Christmas Party, Neurosurgeon and Temple Lights

My friend Amanda had her annual Christmas party on the 15th. Preston tagged along, but napped for most of it. We got to meet Amanda's brother and see her dad again. Here's the sweet picture of Michael and me at the party.

On Monday, December 19th, we had our appointment with the neurosurgeon to get Preston's huge, long head checked out. We were kind of nervous going into it, knowing that there was a possibility that Preston would need surgery. The doctor looked at and measured Preston's head. (His gargantuan cranium is measuring 17 1/2 inches!) Then he sent us from his office to get x-rays. Getting x-rays only took about 20 minutes. The wonders of modern medicine!

Newborn head... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Of course he looked perfect to me until the nurses pointed it out and said his head would get better after a while.

Michael went in with Preston to get the x-rays. They swaddled Preston tightly in a special x-ray outfit thingy and then Michael held him in different poses. Preston HATED it! We were able to see the images and have a consultation with the doctor right away. It was kind of funny to see Michael's hands in the x-rays of Preston's skull. Right away the doctor said that he had good news. Preston had wide open sutures! (Click HERE for info about baby skulls and sutures.) I started singing "Wiiiiide open sutures!" to the tune of the Dixie Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces." Obviously I was a music major in college. ha.

Almost 5 month-old head. I definitely see improvement, don't you?

If his sutures had begun to close prematurely, then he would have needed surgery to prevent his head from getting worse and worse, leading to . (And to make room for his genius brain to grow!) So we have a follow up appointment in February to see if his head shape is improving. If not, he might need to have a helmet. I hope not because those things are suuuuper expensive!

On the 20th, we went to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights and the nativity display in the visitors center. I've tried to be a stickler about making sure Preston gets in all of his "firsts" but he usually sleeps through all of them! This was no exception. Hopefully it will be wayyy more fun the next time we go! We walked around and enjoyed our time with Keith, Sarah, and baby Luke.

4 Months on December 8th

I put a Christmas stocking on his head. He loves it. For sure.

I am sooo behind. What's new? Preston turned 4 months old on the 8th of December. We had an eventful week prior to that. Preston had a really goopy eye so I made an appointment for the 1st with the doctor. Of course the goopy eye was gone the next day. HOORAY! They weighed him anyway, and he was 16.9 lbs! CRAZY! I also wrote down that I tickled his toes for the first time and got a giggle that day as well.

Looking serious after church

On the 5th, Preston took his first trip to the E.R. with mom and dad after I fell down the stairs carrying him. He was a little scared and started crying, but I cradled him and sacrificed my body to keep him safe! Luckily nothing was broken, but I am still feeling my back muscles and tailbone. OUCHIE. I feel so blessed it was not worse. This whole thing happened just a month after Michael sliced his finger open with a knife and had to get stitches. I think maybe we are both clumsy when sleep deprived...

Relaxing on the couch after getting home from the ER

The weekend after he turned 4 months, his Grandparents Reynolds moved from Mesa to Gilbert. We also had our ward Christmas party on the 10th and I sang "O Holy Night" in our ward the next day.

Starting to enjoy the bumbo chair

Monday the 12^th, we went to see Santa Claus at Bass Pro Shop. It was suuuuper crowded and we were there for an hour and a half. Preston slept the whole time until 10 minutes before we saw Santa (OF COURSE!). He started to fuss but luckily we got a decent picture of him. Santa wasn’t very happy in the picture. Haha. It was a good time.

Not feeling it, obviously...

On the 13th was Preston's 4 month checkup. He had gained half a pound in 12 days! He broke 17 pounds. What a BIG BOY! Not so good for mommy's sore back. He got 4 shots that day and it was pretty rough for both of us. Preston cried and cried for at least 5 minutes. Pooy baby. At least this time I had given him tylenol beforehand so that he didn't get a fever and felt better afterwards. Also, PA Bill was worried about Preston's head shape and recommended that we make an appointment with a neurosurgeon to make sure the plates in his head hadn't fused too early. I made the appointment for the next Monday. (More on that later!) That night we went to YC's Mongolian Grill to celebrate my birthday since we didn't know if we'd be able to the next night.

Anticipating bathtime

On my birthday Michael had a Gilbert Public Policy Committee meeting after work and then had mutual that night. Luckily, his meeting let out earlier than expected and we were able to go out to dinner again at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was really yummy and we were glad to be able to go out twice that week.

Blurry, but the BEST cheesy grins from both of us.

Taken on my 27^th birthday! I am so old!

It rained and rained all week long so we had to keep putting off getting a Christmas tree. I love having a real tree and we've had one every year except for the year we moved into our house (we moved in right before Christmas that year). Finally it was clear enough to get one on Friday the 16th. We tried for an hour to get it straight and got tired of trying, so it stayed crooked. Oh well! It was a beautiful tree. We decorated it the next day.

Well, that’s the first half of December for your reading pleasure! More to come, hopefully before next Christmas gets here! Yikes.