Birthday Bliss

It's hard to believe that Courtney is already two years old!

Our little princess/Roller-derby wanna-be has been nothing if not vivacious and full of life! 

When we first found out about Jacob, we weren't sure how she'd react to the "competition" but she's taken on such a sweet and loving presence around him (as long as she's paying attention and doesn't accidentally step on him as she's running around screaming and tearing the house apart in 5 seconds flat!)

This year was the first time Courtney really had a chance to get into the spirit of her birthday.  So we invited our friends, the Carpenters, and Les & Karen (KC's brother and his wife) over to celebrate the big day!

Everyone got into the "Princess" spirit!

Down Right Living: Happy Birthday Courtney!

Courtney loved all of her presents, all of the attention, and all of the yummy food!  Aside from her squeals of delight and her saying things like, "That's AWESOME!", it was a low - key birthday filled with those we love the most! Thanks to everyone for making it a success! :)

3 months after heart surgery - Jacob's progress

Holy Cow! Has it been almost 2 months since my last post?! Goodness!  I guess no news is good news?  Well. Sort of.  It does mean that Jacob is doing FABULOUSLY!  Surgery has now officially been deemed a complete success by all of his doctors, he is now weighing in at a hefty 15 lbs 11 oz. and is attacking all of his milestones with an unsurpassed vigor!



At 6 months, he is still in the 10% range in size/weight of a normal child, but is about 50% for a child with Downs Syndrome.  Which is fine with us.  All I care about is that he's healthy and happy.  And happy he IS.  Our sweet little munchkin never seems to do anything but smile. 

Jacob is now part of the zipper club!

(We've discovered he LOVES bath time!  He loves to kick and float!!)



Unlike his big sister, Courtney, who is more like a freight train around the house, demolishing everything in her path, Jacob is our quiet little angel who plays by himself, smiles, giggles, and just takes in everything life has to offer.



He's now rolling over, scooting (on his face - his arms aren't quite strong enough to handle the weight of his body), grabbing things and shaking them, and sitting with some help.  But his all-time favorite thing to do is to stand up while holding someone's fingers.  He's just so proud of himself!!  You can see the joy and jubilation in his eyes at the accomplishment alongside the thirst for more Independence.  It may take Jacob a little bit longer to sit, crawl and stand on his own, by I have this feeling that once he has them mastered, there will be NO holding him BACK!

It's all a matter of progression

I guess time flies when you're having fun.....or merely trying to keep your head above water.

Jacob has been progressing amazingly well.  I mean AMAZINGLY well. Jacob is off all (yes ALL) of his medications and is going au naturale.  It's been nice not to worry about which of his 6 doses he's on and if we've missed any of them. It's even better to know that his meds, albeit extremely crucial to his existenceat the time, will not be messing with him and his body any more.  If there is a problem, we know that it needs to be adressed because there are no foreign substances in his body wreaking havoc on his bodily functions. What we see is what we get...Jacob through and through.

He still hasn't quite rolled over yet, but he is continuously trying to finish what he started.  In an effort to keep him out of the massively distorted position he puts himself in to roll over, we have been giving him time in his "wiggle chair" which is a vibrating chair with several toys hanging from an arch above his legs that he can kick at and play with.  He LOVES this chair.  He will easily spend an hour or more yelling and talking at his toys as he maneuvers his legs to kick at the toys.  I've even caught him on occasion kicking the toy then catching it between both feet as it swings then repeating the process.  Needless to say, I do believe he has full mastery of his legs at this point. 

It's been fun watching Jacob progress over the last several weeks.  He's gone from this nearly comatose little baby, to a chunky (he broke 13 lbs!!) little boy with opinions, an ever-present smile, contagious giggles, and a strong desire to learn and explore everything around him.  No longer is he content just sitting and watching the world go by.  He wants to be a part of it, and I think it bothers him to be sitting in our arms unable to explore everything that is just out of reach.  I just try to remind him to have just a little more patience.  We'll see how long that lasts.

And into the realm of "SERIOUSLY?!?!" :

10 days ago my husband, KC, fell and got a boo boo.  OK.  It was a bit more than that.  He was working out in the middle of nowhere checking on a high bill complaint when he slipped and fell on the ice in the customer's driveway.  When he fell, he proceeded to completely dislocated his ankle, break it in 2 places, and tear all the tendons in the ankle.  When he looked down, his foot was at a 90 degree angle from his ankle and pretty much just dangling there. It took the ambulance the better part of an hour to get to him, and they took him to Couer d' Alene's hospital where they did surgery and put pins and screws into his leg.  The prognosis? No weight bearing of ANY kind (not even from the weight of his foot) for 10 weeks, then he'll be able to get his screws out at 16 weeks. 

So, I've come to the conclusion that when it rains is pours....but you can either look out the window and whine about the rain, or put on your boots and go puddle jumping!  Needless to say, I've been a little wet from playing in the rain..... :)

Relatively speaking, life  here is good.  Each day I wake up and revel in the overwhelming love I feel from my friends, family, and the people around us.  We have been blessed with miracle after miracle when it comes to Jacob and our family, and the blessings seem to continue to pour in. 

With KC at home stuck in bed for the next 10 weeks, I've had to re-adjust my idea of normal....again..... but we're doing well, and even his time at home needing to be waited on  has been a blessing in some ways. 


We have a matter of days before we take Jacob to his cardiologist and the surgeon for their final write-offs.  They will be checking to make sure that his sternum has healed completely and giving us the go-ahead to begin physical therapy on Jake.  Then, we get to sit down, re-assess our lives and where we go from here.  The last 9 months of our lives have been geared around Jacob, his birth, and his heart surgery.  Now that it is done and he's healthy, I'll have to decide on a new focus and goals for our family.  It sounds to me like we're going to decide what new adventure we will be embarking on next.....hmmm  decisions decisions! :)