Busy.....

Jayse is doing really well except the twins got sick with something and they both have lost their appetites and have been throwing up the liquids we give them. But they are both starting to get over that. We have been really busy lately. I have been taking some pictures, I took some senior pictures last week and this weekend I got to do a photo shoot of one of my work's homes which was so much fun!
(Senior picture of Anthony)

(Picutre of a Timber Frame Home in New Meadows, that I took! Hopefully this leads to more.)

On Sunday it was so warm we decided to go get a kiddie pool for the twins and a slip and slide for me and Greg, it was so nice to play outside (and the twins got to use their swimming suits for real this time instead of just a fashion show) and Jayse got to spend some time without his arm splints.
(It took Jayse a while to get used to the water but then he loved it!)

(I think his nose was itching him)

(Jaelee liked the water right away but didn't want to put her arms in it)

(Look at all those teeth! And she looks so cute in her swimming suit)

Update on surgery

(Jayse the morning of his surgery smiling and playing)


So Jayse's surgery went well on Thursday. The night before we let him stay up late and eat whatever he wanted because he wont be able to eat any solid food for at least 3 weeks (which is proving harder then I thought. I never thought about how he would feel when he saw us eating yummy solid food when he can't). We got up early Thursday morning, Jayse couldn't have anything to drink after 6 am so we woke him up super early to drink some water and then we got ready and headed to the hospital, Jayse was doing surprisingly well for not having his normal breakfast. We had to wait for a little while when we got there and then went back into the pre-surgery area where he got his little hospital gown on.


They gave him some medicine to make him sleepy and when the nurse came to get him to take him back he just went to her without even looking back at us (he was too busy trying to grab her glasses off her face). The surgery lasted for over 2 1/2 hours and then he was done. The Dr. came and told us that everything went well and he had decided to go ahead and revise Jayses lip along with all the reconstruction of his nose, mouth and throat and told us that he would have a tube in his nose to help him breath because he was going to be pretty swollen. When we went back to the recovery area to see him I was so overwhelmed I saw Jayse and saw him screaming with all this blood I just turned around and cried into Greg's arms. Once I had calmed down I went over to him and picked him up and rocked him for about an hour while they continued to monitor him. He had to stay in the hospital overnight to make sure that he was going to be able to eat well enough before he went home. The first day was really rough, I started to wonder if we had done the right thing. He was just such a happy little boy before and to see him in pain and crying was heart breaking but Greg kept reminding me that we had to do it and it was better to do it sooner then later. Greg stayed with Jayse in the hospital through the night . When I came back in the morning I could tell Greg had a rough night (He looked really tired and his shirt had specs of blood on it form Jayse and a big wet spot where Jayse's diaper had broken and leaked out onto him). He didn't get to sleep at all because he had to hold Jayse the entire night. Jayse had a rough night because basically he had to learn to breath all over again. The doctor told us that some kids feel claustrophobic because their air ways are closed more now and on top of that they are swollen and full of drainage.

Our entire day Friday was spent going up and down the hospital halls pulling Jayse in a little wagon. That was the only thing that he liked. He cried when we went into his hospital room, so we just kept walking around. Jaelee went to my moms to play with her uncles and help my mom with yard work.
(this picture is a little gross with all the blood but he looked so precious in the wagon I had to get a pic)

We were hoping to go home that day by 4 but Jayse hadn't drank enough on his own early enough in the day. We managed to get him to drink about 8 oz's at about 7 but the nurse thought it was too late so they hooked him back up to the iv and told us we were going to have to stay another night. I was going to stay with Jayse but he became such a daddy's boy that he cried whenever Greg wasn't around so we both had to stay. We were trying to get Jayse to sleep that night but he was kicking and thrashing around and he managed to kick the iv out of his foot, the nurse came in and looked at it and said she needed to call the Dr. to see if he wanted her to try and put it back but instead we got great news. The Dr. said since he managed to drink 8 oz on his own that we could go home. So finally at about 10 o'clock Friday night we got to take Jayse home. The night was hard again but definitely bearable since we were at home.

Saturday we saw a huge improvement in Jayse. He was in a better mood, he was smiling, and more active. He was drinking quite a bit and by Sunday he was crawling even though he has those arm splints on (to keep him from putting anything in his mouth, which the nurse said he should wear for 6 weeks!) And all the sudden he has become attached to wearing hats. It is so cute. Also he is sticking out his tongue 24/7 again, it cracks us all up. Greg says he just likes the taste of air like a little puppy. So now that I have gone on and on and on I really just wanted to say that the surgery went well, we had a rough time but now things are great and we love Jayse to pieces and are so proud of how well he is doing and handling everything, he is our little champ!
(Greg and Jayse getting ready to go on a walk, he looks so cute with his hat and arm splints)

(Jayse in the car yesterday after playing frisbee golf with dad)

Jayse's surgery

As some of you know Jayse was born with a cleft lip and palate. Well, Jayse is having surgery to repair his cleft palate on Thursday. I am nervous about it of course because it is surgery and there is always a worry when it comes to surgery but I am excited for Jayse to be a step closer to having a normal mouth. We have a very good surgeon and team for his surgery and the Dr. is very optimistic about the outcome. He will have to do some work on Jayse's nasal area, the roof of his mouth and some reconstruction of the muscles in his throat. It should make it easier for him to eat and speak when that time comes but he still may require some speech thearpy. In prepration for his surgery we have had to ween him off a bottle. We had to do this a lot faster than we thought. We have been giving both the twins sippie cups since they were about 5 months old knowing that this day would come and we were trying to prepare, we thought we had another month or so left before the surgery but we found out last week that the only opening they had for his surgery would be Thursday so we had a week to competely drop the bottles. We decided to take them both off bottles and it has been amazinly smooth. The first night it seemed like they cried a little longer before falling asleep but the next morning we put the bottles away and haven't used them since! So we are all ready for the surgery. He will have to spend the night in the hospital and then we should be coming home Friday. I'll let everyone know how it goes!

Here are some great pictures of Jayse:

Jayse a little over a month old, before he had surgery on his cleft lip


Jayse 2 days after the surgery on his lip (all ready looked great)


Jayse just yesterday playing with Jaelee on the couch with daddy making them laugh