May 26, 2010 Surgery day anniversary

Tomorrow May 26, 2011 will be Taevin's one year anniversary since his Open Heart Surgery (OHS) to repair his broken heart. (Truncus Arteriosus, ASD, VSD)

I was sitting hear thinking about that day and all he has gone through. Looking back at my posts from his birth to coming home I am overwhelmed by all the emotions that come flooding back. Not only the thoughts and emotions from having to watch my sweet baby deal with so much but also all the wonderful friends and family that were there with us each step of the way offering words of support, prayers, calls and so much love. We are truly blessed to have these great people in our lives! Thank you!

Here is Taevin just hours after his surgery.

Only 13 days old.

One year later......

He is doing amazing! His heart is strong and healthy. The cardiologist doesn't think he will need another surgery for several more years. (they told us 3 to 5 years at his first appointment) The only concern at his 1 year check was that the blood vessel leading into his left lung is a bit small and restricts blood flow to that lung. They are keeping a close eye on it and if the vessel has not grown adequately in the next 5 months then they will have to preform a Catheterization procedure and either insert a stent or use a balloon to enlarge it.

Taevin is such a strong happy little man and can alway bring a smile to my face. I really am blessed to be his mother.

Taevin's 1st birthday

Happy Birthday Taevin!

My sweet little man turned 1 on May 13th. What a year it has been too. Wow, looking back I feel so blessed to be where we are today. In this one short year he made it through being born with a broken heart and DiGeorge Syndrome. He under went open heart surgery at just 13 days old. He dealt with all the doctors appointments, blood work, tests and so much more and was able to do it all with a smile. What an amazing and special little boy I have been blessed with!!!

He went from this........

to this in one short year.

Taevin with his Daddy and Grandma Deja

Birthday Cake!

Little Man enjoying his birthday cake. Yummy!

Look what I got!

Taevin loves music, food, his sisters, mommy and daddy. He loves to cuddle, play in the water, play ball and get in to as much mischief as possible. He always has a smile and a kiss for you. He is so sweet and likes to flirt with the pretty girls.

We love you Taevin and are unbelievably blessed to have you as part of our family.

More fun hair.....

I try doing some thing different with Areya's hair each morning, it doesn't alway happen. Here are some of the fun ones we did. There are also a few of Aniela.

We got a boat

Since we moved here Damian has been talking about getting a boat. He found this one for pretty cheap. The only bad part was the guy selling it lives over 3 hours away in Indiana. So we left the kiddos with his mother and were off to pick it up.

It needs a little work but is in pretty good condition. The girls were super excited and can't wait to get out on the water as does Damian.

Now to figure out the best places to go, getting it insured, registered and all that fun jazz.

Easter 2011

Happy Easter!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We had lots of surprises waiting for us Easter morning. Thanks to all the Easter bunnies who stopped (sent stuff) by this year!

They were very excited to see what the Easter Bunny left.

They each got a church outfit and a play outfit.

Taevin enjoying the Easter egg hunt.

Aniela showing off her loot.

Areya was so excited to get her kite.

After finding all the eggs that tricky bunny left and way to much candy we talked about the reason we really celebrate Easter and then got ready for church. The kids looked so good in their Easter outfits!!

After church we had dinner and an egg hunt with 2 families from church. It was lots of fun (and yummy food) spending time with them. Thanks guys for sharing Easter with us.

Pinkalicious

A friend of mine found a great deal on tickets to Pinkalicious the musical in Chicago. So we made it a mommy daughter date and headed to town.

Here's all five girls enjoying the train ride to Chicago.

Areya, Zoe M., Aniela, Avery M. and Hayden W.

After the train ride we stopped and had lunch then walked just over a mile to the theater. The girls did great.

The musical was cute and the girls loved it!

Us after the show.

On our mile walk back we stopped at got some supper yummy popcorn. Then headed back home on the train. The girls had so much fun spending time with friends and getting in a little mommy time too.

Thanks Carli and Melissa for the fun outing. We'll have to do it again some time.

Aniela's 4!

Happy 4th Birthday Aniela!!!

My sweet little angle born at 7 lbs 8 oz the day before Easter. She has brought so much joy and laughter to our lives and we love her more then any thing.

Aniela had a great day. She went to preschool in the morning and had a great time with her friends. After her sister got home we open presents and had cake and ice cream.

And then it was time for the big revel:

She got a Dora convertible.

They spent the rest of the day light driving up and down the driveway.

BBQ Pizza

Here is the super yummy BBQ pizza we made. It was super easy too.

All I did was marinade chicken in Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce for about 24 hours. Then put it in the crock pot for about 2 hours. Shredded the chicken and then put it back in the sauce on low for about 20 mins.

Next I minced garlic and onion and fried it with a little butter and salt.

We used pre made pizza dough sprinkled with mozzarella cheese, added the cooked onion/garlic, then topped it with the BBQ chicken. Cook and enjoy!!!

Taevin 10 months

We reached a lot of mile stones with Taevin this month. Woo Hoo!!

* He learned to clap

* He can get from sitting to prone without falling

* He started waving bye bye

* He started drinking from a sippy cup and feeding himself

* He can say ma ma & da da

* He blows kisses

* He'll pass the ball back and forth

and

* He started Crawling!!!

Here's the video to prove it!

Taevin got his Doc Band this month. This band will help to correct his flat head misshaped head. He will have to have it on 23 hours a day for about 6 months. Isn't he so cute in it!

After a week in his band he got a red spot that won't go away, he won't be back in the band until it does. Since the spot has not faded after a week I took him to the doctor to see what was wrong. She was not sure what it could be. Her guesses were cradle cap or a fungal infection. They did a swap to test for the fungal infection. We should get the result in 2 to 3 weeks. (Not really that helpful)

Here it is. It's a red bump with little flakes of skin.

Taevin is has reached 15 lbs 12 oz. He continues to see the Physical Therapist once a week. The Developmental and Speech Therapists every other week.

He had a hearing check which came back normal. He also saw the ENT. They are still watching his loud breathing and his weak cry. They want to look down his throat but he needs to be sedated for it so they want to wait until his next surgery. As of right now neither of these things are a big concern.