Collin's awards assembly

Collin had an awards assembly today at school. He got an award for being on the Honor Roll for the first semester! They also did a little dance type thing which you can see by the picture, he thoroughly enjoyed...NOT!! Apparently all the boys were very embarrassed about doing this...must be the age!

Collin is on the far left. One of his best buddies, Brenden, is 3rd from the right.

Kaden's GI appointment

Kaden had an appointment on Monday with GI. They are very concerned about his weight gain, or lack thereof. He has actually lost 4 pounds since he was there 3 months ago. I happened to think their scale was off, so I had him weighed again today at feeding therapy, and it was right. He is currently at about 34.5 pounds, which means the scale at the pediatricians office is off. Anyways, because of this, I have put him back on at least 2 tube feedings during the day. He was only getting them during the night, but apparently has not been taking in as much calorie wise during the day as I thought. I was really hoping to avoid the tube use during the day because it makes him less hungry and not wanting to eat. It's so frustrating sometimes!! I have to weigh him weekly and report back to the GI Dr if there is no weight gain or any weight loss in any given week. We are still on the waiting list for the intensive feeding therapy at Baylor, they are thinking sometime in June.

New puppy

Here is our newest addition to the family. We got her on Wednesday. She is 9 weeks old and her name is Kaiah. She is a blue heeler/black lab mix. We all are loving having a puppy around....even the cat! They are now friends and were chasing each other around this morning and wrestling.

On another note, Kaden had his yearly cardiology appointment yesterday and it went VERY well!! The Dr said everything looks BEAUTIFUL and he couldn't be happier! His heart function is great and the pressures are coming down in the areas that they were concerned about which means that he is finally growing into the repairs that were made! All the repaired areas are holding up great. There is very mild regurgitation through the mitral valve repair, but it is nothing to worry about. He said that there is rarely a valve repair that doesn't have a little. We compared last years echo with this years and the aortic stenosis is definitely lessened which is what is helping his pressures come down. I asked about future surgeries and the Dr said that unless something drastic happens, he doesn't think he will need anything further done until he is an "old man".

Michigan Trip

The boys and I took off for Michigan on Dec 19th. We arrived there in between the snowstorms on Saturday the 20th. We weren't 1 hour into MI and Kaden started coughing! I kept up on his asthma meds at full strength and the cough was gone within a few days. Collin enjoyed playing in all the snow almost every day we were there. I didn't let Kaden go out in the cold until his cough went away.

Collin and cousin Sami
The boys with grandma Dorrie making a rhinoceros out of snow

Every New Years day, the Bredeweg's all get together and go bowling. The boys had a blast.

Collin and Kaden celebrated their birthdays while we were in MI. Collin is now 8 and Kaden is 5! My how time flies!

The boys had their yearly checkups at the Dr yesterday and they are both doing great. Collin weighs 56 lbs and is 50.25 inches tall which puts him at the 50th percentile for his age for both weight and height. Kaden weighs 37lbs 5oz and is 40.25 inches tall. This puts him at the 25th percentile for weight and 10th for height. He's finally on the charts! Kaden goes in for a cardiology appointment next week. The Dr mentioned yesterday that sometimes when they repair a mitral valve like they did with Kaden, it starts to stretch and get tight over time, so they will be paying alot of attention to that. I will update after the appointment!