The Siblings:
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| Meeting the Arizona Wildcats cheerleaders! |
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| Closest to me, yes, she is the shortest in the whole squad. |
Natalya has started Junior High! 😠But seriously, she's amazing and doing wonderfully. She's a cheerleader, and if you know Natalya at all, it's a perfect fit! Spunky, loud, exciting, happy. Getting pretty good at kicking high!
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| Gyro! |
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| Zeke winning his boat race |
Ezekiel is in 5th grade and has an awesome teacher. He's not currently doing any sports, just hanging out with friends and having fun.
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| Mikey in a real life race car |
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| Mikey, Daniel, Victoria (L-R) |
Michael is in 1st grade. He is doing well, other than sometimes not doing independent work. But, he's improving and really enjoys school.
Victoria is 4 now and is a fabulous Diva! She changes clothes probably 3 times a day. She loves all things girly and feminine and pink.
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| A true lover of donuts |
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| A thinker |
Daniel is the cutest ever! Sometimes a stinker, but mostly adorable and super fun. He talks a lot and is learning new words all the time.
The Babe:
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| He loves his toes being tickled |
Isaac is amazing. He's growing wonderfully, up to 12lbs! At 7 months old now, he's holding his legs up in the air for ages - haha!
He loves to play with his toes and his two fun giraffes - one plushy and the other hard and good for teething.
He really loves all his siblings and gets the biggest grin whenever they come around.
Isaac loves his swing, a wonderful gift borrowed from his Aunt Wendy and Uncle Josh - thanks guys!
He sleeps great at night and takes awesome naps during the day. Quite frankly, he doesn't like being woken up from his naps for awake time. 😆
We've taken a couple trips to the ER in the last month, thanks be to God nothing too serious happened and Isaac wasn't admitted. Just some higher than normal fevers and being off of his TPN(total nutrition) a little too long. Isaac was right back to normal the next day after everything checked out fine. The docs ran some tests and did some ultrasounds and X-rays - all was good.
Upcoming:
Isaac has his next major surgery scheduled for December 13th. They have an 8-hour block for the surgery since it's going to involve a lot.
There will be four attending surgeons, three of which were all at Isaac's first surgery, when he was 3 days old. The fourth surgeon is an orthopedic surgeon.
Right now, Isaac's bladder is still open and on the outside of his body. This surgery will accomplish putting his bladder into a sphere(as normal bladders are) and putting it back inside of his body. At the same time, the orthopedic surgeon will be suturing Isaac's pelvis together(since it's currently separated) and making incisions on Isaac's hip bones to turn them inward so that his legs face forward. So yes, a lot going on.
His stay and recovery in the hospital should be 2-3 weeks.
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| With Grandpa M. |
Instead of a cast around his legs/pelvis, Isaac will be in traction, which is basically where they'll hang his legs up at an angle(like you see in the movies when someone breaks their leg). It will be awful for Isaac, I'm sure, since he loves to kick, kick, kick! But, the upside to traction instead of a cast is less time spent in it - a cast would have to be on 4-6 weeks, whereas the traction should only take 3 weeks.
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| With Grandma M. |
This surgery will be a very good thing for Isaac, I believe. As it is right now, he can't roll over or sit up on his own because of the way his pelvis is separated. Isaac also seems uncomfortable in several positions, maybe from his pelvis or his bladder being the way they are. So, I think after he's recovered he'll be able to accomplish much more in terms of normal development and mobility.
Thankfully, as Providence would have it, we have help in my mom, Veronica, and Stephan's mom, LaDonna, with taking care of the kids so I can be with Isaac as much as possible while he is recovering.
As always, we are so very grateful for all the prayers, thoughts, and various forms of help everyone we know has been so gracious in showing us. I know many of you pray for us and baby Isaac on a daily basis, and I thank you!!!!
If anyone feels so inclined, we would be glad to have help in any way possible, particularly during Isaac's upcoming surgery/recovery. It's not an ideal time, to be sure, over the holidays - a busy (and expensive) season! - so we understand if it's difficult to give.
Please click the link below if you wish to donate to help us with traveling expenses during Isaac's time in the hospital. Anything helps!
Love for Isaac
Thanks again for everything you all have already given of your money, time, prayers, and efforts. We are truly humbled and thankful!
Please pray for a good surgery, quick recovery, and blessings upon our family through the whole time, as it will be hard on all of us.
We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas! 🎄
