Meet Bella

On April 5th, we got Everett his first puppy, Bella.

She is nine weeks old and is a Cairn Terrier mix.

They play so sweet together.

He loves her, and so do we.

Easter celebrations and cardiology appointment

We took Everett to the Clinton Presidential Library for an egg hunt, petting zoo, and other fun on the 27th. The eggs were all gone, but he loved the ball pit and petting zoo.

On Friday the 2nd, Everett had a Cardiology check-up. Dr. F said everything looks good with his heart and we don't have to go back for six months! He was such a big boy during his echocardiogram. He laid there really still so that the tech could get all of the pictures she needed. After his appointment we took him to get his picture taken with the easter bunny at the mall. His reaction this year was much different than last year. He hopped right up in the bunny's lap and smiled!

On Saturday, we went to an easter egg hunt hosted by LittleRockMommies.com. This is the first time Everett actually knew what to do at an easter egg hunt. He wanted to pick up one egg at a time, open it, eat the contents and then move on and get another. If he hadn't had help he wouldn't have ended up with many eggs. He had fun outside blowing bubbles and writing with sidewalk chalk.

On Easter morning Everett woke up to find a trail of eggs leading to his basket and goodies that the easter bunny left him. While Chance and I want to teach Everett the true meaning of Easter and the great sacrifice Jesus made for us by dying on the cross and rising again, we know that Everett is too young to understand yet, so this year he just got a visit from and pictures with the easter bunny.

We went to church that night since our church doesn't meet for a morning service and had family portraits done. E was not happy about it so he has a sour expression in all of the pictures.

Zoo and Fun Factory

Last week, Everett and I met up with a couple of mommies and their children and went to the zoo. E had a blast and the weather was perfect-sunny but cool. My camera batteries went dead early in the day and E was hating the camera that day so it worked out okay.

He didn't know I took this picture.

We found it impossible to get all three to sit still and look at the camera at the same time.

On Thursday, we had a playdate with mommies from http://www.littlerockmommies.com/ at The Fun Factory of Cabot. They have all kinds of neat blow-up bouncy houses, slides, obstacles courses, etc. Everett had so much fun and he wore me out!

Eye Appointment

Everett had an eye appointment on Thursday. Dr. L said that his eyes are improving!! We will change up his treatment slightly by dialating both eyes on Sunday nights and just the left on Wednesday's. Dr. L says this will make E more willing to wear his glasses when both eyes are dialated. He is hopeful that if we can get Everett to wear his glasses more often that the glasses will correct his eye problems and he won't have to have surgery. Dr. L said that he is still borderline on whether he needs surgery right now, but that he won't perform surgery if it's needed until E is around 5 years old. We're very happy with the news we got. The picture at the top is E riding his car in the backyard.
These two were taken at The Wonder Place.
Last weekend we went to Hot Springs for the wedding our two of our friends. Grampy, Chinah, and Grace met us in Hot Springs and kept E while we were at the wedding. We did some sight-seeing on Monday and everyone came back to Maumelle with us Monday afternoon. We had a very good visit.


Everett, Grampy, and Grace in Hot Springs.

I took this one yesterday while he was sleeping. I thought he looked so sweet.

One year

Today marks one year since Everett's last open heart surgery. So much has changed in a year. We're currently in the process of moving so I can't post pictures because I have no idea where the cord that connects the computer to the camera is. We're moving to a duplex in the same town that we already live in. The best part is that E has a big backyard to play in.

My little baby is now a big boy. Everett turns 2 1/2 years old tomorrow on the 13th. He is talking up a storm. Everett is quite opinionated and is not afraid to tell anyone what he wants. When he wakes up in the mornings he shouts from his room, "Mommy, Daddy, I get OUT!!!" until we come and get him out of his crib. He loves being outside, and is crazy about his Daddy. He recognizes the Fox 16 logo on the TV and tells people that "Daddy works at Fox 16."

From a heart standpoint, everything looked good at his last appointment which was in December. It has been almost six months since his last echocardiogram, so I'm curious as to what we'll find out in April. He has been very out of breath lately and his legs and arms take on a dusky color pretty often. His oxygen levels have been great, though. When we left the hospital last March, Everett was on a whole host of medications. Over the past year we have weaned him off of most of them, and now we're left with Enalapril, Aspirin, and a daily vitamin. He will be on these three indefinitely. We are so grateful that he is doing so well and know that we are truly blessed to have him in our lives.

Just like Daddy

CHD Heart Warriors Video

This is a compilation of Heart Warriors that a fellow heart mom, Ashley put together. Everett is at 8:12 in the video, but I suggest you take the time to watch the entire thing. It is very touching.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This cuts off part of the screen so if you want to see it full screen you can go to: http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=9da0e16cd81a898ddcc144&skin_id=1603