Cardiology Update...

Braden had his yearly visit with the Pediatric Cardiologist last week.  As usual, we were there for about 3 hours. Man, I forget just how long it takes to do all the testing! First I had pages of paperwork to fill out.  After a short wait we were called back to do height, weight and blood pressure.

I could tell Braden was nervous because his BP was kinda high, so we told him to take a deep breath cause there was nothing to worry about. Then we headed into the room for his EKG. This is the first time he has really noticed or cared about the print out of results. He thought it was cool that his heart made all kinds of 'mountains' on the paper.  But then he had about a million questions of how the stickers on his skin connect to the cords to make the print out.  Boy Howdy he had a lot of questions!

There is always a big 'Take the Stickers Off/ Leave them On' debate. See, they are super super sticky and kinda pull to get them off. Ultimately, we pulled them off. Just for my records, this is the first year they also put an EKG lead on his legs. Which of course Braden noticed and wondered why. It is AMAZING just how fast an EKG goes when the patient stays still. I can remember when he was a toddler this test taking 30 minutes versus the minute this years took.

After the EKG we waited and waited to be pulled back to the Echo room. This always takes some time as the Echo Tech and the doctor have to go over his anatomy, so she knows what she is looking at. He has a "normal' four chamber heart, but there are baffles and other things in there that make it look odd on an Echo.

Finally, it was or turn.  As he gets older it is harder and harder to see the detail of what we could see when he was young. But we had an amazing tech, that's been there like 20 years so she was good.  Braden was so calm and cooperative, not like last time when there was scratching and blood involved...

The tech took her time, looking at blood flow, an all the other mumbo jumbo heart stuff and then we were done.  After the Echo we went back to our room and waited for the doctor to review the echo and come in for the exam.  Of course we sat and waited and waited and waited. And then I started to get that panicky feeling I get anytime we're there. After about 45 minutes of hanging out Dr. N came in and was all smiles.  I've said before this man has ZERO poker face, so we generally know right away if it is good or bad.

We love to see our peds cardio doc. He has been through it all with us. Encouraged us and supported us when we wanted to go to Stanford for B's surgery.  As grateful as I am not to see him more than once a year, we miss him! So we usually spend most of the appointment chatting about non-heart related things.

During the exam he checks the pulses in Braden's feet, legs, arms and hands, check his overall health and then listens. And listens.  And listens and then he listens just a little more.  Braden was so quiet, answering most questions by looking at me first.  The Echo showed a blood flow thing (I'm gonna use 'thing' cause I can't remember the term exactly, and you don't really care anyways) having to do with the Coronary Vessels. We've never talked about the Coronaries before. They weren't part of his diagnosis. From one view you could see a 'thing' but none of the other views showed it. So, Dr N had 3 other docs come in to decide if it was something or not. They all decided it was a not.  Nothing of concern, just something to watch and be mindful of next exam.

We hadpreviously discussed having his next exam in two years but Dr N is super cautious so he wants us to come back in one year.  Braden will do a treadmill test then to make sure as he is getting older, and more active in sports that his heart is able to keep pace with him.  I think it will be cool to watch.  We discussed Braden's limits as far as sports go. He has none per-se, but he was pleased that B was doing diving instead of swimming and baseball as opposed to football.  After a few more minutes of chatting (he wants to meet our other kids sometime) we were all done!  It is always so awesome to leave with the words "Magnificent" and "Miraculous" and "Amazing" being used to describe his heart health.

Braden and Dr Nowlen

We are truly grateful for our CHD kid that defied all odds and the army of people who took care of him along the way to get him to where we are now!  Thanks APCC- we love you all, see you in a year!

Spring Break Round Up!!!

What a busy week. I didn't even go anywhere but I am so tired from last week.  Man, do I miss preschool! I think the thing I hate about Spring Break is it is a glimpse into what the summer holds- me, 3 crazy boys in a house. Hmmm...Moving on. SO in addition to crafting the horses, we spent most of this week playing Wii, play dates at the park with friends, and doing a few projects I have been needing to get done.

Braden and Rusty got some good Father/Son time in this week. First, by a trip down to the Dunes for a day of riding. Braden was so excited to go. He loves the Dunes. A couple of other kids they were with there rode 90's and Braden tried it out and loved it, now he doesn't want to ride his 50 because it goes too slow... Looks like we'll be looking into a new quad soon. Oh man. And we don't have any pictures because I couldn't find the charger to my little camera (I've since ordered a replacement) and there's no way he was taking the big camera to all that sand!

The same day I finished the horse project I remembered for Christmas Brenner had gotten some of the cutest cowboy boots and clothes from his Noni. So, I decided to have a little photoshoot. He was smiling and all looked great, until the battery on my big camera died too! AGH! Luckily my sis in law brought her camera over and I could get a number of cute ones. Here are some of my favorites.  He has Wranglers too, but you couldn't see the boots with them on.

Pretty cute. We've been all cowboy 'round here lately. We spent a ton of time outdoors, jumping on the tramp and pulling weeds. My allergies have been going nuts- luckily I finally found if I take both Claritin and Zyrtec they aren't as horrible (I'm in an antihistamine fog, but oh well).  Brenner is keeping us on our toes. He rolls and crawls all over! I find myself constantly picking up after the big boys, things that I know Brenner will put in his mouth.

Because he'll put just about anything in his mouth. I am SOOOOO ready for those first teeth to pop though! He loves his Jumperoo and we finally got the play center down, he likes it- mostly he likes to throw things off it and watch Mommy pick them back up again.  He is eating two size 2's twice a day- plus his bottles.  I think he has a hollow leg cause he is always starving! The funniest is watching him with the little veggie puffs, he puts them in his mouth by fistfuls (even though only 1 or 2 make it at a time).

Brenner's not so sure what he thinks of grass, but Braden and Berk sure think it's amusing to watch his wiggle around out there!  Berk and Jaci are so funny to watch on the tramp. She doesn't think you should bounce on it, and he does! They are like brother and sister which means for the most part they are fighting! But we love having Jaci around so much! When they do play together and it's quiet (miracle) we leave them alone, regardless of what they may be doing, because the peace is SOOOO nice!

Then, on Friday after his cardio visit (my next post) Braden and Rusty went up to Flagstaff to do some snowboarding.  Braden got a snowboard for Christmas two years ago and hasn't gotten to use it yet at a real ski resort. So this day was his first on big runs. He did amazing. I wish I'd have been there! He even told Rusty, "Dad in a few years I'm gonna be at the Olympics- like Shaun White!"  When the Olympics were on my boys were glued to the screen, especially when Shaun White was on.  So here is a short clip of some of his runs. As the day went on he was doing better and better. Turning, stopping and even going toe-side. It won't be long till he's jumping. Oh my.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm so glad everyone is back and we had a fun week off, but I can't wait for schools to start tomorrow!!! I miss having a picked up house and some Brenner and Mommy time.  I have a post about the cardio visit, but it will have to wait till later when Berk isn't singing in my ear!

Giddy- Up!!!

Well, a week or so ago a flier came home in Braden's backpack with instructions on how to make a hobby horse out of a sock for the 1st grade rodeo coming up. I looked at it and even tried out a sock or two and decided that there was no way I was making a sock puppet-esk horse. So, I searched online for patterns and was feeling a little irritated because most of the patterns were pretty lame. Finally I stumbled upon a site with the best instructions and it was decided. I was sewing Braden a hobby horse.

So, I made my plan of attack- I figured out what colors I would do, and what materials I would need and I compiled my list and my coupons and headed to JoAnn's late one night.  On my way out I said to my dear sweet husband (with a glimmer in my eye and creativity in my fingertips), "I'm gonna make Braden's horse myself. It's gonna be so cute- you just wait." . And my husband pauses the tv and says, "Oh, okay. We'll see..."  I wish you could hear how it sounded like "Ohhhh, Ok (little laugh) we'll seeee". Like he thinks I can't do it. Like he was doubting my Crafting abilities! MINE?!? Hello, we've been marred for nearly a decade, together for another 4 years on top of that. Pshhh. Does he NOT read my BLOG? (I mean our blog)... 


So anyhow, I proceed to the store and when I got home I make the pattern, cut, pin, sew, saw and assemble my horse. It took me two days- because I still can't sew with the kids bugging me.  BUT- It is very very very cute. I was so proud of it (and myself) before it even has all it's parts (ie the stick and ribbon reins) that I drove it (the horse I mean- whom I haven't yet named- but will) to my Mom's house and to my in-law's house. I parade the crap out of that unstuffed horse head because, dang it, I am pretty stinkin proud of myself.  


Point being, Rusty totally ate his words. The horse rocks.  We'll name him something awesome, I'm sure. 

And because I can, I didn't just make one-I made two...and the boys haven't put them down or gone in the car without them in two days...

Giddy-up Cowboys!


*Post edit* Did you notice Braden FINALLY lost that other front tooth? Horray! No more silver caps! I am truly overjoyed... And the horses don't have their bridles aka ribbons on them yet cause the boys won't put them down long enough for me to sew em on!

Partly, It was My Fault...

It was, because I am the Mom. I should have been watching my little man while he sat quietly 3 feet from me playing oh so nicely. But you see, we were in the middle of a rousing game of Mario Bros Wii- which -as a whole- we're pretty crappy at. But we have fun, and there's a lot of yelling and a lot of "Don't bubble!" and the like. If you've played you know what I mean... So really, it's my fault for playing a game that required skills which are above my level and therefore took all of my concentration.

But, in my defense, I wasn't the one who left the markers on the ground, and it wasn't even one of my other kids who did. So, it's really only partly my fault. And, I didn't set him on the ground near the markers either. See, by placing the blame all around I feel a little better about the fact that my kid colored ALL over himself with a (washable- thank heavens) marker. (You can't see it in this picture- but the insides of BOTH hands were completely green, Hulk Style...)

Isn't this stuff supposed to start when they turn 2? EEK! I think I'm in for it. The sleeping issues may have just been the beginning with this guy...

And for the record, we did FINALLY, pass the stage we were trying to pass. Go Mario!