Daddy's Boy

Logan is a very happy, go-lucky little boy. He always has a smile on his face, unless he doesn't feel good. The past week since his daddy has been home his personality has just blossomed. He seems to be so much more happier. I was watching him this morning while he was eating breakfast and he was smiling and talking and clapping. He was so excited to be eating eggs and toast. He is such an example to me. I feel like he looks at me and says, "Momma, don't worry about anything, instead just be happy and play!!" Since we found out about his surgery my perspective on my day to day tasks has changed. I don't care if my house isn't picked up and always clean, or if the dishes aren't done right away, I'd rather get down on the floor and play with Logan or read him a book or teach him a new skill. I've always heard people says their child brings them more joy and they ever thought imaginable. Now I get that. Every time he smiles or gives momma a kiss it just melts my heart. He makes Rowdy and I want to have a stronger marriage and thank our Lord for all the blessings he has given us. I can not WAIT for Christmas tomorrow. I can't wait to share the story of Jesus' birth with Logan and start new traditions with our little family. Merry Christmas!!!

Potato Soup, a Fire, and a Walk

Rowdy has been making a fire everyday and night for the last week and I LOVE it!! It seems to put me in the mood for Christmas. I finally wrapped my last gift tonight and put it under the tree. With all the crazy running around trying to finish up, we ended the night with a warm bowl of homemade potato by the fire.

On another note, the night Rowdy came home from Jump Master school Logan took his first steps!! He would take about a step and a half then fall. But now he is taking off!! He is getting more and more brave and is now taking 5-7 steps before he falls!! He will be cruising around the house before we know it!!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Yesterday we celebrated Rowdy's birthday. We had a nice day. Logan and I surprised him with Happy Birthday donuts, we then fought the crazy crowds and finished up Christmas shopping and finished off the day with a home cooked dinner with My sister, brother-in-law and our 2 nephews. All in all I think he had a great birthday!! We love you daddy!!

Logan's New View

We hit a big milestone in the Isbill house today. We turned Logan's car seat around today!! I don't think he really knew what to think. Maybe as time so on he will learn to love looking forward!! He loves that his daddy is home for a long time. We had Christmas this weekend with Rowdy's mom's family, we had a huge slumber party in our living room!! We had a great time, it is always nice to spend time with family that you do not get to see very often. Logan's new view of the world from the car.

Playing with a new toy with daddy!

Christmas slumber party 2010.

Sick Baby and New Traditions

I am not one of those moms that keeps my kid away from anyone with a runny nose or a low grade fever, and if you are I give you props because it is hard work. However the last 2 weeks I have been overly caution because the cardiologist told us to not put Logan in any sort of childcare, be it at church or with other kids, for risk of him getting sick. So I have cancelled play dates with other parents because their kiddo had a slight runny nose and haven't been going to church because we don't have child care. Pretty much living in a sanitized bubble. And what do you know, Logan gets sick. He was running a small fever Monday and we didn't think much of it because he was still acting fine and had no other symptoms. Then he didn't sleep AT ALL Monday night. I even took him to a good friends house to have him look in his ears to see if it might be an ear infection, it wasn't. So off to the doctor we go Tuesday morning. Turns out he caught hand, foot & mouth virus and we have NO clue where. He is getting better now, finally eating more and sleeping better. He just has a rash all over his arms and legs, the doctor said it will take a few days for it to go away. Never a dull moment at the Isbill house!!

We started a new tradition at our house. The 'You are special plate' tradition. Whoever in the family has a special moment gets to eat off it. It could be your birthday, made a good grade on a test, played well in a sporting game, whatever it might be. Rowdy was the first to eat off the plate. His moment was because he graduated from Jump Master School!! I can't wait until we have more kids and they grow up and nominate each other to eat off the plate!!

Cardiologist Appointment

The appointment with the cardiologist went well. She explained everything to Rowdy and honestly to me again. I was kind of amazed how much information I missed at our initial visit. I guess once she said the words heart surgery I tuned out pretty much everything else. She did reassure us about the surgeons. So we did learn/retold some information but a good appointment all in all.

Rowdy made it home alright and we had a great day Monday. We took Logan to visit Santa for the first time. He wasn't too thrilled about him. Once daddy sat down with him it was a little better, just as long as he didn't have to sit in jolly 'ole St. Nick's lap again. Then we bought some paint to finally paint our bedroom and the front bedroom!! Rowdy's family is coming to our house this weekend for Christmas so the rainbow of sample patches painted on the walls has got to go!!

There's No Place Like Home

After being gone for 5 weeks Rowdy is on his way home and I am so excited!! He was at Ft. Benning, GA jumping out of airplanes at jump master school. Doesn't sound like so much fun to me but he loves it. Except for when he saw snow flurries falling with him. Rowdy said it was C-O-L-D cold one night. He drove all the way back to Ada Friday night and had drill so he is on his way home now!! It is so neat to watch Logan when Rowdy gets home. He follows him around and wants his daddy to hold him all the time. It puts a big smile on my face.

And we wait some more...

The appointment with the surgeons has been moved to Jan 7. Their office called me this afternoon and said the surgeons have 2 surgeries scheduled on Monday and asked if we could change the date. It is frustrating to me because we are told this HUGE news and I feel like it is hanging over our head and really just delaying the inevitable. But once I stopped and looked at the big picture this means that Logan does not have to spend his first Christmas or his first birthday in the hospital. I truly know God is listening to our prayers and is telling me not to worry because he is taking care of everything, even the small unimportant details. We still have an appointment with the cardiologist Monday so she can talk to Rowdy, but have to wait until we meet with the surgeons in Jan to schedule his surgery. If I had to guess (which doesn't really mean much) I'd say we can plan on his surgery being middle to end of January.

This picture sums up what helps gets me through the day. He was having a blast bouncing in his infant bouncy chair. I think he learned this trick from cousin Taylor!!

The Scariest News

Last week Rowdy and I got the scariest news of our lives. Our 11 month old son is going to have to have open heart surgery. I took him in for a routine well baby exam a few months ago. We were seeing a new pediatrician and I wasn't familiar with her "normal" procedures. She began listening to Logan's heart and listened intently for a long time. She then proceeds to tell me that she thought she could hear a faint murmur but wasn't sure because his heart was beating fast, probably trying to fight off an ear infection. We went back to the doctor for a post ear infection follow up where she listened to his hear more intently than the first time and for what felt like 30 min. She then told me she wanted Logan to have a chest x-ray and that she is referring us to a cardiologist to have an echocardiogram done.

I was a nervous wreck at the cardiologist. My mom went with me to the appointment because Rowdy has still out of town at a military school. Logan did wonderfully during his 30 min echo where I had to hold him still, he made mommy proud! Afterwards, while waiting for the doctor to come in and tell us that Logan has a small murmur that he will grow out of and it is nothing to worry about, a nurse appears to do an EKG. This was my first red flag that something was not right. Not too much time later the cardiologist comes into the room and proceeds to tell us that Logan an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) and a malformation of the Mitral Valve (MV) and he will need surgery to correct it. In other words, Logan has 2 holes in his heart, one in the muscle wall that separates the left and right upper chambers of the heart and the other a notch in the MV that is preventing full closure of the valve on the left side of his heart.

The doctor is not too concerned with the MV malformation. She said it does not appear to be leaking very much and if you repair it we could have a bigger problem on our hands. They will however look at the MV during surgery to see if it in fact does need to be repaired. The ASD will be patched with a pericardium, a patch made from the membrane that surrounds Logan's heart. We were told that after the surgery we will be in the hospital for 1-2 weeks and full recovery will be 6 weeks.

At this time we do not have the surgery scheduled. Rowdy and I have an appointment Monday to meet with the surgeons to go over the procedure. We will schedule the surgery at that appointment. We are hoping we can schedule it for after Logan's 1st birthday, Jan 10. The surgery will be at the St. Francis Children's Hospital in Tulsa.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and please do not stop praying for my little man. Rowdy and I are trusting God and know that he is holding Logan in his hands.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to others. The Lord is at hand; do not worry or be anxious about anything, but everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.

Philippians 4:4-6