Thank God for Dr. Mulliken

My New Face!

This is the last one I will post of him with his cleft lip. He was so cute wearing Daddy's hat.

This was in the hospital same day of surgery very swollen and still had the nasal packing in.

Here is Jaron in the hotel with his stitches still in his lip & nose. He seemed to be alright. Just taking regular tylenol. You might can tell his face is still swollen some.

Here is a good veiw of him laying down. You can see there are still some stitches in his top lip and in the nostrils. They come out or dissolve on their own.

Profile veiw of our handsome little boy's "New Face".

Daddy caught this cute little face. He kinda looks like he has a milk mustache.

His surgery was May 4th for those who didnt' know. He went in at 7:30am and the surgeon made the first incision at 9:30am. He takes all the time necessary to make the markings before starting. I was glad to hear that. What an amazing job he did. We are very pleased. It lasted 10 hours and we went in to see him in recovery. Then we got his room and stayed there 2 nights in the hospital. They removed his stitches on Tues. 9th under quick anesthesia, 30 min. He did great! Jaron has a little cold but other than that he seems pretty well back to normal. Thanks for all your prayers and please check the blog weekly to watch him change and grow. God Bless you all.

picture of mommy

Florida and the beach!!!

We made a trip to FL last week and this is at Jacob's great grandparents house. He loved this little car. He doesn't have one of these at home so he couldn't get enough.
Here is a cute picture of him running from the birds.
This is his first time at the ocean watching the water run over his feet. He didn't take long to get used to it.
Here is is watching the birds eat the chips he threw out for them.
And here is the final result. We were only out there 3 hours and he had on 45 Bullfrog sunblock. This is what happens when you never get in the sun for the first 3 years of life and then you stick them out in the florida sun. He recovered quickly and now he has some good color.

Trip to Florida

Jaron loved this swing. When he would stop swinging he cried. He did not want to get out of it either. We have to get one of these at our house. This was at my grandmothers in Florida. We made a quick trip down there last week.
This is Jaron's first visit to the beach. We brought the play pen and he was under a tent w/ 45 sunscreen on. He didn't get any sun. But Jacob on the other hand. Well you'll have to check his blog to see his beach experience. Click on the link to the right that says "Meet my brother Jacob".

Standing Proud!

Well I put Jaron to bed as usual the other night and went in later to find out what all the banging was about. And this is how I found him. BUSTED! He has evidently learned to stand up in the bed now and was slapping the wall. You might say..."How funny" Well it was for a minute until I figured out that he will no longer be laying in his bed. He stands up right after I lay him down every time. It's a battle of wits now. I lay him down leave the room and back up he goes. Over and over until he is so tired he can't hold his eyes open and he gives up. Mommy wins again.
Well this was just adorable. Jaron is wearing his bathrobe after a fresh bubble bath. My boys are adorable....The girls are gonna be chasing them...I can see it now.
And today was a big day for him too. Not only can he pull up in the bed with rails to help. He pulled up, from sitting down, to the coffee table. I couldn't believe it. He is learning so quickly. He is crawling better and better. I'll get a picture of him soon. Thanks for reading.

Helping Daddy Outside

Well Chris was doing some yard work the other day and Jacob was helping. He asked for the broom and this is what he did while Chris raked. He was so funny! And when Daddy was trimming the bushes he came into the house and went in his room in search of his plyers. He got them (plastic) and proceeded outside as serious as he could and went straight for the bush and trimmed hedges right beside his daddy! So cute! I didn't catch that one. I couldn't leave the window to get the camera I didn't want to miss it. He is growing up so fast! I love my "Big J".

Easter Sunday

Well I tried to get a good picture of the boys together in their matchin easter sunday clothes. As you can tell I couldn't get one with both of them smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. I guess the bottom one is the best of the three. They were so cute Sunday. Jacob got a hair cut as you can tell from the last picture I posted. He does great sitting pretty still for Granna while she cuts his hair. I cannot believe my baby boy is about to be 4 years old in 5 months!!!

Growing so fast!

Wow how time flys!!! I am in shock at how quickly things seem to go as I get older. It seems like just last week I brought Jaron home from the hospital struggling to feed him and getting no sleep. The sleep is a little better and we do still have some feeding difficulty but he is getting so big so fast. I can't believe we are about to go for his next surgery in 17 MORE DAYS!!! He is right on the verge of crawling. I will post pictures when he masters it. Thanks for everyones prayers. Gotta go he's waking up for a bottle.

Ready for Church

Here is a picture of the boys this morning all dressed for church. They have a few matching shirts and we like to dress them the same. Wow Jaron looks so much like Jacob. We are counting down the days until surgery. I know this recovery is going to be harder. He didn't wear the arm restraints as much this time because he kept his fingers out of his mouth and I watched him closely. But the next surgery will be external and I think he is going to want to itch and pull at the tapes he will have to wear. So the arm restraints will most likely be very necessary. We'll see. Jaron is gaining weight good too. He was 18 lbs. about 2 weeks ago. So he is almost average now. He isn't quite used to his palate yet. When something touches it like food or biter biscuit he gags so it will take some time for him to get used to it I guess. Anyway, thanks for reading and keep him in your prayers.

Brother is Catching up!

Well Jaron is growing so big I think he will be catching up with his brother soon. Jacob hasn't gained much weight in the last year. He can't get enough of Jaron. They take a bath together now and Jacob loves to brush Jaron's hair. He is trying to teach him to say stuff like "Uh oh". Some more good news for Jacob, he learned John 3:16. He can quote the whole verse. I love it! He is so smart.

Handsome Little Boys

This picture was taken before we left for church the other day. Jacob thinks it is so cool when they get to wear matching shirts. I guess we could have taken the bib off Jaron for a second.
Here Jacob is talking on the phone to his grandmother. He likes to talk and sometimes asks to call people but when he is done he will cut you off in mid sentence. It is so funny! He says "Okay, Bye!" and he hands the phone off to me or Chris never even waiting for you to say bye. He is getting so smart. He has learned 3 or 4 bible verses in Sunday school and can quote them and tell you where they are in the Bible too. He is getting better all the time at writing his name. And he still can't seem to get enough of Jaron. When I put Jaron in the floor to maybe try and crawl Jacob thinks that is an invitation to lay on him and roll him across the living room. My my what do I have to look forward to. :-) There I inserted his latest name art. He did this in Sunday School and is getting better all the time.

Learning to Stand

I stood him up in his crib and he just holds on all by himself. He hasn't pulled up on his own yet but I am sure it won't be long.
This is a neat toy we had for Jacob and Jaron seems to like it too. It plays music when you touch the things on top so it keeps his attention. He will stand there for a while before falling on his butt. You can tell he knows he is doing something big. Notice there are some new links on the right side of my website. Check them out when you get time. I wrote a poem for the boys. Thanks for reading.

Boys will be boys...

Here is a cute one of my two handsome boys playing together. Jaron sits in the floor more now and plays with Jacob and of course big brother needs to show him all of his toys and how they work. It is so cute watching Jacob talk to Jaron. He doesn't realize that Jaron can't catch a ball yet. Sometimes in the morning when I can't make myself get up and Jacob wakes up he will go in and check if Jaron is awake and if he is Jacob will climb up on the side of the crib and talk to him and play with him. He is great with Jaron~ for now. I am sure when they get older things will change.
Here is a very funny picture I took the other day. I sat Jaron down and popped in Baby Einstein to see if he would like it. And apparently he did. So while they were watching (in matching pj's) I snuck a picture. Wow, my boys are getting big! Maybe one day I will have a girl----I said maybe.

Growing Leaps & Bounds

Jaron is growing. I haven't taken him to the doctor to get an exact weight but I can definately tell in his clothes. He is sitting up now with no problems except when brother plays too rough and knocks him over. :-) He doesn't have a clue what is coming up in 42 MORE DAYS! We are trying to prepare once again for another surgery and recovery. I think this one will be harder. It is going to change him so much and I know we will miss his big smile. I just keep telling myself that by his first birthday he will be through with recovery and can have a normal bottle or sippy cup and a pacifier. So we are on the count down again and I hope this one flys by like the first. Thanks for everyone's prayers.

Precious Pictures

Here is some cute pictures of Jacob with Jaron. He loves holding him and has been very good since his surgery. The one of them in the bath together was their first time bathing together. It was at the hotel. Jacob loved it! Enjoy...

Pictures~Playing~3 wks. Post Op

Here are some pictures of Jaron so happy and playing since his surgery. I finally got the thing to let me post them. For any of you who noticed he isn't wearing the arm restraints in some of the pictures, This was his break times when mommy was sitting right there making sure nothing went in his mouth. Guess what? Only 48 more days until his lip/nose surgery!!!

Long Time No Post...

Well Jacob sure is glad to be back home. He was excited at first when we got to Boston. And then when he figured out it was boring and smaller than home he was ready to leave. He was having night terrors at first and we starting talking to him about missing home and how we can't wait to get in our own beds and how we missed our dog and things that are on the walls in each room. It worked! He slept every night after that we would just talk to him before bedtime each night and he would also say he wanted to go home that he didn't like the hotel and that he missed his room and his bike. So I guess he was just having these feelings and didn't know how to tell us so he would cry out in his sleep and actually sit up with his eyes open and pitch fits and things. Sleeping the entire time. It was scary. So I of course have some cute pictures of him and Jaron but once again the blogger isn't cooperating with me so I'll try to post them again soon. Thanks for reading.

Doing Good & Gaining Weight

Well I was going to post some cute pictures but the thing isn't cooperating. I will just tell you that Jaron is doing great. I have been putting him on our scales at home and he was 15 lbs. forever well yesterday he was 16.5 and today he was 17lbs!!! I am so glad. He is finally gaining some weight. Man is it hard when you know your baby is too little and you feed them all they can handle. I felt like such a failure mom. Thank God for calories. It's funny I am trying to lose and Jaron is trying to gain. We are getting used to this squeezy bottle KINDA. I add cereal to every bottle so it will be thicker and not pour so fast into his mouth. Also we are trying all kinds of baby foods this week. He really liked squash and he eats oatmeal every morning too. I am going to try peas today. We'll see how that goes. Maybe next time I can post some pictures. He's getting cuter all the time!

We're Home!

Here is some pictures of Jaron after his surgery. He is doing alright. We are so glad to be home. He is drinking better and we are also starting some foods this week to see how he does now that his palate is closed. He had oatmeal really watered down this morning and he seemed to like it. He was opening his mouth for another bite each time so that is a good sign. I hope this will help him gain some weight. Thanks for all your prayers. We are on the count down now for his lip surgery May 4th~59 more days!!!

Four Days Post Op

Well yesterday Jaron was 4 days post op and we saw his dr. again to check his palate. He said things looked good and we should come back again wednesday to check again before going home. So I am happy. Jaron is doing good. We just hang out at the hotel and try to rest when he does. Jacob has been having night terrors and thanks to a friend I talked with- last night was so peaceful. We talked to him about missing home and missing our beds and things like his bike and daddy's truck and mommy's car. We all said we miss home and when I asked him if he wants to go home he said "Yeah, I don't like the hotel". I could have cried. He was feeling this way and didn't know how to tell us. So we talked it out and he didn't have any bad dreams last night. He just got up once to pee. Man that was a blessing. Jaron is very gassy and is trying to get used to these new bottles we are using. It is definately a change. Oh and by the way, he has to wear the arm restraints 5 or 6 weeks not 4 like I thought. So pray for us. I take them off some and let him play and bend his elbows but he puts his hands right to his mouth so I have to stay right with him. Thanks again for all your prayers.

The First Surgery was a SUCCESS!

Well Jaron had his first surgery thursday and it last 5 hours. We spoke with the doctor afterwards and then went into recovery to see him. He had already woken up from the anesthesia but the nurses got him calmed down and back to sleep. We are very pleased with the result. Jaron's palate was closed and his front gums were turned straight, because they were badly twisted before. So now that his gums are straight his middle top lip is centered. I stayed in the hospital with him for 2 nights. He was on morphine the first night and we started tylenol w/ codeine the second night. He seems to be a little fussy but not like I expected. I am so glad we have one surgery behind us now. He is already scheduled for May 4th for his Lip/Nose repair. That is going to be a dramatic change in his looks. We will be going Monday for a post op visit and are scheduled to go home Friday but maybe we will get lucky and get to go home early. I came back to our hotel with him today and he is sleeping a lot. He has laughed some and has been clapping his hands too. The arm restraints are the hardest thing right now. He seems frustrated at times not being able to play with his toys that he is used to.
I handled myself better than I thought I would and he has done better than I thought too and I am sure it has a lot to do with all the prayers from all of you. Thank you so much for all the phone calls and prayers for us. I will post pictures once we get home. God Bless You!

This is a picture from last month when Jaron was still wearing his NAM. It is typical of Jacob at any given moment no matter where we are (church, walmart, home, doctor's office) to say "Mommy I need to hold him." He loves his little brother. And as Jaron is able to do more and play with him I hope they become very close brothers.