Matthew's Tethered Cord Surgery

For about 9 months we have been trying to get to the bottom of Matthew's lack of coordination and agility. It's a long story, but after two MRI's and two different neurosurgeons reading those MRI's it was discovered that Matthew has "tethered cord syndrome". Normally one's spinal cord is attached at the brain and then floats at the bottom. In Matthew's case, his spinal cord was stuck, or tethered at the bottom due to too thick of a coating around it. The only way to fix this is surgery to release the cord from the thick coating. Our sweet boy had surgery Monday and did splendidly!

Kicking back in the admission room

Blanket and Bear have been with him since birth...and are two of his most valued possessions. There was no question whether or not he was bringing them with him to the hospital! 

He was all smiles before going back. I was WAY more anxious about it then he was. 

Thankfully he was in good hands with Dr Wehby and in the Lord's hands most importantly.

A thumbs in the recovery room right when he woke up. Thankful for Randal Children's and that they bring parents back to the recovery room just before their child wakes up so they aren't in a room with strangers. 

He sleeps. He got to his room and slept on and off for a few hours, very comfortable. 

Jody picked Evelyn up from school and brought her up to the hospital. It was so sweet to see her caring for her brother so well. She brought a book for him and was reading it and showing it to him. 

Love these two! Oh... because he had surgery on his spinal cord he had to be flat in bed for about 24 hours. He did great with that.

Doug providing comic relief as usual! Love this guy!!

Cheeseburger time! He was looking forward to eating one even before surgery!!

He walks! His nurse Patrick was amazing and helped Matthew get over his fear of getting out of bed. He had tried in earlier in the day and it hurt really bad, so he was very leery of doing it again. Patrick's patience and bargaining skills were just what Matthew needed. HA! Once he was up and going he was good to go. 

Just hanging out waiting for Dr Wehby to come to discharge him.

Such small incision for such a big surgery!

Matthew came home Tuesday and other than one bad evening, he has done great. He has been home from school this week with plans to return Monday. We have had some good times together resting, reading, watching movies and playing games. I am so thankful for my "village" to take Evelyn to and from school and for friends who brought things for Matthew to do while he was home. 

Once Matthew was feeling good enough to go for short trips, we went over to Jody and Lori's to visit their dog, Atlas. It was a day when both of them were working so Atlas was happy to have some company! The kids love her and she loves them!

We are praising God for working all things for good this week and for such a successful surgery for our boy. We already seem improvements in how he moves and look forward to starting physical therapy once he is healed up and get him moving even better!

Happy 50th Birthday Don

Doug's brother Don turns 50 tomorrow. His wife and kids threw him a sweet party at their church tonight to honor him. It was a fun time with family and celebrating my brother in law!

Doug, Don and their Aunt Mary

Evelyn with Auntie Kristin.. my sister in law

They had a long slide show set to fun music, lots of table set up with photos and memories, and had a time of sharing about and encouraging Don. It was very moving. Don was choked up as he thanked everyone for coming. 

Brothers...

Happy Birthday Don! May the next decade of your life be full of blessings!

A Boy and his AT-AT

Matthew has wanted the Lego Star Wars AT-AT for SO long. It is $150... way over our Christmas/birthday budget for sure, so we told he he would have to save up money to buy it himself. He is definitely our "spender" (Evelyn is our "saver"), so I wasn't sure if he had the will power to do it. BUT... he did. He saved his allowance for months and then got birthday and Christmas money which allowed him to reach his goal!

We ordered it from Amazon (part of his savings was an Amazon gift card) and it arrived yesterday. To say he was over the moon excited would be an understatement!

The box was HUGE!! Over 1300 pieces! He was up for the challenge, tho!

We thought it would take him a few days to finish it. Nope. He worked on it for about 4 hours yesterday and about 4 hours today.. and he completed it! He was quite proud of his new creation. 

We are pretty proud of him to! Thankful for my lego-loving boy!

My Hair Designer

For the past 6 months or so, Evelyn has really been into learning how to braid and do other hair designs. She's been practicing on her dolls and her friends at school. When she found out there were actually "hair training heads" with real hair (ones that beauty schools use), it became the top thing on her Christmas wish list.

This is what we got for her...

She LOVES it and has been wowing us with her hair creations since Christmas. She really does have a talent!

Just a few of her creations. 

I told her if she keeps at it she could start doing hair for prom, etc.. and make some money!

My sweet girl... she continues to amaze me with all the talents the Lord has blessed her with!