Date Night

Thanks to my mom being here, Reed and I were able to go out for an evening.  It was really nice to have a few hours away together.  There is a 5 star hotel in our city that has a nice restaurant on the top floor.  We enjoyed good food and live music.  It was such a nice treat!  I'm not sure we are going to let my mom leave in another week.  :)

Being Thankful

We have had some difficult days lately.  I am reminded a lot these days that I need my eyes opened to see blessings throughout the day whether big or small.  I know we are in a difficult season that will pass, so trusting in God's strength and grace for today.  On that note, here is our precious boy, that we are thankful for.  

A View From Our Window

The snow covered mountains are beautiful here!

Istanbul Trip

We headed to Istanbul two weeks ago to get a second opinion on our son's health.  To bring you up to date:  At 10 days old, Abram was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.  He spent 3 days in the hospital getting IV antibiotics.  Our original reason for taking him to the doctor was because he was having so much trouble eating.  So after this diagnosis, we thought that maybe somehow his infection was causing him to not want to eat.  Well, after antibiotics his eating did not improve.  He was in so much pain every feeding, arching his back, screaming, and lots of gas.  We went back two weeks later and he was diagnosed with a second urinary tract infection.  Praise the Lord for a good friend of ours who is a doctor in the states.  He recommended redoing the urine sample test again, questioning the validity of the test.  The second sample we tried to catch his urine in a cup, so we didn't have to use a bag sample. This test came out clean, proving that he had been misdiagnosed and the bag test was possibly contaminated.  It makes us wonder now if he ever had an urinary tract infection to begin with.  We may never know.  But the other strange thing was that his blood work indicated a possible infection of some sort.  We couldn't figure out what any of this had to do with his pain when eating and if he was really sick or not.  

We ended up deciding that we needed to go to Istanbul and get to the bottom of this.  We had lots of tests run and an endoscopy done and we discovered he has acid reflux.  His sphincter in his esophagus doesn't close all the way.  This will get better as he grows.  Currently, his feeding has gotten way better as I have had to really watch what I eat, subsequently less acid reflux issues.  His blood work all came back normal.  We were so thankful!  We will never fully know if Abram had a real infection or not and what was up with his blood work being so strange, but we trust that God knows and had it all in His hands.  

All this to say, it has been a challenging and confusing few months concerning what was going on with Abram, but we are so thankful that we know he really is a healthy boy.  

We tried to make our Istanbul time fun for the boys and not all doctor's appointments.  

Here are the boys excited to go on a sudden trip!  

 We visited an aquarium.  The boys loved the sharks and sting rays the best.  Gotta love the photo-shopped picture!  

Asher pretends to be a sting ray around the house now.  He was enamored by them.  

We took many modes of transportation.  Asher and Urban loved the ferry boat.

 The boys enjoyed playing outside.

We took the boys to a play place that had a large ship in it.  They are still talking about it!

Playing in the ball pit. 

And here is Abram.  Almost 2 months old!  

We were very thankful for the good care we received at the hospital in Istanbul, but are also glad to be back home!

Asher's Class

The first semester of preschool just ended for Asher.  He got his first report card!  We are so proud of Asher and how well he has adapted this year.  He is understanding and speaking more and more in Turkish at school.

Here is Asher with his classmates and his teachers.  We feel like this school and his teachers are a direct answer to our prayers for Asher.  A few months ago he got moved to a smaller class and he is getting a lot more one on one help, which has really benefited him.  We are so thankful for such a positive experience for him.

Hospital Stay

Abram spent 4 days in the hospital due to a urinary tract infection that we think is related to one of his kidneys being slightly enlarged.  It was a very difficult 4 days for our family.  We are so thankful that the infection is gone now and for the care we received at the hospital here.  Thanks so much for all who prayed for us!  We so appreciated all the prayers.

Here is our little guy hooked up to his IV:

Thankful to be home as a family again and for this precious little boy!

Abram Reed Wessman

Our third son was born yesterday, January 2, at 5:15pm.  He was 7 lbs. 6 oz.  and 20.5 in. long.  We are so thankful for his safe arrival!  Abram's brothers are pretty excited to have him around.

40 weeks 4 days

The end is near.....I hope!  I can't be pregnant forever, right?  I was thinking a Christmas baby, but now it's looking more like a New Year's or later baby.  Looking forward to meeting this little one soon.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning started with a sick child.  

Asher did perk up a bit once we started opening presents.  

The big hit this year were costumes the boys got from their Aunt and Uncle.  

We had a quiet Christmas and Asher slept quite a bit of the day.  Urban played with all of Asher's toys and thoroughly enjoyed himself.  Despite sickness, we enjoyed being together as a family and celebrating Jesus' birthday.  

Christmas Party

We enjoyed celebrating Christmas Eve with our friends.  The kids put on a little play of the nativity story.  They were all really cute!  Urban didn't want to dress up.  He played the part of baby Jesus.  And Asher was Joseph, and didn't want to get out of his costume all night.