HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We are going to the Fall Festival at the church tonight to Trick-Or-Treat. But I thought a Flash Back would be fun. Here is Keaton and Cort last year, Halloween 2007. Check out the hair!!! We love 'crazy hair'.

ARRRRR!

DOCTOR UPDATES-PART 2

Keaton had an appointment this week with Dr. Altman at Texas Children's. She is Keaton's cardiologist. When Keaton was 9 months old he was diagnosed with a heart murmur caused by a Ventricle Septum Defect (VSD). Okay in English---he has a hole in his heart the size of a pin hole. The hole, as we have been told, should close on it own as he grows. We last saw Dr. Altman two years ago.

Keaton and I had a nice afternoon traveling to the Medical Center. Mark picked him up from school early and brought him to my office where we ate lunch together. It was a beautiful afternoon to skip out of school and work, even if it was for a doctor's appointment. I am just proud of myself for making it there without getting lost...(..okay Mark, so I did get lost on the way home, but I made it!)

The appointment is pretty routine. After a chest xray, she listens to his heart....the murmur is still there, swishing, she says. We are to return in four year for another visit just to continue monitoring it. Needless to say, he is a healthy, active child.

One new thing we did discuss is the importance of good oral hygene. All the bacteria in our mouth goes into our body. Since the hole in Keaton's heart allows blood to flow the wrong way, he is at greater risk of infection. So brushing his teeth is even more important....who would have thought, healthy mouth = healthy heart?


On another note:
I promise more pictures in the future. As my friend Stephanie Harsha said, "What's a good post without pictures". So here are a few to start off.
My parents and grandmother were here this past weekend. We went out to eat with my sister, Kerrie, and her boyfriend, Brett.

Cort, Aunt Kerrie, Keaton

Mom, Nonnie, Me, and Cort

DOCTOR UPDATES-PART 1

Here is an update on Keaton's recent visit to the allergist.

At his annual allergy appointment, he was re-tested for Milk, Egg, and Peanut (the three foods he is allergic to) in addition to all of the other nuts (Almonds, Walnuts, Cashew, etc.). This was the first time we tested for other nuts. Good news, he is not allergic to any of the other nuts, including coconut. Bad news, no change in his Milk, Egg or Peanut allergies.....per the skin scratch test. I definitely was disappointed with the results. Each year I pray for better results, the all clear, something. We have been told for years he would out grow the allergies maybe by 5 years old or 7....and keep waiting. This time, Dr. Zambrano (SW Allergy in Copperfield) made the statement, "He might not out grow the allergy since there seems to be no change in his reaction". But, the doctor sent us for a blood test also. This was only the second time we did the RASP (blood) test. The results were more promising and maybe taking us in the direction we hope to go.

Egg---still no change. Moderately allergic with a 3.87 reading. Last time 3.27. Oh well, who likes eggs anyway!

Milk---changed from 2.74 to 1.8. Yeah!!!! Almost a whole point. Zambrano said we could do a food challenge with Milk. Which means we make an appointment and let him drink milk (or maybe eat ice cream) while in the doctor's office and observe his reaction.

Peanut---came back negative! The doctor's opinion is that he can now have peanuts. I am not sure I am ready for that just yet. But it is great news to know that if he did eat peanuts nothing would happen.

Mark and I are very excited about the news. We hope to set up the food challenge appointment before the end of the year.

Cort, who is allergic to Egg, Peanut, and Green Peas, is scheduled for a skin test 11/26. We will keep our fingers crossed for good news.

Doctor update-Part 2--Keaton's Cardiology visit---Coming soon!!

WE SURVIVED IKE!

Several people have asked how we faired during Hurricane Ike. We did actually ride out the storm at home. I used to be the first person ready to evacuate, but Rita did me in. After 11 hours in the car with a 6 month old, two year old, two dogs, and two adults, riding out the storm at home doesn't sound that bad. So we 'hunkered down'. Thank you Ike for coming in the middle of the night so that we slept through it. My sister, Kerrie, stayed with us and since she works nights she stayed up all night as our watchman. We lost part of our fence and a big tree branch, but have nothing to complain about. We were without electricity for 3 days, and even that was not too bad. (Mark only whined a little.) It will now be a family moment in time to remember, Hunkering down for Ike.

Keaton did add a little more to the drama. Sunday after the Hurricane, we were staying with friends, Dan and Nicki, for the night. (They only lost power for a few hours) Keaton gashed the back of his head open on their footboard and Mark took him to the ER. Unbelievably, they were back in a little over an hour with one staple. What a brave kid!

Keaton was out of school for 7 days and my office was without power for 8 business days. We enjoyed a little mini vacation while cleaning up from Ike.

Keaton's message to Ike

MY BEAUTIFUL BOYS

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the boys.

CORT GARNER

KEATON EDWARD

Keaton's 'crazy hair' at soccer

KEATON AT BASEBALL

Cort LOVES hats!

"My parents are exhausted"

FREE ZOO DAY

The Houston Zoo has several days a year that are FREE! We took advantage of one on Monday. Keaton was out of school for Columbus Day. I am not sure why Cy-Fair did not use this day for a Hurricane Ike make-up day, but it was a nice day off!

Mom's favorite zoo animal is the giraffe!

We love the carousel!

Fun day with the family!

KEATON STARTED KINDERGARTEN!

Keaton's first day of school!

I am a little late, but here are some pictures of Keaton's first day of Kindergarten. I wish I could say Keaton loves school, but we are still working out the Kindergarten jitters. The first two weeks of school he tried to convince me to Home School. We had our first Parent Teacher Conference and he is doing great in his school work! He just misses Mommy and Daddy. He will come around soon and realize how much fun school is, right?