Cranial Remodeling, Day 1. June 30, 2009

The big surgery is complete! Everything went even better than planned.  The 2 surgeons seemed very pleased with what they were able to do and seem to think that if everything heals beautifully- he may not need the 2nd surgery.  They ended up taking about 1 1/2″ off of his skull and rounded things out. They did have to move his shunt a little and the Neurosurgeon was able to manually drain some of the CSF (fluid) and compress his brain somewhat.  His CT scans will look a lot different from now on.

Right now, he is very swollen and this will only get worse before it gets better. He is in a lot of pain right now and we are expecting a rough night, but tomorrow should be much better (pain-wise).  We are once again in awe at how tough this little boy is! Thank you SO much to all who have, and still are praying for Miles.  This has gone much, much better than we could have anticipated.  Here are some photos of this adventure so far-

Miles waiting to go into surgery:

Our tough little man after surgery:

We can not wait to see this wonderful smile again :

peace. June 26, 2009

Today we had a couple pre-op appointments in preparation for Miles’ cranial remodeling surgery on Monday. We have been pretty anxious about this.  It is a major surgery! Meeting with Dr. Bruneteau, the plastic surgeon, really put my mind at ease.  He reassured me that this surgery would not be as painful for Miles as his encephalocele repair because there are no nerves where they will be operating. Actually, when I think about it- that previous surgery has really prepared us well for this upcoming one.  We have a pretty good idea of what to expect. But- I don’t think  a person could ever prepare enough for seeing a new, huge scar on your baby’s head!

Still there are some major reasons that we have decided to do this-

-It will help Miles be able to walk sooner.

-It will help Miles be able to drink from a cup while sitting.

-All of the Mothers of children who have had this surgery done that I have spoken to said that while it was hard, it was the best decision they ever made for their child.

-A few of the Mothers even said that their child “took off” developmentally after the surgery.

-Now is the best time to do it.

Sound like I’m giving myself a pep-talk?……I am While I do feel much more at peace with our decision, it is still tough to do something that you know will cause your child pain—even if it is for the best in the long run.

Please keep Miles in your prayers. Surgery is Monday morning at 7 am. I am so thankful that God is in control! We are trusting our baby to the Great Physician.

progress. June 23, 2009

Here’s Miles’ progress crawling…

meet puppy. June 23, 2009

Have you met puppy? Puppy was once one of those fluffy, silky little stuffed dogs with a little blankie for his body.  Now he is…..well…loved. Miles adores his puppy. When you hand it to him he grits his teeth and immediately rubs puppy all over his face while grunting excitedly!!!

The evidence:

Happy Father’s Day. June 22, 2009

To Joe, Dennis and my Daddy-

Happy Father’s Day!

Here is the photo that I framed for Joe for Father’s Day this year.  The photo is from our camping trip last weekend.  Joe told me that this was one of his favorite memories with his father One of my favorite memories with my father has to be having him as a basketball coach in junior high and more recently, hearing his wacky answers while playing the game balderdash!!! Happy Father’s day- we love and appreciate all the many things that you do for us!

razzle dazzle. June 20, 2009

Here are some photos from the wedding we worked on this weekend. It was all about rhinestones!!

rody. June 18, 2009

I always love it when other (hydro) Moms share little tips and things that have made life easier- so here’s something I’ve found to be helpful. It is called a Rody. They have them at Miles’ PT office. They are meant to help with balance. It is great because they are close to the floor and Miles just LOVES bouncing on it. He still needs a lot of help staying on, but I can see this being a great too for balance!You can use them to bounce or scoot- they are technically for ages 2-4.   We will definitely be investing in one, or two of these little horses as  the next time we have some extra cash. Greta loves them too, she begs the Physical therapist as soon as we arrive to ride the horses…but if you ask me, they look a little more like a llama, or an alpaca

Harvest Lamb Stew. June 18, 2009

This meal was delicious, but not the best for a hot summer night! In any event, this is a keeper. Simple and flavorful and could easily be made in the  crock pot. For those of you who make your own baby food- this would be a great recipe to use!

Harvest Lamb Stew

1 lb. Lamb stew meat

1 T. Olive oil

1/4 red onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2  c. butternut squash, cut into chunks (I used frozen!)

1/2 c. pearl barley

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs thyme

3 c. tomato juice

Heat medium skillet on HIGH.  Salt and pepper the lamb chunks. Brown lamb about 1 minute, turning once. Remove to roast pan or dutch oven (center should be red).  Turn heat down to medium and add oil, onion, garlic, squash, bay leaf and thyme. Cook about 5-8 minutes and add barley. Cook, stirring, an additional 2 minutes and add to pan with the lamb. At this point it should look like this:

Pour tomato juice over mixture and bake at 325 for about 2 hours (or place in crock pot for 3-4 hours on low) Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fresh thyme.

where was I?? June 18, 2009

I am so glad to be back blogging! You may recall that my laptop died a few months ago.  Not having a computer slowed things down as you can imagine. Then I got my new laptop. As you can see…it is teeny, tiny(I’ve included a can of pop in the photo below so you can see for yourself).  I love it! I can carry Miles and my computer easily at the same time and best of all it was super cheap But, since the screen is so small–I had some trouble with formatting on the publisher. I think I have it figured out now- so hopefully I’ll be back for good!

summertime. June 16, 2009

Yay! I finally figured out how to blog on my tiny new computer  I don’t think I could possibly catch you up on what we have been up to for the last (almost) month! BUT- I will try.

Swimming with James on Memorial Day…brrrrr!

Swinging on Memorial Day

Greta and Mimi at the Mother-Daughter Brunch/Fashion show

Grandpa and Joe on the camping trip to Arrowhead

Miles camping

Crazy Nana grilling and doing yoga?!?!!

I think Greta could have  lived on the camp ground!

Greta’s “ballerina dress” that she created using a skirt with the sewn in shorts pulled up!

And, finally…this is what 42 socks on one foot looks like