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!

Family Beach Trip '09

So I guess I should've looked at our beach trip pictures first before promising a post full of pictures. I really only have one good beach picture to share. :-( Too bad since we had a busy, fun, full week when we were there!

Ethan, Pop-Pop & Aunt Jenny

Mid-late May at Myrtle Beach is a nice, comfortable air temp but the water is still a little too cool. Ethan took a couple of days to get re-aquainted with the sand and water but then he enjoyed it the rest of the week. In this picture, Ethan and company enjoyed playing in a little puddle where the water was a little warmer. This picture was actually taken on our last day - just hours before we drove home.

Now to back track and give a chronological description of our week. This may get pretty detailed so don't feel like you have to read it all. This is the only place I'm journaling our only vacation of this year and don't want to forget what all we did!

Day 1 - We started our trip with a drive to Columbia, SC to help Jenny move out of her dorm and attend graduation. Well, she had such a busy last couple of weeks that packing is all that really got done the day we arrived. If you remember my last post before we left town, Ethan had an ear infection and the day we left, Dan also started not feeling well. :-( By the time we made it to our destination, Dan had a full blown fever/chills and crawled into bed at the hotel and stayed there most of the day/evening. Fortunately, Ethan felt good for the trip - as I've come to learn with his 2 back to back ear infections that he had, the first 24 hours is the worst and then he feels fine for the duration of the ear infection. With 2 sick boys, I had to stay at the hotel to take care of them so I couldn't help with packing.

Day 2 - Graduation Day! We were all pleasantly surprised and proud that the baby of the family graduated Cumm Laude from her school. This is way better than I ever even came close to doing - and this was her 3rd school in 4 years! After graduation, we all went downtown for a celebratory lunch with a couple of her closest friends. Then it was time to head back to campus to help Jenny finish packing and moving her stuff off campus to storage for the summer. She'll be returning in the fall to share an apartment with a few friends still in school. Well, by that time, it was Ethan's nap time and there was no place for him to nap except in the car (which he actually fell asleep in during the ride back from lunch). So we were able to get out of packing/moving and got a head start on the rest of the family to the beach. We arrived at dinner time, found a place to go eat and then went ahead and hit the grocery store for the week. The rest of the family made it around 9pm.

Day 3-9 All the mornings at the beach started out pretty much the same. Dad (Pop-Pop), me, Brandon, and baby Annie (who napped after her first feeding) all got up around 6-7am and enjoyed a couple hours of quiet time until the rest of the house woke up around 9-10am. The first couple of days at Myrtle, it rained and was kind of chilly. We spent most of our time in the beach house just relaxin'.

Highlights during the week included my sisters and I having a girls day out - shopping and lunch at the outlets (while Mom (aka Mimi) babysat the grandkids), the men all going golfing together later that same day, Mom & Dad enoying an early anniversary gift from the kids - going to Le Grand Cirque, several yummy dinners out like at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville at Broadway at the Beach, Carolina Roadhouse & Crab Catchers, running into some church friends at the condo's pool, and shopping at Barefoot Landing! Mimi even bought Ethan a personalized children's CD that says his name more than 45 times during the 6 songs on the CD.

Some less memorable events included having the golf cart stollen from our condo the day before we left, Ethan busting his lip open at the playground at Broadway at the Beach, and Ethan having a diaper blowout on my leg at Margaritaville (oh the joys of motherhood!) during dinner, and me getting a striped sunburn on my leg from missing spots with the spray on sunscreen the day we went to the beach/came home.

Well that about sums up our one and only "summer" vacation for the year. Back to reality now - lots of hot, humid NC weather (except for the flooding, 3+ inches of rain and mid-70's day we're having today), and trying to keep cool finding by finding friends with free pools in their neighborhoods to go visit!

Ear Infection

When will this bout of illnesses leave our family? Fortunately, Dan and I are healthy for the time being. But poor Ethan, he (and I) barely got any sleep late Friday night/early Saturday morning. The poor kid cried his eyes out until 4am, when I think he finally passed out from sheer exhaustion. The only time he would calm down is when I'd pick him up from his crib and hold him and rock him in the glider. I could tell he wasn't feeling well but couldn't pinpoint what was wrong - no fever, no runny nose, no symptoms of any kind as far as I could tell. Saturday morning, Ethan woke up at 8:30 and did develop a 2 degree fever and was still fussy (who blames him with only 4 hours sleep!). So while I got to sleep in a bit and get ready for the day, I urged Dan to call the urgent care office of our pediatrician to figure out what was wrong. Dan managed to get Ethan a 10am appt. and graciously took Ethan to it so I could have some time off.

What did I do with that time off? Last year for Mother's Day/my birthday (same weekend), Dan gave me a spa certificate and here it is, a week from my birthday (aka - the expiration date on the certificate!) and I had yet to redeem it. So Friday morning, I called and booked myself a 1 hour Swedish massage appointment that I couldn't cancel. So I took full advantage of my morning off to pamper myself (funny that Pampering Ourselves was the topic at MOPS last week!). And while I had a nice, leisurely morning/afternoon, my boys anxiously waited at the peds for 30+ minutes past their appt. time before being taken to an exam room for their appt.

Turns out that our poor little man has a double ear infection. Nothing that more Amoxicillin can't cure, huh? So, we took it easy the rest of the weekend to catch up on rest and let the little guy try to get better. We're keeping him comfortable with children's ibuprofen and treating the infection with a more expensive form of Amoxicillin than what we were prescribed 2 weeks ago for the "possible" strep.

Family Update

Well it's been a pretty uneventful past couple of weeks here in the Miles' household. Ethan is continuing to do well physically and stay very active like all the other kids his age. He babbles all the time but still doesn't say much that we can understand so we're continuing to work on vocabulary and adding more sign language for him. Below is a list of what he knows so far:

WORDS:

* Da-Da

* Ma-Ma

* Ba-Ba (for bye-bye)

* Nuh-Nuh (for night-night)

* Guh-Go or Ma-Mo (for Elmo)

* Hoo-Hoo (for dirty "poo-poo" diaper)

* Bah (for ball)

* Mimi (for Julie's mom)

* Bop-Pop (or Pop-Pop for Julie's Dad)

* Ca-Ca (for Aunt Jessica and for chocolate!)

* Bo-Bo (for Uncle Brandon)

* Be-Be (for baby)

* Ah Gun (all done/all gone)

* Nana (for banana)

SIGNS:

* more (accompanied by saying "m-m-m")

* milk

* all done/finished (accompanied by "ah gun" for all gone)

and we're working on learning please, thank you, help, hurt, juice & water this month

Ethan can also point to various body parts and knows the sounds for several animals. He loves the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" - both usually get him giggling or at least distract him from crying if he's upset.

In other news, all 3 of us have had some kind of cold/sinus/allergy problem on and off since around Valentine's day. Just as soon as we think we're on the mend from one sickness, we get sick all over again. Dan's been feeling the worst and finally went to the doctor last Monday (3/30). His doctor said he's got Pertussis (whooping cough) and quite possibly also RSV - scary!

Fortunately, I think Ethan's received enough doses of the DTaP vaccine (P being for Pertussis) that I don't have to worry about him contracting it but I am still being very careful about Ethan's exposure to RSV. This is the big respiratory virus that can be life-threatening (if left untreated) to preemies and young babies (mainly under 6 months old) who have other heart/lung issues.

In case you don't remember or just found our story, RSV is the same virus that we had to safeguard against last winter by having Ethan get monthly antibody shots from Oct.-April. Due to several factors this year: 1) Ethan's older, 2) he doesn't have his next surgery any time soon, and 3) his 2nd heart surgery/hospital stay was significantly cheaper than those shots, we opted to pass on those shots this time around.

Well sorry for the long update. For making it to the end of this post, here's some pictures I took the other day!

Mimi & Pop-Pop with their 2 grandchildren!

Enjoy a home-made chocolate chip cookie!

Still eating and making a mess!

cousin Annie's arrival

Well, she's here! Ethan's cousin Annie made her arrival at 5:01pm today, 3/14/09 - on her due date! She's 8lb. 2oz., 21" and so pretty. She's got dark hair and blue eyes. We hope to take Ethan over to the hospital to meet his little cousin tomorrow after church.

Pictures!

Ok, so here are some long overdue pictures from our 3" of snow a couple weeks ago, along with a few others just for fun! And just to preface the last one, Ethan really does enjoy cleaning and actually was fussing that I was doing all the "fun stuff" today without him!

Checking out the snow first thing in the morning!

Trying to get unbundled before going outside.

Outside with Mommy and Cousins M & R!

Learning to walk through snow!

This white stuff's pretty cool!

Checkin' out the kitchen

All bundled up

Helpin' Mama mop the kitchen

We're still waiting to hear from UNC about scheduling his sedated echo. It's been nearly a week so we should hear something pretty soon. Otherwise, we're doing well. Ethan's cutting some more molars and has been pretty fussy/clingy for the past 5 days. He didn't have much of an appetite over the weekend and ran a very slight fever (99.2) on Saturday so we never made it to the birthday party. :-( We did manage to make it to our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groupwide playdate yesterday at Raleigh School of Gymnastics behind our church. Ethan and all the other kids seemed to have a blast! And from what I heard from other moms on Facebook yesterday afternoon, it wore all the kids out and they all took really good, long naps (like that's anything new for Ethan, he naps 3-4 hours in the afternoon anyway)! Were it not for the dinner plans with my parents last night, no telling how long Ethan would've stayed down for his nap - poor guy had to wake up after only 3.5 hours! LOL

January recap

What a busy month this has been! Not to bore you with too many details (as I am often known for!), I'll make this post fairly quick. The big highlights for this month included a baby shower for Aunt Jessica (due in March), nearly 4 inches of SNOW on Jan. 20th, shopping at the Kids Exchange (huge bi-annual consignment sale), a cardiology checkup, and one of Ethan's church buddies 1st birthday party (tomorrow).

The baby shower for my sister, Jessica, was a lot of fun. It was a lot of work to plan, but totally worth every minute of it! My mom (Mimi) hosted the big event and my other sister, Jenny, helped with food and decorations. Thanks Ethan for bearing with me on all the shopping trips to Target, the dollar store, and beyond as I gathered all my supplies for it. Thank you also, Dan, for watching Ethan so I could have all afternoon at Mom's house to decorate, set up, throw the shower then clean up without having Li'l E clinging to me!

Snow day was also a lot of fun - Ethan's first real measurable snow! He didn't like me bundling him up at first, but then when we got outside, he didn't mind at all! We babysat Ethan's cousins half the day so their parents could work and we had a blast playing in the snow, having snowball fights, making snow angels and playing with our new neighbors. I know we've been bad about not posting many new pictures lately, we'll hopefully get some snow pictures up soon (we did manage to get them up on Dan's facebook account at least).

The Kids Exchange is always a highlight of the new year for me. I have yet to actually sell anything because I don't know if we'll need it in the future if we ever have any more kids. I just enjoy going for all the great bargains on anything and everything for kids. This year, I managed to snag a few Elmo and Veggie Tale DVD's, an old U2 CD for Dan, and lots of spring/summer clothes for Ethan. We went on a weekday while Dan was at work and Ethan did amazingly well during our hour and a half of shopping and another hour standing in line to check out!

Ethan's cardiology checkup yesterday went pretty well. At 17 months old, he doesn't like to stay still very long and he's becoming increasingly aware of his surroundings and started crying/trembling the second I put him on the exam table to undress him to get weighed (even without the nurse or doctor in the room). He weighed in at 24 lb. 14 oz. and his blood pressure seemed fine according to the nurse. The echo went about as rough as last time (Sept.) - Ethan just cried and kept pushing the tech's hand away. I had been dreading this part because I know they need to get some good pictures of his heart so I came prepared as best as I could with everything from toys to snacks to chocolate - nothing seemed to work. The tech did manage to get a few good pictures but not as many as our doc wanted so a sedated echo at UNC has been ordered for sometime in the next month or two (the good news is that they aren't rushed or didn't see anything of concern on what few pictures they did get). So we're now just in a waiting game - we're told it could take up to two weeks just to get the call about the appointment.

And last but not least, since Ethan's friend's birthday party isn't until tomorrow, nothing to really report about that yet. I'll just say that it's a girl's party since he doesn't have any boy playmates at this time!

Thanks for checking in on us. We'll try to get some more pictures up soon (they just take so long to load that I can only do a few at a time so be patient!).

Walking!

I think I forgot to mention in our last blog entry that Ethan's finally walking! He's been taking a few steps at a time since early November. Each day he gets a little more confident and Monday he started really picking up the pace and doing laps around our kitchen bar/living room! So he's officially a walker now. He is still working on learning how to stand up when he falls/sits down - he has to crawl over to something that he can use to pull up on - a table, sofa, etc. - but he's getting there!

Now if we can just get the boy to talk more! He knows a few animal sounds - cat (he meows or sometimes hisses since that's what Mimi's cat usually does to him! LOL) , lion (he roars/growls - his favorite sound!), snake (he hisses) . We're still working on what a dog says (I thought he would've learn that first since we have a dog). The pediatrician isn't concerned right now so we're not either.

Health and Family Update

I (Julie) took Ethan for his 15 month pediatrician checkup yesterday and all is well. He weighed in at 23 lb. 9.6 oz.! He's also grown to 32" long. He got his shots and was pretty brave - only cried for a moment. Then he fell asleep on the 7 minute drive home and slept for a couple of hours afterward.

He slept well last night and is pretty much on schedule today, not really feeling any side effects of the vaccines, although he is pretty clingy and cuddly! He's had a cough for about 2 weeks now so we had the doc check it out while we were there and they said he's fine and didn't really give a reason for the cough but didn't seem concerned so I guess there's no need for me to worry either. It's kind of odd to actually hear him cough because he spent all last year not being able to cough, and thus the reason for the thickened bottle feeds, due to some paralyzation of his nerves in his chest/throat area from his surgeries. Before I realized he didn't know how to really cough, he would just (how do I describe it?) kind of start to cough but turn it into a yell/loud noise/extended cough. Oh, the little things we take for granted! Poor little guy - I always thought coughing was more of an involuntary action that we do in response to choking or having something bother our airway. I guess it's encouraging that we definitely know he's regained the feeling in his throat in order to have the need to cough!

Well there's Ethan's health udate, now for the family update. We had a really nice Thanksgiving and trust you did as well. Dan and I both are fortunate to have our parents and siblings here in town so it's always fun to get to pitch in together for two big Thanksgiving day meals - one with each family! Ethan loves food in general (except any kind of meat/poultry) and found a new favorite food this holiday - cranberry relish! He mainly loves cheese and fruit (same things I craved when I was pregnant with him!) so it's really no surprise that he likes the tangy/sweet taste of the cranberries - he had several helpings at each meal and again for leftovers.

The rest of our family and extended families are doing well. I've got some kind of sinus problem that I've put off going to see the doctor about for the last couple of weeks but otherwise feeling good. I've also finally started going back to the gym to try to get in shape and hope to get in a good routine before the new year when the gym will be crowded with people trying to start their resolutions. My mom (aka Mimi) is also starting to finally feel better from her mono that she's had for nearly a year and a half. That's probably the biggest answer to prayer lately!

Uh-oh, I left the gate open and Ethan's headed for the stairs so I better run (he can crawl all the way up but doesn't know how to get back down without falling)!

Fun Weekend Planned and Ethan Update

This coming weekend, Dan, Ethan and I are planning a trip down to Columbia, SC to visit my sister (Ethan's Aunt Jenny), as well as a few other friends - including one of our heart friends that we only know through their blog. If you have been following us and our heart friends then you may have guessed it already! That's right, we're planning to meet Angel Annabelle's family - Scott, Rebecca and Wyatt! We know it will be a busy weekend but it will be a great time to get away. We haven't traveled anywhere as a family since May when we went to Myrtle Beach with my family, so we're really looking forward to getting away! Please pray for safe travel for us as we leave early Friday and return Sunday night.

And I guess since this blog was originally created to update you on Ethan's health and life, I guess I should mention that he continues to do extremely well. We don't see the cardiologist again until the end of January so life has just been pretty normal for us lately. Ethan's got 4 more teeth that he's cutting so that's been our biggest challenge lately. He is still not walking independently yet but is very close. He has given up his bottle, just using sippy cups, and has almost given up his paci too - we just use it at night now. It's hard to believe our little guy is growing up so fast - he'll be 15 months old in a few weeks (Nov. 11).

Ethan also loves electronics - remotes, phones, laptops, etc. He drives us crazy "typing" on the laptop and teaches us short cuts we never knew about. He has recently learned that my cell phone does not have a number lock so he's started using the speed dial to call various family members. So for all family reading this - now you know why you may have received calls lately from me with nobody talking on our end or hanging up quickly after the call's been made. He even managed to text a message to his Aunt Amanda, saying "Please call." I don't know how that happened - I don't do the texting thing. She called us back to make sure we were OK and we both laughed about the incident! What a smart kid - just like his Daddy!

Ok, well speaking of this kid and electronics - I better run because he keeps trying to take over the laptop as I type - pulling the screen back so I can't see what I'm typing!

Birthday pictures!

Ok, as promised, here are some pictures from yesterday's festivities. Ethan and all his guests seemed to have a great time celebrating together!

The Birthday Boy after he woke up!

On the move!

Mommy decoating the Elmo birthday cake!

Party decorations!

Ethan surrounded by all his presents!

Another birthday gift - from Aunt Jessica and Uncle Brandon!

Elmo birthday cake !

Digging into the cake with Mimi and Pop-Pop's help!

Did we mention it is Cake Time!

Yummy cake!

August 11, 2008 - 1 Year Old!

August 11 - we made it! I remember last August as this date quickly approached (which, by the way, was Ethan's due date!) that I had no clue what the future would hold for us and if we'd even have the opportunity to be celebrating Ethan's first birthday. It is with great joy and humble gratitude that we thank our Heavenly Father for allowing us to be able to celebrate this first year of Ethan's life!

We had a great family cookout and birthday party for our little guy yesterday. Ethan was able to have both sets of grandparents, one of his great-grandma's, all his aunts and uncles and cousins in attendance for the celebration. It's so nice to have all our immediate family so close by! Ethan had a great time chasing balloons, eating cake (he ate more than his cousins which are 3 & 5!) and helping open presents!

You'll have to check back in later today for pictures, I'll get those loaded during his nap time. Right now, it's all I can do to keep his little fingers off the laptop as I try to type this!

As always, thanks for your continued prayers for our sweet son. We deeply appreciate them and we're very humbled that God has been so gracious to us to let our son turn out so healthy.

Less than a week

Hey everyone! Sorry for having not posted an update in so long. Things have just been going so well in the Miles' household that there really hasn't been anything to upate. So in case you're wondering what's happening in less than a week... Ethan will be turning 1!

It's hard to believe it's already August again! Looking back on the past year, we are so thankful to celebrate such a big milestone in our son's life! Ever since Ethan was born last August 11, we have done our best to make the most out of every day and not take a single day for granted. For our first heart family friend, today, August 5, marks the one year anniversary of Isaac's death here on earth but the start of eternal life in Heaven with Jesus. I remember this time last year how sad I was for this family's loss and a little uncertain about my own son's future. Baby Isaac's funeral was the same day as my scheduled labor induction so it was a very emotional time for me.

Also in the last year, we've known of two other HLHS babies to pass away. Even though the other 2 families are out of state and we had never met them, it was still a hard time for us as we grieved with them. We (at least I-Julie) have felt a bit of "survivor guilt" over the loss of these other 2 heart babies - thankful that Ethan has done so well yet wondering why God has spared our child and not theirs. They all have tons of people praying for them, just like we have tons praying for Ethan. We continue to lift them up in prayer and also continue to praise God each day for Ethan's continued good health. God has really given him the strength to press on and to be a healthy little boy with no other complications and to that, all I can say is "to God be all the glory forever and ever, AMEN!".

Oh, and by the way, Ethan finally cut one of his top teeth over the weekend! So now he's got 3 teeth. He also had his first little fall that resulted in a little blood on mommy's shirt from somewhere inside his mouth. Nothing that a little Italian Ice couldn't fix though! Were it not for the tradition of having a birthday cake, I think Ethan would be fine just having some Rita's Italian Ice for his birthday - that kid is hooked! So I think we'll have a little as an appetizer then save the cake and ice cream for dessert for the "big people" (all our families) at his birthday party!

Well thanks again for checking in on us, we promise to not wait so long until our next post!

First Fireworks!

Last night, another town close to us had a concert and fireworks display at the local high school. We (Dan, Ethan, & I) joined Dan's mom and all my immediate family for the big event. The music was loud and the fireworks were even louder (I've never been so close to them before - we were sitting in the bleachers and the display was just across the field behind the other bleachers). Dan and I both enjoy watching fireworks but we weren't sure how Ethan would react to the loud noise. Turns out that he loves watching them too and wasn't scared a bit by the noise. He wouldn't dare turn his eyes away as he watched each of the explosive displays in the sky. Now that he survived the "test run" last night, we may go try to see more fireworks tonight. Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!

update

Oops, sorry for not posting an update last night after Ethan's procedure. We were all exhausted and went to bed early last night. All went well, we were told on Friday that we had to be there at the hospital to check in at 7am, the procedure would start at 8:30 and we'd be leaving by 10am.

Well nothing ever seems to go according to schedule in a hospital! We got there at 7am, got checked in, hoped Ethan would go back to sleep but he didn't. He started getting fussy and hungry but wasn't allowed to have anything since midnight so we did our best to keep him preoccupied with toys, walking the halls, etc. They finally called us in to get vitals and sign the consent form a little after 8am. Then more waiting... the anesthesiologist finally took Ethan at 9am. We ran and got breakfast in the cafe and quickly returned to the waiting room because we were told that his procedure would last anywhere from 30min-1hr. Sitting there in the cafe brought back so many memories from Ethan's first two surgeries and we both thanked God that this was such a minor OUTPATIENT procedure with no chance of being admitted! We got to go see Ethan about 10:30 then we got discharged around 11am.

After discharge, we went up to the CICC floor (step down unit after his heart surgeries) and visited all our favorite nurses. They were excited to see us and see how big Ethan is getting. They love having their patients come back and when we were in the area last month for the parent panel of the cardiology conference, they reminded us to come visit their floor any time we're in the area. Ethan was still groggy from the anesthesia but he did manage to give the nurses a little smile.

Ethan slept the whole hour-long drive home plus the time it took for us to run by Target to get his 2 prescriptions filled - one was an antibiotic ( to prevent infection) and the other was Tylenol with Codeine. He'll be on the antibiotic for 5 days and the Tylenol just as needed. Once we got home, Ethan had a bottle with his Tylenol w/codeine then slept from 3:30-7:30. We woke him up to feed him and give him his antibiotic then he went back to bed around 9 and slept till 6:30 this morning. He's slightly off schedule but we're catching up.

He doesn't really seem to be in pain today, which is amazing! He's back to "slithering" on his tummy (he can crawl but doesn't like it as much), which makes Dan cringe - afraid that being on his tummy is causing him unnecessary pain - but it doesn't seem to bother Ethan a bit! What a tough little guy we have!

He's got a clear bandage over his surgical site which will fall off in 3-10 days but we've still been instructed to not immerse him in water (no baths or swimming pool) for 3 whole weeks! Poor little guy, I know how much he'll miss that - he's getting to be a good little swimmer. :-(

One final update - Dan took the whole day off to be with us yesterday and as we were letting Ethan watch a cartoon before taking his nap, we both got to see him wave for the first time (at the cartoon characters). It was so cute! And today, I introduced Ethan to bananas. He's had the Gerber baby food but never had the real thing until today and he loved it.

Thanks for checking in on us. We are so thankful for all the fervent prayers and continued good health of our precious son. Tonight we're off to celebrate the life of another special person - my sister (Ethan's aunt) Jessica. Happy 25th birthday sis/aunt!

Busy Boy

And they say boys are easier to raise than girls... I'm still willing to debate that one right now! Ethan's quite a little busy body - not quite wanting to crawl (although he likes to sleep on his knees and can easily support himself and rock back and forth while on them) so he "slithers" along on his belly, pulling himself with his elbows and helping himself move along with the force of his right knee. He's getting to be quite speedy and certainly keeps us on our toes all the time!

He's also got quite the eyesight - picking up every single speck of dirt/crumb/hair/etc. off the carpet and putting it in his mouth! Most recent findings in his mouth include silk plant leaves, carpet & dog toy fuzz, dry dog food, half-popped popcorn kernels and a few tiny pebbles. The funniest is watching the pink drool drip down his chin from the red pieces of dog food. Fortunately Dan & I are getting quick at reading his cues and have been able to remove nearly all items before swallowing (have only missed a few tiny pieces of lint I think!).

Oh, Ethan's also (in the last week or so) been able to go from lying down to sitting up all on his own! Several times we've come in to his nursery to get him up from naps and have found him sitting up in his bed and he's also doing it consistently on the living room floor!

As for his heart, all seems to continue to be going well. We'll know for sure though when we go back to the cardiologist for a checkup next Thursday, 6/26, so please keep that visit in your prayers. He is even doing well with increasing the amount of non-thickened bottle feedings to where we haven't been thickening them for a couple of weeks now!

Thanks for checking in on us and for continuing to pray for us regularly, we really appreciate it!

Some long overdue pictures!

Thank you Aunt Jenny for all the great pictures of our time at Myrtle Beach and the pool (May 18-21, 2008)! Ethan sure seemed to have a fun time with you and looks forward to much more swimming this summer at your neighborhood pool!

Mommy & Ethan getting lathered in sunscreen
with Pop-Pop keeping watch from the lifeguard stand

Future Lifeguard?

First Water Bottle

Posing for the camera

Hot Stuff!

Pop-pop introducing me to the beach

This water's kinda cold Pop-pop

Chillin' in my new swim gear

Aunt Jenny introducing me to the pool for the first time!

Ahhh, this is the life!

more firsts

Wow, this has been a busy month for us. Sorry for the long delay in updating. This month, Ethan had lots of "firsts"! We hope to have some new pictures soon too.

Here's a quick rundown of all Ethan's "firsts" for this month:

- May 10th: we went Strawberry Pickin' (for my birthday - a family tradition for me growing up)
- Also on May 10th: Ethan had his first late night of staying out past "curfew" (aka bedtime) with his cousins and aunts & uncles while Dan took me to a nice birthday dinner!
- May 11th: first Mother's Day (he even colored a card for me with Daddy's help) and he turned 9 months old!
- May 17th: first time in the church nursery while Dan & I helped lead a budget conference (he was very good, didn't cry at all and kept the workers entertained with his babbling & overall cuteness!)
- Also May 17th: Ethan & I went to our first heart reunion at UNC Hospital' Farm for all the pediatric cardiology patients (it was a fun cookout with games for the older kids and a chance to see alot of our nurses and of course the surgeons who have helped fix Ethan's heart)
- May 18-21: Ethan's first vacation (we went with my parents to North Myrtle Beach)
- May 19: first visit to a beach - he enjoyed playing with the sand and watching the waves but the water was a little too chilly for swimming
- May 20: first time in a swimming pool, again it was a little chilly but his Aunt Jenny had a fun time teaching him to kick and float with her help (she's a former infant/toddler swim instructor for the YMCA)
- May 26: first Memorial Day cookout

Ethan also went to the pediatrician last week for his 9 month well baby checkup. He weighed in at 19lb. 13 3/4oz., putting him about the 35% mark. He also measured 29 in., putting him about 70%. He continues to be a busy baby, exploring everything he gets a hold of. He's doing great with rolling all over the floor and has started making diaper changes a challenge by wanting to flip over onto his tummy. He seems on the verge of crawling but he may skip that phase altogether, we'll just have to wait and see. We continue to thank God daily for each day we have with him and for how well he's doing physically with his heart, developmental progress, and hearty appetite. Until we hear if we'll ever be able to do another swallow study, we continue to help him "practice" his unthickened bottles 2x/day and do the rest still thickened with the rice cereal. He enjoys eating Cheerios, Gerber Puffs and all his baby foods. Ethan has also started saying "Ma Ma" randomly!

Thanks for checking in on us, we should have some vacation pictures to post soon!

P.S. We are looking forward to an exciting event on Wednesday. We are going back to UNC to be on a parent panel for their annual cardiology conference. This year it's all about Single Ventricle heart defects like Ethan's! We are one of only 4 families selected to answer questions from all the nurses attending this conference. We pray that we can be of assistance by participating and that we glorify God through our responses.

first weekend away from my baby

So in case I didn't mention it already, Dan had his first time away from Ethan 2 weeks ago. He was out of town all week for work. Now it's my turn. Over this past weekend (Friday and Saturday), I went on a trip with my mom and two sisters to Indianapolis for our cousin's wedding. We were only gone about 36 hours but it was still hard being away from my boys (Dan & Ethan)! Dan's mom came over for the weekend to help him out and they all seemed to have a fun time together.

Our whirlwind trip was fun and definitely a memory-maker. It was filled with late nights and action-packed days. It was great getting to see all of my mom's side of the family again (we all met up a few days before Christmas in Knoxville, TN except the bride-to-be) Besides the fun of the wedding, I also really enjoyed the plane ride. It's been nearly 6 years since I've had a reason to fly anywhere (last time was our honeymoon) and I love being up in the sky and looking out at the world below.

We will try to get some more pictures of Ethan up soon. His 2nd tooth has come through and we think more are on the way because he's been fussy today and still gnawing down on everything in sight (he especially likes my hair today for some reason). We'll try to see if we can get a good picture showing off his teeth but that's a rare sight. Usually if he's got his mouth open wide enough to see them, he inevitably sticks his tongue out!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! We hope you all have had a nice day and hopefully got to spend some quality time as a family on this joyous holiday as we remember how Jesus gave His life on a cross so we may have life with Him eternally in Heaven one day.

Each day of our journey with Ethan has made us realize more and more just how precious life is, and how we should not take any day for granted because we never know when it will be our last. We had the privilege of going down to the coast this weekend to celebrate the life and First Birthday of another little girl with Ethan's same heart condition of HLHS. It's hard to believe that "baby Shelby" is now a year old. She was the second case of HLHS that we had ever encountered, and the first girl we'd met with this condition.

We've had the pleasure to get to see this family on several occasions throughout the past year and Shelby's mom is the one who is trying to help establish a family support group for pediatric heart families at UNC and possibly other hospitals in North Carolina (although the other hospitals already have their own system in place). What a joy and encouragement to see this little girl come as far as she has, especially with her parents not having the knowledge of her heart condition prior to her birth. And since finding her, we also feel privileged to keep finding more and more families with HLHS babies as well, even though none of them live in state like Shelby.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support of our family, as always. Time to go put my sleeping baby, husband, and dog to bed since they're all snoozing on the couch together as I type!