We are home & more good news

The surgery was a success and we are home (see the post before this one). They repaired the cleft in his mouth and it will take about 6 weeks to heal. Three weeks he'll be on pureed foods and three weeks after that, soft. He doesn't seem too upset about this yet, but we'll see when the pain meds are all gone how he's feeling. He also has to wear little splints to keep him from putting something in his mouth and poking a hole. The funny thing is, he likes them! He actually pointed at them for me to put them back on when I was trying to exercise his arms.

Good news - this morning he started jabbering away again. He's saying mama again and no and a few other little words and he's singing songs to himself. And, he sounds the same. For some reason, I was thinking he'd sound different and the doctor even kept telling us he'd sound nasily, but he doesn't so far. I'd also been told that it could take weeks for him to want to talk because his mouth feels weird, but it's not stopping him. He is a little determined guy.

All the prayers for his recovery have been so appreciated and we thank you all for caring so much. We've been blessed beyond words and I love that he is blessing others with his special little soul.

Hugs, us :)

Nathan's Surgery

Nathan had his surgery to repair his cleft palate on Thursday, September 18. This is a happy Nathan with daddy because we are headed to the park the night before surgery. He doesn't know what's about to hit him at 6:00 am.This is a happy Nathan with mommy. I think I'll frame this one. :)
Our sweet baby in recovery (always with the pig, of course).
Puffy cheeks and lips.
Poor thing...
He does NOT want to drink anything.
Another precious view...
Finally, eating some chocolate pudding, in his little wagon from Riley. We pulled him around Riley Hospital dozens of times while we were there. He really liked it. Everyone who saw him kept saying "what a cute baby" and I told Nathan that they thought he was a baby because he had a little diaper on and was naked otherwise. So sweet.
Another puddin' face :)
We are leaving! Yeah! Nathan is beyond excited, and more than a little irritated that mommy is taking pictures when all he wants to do is LEAVE! (We were waiting on paperwork and prescriptions). :)

Chinese Festival

Saturday, we went to the first ever Chinese festival for Indianapolis downtown in Military Park. Mayor Ballard was there and Matt and Nathan had their picture taken with him. We walked the canal and carried lanterns. Here are some pictures of the evening.

Nathan with daddy...

Nathan and daddy with the mayor...

Nathan with his glow stick and glow necklaces that Emily gave him...

State Fair and Pool Fun

Nathan at the State Fair looking at the tigers in the cage.

Brother Cory directing Nathan which way to go.
I see you! Fun on the playground...
This video starts out a little blurry, but stay with it until the end - priceless! :)

Nathan's Welcome Home Party

Nathan had a "welcome home" party on June 14. My niece Samantha recently sent me some great pictures from the party. Here, we are opening Nathan's See-N-Say.

For everyone who was there, they know the story of the pig. If you squint hard (or just click on the picture) you can see the little pig peeking out of my friend Joanne's gift for Nathan. This little stuffed animal has become the best friend of our little guy. He takes it everywhere and LOVES it! We had tried every stuffed animal on the planet, but nothing took. He still ignores all others but this one.

A boy and his pig - LOVE!

In pig heaven....

Daddy and Nathan playing with the pig...

The day after the party, we all went down to Bloomington to visit my sister Becky and hubby Pat in their new house. It is beautiful. These trees are their backyard view. This is Cory, my niece Samantha (yes, she's the same age as me), my great-niece Elizabeth, me, Nathan & Matt.

These are my sisters. Becky, Amy and Melissa. I included another picture below because this was the best one of Nathan, but not of all of us.

P.S. I didn't get any good pictures at the State Fair, but I will post a few on the next entry. Nathan really enjoyed the cows. And, the pigs, of course. :) And, our camera is on the fritz (blurry for some reason). So, I guess I'll just be posting movies because they aren't blurry. Until next time...

This is the face of a happy boy who got to eat Cinnamon toast crunch all by himself with his new light up spoon (from Aunt Becky), while sitting in a big boy chair. Feel the joy.... :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Yes, today is my birthday. My sister Becky came up from Bloomington and we had a good lunch at Stir Crazy. Yum! Thanks Becky!

This past Saturday, Nathan, Emily, me and my sister Melissa went to the Indianapolis Zoo. Above is our train ride picture. Nathan loved it all, but he especially liked the penquins, sharks, and all the fish. He was mesmerized by the Dolphin show. The monkeys were not in the mood to come down and entertain us, but he got to see a few. He petted a goat and liked the chickens. We're going to the State Fair this weekend so I'm sure we'll have more pictures from that "Nathan adventure." :)
Sweet baby tuckered out from the day.
Checking out the chickens.
Fun in the water with aunt "Bwessa" (Melissa).
Nathan at bath time in his favorite laundry basket. We are still using that because he feels secure in there.
Smiling for mama.
Posing for mama.

I'll blog again this weekend, after the fair. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Here are some new pics. Sorry it has taken me so long to post. Happy 4th weekend!



Nathan's birthday with Aunt Bweesa (Melissa) holding him...Check out the hat!


This is Nathan's new swing that daddy finished a few days ago. Nathan is obviously loving it!Check him out on video....

Fun in the Sun

Nathan at the playground looking at mama and getting ready to go down the twirly slide - his favorite! :)


Taking a break from the slide and looking at mama again... hmmm...

Click arrow to watch video - Nathan and big brother Cory enjoying bubbles together.

Learning About Dirt

Hope you all are enjoying your Memorial weekend as much as Nathan is. Today, we went to the park and had a little picnic. Of course, food was involved, so he was a happy camper. Then he played on the slide and baby swing. Later, we thought we'd plant some flowers and see if baby Nathan could play in the dirt while we planted. He didn't really understand what dirt was at first....but, he sure is cute! :)





After daddy showed him what to do with dirt, he got into it big time! :)

Didn't take him long to enjoy...

This photo pretty much sums up the day :)

Happy Memorial Day to all!

More China pictures

Hello,
thought you guys might enjoy some of these pictures from our trip - finally. Sorry for the delay and look for more soon. :)


This is the line waiting to get into the clinic for the "medical exam" of Nathan on Shamian Island.This is beautiful bone carvings. I loved these. I'm trying to remember what museum they were from but can't remember now.

This is the usual stance of baby Nathan while we were in China - glued to BaBa. Either in his arms or attached to his legs... :)
This is the view of our hotel from the park nearby in Wuhan.

These beautiful children were smiling and giggling after I took one picture of them and then just wanted me to take more and more. They jabbered away to us and this was one time in China when I wished I knew what they were trying to tell us.
Another view from the park by our hotel in Wuhan.
That is it for now. I'll try to post more in the coming days.