Wounds

I woke up this morning to find both of my babies with self inflicted wounds!

Owen apparently decided it was time for a new NG tube...so he yanked the old one out, leaving his cheek a bit bloody and bruised. Poor buddy!

Kamryn's arm had some serious bruising... looks like someone beat her! Apparently she thought it'd be a great idea to suck on her arm hard enough to give herself a massive bruise. Oh! and at eight, she already knows what a hicky is... I'm in trouble!!

These two keep me on my toes and all this before 7am!!

Exhaustion

I have been overworked, exhausted and just plain overwhelmed the last few weeks. I can't seem to get my ENDLESS energetic self back. For those of you that know me well, you know that I am a bottomless pit of energy!! I can just go-go-go and never skip a beat. This has not been the case as of lately.

It may be the 40hour/wk work schedule from 3:30-midnight. It may be that the kids get up at 5am ready to start the day off with a kick! I find myself peeling open my eyes as I stumble to the kitchen to fix Kamryn breakfast. I then get all my morning chores done and Owen settled with his bazillion meds for the day. I pray that Owen will take more than a 15 min catnap so that I can get ANY amount of sleep to keep me going. I know that in only six short hours I'll be back at work drinking my undisclosed amount of caffine so that I can continue to work until the clock strikes 12. Then I do it all over again.

I do my best to keep up with Owen's feeding and physical therapy several times a day. I play Rock Band with Kamryn on the WII...board game after board game..or simply lay in bed and let her read to me. I try to sneak in a 30 min workout here and there.,..this rarely gets accomplished, which is why I weigh only 10lbs less than I did when I delivered Owen... OUCH!!! I said it... it's brutal and that's also probably a reason that I am so darn tired all the time. It's not easy carrying around 30-40 extra lbs (I'm not disclosing the exact amount..gulp).

I long for the days that I had my evenings off to go to dance and destress while burning more calories that I could have possibly have consumed in one day! Going to bed at 8pm and getting up at 5am well rested and ready to conquer it all. Days when I had time to spend with my husband laying in bed and talking for hours when the kids fell aslsep. Now, it's just a kiss in passing the kids from one parent to the next.

This is all leading up to the realization that I need to finally make a choice to choose another profession (perhaps nanny again) or just go back to school and say adios to the company that has treated me like gold. My insurance is going to be the hardest to give up... we haven't had to pay a penny of Owen's medical bills, formula or supplies... for this I am thoroughly grateful!!! I'm not ready to say goodbye quite yet. I can't seem to let go. What is wrong with me????

I am so thankful to my husband for being so supportive and always working his tail off too. I failed to mention that he is the one that does all the nighly chores, taking the kids, cooking dinner and putting them to bed... ALL of this after working a full 9hours at work!! We do it together and I think we make a pretty amazing team!!

This post was just a place to get it all out... it's 1:30am and I should be sleeping, but instead I am wide awake due to my caffine fix I had at Sonic at 10:30 tonight!! I just wouldn't have made it those last 2 hours without it! :)

There is hope...

Owen ATE a strawberry! Ok... not exactly ATE...

At first he just examined it....

Then he licked it a little and took his time tasting it....
After a bit more examination....
He sucked on it!
While this isn't a huge deal to most babies... we were THRILLED that he actually tried it and ENJOYED it. This is a BIG step in the right direction. WAY TO GO OWEN!!!

Happy 6 Months Owen!!

I will always remember the day that we found out about your special little heart. The news hit daddy and I so fast we didn't know what to think... all we could do was cry. I was determined to learn as much as I could about Hypoplastic Left Heart and give you the best possible chance at survival. Four months later.... you were here... and our journey as heart parents began!!

Birth:You started out so small and ready to fight... this was the day prior to your first surgery.

One Month: You came home from the hospital for the first time and met your big sister!!!

Two Months: You were getting to know your family and gaining weight for your 2nd surgery

Three Months:You were back at PCH for the Glenn (a bit earlier than expected) due to heart failure... you spent your whole 3rd month in recovery.
Four Months:You were home again ... and although you were still fragile, you were getting stronger by the day... look at those teeth!!
Five Months:You were gaining weight...saying goodbye to your oxygen...started to enjoy tummy time a little more and working hard to meet all the little milestones that all the other babies your age are doing.
SIX MONTHS!! Look have far you have come in your short six months.

Six Month Milestones

* You smile at anything and everything!

* You are Mr. Social and make friends with EVERYONE!

* Weight: 15lbs EVEN

* Height: 25 1/2"

* You still won't eat, but we are working on it!!

* You love to play with your toys on your back and everything eventually makes it's way to your mouth... with the exception of... what else? FOOD!!

* You don't like tummy time, but tolerate it because you have no choice :)

* You are starting to lift up your head and trying to put pressure on your arms while on your tummy

* You just discovered that you have tummy muscles which is why you can now roll from side to side

* You continue to sleep 12 hours at night and still manage to take several naps throughout the day....such a good sleeper!!

We are so proud of how far you have come Mr. Owen! We are sad that your first year is 1/2 over... but, at the same time... we are so excited to watch you grow!

Vote for Tatum

Please click on the link and vote for Tatum!! It's a Kiddiokee contest for our local radio station. My brother-in-law made the video and it's totally cute. All you have to do is click on the link..

ww.ix969.com/pages/kiddieokee/

Scroll to the bottom and click "VOTE NOW"

Type in your email address (or one you may not use so often)

She's in the 4-6yr old category -- towards the bottom left -- TATUM RICHARDSON!!

Click on the video to watch it -- so very cute!

THEN -- put a little dot in the radio button and click "Submit Your Vote" at the bottom.

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!

A little of this....a little of that....

Our lazy summer days are quickly coming to an end. Kamryn starts back to school in a couple weeks and we are going to miss having her home all day. I can't believe my baby girl is going to e a 3rd grader... wow! Owen is becoming a little less shy around his food as the days go on and he realizes I'm not going to give up on this eating business. Don't get me wrong...he still won't eat, but he is showing more curiosity, which is a HUGE step in the right direction. We had a visit with Dr. Stock today (cardiologist) and he thinks Owen is doing good. His O2 sats seem to hover around 90 and his blood pressures are good. We continue to tweak his meds looking for the right combo in order to maximize his function. We'll do another followup echo in a few weeks and PRAY that the function is improving.

I redesigned my blog once again... the blues were just not perky enough for me.

Costco Adventure

I decided today that I would venture outside and for the first time ever... take Owen to Costco. I haven't taken him anywhere these last six months because I've become a bit of a germ phobic. What could possible go wrong? I just had to get a few essentials and I had Kamryn there to help me, the plan was to get in and get out! I should have known better.....

As soon as we walked thorugh the front doors I heard Owen cough...once...twice...and then it happened... PUKE everywhere!! All over me, the cart, the carseat and obviously, himself. Now when Owen pukes, it's not just a little...it's A LOT and he kinda stops breathing for a minute and turns a bit blue. Apparently the other Costco shoppers haven't seen a baby turn blue before and started freakin out a bit. After doing much convincing that everything is okay and this is "normal" .. I stripped Owen down and now I had a naked baby in Costco. I hurried thorugh the store grabing only what I needed (this isn't easy to do at Costco). At one point I turned around to smile at Owen and realized his NG tube was half out and the tape was MIA. So, out came the tube ... naked baby...puke on EVERYTHING and I looked at Kamryn and all she could do was laugh.

We were grateful to be home, showered, dressed and our things put away. Better luck next time.... but next time won't be anytime soon.

Mug Shots

Owen EATS!!

I know it's only a teething bisquit... but it's FOOD!!!

Fun in the Sun

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A Bunch of Babble

Owen has just discovered that he can babble!

Now if we can just get him to eat! Owen had his feeding study today. It was a few hours of sitting in an examination room (the kind you see on tv where people sit behind the one way mirror) while talking to a variety of professionals and playing with Owen. Of course... he LOVED this scenario...a bunch of people giving ALL their attention to him as he showed off his big toothy smiles and had a mouthful of babblings to say. Speaking of teeth...Owen is cutting his two top teeth!!

The Conclusion of the study.. Owen won't eat. He will shove any other object in his mouth, but NO food or liquid. The resolution to the issue is to up his therapy schedule. He not only gets physcial therapy once a week, but occupational therapy will start coming to the house as well. The occupational therapist will also work on the sensory issues involved with feeding. On top of this, we will work with a speech therapist weekly from Phoenix Childrens on getting him either to suck more profciently on the bottle, or even just bypass bottles all together and go straight to solids and sippy cups.

His biggest issue is his suck. A baby's tongue should curl as he sucks and so the therapist had me stick my finger in the middle of his tongue and apply resistence to see if he would curl it -- that lasted half a second until he about bit my finger off. Note to self... Owen has a STRONG bite and his teeth are sharp, don't stick your finger in his mouth! There's not much we can do if he doens't want to eat. The goal is to make eating a pleasurable experience and to get him familiar with objects, textures and flavors in and around his mouth. I have a feeling this isn't going to be an easy road ahead. Then again, maybe he'll just take a bottle one day and surprise us all!

Playdate

Kamryn and her cousin Connor both have a passion for video games. So...when they ask to get together for a "playdate", this is what they do for hours! I guess the plan is the least amount of interaction as possible. Once in a while they will ask eachother for help with a challenge. They both have amazing hand -eye coordination and there is a lot of reading involved...so at keast it's not a complete waste of time.

Ridgeway Family

Please say an extra prayer for the Ridgeway Family. We got to know their family and their sweet angel Eden while in the PICU at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Eden passed away early this morning at the precious age of 4 months. You can visit their blog by clicking the lnk on the right that says Eden ... under Heart Babies.

Happy 4th of July!!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!! We had a fabulous day but let's just say things don't always go as planned. I started the day off by taking Kamryn and Gigi to see the new American Girl Movie -- this is a must see!! Not only did it teach a good lesson in history, but it had us laughing throughout. The girls LOVED it!!

After the movie.... we just relaxed at home. My mom is recovering from her total knee replacement so Gigi gets to hang out with us and we love having her around. Our intentions were to have a traditional 4th of July bbq and swim until the fireworks lit up the sky..... like I said... those were our intentions. We finally got out to the pool by 7ish... fired up the grill... put on the dogs... then the thunder started. We dried off... sat down and got all our food ready to eat... just as we settle in to take our first bite... the dogs and beans FLEW everywhere!! A big gust from the monsoon chose JUST the right moment to come in and blow away our perfect bbq. The girls got the brunt of the soda pop, chips, ketchup and dogs ALL over themselves... you've never heard two girls scream so loud!! We rushed to get the kids to the car and out of the dust storm while trying to pack up the bbq and get OUT of there. Gotta LOVE Monsoon season in Phoenix! Here are a few of the pics we were able to get during our quick dip in the pool.

We got some video of Owen swimming but I can't figure out how to rotate it... so if you tilt your head to the left... a LITTLE more... there you go... you can see it correctly! :)

Owen doesn't have his NG tube in because he spit up so hard before we left that it flew out... ok... yes, it was gross. After we got home, showered and settled in I had to put in a new tube so the little guy could fill up his tummy. It took me THREE tries to get his NG tube in... he kept coughing it up and it would come out of his mouth. That's through his nose ... OUT his mouth!!!This has never happened before and needless to say... I was freaking. I finally got it in and he crashed within seconds. POOR GUY!! We may need to start re-thinking the Gtube operation if he doesn't start eating orally in the next few months.

Kamryn and Carson are off in the 4Runner trying to locate fireworks. Kamryn was devestated that the monsoon would cause all the firework shows to be cancelled. :( They've been gone for over 45 min so my guess is that they struck gold! I wish I could be there with them but Owen has had ENOUGH! Better luck next year!!

We had an adventurous 4th this year and the best part was spending the day together.

Silly Owen

Owen is so happy these days. This is a typical family night.. ALL four of us laying in the our bed making fools of ourselves so Owen will do something funny to entertian us. Life can't get more simple.