I'm 19 Months Old Now

Happy 19 months Mason!! Every birthday is a great milestone
for our miracle baby! He still weighs 16 lb's give or take
a few ounces....and still is 29 in's tall. His bum scoot is still
his form of transportation, well.... except for mom's hip, which
is where he also spends a lot of time.



Mason really doesn't seem to like it when we help him stand.
I 'm not sure why, except maybe for having less strength from
his heart failure and such skinny little legs from not gaining
weight. The only time he will put weight on his feet is in his
johnny jumper or saucer. But at least he'll do that right now.



Intellectually he seems to be right on with his development.
He does also have good fine motor skills. His newest skill is putting
objects inside of bigger containers. He discovered how fun this is all
on his own and in fact, this can occupy him for quite awhile some days.



The other day Ammon spilled a large coin jar that Mark keeps
in our closet. I asked him to pick them up, but after 2 quarters he was
done and ran off. I turned back to the mirror to finish drying my hair
and then realized I better get the coins picked up before Mason
puts them in his mouth. When I turned back around to check on
Mason he was taking one coin from the pile, scooting two feet to the
jar and dropping the coin in, turning around, scooting back, and then
starting over! He listens better than my other kids!! After about 10 round
trips he got quite winded, looked up at me, and then lifted his arms
for me to pick him up saying , "Ma Ma Ma Ma". He was pooped out!!



AS FOR HIS HEART: We spent his 19th month birthday, June 30th, at
Primary Children's for a cardiology appointment. ( I really did start this post
that night, but as always ran out of time to finish it.) We were there just to
meet with Michelle, Dr. Everett's nurse practitioner (she's also the trans-
plant coordinator) to up his dose of the Carvedilol. Then we had to stay
a few hours for them to monitor his blood pressure on the higher dose. He
did just fine on the new dose, which is good.



While we were there Dr. Everett came in to see Mason and to
talk with me about him getting the G-tube. She highly recommended
it and said the positive reasons completely out weigh the risks. I had
tentatively scheduled the G-tube surgery for Friday July 10th, but wanted
to talk with Dr Everett before we made our final decision. With her advice
and "go-ahead" we've decided this is what Mason needs. For me it is a tough
decision, but have come to the conclusion that his body is not going to gain
weight right now without it. His heart is too sick! I have tried everything and
not an extra ounce has stayed on his little body in over 4 months!! So
July 1oth it is to get Mason the G-tube. Hopefully it will be just a 1 night
stay at the Hotel on the Hill.




We talked a little about the process of getting on the transplant list and
it is a lot to swallow ! But, basically it will take 3 to 6 months before he'd
be listed. Unless of course, he got dramatically sicker and needed to
be on IV heart meds in the hospital. Then he would get on the list
right away, as long as his blood work and a heart cath show that he'd be
able to get a transplant. For now we just watch and wait! His next
appointment to see Dr. Everett is on July 15th and then an ECHO at
the end of July to check his heart function.

Here's a few pictures from the last month:

Dr.Mason found this stethescope in the toy
box and knew right where to put it!
~look at his poor little skinny legs :(

Mason is smiling because he is thinking.......
"as soon as mom turns around I'm chucking this in the floor!"

This is meal time....or really.....play time for Mason!

And then.....in the bath (usually the kitchen sink) he goes.

Mason loves scooting inside of or under things.

Mason is all dressed up for Preston's Baptism.

This is also at Preston's baptism (which I need to post about!)




Until next time.........and thank you as always, to all those who follow our sweet Mason's progress and offer us continued love and support. It would be so tough to get through this with out you!!!!

Thank you

Our family has been so blessed with love, support, and kind acts of service since Mason was born and diagnosed with his heart disease (and before that as well, since we had realized Ammon had special needs)! I want all those to know that have done and still do such kind and helpful things for our family...nothing goes unnoticed and we are truly grateful for everything. It all helps lighten our load and add some sunshine into our lives!!




I need to tell you about two very special people and the priceless gift they gave to our family. These two ladies I had never met, but now will forever remember their example of kindness and service. One day a couple weeks ago I received a comment on Mason's blog from Jana or better known as "The Meanest Mom" (a hilarious Mom Blogger from Philadelphia). She said she had come across Mason's blog and that she wanted to do something nice for our family, so to please e-mail her right away, and gave me her e-mail address. Long story short....over the next hour we e-mailed back and forth and talked on the phone. She explained that her and Wendy from Blue Lily Photography had a gift for us. They were giving us FREE, absolutely FREE family pictures!! (Click on the bold words to link to their web sites)




I was smitten by the generosity of these two perfect strangers. The amazing thing was that I really wanted and needed pictures of Mason. I'd never had professional pictures taken of Mason or of our family since Mason had been born. When I checked out Blue Lily's web sight I was absolutely in "aw" over the extremely talented photographer (whom is well known all over the U.S.) that was going to take our pictures!!!




Wendy was only in Utah for a few days, but we were so grateful she fit us in her busy schedule. We are also grateful for the rain storm that caused our first appointment to be canceled and extended her stay. Originally half our family was out of town, so I was just going to get Mason and Ammon's pictures taken. When she extended her stay 2 days, my family came home so we were actually able to get pictures with all of us after all. Her and her husband were wonderful and I can't wait to see the photos. I will post some when we get then back in 2 weeks. Jana "The Meanest Mom", who lined it all up, just asked me to pay the kindness forward someday. And that I promise to do for sure!!! Thank you so much Jana and Wendy :-)



Another thank you goes out to Stephanie, someone else I didn't know, but is an aunt of one of Mason's very special heart buddies. She gave Mason's blog a much needed 'face-lift'! Isn't it so cute?!! I love it! She also did some other photo-shop projects for me. I am very grateful to her for sharing her time and talents with us!



Life would be much more difficult for our family with the trials we have been given, without great friends, family, and even those we don't know who support , love, and offer us service! THANK YOU for sharing some sunshine with us.

Busy is Good

A friend asked me a couple days after Mason's last echo "how are you holding up?"

My response was, "I'm okay as long as I keep busy".

And in my life that is not very hard to accomplish! (a perfect example: I started this post almost a week ago, now it is June 26, because I never got past the first sentence!!!)



Mark and our three oldest kiddos were gone for 10 days to a family reunion/ family vacation with all his siblings and their kids. I stayed home with Mason (he is definitely not healthy enough to travel) and Ammon (I wanted my kids to have a break from helping me watch him all the time and he has summer school too). At first I thought "wow, I'm going to have some extra time to get some unfinished projects done!" Who was I kidding?? I had the two busiest and highest maintenance kiddos at home with me. But remember I said "I'm okay if I keep busy".......

While Mark, Kaitlin, Preston, & Braiden were here:

I was home with these two cute busy boys:

But don't get me wrong, There's no where I'd rather be at this
time in my life than caring for these special kiddos!!

Here's just a few of the things that kept me busy while half my family was gone (most of which are on our daily schedule anyways) -----


*bribing mason to take all his meds (2 breathing treatments and 5 heart meds twice a day)

*counting Mason's calorie intake

*wrestling Mason to get him in the high chair and to eat at least 3 times a day
............he doesn't want to eat much lately :(

* bathing Mason after each meal (or "the wrestling match"), because more goes in his hair and on the floor than in his mouth (that makes calorie counting a bit difficult)

*getting Ammon in bed early enough so I can get him up in the morning and on the bus by 7:30am (he goes to school 3 mornings a week during the summer)

*calling home health care and begging them to come out right way because I realize I am out of portable oxygen tanks.

*making numerous phone calls to our insurance company and all those sending us medical bills.....trying to straighten out billing nightmares

*rounding up all the flip flops Ammon has borrowed from around the neighborhood and returning them to their proper owners (he has a fetish for flip flops lately)

*frantically looking for Ammon when he is out of my sight, because most likely he is playing w/ a neighbor's hose, before he causes a flood

*replanting my petunias that Ammon pulls out of the ground because he was watching me weed ( he says, "Ammon help Mommy")

*pulling up carpet and sucking water out out of the padding with a wet vac in the basement playroom when it floods through the window well (from the never-ending rain we've had) ......and poor Mason gets drenched scooting across the saturated carpet wanting to be right by Mom's side

*redoing the above because Ammon pours the full wet vac out on to the padding

*..........you get the idea



Busy is good, right???



So at the end of the day when no new projects had been started, I decided with fewer mouths to feed we could skip dinner time, pack up some snacks, and head to the park before putting Ammon to bed. Ammon loves the slide and Mason just loves being outside. Seeing my two youngest play at the park is much better than cleaning out closets any day!!!



Once Ammon is in bed (as well as everyone else, now that they are all home) and I am rocking my sweet Mason this is the time of day I think about my poor baby's failing broken heart. This is when I cry in prayer to our Heavenly Father, our God, the Being who comforts me during my trials. Prayer is what gets me through this tough time of worrying about my baby's future. I do not understand the how's or why's of our trial with Mason's heart disease and may never, but when I pray I receive a comforting feeling that He, our Father Above, is watching over my Mason, our family, and the doctors who take care of him.



Today, Mason continues to press on and fight for a future here on earth!!! We love you Miracle Mason!!


Thank you so much to all of you who have left comments or e-mailed me with words of love and support. It means so much to me....more than you know!!!

Tears and Fears

From the title of my post you can well assume today was not a "good news" day, but rather a very long tear filled day up at Primary's. Today was Mason's 2nd ECHO since the one in April that showed lowered heart function (in scarier words: heart failure). We have prayed and hoped over the last 9 weeks that his new meds would improve the function, but unfortunately this was not the path Mason's little heart has taken, and there was NO IMPROVEMENT in his valve leakage or ventricle squeeze today. So basically he is in true heart failure :( Words I have avoided and hoped would never describe our little Miracle Mason!!!




What now? I met with a nurse practioner from the heart failure/ and transplant team. They started Mason on 1 more med Carvedilol which is also to help the squeeze (unfortunately it usually only has good results w/ heart patients who need better function in their left ventricle....Mason doesn't use his left ventricle.....that's the broken part of his heart....so he needs help w/ his right ventricle's squeeze.....basically, this is kind of like a last resort med). We had to stay for a couple hours after his first dose to monitor his blood pressure, because a side affect can be too low of blood pressure. His was fine. They also drew some labs (more tears for Mason and I both this time...he hates the lab...and I don't blame him) to get a base line of his blood work for our new heart team. And we will go back every two weeks to up his dose on the new med, monitor it, and begin working w/Dr.Everett.




Do we know if transplant is the answer? Not yet! Not everyone is a good candidate. Antibodies can be an issue I know. You can have too many sometimes. I honestly don't know very much yet. Just bits and pieces. They will also do more echo's and a heart cath before discussing transplant seriously. So many questions! So much wondering! And now we just wait.......




I've had many tears of joy as Mason has blessed my life these last 18 months. I've had many tears of gratitude to my Father Above for allowing Mason to live at times when he was so close to returning Home. But today, I've had tears because I am honestly scared! I have so many fears! Fears of the unknown! Fears of losing my baby! Fears of what lay ahead! Fears of making the wrong or right choices for Mason! Fears of adequately caring for my other children in the midst of Mason's heart worries...............oh, tears and fears!!!!




My heart melts as Mason smiles at me right now. He is so happy all the time and has no idea why Mom is so very sad today.

Trying to Stay Positive......

(His PJ's say "Heart Breaker".....very appropriate!)

I finally received a call from Cardiology with a date for Mason's next appointment and ECHO. It will be this Friday June 12th. The scheduler said she apologized for the wait but they had to get permission from Dr. Sarrel to rearrange appointments and squeeze him in. So it will be 5 weeks from his last ECHO instead of 4 like we had planned, but she was actually booked until end of July!!


Then the scheduler said "Dr. Saarel would like me to go ahead and schedule in 4 more weeks to meet with Dr. Everrett" ( she is the heart failure/ transplant specialist). My heart dropped!!! She said Dr. Everrett was booked until September so she would have to get special permission from her as well to rearrange appointments. I remained rather calm until she called back within 10 minutes and had made our appointment on July 15th. Okay, so what would you think?...it took 2 1/2 weeks to get our June appointment......and then so quickly things were worked out for July!!! They must just be a bit concerned??!!




I am trying to think Dr. Saarel and Dr. Everrett are just trying to be ahead of the game but, honestly its hard not to think that they have lost hope that his meds he has been taking will lead us to seeing improved heart function at this next
ECHO :(




What do I think? Mason doesn't seem to be improving. He still seems exhausted a lot (but still won't stay asleep very long)and his coloring to me doesn't look very good even on the O2. People tell me he looks good but, to myself I say "not really". Yes it makes me sad!!!




Also, this week he has had a cough and some tummy bug! He has thrown up more that he ever has (as well as 'blowing out' his diaper a lot more than usual). So there goes for gaining weight this week! I didn't even take him into to be weighed. I figured why bother myself with bad news. At least he didn't get dehydrated because he could still keep down breast milk most of the time. There's a bonus for still nursing I guess.




For now if you will join our family in praying for our little Miracle Mason. We are praying for a 'good news ECHO' and if that doesn't happen.... then,that we will be blessed with peace and a knowledge of what is the best path for our sweet baby at this time.

18 Amazing Months!!

(This is Mason's hand motions for "SO BIG"!)

Happy 18 months Mason!

It has been....

18 amazingly special months

18 amazingly long months

18 amazingly educational months

18 amazingly traumatic months

18 amazingly emotional months

18 amazingly busy months

18 amazingly joyful months

18 amazingly tiring months

18 amazingly crazy months

18 amazingly memorable months

18 amazingly prayerful months

18 amazingly miraculous months.....

since out little Miracle Mason was born!! My Life would be so different without him, less crazy for sure, but definitely not as special and not so full of daily miracles. I wouldn't trade it for anything!


Mason is happy as could be today. He has 16 pearly white teeth, weighs a whole 16 lbs 2 oz, is 29 in long, still doing his bum scooting, still tangling up in the O2 cord, still loves to cuddle and be held, and still thinks he needs to wake up and hangout with me every hour or to throughout the night! That's our Mason!


No new info about his heart, but he is down to 1 liter of O2. Much better than 2!! We will see Cardiology sometime in the next 2 weeks for another ECHO, but I don't have the date yet. We always are grateful for your continued support and prayers!

(Mason is helping us plant some flowers in the yard here.)

G-tube or Not???

Earlier this month I mentioned the concern of Mason's weight gain and the recommendation of our pediatrician and cardiologist to add some tube feedings to his daily routine. The option for an NG (through the nose to the tummy) is pretty much out for an opinionated 18 month old who for the most part hasn't had one since he was 3 months old. We know the fight to keep that one in or out would probably burn more calories and more upset to his heart than would be worth it for little Mason. So, by pulling a few strings, our ped. got us into meet with a GI doc at Primary's (usually the wait is 3 months) to discuss a G-tube also known as a "button". Before we met with her I had to take Mason in for an upper GI (where the take x-ray images of him drinking barium). It showed a normal GI anatomy and no reflux. (So that means he wouldn't need the 'nissen' ......for the other heart mom's out there, you know what that is.... for those who don't, that is a procedure to help reflux issues).



During the appointment (on May 18) she showed us his growth chart. Here are the concerns 1)he has lost weight the last 8 weeks, a little over 1 lb. He was down to 15 lbs10 oz that day:(
2)he weighs too little when compared to his height- even for a heart baby :(


But there are a few things which can contribute to this: *genetics (2 of my other kiddos were also low on the charts at this age- Preston and Ammon, just not quite this low), *heart babies' little bodies burn more calories than a healthy baby, especially when surviving on one ventricle, *he has worked for his food since 3 months old, thus burning more calories....where as a lot of heart babies keep the NG because they won't eat, *he was and still is too picky to take 'breast milk+formula higher calorie fortified' bottles (he has only wanted the pure stuff and directly from the source!), *his heart failure burning even more calories.... although he eats a lot of calorie packed solids and still a lot of breast milk.....being a HLHS baby in heart failure he needs almost 3 times the calories as healthy babies his age!!



The Dr. explained how the G-tube is inserted and how it works. It is usually a same day surgery, but would probably require an overnight stay for Mason. This would be a good way to sneak in extra calories through out the day and night. But do we really want to put him through another surgery???



She gave us samples of some high calorie drinks, "Boost Kid Essentials 1.5" (355 cals per 8 oz) and "Pediasure" (237 cals per 8 oz) for Mason to try. If he will add these to his daily in take then maybe we won't need the surgery. If not, then this would be what we would feed him through the tube in addition to what he already eats orally.



I am so uncertain on what to do???! Moms of kiddos with a G-tube: What do you like and not like? Actually , I know it will come down to making sure Mason is getting enough nutrition and calories to grow ....and deciding what is best for him! For now, we plan to see how he does with these new drinks over the next 2 weeks. If he will drink them (although he won't take a bottle and doesn't really understand the 'no spill' sippy cups, I've either used a sippy cup that will drip or the Boost comes in a juice box type container w/ a straw which I squeeze it into his mouth and then he drinks it) and start gaining weight then we may hold off for now.



Now it's Friday May 29th, because I never finished this post......and GOOD NEWS.....I took Mason to the doctor today to weigh him....and he gained 8 oz in a week!!! Yay for Mason!
He weighed in at 16 lbs 2 oz (and his diaper wasn't eve wet)!! Still not up to where he had been before the pneumonia but, the added drinks must be working. He likes the Boost w/ the straw the best but will drink the others also. The Boost is quite pricey though at almost $2 an 8 oz box!!! Hey that's cheaper than a surgery right?!



So I will keep counting calories for little Mason and hope he can keep gaining on his own!

True Emotions

The other night as I was rocking Mason, the house was quiet for everyone else was asleep, and just enough moonlight was shining in through our window so that I could watch my baby relax in my arms.
I began to cry as I thought about how absolutely beautiful he is on the outside, but yet so broken and sick on the inside. I feel honored to be his Mother and to be given the chance to care for him, but yet it breaks my heart to even imagine life without him. I feel blessed each day we have him here in our home but yet want to see him grow and enjoy life as other children do. I know some children w/ HLHS grow to adulthood but have seen others become Angels in Heaven before even becoming a toddler. Some days, as I get caught in the hustle and bustle of life (well, before we got re-attached to this 50 foot oxygen cord) I forget for a few minutes about his broken heart because he looks so normal and is always so happy and smiley! But, not a night has gone by since he was born, that I don't wake up startled and afraid that maybe my Miracle Mason has stopped breathing and his broken heart has taken him Home. I pray each day for Mason's heart to function better and that he can have many more days and years w/ us here on earth.



Mason, you are my strength and peace in life. May our dear Heavenly Father leave you here with me for a long time to come!!!

Life Can be So Complex!

(Sorry, this is quite long, but I am journaling all the details to help us remember everything about Mason's heart journey.)



First of all to follow up for my post from last week about Mason being sick.... Friday afternoon (the same day I had posted) I decided to take him back into the pediatrician, because his cough seemed to be getting worse and I did not want to end up in the ER over the weekend. He was acting sicker than when he had the pneumonia. So, our ped. who was pretty concerned w/how his lungs sounded, sent us over to the AF hospital for a chest x-ray and a 'nasal secretions' lab test (which tests for RSV and any other type of viral infection).




In the mean time Friday evening, I had a 'Mommy Meltdown' (I really am not Wonder Woman like so many of you think....the reality is I am stressed and worried most of the time!). I was trying to decide whether or not to postpone Preston's baptism(scheduled for the next morning) for another day, but didn't want to crush Preston's excitement! Maybe because I was crying, but my sweet little 8 year old told me it would be okay and that he wouldn't mind after all if we changed the date of his baptism. I told him I wanted my heart to be in it for him, and w/Mason so sick I would have just been 'quickly throwing together' something that should be a very special day. I am grateful for the tender mercies and understanding of my sweet children. And for Mark as well, for saying "it's up to you."




Soon after all that, I received a phone call about the x-ray. Both of Mason's lungs were junky w/fluid now, but no pneumonia at least. So w/that, the question is...is it his heart failure getting worse causing the fluid, or could it be something viral? The viral tests would take up to 24 hours.....just great! 24 hours of wonder and worry! After that phone call, as I was holding my sick little Mason, we made the final decision to bump Preston's big day to a later date. Thank you to all involved, for understanding my "mommy meltdown"!





Then Saturday night my ped. called a couple of times (Dr. Whiting is amazing and is so kind to us! I even call him at home with concerns quite frequently.) He had been checking with Primary's lab all afternoon on the viral tests and at first everything came back negative so we worried about congestive heart failure!! But an hour later he called and Mason was positive for the 'Rhino-virus'. What's that? The ordinary everyday cold. Yay, at least this wasn't a heart issue, but it shows what a 'little cold' can do to a heart baby. His little body is too compromised right now to fight anything off very well. We just needed the cold to quickly run its course before his ECHO.





On to the ECHO.....
Mason and I showed up at Primary's at 7:30 am. on Thursday morning to check in for his sedated echo. Now remember for sedation his tummy needs to be empty, so by this this time Mason was very hungry. He had not eaten since 3:30 am (that's already a long time for him) so he was getting mad! Then we didn't see anyone from sedation until 8:30 when they placed an IV for his sedating meds. Mason was so upset from the IV poke along with him being hungry all his crying made him begin to cough really bad. (His cough was actually quite a bit better until then.) So this made the sedation nurse unsure about sedating him because the sedation can already drop their sats sometimes, then with his cough and already being on 1 1/2 liters of o2 their was talk about him not having enough reserves to pull his sats back up on his own. Which could lead to 'bagging' him to help him breathe and a stay in the PICU! Yikes! No thanks! But we really needed an echo to see if there had been any improvement in his heart function........





After talking w/ Dr. Saarel, our cardiologist, it was decided to try and get an echo without sedating. Dang! An IV placed for no reason. For those of you who don't know, they sedate kiddos because to get a decent ECHO they need to hold really still and not cry. I was thinking to myself, "are you kidding me? My child who cries at the site of scrubs, hold still for a half hour echo?" Then I had a thought....If they weren't going to sedate him then couldn't I feed him? Fill his tummy, calm him down, and maybe even he'd fall asleep. That was high hopes! But I asked if we could try it anyways. The nurse and the radiologist doing the echo were game. So they left the room, I nursed him (while saying a little prayer to myself...please help Mason to fall asleep so that we can get his echo today) and he fell asleep! They came back in after 10 minutes to check on us and we decided I could hold him just like he was for the echo in hopes that he wouldn't wake up. And it worked! He slept the whole time and woke up right when the radiologist was done. Yay! Good work Mason!



We met w/ Dr. Saarel about an hour later for the results. I am trying to approach this with a 'half full' attitude rather than 'half empty'. Maybe this is just my way of coping or am in a bit of denial. His heart function and leaking valve are not any worse, Yay! But, there was not any improvement either. Basically, there was no change after a month on the new meds. Although, this doesn't mean meeting w/ the transplant team quite yet like I had understood at out last appointment. Thank goodness! I was not ready for that yet.




She upped 1 of his meds (enalipril) and we will up it again in 2 weeks which will max out his dose. Then we will go back in a month for another echo. Then hopefully he will have improved heart function! If no improvement still? Then try 1 last med, but this one is a last result because in some kids it can drop their heart rate too low. So this will entail lots of appointments to monitor side effects. And sometimes they have you meet w/the transplant team while starting this med. I think that this is based on our cardiologist's opinion on how he is doing. Okay....so let's just think, hope, and pray positively that the higher dose of meds will do the trick and we won't have to walk down that other path!




The other concern right now is about Mason's weight gain. He is a good eater....he still nurses a lot and eats all kinds of solids but, his little heart must be working so hard that he is burning everything up. He has not gained in a month and 1/2, but even before that his gain has been very slow. Which ever route we go, whether it's toward the 3rd surgery (the fontan) or transplant he needs to get bigger and stronger. What are our options? Pump up his food w/ lots of calories (well, I am already doing this w/ peanut butter, almond butter, olive oil, eggs, protein powder, ice cream ), give additional feedings by NG (the feeding tube through the nose ) at night and expect him not to pull it out(but he doesn't sleep in one spot all night ! I am all over the house trying to get him to sleep and I know he will not leave it in. In fact I tried a couple weeks ago as suggested by our ped), or have a G Tube put in (a little "button" on his tummy put in during an out patient surgery) so that he can receive extra feeds and not have to do any work to get the calories. What to do? What to do?




Mason fortunately hasn't needed an NG tube since he was 3 months old. That has been a huge blessing and amazing for such a little heart baby! But now to expect him to leave one in at night may just be too much to ask of him. Or, do I really want him to go through another surgery (at least its minor compared to heart surgery) and have a G tube placed? I know a lot of heart babies and kiddos that have them, but didn't expect Mason to need one because he has always eaten so well. It is a decision we will need to face here pretty soon. Especially as Dr. Saarel's words keep ringing through my ears "I am worried about Mason" (about his heart and his weight) I know it is something we can't ignore. Dr Whiting is also concerned so I will be discussing it with him in greater detail as well.




As always, your concern and prayers are greatly appreciated! And thank you also to the anonymous taco soup dinner that arrived at our door last week (It was going to be a cereal night, so thank you thank you) as well as other meals brought in and favors done as to ease my load when life seems so crazy and complex.

Pictures from April

**Mason loves to go outside so we decided to take him to the
park to watch Braiden's soccer game!
We just found a quiet little spot away from the crowd.
This made Braiden happy too!!

**Mason still only wants to scoot around on his bum, so we've
been trying to set him on his knees to play a little each day.

**If the front or back door gets left open Mason immediately
scoots over to it to see what's going on outside.
He loves the sunshine!

This was our "weekend get-away" for the pneumonia.
Primary's needs to get some more 'boyish' pj's.
Lots of people said "oh, she is darling". I guess
I can see why! All those curls and the pastel pj's!

This was Easter Sunday.
(He did not need the O2 like he does now
so we gave him a break for the pictures and
he wouldn't leave it on anyways )

Mason got caught sneaking some chocolate!!

** Two of my handsome boys...Braiden and Mason.

**One Easter princess and four cute crazy boys.

**Ammon and big brother Preston celebrating Preston's
8th birthday on April 5! Can't believe my Preston is 8!