Nate in his New Harley Jacket from Uncle PaPa

Nate smiling in his stander with his new haircut

Nate at the Firehouse

We went to Mikey's birthday party today. It was at the Bixby Fire Station - how fun is that! Nate had a GREAT time! This is of him trying on the firefighter's hat.

Nate at School

His teacher and speech therapist come once a week and he loves it! This was right before Halloween and they are singing the "orange" color song and he's doing his art project which was making a candy corn. So fun!

Nate in his Stander

Aunt Melissa and Aunt Amy With Owen

Gammy Reading to Owen

HAPPY HALLOWEEN - Police Officer Nathan Russell

HAPPY HALLOWEEN - Owen The Clown

Our Two Big Boys

Picture of the Family

This is right before we headed across the street to a birthday party. We had a great day!

Pics of Nate Reading with Ms. Stephanie and Sleeping Soundly with His Favorite Puppy

Pictures of Owen in His New Chair and He's Smiling!

We love this chair! Of course, yesterday on the news, the top story was that this chair has been recalled! But, we will never leave him unattended while sitting in it. We will use it only for a little bit at a time and when he is sitting up on his own, there won't be a need for it. I guess some kids have fallen backwards out of it and had skull fractures. I just don't see how this can happen if a parent is right there with the child!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Nate is doing better! We stopped the Tobramycin and we can see a dramatic difference. He still has some slight wheezing and a low grade fever. We will find out the culture results probably early next week and hopefully nothing will show up. Then we will know for sure that he was having a reaction to the medicine.

Nate's power chair is in the works! FINALLY! Permobil is getting it together and we hope it will be delivered within the next couple of weeks. It has been sooooo long since he's had his chair! This one will have a vent tray, so he will be able to have his bi-pap on, which means he can drive at any time. And, the electronics on his new chair should be more suited to his needs and easier for him to drive. I can't wait!

Owen's 2 month check up went really well. He's 15 pounds 9 ounces!!!! 23 and 3/4 inches long!!! He got four shots and didn't have that bad of a reaction. Slept a little more and that's about it. We will go back when he's four months old. Hopefully, no one will be seeing the dr. any time soon and we will all stay well during the winter months!

More Pictures of Owen

We'll get some pics of Nathan soon also. He hasn't been feeling well this last week. We started the Tobramyacin again and he had another reaction - desatting, thick secretions, and overall he's just not the same. So we stopped it yesterday and we've already seen some improvement. He's been running a fever some also, but we hope this is due to teething. Trey took a culture in to be tested to make sure there is no infection.

We received the Echo results and his heart is NORMAL! Good news!

Not much else going on, just hanging around the house. Owen goes in for his two month check up today. Hopefully, he'll get a good report. We know he's gained a lot of weight, that's for sure! He's a big boy! And HE'S SMILING! It's too cute! Haven't been able to really catch it on camera, but hopefully we will soon.

Please keep Nathan in your prayers, as we hope he is not coming down with something.

Thanks for checking in.

Jennifer

Sweet Owen

Yes, We Are a Divided Household

But, guess who prevailed - GO SOONERS!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Nathan has lost his two bottom teeth! He still doesn't have his top front teeth, although one is coming through slowly. And the back teeth are slowly coming in also. We went to the dentist awhile back because we were concerned that none of his teeth were coming in (except for the few on the bottom that came in when he was very young). It is common for children who don't get oral stimulation or eat by mouth for their teeth to take a long time to come in. He said the only way to fix it would be surgery which is, of course, not an option! So, our speech therapist recommended a spin toothbrush and I've been using that for awhile and it apparently did the job by thinning out the gums and helping the teeth break through. The first bottom tooth he lost, was literally "lost". We just noticed it was gone. So either he swallowed it or it fell out somewhere. But the second one we have and will save it. Nate will be getting a visit from the tooth fairy! How cute!

We went to have an echocardiogram done this week to check his heart. This was merely a precaution to check for pulmonary hypertension. Some kids who have compromised respiratory problems can develop it and we want to make sure Nate has a healthy heart! No word on results yet.

He's been doing well and adjusting to having a brother. He's so patient and tolerates Owen's loud cries and screams. Sometimes, he even thinks it's funny! It's amazing the resemblance between the two of them. We are looking forward to the months to come when Owen gets more active and Nate can enjoy play time with him.

More pics of the boys will be coming soon.....

Jennifer

p.s. On a side note, SMA will be highlighted on the upcoming episode of "House", Tuesday, October 9th. Garrett Lerner, father of Zeke Lerner (Type 2, 7 years old), is a writer on the show 'House' and has written spinal muscular atrophy into an episode of the show that will air on Tuesday, October 9th (9 pm on Fox). In conjunction, the producers of 'House' have organized a publicity event on Monday October 8th in which the entire cast will participate and attempt to raise awareness for Families of SMA. Pretty cool, huh???

Pictures of Owen in his swing

Thursday, September 27, 2007

We went to the walk last Saturday and it was a great turnout. Kyle and Friends raised over $3,000.00! Nate had a good time, but got a little hot and tired, so we had to leave early. Plus he was up 4 1/2 hours the night before!! He can be quite the night owl sometimes. He likes to talk to his night nurses and keep them entertained!

Nate started school this week. The teacher will be coming to the house and then by spring, we will start taking him "to" school, once the sickness season ends. He loves his teacher and always enjoys his school time.

Owen is getting bigger and bigger! And stronger than ever! It's amazing and such a blessing.

We have been bad about picture taking, but hopefully we'll get some this week and post them.

Not much else going on....Just adjusting to life with two kids and everyone seems to be doing well. That's all we can ask for!

Thanks for checking in!!

Jennifer