Ethan's 4th Birthday!

Update: this post is a little late, my computer crashed last week while I was creating this and I forgot to go back and publish it.

Well, this year for Ethan's birthday, we kept it low key but spread out the fun - starting and ending his birthday week with parties! This year's theme was "Cars 2" - his current obsession!

We started with a cookout/party with our church small group on Sunday night, August 7th. We kept the festivities light - just cake, ice cream, a pinata and no gifts. The kids all had fun pulling their string on the pinata to see which string broke open the pinata.

closeup of "Finn McMissile & Mater cake"

blowing out the "4" candle

the kids all have their pinata string ready to pull

Then, the following Sunday, August 14th, party #2 was a family party. We had hot dogs, lots of great side dishes like 3-bean salad, potato salad, baked beans, chips, homemade slaw, watermelon, canteloupe & blueberries. That was topped off with a homemade "Finn McMissile" cake, ice cream & lots of presents!

"Finn McMissile" cake made by Mom

Ethan received lots of cool presents for his birthday - most of which were toys from the "Cars 2" movie! He is very thankful for all his cool new toys and has spent countless hours playing with all his new stuff this week!

busy opening gifts!

Some of Ethan's favorite things while he was 3 years old:

Food: hot dogs (no buns), cheeseburgers, steak, Red, Hot & Blue pulled pork, "America" cheese, colby-jack cheese sticks, Cars 2 graham crackers, chocolate, ice cream, chocolate milk, grilled/baked chicken (aka "buck buck"), popcorn, did I mention chocolate? (a boy after my own heart!), broccoli, applesauce, and pretty much everything else unless it's breaded/fried (like chicken nuggets)

Toys/Activities: Cars/Cars 2 - especially Finn McMissile, Lightning McQueen Rusteeze, Mater & Mack, he also likes to do 24 piece puzzles, play Memory, Cars Bingo, Candy Land, card games like Go Fish, Slap, Crazy Eights, he also enjoys riding his Red Rider tricycle and playing in the sand box, 24 piece puzzles

TV/Movies: he started to lose interest in Sesame Street & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse last fall after he was introduced to Disney/Pixar Cars DVD, we also got cable this spring so he got hooked on all the Nick Jr. shows like Miss Spider's Sunny Patch, Ni Hao, Kai Lan, Yo Gabba Gabba (cringe - I think this show is creepy so he doesn't get to watch it much), Fresh Beat Band, Wonder Pets, Dora, Diego, Blue's Clues, etc.

Ethanisms: "excuse me" (very polite young man, used for every time he wants a chance to talk) "little biwwit" (for "little bit") "wook" (for "look") "that's my favorite!" (for everything he likes), I'm sure there are more but those are the ones that easily come to mind right now!

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!

Birthday Boy!

I'm busy cleaning and prepping for Ethan's birthday party so I'll keep this short and sweet until I have time to blog all the details. Two days ago, Wednesday, August 11th, our sweet boy turned 3! Happy birthday to our sweet Ethan Scott Miles!

Instead of celebrating just on his birthday, we actually started the festivities last Tuesday, August 3rd, and we're keeping the fun coming until his big party tomorrow, Saturday, August 14th. Last Tuesday, we began the celebrating with a small family party while away on our annual Garrett Family beach trip! Ethan's Aunt Jenny (and her boyfriend!) was with us from SC and wouldn't be able to come back to town to see Ethan for his actual birthday so we decided to include her in the festivities by celebrating early! We ate cupcakes & ice cream & let Ethan open his present from Jenny and a few smaller gifts from the rest of us.

More details about the beach trip and Ethan's birthday party to follow soon!

2 Years Old!

Where and how do I even begin to put in to words all I'm thinking and feeling today?!?Wow, I can hardly believe that two years ago today we met our sweet little heart baby for the very first time! What a blessing these two years have been for our family and also truly what an answer to prayer this has been for us to even be able to have a child at all after having miscarried a year earlier (and ironically enough who's birthday would have been later this month). This is going to be a long post but I promise there will be pictures!

We are very thankful for such a great team of prayer warriors we had during my pregnancy and delivery of Ethan. And, needless to say, we are also very thankful for the wonderful medical team that helped take care of him those first hours and days as we awaited his first open heart surgery at just 2 days old. Not to mention, the surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and more that cared for him before, during and after surgery and also our cardiologist that continues to check up on him every couple of months. We have overcome quite a bit these last two years, including a second heart surgery and the not so easy task of staying fairly healthy during RSV/cold/flu seasons. We continue to praise God daily for the gift of our little miracle - Ethan Scott Miles!

Since my last update (June VBS & Tatoo), there's been a lot happening. Ethan tagged along with me in July as I helped out with our church's July VBS (no tatoos this time!). He has become better at walking and talking since the first VBS and he just absolutely loves church - it's like a second (or maybe third if you count all the time he spent at UNC Hospital) home to him! LOL Each morning of VBS, I'd wake him up and tell him it was time for church and VBS and he'd rejoice and say, "Yay! Turt (church)!" By the time we'd walk up the sidewalk and into the building, he'd already be saying, "Bye!" like I couldn't get him to his classroom soon enough and leave him to play with his buddies!

Then one week ago (last Tuesday, 8/4) I took him in to UNC's Raleigh Clinic at Wake Med to see his cardiologist, Dr. R. We had not been there since January and I remember what a hard time we had in keeping him still for the echo so I brought nearly everything but the kitchen sink along in hopes of keeping him distracted long enough to do the echo. That last visit he was just not cooperative and didn't want to sit still long enough to get all the pics they needed so they sent us (back in March) to UNC's Cath Lab to have a sedated echo done. We never got any definite answers from that other than it looked "fine" and there really wasn't anything more to discuss. So, I was determined to "make" Ethan cooperate this time so we didn't have to go back to UNC again if this attempted echo failed.

At last week's cardio appointment, I'm pleased to say that Ethan weighed in at 12.6 kilos (27.7 lbs) and 34". His blood pressure was good (don't remember exact number) and his pulse ox was the best I'd seen yet - 87%! When Dr. R came in to talk to us, he said that he reviewed the March sedated echo and it looked so good that they didn't even need to do one that day and we can just wait 6 more months to come back for another visit! This was obviously an encouraging visit for us!

We know that given Ethan's particular heart defect, he does still have one more heart surgery to go but we know it won't even be something we have to even think about until after the next visit in February. Ever since we first heard of Ethan's condition and started learning about treatment options, we had always been told the 3rd surgery would most likely take place between 2-5 years old. This is such a wide age range for us - especially since he had his first two surgeries within the first 6 months of life!

Well speaking of Ethan's birthday, we celebrated with all our family (16 adults and kids) here at our house on Sunday evening. The menu was all of Ethan's favorite foods - "peesha"(pizza), cheese doodles, popcorn, M&M's, Kool-Aid juice pouches (thanks VBS church staff for that one!), salad (for the adults) and confetti cupcakes with Elmo candies and sprinkles! Yes, Ethan's still obsessed with Elmo so we did the same party theme again this year!

Ethan had a lot of fun eating all his favorite foods (did I mention this kid likes to eat?!) and opening all his presents. Some of his favorite gifts included a T-ball set from his Aunt Jenny, a collapsable tunnel from his Aunt Jessica (aka "Ca-Ca") and Uncle Brandon (aka "Bo-Bo"), a bubble blower (thanks Aunt Amanda, Uncle Reggie, cousins Rebecca & Marissa), and some new Elmo DVD's and Elmo puppet book (thanks Mimi and Pop-Pop). He also received some nice new clothes (thanks Uncle Chris - aka "Kiss" & great-grandma Jada), a shopping cart (thanks Grammie & Pap-Pap), coloring books and puzzles. It's been non-stop fun around here since Sunday night! Now if I can just figure out where to store all the new stuff!

And if you've made it this far through my post (or just skipped ahead), congrats! Time to see some pictures of the party!

Presents, oh boy!

Going Shopping!

"Oh, Ball!"

"...two, fee, go!" - Ethan as he waits for the tunnel to pop open

I love my new t-ball set!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

Oh, something to read! Toddler's are so easily distracted!

Look what I got!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY candles

Not sure if he's more excited about the fire or the Elmo candy and sprinkles!

Yummy - sprinkles and sugar...

Oh yeah!

Ice cream and cupcakes on my Elmo plate and Cookie Monster placemat!

22 months!

I can't believe it's been 5 weeks since I last updated. Fortunately, I can safely say that we have all been healthy since our last post! So much has happened since then so I will probably post several updates to keep from having just one super long update.

First, I'll start with the most current news. Our little guy is not so little any more! Today he turned 22 months old. He's weighing in at a whopping 27 pounds right now and I think he's also going through a growth spurt, eating us out of house and home! Hard to believe that he will be turning 2 in 2 more months!

And also Ethan's crush (he gets this glazed over, goofy grin every time he sees her picture), princess Lindsay, turns 1 year old today! Happy Birthday princess Lindsay! For those of you that may not remember Lindsay, she has the same heart condition as Ethan (HLHS). Her first surgery went well, her second surgery didn't and she ended up on the transplant list. She has been in the hospital since October (her second surgery) awaiting her perfect new heart and last Friday she got it! You can read more here.

And in other news, my baby sister, Jennifer, just left home yesterday for her 6 week mission trip/school internship in Turkey. I have included her blog link in the side bar for those of you who want to follow her.

Well, that's enough for right now. Updates and pictures to follow in another post about our family beach trip and Jennifer's college graduation.

16 months!

Not much new to report on since I just posted yesterday but I wanted to take the time to acknowledge that Ethan is officially 16 months old today!!!! We are so proud of him - how healthy he's been this year and how much he's grown and accomplished with walking and exploring everything!

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.

11 months old!

It's hard to believe that our sweet little boy is quickly approaching his first birthday! Part of me, honestly, wasn't sure we'd make it this far but most of me believed we would. Thank you Lord for another month with our precious baby boy! He is quite a mischievous little thing and has the best eyesight - picking up the tiniest of objects and sticking them in his mouth! Sometimes we don't even believe anything's really there but at closer examination, we're continuously amazed at how he manages to find the smallest crumb (or lint) or light colored hair on the floor.

Recent accomplishments:
- pulling up (just this week!)
- crawling more (instead of sliding/slithering along)
- exploring more "big people" food like various fruits, breads, chicken, etc.
- learning to use a sippy cup
- open cabinets/doors
- dancing to music (he moves both arms like he's punching something)

Thanks, as always, for checking in on us. We will try to have more pictures (and maybe video if we can figure it out) up soon.

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.

8 months old!

Ethan turned 8 months old today! We are so thankful that God has given us so much time with our little guy and do our best to not take a single day for granted, since we have no idea how many days or years he may be with us. Thank you to everyone, as always, for checking on us, praying for us, and encouraging us through our journey thus far!

A few new things to update with Ethan's development. He is getting better at sitting up on his own and he's started rolling over from back to stomach much more this week. For the past 2 days, every time I go to get him out of his crib (in the morning and during both his daytime naps) I find him on his tummy and fussing because he hasn't quite mastered how to roll back over yet! We also think he is teething since he chews on EVERYTHING and has been a lot fussier than normal this week. Oh, and one more new accomplishment - Ethan managed to pull his jeans off today while he was lying on the floor!

Well that's all for tonight, it's bedtime!

7 months old!

"They grow up so fast" is the phrase everyone says about kids, and boy is it true! I was even told this phrase yesterday as I was leaving the pediatrician office by a lady leaving the same time as me (no kids with her), she opened the office door for me as I carried Ethan out to the car. It's hard to believe that Ethan is officially 7 months old today! So much has happened, yet it still seems like just yesterday that I first held him in my arms.

Today also makes 7 weeks since Ethan's 2nd heart surgery - the Glenn. One more week and we can pick him up under the arms (not like I'm counting down or anything!). After visiting the pediatrician and hearing Ethan now weighs over 18 pounds, no wonder why I feel like I'm getting a workout by holding him and picking him up so much every day! We still have our home scale that we used to use for weekly weigh-ins but since we don't have to do it anymore, we have boxed it up and it's not worth getting back out so I was curious to see how much weight he'd gained since his 6 month checkup.

By the way, speaking of picking Ethan up so much, Dan hurt his arm/elbow about a week and a half ago from falling off his road bike and hasn't been able to pick him up very much. Dan doesn't think his arm is broken so he hasn't gone to the doctor yet, and it started feeling better towards the end of last week, but now it's hurting pretty bad again so he hopes to see the doctor about it today. You can keep him in your prayers that his arm gets better soon so he can have full use of it again (and get to hold Ethan more - he misses that!)

6 months old!

Note: Ok, I originally wrote this yesterday(Monday, 2/11) but wasn't able to post it until today (Tuesday, 2/12) because Ethan was very fussy all day so bear with me in the references to "today", meaning Monday, 2/11.

Ethan is officially 6 months old today! I remember when he was born, loving the brief moment that Dan and I got to hold him before the nurses rushed him off to the NICU to take care of him. Way back before our precious son was born, we were already trusting God with Ethan's life, however long that time may be with him. God has been so gracious to us in helping Ethan's heart to function so well, thanks to our wonderful team at UNC Hospital. We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate Ethan's half-birthday today!

To mark this momentous day, Ethan and I started the day with a well-baby 6-month checkup at the pediatrician. The doc said he's looking great. He weighs 16 lb. 2 oz. (4 oz. shy of doubling his birth weight!) and is 27" long. Due to his shots, he's been sleepy and fussy all day so I've got my hands full!

I think Ethan's also going through a growth spurt and he is now (finally!) drinking over 5 oz. at each feeding! He also enjoys eating baby foods like applesauce, sweet potatoes, bananas and we're still working on getting him to eat green beans. He's officially outgrown his infant car seat so yesterday we transitioned him to his big boy convertible car seat (meaning that it's rear-facing until he turns one, then we can turn the seat around to be forward facing until he outgrows it in a few years). This is an exciting milestone but it makes going out to eat a little tricky since he can't sit up on his own yet so he doesn't do well sitting in a high chair, but we're making it work.

That's all for now, thanks for continuing to read our blog and keep us in your prayers. Our next big appointment is in 2 weeks - Tues., Feb. 26 at UNC for an x-ray swallow study. I'm actually more nervous about this than his last surgery. This will be Ethan's 3rd time to do the study. I'm so tired of having to always thicken his bottles with rice cereal to help him swallow his bottle down his throat and into his stomach instead of into his lungs. Although we're pretty used to thickening all his bottles, it's more about being able to start giving Ethan juice and water than about the extra few seconds it takes to measure and add the cereal. Please pray that the '3rd time's a charm" as the expression goes so we can not have to worry about giving Ethan juice and other liquids as he gets older.

4 month checkup!

Ethan is 4 months old today! In recognition, I did the not-so-pleasant task of taking him for his vaccines and checkup at the pediatrician. We've seen a different doctor every time we've gone, which I guess is ok for now so that we get to test all the docs out to see who we like best. Today we saw Dr. Burroughs and he seemed to be really nice. He's also had heart surgery so the first thing he said when he saw Ethan was, "hey, we've got the same scars, although yours are a lot newer than mine!". He asked if we were being treated at UNC and told us to say hi to his friends over there! Dr. Burroughs also mentioned that his grandson also has a CHD, although not HLHS but nonetheless, he's still VERY familiar with HLHS! This was encouraging to hear, I've really only seen one other doctor in this pediatrician office that was familiar and comfortable with Ethan's condition so I think I'm getting it narrowed down as to who I will try to see from now on. Also, based on my conversations with Dr. Burroughs, it sounds like he may be a Christian so that's another bonus!

Ethan's checkup went well, he's growing well and looking good! According to today's weight, he's actually down 2 ounces (14 instead of 14 lb. 2oz. at UNC last week) but I'll weigh him on our home scale tomorrow just to double check since that's what I'm used to him being weighed on. Dr. Burroughs said it's ok to start trying to give Ethan some solid foods, but since he's already getting rice cereal in his bottle to thicken it, he said it's ok to just stick with that for a little longer. We may wait until after the 2nd heart surgey next month to start the solids.

In other news...Dan's foot pain has been acting up again. Last time it happened was Thanksgiving and it lasted nearly 2 weeks, with Dan not seeing a doctor - just trying to stay off it and keep it wrapped in an ace bandage. This time, I finally convinced him to go back to the orthopedist to have it re-examined. Since it's Dan's right foot (driving foot), he stayed home from work and I had to take him to his doctor visit. He was told he basically has a very flat foot and a loose ankle that makes his foot move more side to side than up and down like it should. The doc told him about some stretches to do and also prescribed him some prescription-strength Aleve. So that's been my day, running all over town for doctors appointments for my 2 boys!

Also, my grandpa in Nashville, TN (my dad's dad) is not doing so well so that has been weighing heavy on my heart this week. My grandpa has cheated death so many times in his life, from being a prisoner of war in WWII, to getting run over by a farm tractor, and many other near-death experiences but this time he's got pneumonia and a staph infection and has landed himself in the hospital for the past week, on oxygen and scaring us all that he may go into a coma and not wake up. Even when he cracked some ribs a few years ago, he was so tough that it took him days to even mention it, and even then, he just said his side was a little sore. So when I talked to him on Sunday and he said he's not doing very well, I knew that this time, it was something serious. With the infection, he's had to stay in isolation and anyone who enters has to wear gloves and a mask. We were all afraid we were going to lose him so Dad and my sister Jessica and her husband Brandon all packed up Sunday afternoon and made the 10 hour drive to see him. I wanted to go, but with Ethan's surgery only a month away, I know I can't risk getting sick or passing it on to him. But God performed a miracle today and Papa Joe is doing a whole lot better and is getting healed from the pneumonia! He has cheated death once again and won! Praise the Lord for answering all our family's prayers in bringing him through this sickness!

Prayer Requests/Praises
- continued good health for Ethan, as well as Dan and I as we await surgery
- pain relief for Dan's foot
- continued healing of Papa Joe (my grandpa) from his life-threatening pneumonia

2 months old!

Hard to believe our little boy is 2 months old today! So much has happened in his life since he was born! Yesterday, we went to the pediatrician for his weekly weight check - he's now 11lb. 4 1/4oz. (5.13kg). That's only 5 oz. gained this week, as opposed to 9 oz. gained last week, but Nurse Kay at UNC said it's ok. His pulse ox this week has been between 73-81%, so it's slightly improved from last week. We also ordered a digital scale from ebay, that should be arriving in the next week or two, so hopefully we won't have to go weekly to the pediatrician for his weigh in any more. Also, with the home scale, we won't have to have a home nurse come weigh him - which was our other option, but our current home nurse doesn't have a digital scale (which UNC requires for the weekly weigh in) and no other home nurse company has a digital scale either, so home nursing is out of the question at this time (plus it was going to cost $102.95/visit).

Tomorrow morning at 8:30am we go back to UNC for another swallow study. Last swallow study was done about 6 weeks ago, and at that time, it was taking him 20 minutes to drink a 2 oz. bottle, and it was only the last couple of minutes where he started falling asleep when he was silently aspirating (swallowing the wrong way and not coughing). Well it only takes him 5 minutes to take a 3 oz. bottle now and he doesn't get tired or fall asleep so we think he's ok. He has the ability to cough, and it's rarely when he's eating so we think he's ok. If he passes, then we can take him off the thickened feeds and hopefully I'll be able to nurse him more often! Right now, I'm only allowed to nurse him once a day, and when he does nurse, he latches on right away and does great, although he falls asleep after about 10 minutes.

So today's prayer request is that the x-ray swallow study goes well tomorrow morning. Also, next week, we've got 2 appointments - next Wednesday after his weigh in, he'll have his 2 month checkup and also get his immunizations. Then next Thursday, we go back to WakeMed to see his cardiologist for his monthly heart checkup.

And, as promised, I finally have some new pictures of Ethan for your viewing pleasure! P.S. we'd love to hear from you. Please click on the comment link at the bottom of each blog entry to post a comment on our site!

Mommy & baby Ethan

Well I thought I could get more than one picture posted but I guess not. I'll try to post more later today.

One month old!

Well today, 9/11/07, Ethan is officially one month old! He has had lots of "firsts" today. To start, Ethan's home nurse, Linda, came to visit. She will come back weekly for weight and pulse ox checks and we can call on her any time we have any questions in between. If Ethan had come home with the NG tube, she would also be available to assist with changing the tube and addressing any problems/questions we had about the feeding tube, but fortunately we don't have to deal with that!

Also, Ethan had his first bath today in his new little bathtub we received from one of the baby showers. Mom and I thought this would be a pleasant experience for him but he screamed and cried the whole time - I guess because he was naked and cold (two things he really doesn't like). Until his umbilical cord falls off, he can't be sitting in water so it was more of just a sponge bath (which he's had before and didn't fuss nearly as much).

Tomorrow, we'll be heading back over to UNC - but only for a visit with our friends Crystal and Ben and their HLHS baby girl, Shelby Glover. If you've been reading our blog regularly, you will remember that we met Shelby and Crystal a few weeks ago when Shelby came for her pre-surgery heart cath and they stayed at the RMH the night before the procedure. Crystal just got news today that Shelby's getting ready to have her 2nd heart surgery on Thursday and they hvae to be at UNC tomorrow for a pre-op appointment. We're going to visit them tomorrow night to support Crystal and Ben and to let Ethan and Shelby meet for the first time! Please be in prayer for their family. At 5 months old, Shelby is a very sweet, healthy looking little girl. We can only imagine how hard it is for them right now to see their daughter undergo the Glenn surgery and to wait for her to get through the surgery and go to recovery so they can see her again. Going through the first surgery (the Norwood) was hard enough on both our families, but the babies were so young that we didn't really have much of a relationship yet. Shelby is a real little person now, with a personality and character all her own. Before we know it, we'll be following in their footsteps as long as Ethan continues to do well.