Summer Adventures

Lincoln and Lacey are always up for new adventures and trying new things. They both collect stuffed animals and are almost always carrying them around and playing with them. With having great summer tempter we have been getting water activities out every day. We got the little kiddie pool out and they wanted to bring there stuffed animals into the pool with them. i figured why not. We can dry them out after. Lincoln and Lacey thought this was awesome.

 Water Art- Using water guns to trace around our bodies and create art. We love summer fun!

ER Visit

What a night!!! We had to make a trip to the ER tonight. After Oliver's VP programable shunt surgery two weeks ago, all has been going well. No signs of infection. We've been told to watch for redness and warmness by the scar, as these are signs of infection. Oliver hasn't been sympathetic, which would indicate that there would be a malfunctionin with the shunt. He's his happy little self. Then tonight I noticed a new bulge under his scar. There has always been a bump where the shunt is located... Josh and I both thought we should take him into the ER to have a better understanding of whats happening. On our drive to the ER I made a call to the neurosurgeon on-call in Calgary. When you call the neurosurgeon on-call they then page the doctor and you have to wait for a phone call back. Since we've never had to make this call before we didn't know how long we'd have to wait to hear back.  I also messaged another Spina Bifida mom who's son is two, to see if she has ever experienced this with her son. She hadn't ever heard of this so she thought we were doing the right thing too by bring Oliver in to the ER. I felt sick to my stomach and so helpless not knowing what was going on with Oliver. I just wanted to be able to help him.

 After our ER visit and contacting the nuerosugeron on-call at the Alberta Children's Hospital the doctors believe Oliver's shunt is leaking CSF fluid. They want us to just monitor it for now, making sure the bulge doesn't keeping growing. Hoping that it corrects it's self... It's so hard not knowing what's happening but just having faith things will work out.

Magrath Days Weekend

We had a great weekend with family. Josh and I started the weekend off by going to the temple. It was long over due. It's just hard when you have a little one that needs you ever 2-3 hours. I'm so glad we went and was also so ready to see Oliver after.

Magrath Days never disappoints, we had a great time. We started Saturday off with a run and walk at the Magrath fish pond. Then we got free snow cones, and watched the parade. Lincoln and Lacey loved the parade and all the candy they received. Oliver loved watching the parade too, until the fire truck at the end of the parade rang there sirens. We then spent the day at Heather and Vince's and all the Harker relatives. And ended the day off with watching fireworks. Lacey reply about the fire works, " the fire works were good but I didn't really like them."

  

Oliver's 6 Months

It's been an amazing 6 months with this sweet little boy. We love him so much.  He brings a special spirit to our home. There's so much we can learn from him, he's always happy no matter what. Even after his shunt surgery, he still had a smile.  He loves being around people and especially loves when someone will talk to him. He is really starting to babble and says ma ma and ba ba. As you can tell from his weight he loves to eat. Oliver also loves chewing on his hands, toys and blanket resulting in a drool fest. He reminds us of a bull dog. Still no sign of teeth yet. Oliver is also a blanket boy, he loves soft blankets and when he's tired he likes to pull them up to his face and rub it into his face, its so cute. 

For Oliver's 6 month immunization he CRIED! I was so happy. I know normal when your baby cries from their shots you are happy about it but for a Spina Bifida mom it's a BIG DEAL. Spina Bifida kids aren't suppose to have feeling in their legs. For Oliver's 2 month shots he didn't even flinch or cry. For his 4 month shots he didn't cry but he tensed his legs. Then for his 6 months shots he cried. Meaning he has some feeling in his legs. I'm so happy for this. I know he doesn't have normal amount of felling but there's something.

We've introduced solids to Oliver and he loves them. He just has a hard time keeping the food in his mouth when he smiles.

July 2016

We are having an amazing summer so far. We have been trying to enjoy the nice summer weather and be out side as much as possible. Lincoln and Lacey love going for bike rides, runs and checking out new parks around town. Oliver enjoys our outdoor adventures too. He loves stroller rides. He even loves being included when we are at the park, he loves the swings and going down the slides.

Oliver loves watching Lincoln and Lacey play on the park.

Lacey swimming high into the sky.

Full of smiles from going down the slide.

Ready! Set! Go! Racing down the slides.

Oliver hold's his head up on his own but not good enough to go on a swing by himself yet. We hold him so he can rest his head on us  and still be included in the fun.

Lincoln loves climbing on everything on the parks. He's our little monkey.

Lincoln got to try his new fishing rode out at the Magrath fish pond. He got it from Hudson from his birthday party.

Lacey sees josh go for runs all the time. She now wants to run with him. She's daddy's girl.

Oliver Recovery Update

Enjoying being back home and playing at the park as a family. Oliver is doing really good and is improving each day. His head is still a bit sensitive and there is a lot of bruising  tunneling/tubing runs inside of him, by his neck. We love having our happy baby back and are counting all our blessings. Thanks again for all the prayers for Oliver.

Programable VP Shunt Surgery

I laid Oliver in the nuerosugerons arms today. Which was so hard even though we knew Oliver needed this surgery, and would only benefit from the procedure. It's just hard feeling so helpless. Then you wait for what feels like forever in the waiting room. Oliver's shunt surgery went well. Doctors said he did well and will be on the mend the next few days. He's sleepy and resting.

We had a good night last night. Oliver was able to rest well and not be nauseous which is a common side affect with the meds he's been given. He's back to eating his normal amount, which is great because that puts him one step closer to being able to get the IV out that he's been trying to pull out since he woke up! He's rested lots today and we got lots of snuggle time in. Through out the day we have noticed Oliver is more himself, which we love. He went for an MRI this afternoon to see how his ventricle are draining. Everything is looking good so far and Dr. Hader is happy with his MRI results. So it looks like we will be coming home tomorrow if all goes well through the night.

Oliver still continues to do well so he got discharged today! Yay! We have already noticed him returning to his old happy self.  

Josh and I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers in our behalf. We feel your support and couldn't do it without you. We feel so blessed to have such an awesome support group of friends and family. Thank you so much!!