Whitney Photography

Our Christmas 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS

It's amazing how much babies grow in a short time!  I just had to post a couple of last years photos of Whitney to compare with her this year! 

Whitney's first Christmas Eve! So festive in her Santa Rocks outfit! About 5 months old and couldn't even sit up yet!  Glad she got a few keepsakes!

 My second Christmas Eve!  Hanging out at church for a family party! A walking, babbling toddler! G tube poking outa the dress and always being followed by a cup for vomit!

Whitney's first Christmas!  On oxygen and NG tube! But still excited to open presents!

 My second Christmas! So excited to come down the stairs! (a skill she recently discovered too!)

So the festivities started Christmas Eve day with lots of baking and cooking and fun!  That night we went to a Patterson family party. It was okay, mostly just watched Whitney run around the church building. We left early around 8:30 pm and Whitney fell asleep in the car. I was driving home with my Grandma in the front seat and Thomas in the back by Whit.  We were close to my old neighborhood and I remembered that this one house always had amazing Christmas lights.  It's just SW of Olive and 51st Ave and you can see the lights from the street!  There were lots of cars and people around looking at the lights.  It was better than I remembered! We went to a couple more neighborhoods bedfore going home.  So Whitney didn't get to open her new pajamas that night with the rest of us.  After a few presents I watched part of a Christmas story on tv.  I fell asleep on the couch downstairs and woke around 2 am to Whitney's crying over the monitor. (she was ok) I got up and saw my mom arranging the presents under the tree :) 

I love this pic of everyone! Wishing Derek and Mindy and the kids were here though!



Christmas Eve! Me and my sisters! That blanket is amazing! I think it's sheep from Bed Bath & Beyond. 

On Christmas Day we woke up just in time to be a few minutes late for church ;)  We brought Whitney with us because it was only an hour long meeting with musical numbers and sacrament of course.  She really didn't sit still for long and eventually bumped her head on the pew trying to escape.  So I took her out to the hall and pretty much stayed there the whole time.  I didn't attempt to go back in with her (sitting on the front row!) because I end up taking her back out the next minute anyway.  So she walked around the hall way a few times before meeting another little girl (about 2 1/2 yrs.).  For some reason, Whitney really wanted to hold her hand... so they held hands walking the halls for a while!  Cutest thing ever! Then I washed Whit's hands really really well and church was over. 

When we got home Whitney took a long nap while everyone was very anxious to open Christmas presents.  They got to their stockings and opened a few presents before Whit woke up.   

I got Whitney's new Christmas jammies on and she made her appearance!  I'm so glad the she just learned how to go down the stairs! My mom and I have been trying to get her to go down backwards for months.  But then my husband had her go down forwards! So she just scoots like you can see in the pictures!  It's cute but not as safe so we still have to be right beside her. 

Whitney got so many presents! She (and her parents) loved it!  Of course they were mostly from 3 sets of grandparents and great grandparents and her parents!  Oh yeah! She's spoiled! 

This duck was a huge hit! She loves to feed it the bottle and it quacks.  Whitney did the sign for duck and says "bwack bwack" when she saw it. 

This toy is a really good skill for littles one to master! I'll have to work with her on it a lot though!

Signing "more" to the singing elephant!

After we opened all our presents, we fed Whitney, she threw up, changed her to new Christmas pajamas, and headed over to Thomas' parent's house!  They also waited for us to open presents.  His mom made a delicious ham dinner.  We opened more awesome gifts and hung out and played Catch Phrase.  I was glad everyone was there!  It was getting late and Whit was due to eat again so we all departed.  Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading about our 2011 Christmas.

 Whitney & Uncle Ikaika

Whitney & Auntie Kehau

Whitney & Daddy

Whitney & Daddy ready for church

Christmas Card 2011... for the Blog!

Christmas Card 2011... for the Blog!

This was an amazing year, full of up and downs but mostly fun!  Thomas and I have been married for almost five years now! This year was also full of “firsts” for us as a family of three.  Thomas and I love this first time parenting deal and are getting use to toting around our baby girl. Of course for the most part of the beginning of this year and the past few months we have kept our daughter safe at home.  We were able to go on a couple of trips this year, mostly thanks to my parents.  First, we went to the beach with my family.  I’m so glad Whitney loved it because going to Oceanside, CA is truly one of my favorite vacations.  Second, Whitney and I went with my parents to Utah and Idaho for a family reunion and Independence Day.  Thomas had to stay home and work for that trip, but we still had fun seeing all my extended family.  We are living at my parents’ home who made it possible for Thomas and me to go out on lots of dates together!  We are so grateful and excited to raise a family in the gospel!

Thomas is still working at The Hartford Insurance Company handling claims.  He works so hard at his job and does lots of needed overtime.  Thomas has also been busy applying for Dental School! With his perfect GPA and amazing DAT score, but we have not been accepted yet. He got interviews at CO, AZ, and CA so those are our only options.  We are really hoping we get in for next year! Thomas is a ward missionary in our ward and loves going out with the missionaries and teaching the class.   Thomas is an amazing Daddy and does so much in helping care for Whitney.  She always says “Dada” with a huge smile when Thomas comes home!

I love being a stay at home mother, but am still get use to not working as a dental assistant.  Caring for Whitney certainly takes up all of my time during the day! Between tube feedings, doctors/therapy appointments, and cleaning, I hardly have time for myself.  I love blogging and talking to friends and hanging out with family.  I was able to take a class at Glendale Community College this past fall semester.  It was good to learn about food and nutrition, also good to get out of the house!  For my church calling, I make the weekly programs! It’s pretty easy to do, just have to fold 100 pieces of paper every week but I get to listen to the lesson in Relief Society!

Whitney K. has had a very busy year and of course I could write pages on her accomplishments, but I will simply summarize them.  She was 6 months old in January and is now 17 months old!  She has grown so much and has quite the personality!  She loves playing with my parents little dog, loves bath time, reading books, and playing outside.  Lately, Whitney enjoys watching Sesame Street and The Price is Right in the mornings.  Whitney had three surgeries this year; the first one was in May.  She had a Cardiac Cath done to help with pulmonary hypertension and it got her weaned off oxygen and onto a medicine.  The second one was in June, called an endoscopy, or Upper GI, to determine why she wasn’t gaining weight and always vomiting and the results were inconclusive.  The third surgery was in August when she got her Gastrostomy tube.  This feeding tube permanently replaced her Nasal Gastrostomy tube. Thank goodness we are not planning any surgeries or hospital stays next year!  Whitney has been so tough with all of this plus the numerous follow ups and checkups and therapies!  She graduated from physical therapy and continues feeding and speech therapy and will soon get occupational therapy.  We had such a good time this year celebrating all of Whitney’s first holidays too!  This year we celebrated Whitney’s first Birthday with a big Luau!  I love how Whitney has so many friends! 

We are counting our blessing and looking forward to another amazing year!  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Pray always!

Love,

The Montgomery’s

Thomas, Alicia & Whitney Kaholumehekainani

Mesa Temple Lights

Yep, we got to take Whitney to the Mesa Temple Lights Which I can tell will definitely be a family tradition!  We got to hear George Dyer sing so it was kind of busy but we didn't stay long in the visitor's center.  Walked around and Whitney loved the Christmas lights!! It was really cold so we got hot chocolate on our way home!  These first pics aren't mine (obviously) but I just wanted to post them so you can see how beautiful it really is!!