Merry Christmas!

Time always seems to fly and all of a sudden it's been 2+ months since we posted!

Our last post was right after Landon got tubes and we are happy to report that he has not had an ear infection since he got them!  He's a much happier kid and it's so nice not having to get him to take antibiotics constantly.  We had a good follow up appointment for his tubes and everything looks good so they should stay in place for 9 months or so and work themselves out eventually..

He is learning so much and is constantly observing what is going on around him.  It's fun to watch him be in awe of so many things.  He especially likes lights and ceiling fans and says "Wow!" that he thinks are interesting.  He's almost walking on his own- he's been in physical therapy for several months now and made good progress - he cruises around everything and has recently gotten really good at walking while holding on to our hands but he hasn't ventured out by himself yet.  We know it's coming soon, maybe even as a Christmas present.  He's also babbling a lot and just started pointing to identify things.  He says "all done", "cheese", "uh-oh" "dada" and "baba" (bottle) and is starting to experiment with other words and sounds too.  He mostly refers to both Gary and I as "dada".  He likes to be loud and is recently obsessed with emptying every toy bin and basket he finds!  He's not so great at putting them back yet :-)

His last cardiology check up was a few weeks ago and everything looks great!  His heart flow and function are good and there aren't any major concerns right now.  He will have his 3rd surgery sometime in the next year or two but we'll plan it several months in advance so it won't be a surprise.

We spent Thanksgiving in Raleigh and had a great time seeing my (Allison's)!  Family visits are always too short but we cherish them!  For Christmas we are heading to Michigan to see Gary's family and hoping for a White Christmas (but not a blizzard)!

Gary and I are doing well too (I forgot to give updates about us sometimes).  Life is busy with us both working but we are grateful for our jobs and I am grateful for the flexibility to be at home with Landon on Fridays.  Gary continues to serve with the high school ministry at our church and we both love the church small group we are part of with 5 other couples (and 3 other kids!).  We are also part of "Mended Little Hearts of Colorado Springs" a support group for families of kids with congenital heart defects and I have had the privilege of recently joining their leadership team.  It has been great to meet other families who share similar stories to what we've experienced with Landon and to learn more about how to parent him. This is a group of life, encouragement, support and education and we have been so blessed by it.

Christmas is always a time when we are reminded to be thankful for the blessings God has given us, including sending His son Jesus to the world for us. This year we are also especially grateful for Landon's health, laughter and love of life!

Heading home!

We went in early this morning since Landon was one of the first surgeries of the day and we are already on our way home!

The surgery went well. luckily they can still do it even with an ear infection because one of his ears was infected but everything else went off without a hitch. He had a cardiac anesthesiologist so we were grateful for that.

He did great except getting a little cranky beforehand because he was hungry. He was very happy to be able to get his bottle afterwards.  Now we just wait and hope the tubes help! Thanks for your prayers!

The End of Ear Infections (we hope)

I forgot to post about our appontments in Denver a few weeks ago. 

Landon saw ENT and confirmed that he needs to get tubes.  He is actually having that done tomorrow - it is a surgery, but only a 7 minute one.  It will be strange to go to the hospital and have surgery done probably by the time we sit down!  They are supposed to have a cardiac anesthesiologist to keep an extra eye on him but we're pretty sure he'll be discharged the same day.

Please pray that the tubes are successful and that they help reduce the number of ear infections.  He had 5 over 2 months and we've just kept him on the antibiotic for the last week so keep him from getting another one. 

He was also seen at the cardiac clinic in Denver for developmental testing and he did great!  As expected, he tested low in his gross motor but as you probably read from Gary's post today, he's making steady improvement in that area.  Hopefully with fewer ear infections, his balance will improve and give him even more of a boost!

Landon seems more like a little boy everyday...

Landon is changing so fast.  His ability to pick things up is increasing at a rapid pace.  It is very exciting to witness.  Just this past week the following things started to happen:  He stands up on his own with the assistance of furniture.  He started cruising too.  He knows who Elmo is and will go find him if asked (and quite excitedly).  Plus, anything that excites him will be uttered with an excited "Ohhhhhhhhhhh!".  He is basically running when he crawls.  He is beginning to roll the ball back and forth (varying degrees of success).  His favorite thing to do right now is knock the cardboard blocks down that Mommy and Daddy stack up for him.  We're lucky if we get them setup before he knocks them down again.   

I was telling Allison last night that Landon might be catching up because God gave him a "very high motor".  Football fans, you know what I am talking about when I say that.  But for the others, when Landon wants to do something or wants something, he gives 100% to experience it or get it.  I love it so much.  His will power is quite strong.  I wonder why that is?  Praise God to see him progressing so quickly.  What a miracle he is.

Gary

The Birthday Party!

The barn cake with pigs, sheep and chicks

Landon's cake

Gracie's Cake

Landon and Gracie hanging out while Liz and I worked on party stuff.

Landon at his cardiology appointment

1 year old!

Today is Landon's birthday!  It is so cliche but true to say that we cannot believe how quickly it has gone by!  He has grown so much and is learning new things constantly.  He is finally crawling for real pretty consistently (instead of army crawling) and just started pull himself to standing.  He smiles and laughs all the time and loves waving and interacting with other people, especially kids.

We had a party for him this past weekend- we shared the party throwing duties with our friends whose daughter was born the day after Landon so it was double the fun!  We did a farm theme and had a petting zoo (with stuffed animals), duck pond and a barn cake with animal cupcakes!  It turned out great and everyone had a great time (especially the two guests of honor).  Landon made an absolute mess of his cake even though he only ate a few bites of it, while Gracie was much more methodical and careful with hers. I'll post some pictures in a separate post.

We had a cardiology appointment last Thursday and everything heart wise looks great.  There are some collateral (extra) veins that we'll have to keep an eye on over the next several months but nothing to be concerned about right now.  We'll go back in 2 months for another checkup.

As far as what we've been up to since the last post, we were in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend for Brittany's wedding and enjoyed seeing the whole family and celebrating with Brittany and Josh.  We have also been fortunate to be able to do some fun activites with Mended Little Hearts - we went to the Denver aquarium one weekend and the zoo the next!  We thought for a few weeks that Landon's ears had cleared up for good but he's had 2 more ear infection in the last few weeks which makes 5 ear infections in 2 months.  We have an appointment with ENT in Denver on Friday so they'll do an evaluation and will hopefully be able to give us an idea of whether or not tubes will be effective.  We are all ready to be done with ear infections, especially Landon!  We feel blessed every day to have such a happy, growing, active boy!  It has been a crazy year and we are grateful for where he is today and SO appreciative of all of you who have supported us over the last year (and more)!  We have received so many prayers, encouraging words and offers of help and we are starting to understand the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child".  YOU are our village and we thank you!

Summer Vacation Photos

First time seeing the ocean

Landon with his Aunt Jenny and Aunt Brittany (and mommy)

first time in his swim gear on the beach (he wasn't too happy- it was REALLY hot)

meeting his great-grandmother (Grandmama)

Go Wolfpack! Landon with Papa

Landon with Mimi

First time at Krispy Kreme! (he didn't eat anything though)

On a hike 

4 generations

Hanging out with grandmama

First time in the pool!

Once he warmed up he loved the water

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Landon's Baby Dedication at our church

Landon playing with the puppy

Goofy boy playing with shapes

Family Photos June 2012

11 months old!

Clearly Gary and I have not gotten down a good blogging rhythm so our posts tend to be very sporadic.  Sorry about that.  If I posted as many times as I thought about it, you would all know more about our lives than you care to, I'm sure.

Anyway, yesterday Landon turned 11 months old!! It's hard to believe our baby is almost 1.  The last month has been somewhat frustrating healthwise for him because he has had an ongoing ear infection.  After 3 rounds of antibiotics, it seems like he's finally kicked it for now but we were told to keep him on a "short leash" since he still has a lot of fluid in his ears.  He seems to be doing much better know and is back to eating like his old self pretty much which makes meal times much easier for us. 

It's been a busy summer with 2 vacations (NC and Michigan) and 1 more trip for Brittany's wedding.  Travel is fun but I'm pretty sure the days of "relaxing vacations" are behind us!  We've also taken on a plot at a community garden.  When we took it over it had already been planted (lucky for us) so we've been trying to figure out a good schedule over there to water, weed and harvest!  It will be fun next year to start from scratch and figure out what we want to plan for the whole season. 

Landon has started up physical therapy for the next several weeks to help him build the muscle he needs to crawl and walk. He moves pretty quickly across the room these days, but he still does an army crawl dragging his belly on the ground.  He props up on all 4s pretty frequently, but drops down to his stomach when he wants to move.  We got him a little musical table this week and he's really enjoyed standing at that and pushing all the buttons to make sounds and music.  He is smiling and laughing a lot, which is great to see after he had a crabby few weeks.  He's started smacking his lips when he sees something he wants to eat like when I'm getting is food ready or when we are eating something he wants.  Gary was sitting on the floor eating cereal for breakfast this morning and Landon climbed up Gary to try and get it smacking his lips the whole time.  He still yells a lot and just likes to be loud and make noise.  He enjoyed interacting with other babies and other kids.  He really loved spending time with his cousin, Abigail, while we were in Michigan.  He just loved watching her and laughing at the things she did.

Yesterday we went to the Congenital Heart Walk for the Rocky Mountain region.  It was on the campus where the children's hospital is that Landon has spent so much time.  It was so bizarre to go up there and not go in the hospital!  It brought back memories too, to go in the Chipotle close to the hospital and remember going there for dinner sometimes while he was in the hospital and just thinking about what things were like.  We enjoyed getting to spend some time with the other members of the Mended Little Hearts group we are part of and walk with them and celebrate the lives of these brave kids!  If you would like to donate to our donation page for the walk, you can do so here.  Funds raised will support the missions of the ACHA (Adult Congenital Heart Assocation) and CHF (Children's Heart Foundation).

Summer is winding down and we are excited for fall!

It's been 6 months. . .

. . . since Landon's last surgery.  It's hard to believe- I didn't even realize it until this morning in a doctor's appointment I was asked how old he has at his surgeries and I realized that it's been 6 months.  It's amazing to me that at that point he had spent so much of his life in the hospital but now it seems like so long ago and I'm sure he remembers nothing about it.  It has been incredible to see him come so far in 6 months and to turn into a somewhat normal happy baby.  He is still a little bit behind developmentally in a few areas- we went to a child development center today to see a phsyical therapist and she said that he has low muscle tone and some weak muscles which is probably why he's not really crawling more than an army crawl.  We'll do some physical therapy to help with this and hopefully he'll catch up at some point.

Gary mentioned that he was waving in the last post but his newest thing now is clapping.  It doesn't actually make much noise but he definitely claps his hands and it makes Gary very happy (anyone that knows Gary pretty well, knows that he claps ALL the time).

He's getting more into watching little videos on the TV like baby einstein, sesame street, etc.  It's fun to watch him totally dazed out and in awe of whatever is on the screen.  He's a pretty happy kid for the most part and we are so grateful to have had 6 months of no hospital stays!

Wave Landon... Wave!

It's been a little while since we posted so I wanted to at least get a short post out there.  We just got back from vacation, from which we will have a detailed post in the coming days. 

Landon has been doing great over the last month and a half since we last posted.  He is growing stronger and taller every day.  I think Allison said he was in the 32nd percentile yesterday which is astonishing.  It has gotten to the point where I don't really worry about that anymore.

Last week Landon started to wave at us upon request.  Some times more quickly than others but an exciting event for us to see him mentally develop.  He is still not crawling yet, but "inching" is the best way to describe it.  A little closer every day.  A little behind the eight-ball there but gets closer and closer.  He is putting weight on his legs now and can hold himself up against the sofa/coffee table for longer periods of time.  He can't lift himself on his own there, but I have a feeling this will happen once he starts to crawl.  He is also learning how to place his blocks into the container (sometimes better than others!). 

His attention span is also markedly increasing.  It is fun to watch him watch things intently.  He loves his bottle, any piece of paper given, our kitchen faucet, any puppet and any animal sound mommy makes.  Mom does this way better than daddy.  Updated pictures will be coming in the next post.

Gary     

One Year Ago Today....

One year ago today, we got news that Landon was going to have a heart defect.  A major defect that would likely entail three surgeries.  Suffice to say, it was the hardest day of our lives.  All the worry and anxiety and and the feeling of complete helplessness.  We knew we would have to wrestle God with this for 20 weeks before he was even born.  Seems like a blessing to know beforehand, but having to agonize over it for months before he was born was daunting.

Landon has spent approximately 39 days in the hospital.  Been to numerous other doctors appointments.  Had two surgeries and a catheterization.  Consumed bottles of medicine.  Fought acid reflux when he was trying to recover.  Had RSV.  He has dealt with a couple of other colds along the way.  Was on oxygen for three months at home, which brought many other challenges along with it. 

But you wouldn't know that he has been through any of this if you met him for the first time today. 

The other day he was playing in his exer-saucer and we realized some obvious cognitive development.  There is a little toy on there that makes different sounds when you push it.  If you push the same button four times in a row it begins to play music.  Landon likes the music so much that he will push the button as fast as possible to get to the music.  When he gets there he stops and listens to the music.  I love that he takes time to stop and listen to the music.   

Seems like a small thing, but to us it is awesome because this quells one of our biggest fears.  That he won't cognitively develop normally.  Little things like this make a huge difference.

I am so grateful for everyone who have been in his life these past 7 1/2 months.  He wouldn't be doing so well without all of the love and affection poured on him.  He laughs so much.  He laughs more in one day than I do in a year. 

Landon sleeps through the night now.  No coincidence that this started briefly after removing the oxygen at night.  The cord is quite annoying to have shoved up your nose.  He is also starting to make consonant sounds.  Every day is different, but better than the previous. 

Praise God for the miraculous start to his life.  

Gary

P.S. The bolded sentences are on purpose.  Go back and read them one more time to realize how amazing this journey has been for us.

Spring Update

Landon is now 7 months old and has been doing great lately! He has been eating really well (most of the time) and at his last cardiologist appointment his heart function was good and he seems to be growing and developing on track.  Not to mention he is so much fun and his personality is coming out a lot!

He has another cardiologist appointment today (the last one was a month ago) and his 6 month checkup with the pediatrician tomorrow. (We got a month behind since his 4 month appt should have been right when surgery was happening). We are hoping that the cardiologist (dr brames) will give us the ok to take him off oxygen completely and possibly lower his lasix dose to once a day instead of twice. We've been putting off refilling the oxygen tank because I am so hoping that I can call them and say "TAKE IT AWAY!" Just coming off the oxygen will be a huge relief to us. He wakes up every morning playing with the cord and gets himself tangled in it all the time. We can only keep it so far out of reach when it's attached to his face.  It's definitely easier him being on it just at night rather than all the time, but when we have to put the tube in his night he hates it!

He has been doing so much lately! He is doing some sitting on his own for short periods of time and if you let him sit with the boppy pillow around him he'll sit much longer. He's well into solid foods now and seems to have a differenct reaction everytime we feed him. The first time he tried apples he ate them all but I gave them to him earlier this week and he gagged. He has most recently tried avacado (not much reaction either way), peas (mixed reactions) and pears (mixed reactions). He has really started rolling ALL over the place since he masterd rolling back to front this weekend. He can easily travel several feet in the matter of a few minutes!

It's so sweet to see him smile at Gary and I whenever we've been away (or even out of the room for just a few minutes). He's a very smiley boy and he's laughing all the time- he always cracks up when I give him eskimo kisses (rub our noses together) and when I squeeze his little tush (not really sure why on that one!). He really enjoys his "buddy" at daycare, oliver, who is  almost 11 months now. Oliver is always happy to see Landon when we get there in the morning.

(by the way, Gary and I are doing fine too :-)
















Nate and Ashley and their son Drew came out from DC for a weekend and we went to the St Patricks Day parade


























































Gary's brothers and their families came out to visit us over Easter weekend.  We had a great time and Landon got to meet some of his aunts and uncles and his cousin Abigail!











Landon's Easter Outfit


















Playing with a football

















After eating his first veggies (carrots, can you tell?)















Sitting up!
















Playing in the excersaucer













 Having fun with daddy!