Our Sweet 6 Month Old!

Today marks 6 months for our little boy Nate! These last 6 months have been an emotional roller coaster with everything medical we have had to go through; however, each day we are reminded of what a blessing he is to us. His smiles and giggles light up a room, and his sweet nature melts our hearts. Here he is in a "yamaka"! Aunt Kamie was making a special project with her crocheting, and before it was done we decided to see what Nate looked like if he was Jewish. Well here he is...our little Matzo ball!

He got a giant polar bear for Christmas. It will be fun to see him climb all over it one day. Right now it is a little big for him though.

Tessa continues to adore her little "Bubbas". She is able to make him laugh and smile all the time. He gets a kick out of her craziness.

We have Nate's 6 month check up on Monday, and his next kidney doctor appointment on the 7th. We have gone three months without bloodwork, so we are anxiously waiting to hear what his levels are. Hopefully we will be amazing his doctors yet again. We will post his progress when we get it. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

Two Busy Months!

Here at the Turley household, we have been pretty busy. So many things have happened so we knew it would be easier to display them all in a video. Some of the exciting things that took place included us adding a new family member to our home (Pearl Magnolia, the Bulldog) and Reagan's entire family visiting for the Christmas holiday. While they were here, we had some great fun doing things like making Gingerbread Houses, going to Zoolights, sitting around the campfire, and getting lots and lots of cousin fun time. (Tessa didn't know what to do with all the playmates!) We even got to go on a Hayride though the neighborhood. We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Nate's Fourth Month

Last week Nate had his 4 month checkup. He currently weighing 12.13 pounds. His weight, head and height are all leveling around the 10 percentile range. This seems small when we compare him to his big sister at her age (where she was in the 113th percentile at one point...lol) but we are just so happy that he continues to grow and put on weight. Keep growing little one!

He is getting very active, alert and giggly! He even is learning to toughen up since his sister loves him in her rough and tumble way.

Only a few more days before all the cousins are together!

Turleys on the Go!

Adam recently got an early Christmas present. He has been wanting a bike forever, so Santa came a little early. Santa also brought a very fun attachment for the kids to enjoy. It is a little big for Nate yet, but Tessa loves going on bike rides with Daddy.

Anyone want to join us??

October at the Turley House

Even though we didn't go trick or treating, we still got all dressed up with the Phoenix cousins. Our cheerleading brigade is not complete without Gracie...but it will have to do until Christmas. Thank you Aunt Raleigh for buying us these cute cheerleading costumes which just happen to be the colors of our old high school!


Tessa the cheerleader!Nate as Charlie Brown! (Thanks for sharing your outfit Baby George!)
This was our first year as a family that we actually "carved" a pumpkin. Mimi came over to help. Tessa seemed to enjoy it, but preferred to use the spoon to scoop out the pumpkin guts.


Nate supervised!

We then did our traditional"baby in a pumpkin" picture. Nate's pumpkin was so big, we had to roll it on its side. Otherwise, he would have been lost inside the pumpkin. Can you tell which one Tessa and which one is Nate? Both look rather uncomfortable... Nate 2011
Tessa 2009

Tessa then and now...still getting swallowed by the pumpkin.

Happy Fall Everyone!

Another Nate Update!

On Monday, Nate had his monthly check up with his kidney doctor. He had gotten blood work the week before and we were anxiously awaiting his new results, like we do every time we see the doctor. So far, we have not been disappointed, the results always have shown a positive decrease in his creatinine levels, which means his kidneys are functioning more and more on their own each day. This appointment was even better then we had ever hoped!

Nate's doctor has always told us that the lower the level, the better it is because that means his kidney is functioning better. We started at a deathly 2.7, which almost caused our little guy to be shipped off to Phoenix Children's Hospital to start dialysis. After weeks and weeks of waiting, we finally got it under a 1.0, which is where the doctor was expecting. However, Nate has gone from .9 to .79, to a whopping .6! This is an amazing number! It may not seem like a big drop, but this is well below what we ever thought he would get to. Typical babies at his age are around a .4-.5, so we are so close! The doctor again stands amazed. He joked that he was a man of science who didn't believe in miracles...smiling and chuckling they whole time.

At this point in time, our good news gets us a longer time span between appointments. We had been going monthly, but now our next appointment will be in three months. The doctor is going to have an ultrasound done of Nate's kidneys once he is a year old. He believes that he will get the best read out of these images at that age. He is not in rush to have more images taken now because he is doing so well. So we will continue to see him every few months until that time. Who knows what kind of miracle is in store!

Keep those prayers coming. Our little guy is stronger then we thought. Our little boy has blessed us in so many ways! He is truly a gift from God!

Double the Zoo fun!

Last month, Tessa was able to visit both zoos that we have here in the valley. The first visit was with her grandmother to the Wildlife zoo. They had a wonderful time. Tessa was so pooped by the time they made it out of there. Mimi knows how to wear her out!

Our other trip was to the Phoenix Zoo was with our cousins Mia and Krosby. Originally, we were supposed to go a week earlier, but Mia got sick. It turned out to work in our favor though. The weather the following week was beautiful...perfect zoo weather. Tessa got to see her favorite attraction...the "turtles"! (I know many of our family members are hearing Tessa say turtles as they read this!)

Tessa last visited the Phoenix Zoo when she was 18 months old. Can you see the difference in 8 months?

Tessa can't wait to go again. Soon it will be time to visit the zoo with all its lights for Christmas!