Enjoying the fall!

Well, we had alot of fun this weekend (even though Carson has a pretty bad cough and both boys have snotty noses)! I've said it before but Carson is the happiest little boy I've ever seen and the biggest trooper! His cough is bad enough that it makes me hurt to listen to him but he still wakes up with the biggest smile on his face, ready to enjoy the day! (a living example of the verse "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad"...no matter what)!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past week or so...

Naked booties!

Go Mizzou! We'll get 'em next time!

Fun with Mimi and Papa!

Cheering on both our teams!

Carson is laughing too hard to do the wave!

Gotta love the beautiful curls (he would make a precious little girl!) - be praying for me, their first haircuts are Friday.

Kellen is giving Daddy pointers!

Giving 'high fives'

Now for the knuckles.

Clark 2013 pumpkins

My two little boys!

Cutting out halloween cookies!

Now for the decorating...Kellen really liked the icing (imagine that!)

Putting the ghost in just the right place!

Wedding was a success!

I just wanted to do a quick update to tell everyone thank you for your prayers! Carson recovered well from the surgery and actually was pretty much back to his 'normal' for the wedding!! We had a wonderful weekend in Springfield and Aunt Ra-Ra's wedding was absolutely wonderful! I will post pictures when I get some! Carson and Kellen both LOVED dancing at the reception (or at least being held on the dance floor). If we left the dance floor, they both would say "More, more!!" while pointing back to the dance floor : ) Carson had a slight incident at the reception...I didn't see it and I'm glad. I think he fell off a chair and bit his tongue. There was a fair amount of blood but it eventually stopped bleeding. Now, it is only a scar on his tongue.

We've had a wonderful time this past week! Not to mention the wonderful weekend for Missouri sports! (Go Cards and Mizzou!) The boys are so much fun! I don't know if all kids are this entertaining but I'm just really hoping the terrible two's stay far far away!

Wedding pictures to come as soon as I have some!

Carson's 'boo-boo' from a night of dancing!

First time Kellen pooped in the potty! I almost peed my pants laughing at how big a deal adults can make over a teeny tiny turd!

GO MIZZOU! The boys were good luck!

We love our little swing set!

Happy, happy, happy!

It is always better at HOME!

I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to actually do an update! Yes, we got home yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. This trip was definitely the roughest one...

We left Tuesday afternoon and the trip up went well. We checked into our hotel and got Carson settled in. He did not sleep well that night, which means we don't get any sleep. By about 2 am, I started getting concerned...he had alot more secretions than normal and just couldn't rest well (but no fever). That is, no fever until about 5 am. He had about a 100 degree temp. Not horrible, but enough to make me concerned going into surgery. I ended up calling same day surgery at about 6:45 to see if we should even bother going because I thought they would cancel surgery. Long story short, they decided to go forward with surgery after checking him out and talking with us.

The surgery was successful, I guess. They were able to do what they planned but were a little 'conservative' due to inflammation they saw in his airway. They said we wouldn't really see any immediate changes. As I've mentioned before, they get concerned when they see 'reactive' or 'inflammed' airways. Because that isn't the optimal condition for healing (especially when you talk about big reconstructive surgeries...in fact, they won't even do them if the airway is too inflamed). I have a feeling his airway was inflamed due to whatever little bug/virus he has and the fact he didn't sleep much the night before, AND that he threw up several times that night. Anyways, I'm really hoping that was the problem. Dr. Cotton doesn't really have a definite plan at this point...he said, Carson will likely have a reconstructive surgery at some point but he doesn't know what type. He again said, "He will have the trach for a long time." I didn't even ask "How long?" this time because it usually gets longer and longer. And, I know God can work a miracle Dr. Cotton has never seen! : )

Carson will go back in 6 months and have a 'triple scope.' ENT, Pulmonology, and GI get together to take another look and hopefully be able to give us a better 'plan.' I think they really want to give him more time to grow.

Anyways, Carson did fine through surgery and was full of 'energy' and fight when he woke up in recovery. : ) The night after surgery was LONG for all of us! It is SO hard for a kid to get some sleep in the hospital with nurses, doctors, techs, etc all coming in to check this or that. On top of that, Carson required some oxygen while he was sleeping (probably due to whatever bug he has on top of anesthesia). Well this was concerning to the night nurse, Carson's heart leads weren't picking up well so that alarm was going off frequently, she was coming in to check those. Every time, Carson would wake up and get mad and probably a little scared because she was a stranger. Carson's heart rate was definitely higher than normal and he was breathing harder and faster than normal. I think the night nurse was just trying to do a good job but I think Carson really just needed some peace and quiet. Anyways, I was concerned they weren't going to let us leave Thursday morning because of all that (increased heart rate, increased respirations, increased oxygen requirements). Thank goodness, they did! Carson never ceases to amaze me! Despite all of that (just having surgery, not getting any sleep, having a little 'bug'), Carson still woke up Thursday morning and gave me a big grin, played with the toys he could (while being tied to the wall with IVs and cords), and tried to get Daddy's attention to get up off the couch! Like my dad said, the world would be a much happier place if we all had attitudes and personalities like Carson's : ) I am so proud of him!

Once we left, Carson slept about two hours in the car and hardly moved : ) His heart rate was down and he was breathing easier! : ) A huge water puddle greeted Carson once we got home! Carson played in it for a long time with Nana and Aunt RaRa!

Please do be praying that Carson gets over whatever it is he has, so he is 100% for the upcoming wedding, and that Kellen doesn't get sick!! I can never thank you all enough for the prayers!

In our room after surgery...

Surgery update!

I spoke with the nurses in Same Day Surgery today. Carson is scheduled in the OR at 9:15 am (Eastern Time). The surgery should be about an hour. Plan is to stay overnight and hopefully leave to return home on Thursday morning. Thanks again to everyone who is covering Carson and our trip in prayer! We love you all!

P.S. I'm not sure I'll be able to do an update on Wednesday but I will do it as soon as I get a chance : )

First Trip to the ZOO!!

The last couple weeks have been excellent!! We have had a busier schedule than normal (meaning...not staying at home every day/weekend : ) It has actually been nice and the boys have thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

This past weekend we went to St. Louis for Cardinal Glennon's NICU reunion. It was SO wonderful! We got to see several of Carson's favorite nurses and several of the doctors as well! The boys played in bubbles, got balloon dogs, Kellen got his face painted, and both of them enjoyed the balloon release. I think the doctors and nurses also really enjoy the event because they get to see the tiny little miracles they helped, grow up. So many people commented on how well the boys were doing and how good Carson looked! As we all know, by know, Carson is nothing short of a miracle but it is always a good remember to REALLY think about how far he has come.

The 'reunion' was followed by a day AT Cardinal Glennon for some follow up appointments. Carson saw the cardiologist, had an echocardiogram, and also saw his 'thyroid doctor.' His cardiologist hadn't seen him since BEFORE the teratoma was removed and couldn't believe how good he looked! He wants to do one more echo in a year but didn't see anything concerning and said that the PFO's (holes in his heart) had closed. Carson's endocrinologist ('thyroid doctor') said 'he looked like a million bucks!' After the appointments, we went to the zoo for a couple hours. The boys had a blast, despite the fact that it was during naptime and they were clearly tired! I think the hippos stole the show by swimming right in front of Carson and Kellen. The adults all had fun too (Nana, Aunt RaRa, and Cindy, a good friend, were able to join us)!

Carson has continued to do well with eating the past several weeks. Some days are more outstanding than others but still so much better than before! We have also ventured to 'Story Hour' at the Library a couple times, we went to Columbia two weekends ago for the 'Tough Mudder' event, experienced the Stoddard County Fair, and Big Truck night. Have I said how wonderful it is to feel like I have two 'NORMAL' kids : ) that get to do NORMAL things (things that don't involve pokes, hospitals, surgeries, etc.)

Speaking of surgeries...next Wednesday (October 2nd), Carson will have his next surgery in Cincinnati. They are planning to do a supraglottalplasty (altering/reshaping his epiglottis). This is the same surgery that was planned, but stopped, in July. I'm a little more anxious than normal about this surgery because of the result last time, but I'm praying for the surgeons and medical staff and I KNOW the Great Physician will have his hand over them. Please also be praying for a quick recovery...we have a big event October 12th --- Aunt RaRa and Uncle Em's wedding! And Carson and Kellen have a big job in it! ; ) Anxious to have the surgery behind us and we can focus on the fun stuff again!

As Jesus Calling said, yesterday..."Pour all of your energy into trusting Me. It is through trust that you stay connected to Me, aware of My Presence."

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." Psalm 5:3
I am EXPECTING miracles, once again! As always, thanks for your prayers!

We found some cute pirates at their first "Story Hour"

Electrician and Firefighter hats from the 'Big Truck' Night

Carson smiling at our favorite Ms. Robin after eating almost 1/2 jar of baby food! : )

NICU Reunion with Carson and Kellen's primary nurse Christi! LOVE HER!

Finding some shade by the pond!

Carson's two primary nurses, Beth and Christi! We were so blessed! And Carson and Kellen got to meet a future girlfriend : )

Another miracle child! It was wonderful to get to meet him, his mom was at the Ronald McDonald House when we were there! Another amazing story!

They are growing up so fast!

My all time favorite doctor - Dr. Vlastos! He delivered the boys!

Kellen sat SO still while they painted his face : ) He was so excited!

Waiting in the doctor's office! Carson did so well!

At the ZOO!

Checking out the zebras

...and the sea lions

All in perspective!

We've had some exciting new changes the past couple weeks...Carson is eating!!!!

Ok, ok...when I say eating...I mean taking bites, that aren't just little tastes or licks, but actual bites, and multiple bites! I wanted to do a post last week, when the big news was that Carson had eaten ONE Tablespoon of baby food (with 1/2 T. of juice to thin it down) between three settings! This was huge! I know that one tablespoon doesn't seem like alot. I mean, I can eat that in one bite easily, but for Carson, that is HUGE!

Well, Carson didn't stop there...the last couple days, he has eaten 1-2 Tablespoons at EACH setting (and we aren't thinning the food down at all!). This morning, I was marveling at Carson and Kellen, we all sat down...Kellen was eating french toast and Carson was taking REAL sized bites of yogurt. It felt SO normal : ) Isn't NORMAL just so wonderful! I'm just so proud of Carson! When you give him a bite, there is no trying to distract him or trying to get him to open his mouth, no gagging afterwards (at least not all the time). He just opens his mouth, takes the bite, then moves his tongue to organize the food, and swallows! AMAZING! I definitely have a different view of eating now...it truly is amazing all that goes in to taking a single bite (most of which we never even think of consciously!) This is really a big step for Carson! He still needs his tube feedings to get the nutrition he needs but it is so wonderful to see him eating...praying that it continues!

Now, for Kellen...he is eating like a champ! He had a full piece of meatloaf last night, along with fried potatoes. This morning, he ate one and a half pieces of French toast. I LOVE it!!! He also mastered going up the ladder and down the slide by himself this week : ) He did it over and over and over! Such a busy little man!

Thank you for the continued prayers! We are awaiting Carson's next surgery October 2nd, in Cincinnati.

Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks (including some pictures of our new home!)

They had so much fun playing ping pong!

Can you hear the laughter?!?

my LOVE!

Boys and their toys (or maybe some little girls' toys)  ; )

Group photo time...yeah right!

We will have a basement!! YAY!

Carson just thought the chalk lines needed to be adjusted a little : )

Kellen is checking out the plumbing!

We have stairs!!

One of my favorites!

Checking out the BIG backyard!

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 

 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18