besties

the other night when i was putting joshua to sleep, as he drifted off he quietly said, "momma, i miss peter." it was incredibly sweet & genuine.

joshie's cousin pete recently moved about 2 hours away (an eternity in kid-time).

you see, peter is more than just a playmate, he's joshua's best buddy.  they've been causing trouble together since they were newborn babes.

they've taught each other many things - some naughty & some nice.

such as how to walk!

& how to wrap a grown adult around a teeny, tiny finger.

peter, we want you to know, that while you may be far away, we think of you often & can't wait to see you again soon!

life isn't the same without you little buddy!

more of the same

remember last week when i said that josh was "acting up" a bit? well, not much has changed this week. but i can't help but love the little guy! maybe a bucket full of candy on halloween will straighten him up!?! i'll keep you posted.

(today he picked off my colon/semi-colon button...you thought i learned my lesson? nope.)

i'm hopeful for a brighter tomorrow!

(to be fair, much of his craziness is in good fun!)

i couldn't agree more...

i'm feeling the same as josh in this picture. today he decided to pick the keys off my laptop key board. no more shift key, no more caps lock (g key, ctrl key and 'up arrow' hanging on by a thread). it feels so un-natural avoiding the shift key.
later he decided to tear the pages out of abby's library book. not cool josh.
i'm mad at you.


okay, maybe not mad, but if i were to ever get mad at you, i'd totally be mad at you right now. 

another good report!

Before Joshua's appointment he helped me pack his backpack with his favorite DVD, toys and treats. He was so proud of himself, I think he felt like he was going to school, but he knew where we were actually going & was a little nervous about the whole situation. But we did our best to spin it like it'd be neat to go watch his movie & see Dr. Rivera.
He had his echo on Wednesday & did awesome through it. He laid down in the dark room, tapping his foot to the music on his DVD & eating popcorn...livin' the high life!
Dr. Rivera came in at the end of the echo & told me how good his heart looked. He said that it was squeezing well & the leak is trivial. He said overall, he's very happy with how Joshua's heart looks. Thank heaven!
This morning we took Joshua in for his EKG, chest x-ray, blood work as well as consultation. Joshua did really well again. He's such a big boy & I'm really proud of him. The hardest part was the blood draw (as always), but even that went pretty well. He sat there, very brave & offered up his little arm to the tech. He starred at the guy with those big baby blues & I got a little teary eyed. I hate blood draws SO much. He cried, but held still & it only took one poke & no digging.  That was the best case scenario.
 We haven't gotten the results of the chest x-ray, but everything else was great!

Dr. Rivera said that he is probably just getting out of breath due to the 4lbs he put on, over the passed 4 months.  He told us Josh needs to adjust. But, he has no worries. He said, "You do not need to treat Joshua like he's special. He is just fine." What he meant by that is; let him live a normal life, don't baby him.  If only he knew the trouble Joshua gets into! The only "special" treatment he gets is that we go easy on him when he's being a dickens!

After all, he's a little boy, and while he may only have half a heart, he does what he pleases!

winded

Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed Josh has been getting short of breath at times when he normally wouldn't. It has gotten to the point that climbing the stairs leaves him huffing & puffing for a couple of minutes. It makes me so sad to see him work hard doing everyday activities. I know that it comes with the territory, but for so long he's shown no signs that he has any health issues. So I guess I've convinced myself that he's healthy, when in reality he's got a very serious heart defect.  I do my best not to dwell on "what if..." because I just want to enjoy every second while he's thriving. I don't want to waste that time worrying, & then one day look back at his life with regret that we didn't enjoy it, rather we spent all of our time worrying. I guess everyone copes with a sick child in their own way, but for me, denial works just fine.  I feel like it's healthy, I feel like it allows him to live a totally normal life. Maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway, I can't deny that I see him struggling a bit more each day and so we're headed in to see Dr. Rivera  tomorrow. I can't imagine him saying "He's doing great!" like we're so used to hearing. I don't see how that can be possible, based off his shortness of breath over the past few weeks. 
I am praying that he just needs a "tune up" in the form of a cath. I say that as if it's easy. It isn't, but it's better than the alternative.
Anyway, that's the latest, please pray that Joshua will remain as strong and healthy as possible. Also that his nerves will be calmed as he goes through another day of appointments. Thank you so much for checking in on Joshua. I'll update when I know what's going on (that's the plan anyway).