Happy Birthday Owen!!!

November 4, 2015 (I really did write this on November 4, but didn't get the pictures uploaded until now)

Our precious youngest Son turned 2 today.  I am in complete and total denial.  I feel like I just met him and he is already heading from the land of babies and toddlers into the land of little men.  I am just not ready.  I admit I am struggling with this birthday.  At this point in our life Mark and I believe our family to be complete.  So it suddenly caught me by surprise when I realized that this is it...there are no more babies in my house.  I admit my heart broke just a little bit.  I had such a short amount of time with the boys in "baby land" that it is a little hard to imagine that I will never have a baby again. But on to happier times:

This now little man is just amazing.  He has come so far in the almost 6 months he has been with our family.  His physical revealed that growing in inches and weight is not a priority for him (still itty bitty at only 22 lb 2 oz and 32 inches--We are single handedly keeping the Pediasure company in business), but he is definitely growing by leaps and bounds in personality.  He has really come out of his shell in the last few weeks.  He is starting to ask for things he wants, he has learned "mine" where he grabs something to him and tucks it into his chest (it is hard not to smile b/c it is so cute), and he has developed an ornery streak.  I think he is going to end up being our stubborn one : )  Overall though it is just such a privilege to see him emerging from his shell.  To see him trusting us more and more each day.  We still have a long way to go.  He had a lot of history before he came to us, but we are so so grateful to get a chance to walk with him in his life.  To see his story unfold.

Some of Owen's favorites as a new 2 yr old:

Chuggington
Any type of chip or pretzel
Greek Yogurt
Ice Cream
Chocolate
Cars or trains
MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC

November 3

November 3 is always going to be a special day in our house.  On November 3, 2014 we saw pictures of Owen for the first time.  I just knew as soon as I saw him that he was our next son.  Konnor and I went to Mark's work to show him pictures of the next blessing to be added to our family and from that moment on he was our Son.

But November 3 has another special meaning in our house.  It is the day before Owen's birthday.  Right this very minute it is already November 4 in China.  On the other side of the world there is a family grieving this day.  Not knowing if the child they loved so much has gotten the medical care he needed or found a Forever Family to call his own.  I think about this family a lot.  As I mentioned before, there was a birth note left with Owen.  We know that this family loved him and just could not provide the care he needed.  My heart is heavy this night for a Mother that 2 years ago must have been so scared as she went into preterm labor.  So uncertain of the future of this child that she  had sheltered up to that day.  I can't imagine the anguish this family felt as they had to make the decision that their child would have a better future without them. I am eternally grateful that they chose life for this boy.  This boy whose smile lights up our days and whose giggles make you see rainbows on even the bluest days.

So tonight I will say some extra prayers.  Prayers for peace for this wonderful family on the other side of the world.  I will never meet them or know their names, but we will forever be connected through our love of this beautiful little boy.

Surgery Update

Sorry it took so long to get everyone updated.  It's been a long month.  Owen's surgery went well.  He had some issues with sleepiness and low oxygen after surgery that required some supplemental oxygen, but once the anesthesia really wore off this corrected itself.  He really did great in the hospital.  He just wanted Mom to hold him, but he slept fairly well and ate pretty good.  We discharged first thing the next morning.  They had given Owen multiple doses of IV steroids during and post op due to his small size and oxygen dropping.  They were worried about swelling so that's why the steroids.  They worked great, but unfortunately IV steroids are rough and little man had a tough 3 days post op.  He just could not sleep at all.  Maybe 45 minutes at a time and it would take up to 2 hrs to get him to sleep.  I won't lie.  It was a rough couple days.

Let me tell you something else that happened those first few days.  Our little Konnor man showed his true big brother colors.  I have watched this little man mature so much in the last month.  As soon as we got home we reviewed again about Owen's owies and that he couldn't have anything crispy, crunchy or hard to chew.  Konnor immediately went to the bathroom and got a box of bandaids for Owen's owies.  He was constantly saying "Owen, I know it hurts.  Here Owen this is for you. Mommy Owen is hungry.  Mommy Owen tried to put his fingers in his mouth."  Anything to help me.  Owen has been super fussy since surgery, super fussy, and Konnor has really done awesome in dealing with everything.  He has been so gentle with him and is always saying "it will be okay Owen."

Unfortunately 3 days post op Owen developed a cold and by 5 days post op we could see his soft palate was starting to open up again.  We saw the surgeon a few days later and he said to suppress the cough, stay on a soft diet another month and see him back.  He was confident it would start to heal on it's own.  The good news is that the soft palate does appear to be healing, but I think we have a fistula somewhere else b/c he has food leaking from his nose.  : (  My heart hurts for him just thinking about him having to do this surgery again next year.  We see the surgeon again in a week and a half so we will see what he says at that time.

I was able to stay home with Owen for the first two weeks and then headed back to work.  Overall he really has been a trooper.  He has had so much happy in his short little life, and I just can't believe how well he has handled everything.