Willa and Kristen visit

This past weekend Kristen and Willa came for a visit (Bryan is out of the country shooting for the Discovery Channel. Go Bry!) It was fun to have all the cousins play together. Kate especially took to Willa and made it as her personal mission to make sure Willa had her pacifier in at all times.

U of M

Today we went to Grant's check up at the University of Michigan (or as Grant calls it, The Universe of Michigan). He needed his annual echo, ekg etc. As I prepped him for it this week he cried a lot and said he was scared. He actually hid when it was time to get in the car this morning. As we drove he said he felt both scared and excited at the same time.

When it was time for his first test he started to act like his true, talkative, funny self. He only asked the echo technition if she was almost done about 30 times. :) To his defense it did take about 40 minutes of lying totally still, something that he doesn't do very often.

Although Grant told me prior to the appt that he didn't remember who Dr.Cotts was, when he walked in Grant walked right up to him and hugged him. Then, when Dr.Cotts sat down Grant climbed right into his lap and asked if he could do the exam right there. So, he did!

The main reason for the visit every year is to make sure that the veins that were attached to the heart during surgery have not narrowed. Dr.Cotts confirmed that the heart and veins looked great! The only abnomality is that his left ventricle is enlarged, but it has been enlarged since the surgery so it is nothing to be alarmed about. We just have to continue to get Grant checked.

Thank you, God, for healing Grant!

Where Are You?

I'm presently sitting in our home office and the following message and photo just came in from Jim who is supposed to be putting the kids to bed.

"Grant and Kate have been getting pretty serious about hide-and-seek as of late."

July 4

We spent 4th of July week this year at Spring Lake. It was so much fun!There were anywhere between 13 and 28 people staying there on any given night so there was always something to do. The beach was the perfect place for the kids to play in the sand while the adults chatted. The kids' favorite activity was tubing behind the jetski. We also went into town (Grand Haven) for ice cream and to watch a concert. The kids liked playing on the bleachers more than listening to the music. They adjusted well to a later schedule (I let them stay up until 9:30 for the first time). However, I did make them go to bed before the fireworks started. Maybe next year. :)

Still learning to talk...

The way my kids pronounce/refer to things cracks me up. Here's just a few.

bugaburger- hamburger (Grant)
ziggy zag- what Kate calls the impressions that her blanky makes on her body when she
sleeps on top of it
bessert- dessert (both)
pop-in-the-corn- corn on the cob (Kate)
napkins in your hair- curlers (Kate)

The other funny thing I wanted to record is that everyday for the past 6 months or so Grant wakes up and tells us "who" or "what" he is that day. Some recent ones are astronaut, pirate ship, cinnamon, allosaurus and tong man. :) Kate is always a "baby" whatever he is for the day. Except one day. She said she was not an alligator like Grant. Instead she wanted to be a neck. Ok.....

Bowers Farm

The other day Bower's Farm came up with the most ingenious idea. They had a barn garage sale during open barn hours. That meant that Jim and the kids could pet the farm animals while I shopped! It doesn't get much better than that. :)

Happy Father's Day

We spent Father's Day at my parents' lakehouse and for the record I think my dad did too much cooking to consider the day a net positive. But, we sure did have a fun day. The kids are finally at the age where they like boat rides and playing catch in the water. It looks like it is going to be a fun summer.

Getting Better...

Thank you for your prayers! The medication seems to be working. Grant is much more comfortable and complains only once every couple of days. We have a month of medication left and then it is off to U of M to find out why this fungus has returned.

Fungus part 2

Over the last two weeks Grant's tummy pain has gotten significantly worse. I took him to the pediatrician and pulmonolgist on Friday to see if they could offer any help. The consensus was to take Grant to U of M GI. His pediatrician wrote us a recommendation but the soonest they can get him in in Ann Arbor is August. So, we scheduled the appointment for August 5. In the meantime we got a prescription for the same antifungal medication that worked before. He's been on it three days and I'm already seeing significant improvement. He has a 45 day dose to wipe out any sign of the fungus. The concern is why his body continues to grow the fungus, if that is in fact what it is. The pulmonolgist also took him off the inhaled steroids now in case that is what is growing the fungus. Please continue to pray for total healing for my Grant.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo today for the first time in a year. We only ended up seeing a couple of animals because the kids really enjoyed the play structure near the entrance. As you can see Grant was in a silly mood.

Rainy Days

Yesterday we went to Great Lakes Crossing. They have a bunch of food play structures in the center of the mall that the kids had a blast climbing on. Then we went to a sporting goods store and they pretended to ride a bear. I'm not sure the bear was meant for climbing, but it made for a good picture.

Hangin at the Park

The kids loved last week's warm spell. We're at the park every chance we get. Kate loves to continue to climb all things. Last week when I wasn't looking she climbed onto the kitchen counter and ate not only her candy, but Grant's from our special trip to the candy store. Read: Lots of tears. Later that week she climbed out of her crib, went to the bathroom, got dressed and climbed back in her crib. All this while Jim and I were laying in bed on Saturday morning, trying to guess what the kids were doing. I guess it could have been a lot worse. :)

Tummy Trouble

Lately Grant has been complaining about his tummy. Sometimes he says it is hot and sometimes it just hurts. I've kind of been ignoring it, thinking it must not really hurt, or it probably isn't a big deal. But, the last couple of days it has been more extreme. The pain woke him up in the middle of the night two nights ago and yesterday at the park he was wincing in pain while he was playing. So, I can't ignore it any longer. I called his GI doctor yesterday, but he is out of town. The nurse said he'd get back to me on Wednesday. Please pray for healing for Grant.

End of the year program

Easter

We had a different kind of Easter this year because most of our family was out of town. We went to the 11am church service because we were going to do an easter egg hunt before church. But, an unnamed child had a 40 minute tantrum so we had to cancel the event. (I call it an event, but Grant and Kate were the only two participants.) Said child got a chance to pull it together in the afternoon and did considerably better. So, I went out back and hid the eggs and they had a blast searching for them. Later that night Jim made us power pancakes for dinner (think low carb, high protien). We ended up eating them out of tupperware in the car because we were late for the ice cream party that our friends were having at their house. We learned the kids love whipped cream shots straight from the bottle. Must have been hanging around uncle Josh.

Sweet Grant

Here are just a couple photos of Grant recently. He is in really sweet phase. Kate has been sick lately and has had a hard time sleeping. The past two nights he offered to sleep on the floor next to her bed and he actually fell asleep. He woke up saying his back hurt but it was worth it to help Kate.

Hosanna

Yesterday when Grant's "alone time" was over he told me he had a surprise for me. I walked into my room (where he was playing) and in front of me were a ton of hangers, towels, washclothes, bathmats and hand towels zig zagged around the room. I was about to express my frustration with the mess that I had to clean up when he interrupted me. "Do you know what this is mom? These are the coats and palm branches we put on the ground because Jesus is coming! Hosanna! Jesus is coming!"

Florida in April

We had another amazing visit to Florida. This time we spent the first half of the trip with the Koss grandparents and the second half with Grandma and Grandpa Ned. The kids loved zipping around in the golf cart, playing with Snickers (the dog), swimming in the pool and eating in a restaurant where they could throw peanut shells on the ground.

Another one bites the dust

It seems like just about everyday Kate's climbing antics get her into trouble. Tonight at a restaurant she climbed to the top of the booth (after being told not to) and fell off onto her face. She has a nice large welt on her left cheek. Earlier today she decided to put on my high heels and walk down two flights of stairs before tripping down the last three steps and landing on her head. This lovely photo was taken after she tripped on the driveway and landed on her face. I thought Grant was active!

Bathtime