After WAY too much time.....

Sorry, everyone!!! I have been SO bad at keeping this updated lately! I am going to get back on track, wont be able to cover everything in the months that have passed, but I will be doing a little recap! There has been lots going on, and we have been WAY too busy (as usual)! So I will try to do a little better, now that I have actually written on here! I know some of you are still praying for us, even though I haven't kept you up to date....and for that we are so grateful! So stay tuned, there will be more coming......

Catch up time again....4th of July!

Well, here I am again.....really behind on posts! I basically missed the entire month of August, but it was really too busy to even remember, let alone take any pictures. I wanted to post these, because we had such a fun 4th of July, and I never got them up! 

Thanks to our wonderful hosts, we ate really well, and had lots of laughs together! 

First, we celebrated Judi's birthday, with her gifts, and watched a slide show of Nathan and Amber's vacation. They got some beautiful shots!

 

 

Amber just graduated from massage therapy school, and was working on some of us, so Jonah thought he needed a massage too (and of course, Amber was a great aunt, and gave him one!).

 

 Next we ate, then played a lot of games outside!

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Grandpa brought lots of fun fireworks to try out, and the guys had a blast with those, for about an hour! The older guys, I should say....because the younger ones were a little scared, except maybe for Hayden. Jeremy, Nathan and Kevin were in their glory!

 

A dad and son, bonding moment.....awww isn't it cute?

 

Of course, we had to have smores!!

 

And have fun with sparklers!

 

When it got dark outside, we headed over to the lake to watch fireworks! They do a great job in Alex, and we had a great view. Thanks Nathan and Amber, for a great day!

Not the news we wanted........

 U of M, the site of Hayden's appointments. The 1st one was in the Mayo Building, kinda weird, since that is where Jaxon goes for his Dr.'s in Rochester!

These were taken during Hayden's urodynamics test. He did such a great job, and hardly moved a muscle! The urodynamics test was pretty intense, he had to be catheterized in the bladder and bowls, then they filled him with fluids, and watched how his bladder reacted to it, and how he voided. Not very fun, but he was amazing!

 

We stayed in Mpls. that night, because we had appointments in the morning. We went out to eat, walked around the mall for a little bit. And of course, Hayden wanted to go swimming, so we did that too! When we were getting ready for bed, Hayden found "The Book of Mormon", and was intent on reading it. He held onto it all night, it was pretty funny! Here he had on Grandma's glasses too!

 

Here are pics of us at Hayden's appointments on Tuesday. Hayden was being silly!

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So here is the scoop on what we found out these last few days.....

The urodynamics test showed not such great news, his bladder isn't able to hold as much as it should, and when it is full, the pressure in his bladder, is really high. For his age, the pressure should be 10 or lower, and he was consistently at 40, with it sometimes going as high as 60. Having pressure like that, will cause kidney damage, and diverticulums (which are little pockets on the bladder, from excess pressure). He also has really poor flow, and voiding issues. This is all a result of damage from his Transverse Myelitis, and we were told to be prepared that this would affect the rest of his life. 

The next day, we met with the same Dr. who did the testing, and a pediatric urologist. They told us that they wanted Hayden to start some medication, that will help his bladder relax and empty. It is a timed released pill, that should really help him be able to void. We also will have to catheterise him at least 2 x's a day, maybe more. So we were asked to stay, so I could learn how to do this for him. I was so nervous, and he was pretty freaked out too! But really it went so well, he did great, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I also did it last night, and this morning, so I am becoming a natural! We think that he doesn't have total sensation down there, so that makes it a little easier, as well :) She said that it will barely faze him, in a week or so. 

Thank you all for your prayers, they mean so much! Please keep us in your prayers these next few weeks, as we work on this, and try to get him to swallow a big pill! It sounds like we won't have to go back for another 6 months, so that's great!

Summer fun with Grandpa & Grandma

A couple of days after school was out, we decided to take a day, and hang with Grandpa and Grandma. Grandma had silly string, and the boys had a war with Grandpa!

Shaking it up....

 

 

  Having a blast getting Grandpa, and each other!

 

 The sandbox........

Dad and Mom have been wanting to build a sandbox for the boys, for awhile now. So now that we are all settled in, they decided this would be a great time. Dad had every thing in his van ready to go, so it really didn't take very long! It's huge...8ft. x 10ft, so there is plenty of room for them to play. The boys have already had so much fun in it, and will continue to do so, I'm sure!

Grandpa and Dad starting

 

All set for sand!

 

Here comes the sand

 

    Play time..... 

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma, they love it!

 

These pics are a little out of order, but I have so many pics to post, that I thought I'd just do them in groups. And this is how they landed.....

An afternoon in Fergus, swimming  and playing! 

 

We went to the cities in the middle of June, for my cousin's grad party, and decided to go to the MN Zoo (we got free tickets from Hayden's preschool!). We had a great time, and their favorite animal was this bear, who put on a show for us. He swam like this for a long time!

 

Farmer Jonah!

 

Jeremy and my Dad went to a Twins game, the end of June, and had a blast seeing the new stadium! While they were gone, my Mom took the rest of us to Alex. to go mini-golfing! We had never been there before, and didn't realize what a nice amusement park it is, it even has bumper boats! We had a great time playing golf, then Grandma said she would send us on the bumper boats. Jaxon and Jonah decided that they wanted to try it by themselves, and Hayden and I would go together. That didn't last very long, pretty soon they were both crying, cause they were so scared, and couldn't steer. I don't know how.... but I got them to the side, and I just took them around individually! It was kinda funny, but once they got in with me, they had fun!