A new tradition...

We started a new tradition in our house this year. We adopted "someone"...



meet Joey! My Mam gave Hudson this for his birthday. I must say that finding Joey everyday was a highlight! Check out the adventures of Joey!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Happy Birthday Hudson!

I can hardly believe that my sweet baby turned 3! I guess he's not a baby anymore. His birthday is actually November 28th (I'm a little behind I know). These past few years have flown by and we fall more in love with him everyday! We can't wait to see what the next year brings.

* Hudson is weighing in at a whopping 27 pounds and is 36 1/4 inches tall. He's a little man!
* Hudson loves to sing, his favorite are worship songs. Nothing melts my heart more than hearing his sweet voice (we are hopeful that he has perfect pitch like his daddy)!
* He talks ALL THE TIME. Bryan says he gets that from me - haha
* He loves to play with trains, puzzles, color, paint, playdough, balls, blocks, and much more.
* He loves his cousins Kaleb, Brynlee & Chance and always wants to see them.
* The boy LOVES to eat!
* He's still NOT potty trained - Ugh! Any advice???
* Hudson loves going to Nonni's house and playing with his friends, especially his best friend Ethan and Scarlet.

We had a Willy Wonka birthday party and it was a blast! Lots of chocolate and lots of candy topped off by a fabulous cake made by Hudson's Nana Holly! Enjoy the pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Round Two...

We finally heard from our cardiologist, Dr. Sapire. Although we didn't hear the exact news that we wanted to hear there were some definite answered prayers. Round two of surgery is going to happen. Dr. Sapire said that there is a definite obstruction in his right ventricle and that it is growing towards becoming a band. The praise however is that the board decided this is NOT life-threatening and can wait until the spring or summer of 2010. That is a HUGE answered prayer in itself. Being a teacher it is much easier to wait until the summer to do any type of procedure. We will not have to take off work any lengthy period of time nor we will have to ask family to take off to help share the load (his last surgery we had a 12 week isolation period to keep from infection). Back to the surgery, Dr. Sapire said that Dr. Fraser should be calling within the next week or so to schedule for Bryan and I to come in to his office to discuss what the surgery will look like. As soon as we get details I will let everyone know. So for know we wait...our prayers now are that the surgery will be the least invasive surgery and that God will continue to remind us that He is in control and is watching over our precious son!

On a completely different note - our sweet boy turned 3 on November 28th! It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years. I promise a birthday post in the very near future.

Thanks as always for your prayers!

The Waiting Continues...

After an agonizing 3 days and two phone calls into the cardiologist, I finally heard back from Dr. Sapire today. Our conversation was short and too the point and I did not have the opportunity to ask many questions so there are some that are unanswered. Dr. Sapire said that there is a definite obstruction in Hudson's right ventricle. (I'm not sure if it's grown since his last echo, stayed the same, or shrunk.) An answered prayer however is that they were able to get a REALLY good echo reading because he ended up having to be sedated. He was not going to even begin to let the ultrasound tech even touch him with the wand! Dr. Sapire said that he will yet again be presenting his case to the board. (The first time he presented was when it was decided that Hudson would have his open heart surgery. The second time he presented was in April when they decided they would bring him back for the echo at TCH - done Tuesday.) So here we are again, patiently (as patiently as we possibly can) waiting to hear what the board decides. He will present either in 2 or 3 weeks and we will hear the results hopefully that same day.

But for now we will wait...we will wait with hope and faith that God is hearing our prayers to heal Hudson's heart without any more surgeries. We are anxiously awaiting the day when in the back of our minds there is no fear of what the next step could be, when we will know that Hudson has a strong, healthy heart and can do all the things that Bryan and I dream for him to do.

We appreciate all of the encouragement more than you know! Please continue to lift us up in your prayers!

Prayers for a good report...

Next Tuesday, November 17th, Bryan and I will take Hudson to Texas Children's Hospital for an echo. Back in April at his check-up they found that he has a muscle bump growing in his right ventricle that is creating turbulance through that ventricle. Please lift us all up in prayer. Here are some specifics:

~ Pray that Hudson is cooperative and that sedation medicines are not needed.
~ Pray that no anxiety occurs for any of us.
~ And most importantly pray that Hudson's echo shows no need for an additional surgery!

We have faith that God can heal his heart completely and are hopeful for that. Whenever our family crosses your mind please lift us up in prayer!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

Random Pictures...

Hudson

Hudson, me, and Kaleb at the zoo

Hudson attempting to brush an animal at the zoo, he thought it was funny!

Mam & Hudson - what a sweet relationship he has with his Mam!

Swimming at the pool this summer.

Brynlee in her swimming suit at the pool.

Chance at the pool.

The Gang minus Roan

Kaleb at the beach this summer.

Hudson and Kaleb

Hudson and Kaleb in Kemah

my tired boy after an afternoon of swimming

Chase - our friends Travis & Kristi's little boy

Kaleb on the boat concentrating very hard!

Brynlee at her mommy's birthday party!

Hudson's last night in his baby bed.

Hudson

Chance

Brynlee

Chance

Like I said these were some random pictures that I wanted to share!

Happy Birthday Kaleb!

Wow how time flies! My sweet nephew, Kaleb, turned 5 yesterday! He is getting so big and definitely becoming Mr. Independent. He's not a huge fan of giving his Aunt Steph kisses anymore (I'm sad about that!). Hudson loves to follow him around and thinks that on his birthday he is going to be "five like Kaleb".

Happy Birthday Kaleb! We love you!

Let me start out by saying that Hudson has by far THE BEST BABYSITTER EVER! Nonni is like a grandma to him, he loves her so much (and so do Bryan and I)! (There are 5 kids there: Hudson 2, Scarlet 2, Ethan 18 months, Hunter 20 months, baby Hunter 10 months.) Do not judge...

Yesterday Nonni called as I was pulling out of the parking lot at school. Of course the first thought in my mind was, "oh no, Hudson has a fever." I answered with hesitation and Nonni proceeded with -

Nonni: "what shoes did Hudson come with today?"
Steph: "Hudson had his tennis shoes on."
Nonni: "Oh my! - I put Hudson's shoes on Hunter, Hunter's shoes on Ethan, and Ethan's shoes on Hudson! I thought those shoes were too small for Hudson!"

Let me tell you...Ethan is 14 months younger than Hudson and Hunter is a few months older than Ethan.

Today I picked him up and said "Oh no Hudson, what did you do to your shirt?" (He was wearing one I had never seen.) Nonni put baby Hunter's clothes on Hudson and Hudson's clothes on baby Hunter! Poor Nonni, she already needs a vacation!

Just a quick update...

I know that it's been a while since I've updated about our happenings. It has been a fun filled summer that is quickly ending! Only 2 weeks left until I start back to school. So sad! I promise that I will update our summer events soon...we have enjoyed every minute!

But to today...I decided that I would attempt to tackle the chore of potty training. (By far the most difficult parenting task we have faced!) Hudson and I went to Target yesterday and bought cute Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny & Sesame Street underwear. We were both pumped to start as soon as he got up this morning. Let's just say in 10 hours we had 3 successes, 9 underwear changes and a mommy who finally gave in and put a diaper on her precious boy! I did get some advice from my sis-in-law, Alicia's sis-in-law! We'll see maybe we'll try again in a month or so. If anyone has any advice please let me know!

A weekend full of Birthday Fun...

...well the post is a week late! Two weekends ago (May 22 - 24) was both Bryan and my birthday! We started it off with my birthday on Friday with my family. My dad made yummy steaks and my mom her yummy chocolate cake!


Hudson and Kaleb eating ice cream!


My mom and I. She took off work and brought me lunch to school. She even had a mini red velvet cake for me!



We had a great time and even got to ship Hudson away for the night! Don't be deceived, it wasn't technically a date night (unless you think grocery shopping is!) - we shipped him away because the next day was Bryan's 30th birthday party!



Thanks Holly for making the cake! It was delicious as always! We had lots of family and friends to help celebrate with us and even these little guys...



One of Bryan's best friends, Kenneth, is a chef. He came over early Saturday morning and we helped him prepare for the party. He made crawfish, tilapia, shrimp kabobs. Everything was wonderful as always, thanks Kenneth!

We had a great party and Bryan survived turning the BIG 3-0!



Happy Birthday to us! I can't wait to celebrate many more with you!

Prayers for Bentley

If you know me, then you know that I am always drawn to people's blogs who have children with heart defects. Say prayers for Bentley tomorrow as well as her parents. She is at TCH and will have open heart surgery in the morning. The next week will be very trying and exhausting for her parents and without the support of family and friends it is hard to keep your head above water (believe me, Bryan and I know - we had amazing support)! We pray for peace, comfort and strength for her parents. For Bentley we pray for the surgeons and nurses who will be working their magic, strength during the surgery, and a speedy recovery!

"He's going to kill you..."

That's what Bryan said when I took this...

Cardiologist Update

I took Hudson to the cardiologist last Tuesday by myself because it was just “a 6 month check-up”. We had an echo and EKG done. The Dr. saw something on the tests and told me that he was taking his case to the board. The last time he did that was when surgery was decided upon. Of course you could imagine when Dr. S told me he was taking the case to the board I went into panic mode. I talked to Dr. S Friday afternoon and he told me what it appears to be. (I’m not sure if he told me it’s a side effect (not common) of VSD or VSD surgery.) There is a “muscle bump” that is forming on the wall of the right ventricle which is causing turbulence, more than should be. His hole that he has (in between his right and left ventricle by the hole that was patched during surgery), which we know he has, is in that same area, but still should not be causing much turbulence at all! What it boils down to is that what is now a “muscle bump” could grow into a muscle band and divide the right ventricle into 2 chambers. If that occurs then we would have to go have the muscle removed, meaning surgery yet again. As you can imagine this is the last thing that Bryan and I want for Hudson. We are praying in faith that God will choose to heal Hudson’s heart completely! Please pray this with us! We go back in 6-9 months to TCH to have an echo in their lab (we see Dr. S at the satellite clinic in Clear Lake normally). The results of that test will show us what step we take next. Our prayer is that we get to share with everyone the miracle that God performed on Hudson’s heart to heal it! As you can imagine as soon as I got in the car after Tuesday’s appointment I told Bryan that never again would I go to a cardiologist appointment alone! Please keep us in your prayers.

Of course this is an answered prayer alone that this new diagnosis is nothing that needs immediate action!

We love you all!

Happy Easter

Hudson was so excited that the Easter Bunny came to visit! We were coming downstairs and he spotted his basket, trying to hold off until Bryan was in the room I took him to fix breakfast. As soon as I put him down he dashed off to see what he had!

Hudson is his Easter jammies!

Hudson & Mommy getting ready to leave for church. Opps! Forgot that I didn't have lipstick on yet!

The Carnes Family at church.

Hudson & Kaleb - it's impossible to get a good picture of the two boys. (I didn't even take a picture of the twins, but they sure were precious!)

Ready to hunt eggs in the house, it rained all morning.

My family.

Pop & Hudson releasing a butterfly. We were suppose to have a butterfly release at church, but because of the rain we couldn't. We brought our butterflies home and let them go. The boys loved it!

On a side note, Hudson goes to the cardiologist tomorrow for a 6 month check-up. Please keep us in your prayers!

Who does he get this from????

Nothing like a 2 year old riding down the road feeling the need to be talking on a cell phone!

A few pictures during Spring Break

Bryan & I at Salt Grass for our Anniversary - ironically that was were we had our first date!


Hudson loves playing in our cabinets. He knows that there are only a few that he is allowed in, so here he is playing peek-a-boo with me.




Hudson & Kaleb at Kemah. Alicia was on Spring Break this week as well so we were able to let the boys play together. We are so blessed that we have most of our family close by!


Mommy & Hudson

Happy 3 week birthday Brynlee & Chance!