Here Alex, Let me show you how it's done!

Sam has such a great time playing with Alex, even though it's only for about 5 minutes before Alex has had enough. He's such a great big brother!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

Two Handsome Boys!

Playtime for Alex

Beating the Heat!

Sam and his buddy Austin spent about 4 hours out playing in the water on Saturday. When it's this hot, you gotta do what you can to keep cool! Thanks for coming to play Austin!

Update............finally!

I guess I never realized how many people read our blog until you don't update and then everyone is wondering! In this case, no news was good news! Alex's check-up went great. He was able to get off of one of his meds, unfortunately for him, it was the only one that tasted good! His other two meds give him bitter beer face when he takes them! He is up to almost 9 lbs, which may not seem like a lot, but for a heart baby, that is great! We'll take extra weight anywhere we can get it (for Alex that is)! His oxygen saturation is right where it should be. His color is good and he is a very content baby with the exception of some colic in the evening. He does not need to be seen by cardiology until August 4th for another check-up!!! We are so blessed! His life is such a miracle. All of the very little things add up to such big things for him, and that is very evident in his life! We know that your prayers make such a difference to him and to us as a family! We know that we say it all the time, but we want each of you to know how much we appreciate your prayers! We know that they make all the difference.... just look at our family!

BBQ @ Hammas House

Alex finally made it to some family parties this weekend and got to meet some of his family he hasn't even seen yet. What a blessing! We had a great time with BBQ, football and games!

Quick Update

Things are still going really well. Alex is doing great. He is eating well, sleeping well (during the day that is), and seems to be settling back in to life at home. His reflux has seemed to be bothering him the last couple of days, so we just started meds for that. Hopefully that will help the poor little guy! We go to see the surgeon tomorrow for routine follow up. They will do a chest x-ray and an echocardiogram just to make sure that no fluid is collecting in the sac surrounding the heart. He said that it is most likely to occur within the first week post-op. We hope that everything will look good.
Sam is also doing well. He is such a good big brother. He always wants to help with everything. He is such a great kid, very understanding of Alex and his needs and very patient. As so many of you know, newborns require a lot of attention and time, and he is always so kind to Alex.
Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support. It means so much to us. As we have said so many times before, Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, and we appreciate all that is done in behalf of our family.
We will keep you updated on what the docs say tomorrow.

Brotherly Love

Yeah Mom, I'm watching what I'm doing!

Crazy Driver!

Park around here at your own risk!

Driving Lessons

Sam and Dad enjoying some time driving the new remote control car! Thanks to cousin Taylor for the awesome new truck! It's taking a lot of practice to learn to control, but it's still pretty fun while he learns!

Best Buddies!

It's always fun to hang out together! We always forget what a big boy Sam is until we compare him to Alex.

WAY TO GO ALEX!

Way to go is right! We are home once again, and we hope for a longer period of time this round. Alex is doing really well. We are happy to be home. It always seems just a little bit easier to deal with everything when you're all in one place. Of course, Sam is thrilled. Thank you to Kristi for making this homecoming and the last a great one! Our neighbor Kristi is always taking care of us as you can see. The time that she spends welcoming us really means a lot to our family!

Ben and Jami's Wedding

Snug as a bug!

Alex getting into "the zone" at bedtime.

Happy to see Alex!

Once again, a proud big brother. Sam was so excited to see Alex yesterday. He was not happy about having to take him back to the hospital for surgery. He had gotten used to having him home and did not want to turn him back over to the docs (join the club!). We didn't want to take him up while Alex still had all of his tubes. He will get to deal with that later with his other two surgeries, since they will be in place longer with those ones. As you can see we have two beautiful boys, and we couldn't be more proud of them!

Proof in the power of prayers!

As Gary posted, what a difference a day makes. Just thought you would all like to see for yourselves. Thanks to your thoughts and prayers, the power of the priesthood and through the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father, Alex is doing GREAT! Once again , we are so truly blessed in our little family. Since the picture on the right, he has had his oxygen, and the big dressing (arterial line) on his right hand removed. I have not been up to the hospital yet to get pictures today, but I will soon. Thank you again for your prayers. Here's proof they work!!

What a difference a day makes

Alex has really turned a corner over the past day. After we posted the last comment, that night his kidneys kicked into high gear and he is getting rid of lots of fluid. He is now extubated (no breathing tube), he has had all of his lines pulled out and is getting transferred to the floor today. He will be home tomorrow or Sunday most likely. Dr. Hawkins (surgeon) was really happy with how the echo looks. He says the band is just right and should really help him out. He got to eat yesterday and has been eating through the night last night without any problems. He still is a little swollen in the face, but that will clear with time. We are so excited for his progress and how hard he is fighting. He sure is a strong little guy.

Update on Alex

Just a quick update on Alex. He is still doing well, with just a few little bumps. He had his foley catheter and chest tube removed. He has decided not to pee much since the catheter has been removed though. They will continue to monitor that closely. We are hoping that his kidneys will decide that they need to get to work and start getting rid of the extra fluid. He is still pretty sleepy. He does really well for a while with his breathing and so they turn down that ventilator, then he decides he's tired, so he sort of slows down on breathing. They are going to try to wean him again tomorrow morning around 5 AM, and see how he does. We are hoping that if his kidneys get going, they will help clear any of the meds out of his system which will in turn help him to wake up more and breathe better.
He is such a trooper. He is a fiesty little guy and gets mad at them when they do things to him he doesn't like. He just doesn't realize that he turns blue when he does that, so who's showing who?
We are so very blessed! Alex continues to teach us so much about Heavenly Fathers love for each of us. We are all truly loved and considered precious spirits to our Heavenly Father. Thank you to all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers. Please continue to pray for sweet little Alex and Sam. We know that our Heavenly Father hears and answers the prayers that are offered.

More Alex

Somebody loves his mama

The surgery went very well, it took about two hours total time. The surgeon said everything went perfectly. He was taken back to the PICU with lots of tubes and wires. When Camille started to talk to him he opened his eyes (sort of). He is always comforted by her voice. He has been really sleepy and groggy while the medicine is wearing off, so they are hoping to get the breathing tube out by morning. They give him pain medicine and it makes him sleepy and not breathe as well, so we have to find a balance between pain meds and breathing. When we left tonight to come home he is much more alert and responsive, but still pretty sleepy. They hope to be able to remove lots of his lines and tubes tomorrow. He is a little fighter. It is funny to watch him suck on his breathing tube like a binkie, at least something is comforting about it. We hate to see him look this way, but we know that it has to happen for him to really feel better and get this heart issue fixed. If everything goes as planned, we won't have to have another surgery for around six months. The problem is that one will be a much bigger surgery with a longer recovery time, but once it is over he won't have anymore until he is about 2 or 3. At least one is behind us. We appreciate everyone's love, support and concern. It doesn't go unnoticed. We really feel that part of Alex's purpose in life is to help the rest of us recognize the hand of The Lord in our everyday lives. We have seen many miracles take place and know that a loving Heavenly Father is keeping close watch over little Alex. Keep praying for him--we know the prayers are heard and answered.

Pre-op

Here is Alex just minutes before surgery. He was sleeping when we handed him over, so that was kind of nice. It was hard to hand him over and know that things will dramatically change for him in the next few hours. We felt very confident in the surgeon, anesthesiologist and the other medical staff, but it doesn't make it any easier.