Christmas Eve Update

Merry Christmas to all!! Praise God for the gift of His Son to us!

I thought today would be a good day for an update since it is not a school day for us and there is much excitement in the air. I have pictures to share and testimony of God's love to us! Here goes....

The last post we left was us preparing for Ear Tube surgery. Guy and I were both able to be there. This was a good thing because I ended up standing in the hall while in pre-op because whenever Emmett saw me he would cry. He wanted his breakfast, but I couldn't give it to him. To start off, they gave him Tylenol with codeine and that helped relax him and it was his pain management for post-op. They didn't even give him an IV, which I was thankful for. While waiting for surgery he fell asleep and they came to get him and carried him to the OR. At that point my anxiety would have soared, but I totally felt at peace...that was from God! Forty-five minutes later they brought a slightly groggy and upset little boy that immediately was able to eat, so he snuggled with Mommy and went back to sleep in my arms. Before they brought him back to us Dr. Todd came and told us that he was doing well in recovery and that they found thick fluid in his ears. It only took about 30 min. once we had him back before we were able to get our care instructions and leave. By the next day, it was very clear to us that we made the right choice in doing this surgery. He is a MUCH happier baby now! The tubes will stay placed for about 8 months, then they fall out on there own. Now it is on to keeping those hearing aids in his ears so he can hear some good language!

Tuesday December 18th, Emmett had another ABR that showed one ear having no change since his original ABR at around 6 weeks of age. We were not able to get the other ear finished because we had an appointment at the Children's hospital to have a pH probe placed for a study to see if he has reflux. He has had a cough for four months now and we don't know why. The probe was place in his nose and it hung in his esophogus for 24 hours. I didn't do anything but hold Emmett and push buttons for that day. Thankfully it seemed to go by fast. So Wednsday we drove into Atlanta again to see the audiologist for Joanna and to take the pH digitrapper back to the hospital. I had all the children with me, so I decided to pull Emmett's probe in the parking garage so that we didn't have to spend much time in the hospital. They told me I could pull the probe out, but I wasn't so sure about it. Thankfully, it was MUCH simpler that the insertion of it. We haven't heard any of the results from the pH study, hopefully after the holidays we will have some answers.

Another exciting thing that happened on the 20th is Emmett took his first steps! He takes two to three steps, then realizes he can get farther, faster if he gets down and crawls. So he isn't walking yet, but he is trying!!

At the beginning of December, the three older children where in a Christmas production at our church. Caleb was the lead, the producer of the Christmas program. Aidan was a shepherd and Joanna was an angel. Caleb loves center stage and did a great job! This production was written for Caleb, which was such an honor and we are thankful that others see his strength in leadership and are encouraging it in a positive way.

Aidan as a shepherd

Caleb as director and baby angel Joanna

Joanna has come a long way since her hearing loss was diagnosed. She is almost finished with the program we are doing at the Auditory-Verbal Center, but we have decided to keep her in for one more year. She has recently shown some disfluency, or in other words she is tending to studder a lot more. And we have noticed it has gotten worse in the past week. We are hoping it is just another huge jump in her receptive language and she is just struggling with the expressive part of it. Aidan studdered a lot also at one point too, and has since grown out of it. Otherwise, she is all GIRL! It is a bit overwhelming at times, and she is a very different creature from her brothers, but we are thankful for the dimension the Lord has given us in our children.....they are all beautiful!

Caleb and Aidan are doing well in school. There have been interruptions for sure with all that is going on with Emmett and our weekly trips into Atlanta, and illness, but they are reading well and sharpening their math skills and enjoy learning about history....espeically the Medieval Times!

Caleb is going to be playing Upward basketball this winter. His first game is in January. He has only had one practice, so the first game should be interesting. We are looking forward to the season. Aidan hasn't started any sports yet, he will get a chance next year.

I feel like I am missing something to tell.........which is my brain as of late.

We were blessed with some fine new clothes this holiday from Guy's parent in Wisconsin. The boys now have dress coats and Joanna has some new elegant winter dresses. (See pictures below!) Tomorrow we will have our Christmas morning here at home and then drive to my parents around noon for Christmas there with my family. Well, I am going to close with that. We love you all and wish you a Merry CHRISTmas! And a blessed New Year as well!

Aidan, Caleb, Joanna and Emmett

Caleb, Aidan, Guy and Emmett

Guy, Emmett and Joanna

Emmett and Mommy

Ear Tube Surgery

Hi all, after several closely placed ear infections and a constant fluid filled set of ears Emmett will be having day surgery to get Tubes put in his ears on Monday Dec. 10, day after tomorrow. He will be at Egleston under the knife of Dr. Todd our ENT.

We have to be at the hospital at 6am, so we plan to sleep over at my parents with all the kids. My mom will watch our other three while we are gone. The surgery will only take about an hour. Please pray for his safety as he will be under general anesthesia and knowing his high-need status as a baby, he will not be happy once they take him away.......at that point, we will both need prayer.

It is a fairly routine surgery, and all the hospital staff and Dr. Todd have been very encouraging. We have decided to do this because with his hearing loss on top of fluid filled ears, he is impaired further with the combination and he is likely to be further delayed in his speech/language development.

Thanks for all your prayers! We love you all!