Happy Easter!

Happy 2nd Easter to our little Monkey!! While this year was definitely better than celebrating in the NICU - which we had to do last year, it was not exactly what we had planned. We were supposed to spend the day with our whole family, eat a nice (semi) traditional dinner and then have an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids - things changed when Holden and I got sick again.

Holden had a mild fever, runny nose and was just cranky. I had a fever between 101 and 103, ache, chills and at times felt delusional. It broke my heart to have to uninvite everyone as we were really looking forward to the being together for the holiday.

Fortunately, the Easter Bunny still came to visit Holden and was not scared off by our germs!! Holden was excited to see his special basket waiting for him and quickly started playing with the plastic wrap - which he liked as much as the gifts inside!

Mommy spent much of the day on the couch and by the evening found herself covered with hives. After a freak out call to my doctor, we determined that I must be allergic to the antibiotic I had been taking for the past week for my sinus infection. And all of the flu like symptoms were likely just additional side effects. So after a shot of steroids, new antibiotics and a couple more days of being miserable, I'm finally starting to feel better! Thank goodness because Holden was not liking Mommy staying at a distance!! And I missed my Monkey kisses!! Oh, and Holden...turns out he probably did not have the flu either. Looks like another tooth was cutting!!

Spring Colds...

Holden played with one of his little friends last week. It was awesome to see him interact with another infant - but unfortunately three days later the little monkey got sick. We had a couple long nights and he had all the classic signs of a cold - possibly even the flu. So just to air on the side of caution, I took him to see his pediatrician last Friday. The doctor said his lungs sounded good, but his throat was really red, so they tested him for strep. It was negative, so ultimately she thought he just had a bad cold. Other than Tylenol, we just needed to let him work through it. And now Mommy has his cold - which makes me realize how miserable he probably was. No wonder he just wanted to be held!

On Saturday, I took Holden to his 1st Easter Egg Hunt (Reece had a tennis match) in Cleveland, GA. We were 5 minutes late and all 18,000 eggs were gone!! Fortunately, Holden's cousins shared their eggs with him and he had a great time just picking up the eggs and putting them in his basket.

After the Easter Egg Hunt we went to visit Aunt JoJo at the Post Office and then all went to see the Easter Parade. Holden loved waving at all the people on the floats that went by and his eyes lit up when he saw the big shiny red fire trucks! After the parade we had lunch and Holden took a much needed nap. Then, we went to the spring festival at Babyland General (Cabbage Patch place). Holden was able to see the birth of a Cabbage Patch baby - but was way more fascinated with the choo choo train! It was a long day for the little guy, but he handled it great, especially considering he was still getting over his cold. He slept almost the whole way home!! He loves his tin Easter bucket and likes to drop anything in it that will make noise!

Baby Lily's Mom called yesterday to let us know that Lily has been put on the heart transplant list. We ask that you keep Lily and her family in your prayers.

Who do I look like??

I love this picture of Holden and Reece! His face was a mess because he had just eaten baby food (prunes of all things). Despite what you'd think looking at those chubby cheeks, getting Holden to eat on his own has been a daily struggle for us. We were so proud of him and you can tell looking at his face, he was happy with himself!! It is amazing the little things we've grown to appreciate. I certainly thought that the feeding stuff would get easier after his fundo surgery. But it has been a struggle. We are fortunate that he does well being fed with the feeding pump via G-Tube and that we've had no growth issues. He was drinking at least 1 bottle a day, however last week he started throwing the bottles on the floor. I'm not sure if it is because his teeth hurt or if we are dealing with another feeding aversion issue. But we continue to try with bottles and solids daily. Some days go better then others. He'll get there, but it is definitely on his time frame!!

So I assume everyone has their opinion on who Holden looks like. It has been fun to dig out some old baby pictures to see if he favors either one of us (more than the other), as a baby. I have to admit, I did think he looked more like Reece, but after seeing my baby pictures again, I can see he is a good blend of the both of us! Decide for yourself. The 1st four photos are Reece, the final four are me. All taken under the age of 14 months. Enjoy!

I have not heard how Lily is doing. I have a call into her Mom and will post once I hear something.

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!!