Happiest little man in the world

Ok I know I have been posting a little too much lately... but I couldnt resist sharing these ones...

Someone may be outgrowing his infant tub..

Bennett's best bud

Hurlie is trying to get Bennett to throw the ball... And Bennett is
trying to convince Hurlie to come close enough to grab her ears...
Very entertaining and unsuccessful for both of them.

hot hot hot

Bennett just trying to stay cool at Grandma and Grandpas house.

Okay Bennett, now you are just showing off...

Always attempting to entertain Bennett during the 7 hour Dr. Appointment at the hospital.

Bennett had his first post surgery out-patient appointment today. He saw all of his Doctors at Childrens in Seattle and we get a room and the Doctors all come and visit... makes for a very long day.

The surgeon decided to take a look down his throat to decide what to do about getting the trach out. He took a look with a scope down into his airway and decided the surgery was a complete SUCCESS!

So now we have to schedule an operating room and time with the surgeon so that he can take a final look into his airway while Bennett is under anesthesia and make sure the scar tissue from the trach is all looking ok. The trach should be removed then... We can not believe we are so close. The only down side to all of this great news is that our surgeon is one busy guy and can not fit us in until October 1st. So unless I get my way with pestering the scheduling department or there is some cancellations we will have to wait until then.

We could not be happier with the results from his surgery. He is doing wonderful and we cant wait to have the trach out and to get on with all the normal little boy stuff!!

Reece in waiting...

Auntie Katie looking beautiful... It could be cousin Reece's birthday
any day now. We can't wait to meet him!!

Hey tooth fairy!

It is hard to get his very first new tooth in a picture but this is
definately his new thing lately, rubbing his tooth with his pointer
finger.

It has sure been bothering him lately, he just can't get a break!

The ZOO!!

Bennett took his very first trip to the zoo today. It was wonderful weather and we sure had an amazing time. It was nice to get a fairly normal trip outdoors in public. He definately turns heads at times... but I think it is just because he is super cute!

His favorite parts were the sharks, the cool stuffed monkey from the gift shop and being outside all day. He was absolutely enchanted with all the children running around... maybe he will be a little more excited about the animals in a couple years.

Our WONDERFUL nurse came with us and sure made the day extra fun and way easier! Thanks Stacey!

What a sweet smile!

Out for a walk in the rain this week.

Yum sweet potatoes

Not really sure what he thinks of baby food... but he surely didn't mind getting messy.

Rad like Dad!

Bennett is finally feeling pretty much back to normal. He is eating a bit better and busy playing all the time. His schedule is pretty off and loves to be up in the evenings to play and we are picking our battles at this point and enjoying the extra play time.

Some cute pictures from this week in the sun!

His newest friend Charli Miltenberger on his first trip to the LAKE! The babies did not like getting their feet wet... we will have to wait for swimming lessons a bit longer...

Just sitting around...

Having fun playing at home!

Feeling better each day.

Home sweet home again...

The last thing Bennett had to accomplish to get out of the hospital was to try to eat with his painful stitches and new swallow. The surgeon would not let us try to feed him until this morning.

Bennett didnt really think eating was that great so we were trying anything... including carrots in his bottle... This helped us ensure that he wasnt breathing in the milk. We got some cute pictures but in the end we decided to stick with the breast milk for a couple more months.

We are home and enjoying being home as a family again. It was a VERY long week for everyone especially Bennett and Grandmama Ruth who was there to help (including getting up at night with Bennett so I could get some sleep sometimes... it was wonderful)

Finally some happy play time!

As expected we have had a cranky little man on our hands for the past week. He is finally up to a little bit of play time and smiles.

His mouth and tongue are still really swollen but the stiches look great and the surgeon continues to be pleased with his progress. We are working with the feeding specialists in the morning and it looks like we will be home tomorrow evening or Friday morning if all goes well.

Video of Grandmama playing with Bennett...

My new tongue loves the binky!

We thought it would be a while before he wanted anything in his mouth... turns out he loves the binky... the Surgeon says no to feeds because of his throut but he can have his favorite bink back.

Lots of Drool!

Bennett is just hanging out on the road to recovery. Along with some moments of lots of tears he is doing well and slowly coming off of his pain meds. He has had some pretty horrific tummy issues from all the medicine from surgery so we were moved to a private room until they ruled out the stomach flu... the test came back negative but we are now enjoying a fancy suite :)

His mouth is pretty swollen still but it will be like that for a while. He seems to be combating the swelling with drool which has become slightly messy but we can deal with a little drool.

Grandmama Ruth is up to spend the rest of the time with us and we have are just settling in for the week. We are thankful for her help because Joel had to get some work done this week. We continue to try anything to keep his mind off of the ouchies with Winnie the Pooh, Dr Suess and lots and lots of toys.

We are hoping to feed him in the next couple days after we get approval from the surgeon, depending on how his stitches are holding up.

It still looks like we will be home this week.

Thank you for everyones support, Bennett it doing wonderful and we are just sooo happy with his recovery!

Feeling better

Here are some pics of Bennett today. He is feeling a little better and he is a bit more awake today. We are able to get him out of bed and snuggle him. It is pretty shocking how fast the mouth heals and how tough little guys like Bennett can be.

We dont let him watch TV at home but here at the hospital anything goes so we have been watching some Baby Einstein on a loop since 3 am... anything to keep his mind off his ouchy mouth.

He is napping now but has been up a lot this morning and we have actually seen a few smiles. So sweet he is!!!

Not smiling all the time that is forsure! This is definately his "my mouth hurts mom!" look... still pretty cute.

Healing up...

Bennett has done wonderfully today. He was taken off of the morphine this morning and seems to be doing well on his more reasonable pain meds. He has been awake today looking around and interacting a bit more. We haven't gotten any good smiles yet but we are sure they are just a few days away.

He is really swollen in his mouth and has some pretty yucky stitches. With the way the surgery works he actually has stitches down the center of his tongue... it definitely looks like it hurts. The swelling has gone down significantly since last night and the surgeon seems really happy with his progress since the surgery.

We are running to the store to get our surgeon approved Popsicles. We are going to treat him to a sugary, yummy, and I am sure messy, Popsicle this evening.

We were moved to the medical floor and out of the intensive care unit. The resident seems to think Bennett could be homeward bound in a short couple days but I would like to hang out and work with the feeding specialists here to make sure he will want a bottle after all the painful work on his mouth. Either way I am sure he will be home next week.

Surgery Day

Bennett is out of surgery and doing good. He is in the ICU for one night so they can manage his pain closely. The surgeon said the surgery went well and we will have to just wait to see if it cleared up his airway as much as we needed to get his trach out in the next couple months. So just more waiting.

But right now we are concentrating on getting him through the next couple days comfortably. He is a strong little man and seems to be acting tough.

He sure seemed excited with the early morning field trip and was happy getting carted around and talking to everyone in the check-in process... Here are some pics of our morning...

During check-in Elmo got a name badge too so that he wouldn't get lost in the shuffle. They all get one toy that goes to surgery with them.

Bennett hates his gown because it looks like a dress!

The nurses put Elmo in one too so that he doesn't feel so bad.

Bennetts big day tomorrow

We are off to Seattle Childrens for Bennetts tongue surgery very early tomorrow. His surgery is scheduled for 9 am. We are very excited to have this step past us on our road to Bennett's recovery but we are very nervous because all surgeries seem pretty scary. We are expecting a pretty difficult recovery and lots of sad baby nights, but knowing our little guy he will pull through with flying colors.

We are so proud of him because he is always so strong for us.

We appreciate everyone thoughts and prayers tomorrow! We will post many updates on the blog so stay tuned :)

I had to post a few more pictures of our little guy before surgery... We are going to kinda miss his little tongue hanging out :)

This is his "I am cranky and need a nap" look... something we anticipate seeing a lot of in the coming days.

Auntie Katie's Baby Shower

What a fun day... Katie is such a cute mommy!! We cant wait to meet him!

Auntie Pam and Ryan visit!

This weekend is Auntie Katie's baby shower so my Aunt Pam and cousin Ryan were in town. We did not want to bring Bennett out too much because he is having surgery this week and he cant get sick. So, Pam and Ryan came to visit us.

Ryan is a very gifted photographer and he brought his camera... yeay! Check out some of the great shots he got of our little guy.

What a beautiful girl!

Bennett met his good friend Charli Miltenberger today... here they are being nap buddies.

What a pretty girl... love the hair! Her mom and dad, Jania and Tony are doing great, enjoying the first few days home with their little girl.

Standing up tall...

With all of Bennetts extra chubbiness he wasnt a big fan of standing up. Suddenly this week he sure thinks it is funny and doesnt want to sit at all anymore. When putting him in the tub, diaper changing table or anywhere else he locks his knees and just wants to stand. It is pretty funny how he is changing all the time and finding new things.

This is one of our nurses attempting to put him down to change him... turned into a good laugh.

Good morning sunshine

Too cute when he is all sleepy in the morning!

Bennett is 0.5 tomorrow!

Yes Bennett is 0.5 years old tomorrow! He shares this birthday week with his daddy. Joel turned 34 this week... what handsome birthday boys I have :) Grandma Jones and I made this cake for Joel... kinda funny...

He also shares this birthday week with his good friend Charli Miltenberger... Her mommy and daddy, our great friends Jania and Tony Miltenberger are in the hospital right now waiting for her arrival... we all can not wait to meet her!

Bennett has been doing great this week. He is healthy happy and just doing more fun baby stuff... only a week or so more until we are up in Seattle again. I know he will do great and be home before we know it... such a strong little man we have!!!