I'm lame

So...sorry I never posted on Thursday after Christopher's doctor appointment. It was a long day, and we have been a very busy family. It's amazing how fast my boys are going and growing.



Christopher was 10 lbs on Thursday, which means he has been packing on the weight, 44 grams/day. He has been doing extremely well, and everyone is happy with how big he is getting (especially me). He is strong too and holds his head up very well. He smiles most of his awake time, and lately I've been able to play games and tickle him and get him laughing. He is a joy to have and rarely cries. I never thought I would have that many super good babies (all 2 of them).



Tyler just goes and goes from sun up till after sun down. He is getting a little cheeky from time to time, and I have been learning more about patience. He is a very loving big brother though, and always asks if he can kiss baby brother's little head or toesies. It always makes me happy because I was sure he would be totally resentful and jealous. Instead, he helps me and says brother needs to grow bigger and get well so they can be best buddies. He says he wants to share his room and his dinosaurs with baby brother, but not his cars. He will be big boy 3 this Friday.



Anthony is also growing like a weed, he is almost as tall as Robert, and getting quite strong too. Rob is always in shock at Anthony's strength when they play wrestle. I think Tony is permanently 9 to some of us. He will be 13 in September. He has had a rough 7th grade year, and is definitely ready for summer. I am hopeful that he will have a more positive 8th grade year. If I think back, 6th, 7th and freshman year were the absolute worst. I pretty much didn't really care to step foot inside the school doors. Kids are so mean, and have nothing to do in this little town but cause trouble and be hurtful. I am open to suggestions, but also know that we have to figure this out on our own, and customize our team efforts for what Anthony needs the most. I know he is a good young man, and Robert has been a great example to him, and our other boys.


Love you all tons and hope you had a great Memorial Day!!!

To the Doctor we go

Christopher has his three month well check tomorrow. Will keep you posted on his progress. He is getting fatter every day and more and more animated. He is quite a smiley little fellow, and has laughed a handful of times. He is also becoming quite vocal like his mamma. I have lost the camera charger so no more photos or videos until I round it up. So sorry guys. Anyway, I'll check back with ya tomorrow and let you know what's what. Love you all.

Hey guys! I added the tree frog for all the little cousins and families with kids that read the blog. Click the background to feed him some flies. Hope you all enjoy!

Praise the day!

Robert took Christopher to get weighed today, and he weighed 9lbs 4oz! That means he has been gaining 36 grams/day, as opposed to the 10 he was gaining before! We are so excited he is getting bigger and bigger. His little face is getting rounder and he's getting little folds on his arms and legs. It is a blessing to be sure. We don't have another check-up for a month, but are going to try to get more frequent weights. We are so thankful for all your prayers. We have been very blessed with his progress. I will try to get some video on here. He is so animated and so much fun to watch. He usually has a very thoughtful look on his face, unless he's sleeping, but has been smiling more and bigger lately. He has even laughed a handful of times. So for now we are trying to plump him up some more, but he is doing great! Will post more when we have another check-up. Other than that you'll have to be content with some pictures! There are a couple of the thoughtful looks and a few smiles that made me smile. He is a very smiley boy when he's not sleeping.

I'm going to try to do another update, but in the meantime here are some photos of Ty and Chris. The one in the carseat is Tyler when he was about 4 months, and the one with the tube is of course Chris almost three months. I just thought they looked like twins. Other than being a little less chubby and a month younger, I think Chris looks pretty great next to Tyler. Enjoy!

Try to imagine what he's thinking in each picture!

So, the update is... drum roll please... Christopher is not gaining as much weight since he has been put on breast milk. The gross formula he wouldn't drink through the bottle was 24 cal. while breast milk is only 20. But breast milk has many anti-bodies, and what not that can't be man made. So it stinks because at this point his weight gain is more important. The dietitian knew he wouldn't put on weight as quickly with the breast milk, but we were mainly seeing how he would do with spitting up. So now we are fortifying my milk with formula. He should be gaining between 20 and 40 grams/day, but since the last appointment he is only gaining 10 grams/day. With the added formula he should get back on track. However, the dietitian upped his volume consumption and since then he has been struggling to finish a bottle in the time-span he is supposed to. If he doesn't finish 3 1/2 oz within 30 min, he is being counter productive. Meaning that he will burn all the calories he consumes beyond that point. Therefore, we will keep an eye on things and if he doesn't get back on track we are going to have to put the feeding tube down a bit longer. He will always be a little behind size wise mainly because his heart is basically in cardio workout mode 24 hours a day.

Dr. Chang (the cardiologist) however, was pleased with his growth and his heart function.

His tricuspid valve is still leaking but it isn't getting any worse. He has been taken off one med. And Dr. Chang said he thought he didn't need to see us for another 2 months. I talked it over with him and we decided to get another check-up next month. So all in all he was pretty happy with everything he saw. So far it's looking like he will have his surgery right when they want to do it, not earlier. Also little man had some blood work done to see if any of his other numbers have evened out, and if so he can be taken off another med. We will get those results tomorrow.

Dr. La Gras was also very happy with everything. Chris has been sensing 100% on his own since the last check-up. So his pace-maker has been switched to back-up mode, which means he won't have to get a replacement for much longer. Dr. La Gras doesn't need to see us for another 6 months.

So that's the verdict. The pics of Ty are from traveling to Chinook when Robert went to go qualify for the reserves. And I put one of Chris eating his little bottle. Enjoy!

Video watch now or forever hold your peace!! What about NOW????

So you know me and my music. I was originally going to put the song called "What About Now" by Daughtry on the blog, just because I like the words. But I came across this video on Youtube awhile back, and someone had put the video and the song together, and I just liked it. So, even if no one else likes it... I did, so that's why it's on here. If you like the video, it's actually a short film about 15 minutes long, called "Signs". It's really cute and there's a little more to the story, so go to Youtube and search "Signs" if you wanna see more of what happens. But I liked the condensed version with the Daughtry son, because it's just shorter. Anyway enjoy. You have to hit the video drop down to play the video or else it will just play the song. Thought the video might be distracting if someone is trying to read. Also, I've been altering the Html slightly to make things fit my blog parameters, and as of now I don't have time to make it not run on a loop, so if you don't want to listen just hit pause. I'll work on that later. Or I just might take it off altogether. I'm not sure what people are interested in seeing on the blog, but I do try to write about the boys and put pictures on. But sometimes I just like to share a thought or a song. Anyway let me know if anyone liked it okay! Love to all, and hugs and kisses from afar.

Note: Both the original short film "Signs" and the song "What About Now" by Daughtry are copyrighted and belong solely to the original creators and owners.

oh and I forgot to say the ones of Chris by himself he still has his tube in becuase those are from a couple of weeks ago!! lol

Update and metric butt-loads of pics!!

Good morning all. I just wanted to give a quick update and throw a couple of pictures on the blog. So Christopher is doing great with breast milk. He is really tolerating it well. He drinks his whole bottle as long as it's warm, but usually needs to pooh about halfway through it (like clockwork, hey at least he's regular). He burps well, and doesn't spit up at all, (maybe once since he started on the breast milk on the 21st). We have an appointment with the dietitian and speech pathologist as well as the cardiologist and pace-maker specialist on Wednesday. I think we have only good news to relay to them, and hope they will have the same for us. He had his 2 month well-check on Wednesday, which went well. He is behind in his size, but developmentally he is doing amazingly well, especially when you think about how long he was on the paralytic, and vent, etc. He has about a month less time than a healthy heart baby would have had for muscle development and eye, ear, etc. He got all his 2 month shots which was a cake walk comparatively.

Other than that..I went to give him a sponge bath yesterday night and while I was gathering supplies I heard him start crying, nothing too urgent sounding. But when I went into the nursery he had pulled his feeding tube out. So I gave him a bath and took some pictures of my little one for the first time with nothing attached to his body!! Then I called the cardiac case managers, who said as long as he's taking his feedings by bottle well, he shouldn't need it. It has been coming in handy for the five meds he gets a couple times a day, but other than that it's just in the way. So we left it out, and are mastering his meds orally. It is wonderful to be able to hold him and move around without that stupid tube.

I attached the pics of Tyler and Chris (minus feeding tube), and my first single yellow iris. It was looking at me through my kitchen window early yesterday morning. The reason I'm so happy about this is because I moved them a few years ago and they haven't bloomed until now (with the help of slugs,...eeewww.) I also was at the hospital for all my daffodils and huge red and yellow tulips which I was looking forward to all winter. So I am very happy to see my iris. I have a bunch more waiting in the wings which I think are going to be beautiful purple!!!! I also attached some of my pansies that my darling hubby bought for me and Chris for a home-coming gift, and they just make me happy. So enjoy the pics and I will hopefully have more, as well as another update on Thursday or Friday!! Love to all.