17 Month - Nate Update

On the 20th, Nate turned 17 months. We are so blessed to be the parents of this sweet little boy. He is starting to make huge headways in his development. He is finally holding his own with his big sister, and is becoming quite the chatterbox. He will attempt to say anything you ask him to. Gentry got him to say the name of  her cat the other day (Fee-bo). He wants to do EVERYTHING himself, just like his sissy which also causes him to get a few extra bruises here and there.

 On the 20th, we also had Nate's kidney check with his pediatric nephrologist. Up until this appointment, we have always had good news to share. Unfortunately, this appointment was our first that seemed to have more not so good news. Nate's kidney functions are going down. In September, his kidneys were functioning at 59% which is pretty much average for the last year or so. With this round of bloodwork, he has dropped to 53%. This is a pretty big drop for his age. We are beginning him on a medication that will naturally decrease his kidney functions, but we had not given him this medication at that time, so there is no medication to blame for the numbers. (We have started that medication since then, so we will probably see another decrease in the next round of numbers.) We will also be needing to add some calories to his diet. We have to be careful what to give him though, since his kidenys can not take certain foods. The nutrionist came in to speak with us and said to add things like cream cheese, olive oil, sour cream and peanut butter to his diet. Also we are hoping our insurance will cover a drink similar to Pediasure or Ensure, but for people with kidney disease. The drink is called Suplina and it cost about $3.00 per can, so we are hoping and praying that they can persuade the insurance to assist us with some of the cost. He is also starting Vitamin D, which will be a lifelong vitamin for him from here on out. With all these new numbers, the doctor now predicting a need for a kidney transplant a little sooner than originally estimated. He quoted by age 8; however, this is just a guess. Since September was his last "good" blood work, he says that next September he will be able to use a formula to calculate his numbers and to accurately predict that for sure.

We know this little guys is a fighter and we have a HUGE support system that loves him and would do anything for him. (I keep bugging the doctor to allow us to start testing our family for possible matches and he keeps looking at me strange. Gotta try, right?) Thank you for your continued prayers. We know he is in the Lord's hands along with so many people's hearts. Merry Christmas to you all!

Reagan

Another Cousin!!!

Yesterday we welcomed another cousin to our family! Jensen Riley Kerger made her appearance around lunch time weighing in at 7.3lbs. I already got to hold and kiss on this little one, but Tessa and Nate have not met their new cousin yet. Congratulations Jake, Shelby and Krosby! We love her so much already. (Tessa is so excited to get another girl cousin to play dress-up with!)

Ho Ho Ho!

This past week we got to take our little ones to see Santa. We have only done this once before when Tessa was 1, so it was Nate's first time. Tessa did great, talking Santa's ear off. 

 From the second we put Nate on Santa's lap, he was mesmerized. We were not even sure we were going to get a glance up for a good picture. Luckily we got two great ones. 

We are hoping everyone's December has been as fun and joyous as ours so far. Merry Christmas everyone!

Fall 2012

I know I am a little late in posting this, but here in AZ you forget it is almost Winter. We are having an exceptionally hot Fall this season, which isn't helping get us in the festive mood. So just to recap our last few months, a lot has happened. We went to the pumpkin patch, carved a pumpkin and went Trick-O-Treating with our cousins. We gained a new cousin, Caleb, and are anxiously waiting for another in a week or two. Nate is growing and developing well. He is still a little wobbly, thus all the bruises. The physical therapist re-evaluated him and it appears that he is much more on track then when he was last evaluated. Hopefully the Occupational Therapist will be re-evaluating him soon, so we may be able to breathe a sigh of relief that he no longer needs therapy. Tessa is growing to be such a good big sissy. Nate adores her!

Pearl, our bulldog, turned one this past October. Also, you will see a picture of Tessa completely covered in bandaids.....she did that all by herself. We had to take a picture to document. She can be a little bit of a hypochondriac on many occasions, always saying she needs a bandaid. She even put them on some of her stuffed animals...Oh Tessa!

This song is one of our favorites during the workdays when me and the kids are headed over to Grammys before I head to work. Tessa loves to sing "Good Morning". We hope you enjoy it!

Reagan

Fall 2012 from rebturley on Vimeo.

Tessa's FIrst Dentist Visit!

Last week, Tessa went to the dentist for the first time. She did a great job. She was actually asking us for weeks to take her. She calls the dentist the "tooth doctor". For some strange reason, my child loves going to the doctor. She will even sit an watch the nurse give her a shot....she did not get that from my Dad's side of the family :-)

Tessa was really excited about seeing the trains go round and round. She stayed in the chair pretty good and did her best to be patient with the hygienist. She had a hard time keeping the apparatus in her mouth that captures the X-rays... maybe next time. 

When we left, Tessa was left speechless...just kidding, she was very excited to climb on the train that was outside of the office. It is hard to get her attention even for a short picture. 

Dentist said everything looks good! Keep brushing baby girl!

Shopping for Brock!

   Many months ago I gained a friend. A friend who is choosing to save a little boy from an orphanage across the sea. This friend has become very dear to me, along with the little boy that she is adopting, Brock. Brock stole my heart around this time last year. Once this family committed to Brock, I committed to them that I would do whatever I could to help bring this little boy home. Here is one way I am trying to help.
   As the days get closer and closer to Christmas, you may be needing a thing or two from one of my favorite online shopping sights, Amazon. On the right side of my blog, you will notice a link. By clicking on the link prior to purchasing things on Amazon, some of the money will go to assist with Brock's adoption. This is just a small way we can help "Bring Brock Home." Thanks for your help.

Reagan

Happy Birthday Chimi!

My doggie, Chimi, had a birthday yesterday. She is six years old. My mommy tells me that she is 42 in dog years. That's older then my mom! She is one of my two favorite doggies. She is so  patient with me. She lets me crawl under the table to find her. I like to lay next to her and just ponder being one. 

She sometimes lets me sit beside her...

 ...and lay on her.

She even lets me give her a kisses.

I even catch my sissy riding her too!

Sometimes I like to pester the other animals in the house. Here I am following Beau the cat around. He was trying to get a drink of water and was not very happy I was bothering him. 

 I tried to follow him...

 Peek-a-boo...I found you silly kitty!

 Come let me give you a big hug!

I am so glad to have these special friends that are so patient with me.  I hope I get to celebrate Chimi for many more years. 

Love, 

Nate