Special Family Pictures

We were in Arizona for a few days to celebrate Christmas with Joel's side of the family. It was so very special because we were all there together! Joel's sister, Beth, her husband Keith is working in Afghanistan for a year and had a 1 month leave due to a surgery he had, so he was able to spend Christmas at his home! Joel's grandparents were able to be in Arizona too! So, we all were there... Joel, me and our kiddos, Joel's sister Beth her hubby Keith and their 2 kids Jessica and Gunnar, Joel's brother Tommy and his wife Kim and their 3 kids Anna, Isaiah, and Amaya, Joel's dad and mom (Tom and Sharon) and his grandparents (Floyd and Edith). We set up a photography session with Beth's friend to take pictures. They are coming soon! These are just a few I took with my phone.
We are so thankful we were all able to be together! It was such a special time!

Tom and Sharon and their gradchildren


Grandparents and Great-grandparents!



Cousins!

Merry Christmas!!!

THANK YOU!

The past 2 months we have felt an overwhelming amount of support from so many people. With Brennan's surgery, Joel's surgery and Joel's dad's ALS diagnosis, we have been given so much love, encouragement and support from so many people.

*Thank you everyone who offered up a prayer for our family.
*Thank you to those that sent an email, text, or phone call to see if we are doing okay.
*Thank you to those wonderful families who have brought us dinners.
*Thank you to all of Joel's co-workers and friends that visited and stayed with him in the hospital for his 4 day stay.
*Thank you to our family and friends who watched the kiddos for us while we took B to his post-op appts., while I took Joel to his post-op appts., and when I just needed to get out of the house.
*Thank you to Brennan's pre-school friends who gave him pictures, cards and gifts to make his time away from pre-school fun and his transition back to pre-school go okay
*Thank you to the Awana leaders at church who have been so accommodating with us throughout B's recovery
*Thank you to all of B's Awana/Cubbie friends who sent the hand made card to us during his recovery at home
*Thank you to the Glendale Police Dept. for giving Brennan such a wonderful gift of toys from their Toys for Kids program
*Thank you to everyone who came to our fundraiser at Golden Spoon
*Thank you to everyone who have donated money to help with the costs associated with Brennan's hearing journey
*Thank you to our neighbors for taking out our trash cans :)

Family update

Update on B:
B was able to go to Awana tonight, without my assistance! He was so excited. My sister went to check on him during their song/skit time. She was next to him when they were singing the Cubbies theme song. There is a part of the song where they yell "hop" and they all jump up and down. B jumped up and yelled really loud, "I can jump now!!!"... Isn't that cute?!!!
Also, I've been noticing a huge difference in his hearing already. I keep finding myself saying, "WOW" to the things he is doing or saying. I really feel that his speech is improving. He didn't seem to have an issue with it before, but he seems to be saying more things and pronouncing words better. He seems to be more aware of noises around him. A HUGE thing is when I call his name, he looks right over to me!!! Before, he didn't have any sound localization and it would take him a while to find out where a noise was coming from or where I was calling him from. I've noticed lately that when I call him or if he hears something, he turns and looks directly at where the noise is coming from!!! That is so awesome and a huge answer to prayer!

Update on Joel:
Yep, he is still on crutches. He was able to get his cast off and into a leg "boot" but he still can't put any pressure on his leg. So, the majority of the day is still on the couch with his leg up. He can't wait to start physical therapy a few times a week and start moving around more.

Update on Joel's family:
Hard to talk about still, but as many people now know, Joel's dad was diagnosed with ALS. Please pray for Joel's mom and dad as they are going through this and trying to find the help they need to get through this. It's been a shock to our family and we are all trying to get through this while trusting completely in God and His plan.



So here's what we've been up to the last few days.....

Park buddies


There was breakfast at church, Angel Breakfast, and I took B as my date. We had yummy food, including the donuts which were his favorite, made crafts and listened to the children's choir (which B said he wants to do, which is age 4 and up, so next year he can join!).



Me and my lil man

Playing at the mall kid's area with friends

The kid's train outside our mall

Pnut loves the train too!

Mall buddies!

Taking a stroll through the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights

6 weeks Post-Op

It's been 6 weeks since surgery and I thought I'd post pictures of how his new "ear hole" looks! You can always go back to my previous post of the after surgery pictures and see how incredibly graphic they were. They are even hard for me to look at now. I can honestly say that he has healed so much faster than I thought he would. The site on his scalp where they took the skin graft is healing so well. It's already hard to notice. His ear canal looks amazing! It's weird to think that in 3 months Brennan will have an ear to go along with his new canal. Wow, I still can't believe we are already in the process of B's surgeries. We did so much planning and preparing and here we are, one surgery down and 2 to go. We are so glad we decided to help our little guy!
Here are some pictures of B 6 weeks post-op:

AND!!!...

B enjoying the slide after 6 weeks!!!

These past 2 days have consisted of lots of running, jumping and playing at the park! I must say, I'm kind of worn out chasing him around :)

Free to be 3

Today was Brennan's 6 week post-op appt. It went incredibly well! The Dr. was impressed with his ear canal and ear drum. He said it looks 100% healed! He said Brennan can go back to normal, everyday activities!!! He's CLEAR!!! He can go to the park, he can run around, he can jump up and down... He can be a 3 1/2 year old boy again!
Yipee! He can start back at his pre-school! He can go to church again! He can have play-dates with friends! He can be "out of my sight" for more than 2 seconds... we might be experiencing some separation anxiety (both him and I).
It is truly an answer to prayer to have such great healing. We are are praying it continues to heal properly and to have no issues with it in the future.
After a total of 5 visits with Dr. Roberson in the past 6 weeks, our next appt. is in 6 months, kind of weird to have it so far away since we have seen him so much and he has been so involved in our little guys amazing little miracle. We are so thankful to have been blessed to have our little guy taken care of so wonderfully by this amazing doctor. We are forever grateful to him!

Also, Brennan had his first hearing test since his surgery. His hearing is overall improved!!! We will know even more in a couple months when he has another hearing test. It is such a blessing to have success with this surgery!

Here are some pictures from today:

Waiting to get his ear checked and cleaned out


The instruments used to clean out his new ear canal



Cleaning out his ear... Monkey came for the visit of course!



Close up picture

In the hearing test booth

With Dr. Roberson

Thanks Dr. Roberson for your amazing talent to help our lil guy hear better!!!

Next step for B... March 1st, Medpor surgery at Cedars Sinai in LA with Dr. Lewin for his new ear!!!