Wyatt James Koger, A Fighter from Birth

Pure Sweetness

2011-05-30T23:36:00.000-04:00

Going to have a long day at Hopkins tomorrow for Wyatt- general surgery follow up, blood work, x-rays, PT at KKI. I just think about his sweetness and all that he as been through.

Preschool

2011-05-25T07:35:00.000-04:00

One of the best decisions we have ever made was enrolling Wyatt in preschool. He had an opportunity to socialize with his peers and just be a regular kid: playing, talking, reading, singing, being crafty, etc.... It was such an ideal situation for him. I was so nervous to send him to school the first day, but I think because of preschool, his day nurse, and PT is the reason why he is walking and thriving. Recently Wyatt had his end of the year celebration and it was bittersweet. He has progressed the most out of all the kids in his class. He entered preschool not wanting a snack, not wanting to wash his hands or put his hands in finger paints (because it made him gag), not walking, and the list goes on. He ended preschool wanting to eat his snack and drink, making a project using finger paints (my Mother's Day present), walking, and not protesting when washing his hands. It was such a successful year! Wyatt made friends (and I did too!) which I hope last a long, long, time. In the evening, Wyatt and I went on a date together to Chick Fil a!

Endocrinology Update

2011-05-25T07:17:00.000-04:00

Wyatt's awesome GI doctor noticed a pattern in Wyatt: he is not growing like average three year olds. His growth curve pattern is on a decline from 25%, 5% to 3%. A healthy three year old should be growing and the curve should stay steady or go upward. This is not the case with Wyatt. We recently took Wyatt to see an Endocrinologist who did some extensive blood work and an x-ray of his hand. We got the results, which indicated we needed more testing:(( Wyatt's blood shows high amounts of Alkaline Phosphatase- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003470.htm and his hand x-ray showed an abnormal growth plate. What does this mean?? Who knows? It could indicate malnutrition, which the doctor phased out because his other blood work was fine and we control his nutrients through a feeding tube, which is monitored by a doctor. It could be trauma to major organs (which could be his case), and many other conditions. So we need to get more blood work and an x-rays of his hand and kneee. Wyatt also did not begin to walk until age three, his walk is not a normal walk, and he still has hypotonia (low muscle tone). The doctor said most endocrine issues are treatable, so we will take each step at a time and deal with whatever is given to us. It just goes to show that CDH is never ending and I think it's Wyatt's mission to make my head full of gray hair!!!

CDH Awareness Day- March 31st

2011-03-30T22:13:00.003-04:00

Thursday is CDH Awareness Day. Wear turquoise in support of CDH Awareness in hopes that one day doctors/researchers find a cure and take the survival rate from 50% to 100%. For now, because most CDH babies receive numerous blood transfusions, you can give blood. Here in our household, we have a shirts picked out and ribbons made for the BIG day!!!

Here are some facts so that you can help spread awareness:

1.The survival rate for CDH babies runs at 50%. Approximately 1600 births a year; 800 babies survive.

2. CDH occurs in approximately 1:2500 births

3. There is no known cause for CDH.

4. There is no way to determine if your CDH baby will or will not survive. Some babies that have severe CDH survive, while other more mild cases do not.

5. There are several types of CDH with the left sided being the most common (this is where our case falls).

6. Many families have never heard of CDH until they are diagnosed with it.

Pulmonary Check Up

2011-03-12T22:39:00.000-05:00

It's sideways, but here is Wyatt's most recent check x-ray dated 1/21/11. We just had our pulmonary check up on Friday, so all the results were explained to us. Bascially it's unchanged from previous x-rays. It's not a normal chest x-ray, but it's normal to us!! Here is the report:

" Pulmonary vasculature seems asymmetrical , ie. decrease in the left. Faint left infrahilar density. Somewhat blunt left lateral costophrenic angle. Moderate distention of the lower most portion of the esophagus. Metallic suture structures projecting to the left lung base. VP shunt projecting over right hemithorax and right hemiabdomen as far as included. Transcutaneous enteric tube, tip projecting to the the left upper abdominal quadrant, medially. Left lower lobe atelectasis, consistent with relative left-sided pulmonary hypoplasia. "

Did you get all that???

Radiothon

2011-02-23T21:27:00.000-05:00

Thank you to Johns Hopkins Children Center and Mix 106.5 for helping to raise awareness for CDH and raise money to a worthy cause. Wyatt's interview aired this morning. I actually heard it on my way to work and I only have a 5 minute commute! I thought that was a little freaky:))

Below is the link to his story. The audio file of the interview is on the center of the page.

Click here for- Wyatt's CDH Story and Interview

Mix 106.5 Radiothon: Wyatt then and now

2011-02-22T08:27:00.016-05:00

Tune into the Mix 106.5 Radiothon to help the Johns Hopkins Children's Center Wednesday, Feb. 23rd- Friday, Feb. 25th. Wyatt will be one of the featured stories.

Wyatt has come a long way. Every time I look at him, I am in amazement of his success. With 50% survival chance, he kept me on my toes with many more gray hairs popping up. After every success, their seemed to always be a set back... I thought at his birth, he would be "too healthy" for ECMO, but he wasn't. I thought he would remain healthy on ECMO, but the machine that saved his life, gave him a brain bleed on the last day from the required Heparin. After he was extubated, I was so excited to hear his voice, but he was silent because of a paralyzed vocal cord. I thought we would dodge a feeding tube, but we didn't. I thought when we got home finally 5 months later, we were home for good, but realized after 3 reherniations and 10 surgeries we weren't. I followed many CDH kids and it seemed that they always got some kind of break, but we never did. But then I realized.... we did get a BIG BREAK... I have a handsome, alive, little boy!!! This experienced has showed me what life is all about... family, friends, and love. We treated Wyatt like a healthy newborn baby in the hospital. We read books to him, played music, brought in toys and pictures, and told him stories. You can only handle what God gives you and Wyatt is one tough little boy!

Today he is a robust, funny, caring, "older than his age", three year old who is thriving and loves life! Wyatt is catching up, people are amazed that he doesn't eat, walk, and still needs oxygen while sleeping. Well actually, he eats everything in sight, but doesn't swallow. At age 3, on Jan. 15th he stood up by himself for the very first time. He has been experimenting with taking steps since then and is now learning to walk. He knows everything a 3 year old knows... his ABC's, numbers, colors, talks in a billion word sentences. You can hold a great conversation with him all day long! I am amazed at him every day and so proud. Today, we have a new normal and life is a little different. I still follow stories of his CDH friends, take him to many therapy and doctor appointments a month, welcome a night nurse every night to make sure he does not aspirate. He is connected to a pulse ox, food pump, and oxygen all night long.... but I wouldn't trade it in for the world!

Thank you to the doctor's, nurses, and therapists at John's Hopkins and Mt. Washington Hospital for saving my child's life. Please check out the Radiothon this Wednesday Feb 23rd-Friday, Feb. 25th and donate! Wyatt will be featured on the Johns Hopkins website and Wyatt's story will be featured on the Radio- Mix 106.5.

Hopkins- http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/

Mix 106.5- http://mix1065fm.radio.com/mix-106-5s-22nd-annual-radiothon/

Below are pictures of him when he was on ECMO, just a few days old

Holding him for the very first time at 5 weeks old...

A couple of months later...

Loving life at age 1 !

Wyatt today at age 3

Sharing friend at preschool with his teacher...

Standing up by himself for the first time...

Making his valentines for his friends

Playing in a band...

Hanging out with his preschool friends

Wyatt's preschool

2011-02-11T22:35:00.002-05:00

I got to be one of the "Party Parents" for Wyatt's valentine's day party at his preschool. He also happened to be the sharing friend too. He decided to bring his Dinosaur Train dinosaurs that his Gran and Grandad gave him. Wyatt was a great presenter! He stood up in front of his class and told the class the names of his dinosaurs and told everyone who gave them to him. I was a proud Mommy:) He also got to be the bell ringer to signal clean up time! I also popped into Chloe's class during their "recess" time too!

Wyatt in school~ he does a great job playing with his friends:)

Chloe during "recess" doing an obstacle course

First signs of feeling better:)

2011-02-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

Wyatt has been sick all week with a very bad cold. He needs oxygen all day long, has a heart rate of 150, dehydrated, and has a temperature. He actually asks to be suctioned!! (and he hates the suction machine). Here is his first "goofy" face of the week.... hopefully signs of him getting better:)

That's my story and I am sticking to it!

2011-01-25T23:32:00.002-05:00

Wyatt was accidentally locked inside a car on a very chilly afternoon. He tried to reach for the lock but his little arms were not long enough. Luckily, two volunteer firefighters were walking by. They climbed through the trunk and saved Wyatt!!! He was only in the car for about 5 minutes and he thought the entire thing was funny. Hearing him re-tell the story is funny because he said he "freaked out" when a man climbed from the back of the car. My sister tried to capture his story on video, but only got a portion of it. If you come by and visit, I am sure Wyatt will tell you the entire story:)

Wyatt Standing...

2011-01-25T22:53:00.002-05:00

It's not the best quality and it's sideways... but I tried to capture Wyatt trying to stand.

Preschool

2011-01-20T22:19:00.000-05:00

Wyatt is loving preschool. I took this picture this morning as he waits for the "big hand to get on the 9" on the clock and then we can leave. He loves it and anxiously awaits to leave in the morning.

A New Beginning....

2011-01-17T15:44:00.000-05:00

As Wyatt is healing over time, his blog is turning into more of a family blog. My wonderful sister created a hard cover coffee table book of 300 pages of Wyatt's blog to preserve the memories of his success over time. It's time that I start a family blog and to focus on the non-medical memories that are created daily with Chloe, Wyatt, and our entire family.

Annoucing our new family blog- It's Raining Sunshine where I will record the daily events in my family's lives. It's purpose is so my children remember the day to day events that are often forgotton. It will be made into a book, just like Wyatt's blog.

Wyatt's blog will still be active in hopes to inspire other families that have similiar challenges of having a child with CDH. The posts on here will mainly pertain to Wyatt and his CDH challenges and celebrations.

Check out... It's Raining Sunshine....

Look what I can do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-01-17T15:35:00.000-05:00

On January 15, 2011 Wyatt stood up by himself for the very first time..... here he is practicing about 1,000 more times.... I can't wait for him to walk!!!!

Good Times!

2011-01-17T15:33:00.000-05:00

Enjoying Winter....

Roller Skating

Sledding....

Drinking hot chocolate...

Doctor Appointments

2011-01-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

We had many doctor appointments lately. His recovery from getting his tonsils and adenoids removed, and tubes in his ears was very long. He required more oxygen, would not talk, and not put anything in his mouth for two weeks. He now is back to his old self and in looking back, the surgery was a good decision! The surgeon did find that his right vocal cord is still paralyzed and probably will be for the rest of his life. We just need to keep an eye on him for aspiration.

His neurosurgery appt. went well. Dr. Carson felt his head and said he was doing really well. His shunt will be in his brain for the rest of his life so we need to go for yearly appointments. He was very impressed by his progress, and as long as he is making progress, Dr. Carson is happy (even if it's baby steps).

General surgery appointment went well. Dr. A ordered a sonogram which we have next week to double check things.

We do need to see an endocrinologist because Wyatt's growth is only in the third percent. They are worried he is not growing like he should, so we are going to check things out.

He is getting the hiccups a lot lately, so I am going to call the Dr. to find out why... when you google the cause- the diagphram is irritated!!! which is not a good thing!

Otherwise, Wyatt is progressing and always charting his own course!!!

Wyatt's Braces

2011-01-17T15:06:00.000-05:00

Wyatt received his new braces during the summer and we are gradually introducing them to him. They are SMO's which provide minimal support for him and he wears them to his therapy appointments, occasionally at home, and he will start wearing them at school.

Cool shoes to go over his braces

Wyatt's therapy is really working at KKI and at home with Infants and Toddlers. During the summer, we were told he stands and walks like a 10 month old baby. He is three, so trying to catch up is trying and hard. But Wyatt, pushes himself and tries and tries and never gives up. He has mastered the bike and the walker which was a huge challenge for him just a few months ago.

Sleep Study

2010-10-27T23:51:00.000-04:00

Last week Wyatt had a sleep study done at Mt. Washington. The results are in. It was discovered that he has moderate to severe sleep apnea. The obstruction is possibly adenoids and/or tonsils. Consequently, Wyatt will have to undergo another surgery to have them removed (I think it's his 8th surgery in 3 years:((). He is currently on 3/4th oxygen in the evenings, so hopefully after the surgery we can start weaning .

Otherwise, Wyatt is soaring with his walking. He just got his SMO braces and will start using them. He is using a walker more often and crawling comes easily to him.

He was just tested at KKI from the developmental pediatrician and the results showed that he is walking like a 10 month old baby. The doctor used an algebraic equation to determine when he may walk. It took him three years to walk like a 10 month old, so she predicts in seven months, he will be walking like a one year old??? Good news is that he is right on track with speech at 36 months and about 30 months with fine and gross motor skills. She was very impressed that he falls in the "normal" category. (I think he is exceptional:))

Wyatt is still attending PT sessions at KKI as well as Infants and Toddlers. Doctors are contributing his lateness to walking to neurological hypotonia, probably resulting from his IVH grade 4 brain bleed at 14 days old.

He is my little miracle baby. He is the funniest, most talkative 3 year old I have ever met. He is also loving preschool. He follows directions, sits in a circle, and loves making new friends. I could not be happier with his progress!!

Wyatt is fine

2010-08-24T22:21:00.000-04:00

No worries everybody!!! Wyatt is fine. He had a chest x-ray, an abdominal x-ray, and blood work and he did not reherniate. The chest x-ray did show pulmonary edema which is fluid in the lungs. He is on steroids for three days and is back to his happy self. The steroids are making him think he is "Super Wyatt." He wants to flip over tables, pick up chairs, and is talking constantly. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

I know I have been ignoring my blog. A new blog is in the works and will be unveiled soon!

Wyatt enroute to the ER -- Pains when Coughing

2010-08-20T15:32:00.003-04:00

It's Danielle Gina's sister, I will update this post if I hear anything. Gina is taking Wyatt to the ER -- let's HOPE and PRAY that it is not a re-herniation!!

3:30 pm - Gina said Wyatt is not normal today, when he coughs he says his tummy hurts. Wyatt's doctor advised her to take him to Hopkin's ER. Gina just arrived. She says it's not the same as when he was an infant, he understands everything that's going on.

"Why are we here?" Wyatt said. "My tummy hurts."

Gina tells him they are here to take a photo of his tummy.

Summer

2010-07-18T14:42:00.001-04:00

We are having a great summer so far. Wyatt is going to KKI more frequently and recently he walked down part of the hallway with a walker and the help of a therapist. He is making great strides with his therapy and was recently fitted with SMO braces which should arrive in a few weeks. Beside going to KKI and working a little bit, we have been enjoying going to the library, taking morning walks, observing birds, picking blackberries, sucking honeysuckle, going to cook-outs, and the pool. Benji's band even played near main street to the public. The kids had a great time dancing!

Going to a cook-out with a BIG water slide

Having a fire fly party

Listening to the band

Going to the pool with friends

A wordless post:)

2010-07-18T14:27:00.000-04:00

Ballet

2010-07-18T14:23:00.001-04:00

Chloe started ballet and tap this summer and she loves it! She is in the black on the left side.

4th of July

2010-07-18T14:13:00.001-04:00

We had a great Fourth of July this year. We first went to our friends Joe and Maria's house which was a great party... we just wish we could stay longer but Benji's band was playing at another party, so we ventured over there to listen to him. The kids went on pony rides, ate snowballs, climbed in the priate ship, and danced. The best part about it was that Chloe's best friends were there- Lily and Molly:)

Birthdays

2010-07-18T13:52:00.000-04:00

June and July are busy months in our household! Not only is it Father's Day, we also celebrate my birthday, Benji's Mothers, my Grandmothers, my Mothers, and my Father's birthday! I had a wonderful day for my birthday. My family took me to the Oregon Grill for lunch and then I had my training program for the 5K, and then got had to get "hydrated" after the training, so we went out to the local bar! I had a great 36th birthday!

Training for the 5K

Staying hydrated after the training:)

Lunch at the Oregon Grill

True Italian talking with his hands

My Mom and sister at the Oregon Grill

Grandmom's Birthday too!

Stay tuned for more birthday to come!

Wyatt standing on the steps

2010-07-18T13:35:00.002-04:00

In the News...

2010-07-09T17:06:00.000-04:00

Benji's band- Twenty Dollar Prophet made the front page of the newspaper today!!! It's a short article and a picture of Chloe and her friends dancing plus a pic of the band. You can even see Wyatt's head:) Check out the link here- Newspaper Article

Free Concert Tonight!!

2010-07-08T08:08:00.000-04:00

Benji's band- Twenty Dollar Prophet will be playing a free concert tonight at the "Thursday's at Six" Concert Series on Locust Lane in Westminster from 6pm-8pm. If you are local, please feel free to stop by for a family-fun evening! Bring your blankets or chairs, kids, friends, etc... The band will be behind Coffey's Music and Pardiso Pizza. Hope to see a BIG crowd:)) Check out their fan page on Facebook- Twenty Dollar Prophet for more info about the band.

Busy Weekend!

2010-06-20T21:43:00.001-04:00

The kids went bowling for the first time ever. It was duck pin bowling, with bumpers, with ramps. They had a great time celebrating Sophia's 5th birthday! We then saw Nickelodeon Storytime Live Show with the Wonder Pets, Backyardians, Dora the Explorer. My kids really only knew Dora from some DVD's that we have since we don't have cable, but they still had a great time. Our seats were very close!!

Wyatt at the Dora the Explorer Show

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T21:32:00.000-04:00

I have been waiting to write this post for a year now... I can now say that we have not been in the hospital for a full year now. It's the longest time ever we have not been in the hospital. What a special father's day! This time last year Wyatt had a reherination surgery and a nissen. It was his longest surgery, but we only stayed a short time. Benji spent Father's Day with Wyatt in the hospital and then came home to finish painting our family room before Wyatt arrived home. This year was much different! Benji smoked a pork shoulder on the grill starting at 7am, so it was nice and tender for dinner time. We had pulled pork, coleslaw, green beans, corn, and strawberry cake. We were joined by both of our parents and had a nice, relaxing day at home playing, swimming, and enjoying just being at home. I have to say that Benji is a wonderful Dad. Having a child with medical needs really made Benji's true colors show, and he is absolutly wonderful with Wyatt and Chloe. We really do split everything 50/50 with the kids. If one of them falls down and scraps their knee, they ask for their Dad or Mom... it doesn't matter. So Happy Father's Day to Benji!!

The kids picked out Benji's present- Seasme Street t-shirt, "hand"-made t-shirt,foot print that Chloe made in school, and a full day of watching the World Cup. Today also marks our 4 year anniversary in our new house. I remember watching the World Cup four years ago moving in:)) sitting on the floor:))

Chloe giving her Dad the "hand" made t-shirt. She was sooooo excited!!!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, who was very involved in every aspect of my childhood. He knew all my friends (and still does), attended all my horse shows, sports games, 4-H stuff, etc... He is the greatest Dad and Grandpop anyone could ask for!

Happy Father's Day to my Father-in-law who moved to another state just to be around us and his grandkids! He has been an awesome role model to Benji and one of the reasons why he is such a great Dad!

The Mom's

Grandmom

Pulling Pork

Wrestling with Mom-mom

Fun in the Sun!

Help my blog!

2010-06-13T22:08:00.000-04:00

This summer I would like to change my blog to a family blog, but I am stumped on a name. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment. Also, if you have any suggestions in a new design template or know someone that can design it, please let me know! It needs a major over-haul!

Let's get Wyatt to walk campaign!!

2010-06-13T22:00:00.002-04:00

Wyatt still can not walk or stand unassisted. Every specialist and therapist said that he is fine and one day he will walk. They think it's a combination of low muscle tone and his brain bleed. I agree, but now that I am taking a closer look at his ankles, I think they may NOT be helping in the walking department. Wyatt wants to walk so bad. Yesterday at the picnic, he said, "Mommy, I want to run!" He is 35 pounds, has a mind of a two and half year old, but his legs just won't let him walk. It's sad and very challenging and frustrating. We are trying to do everything possible to set him up for success. Intense therapy at home with the nurse and his parents, infants and toddlers once a week, and now we are increasing KKI to three times of week for most of the weeks of the summer. We even buy any type of equipment that is recommended for him and make sure we show him we are proud and praise him all the time. He knows we are so proud when he stands. Here are some pics of his ankle and foot. He has a very high arch and his ankle tilts in-ward so that he is off balance. I think I am going to send him to a podiatrist and get his opinion. Please pray for him to be able to walk soon.

World Cup

2010-06-13T21:47:00.000-04:00

This house is full of soccer fans.... especially Benji and Chloe. Chloe has been asking so many questions lately such as, "Why is the goalie wearing different color shirt?" They were so interested in it, that Chloe ate her dinner while watching the game (when we usually eat dinner at the kitchen table.

Italian Festival

2010-06-13T21:42:00.003-04:00

Today we went to the Italian festival just like last year at St. Leo's Church in Little Italy. My father was born in Italy and attended this same festival with his family since his childhood, so we are carrying on the tradition. Do you believe in angels? Well after I thought about this, I realized that maybe she is an angel looking over Wyatt. Tonight at the Italian festival, while we were eating our pasta dinner in the church hall, I recognized a lady from two years ago who cleaned Wyatt's spot in the NICU every day. She could speak hardly no English, so she would just smile at Wyatt for a long time and tell me that she is praying for him, by holding her hands together saying, "I pray for him." After Wyatt spent the first five weeks of his life in the NICU, I did not see her again until today. While we were waiting in line for our food, I recognized a lady cleaning the hall and it was her! Her English did not improve, but she recognized us and wanted to see Wyatt. She was so happy for him! Maybe she is an angel here to help Wyatt??

Little Italian Princess

Dancing

Hand-painting

Making crafts with Danielle

Fried Dough!

Summertime!

2010-06-13T21:18:00.001-04:00

Waiting to run to the next base...

Chloe waiting on second base

Summer has started in our household! We have been having fun with no schedules, picnics, putting up tents in the backyard, playing kickball, etc...

A special reunion

2010-06-11T22:06:00.003-04:00

Tonight was a special night in our house. Wyatt was reunited with his NICU roomie and 6th floor roomie, and who occasionally bump into each other at doctor appointments.... but tonight was a planned reunion for two miracle kids to meet outside a hospital/doctor setting. Hopkins is such a big, busy place, but it's a very special place to us. It's a place that saved our child's life and where special friendships are made.

Wyatt's first time-out

2010-06-11T21:58:00.000-04:00

We have no discipline system in place for Wyatt. He is totally spoiled by his nurse and us:)) We like it that way, but realize that it's important to teach Wyatt right from wrong... so when he pokes his sister, climbs on her, and takes her stuff we have to do something about it. We tell him "no", count, give him chances to stop, but nothing seems to work. He thinks everything is funny. So tonight we put him in time out for about a minute and he thought that was fun too. What to do with this boy??? I just want to hug him and give him a big ole kiss!!

Strawberry Picking 2010

2010-06-08T22:18:00.000-04:00

Last year, Chloe and I started a tradition of strawberry picking. It was a very memorable day. It was the first time I really got to spend time with Chloe other than her attending medical appointments and we were on no schedule. So this year Chloe asked if we could bring her brother along. I thought it would be a challenge to carry a 35 pound kid who can not walk or stand or eat in the middle of the strawberry field for a couple of hours and carrying all his food and emergency supplies with me. But I was totally wrong. It was one of the best days that the three of us spent together. Besides it being absolutely beautiful outside, the kids love spending time together. As I was rocking Wyatt to sleep tonight he said, "Mommy, can we go strawberry picking again?" Chloe said on the car ride home, "Mommy, can you stay home with me every day?" We only picked a hand-ful of strawberries since Chloe was eating them and
Wyatt was throwing them. It was a very memorable day and I can't wait to do it again. Then we drove an hour to KKI for Wyatt's PT but realized our therapist left early:((

Little Scientist

2010-06-08T21:56:00.000-04:00

Chloe loves watching Sid the Science Kid on PBS. One day the show was about melting and freezing and the kids made Popsicles. So Chloe wanted to do the same. We sliced a banana, put a Popsicle stick in it and placed it in a paper cup. Then we poured berry juice in the Dixie cup and put it in the freezer. Chloe checked it or "collected her data" about every 5 min and after a couple hours it was finally frozen. She enjoyed eating it and it was fairly healthy juice. I might try V8 next time! She is my little scientist in the making!

BFF's

2010-06-08T21:50:00.000-04:00

I love these girls! Since this is a family blog and I am in charge of it, I guess I can do whatever I want. Here are my best college buddies... we were all RA's, all became teachers, and love to get together and have fun a few times of year. I love how you can just pick up where you ended with old friends.

My sister is wonderful!

2010-06-08T21:29:00.000-04:00

My sister and I are six years apart, so I was always the bossy, older sister in our relationship. I want to publicly apologize for being so bossy when I was younger because she is truly the best Aunt anyone could ever ask for. She spends endless hours with Chloe and Wyatt when we visit. They enjoy the simple things in life, such as catching minnows in the stream, picking flowers, going for hikes, planting flowers, swimming, etc... I love you Danielle and thank you for all you do!

End of the School Year

2010-06-08T21:22:00.000-04:00

Summer is around the corner! I love summer! It's my favorite season! The end of the school year is always very exciting, especially since I am a teacher! It's even more exciting now that Chloe gets to celebrate it too. Her very first preschool year was the BEST ever! All my goals for her were accomplished. My goal was for her to LOVE school and want to go all the time. She loved every second of it, never cried and got super excited every time it was a school day. She also made friends and became more social. Her end of the year celebration was held at a park where the kids sang songs and played on the playground together. Chloe really enjoyed playing with her friends. Thank you to my grandmother, Pop-Pop, Mom-mom, and Aunt Danielle for attending. Next year Chloe and Wyatt will be in school together! Click here for her first day of school picture-

Daily Routines

2010-06-08T21:04:00.002-04:00

Almost every nice day, Wyatt's nurse Susan takes him to the park to play.... while I go to work. Sometimes he comes home with scratches and brusies from falling off the swing or comes home with match box cars that Susan bribes him with to stand up. On Mondays they go to music class together- "Music Together" where Wyatt is the star student (according to me). He is on-task and knows the words to all the songs. They often walk to the library for story time, and then drink frappocinos at Starbucks. They walk everyone, Susan never takes him in her car. They walk miles and miles all around town! The bottomline is the Wyatt is a very, very spoiled kid:)) and deserves it!

Odds and Ends

2010-05-18T22:29:00.005-04:00

This morning Chloe was late to school because she was drawing her teacher a picture. Her "stick" people are improving from a large circle with legs to actual stick people with arms and hair. In the picture below, her teacher is the largest person holding a yo-yo, then Chloe is holding two yo-yo's and then a one-eyed monster (doesn't every picture need a one eyed monster?) Above in the sky is a bubble machine and the monster is standing next to a tower. I just love three-year old imaginations:) One more day of preschool until she graduates to the four year old program! She is also starting to write her name in lower case letters. her "H" is changing from upper case to lower case and there are three lines to the letter "E" rather than a million.

After 11 years of driving my Passat, we decided to buy this (see pic below)- I said I would never buy a mini-van and look what I did! We are now proud owners of a 2011 Toyota Sienna in salsa red. Negotiating is no fun but after several months of looking at new and used vans, researching, and visiting a million dealerships, I think we found a good deal. The dealership offers free manicures, car washes, oil changes, loaner cars, shoe shines, etc... for the life of the car. I told the sales guy this was not going to sell me on buying this car, but it is certainly a perk!! We usually drive a car until it dies, so I anticipate I will be having free manicures for a long, long time. Don't worry, we kept my trusty Passat and I will still be driving it:)) Going down memory lane... I bought my Passat during my first year of teaching, while living at home with my parents. Benji was still my "boyfriend"- I had my Passat before engagement, marriage, children, our first house, and our dog. Wow... so much has changed since I bought my car that is still going strong after 11 years:)

Wyatt had his GI appointment today. Usually we see the GI doc in October, but Wyatt gained about 6 pounds in a year and I was afraid he was getting too big... especially since we control all his food input. The doctor said Wyatt is "under tall" - just a nice way of saying he is too big! He weighs 34 pounds, about four pounds more than Chloe and he is 35 inches tall. So we are decreasing his calorie intake from 30 cal to 24 cal. His total volume of 1200 ml a day stays the same. Currently he is feed all night long at 75 ml/hr and once an hour at 60 ml bolus. However, it is our hope to have him eat like a normal child about 3-4 times a day. So we are experimenting with different bolus volumes with the end goal of four bolus' a day at 120ml. and feeding him about 9 hours at night. We are also weaning him from Prevacid over the next month. Dr. G said we are doing everything right. He said we should continue to concrete on his physical therapy and get him walking, and then concentrate on eating real food. He also said it VERY GOOD that Wyatt will put any type of food in his mouth and chew it- that he does not have an oral aversion. Eventually, hopefully he will swallow. We should continue to offer him breakfast, lunch, and dinner just like we always do. Overall, a very long day but a good one!

Thomas and other things...

2010-05-15T08:01:00.001-04:00

I am back! Thanks to my sister for posting the Ladew Garden post. I have been so busy lately that I have been ignoring my blog. I seem to be posting more on fb than blogspot, but this is the place where I document my family happenings so I really want to post more. My plans this summer is to re-design the blog template and name to be more of a family blog. A few weeks ago we went to the B&O Railroad Museum to visit Thomas the Train. It was a wonderful day! Everything fun we do, seems to revolve around Chloe's interest. The visit to see Thomas was because Wyatt loves trains. His favorites are Percy, James, and Thomas- he knows them all! Chloe's favorite is Rosie. I will never forget Wyatt's face when we walked into the museum and he saw the "real" Thomas for the first time. He was so excited!!! He kept pointing at Thomas saying "Mommy-look!!!" It was AMAZING to him. We spent a full day and it was money well spent! The kids enjoyed train rides, magic show, moon bounce, balloon animals, characters, and the list goes on! Thanks to my sister for joining us since Benji was away.

Here comes Thomas!!

Chloe got a pink flower and Wyatt got a blue airplane.

Inside the Round House

Wyatt's first ride without his sister or parents. He loved it!

Wyatt is so interested in Thomas, that I don't have any pictures of him looking at the camera!

Other happenings-

Wyatt can now go down the steps on his bottom all my himself (he gives me gray hair in doing so)
Wyatt knows all his colors, he calls our nurse "honey", and can say 5 or more word sentences. His language is taking off, now if only his feet will take off and walk!
We are doing an intense PT program over the summer at KKI.
We enrolled Wyatt in preschool for next year.
Chloe has an imaginary friend named Millie who does everything she does. I was a little worried, but after reading this article, it puts my mind at rest and now I am happy she has a little friend:)
We had a big community yard sale and I sold all my big stuff that has been taking up so much room!
I had the best Mother's Day ever!! It's so much more fun when your kids get excited about it! Chloe and Wyatt gave me two "mommy" necklaces- one with a heart and thier birth stones, and one with a mother and two children. Benji made me an awesome homemade brunch and we went to Ladew Gardens with my mom and sister- one of my favorite childhood memories! But my favorite gifts of all were watching the kids excitement all day when they would say "Happy Mothers Day" and give me homemade gifts like these:

In preschool, Chloe made this stepping stone-

At Gabby's house Chloe made this-

Ladew Gardens

2010-05-11T22:19:00.003-04:00

Ladew Topiary Gardens is one of the best kept secrets in Harford County. It's where my sister and I took my mom for Mother's Day.

Here is some fun from the day:

Chloe's "Unbirthday"

2010-04-27T23:02:00.003-04:00

Chloe celebrated her unbirthday today at preschool, since her birthday is in August. The theme was farm animals, so we made pig cupcakes! It was a lot of fun and a very memorable. Her teachers did a great job making it so special! It brought back memories of making elmo cupcakes when she turned two- http://wyattjameskoger.blogspot.com/2008/08/shh-dont-tell-chloe.html . After preschool, Wyatt went to KKI for PT. Wyatt is making great progress!

Doesn't Wyatt look like he should be on Sesame Street??

Chloe eating the nose first of her pig cupcake

Chloe didn't know I was watching her pretending to curl and blow dry her hair.

Chloe's unbirthday sign with "sprinkles" thumbprints of her classmates.

Counting activity for the birthday girl!

Painting her pig mask

When the kids arrive, they first read a book

Wyatt looks like he is crying, but stopped and started to enjoy walking and running. Running on the treadmill is his favorite and Miss Lacy does a wonderful job with him.

Benji stayed up late to make these cupcakes so that they would be ready for Chloe in the morning:)) Pigs are Chloe's favorite animal. She sleeps with two pigs a night (they are stuffed-not real) and she was a pig for halloween!

Chloe's day out

2010-04-23T22:26:00.001-04:00

Chloe had a special day yesterday. It was her very first time EVER in a hair salon getting her hair cut. I have always trimmed it in the past, but her hair is very straight which makes it difficult to cut it straight. I tried to trim it a few days ago, and you could tell that her Mommy cut it! So she enjoyed getting pampered. Afterwards I painted her nails bright pink and we bought strawberry lipstick. She also got to wear her new purple skirt in gymnastics. It was a true girly day!!! and I look forward to many more to come!

PT at KKI

2010-04-20T22:33:00.001-04:00

Here are some pics of Wyatt and Chloe at KKI flying through the air, playing soccer, and on the treadmill. Chloe is such a wonderful big sister. She does everything first so that Wyatt knows it's safe. Can you spot Lucy the dog, Wyatt's sidekick that goes everywhere with him:)) He is making great progress and his therapist is wonderful!

It's the simple things I love....

2010-04-19T22:04:00.000-04:00

Wyatt enjoyed his first day of music class today... he was the star student! Also, check out his buzz cut that Benji gave him last night. Do you remember playing in boxes when you were little? I did and it never gets old. No matter how fancy the toys are or how advanced technology has become, it's the simple things in life that really matter.... like boxes and kids!!!

Playing

2010-04-17T22:48:00.000-04:00

I have been a slacker lately with my blog.... that's because it has been so beautiful outside, that I have little time to update. We have been PLAYING!!! Wyatt is taking off in therapy. Every Tuesday, Infants and Toddlers come to our house in the morning and then we go to Kennedy Krieger in the afternoon. Both therapists are awesome. At home, Wyatt feels super comfortable and started taking side steps (very slowly) as he holds onto the couch. At KKI, the therapist puts a harness on him, flys him in the air to a treadmill where she manipulates his feet to walk and run. Next time I will bring my camera to show you! I am hoping soon he will stand and walk:)) Also, Wyatt observed a preschool class in hopes of next year he will attend. He loved preschool and I anticipate he is going to be the class clown. As all the kids were singing a lovely song about taking a nap, he yelled out- "Wake Up Everyone!!!" He is a little different then my quiet little girl. I remember during her observation day last year, she sat on my lap and did not say a word:)

Chloe playing with Daddy

Wyatt playing with our neighbor- Littlest Pet Shop

Wyatt being, "Tractor Man"- his favorite thing in the world!

Wyatt in preschool putting together a puzzle on tractors

Chloe having fun a the Chick Fla playground with her friends

Our lovely neighbor who Wyatt adores climbed to the top of the swing set to be with Wyatt

Then all the kids climbed to the top!!!

Benji and his Dad, Gino, his Dad, Joe, etc... helping to move the swing set

Mom-Mom and Wyatt on Aunt Danielle's patio

Easter

2010-04-15T23:18:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely Easter. On Easter Eve we dyed eggs and wrote the Easter Bunny a note along with a carrot. On Easter morning, the four of us went to church and then had brunch with Benji's parents. The kids searched for eggs and enjoyed their Easter baskets. They both received Thomas the Trains- a purple Rosie for Chloe and the red James for Wyatt. Then we went to my parent's house for more egg hunts and Easter baskets and a big dinner. The kids enjoyed getting dirty with Aunt Danielle by helping her plant flowers, they rode bikes with Uncle Gino (they enjoyed his flips off the tricycle), and especially liked the book that Aunt Danielle wrote for them called "Steven the Frog." Every year I take a pic of the Japenese Cherry Tree.... so here are some of the pics from Easter! Click here for last years Easter- and hike

Zoom Zoom!

2010-03-30T20:56:00.001-04:00

Chloe says "Wear your Turquoise in honor of my brother and all the CDH warriors!" Tell the world about CDH... it's a serious birth defect and the survival rate is only 50%. We can change this with research and awareness!

Wyatt's new stander on wheels..... We have been waiting since November to get this and surprise! it showed up at our house today! I am not a big fan of standers, but for Wyatt and his needs I am. Wyatt has two things against him when it comes to the walking department- very low muscle tone from being in the hospital on a bed for five months and his brain bleed was in the portion of the brain that controls mobility. The cells in his brain need to learn to reconnect so that the proper messages get sent to his brain to tell him to stand and walk (in simple terms). Using a stander for a short period of time allows the bottom of his feet to feel pressure and it allows his brain to learn that he is standing. Wyatt loves the fact it moves around the house and learned to move it around by himself instantly. We also work on building his muscles to be stronger by practicing sitting, climbing, crawling, and standing every day at home and once a week through Infant and Toddlers and going to KKI. We are really challenging Wyatt now to stand because he is two and half and weighs 34lbs and medically his doctors say he can do it. His mind also wants to chase Chloe around and run with his friends.

Wyatt calls this his bike and loves to zoom around in it!

Support CDH Awareness- Wear Turquoise on March 31st!

2010-03-30T09:48:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is CDH Awareness Day! In support of CDH Awareness, please wear turquoise to remember all the warriers that suffer from this birth defect. It is still a daily challenge we struggle with every day after two and half years. Feel free to e-mail me pictures of yourself in turquoise!!! (and I will post them on the blog:))

Here are some facts that I read at http://www.onevoiceforcdh.org/cdhconnection/index.php/understanding-cdh/facts (one of Wyatt's friends- Oliva's famliy created this wonderful webiste)

•Though statistics vary, it is estimated that CDH occurs in 1 out of every 2800 live births each year.
•Live births are babies who survive delivery.

•Undiagnosed cases of CDH often result in death upon delivery.

•Diagnosis usually occurs between 18 and 22 weeks gestation.
•Overall survival rate is reportedly 50%, but each baby is given an individual survival rate based on the severity of the condition.

The diaphragm is made of three muscles that form together around 9 to 11 weeks gestation. The failure to form properly results in CDH.

•The abdominal organs pass through the hole in the diaphragm, crowding the chest cavity. This prevents the heart and lungs from developing properly.
•In LCDH, herniation of the liver into the chest cavity decreases the chance of survival.

•Most babies with herniation of the liver require ECMO.

I was told that Wyatt had one of the worst survivable cases CDH. Wyatt herniation was on his left side (LCDH) with the liver up, 90% of his diaphragm missing and was on ECMO that lead to several other complications such as a head bleed (IVH grade 4) and vocal cord persis. He still can not walk or eat, but through the wonderful doctors at Hopkins and prayers by many people, he survived and is a thriving two year old. Here are some pics of my miracles:

We went to dinner at our local country dinner across the street to meet the Easter Bunny!

Wyatt did not want to pose with the Easter Bunny, but he did not keep his eyes off the Easter Bunny!

Hand Painting!

We order food for Wyatt even though he does not eat. He always asks for a hamburger and ketchup!!

Chloe going to school today decked out in her turquoise ribbon and a surprise t-shirt! Check back tomorrow to see what she is wearing:))

A Fun Spring Weekend!!

2010-03-21T21:18:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend full of birthday parties, playing outside, and meeting the Easter Bunny. We went to the BEST firehouse birthday party on Saturday for Chloe's classmate. The kids had an opportunity to go for a ride in the fire truck, squirt the water hose, hit the pinita, and watch the fireman go down the pole.

Then Daddy had a band gig on Saturday night, so I took the kids to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. After giving the Easter Bunny a high five, we rode on the horses.

After Sunday School we went to my good friend Laura's house. Laura could be a professional party planner! She always out does herself and this time was no different. Her baby boy turned five years old and we celebrated with a reptile party. Complete with REAL snakes, turtles, lizzards, and alligators (inside her house)!

When we arrived home our neighbors were already outside playing. I love our neighborhood in the springtime because we spend more time outside than inside. Our lovely neighbors had an impromptu cook out and while we enjoyed frosty margaritas, the kids enjoyed playing together:))

Wyatt's PT Boot Camp

2010-03-18T23:41:00.003-04:00

We have one more day of Wyatt's PT Boot Camp at KKI. The first week was heartbreaking.. he cried for an hour each time and held his hands out saying "Mommy" for me to hold him. He was so scared. But I said I would stick with it.. and I am so glad I did because the second week we had a breakthrough and he loved every second of it... especially his therapist Lacy who he ask for a kiss from at the conclusion of each session:)) such a ladies man! He has been making GREAT progress. His favorite activity is riding the bike. Lacy is terrific! She focuses on four things with Wyatt- sitting, crawling, climbing, and standing. Wyatt knows he needs to accomplish all four of them before going home. Our last session Wyatt said, "I want to stay!" Again, Wyatt never fails in anything he tries. He tackles a challenge with the best attitude and gives his 100 percent effort. He overcomes his fears and I am so very proud of him. Here are some pics of the past week. Sometimes I have to remind myself he is only 2 years old, because he has overcome so much in his life so far.

Wyatt's reward- a Happy Meal... he doesn't really eat, but we give him all the food we eat and he loves putting it in his mouth and then usually spits in out. I am hoping one day he will swallow it. That will be another therapy, but for right now, he is enjoying his burger!

My two kids...

2010-03-18T23:24:00.001-04:00

Cindy, a mother of a CDH Miracle made these shirts for Chloe and Wyatt. You can shop at her Esty shop at EmbroideryByCindy.etsy.com. You will see my kids in these shirts on March 31st, CDH Awareness Day. Thank you Cindy! I love the shirts!

My kids have been acting very goofy around the house lately... like putting a bucket over their head and crawling around:)) It is so fun to watch them play together and carry on conversations. Sometimes I just have to remind myself, they are only 14 months apart... well really 13 months and 3 weeks:)

Vacation

2010-03-15T08:19:00.000-04:00

Feb. 13th- Mar. 11th has been the longest break I ever took blogging... but we have a good excuse besides being super busy.... we went from this

to this!

Chloe and I had an opportunity to go visit the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas with my parents and it was AMAZING!!!!!!!! So relaxing and much needed break from real life and this cold weather!!! We played in the pool, explored the aquariums, and just had a great mother-daughter bonding time. I missed Wyatt and Benji very much. We never took a family vacation yet as a family of four because we don't want to take Wyatt too far away from Hopkins. But I think the time as come this summer to take a short trip to the beach! We are looking forward to that! More pics to come!!

Spotlight on Chloe

2010-03-14T23:15:00.000-04:00

I am soon going to make this blog a book using blurb.com and will be changing the title to a name that resembles our family, but all that takes time, which I have very little of, so it will happen soon in the future. So even though this blog is titled, Wyatt, fighter from birth, it really is our family blog and I love talking about Chloe as much as I do about Wyatt. Here she is in Sunday School today making a craft and another picture of her wearing the same dress as her doll. I also just had her first parent conference with her teacher and her teacher said she like to clone her!! She got an awesome report! I am very proud of her. Recently we went on a special trip together, which I will put in another post. Chloe is also very helpful during Wyatt's therapy. She shows Wyatt how to crawl, walk, sit, and ride a bike. She is on her very best behavior when she does attend therapy sessions. Wyatt cried again on Friday during therapy, but in the evenings as I rock him to sleep, we talk about his day and he tells me all about standing and "Miss Lacy" his therapist. He tells me about it with a smile on his face and he is so proud of himself. We have one week down, and one more week to go! I have a really cute pic of him on a tricylce and his Elmo helmet on in therapy. I just have to figure out how to download it from my phone.

PT boot camp

2010-03-11T23:20:00.000-05:00

Wyatt started PT boot camp this week for the next two weeks. He is going through intense physical therapy at Kennendy Kreiger (KKI). Even though we do have infants and toddlers come to the house, we are trying everything possible to give him every opportunity to stand and walk. Below is some progress made so far. No longer does Wyatt need to rest his butt on the couch and hold the coffee table, but now he can stand the other way. We have a long road ahead of us and today reassured me that CDH is not a one time fix, but we are almost three years into it and it's still a focus of our daily lives. I listened to Wyatt cry and look at me for an hour today during therapy because he was scared. I would never wish that on any mother and it makes me wonder if we are doing the right thing. But we are giving it a try for the next two weeks. Wyatt tries everything that the therapist asks him to do and even says thank you with tears in his eyes. He continues to be a fighter. Let's pray he starts wanting to stand and walk, because he is getting heavy:))

Wyatt's First Picture

2010-02-15T23:42:00.000-05:00

Wyatt got a hold of my camera today and took a picture of his favorite stuffed animal- Lucy. He goes everywhere with Lucy. Lucy is his best friend through good times and bad times. He talks to Lucy in a very sweet voice and Lucy is next to him every night in bed. Today he decided to take a picture of his pal! I think he did a great job... this picture is about after 50 of them of the ceiling, ground, etc....

In return, we took a picture of him!!

Love

2010-02-15T23:38:00.000-05:00

The holiday for love....

We celebrated as a family this evening.

Click here for last year's valentines post.

The kids followed hearts on the floor to their presents.

Chloe had red hearts and Wyatt had blue hearts. At the end- bubbles!! Our supply of bubbles are gone, so they received more this evening!

Enjoying valentine cards from family

Benji and I always cook a speical meal instead of going out somewhere. Tonight he made fondue with fontina and gueryere cheese, lemon, garlic, white wine,.... we dipped portabella mushrooms, steak, veggies, and bread. The wine was picked espeically to match the cheese. Benji did not pick our typical cheap wine for this dinner!!! For desert- Chocolate Molton cake- YUM-O

Snowed In! Double Blizzard 2010

2010-02-11T23:26:00.001-05:00

Wyatt started to play with his tractors as I was putting dishes in the dishwasher tonight! The door is at his level and it's perfect terrian for a tractor! No one showed him this, he figured it out on his own!

We are still stuck! The plow guy got stuck trying to plow our driveway!!

He is coming back tomorrow!

Abby enjoying the snow

The birds are eating like crazy!! I have three feeders and filled them up before the blizzard and they are all almost gone! It's fun to watch the birds outside our window!

We have two deer that live under the evergreen trees behind us. So I ventured out there to feed them too!

Everywhere you look in our house, you see white! It was very bright today!

Chloe even got stuck in the snow!

Wyatt likes to be held in the snow

Keeping busy in the warm, cozy, indoors during the blizzard.

2010-02-10T23:26:00.000-05:00

We got about 50 inches of snow in the past week. Today was a blizzard and all vechicles except emergency vechicles were ordered off the road, even the snow plows because of white-out conditions. You could only really see the house next to your house and the snow was blowing sideways all day long, everything was completely white. So we have been stuck in the house since last Friday (another blizzard) and it looks like we will be stuck a little bit longer. What to do??

Besides being snowed in....we decided to cancel cable and use an antenna THIS week (we made this decesion before knowing it would snow this much!! ) What a week to make that transisiton, but we have been doing pretty good with out cable. I actually like it. We still need to tweek the antenna, but we get three stations- ABC, Fox, and PBS. We also have TiVo (which I can't live with out) and pay the $9.00 month Netflix which we can stream to Tivo. Netflix has everything the kids had before on Disney and cable, plus plays all you tube videos and we store all our ipod music on there and will soon load the dvds that we own on tivo. I feel like we really are NOT missing anything. PBS has wonderful concerts and the kids are not asking for the shows they use to watch. They really can watch less TV and they watch no commercials. It's wonderful!!! However, we have to stay busy by playing duck, duck, goose (which you see below), and much more!

Dressing Wyatt up as a princess

Cuddling while we watch a concert on PBS. Chloe said, "Mommy, did you know a banjo has six strings?" She is already smarter than me!!!

Tickling!! Wyatt starts it by saying, "tickle, tickle"

Looking at photo albums of friends, relatives, and themselves. They ask questions about "when they were a baby" which was sooooo long ago in their mind.

Baking bread. We stopped buying bread about a month ago and now bake our own. Our standard is honey wheat bread, but since the blizzards we baked cinnamon raisan, banana chocolate chip, and today the two bakers made garlic herb and honey wheat. I don't have to worry about running out of bread! Chloe chooses to bake in her princess dress and sunglasses.... doesn't everyone???

Tea Party Birthday Party on a Snowy Day!!

2010-02-09T20:14:00.001-05:00

Chloe's friend had the cutest birthday party today!!

The Princesses are playing freeze dance! (chloe is in the yellow dress)

Yummy Princess Cake!

The Princesses making silly faces!

Enjoying their "tea"

Enjoying the winter weather!

2010-02-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Wyatt does go out in the snow, but once he gets outside, he wants to go back inside. He wants to play outside so bad, he keeps saying "Build a Snowman" and when we do, he crys to come in. So to give Chloe time to play outside, Benji took her as I stayed in with Wyatt. Wyatt looked so sad as he was watching them play and have fun at the door. Times like this, I REALLY want him to walk. It breaks my heart:(

Super Baby on steriods... he is a crawling machine! I am so glad the steriods finally ended... he was getting really demanding!!!

Super Bowl at the neighbors... girls had a tea party while the game was on!

Wyatt hung out with his girlfriend.."Mrs. Kathy" all night!

More snow is expected tomorrow!!! Made potato soup and Benji made three loaves of bread!!

Besides partying with the neighbors and girls night, we actually do have quiet, cozy times at home:)

Super Bowl Blizzard 2010

2010-02-07T14:27:00.001-05:00

Our driveway is very long, so we waited for the snow plow man to come!!! Can you see him???

Chloe climbing the "mountain"

And now sliding down the mountain!!!

2010-02-07T14:18:00.001-05:00

The abuse our nurse gets on a daily basis when Chloe and I walk through the door after I get home from work, Chloe runs up to her and jumps on top of her!... Susan is a saint:)))

Medical update

2010-02-04T21:05:00.001-05:00

A BIG snow storm is headed our way, so we switched our doctors appt from tomorrow to today for Wyatt's RSV shot. Wyatt had a rough couple of nights with coughing, high heart rate, and a fever. Dr. G listened to him today and said he was wheezing alot, so he gave him an Albuterol neub in the office and sent us home with two prescriptions- Augmentin and Prednisolone. Wyatt on steriods is kinda fun! He becomes super baby and gets really hyper and funny. Just imagine a big snow storm and we are all stuck in the house all weekend with Wyatt on steriods.... it's going to be a fun weekend!!! Dr. G also looked in Chloe's ear because she is recovering from an ear infection and has been on Cefdinir, after Amoxcillin did not do the trick. Her ear infection is gone, but she has a pocket of fluid in her right ear. Overall, the kids are both in good spirits and I am looking forward to being snowed in, cooking chili, girls night with the neighbors, Super Bowl, and playing with the kids!!!! and shoveling lots of snow!!

Snowed in at the grandparent's house!

2010-02-01T22:17:00.001-05:00

Danielle and Duncan (the three legged dog)....

Making valentines for friends....

Coloring and pretending to drink!

No hands!!!

Playing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse games...

On Saturday my sister, hubby, Chloe and I had tickets to listen to the Baltimore Symphony play while learning about Mozart and it was all geared to little kids. Chloe loved every second of it!!! By the time we arrived at Mom-mom and Pop-pop's house, the roads were a mess and very dangerous to venture home with two precious kids, so the decesion was made to spend the weekend with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. It's good thing that I always take our diaper bag full of medical supplies and that I leave extra oxygen, food, etc... at my parent's house for emergencies like this!!! We were prepared! The weekend was full of relaxing, making valentines, playing wii, and playing on the computer.... having my sister live next door to my parents is an added bonus:))))

My talented sister... not!!! it took her all day to make this!

Fun Friday!!

2010-01-30T00:44:00.000-05:00

Nothing beats winding down the work week with good friends. Time really flies by when you are having fun and that's just what we did this evening with great friends. It is so nice to be able to sit and talk with your friends, while your kids are playing together... thank you G and D for being the BEST babysitters:)))

A birthday cake for Benji and Joe!

Buddies....

Playing basketball

Playing the drums

Putting on a puppet show

and the audience to the puppet show...

finally the grown-ups get to relax!

Do you remember playing in laundry baskets when you were little???

2010-01-30T00:32:00.000-05:00

These pictures just magically showed up on my camera. I think my mom took them when was babysitting them. As she was putting away laundry (thank you mom!!) the kids were playing in the laundry baskets. and then resting....

Being Silly!!

2010-01-23T20:53:00.000-05:00

I love these kind of weekends where we have no plans! We have been so busy lately that it's kind of nice to just hang out at home. We did have gymnastics today and my parents came over for an impromptu visit just because they missed the kids. They stayed a while and brought chinese food and then took Chloe home with them for a sleepover.

This week both kids were sick with some kind of virus/cold. It developed into an ear infection with Chloe and she is currently on her second antibiotic. We saw the ENT doctor and the peditrician this week... along with a visit to urgent care. The ENT doctor looked at Wyatt's tonsils and adneiods and said they are very large. She said it may be worthwhile to have them removed but we aren't in a hurry to do it. We have to return in three months. I also spoke with KKI about the swallow study and Wyatt still is not eating enough to have a study done, so I have to call back in a month.

Wyatt riding his tractor- he calls himself, "Tractor Man", Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, and Chloe acting super silly on the couch, playing "football." They just do the tackle part.

My grandmother helping make seed kits for Sunday School tomorrow:) I'm the teacher!

Whale Cake please....

2010-01-17T23:52:00.000-05:00

Chloe wanted to give her father a whale cake for his birthday. I didn't have much time to prepare since she told me the day before his birthday. So I just used what I had on hand at the house. We made two circles and a rectangle of dark chocolate cake with mint icing. We ended up using the rectangle and one circle and used white chocolate chips to outline it. It's not the greatest, but Chloe really wanted to give her father a whale cake!!! (I don't know where she gets these ideas from???) Then I made Michael Jordan's steak recipe. It was rated number 4 out of the top 10 steak recipes. I used filet mignon and it turned out to be really good. Benji was surprised how good it was:) I also sauted shrimp in a lemon garlic sauce, made sweet potatoe fries flavored with rosemary and Gran and Chloe helped make string beans (see pic below). Chloe always has very specific directions on the types of cake she would like. For her birthday she wanted a strawberrry cake with marshmellows with strawberries on top of that! Her Daddy made it for her... see link below. Then for her second birthday she wanted elmo cupcakes, so we stayed up late to make them for her... see second link below. I just wonder what she is going to say for next year????

http://wyattjameskoger.blogspot.com/2009/08/happy-3rd-birthday-chloe.html, http://wyattjameskoger.blogspot.com/2008/08/shh-dont-tell-chloe.html

For Benji's present I gave him a book about Sesame Street. You may laugh but it's such a great show. It's really the only TV show we watch as a family and we love it!! The book shows many behind the scenes footage.... I caught Benji on the chair studying hard:)

Wyatt is sick... he got what Chloe had and woke up at 5am with a fever and high heart rate. It was around 170 when his normal sleeping heart rate is close to 100. I gave him Motrin and pushed pediltye through him and he rested for a couple more hours. Today I made sure he stayed hydrated (we went through almost a big bottle of pediltye) and tomorrow we will probably make a trip to the doctor.

My Whale Cake...

Benji's Present...

Happy Birthday Benji!!!

2010-01-16T23:26:00.002-05:00

Today, my husband turned 36 and he had the time of his life, playing his bass with his band at a private party!

Also, I just had to put in a picture of my little boy sleeping:) isn't he sweet:) don't mind all the girly blankets... that's what happens when you have a girl first... the boy inherits all the pink stuff:)

Helping Haiti

2010-01-15T07:07:00.001-05:00

Hey CDH families that blog and many others too... read this blog- http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ and you will be amazed by the generoristy of this mother and her family. If you help in anyway with Haiti and blog about it, she will donate $10.00 for every blog. Amazing!!! So please blog about it and help this country in need:)

Raising CDH Awareness... and thankful for modern technology

2010-01-12T22:31:00.002-05:00

Today Wyatt and Chloe were guest speakers at our local high school in the child development class. They enjoyed talking to about 30 high schoolers and both were a riot! Wyatt kept waving and saying "Hi!" and "Happy New Year!" Chloe took off her shirt in the middle of it!! I had an opportunity to talk about three year olds and also had a chance to spread CDH Awareness to a group of people that were just learning about CDH for the first time. I shared pictures of Wyatt from the early ECMO days to the most recent. It got me thinking how much progress he has made and what a miracle he really is.... It has come a long way, but it also got me thinking he also has a long way to go.... like walking, standing, and eating.. Yesterday we got a new pulse ox machine. Last night while Wyatt was sleeping, I was sitting in the rocking chair reading the manual and realized that at two and half years old, he still depends on machines and an army of people to keep him healthy. I still have a two and half old child who is 32 pounds who can not walk, stand, or eat.... All of this has become my new normal and I really never think about it when someone asks me how he is doing.... Thank goodness Wyatt was born in the 21st century because it's all of this that keeps him healthy.... I am thankful for all the progress he has made and so very proud of him! He is a glimpse into our daily life....

Here is his crib... we just moved it out of our family room into the "play room" on the first floor since we have night nursing.... You can see his oxygen machine, food pump, and pulse ox. and many blankets to keep him warm.

Here is his oxygen machine up close... he is currently on 1/2 to 3/4 liters at night. Tonight he is on 3/4th liter. The sleep study showed that he destats to the 80's without oxygen. We have a large "M" tank in our family room and one upstairs in his bedroom. We have several medium tanks for over night visits and many little tanks that go with him whenever we are out. Even though you may see Wyatt with out oxygen around town, we ALWAYS have a tank with us along with all the medical supplies and extra feeding tube in case of an emergency. My car is well stocked along with the diaper bag. It takes us a long time to pack up, even if we just go to the library for a quick visit. I try to always stay prepared with him, because if something should happen it would happen with me!! like in Home Depot when his feeding tube was pulled out... balloon and everything. We raced home as fast as possible and since then, I learned my lesson!

Here is his food pump. It's an Infinity pump and I love it! Wyatt currently gets 75ml/hr all night long and about 60 ml bolus during the day time every hour and half using a syringe. Formula can not sit out for more than four hours so we refill the bag every four hours over a 12 hour sleep period. We make enough formula for 24 hours during the daytime which is kept in the frig.

Besides the nuses notes, we record all feedings in this journal. Since many people feed Wyatt during the day, we have a running record here. His weight every Monday is recorded in this book. We also record his oxygen saturations when he is off oxygen in the book.

This is his new pulse ox machine. He is hooked up all night which shows his oxygen saturation and heart rate. During the day time he is connected during naps. We recently purchased this finger pulse ox to use during the daytime when Wyatt is awake and active. We take it with us every where we go and check his oxygen levels every time we bolus him which is about every hour or hour and half. We count to twenty and Wyatt is very good about it and learning to count too!! I took this pic about 10pm and he is currently stating 95 percent on 3/4th liter. Not very good in my book.... usually it's between 96-98 percent.

Wyatt is always congested in the morning, so every morning he gets the following breathing treatments and also in the evening before bed time-

First- Suction

Second- Flovent- two puffs

Third- Xopenex Neub.

He also gets 5 ml of Prevacid twice a day to help with reflux.

We are very thankful that we have nursing. Susan, our day nurse four days a week works very intensely on his PT and OT therapy. She has a routine everyday where Wyatt stands, climbs stairs, crawls, eats, and learns. We are so thankful for her, because I never met anyone in my life who puts their 100 percent effort every single day and she truly loves Wyatt. The night nurse is important because Wyatt still has a risk of aspirating at night because of his abnormal vocal cord, he is oxygen dependant, and requires food all night long. Every hour he is vented using an empty syringe through the night to keep him comfortable. Here is the chair that the night nurse sits in (she also has freedom to go wherever she likes too!!) We are lucky to have two excellent, dependable night nurses. They are hard to come by and I have many stories to share about going through night nurses, but I think we have finally have a GREAT team!!

On the nurses night stand... a venting tube, hand sanitizer, and a pulse ox monitor.. the essentials!

Other things in the room along with a few toys!! Nurses paper work, supplies, etc...

More supplies upstairs in his bedroom!!

and this is what I bought myself today... a green Dell mini... isn't it cute??? I can't wait to get it!

So that's our daily life in a nutshell!! We are so thankful for modern technology and the help that we have. Wyatt would not be doing so well without it! and I am also thankful for God and for his little miracles:)

A Cold Walk.....

2010-01-10T21:59:00.002-05:00

My sister is an adventure seeker, she would much rather being walking in 20 degree weather while I would much rather be in front of a warm cozy fireplace. We are opposites, but I love her with all my heart and she challenges me to "go outside of my box." Today was no different than a normal day with her. After our brunch, I went to my parent's house since Benji worked all day. Danielle decided that we should all go for a walk. So we all bundled up with our warmest clothes, put Chloe in a wagon with blankets and a pillow and bundled up Wyatt in his stroller and off we went to hike to the woods... fun, fun:) with our three legged dog, Duncan. We got to see a fox and Chloe loved laying on her back in the wagon looking up at the big trees. Overall, I am glad my sister made me go and the kids stayed warm and cozy, while Danielle and I did all the work:) Today stressed how important nature is to kids and that's it's ok that they play outside in cold weather, that they get their hands dirty, that they get wet, etc.... it's the best "toy" that a child can have!!! (as long as they are safe:)

Family Brunch

2010-01-10T21:44:00.001-05:00

My Mother's side of the family is very close. She has five siblings and all my cousins truly feel like brothers and sisters to me!! Every year, all the male family members get together for a big breakfast with all the extended members of the family at a restaurant. This year, my cousin Christine decided to have a female brunch and now it looks like a tradition has been started!! Wyatt was the lucky duck since he was in the minority being the only male. I arrived late, since I had to teach Sunday School, but we had a great time!! The pictures below are my aunts, cousins, second little cousins, and Danielle (my sis) and Chloe doing their "get down and funky dance" for everyone. Wyatt was a ham, soaking up all the attention!! (some of the males came later after their "exclusive" breakfast was over.

Fire House Tour and Party!!

2010-01-10T21:34:00.001-05:00

Wyatt's dream came true!! We went to our friend's birthday party on Saturday at the local firehouse. It was great! We got a very thorough tour of the fire house, Chloe got to go inside a fire truck, saw a fireman slide down the pole, saw a fireman get dressed in his outfit, watched the firemen get ready for a REAL fire call, and toured the museum of older fire trucks! I can say that I know MUCH more than I ever did after this tour!!

Results

2010-01-08T23:38:00.001-05:00

Got to love the docs at Hopkins. Two weeks ago the GI doc called late on a Friday night and tonight the pulmonary doc called to give the results to the sleep study. They are so personable and friendly and you think Wyatt is their only patient. When the oxygen was turned off, Wyatt destated to the high 80's, low 90's. On 1/8th liter, Wyatt destated occasionally. On 1/4th and 1/2th he was normal which is 92% or above. So it was concluded that Wyatt needs oxygen at night and there may be some kind of obstruction. We were referrred to an ENT doctor who needs to determine if there is an obstruction that is blocking his airway at night in a laying down position. He also snored at night, which I think he inherited from his mother:) The pulomonary doctor said it may be his adnoids or tonsils.... but the ENT will determine it. Not the greatest news, but it's stuff that we already knew... Wyatt still needs oxygen and monitoring at night.

Tomorrow Wyatt is invited to a firehouse birthday party and on Sunday, a girls only brunch!!!

Sleep Study

2010-01-08T08:28:00.000-05:00

We are still waiting for the results, but Wyatt had a sleep study on Sunday, Jan. 3rd. Benji slept with him at Mt. Washington Hospital and said it was not fun:(( Wyatt came home exhausted the next day and not unless we REALLY REALLY need one again, I not going to put a two year old through that again. Of course I will do what is best for Wyatt but Benji said that he screamed for an hour while they put probes all over his head, wrapped his head in gauze, put probes all over his body and put two belts around him and then he fell asleep from exhaustion from screaming. They were both awoken at 5:30am to go home. When they arrived at home, Wyatt had "glue" all over his hair so I had to give him a bath and then he took a four hour nap!! I can only imagine with out any type of sediative that he thought he was being tortured!!! We always take doctor recommendations very seriously, so I hope it's for the best!! Good news is that it is all forgotton and Wyatt is back to his old self!!

A special evening...

2010-01-01T22:16:00.001-05:00

Wyatt's wonderful nurse Susan got married today and we are so happy for her!!! She deserves every thing in the world because Wyatt is who he is today because of her:) She gives her 100% into Wyatt's care and she has become part of our family. Today was a very special day and we were honored to be at the initmate gathering of 40 family and friends. Wyatt on the other hand was very jealous, because he thinks Susan is his girlfriend. At the wedding Wyatt could not understand why he did not have Susan just to himself. He kept yelling out "Susan!!" She was so sweet and gave him lots of attention. Wyatt looked very charming in his suit and tie. Susan wore her mother's wedding dress .... It was a very nice evening.

My princess....

2010-01-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

This is what I love about my princess Chloe.... she is not afraid to use a drill!! Last night I spotted her on the couch with her princess dress on using the Home Depot tool kit "building a house." oh and with her pearls on too! That's my girl!!!!

Happy New Years!!

2009-12-31T17:40:00.000-05:00

I can't think of two better pictures that describe my two kids... Here is my rocker son Wyatt and my Princess Chloe. Both so different, but so wonderful! This New Years is much different than 2007 when Wyatt aspriated and was rushed to Hopkins because it was so life threatening. 2008 was much better. Hopefully it will be even better for next year!!

Port Discovery: A Family Day!

2009-12-30T20:43:00.003-05:00

We have been very busy with family and friends the past few days, that today was the first day we were alone as a family. We love our time we spend with family and freinds, but today was especially nice! We went the a children's museum and played all day long and then ended a day with a meal at McDonalds! I am so proud of Wyatt's progress, but today was a day I REALLY wanted Wyatt to be able to walk. He wanted to take part in the exhibits just like Chloe and not walking really limited him. It's sad, because his mind wants to climb, run, jump, etc... but his body just won't let him. We help as much as possible and climb in the little things holding him (almost 32lbs) so that he can have the same experiences, but truthfully it's not the same. Wyatt is working hard everyday, so walking will be right around the corner! Here are some pics of our day.

Chloe jumping in the ball pit, Chloe serving food in the restaurant to Wyatt and Benji, Chloe climbing up a big tower, Chloe experiencing what it's like to use a stick a blind person uses, Wyatt and Chloe in a train, Wyatt using super big legos, Wyatt and Chloe at the fruit market, etc....

Good Times!

2009-12-28T22:03:00.001-05:00

Today was a fun day of get togethers with good friends and family that we have not seen in a while. Nanny has not been home from Portland in 5 months so Chloe was super happy to see her and so were we! So happy that they pushed her to the ground and climbed on top of her!

I love my family!! My mother is one of five siblings and the cousins are very close with each other. We grew up going to many family parties. So when my cousin called last night for an impromptu gathering, we were sure to be there! Now, most of us have kids so it was fun for our kids to play together and for all the cousins (the ones that live locally) to get together to catch up. Tomorrow... I get to see my college friends!

Below are some pics of Nanny visiting us and pics of the cousin party!

My rockstar husband......

2009-12-27T01:34:00.001-05:00

We don't have a nurse tonight so since I will be up anyway I thought I post.... I had a blast tonight watching my rock star husband. But best of all I realized how lucky we are in life. Benji's co-workers, friends, family, and our neighbors came out to support him and even yelled out "BENJI" between songs. They were awesome supporters. Gosh are we lucky! Here are some pictures of the roadies, aka... our friends. Thanks to my parents for babysitting and driving home an hour at 1:30am. Thank you to everyone who came out to support Benji's first public gig. They packed the house and people danced the night away!!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T21:36:00.001-05:00

We had a very nice Christmas together as a family. We celebrated with Benji's parents, his sister and her husband, my parents, and my grandmother, sister, and her husband. We started last night with dinner with my family, breakfast with Benji's family, then everyone together for dinner. Some of the highlights for the kids are pictured below. Wyatt loves tractors so he was so surprised to get a tractor he could ride. Both kids loved the drum set and played it all day:) However, the most favorite gift of all was Chloe's Jack in the Box... she said, "Santa listened to me!." Tomorrow night is Benji's band first public gig... if you live locally we hope you can join us. See above for info. A slide show with all the pics will be posted soon:)

A new tradition, reading the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T22:39:00.000-05:00

The stockings are hung by the chimmney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas will soon be here....

Merry Christmas to all from us:)

I still can not figure out why the computer flips the pic.

Our day...

2009-12-23T22:28:00.000-05:00

Today Wyatt stood up for the longest ever.... 20 minutes and was very proud of himself. Here are some pictures of it. Sometimes he will lean his butt againist the couch. He also started crawling! I can't believe it. He doesn't go that far, but he just started this week. I really hope walking and free standing is right around the corner. That would be an awesome present!

While I was getting dinner ready, I played Christmas music and here are the kids dancing to it. It was so much fun to see them both dance!! I have a video camera with out a power cord, so maybe Santa will get me a power cord for Christmas so that I can show you video of them dancing:) Wyatt is so funny, he just scoots in circles.

Also this week, Wyatt started taking a bath in the real tub and he is finally not crying during bath time. So tonight since Benji was out and I had both kids I put them in the tub together. It was so cute!! They were pretending to be a train that travled to the North Pole and were both yelling out "All Aboard!".... I think they are watching too much Frosty! (Wyatt was the caboose)

Is this Wyatt, my perfect little angel, pushing his sister???

Pediatric Surgeon Visit

2009-12-22T22:49:00.003-05:00

Today we had an appointment with Wyatt's pediatric surgeon, Dr. A. Wyatt is now becoming comfortable with his doctors and will not cry as much and calls them "doctor." However, I was a little embarrassed when Wyatt called his world-renowned doctor who saved his life- Dr. Phil today!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!! He said, "Hi Dr. Phil!" then started laughing like it was a joke!!! I don't watch Dr. Phil, but after I thought about it, there was a Sesame Street episode that featured Dr. Phil and the puppet was saying the wrong name- Dr. Feel and the real Dr. Phil was correcting him. Wyatt thought it was funny, so I guess he remembered it and wanted to crack a joke today:) Gosh do I love that boy!!! Anyway, below is his recent chest x-ray from Dec. 16th. Good news is that everything is in the right spot! Wyatt has had three reherniations and was patched with three gortex patches, alloderm, and wire which you can see below. Dr. A was very impressed with Wyatt and asked if he could use his chest x-ray pics from birth to recent in a talk that he is giving in Florida. He said again today that Wyatt was one of the worst case living CDH babies he knows about. Also, Wyatt had a CT scan of his pelvis to monitor a cyst that was forming. Another worry I had... but good news it's disappearing!! So Dr. A said he will see us back in a year. Wyatt's next appt. is Dec. 28th for the synigist (RSV)shot, then sleep study on Jan. 3rd. I guess that's life, when I have time off, we go to doctor's appts.

Look at that beautiful diaphragm!

Cooking and Baking!

2009-12-20T21:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Benji and I made dinner for some friends and with the leftovers (chicken) I made the best soup ever!! I say it's the best soup ever because it's my grandmothers soup that she always makes ever since I was little. It's my favorite soup and really the only soup I like. She never wrote down the recipe, but I try to duplicate it and today it worked!!! It has an Italian twist and it's really yummy!! This morning I made chocolate chip pancakes and later in the day the kids and I baked cookies... below is our creation....

Let it Snow! It's a blizzard!

2009-12-20T14:29:00.007-05:00

It snowed 2 plus feet here yesterday. It's beautiful! Next on our list... cookie baking!

Our long driveway that needs to be shoveled.... fun! fun!

Playing with friends during the blizzard!

Can you find Chloe??

Wyatt sleigh riding

Chloe's Christmas Program

2009-12-18T22:48:00.004-05:00

I have been such a slacker with my blog, but I have a good excuse! We are having an absolute blast celebrating the Christmas season, that I don't have time to update! So you will find a few posts under this one of the things we have been doing this Decemeber such as attending Chloe's Christmas program, going the Nutcracker, visiting Santa Claus, etc... The kids are at an awesome age where they both love Christmas. We have watched Ruldolph, Charlie Brown, and Frosty over and over and over again! Wyatt knows all the Christmas carols, his favorite are Frosty, Santa Claus is coming to Town, and Ruldoph. He finishes the sentences to they lyrics. Chloe's Christmas program at her pre school was so cute. Only ten kids are in the class and they sang songs and had a party. I am so proud of Chloe! She stood on the stage so confidently, sang the songs, and enjoyed it. Her very first ever performance! Both grandparents and my sister along with Benji and I were in the audience. Another neat thing is that Wyatt fit right in! He joined the party and played with all the big kids. In fact, one of the moms said that Wyatt was stealing food off her son's plate!!! She had no clue about Wyatt's medical needs let alone that he doesn't eat. I just smiled inside, because finally people are not looking at Wyatt, the sick kid with oxygen, but Wyatt the irony little boy stealing food!!! I love it! I will post a video of Chloe's performance soon! All Chloe wants for Christmas this year is a Jack and the Box and Wyatt wants drums.... we made sure we told Santa Claus!!

Chloe walking down the isle to the show.

Chloe and her teacher Wyatt and Chloe eating party food

Girls day after the program, my sister working from home and Mom-Mom and Chloe making a project!

Gymnastics with Chloe

2009-12-18T22:33:00.000-05:00

Chloe loves gymnastics and I enjoy taking her... it's our special time together:)

Brunch with Santa

2009-12-18T22:30:00.000-05:00

My mother treated us to brunch with

Santa at a golf club in their hometown. It was a nice brunch with crafts for the kids and then all the time you wanted with Santa and Mrs. Claus with no lines! It was so picturesque, it was ashame my pictures didn't turn out better.... but it was worth it!

Super Cool Kid

2009-12-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

My Super Cool Kid- Wyatt

Wyatt is one of the sweetest kids and looks up to sister so much.

Chloe's favorite stuffed animal is a pig, so Wyatt named his stuffed tiger (pictured below),

Piggy, so he could be just like his sister. Is that love or what? I'm not sure the

tiger appreciates being called Piggy. (I guess Wyatt is keeping of with the Tigar Woods story:)

Doesn't he look cute in his faux leather jacket and gelled back hair?

The Nutcracker

2009-12-18T22:13:00.000-05:00

We took Chloe to see her first show- The Nutcracker presented by the Pittsburgh Ballet.

Chloe thought it was magical and sat on the edge of her seat the entire time.

Our first snow of 2009

2009-12-18T22:09:00.000-05:00

This was our first snow fall of 2009.... we are expecting more snow tomorrow... possibly a foot!