Utah

This is the first time Thomas got to meet his Great Grandpa, He lives in Price, Utah. My Grandpa hasn't been doing so well, so Thomas and I were so glad we got to go spend some time with him.

This was another first time for Thomas, I was able to take him to my Dad's grave and sit in the sun for a little while. Our trip to Utah was so busy that we forgot to bring flowers, we definitely will next time. Thomas loved being able to sit on the grass, (we don't have any in AZ)

Paul's mom so kindly gave up her awesome seats to the Utah game and gave them to us. We all had a really good time, and of course Utah won!

And for the real reason we went to Utah, Paul's brother got married, (doesn't Paul look cute in a bow tie). It was a really busy trip, but it was a lot of fun, and it makes us very home sick for Utah and our families, we miss everyone!

Happy Birthday Thomas

Thomas turned one on October 9Th, and we decided to go to the Phoenix zoo. We sort of had fun, it was 98 degrees and not a cloud in sight. After the zoo we went to the Rain Forest Cafe which Thomas liked so much better, he is a lot like his dad and prefers the air conditioning.

It was nice to get a family picture, Paul's sister Jill came up from Utah to spend time with Thomas for his Birthday, she spoils him rotten and he is sure going to miss her.

Thomas loves all of his new toys, and had a lot of fun with the wrapping paper.

Thomas is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to us, he is doing so many things right now. He is crawling, clapping his hands, waving Bye bye, saying mama, pulling himself up on his knees, and most importantly he is healthy!! When we first found out about all of Thomas' problems we thought why us, (OK sometimes I still wonder why my baby had to suffer) but I am so glad he is mine, I wouldn't trade him for anything! We love you Thomas, Happy Birthday!!!

Catch Up

It has been a long time since I have posted, We celebrated Paul's Birthday a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun, we actually had a baby sitter (Paul's sister) and we went to a movie and to the Texas Road House for dinner.

Thomas is helping his dad open his presents, he is practicing for his Birthday, which is next week, can you believe it he is almost one! Paul was so spoiled, everyone gave him Best Buy gift cards and he bought a PlayStation 3. Thanks everybody!!!

This is just a funny picture, doesn't he look like a little devil.

This is Paul's sister, she came and hung out with us for a couple of days, we all had a lot of fun and Thomas sure missed her when she left.

I Was Wrong...

Ok so we just got back from a walk a little while ago, me being brilliant I asked paul to go on a walk with me through the neighborhood, well it was getting pretty dark and Paul said that we probably wouldn't make it back before dark. Well I said of course we will, well guess what we weren't. And I suppose you can guess by the picture what happened. we were halfway up the street to our house, when I look down and I see Paul almost step on a TARANTULA!!!! I of course screamed which made paul jump, and the tarantula started chasing Paul. Well I refused to walk the rest of the way home, I had flip flops on, so Paul ended up carrying me on his back while pushing the stroller. The moral of the story do not go walking in Arizona after dark!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

Boy I haven't blogged in a while, probably because we haven't been doing too many exciting things around here. However we did go to a Braves vs Diamond Backs game a little while ago. We decided to dress Thomas in a neutral outfit, he is wearing a braves onsie and a D-Backs hat.

This is a picture of our friends who are hardcore Braves fans!

I thought I would give a little update on Thomas, he is doing great he is starting to get more vocal everyday, he goes around saying mama all day long. he also is doing a lot of squealing and screaming, he gets more fun everyday!

I thought this was a funny picture, he is such a happy and smiley kid.

Breaking Dawn

Ok so I am also one of the many obsessed Twilight series readers out there. Me and a couple of my friends decided to go to the midnight party at Barnes and Noble for the release of Breaking Dawn. I just got done finishing reading today and it was an amazing book, so if you haven't read them, the are a fun and easy read!!

So we cheated and at midnight we went to Wal Mart to get the book because it was so much cheaper there and there was no line. The funny thing is that they weren't even going to release the book, but my friend called and talked them into it.

Vacation

We decided to drive thru Vegas to get to Utah, and of course we had to stop at the Hoover Dam, It was a long drive but Thomas did exceptionaly well for such a long time in the car.

Here is me and Thomas at the Salt lake Pioneer parade for the 24th of July, it was pretty fun until it got super hot!

I thought this was a funny picture, you probably can't tell but Thomas has olives on his fingers,

For my Birthday Paul's family and my family all got together at Liberty Park and had a picnic and we went ice blocking, this is me and my mom who is by the way in her late 50's and has had both of her knees replaced riding down the hill racing me on a block of ice. we had a lot of fun it remined me of being a kid again. (I don't think Thomas enjoyed the ride as much as me, maybe when he is older).

For Sara and Jeremy

Just a little gesture from us to you to say thanks for your friendship and good luck. Shall we say, MISSSION ACCOMPLISHED!

p.s. If you're not Jeremy or Sara you probably will not get this!

9 Months Old!!

Look who's turning into a big boy before our eyes, he now sits and plays by himself...

... and stands with a little help from dad.

He has a brand new room that we painted this weekend.

The rest of the house is starting to come together too, we painted the hall today and did the living room last month, I told Julie she could do one room a month, but somehow she keeps trying to sneak in more than one. Next on the the list is either the kitchen (I hope not) or the bedroom. We're trying to get as much done now, so the house will have a semi-finished look when family comes to visit in a couple weeks.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!!

Life

I thought this was funny, I came home the other night and found Thomas in his dirty clothes basket, apparently Paul thought this was a cleaner place to put him rather than on the carpet. But hey Thomas didn't seem to mind.

It was a long road for Thomas' recovery but he is finally sitting up and he is now waving bye bye!

This was our first trip to the pool and Thomas' very first time in the pool, he seems to like it alright. I can't believe that Paul let me post this picture, it looks like he hasn't seen the sun in years! Not that I am any tanner than he is but I would never post a picture of me in a bathing suit.

Well its official summer has started in Arizona, I went to open the curtains to the back door and this huge grasshoper was clinging to the screen. There are so many bugs here it is pretty disgusting, there are also many reptiles all over our yard I saw three frogs yesterday and too many lizards to count

Sorry

obviously it has been a really long time since we have blogged and Thomas would like to take this time to appologize to everyone for taking up all of his parents time. It has been a long road of recovery, when Thomas came home he had a hard time even keeping his head up due to the month long bed rest, we have been trying to work with him a lot on sitting up and tummy time. This is a picture of Thomas' last discharge from the hospital which was on May 23rd. This was his favorite nurse Leslie, she took really good care of him. Thomas is now doing great infact we went to Phoenix yesterday for a chest xray and an echo and both showed no more signs of fluid so our Dr. said it was ok to take him off the low fat formula that he was on Yeah!!!!!

This is it! this is our new house which we love! Sorry the picture isn't very good, I will definitley post more later. We still have a lot of work to do. The inside of the house is painted white, and if I have to live in another house with white walls I think I will go insane! So we have decided to paint one room per month, we have already painted the front room (its just a tan color, but its better than white). We also are going to be putting in grass and a garden in the back yard in the Fall, which I cant wait for, I am just not into the whole rock landscaping look that is all over Arizona. Our back yard is pretty great there are no houses behind us, we have an amazing view of the mountains and in the mornings you can see a whole herd of deer just up the hill.

Happy Day After Mother's Day!

Well, today we had another checkup for Thomas. And what happens at checkups? That's right they do echo's, find fluid around heart, and admit him to the ICU. The day after Mother's Day was no different. He is perfectly happy, you wouldn't know anything thing was wrong, but he has to go in for another surgery since this is the second time this complication has occurred. They opened up his chest, and evacuated the fluid, they said it was under a lot of pressure, and the main reason was to cut a hole and create a window, so the fluid will drain from the space around his heart into the space around his lungs, since the lungs can apparently handle it better, and it's not as dangerous for the fluid to collect there. They put in another chest tube to monitor how much is draining. The only good news is that he was already off the ventilator by the time they brought him up to us. So now he is in the ICU for probably a week or two until the fluid subsides and the hole heals, but who knows. He is stable and seems in good spirits, but it is sure frustrating and scary especially since he showed no signs of distress. Julie practically lives in Phoenix now, and I have started going back and forth and going to work. trying to save some vacation days because we are all going to need one when this is all over. Keep praying for our sweet Thomas.

Happy Mothers Day!

Its finally here! my very first Mothers Day!!
It has definitely been a roller coater ride to get to this point, as many of you know it took us three very long and heart breaking years to get to this point. I definitely have been broken in to the whole motherhood role, I have been thrown up on three times in the last few days, I have been in and out of the ICU, I don't sleep very well through the night because I feel that I have to check on Thomas to make sure he is alright about 10 times a night. In spite of all that has gone wrong for us and for Thomas I am so excited and Blessed That he is in our lives. I have also had a great Mothers Day so far, Paul got me gift cards to my favorite places (Kohl's and Olive Garden) he also gave me an awesome bath pillow and bubble bath, because I love baths and I could stay there all day, especially after being thrown up on so many times. He was also my slave for a day. I also wanted to thank my mom for the gift she gave me I think it was about a pound of fudge (which is almost gone, sadly) she always knows just what to get me when I am having a tough time!

Anything that can go wrong....

So, we took Thomas for his final post-surgical checkup with the cardiologist. Expecting to be the last time we were in Phoenix for a while, we hoped to get the, everything looks good we'll see you in six months, or at the worst, we'll see you in three months.

Well, after they performed an echo (ultrasound) on his heart, the cardiologist comes in and tells us he has a very large amount of fluid around his heart pushing on one side, most likely its inflamation from surgery, but we absolutely need to go in and get it, and keep him overnight. Of course...

So they put Thomas out, back on the breathing tube, back in the ICU, and they perform the procedure to go take it out. They remove about a 1/4 of a cup, oh except its not clear inflamation, its not blood, it doesn't appear to be an infection, well... we don't know what it is exactly. Analyze, wait, culture, wait some more. We think it's fat cells from his diet.....???? Who knows what's going on, but one night just turned into a likely week, as he has drained another 1/2 cup of milky substance out the cathetors they left lying up next to his heart. They are talking about putting him on a low fat diet to try and seal what they think is a breach is some lipid line... that oh yeah... wa probably nicked during surgery. If that doesn't work, did I mention he won't take a bottle, never would, then if the whole is big enough then we're talking more surgery.

I'm just ranting here while I ran home to get supplies, for the unexpected stay, we obviously didn't take anything with us, and just wanted to catch everyone up on our "perfect" lives.

-Paul

Cell phone pictures from this time around... at least he's smiling that makes one of us.