Feeding the Geese

Christmas Eve Day was one of the only decent days we had in California in terms of weather. It rained and was super windy most of the time. But Christmas Eve Day was beautiful! In the afternoon, most of us went for a walk to the park near my sister-in-law's house. There were a lot of geese there so we brought some bread for the kids to feed them. It was so cute!

Aren't they adorable? 
I love the way Brody is looking up at Kyler in this picture!

Kyler, Caden and Brody all had a great time throwing the bread out to the geese as they swam around in the water. I was worried about Caden or Brody falling in at times, but it didn't happen. :) It was really just a nice relaxing afternoon walk to the park and a good way to spend time with family. 

L-R: Natalie, Brody, Dan, Caden, Carey, Kyler, Greg

Christmas

We celebrated Christmas a little early this year. On Saturday before Christmas, we had a small celebration with the cousins. This included Kyler, Caden, Brody, Brandon & Amelia. These are our kids and Greg's sister's kids. Brandon & Amelia were going to be with their mom on Christmas, so we had them open our presents early.

Brody didn't want to cooperate with the group pic

Caden got a new game!

Brody got some Duplos

Kyler got a remote-controlled helicopter

Brandon got a new Lego set

Amelia got a Hello Kitty locking diary

The kids had a fun time opening presents with each other. Brandon & Amelia are 8, Kyler is 6, Caden is 3, and Brody is 1. They are all in very different stages, but they love to play with each other.

We were scheduled to fly home on Christmas day, so we did all our family celebrating on Christmas Eve day. We opened presents in the morning. The kids had so much fun getting their new toys. Caden got his very own legos from Grandma and Grandpa (he doesn't have to try to take Kyler's anymore). And Kyler got his first Erector set from Grandma and Grandpa. He is so excited to build things but is getting a little frustrated with learning how they work since he hasn't played with them before. 

Grandpa Dan and Grandma Mary with the grandkids

 Natalie, Bret & Brody

The kids in their matching PJ's

His very own Legos!

Showing off his new Erector set

Then we had a nice Christmas dinner together in the evening. Once that was done, it was time to get packed up and get things ready to go to the airport the next morning. 

Bowling with Friends

On Sunday before Christmas we were happy to be able to meet up with our dear friends, Ryan & Suzanne and their kids. We are staying with Greg's sister and she lives about an hour and a half or more away from them. We were very glad all our schedules worked on one day for us to meet approximately halfway in the middle.

It was pouring rain and very windy outside so we were happy to find a bowling alley to meet at. The kids played a game while we watched. It was Caden's first time bowling and he really enjoyed it. Kyler bowled the best game he's ever had and overall it was a fun time. Keep in mind we use the bumper rails so they can't get gutter balls and Caden always used the chute to help aim and get his ball down the alley. But it was fun nonetheless. Without those things I think both the kids would have been frustrated and grumpy.

Caden, Kyler, Brayden & Ellie

After bowling, we had a quick lunch at Rubio's before we had to say goodbye again. It was so fun to get together since our kids hadn't seen each other since June. And, our boys hadn't gotten to meet Olivia yet. 

Sweet sleepy Olivia

Surrounded by adorable kids!

What silly, goofy kids!

 Best friends  :)

 It was fun to see them and sad to say goodbye. But we will see them again soon.

MRI at LPCH

It took until late on Thursday before all the arrangements were made for Caden's MRI on Friday. The initial decision was made for him to have a CT scan. However the CT machine at LPCH was down and they were having to share the scanner on the Stanford Hospital side. This became a problem because they were unable to fit Caden in under such short notice. After going back and forth again, they decided to go ahead and to the MRI at LPCH. Teimour and Dr. Reddy have more authority there and were able to get Caden in. That involved another patient getting rescheduled so he could have their spot.

We arrived in Palo Alto around 8:30 am and didn't have to check in until 9:30. So we headed to another local park to let the kids play. We were also trying to keep Caden distracted from the fact that he couldn't eat or drink anything. This never used to be an issue but since he decided he wants to eat and drink now, not letting him do that definitely made things more difficult. Poor baby!

Playing Jenga in the waiting room

After we checked in, we waited for the nurse to call us back. Children are not allowed in the prep area or in the recovery room so Greg had to stay with Kyler in the waiting room while I went back with Caden. He was super grumpy and didn't want to cooperate with the nurse, or me, at all. The nurse was great and handled it all so well and really sweet to both of us. The anesthesiologist was fantastic! She came and spent quite a bit of time talking to me and going over Caden's medical history to make sure she understood all the information before they went into the MRI. I could just tell that she really enjoys her job and truly cares about each patient and that meant a lot to me! 

They gave Caden Versed, a pre-med, to help him remain calm before going back and having the mask put him to sleep. Once he got the Versed on board, he became super silly and goofy. That is a nice benefit of this medication. However, the downside is how groggy and loopy it makes them afterward. :( I got to stay with him all the way until they got him to sleep. And when it came time to have the mask to put him under, he really fought it. I was surprised how much he resisted the urge to sleep. I would see him relax and then he would jerk himself awake again. He did that several times before he finally completely gave in.

Being silly after getting Versed

I gave him a kiss and walked out of the room with the nurse. It almost surprised me when I started crying. Caden has been through so much and so many surgeries where I have had to hand him over to the nurses and doctors. It caught me a little off guard when I started crying over something as “minor” as an MRI. I guess it just never gets easier to hand your child over to the anesthesiologist and put your trust in them and the whole medical team. I so wish I could take this away from Caden so he didn't have to go through any of it. :( It just breaks my heart!

While Caden was in the MRI, Greg, Kyler and I went to the cafeteria to eat lunch. Even that brought back a lot of memories as I ate there every day for two months. When we were done, we went back to the waiting room and waited for them to let us know he was done. It was slightly before 1 pm when they called me and took me to see him in recovery. When I got there, he was still completely unconscious. The nurse and I talked for awhile and she said if he didn't wake up on his own in an hour, they would help him wake up. So I just waited with him.

About 15-20 minutes later, he started waking up and was super groggy. He was trying to get up and told me he wanted to leave. I told him he needed to drink some apple juice and suck on a popsicle before they would let him go. And being the very independent soul that he is, he wanted to hold the juice cup himself and he wanted to hold the popsicle himself. But his hand-eye coordination was off, his depth perception was off, and his muscles were weak and nothing was working the way he wanted it to. So he spilled the juice, dropped the popsicle and was getting really mad and frustrated with me for not continuing to let him do it himself.

He drank enough that they were ready to let him go. So I had to get him dressed and that was no easy task as he was not helping me at all. In fact he was working against me and was super "floppy". So I had a difficult time getting that accomplished. Then he was not allowed to walk out of the hospital which is what he wanted to do. He had to either be carried by me (and I had too many other things to carry) or he had to ride in a wheelchair. I chose the wheelchair and the orderly brought it over. It was a child-size one just for him and as I went to put him in it, he straightened up stiff as a board and refused to sit. So I tried again and this time, he sat down, but got super floppy and was trying to throw himself forward out of the chair. I had to grab him several times before we gave up on that idea. So the best solution was for me to ride in a regular wheelchair and hold him on my lap. We made that work but he still really wanted down and kept trying to get away from me.

We got through it and he did okay. We don't have the results yet. I'm not sure how long it will be before we find out the diagnosis. Saturday night Caden appeared to have some nausea from the anesthesia and was retching a fair amount. He had been sitting on my lap and he just looked like he was going to throw up, so I ran him into the bathroom and put his head over the toilet just as he threw up. His tummy hurt for quite awhile and then he was better. Today he seemed okay until lunch and then he started retching again and saying his tummy hurt. So I think this is the first time he's really had reactions to anesthesia. And, this is the first time he's every truly been able to throw up. I think it's a good thing over all because it probably means his Nissen Fundoplication isn't so tight anymore. All those years of him retching and never being able to burp or throw up. I am almost glad he is able to throw up now. Isn't that strange?

So, now we wait for more answers. I hope we don't have to wait too long to get the MRI results and diagnosis. I really just want to know what we are dealing with and what the plan is going to be. Can you tell I'm a planner? Thank you all for your continued prayers as we wait, not too patiently.

Echo at LPCH

We arrived a little early on December 19 for Caden's echo, so we decided to take the kids to the park for a few minutes to let them run around for a bit since they had been sitting in the car for the past hour and a half. We were glad we did this because we ended up having a very long appointment.

We checked in at Admitting and then went to the Children's Heart Center. We didn't have to wait too long before they called Caden back for his echo. We started with an echo tech who we remembered from Caden's days in the CVICU. She spent quite awhile getting various views of his heart and checking different things. 

Then, after about 45 minutes a cardiologist came in and took over. He went back over some of the things she had already done and talked to her about what she had seen. Shortly after he took over with the echo, another cardiologist came in and the three of them discussed what they saw going on. They all seemed to be in agreement that it didn't appear that Caden actually had a sinus venosus ASD. This was very interesting since up until this point, it really seemed like he did according to the last echo from August. But they did want more clarification to be sure.

Caden started getting very restless and began complaining about them pushing into the area just below the ribs as they tried to get a better angle and clearer pictures. He ended up crying so we took a 10-minute break. In the meantime, the doctors decided to do some more imaging in another room on a machine with different capabilities. So after he was done crying we went into the room across the hall.

By the end, they really felt like he did not have an ASD but they still felt like they needed more imaging in order to make final diagnosis. And, they said it looked like his pulmonary vein was entering into the atrial wall in several places. Don't ask me how that works but that is why they wanted to do more studies. As we were leaving, they called Teimour Nasirov to discuss it with him and decide whether they wanted to do a CT Scan or an MRI. This was interesting because this was the first time a CT had been suggested. But I guess there are different benefits depending on which way they go.

The plan is for them to discuss the case amongst themselves and determine which route to go. They will schedule Caden for one or the other on Friday, the 21^st and they will let us know what they decide.

The entire echo lasted about an hour and 45 minutes! Poor Caden did really well despite how long it took. He did have a crying spell, but he got over it and let them do some more imaging. I am so proud of him and how well he coped with the situation. And, he got to take home 5 “prizes” out of the treasure chest: 3 rubber ducks in different colors, a yellow monster truck and a big, soft teddy bear. I would say he made out like a bandit!

The whole experience of being back at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford was a little surreal. It brought back a lot of memories from Caden's two months in the hospital. As we were leaving after the echo, we took a couple pictures of the boys in front of the hospital. So strange to be back! I hope we don't have to make a habit of it though...

Kyler's Christmas Party

Friday, December 14 was Kyler's last day of school before Christmas vacation and it was his class party. Around 9:30 in the morning, the put on a Christmas program for the residents from Garrison Creek who came to the school. Sadly, I missed this part of the day because I got mixed up on the times. :( But I'm sure all the kids did a great job with their parts.

At 10:30 the class party started. The kids started with opening a small gift from Mrs. Wessman to each of them. She made them each an ornament which was so sweet! 

The kids showing off their ornaments from Mrs. Wessman

Then, they participated in a gift exchange. In this version, the teacher drew their names and they could pick a wrapped gift from the center of the circle. Once everyone had gotten a gift, Mrs. Wessman drew their names again. When their name was called, they could go and trade gifts with anyone in the circle. And, all the gifts remained wrapped. When they completed the first round of trading, the teacher asked if they wanted to open the present they were holding or if they wanted to play one more time. The majority voted to play again. So they went through each name and traded the wrapped gifts. After this round, the kids got to open and keep the gift they were holding. Kyler ended up with a very cool “Hexbug” toy. It is pretty fun. 

After the gift exchange, they ate their holiday snacks while watching a short Christmas movie about Jesus. Then school was over and it was time to head home. Time for vacation to begin! It was a really fun day and we had a good time. 

Solo

A couple weeks ago, Kyler came home from school and told us he had to do a solo during one of the songs for the Christmas program for K-2. I couldn't believe he was going to do it! He was not impressed about it or excited about doing it, but he learned his verse quickly to “O Come Little Children.” He would never sing it for me so I never knew how well he knew it or not. But he told me he sang it for his music teacher when they practiced so I guess that was good.

The big night came for the Kindergarten-2^nd grade Christmas program. Thursday, December 13 at 6:30 pm. I was so excited because I was going to be able to finally hear him sing his part! Before the program we took a couple pictures of him in his choir robe. Then I headed to the church to take my seat right up front so I could get good pictures of the event.

In his choir robe before the program

All of the Kindergarten-2nd Grade Students

His solo was in the second half of the program so we enjoyed all the music leading up to that. All the kids did a great job with their parts. When Kyler's turn came he was really nervous but he stood there and waited for the 2^nd verse. He did such an incredible job and I am so very proud of him! There is a 3^rd verse to the song but he didn't stay in front for the rest of the choir to finish singing. He practically ran back to his seat, almost knocking kids down in his row in order to get back to his chair. I was cracking up! He is so funny! 

 

Kyler, we are so incredibly proud of you! You did so amazing with your solo! Way to go! :)

Caden's Christmas Party

December 12 was Caden's Christmas party at preschool. It was so fun to see all the kids together ready to party. Teacher Melissa and all her helpers did an amazing job planning and putting everything together. All the families who brought food/treats did an awesome job also!

The kids got to eat, play “Pin the Nose on the Snowman,” and take turns hitting the pinata. Teacher Melissa is more brave than I would be with that many 3-5 year-olds! But they all had such a great time. 

At the end, each of the kids got to choose a gift from under the tree as part of a gift exchange. This was a little hard for Caden because he wanted to bring home the gift we brought, but by the time it was his turn to choose, it was already taken by a classmate. This brought on a series of tantrums. But once he got over that, he ended up really liking his book and we left on a happy note.

School is out until January 7! What a nice long vacation for Caden. :)

O Christmas Tree

The first opportunity we had to get a Christmas tree was Saturday night, December 8. It was dark when we headed to Klicker's in Walla Walla to pick out the perfect tree. It was very cold but the kids were pretty excited about it. After walking up and down a couple rows, Kyler pointed out the tree he wanted. It was very tall and quite big around at the bottom. We weren't sure we could get it through our doors at home and into the house!

We told Kyler we might need to pick out a different tree, but he REALLY wanted this one. He said he always wanted a HUGE tree and this one was perfect. He was right. This tree was huge. It is probably at least 11 feet tall and probably 5-6 feet wide at the base. We have never had a house where a tree this size was even a possibility. But with very high ceilings and more open floor space, we knew it would fit if we could just get it through the doors! 

Here's the tree!

The wonderful people at Klicker's helped tie it up with twine so it was slightly smaller and put it on the roof of the vehicle. When we got home Greg pushed, I pulled, and we managed to shove the tree through our back door! It may have lost a few needles along the way... But we managed to get it set up and situated and it looks great. It is very pretty. The kids were so tired at this point, we just got them to bed and promised to decorate it on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon after lunch we all decorated the tree together as a family. It was a great time together. Last year we didn't really have Christmas at home because we had already moved out of our house in Sacramento and we hadn't gotten the keys to our new house in Walla Walla yet. So we didn't get to do the tree selection, decorating, etc. We are thankful we got to spend Christmas at my sister's house but it was sad to not be able to decorate our own house. So I was pretty excited to be doing this all together as a family in our own home! 

"We're ready for Christmas now, Mom!"