Easter

I love Easter. Besides Christmas, it is my favorite Holiday. We had a wonderful Easter. On Saturday morning we had a brunch with our pal's the Hills and then went to Volunteer Park for an Easter Egg Hunt. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny and warm, well, warm for Seattle that is.

Easter morning the kids woke up to these snazzy little baskets. They were so hyped on sugar, turns out our kids are big sweet tooths. No surprise though, Jake and I love all things sugary so our kids had no chance not to be. Our sacrament meeting consisted of beautiful music performed by members of the ward. The primary children sang an Easter song. It was hard to watch the Sunbeams go up there and Hannah not sing with them. Her little friends waved to her though, which was so sweet and thoughtful. Soon she will be able to join her class in primary, very soon.

The kiddos in their Easter Sunday best.
Tubs hunting for Easter Eggs. He loved wandering around, finding an egg, and sitting down to open it up and find the candy.
Jake helped Hannah walk around to find the eggs.
She did a great job walking.Beautiful girl.Love seeing smiles from Hannah girl!
The 3 munchkins after their successful Easter Egg Hunt.The view from the top of the Observation Tower. Seattle is beautiful when the sun comes out.We are so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that because He died, we will all live again.  I feel like because of Hannah's illness I more fully understand the depth of the Atonement, and more fully understand how difficult it must have been for our Heavenly Father to send his perfect child down to earth to suffer and die for us.  Watching Hannah's health deteriorate and not being able to fix her was the hardest thing we have ever had to do.  I know that God loves us because he was able to sacrifice his Beloved Son for us.  He must love us all a lot.  :-)

A more recent Hannah update

Hannah is doing much better. One month ago today we removed the NG tube. She was eating better and we wanted to see if her appetite would increase without the formula feedings. It was a success! She isn't eating and drinking as much as she used to, but it is enough to not need the tube back in her nose. Such a relief! That thing was a hassle. It would constantly leak and I do not miss waking up in a pool of formula on the bed.

She is making big improvements physically too. She can now crawl which has helped her to not become as frustrated through out the day. She can sit up on her own and play with her little brother. And by play I mean steal toys from him, but that's beyond the point. Last week she started to be able to pull herself up to standing with the help of furniture, which is a great milestone for her. She has therapy 3 times a week. Each week the therapists are impressed with her progress. It is reassuring to hear that other people see improvements in her as well.

Her ability to communicate is improving too. I can understand her most of the time and she is speaking more frequently. Her favorite thing to do these days is to read or be read to. When she was really sick she couldn't do much so we would read to her. Most of our day is spent reading the same books over and over, but luckily she has the books memorized so sometimes we get away with asking her to read to us. She is sleeping much better too. She sleeps in bed with us, our next goal is to get her back in her own bed.

Overall things are going well. She is happier, so we are happier.

Hanging out with her best bud Jack
This was hilarious. I put Liam down and when I came back downstairs I stumbled upon this Kodak moment. Jake and Hannah were both asleep, in pretty much the exact same position. One arm up over the head, one leg on the couch, the other leg hanging off the couch, mouth partially open. I love everything about this picture.

Hannah wearing a new dress that Grandma Geri got her. She looked beautiful in it.