Baby Lily

Thank you for your prayers for Baby Lily. Holden and I saw her Mom and Grandma yesterday at Egleston They said the surgery was postponed as Lily had some complications and doctors did not think she was strong enough to endure it. So she is resting in the CICU and is now stable. The hope is once she's regained some of her strength they will be able to proceed with the surgery. These little babies are amazing. They are a constant reminder to me of the inner strength we all have. And some days when I am complaining about the little things, I think of what babies like Lily and Holden have had to endure! I am sure God has big plans for these little ones!! I'll keep you posted on Lily's progress.

Holden is doing well - just dealing with teething this week. I'll write more soon.

Prayer Request

I have a favor to ask all of you. One of Holden's little friends, Lily, needs our prayers. Long story short, Lily was born with a heart defect. We met her and her family while in the CICU, a couple of days after she was born. Her bed was across from Holden's. In order to correct her heart defect, Lily has already had a couple open heart surgeries. She is now nearly 8 months old and had another scheduled surgery last month. She had been recovering in the step down unit (private room) when she came down with pneumonia. Since then she took a turn for the worse and was moved back into the CICU. Things have been very touch and go over the weekend and they've decided to do another operation tomorrow to try to replace the valve in her heart. I can certainly understand the fear her family is facing. Fortunately Lily, like her buddy Holden, is a little fighter and can make it through this. You have all been so kind in praying for Holden so I hope that you don't mind me asking you to say an extra prayer for Lily. I will let you know how she is doing as soon as I get an update. Thank you and God Bless.

Enjoying each and every day!

I know I said I would scan some of mine and Reece's baby pictures for this blog posting, but we've been so busy this week (in a good way), that I have not had time. We truly have been enjoying each and every day. And it seems like Holden's world is quickly opening up to him and he's soaking it in like a thirsty sponge! We installed Holden's big boy car seat (as he is almost 22 lbs. which is the max weight for the infant seat) and he is now facing forward. To say he was giddy is understating how much he liked being able to see while we drive. He would whip his head around every time he heard a big truck. And Mommy got (and could see) lots of smiles.


Granma Deda and her friend Joan came into town on Sunday for a visit. Despite his teething (note the constant fingers in the mouth), the little Monkey was in a good mood and had lots of fun showing them his toys. We were so happy that Joan was finally able to meet Holden. They quickly became friends!!


On Monday, Holden had his first experience at Cracker Barrel. We had lunch with Grandma Rosanne, Uncle Richard, Aunt Peggy and Aunt Judy. He did great sitting in the high chair and loved looking around - especially in the little store they have. Aunt Judy brought him a cute Alphabet Caterpillar for his birthday and that helped entertain him so Mommy could eat!

On Tuesday, we went shopping at the Outlet Mall with Grandma Rosanne and Aunt JoJo. Holden loved riding in his stroller and looking around. He was very patient and hung in there for several hours and eventually gave in to his sleepiness and took a nap!

While today's outing to Holden's cardiologist was not nearly as much fun for him, he did very well. Based on the echo, his doctor was able to confirm that his 3 remaining pulmonary veins look good. And while they can't really measure the pulmonary pressures with an echo, he did not think there was much change since the echo they did following his January cath. And the ASD (hole between the chambers of his heart) still appears to be slowly closing on its own. For the first time ever, we will not have to return for a follow up appointment for 3 months (we've had monthly appointments this past year).

So now that cold and flu season is on its way out, I'm excited that Holden will get to have more and more of the experiences most of us take for granted every day!! Hopefully a family vacation is in our near future!!

Chunk-a-Monk on a Diet??

I can't believe how long it has been since I've blogged. And no, Holden is not really on a diet, but the little Monkey did have his daily calories reduced. He jumped from the 7th percentile in weight before the holidays to the 20 something percentile as of this week. And while all of his doctors are happy that he is growing, they want it to be at a slower pace - keeping a curve on the growth chart instead of a spike.

We've also made some changes to his feedings and he is making great progress. Without getting into all the details, I can tell you he's on the feeding pump less now during the day and has been consistently drinking at least one full bottle each day. Progress with solid foods have been a slower, but he's at least open to trying different foods. Now were trying to establish hunger so he will be inclined to each more. I never imagined we'd have to work so hard to get him to "want" to eat. But fortunately he's slowly going in the right direction. And with lots of support and patience, he'll get to the point when he'll no longer need the G-Tube/Feeding pump!

I love this picture with Holden putting the bottom of his bottle in his mouth. He's teething again and everything goes in the mouth. Tooth 7 just cut and I think 8 is on the way. He seems to get them in, in pairs. Unfortunately Holden is one of those kids who does not do well with teething, so we've had some sleepless nights and long (cranky) days. But he slept great last night, so I am hoping the worst is behind us for tooth 7 and 8!! Only 12 more to go, right!!??

It has been exciting to see him make more progress with his mobility. He's rolling all of the place and still doing the military crawl. I think as he gets stronger, the crawling and walking will happen quickly, because he definitely wants to be on the move.

I've noticed that as Holden's gotten stronger, he likes staying active and playing a lot more! Some days we go through nearly every toy in the toy box. His favorite still seems to be his trucks, however, lately he is also fascinated with Mommy's laptop. I've been pulling up some kid friendly sites and trying to teach him words, letters, etc. But mostly, he just like mashing the keys!! And with the warmer weather, we've been loving spending time outside. We've been taking walks (well Alex and I walk, Holden rides in his little red car!) and sitting in the grass blowing bubbles.
Last weekend took Holden to the Circus. The White family joined us with their adorable son Campbell who is 2 years old. Holden did great the 1st hour, but then started to get fussy and sleepy during the second half.

I was impressed at how attentive he was to the performances. His face lit up when the dog act came out. He was able to focus on the performers - even the acrobats flying through the air. Reece and I probably spent more time watching him than the show. It was so great!!


I used to think Holden looked so much like Reece. This week (I say that because he does seem to change every week), I think he looks like a blend between the two of us. He has Daddy's eyes, eyebrows, nose and chin (and same cheeks as Reece had as a baby). But he has my curly hair, lips and ears.

He plays with his toys like an engineer (like Reece used to), trying to figure out how it works and turning everything upside down and inside out.

He is stubborn like his Mommy and very persistent. And as we well know, he's a little fighter. Definitely a trait both Mommy and Daddy have!!

I just dug out some baby pictures of Reece and I. I'll scan them in for my next blog, so y'all can decide for yourself who he looks like.

In the meantime, we'll be enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. And as cold and flu season wraps up within the next month, we'll be able to be out and about much more. Look out world here we come!

Snow Day for Holden

Look Mommy, the sky is falling!!

Holden saw snow for the first time today. We mostly watched it from the warmth of our house, but eventually, we got bundled up and headed outside. He was fascinated by the fluffy wet stuff that kept landing on his face. He would turn and look at me, smile and then look back up at the sky.

He touched the snow and didn't seem at all phased by how cold and wet it was.

It has been so great to see what an easygoing baby Holden is when he's feeling well. It amazes me how well he deals with new experiences. He loves getting out - anyplace other than the doctors office or hospital. This week we went for a walk at Stone Mountain Park. We must have walked 3-4 miles (well he rode in his little car) and he did great! Other than the same 2 teeth that seem to be taking their time cutting, Holden continues to do well.

He has become so active and loves to play with his toys, read books and ride in his little red car. It has been great to see him feeling so well. I pray this becomes the norm and the icky days are few and far between.

"I'm a Big Boy Now"

I've been amazed at how much Holden is suddenly showing an interest in doing things. Someone must have told him that it was okay to coast (okay, he really wasn't coasting. He was spending lots of time in the hospital and trying to get strong) until he turned one years old. So suddenly, he wants to crawl, roll, sit up, etc. It was not that he was not doing any of these things before, it was just not daily. He would do them when he had the energy. But even then, he did not seem to want to. Now, all of the sudden, he "wants" to do everything and has more energy. Holden is amazed by Grandpa. In this photo, he is trying to get Grandpa's glasses!

Holden is now rolling all around to get where he wants to go. And although he is not full out crawling, he is pulling himself up and kind of doing the commando crawl. I've noticed that he does more when I leave the room. So now I peek around the corner. That's how I got this photo.

Holden has also been taking more bottles ever since his Cath last month. Starting this week, we'll be focusing more on bottles and solids and trying to cut down the amount of hours each day that he is fed by the feeding pump.

Several of you have asked why Holden seems to always have a pacifier and stuffed animal in his face. It is called a Wubba Nub (or as we call it, the Wubby) and is actually a stuffed animal attached to the pacifier. What a great invention!! It was a great tool for keeping Holden interested in having something in his mouth, all these months that he was being fed exclusively by the feeding pump. It also taught him to hold things and kept Mommy from having to get up every hour when the pacifier would fall out of his mouth. With the Wubby, he can easily find it on his own. I suspect there will come a day when we won't think the Wubby was such a good idea, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Just to show you that the Wubby is not really permanently attached to his face, I've attached a photo below with Holden flashing Mommy one of his charming "melt my heart" smiles.