Happy New Year

In 2009 Everett....

was hospitalized for part of January, the majority of February, and most of March.

had his fourth open heart surgery, the Fontan procedure. Here's a fun fact for ya-he now has a two-chambered heart.

moved to the third state he has lived in since birth, Arkansas.

started wearing glasses.

turned two!

thrived!!!

This year has been tough, but it has also been full of blessings. Everett is doing better than ever, and that is a most amazing gift. Chance is in Memphis until Sunday so E and I are alone for a few days. Tonight I held my sweet boy very tightly as I rocked him and remembered all we have been through this year. Our hopes for 2010 is that it is a healthy year for Everett with no hospital stays!

Happy New Year!

Christmas

Last night we went to an 11:30 p.m. worship service at church. We started out Christmas day the way it should be started: singing songs of worship to the Lord. We got home a little before 1:00 and put Everett to bed. Because he got in bed so late it was almost 11:00 when he woke up. His first reaction seeing all of his presents was to push them off so that he could ride his new car.
It didn't take him long to decide that riding the car was scary so he started opening some of his presents.

He was really excited about all of the candy he got in his stocking. In fact, all he ate today was candy and glass (It's a long story involving a Christmas ornament and a two year old who puts everything in his mouth).

After opening each present he wanted it out of the package so he could play with it. It took him about two hours to get all of his presents opened.

He really liked his car as long as the power wasn't on.

We had a Happy Birthday Jesus cake after dinner tonight.

Merry Christmas!!

Grampy Comes to Town

On Monday Grampy and Grace came to visit. On Tuesday we went through a drive-thru Christmas light display. After that, we went to the Arkansas State Capitol to take pictures with the Christmas decorations. Everett was not a fan of the pictures as always.

He's screaming at me in this picture, but you can see the pretty decorations on the staircase.

Grampy and his grands.

Grampy and Daddy.

Grampy brought presents from him and Aunt Chinah.

Everett loved his mickey choo-choo train. Everett and his hot dog dancer.

Picture with Santa

On the 17th we took Everett to Park Plaza Mall to get his picture taken with Santa Claus. He was so excited! He did a little dance in front of Santa before he sat on his lap. Then, he sat down and smiled for his picture. He told Santa he wanted trucks for Christmas.

Last yearThis year

Playdate and making a house

Today Melissa came over and brought her daughter Amelia so Everett and Amelia could have a playdate and we could chat. Everett's toy of choice-the Idog. Amelia's-the cell phone.

They rode Elmo and the ladybug and they played together pretty well except for the problem of Everett not sharing very well.

Tonight, we went to family fun night at the library and Everett and I made a gingerbread house.

If the truth is known, I did most of the work and he watched and ate candy.

He did help put some special touches on the roof.

"E" for Everett.

Baking Cookies

Tonight, Chance, Everett, and I decided to bake cookies. We made the cookie dough and put it in the refridgerator to chill.

Everett licked the beaters.We took the dough out of the refridgerator and rolled it out.Then we used cookie cutters to cut out cute Christmas shapes. Everett ate some raw cookie dough (don't worry it didn't have eggs in it).
Even so, I took it away from him and he cried.

So I gave it back and he pouted while he finished eating it.
We made the icing.He tasted tested it.Several times.Then we iced the cookies after they were baked and cooled.
We decorated them with sprinkles.
Everett ate a cookie.

We saved the rest for later!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Busy

The E man has been busy. On Monday the 28th he help me put up our Christmas tree. Apparently it's a much better idea to throw the Christmas ornaments at the tree and hope they'll hand somewhere and stay instead of using the hooks and delicately placing them.

On Monday, Chance took Everett to SportsClips for a much needed haircut. He was getting pretty shaggy.

Wednesday was a day full of appointments. Our appointments started with JCPenney portrait studio at 10:00. Everett has recently decided he HATES cameras so we had a difficult time getting usable pictures. The photographer was great. She was very patient and understanding, but there's only so much you can do when the kid screams and runs away every time you aim the camera at him. She did manage to get some pretty good ones, but none of his genuine, lights up his entire face smile. He had to take off his glasses because she was getting a glare and was forced to take any shot she could get before he started throwing a fit.

After that it was a check-up at the dentist. He's been once before, but this time they cleaned his teeth. He was not a fan of that. He bit the dentist several times and I felt really bad for her, but I don't really blame him. I don't like strange people's hands in my mouth, either.

After the dentist we had just two more stops-the pediatrician for his second dose of the H1N1 vaccine and the optical to get his glasses adjusted-yes, again. He did better with the shot than he did with the pictures or the dentist, and of course getting the glasses adjusted was a breeze.

Thursday we rested and baked cookies. Chance and I went to a Christmas party thrown by one of his co-workers. My friend Melissa came over and watched Everett for us. It was the first time we've left him with anyone since we moved here, so it was nerve wracking, but he was asleep and he never knew we were gone. We had a lot of fun.

This morning Everett had to be at the Cardiologist at 8:30 for his check-up and boy was it cold!!! We checked in and took him for x-rays. Arkansas Children's has this horrible contraption they put him in for the x-ray. He sits on a bar, they close plastic around him to keep his arms in the air and keep him still and then they used tape to keep it close. Yes, tape. It was ridiculous. He didn't really throw a fit, but tears were running down his face and he was saying "Please, Mommy, please". It was utterly heartbreaking. At Dallas Children's he just laid down and the x-rays they got were perfectly fine. At the next x-ray I'm going to ask them to do it that way.

His lungs were clear since being taken off of the diuretic, and his heart size was normal. Dr. F did an exam and deemed Everett to be in excellent heart health. He will continue being on Enalapril to reduce his afterload and Aspirin to thin his blood indefinitely. We go back in 4-5 months for an echocardiogram and if all looks good we don't have to go back again for 6 months. We were thrilled to get a good report. I always breathe easier after a good Cardiology visit.