the amazing adventures of carson and kellen: Holy Cow its been awhile!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Holy Cow its been awhile!

Okay, well I knew it had been awhile since I did an update but I didn't realize it had been a month! It's been busy around here as I'm sure everyone's summer has been! We've been doing well overall...we've had several exciting moments! Carson's eating is still very sporadic but (with the help of Robin - his speech therapist) we've had a few breakthroughs. When given a good incentive (a new game Robin made), Carson has taken up to 16-20 small bites of baby food/yogurt. VERY IMPRESSIVE! It is so comforting to see this but also frustrating because as he may do it a couple days in a row...he then stops for several days. But we keep chugging along. He has also eaten up to two little yogurt melts at a sitting. This may not seem like much but it brought me to tears the first time he did it. The fact that he would put it in his mouth, let it dissolve and then swallow it without gagging was awesome! As I've said before, his oral feeding/intake is by the far the hardest part of his care for me. It takes so much perseverance with little payback at times (so times when he eats a little bit are huge for us!) The other challenge for me and Preston is his vomitting. It is still better than say, back in March, but he has started spitting up/vomitting several times a day again (not as much volume) but still vomitting. It is challenging for us...1. because cleaning up puke off your carpet every day (or several times a day) is frustrating (okay maybe infuriating at times) 2. it occasionally seems like Carson does it voluntarily - I'm not saying he does it to make us mad but he does it just because he knows he can and 3. it is challenging to know when or how to discipline him or if we should just ignore it (& to keep our cool either way). Anyways, I just pray for the day that I don't have to clean up puke but until then, I will be grateful that I have sweet Carson because he could have easily never made it home. (trying to follow 'Jesus Calling's' advice - keep a trusting and thankful heart)

Kellen also had a first...he took a full bottle sitting by himself (yes, I realize that most kids are not taking bottles at this age but frankly, I don't care right now...if he'll drink milk out of a bottle without a fight - he can : ) This is a huge praise because up until about 7 months ago...we would have to coerce him into drinking a bottle!

Carson is walking really well now (almost running at times) so he can keep up with Kellen better! They LOVE playing and laughing together! It is SO fun to watch!

We made our first trip to Columbia a couple weeks ago... so the boys got to see where Uncle James' lives and where Mommy & Daddy went to college. We had ALOT of fun! They also got to meet a couple little girls (children of some of my friends) that are more there size. They didn't quite know what to think about girls : )

We also had a wonderful 4th of July, with lots of family and friends! Carson was okay with the first couple fireworks but after a few he did NOT like the loud noise so he finished the fireworks off, inside the house. Now, Kellen loved the fireworks, especially the sparklers with Poppy! We even had a family photo shoot, thanks to Ahdra!

Carson has his next surgery scheduled for July 31st in Cincinnati. He will be having a bronchoscopy and a supraglottalplasty (to address the shape of his epiglottis). The recovery should not be very bad after this surgery. We are expecting only an overnight stay. I am cautiously optimistic and am hoping to get some good news but if nothing else, hopefully we will have a better idea what the next few years will hold for Carson! Thank you for all your prayers! I'm praying now for the team of doctors that will be involved and for Carson's experience/recovery!

Sorry the pictures are out of order...I got tired of messing with them...