No more Teeth

We took Callie in for a dental check up yesterday. Our pediatrician has been watching her two bottom teeth pretty close. They came in at 4 months old and since she was early they consider her 3 months when she got them.. too early. They just have not really looked right. So we went in to our dentist again and he said they need to pull them before they get worse. So we went in today to have them pulled. It took about 5 minutes and come to find out one was already abscessed..so it was a good thing we got it taken care of.

Also, I talked to the heart doctor. The good news is no surgery for 8 weeks. However the doctors in Milwaukee do think she will need it at some time, but are hoping time will help us. Either she will get bigger which makes surgery easier... or as she grows maybe it will just get better and surgery will not be needed. We continue to say our prayers for her health.

Christmas

We had a good Christmas this year! Christmas eve was spent running around during the day and visiting with some good friends! Then off to Church - I can honestly say we really have the best Christmas service around. I just love our Church service on Christmas (and of course the rest of the year when the kids are healthy enough, and we got some sleep to get up and go). We have the two best pastors around. Yes I do speak highly of them :) Then Chris's family came to our house for appetizers and gifts. Zak is so much fun this year to watch him open gifts. It brought such a huge smile to my face to watch him open gifts. His tongue sticking out in concentration. Paper all over and boxes and bows on the head. I am such a proud mama!


Christmas day was spent at the nursing home with Grandpa and Chris's Family. Crock pots of food were hauled up and a room reserved. It was nice to be with Grandpa for the holidays. It was convenient to have it at the nursing home so we could be with Grandpa for the day.
The weekend was spent trying to recoup and clean up. Then Sunday my Mom and Brother came to celebrate we us.. It doesn't get any better than a week to celebrate!
This year was truly a year to celebrate and be thankful! It was nice to have an opportunity to give back. At work I help head up "Santa's Stocking" We adopted 2 families and several women. Employees donated 150+ gifts, we raised money with a bake Sale and BBQ lunch and donated to local organizations. It all ended with a wrapping party. The part that really touched me was to see how generous everyone was. If a person asked for socks they got 2 huge packages, if it was a pan for brownies they got 2 pans and brownie mix. It was nice to see all the excitement.
We also have so much to be thankful with the kids. They really are miracles. All of the "little" things are such huge accomplishments. It is fun to see them grow and change. Every day it seems like we notice something new. We also have our family and friends to thank for all of the support and prayers. We have some very close friends and family that have supported us through everything. Just an e-mail to say we are thinking of you when you feel alone or a call to just say I have a funny story to make us smile. And of course the many of meals this year when things were tough. We would come home and have a meal on our table - anything we did not need to cook and was not hospital food or out of a box.. except for the Chicken Marsala we were introduced to :) LOL. My new favorite easy meal to make. So a BIG thank you to everyone!

Callie's Heart

We did not get the best news today. Callie had another heart follow up. We really were expecting to hear good news. The pediatrician thought her heart was sounding a little better. She is finally growing, which in Zak's case was when he turned around and things got better. Unfortunately that has not been the case with Callie. Her heart continues to get worse. This time the doctor is sending her images to the Milwaukee team since they are the surgeons. At this point out doctor is hoping we have a little more time and we can wait another 6-8 weeks for another check up but she wants there opinion. With the path that she is going there are 2 different surgeries she could potentially have. One that is just a one day in and out that would be like a balloon stint to just stretch out the pulmonary valve - the problem with this is we don't know if it will work. It might just buy us a little time and that would mean another heart surgery. The other is an open heart surgery that would put us in the hospital for about 5 days, but hopefully that would be it and we would be done. So we just wait now for the Milwaukee team to review the images and discuss what they want to do.
We ask everyone to say for an extra prayer this Christmas for Callie's heart to get better. Both Callie and Zak are truly our little Miracles and we are so thankful to have them. It is in Gods hands now and either way we know she will be ok as God is looking over her.

Christmas Concert

Zak had his Christmas concert last night at school. The kids in his class did well! It is always fun to watch the 3 and 4 year olds sing.

Success

It was a success.. Callie’s Mickey button (g-tube) went in very well on Friday. She has been doing well with it. She does not like us to touch it yet, but I don’t blame her one bit! So She laid low most of the weekend.

Santa came to visit us on Saturday. The kids had a few other friends over as well to see Santa. It was great to see all the excitement and fun with all the kids playing together and parents socializing. They all heard Santa bells and it was silent. Waiting to see who would sit on Santa’s lap first. I just love having everyone over as we had some friends over that we have not seen in over 6 months. I just wish our house was bigger so we were not all squished in. Either way it was Great!!

I think with all the excitement on Saturday Zak was wiped out. He slept most of Sunday away, he even slept fairly well through the night. This morning at 5am he was up and ready to go!

This week we will finish up any last minute shopping. For the most part it is all done and wrapped. Christmas Eve will be at our house this year with Chris’s Family. Only 1 week and 1 day and I am off work until the new year. I am so excited to just spend some time at home with the kids. Chris was out in the woods again this weekend. Only for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. He saw a few deer, but decided not to shoot anything yet.

No Go..Trying again

Callie went in yesterday to have her tube (mickey button) changed to a new one yesterday. She still had a long tube that was stitched into her tummy from surgery. This is how we have been able to get additional food into her and chunk her up a little. It was supposed to be taken out yesterday and a new one placed. This would be the same thing Zak currently has in his tummy. However, the surgeon put a small tube in.. so small we are not able to get that size in a more permanent mickey button. So we had to order a Mickey the next size up. Our GI doctor was going to try and change it out in the clinic, however it was just too big for the tiny hole. Bummer. So needless to say Callie did not get her new mickey button yesterday. She is scheduled to go in again today. This time it will be with sedation so she won't feel the pain. Seriously why didn't the surgeon think ahead a little. He knew we wanted to keep the feeding in as a permanent thing after the surgery. Now our GI doctor is left to pick up the pieces. He is absolutely amazing - we know we are in great hands now.

Let it Snow!

It is the first big snow fall of the year!! How wonderful! I love it. Ok, well I love it more when it is all cleaned up. I love having a white Christmas, I just hate driving in it. We got 11.5 inches and now the winds are blowing. Chris was out at 4:30am helping his dad plow. Then he worked this afternoon and is heading out again this evening to plow. I on the other hand worked from home and enjoyed the view! Actually I did get up early to shovel a bit and play with Sammi. She just loves having snow kicked in her face. I don't get it, but she will bark at you until you kick it into her face. Here is the view from the house!
Also Callie went to the clinic today for her weight check. 9lb 13oz!! Way to go Callie. It is great she is putting on the pounds, however she is not growing the best in length. They are watching that closely. Nothing to worry about now, but as she gets older they may need to start her on growth hormones. Only time will tell. I love to give her a bath and actually see a little meat on her bones. It is so cute. Today's Bath - She loves to cover up with the wash cloth.

Zak has also put on some good weight. He has hit the big 30!!! Both of us this year. (of course mine was age). WAY TO GO ZAK!! He was 30 exactly. I was so happy. He has been eating great lately. He still does not stop moving. He has started to take 2 steps crawling and when he really wants something he goes for it and just pounces on it. He is not afraid to fall at all. Last night he slept in his bed the whole night! What a big boy! It was so nice. The night before on the other hand. Well he gave Callie's nurse a big scare! He did not want to go to sleep so we put him in the jumpy as usual when he won't sleep (which is is way to big for, but have no clue what to do). At about 10:30pm she came running into the room to let us know Zak feel out (which he has learned to get out now). Feel on the floor and puled out his mickey (feeding tube). We put it back in, but he was a little fussy. An hour later he still did not want to sleep. Nothing was working. So he played on the floor and bit. It was 4am before he decided sleep would be a good thing. Up at 7 for school! It made for a long day.
Zak did not have school today with all the snow so he got to spend the day at home. Here he is in the gait trainer

And more pictures just because they are so cute I could not resist. Zak loves the camera. Every time I take it out he sits up and smiles

Big Smiles from Callie

All Ready to go to the clinic in the cold.. SO CUTE

And we can not forget Sammi. All tucked in with her buddy pound puppy

Putting on the pounds!

We are no longer talking ounces.. Callie is gaining pounds! Last Wednesday we were into the Clinic for her 9 month appointment. It was also 5 weeks post opp. She was 7lb 13 ounces going into surgery.. she got back up to that weight 11 days post opp. 5 weeks after surgery she was 8lb 15oz. We took bets on how much she would weight. Chris won, he was the closest. Then today she was in to meet her GI doctor to figure out the plans of changing out her g-tube to a mickey button. in 7 days she was up to 9lb 6oz. As much as I hate to see my kids grow up it is so exciting to see her finally gaining weight. Everyone has been commenting on how her little cheeks are filling out.

We just ordered her mickey button. We are hoping towards the end of December beginning of January we will change it out. The current tube she has is stitched into the inside of her tummy and is a long tube that hangs out. The new one will look just like Zak's. Just a little button that sits on the tummy. We have to weight to get thew new one in since it is a custom order as she is so tiny.

Zak has started to make new noises. Last night he saw a book he wanted on the couch and stood up to get it with no one around.. so exciting and so scary! He doesn't really know how to fall other then with a big boom, however it was so exciting to see him get up on his own. He sure is a man with a mission!

Chris had good luck hunting this year. There was no deer up North this year, however he was lucky enough to get one close to home. Thanksgiving Morning! He got an 8 pointer!! Zak even liked it too. We spend Saturday cutting, canning and grinding. We are all done now. He is really looking forward to going on bow hunting. Hoping to shoot one more. Then we will be set for the year.