Emry turns 3 months

...her eyes are still blue..

And busy trying to sit up....

...or busy trying to keep her head up...



...or busy trying to roll over...



...busy trying to keep up with her brothers...

So busy is Emry that she can sleep anywhere.

I just love her delicate little hands.

Emry's teething

...and working every waking hour to break one thru.

Her gummy smile shows no teeth as of yet.

Under Pearce's tutelage

Pearce has been hard at work trying to teach Emry to lift her head during tummy time today.

Pearce decided that wearing his spiderman costume would help Emry.

Proud Pearce announces, Tuh-dah!

Pearce's next item of business, teaching Emry to roll over. She's so close.

Emry sound asleep, after hours of Pearce encouraging her to put up her head and to roll over.

Grandmama Visits

My Mom holds Emry for the first time.

Connor {13 years} Emry {2 months} Pearce {4 years}

I am a lucky Momma!

Emry's blessing day

We decided to have Emry's blessing in December, hoping my Dad would recover from his brain surgery by then. Unfortunately he didn't and so his doctors denied our request for him to fly out to Honolulu. I still wanted my parents to feel apart of Emry's special day, so I asked my Mom to pick out a blessing dress for her to wear. My Mom sent it with Jane and David.

The blessing dress hanging in Emry's room.

Perfectly long and delicate. Just like Emry.

After the blessing. Wendi, Eric, Connor {13}, Pearce {4}, and Ermy {1 month}. Special thanks to those who participated along with Eric in bless Emry: Marlo Lopez, Brian Walter, Derick Hatch, Heber Moulton, Bishop Skinner, and David Phillips.

In front of the historical Honolulu Tabernacle. Pearce, Connor, Wendi, Eric, Emry, Jane, David and GG Phillips.

In front of the Banyan Tree.

Proud Daddy and his girl.

Thankful Momma and Emry.

At The Banyan Tree Plaza for Ermy's blessing after party. Decorated in pinks, whites and browns with the help of Olga, Heber, Darrick and Kellie. Thanks guys.

GG Phillips, Wendi, Kellie, Darrick, Addison, Chelsey, Eric and Connor.

Eric, Connor, Di, Tammy, Marty, Olga, Heber and Mike.

Pearce, Darrick, Kellie, Addison, Olga, Wendi, Brian, Reese, and Connor.

Chocolate cupcakes filled with coconut chocolate yum centers by Kellie Hatch, who is a baking diva and guru!

Baby Eclairs!

We call Emry Claire 'Eclair' as her nickname. This is kind of a family joke because one of our Piller family's favorite desserts is an heirloom eclair recipe that my Gramy (Piller-Jamison) at age 81 still makes every weekend. I have to confess these are not the coveted Piller heirloom eclairs, just mass-produced mini eclairs from the Costco freezer section.

At the end of the party, Jane and David gave me a beautiful pair of pearl earrings. This is their tradition, to give the Mom of a new grand-baby pearl jewelry. Thank you Jane and David!

This turned out to be a perfect day shared with our family and friends. We feel truly blessed to have Emry in our family and excited to watch her grow.

North Shore

This was Emry's first official full day out. She was 25 days old. We went to the Laie Temple Open House (it took almost two years to re-design the interior and exterior, during which we learned what it's like to be without a temple an hour away). The Laie Temple (5th to be built) is certainly architecturally nice and has a beautiful exterior, but my favorite part has always been the grounds, especially how it sits atop a hillside overlooking a long manicured driveway that ends at a perfect sand beach. I'm also a big fan of the new interior design, which has an unmistakable Hawaii flavor to it, but still is calming enough so as not to distract from the main purpose and focus of going there.

Emry's little body parts hang out of the Baby Bjorn. I look like I could sleep standing up.

Then, we went over to Turtle Bay Resort. Eric took Pearce snorkeling for the first time. He loved it! He even chased a turtle. Later they played whiffle ball on the grass while Emry and I lounged on the beach under a tree enjoying the view and fresh air. It was great to be outside again.

This picture shows the Resort, the Bay and the Golf Course. Turtle Bay has become one of our favorite places to go with the kids because it has something for everyone. A calm swimming bay for the kids, big surf for the adults, good facilities (like groomed grass and parking) for convenience, and gourmet food for the stomach.

Pearce snorkeling.


Pearce and Eric playing whiffle ball.

We ended the evening eating right on the beach as the sun went down at their main restaurant, Olo. It's one of the best restaurants on the Island. Pricey, but worth it. Especially because you can wear a swimsuit and flip flops.

Appetizers.

My favorite entree, the Salmon. It melts in your mouth. If you come to this Island and don't partake of this dish, I promise you, you will forever be burdened with remorse. It's that epic.

Eric's scallops. The best prepared scallops we've ever had. Tender, not chewy. And I'm not even a fan of scallops.

This was a perfect day, which is the case more often than not in Hawaii. How do you beat the weather, food, activities, scenery and attitude. (OK, by living in a place that costs 75% less, probably). But it's been 7 years here and I still love it more than ever!

The day after Emry was born

This is what happens when you get behind on your blog. Events go missing. Like the day after Emry was born. This was an emotional day for me.

First, my body was still undergoing consistent labor contractions. By "consistent," I mean every five minutes from the time I delivered Emry until about 48 hours after. Apparently, my body still believed there was another baby to come. Glad it was wrong. How do we women forget that these type of things happen when we have babies? I guess the human race would stop if we all had perfect recollection of the experience.

Anyway...

Second, Emry had to have an ECHO Transthoracic (2D); complete with spectral and color flow dopper. This was because Dr. Loui, Emry's pediatrician, heard a murmur during the nursery examination.

Third, while I awaited for the Echo results, I got a call from my parents who just landed in Arizona, who had spent the last 15 day on a Safari trip in Kenya. My Mom, who was meant to come to Hawaii and help me with the baby, explained that my Dad had been suffering severe headaches during their entire trip and he had dry heaved for the last 22 hour of their flight, and she was taking him to St. Joseph Emergency. An hour later my Mom calls to tell me that my Dad was just prepped for brain surgery with Dr. Peter Nakaji . My Dad's CT and MRI test showed that he had been suffering from an Acute Subdural Hematoma (major trauma and bleeding in his brain) for the entire time in Kenya and he was going into a deep sleep, which would kill him if not addressed. The fluids had pushed his brain over to one side which made him critical for emergency brain surgery. The doctors were amazed he was still alive. This is when the tears started to roll. I called my brother Grant who lives in Utah, and discussed the news. Just two months ago my brother and his wife sat by the crib of their first baby, who was born a month prematurely, and was hospitalized for several weeks until his lungs grew. Grant and his wife Amy immediately left to catch the first flight to Arizona. But I was worried about my Mom being alone at the hospital so I called Harry to ask him if he could go sit with her, but he sadly explained he could not because he was dressing his daughter's mother at the funeral home. Instantly my thoughts went to Tiffany, then to Connor, and I wondered how he was coping, and the tears came again. So I called my mother in-law Jane, and without hesitation she went to sit with my Mom until my brother arrived. Oh, the relief that someone I loved and trusted would be with her.

Still dealing with labor pains, I tried to breastfeed Emry, wishing this was a happier day, and feeling helplessness for my family. Emry's pediatrician then came back with the ECHO exam which showed her to have 3 heart defects:

A normal healthy heart to compare.

1. Muscular interventricular septal defect with a left-to-right shunt. (VSD) The most serious out of the three.

1. shows where the VSD occurs.

• the Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) usually occurs in the membranous (perimembranous) (70%) rather than muscular interventricular septum, and is more frequent in males that females.
• Perimembranous defects are located close to the aortic and tricuspid valves and adjacent to atrioventricular conduction bundle.
• The defect allows left-right shunting of blood, this shunting depends upon the size of the defect. Small defects may close spontaneously, larger defects result in infant congestive heart failure.
• Clinically repaired by coils or tissue-adapted devices like muscular or perimembranous occluders.

2. Tiny patent ductus arteriosus with a left-to-right shunt. (PDA) Common in a new born.

1. shows where PDA occurs.

• Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) occurs commonly in preterm infants, can close spontaneously (by day three in 60% of normal term neonates) the remainder are ligated simply and with little risk.
• The operation is always recommended even in the absence of cardiac failure and can often be deferred until early childhood.

3. Patent foramen ovale with a left-to-right shunt. (PFO) Common in a new born.

1. shows where PFO occurs.

And the tears came again. Dr. Loui explained that the Cardiologist wouldn't look at the echo in detail until Monday and we would have to wait for his diagnosis, but the lab technician who processed Emry's echo mentioned that her defects didn't look too serious. Good news! Finally some good news... unofficially, but still good news. Oh the relief...

My Mom then called the next day to report that the surgery went well and my Dad was recovering in the ICU. I called my Dad a day later, who was cracking jokes the whole time. Oh the relief...

A few days later, at the pediatricians office, Dr. Loui explained that the Cardiologists didn't think Emry was in any danger, meaning her heart should heal itself, and that she would only need a routine follow up with him in three months. And so, three months later, I took Emry to see the Cardiologist and he decide he wouldn't need to see her again until she was two years old.
Oh the relief...

My Dad spent 5 days in the ICU. He came away with 72 staples in his skull. A few weeks later, due to fluids building up faster than his body could absorb, he spent 2 more days in the ICU after surgeons reopened his skull and drained the fluid. He was fine for a couple of weeks and then was readmitted into the ICU to drain the fluid from his brain again. The doctor concluded that if the fluid persisted they would have to re-due the surgery, which was risky. But the fluid never came back and my Dad started to feel good enough to work out again at the gym. He pushed himself a little to hard one day and had a stroke. Thankfully, no serious damage was done, but it scared my Dad into a slower recovery. He is now in perfect health. Thank God. I couldn't imagine life without my Dad.

Oh the relief...