Monday, June 27, 2011
The journey of Owen's tummy
When Owen was a baby he spat up a lot. His therapist mentioned that he may have some reflux issues. The next time we saw the pediatrician I mentioned this to her. She put us on baby zantac. The zantac did not work so she put us on baby prilosect (a drug that has to be compounded at a pharmacy, not bought over the counter like the adult version). Owen seemed a little better, for a little while....but then he started getting worse and worse. Our pediatrician then put him on bothenical. He did not show significant improvement on this drug. At his worst, Owen would eat 2 ounces of milk in about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, only getting about 6 ounces of liquid for the day. Owen was also in a lot of pain any time he tried to drink and so he was put on Carafate. Both Owen's pediatrician and pulmonologist ordered two different swallow studies for him. One determined he had level 4 reflux and the other that he aspirates on thin liquids. Now Owen drinks everything thickened to the consistency of honey. Even with this change he was still doing very poorly drinking his milk. His doctor then were referred to a GI doctor who told us Owen needed to have two surgeries. The first is to sew his esophagus to his upper stomach and the other would be to insert a feed tube. We had to wait two months before we could see the surgeon ( a period the seemed to be forever away). However, God used this time to show us His work in Owen. At the very end of April both boys received tubes in their ears. After the surgery they were not allowed to drink anything but clear liquid, which basically meant apple juice. Owen drank 9 ounces of thickened apple juice in 15 minutes. God then planted the idea in my mind "What if Owen is lactose intolerant." So, on the way home from the hospital we stopped at Publix and bought some Lactaid. Until this day Owen remains on Lactaid drinking three 9 ounce bottles a day. Last Thursday we went to see the surgeon who cleared Owen of the need to have either of the surgeries done. Praise God - He healed our little boy and showed us the wisdom of what he needed.
Nathan's first tooth
On Tuesday, I noticed Nathan's first tooth was coming in. It is kind of hard to see in the pictures, but it is there. As it starts coming out more I will post some better pictures. He must have been waiting for this tooth to help with other milestones. He is now drinking from a straw all by himself too.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Disney
This past weekend we left for a week trip to Disney. This was the first trip for all three of our boys. It was so amazing to hear the laughter and see the expressions of joy on their faces, especially Logan. He was quite the dare devil. He rode everything that he was tall enough to ride and loved it - thunder mountain, splash mountain, the dinosaur ride, etc. The first three days of our trip, our friends Jennifer and Michael join us, the fourth day of our trip the Geswein Family joined us, and the last couple of days we were on our own. The boys had a fun time meeting all the characters.
During the Animal Kingdom Lion King show Logan was selected from the audience to be a part of the cast. He did a great job.
Logan loved riding the magic carpet, dumbo and flying dino rides.
It was pretty hot when we were there. We all enjoyed the fan spray bottles Jennifer brought and Logan enjoyed some of the big water spray areas too.
Owen and I on the magic carpet ride.
Logan on the magic carpet ride.
Nathan and Owen did a great job at the parks. When they weren't riding on a ride or in our laps to see a show they enjoyed riding in their stroller. I bought them some stroller trays from One Step Ahead giving them a great surface for their toys.
We all loved the Toy Story Ride at Hollywood Studios.
Logan loved the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom.
Kate and Logan sitting at the French Bakery in Epcot.
Keith, Preston and the boys in "China". I will get a picture of the girls to put up soon. Keith, Kimberly, Eliza and Kate are friends of ours from the real China.
Logan after a long day at Disney and a nap in the car.
We enjoyed the Disney Junior show at Hollywood Studios.
Our last evening at Disney we stayed to watch the electrical parade and the fireworks.
During the Animal Kingdom Lion King show Logan was selected from the audience to be a part of the cast. He did a great job.
Logan loved riding the magic carpet, dumbo and flying dino rides.
It was pretty hot when we were there. We all enjoyed the fan spray bottles Jennifer brought and Logan enjoyed some of the big water spray areas too.
Owen and I on the magic carpet ride.
Logan on the magic carpet ride.
Nathan and Owen did a great job at the parks. When they weren't riding on a ride or in our laps to see a show they enjoyed riding in their stroller. I bought them some stroller trays from One Step Ahead giving them a great surface for their toys.
We all loved the Toy Story Ride at Hollywood Studios.
Logan loved the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom.
Kate and Logan sitting at the French Bakery in Epcot.
Keith, Preston and the boys in "China". I will get a picture of the girls to put up soon. Keith, Kimberly, Eliza and Kate are friends of ours from the real China.
Logan after a long day at Disney and a nap in the car.
We enjoyed the Disney Junior show at Hollywood Studios.
Our last evening at Disney we stayed to watch the electrical parade and the fireworks.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
10th Anniversary Celebration Weekend
On May 26th Preston and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. About 6 months earlier Preston began planning this surprise trip. I did not find out where we were going until we were at the airport. Preston planned fun weekends for our boys (Logan with his Dad and Donna and then some time with the Cooks and Nathan and Owen with his Mom and Mr B and then my parents). We went to NYC for four days. Preston got us a suite at a great boutique hotel, The Mansfield. It was in a great location and our room was beautiful!! Once we got there we hit the ground running. We took at bus tour of Upper Manhattan,
ate lunch at a street cart (great food that had won a Vendi award), went to a comedy show, went to Carnegie Deli, Central Park, and just enjoyed walking around time square.
The next morning we were up early and headed down to the Statue of Liberty.
(A helpful tip we learned is to go early. When we got there we walked right through security and on to the ferry. By the time we got back there was a three hour line to get through security.) We then rented bikes and rode for 6 hours, over the Brooklyn Bridge, 
Manhattan Bridge, Chinatown,
Little Italy, Greenwich Village,
the Hudson River Greenway and Central Park.
We ate dinner at a little authentic Indian Restaurant and then went to see Wicked.
It was incredible!! Probably my favorite Broadway show. On Sunday morning we met our friends The Millers (missionaries in NY) and went to church and lunch with them. We really enjoyed our worship experience and fellowship time with them. We then went to the Lincoln Center to see the ABT performance of Giselle. We were then off on another bus trip to downtown Manhattan
and then ate dinner at Island Burgers with my cousin Brenda, her husband Tammer and son Stavros. No, they don't live in NYC, actually they live in Brasil. They just happened to be vacationing there at the same time we were and we did not realize it until it until we both checked in to Central Park on Facebook.
We then went on the evening bus tour of NY and enjoyed seeing all the lights of the city. 
After the tour we ran over to Rockefeller Center, went to the top and got a great view of the city.
Monday morning we got up early and headed to Central Park for a fun morning run. Running in Central Park was such a fun and exciting thing for me....since I love to run. Here is us stretching before the fun.
ate lunch at a street cart (great food that had won a Vendi award), went to a comedy show, went to Carnegie Deli, Central Park, and just enjoyed walking around time square.
The next morning we were up early and headed down to the Statue of Liberty.
(A helpful tip we learned is to go early. When we got there we walked right through security and on to the ferry. By the time we got back there was a three hour line to get through security.) We then rented bikes and rode for 6 hours, over the Brooklyn Bridge, 
Manhattan Bridge, Chinatown,
Little Italy, Greenwich Village,
the Hudson River Greenway and Central Park. We ate dinner at a little authentic Indian Restaurant and then went to see Wicked.
It was incredible!! Probably my favorite Broadway show. On Sunday morning we met our friends The Millers (missionaries in NY) and went to church and lunch with them. We really enjoyed our worship experience and fellowship time with them. We then went to the Lincoln Center to see the ABT performance of Giselle. We were then off on another bus trip to downtown Manhattan
and then ate dinner at Island Burgers with my cousin Brenda, her husband Tammer and son Stavros. No, they don't live in NYC, actually they live in Brasil. They just happened to be vacationing there at the same time we were and we did not realize it until it until we both checked in to Central Park on Facebook.
We then went on the evening bus tour of NY and enjoyed seeing all the lights of the city. 
After the tour we ran over to Rockefeller Center, went to the top and got a great view of the city.
Monday morning we got up early and headed to Central Park for a fun morning run. Running in Central Park was such a fun and exciting thing for me....since I love to run. Here is us stretching before the fun.
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