Xander Go Braugh!

Top O' the Mornin' to ya!
Grandma sent Xander his birthday present and said he could open it early. Here are some pictures of him opening the present and playing with his new "woooo woooo!" (that is what he calls a train).


I'm so excited!


How does this bow come off?



What's it say, Daddy?


Ripping paper is hard work!


OOOh OOOOh! What is it?


Open it up, Daddy!


Let's read these instructions...let's see...we need batteries.


OK, batteries are in, now let's see what this thing can do!


It plays Irish music when you push the train.


I love my new train! Thanks Grandma!

Here fishy fishy fishy......

So we got a fish tank for Xander several months ago. We were planning on getting him some fish for it about a week later...once the tank water was established. Well, that didn't happen. We ended up basically using the fish tank for "white noise" and a night light.
Well, we took Xander to Petsmart yesterday and we picked out four fish for his tank.
We got three Mickey Mouse platies and one other kind of platy...can't remember which kind it is called....oh well.
We liked the Mickey Mouse ones because they have black spots on their tails that look like a Mickey Mouse head. So cute.
Anytime Xander sees a fish he puckers his lips and makes a kissy sound and then a pop sound...hard to describe but just like when you make a fishy face...ya know what I am talking about? Anyway, he hasn't really gotten the whole concept that you name the fish. So since he only says a few words we decided to name each fish some of Xander's favorite words. There is BUS, TRUCK (which he pronounces "ducksh"), THIS and DOOR.
Anyway, here are some pictures of his new fish...


Here he is just after he finished making the fishy face...every time I snapped a picture it didn't take until he was done with the face....UGH! Oh well, at least I got Tracy making the face. LOL


Here fishy fishy fishy....


Hello fish!


Welcome to Xander's room! Please keep your fins and gills inside the tank at all times. Enjoy your life in your new digs!


We put it up on his dresser so he couldn't reach it but could still see it.

Bubble Boy

OK, so I think Xander is now officially the "bubble boy"! I took him into his Dr. on Thu. to talk to her about my reflux theory...the reason I thought he might be coughing so much. Well, she was really great with me...she listened to me and agreed with me that it is very possible that reflux is playing a part in his cough and night time waking but she said he didn't sound very good to her and wanted to listen to his lungs. So she listened to them and said they sounded horrible and wanted to test him for RSV and do a breathing treatment in the office with the nebulizer. Well, the RSV test came out negative luckily. But unfortunately, the diagnosis for our baby is asthma. The only problem is right now we don't know if it is being caused by a cold (virus) or if it is from his allergies. I am leaning toward thinking it is his allergies....because he had just gotten over a month-long cough and an ear infection two days before Christmas and then on Christmas Day he started it back up again. Oh, and the other ear is infected now. The Dr. listened to his lungs again after the treatment and said he was breathing better. She sent me home with the nebulizer and four prescriptions...breathing treatment medication, a steroid to add into the nebulizer for the breathing treatments, an antibiotic for his ear and prescription allergy medication...Singular. We are doing the breathing treatments three times a day and we go back Tue. for a recheck. She said I couldn't take him outside until I brought him back to her. So we are house-bound and I feel like we are raising a bubble boy. He is sick so often and I guess this explains why. Asthma! The Dr. said we won't be able to even think about the reflux possibility until we get him better from this problem or at least get it under control. I am glad I had the idea about the reflux or else I probably wouldn't have taken him in to the Dr. I would have just figured he had another cough/cold and chalked it up to our bad luck with his sicknesses. So maybe he doesn't have reflux but I am glad I thought he might have because it made me take him to the Dr. and a now he has a diagnosis....finally!
I just hope we will be able to leave the house after we go back to the Dr. on Tue. My poor little pookie bubble boy. :(

Reese is starting chemo next week

Thank you all, again, for praying for baby Reese. Her tumor did not come back benign- they found neuroblastoma cells in it so she is starting chemo on Monday. Please keep her in your prayers next week as she starts her chemo. The drs. say it could be worse- it is a stage 2 tumor. So we are thankful that it wasn't a stage 3. I just can't imagine what this little girl and her parents are going through. Thank you so much for praying for them!