Look who started Kindergarten!

Ashlyn has been counting down the days until she started Kindergarten all summer.  She is finally in the "Big" School, and she couldn't be more excited!  She had a GREAT first day of school and loves her teacher Mrs. Hansen.  She met her teacher the week before school started and passed the Kindergarten test with flying colors.  It was so fun to watch her interact with her teacher and try so hard to answer all the question right.  I couldn't be more proud of her, and I love that she loves to learn and loves school.

Tanner misses her when she is gone every afternoon. He has started preschool 2 days a week and cries when she gets to go to school and he doesn't.

She has her best friend Afton in her class, and several other kids from the ward- have I ever mentioned I LOVE where we live.  I love that my kids have so many great friends to grow up with.   

I sat out with all the mom's on the first day watching the kids play on the playground wondering why mom's cry when their kids go to school.  Ashlyn was so excited, not even the least bit scared so why would I cry.  And then when she turned around and smiled at me as she walked in the door, that is when I understood why mom's cry.  It just happens... my little girl is growing up so fast.  

Watching and Waiting

I had Logan laying in his crib the other day and his Monkey was laying next to him.  It reminded me of when we gave him his monkey how big it was compared to him.  The first two pictures were taken in June and the rest this month.  Amazing how much he has grown in 2 months. 

Brad found this onsie online for Logan.  It says Member of the Zipper Club!

He HATES tummy time, so I will put him in the bumbo chair to strenthen his neck muscles for a few minutes at a time.  I think it is working.... look at him just hanging out holding that head up!

I have typed a million things here and erased them all.  I am not sure what I want to say or how to say it, but know I want to say something.  I catch myself all the time correcting people, myself included, when they say we are so "lucky" that Logan is doing so well.  I know we are not "lucky" instead we are truly blessed.  I don't think luck has anything to do with it.  I think lots of prayers, trying to do the right thing, and a loving Heavenly Father has everything to do with it. 

We took Logan to the cardiologist on the 16th and at first glance the cardiologist was so pleased with how Logan was doing.  I say at first glance because this little boy has a way of masking the chaos that is going on inside his little body.  His coloring is good, he is gaining weight, and his oxygen saturation levels are awesome.  But then after the Echo the doctor wasn't quite as optimistic.  In fact his first words were, "I will call the surgeon tomorrow and talk through things with him."  Logan's heart hasn't changed at all (we were hoping the pressure from the PA band would help stretch the Right Ventricle or at least the ventricle would grow a little to move the tricuspid valve out of the VSD) and he has grown so fast that he is growing out of the PA band already- Dr. Mack seemed concerned with the pressure or something moving across the band.  I left the appointment a little discouraged, but still hopeful.  Dr. Mack talked with Dr. Kaza (the surgeon) and he was comfortable letting Logan "grow" for another month then they will do a more indepth Echo.  Dr. Mack also called a few days later and said before they send him into his next surgery they will do a cardiac cath and an esophageal echo.  They are so baffled by his oxygen levels being so good.

So again it is up to me to watch and to monitor.  It is hard not to be paranoid and over analyze everything- Brad gets to hear from me every day as I call him stressed out about something or another wondering if I need to call the doctor.  I can't imagine going through this without Brad right by my side.  He lets me talk through every concern and he never brushes me off.  He is amazing.  

I love this little boy so much, and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for letting him come to our family.  So we will continue to wait and watch and pray he will be ready and strong enough for what is to come. 

Cabin

We made it to the cabin for a day trip, it was crammed full of fun for these two little kiddos.

Colored duck tape is the latest and greatest of Grandma's crafts at the cabin.  They love covering wood and making things out of it.  Grandma also made colored sand with them.

They were kept busy ALL day!

Logan did great the entire time we were there. 

He was literally held the entire day!  This boy LOVES to snuggle!

And there is never a shortage of people who love to snuggle him!

I love this picture!  The kids love to help my parents walk the dogs.  They are so funny to watch!  It is a good thing Grandma and Grandpa have dogs because we never will!

Silver Lake

My last visit with Logan's pediatrician I told him that Dr. Mack (the cardiologist) had told us no more cabin trips.  This totally bummed me out because that was the ONE place I felt like we could kind of "get away" even for just the day.  Dr. Lei didn't want us feeling like we couldn't go anywhere so he ordered us an oximeter.  This way we would be able to monitor Logan's oxygen saturation and feel comfortable going to the cabin if his levels were okay.  Our insurance company approved it, and it was delivered to us at 10:30 on Saturday night.  So Sunday afternoon we thought we would do a "test run" and go somewhere closer to see how Logan did with the elevation change before we went all the way to the cabin.  Silver Lake is an easy place to go with kids because it has a "stroller" friendly path around the lake and it is beautiful so we decided to head up there.  So much for a test run to see how he would to at the cabin.  The elevation at Silver Lake was 1000ft. higher than the cabin.  There was a moment when we first got there that we were about to turn around because Logan's oxygen saturations dropped to the high 70's, but as soon as we woke him up and got him out of his carseat he did great and stayed in the high 80's. 

Brad's brother Todd was here from California with his wife Kristine so we invited them to come along.  (I'm sure once they heard Logan's machine beeping constantly and Ashlyn and Tanner running crazy they wondered why they came!) But it was nice to have someone to take our family picture!

I think Logan passed the cabin test.  Hopefully we might get one or two more visits in this year.

Heart Friends

A few months ago I was able to reconnect with a childhood friend that I lost touch with YEARS ago through facebook.  Caryn and I grew up dancing together and were great friends until her family moved to Arizona.  Who would have ever thought we would reconnect 20 years later, and then both have Heart babies (I guess her Brayden isn't really a baby anymore, he is 9 years old now).  She came to Utah in July and we were able to get together.

The man of the hour!

Look at us gooing and gawing over this handsome little dude! 

Brayden was so cute when he saw Logan's zipper scar he said, "Oh, that looks so cute!"  He proudly showed me his scar that now looks like a pencil line down his chest.  Brayden is a living miracle, and it gives me so much hope to see him so healthy and happy.  I know there is so much hope for Logan.

I was also able to get together with my friend Stephanie that I served with in the YW's presidency last year.  She recently moved from our Ward, but is still close by.  Her little boy Enzo is also a "heart baby" and has had 2 open heart surgeries.  Stephanie has been such a support through everything.  Her little guy is 7 months old, and barely bigger than Logan!  He is doing better now after his second surgery, and just got a thumbs up from the cardiologist that things are looking very promising for him to not need any more surgeries....sigh of relief from his mom!  It was so great to be able to sit and visit with Steph and have someone understand what I am feeling on a daily basis.  

These little guys are our fighting little warriors!