UPDATE UPDATE

I start every blog entry the same way every time....... "I know it's been forever since my last entry...I suck at blogging, yada yada yada....". Now that I think about it, that's the way all my journal entry's start too! Ha Ha. I guess it's just not where I spend my time....obviously. I must say, I do applaud all the wonderful mothers out there that seem to get it done on a regular and consistent basis.
We have had a Crazy and busy summer. We went to an awesome retreat in Vegas, Lake Mead area, Bear Lake, Rexburg (numerous times), a cabin in Sundance a few times, a cabin in Alpine Wyoming with all our law school friends, California, and probably more I just can't remember. Too bad I don't really have many pictures to prove it. I always think I'll track down the pics others take, but then I never do.

I did manage to get a few fun pics from the past month.....

Vivien's first Solids. She did great! A much better eater than her brother ever was.

Val Dean was very upset that Vivien was eating food. He did not want her in a high chair at all. He kept saying " No mommy.... Vivien can only have mommy's milks. Stop feeding her..... that's Val Dean's big boy foods. So I put him in his high chair and feed him too. He accepted the reality of it pretty quickly.

This was Val Dean's favorite part of Bear Lake.

Vivien and Val Dean are best friends lately. Val Dean is always asking if her can wake her up from her naps to play.... of course I always say no and follow up with a threat of what will happen to him if he does.

Vivien gets nearly 100 kisses and hugs from big brother each day. When she is standing straight she is only about an inch or two shorter....poor kid...she'll pass him up before she is one for sure. Although he has grown 3" in the last four months. He only grew 2" from 6 months until four months ago. They said his surgery might have stimulated bone growth. We are so excited. I pray that he can make it to four feet. At least reach a door knob or light switch.

Vivien started crawling about a months ago. She picked it up so fast. She is a very busy girl. Such a contrast from Val Dean. You nearly have to rope her to the changing table when you change her diapers.

She started "cruising" about a week after she started crawling. She stands for a second on her own too. I am afraid she is going to walk soon and I'll never be able to catch her.
Val Dean is Jackal and Hyde these days. A perfect angel one minute and then the next a little devil. He is in time out half his life. I am not sure what this phase is but I hope it passes soon.

This is what he does when you ask for a "cheesy smile".

Not a dull minute with this guy. He says the funniest things lately. Today he told me not to call him Val Dean anymore. He said, just call me Buzz, okay mommy. (his nick name). 20 minutes later he changes his mind.

Val surprised me with a much needed new sewing machine for my birthday a couple weeks ago. I was so excited. He rarely comes up with a good suprise like that. I absolutely love it!

One of my latest projects. I am making this quilt for my little sister. I still need to bind it. any takers! That part I am no good at.

SUMMER!!

We have been so crazy busy this summer. The poor kids have been subjected to gypsy life. I don't think they have slept in their own beds for more than three nights in a row for the past two months. Hence why I have not been updating the blog.

My awesome brother-in-law took these pics last week. Vivien is so much fun lately, she is starting to crawl and get into a sitting position. She self entertains for like 30 minutes at a time. She is so happy. I just can't believe how blessed we are to have such a perfect baby.

Val Dean just loves his baby sister. They are really starting to play and interact together. Val Dean is also starting to be such a protective big brother. He tells me when she is crying to help her and when she she is sleeping to check on her. The other day his little cousin lightly tapped a toy on her head and he went over pushed her and said not hit her.
It's been about 9 weeks since Val Dean's surgery. The doctor said his neck is not fusing as fast as they would like so needs to wear the neck brace for about four months instead on two. He has progressed to a point now that we can remove the neck brace while he is sleeping. Which is a huge relief because he would take it off at night and tear off all the pads and parts into about 10 pieces. Overall he is doing so well, you would never know he had a surgery (except the neck brace). He just runs around like any other kid, fearless and crazy.

We are Home!

Val Dean got home from Primary Children's hospital on Sunday. Each day he is getting better and better. Although the nights are long; The kids seem to wake each other up all night long. Today he was the happiest he's been in a while. The pain has made him so moody. He is getting a custom made neck brace next week, which will be so nice because his current neck brace is too big and cuts into his shoulders. He also gets his stitches out on Monday.

My parents gave Val Dean these balloons when he got home. He liked them so much he insisted holding them while he watched a movie. He even held them while he slept that night.

Primary Children's has a playroom that Val Dean was able to play in the day before we left. He was so sick of his hospital bed, it was like Disneyland. At first he could not walk at all, he looked a little tipsy for awhile.

Little Viv has been such a great baby. She is so low maintenance. She just smiles every time you look at her. We are so blessed to have her!

The long and bumpy road

Yesterday was Val Dean's hardest day yet. He was SO irritable. It's hard to see our little guy so upset and discontent. The pain and meds make his pretty angry. He couldn't sleep or calm himself at all yesterday. Needless to say it was pretty exhausting for the both of us. Val had to go back to work, which I was not prepared for.

His x-rays show that the surgery was a great success. So now we just have to deal with the after math. They had to take him off of morphine because his stomach was shutting down, so he is in more pain now. The loratab just doesn't seem to touch the pain like the morphine. He is also having difficulties keeping his oxygen up, so he has to be on oxygen all the time.

He hates all the cords and IV's connected to him. He is constantly ripping the oxygen, neck brace, and monitor leads off. And yesterday he ripped the IV out of his foot.
He seems a little better this morning. He slept really good last night and is napping now. YEAH! Originally, we thought we could leave today or tomorrow, but that does not seem like it's going to happen.
On a positive note.... We are staying at my aunts condo arcross from the conference center and this is the view out my window. It's even better at night!

Again thanks to all your for your love, prayers, and support

Surgery Update

Val Dean was so funny in the pre-op room. They gave him some drugs to calm him before they put him under and it made him so loopy. He was giggling and saying the funniest things. He kept kissing Val and then started licking his face and saying he wanted to taste daddy. Then he wanted Val and I to kiss him all together "a family kiss". His kisses would last about 20 seconds. It was so funny!

This is Val Dean on "drugs"SO SAD!! I just died when I first saw him. It was so hard to see him so helpless.

The doctor said when he started he was a little nervous because his neck instability and abnormalities were much worse then he expected. In the end, after a little over 3 hours surgery the doctor said he was amazed at how well it turned out.

The surgery placed a horseshoe shaped metal plate down the back of the neck. The top part was screwed into the back of the skull and the two side pieces screwed into his c-3. Because his c-1 and c-2 vertebra's were so deformed they had to take two 2 inch pieces from his ribs to build up the vertebrae. So it was like two surgeries in one.

He was in a substantial amount of pain after the surgery. He just seemed like he could not get comfortable. I hope that tomorrow will be a little better. Thank you to all our friends and family for all your prayers and support. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Val Dean's surgery!!!!

FINALLY!!! Val Dean's neck surgery is finally here. After months of wait, the doctor has dicided Val Dean's neck is too unstable to go any longer with out neck surgery. I have been so nervious, but am so glad the day is finally here.

We had to start the process Sunday night with some blood work. Val Dean said he wanted to get in the trunk with his luggage.

The start of our journey Sunday night. It was difficult start. They had to poke him a couple of times. It was pretty traumatic.

Monday morning Val Dean said he was ready for surgery. He had a great attitude all week, which was really surprising. He said in his prayers every night "bless Val Dean's surgery can fix Val Dean's neck".

His surgery got postponed for a couple of hours which I thought was going to be disastrous because he had eaten since 8pm the night before. However he was so pleasant, he loved the waiting room toys.
He had great support with both grandmas there to spoil him!