BEST DAY EVER!

Today truly was the best day ever. Today was the day I have been looking forward to for the last year. Today was the day Tytan finally got his G-tube removed. It really is still surreal to me. I can't believe this time has finally come. We went to his G.I doctor on Monday hoping and praying that he would finally agree to let us get it out. After a lot of begging on my part he reluctantly agreed. Tytan hadn't gained as much weight as he was hoping for but at least he was back on the weight chart. So after doing a little happy dance I half ran out of the doctor's office before he could change his mind. I immediately had to call Peter at school and tell him the good news. The following day (yes I scheduled the Surgeon for the next day just in case we got lucky at the G.I.'s office) bright and early we headed over to our Surgeon's office. Tytan was beside himself with excitement the second I told him we were going to see his fav. surgeon to get his pesky G-tube removed forever. He kept repeating G-tube away forever mommy, over and over as if it couldn't be true. The procedure was surprisingly fast and simple. It took a total of 2 minutes to remove his tube. Break down of how they did it (for those of you that care) First they had to remove all the water out of the balloon in the back of the tube. Next they pulled the tube out. yes that easy. After the tube was pulled out there was a small hole that let you see into his stomach. They had to quickly seal this hole so none of his stomach contents could spill out. The Doc. took what she called spackling and filled in the hole, a.k.a. sticky glue. She placed gauze pads and a large bandage to hold it all in place. We can take the bandage off in two days. When we take it off if he has stomach leakage we just put more spackling in the hole and bandage it all up again. I know it sounds kind of gross but I am just way too excited to think about that. His G-tube is really gone. I know I sound like the G-tube was the worst thing ever but honestly without it he would have been a very sick little boy. He was so severely under weight. He completely refused to eat so in a way this annoying little tube saved his life. I always am complaining about it just because it caused Tytan so much pain. It stuck off his stomach so far that it was ALWAYS getting caught on everything. It was always bleeding and leaking stomach bile. He could never wear a light colored shirt because the goo from the g-tube would stain the shirt. So now my love/hate relationship with his g-tube is finally over. Tytan still works with a feeding therapist once a week and hopefully before long his weight will be where it needs to be and he will be the best eater. for now all I really care about is that his tube is gone for good.

Fun weekend

We had a busy but very fun weekend. Thursday night Peter's school had a Dinner Party at Salty Senioritas. Tytan had a bast playing with his best friends Peyton and Ryder. It was nice to get out of the house and get a free dinner. Friday night Peter's parents took all of their kids out to the melting pot. It was my first time going and was just as great as I've always heard. Since there were eight of us we kept switching chairs to try out the next pot. We all had a really amazing time. It was the first time I had to leave the boys with a babysitter that wasn't family. I was a little nervous but surprisingly they did awesome. Besides the fact they were still awake when we got home after nine thirty. I guess they both decided they wanted to wait up for us. Thank you so much Sandi & Curtis for a super fun night. Sunday we headed of to Gilbert for baby Graham's baby blessing. My brother Troy and his wife Emily have the cutest little man. He looked so cute in his blessing outfit and Troy gave a great blessing. After church we all headed off to their house for a little party and dinner. Thank you Emily for a great day. This was the best weekend because I didn't have to cook dinner three times this week. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of cute little graham.

Camping at Ashurst Lake

A couple weeks back we went on yet another camping adventure before it gets too cold. This time we headed up near Flagstaff to Ashurst Lake. It was so gorgeous. The sunset was to die for and there was mile after mile of these perfect yellow flowers. We were camped right on the edge of the lake. Tytan of course thought he was in heaven and Ridge is still such a chill baby that he didn't seem to notice he wasn't at home. The weather was surprisingly perfect camping weather. Nice and chilly without freezing you to the bone. We borrowed Peter's grandpa's fishing boat so we all got a chance to go out onto the lake for a spin. Even after all the time spent on the lake only one fish was caught. We all had a blast and I'm really bummed its getting too cold now to do any more camping. I really truly love camping and I cannot wait until next summer. For all you BHC that missed this trip I hope you know you were missed. The perfect sunset! Ridge with the best seat in the house. Ridge posing for a picture. Tytan giving a little brotherly love without being asked. I love that my boys are so close in age. Even though Ridge is so little still they have started to play together a lot more. Tytan attempting to climb a tree. Ridge taking a break from his busy life to smell the flowers.

BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT

Don't let this dessert decieve you it really is ENORMOUS. Pete is a huge eater and between Peter, Tytan and myself we barely put a dent in it.

Happy Birthday Dear Tytan...... So a couple weeks ago Tytan turned the big 2. I don't know why but he seems so much older than that to me. He was a very early talker and he is tall for his age so I think that has always make him seem older than he really is also. So since it was his b-day I have to do a little bragging.....

He was potty trained before he was two, he speaks in sentences, I don't think there is any word he can't say, he knows most of the letter names and all of the letter sounds, he can count to ten, he knows all of his colors, he knows all of his shapes, he can tell you any body part including some muscle names, He can name every animal weird or not he knows them all, he has the best memory in the world, you tell him something once and he'll remember it forever...(This is a bad thing sometimes), he is the best helper, He loves to be snuggled and read books, and he loves helping me cook. My favorite thing ever is when he tells me "Mommy I love you forever" that melts my heart every single time. I have always blamed his amazing speaking to his lack of eating. Since he never had anything in his mouth he decided to use it for something else. To celebrate his Birthday we went to Rainforest Cafe as a Family. Since he is obsessed with animals we figured he would be in Heaven which he was. He truly was in Awe the entire time. There is so much to look at that you just can't get bored. We were able to get a table directly in front of the Elephants. We could not have picked a better seat. They also brought out a huge dessert with candles and all the waitresess came and sang him Happy Birthday. It was the perfect way to celebrate his special Day. Happy Birthday my big boy! We love you forever!

Don't mind his mismatched outfit. He got so into dinner he forgot to tell me he had to go to the bathroom. Good thing I had a spare pair of shorts in my purse.

Chubba Bubba

I feel like all my posts lately have been about Tytan so here is a little update on Ridge. Age: 6 & 1/2 mos. Weight: 17 + pounds. (More than Tytan at 1 year) Nickname: Chubba Bubba & Ridgy Roo Roo. Favorite food: Everything, edible or non-edible, if it fits in his mouth he eats it! Favorite toy: If its light enough to lift to his mouth he's in love. Favorite parent: Mom of course (He really loves us both). Favorite sport: Competitive eating with Tytan (he wins every time) He is such an easy going baby. He eats a ton and has such a go with the flow kind of attitude. He is so close to crawling but not quite there yet. He sits up like a champ but he still prefers to lay on his tummy. He has hair that sticks up straight and nothing can make it lay down. I buzz his head so it doesn't get too out of control. He really is the perfect addition to our family. I am more and more in love with him every day. Here are a few of the latest pictures of Chubba Bubba.

UPDATE! (Its a long one!)

Yes another surgery. This one was super minor compared to his other ones. We went to the Ear doctor on Wednesday he looked in his ears and said they were so clogged with fluid and gunk that he thought he needed tubes right away. Tytan had two hearing tests and failed both. The doctor didn't want him having any permanent hearing loss so he got us in for surgery on Friday. Only two days later. The doctor also said with the amount of fluid in his ears that he was having constant pressure and pain. He said he thought that Tyte hasn't been eating because every time he moved his jaw to chew, it was pulling his ears and putting him in immense pain. How sad for him. So I was praying that the doctor was right and was prepared to feed him steak and potatoes right after surgery. Surgery went great the doc. just said there was a lot more gunk in his ears then he first anticipated. As we were driving home in the car Tytan said "Mommy Tytan's ears Wake up." Wow!! He could tell an immediate difference. So the day of surgery he ate almost nothing just like every other day. The following morning he woke up and was begging for juice and toast. For those of you that don't know Tyte this is an ASTONISHING request. He has never ever asked for food his entire almost 2 years of life. I gave him his toast and juice and he polished it off right away. I was almost in tears as I watched him eat. I kept wondering Who is this kid? For a snack he ate 3 Graham crackers which he would barely even taste before. For dinner he ate a hot dog and a peach. I seriously cannot believe he is so dramatically different. Every day since surgery he has continued his amazing eating streak. He has not had to be feed through his G-tube once since the day of surgery. I wish I would have known the problem the entire time was his ears. I also believe Tytan has had all these eating issues for a reason. I'm not sure yet if it was to teach one of us a lesson or what but I know it didn't happen it vain. So I'll keep all of you updated on if/when he can get his g-tube removed. I will for sure cry the day that comes out. My little guy is healed!! Right before he was taken back for surgery. Right after surgery. I hate seeing him like this. At least he woke up happy as if nothing happened. An amazing thing happened a couple of weeks ago. Tytan decided to be potty trained. He is 100% out of diapers. He put on unders a couple of weeks ago and never had one accident. I was so amazed. He surprises me all the time how smart he is. I made a goal a year ago that he would be potty trained by the age of two. He accomplished my goal 2 months early. Update on his eyes. I decided to get a second opinion before I had him get surgery for his lazy eye. The second doctor agreed with the first doctor in the fact that he does need surgery but he disagreed with him in the fact that he doesn't think he needs it right now. He wants to wait and see if his eyes repair themselves at all. He said he is almost positive he will need surgery eventually but just not right away. Only time will tell when. In the picture you can also see his g tube. We will Hopefully (keep your fingers crossed) be saying bye bye to that soon. I'll keep you posted. The day he gets his g-tube out will be the happiest day of my life. Update on Ridge...He is still fat and happy!! Sorry not the best picture. I went to post a different one but accidentally did this one. I don't have enough time to switch it.

CAMPING

Pete's Brother Jason and his family and our family all went up to Happy Jack this past weekend to go camping. Pete's grandparents live up there half the year so we decided to get out of the heat and go visit. We all had a blast. The weather was AMAZING, the scenery was of course perfect, and the chance to get away from home for a few days was nice too. It was so crazy, a couple miles away from where we were camped was a ranch. During the day apparently the horses were let out to wander so they would come and hang out with us at our camp. Tytan thought he had died and gone to heaven. He is in love with any animal big or small. He wanted to feed the horses constantly. Diesel (our dog) thought she was a sheep dog for a little while. Tytan also loved the fact that we got to spend three days with dad. If you had any clue how long its been since he's been home you'd understand. It was a nice change. Overall it was a really nice get away and I am counting the days until we get a chance to go again. Hopefully its sooner than later. Ridge was in the front carrier when ever we broke out the camera so I didn't get any real good ones of him so you get the right before we left camping picture instead. My little guy is getting so huge. Almost 5 months old. Wow!

Tytan was playing follow the leader with Diesel. Man Ridge needs to grow up faster.

Spending quality time with Dad!