CHRISTMAS FUN!!!

It has been awhile since I made a post but that is only because things have been a little hectic :) We had Christmas at our house this year since we were not able to travel to my parent's with Cooper. We tried to keep as many of the traditional events as we could and Sherri and the girls spent the night Christmas Eve so that we could all still be together Christmas Day. The excitement of Santa Claus has always been half the fun of Christmas Day and we did not want to miss out on that. As always, we had way too many presents Christmas Eve but of course none of us will complain about that. We had too much food as well but again...no complaints. Everything was perfect except for the fact that I had this incredible pain in my lower left rib area that progressively got worse throughout the day. By the time we were done opening Christmas presents on Christmas Eve I was in tears. My Dad, Terry and I went to the ER that night. They did not know exactly what was going on but gave me a pain pill and some antibiotic. Thank goodness for pain pills. I had one every 4 hours on the dot and it at least made the pain tolerable. This continued throughout Christmas Day. After going to my doctor the day after Christmas I found out I had pneumonia. Just what I needed, hahaha. I had a follow up visit today and although it is still there it is getting better! Anyway, so except for that Christmas was great! Raelynn really got into this year. I would hand her a present and tell her who it was from, before she would open it she would go give them a hug and tell them "Thank you and Merry Christmas". It took forever to open gifts but it was really sweet.

My Mom finally escaped backed to Scott City and I think has worked non-stop since her return! Steph stayed another week with us and left on Saturday night. She was very bored with us and got very tired of eating left overs but I enjoyed having her here :) My house is finally back to normal with nothing out of place and I think after today I will actually finally feel like I am on maternity leave and might enjoy a day or two just playing with the kids and not cleaning or running errands or just trying to get our lives back in order.

Cooper is doing great! His is up to 6 3/4 lbs and eating more every day. We visited the cardiologist on Friday and he was quite happy with his progress. His next surgery will be in 6 to 12 months and what they will do at that time has not yet been determined. If they choose to just re-route the blood flow in Cooper's heart that will probably be the last surgery he will have for years. However, doing this is very difficult and not always the best option. The other option is to use a donor valve and vessel and actually correct things with that. The problem with this is donor parts will not grow as Cooper grows. Therefore, he would have another surgery at 5 to 7 years of age and then yet probably another later on too. The Cardiologist will continue to monitor his progress with monthly appointments and will let us know when it is time for the next surgery and what they will do.

Below are several pictures just to show you what a great family we have :) As you will see, Raelynn loves her little brother and reads him stories and sings to him often. She is also becoming very knowledgeable about his heart defect and lets all visitors and anyone else who will listen that "the doctors fixed hims heart"! Raelynn calls Cooper "Little Buddy"....neither of them could be any cuter! Also, check out the great pic of Mom and Dad. Anyone that knows Dad knows it is an act of God to get a picture of him let alone a good one!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!