Happy Birthday Patrick!

Today was a special day!  Patrick turned 1 year older and we got to celebrate as a family on our "mountain" (property).  One of our favorite things to do together.

On the menu:

Chicken and rice cooked to perfection in our dutch oven

Blackberry cobbler, also cooked in the dutch oven

We had a nice fire to warm ourselves by and just enjoyed hanging out together. 

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Singing "Happy Birthday" around a yummy cobbler

Abby, keeping warm under many layers!

Jack Nathan's first 'outdoorsy' experience

Our supper cooking!

Happy Birthday Jack Nathan!

Jack Nathan turns 2! from patty hull on Vimeo.

Dear Jack Nathan,
   Today is your first birthday at home and you are two years old!  Every day we learn something new about you.  A new sound or facial expression.  You are coming up with new things too!  Blowing kisses, signing hungry and sleepy.  You really love to throw things in the trash... we find all sorts of missing items there.  While folding laundry and putting clothes away you have become my most enthusiastic "helper."  

During supper time you sit to my left, and sometimes for no reason, you will lean over and put your head on my arm and give me a hug!  I love that.  You are a true boy and love to wrestle with your daddy and brothers.  Today I saw you sweetly wiping Abby's face with a Huge wad of tissues... just like you've seen us do.  It's not unusual for you to lay your head on her and give her a gentle pat.  So sweet!

The Lord has had His hand on you since the day you were born.  So many people love you and have tenderly cared for you!  We are so thankful you are our son.  Some day we will tell you all the miracles that happened for us to become a family.  You are a very brave boy and we are proud of you!

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

Cleft Clinic

I'm playing catch up on everything it seems these days, including this blog!  I need to record this while it's still fresh so we will have these memories years down the road.

Ok.  Jack Nathan had his first Cleft Clinic at Children's hospital last week.  It went great!  Although the day was very long for both of us, we had plenty of one on one time together while we waited to be seen by several specialists.

The surgeon was so nice, and very sweet to Jack as he examined his lip and mouth.  He said the repair should go just fine and he doesn't see anything of concern right now for the surgery.  We scheduled Jack's lip repair surgery for March 6, (later I realized we will need to change this b/c it's 2 days before we go on vacation) with a pre-surgery check up at the clinic a few weeks before. The doc said he will repair Jack's palate (the roof of his mouth) 6 months after the lip repair.

exploring

The speech therapist came and evaluated Jack's eating and communication abilities. She was very pleased that he is signing and using some vocalizations to express his wants and needs.  Then Jack had a hearing test which showed he does have mild to moderate hearing deficits.  These are most likely due to fluid in both ears and an infection.  He will have many hearing tests in the future to keep an eye on this.  Jack will need to start speech therapy soon after his palate is healed.

keeping busy!

ENT examined his ears and plans to put in tubes during Jack's lip repair surgery.  He said most cleft kids will need 3-4 sets during their childhood depending on their growth and speech development. He said we could expect to get a new set about every year.

Genetics came next and examined Jack from head to toe.  Because clefting can accompany many different syndromes they look to see if any other signs are present to confirm the need for more testing.  More good news!  Jack doesn't have any physical signs that he might have a syndrome and since he is developmentally on target there is no need for testing now.

All in all it was an encouraging day and we came away with the beginnings of a plan of care for Jack.  Now we brace ourselves for surgery!

Jack did really well for most of the day.  We both got a little tired after lunch while we waited in the big waiting room, riding the wagons over and over again.