Christmas 2007

Quick note...for those of you that have not received Christmas Cards from us. Yes, we realize that it is after Christmas. And, yes, we were responsible and had our cards printed the week after Thanksgiving (and boy are they cute! Special thanks to Chris Pittman for taking our Christmas photos this year!). However, no matter how hard we have tried (read: not very hard) we have not quite gotten them in the mail yet. I'll be honest, we haven't quite gotten them addressed yet (but we do have the stamps). So, bear with us. You will receive your Happy New Year card (which just happens to be green and red and say happy holidays on it) in the new year. :)



Enough of that. Here are the long awaited photos. Due to the mass number of photos, I have opted to do a few slideshows. Just watch the one you want, and then scroll down to catch the next one. If you are having trouble viewing the slideshows, please email me and I will send you the links directly. Enjoy.


EDIT: 5:56PM PST: I cannot get these stinking slideshows to post right. So, below each slideshow I have included the direct link. Click on that, and it will take you to a place where you can view each slideshow individually. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I will attempt to work on the problem when we get home this evening...see how much I love you...I'm going to spend NYE trying to fix the blog. :)



We decided that this year we would host Dallas Pre-Christmas at our house. Yes, you read right. We managed to fit 11 people, plus Everett, plus food in our little living room. And, I think that all in all everyone had a great time. I truly would love for it to become a Christmas tradition for Christmas Day, but we'll just have to see. I think the family is getting very scared at this point. :)

http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f400/kazuko19/Everett%20Alexander/?action=view&current=ef6e8aa2.pbw





Everett got so many books and toys he just didn't know what to do with himself! So, he plopped himself down into his cousin's walker to just chill for a bit. :)

http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f400/kazuko19/Everett%20Alexander/?action=view&current=179c4657.pbw


Then it was time to come to California. Jichan showed Everett the ropes, and then the hanging out time commenced.

http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f400/kazuko19/Everett%20Alexander/?action=view&current=6abf3c04.pbw

Finally it was time for Christmas!! We woke up Christmas morning and opened presents and Bachan and Jichan's house. Then, we went to HiiBachan's house to see the rest of the family! :)

http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f400/kazuko19/Everett%20Alexander/?action=view&current=10887395.pbw

So, all in all, Christmas 2007 was a success. I'm not sure how we are going to get all of Everett's presents home, but we'll manage. :)

This year has been a year of many surprises and many blessings. Now that it is coming to a close, I wonder what next year will have in store for us. I pray for good health and good fortune for all of our friends and family in the upcoming year.

Happy New Year!!

xoxo
Margot

12/29/07 update,no photos yet

Hi,
Everett, Margot & Dylan arrived on Dec 21 after an uneventful flight. I would not have recognized Mr. Kickypants if he hadn't been attached to Margot. He reminded me a lot of my dad with his big head and smiley face.

We've had a pretty busy week with Everett meeting a lot of people. The day after he arrived he met a bunch of my friends during my annual Gal's Night Out dinner. He was attached to Dad most of the night and was a perfect gentleman. He loved all the attention.

Christmas eve was another things... 27 adults plus little kids. He was worn out half way through the night. Lots of talking and cooing. Loved Kim's brothers especially Wendland who has a big, round smiley face. He hung out in the front room with the guys for awhile and chatted. Everett really wants to communicate with folks. He gets quite agitated when they ignore him.

He loved talking to everyone. On Christmas morning Mom and Dad took lots of photos of him in his Daddy's baby Santa suit. Such a cute Santa. He helped Mommy open all his gifts. He got a lot of nice books. Now Mom and Dad have to figure out how to get it all home.

After opening presents we travelled to my mom's home. It was just a small gathering so Everett had some down time and got to chat with everyone. Hii-obachan (great grandmother) was really taken by Everett. He loves to talk to her. He was upset when she was ignoring him but once she said 'hello' he brightened up and started talking non stop. She doesn't fly because of her emphysema, but plans to go down to Texas for his 1st birthday.

The rest of the time has been spent visiting friends or hanging around the house. Dylan was in SF for 2 days, on his own, taking photos. We went to dim sum one day...unfortunately Everett only got formula. We'll be visiting more friends the next couple of days then going to San Jose to help prepare food for New Year's Day celebration.

That's all for now...Margot will post photos as soon as she has a chance to upload them...

12/07/07 Update

Everett had a nice, busy week, as usual. :)

On Saturday, we went to a baby shower for one of my girlfriends from college. There was another little baby there, and Everett got to see his first baby since we left the hospital. He wasn't really sure what to think, but they were smiling at each other after a while. :)

On Monday, Everett had his MRI. He was sedated, so he didn't really have any complaints. He didn't like getting sedated, but they just used the gas, so he was under quickly. When he came out, they warned us that he might be hyperactive and not nap in the afternoon. I don't think that they know our little man...sure enough, we got some water in him (because he couldn't have formula right away), and he was out like a light until feeding time. At 4:00 he woke up, ate his whole bottle, and went right back to sleep. He has learned at a young age how valuable sleep is, so he takes it whenever he can get it. :)

We will get the results of the MRI sometime this week.

On Wednesday, we went to see the pulmonologist. He says that everything is looking good, and we don't see him for 2 months this time. If everything looks good in February, then we will go 3 months, and so on.

We met Grandpa Steve, Mamaw Frances, and Uncle Josh for lunch on Thursday. Everett was fascinated with the lights, as usual. Then we went and visited Daddy at Mommy's studio (Dylan has been working out of my studio this past week). After getting a nice clean diaper on, we went to the other studio to deliver some supplies and check in. We played with everyone over there, and Everett ate, and then we went home.

Today, Grandpa Steve and Mamaw Frances came in town to watch Everett so that we could attend a company function. They said he was a happy, good natured little boy. He even laughed for them. :)

So, coming up this weekend:

Saturday: Grandad Lynn's & Grandma Sheri's
Saturday & Sunday: Daddy & Everett may be hanging out at the house as little bachelors. :) I'm going to be out and about quite a bit getting everything finished off for Christmas.
Monday: PT appointment. I hope we don't get in trouble this time. :)
Tuesday: Mimi's
Wednesday: ECI is coming to the house, and then to Lori's
Thursday: We will be doing lots of shopping and preparing for Sunday

That gets us through the next post. :) Hang in there, I'm still working on it.

xoxo
Margot

Photos...

Gary & Carolyn...my other parents :)
Finally got to meet the little one (I'm a horrible surrogate daughter and have not brought him by yet, so Grandad and Mamaw did the honors)

Everett loves hanging out at Aunt Mary's house :)

...and he loves the duck that his Grandpa Steve got him.

Speaking of Grandpa, here are the twins now. :)

Mamaw Frances set up great accommodations for Little Everett's first overnight visit. :)

Good morning, Everett. He woke up talking to his Grandpa and Mamaw, so they wanted to hear everything he had to say. :)

Everett hanging out in his cousin Josiah's swing.

Everett playing with his cousin's rolling chair.

He's still a little small for it. :)

All dressed and ready to go back to mommy. :)

Mommy, Everett and Uncle Jam Jam. :)

xoxo
Margot

Everett's first overnight stay

Everett had his first overnight visit with his Grandpa Steve and Mamaw Frances this week. They had lots of fun together. See below for details from Mamaw.

To Margot, Dylan, and all the grandparents

We were blessed to have Everett for his first three day overnight stay without his parents. The little man was such a perfect gentleman. He was such a good boy and spent his days with us just babbling away and boy did he smile a lot. Having a little one in the house again made us feel young again and oh what joy he gave us. Here is a log of our day with our precious little one.

Tuesday- we came into town to babysit Everett and almost toward the end of the day when Margot was to pick him up at Aunt Mary,s we thought we would try to see if the new parents would be willing to let us take him home to Granbury with us for a couple of days. To our shock they said yes. We were so excited, we than met Margot and Dylan at their house where she packed all of Everett’s supplies and medication and gave us instructions on how to administer his medication and breathing machine. We than rushed out the door before they could changed their minds. :) We arrived home to Granbury around 10:30pm were we changed Everett's diaper and immediately put him down for the night and much to our surprise he slept a full seven hours before his internal clock went off at 4:00am for his next feeding. He then went back to sleep immediately afterwards and slept till 7:00am.

Wednesday- was such a wonderful day. Everett woke up in such a talkative mood. He was such a good boy and spent most of his awake time just babbling and smiling. I think we must have worn him out with all the loving and attention we gave him on Tuesday that he did spend most of this day sleeping. We even had a visitor that happened to be a registered pediatric nurse who had 17 years of experience drop by and she was commenting on how Everett's communication skills were so far advanced for a child his age. We care takers better be ready, for our little man is going to be talking our ears off in no time. The evening went well and once again we put him down for the night and he slept a full 7 hours before awakening for his morning feeding.

Thursday- What a sad day, we had to take our precious little one back home to mommy and daddy. This morning was a little hectic, for his ostomy bag broke and I had to replace it for the first time without Margot being there. I managed to do just fine but our little man sure had a lot of stoma paste all over him by the time I got through. :) We than left to meet our son Jamil in Arlington were he meet Everett for the first time. We then took Jamil to Margot's studio so she could spend time with her brother and also be reunited with her son.

Oh my gosh! We had such a wonderful three days with our grandson and the best part is we have such a beautiful, well behaved grandson. What lucky grandparents we all are.

Frances and Stephen

I'll add pictures soon. There are about a million, so I need to go through them a bit. Also, stay tuned for pictures from Thanksgiving with Grandpa Lynn and Grandma Sheri.

On the block for this week...today we are getting our pictures done for our Christmas cards. Monday, Everett has his MRI, so wish us luck. :)

xoxo
Margot

Bath Time Video Test

Everett had a great bath this morning, and then decided to do a little dancing. This is our first attempt at posting a video...wish us luck. :)

We've decided to add music to Everett's bath time as a regular thing. He seems to like it, and since his Mommy and Daddy have such eclectic taste in music, he was jamming this morning to Willie Nelson, Atreyu, Disturbed, 50 Cent, Avril Lavigne, Kenny Chesney and many, many, more. :)

We went to Grandad Lynn's for lunch today. Everett got to play with his Grandad and Grandma, his Uncle Logan and his MeeMaw. He got a little fussy, but overall had a great day. :)

Thanksgiving Day...

Well, Thanksgiving came and went. Everett got to meet some of his family that he has never met before. He was a big hit, and loved getting to see all of these wonderful people that have kept him in their prayers.

All of the little cousins loved him and wanted to pet him. :) He had quite the following of little people while we were there.

In true baby fashion, we walked in the door and he was whisked from our arms, and we saw him again right before we were getting ready to leave. :) There was just so much love for this little man reverberating through that house, it was probably healing for him in and of itself.

I would love to show you many, many pictures from Thanksgiving. Pictures of Everett with his Great-Aunts, his cousins, etc. But, I can't. Dylan has told me that he was concentrating too hard on the food and forgot to take any pictures. I am hoping that someone may have gotten some pictures and will send them our way. So, if you have them, please send. :)

But, luckily, we have one picture of Everett and his Mimi from when we first got there, before the cameras got stashed in a back room, never to be thought of again. :)

They look so cute together, don't they? Everett is turning into such a little man. :)

In lieu of more Thanksgiving photos, I decided to pull one from the archives that was never posted. This is from 11/3, Everett's first day at his Grandad's house. :)

(sorry if it is sideways. We are experiencing some technical difficulties)

Anyhow, on Friday we vegged at the house. There was no way we were going to the stores on Black Friday, and the weather was just too bad to really go out unless it was absolutely necessary...which it wasn't. :)

All of my boys cuddled up on the couch.

The little man, sound asleep. :)

That is all for now. Tomorrow we go to Grandad Lynn's to spend some time. We'll have to get Everett dressed up in his little outfit again and really take pictures this time so we will have something to share.

xoxo
Margot

It's been a while...

Sorry, it's been a while. Life has been a bit hectic lately, and I've been wanting to wait to post until we got some cute pictures of Everett to add, but it has been 15 days since the last post and I understand that the natives are getting restless. So, this will be a pictureless post, but there is a lot that has been going on.

When we last left off, Everett was going to be seeing the pulmonologist for the first time, and was going in for his VCUG.

Well, we went and saw the pulmonologist and everything basically looked as we suspected. His lungs are fine, there is just some concern because his trachea is constricted due to the TEF. The concern also remains about him asparating while he eats. So, Everett got a nebulizer and is now taking Pulmicort and Xoponex. He takes the Pulmicort every morning, and in the evenings as needed. The Xoponex is just for if he is having a really bad day, so we have not had to use it yet.

We had a small scare that we would not be able to fly to San Francisco for the holidays, but after giving us some instructions on the proper precautions to take, we were cleared for flight.

The pulmonologist wanted to see a swallow study done, so we added that onto the VCUG that Friday. Additionally, Everett was diagnosed with trachial and laryngial malasia. Basically, his trachea and his larynx are "floppy" and that is what causes what sounds like labored breathing.

The VCUG went well. They did it unsedated, and Everett did not enjoy having a catheter inserted one bit, but he was a strong boy for us and cooperated. And the verdict is.... no reflux in the kidneys. Yay! :)

As for the swallow study, the little man was SO hungry by the time they fed him the barium that he gulped it all down! They gave it to him in a water/juice consistency, formula consistency, and nectar consistency. While he ate, they used the really big machine to video tape it going down to see where it was going. It only went down his trachea once, and that was with the water/juice consistency. Not a concern. They went ahead and gave us some thickener to use on days when he is just having a hard time controlling the flow of his food. He is a bright little boy and he is able to control the flow of his formula depending on the thickness of it and the size of the nipple. Everyone kept commenting on how "strong" Everett is. We know. :)

Hmmm...let's see. On Monday, 11/12 Everett went to see the physical therapist. He has trouble looking to the left and is beginning to get a flat head on the right. We learned some great exercises and they played on the giant exercise ball, and Everett thought that was just the best thing ever! We will be going back again the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and hopefully the caregivers will be able to join us to learn all of his new tricks. :) Dylan is supposed to be rounding everyone up, so we'll see. :)

On Friday, 11/16, we went to see the cardiologist. Everett's PDA is small and looks like it is closing up on its own. He has been cleared for all sports and to be raised like a normal little boy with no restrictions. :)

Yesterday, 11/19, ECI came in the morning. Everett has been accepted into the program, and by the school board. He is testing at the 4-6 month level for communication. :) The AI lady said that she has been doing this for 32 years, and he is a smart little fella. :) We thought it was just us. They will be visiting us once a month on a consulting type basis to make sure that he continues to track as he should. At this point, since she is only seeing him monthly, we will not actually have to enroll him in school yet. So, that's a good thing. :)

Then we were off to get his first Synagis shot. He did not like that at all, but it has to be done. He'll be getting it once a month through about April.

Then, we had our ENT appointment. He said that he does not anticipate Everett to have a lot of problems since he does have hearing in one ear. We will keep an eye on the right ear to make sure that it does not degenerate, but for now things look good. We will have another audiology scan done in February, and at some point, we will get some film of his ears to check out his biology.

Whew. Yesterday was busy. :)

So, that is all of our appointments so far. Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we will be spending it with Dylan's family.

Next week we will be getting our family pictures taken. :) We may post some. :)

xoxo
Margot

Wow...what a week!

Well, it seems impossible that it has only been a week since Bachan left us to the land of predictable weather! And, oh what a week it has been.

This week, we began the caregiver shuffle. And, we got to get everyone involved, since my angel at work is out of town visiting her grandbaby for two weeks. Yikes. :)

Everyone seemed to have a great day with Everett. We learned some things along the way, and a few more things got added to the diaper bag as the week went on. :)

Also, we packed away our newborn clothes...well, some of them anyway. Not really because they are too small, but because it is starting to cool down a bit here, so a onesie and socks just isn't cutting it anymore, and all of the footies are 0-3 month size. Right. So, Everett is 2 months old and can still fit in his newborn clothes. Our little man is still a little man. :)

So, caregivers, be looking out for some new fashions coming your way...oh yeah, and even though I swore I wouldn't, I couldn't resist and I went shopping this weekend for the little man. The temperature drops, and I can't resist. But, I am done for the season. And so there are even more super cute outfits coming your way! :)

Anyhow, besides the shuffle, we have had a fairly uneventful week. We are trying out many new ways of getting Everett's ostomy bag to stay on, and so far we are averaging about 3 days! Yay!! :) We haven't seen results like this since we were in the NICU. So, of course, now we are changing systems. :) But, we have to wait for our samples to come in first.

Oh yeah, don't lose faith in us yet. The posts are not going to be daily, but I will try to post on Mondays and Thursdays. Next Thursday, I probably won't because I will be working, but from there on out. So, look for posts then. We're uneventful these days, so twice a week should do it. :)

So, on the agenda for this week: Wednesday, we go see the pulmonologist. Hopefully he will have some sort of good news, or at least something that will help us with Everett's breathing. Friday, Dylan will be taking Everett to get his VCUG done. We are hoping that everything comes out clean in that regard.

And, now for the fun part, the pictures from this week:

On Tuesday, Everett went to Candy's house...can't you tell?

Lynn snaking in on Candy's day. :)

Cindy came over to visit, too.


Logan's the only one that lives in the house that we have a picture of holding the baby. :)

Rumor has it that Everett had lots of fun with his Mimi. Everett and Grandpa Mike listened to classical music together and Everett loved it. Then Everett, Mimi, and Grandad Lynn went outside and hung out on the porch. A good time was had by all.

On Wednesday, Everett went to see Lori and learn about the world of real estate. :) Sophie and Murray were a little skeptical at first, but eventually adopted Everett as part of their pack.

On Thursday, we met Grandpa Steve and Grandma Frances at my studio so that they could watch him for the day. Our friend Sam (who is expecting twins in June) finally got to meet him, and get a little practice feeding a baby. :)

Then they went to Aunt Mary's house and spent the day. Chris and Edith came over and finally got a chance to meet the little man.

See how natural Edith looks holding him? :) They're getting married this coming Spring, so they're next on Grandma Frances's radar for providing grandbabies. :)

Aunt Mary got in on the fun. Looks like a bit of burping action going on. :)

And Whitney got home just in time from rehearsal to cuddle up to the little guy. :)

On Friday, Dylan stayed home and watched the little man. Everyone was still in once piece when I came home, so I guess everything went well. :)

Saturday, Everett went to see Grandad Lynn and Grandma Sheri. They played, and walked, and watched Texas whoop some butt. :) Everett is going to be a Longhorn fan yet if Grandma Sheri has anything to say about it. :)

Whew. It was a long, exhausting week for the little man, but I think he had a great time all around.

xoxo
Margot

10/29 Update

We just got back from the pediatrician's office. It looks like little man is becoming a great big man! :) He weighed in at a whopping 10lb, 7oz!! He is now 21.5" long! :)

The doctor had to clean out his ears so that he could see Everett's eardrum, and that made little man very, very unhappy. We got real tears and everything. Then, came the vaccinations. He got stuck 3 times and had an oral vaccination. Booo.

The doctor is working on getting us into the pulmonologist's office sooner than the end of next month, so that is a plus. Everett will also be getting RSV antibody treatment from the pulmonologist. Since his airway is already constricted, anything that would constrict it further is cause for concern, so we just have to be a little bit more careful with him.

We also got a referral for a physical therapist. It seems that Everett's right neck muscle is tight because he favors that side so much. So, we are supposed to work with him for about 2 weeks, and if we don't see marked improvement, then we have to call the physical therapist.

Ba-chan left yesterday and is now safely at home where she gets to sleep in her own bed. ;) And she gets to read an actual newspaper and drink her tea in peace. :) We, on the other hand, are experiencing our first day ever of it just being the three of us. It should be interesting this week.

Also, the caregiver shuffle begins this week. Everyone brace yourself, it should be an interesting week. :) Hopefully we will remember to pack everything, and we will bring Everett to the right house!

We went and visited the pumpkin patch last week. Here are some pictures from that. And, a few other enjoyables from our growing little boy.

Hanging out with the scarecrow.

Mom and Dad tried to make a little extra money while we were there.

One of these things is not like the others.

The pumpkins will come to me...

Ahhh...relaxing with my pals. :)

Whew. That was hard work!

Then we went home and had a bath.

Roar...grrr....tough lion.

The End.

xoxo
Margot

10/22 Update

We had an appointment today with the general surgeon and....we have collected another doctor. :) Welcome to our new pediatric pulmonologist. Whee.

I hope that we start being able to drop some of these doctors by the end of our plan year, so we start the new year off with a minimum of doctors. But, it looks like we will be having surgeries into the next plan year, so I guess it's a wash.

Anyhow, as of this point we are still a go, holding strong at 3 surgeries 6 weeks apart. This is good news.

The bad news is that after his pull-through, we will have to smother his little bottom with a mixture of various petroleum based products to protect him from his own stool. The bad news about that is our cloth diapering dreams just got whisked out the window. Petroleum based products don't wash out of cloth properly, and hinder the absorbency of cloth diapers. Damn. Now we have to get with our diaper service and see what we can work out. Boo.

ECI is coming tomorrow morning for the makeup appointment of the one that I had to cancel. This should be interesting.

We bought Everett a new mobile today. It has lights and stars. But, it has to float SO high above his crib, it seems kind of uninteresting. Grandpa Lynn's star swing is still his favorite starry mobile.

Okay, here's what I know you've been waiting for. I'll even bet many of you just scrolled right down to the pictures (that's what Daddy does. :) ).

Here are new pictures from our mini photo shoot on Wednesday.



The grandparent's meeting went well yesterday. Everyone seemed ready to take care of the little man. :) Hopefully the enthusiasm will continue. :) At least it was nice having everyone together to socialize a bit. If only Kim had been able to be here, this would have been one of the few occasions where we would have had all of the grandparents together. Hopefully we will have everyone together next year for Everett's birthday. :)

xoxo
Margot