I love you, Friday.

Because I'm a slacker (or maybe just because this week has been crazy), here is an old photo of Elijah, taken in May 2008, a few weeks after open heart surgery #2.



This first paragraph is for my dad..

A few weeks ago, Dan had a baseball game on tv and Elijah nonchalantly looked at the screen and said, "baseball." Uhh, how in the world..? Last week basketball was on and we heard Elijah say, "bashetball." Again, what?? Then last night, football was on and he said what sounded exactly like, "Super Bowl!" ???? I certainly haven't been schooling him in the different sports, and Dan claims he hasn't been either, so I have no idea how he acquired this knowledge. I think my dad and brother have been secretly chatting with him. I'm onto you guys.

We have always known that Elijah is a strong-willed (otherwise known as "stubborn") little man. I believe that his strong will has gotten him through his surgeries and recoveries and hospitalizations, so you won't find me complaining about it much. Except maybe a little bit recently. This kid has seriously STRONG WILL. The other day he was being naughty and swiped at me (he knows that this is very uncool), so Dan told him, "Please say 'sorry' to Mama." Elijah, knowing how to say "sorry," made the sign language sign for it and refused to speak it to me. Dan asked again and he continued to refuse. FIVE TIMEOUTS LATER, I got a "Sorry, Mama," and a hug.

A quick funny thing from our week.. I discovered two indicators that let me know one of our cars is very old and noisy: 1) The driver's door no longer latches when it's cold, so I have to hold it closed with one hand as I drive with the other. (Super safe, I know. At least it latches once it warms up.) 2) Elijah sits in the back seat and yells, "SQQQuuuuuueeeeeeeeeaaaaAAAKKKKkkkkk!" as he tries to copy the noise the car is making.

His cold got a tiny bit worse this week, but I think it's already turning around. Nothing to worry about, thankfully! This weekend involves NO PLANS for us, which is sweet sweet music to my ears. This week was the busiest week (work and otherwise) I have had in a very long time, so nothingness is extremely welcome. I don't mind fast-paced, but I'm too old for crazy-paced!

More later...and pics, too! Have a great weekend!

Where's Elijah?

Can you spot Elijah in this calendar spread? This is something Saving Little Hearts puts together every year to honor people with Congenital Heart Disease. Elijah made the January spread!



Elijah caught a teeny tiny little cold this week that I wouldn't even classify as a sickness. He has a very mildly congested nose and we hear maybe 2-3 little coughs per day. Nothing that has disturbed any of his sleep, thank goodness.

He has had a particular fondness for books this week. The second I get him out of bed in the morning, he says, "Go see books!" So we head out to the loft and read/flip through his favorites: his Moses book, his Froggy books and his Jane in the Jungle book. Usually when I get home from work, this is also the first thing he wants to do with me, which I love!

His speech is improving by unbelievable leaps. He can pretty much verbalize anything he wants, and this is WONDERFUL. He has even started saying some funny things, like, "EEewww!" when he doesn't want to eat something, or "'Ank oo, Mom" whenever I hand him something. MOM?! That sounds so grown-up! At least he is being consistently polite.

I noticed an unsettling popping noise that Elijah's right knee makes when he is sitting with crossed legs and pushes down on his knee. It doesn't seem to bother him, so I am going to put it on the back burner until the next time we talk to his ped. Please God, BE NOTHING!

That's all for now! I wanted to get a quick midweek update out before the week got too busy.

Low-key weekend before a super busy week!

We had a pretty uneventful weekend. We kept things low-key, which was really nice. We all are still healthy, knock on wood, and I feel like we are cheating fate somehow. Last year was filled with constant sickness, so this is quite the change of pace for us. I love it and I am soooo grateful for it!

We noticed toward the end of last week that Elijah's pupils seemed a tiny bit dilated. We talked to Dr. G about it and he thought it was probably a lasting effect from the drugs/anesthesia given to him during his heart cath earlier in the week. He said not to worry unless Elijah had a lot less energy (umm, definitely not the case). His pupils seemed to be back to normal by the weekend, so we were able to cross that worry off the list.

Elijah discovered his love for Swiss Cake Rolls this weekend. Dan handed him one not knowing what he would think of it (he has always had issues with brown or red food, especially if it has a hard or unique texture), and he devoured it in about sixty seconds and then promptly started in on the second one, just STUFFING it into his mouth. Like mother, like son!

This morning between the hours of 5:25 and 6:05, we could hear Elijah repeatedly and excitedly exclaiming, "PLOPPPP! PLOP! PLOOOOOPPPPP!" from his bed. This comes from a part in one of his current favorite books where Froggy falls off his chair at school and goes PLOP! on the floor. Elijah finds this hilarious (obviously). When I went into his room he had a huge grin on his face and he said his sweet, "Hi Mama!" and then continued on with the PLOPPPP!-ing.

We have a really busy week ahead of us, so I'm sure it will fly by just as all the others do. I have to get some more pics posted soon or Elijah's grandparents are going to start having withdrawals (sorry!!). We will try to get a few up this week!

Quick week!

Elijah got his H1N1 vaccination on Tuesday! YAY!

He is almost completely back to his usual spunky self after having a heart cath on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday were sluggish, still-puffy and fluid-eliminating days for him. He woke up both of those mornings with saturated pajamas and bedding. I felt like a horrible mom, but he did not complain once through the night and this has never happened before. We checked him a few times throughout the night last night and he was dry this morning, thankfully. I guess his body had some extra fluid to eliminate for a couple days!

We are heading to our "It takes two to talk" class tonight. Elijah gets to hang out in a room full of toys and kids while Dan and I will be next door learning about ways to effectively communicate with him. Every time we leave at the end of the night, Elijah yells, "BYE FENZ!" about 97 times. He's saying goodbye to his friends! :)

Remember my story about Bobby the Bird from Jungle Junction/physical therapy? Well Elijah's awesome therapists ran across a miniature Bobby the Bird beanie bag and they gave it to him yesterday to take home with him. He was SO EXCITED. He looked at it and said, "BABY BOBBY!?" and then looked down at the big version of Bobby (who still comes with him wherever he goes when he's at therapy) and said, "DADDY BOBBY!" Baby Bobby slept with him last night and this morning when I got Elijah out of bed he gave me a concerned look and said, "Daddy Bobby." I wonder if Baby Bobby is missing his daddy?

I almost don't even believe what I'm about to say because it seems like it just cannot be true, but we get Dan ALL WEEKEND! It has been a long summer/fall of him working most weekends, so I plan to cherish my weekend time with him for these next few months.

That's all for now! Thank you a ton, all of you who sent up prayers for our little boy earlier this week.

A post-cath letter to my Elijah

Dear Elijah,

AAaaaaaaaaahhhh. That's me breathing a huge sigh of relief about being done with your sixth heart cath. Once again, I am so glad to have another thing behind us and once again, I AM SO PROUD OF YOU, ELIJAH.

Yesterday morning as we sat with you in the pre-op area way before the sun was up, I was able to see a side of you that I have never seen before. For the first time ever, you did not cry when the nurse checked your oxygen saturations, your blood pressure and your temperature. Daddy and I shot looks of happy confusion across the room at each other because normally you cry through all of that. You are growing up!

You were very friendly with the nurses and doctors who came in to check on you and get you ready for surgery, but that is nothing new at all. You played hard in that little room of ours, driving your car around, blowing bubbles and even sitting on a blanket on the floor for a foodless "picnic."

When it was time to take you back to the cath lab, we decided that Daddy would be the one going into the room with you. I'm sorry I didn't go in with you, too, but I hope you understand that it is really difficult for me to see you being put under anesthesia. I did it once and it scared me to pieces!

I squeezed you extra tight in my arms all the way to the cath lab, and you knew something strange was going on because you kept saying, "Home!" into my ear. It broke my heart, Elijah, and that is what I cried about after I handed you to Daddy once we arrived at the OR door. You became very afraid when the doctors opened the doors and you could see into the big scary room, so I quickly gave you a big hug and handed you over so you wouldn't be scared for very long.

Daddy and I waited in our usual waiting room while Dr. G did his heart cath magic on you. We received a few update phone calls from one of your nurses and every time we talked to her she said you were doing great. You always do!

The procedure went a lot more quickly than we expected. It only lasted three hours and Dr. G didn't need to do much "work" on your heart like he thought he might need to. This was great news!

The pressures in the right side of your heart are about double that of a "normal" heart, but that is exactly where they were at during your cath one year ago! This is amazing and totally unexpected. The stent in your pulmonary artery (that Dr. Moga placed during your second open heart surgery) is definitely creating a narrowing of that artery, but not to a degree that we should be immediately concerned. It is something we will keep an eye on when you get your echocardiograms in the future. Your bovine valve (also placed by Dr. M during your last OHS) is a bit narrowed at the top, but is otherwise functioning perfectly and is also showing no immediate concerns.

These are the two main things that will need to be fixed eventually during another open heart surgery. We thought that after this cath, OHS #3 would be on the horizon, but it is not! Everything is growing fairly well inside of you, so we just continue to wait. The farther out the next surgery is, the better! We don't even go back to see Dr. G for another six months! We really didn't expect this level of good news at all, so we were all (Dr. G included) very very pleased with the cath results.

Once you woke up from your surgery, the nurses wheeled you in your bed over to us and we met you in the hallway. You were very grumpy (totally understandable) and scared and DID NOT want to be in a hospital bed. You didn't stop saying, "UPUPUPUP!" until we got you into a room and had you on Daddy's lap.

That is when we noticed that you were really struggling to breathe, way more than we have ever seen before after a heart cath. You had stridor (which you typically get with croup) and your belly was retracting pretty badly, showing that your lungs were working extra hard. After two hours of this, and crying non-stop on top of it, your anesthesiologist ordered a racemic epi neb and an IV dose of steroids. This helped you almost immediately.

A short while later you started to calm down. We spent those first few hours doing everything we could think of to soothe you but nothing worked. You wanted OUT OF THERE and anything less than that was not acceptable! Once you realized that we weren't going anywhere, and once you felt a little bit better, you laid in Daddy's (or my) lap and dozed and/or watched tv.

I thought it was funny that during your most stressful times (whenever a nurse was touching you, or even within ten feet of you), you called out for "Dushin," which is your word for "Junction," which is your current favorite tv show. You didn't want Mama or Daddy, but you did want DUSHIN!

Every time I asked you if you wanted anything, you would say "NO!" (said without the N) and shake your head.

"Do you want apple juice?"
"OOhh!"
"Do you want to lay in bed?"
"OOhh!"
"Do you want a thousand gifts from Santa?"
"OOhh!"

One time, though, one time, you said YES to something! Do you know what it was?

"Elijah, do you want to lay on Mama's lap?"
"Ess!"

That made me feel sooo good. Even though you called for your favorite tv show during your very scared and stressful moments, at least you said YES to wanting to be close to me. I hope that never changes.

And speaking of that, you literally barely fit on my lap anymore, which makes me very sad. As much as you insisted that you be held yesterday, I just don't know what we'll do when you are no longer holdable. :( I don't like to think about that. I am just so happy that being close to us is comforting to you.

Luckily we didn't have to spend the night at the hospital, so we all went home together in the evening. You were so happy to be home (us too)! You gobbled up a ton of food from not having eaten in almost 24 hours, and then went straight to sleep.

Unfortunately, some of your airway issues from earlier in the day came back once you had been sleeping for a while. Daddy and I got you out of bed and gave you another neb and put you back to sleep. My worried mama brain didn't want to be too far away from you, so I decided to sleep on the floor in your bedroom so I could hear your breathing and know if you needed help.

You had no more issues through the rest of the night and this morning you were doing great! You have a little cough and a bit of a hoarse voice, but that will go away quickly. We also expect you to have a slight fever for a while because of the five coils Dr. G put inside of you. I forgot to mention that! You had some (more) arteries (MAPCAs) supplying duplicate bloodflow to your lungs, so Dr. G coiled them off. You now have around 20 metal coils dancing around inside of you! Crazy!

So, our day at the hospital is done, but my emotions are out of control, as they always are The Day After. I really think that the older you get, the harder all of this gets. You understand a lot more now than you ever have before, so we can see genuine fear in your eyes and that is not fun at all.

There was one point yesterday when your nurse was in the room and you were on Daddy's lap and you just stopped crying and closed your eyes as tight as you possibly could. It was like you were wishing all the bad things away and pretending that you were at home in the safety of your bed. I will never forget that moment because it broke my heart. I wish you never had to experience the things you have had to and will have to experience and that you never had to wish yourself to another place.

You are such a brave, strong boy, and Daddy and I are so proud of you. I hope you always know that! We love you very much.

Love, Mama

Cath done!

We were able to come home today after Elijah's heart cath, thankfully. Elijah has a hoarse throat and a few battle wounds, but seems otherwise unfazed by today's experience. I am going to finish feeding him his dinner that he is DEVOURING and then relax a bit before going to bed myself. Tomorrow I will give a more detailed update on the day! Overall it went really well. Thanks for your prayers!

Cath tomorrow

One fun thing came from the weekend: the couple of trips we made outside because of the beautiful weather. I can't believe how nice it is in November!











Elijah's heart cath starts at 7:45 tomorrow morning. I don't think I'm going to bring our computer to the hospital, but I will make a few tweets throughout the day. If you would like to know how things are going before we get home (tomorrow night? Tuesday?), you can follow us there. We would truly appreciate any prayers you would be willing to send up for a smooth heart cath. Thank you!

Elijah funnies

One of the reasons I keep up on this blog is so I can write down things Elijah is doing so I can always remember them. Here are a few things that have been making us laugh lately..

I have mentioned that Elijah has been really interested in walking lately. One of his favorite things to do when Dan and I are both home is to walk back and forth between the two of us. He is getting SO GOOD at taking steps on his own! I tried to get it on video, but he shuts down when the pressure of the video camera is on him. Anyway, I think it is so cute how he says, "Walk 'a Daddy!" when I have a hold of him and "Walk 'a Mama!" when Dan has him. Then he says, "Ready, set, GO!" and takes off. His little bobble is so stinkin' cute. I could just eat that kid up.

There is a new show on Disney called Jungle Junction and Elijah is IN LOVE WITH THIS SHOW. Seriously. In love! He asks to watch it all the time: "'Atch dunshin' pease, Mama?" How can I say no to that? Lately as I am putting him to bed we chat about all of the characters on the show. He loves talking about the Hippo Bus and ElleVan the elephant and Bobby the Bird.

Speaking of Bobby the Bird! Last week at PT, his therapists got out a bunch of beanie bag animals for Elijah to play with. One of them was a bird that looked exactly like Bobby from Jungle Junction. In his most excited voice, he exclaimed, "BOBBY!! Oh Bobby!" and started hugging and kissing him. Bobby then had to accompany him throughout the entire session. It was super cute. This week at PT as he did his standard walk in his walker down to the play room when we first got there, he started screaming out for Bobby: "Boooobbbbbbbbbyyyyyyyy!!??" So again, Bobby stayed with him through the rest of the session. When the session was over, he looked at Bobby and said in a very sad voice, "Bye Bobby."

Elijah has been such a polite little man lately. He says, "'Ank 'oo, Mama," and "'Ank 'oo, Daddy," all the time and it makes my heart melt.

When we ask Elijah something that his answer is "no" to, he says "Ohhh" as he gives us a squinty, furrow-browed look and shakes his head.

He has been very interested in his stuffed animals lately. I think his most recent additions, Mama and Baby Elephant and Mama and Baby Giraffe (from the SD Zoo) have sparked this, perhaps? He snuggles and loves on his animals all the time (and plays music for them), when he has never given them the time of day before.

Elijah has been exploring different emotions recently. He likes to say, "HAPPY!" as he gives us a huge happy face. Then it's, "sad," as he gives us a very pathetic and sad-looking face. Then, "MAD!" as he pounds a fist on the table.

I mentioned this on Facebook already, but Elijah has been really into counting. Every night when we go upstairs to read books before bed we count as he is climbing up the stairs. He can count pretty well (with only one or two mistakes) all the way to 30. Except the end of it goes, "twenty-eight, twenty-nine, TWENTY-TEN!!!" Dan and I (whoever is following him up the stairs) tickle him after every fifth number, so FIVE!, TEN!, FIFTEEN!, TWENTY!, TWENTY-FIVE!, and TWENTY-TEN! are very exciting numbers. Sometimes in the middle of dinner or at another random time throughout the day, he will shout out, "TEN!!" and start squealing like he is being tickled, of course so one of us (preferably Dan) will start tickling him.


p.s. H1N1 vaccinations are IN IN IN! They are saving Elijah a dose for next Tuesday since his cardiologist wants him to wait till after his heart cath to get it.

Kind of a side note here. Elijah has not been eating very well lately, which is very unusual for him. It has me a little bit worried, but we are hoping it is just a 2-year-old phase that will pass. If you feel inclined, please pray about this!

Dreams

Do you like Elijah's unintentional Zac Efron hair 'do?

Around 3:00 this morning, Elijah woke up screaming bloody murder. It was one of those alarming screams that would send any parent flying out of bed in about a half a second. When I got to him, he was on his hands and knees in his crib and he was trembling. He stopped screaming once I picked him up, but continued to shake and whimper for a bit as I rocked him back to sleep. Obviously he was having some sort of nightmare or night terror. It makes me so sad to think that bad thoughts are already running through his little two-year-old brain. I keep wondering what he could have been dreaming about. Was Larry the Cucumber attacking him with a hairbrush? Was a doctor chasing him with an enormous needle?

At least I got to rock him back to sleep, which is something I haven't done in a while. He's getting so big that it's hard to get us both situated comfortably in the rocking chair. Elijah, stop growing up!!

I guess the bad dreams shouldn't surprise me since Dan and I are both crazy vivid dreamers. I can still remember some bad dreams I had as a very little girl in vivid detail. It looks like Elijah is following in my footsteps.


This has been happening in our house a lot lately. Elijah loves playing his "'tar" while singing to his animal friends (who are very good listeners).


Chattin' on the phone while checking some things out on the computer.

p.s. H1N1 vaccinations STILL not available. PATIENCEPATIENCEPATIENCEPATIENCE.

Still photoless

I have been so bad about taking pictures lately (there is a reason for that...I will explain at a later date), and I always feel bad publishing photoless posts. Our computer has also been out of commission, so that's another reason why we have been fairly absent.

Will you pray with us this week for another HEALTHY week for Elijah? His heart cath is a week from today, so his health is very important leading up to that. I really hate to wish time away, but I am eager to be beyond November 9th. Sometimes I wish they would spring hospitalizations/procedures on us so we wouldn't have time to worry.

We didn't really celebrate Halloween this year, aside from eating a ton of candy and treats (and continuing to do so). I think Elijah is still too young to enjoy it and I was getting tired of buying $20+ costumes that he wore for three minutes. Next year!

Elijah is doing great! We are SO THANKFUL for his good health lately. He never showed a single symptom from being exposed to the flu a few weeks ago (thank you, Tamiflu). He is talking more and more every day and he is showing a ton of interest in walking. We're at least a couple months away from full-fledged independent walking, but it is so nice to see this new confidence that he has.

I'll end for now with a funny story from last night. I was sitting in the chair in Elijah's room with him before bed and he had his head resting on my shoulder. In the middle of saying prayers he started fake snoring. I said, "What are you doing, silly?" and he laughed like a crazy man and kept doing it. I love this age. It's so much fun!

Some disjointed thoughts on lessons and perspectives

Please don't call CPS on me! Would it help if I told you this photo was taken while the dads were in charge of the babies? :) Thanks Missy (well, Dennis, really), for the photo.



Elijah is still doing well on Tamiflu. He has a few more days of it and then he will be done. The H1N1 vaccinations are still not in. I am trying to be patient! I think PATIENCE is one of the Life Challenges written next to Megan Porta in my file that sits in a filing cabinet somewhere in God's office. I feel like I am constantly having my patience tested, which I guess I can't complain about. It is rewarding to know that I am in the process of learning the things I am supposed to learn.

Last Saturday was the three-year anniversary of the day we learned there was something wrong with Elijah's heart. I will NEVER NEVER NEVER forget that day. As I was thinking about it, I realized how much my perspective has changed since then. Three years later, after persevering through some pretty intense challenges, I feel that I am able to handle difficult situations much differently. I guess that is a part of maturing and experiencing life and experiencing the challenges God intends for me to face.

Despite some mildly worrisome things that have been going on for us lately, I feel more blessed than ever. Our experiences with Elijah have completely changed my views on what matters and what is worth worrying about. Three years ago I might have let certain things bring me down, but now? All I see are the amazing blessings I have in my life.

Dan and I recently made a goal to read through the entire New Testament before Christmas. I had a few days off work last week, so I read through the book of Matthew. There were a few things that really stood out to me:

1. Jesus' life on earth was pretty amazing and his passion for his Father was incredible! It really makes me think twice about how I treat people and about my relationship with God.

2. I love love love reading through the parables. I think my favorite is the one in Matthew 13 about the sower and the seed. It is such a good reminder for me about how I should be living my life. If you haven't read it in a while (or ever), go read it!

3. This is one of my new favorite verses and every time I start to worry about something, I say it in my head and suddenly I feel free and light and good. Matthew 6:34 - "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

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Some of you asked about what will be done at Elijah's heart cath on 11/9 and also at his next OHS. I think this post answers both questions.

I will try to get video of Elijah taking steps soon. Usually when I get the video camera out lately all he wants to do is come over and steal it from me, so I'll see if I can trick him.

Tuesday tidbits

Elijah is still taking Tamiflu and so far he hasn't had any side effects. He also hasn't had any flu symptoms. Now if the state of MN would just get some vaccinations in stock!

We have some exciting news! Elijah took FOUR STEPS ALL ON HIS OWN this week! Every night before bed Dan and I let him practice walking back and forth between the two of us. He can usually get one or two good steps before we have to catch him, but the other night he took four solid steps without any help. I have NEVER said this before because it really has never been true until now.. He is so close to walking! Maybe by the time he turns three?

Elijah's heart cath is two weeks from yesterday. It makes me a little bit crazy to think about it, but at the same time I am excited to know what is going on inside of his body. It will also feel good to have a better estimate for open heart surgery #3. Somehow I always feel better when I have an idea about when major events will take place.

Sorry for the lack of pics lately. I will do better! Have a good week, everyone.

Off week

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. It started out a normal week and ended up a very not normal week. One of the not normal things is that Elijah is now taking Tamiflu. A little girl who Elijah plays with a lot at daycare has the H1N1 virus. He was in close proximity with her all week. Ugh. So far he is showing no symptoms, but that doesn't mean that it's not brewing in his body. I am crazily freaked out about this. Not only does Elijah have a complicated heart condition, he also has only one kidney and childhood asthma. Please God, protect our boy!

There is a little bit of other drama going on, but all of that is still unfolding. Aside from all of this, Elijah is doing really well. His speech continues to blossom and he makes new strides every day. Last week he started climbing up onto the couch all by himself!

That's all for now. I just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive! We would appreciate any prayers of protection you are willing to send Elijah's way.

Cammy

We have been saving up for a new camera for a while and finally got to the point where we could make it work. I am so in love with Cammy (as I affectionately call her)! I'm just starting to get to know her, and so far she is a very fun friend.

I love this face that Elijah makes sometimes.

Iowa weekend

We had a wonderful weekend in Iowa with my college roomies (minus one) and some of their families. The three of us came home very tired, but I think that is a sure sign of a good time.



We spent a lot of time at my friend Katie's, and Elijah loved exploring her house. He had fun checking out the pumpkins, calling out repeatedly for Bob the Cat ("Bob! Bobby! Cat!") and closing himself in their fireplace (don't worry, it was off and he was safe).



Katie and her husband, Drew, made us a ridiculously delicious and elaborate feast, as they do every year. I can still taste the juicy flavor of the smoked chicken. Mmmmmmmm.



Missy and her family drove up from southern Iowa and it was fun getting to know her kids better. We even got to splash around with them at the Kings Pointe waterpark!



We have a fairly normal week ahead of us. Oh, aside from the fact that a child at the daycare Elijah goes to caught the H1N1 virus. Dan canceled some work to keep Elijah out of d/c as a precaution, so we will see how the last part of the week plays out.



Here is the wonderful hostess of the weekend, the beautiful Katie!

Caramel Apple Pie (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 refrigerated pastry for a 9 inch double crust deep dish pie
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 cups thinly sliced apples
2/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
20 caramels, halved
2 tablespoons milk


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. To make taffy mixture: In a small bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter, and 1/3 cup flour. Mix well and set aside.

3. To make apple filling: Place apples in a large bowl. Add white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss until all ingredients are mixed well and apples are thoroughly coated.

4. Spoon half of apple filling into pastry-lined 9-inch pie pan. Top with half of caramels and half of taffy mixture. Repeat process with remaining apple filling, caramels and taffy mixture. Place top pastry over filling and seal well (this is very important-if edges are not sealed, caramel will leak out all over). Cut steam vents and brush top crust with milk or light cream.

5. Cover pie with foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil from pie and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until crust is golden. Serve warm.

Midweek stuff

Our week is zooming by, just in time for another fun, busy weekend! On Friday the three of us will make our annual drive down to Iowa to hang out with my college friends. I can't wait! We will be staying at the beautiful lakeside Kings Pointe Resort, where my good friend Katie works. I'm hoping Elijah will enjoy the waterpark this year. Last year he wasn't a huge fan.

Dan and I carved pumpkins earlier this week. Can you tell which is his and which is mine? Elijah was not interested in the gut-emptying or carving process AT ALL. Once we had all the messy, hard work out of the way he fell in love with his "punk-ins."



Elijah's cath date has been set for November 9th. There are only TWO dates for the remainder of 2009 when both Dr. G and Dr. B will be available. Dr. G specializes in catheterizations, which is lucky for us since we love and trust him so much and also because Elijah is a cath lab frequenter. But Dr. B specializes in not only caths but specifically in stent placement/tweaking. Since Elijah has a stent in his right pulmonary artery that will likely need some adjusting, Dr. G wants to make sure Dr. B is around the halls of Children's Hospital on the day of Elijah's cath.



Tomorrow, October 15th, marks the one and a half year anniversary of Elijah's most recent open heart surgery. I can hardly believe that much time has passed. That surgery did amazing things for our little boy. The time before April 15, 2008, was uncertain and devoid of energy and at times very scary. The time after April 15, 2008, has been filled with energy and pink lips and 100% O2 sats and developmental progress. It feels amazing to have put so much time between then and now. Now to gear up for the next one, right?

I will post the yummy Caramel Apple Pie recipe before we leave for the weekend. We have two pieces left! Anyone want to come over tonight?

Pumpkins and apples

On Friday night the three of us went to a nearby apple orchard/pumpkin patch. The weather was perfectly crisp and Fall-like (good thing we soaked it in since there was snow on the ground this morning).



Elijah loved the pumpkins (punt-ins) and the bumpy hayride and of course all of the apple picking and eating.



Dan worked on Saturday while Elijah and I went to my cousin's little girl's first birthday party. It was so nice to see family! (No pics from that, bummer.)



I feel like I was walking around like a Zombie all weekend. Elijah and I are still not caught up on sleep from our travels last week. Maybe another week of super early bedtimes will do the trick? Man, I am old!



On Sunday Elijah and I took much-needed naps and I made my very first (caramel) apple pie. I must say, it is pretty darn good. Half of it is gone already. Later this week will be apple crisp and pumpkin carving.

Cardiology visit

We just got back from Elijah's cardiology check-up. It had been six months since he had seen Dr. Gremmels. That's a record!

Elijah was a very brave boy. He was scared, but a little bit less scared than he normally is. We usually are not able to distract him at all (through all the tears), but this time distraction worked. He became preoccupied with a model of a human heart. For some reason he thought it was a coo-coo clock, so he kept opening and closing the "door" to the right ventricle and saying "poo-poo clock!" He also sat all by himself for the 20-minute echo for the first time ever and didn't fuss once!

He weighed 28 lb. 6 oz., he was 34 inches tall (growth, yay!), his oxygen saturations were at 100% and his blood pressure was 105/86.

His heart function is great and his valve is leaking slightly more than it was at the echo six months ago (which was then classified as "mild"). It's hard to see what is going on with his distal arteries through the ultrasound because the arteries are so small, so we'll have to wait till the next heart cath on that.

Dr. Gremmels (who Elijah calls "Doctor Guess") wants Elijah to come in for a heart cath in the next two months. From there we will have a better idea about how well his arteries are (or aren't) growing, and we will have a better idea about when his next open heart surgery will be.

It sounds like surgery could be anywhere between six months and two years from now. The two main things that will determine the timing of it are: 1. how quickly he outgrows that pulmonary valve, and 2. what the cath reveals about the bloodflow in his arteries (mainly the right pulmonary artery).

Dr. G said YES about getting the H1N1 vaccination. Apparently the majority of the children in the ICU who are sick with H1N1 right now are non-cardiac kids. Typically, families that have children with no underlying medical conditions are not being as cautious, so BE CAUTIOUS.

I know the media has blown H1N1 into distorted proportions, but it is just as serious as the seasonal flu and many children die from that every year. ALL children under the age of 5 are at high risk for serious complications from H1N1, so talk to your pediatrician and make the decision that is right for your family. And do lots and lots of hand washing!

The rest of our CA trip

We made it to the San Diego Zoo while we were in California, and it is such a beautiful place! The very steep ups and downs gave us a nice workout, and the animals were fun to watch. Elijah's favorites were the elephants and the giraffes.



My mom (who is an extremely talented artist) made and framed a colored pencil drawing of a giraffe that is hanging on the wall of the bedroom Elijah and I slept in while we were visiting. Every morning at 4:00, the first words out of his mouth were, "Hi Faffe! Chomp chomp! Fee!" Translated: "Hi Giraffe! Chomp chomp! Tree!" Because of this, his love for the giraffes at the zoo didn't surprise me much. His intense love for elephants was a little bit unexpected.



At the end of our Zoo journey, my mom bought Elijah a stuffed Mama and Baby Elephant. Also, a stuffed Mama and Baby Giraffe. I really had no idea how hard he would fall for these. He has a million stuffed animals at home and has never given them the time of day. (Look how exhausted he looks here.)



The morning after we went to the zoo, the 4:00 Elijah Talking turned into this: "Hi Faffe! Chomp chomp! Fee! Hi Mama Eh-phunt! Arrrrrrr!" Repeat thirty times. He is still, five days later, loving on these stuffed animals big time.



We also spent an afternoon at Seaport Village, down by the ocean, but my camera batteries died so I don't have photos to share from that adventure (therefore still sharing zoo pics). Elijah got to ride on a huge carousel, which happened to completely frighten him for a while before I could convince him to please let go of my neck before he choked me since he was going up and down on a horsey that he was very tightly strapped to.



Then we saw someone standing along the boardwalk randomly dressed up in a Mickey Mouse costume. I had no idea Elijah would be so star struck! He said, "Ickey!" enough times that we went over and said hi to the mouse and we even gave him a high five. While walking back to the car, and for the next fifteen minutes in the car, he said, "BYE ICKEY!" a total of 1,452 times.



We also visited Coronado Island for a bit (camera still dead), which is a very cool little place. San Diego is a BEAUTIFUL city.

Back at my mom's place, we did a lot of relaxing and hanging out and EATING and gazing at the pretty fountain in the parking lot. My mom is in the process of moving, so Elijah became good friends with one of the empty boxes that she hadn't filled up yet. There's that security thing again! Once we put him in the box it was pretty hard to get him back out. Oh, and do you see that little yellow mirror on the floor right behind him? My mom uses it to put on her make-up. Well Elijah seemed to think it was a microphone, so he liked to hold it up to his mouth and sing pretty songs for us. I have no idea where he gets this stuff!



Our vacation went really quickly and before we knew it we were packing up to come back home. I'm hoping we can get out to visit again soon (and this time bring Dan).



The stars didn't align for us on Tuesday morning as we prepared to fly back home. Our flight was delayed two hours because a runway was closed down for construction at the Minneapolis airport.

Then I went to the agent at our gate to get our seats changed since Elijah and I were assigned seats in different rows. The young man with the sparkling personality told me he couldn't help me. I happened to know this was crap, so I asked him again and showed him my 2-year-old little boy. He repeated the same line and this time added, "You can figure it all out once you get on the plane." I was so tired at this point from getting up so stinkin' early every morning that I lost it. I started crying and had to walk away for a bit.

Once on the plane, the flight attendants were appalled that I hadn't been helped at the gate. We then started the most complicated and embarrassing Airplane Shuffle I have ever seen, with a hesitant couple moving here and one guy moving there and another gal moving up there and another couple squeezing in over there. Thank you, Unhelpful Ticket Agent! My wonderful hubby, who is known for sticking up for the people he loves, called the airline the next day and made sure somebody heard what had happened.



Like I said in my last post, Elijah did AMAZINGLY well on both airplane rides. He sat like such a big boy in his seat with his seat belt fastened the ENTIRE FOUR HOURS. I had a handful of people per flight tell me they were amazed at how well-behaved my little boy was. Good job, Elijah!

This weekend is shaping up to be an unexpectedly busy weekend for Elijah and me, and Dan will hopefully be working a bit (while freezing his bum off). I hope everyone has a nice, safe weekend!

Back from sunny California

Although we were pretty sleep-deprived when we landed in cold, rainy Minneapolis yesterday (our early bird woke up at 4:00 every single morning while we were on vacation), Elijah and I had a great time visiting my mom in San Diego. Elijah was a total angel on the airplane, both ways. He was more well-behaved than I ever could have imagined he would be. I was the one who had a tearful meltdown in the SAN airport yesterday morning after a ticket agent refused to seat Elijah and me next to each other (we did end up sitting next to each other, but it was a crazy ordeal).

Going to the beach was one of the highlights of our trip. I will never, as long as I live, forget the look on my little boy's face as we turned the corner to see the ocean spread out before us. The awe and excitement and sheer joy on his face made little happy tears roll out of my eyes.

At first he stood like a flamingo with only one foot in the sand, not knowing what to think of the texture and wetness.



After a minute or two, he was a man in love! He squealed and giggled like crazy every time a wave crashed into him.



He kept trying to trick us into taking him further into the ocean. He would say, "Walk!" and start out walking (with us holding onto his hands) along the beach, and then he would gradually start to veer straight toward the ocean. We had a hard time getting him to move even one inch back toward the shore.



I tried to soak it all in. Elijah isn't the only one who loves sun, sand and the beautiful ocean.



We found a few cool rocks and seashells to look at.



We let him get his fill of the beach. I think we have a future surfer on our hands. Maybe we should reconsider our current place of residence?



It was a gorgeous day, the scenery was beautiful and it is a memory I will have with me forever.



There is nothing better than seeing this smiling, happy, beautiful face.



More fun vacation photos to come...

Modeling career, an appointment and upcoming travels

Our little stud-man is a model! (Scroll about halfway down the page.) Capable Kids is where we take Elijah for outside physical and speech therapies. His therapists love him to pieces and they thought it would be great to share his sparkling little personality with the internet.

Elijah had a follow-up appointment with neurosurgery today (remember The Voice?) and everything still looks great, three months after the release of his tethered cord.

I'm not sure if I will have the desire to sit at a computer in the next few days since Elijah and I will be busy soaking up the California sunshine and all, so we'll see you back here next week! Please pray for a peaceful four-hour plane ride or two. How easy will it be to keep my curious two-year-old confined to an airplane seat for that long? What are the chances that he will sleep later than 3:00 a.m. while we are there (since he has been waking up consistently at 5:00 a.m. in our time zone)? What will his favorite animal be at the San Diego Zoo? Will the ocean be warm enough for us to dip our toes in? Will Dan miss us while we are away? These are all things that I will have answers to on Tuesday!