Happy New Year!

Yesterday, Ryan and I sat down together and recorded the highlights of our year, month by month. We then followed our reminiscing with a goal session for 2008! Major props to Ryan for enduring such a sentimental tradition...(it was like pulling teeth!)

I'm taking a photo journalistic approach to my walk down memory lane on this blog entry. Feel free to skip this entry as scrolling through my year in pictures may be a bit tedious. I indulged myself! I'm looking forward to Dax's witty comment as he likes to tease me about my blog : ) He can put it in his book titled, "One Liners."

Here it goes...

On January 21st Ryan completed the Carlsbad Marathon. It was his first and I was so proud of him. Harrison was too, I could feel him doing congratulatory somersaults in my tummy when we watched Ryan cross the finish line!





February 12th: Harrison James Kaltenbach! Seven weeks early...we were surrounded by the Love of our Heavenly Father as He orchestrated this Miracle in our lives...





The rest of February and the beginning of March was spent in the NICCU. Those were rough days but watching Harrison get stronger every day was so powerful. It was a time to heal, physically and emotionally. To say bringing him home was the one of the sweetest experiences of our lives is an understatement.






On April 9th Ryan and I celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary. We enjoyed a Gondola ride in Coronado and continued the tradition of a romantic dinner at Jakes while we watched the sunset. The best three years of my life!




We spent a good part of May at Sanoviv in Rosarito, Mexico. It was amazing to experience the healing benefits of that place with Ryan and Harrison by my side.






June was our 10 year High School Reunion. Crazy... 10 years?!




July was a slow month...we just enjoyed Harrison. This is my favorite picture from July. It is in these moments when Ryan is covered in spit up or up to his elbows in a dirty diaper that I fall more and more in love with him!




August, on the other hand, was packed with big events. First was the LFO reunion in San Diego. The reunion ended on Harrison's six month Birthday and it was on this special day that Harrison was given his Blessing. He was blessed at Grandma Coco's and it was especially poignant to me to have the blessing in the same room where Lexi was blessed by most of these same men before she passed on. Ryan was honored to have the men of the family in the circle with him. On August 23rd Ethan Brent Pratt joined our anxiously awaiting family. What a blessing this little baby boy is. His birth and his health were direct answers to our fervent prayers.









In September, Harrison got to meet his little Mexican brother from another mother...Owen Erickson was born on September 25th! Harrison also attended his first Padre game in September and to our delight, he Loved it! There will be many more of those, it is one of our favorite summer activities!






October was full of adventure as we spent three weeks on the island of Kauai. We hope to make this trip a yearly tradition. Harrison thrived...it was all that tropical snow cone yumminess Grandma kept sneaking him : )







November was a month we will cherish. It was spent with family. Mom generously gifted all of us another trip to Disneyland with the whole family. Three days at the Happiest Place on Earth! We finally got to meet our little Ethan and we enjoyed our first Thanksgiving as a family of three. I have never felt so overwhelmed with the magnitude of my blessings as I was on this Thanksgiving Day. To top off November, Ryan and I spoiled ourselves and saw our favorite band Travis perform at the House of Blues.








December was a magical month filled with Holiday cheer! Ryan and I got to be parents of four for ten days and then, on December 18th Sawyer Michael Ross joined our family. There was nothing like a new sweet baby to get us in the Christmas mood! Christmas 2007: A wonder filled day as we watched Harrison soak up the spirit of Christmas with all his beloved family members...







We feel an excited energy about 2008 and know we will continue to grow as a family in a cacoon of comforting love. We hope that 2008 is a prosperous and glorious year for our friends and family too!

Baby's First Christmas!

I have pictured my baby's first Christmas in my dreams, how fun it would be and how much Joy I would feel as a mom on Christmas with a beautiful, happy family. My dreams fell short of the wonder of the real experience. The best thing was watching my son interact with the special people in his life. He was spoiled by his grandparents and many of his family members and even though at this age he was more interested in the shiny bows atop the actual gifts, I know he felt the love and the spirit of giving that makes this holiday his mom's favorite.


Christmas Eve at Grammy and Grampa's...










A magical Christmas morning... In my excitement I awoke early and impatiently waited for over an HOUR for Harrison to wake up. I had showered, dressed and made Harrison a hot bowl of apple, cinnamon oatmeal before he woke and it took all my will power to refrain from knocking on his door exclaiming, "HO HO HO" and shrieking, "Harrison, SANTA CAME, SANTA CAME!!"









Christmas Day at Grandma Coco's...

We all celebrated our early GIFT this year, precious Sawyer. Also, Happy Birthday to our sweet Addelaide! Chels, Cam, Ben, Lauren and Ethan...you were dearly missed, it is never the same without your presence.












I am so grateful for this holiday in which I can reflect on my Savior's birth, life and the gift of his Atonement. I love the power of this holiday to brighten spirits, strengthen relationships, and create unforgettable memories. I will treasure the Christmas of 2007 forever as this was a miraculous year for our family and Harrison's first Christmas! We were so blessed to share this holiday with our loved ones, near and far.

Vegas Baby...Vegas!

We decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Vegas before Christmas to rendezvous with some of our favorite people!!

Lee generously treated us to a delicious dinner at the Bellagio, after which we watched the fountains light up and dance to joyous Christmas Carols. It was so fun and festive and I was instantly glad we came!



The next day brought a competitive Bowling competition where the sexes battled it out down the lanes... I'm afraid I wasn't much help for the women, my ball just loved that dang gutter. Here's our team with Grandma as our mascot!



While the family cheered on BYU in the bitter cold, we opted for a warm night at the Forum shops in Ceasars Palace. Harrison made lots of furry friends at FAO Shwarts...





Unfortunately, little Jackson wasn't feeling well but it was still so fun for Harrison to see his little buddy. Here's Jackson with his adoring Uncles.




Thank you Snarrs for such a fun trip, it was so fun to see you all. We also were grateful to see Grandma and Grandpa, Bob, Nathan and Kitch. We missed the rest of you...

Christmas came early this year!!

Welcome to our family little angel...



Sawyer Michael Ross was born on December 18th. He weighed an even 8 pounds and was 19 inches long. He is healthy and absolutely beautiful. Kelli is a star and makes it look so easy : ) She is such a wonderful mom and I have always looked up to her and aspired to follow in her footsteps. Thank you Kelli, for your sacrifice in bringing Sawyer to us! Our family is so blessed to have another special little spirit with us... he is a new vibrant splash of color and life in our beautiful rainbow!




We are so grateful for the abundance of blessings being poured out upon our family!

And then there were FOUR!

We've been unconnected these last few weeks as we watched Dax and Sanam's kids while they enjoyed a Caribbean Cruise! It was quite an adventure with a 6 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old and Harrison. Although we are very tired, it was so special to get that bonding time with Soph, Beck Beck and sweet Kaya. We already miss them dearly since we've been home! Harrison misses them too and I'm afraid he's extremely bored with just Ryan and I to entertain him around here : )

Some of the Highlights:

Beckett started every morning by saying, "I help Shawlie Bweakfast?" Then he would help me make my Nutrimeal and hand each pill to me individually, commenting on every one. "Oval!" "This one gwoss?" "Help get you better!" I had to watch and make sure he didn't squish the Biomegas and the Vitamin E all over himself as I know he was very tempted to!

Listening to Sophie talk... she is a talker! I love how her mind works and I find pretty much everything she says so adorable. She is so smart and funny. One of my favorite memories is of both of us just laying on Dax and Sanam's bed together while I did my breathing treatments. We both just read and it felt like I was laying there with my own daughter. I feel so blessed to have been able to watch Sophie grow up and be so close to her. She was such a great helper!

Bathing and Smelling Kaya. Her forehead is the sweetest smelling thing and every time I picked her up I would lightly brush my nose across her forehead back and forth and breathe in the scent, it was so fresh and innocent. I also loved bathing her as she would just sit straight up in the bath and let me lather her up...so cute! Not so cute when she leaned over in the bath and pooped amid squeals from Sophie and Beckett!! Thanks to Ryan's quick hands she didn't succeed in playing with it although she tried!

Watching Harrison interact with the kids was so fun. It was a constant Diaper Dearby. Anytime Kaya started crawling, Harrison would take off after her! He loves his cousins so much!

Thank you Dax and Sanam for having such adorable children and letting us bond with them and love them. We're game for another go whenever you need to get away : )


Kaya's Favorite Activity... playing with the Tupperware!



No mistaking who's dror this is!



Brave Sophie with her stylish sling after her fall from the Monkey Bars...



Our only break was when they were all sleeping or...



Harrison polishing the floor with spilled milk : )