Big Boy Ben

Our oldest son turned 4 years old a few weeks ago & we celebrated with a birthday party in honor of him. He had his friends from church over for fun & games & all had a good time.

 

We've seen him grow and mature so much this last year and we are so proud of our bright and beautiful boy. He has learned to write his name along with most of the other letters in the alphabet and has developed a love for race cars & mazes. He's discovered video games & is easily consumed by them so has to be limited on the amount of time he's allowed to play, but he's quite good at them and is surprisingly tech savvy. Doing arts & crafts projects is a favorite activity especially when it comes to cutting things out & gluing shapes on paper. We look forward to the coming year & what it has in store for our little sponge!

In honor of Ben, I'm posting some great pictures he took all on his own the other day. I gave him complete control over the camera as I was cleaning up around the house and these are some of the things his creative mind captured! I was rather impressed & am planning to print some out to hang in his room.

Home at Last!

After 5 weeks away from home and having our family separated, we are now home and have been reunited. How sweet it's been to bring our baby girl home and to have our family together once again! The passed couple months have been a trial to say the least, but we are comforted knowing that God is sovereign, that the temperature is just right, and that this is just a snippet in his big story. We continually pray that God will use the life and trials of our sweet girl to bring glory and honor to his name.

Evelyn was a happy girl before we left the hotel to
go to the hospital. She is such a sweet baby!

Getting ready for her heart cath. procedure.

As most of you know, Evelyn had her 2nd scheduled heart surgery at Children's Hospital Colorado on October 5th. She was admitted into the hospital on Thursday the 4th for a heart catheterization procedure prior to her surgery. All went well and she had her surgery early in the morning on Friday. It took a good 5 or so hours and the surgeon said it was a technically difficult surgery because the anatomy of her heart is very unique even to their standards, she had a lot of scar tissue on her heart from the last surgery, and they had a few different repairs to make (I won't go into all of that here). During her surgery she developed complete heart block which the surgeon was very surprised by, so they put her on a temporary pace maker hoping that her heart would recover proper function once the swelling subsided. Her recovery after the surgery went very well and by Wednesday she was smiling and playing with her toys and in all reality we probably would have been getting ready to go home if she wouldn't have had the pacemaker.

Evelyn just after her heart surgery.

However, very unexpectedly on Wednesday afternoon Evie had a major "episode" that sent everyone spinning and still leaves the doctors puzzled. She had a sudden massive bleed in her chest that they still cannot explain, she had a very difficult time breathing and her oxygen saturation levels dropped very low. It was an extremely scary time that stretched over hours in which there was a team of medical staff trying to save her life and stabilize her. They called to have her placed on the ECMO machine twice but thankfully never had to use it. I thought for sure they were going to come and tell us that we had lost our baby. Once she was in a little better place, they took x-rays and immediately took her to get a CT scan thinking she had a seizure and/or stroke and wanting to make sure she didn't have any bleeding in her brain. Praise the Lord there was only one small blood spot in her frontal lobe so they hooked her up to an EEG to monitor over night. 

Evelyn with one of her wonderful nurses in the CICU.

She was quite agitated and uncomfortable all that night and the next day and gave us a bit of scare the following day with heavy breathing and really blotchy skin - similar symptoms to the "episode" the day before but thankfully it never escalated into anything serious. Then on Friday they decided to proceed with surgery to place her permanent pace maker. She was a little unstable throughout her surgery but the pacemaker went in fine. After the surgery, as they brought her back to the ICU, she became very tachicardic (fast heart rate) with really high blood pressure and low oxygen sats again. It took them a while to stabilize her but she finally came to a good place. They decided to monitor again for seizures and determined that she had been having several seizures. So they started medicine to get them under control. It took a little time and a couple different meds but they were able to stop the seizures. During this time she was very sensitive and agitated by touch so the nurses and doctors and even Brian and I tried to leave her alone as much as we could to let her rest and recover from all the trauma she had been through. Amidst all this she also became very congested with thick mucus so was tested and found positive for the Rhino Virus (a cold) and we also think began teething. 

Getting to hold my baby for the first time after surgery!

Because of her history and unpredictability everyone wanted to be extra cautious and move slowly with her. Therefore, we spent another good week in the ICU before they sent us to the Cardiac Progress Care Unit for her final stages of recovery. Physically, she seemed to recover well although it took some time for her to get over the cold. In addition, there was concern over her brain function due to the low oxygen levels and the trauma from a possible stroke and seizures. Over the following weeks many different specialists evaluated Evelyn for signs of disfunction but praise be to our good and merciful God everything seems to be functioning well! However, after all the trauma our little peanut decided she no longer wanted to eat. We tried for a couple weeks to feed her by mouth but for one reason or another she simply was not interested. Every kind of specialist you can think of consulted with us and everyone agreed that there seemed to be no reason she shouldn't or couldn't eat. It's as though she was choosing not to. There are a few different ideas as to why this is but no one knows for sure. On October 30th she had surgery to get a more permanent feeding tube placed in her stomach and abdomen. Surgery went well and despite everything she has gained a significant amount of weight in the last 2 months. She still does not eat much by mouth but we work on it a little every day. In addition, she is still on oxygen continually and there is a current narrowing in the shunt she had constructed during surgery that will need to be addressed in the next few weeks, but for now we are home and thankful to be among family and friends.

"Papa, what a nice beard you have!"

Now, I don't want the rather negative story you just read to be deceptive as it does not paint an entirely accurate portrait of our experiences. There have been countless blessings and beams of light gleaming through the darkness every step of the way. During our stay at the hospital we were able to meet some neat families each going through their own trials. It was encouraging and sweet to get to know them and we thank God for his many answered prayers.

We are so thankful to everyone who has helped us by sacrificing time and energy to watch the boys, to those who have provided meals and other gifts, and to all who have been praying on our behalf. We know God hears the requests of his people! Evelyn's journey is just beginning and there will be at least one more major heart surgery ahead of her but we take comfort in knowing that God loves our precious girl even more than we do! 

Looking out the window in her hospital room.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:4-7

Serious Cuteness

Since Evie first started making noises she's had a signature growl/gargling sound that she seems to enjoy even more than talking. She is so stinking cute I just couldn't resist taking a little video of her!

As many of you know, Ben started soccer a few weeks back and because of horribly smokey air many of his practices and games have been cancelled. Thankfully, this past weekend was rather nice and the air was relatively clear so he was able to play in his 2nd soccer game. Unfortunately, he had a bit of a collision early on in the game that he wasn't quite sure how to handle so he only played for a couple minutes but, here is what I could get of Ben playing up until the dreadful collision! As you will notice, it really wasn't too bad of a bump but for some reason it just did Ben in for following 20 minutes! 

And of course we can't forget about sweet Ricky! I don't have a video to share, but this pic was taken one morning a while back on our front porch. He was watching some heavy machinery work on the road in front of our house and was quite enthralled. He was ready to hop up and help if ever they asked (notice the hammer and saw in hand)! Such a cute little bugger!

What We've Been Up To

Ben started soccer a couple weeks ago and absolutely loves it! He has one practice a week and one game a week. Unfortunately, his game this passed weekend was cancelled due to heavy smoke in the air but we're hoping to have it rescheduled. It's been a lot of fun watching him and Ricky has been enjoying it too. He gets to have snacks and play outside while we're at practice and games! 

Last week there was a day when neither of the boys took naps and as you can imagine they were pretty wiped out by the day's end. After dinner we gave them a bath and as tradition I wrapped them up in a towel and put them on the couch in front of a short movie. As usual, I took that as an opportunity to get jammies and clean out the bathtub and also feed a hungry little girl who refused to wait a second longer. By the time I came back into the living room to get the boys ready for bed this is what I saw accompanied by hearty snoring from our littlest! It was quite precious.

Yesterday we decided to make a bit of a retreat to Great Falls for a few hours. We had been cooped up in the house nearly all week because of the terrible smoke and thought a bit of fresh air and time out of the house would do us all a bit of good. So after church we drove for roughly one hour to our destination and walked around the mall for a bit (they have a huge Scheels Sports Brian was interested in) and also took them by the falls and to the fish hatchery after all of which we went to dinner before heading back home. We all had a great time and enjoyed the smoke-free air! 

And now for a bit of randomness... 

A Whole Lot Of Fun

Yes, we've been busy! Here are some highlights from the last couple months:

• At the end of June we were evacuated due to a wildfire in the hills behind our house. I think we stayed with Brian's folks for about 3-4 days before we came back home. The boys thought it was pretty cool watching the helicopters fly over & around our house dumping water on the hot spots the week following our return. 

This is our first day home after being evacuated.
Ricky was watching the smoke come off the hills & the helicopters dump water.

• For the Fourth of July we met my Dad & Step-mom out at the lake along with some other family & friends. It was a good time! The boys especially enjoyed playing on the beach.

My cousins Andrea & Lisa came with their families.

My Dad, the Grill Master!

• Mid July we made a trip to Bozeman to visit family & friends. Evie enjoyed getting loved on lots & the kids especially had fun playing with friends they haven't seen in quite some time!

Grandma

Great Grandma

Auntie

Ben, Tjabe, & Maggie had a great time running through the sprinklers!

Cedric chose not to run through the sprinklers but was content to help Uncle Sam plant some shrubs around the deck. (He's not real keen on getting splashed with water yet.)

• Mid July we also had a nice visit with Brian's Grandma. She came through town & was able to come meet Evelyn for the first time. What a sweet time it was!

• At the beginning of August we made another trip to Bozeman for a family reunion. We got to see people we hadn't seen in a long time & Evie got to meet a lot more new faces!

Playing badminton.  A great dive by cousin Dustin!

"Papa! Papa! Wake up & play with me!"

Ben had a ball bouncing on the trampoline with his Aunt Alivia & Cousin Dylan. 

• Mid August we took a long weekend trip to Spokane to visit some dear friends of ours, Charlie,  Margaret, & their son Charles. I didn't do a great job of taking pictures but did manage to snap some good ones while we were at Lake Coeur d'alene. The family of our friends has been staying at a house on the lake for the summer so we were able to take advantage of their private beach for a couple days. We had a wonderful time!

Ben LOVES the water. He swam until he was shaking like a leaf.
I literally had to force him out of the water to warm up!

The boys.
Cedric & Charles are only about a month & half apart in age.  They had fun playing together & Charles did such a great job sharing all of his things but I don't think the poor little guy knew quite what to do with all the energy that sometimes comes with our boys!

Cedric has his own life jacket but decided he wanted to wear this one. He just stood for a while with it on watching everything that was going on around him.

Jackie (Charlie's Mom) & Charles

Evie sat on the beach in her little chair & watched all the happenings.
Such a beautiful little girl if I do say so myself!

• Somewhere along the line we had a hummingbird get stuck in our garage. it was a little unusual because I don't ever remember seeing hummingbirds around our house before & it took him nearly a day to find his way out. It was a pretty little thing!

• And now for a bit of randomness that I thought you might enjoy!

We bought this swimming pool at the beginning of the summer & boy has it been a hit! Since we don't have a/c in our house it gets used by all of us quite often.

Sweet little Evie sleeping. Gotta loves those cheeks that are growing on her!

The boys found what must have been a dust pile out in the driveway & had a good 'ol time loading & dumping their dump trucks.
Yes, they were taken directly to the bathtub!

Can you tell they're siblings?

• And last but not least, a sweet little game of "Hide & Go Seek"!