It's been a while!

I guess it's time! Time to crawl out from the wood work and get back here!

Lots has been going on - and yet at the same time, if feels like nothing has changed too much!

On the very positive side, the boys have been totally healthy, and mostly happy(!) since Christmas. Their health, in itself, is such a huge blessing and relief. Nate continues to emerge from his protective shell, and is becoming more of the boy that we've missed. His vocabulary has taken off, which makes him much easier to understand and gives him the opportunity to communicate so much better with us. His comfort level with other people has also done a 180 degree change. He talks to people, happily goes to Sunday School and actually stays for the whole time without one of us in the room (this is HUGE!). Naps are hit and miss with him, but it's to be expected as Brady was also done with naps at 2 1/2 years old. As a whole, his nights are improving, he usually ends up spending at least half the night with me (but at least we both can sleep!).

I, too, feel like I've finally come back to the person I want to be. January left me feeling rather empty inside, with nothing much to give. It was more than just winter cabin fever; planning a winter holiday or a fun renovation was not what was needed to spark me on. I think I knew all along what I needed, and now that I'm back into doing devotions, reading my Bible and meditating on God's words, I don't feel like I'm running on "E" anymore.

Another bonus - Don and I actually went out on a date....together! Might not sound like much to you, but the last time the two of us went out, without kids, was a veeerrrrrrry long time ago. I can't even tell you when. I know we haven't taken any time to go out since coming home from Nate's surgery - and that was last March. Yikes! Isn't that ridiculous? To go over a year without any alone time with your spouse?!? So, on Saturday, we enjoyed a nice dinner together here in town. The boys were happy to go to Grandma and Grandpa's!

I also wanted to share a link with you. No one is immune to the pain or suffering that this life brings. And it seems that in the last few weeks, there have too many people that I know and love that have lost, are suffering or are dealing with hard circumstances. Last week, I listened to a meaningful message shared by Matt Hammitt. He talks about Pain and Purpose. How God uses this pain to draw us to Him....to realize that we can not put hope in the things of this world, but need to look to him. I found the words God gave him so encouraging. Take some time to listen. Just click here, and go down to the bottom of the post. He has a link to the message he gave at a church called The Grove.

2010.....we'll remember you!

Welcome to 2011! Things are getting back to normal here. I had a brief flu episode after Christmas, combined with being totally out of routine with no work or school after Christmas, has led to an absence here!

What a year we had in 2010! So many memories and good times! Sure, there were some pretty significant memories that weren't the happiest, but God brought us through those times, so here we sit, ready for what this new year has for us!

If you've got 10 seconds, you can watch some excitement Brady displayed on Christmas Eve, upon unwrapping a pretty fantastic Lego set from his Grandma and Grandpa!

Merry Christmas!

May the God of Hope fill you with

all Joy and Peace...today and always.

Merry Christmas from our family!

Your opinion?

Well, he woke up chipper this morning, so that's a relief! He must be fighting something. His night was more settled after the advil. Although he woke up many times, it was never for a long time like the previous night. But, as I've found out, if you take care of the fever, those other symptoms - like the breathing and heart rate - usually reduce.

So, now it's your turn. I've been using an electronic thermometer in Nate's armpit for readings. He doesn't mind it, but I find it be be really inconsistent, and I do 3 or 4 readings just to see a range of temperatures...usually differing by a degree.

So the options are the ear thermometer and the temporal artery (or scanning) thermometer.

My favorite nurse in Edmonton told me that the ear thermometer requires a technique to get a proper reading. She told me if a nurse came in and didn't tug (gently!) on the back of his ear before inserting, the reading wouldn't be accurate. I also think that this will be much more annoying to a child than an armpit reading!

The temporal artery thermometer is quick! Just press against forehead and scan across to the temporal artery. It's really quick too. It appears to be quite accurate from what I've read, although there always are disclaimers. There were only a couple of nurses using these in Edmonton.

Any experience or information you'd like to share?

Ugh!

Well, we'll see how tonight goes!

We gave it a try! Last year, we didn't take Nate to any functions, other than close family get togethers. This year, since he is a year older, and we don't have a surgery date looming, we felt a little more free to venture out!

We enjoyed two different family Christmas parties on Saturday evening. Nate enjoyed himself, it was evident, as he played and hung out with the kids. His night was a different story.....awake and restless from 12:30am - 4, then on and off till 8.

He seemed fine throughout the day today - I kept him home from church, but he played the day away with Brady, no problem. I was putting him to bed tonight, and again he was really restless. High heart rate (in the 130's) and rapid respirations. A slight fever too, so I gave him a dose of advil. He's sleeping now, so thankful for that! We'll see how the night goes!

So, this is either a little warning for us.....or a consequence of a decision made! Or maybe it has nothing to do with all of his interaction yesterday, but it's hard to ignore the results!

Praying for a good nights sleep! Hope yours is restful, too!

He did it again!

Our Nate made us proud (again) this morning at his appointment! We went in to see his cardiologist in Winnipeg for an 11:00 appt. This boy has come around, 180 degrees!! He studied the numbers as his blood pressure was being taken....not even a wiggle (he was getting really good at this already near the end of our stay in Edmonton....his job was to tell us when he heard the beep - and then he could take the cuff off himself!). He laid perfectly still and calm for his entire 20 minute echo. Although he was trying to make sense of the crazy stories I was telling him, I'm sure! Something about dinosaurs....in a rocket ship, landing on planets, and then zooming around earth, looking for his cousins' houses! Hey, you do what you can to keep their attention! Very fortunate to have a very smart tech (and mom to a 4 year old) who helped me confirm a few dino facts in my story!!

He was 100% compliant through 2 physical exams and prodding around his tummy and heart. Not even a peep or sign of fear. Such a relief!

The summary is this:

Nate looked a lot better at this appointment, compared to his last one, six weeks ago. He was showing some signs of failure then, but one of his meds was increased at that time, and there has been improvement in symptoms. His liver was not enlarged this time - also good news related to heart failure. The gradient on the band has not increased, ie. it's no tighter now than it was after surgery, so no improvements in leakage. He is wheezy in his lungs, and she suspects there might be an asthma issue, but we've been dealing with those symptoms for a long time.

We are waiting on Toronto's opinion for Nate's treatment. She feels that as long as Nate stays out of failure and continues to gain weight, as he has been now (he is 31lbs), and stays healthy, they will probably want to give him more time to grow and get that band tightening on his artery.

Thanks for praying for us through all of this! Prayer requests for the coming weeks are for Nate to stay healthy and be able to fight off any bugs that he'll be exposed to as we plan lots of fun family events!