Way overdue update...

Well- Things around here have been busy to say the least. My sweet babies are keeping me on my toes every minute of the day. Kennedy's little brain seems to be taking off lately and she is learning how to spell little 3 letter words. It still blows my mind. I absolutely LOVE watching her little face as she scrunches it up in concentration as she tries to sound it out. She loves it when we read to her and is forever pointing and telling us what the different letters are. It is great. Elijah has had so many "firsts" this month. He is crawling all over the house now and is pulling himself up to a stand on everything and everyone. He is still so tiny- that it just seems crazy to have him be standing up! He is a mover and a shaker though- and there is never a dull moment with him on the loose. On a not so great note though- Elijah is still struggling to grow. He is actually losing weight and - It has been pretty rough with him. He eats great- but he just doesn't get a lot out of what he eats. His little body just isn't metabolizing the calories. We have done lots of tests with his doctors trying to figure out what gives...but so far it just seems like a "failure to thrive" case. It is quite upsetting to me- because I feel like I am trying SO hard to feed him whatever I can...and his little body is just starving itself still. He is barely over 11 pounds and he is almost 9 months. Which isn't all that great. He is still in 0-3 month clothing- and they are huge on him. The doctors are talking about putting in a feeding tube to try and boost his calorie intake. I am a little bit freaked out about that. I can hardly stand the thought of my little tiny boy trying to crawl and scraping a feeding tube across the floor as he goes. I find myself crying a lot about this little guy. Just SO worried about him.

On a little bit lighter note- McCarrey and I had some pre-scheduled vacation that we had to take last month. In years past we had always planned huge vacations for September- but what with Elijah's crazy adoption expenses- we decided to fore go the fancy trips this year. BUT! We actually were saved and able to do something anyway. (Saved.... I make it sound like we were in dyer straights!) Anyhow- my mom and dad surprised all of us and offered to take us to Zions for a few days. It was incredible! My brothers family was able to get off- and my folks rented two condos and treated us to a fabulous getaway. We hiked, rode horses, went on a back country "safari" tour, went swimming and just relaxed. The back country tour took us deeper into different parts of the canyon and also over to Grafton Ghost town, which was kind of cool. I had never been to a ghost town before. I had the most awesome time and it was so great to just leave normal life and relax. Sorry about the picture overload. While we were there- we took the kids to see the Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs movie in 3D. They all loved it- and even Elijah was able to sit still. I got this picture of him in the glasses and it cracks me up!!

This is how Mac was loaded down almost the whole trip! i kept trying to take one of the kids from him- but frankly I think he just like carrying his babies all over. He is such a proud dad!

This is the truck that hauled us all over- on the back country tour- it seated all 12 of us- and even had straps for Elijah's car seat. We packed a picnic and ate up on a ridge where we could see a panoramic view of the entire canyon. So beautiful.

Sorry that there is only pictures of me- but my honey was holding the camera...

Kenna loved riding the horses so much that she decided that she wants to be a cowboy for Halloween. Awesome.

Let's see...what else have we done the last two months. McCarrey and I celebrated our anniversary in August. We left the kids with Grandma and went to snowbird for the weekend. Can I just say- AMAZING! Aside from the fact that I got to be alone with my honey- we stayed at the Cliff Lodge and we upgraded to the spa level in a nice suite with a temper pedic bed. (sigh) so lovely. It was so great to just be up in the mountains and relax. We rode the ski lifts up and down over and over just snuggling and talking-which was very nice- and the scenery was incredible! We were able to swim and relax, we hung out in the jazz bar and ate chocolate fondue, and while we were there we went to Oktoberfest- which was ultra fun too. We will definitely be going back- maybe every year for our anniversary. I just loved it!

Well- Guess that's about it for now. Any extra prayers around- send them to my little guy- even if we could just figure out why...that would help. Thanks!