The Snow Family

Savanna completed her routine bilirubin test the day we were to be discharged from the hospital. However, rather than getting the news that all is well and going home, we learned that her levels were critically high and that she would need to go straight to NICU. She had a positive Coombs test, which meant that her high levels were a result of a blood incompatibility between me and her. There were a few options on the table to treat her, including doing a blood transfusion. They opted to treat her with as many phototherapy lights as possible and see what happened that night. If her levels didn't go down w/in 12 hours, they would probably do the transfusion. Luckily, her levels dropped out of the critical zone that first night. Her levels have been dropping more slowly now and she remains in NICU. She has been a real trooper during this time. Apparently, most babies hate the phototherapy lights because they can't be held and have to stay in there 24/7 and they cry all day...

Savanna was born on Monday, Jan 24 at 3 PM. She weighed in at 7.13 pounds and was 20.5" long. She is a sweet little girl and rarely cries. Ryder and Keira are so excited to have a little sister. Ryder immediately asks to hold her, but a minute or two later he is done and then doesn't want much to do with her. If she cries then he gets really worried and won't go anywhere near her. Keira is a good big sister and just wants to hold and love on her all of the time.

Roger has been excited to get Keira up on ski's since the day she was born. This year was the big year. He took her up to Powder Mountain and she had a great time. She actually did pretty good. He just kept her on a gentle little hill and she did a great job going down by herself. She was most excited about riding the ski lift. She had fun for a couple of hours and then got cold, so Roger took her to the ski patrol shack and gave her hot chocolate. She can't wait to do it again. She's going to have to fight Ryder to go, though. He is also very excited to give it a go and Roger will probably be taking him up soon, as well.

We finally got a real snow storm! Roger was out shoveling most of the day yesterday. He decided that since he was shoveling anyway, he might as well build something. And build something...he did! He made a "mountain" for the kids to play on. It has steps on the side to climb to the top and a nice, smooth slide on the way down. They were out there for hours playing. Both kids refused to come in until they were both wet, freezing, and crying from the cold. But they can't wait to get out there again!

We had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma Snow and our good friends, Aaron, Alice, Ethan, and Landon Stout. We crammed a lot into one evening. We started by having dinner, then playing games, making cinnamon rolls, building gingerbread houses, reading about the birth of our Savior, and watching "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." Then, we all rushed to bed so Santa could come to our house. We left Santa some healthy snacks...carrots and an orange. Ryder was so excited that he started eating the carrots himself, and this boy rarely eats vegetables! Santa was very happy about that. Santa was good to us this year and brought the kids the jump ropes they asked for, plus lots more. We can't wait for next Christmas!

Ryder and Keira spent a lot of time on their very first snow man of the season. Dad helped them get started, and then they did the rest themselves. I didn't get a picture of the final product, but he ended up getting two carrot noses and some rock eyes and buttons. He melted the very next day.

The kids had a great Halloween this year. It started off a bit rainy, but then cleared up enough to have a good night. Keira was a very proud witch and, even though it is now the end of December, she still takes great delight in telling everyone that she was a scary witch with a green face. Ryder was Elmo and stayed and was quite pleased with himself, as well!