Erin Has a New Skill...

...It's NOT numchucking skills, NOT bowhunting skills, NOT computer hacking skills...(for you Napoleon Dynamite geeks, tee hee).

It's........SITTING! We don't remember getting this excited when the other kids sat for the first time. Just after surgery, at 7 months, we noticed Erin taking off with much more energy and strength. It's fun to see such a tiny little one sitting.



















And to prove that she is eating very well, check out the rolls...

Mocha

We'll miss you, Mocha. Well, some of us will :)

Flower Princess

This one is just too good not to post. Here's Molly Grace, taking advantage of our last bit of summer-like temperatures. Notice the inside out shirt and missing shoe, which just adds that special flair, don't you think?

It's Game Day!

Sleepover Time

Molly Grace (6) Margaret (7)

It's Been Over Two Weeks!

It's hard to believe that Erin's surgery was two weeks ago Wednesday. She continues to do fabulous, eating like a champ. Yesterday she had her two week post-op visit with the cardiologist. She had a great check up. An EKG was done to make sure the electrical system of the heart was not effected by the surgery, and it was not. She also had another chest exray to look for fluid. She's had several of these done now.  As you can see, they're done a bit differently than what I was used to.

Here's a couple of pics of the little predicament that Erin found herself in for the x-ray (these pictures were actually taken before surgery, but the one she had yesterday was very similar)...





Don't worry, it's not nearly at torturous as it looks :) I don't know why, but I find these pictures to be so cute.

Everything went beautifully with the post-op visit. She does still have a small amount of fluid in her lungs, which is quite normal, and she will continue on the diuretic, at half a dose, for another month. The other good news is that her heart is already smaller in size, her liver is on its way down in size, and her heart has no murmur or gallop. It's working perfectly. I hope the only gallop I ever hear again is the pitter-patter of her little feet running around our home.

On another note, I just wanted to say thank you, once again, to both of our moms and Kelly and Kelley, for all their help while we were away at the hospital. Everything went so smoothly while we were gone. They all went to Mass on Wednesday, just as Erin went into surgery. It was a worrisome day, and they prayed and prayed. But at the end of the day we were all relieved, and there was joy.

The rest of the week they had a lot of fun!

They went to Bay Beach...






They made five new Irish dance bags for the girls (here's cousin Colleen modeling hers)...



And they (well, some of them) got really dirty...



They even weathered an evening with no electricity for six hours! Imagine...six hungry, active kids, in the dark, with no electricity. The grandmas didn't miss a beat. Way to go Grandmas!!!

Ya Never Know What to Expect With This Guy...

Here's what The Boy came clomping up the basement stairs wearing yesterday morning.

Hmmm....he's either planning on plumbing, fixing the dehumidifier, or perhaps fishing???

He's definitely Irish, with a cheesy grin...

I have no idea....

A Visit With Great Grandma Dillon

This photo was taken the night before Erin's surgery. Great Grandma Dillon lives so close to Children's Hospital, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit. It was the first time Grandma was able to meet Erin. After an all day long pre-op, Grandma Dillon, Grandma Delaney, Mike, Erin and I had dinner together. It was a treat and a nice distraction for all of us!

We're Celebrating!

No, I'm not talking about the Badgers' win yesterday. It's much bigger than that! We're celebrating our "new" little baby, with a perfectly formed heart, who is now eating without the ng tube!!!  I have to admit, I was skeptical that she would take off so quickly. The cardiologist had predicted this, but I'm still just in awe that it just "clicked" and she's eating like a pro. We had been working on making Erin's eating sessions positive again to regain the association of pleasure with eating. It took just a few days and she was no longer crying at the sight of her bottle. I would sing to her, cuddle her and rock her. The kids would get her to laugh by making goofy faces and sounds. And we all prayed.  God intervened in the strangest way, proving He does in fact have a sense of humor :) Here's what happened: Friday night Bridget was sitting on Erin's ng tube, but didn't know it. Eileen came along and picked up Erin.....and out came the ng tube! Ouch! Because the reinserting of the ng tube is traumatic, we took a leap of faith and decided to leave it out overnight. At 10 pm, she took only 1 1/2 oz.  At 2 am, she woke up on her own (for the first time ever!) and took 2 1/2 oz. At 6 am and 10 am, she took 3 oz each. All day yesterday, she took her bottle, better and better, each time. By last night, she was eating like a pro, guzzling it down like she'd been doing it her whole life. At first, Bridget and Eileen were in a bit of trouble for not being more careful around Erin. However, by last night we were joyfully thanking them. :) Yippee!!!

"When is Our Tooth Fairy Going to Retire?"

Yes, these were the words I recently heard from Teresa. Aidan lost his first two teeth about a month ago and has been waiting patiently ever since for the Tooth Fairy to arrive.  Thankfully, Aidan Andrew has a little bit of his uncle Andy in him, whom he is named after. He's a cool cat and is rarely demanding. With this personality, and being number five of seven, he sometimes just does a lot of waiting, without complaining. It doesn't help the matter that he lost the first tooth and swallowed the second.  And of course life has been extremely busy for his Tooth Fairies, and for our family in general, with Erin's heart surgery. But Teresa has a point. This Tooth Fairy needs to either get the job done, or pass the job onto somebody else. I think Aidan will be writing a note to this incompetent Tooth Fairy today and his patient waiting will be rewarded!

Here's Aidan with his new teeth already coming in...



And speaking of Erin's heart surgery, she continues to heal very well. Her scar is already almost healed, and she's sleeping less and has more energy in general. She's just a happier kid. One thing she has started doing more and more is laughing. It has taken us by surprise; she'll just have a good belly laugh, out of the blue, for no apparent reason. I think she's just letting us know that she feels so much better! We are also making slow but steady progress in the eating department. She no longer cries at the sight of her bottle, but this retraining could take some time. The cardiologist explained to us that before Erin's heart repair, Erin's feeding sessions were the equivalent of walking a brisk five mile hike. As you can imagine, asking her to do that several times a day has built up a very negative association with eating. It was just too much work. Having the ng tube helped a lot, but now we have to work on making eating a positive experience again. So, we sing to her and make her very comfortable while she's eating, with lots of praise.  It is working. Although she's still only taking up to 1 1/2 oz per feeding, more importantly, she's enjoying it for the most part now. We stop at the first sign of distress. I'm hoping that in another couple of weeks, and once she's off her heart meds, we'll see even more improvements. We'd still appreciate any prayers for this intention!

Here's Grandma McKillen, holding Erin before she went home. Both grandmothers were an incredible help while we were in the hospital. Thank you both!!