ANOTHER BIG SUCCESS!!!

Saturday was the Cooper's Cause 5K Fun Run and what a huge success. I believe we had 147 people which for the first year of a 5K that is fabulous! Everyone worked so hard and just as the Henry T's fundraiser, we were so touched by everything that happened. There was a man who was just driving by that opened his wallet and handed one of the volunteers the last $4 in his wallet. Anyone who doesn't believe there are very good people in this world and a lot of them really needs to talk to us. I always have a hard time keeping myself together at these events because you cannot even imagine how it feels to stand before a group of people who have only your best interest at heart and are there just to help us. There was a lady that as she crossed the finish line asked exactly how far is a 5K. I told her and she said I have never ran before. The stories go on and on. The day was perfect and the run was great. Another huge success!!! Even little Cooper walked across the finish line, with a little help from Daddy. I have sent the pictures over to be downloaded to the website so you will have to go check them out in the next day or so, www.cooperscause.com. For all of you that participated in the event in any manner.....THANK YOU!

Cooper saw Dr. Kelley on Friday and he had lost an ounce. He is borderline in regards to staying off the feeding tube but so far he is still off of it. Even with the crazy weekend we had he maintained 20 to 25 oz per day. Today he chewed crazily on a pretzel and even ate some. He also drank some fruit juice and a few bites of a milk shake. He needs to start drinking or eating more though so he does not have the weight loss. He could not continue to loose for very long. He will drink constantly if it is offered to him so I truly believe it will be entirely up to Lisa and I to make sure he gets enough just by constantly offering drinks to him.

The weekend was great. My family was all in town and therefore we kept very busy. Steph decided to get a tattoo so Saturday night I went with her to do that. It is very cute and in a place that can be hidden so I don't think she will ever regret doing it. It seems to be a family tradition once in college :) Anyway, it was a great weekend but I am truly exhausted and have to get some sleep because I do not see that next week is going to be any slower or the nights any longer. I am still trying to complete forms and paperwork for Cooper's Cause Foundation. I had a goal to be done on Saturday but with some things still pending was not able to complete everything. I sure hope it gets done this week. I need some normal nights of sleep back.

DAY 3.........

Still improving with 24 ounces today. I am so excited he is doing better. He is such a better baby and is so close to crawling. He actually ate/choked on a cracker tonight. I am anxious and nervous for our appointment with Dr. Kelley. I am hopefully he has not lost too much weight.

We had our interview on KSNT 27 News tonight but I have not seen it yet. People said it was good but I am anxious to see it myself. The media coverage has been great. I am soooooo excited for5 the 5K and to see my family. I am also extremely tired and still have so much paperwork to do so this is it for tonight. Please say a prayer that Cooper has earned the right to leave his feeding out@

DAY 2...............

21 OZ...... Yep that's right Coop drank 21 ounces today. That is 5 1/2 ounces more than yesterday! I love the progress!!!!!!!!

DAY 1....

I am calling this Day 1 because this is the first full 24hours Coop has had without the feeding tube. To give you a little idea of where Coop needs to be to maintain himself and keep from dehydrating, the nutritionist has said Cooper has to take in 16.5 oz and our pediatrician says 20 oz. On Day 1 we ended the day at 9 pm and Cooper had taken 15.5 oz. I know it is not quite where we want him to be but for Day 1 and for not hardly drinking squat before, I am pleased. He also took 2 bites of yogurt from Lisa which was also encouraging. Tomorrow will be another big day because we will be able to tell if he is going to keep progressing. Tonight he even drank about an oz from the bottle, he sucked on the nipple and all. He was so tired and it was so cute to see him dozing off while sucking on a bottle. This is something I have not seen for about 7 months. My eyes watered but I was proud of myself that I did not cry.

I was able to figure out my picture issues so enjoy the fun we had at the zoo!!!

REALLY???......

Where do I start....
We did make it to the zoo yesterday and it was fantastic. Terry, Uncle Gary, Aunt Steph, Raelynn, Cooper and I all headed down to Wichita to go to the zoo. Terry's niece, Cassie, lives there now and her boyfriend works in the reptile exhibit at the zoo. He took us "behind the scenes" and we got to see so many reptiles and even touch them. You would not believe who was all into touching the snakes....COOPER! It was so creepy watching him touch this huge snake but it was so fun. I have so many pictures to share but unfortunately have not been able to download them yet due to technical issues. As soon as I do I will post them though. The day was great and as always it was fun to have Steph and Gary go with us. We hadn't seen Cassie for a little while and she is always great to be with. Her boyfriend Scott is a very quiet guy but during our tour he wouldn't stop talking. It was wonderful to see a side of him we usually don't get to see. Raelynn wasn't a big fan of the reptiles but the crazy chimpanzees and apes were very exciting to her. We saw more animals up close there then I ever had anywhere else. It was really a great day for us all.

Last night after we returned from the zoo we had a message from Stacy, the nutritionist with Tiny K. She had read the blog and wanted to go over a few things before we met with Dr. Kelley this morning. I think this says a lot for the program, on a Sunday, she was reading the blog and calling to make sure we were taken care of. She had read that I was ready for the G Tube but she thought we needed to take a few more steps before giving in. We appreciated her call so much. So this morning I headed to Dr. Kelley's office on a mission. I wanted him to allow us to pull the tube completely for a few days. When Cooper truly gets hungry he seems to drink well but feeding him at night keeps him from getting really hungry. Dr. Kelley was his unusual fantastic self. He approved our plan, which I think is what he had in mind for some time but needed me to be mentally ready for it. I had been hanging on the the NG Tube because I didn't want Cooper to have surgery. Once we make this commitment to try it is a fail or succeed deal. He either eats or he doesn't. If he does, yeah, if he doesn't it is time for the G Tube. So tomorrow will begin the test. Cooper should be fairly hungry by tomorrow and I am just praying that he will drink. He has to drink at least 20oz a day. We will go back to Dr. Kelley's on Friday to re-evaluate. Also, Cooper has another ear infection so yet another medication to take. He also had lost an ounce today from our last visit. We are hoping that he does not loose too much during this time but most importantly he cannot dehydrate. This week is a huge week for Cooper!

I have a new addition to the blog. Please go to the bottom and check out the map. Thanks Taylor!!! This map shows where people are viewing the blog. Isn't that so cool?!!!

This Saturday is Cooper's Cause 5K/Fun Run. I am so excited for it. We are getting a little media coverage on this one as well. There will be a short clip about Cooper's Cause on KSNT during the 5pm news this Thursday the 18th. Once again, please cross your fingers that I will not make a fool out of myself. I always have so much to say and just hope I can get the main points out in their allotted time. Anyway, thank you Isaac for getting this one set up.

So here it is already 11:30pm and now it is time to start working on Cooper's Cause Foundation. I thank God daily for the things he has blessed me with but I think this week caffeine will top my list of things to thank him for :)