Sorry it's been awhile!!

Hello!!  I'm finally back... It's been a while, I know, but we've been really busy lately and we've had computer problems for the last few days, so I've been having serious withdrawals.  Tripp has been doing pretty good these days.  He has been smiling a lot more lately.   But he still has his bad days every now and then.  Nights have been OKAY.  Sometimes he will sleep for a few hours at a time and then after that, the suctioning will be like every 30 minutes.  He's so back and forth... I'll think things are turning around and then something else will happen.  But all around, things are going well.  Tuesday he had to get 4 shots!! So the last few days he has been really fussy.  We've been enjoying the cool weather, though we haven't gone far... just in the back yard.  For Thanksgiving, we stayed home and our family came to us.  It's just too hard to have to try and travel all over and see everyone.  He has too much that has to come with him.  So we decided to spend the holidays at home and whoever wants to see us, can come see us.  Just for this year.  Next year hopefully will be different.  It was actually nice not having to get up and get dressed and get everything packed up.  We got to just relax and spend time together.

Tripp's mouth is now worse than EVER.  I am still waiting for the dentist that we saw here to get in touch with Cincinnati and let me know what needs to be done.  I'm pretty sure that they are going to have to come out.  I just don't know where the surgery will be or how many teeth they can take out at a time.  I really would rather have the surgery done at Ochsner where everyone is familiar with him and where we can get the same anesthesiologist team.  I would hate to have to go to another hospital and have to explain everything again... unless of course we can meet with the whole team at Children's prior to surgery.  I'm just comfortable with Ochnser, nothing against Children's.  I'm just really nervous about pulling all of his teeth.  I know they are causing him so much pain... but he's going to get more teeth that are going to cause more pain.  The molars are the worst.  And he's going to continue to get the molars.  Do we pull the molars?  I don't know, it's a tough decision.  Once again.

But you know my changing table dilemma?  Another really awesome EB mom e-mailed me and showed me pictures of the changing table her dad made for her daughter.  It's really nice and Randy's Uncle Rickey is going to make us one and might have it ready by next week!!  I'm so excited!  Dressing changes are getting pretty cramped and crowded.  Tripp is growing like a weed!  He is at 16 lbs,  11oz and 24 1/2 inches long.  Here are some recent pictures:

Outside time...

Okay, so I know it's early, but I had my mom and my mother-in-law over rocking Tripp, so I figured I would put up the tree while I could... and Tripp helped!

It was exhausting... haha

His new "Lord of the Rings" small audience tee... I love it.

Small audience tees are pretty much ALL he wears.

Eating Rabbit...

This is what I found when I got out of the shower and Daddy was in charge.

Cute, huh?

Baby's First Turkey Day... he kept his shirt clean all day long!!

Amazing!

Check out those eyelashes!!

Uncle Ryan came to visit 3 days in a row!!

I'll probably update now whenever I get the chance since it's been so long!  Thanks again for all your prayers and all the continued love and support!!

More Pictures

Ok, so I guess EVERY night can't be great.  Last night was rough again!  I saw the 2 o'clock hour about 5 times and then at least every hour after that.   He seemed to have a really bad cough last night and was making a lot of noise through his mouth instead of the trach which is unusual.  I'm hoping that it's maybe that scratchy cough you get when you're at the end of a cold.  Just being optimistic.  He was up a little more today than yesterday, so maybe tonight will be better.  If not, I'll just enjoy the good nights that I do get... even if they are once a month.  My whole family came over today.  It was nice.  MeMe and had to go pick up Paw Paw Carey from the airport, and they'll be over tomorrow.  Paw Paw Moose is coming to see Tripp in the morning too.  Then tomorrow will be the Saint's game!! How about those Tigers?  I think we were back luck because I put Tripp's LSU outfit on.  O well, it was cute.

Nanny, Mommy, Tripp, and Uncle Jason

We went outside for a while yesterday... the weather was so nice, but there were a lot of mosquitoes.

He got to put his feet in the clovers!

This may not look like a smile,  but it's his new smile these days...

Well, time for bed.  Hoping and praying for a good and restful night!

( P.S. Jonah, I hope you ate good again today, buddy! Keep up the good work! We love you!)

Cheers for Tripp!!

Hooray!     Praise the Lord!   God is Good!

Tripp slept from 11pm-3am, then I changed his booty and he went right back to sleep. Then slept from 3:15-6:30, I suctioned him and he went right back to sleep until 8am!! THEN, I laid him in my bed to play, and he went back to sleep until about 10:30! Of course, I was awake, so I got some things done around the house. It felt nice. I actually got to brush my teeth before 10:00... haha.

I felt so rested this morning, I didn't know what to do with myself! I even put on make-up!! I KNOW- crazy, huh?

He does have a WHOLE lot of junk in there this morning and I've been suctioning often, but having a night's sleep makes it a lot easier to get through the day. And that's just morning junk that he will probably have all the time... so it's okay.

Last night he was SO content we almost wanted to cry! He was just sitting with us, and he's never looked so calm and so content before. He wasn't smiling, but was just hanging out with Mommy and Daddy. Then, we laid him in bed and he went right to sleep. What an angel.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you God. And thank YOU for all of your prayers. Hopefully things are starting to get a little better and slow down a bit.

This morning when I laid him in my bed and he was passed out and he started smiling so big that you could see his little top teeth! Boy what I wouldn't give to know what he was dreaming about. It was so sweet. And yes, I caught it on camera. What kind of Mommy would I be if I didn't! Ha.

Oh, and I want to thank my wonderful husband for his very sweet blog. Without you, baby... I couldn't do it. You keep me positive everyday. And though we have had some rough months lately, we've pushed through and have both become better people because of them. I love you.

You're my hero.

Here's some more recent pics...

Here he is reading his first book.

Daddy doesn't believe that he is really reading... but we have practiced, he is reading... really. Ha.

Tummy Time... Get a picture quick because it won't last long!

His new Christmas friend, a Penguin-deer.

Videos

Here's Daddy's attempt with the binky.

This was his the first time he even acted interested in it at all.

As you can see, it wasn't very successful...haha

This is his little "Jump-N-Go" that I pulled out this morning. It hangs in the door frame, but the only door frame it fits is in our front door because of our old house with our thick, rounded door frames... He didn't LOVE it, but maybe one day.

We bought these a while back when he first started wiggling his feet, because we thought he would love them.... When he wiggles his feet, we call them "Happy Feet." He'll start wiggling them when we say, "Happy feet, happy feet!" He has now just started to even acknowledge them. I think they're so cute.

Here he is with his monkey and with that "to die for" smile!

Today was a good day... better than they have been.

Still a lot of suctioning, but Tripp has been in a much better mood today.

Thank the Good Lord. Hope it continues.

The Strongest Woman In The World

As you all know, who follow this amazing blog, I am married to "The Strongest Woman In The World". For those who do not know me, my name is Randy and I am Tripp's daddy. I just want to take this time to let everyone know that I have the best wife in the world. Everyday she amazes me with her courage and strength tackling the multiple tasks that is neccessary to take care of our son. If its suctioning his trach every ten minutes, cleaning a poo-poo diaper, or giving him an hour bath. She does every task with  110% and a smile on her face. I really do think she is an angel because not only she has to take care of Tripp, but she also has to live with me. Ha Ha...

Courtney, thank you for being just a great mother and wife. I know the stress level is high at home but just remember GOD sent Tripp to us for a reason.

I also want to thank everyone for the support and prayers, it gets us through the tough days.

Cutie Patooty...

Just wanted to do a quick post while Tripp is sleeping... I thought I'd post a few pics since we went outside for a few minutes today (and because I didn't have any pics on my post yesterday)!

This was right before his bath... He had just thrown up on his shirt and I was in the process of fixing up bath things, so he went outside shirtless... and boy was he smelling ripe.  But isn't he a cutie patooty??

MeMe and Grammy...

Daddy time on the couch...

It was so pretty outside today and tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful again.  I got my house cleaned today, so maybe if Tripp is feeling good we will go outside for a while tomorrow.

The Occupational therapist is coming in the morning, so he will have to get some tummy time...

Tripp had a somewhat better night last night... I saw every hour on the clock instead of every hour 3 times... so hopefully that's a sign that things will be getting better!  Thanks for the prayers!!

Hope you enjoyed the pics...  Have a great night!