle Justin can speak her language really well!

Three Weeks of Being Home

2011-05-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

After just 3 days home we got to visit the ER. She was eating very little and crying a lot and her head measurement was bigger. It was a Saturday and our pediatrician said we had better take her in. We were there for 3 lovely hours trying to keep her happy while keeping her from eating just in case they needed to do the surgery. They wrapped her tight in a blankie and strapped her down for a CAT scan. The noisy huge machine rotated around her head and she just laid there perfectly still and sucked on her binky, what a good girl!! The results came back and her ventricles were enlarged a little bit but still not enough to do the shunt surgery. It gave us peace of mind to know that her head was still okay, it must've just been a bad day. What a guessing game!!

Snuggles with daddy in the ER

Emma had a 4 hour long appointment at the spina bifida clinic at Primary's last Friday the 6th. We saw about 10 different doctors and specialists at the SB clinic and it was all really informative. They all loved to see how well she is doing. Our most exciting news is that since her kidneys and bladder look great, the Urologist says we no longer have to cath her once a day. HOORAY!! Also, her head circumference is following a stable growth curve so we still don't need a shunt yet, they'll check that again in 3 weeks.

Ahhh, breakfast in bed.

Cutie Pie!!

First Easter

Meeting Great Grandpa Yates for the first time... He passed away two days later, we will miss him!

First stroller ride, I'm not so sure about the cool breeze and bright sun!

We had an appointment with the cardiologist yesterday, after doing a heart ultrasound and an EKG (see picture below) we learned that the hole in her heart is getting slightly smaller!!! The doctor is hopeful that it will close on its own, we are SO excited! Her fast breathing and fatigue while eating will slowly improve as her heart does and she'll get better at eating by mouth with time.

We thought she had gone wireless, I guess not!

HOME AT LAST!!!!

2011-04-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Emma has upgraded to wireless!!

We finally get to dress her in her very own clothes. :)

The rainy drive home, she slept the whole way.

In her nursery at last.

"Nurse Julie" getting all her evening medications ready. (Don't worry... those are just syringes to put into her feeding tube, not needles for shots!)

Shawn and I have had permanent smiles all day long. We have loved having Emma home with us ALL DAY (well, we got discharged from Primary Children's at about noon). Yes, now the hard part of taking the night shifts begins, but bring it on. Luckily my mom is staying with us for a few days to help. I've got lots of follow-up appointments scheduled with each of Emma's many doctors so that they can continue to monitor her progress, meanwhile we'll just keep doing what we have been doing pretty much -minus the hospital! Unfortunately we still can't have anyone under 18 years old hold her yet since it's still RSV season and we have to be VERY careful that she doesn't get sick, especially before her shunt surgery which may or may not be in a couple of weeks. Because of all that our sweet girl has been through these last four weeks and all of her internal problems (heart, lungs, brain fluid, spine, etc.) she is very susceptible to getting sick. The last thing we want is for her to head right back to the hospital.

Well, I will still probably post when we find out when her surgery will be or if there are any other major changes... and of course to share extra cute pictures. Otherwise, this will probably be the last of the frequent updates. Once again, we cannot thank everyone enough for your unending love, prayers, and support!!

"Look Ma, no tube!"

2011-04-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

RAWRRR!!!

Cute as a button!

Emma got to take a little break from her feeding tube being in her nose (and throat, and stomach). I got to learn how to put a new tube in... pretty crazy! Yes, she really hated it but I can't say blame her. I wish she would eat all her food so we could just leave it out, at least she's getting a little better at it.

So fun to see here cute little face with no tube. Hopefully she won't need it for too much longer.

We Wish We Knew!

2011-04-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

When is she coming home? Is she getting a shunt? When is she going to get a shunt? Will they send her home with a feeding tube? These are the questions that we seem to get asked everyday. We wish we knew! Heck...we wish the doctors knew! What we do know is that her head circumference is half a centimeter larger. The results from the head ultrasound showed that her ventricles are slightly enlarged, but not enlarged enough to put in a shunt yet. The neurosurgeons will hopefully have more news for us on Monday. If they wait to do the shunt and if she continues to gain weight they might send her home at the end of next week. Everyone cross your fingers!

"It's fun to be me!"

It is so hard to leave her at night, especially when she is wide awake and being such a good girl. We resorted to using her musical light-up toy to entertain her while we snuck away so she didn't feel like she was being ditched. It was still hard to leave!

And the Waiting Continues

2011-04-13T20:52:00.001-07:00

Apparently the conference of doctors today was only for the cardiologists rather that all of Emma's doctors. They must not have decided on doing anything different with her heart right now than to wait until her hydrocephalus is under control, they never came and gave me more news. Friday she'll get another head ultrasound done.

Emma LOVED to hear Grandpa Vernon whistle like a little birdie.

Great big smiles for grandpa.

Rub a dub dub, cute girl in a tub!

All clean and warm.

A priceless snuggle moment. :)

Her heart steps out of the spotlight.

2011-04-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

The doctors did another chest x-ray this morning and Emma's lungs look clearer, yay! They said that although her heart is still a little large from having so much blood pumping through it, it is functioning well and is not a major concern at this point. The pressure that may be building up in her head is what they will need to address first (her head circumference is the same as it was yesterday though, 36 cm). Tomorrow morning Emma's case will be presented in a conference where all the different doctors, surgeons, and specialists are there together and can discuss the best options. I am really looking forward to finding out what they say. Meanwhile, we're still working on the whole eating thing. The poor girl just can't seem to quite get the hang of it.

"Dad's finger's are my favorite!"

WIDE awake.

Now that's one proud daddy.

"YIKES! Those whiskers are scary dad!"

Emma's first "up-doo"

2011-04-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

Not much happened today... enjoy the picture and video. :)

"Somehow the windy weather got into the NICU... just look at my hair!!"

Eating Like A Big Girl

2011-04-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

No new news today. I just can't believe how much I love to look at her and hold her close. Being a mother so far is better than I even imagined. It is extremely hard to be away from my sweet baby girl for so many hours at a time, not knowing when she's crying or needing her mommy to hold her and sing to her. I am just so glad that she is getting such good care and that for all the problems we're facing right now, there is a good solution for each one. I know she'll pull through it all.

I just can't get enough of how she sleeps with her mouth open!

Eating like such a big girl! She still gets exhausted usually before finishing a bottle (55 ml.), but she sure does work hard at it!

Not so good news

2011-04-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 9th, 2011

We learned that since the fluid is beginning to build up in Emma's brain, the doctors say that she'll probably need a to have a shunt put in at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. We were REALLY not wanting her to have to have a shunt... But are grateful that we have that option to keep the fluid from building up pressure in her brain.

She's not just kicking her feet in this picture, she's holding one foot up in the air waiting for daddy to rub it... just the way she did when she was in my tummy!! This was their favorite game to play at bedtime while I was pregnant, she'd push out her foot and daddy would 'get it' then after a minute she'd pull it back and push it out again. It was SO cute to see them play the same game again!! It's amazing to think that she was in my belly just days ago.

That adorable foot which is now so much more fun and kissable! :)

All snug as a bug.

2011-04-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Emma now weighs a hefty 7 lbs. 1-1/2 oz... Her birth weight was 7 lbs. 6 oz., getting closer! She's gotten 66% of her food by mouth in the last 24 hours. The docs increased her calories to 27 (kilo calories per ounce) so that she can gain more weight and stamina. The head ultrasound showed that her ventricles are a little larger, neurology is just going to keep an eye on it for now. She got the 13 stitches removed from her back. A lot of them were ingrown and they bled when the doc pulled them out, she was NOT a happy camper. It's hard to watch such a tiny person go through so much, I often wish I could just take her place. Cardiology will do another heart ultrasound on Monday to see what the next step is for her heart.

Poor Shawn got sick yesterday with a sore throat. It's been really hard on him to not be able to be with Emma, and he is worried about getting me sick too. His girls sure love and miss him.

Look who LOVES to sleep... maybe even as much as mommy does!
(I get such a kick out of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich blanket on her bed)

Yet another bath. :)

2011-04-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Emma's phosphorus levels are coming down. They'll leave her catheter in for another day or two in order to better evaluate her kidney function. A low dose of an antibiotic has been added to her medicines to prevent a urinary tract infection.

Unfortunately, the doctor says that he expects that Emma will need to be here for at least another week since she still struggles to eat by mouth. :( But who knows... she drank two bottles this evening!

It's so fun to wear clothes!!

2011-04-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 6th 2011

Emma got to lay on her back for the very first time... for my 27th birthday! :) Her back is healing really well and she should get her stitches out on Friday. Her weight is still slowly increasing. The doctor says we can try bottle feeding again even though her breathing is still a little fast. Her chest x-rays from this morning showed that her lungs are worse - they have more fluid in them because if the hole in her heart. The Lasix medicine isn't working well enough so they are going to add another fluid-decreasing medicine to see if it will help.

It's been one of our harder days, but I appreciate all the birthday wishes and your continuing prayers and support.

What more could I want on my birthday than a wonderful husband, awesome family and friends, and snuggles from my very own daughter!!!

2011-04-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

The doctors did a kidney ultrasound today and they are back to normal! They'll leave a catheter in for 24 hours (rather than just catheterizing her once a day) to better assess how her bladder is doing. The little stinker Miss. Emma yanked her feeding tube out of her nose 5 times today before 11:00 am and once again later in the afternoon! It's certainly NO fun getting it put back in, I wish she'd stop it. The occupational therapist checked her range of motion again today and said that in the 15 years she's been doing this, she's never seen a baby with a defect where Emma's is be able to move so much - what a miracle!

Her cheek is all red because she rips off her feeding tube so much :(

Streeeetch

Eating is HARD WORK!

Stop! In the name of love...

Emma 4/4/11 Update

2011-04-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Emma's lungs look better today, but her blood pressure going to her lungs is still high from the hole in her heart. They will be doing another chest x-ray on Wednesday and then she will see the cardiologist again. The kidney specialists said they weren't too worried about the high phosphorus, but that they will keep checking on her and and doing ultrasounds of her kidneys to make sure they stay looking good.

Look, a big mouth just like mine!

Whatcha' looking at?

Daddy's turn for bath night.

Let's Try Again

2011-04-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

With Emma's breathing still high this morning, we were sure that it would be another day where we couldn't hold her and she would have to feed by tube. Fortunately the doctors and nurses decided to try and see if us holding her and letting her feed by mouth would help calm her breathing. Thankfully holding her was exactly what she needed. They also decided to increase the amount that she is fed and to fortify her milk with more calories and calcium to help her start gaining weight. Her phosphorus levels are still dropping and are almost back to normal. Emma was a lot of fun today and it was nice to feel like we were able to have such an impact in her progress.

Emma loves to sit upright. She stayed awake like this for almost half an hour. So fun!!!

One Step Forward...Three Steps Back

2011-04-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a tough day! Emma pulled her feeding tube all the way out this morning during one of her feedings and the nurse didn't notice for a long time. The nurse told us that she was crying really hard and by the time she got the feeding tube back in and got her caught up on her food Emma was exhausted. By the time we arrived to see her, she was sleeping and the nurse said we shouldn't bother her. Luckily we were just in time to talk to her group of doctors who were making their rounds. They increased her medicine to help her breathing and heart issues in hopes that we can start feeding her by mouth again. The one good thing they talked about was that her head size is not increasing. Her phosphorus levels are coming down a little, but are still too high. Later this evening I went in to see if I could hold her for a while, but when I got there the nurse explained that her fast breathing is starting to take its toll on her oxygen levels. Her medicine should help fix that, but the higher dose hasn't kicked in yet. They have put the oxygen tubes back on her nose with just puffs of room air to see if they can increase her oxygen levels. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day!!! It is not natural for a mother to be told that she can't hold or touch her baby.

This is how separated from her I felt today

At least she is stinkin' cute!

Who's driving this crazy bus anyway...Emma is!

2011-04-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Having a baby in the NICU is like being on a wild bus ride with the baby as the driver. You never know where she is going to go next and you have no control. Today some of the good turns she made were:

She got her IV out. Hooray for no more swollen limbs and many many pokes!
Her head diameter has not increased.
The hole in the upper part of her heart has closed on its own.
She graduated to a crib which means she is able to maintain her body temperature and she has less doctors monitoring her progress (fewer tests.)

Some of the bad turns were:

She has high phosphorus levels and they don't know why. We are still unsure what that means.
The hole in the bottom portion of her heart is still the same size and continues to cause her to breathe too fast to feed by mouth. The doctors will decide in the morning what to do next.

The Fam

She loves to be held by daddy

She loves to look at mommy and hear her sing

Big girl bed!

This was taken close to 11:00 pm and we finally decided to say goodnight. It's hard to leave that precious little face!

Emma's Many Faces

2011-03-31T21:23:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the updates from today:

Emma's head circumference is still the same - not swelling!!!
She is still breathing really fast so they'll give the medicine until tomorrow to see if it starts working before they increase her dose. Meanwhile, she is still being fed through the tube.
She still has borderline jaundice so she is on and off the lights.
They upped her food to 54ml. and took her "nutrition" out of her IV. So she is pretty much done with the IV and they will be able to take it out soon. Yay!

This is my adorable awake face

This is my angry face

This is my sleepy face

This is my "I'm gonna sneeze" face

Squeaky Clean

2011-03-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

This isn't Emma's first bath, but it is my first time bathing her.

She loved to be all clean.

Because of the hole in Emma's heart, their is too much blood flowing through it and into her lungs which is now causing her breathing to speed up, especially when she eats by mouth. This is just what they expected to happen. Luckily there is a medicine they can give her that will help. There is still a chance the hole could close on its own, but if it doesn't they would wait until she is at least 6 months old to surgically fix it. She could even go as long as 2 years on the medicine before surgery. The downside is that we had to go back to tube feeding today while all the respiratory stuff is figured out. Hopefully we will be able to get back on track with the mouth feedings soon to get her home. She had a pretty good night last night with bottles, but her breathing rate increased so much each time that they wanted her to take a break and recover today.

Also, before we can take Emma home, there is a list of things Shawn and I must learn from the nurses. We have to be able to catheterize her once a day, change her bandages, clean and monitor the wound and pass an infant CPR course. There are probably lots of other things we have to pass off, but I haven't got a list in front of me.

We want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. Thank you to all those at Provo Craft for the food and support. It has been so nice that Shawn can get away from work in the afternoons and spend time with Emma and me. We can't wait for more of you to meet her and feel of her special spirit!

It's All About Food!

2011-03-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Emma is getting even better at nursing which is good because her main requirement for coming home now is that she gets all her food by mouth rather than feeding tubes and gains weight. Otherwise her doctors have given us the OK to take her home. the cardiologist and spina bifida specialists will be following up with her in the coming weeks by appointment.

Who is holding me?

Emma getting her bottle feeding assessment

My first bottle - Thanks Daddy!

Daddy's little girl

Holding Emma 3-27 to 3-28

2011-03-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

We got to hold our Emma!!

Emma had to be treated w/ lights for jaundice on Sunday, but she was able come off the lights on Saturday morning. She looks like a tiny Ninja Turtle with those cool "goggles" on!

Sunday I was also able to check out of the hospital. I'm actually going to miss the bed that sits me up and having the nurses bring me everything I need.

Monday

Emma is starting to get the hang of nursing - such a good girl!

Thank goodness my sweet sister and her family are letting me stay at their house while Emma is still at Primary Children's because I found out today that it takes a LOT of time and energy to go back and forth to feed her. I have completely worn myself out!!

The cardiologist says that there are 2 holes in her heart, one of which concerns them to the point of possible open heart surgery if it causes her to breathe so rapidly that it affects her eating. She's doing well, though, and there's a chance it could close on its own.

Emma Kaysia Yates 3-26-11 Update

2011-03-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

We had a really good day today. Emma was able to get her ventilator tube removed and was able to start receiving milk through a very small feeding tube through her nose. Both sets of grandparents came to visit her as well as uncle Levi and uncle Steve. They all agree that she's a keeper. :) She started using a binky and had her eyes open quite a bit. It was fun to hear her squeaks and sneezes now that her ventilator is out. I was able to brush her hair, too, which put her right to sleep. It sounds like we may get to hold her on Monday if the Spina Bifida specialist gives us the OK. We can't wait! After finally seeing her face a little clearer we were able to decide on a middle name of Kaysia... like Asia with a "K."

Striking a pose. We love to be able see those cute lips!

I think she likes to pose for the camera... it's a good thing, too, since she'll be overly photographed in her lifetime I'm sure! Didn't her daddy do a good job choosing a hair bow all by himself?! She has him wrapped around her tiny little finger already and it's SO cute.

Emma 3-25-11 Update

2011-03-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today was a lazy relaxing day for everyone. No new news for Emma. They want to wait to do the next tests when she is off the ventilator. Hopefully that will happen in the morning. Since we don't have lots of news we will just post lots of pictures :)

Emma's very first hair bow. Aww... fer cute!!!

Sweet daddy kisses

Cute little piggies

Look at those lovely locks of hair

Precious

She's got mommy's nails

2011-03-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

Surgery went well last night. The neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon said that both of their surgeries went as expected without any surprises or issues. At 10:30 pm last night I was able to hop in a wheelchair and go visit my girl. It was just what I needed. If only I wasn't so tired from the Benadryl I could have stayed longer than 10 minutes. It was wonderful though!

This morning we woke up having had a wonderful nights sleep and were able to go see Emma again at about 11am. The video I have posted is of that visit. It was fun to connect with her as she opened her eyes and got to see us for the first time. The nurses said that they may have her stay on the ventilator for another day or two to play it safe. No further news on the possible shunt or situation with her heart, but we will let you know when we find out. Shawn has been able to be with her for a good part of the day and plans to take me down to see her again tonight.

I just have to try not to over do it so that I can be ready when Emma is ready to go home. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. We have enjoyed all your comments, posts and emails! I will try to have more pictures and info tomorrow.

Our New Arrival!!

2011-03-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Our little Emma was born this morning at 9:23 and weighed 7lbs 6oz and was 18 inches long. She's an adorable little chunk with straight light brown hair that's about an inch long. They've done test after test on the poor thing but it's what needs to happen so that we can get some answers and know what she needs done. I'm doing well after the c-section (now that they finally got my pain medicine working). I got to see her and hold her tiny hand for about 5 minutes this morning before they took her over to Primary Children's... it's been SO hard to be away from her while I recover at the U!! Thank goodness for Shawn, he has been so wonderful today looking out for 'his girls'. They took her into surgery to fix up her back at 6:15 this evening and she has two teams of doctors, the neurosurgeon's team has just finished their part and said that everything went well, hooray! The plastic surgeon's team is next and they will close her up the rest of the way which should take another hour. Then I get to hop in a wheel chair and go see her!!! They have also discovered a medium sized hole in her heart between two of the main chambers that they are going to address later... poor little tyke! She is being such a trooper and we just know she'll pull through all of this! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers, we have definitely felt the peace and hope they have brought.

Meeting my baby girl!!

Sweet Little Thing

With G-ma Jo, look at that fabulous hair!

Nursery!!

2011-03-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

I guess it's time to post something since it's been over a year.... :)

Here are the pictures of Emma's nursery, just need a crib mattress and a couple little details and it'll be done! (Good thing I suppose, since she'll be here next Wednesday... we're SO excited!!)

BEFORE ...hey, it's called a creative mess.

AFTER ...fit for a princess!

This is a hand-me-down dresser (thanks Stacy and Mike!!) that was in need of a little TLC:

BEFORE

AFTER
I actually painted it white (it was cream) but it's hard to tell because of the lighting.

Fondu Fun!!!

2010-02-28T20:41:00.001-08:00

Here's a sneak peek at the fun times had when the Vernon family gets together. :) We had fondu for my nephew's birthday party and us girls decided to suck up the chocolate with straws. Shawn grabbed his camera and started shooting just as the top of the fountain lifted up and started spinning out of control, spewing chocolate all over the place. Great times!

Click on the picture to see flying chocolate.

2010-02-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

I just got a new job with Atmosphere ID. I am so excited for the opportunities ahead!

My first time making a fabric flower. Thanks for the inspiration Kristina!! :)

Some fun cards I've made.

I finally got my kitchen wall done!!

Yates family cruise to the Bahamas!! (Nassau)

The ocean waves were so huge, the pool on the deck of our ship was sloshing all over like crazy!!

On Nassau.

It was SOOOO windy!!!!

The Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island.

Did I mention how much I hate fish?!?! (Yes, they scare me!)

Fort Fincastle

I didn't mean to! ;)

The LONG awaited update!! :)

2009-06-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Way to go Heidi!!!

Young Women Cake Decorating Night... This was just the beginning of the whole frosting filled event! We have so much fun, these girls are the greatest.

Fun new haircut :)

On to the KICHEN!

Here are the before and almost after pics.

In March Shawn got electricuted changing out our front room outlets.... We DID turn off the power in that room but apparently one wall was on a different circuit. It was horrible but since the cut was from the electricity it healed quite well without stitches even though it was to the bone!

Goblin Valley, Utah

Memorial Weekend 2009

with Yates extended family

You can do it Alyssa!

It rained, and rained, and rained!

Alyssa and Makenna with Lizzy the lizzard

It's FINISHED!!!!

Shawn's Fabulous Family

Shawn's Flickr Page

2009-06-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

Check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/drawntoconclusion/

2009-02-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

We're going to paint our kitchen and Shawn loves playing with his camera... just another evening at the Yates' !

(This may have been hillarious to Shawn and I only because it was about midnight, but you might get a chuckle out of it too.) :)

The Low Down

2009-02-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Howdy hey everyone! :) I thought it'd be fun to post a quick update on our front room project. It's actually been at this point for a couple of months now and I wasn't going to post until we finally got the lower cabinet doors on... but here it is.

BEFORE

AFTER (almost done)

Pretty fun!

Shawn changed jobs and is now enjoying a LOVELY 40 mile commute (one-way) each day to Spanish Fork. He is tired by the time he makes the drive home, but is absolutely happy with his boss and co-workers and just his overall job of being a data and financial analyst at Provo Craft. I have to give him a hard time sometimes because he never was one to understand the purpose of scrapbooking. In fact he's told me before, "It makes no sense to spend money on 'scraps' why don't you just go out in the garage and use all those scraps out there." He admits now that he's embarassed to know so much about scrapbooking and all the tools, papers, and embellishments. It's pretty darn cute. :)

My work has picked up a lot lately and I'm so glad. It was really slow for a while there and I'm glad to be gaining some new great clients. It is so gratifying for me to pull spaces together that people can truely enjoy living in every day.

Best of all... I got to go visit my fabulous sister Stacy and her family in Texas!! She had a baby girl (Liberty) on Dec 22nd and she was so darn precious. Her other kids just keep growing too, Christsia is now 5, Jack is 4, and Stephen is 3. All of them are way too loveable and huggable and kissable to be living so very far away. :( Mike, Stacy and I also got to play some fun new games like Acquire and almost a full game of Cash Flow (that's a whole other story). I miss them terribly and treasure the fun we had just being together.

Jack and ChristsiaStephen

oooooh!

Waffle House... YUM!

So Sweet.

It's so funny, these guys do every thing on the counter, their favorite is puzzles.

Lastly, I must mention my little sis. She is so great. I was in Tooele one day and was about to make myself some lunch when she offered to fix me something. I quickly agreed and she whipped up a marvelous chicken alfredo dish right there on the spot!!

And yes, it was simply delicious. Thanks Heidi.

House and such

2008-12-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, I'm updating our blog. :) I'm excited to show you what more we've done to our front room, slow and steady wins the race!

Yes indeed, we dyed our maroon leather sofas.... twice! The first attempt ennded up looking more like a brown you'd find in a baby diaper. We then ordered a more deep chocolate brown for the desired aesthetic. What a process! The last step is to condition the leather, then I'll post the finished pictures.

Another big project was replacing all of our inefficient aluminum single payne windows. That, too, was quite a process especially since I was in the middle of being super sick and in bed (thank goodness for antibiotics!).

I still need to get the "after" shots from inside, but we need to paint the new sills first.

And then we have the drapes... aren't they fabulous! :)

Pictures of the pillows I'm making will come soon too. Enjoy!

2008-10-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Shawn and I just returned from an exihllerating trip to Yellowstone with my family. We saw a ton of wild animals and had some great laughes with each other. Here's a glance:

13 people in a 15 passenger van for many, many hours.

What does that sign say??
Shawn and my dad... Look at those grins!

In and out, in and out, in and out.

Good 'Ole Faithful

Look! A Julie Tree.... What a rare and beautiful find indeed!

In front of the Tetons.

2008-09-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

Progress, HOORAY!

The YATES GUYS at FLAMING GORGE

2008-08-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

All the guys went to Flaming Gorge in June... It looks like they got a little sidetracked, or bored? Well, who wouldn't think to construct a fishing platform complete with stairs down to the water and massive lounge chairs. Shawn says that the chairs were actually really comfortable. :)

Girl's Camp

2008-08-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

I'm having way too much fun as the Young Women's advisor. Although, we got completely rained out! What an adventure! We ended up loading and unloading the trucks 10 times in 2 days in search of dry ground and to eat. However, we did end up sneaking in some fun. :)

In the Service of Our Lord

2008-08-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Shawn has been called as the Executive Secretary of the Westland 10th Ward here in West Jordan.

2008-08-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

Here it is! Our cute new house... it has such great potential. The lot is nice and roomy at 0.34 acres. We've got 2,000 square feet total; 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen, and living room upstairs with an unfinished basement including 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, family room, storage/laundry room, and utility room.

LET THE FUN BEGIN!

Our front room is our first project:

Before

Recessed Lighting

Out with the poorly tiled hearth

Built-in cabinets and shelves

We tile the entry

Fully custom wainscot (we routered over 200 linear feet of trim!)

We'll keep you posted on our progress! :)