This week...

Things we have been up to...

The park of course!

And again

Peek-a-Boo

A Walmart ride... best way to spend 50 cents

Cleaned out the garage... a BIG accomplishment, if you had seen it before, you would understand

Our 2 joys ready to start the day!

My big girl

My 2 shopping helpers

I think this is why B likes to help me bake

Sharing a smoothie!

Shopping with mommy

One of her favorite things to do...visit the pet store at the mall, you can literally here her screaming from across the mall :)

King

Queen

B's favorite fast food indoor play structure

Pre-op apt., making sure he is well enough for surgery

He was fascinated by it

Audiology apt. - checking his hearing on his left atresia side, so they can compare the results to the test results he will get after surgery

Smoothie lovers... jut like mommy

On the hottest recorded day of the year... why not take them to the beach!!!

One Month

One month away until B's big surgery day.
When anyone has ever asked Brennan's "little ear," we have always said..."one day it will get fixed"...one day"...well, that "day" is almost here. I wish I can go back to when he was little and think to myself, "we don't have to worry about it for a long time." It's crazy that the time has come.
The first stage of his surgery process begins now.
One month away.

So here are a few prayer requests:

*For EVERYTHING to be used for God's Glory through this entire process

*To ease our anxious thoughts, worries, concerns...

*B to remain healthy for surgery (if he get's sick, they can't operate)

*Finances (BIG ONE)

*Patience

*Safety and wellness for B's Dr., Dr. Roberson and his staff

*Preparing B for surgery day

*Finalizing our travel plans

*Dealing with Insurance

*Trusting God through this process

*Not leaning on our own strength but God's

*Peace about our decision for surgery

*Less sleepless nights as the surgery gets closer


Thank you for your prayers!!!

New Best Buds

B finally got to meet August! Let's just say... they are best buds now!

I recently posted about a little boy named August. The surgery Brennan is having next month, August had in May. The surgery that Brennan is having next March, August had 2 weeks ago. We had the pleasure of meeting August's parents, Rochelle and Anders, almost 2 years ago at a Microtia/Atresia conference. We just got back in contact about a month ago. Rochelle and I have been emailing tons and she's been so helpful in easing our anxiety about B's surgery scheduled for next month.
Well, we were able to go visit! They live about 1 1/2 hours away and we ended up staying the WHOLE day. They were so hospitable and gracious for having us over for lunch and dinner and even letting me bathe my kids before heading home.
We hung out and talked sooo much! And the boys...... well, they played the whole time.... non-stop! They played so well together.


I'm so thankful to have them in our lives. We have so much in common. She is even having a little girl due in 2 months.

It was also encouraging to see August running around and doing all the crazy things that little boys do... 2 weeks after an intense surgery. I was, once again, reminded that EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK. Brennan is going to be OK. He will still be the SAME Brennan. Surgery might put a hold on his daily activities for a while so he can recover but other than that, he will be FINE!!!
Daily I am reminded about God's blessings in our life. I feel so blessed to have met this family and to now be even more connected through our boys, which I am hoping will be a lifelong friendship!

Cubbies

It was Brennan's first day in Cubbies at church. I did Cubbies (Awana) when I was little so it is very special to have him in it now.

His new vest!


Showing the puppet he made



I am helping out with games for Awana. It was so much fun and brought back so many memories.

This picture is funny. Brennan had enough with pictures, so out came his crazy face :)

Me and my little man!

August's update

3 posts ago, I wrote about a boy named August. Well, he did have his surgery on August 31st. It was estimated to be about an 8 hour surgery, but it turned out to be longer. Joel works down near the medical building where he had his surgery. It happened to be on one of Joel's work days, so he got to go visit August's mom and dad and spend some time with them while they were waiting. I'm glad Joel was able to see them and show our support for them.
August's mom, Rochelle, has already sent me pictures that the dr. took during the surgery. It's amazing. He now has an ear! Since the surgery, Rochelle has emailed me a couple times and given me so much detail about how it has been. They have had 2 post-op appointments so far. The dr. is pleased with how it looks. It is going to be a long healing process as the ear starts to become less swollen and takes better shape. I plan on visiting them in the next couple weeks, since they live about 1 hour away.
Thank you for your prayers for August.
I'm so glad to have this family in our life and for Rochelle being so open to sharing so much since we will be experiencing the same surgeries with our little guy.

We are in the "books"

So, we received our paperwork today for B's surgery. It's a huge packet with surgery info. and instructions for us about what to do 1 month prior to surgery, 2 weeks prior, 1 week, and 1 day before surgery. It lists our pre-op apt. date, surgery date, and post-op apt. date. It pretty much solidified that it is all going to really happen.
We are in the "books."
We are scheduled.
It is going to happen.
My thoughts on a daily basis.... I'm ready for it one moment, and another moment I am not...

It's going to be a very long 50 days... (my hubby counted out the days till surgery)

While going through the packet, the hard part was reading the 2 pages of risks and complications for the surgery. I know they need to include it, but it's really hard to read all the horrible things that "could possibly" happen. This is when I remind myself to trust God and remember that He is in total control. God created B with his special ear and entrusted this sweet, little boy to Joel and I to love and take care of. I feel so blessed to have him in our lives and feel priveleged to be able to go on this journey with him... it just freaks me out, to be completely honest, to start this next stage with surgeries.

Oh yeah, in case you were wondering exactly what precedure he is having, here is the medical term:

Reconstruction of External Auditory Canal for Congenital Atresia, Tympanoplasty, Tympano-ossiculoplasty, Split-thickness Skin Graft, Continuous Intraop 7th Nerve Monitoring, Baseline Electrophysiologic Study, Microdissection surgery

...Crazy I know