A small thing, but a BIG deal!

Logan will FINALLY take his Aspirin on his own!

Logan is terrible at taking medicine- I dread giving him medicine more than changing a nasty poopy diaper!  He is a fighter and hates all medicine.  So even his tiny, little half of a baby aspirin I have had to crush and hide in his food EVERY day... until now!!!!!!!  Can you tell I am happy about this.  I just gained an extra 10 minutes every day!  He is in a "I can do everything myself" stage and wanted one day to get his own medicine out of the bottle.  So I took 1 dose and put it in an empty bottle and let him dump it in his own hand and he ate it.  SHOCK!  He has done it for a week now, so let's hope he keeps it up. 

He also thinks he is a dog sometimes and loves to lick food off the table and out of your hand ( I know disgusting) so he will sometimes let me put his medicine on the table and he will lick it up like a puppy.  Strange kid... (I have had to stop him from licking up water from a puddle outside- he literally crawls around barking and wants me to pet his head)!  I can handle the dog phase if it means he will take his meds without a fight.

Heart Friends

Every July my childhood friend Caryn comes to Utah for a family vacation and they always find the time to meet for lunch or dinner.  Caryn and I knew each other when we were really young and then were reconnected through facebook right before Logan was born.  Her oldest son Brayden is a CHD warrior, and they have been a beacon of HOPE for us all along the way. 

 Brayden and Logan

 He is such a cute kid and was trying to get Logan comfortable with him.  He showed Logan his scar and let him hold his hat!

 Look how big our boys have grown.  This was in July 2010 right after Logan's first surgery.

I love seeing Brayden and hearing him talk like his heart is just a normal part of life.  He is living life to the fullest and a living miracle. 

Trouble and Summer Fun

Even with all the fun we have been having this summer, Logan has still managed to find time to get into trouble.  I am telling you, this kid is 100x worse than my other two when it comes to being mischievous and getting into trouble.  Logan has gone through a hiding stage where he thinks it is really fun to hide.  The crazy thing is he will hold still and be quiet when he hides.  The picture below shows him hiding in the dyer.... scary.  He had no idea Brad snuck a picture and he got in BIG trouble for hiding in there.  Ashlyn had gotten me something out of the dryer and forgot to shut the door (something that will never happen again I hope) and Brad saw Logan head in there a minute later so he followed him in.  Lucky for us he was only in there for a few seconds, but he has given us a few scares when he hides from us.  I can't turn my back on him outside for a second because he thinks it is so funny to hide.  The other day he was wearing a red t-shirt and went and crouched down by a fire hydrant hiding from me.  He blended right in, I was in a complete panic getting neighbors to help me find him and he just sat there quiet as can be as we screamed his name.  We have been trying to not make a big deal about his hiding so he won't think it is fun, and will hopefully stop doing it the little stinker!

Do you like the oxygen hose on the floor, he has started pulling all his hoses off when he wakes up from his naps too.  Trouble, I tell you!  My father-in-law always says he would hate to see what Logan could do on a whole heart because on his half a heart he keeps everyone chasing him and on their toes!

 We played a lot the end of June with my parents when they were watching my sisters kids.  We did a lot of fun things.  We missed Ashlyn (she was still in school, I HATE year round school).

We played at the Zoo.

 Thanksgiving Point Farm

 The Dinosaur Museum

 The Cabin- this was our first trip to the cabin this year.  We were nervous with Logan's lower oxygen levels that he would not tolerate the elevation, but he did pretty good.  Still not good enough I would dare spend the night, but a few hours was fun.  He was a little more tired and grumpy by the end, but we expected that.  He kept his O2 levels around 74% so not awesome, but not too bad for him!

Happy Birthday

(delayed post)

It is hard to believe my baby is 2! 

I still refer to him as my baby... maybe I should stop referring to him as my baby because he calls himself a baby now too!

Logan still LOVES Elmo!

His Birthday was Monday, May 21st (still playing catch up on the blog).  We had some family over the night before for dinner and a pre-birthday celebration (at our house it is referred to as Birthday Party weekend... you get to celebrate your birthday over the coarse of a few days).  

Ashlyn and Tanner had so much fun helping me figure out how to make the cupcakes, and were great decorators.  Logan's reactions are always animated and fun- he loved eating Elmo's nose! 

 He had a great time opening his presents and was just as happy with the paper star his sister made for him as he was the wagon mom and dad got him! 

What better way to spend your birthday than at the doctor.  I know what a mean mom I am for scheduling his appointment on his birthday- sometimes you just have to take what you can get.  It was his post-op/ follow up appointment from his cath.  His sats are holding steady in the low 80's, and everything else is looking good.  Dr. Mack doesn't need to see him for another 6 months.

 The picture of me holding the banana is how we get things done around here... I have to bribe him to hold still long enough for me to get a good reading on the pulse ox.  And I might as well kill two birds with one stone as I have him captivated with my phone I can cram a few extra calories in him as well!

That afternoon (after doctors and naps) we had the neighbor kids over for cupcakes.  At first he wasn't a fan of everyone else eating his Elmo cupcakes, but he warmed up to the idea and I was happy to have them all gone!

We love this kid, and can't imagine life without him.  I was talking with a friend the other day and she said she was so sorry about all we have gone through, and she can't imagine how hard it is.  My response was that I am not sorry.  Sure, I wish that Logan didn't have to go through everything he has, but I can't imagine life any other way.  I try to think about where we would be in life if Logan had been born "healthy" and I just see a big void.  He has taught us so much, and we have grown so much since he came to our family.  And I don't look at our life as hard... we are truly BLESSED.

Happy Birthday Logan!

Annual Heart Run

Intermountain Healing Hearts- an amazing organization/support group that we belong to held their 2nd Annual 5k Heart Run in May (I know, I am a little behind on the blog)!  We look forward to these events as a family every year, and love to meet and interact with other heart families.  It was a privilege, and completely humbling to run in honor of our little boy and other heart kids who are not physically able to do so.  Sure Logan runs around, I am not saying he can't run, it is just taxing on his little heart.  He can run about 10 feet before he is so out of breath he has to sit down and rest to let his little heart catch up.  So we ran for him!  He was a great cheerleader along with Ashlyn, Tanner and Grandma.  (Next year Brad and I vow we will actually train for it first so it doesn't nearly kill us)!

 I know I am biased because they are mine, but I think I have pretty cute kids! 

 These ladies are just a few of the amazing heart mom's I have been able to connect with.  All of our kids have a similar diagnosis of HRHS and are within a few months in age.  Angee and Severin on the left, Joanita and Kat in the middle and Logan and I.  We feel so lucky to have these AMAZING kids as part of our family, and I am so grateful for other moms who just "get" me!