Big Update

Hey Everyone! So as the saying goes, no news is good news! I can't believe it's been six months since our last post. That is about to change because we have a lot coming up! We've had a lot happen in the last six months so, if you're up for it, hang in while I try to catch you up to speed.

I'll start back in March, shortly after where the last post left off. Early in March, we found out that we're having another baby - due November 2nd. We told Ethan a couple weeks later and he was pretty excited and immediately starting sharing the news with everyone that he's going to have a little brother. :) At 8 weeks pregnant, we had to stop him from telling everyone yet

because it was still way too early to know for sure about the gender of the baby. Also in March, we finally got around to getting Ethan's 3 year portraits done at Wal-Mart. And the biggest news of the month, Ethan got to be a ring bearer in his Aunt Jenny's wedding!

Ethan and his cousin Annie (as the flower girl) at the rehearsal.

Ethan's 3.5 year portraits in his ring bearer suit

Another shot from the portraits

Then in April, Ethan went for a cardiology checkup and things still looked good with his heart on the echo (ultrasound of his heart). As a result, his cardiologist felt confident to go ahead with a heart cath to prepare for the final heart surgery later this year, at a date of our choosing.

May was a pretty low key month, Julie celebrated her 31st birthday by Dan whisking her away to South Carolina for a weekend away to go to the Kenny Chesney concert & visit from friends while Ethan spent the weekend with Dan's parents.

June was a super busy month for us all. On June 2nd, Ethan had his heart cath at UNC Hospital's pediatric cath lab. Again, things looked very good with Ethan's heart. In fact, Dr. R, his cardiologist, even went so far as to say that Ethan has one of the best looking anatomies for someone with HLHS! This was very encouraging news for us to hear and, upon review of his cath results with the peds cardio-thoracic surgeon, we should be on our way to booking the final heart surgery, the Fontan!

Also in June, we had a level 2 ultrasound of baby #2, to evaluate the anatomy, specifically the heart, and also find out the gender of this baby. We are happy to report that this baby is completely heart healthy and Ethan was correct in guessing that this one is, indeed, a brother to Ethan!

We also had a family beach trip with Julie's family (mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, & cousin Annie) in June. This was a much needed time of relaxation and fun for us all to break up our busy summer! We stayed so busy that we forgot to get many pictures of the trip. Ethan and Annie enjoyed lots of play time in the sand and waves, as well as some time in the pool. Ethan loved the water last summer but has gotten a little more timid of pools for some reason this year. We probably should have put him in swim lessons again but time got away from us! We also took Ethan to see Cars 2 on the day it was released in the theaters (June 24th). If you know Ethan at all, you know that he's a bit obsessed with all things "Cars/Cars 2" related so this was a big treat for him!

June was also the month we heard back from UNC and booked Ethan's Fontan heart surgery! He is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, September 1st, with a pre-op appointment the day before, Wednesday, August 31st.

July has flown by for us. It's always a busy month with Aunt Jessica's birthday on the 1st, Mimi's (Julie's mom) birthday on the 13th, Mimi & Pop-Pop's anniversary on the 23rd, new bro-in-law Brandon's birthday on the 26th, & me and Dan's anniversary on the 27th (9 years for us!).

Well if you've made it this far, then you're pretty much caught up with our lives. August is here and we're busy trying to make the most memories and have as much fun as we can before surgery on September 1st!

August is Ethan's birthday month, and also anniversary of his first heart surgery! We're stretching out the birthday celebration all week long. We started with a small party/cookout with our small group at church on Sunday night, August 7th. We had a Finn McMissile & Mater cake to celebrate. Then, every day this week I'm trying to do a little something special for him.

Monday, August 8th, Dan and I went to UNC to meet with his surgeon to get more info about what to expect with this surgery and recovery. So while we were in the meeting, Ethan's Mimi took him and cousin Annie to the sprayground/pool for a couple hours. They had a blast playing together!

Tuesday, August 9th, we went and had lunch with Dan then went to Rita's Italian Ice for dessert.

Wednesday, August 10th, Ethan and I met up with some friends to watch Cars 2 (for the 3rd time this summer) and then we ate ice cream at Baskin Robbins!

Thursday, August 11th (today!) - Ethan's 4th birthday! We're going to meet Mimi at Sears for Ethan's 4 year old portraits, then get lunch at the food court (probably Ethan's favorite - a cheeseburger (no pickle) from McDonald's. Then for dinner, we'll take Ethan out for pizza and doughnuts and let him open one present.

Tomorrow, Friday, August 12th, I've got to go into work for a couple hours so the plan is to let him have a playdate with cousin Annie. This may have to be postponed though because Ethan's starting to get a runny nose :(

Saturday, August 13th, this is the 4 year anniversary of his first heart surgery. Don't have anything planned yet for that day so I've got to think of something. I guess it'll mostly depend on how Ethan's feeling with his cold.

Sunday, August 14th, we plan to have a family cookout/birthday party! I'll stop here and update more after the party. I'll hopefully have some more pictures to include too!