Close up w/o tape

Here is a good close up of his lip without the tape on it. We are taping it for anyone who is wondering. They recommend keeping taped for 6 weeks post op to keep the scar pulled tight. Jaron has just had a runny nose lately and it gets wet and falls off a lot so this was between changing the tape. What a cute little lip!













Jaron has starting eating baby food FINALLY without gagging. I am so happy! Maybe now he might gain some weight. He was enjoying his first jar of carrots here in this picture. What a mess!!! He is doing good and recovering nicely. Not to mention his ear infection and cold/congestion at the moment. But we are so happy to have those surgeries behind us. Now comes the BILLS!!!!!!

Daddy cut Jacob's hair like his. Very short! Mommy isn't so sure that I like it. I don't think we will do this again. I like to part his hair over to the side. He really has none to comb right now.












This is what Jacob did at the hotel with the basket on his head. We were so bored and ready to get home.

Loving that new face!

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!!!