Life as of Late and Our Favorite Boy

Life has been going good. We have just been super busy with work and life. We tried all summer to get out and do fun summer things but didn't end up doing half the things I wanted to. Coop did get to go swim for his first time at my brother's community pool a few times and he loved the water. We went to the mountains, made hobo dinners, and threw rocks in the river. We also had a few bonfires, picnics, and trips to the park. I broke down and decided to let Coop play at the park and swing on the swings, but first I of course had to wipe down everything and his hands after he played on each item. We also spent some time with Greg in Manti while he was doing the pageant in June. We went over to the temple grounds and got to ride on the golf cart and Coop loved playing with the steering wheel on it. We got snow cones, went on lots of walks, and took a few trips to Walmart, because what else is there to do in a small town that is as exciting as going to Wally World. In September Greg's best friend from Mississippi, Jared and his wife Stacey and one of their daughters Stella came to visit and stay with us. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and visiting all the temple square sites. It was great to catch up with them since we hadn't seen them since their wedding in 2009.

We made plans several times to go on vacation but it just never worked with our schedules. We really want to get away but we work so much that who knows when the opportunity to take some time off will work out. We are thinking of possibly getting away for our anniversary. We do feel really blessed to have work and the opportunities we have been given through our jobs. Greg recently decided two jobs were not enough and added one more to the mix. He started working at the Apple store, which is the equivalent of a kid in a candy store. Now we have zero excuses not to get an iPad for Christmas, at least that is what Greg thinks.

Cooper is growing up so fast and outgrowing all his clothes. He is our tall skinny boy and continues to be in the 25th percentile for weight at each appointment, but 80-90's for height. He got really sick with a stomach virus over Labor Day weekend and it was so sad to see him so lethargic. He got dehydrated so we took him to Primarys to get some fluids. Then he still was not making any progress towards feeling better and we had to take him back to the hospital again. He ended up staying over night to get some maintenance fluids and just to make sure he was doing ok with everything. He was pretty much back to normal within a few days. Only a few weeks after that around his 8 month mark his first tooth broke through and then his second a week or so later. His two little bottom teeth are so cute and really starting to pop up more.

In October Cooper had his cardiology appointment and it went well. He had to have an x-ray, echo, and EKG. I was nervous about how we would handle all of that testing but he did AMAZING! He laid still during his echo and watched tangled. He is so sweet and so cooperative. We were so impressed with him and so was all the hospital staff. They said he was by far one of the best they have seen. He always likes to help put all the EKG "stickers" on. I don't think he cried or whined once during the several hours we were there. His x-ray looked good and his heart did not appear to be any bigger and his lungs looked great. He is definitely over the aspirating because if he wasn't it would have shown by now since it has been over 3 months since he has been off the thickener. He is doing as well as he can be for having a heart defect. Last appointment we thought we heard them say that they felt that his valve was doing more than the shunt but at this appointment since they did the echo it was evident that his valve really isn't doing much and the shunt is doing the majority of the work. In March the cardiology department will have a conference and a doctor from the Mayo Clinic is going to be a keynote speaker at the conference. We are going to go in again in February to have a more extensive echo done so Cooper's cardiologist can show it to the Mayo Clinic doctor to get his opinion on Cooper's Ebsteins. I read up about this doctor and he has done extensive research and studies on the cone procedure to fix the tricuspid valve. We are excited to have this opportunity for him to review Cooper's case and potentially he could repair Cooper's valve. Hopefully he is still several years away from surgery and there will be that much more progress made on this cone technique. For now we continue to love our surgery free days and enjoy the normalcy of life. We have been trying to stay focused on the positives and realize that we may not have a heart healthy child but we have the best baby ever. He is amazing and we cannot express the love we have for him and how grateful we are for him in our lives. We know there are others who only get to enjoy their little ones for a short time and we have promised ourselves we will never take him and the healthy days for granted.