Night Swim

Oh...how we love Arizona summer nights in August. There is always a monsoon storm brewing somewhere in the valley, the sunsets are beautiful and the pool water is the perfect temperature! We went to Grandpa Todd's tonight for a little steak, cake and dip in the pool.

Kamryn and Rylee

Look how big Owen is getting in comparison to Kamryn!
Daddy and his little buddy
Kamryn LOVES the diving rock
Owen was skeptical of the water until about 10 min in... then he relaxed... absolutely NO smiling though!?

Happy Birthday Grandpa Todd...we had a great time! We missed you Grandma Monica! :(

Happy 7 Month Birthday Big Guy!

Owen is 7 months old today! To celebrate... we spent five hours at Phoenix Children's Hospital before having sushi with daddy and coming home for some serious napping! We started with Owen's brain ultrasound and the tech fell in love with him and his beautiful PERFECT brain! No fluid or issues with that big head of his... just a big noggin. We then had our barium swallow study.. not exactly a great experience. We started with a happy, flirty baby boy and ended with an overly grumpy, tired and hungry one.... all of this within 10 min flat. We started with a bottle... NOPE. Then tried a spoon... NOPE. Then moved to a cup... NOPE. How about a syringe?? Ok... so he doens't really have a choice when I sneak a syringe with Chocolate flavored barium into his mouth... he was okay at first and swallowed..WAY TO GO! Then the radiologist wanted to see more and more and MORE! Owen was so beyond done at this point that he screamed and aspirated a TINY amount of barium. So now, they suggest that we thicken his water or juice with nectar. Not sure if he really needs the nectar unless he's drinking while screaming! That is why I put off the swallow study for as long as I have and I don't forsee us going for anyother one in the near future.

Now my little man is sleeping peacefully in his crib and I'm going to read the 2nd book in the Twilight series...... I'm trying to catch up with the craze!

Barium Swallow and Brain Scan

I took Owen for his 7 mo checkup with Dr. Laks (pediatrician) this week and here are his stats....

Weight: 16.12 (25%)
Height: 26 3/4" (50%)
Head: 18 1/4" (95%) -- here's the stat that is resulting in a brain scan tomorrow. Apparently Owen has a big head... I like to think it's a big brain!! The only red flag is that he went from 15% to 95% for head circum. in 2 months... and just as a precaution we are going to have his head checked. Please pray that it's nothing and that he's just going to be a REALLY smart boy!

On another note... I finally broke down and scheduled his barium swallow study. While we're at PCH anyhow, we're going to do both the scan and the study at once. I haven't done the swallow study because I'm not entirely sure that he swallows anything? He refuses the bottle and is skeptical about anything you offer him.. not sure how they are going to get that NASTY barium chalk into a cranky and VERY hungry Owen. GI said to leave it up to the experts to figure something out but we need to see how he swallows or IF he swallows.

Just to clarify for those of you who are not sure... a barium swallow study is where they give Owen different consistenies of a chalky substance and watch on Xray as he swallows it. This ensures that he knows what he's doing and isn't aspirating the fluid into his lungs. A brain scan is... I honestly have NO idea! Dr. Laks said they probably can just do an ultrasound of his head through his soft spot instead of an MRI?? We'll see.

Anyway.. pray that he passes both the study and the scan!

Such a Big Boy!

Owen can sit up all by himself!! He usually falls over after about 30 seconds... okay... 15 seconds...but we are so proud of him. We were starting to worry because if you lay him on his tummy for tummy time he won't even try to lift up his head... he just lays there. Then we try to roll him over .... it's not an easy task! I guess he's just proving to us that he can skip the small stuff (rolling, lifting his head, bottle feeding, baby food) ... and go straight to the big boy stuff!

This is the new face he's been making. He's not really sad, he does this right before he starts to laugh or smile. We can't quite figure it out, but it cracks us up everytime!!

Cardiology Update

Owen had a 4 week followup with Dr. Stock today and I will admit I was nervous! Anytime we have an echo I get knots in my stomach and fear the worst. Today was no different as the echo tech spent over an hour getting all the angles and pics. Mr. Owen was perfect and just veg'd out on the table and smiled at the tech. After waiting another 30 min for the cardiologist to review the echo, I was on pins and needles. Then we got results and I quote.."the function is maybe a little better"...and I'm thrilled!! I'll take better over worse anytime!! We'll leave his meds the same and we don't go back for SIX weeks! Then the bad news is we have to do another cath in Oct just to fine tune everything before winter and RSV season. So...we continue on Captopril (9ml/day) -- Digoxin (1.4ml/day) -- Lasix (1.4ml/day) -- Aldactone (.7ml/day) -- Sildenafil (3.6ml/day) --Prevacid (2ml/day) -- and Asprin. I know this is not your common heart baby medicine regime, but if it keeps his motor running, then we do what we gotta do!

At 16.5lbs we figured it was time to part with the bassinet and upgrade to the big boy crib. Owen LOVES it! We thought he was a good sleeper before...wow...he crashes so hard that we don't hear a peep for at least 10hrs everynight! I find myself checking on him more and thanks to the feeding pump, he doesn't have to wake up to eat. I am so thankful to have such amazing little sleepers!!

One more thing...WAY TO GO TATUM!! Thanks to anyone who voted...Tatum made it to the final three in the kideeokee contest and will be singing for the winning spot LIVE this Sunday!

Snorty

Owen's Best Friend ....

....SNORTY!!

Owen LOVES his little Snorty!! Anytime Owen is fussy or grumpy we just give him snorty and he snuggles him tight! At night, we put snorty in his crib with him and he holds him close and chews on his snort until he drifts off to dreamland. If we go anywhere and snorty is not there, Owen KNOWS! Snorty has been our lifesaver, Owen's comfort, his snuggler and his best friend!

Owen got Snorty when he was admitted for his Glenn back in April. A month later when we went back for his cardiac cath the nurse showed him a bucket FULL of beanie babies of all types and colors. Owen reached down and grabbed the snout of yet another BIG RED BULL.. we named him Snorts.

We are so grateful for this little bull filled with loving beans so that Owen always has a buddy by his side. We're trying to figure out how to make a snort costume for Halloween... for Owen! Any ideas????

Mr. Owen's Update

Owen is cutting his top two teeth and so he has been just plain GROUCHY the last few days. Thanks to LOTS of Tylenol and baby Orajel ... I think we'll make it through. I can't wait to get some pics of his new chompers!

Owen is rolling from side to side, but has no motivation to roll over to his tummy because he HATES to be on his tummy. BUT...if we "accidentally" flip him over to his tummy...he will complain and grunt until he eventually decides to roll onto his back. So he has the rolling over thing figured out... he just won't do it, unless he wants to do it! He REALLY wants to sit up and trys really hard but just doesn't have the trunk muscles to do it by himself. Also... he grutns ALOT when he tries to sit up... do any other Heart babies do that???

Eating is still the same...I think he really wants to eat and enjoy food, but just doesn't know how to do it. Today he took a few sips of my water bottle and I was excited that he was drinking. Then, after about 2 min he spit a mouthful of water out... apparently he was just storing it in his cheeks and didn't know where to put it. Hey...at least he was interested and tried it!!

Check out his mitts...we LOVE the chubby wrists and dimpled hands... he's weighing in at a whopping 16lbs!!

Big Boy Food ONLY

Owen officially EATS...but is very particular and will only eat SOLID food. No formula or baby food for this little man, he prefers only the food for big boys. He will only eat food if he has control over it AND will only eat if he feeds himself. Here's how he does it everytime...

Owen gets his Arrowroot cookie in hand... OR TWO FINGERS (this is his signature move)

Since he has NO idea how to swallow or use his tongue to push food back (due to lack of practice) he just drools it out Apparently he REALLY likes it!!
After five minutes of attempting to swallow or figure out where to put the mooshy cookie he worked so hard to slobber all over.... he spits out any reminants and gives up.

Don't worry buddy... you'll get then hang of it.

That was HARD WORK and now he's ready for a nap!

We are thrilled that he is progressing. Just this past week he has gotten more interested in the bottle as well. He still has no idea how to suck/swallow a bottle and I'm not quite sure if he'll ever figure it out. We have graduated to sippy cups and open lid cups to see if we can get formula in him this way. It's not an easy process, but it's so fantastic to see him progress each week. WAY TO GO OWEN!!

Vote for Tatum -- Round TWO!

Ok everyone... Tatum made it to round two...thanks for anyone who voted!! I need you to do it again...

Go to this link http://www.mix969.com/pages/kiddieokee/

Scroll to the bottom and click VOTE NOW!!

Enter in ANY email address

Under the 4-6yr old category...scroll down until you see TATUM RICHARDSON

Put a little dot next to her video and click "submit your vote" at the bottom

THANK YOU!!! Good Luck Tatum... can't wait to see you perform on stage!

First Day of 3rd Grade!

Today is officially the first day my baby girl is starting 3rd grade. It's always such a bittersweet day for me. I am so happy that Kamryn LOVES school and can't wait to go back and learn, but then I'm sad because I miss her :(. I know most parents think I'm crazy and they are counting the days until they send their kids back... but I enjoy Kamryn being home and hanging out. She is going to have a fantastic year in 3rd grade!!!

Miss you already!!!

Oh... just a sidenote... her teacher actually redeemed herself today as she was organized, friendly and picked the shadiest part of the playground for student line up in the AWEFUL heat!!!

Back to School Night

Meet the teacher night has always been one of my favorite things about school. The anticipation of meeting your NEW teacher...finding out what friends are in your class this year...picking your new seat in your new classroom. Fortunately, I get to enjoy these same experiences again with Kamryn. Tonight we went to school to meet Mrs. Harrison, Kamryn's 3rd grade teacher!
Notice...we have no pictures of Kamryn with Mrs. Harrison. At 6:30, we walked into Kamryn's new classroom to find Mrs. Harrison talking to all the parents as they sat in their children's desks....kinda threw me for a loop. We stood by the door and listened for what seemed like an eternity as the teacher read each handout and explained ALL the classroom policies. When she finally wrapped it up....I was thinking to myself... thank goodness that FINALLY is over....now it's time for Kamryn to find her seat, meet her teacher and visit with her friends. No such luck.....after only 2 minutes...the teacher rang her little bell, asked the new group of parents to take a seat and began the lecture over again. I wasn't about to sit through another eternity of her speaking to us ... I can READ the handouts. Just as she was starting to speak to the new group of parents I politely interrupted and said, "this is Kamryn, she is excited to be in your class, but we have to go." That was IT... Kamryn got less than 3 seconds to shake her teacher's hand on MEET THE TEACHER night. This was not at all what I would expect from a 3rd grade teacher on a night that is supposed to be a chance for the students to become familiar with the place that they will spend 35 hours a week for the next year. Anyway... Kamryn seemed okay with everything so I let it go to the back of my head. We went and visited her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Cruz, who was walking around her classroom, greeting each student as they arrived and making them feel at home in their new surroundings. Can we go back to 2nd grade????

Getting back to "Normal" life...

What a fantastic Saturday we had! The girls and I went to see Danny to get new hairdo's. When I say new... I guess I mean a little touch up ... we never do anything drastic. Kamryn would only allow Danny to trim the very ends but she looks cute with those long blonde locks.

Gigi got her hair CHOPPED... 5 inches to be exact...and she looks SO ready to start Kindergarten next week! I didn't get an after shot...bummer.
Mine is the usual... blonde curly do that I've had since 7th grade...yes, that was a LONG time ago! Anyhow... we realized we hadn't been out for sushi (one of my favs) since before I have been pregnant and it's a no-no. So we met Carson and Owen at Blue Wasabi for some delicious sushi!!

Kamryn was brave and had her first california roll, edamame and crusted crab roll. I don't know if she LOVED it, but she definetly was up for trying more... that's our girl!!!


When we were done eating...we went SHOPPING!! We have a fantastic outdoor mall by our house. The only problem is that it was pretty darn close to 120degrees out today and those little misters they have outdoors just don't cut it. Owen was so happy to get home and changed out of his sopping wet clothes.

After we were all jammied up and ready for bed, Kamryn and I shared some baby Oreos. Owen seemed pretty interested...so I figured...what's a little oreo going to hurt? He's not going to eat it anyway!! So I offered...and he was ALL over that cookie!!! Now, if we can only get him Oreo flavored formula....

It was nice to go out and do things as a family for once....even things as simple as going to lunch, the mall, or the salon have been non existent since January. I am so grateful that we are finally at a point with Owen where we can relax and start enjoying a "normal" life!

Bottle Feeding....or NOT!

We get asked all the time.... "So, Owen just won't eat or what??" ... so here it is!! This is our morning bottle feeding. I always offer the bottle before dumping in his feedng bag in hopes that one day he'll just open up and welcome that disgustingly yucky formula. As you can see... Owen is in control of this situation! I personally like how he bats the bottle away and then smiles about it... it's like a little game to him. I have Kamryn offer it when she's here because he is usually more accepting of her offer than anyone elses... guess it's that sweet little voice of hers that is encouraging!

I was reading a fellow heart mom's blog the other day and she stated it perfectly...if feeding is our biggest issue right now, then we should consider ourselves grateful, there could be so much more going on. I am truely happy that we are home, healthy, and enjoying our relaxing summer together. Owen will eat...eventually... in the meantime, he is gaining weight and growing strong.