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Whew... the past 3 weeks have been crazy!  We had Tripp's big party, then the next weekend was my sisters wedding in New Orleans (post and pictures to come!)  This weekend we are at Grammy's house.  Daddy wanted to go play golf over here on his day off, and then we are going to try and go to the Country Fest today in Baton Rouge (which we've had tickets to for the past 6 months) and Grammy is gonna watch him SO we figured it would be easier on everyone to stay the weekend.  Also, MeMe and PawPaw Carey bought a new house and are moving back to Ponchatoula this weekend, so we got to see their new house, too!  Tripp has been such a doll.  He is such a little monkey lately and doing so many new tricks, I thought I'd share them with you.

This is his laugh.  

Grammy was trying to show him how to "cough it up" through his trach.

He thought it was hilarious.  He was slightly delirious. 

Getting ready to get in the bathtub.  

Loves any naked time he has before that!

Mommy's little Monkey

Homemade McDonalds.

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Love,

Tripp's Party!

OK, so I finally finished sorting through the "party pics."  There were about 500+ taken, so it was difficult to choose!  I decided to post a PAGE instead, so if you click on the tab that says "1st Birthday Photos" above, you can see them.

But first I want to give out my "Thank You's."  This party would not have been possible without the help of many people.

I want to thank the members of the Knights of Columbus for letting us use the hall at no charge.  And for taking care of the spacewalk.  Also, for your helping hand in getting ready for the party.  There was a wedding there the night before and when we went in that morning, the whole place was spotless!!

I want to thank Heather Boisclair, her wonderful mother, Pam Lanser, and all of the amazing ladies at her mother's work, who donated their money to take care of all of the food for the party.  Mrs. Pam cooked all of the hotdogs and hamburgers the morning of the party and delivered them to us right off of the grill!! Heather went to high school with Randy, then moved to Texas.  She found our blog through a friend and contacted me.  She offered to make the decorations for the party.  She made the cake banner and the table decorations.  Then when she got back in to the city, she called and wanted to do more.  So she and her mom offered to do the food for us!!  They not only did the hotdogs and burgers- but the drinks, and other kiddie snacks, too!  Isn't that amazing.  I cried like a little baby.  It was an unbelievable amount of stress lifted off of me.

I want to thank "Big E" (Erick St. Amant) for making the jambayla!  And Leanne Schexnaydre for making the potato salad, dips, and wraps :) They were all delicious! (when I finally go to eat!)

I want to thank everyone who came Saturday morning to help us set up.  My dad, Mrs. Pam, PawPaw Carey, my sister, Randy's friend, Nick, Mr. Sean Hymel.  And an extra "thank you" to my dad and PawPaw Carey for blowing up the balloons!! (the party wouldn't have been the same without all of those balloons... though your fingers were about to fall off!!)

A special thank you to my Mom, who stayed with Tripp (and his bo-bo eye!!) while we decorated.

Thank you to my Aunt Michele Ernst, who took the pictures for Tripp's party!  You did an AWESOME job of getting everything!! And also, thank you for burning me a cd because I had a hard time getting them off of the computer!  (that was A LOT of pictures :)

Thank you to my Nanny and Uncle Barry for letting us borrow their ginormous Mickey Mouse for all of the kids to take pictures on!!

I want to thank Mrs. Kristi Hymel for bringing the music (which we thought we had, but found out that morning that we didn't!).  She downloaded all Tripp's favorite songs that morning and had it ready for the party!

I want to thank my Aunt Mary Threeton (who makes the BEST cakes) for making Tripp's cake.  It was EXACTLY what I had drawn out- Perfect!!  I will never forget that gorgeous cake.  (But you will have a LOT of showing up to do for his future birthdays!) Ha.

I want to thank EVERYONE who stayed and helped us clean up!  We really appreciate it!!

And finally, I want to thank everyone who made it to Tripp's party.  I know that everyone has a busy schedule... but we truly appreciate you all taking the time to be there for this VERY special day!!
I'm sure all of you know from reading the blog, but the doctors told us that Tripp would not make it to a year old.  That made "this special day" one of the most important and memorable days in Randy and I's lives.  And those of you who were there to share it with us- we will never forget that.  We love you all.
Thank you for being a part of Tripp's special day!!  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love,

This and That.

Hiya.  Tripp had a pretty good day today.  He was a little moody this morning when he got up and it seemed like his eye was bothering him a good bit, but then he took a good 2 hour nap rocking on MeMe and when he woke up he felt much better.  I think he actually sat up on his mat and played for about an hour kicking his feet and watching Mickey (without reaching up for me to hold him every time I walked by.  What a good kid.  He is such a great baby.

For about the past 2 weeks, Tripp has started figuring out what "bath" means.  He gets the "vibe" when I'm getting everything ready for dressing change (which is a HUGE process and I'd like to video one day so you guys can see).  And when you sit him on the table to start taking the dressings off, he immediately breaks down... holding his arms out for me and making the saddest face I've ever seen.  It's really sad.  Then he still HATES the water part (of course) even with salt.  Some days are better then others.  But then when we put him back on the dressing table after we get him out of the tub, he is good.  We let him play naked just for a little while because he jumps and kicks around like crazy.  He loves being naked.  But he is SUCH a good boy for the "putting on the dressings" part.

Still waiting for a few more pics before I post the party ones.  But I wanted to post a few from today and this week that were cute.  He finally started rocking on his baseball rocker by his self!! It's so cute... I've been waiting for him to be able to get on it and actually like it!

Hey Mom, if you put batteries in my ball popper from Christmas, 

it's like a new toy!!

Check out my B-eautiful arms!!

Tripp got this frog from our cousin, Lindy, for his birthday.

I LOVE it!  It's SO soft and SO padded. 

Plus it's super CUTE.

The "G-raffe" MeMe bought him after his shots. 

Think he's rotten? Noooo. 

This is a book my cousins Jackie and Julie bought us for Mother's Day/Tripp's Bday.

It is TOO cute.  It's from Flattenme.com.

And it has my face super-imposed into every page. 

I know Tripp is thinking... "I see this woman every second of the day.. and now she's in my BOOKS?"

Haha. 

And my favorite... 

This is what I wake up to every morning. 

The King.

Learning to rock on Homer.

Love,

Birthday pics.

Hey guys... I know you've been wondering how Tripp's birthday party was.  Well, the party was great... but Tripp- not so great.  On Friday (his actual birthday) he was great, we stayed around the house with my mom and sis and Randy's mom and PawPaw Carey.  But then Saturday morning, the day of his party, he woke up with another abrasion.  UGH.  I was SO upset.  He was miserable and barely opening his eyes.  I gave him some Tylenol with Codeine, but that didn't do much.  SO we brought our rocker to the party and that's pretty much where he stayed the whole time.  He opened his eyes for about 15 minutes to take a few pics with the big Mickey and that was about it.  I just know that if he hadn't been in so much pain, that he would have had SUCH a great time!!  We even sang Happy Birthday to him with his eyes closed.  I know..... I was crying.  Anyway, I am not going to do his "Party Post" yet because I am waiting for pictures from my aunt, who was kind enough to take pictures for us!  So when I get those, I will post about his party and everyone who helped make it AWESOME!

Right now, I want to post some pictures from his Birthday on Friday.  These are before the abrasion... and are SO cute :)

Cute... but didn't go over well.

Takes after his Momma... loooooves icing!

Ok, so here is just a preview of Tripp at his party... 

Post coming when I get the pics :)

He suffered the rest of the weekend with his eye until we could get him in to the doctor this morning to get another contact and now he is feeling a lot better- except that he had to get 3 shots today!! ugh.  

But he's a trooper!  I think from now on, maybe the doctors will believe me that he needs them in PREVENTATIVE.  They just hate putting the contacts in as much as I hate watching them put them in! O well... all is good for now.  Too bad he missed his party. He was a day late and a dollar short!  

Love,

Happy 1st Birthday.

My sweet Tripp, 

Today you turn ONE YEAR OLD.  I can't believe it.  Sometimes it feels like only yesterday when they placed you in my arms... and then other days it feels like you should be 5 years old!  You have been through SO much in one short year.  As I write this I am lying next to you while you sleep... and good thing I'm not writing it on paper because I can't hold back the tears.  I have tears of joy and tears of sadness... but mostly I just have tears of LOVE.  I LOVE you so much that I don't even know how to say it.  Every single second of the day I just want to hold you and squeeze you.  And if you could talk, I know you're first words would be "I love you" because I tell you that at least 100 times a day.  

You are so special, my little man.  I know that it will be really hard for you to understand at first, but because you have endured so much pain and suffering... God has a very very special plan for you.  I just know it.  I can look at you and tell that you are an angel here on Earth.  Mommy is so lucky and so blessed to have you for a baby.  You have made me a better person in every way possible.  I will never take another day for granted... especially a day that I have with YOU.  

You are overflowing with personality.  You have a mind of your own.  You are completely 100% spoiled rotten.  And I'm not going to lie... (almost) anything you want, you will get.  Because you deserve it.  Right now you are clapping, banging your toys, smiling like crazy, rolling your eyes (precious), pushing backwards in your walker, turning the pages of your books, and lots of other fun things.  You are getting to be so much fun and Mommy thinks you are such a smart little boy.  

Right now, my heart doesn't know what to feel.  I feel so proud of you for fighting this horrible disease for a whole year.  But my heart is aching to watch you suffer everyday.  I have so many mixed feelings.  I wish I could take every single bo-bo away from you... from your eyeballs to the tips of your toes.  But what I think I'm really trying to say, my angel, is that I wouldn't trade you for any other baby in the whole wide world.  Because YOU are the most special baby in the whole wide world.  

My goodness, I love you.  I love you so much that it hurts.  And I hope and pray that you are with me for many more years so that I can SHOW you how very much I love you.  Have a wonderful day, sweet boy.  Mommy is SO SO proud of you.   And I am honored to be your Mommy.  

I love you, 

Mommy

Eyes and Prayers.

This will be short because I am tired, frustrated, and honestly.... just ticked off.  I had a good first Mother's Day.  Tripp and I spent the day at my parents and my dad's side of the family came over.  Then yesterday he woke up with another swollen eye.  This time the left.  They just keep taking turns.  I don't know why.  I don't know if he rubbed it in the night, if it was from being outside all day, or if he just has some kind of infection.  Frankly, I am tired of trying to figure all of this out.  I'm SO over watching my baby suffer and not being able to do anything about it.  I'm tired of watching him try to play with his toys with his eyes closed.  It's the saddest thing I've ever seen.

The eye doctor didn't want to put the contacts back in because there wasn't an abrasion yet, but today was worse than yesterday so I have a feeling that we will be back at the doctor tomorrow putting the contacts in unless a miracle happens over night (feel free to pray for one...)  Tonight, I'm just sad.  About so many things.  I want my son to stop hurting.  I want him to live a normal life.  I want to take it all away.  It's so not fair and I'm just mad.  Sorry.  I will try to post again and let you know how we are, but I'm also stressing about his party and trying to plan for that.  So sorry if I'm slacking.  Please say some extra prayers for Tripp and if you want to slip in a few for me (because I'm at my wits end over SO many things), I'd appreciate :)  Thanks.

Love,   

Doctor's Appointments.

Yesterday Tripp had all of his doctor's appointments.  First we went in to check his hearing... and the nurse said she doesn't think he could hear any better.  He passed with flying colors, but we definitely KNEW he could hear well.  Nosey, nosey, nosey.  He sat on my lap in a little dark room and then little bears and animals light up and make nose and he's supposed to follow the noises.  It was cute.  He was excited and patting his legs.

Then we went to the ENT and she checked his ears.  She said his ears look better than they have his whole life and that the tubes were doing what they were supposed to.  His trach, on the other hand, still has the large ulcer on the bottom of it.  I'm going to do some nebulized steroids a couple times a day for a few weeks and see if that helps the sore shrink a little and also my try and use a smaller suction catheter hoping it will have less power... but then it doesn't get all of the "stuff" out, you know?  But we will see.  

Next, we went to the eye doctor.  (last Friday morning he rubbed his eye and his contact came out of his left eye).  So he only has a contact in his right eye right now.  They stained the left eye without the contact and said he didn't have any abrasions right now, so they are going to leave the contact out unless his eye gets bad again.  The other eye he just wanted to leave alone also because it looked fine.  He said the contact would be okay to stay in another month unless he rubs it out before.  So it was a non-dramatic experience this time.  The only thing they bothered him with was trying to get a picture of the skin-tag on his right eye because they wanted to "present" him in Grand Rounds next week.  Which means, I guess, that they will do a presentation on him in front of a bunch of different doctors/residents/etc... Which I though was great!  The doc said to give him a call next week to see if anyone had any new ideas/suggestions for his eyes.

Last, we went to see the dietician for the first time.  She was really nice and seemed very intelligent.  She also seemed very eager to help.  She took down some info on Tripp and was going to calculate some numbers and give me a call back at the end of the week.  She pretty much said that she wants to start him on a pediatric formula like Pediasure or something along those lines.  Also, she said that she wants him to start with a protein supplement.  She told us that weight-wise, he was doing great... but length-wise she thought he was a little behind.  But with all of his bandaging, I know his weight is inaccurate, so he may not be as far behind as they are writing down.  But I'm really happy about starting him on a higher calorie formula and some protein.    Bring on the height!

So I'm pretty sure our "Spring" is officially over.  It is too hot for Tripp to be outside already... even early in the morning.  We are talking about glassing in our front porch so that he will at least get to "feel" like he is outside this summer.  I just don't think people realize that we really REALLY are going to be stuck in the house ALL summer.  It is already just getting hotter INSIDE and the AC isn't keeping up.  We are in trouble.  And all I keep thinking about is how much he has just been loving outside lately.  Poor baby.  He starts sweating immediately.  Even yesterday from the car to the hospital was too hot.  UGH. Ugh. ugh.  So very frustrating.  Pray for a cool summer.... HA HA HA HA.

Digging in Mommy's purse...

"Hmmm.  What you got up in here good, Momma?"

Waiting for the doc banging his favorite plastic "doctor's office" cups.

Exciting, I know.

Best part is, I dressed him in blue... so not one person asked if he was a girl! ha.

Love,

       

Baseball Game, Zoo, and Outing

My sis and I took Tripp to his first baseball game.  Randy coaches an 11-12 year old baseball team.  He loves it and when I was pregnant last year I was out there every game.... I loved it, too.  And we had not had a chance to make one yet this year until last Tuesday.  Tripp was in heaven.  We sat down in the bleachers for about the first 5 minutes until the mosquitoes got too bad, then we went up in the press box.  Randy turned the AC on for us so it was cool up there... and mosquito free!  We also have to worry about the dust in his eyes/trach.  But he looooooved it.  I don't think he took his eyes off of the game. 

Daddy and Tripp playing peek-a-boo.  

I threw this one in because I thought it was cute. 

Ok... so the Zoo.  It wouldn't have been the perfect weather for ANYONE else, but it was pretty close to the perfect weather for Tripp.  It was humid, misting, and a little windy.  But what we didn't know was that it was like National Field Trip day or something.  What were we thinking going on a Friday at the end of the school year??  I wish I would have thought to take a picture of the buses.  There must have been 100.  Literally.  BUT we went in anyway because we were already there.  It was really really crowded, but it was okay.   It was me, my mom and dad, and my sis.  We had to take turns holding him because he couldn't see the animals from his stroller through the crowds of people.  But little did we know that Tripp would MUCH rather watch all of the people than the animals... we could have taken him to the grocery store up the street and he wouldn't have known the difference.  But it was nice for us to be able to get out... I love the Zoo.  So I was excited we finally got to go.  

So, of course there were TONS and TONS of stares.  But this was the FUNNIEST we've ever gotten. 

Right when we were walking out to go home a little boy spotted Tripp and said, "Ooooo, dat baby got ice cream ALL over his face!"  HAHA.  Gotta love kids.

Ok, so these pictures are mostly of the back of his head... but I tried to get him and the animals.  

Here are the camels.

The lions... look close.

The white tiger!!

Elephant butts...

The petting zoo... ew, don't touch.

This was his favorite.  

He could actually SEE it and follow it running around the cage.

The monkeys... see one little monkey?

Lunch at the Pita Pit... yummy.

Haha... I love these.  We went to see the place that my sister is going to get married.  And Tripp had a BIG stinky accident (if you know what I mean) so I stayed with him in the car after.  He looks like a little man.  

And finally passed out after a long long day! 

Randy and I finally got a day that he was off and we could spend some family time.  So we went to eat lunch at Applebee's.  Tripp was so good.  He ate about 10 bites of ice cream.  Which is more than he has ever taken by mouth.  Then we went to the Driving Range and let Daddy hit some golf balls... but he started getting fussy so we had to come home.  But it was really really nice to get out as a family, we haven't done that very often.... or ever.  

Ok, so that sums up the past week... we have a verrrrry busy month.  Mother's Day, Tripp's birthday,  my sister's wedding!!!  So there will be plenty more pictures to come!  Thanks for all of your love, prayers, and support!  I know that is why Tripp is thriving!! 

Love,

Video

Just wanted to share this cute video from this morning... Zoo pictures and post coming soon. :)

Love,