It’s taken me quite some time to come back to the bloggity blog.  The holidays were a roller coaster – started off great with Thanksgiving, then got scary when my dad had a heart attack and we almost lost him, and then there was a very happy ending when my entire family was together at New Year’s.  Then back home for a few short days only to leave again for a 9-day babysitting job for a family of 5 kids.  Not surprisingly, I was wiped out after that.  And with Jake’s birthday last week, V-day today, and Rushton’s birthday next week, the action just never stops!

I’m pretty sure that my dad’s heart attack was the biggest road block to me getting back to blogging.  I’ve never had someone so close to me come so close to passing away.  It came out of no where – he’s healthy, he has no family history of heart problems, he’s never had issues with his heart…  The two weeks he was in the hospital were definitely the scariest time in my life – there were a few days when we really didn’t know if he would make it or not.  I was a basket case; I was helpless all the way out in Utah and I couldn’t concentrate on anything except waiting for updates, and all I could do was pray.  Sometimes God grants miracles, and sometimes He doesn’t.  This time He did – and it was one miracle after another that preserved my dad’s life.  After he came home from the hospital (about mid-December), I flew home to my parents’ house with Rushton for 3 weeks to help in my dad’s recovery and to just spend time with them.  It was amazing how every single day he improved so much.  Within just a few weeks he was 100% back to normal and allowed to resume normal life – exercise, work, travel, etc.  The doctors were blown away not only that he lived, but that he survived so well!  Those 3 weeks were such a special time for us – I’m so grateful I was able to go and I’ll never forget that time.  And words can’t describe how amazing it was when my whole family was able to spend a few days together around New Year’s – my brother’s family from Arizona, my sister in Georgia, me/Jake/Rush from Utah, and my sister/mom/dad (and Cec’s boyfriend) in California.  That doesn’t happen very often!

My sister is a nurse and spent day after day in the hospital with my dad (and mom), so she did a pretty good job explaining it all on her blog.  I am so grateful for the many prayers and miracles my family – and especially my dad – experienced during this time.  I can’t believe we made it through this, but we did – stronger as a family, more humble, and with a definite knowledge that Heavenly hears and answers our prayers.  Life is so fragile!  I am acutely aware of that these days.  Tell those you love that you love them often!  Hold your babies closer!  Thank God for every single day!  And don’t take anything or anyone for granted.  Life is good.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We may not get around to sending out a letter or a picture this year (we never have gotten around to it before…), so this is as good as it gets.  We are so grateful for family, friends, a warm home, and good health (especially for my dad).  Now go drink some egg nog!

Love,
Jake, Melissa, Rushton

I need Jake to help me censor some of the other cute pics from the bathtime bunch, but here’s a little taste to hold you over!

Rush had his green shirt on first, so if anybody copied anybody, it was definitely Jake.  Rushton just wanted me to point that out for the record.

This isn’t the best picture ever taken, but it shows just how BIG Rushton is getting.  I can’t get over how huge he is!  Not my tiny little newborn anymore.

And who doesn’t love a cute pudgy little baby tummy, especially when the baby can sit up all by himself?

Check out the slobber dripping off his chin.  IRRESISTABLE, I tell you.

And one more, just for kicks.

And then he learned how to sit up all by himself. Next he’ll be asking for his own cell phone with an unlimited texting plan.

We had to retire the Bumbo and trade it in for a high chair once Rush figured out how to wiggle out of it, but he still loves the exersaucer. See for yourself.

And P.S. can you even handle those cheeks??

This is a baby who loves to see himself in mirrors, pictures, and videos.  But the only thing cuter than Rushton in this video is watching him watch this video.  He smiles, laughs, and clasps his hands together in sheer delight.  I can already see all the trouble he’s going to get out of simply by melting my heart…

My blog was broken for a little bit, but now we’re back in action.  Jake’s waiting for me to go watch a movie with him (”waiting” = playing PS3…) so this will be short.  I just wanted to post some pictures of Rush for my parents since they live far far away and can’t see him often.  We were sad that video-chatting didn’t work out last night, but hopefully this holds you over until we can fix the technical difficulties!