Fun with Friends

The last couple days we spent in California the kids played hard with their friends. It is so hard to move away from your best friends and not know when you are going to see them again. We were so happy to get to spend this time together and the kids had so much fun.

Our friends that we stay with have two acres of land they recently moved onto. They bought a large tarp and folded it in half so it was 50 feet long and set up water on one end to make a giant slip n slide. Oh. My. Goodness. The kids had so much fun! They slid for so many hours they ended up with bruises all over themselves from throwing themselves to the ground! Here's a short video of Kyler going down the slip n slide while my friend cheers him on.

Best friends!

Brayden (7 1/2 yr), Kyler (6 yr), Ellie (4 yr)

Unfortunately, the good times had to come to an end and we had to say goodbye once again. :( We got a few pictures of the kids before getting on the road to drive back to Walla Walla. 

Uh, Mom!  The sun is bright!

 Aren't they adorable?!

We miss you already!  Can't wait to see you on our next visit!

10 Days Post-Op

We stayed down in Sacramento for almost two weeks because Caden needed to have a post-op appointment to make sure everything was healing well. On Thursday, June 28, I took Caden to see his surgeon. After doing an exam and asking some questions, he determined all looked good and we were good to go home.

 Caden checking himself out in the mirror
while we wait to see the doctor

 Look Mom!  No Tube!  :)

The incision area where it is stitched closed is slightly raised and is a little hard to the touch. But I guess this is normal and the doctor said over time, this will diminish. He said it could take up to a couple of years but it really depends on the person. He said it wasn't anything to be concerned about. I am so relieved at how well everything went and that the tube is gone and we can get on with the rest of our lives!

Gracepoint VBS

I was so excited when I realized we would be in California the week our old church had their VBS program. I looked forward to that program every year when we lived there. They do such a great job with the whole thing AND they take 3-year-olds! Most programs don't take kids under age four. This meant that I could take both my kids to VBS this year at our old church. :) This made me a very happy mommy!

I knew Kyler would LOVE VBS because he is just that way. He loves this kind of activity and he was going to be in a crew with his best friend, Brayden. So in his world, life couldn't get much better. Caden on the other hand, wasn't as convinced that VBS was a good thing. He is quite attached to me and he was not too keen on me leaving him in the preschool room with a leader he didn't know. However, there were several kids he knew in his crew so that helped the transition.

For those who aren't familiar, VBS usually happens for a couple hours every day for 5 days. Our church does their program in the evening because they get more volunteers to help at that time instead of doing it during the day when many people are working.

Monday night went pretty well. Caden was sad when I left but he got used to it pretty quickly. I got a couple phone calls from his preschool teacher asking me about snack items that would be okay for him but otherwise, it went really well. Tuesday night, he also did well but was slightly more emotional. By Wednesday night, he was a wreck and didn't want me to leave. I figured after I left, he would calm down and be fine. But he cried quite a bit that night and they ended up calling me to come back and stay with him until the end. The second I got there, he was totally fine. :/ Thursday night, I wasn't sure how he would do but he did okay. He cried a little but he made it through the evening without me needing to come back. Unfortunately we weren't able to be there on Friday night. We had to leave that day to start our drive home.

Overall, it was a great week and both the kids had a good time. They love to sing the songs over and over and over again. They made some good memories!

Here are some pictures of both the kids and at the end is a short video of Caden dancing and doing hand motions to the song on the first night. :)

Caden with his crew during song time

Kyler with his crew getting ready to play games

Caden enjoying sidewalk chalk

I love Kyler's face (middle left in a blue shirt)!

Kyler with his crew being serious

Kyler and his crew being silly!  haha!

Caden with his crew - he's not amused...

Kyler and his crew leader, Ed

Caden with his crew leader, Marcy

The artwork for photo backdrops - amazing!

The backdrop on the stage at the front of the church!

I love Caden dancing around trying to do the
handmotions on the first night of VBS!

Ben & Jon

I love to see my boys with friends they have had their whole lives. On Monday, June 25, we got together for a short visit with some good friends. Kyler and Ben have been friends since they were just a few weeks old. On this visit, we were able to go to their house to play for a couple hours and all the boys had such a great time!

 L-R: Ben (6 yr), Jon (4 yr), Caden (3 yr), Kyler (6 yr)

Thanks for the fun time Ben & Jon! We hope to see you again soon.

Natalie's House

On Friday, June 22, the day after Caden's party, we drove over to Greg's sister, Natalie's house to spend the weekend with her. It was a lot of fun to see Kyler and Caden playing with their cousin, Brody. He will be a year old in July and the kids had so much fun playing together.

Cousins: Brody (11 mo), Kyler (6 yr) and Caden (3 1/2 yr)

Kyler looks like such a giant compared to the younger kids!

We also took the kids to the park on Saturday afternoon and Brody and Caden both wanted to swing. It was so cute to see them swinging and staring at each other. Each of them was fascinated by the other.

It was a fun weekend and I'm glad the kids were able to play together. They hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving last year and Brody was so little then. Now he can really play with them and it was great to see them enjoying each other. If only we still lived close to each other so they could play together more often...

Party!

Awhile back, we were invited to attend a party for the daughter of some friends to celebrate the removal of her g-tube. We were unable to attend, but I remember thinking what a great idea that was. I thought it would be so wonderful to have a party for Caden when his tube finally came out! So, once we had the surgery date scheduled and we knew we would be in Sacramento for a couple weeks, I thought it would be appropriate to have a party while we were there to celebrate the tube coming out with friends. Thursday, June 21 was the official day!

We invited friends and family to celebrate this huge milestone with us at our old church in Rocklin. We were able to set up and decorate earlier in the day and then we picked up the cake and other party supplies later on. It was so much fun to get ready for a party like this.  Talk about having a reason to celebrate!

I brought a bunch of medical supplies with us to use as decorations for the party. Table centerpieces were made up of syringes, gauze, medical tape, and g-tube extensions. All of these things we used daily in Caden's care. We even used a g-tube button and extension to decorate the cake. :)

But the best part of the party was seeing all the people who know and love Caden come to celebrate with us. Almost all of his former therapists came and so did many other close friends who have supported us along this journey. We are so blessed to be surrounded by so much love and support.
 

 My dear friend, Kelly, who's been on this journey
 with us since I was pregnant with Caden

Dimple and Kamal with their daughter Ameya.
They encouraged us to do a blended diet through the g-tube
instead of formula. Best thing we ever did for Caden!

I'm not sure we would have made it to this place in Caden's journey without the following people. These are therapists and staff who worked with him along the way and helped him be the best he could be. Without them, who knows where we would be!

Tina (and her son), Caden's child development specialist

Stephanie (and her kids), Caden's 1st feeding therapist

Monica (and her daughter), Caden's 1st OT

Julia, Caden's 1st PT

Dave, Co-Owner/Office Manager of the clinic
where Caden received most of his therapies

Thank you to everyone who came to the party and to those who continue to pray for us. We still need your prayers as we work on getting Caden to chew his food and start to feed himself. But it seems we are making baby steps in that direction.

G-Tube Removal!

The day has finally come! Monday, June 18. The day Caden's g-tube comes out! It is so hard to believe we are actually at this point in our lives where this is possible. To give you an idea of part of why we wanted it out so badly, here a few “before” pics.

You can see the redness and irritation surrounding the tube. The red part is granulation tissue and it grows quickly and we have to work really hard to keep it under control. It causes him pain and discomfort. The granulation tissue is the body's way of trying to get rid of the foreign object in his body. Not everyone with a tube has this problem, but some people are more sensitive to it than others. And, in true Caden form, he is in the smaller minority of kids who have problems with this.

Now, here we are at the hospital getting ready for surgery. We felt more comfortable doing surgery in Sacramento where we already had an established relationship with the surgeon. So, instead of having surgery in Washington State where we live, we opted to come down to California. Definitely more of a hassle, but absolutely worth it in our minds!

They gave Caden Versed before wheeling him back to the OR. This helps relax patients and keep them calm before surgery. It makes it less traumatic on Caden and easier for the hospital staff to do their job. He's so adorable sitting on the gurney, smiling, as they roll him down the hall.

 

It's always so hard to see your “baby” completely knocked out after surgery, wearing an oxygen mask.  :( We were happy to let him rest and wake up on his own, but his recovery nurse got a little anxious and woke him up too quickly. This caused him to be quite grumpy! You can see it on his face in the pictures! Even as we were wheeling him out in the wheelchair, he was not smiling. He was not amused about the whole thing. 

We are now entering a new phase of life. No more g-tube. It's so hard to believe! Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray so we can get Caden to start chewing his food, start feeding himself, and actually start to enjoy eating.

Father's Day

We spent part of Father's Day weekend at Greg's parent's house in Medford on our way down to Sacramento. The kids had a blast playing in the inflatable pool in the back yard. Kyler's favorite thing to do was run and slide into the pool. It was quite entertaining!

 

We managed to get a couple pictures of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and the boys with Daddy and Grandpa in honor of Father's Day. Caden was quite grumpy and non-cooperative at that point. But they had a fun time before we had to get back in the car and continue on our way south. 

Playing in the pool

All bundled up in towels...  where's Caden?!

It's almost as much fun to run around in towels than play in the pool :)

The boys with Grandma and Grandpa

Father's Day pic with the 3 generations of McCulloch men

Feeding Therapy Videos

I thought I should post a video of Caden's feeding therapy for people to see. Hopefully this helps you know what he is doing and what he is struggling with. And it will help me when I look back to know what he was doing at different ages.

His therapy is done in the Rehab Department at Walla Walla General Hospital with a Speech and Language Therapist who specializes in feeding issues. His therapist's name is Jennifer and she is expecting her first baby in July. She is really great and we are happy to have her. I am excited to see how he progresses. 

Caden with Jennifer