Happy CHD Awareness Day!

Well, you know what they say, "no news is good news!" That has certainly been true with us! We've had a busy last six months and no time to slow down and post. Ethan is now 3 1/2 years old! So much has happened since our last update. Where do I begin without making this post last for days!?!

Since last August, here's what we've been up to. We went to the beach for Labor Day weekend with several friends & all their kids, we visited the NC Zoo in Asheboro, had a fun surprise 60th birthday party for Ethan's Pop-Pop (Julie's dad), went to Nashville, TN the week before Christmas to see Julie's relatives on both of her parents' sides of the family, celebrated Christmas at home with both Julie & Dan's immediate families, celebrated the engagement of Julie's youngest sister (Aunt Jenny), enjoyed several snow days this winter, & are currently gearing up for Aunt Jenny's wedding at the end of March!

Ethan has managed to stay very healthy this winter with just the occassional runny nose/mild cold from time to time. Thankfully we haven't so far dealt with anything quite as severe as the bout with RSV that he got last January that sent us to the hospital for 4 days. Saturday night he did come down with a fever that continued all day yesterday & into today as well. Poor little guy, he spent all day Sunday napping on the couch & that looks to be the same for today as well. We are supposed to go to his biannual cardiology checkup tomorrow but it looks like that's going to have to be postponed until he's all well. This checkup was supposed to be the last one before his next heart cath & final heart surgery so we've been anxiously waiting for it.

And speaking of Ethan's heart stuff, today is most commonly known as Valentine's Day but, unfortunately, is not often known as an even more important day, National Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Day! This whole month is heart month but last week through today (7th-14th) is CHD Awareness Week. I've posted several heart facts/statistics on my Facebook page but want to post here as well in case you don't use Facebook & are curious about CHDs.

Here are some statistics about CHDs, most of them come from the TCHIN.org site:

• 1 in 100 babies are born with a heart defect (about 40,000 each year)
• 4,000 of those will not make it to their first birthday
• Although some babies are diagnosed at birth, there is no routine screening for CHDs at this time, though some states are working on changing that so all babies are at least screened by pulse ox (checking oxygen saturation)
• Twice as many babies die from CHD's as from all pediatric cancers combined yet there is 5x more funding for pediatric cancer (all the more reason we need help spreading awareness)
• Some CHDs may require a visit to a pediatric cardiologist. Others can be treated with medications or repaired with surgeries and/or procedures. Complex defects (like HLHS) may require several surgeries and are never really "cured".
• The majority of patients born with a CHD are now adults, yet many adults with a CHD are not receiving adequate ongoing care from trained specialists.

I know I'm long overdue for including recent pictures but unfortunately, in all our busy activities, I've forgotten to take any of Ethan. I'll have to work on that! Here is a list of some of his favorite things though!

Movie/TV characters (in order):
Disney/Pixar Cars (playing in the background as I type this), Toy Story (1, 2, & 3), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Turbo Dogs (on Qubo), VeggieTales, Transformers

Toys:
Anything to do with Cars (Mater, Lightning McQueen, The King), 24 piece puzzles, he got walkie talkies for Christmas so they've been fun to use around the house, his new VTech V.Reader (e-book for kids), kids card games like Go Fish, Crazy Eights, Rummy, BINGO (of course all played with his own special decks of cards with Cars characters on them), also UNO, Candyland, & Memory (he's got a much better memory than me & always wins!). I even have a few game apps on my phone that he likes to play like Angry Birds, BullRush ("cow game"), Wheel of Fortune, tic-tac-toe.

Foods (he's not all that picky & pretty open to trying new stuff!):
Cheese (especially mozzarella string cheese & plain American), red seedless grapes, chicken (as long as it's not breaded/fried), cheeseburgers (no pickles please, just ketchup & mustard), broccoli, plain lettuce, zucchini, carrots, peas, anything chocolate (especially M&Ms), cold turkey hot dogs, ham, chocolate Teddy Grahams, fruit snacks, butter, popcorn (especially at Target as we're shopping), PB&Js, grilled cheese sandwiches, yogurt, Cheez-its & Goldfish, asparagus stalks (just not the buds on top), eggs

Other things:
Ethan also loves his mommy & daddy & all his relatives. He loves to learn. He loves Jesus. He enjoys spending time with his friends from church, MOPS (Mothers of PreschoolerS group), CBS (Community Bible Study). He is very tender-hearted like his mommy & cares about the needs of others & asks to pray for them. He is Mr. Extreme Extravert - talking to everyone & every thing (animate & inanimate) with which he comes in contact. He enjoys reading, learning to write his ABCs, learning about Jesus & singing his Bible study songs. His favorite tune right now is "Praise the Name of Jesus". With MOPS & CBS twice a week, there's been no time/need for preschool at this time. CBS has taught him so much - Bible stories, Bible songs & scripture memory - and I've also been able to enjoy a year-long study of the book of Acts in the adult CBS class while he's there!

Cardiology appointment update: while I was typing this, his cardiologist's nurse called & had to cancel because Dr. R has an emergency procedure to do on another patient. That worked out good since I told the nurse that Ethan was sick and I was afraid I was going to have to cancel. Our new appointment will be on Tuesday, March 1st.