What a difference a year makes!

It is hard to believe that Grady's first year is complete. What a challenging, yet blessed, year my family has had. You all have taken this long journey with us. One of our many blessing, this year, has been your support, prayer and love. Without that, we would not be here today. Thank you.

A long time has passed since we last talked. With Grady home, it has been a little busy around here. Every time I promise to keep this up, something gets in the way. So, no more promises. Hopefully, there will be more time, now that Grady has us on a schedule. He is still taking his feeds every three to three and half hours, but has increased his intake to 6 ounces. Little G is weighing in at 14.2 pounds and is 25 1/2 inches long. He has moved through the 6 months clothes and into the 9 month sizes. That is a lot of growth in two months.

Grady has one of the best big sisters around. She can make him laugh more than any of us can.

This little boy will bust out with one of those smiles that just makes you laugh. The boy is also trying to talk around his trach. If you listen, he will push air hard enough to make a small squeak. Again, that makes all of us laugh along with him.

Grady had another surgery several weeks ago. He got to spend the night in Daddy's travel trailer the night before. All went very well and we had Pants back home Saturday afternoon. Ten days later the stitches came out and our little guy got an all clear. He will have a follow up MRI soon to ensure all is working as intended.

You have to know, the first picture is on Grady's birthday. As you can see, we did not get much response from him. He sat in his high chair and stared at the cake. Poor little fella did not know what to do with that big blue Cookie Monster on his tray. Emma blew out his candle. That was the high light of the cake. Daddy gave him a taste of the icing, but G was not so impressed. He shivered! So much for his sweet tooth.

OH, I almost forgot. This morning Grady woke up with TWO bottom front teeth. Guess this little man of ours is not going to waiste any time cutting teeth. Let's just get this over with and do it by twos.

Well, there is so much more to tell you, but this will go on forever if I don't stop now. And, hello everyone at CCSD and First Bank. I will be back with more news and pictures.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Snuggling In

Well, Grady is getting all snuggled in at home. He has had three weeks to learn how to rule the roost. He is doing a great job at that in case you were wondering. As you can see, Emma and Grady enjoy the same cartoon shows. You have to know how wonderful it is to see how Emma helps take care of our little man. She is such a wonderful help. We still have to remind her that Grady can not see her when she is that close to him, but most kids want to get nose to nose when they talk to babies. My favorite story, so far, is Emma getting up the second morning Grady was home. She came into the living room where Grady was eating breakfast. With sleep still in her eyes, she walked up to me and smiled at her brother as she reached for the alcohol gel to clean her hands before she touched Grady. You think we have asked her if her hands are clean a little too much? She is such a smart one, let me tell you.

Grady is doing very well on his new formula. He is gaining weight and growing out of his 6 month footed pajamas. We have not checked his length, but he is definately getting longer. We are still watching his calorie intake. He is enjoying some of the cereals and fruits Mommy got for him. This little boy might just get the hang of the spoon feedings. Since Grady has been home, he is beginning to control his head. It helps to have this many play toys holding and carrying him around. We have noticed that Grady is very interested in his surroundings. As you walk to a different room in the house, he is checking it out. It is a new blessing every day to wake up knowing that today Grady is going to enjoy another day at home.

Thank you, thank you for being patient with us. Once we get through the RSV season, Grady will be able to have more company. It is so hard not to just call everyone up and say come meet this little boy you have been praying for. One of these days, though.... Until then, just know how much you mean to us and how very thankful we are for your love and support. Your prayers have brought this little family together.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Home! Need I say more!

As most of you know, Grady is home. It has been a wonderful, busy time. Grady got home on the 22nd of December, just in time for Christmas. Needless to say, it was the best Christmas present this family has ever had. Now that we are settling in and getting a routine started, the days are just vanishing. Grady has a meet and greet doctors visit today. Our little man is doing wonderful and it will be encouraging to see what his doctor thinks of his progress.

Having an immune weak child in the house, will bring its challenges. We are not taking Grady out right now. Visitors are few and far between. We hope you understand if you have not been invited over just yet. The doctors have warned the kids to keep Grady away from groups of people and to avoid having other children in the house until we see just how well he does. The reminders of pre-term statistics keeps us holding firm on visitors. Just know that we would love to have every one of you over here and plan to do just that. It will just have to be one or two at a time. Very soon, we will invite the kids over to see him. For now, we want to ensure that Grady is not one of the children that returns to the hospital within the first month of being home. His survival is our priority, but know that we can not wait until we can share him with his extended family members.

Grady has a new formula that seems to be working great for him. He is taking 130 ml by bottle and seems to be loving it. Sleeping all night is a blessing. Every now and then, we are getting up to clear his airway, but no sleep filled bottles. But be warned, once this little man is awake, he wants his groceries. Although, he does enjoy laying on his changing table and checking out his room. Grady will lay on that pad kicking his legs and looking around. You get to see his adorable smile while he his doing his leg lifts and kicks. Maybe it is the height of the table, who knows. This boy is loving his home.

Well, looks like there is a little noise coming from the napping boy. Better get off of here and go see what is needed. Again, thank you for all of your prayers and support. Knowing you are there gives my family comfort. Grady is a blessed little boy and so are we.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Family and Friends

Most of you know that Mommy and Daddy have been working on the house to get it ready for little G when he comes home. It has been one of those projects that grows. Take one thing down and find two more things that need to be corrected or replaced before the new goes in. This weekend, Mommy and Daddy did a 48 hour 'room in' with Grady. While they were living the family life, their dear friends were working their back sides off. The new floor is in! Thank you to all of you. I hope you know how much this means to the big kids. What a wonderful gift, to give up your weekend and give Mommy and Daddy one huge blessing. Time was getting short for this project and you all completed it and took major pressure off of the kids. At the risk of repeating myself, you are true family. God has blessed us by putting you in our lives. Our little man is going to grow up knowing that family has a much larger description than most people know.

As for our precious little man, he is getting so close to coming home. Once the rooming in weekends are completed, we will be getting ready for the day we bring Grady home. Once he is home, there will be new worries and concerns. Bringing an immune weak child home , will have its own fears. This little man may be 25 before he gets to see the light of day. The hospital staff have already begun to warn us that we need be sure we keep visitors to a minimum. Everyone will have to wash up before they can touch him. Little people will be discouraged from coming over to see him. One more period of time that Mommy and Daddy will worry. The RSV season is upon us so that will restrict the places that Grady will be taken to. Having a kindergartener will have its own concerns. We will be doing our best to keep big sister healthy. So, please don't stop praying for this little family. All of your prayers have assisted in getting Grady this healthy and he will continue to improve with the love you have given him. Hopefully, it will not be long before all the kids can live a more normal life and not have to be so cautious.

As always, thank you for your love, support and most of all your prayers. Also, a big THANKS to the work team that got this house so much closer to being completed. You did a great job.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Big Visitors to tell G Happy 9 months

Just about the time Grady starts growing and getting bigger, look what shows up! Now these are very Big Boys. Some of the Dallas Cowboys came to the hospital to visit the children. These boys were bearing stockings full of Cowboy stuff. The stocking is an official (clean) Dallas Cowboy sock. If you look closely over Grady's left, you will see a picture of this years Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. Um, does anyone have a 10 by 12 frame Grady can borrow? Mommy will this go with his new room decor?

Our little man is doing well. He has gotten back to his 13 pounds and he is 24 inches long. His little fat dimples are disappearing. His thighs are getting longer. Little G looks skinny and long. Guess his body finally knows it is safe to grow. Grady continues to do great with his breathing. He sleeps a little more than usual, but this breathing thing is hard work. And he is eating as much as he can have. Looks like this little man is trying his best to get home for Christmas. Keep up the good work, Grady Pants.

Well, I just wanted to share some of the fun the hospital has for the children. We have been told that this time of year brings a lot of visitors to hospital.

If any of you have ever wondered if prayer really works, go back to the top and look at the little man that needed prayer and got it. We feel so blessed to have such a strong extended family. There is not way to thank you enough for your prayer and support. Hugs.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Busy, Busy times

It has been a long time since we last talked. Grady's world has really gotten busy. He has been working very hard to get off the respirator. You can see, in his picture with Momma, that he has a new attachment on his trach. This is an HME or artificial nose. This allows Little G to be free of the hoses that were connected to the trach. It does the same thing that our nose does and heats the air that he breaths. It also puts moisture back into his lungs. Picking this little boy up is so nice with no heavy hoses hanging around his neck. Friday night was his first 24 hours with no respirator assistance. He is doing very well. All blood gases are good and Grady is good.

Grady has plans the next couple of weekends. He will be spending them with Mommy and Daddy. It is part of the process to getting him out of the hospital. We are so close that it is getting exciting. It is also getting every one of his care-givers in a rush to get all their paperwork done. He is having a lot of visitors because they all need to get one last follow up on him.

YES! Grady is coming home soon. We still have some planning and prepping, but it is getting close to time to bring this boy home. What a blessing that is going to be.

Well, more soon. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Grady had visitors

What a day Grady has had. He had surgery first thing Monday morning to have his internal shunt put back in. That involved three different incisions. Ouch! Little G spent the afternoon off the veny. WooHoo. He did fantastic. As you can see, he also had some visitors. This is Grady's Great Grandmother. Is she fabulous or what? Off the airplane and straight to the hospital to see her great grandson. MiMi came to visit and she was the first person to get to hold our little man, after surgery. As you can see, his surgery went as expected. The surgeon told us that we should be done with surgery and if G has a good night, he can go back to his old unit in the morning.

Well, we are back on the old unit. Do you remember TCU? Man, how great it is to know that we will work on getting this boy off the respirator and that is all we have to work on. There is physical therapy and occupational therapy, but G loves that. Remember the baby massage? Me too! Our little guy can now start working on sitting up and reaching out and getting home! We have not talked about the doctor's plans yet. Hopefully, we will know something very soon. Grady is off the respirator 8 hours a day now. He has not shown any signs of struggle and that tells us what we have always known. Grady is ready to get off that machine.

We want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your families and loved ones. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Talk soon,

JoJo