Follow up appt.

I just realized that I hadn't been on the computer all day, and hadn't posted anything about Alex's appointment today. Sorry for those who have checked and found nothing!

He woke up SUPER grumpy today! He did not want to go to the hospital for his x-ray (can you blame him?). "I don't want to go for my x-ray right now." That was all we heard until we got out the door. Once we pulled into the parking garage at PCMC he perked right up and wanted to walk. "I want to walk in the hospital not ride in my stroller"..... well good for you, so he walked, and walked and walked. Even being a week post-op he seemed to have more stamina than before surgery. I'm afraid our stroller riding days are coming to an end soon. That kid has lived in his stroller when we go places. He has lots of energy but would wear out fast, then he would want held. He also would ride in it everytime we'd go grocery shopping, I have a thing with putting him in a shopping cart! :) It was really nice to see him go today and not poop out.

We saw Dr. Puchalski, and Annie, the Nurse Practitioner with surgery. They both said that his x-ray was "stable", meaning that there isn't any improvement or any worsening of fluid. There are not any pleural effusions (fluid around the lungs which causes them to not be able to expand with breathing), which is great! There is however fluid on his lungs that he needs to clear. They have left him on his Lasix (diruetic) 3 times a day, and added a second diuretic to help him try to clear that fluid out. With increased diuretic, movement and coughing he should be able to clear it out. His oxygen saturations are running in the low 90's with him still on 1/4 liter of oxygen.

Dr. Puchalski is thrilled with how he looks. He really is improving everyday. He has seemed to turn a corner today especially. He was super ornery this morning, but after lots of walking at the hospital, and a nap this afternoon he woke up as the happiest kid on earth. He was playing and laughing, like he has been, but didn't get grumpy this evening. I know that your prayers and faith are whats keeping him going.

I am amazed at the continued support and outpouring of love from all of those around us. Just when I think nobody can do more to help us, someone else shows up and does more. My heart is so full of gratitude for each of you and your kindness. Thank you!

I will post more later on this week and include pictures. Have a great night!

Life at home....

We are surviving here at home. Gary was on night duty last night for the first night home, and it was a bit of a rough one. Alex didn't sleep very well at all. He was fussing with his oxygen, wanting drink after drink and just not resting well at all.

Gary was so sweet and let me sleep the whole night. It felt great to get 7 hours of sleep all in a row! Thank you Gary for letting me rest, even though today was your birthday and you should've been the one sleeping.

Today Alex didn't do a whole lot, which is perfect. We played with Mr. Potato Head, colored, watched t.v., watched more t.v., and he wanted outside so bad. Our backyard is sunny all day until about 6:00, so instead of playing out back, we went out front and blew bubbles and caught potato bugs in the shade. The backyard is torture for him anyway, all he wants to do is play on the swingset, play in the sandbox, jump on the trampoline and swing. We did give in and let him swing, just not how he normally swings. That's a little rough for a fresh sternal incision!

He is being really good about his oxygen. He is on a 150 foot leash and has learned to turn around and yank it when it gets stuck. It's amazing how adaptable kids are. I just feel bad when he's walking and all of the sudden gets pulled back. I can tell when it happens because I hear "UGH" and then see it get yanked. Funny kid.

His appetite is about back to "normal" and he is eating pretty much everything. During his hospital stay he lost just under a half of pound, which is outstanding! I am so glad that we don't have to make up much ground on his weight. Dr. Kaza (his surgeon) wanted to know what our secret was to him looking so healthy and putting on the weight that he had. When I told him it was force feeding, he laughed. After my  family vouched for me, I think he believed it. I have spent SO many hours at the table with Alex, and saying SO many hours is an understatement. I literally feel like I spend the majority of my day feeding that kid. After hearing Dr. Kaza say that, it made all of those hours worth it!

We are grateful for the continued prayers that are offered in his behalf. Even though we are home, we are far from being back to normal. He still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. We are so happy to be doing it at home, in our own beds and own element. He will be restricted on his physical activity for the next 6 weeks, but I'm not sure I can keep him down that long! So thank you to those of you who are still praying. Those prayers are still needed and very much appreciated!

We are very aware of our Heavenly Father's hand in Alex's recovery. We know that He is watching over all. This little boy is a miracle. We are grateful for all of the miracles that we have witnessed and been able to be a part of. Prayers are answered, miracles still happen!

Our computer still isn't fixed, so I can't edit pictures. Here are some that we've taken over the last couple of days.

Walking out to the car to come home:

Taming his leash:

Getting outside and being silly:

Have a great night! We go in on Wednesday morning for his chest x-ray and quick check from the CardioThoracic Nurse Practitioner. I will update when we get the news from that. We continue to pray for no fluid around his lungs and continued speedy recovery.





Can you believe it?

Best birthday present EVER for dad! We all get to be home together for his birthday tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Daddy!



MIRACLES HAPPEN!!

My apologies....

To those of you who have been checking for updates today, I'm sorry. This is the first time all day that I have touched the computer. We've been pretty busy most of the day. It sort of went like this:

4:00 a.m.: blood draw
5:30 a.m.: chest x-ray
8:00 a.m.: new nurse came in
8:45 a.m.: doctors rounding
9:15 a.m.: last 2 chest tubes pulled
9:20 a.m.: a very happy, and energetic Alex
9:45 a.m.: breakfast for Alex (egg, pancake, yogurt and chocolate milk)
12:25 p.m.: down to cardiology for an echo
1-1:45 p.m.: playtime in toy room
2:00 p.m.: visit from Hamma, Garth, Tara and Megan
3:15 p.m.: visit from Bon-bon, Pa and Sam
3:45 p.m.: walk to toy room and some play time
5:30 p.m.: to cafeteria for dinner with Sam
6-7:15 p.m.: nap for Alex
7:30 p.m.: dinner for Alex
8:15 p.m.: visit from Michelle and J.R.
8:30 p.m.: trip outside to the patio, a poop for Alex (YAY!), and some sidewalk chalk
9:15 p.m.: back in for cleaning up, changing p.j.'s and sponge bath
10:15 p.m.: saying bye to dad who gets to go home and sleep tonight with Sam
11:00 p.m.: vitals, tylenol and off to sleep (hopefully until 5 a.m. when chest x-ray happens again!)
11:30 p.m.: tired, but very happy mom.

They say that when the chest tubes are pulled the kids do a 180 degree turn, they don't lie. It literally took about 5 mins for that to happen. Alex has been full of life, playing around, teasing and eating. He has made such huge strides today. We couldn't be more pleased with his progress!

The plan: do chest x-ray tomorrow to make sure that fluid is not building up around his lungs. If no fluid, we could be home pretty soon. If there is fluid, we increase his diuretic (medicine that makes you pee) to pull off extra fluid and do it all over again the next day and the next until it looks good.

My heart is overflowing with gratitude towards my Heavenly Father. His love is overwhelming. I pray that everyone who reads this blog will know of my unwavering faith in Him and His plans for each of us. Prayers are answered. You will never convince me otherwise. This little man has brought so much happiness and many moments of learning to my life. I know he has touched many of you as well. I hope that each of us will never forget the lessons he has taught us, and that we will forever work at being the good people that all of us can be. Enjoy the little things in life, never take a moment for granted, never forget to say I love you, never miss a chance to be silly with each other, always give thanks for all that we have.... especially each other!

Goodnight.

A little action

Alex has had a little more action today than yesterday. This morning they pulled his big chest tube. This one is the most painful for these kids. He still has 2 left that will be pulled over the next day or two. As he is up and moving more they are able to tell how much fluid his body needs to drain. Once his body will reabsorb this fluid they can pull those tubes. His arterial line from his wrist and an I.V. were pulled. The only I.V. left is in his foot and its pretty painful for him. I'm sure it's going bad, we're just trying to keep it open long enough for him to start eating better and then he won't need any. If we can avoid poking him any more times that would be awesome!

He got to get out of bed and go for a wagon ride just a few minutes ago. He stood up and was really wobbly. He took 3 steps to the wagon and was done. He cried and said his foot hurt (I.V.), but that was it. He coughed a bunch and took some nice big breaths once he settled down. It was just a short ride, but it was a ride. He took 3 more steps to get back in the chair and stood again for about a minute. We got him settled in the chair, he drank an ounce of chocolate milk in about 1 1/2 seconds and crashed back out. His color is great, his breathing sounds really good and he seemed to tolerate the movement other than his foot hurting. We'll try again later on too.

Here are a couple of pics from the ride:

We are hoping to be transferred to the floor today. The orders have been written, but there's no beds open right now. It's bitter sweet. The ICU is great because you have your nurse basically to yourself right at the bedside, but....you have no privacy and no quiet whatsoever. On the floor the nurses are more spread out and not as readily available, but you do get your private room where you can turn out the lights and close the door. We know the floor is a good thing, that means he's getting better!

Sam and Bon-bon and Pa are coming to visit this afternoon. Alex can't wait to see Sam, and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. Have a great day..... we'll update soon.

Oh, and I'm not sure if Hamma reads the blog anymore, but we also want to wish Gary's mom a very Happy Birthday! We'll celebrate when we can all be together for one big bash! Happy Birthday Hamma!

A much better night!

I know it's only 4 a.m. but Alex has had a much better night than last. He has been sleeping and actually resting. He slept for nearly 3 hours straight, and is now crashed back out. He is still in pain when he wakes up, but his need for pain meds is decreasing. He is going longer between doses right now. He has been sitting up more, but hasn't been out of bed yet. It gets a little tricky to do with 3 chest tubes and an exhausted boy! Morphine is his best friend right now. It does make him very sleepy, but this little man needs some rest. I think today will be a big day for him. They will try to get him up out of bed and are hoping to transfer him to the floor. We'll see how that goes.

He has been vomitting a bit today. It's pretty off and on. He'll drink something and be fine for an hour or so and then try something else and throw it up. It's just finding balance, and once he's up and moving his belly will adjust.

There are many people who have done so much to help our family through this difficult time. I want to express my deepest gratitude to each of you. I do not want to mention names for fear that in my sleep deprived fog I'd forget someone. Your actions are not going un-noticed. Thank you!

I was able to go home tonight to take Sam to back to school night. It was so nice to see him and spend some time with him, though it wasn't long enough. We went to school and then for an ice cream cone. I love that little boy and miss his smiling face. I will be so glad to be home and all together under one roof again.

We love you Sammy and we'll be home soon! Thanks for being such a kind and understanding and loving big brother. Alex sure is lucky to have you!

Here are a couple of pictures. I got my cord to take pics off of my camera now instead of just using Gary's phone. I cannot edit them on this computer though, since it's Gary's work laptop so please look past any red eyes!

Sitting up watching nursery rhymes on YouTube......



Sometimes it wears you out!



I'll update later on. Have a great day!

Got milk?

Alex does.... finally! He has been begging for it. They have been doing small amounts at a time, which is good for his belly, but a big tease for him. He slurps it down faster than you can blink an eye. The second helping he got, he looked at the bottle and started to cry, "I want it full". The third bottle he got twice as much in and still drank it just as fast as the others. He just asked for another one and raised his arm up in the air and said "I want this much milk". Pretty sure we could just put a straw in the gallon and let him go.

So far he's holding it all down. We hope that continues. He will keep advancing and hopefully try some food soon.

He didn't want to sit in the chair, but was ok to sit up in bed. He has been sitting up in bed, sleeping off and on for about an hour now. Baby steps. I know getting up in the chair is good for him, but sitting in bed is also very beneficial too. With his last 2 surgeries, the first 48 hours are his sleepy, adjusting time, then after that he seems to pick up quickly. We are praying that he will do the same for this one.

I'll try to post tonight, until then here's more pics of Alex:

Sorry for the delayed post....

Sorry for those who have been checking for some news this morning, we've been a little tied up.

Things overnight went fairly well. Alex had a hard time sleeping for more than about 20 minutes at a time. He was excited to get ice chips and an orange slushee, but was only allowed to eat them in moderation. It's a fine line between eating and letting him pig out. Their bellies are still "asleep" after surgery, so it takes sometimes several hours for them to wake-up and work like they should. Because of that, it can cause a lot of nausea and vomitting. He said he felt nauseated a few times, but thankfully, never threw up. As you would imagine, it can be super painful to throw up after having your sternum cut open.

He is beyond exhausted from the last 24 hours. With not sleeping that well last night, he feels pretty yucky this morning. They gave him some medicine to help him relax and try to catch a few zzzz's. Since then he has slept pretty solid for the last couple of hours. He still wakes up crying and then his blood pressure shoots up. We're trying to find a balance of pain control and happiness so that he will wake up more smoothly.

He has been given the go ahead to eat as tolerated, and to sit up in a chair. We thought that letting him rest was the best idea before we got him up. As painful as it sounds to get up 24 hours after open heart surgery, it's one of the best things for him. After this rest, and hopefully something to drink/eat, he'll feel more like participating! He is still asking for milk, he doesn't want anything except his milk. Poor kid, milk can be really hard on the stomach, so when he wakes up a little they'll let him have it in small doses.

Gary and I were able to get a little sleep last night. They had an sleep room available right outside the ICU, so we took turns and got a few hours each between last night and this morning. They also have a rocking chair at his bedside that we could use to doze off and on, but trying to sleep in a hospital is nearly impossible..... no wonder Alex is so exhausted!

They are pulling a couple of his lines today. The one that went directly into his heart was already pulled and his central line in his neck will be pulled this afternoon. He will also get rid of his foley catheter as well.

He is an amazing little boy. He is doing really well overall, just little things to work on throughout the day. Thank you for the prayers that you offer in his behalf. They are what gives him and us the most strength. There is nothing better than knowing that many are calling upon the powers of heaven to be with us. We know there on many angels who are sitting at his side, wrapping their loving arms around him and helping him and us through this difficult time.

We will update this afternoon. I am going home to go with Sam to back to school night. So if we get busy, just know that right now, no news is good news. Thank you again.

3:00 am...

It's 3:00 in the morning and nothing makes a guy feel better than a few spoonfuls of ice chips when you haven't had anything to eat all day!

He's pink!!

Can u believe it? This boy is pink and sating at 91. He is still on oxygen, and he will be for a couple of weeks. We never really noticed how "blue" his lips were. They always looked a dark color to us, but I think we were just used to him and his coloring. When we walked into the CICU  and saw him laying here, we were shocked.... his lips are pink, literally pink. His toes and fingers are pink. Amazing!

My heart is so full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I wish you could witness with your own eyes the miracles that have taken place so far. We are truly blessed! This is one amazing little man.!

Since we've been in the CICU:
He wakes up every 10-15 mins and cries and says "I want a drink of milk". Luckily for him he is almost done with having nothing to drink. At 8:00 he can have clear liquids for the night. They will not start him on any food until tomorrow at the soonest.
He says he wants to go home (go figure), guess his sleepover at the hospital isn't as fun as it sounded!
He wants to give Lucy a treat. (I'm sure Lucy would love a treat!)
His drainage from his chest tubes (he has 3) is very minimal.
His urine output is good.
He coughs quite a bit when he wakes up. Really good, hard coughs. That is key to a good recovery. Poor kid, sounds and looks painful, and he cries when he does it, but like I said, it's key to his recovery.
He is resting really soundly between the wake-ups, and I hope that continues throughout the night.

We will continue to keep updating throughout the evening. We have to leave the CICU during shift change from 7-8:00. We are hoping and praying for a quiet night for Mr. Alex.

I cannot thank each of you enough for your continued prayers. They are working. I am seeing it with my own eyes.

He's done!!

We just spoke with Dr. Kaza (his surgeon), he's finished. He said Alex looks great! Said everything went according to plan, and there were no surprises once he got in there. Said the scar tissue there was there, but not too bad to get through. Said his valves all look great with no leaking (which has never been a problem for him) and his ventricle strength is great. Said his O2 saturations are in the 90's which is about 10 points higher than he has been.

Anesthesiologist came in and told us that he was doing well enough to remove the breathing tube. That is a huge relief!

Dr. Puchalski came in and said that he looks great. His pressures look good and he is sleepilly coming out of it. We know that the storm is about to hit! Once he's awake and able to tell us how mad he is, he will!

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and love. We know that yours and our prayers have been answered. We should get to go and see him in about 15 mins. We will update later after we see him. Thank you again for your many prayers!!

Fontan finished

The nurse practitioner just came out and said that they have finished the Fontan part of the procedure. They are working now on warming his body back up. They hope to be warmed, and off the bypass machine within the next 1/2 hour. She will be back to update us within the next hour and can let us know what the plan will be as far seeing him. They typically need about an hour to get them settled in the CICU and then they let us in.

Thank you for your continued prayers and checking on us. We appreciate it so much. We know that prayers are answered and that is what will help him through this. It's going to be a rough 24 hours for him, but we know that prayers will strengthen him.

Update soon. :)

Just a reminder...

This is for the family and friends who have been coming with us to the annual "Walk for Healing Hearts", just wanted to let you know that today is the last day to pre-register. You can still register same day, but the fees are higher.

We're not sure if Alex will make it since it is close post-operatively, but Sam and I are planning on being there. We'd love to have anyone who wants to join us be there. Please feel free to come.

You can link to the registration page through the IHH Website : http://www.intermountainhealinghearts.org/ and click on the registration page.

Off to the O.R.

Alex went in to surgery just before 8:00. He was happy as could be to go. He loves the wagon rides and was excited to get bubble gum in his mask. Gary and I were not quite as excited as Alex was. We feel kind of guilty that he's so excited, but has no idea really of what is to come. He met Dr. Kaza before surgery and knows he is going to fix his heart. Alex is excited to have a "sleepover" at the hospital. I'm pretty sure that by tonight, he'll want his sleepover to be done! Poor kid!

We know that all is well. We know that Alex is surrounded by many angels, who are keeping watch over him while he is in there.

We will update when we hear more. Dr. Kaza said to plan on about 4-5 hours for surgery, and when he's done he'll be out to talk with us.

Thank you for all of the prayers. Please keep them coming!!

He looks pretty worried this morning, doesn't he?

Ready or not.....

Here's a short and sweet post...... still have lots to do tonight! Alex did pretty well through his pre-op work. They had to stick him twice for blood draws and he cried and said "ow, oW, OW!", but he still held still. What a kid!!

Everything is a go for tomorrow. He is first case at 8:00 a.m. which means we have to be at the hospital at 6:30. Nice and early, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We are thrilled to have him get this over with!!

I will keep everyone posted on his progress throughout the day. I will put things on FB and on here. Thank you for your prayers and love and support. We love you!

Finally a date....... again.

Ok.... so I called back on Tuesday to see about rescheduling Alex's surgery sooner than September 7th. I got a long lecture from the surgery scheduler about how we have to make sure that he is absolutely heathly, because of all of the risks yada, yada, yada. We understand that, that's why we cancelled it last week. He did have a couple of whiny days but we watched him all weekend  and gave him until Tuesday and felt like he was just fine. He has not had any runny nose, cough, fever or anything that would cause us to worry. Knock on wood!! I hope that as I'm typing this, I'm not cursing us!! I know that through your many prayers and ours, he is being watched over.

So, back to the story.... She told me she would need to talk with the surgeons and get their input and would call me back. She called me this afternoon, and said they had given their clearance to schedule him next Wednesday, August 24th. Only 2 weeks difference, but we are happy to take it!! The plan then is to take him in for his pre-op work on Tuesday the 23rd and surgery on the 24th. We hope and pray that he will stay healthy through this.

There have been so many people asking how they can help. I am overwhelmed at your kindness and generosity! I never knew how many people cared or have been affected by our little man, it's AMAZING!  I'll be completely honest.....  right now, my only request for help is prayers! Pray for Alex to stay healthy, pray for a speedy recovery, pray for his sweet brother Sam who is so worried about him that he can be comforted, pray for miracles! We know they happen, we know prayer works. We have been so comforted by the many prayers offered in our behalf. This last fast Sunday we were priviledged enough to have multiple people fasting for Alex and our family..... our families, our friends, and our ward. I felt so much peace throughout that day, I was literally lifted up. Your prayers and fasting are everything to us. I know sometimes it seems so easy to "just pray" for someone, that you wish you could do more. There isn't any more that you can do to help our family. I gather so much strength from the words offered in our behalf that thank you isn't enough, but all I can say is Thank you.... thank you..... thank you!

The only unfortunate thing about surgery on the 24th is, it's my nephew Steven's birthday. Not just any birthday but his 16th birthday. Steven, since I know we'll be tied up that day Happy Birthday!! The next day is my brother's birthday, so Michael, Happy Birthday! The next day is my mother is law's birthday, so Hamma... Happy Birthday!! 3 days after that it's Gary's birthday, so Gary, Happy Birthday! I love you! And the day after that, Gary's brother's birthday, so Garth, Happy Birthday! I hope that Alex will be in the middle of a fast recovery and full of spunk for each of your birthday presents!

Thank you to all of you who keep checking in on us. We are so grateful for the love and support you offer, it means more than you know. We think our computer has a virus, so until that is resolved.... no pictures. I have some really cute ones of the boys too. Have  a great night!!

Still here.....

I'm sure there are a lot of people wondering what's going on. I'm not sure everyone saw my post here and on FB about the rescheduling. Sorry if you missed it. We are still here and Alex is still healthy. Thank heavens! The runny nose he had, seems to be an isolated thing.

I talked with his cardiologist, Dr. Puchalski, and he said he felt like we'd made the right decision. He said over the last few months they had had several kids who had come for surgery with seemingly harmless runny noses, and have ended up really sick. He agreed better to be safe than sorry. I'm trying to be positive about this, because I believe that everything happens for a reason, so... if nothing else, it has been a blessing for me to overcome my cold. I haven't felt great, and know that I wouldn't be able to be there for Alex to help him during his recovery. I'm sure they wouldn't have allowed me to even come in the ICU (with good reason), and that would've been horrible to say the least.

I asked the surgery scheduler if Alex's symptoms didn't progress if we could schedule him sooner. She told me that I needed to have Alex checked out by his pediatrician, and if he was still feeling well that I could call back and see. I took Alex to see Dr. Lou yesterday, and he deemed him to be in excellent condition. He didn't see anything on his exam to cause concern. He said that with as long as Sam and I have had this cold, and the exposure he's had that if he were to pick it up, he'd most likely be exhibiting symptoms by now.  So, our plan is to watch him over the weekend and if by Monday morning he is still healthy, I'll call and try to schedule him sooner.

It really isn't a surprise that things were rescheduled, all of his surgery dates have been changed. We should've known that #3 wouldn't be any different from the others.

Thank you for everyone who continues to offer their prayers and support. I know those prayers are the reason Alex is staying healthy. I will keep everyone posted as to what the plan is. Knowing how history has worked, they'll probably schedule us next week! :) Whenever they offer it, we'll make it work. God works in mysterious ways. We follow Him no matter what.

Have a great weekend..... more to come soon, I hope!

BUMMER!!

Well, we figured it was going to happen.... and it did. Surgery has been postponed. This morning Alex woke up with a little bit of a runny nose. He is acting fine and is happy, but things can change fast with these little kids. So, we are staying on the side of caution and going to reschedule him. As of right now he has been rescheduled for September 7th. After an upper respiratory infection they prefer a 4 week recovery time before doing surgery. We will watch him over the weekend and if his symptoms don't progress I will call back to see if we can do it sooner.

If we were to proceed with the surgery tomorrow and his syptoms worsen, there are a lot of complications that can come from that. His time on bypass (during surgery) is more difficult, including coming off of it, the amount of time that he will have the breathing tube in will increase, his ICU stay will be longer and more difficult, which in turn will make his hospital stay longer. His chest will be really sore, so his ability to cough and clear any secretions is decreased which makes him more likely to develop pneumonia.

The nurse practitioner that I talked to this morning said that she really felt like we should wait. Even though his symptoms are mild, his exposure to Sam and I and his runny nose is enough to cause us to worry. She said she's be willing to have us come and draw blood and she would look at him, but we hate to put him through anything he doesn't need to go through.

We are at peace with this. It is a huge pain..... but we know it's for the best. Gary will have to reschedule things at work, he has a week long conference in Minnesota on September 17th, which is questionable if he will even make it there. Our plans are not as important as His plans, and we know that He is over all!

Thank you to all of you who have offered to help and bring meals and prayed and fasted. We hope those prayers will continue, and we know all will be well! We will prepare and do this all again in another few weeks. Until then, I will keep updating on where we are at. Thank you again!!!


(Our computer at home has frozen up and we are afraid is dying. Luckily Gary was able to borrow a laptop from a friend at work and hope we can keep using this until we figure out what to do with ours. So, until things are figured out, no pictures :( )

Not a lot to talk about....

Not much going on here at our house. We are just trying to get ready for the next couple of weeks. Surgery is just a few days away, and I'm feeling very much at peace. I'm sure the butterflies will hit on Wednesday night, but for now, I know everything is going to be okay.

Sam has a had a very mild cold, and I have been lucky enough to pick up on it now. He is being very careful around Alex, staying out of his face and keeping his hands as clean as he can. I too am trying to be careful, but moms don't always get the option of saying "I don't feel good, you have to stay away from me".

I have come to the conclusion that if surgery is supposed to happen on the 11th, then it will. If it's not the right day in His plan, then we go with what is in His plan. We know that all things happen according to His plan even though it may not be "convenient" for us, it is right. When talking to Sam about this he said "mom, what if we don't always like Heavenly Father's plan?" Well Sam.... welcome to life!! We may not like it at the time, but we have faith in Him ALWAYS! So far Alex is not exhibiting any symptoms so we continue to be careful, and hope and pray that it remains this way.

The plan this week is for Alex to have his pre-op lab work done on Wednesday. We will be there by 9:00 to have blood drawn, pee in a cup and go on our merry way! Sounds pleasant huh? By later in the afternoon, we will know if his lab work looks okay, and if it does, we will get a surgery time. We are hoping to be first thing in the morning. No sense in dragging this thing out! :) If Alex is picking up our cold, it should show on his blood work..... let's keep praying it comes back with all being well! I hope by then I will be over my stuffy nose and able to be in the CICU with him. They frown on people who are sick coming into the ICU.... party poopers! ;)

I want to thank Bon-bon and Pa for keeping the kids Friday night. They were brave and had almost all of the grandkids over for a sleepover for one last party before school starts and Alex has surgery. There were 8 of them there. They had dinner, played outside, watched a movie, slept (sort of, thanks to Sam), had a big breakfast and played some more. The boys were exhausted when we picked them up, but all had a great time! We had a night at the temple, dinner out, late movie, sleeping in and a walk. It was so nice to spend some time together with just the two of us, it may be a while until that happens again. Thank you again mom and dad!!

My heart is so full of gratitude and happiness tonight, but my words cannot express how grateful I am. I hope that all who read this will look past my inability to express my feelings in words. Today was fast Sunday, and we were the recipients of many prayers and fasting. We are grateful to all of you who took the time and exercised your faith in behalf of Alex and our family. We have felt the Spirit so strongly and I know that the peaceful feeling I have is because of your prayers. We know that Alex is a special little boy, sent here to teach us so much about life. We have witnessed many miracles in his short life, and know that we will yet witness more to come. Thank you to each of you for your prayers and fasting.

I am also so grateful for the wonderful and amazing nursery leaders that Alex has. Although he hasn't spent as much time with them as he wants to, due to winter and cold and flu season, he has LOVED the last several months in there. They came to visit this morning and came bearing gifts. Along with some homemade cookies, they brought an entire bin full of toys, books, clay, bubbles, coloring books, crayola drawing pad, tissues (for mom:)) and more. Their thoughtfulness blew me away. I never expected any of this, but they knew he would need things to entertain him in bed. Thank you for your kindness! Alex is SO excited to play with all of it.

I wish that my words could express the gratitude that I feel. We are truly blessed! Thank you again to all of you for your love and kind words and willingness to serve our family. Here's to a great week, full of miracles and happiness and health! I love you all!

Alex taking his own picture:

A little sandbox time with Pa:

Smore's and hanging out by the fire......again:



Girls camp is this coming week. I am super bummed that I can't be there. Alex obviously takes first priority! Hope you have a great time.... I'll miss being there with you guys!

More posts to come this week. I will keep everyone updated here. Have a great night!!