18 Month Boy

Reunited on Father's Day after 36 hours of separation

Enjoying some chocolate ice cream at Machie's

Daddy taught him how to get under the bed

Well, our boy just keeps right on growing. 18 months old!, I can't believe it. At the doctors office today he weighed 21 1/3 lbs and was 31 3/4 in long. He has just started letting go to stand on his own for a few seconds here there. His cardiac cath was scheduled for July 10th. An overnighter. We're hoping that his lower left pulmonary vein will still be open so they can stent it up. Prayers are definitely appreciated! What can I say?, this boy is a blast! We're so thankful for every day with him! Thank you for 18 months of love & prayers!

A Thousand Words:

So here's Andrew the morning after his Homecoming party trying out his new push wagon. Steve had that thing together as soon as we got home that night & had Andrew trying it our first thing in the morning. A bunch of our favorite nurses got together & got it for him. I LOVE it. It's just his size & he's so cute with it. He really likes to just hang out in it too : )

Homecoming 2009

My guys, all dressed up & ready to go to Homecoming

The Woods of PSJ turned out to be a great party scene

Andrew meeting his Aunt Jennifer & cousins, Mickey & Marisa

The 3 Amigos: Savannah, Hannah & Kalee

Andrew loves the pool, he really wants to SWIM

Showing off his big boy steps for Aunt Patti

Showing off for Kelly & Aunt Patti

Hanging out poolside with Aunt Christy & Josh

Uncle Landon is lots of fun in the pool

Dizzy playing with Lexie

Hangin with Uncle Tommy

Getting pretty tired at this point,

notice the deer in the headlight look

A tired boy with his Aunt Angie

I meant to get a ton more pictures, but this cold is kicking my butt & I fell down on the job. If anyone else has pictures, I would love to have them - just email to me. Thanks so much to everyone for loving our sweet boy. We missed those of you who couldn't make it - hope Uncle Tim & Mason are feeling better!

Count Down to Homecoming

Daddy & I were just talking about how Andrew has us type casted. He never laughs like this for me, but as soon as Daddy walks in the door the giggles start in anticipation. On the other hand, when he needs to snuggle or go to sleep, only Mommy will do. Funny boy.

We are very excited about our celebration tomorrow - Andrew's Homecoming! I remember when we used to sing Homeward Bound. Seemed like that was our theme song for so long. The last year has certainly flown by quicker than the first 5 months. We will definitely have pictures posted for those who can't join us in the flesh.

Last Friday's Test Results

So we saw Andrew's neurologist today & she was very happy with how our little man is doing. His MRI was as expected with no surprises. Good boy! Andrew did have a small stroke way back when he was 2 weeks old & was in cardiac arrest & that is still there, but the prognosis is very good since he was so young & the brain was (& still is) very pliable to rewire. Also, if he HAD to have a stroke it's in a good place in that it's in an area of his brain that doesn't lead to major deficits. We may discover when he's older that his visual field is mildly affected, but his neurologist said even if he does (which there is a good chance everything's fine) she wouldn't expect it to keep him from doing things like drive a car, etc.
We did hear from Andrew's cardiologist earlier this week about his echocardiogram. He was happy with Andrew's heart function as well as his valve, which is leaky, but always has been & has continued to be mild. He does want Andrew to go for a cardiac cath in the next month or two to get an inside look at his lower left pulmonary vein. After his second heart surgery his left pulmonary veins were closing off pretty rapidly, one of the reasons his lung collapsed & so on. So the upper left pulmonary vein has been completely closed off since then (April 2008), but the lower left one they were able to put a small stint in. From the echo it is unclear if this lower left pulmonary vein is still open & would be able to stint up or if it's also closed off at this point. Andrew's cardiologist (also the cath specialist) has spoken with us in past appointments that he thinks Andrew is doing so well because he is developing good collateral veins & is primarily (or completely) oxygenating his blood through he right lung. He also felt it was worth the lesser risk of the cath lab to be proactive in keeping the lower left pulmonary vein as open as possible for as long as possible. We'll let you know when we get the cardiac cath scheduled. Should be an overnighter - slumber party in the CVICU : )
That's about as much medical talk as I can stand. On to more important things. Like Andrew was the BIGGEST flirt today at the neurologist, which I was happy about because he hasn't been a fan of the MD office lately. Also, he started crying when Daddy leaves for work or church in the evenings. AND his new friend, Morgan McIntire, was born yesterday. Hurray!

Ahh, it's good to be home

Been home since about 12:30pm. Took a while to get our internet up & going again (it's been storming here pretty often the past few weeks). He's doing great. We tried to keeping him still watching Cars, but he's off. That's our boy : )

all done

just waiting for little man to wake up. he did very well - no funny business.

Have patience, have patience...

Wasn't Katie just singing this song? So the MRI took forever, but we are thankful they are so careful with our precious boy. Both cardiac anesthesiologists were there to take him, reminds us of the old days. So he should be about 1/2 way through the echocardiogram. We'll let you know when we snatch him up.

the ball is rolling

Andrew just went back for the MRI. It should take about 30-40 minutes, then up for his echocardiogram.