Another Eventful Week at our House

We took Nathan to see Dr. Higgins on Thursday about getting a G tube. We have the procedure scheduled for this coming Wednesday (Aug. 4th). We are supposed to be at Covenant Lakeside at 6am, and we will stay until Thursday. My Mom will be coming to Lubbock for most of the week to take care of Jacen. Prayers would be greatly appreciated!

The G tube will allow for 30 minute feeds and then whatever he doesn't take can be put in the tube. This will allow for more play time with the boys, more family time, less stress on Momma, and more flexibility for going to things like church on Wednesdays.

I have been allowing Jacen to eat his yogurt himself. Sometimes it works and sometimes he immediately pulls the bowl (and yes they are the suction bowls) off the tray and turns it upside down. He does pretty well with a spoon!

Nathan on tummy time and in his tumble form chair. He loves both!

Jacen is into everything.

He got my church bulletin off the table and was "reading" it.

Crawling under the table

Climbing on brother's couch to get to the table.

Pulling books off his bookshelf

Trying to turn the knob.
YES he can reach them now!

He has finally started using his push toy after many many attempts of us trying to convince him to use it. I looked over one day, and he was pushing it around the house.

Nathan and I had some time last Saturday, so we took Patches for a walk.

Wagon ride this Saturday with the whole family.
Daddy had a great idea to put the top part of Nathan's tumble form chair in the wagon, so Nathan could sit up. It worked great!

Jacen and Patches love to play!

Jacen loves the ball that we got from Case's birthday party.

LEGACY
Our first visit to Legacy Play Village. Both boys enjoyed swinging, but we learned very quickly that it will be more fun when Jacen decides to walk!

SWIMMING
Last weekend, we finally filled the kiddie pool with water. Jacen wasn't too sure at first, but after a little bit he was playing with his toys and splashing!

Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Johnson Came to Visit

Kyle's grandparents came to visit on their way to visit Kyle's mom in Wyoming. We had a nice visit!!!

Great Grandpa and Nathan

Great Grandpa and Jacen
Jacen took his pen and was playing with it :)

Dinner Time
Let's play drums on the table. Great Grandpa joined in too!!!!

Jacen showing Great Grandma how to play with the Thomas the Train story book.

Great Grandma and Nathan

Great Grandpa and Jacen
"directing" music

Looking back at old photos :)

The best group picture I could get :)

Momma and Her Boys

Kyle was trying to get ready for work one morning, and I was bottling Nathan. Jacen had already eaten, so we had to find something to do with him. He didn't want to play in his room or the "pen" but he really wanted the computer. So Kyle added him to the chair with Nathan, Patches, and me. So I bottled Nathan and played Family Feud to keep Jacen entertained.

Jacen

Jacen continues to be a happy child. He is still cruising on furniture and will walk while we hold his hands. We are still working on standing alone and walking. He can say mama, dada, pup pup, bubba, bye bye, and sometimes other words that he parrots once and we don't hear again. He and Daddy have found a way to communicate when he wants more milk or juice. Jacen will hand Daddy his cup. His face lights up when Daddy takes it, smiles, and refills it. He loves to climb and is into everything. I hear it only gets worse as he starts to walk. I am in trouble!!!!!

My friend Laura was visiting. He was very interested in her phone of course.

I love his facial expressions!

Our little climber :)

Daddy working with Jacen on standing. He would do it for a few seconds!!!!!

He loves going to the store.

Car from Case's birthday party. He loves it!!!!

Like I said he is into everything. He worked on clearing my table and then found a way to sit under it :)

Nathan

We haven't been to any new appointments lately, but for those of you who would like to know his current medical status. The bloodwork shows that everything is about the same. So Nathan's kidneys are functioning at about 25% still. He still has many problems including brain, kidney, and liver damage. As each day goes by we can see more and more things that Nathan can't do that Jacen can. We have our good days and bad days for all of us. He still works with ECI. We are working on trying to get him to not clench his fists. We are also using medical tape to keep his feet in a more normal position. We are working on getting DAFOs or braces for his feet. Since they do not bear weight, they are beginning to turn in. Then ECI has also mentioned a stander in the future. We are also discussing a g-tube because Nathan has gotten to where sometimes he is interested in bottling and only takes 30 minutes, but other times he isn't interested, his clonous is bothering him, and it takes 1-2 hours. Please continue to pray for Nathan and our family. As we continuing daily to make decisions and enjoy the time we have with him. We want it to be the best it can be for all four of us as a family.

Bumbo Time

Notice the mat that I put him on and how far he can scoot when he is mad!!!!

ECI - She was working with Nathan to get his hands midline. You will notice his different facial expressions as I continued to take pictures.

Nathan can sleep anywhere during the day :)

Jump N Jungle

We went to Jump n Jungle on Saturday for Case's 2nd birthday. We weren't sure what Jacen would do because at 'Jump for Nathan' earlier this year he just cried. He ended up doing so much better than we expected. We even got some smiles. Thank you Case and the Driskill family for inviting us!!!!!

Nathan enjoyed a long nap!

Jacen

Jacen and I sliding for about the 5th time. He finally had an almost smile on his face :)

Jacen got to eat his first slice of cheese pizza and sit up on a bench all by himself!!!!