Last day of Kindergarten

Abigail's last day of Kindergarten was yesterday. She is now a first grader! We are so proud of her. She had such a fun year and made the adjustment so much better than I even dreamed. Summer vacation here we come!

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

Our little Disney CARS fan is four years old



Celebrating Our 10-Year Anniversary

May 24, 1997

Time is flying...

Abigail is done with soccer. Her team won their last game (their only win!) and Abigail scored two goals! Isaac has started t-ball. His team is "Lightning" and we are pretty confident that someone is going to get hurt. They can all throw the ball pretty hard, but they don't catch very well! Ethan is doing his best to keep up with his sister and brother. He is saying a new word about every other day or so.

Post-Op Appointment

Ethan's post-op appt went very well. The chest x-ray is never fun, but the good news is that it came back good. I am not sure what all they are looking for from the chest x-ray, but I do know they check to see if there is any fluid around his heart and there wasn't.

He amazed both Brice and I at how well he cooperated for the nurse. He sat so still while she checked his oxygen, took his blood pressure (which was pretty good) and snipped the stitch from his drainage tube. It was like watching a completely different boy interact with the nurse today. She gave him three big stickers for being such a good boy!

We can stop giving him Ibuprofen three times a day and just give it as needed for pain. We still have to be careful with how we pick him up (support his bottom) for a few more weeks. As far as his vocal cord issue, we feel like his voice/cry is getting a little bit louder, but he still sounds hoarse. She was going to let Ethan's surgeon know about that and then get back to us as to whether the surgeon wants Ethan to see an ENT to evaluate it further.

We continue to be amazed by his recovery. I have told several people that I don't feel like I am taking care of a recovering heart patient. Ethan is living proof that God still gives us miracles!

Family Picture - 6 days after surgery!


Settling back in

It is good to be home. Ethan continues to amaze us by how well he is doing. We give him Ibuprofen three times a day for the pain and that seems to keep him very comfortable. (We have Oxycodone if we need it.) Other than that, he has no other meds right now. With his heart defect, we know that blood pressure could be an issue, so his cardiologist will continue to monitor it. He will see the cardiologist the beginning of June. At that time, he will have an echo and that will give us an idea as to how is heart is adjusting to the repair that the surgeon made.

Back to how well Ethan is doing... The nurse told us that he would limit himself in what he can/can't do. He really doesn't seem to be doing that. He has had so much fun just being back home, playing outside and trying to keep up with Abigail and Isaac. I keep reminding him that he did just have heart surgery.

We have so much to be grateful for. Last week definitely had its highs and some very low lows, but I never dreamed that the past week could have gone as well as it did (both at the hospital and here at home for Abigail and Isaac). It is easy to praise God when things go better than you could have hoped. In His grace, He answered our prayers the way that we wanted Him too. We are fully aware that He didn't have to do that.

I will post an update after his post-op appointment this Thursday.

Again, we want to thank our family and friends for everything you have done to help us. You were used by God to bless our family and in turn, He is going to bless you. We love you!