Starting anew!

As you who have followed via this blog know, it has been quite some time since we have posted anything to update everyone on Cooper and the family.

Everyone is doing great! We had our battles with colds, but we all made it through. Cooper survived his first cold. It did take a toll on him though. He's been struggling to gain weight, but I think we are finally over that hurdle.

We have found over the last month that Cooper's little heart is just fine. He had an echo as part of the Dhreams study he is participating in. While at that check up we noticed that he hadn't gained any weight in the last month. So, in follow up we went to his pediatrician and found that he indeed has only gained 4 ounces in 5 weeks. He told us that he should be gaining 2 pounds a month. So, we have been on an increased calorie diet for the past week. He has gained 10 ounces this past week. Back on track!

In the meantime, life has gotten back to it's crazy self for the rest of us as well. Jaxon's soccer season started last Sunday and will go for the next 7 weeks. He is almost done with his 2nd grade year. Just very hard to believe. He is getting so big.

Lea...well, Lea is Lea. Love the girl to death, but the high drama that comes with her is a little maddening. She loves to be a princess and loves to torture her big brother. What every 3 year old girl should do. It is obvious to me that all the time we spent away from the two of them when Cooper was in Omaha, really affected her. She no longer wants to spend the night places without mom and dad. When she does, she wants to go home immediately when we get there to pick her up. Hopefully she will get over this too.

Randy is loving his work and doing really well. He would really like Cooper to sleep through the night. As would I. We know that he will eventually, but the lack of sleep is starting to get to us.

Me, well, I tried to go back to work part time so I could spend some quality time with Cooper. I only had 2 weeks of leave left after he was released from the hospital. But, my bosses said I had to go back full time. So, I reluctantly went back to work. They love to preach equality amoung the employees, but if you aren't a friend or family of the administration, there is no such thing. I do keep reminding myself, that I am lucky that I have a job and the office politics are in every office.

We have started a foundation to educate everyone about CDH. There are still doctors out there that know very little about CDH. While in the NICU in Omaha with Cooper, we were told about one couple from Sioux City that was told that this was an unsurvivable defect. They didn't accept that answer, researched it, and found UNMC. Their baby is alive and well. We do not want this to happen to any other families. It is completely unacceptable that physicians are giving death sentences to babies because they haven't been properly educated. Our mission is to change this. Please help support our cause to get the word out there about CDH.

In the meantime we are getting on with our everyday lives, and loving having us all under one roof. God has truly blessed us! Our family is home and healthy. We have wonderful family and friends that have supported us through all of this and continue to do so everyday.