Monday, December 22, 2008

Our Little Christmas Morning

This morning was so much fun! Lily is still enjoying all her gifts! I think her favorite part was unwrapping the presents. Austin… well he’s sleeping. Worn out from all the excitement I guess :)
Tonight we’re going to celebrate Christmas with Chris’s Dad and Karen. Then we’re going to celebrate Christmas with my family on Thursday! I love Christmas… it’s the most wonderful time of the year!
I think when we have more money I want to start having a second tree for all the gifts we want to donate to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. They’ve been SO GREAT to us, and we want to give back somehow.
Anyway a nurse from Dekalb Medical Center is coming over in about an hour to see Austin and check on his environment so I’ve got some cleaning to do!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Sorry it's dark... the lighting wasn't great
Cookies for BREAKFAST???
the presents
my boys
I have the coolest family... ever!
My wonderful family
PRESENT TIME!!
Lily LOVED opening presents...
all of them... even Austin's :)
Lily's new doll
and my new ring from Chris :) :)
Lily's favorite gift
She's so cute!!



Another video

O'Neal Christmas Eve '08

(the family room)


Since we are going to my parent’s house for Christmas, we decided to have our own little early Christmas this year. I wanted to have a Christmas with just my little family… and besides my sisters REALLY helped us out this year when it comes to presents! I have the BEST family EVER! Anyway so Santa will come tomorrow instead of Wednesday.
Today we had our Christmas Eve. We listened to Christmas music, ate ham and other fun treats, had the fire going, and just hung out as a family! Then we watched Charade, put the kids to bed, and started getting Christmas ready. I’m so excited to post pictures of tomorrow… I think it looks great!
I love being on the other side of things now. It’s a bit more stressful, and I’m sure it will be A LOT more stressful when I actually have to go shopping, but I really enjoy seeing things from the parent’s eyes. Being a mom is so much fun during Christmas! Even cooking and cleaning is more exciting! I guess it’s because it’s not just everyday cooking… it’s CHRISTMAS! I’m SO excited to watch Lily open her presents tomorrow! Whenever family or friends have brought her presents in the past week or so she has been so excited! Everything is like winning the lottery to her! Her eyes light up, she gasps, and then she’s in heaven! And so am I :)
Also this is Austin’s first Christmas… ever. He won’t really enjoy it… but that’s okay. He’s a present himself! But I’m glad that he’s apart of the family now. Having four stockings hanging up just feels… right. He’s just so CUTE!!!

Our small Christmas dinner
(excited for the REAL meal at my parent's)
Don't forget to watch the video!!!


Saturday, December 13, 2008

internet FINALLY!

Okay well everything in our home is starting to look up. We just got internet/ cable, our car and household goods are now here, and our family is starting to become more comfortable. Austin is so much fun to have around. Lily looks for him every time she wakes up to see if he’s still here. Lily’s been a little moody today, because her grandma just left. But I think she’s doing great otherwise. Our family is stronger and happier than ever! The only bad thing is how trashed our house is! I’ve only got the kitchen done and I’m SO not motivated to do anything else. These boxes are overwhelming! Also I think our couches have to be the ugliest couches ever! If we were richer I would have a huge bon fire simply to have these two couches destroyed so nobody would have to look at them ever again. But we’re not so we will have to look at them for the next 40 years of our lives. Hopefully our kids destroy them before the 40 years are up… so we’ll have an excuse to buy new ones. Anyway here are some pictures off my camera.


The day Austin got sent home/ Lily got to meet him
who is he? first hug
WELCOME HOME AUSTIN!!!!family time
"where's Austin's nose?"

Austin's first Bath
(at home)





Look at that cute clean fuzzy hair!


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Just a few pictures...




Here are a few pictures of our little Austin.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Austin in ICU





Hey everyone, it's Natalie again. I just wanted to do a quick update for you. Here are some pictures of our little Austin from this past week. He has been such a good boy. He was in the High ICU until Sunday morning, then they moved him to the step down ICU. In the step down ICU, he has had his own room and Amy has had to stay with him all day and night. He had most of his tubes removed before being transferred to the step down ICU.
Amy was able to bring Austin home today. She had to attend hours of classes today to learn everything she needs to know to take care of him and he had to pass all his tests. He even had to pass a car seat test to make sure he would be able to breath right while in his car seat.
I will post again when I get more information!