Aiden's 2nd Birthday!!!

 We celebrated Aiden's 2nd birthday, July 21st with a Elmo and friends party!  We had a few of Aiden's closest friends and family over for some backyard fun.  He had a blast!!!

We can not believe it has already been two years since Aiden was born.  We are still in awe of what all God has done for our special little boy. To think of where he was only two short years ago, really is a testament to God's powerful healing ability in our lives.  We look at our little boy everyday and know we are blessed!!

Aiden is still stuggling with his weight, but he does not let being small slow him down!  He is a rough and tough little boy.  He loves to be outside, swim at his Mimi and Pop's pool, and play with his trucks.  He also really loves books.  We think he is going to be very smart ;)  He has a big vocabulary and is starting to learn colors.  He is growing taller but of course gaining weight is still an issue.  Aiden is showing interest in a variety of new foods.  He still is getting the majority of his daily nutritional needs through his tube.  We pray he can eventually begin to take a higher quantity of solid foods and the tube will begin to be used less. 

We are now preparing for Aiden's upcoming surgery on August 13th.  We appreciate all of your prayers!

Aiden's new truck from Daddy and Momma. 

Aiden in his new batman PJ's from his uncle Ryan.  He also got him the mask.  Aiden could not wait to put them on and be Batman!

Plans for Surgery

It has been several months since I have updated. Aiden has been sick on and off for the past three months with ear infections. Each time it leads to him having about a week long of either diarrhea or vomitting or both. He will not eat for a week each tome so this really hinders his feeding therapy. We also end up having to slow down his tube feedings and dilute his high calorie milk so that he can tolerate them without the sugars causing further diarrhea.  Aiden now weighs between 20 and 21 lbs.  Each time he begins to put on some ounces the cycle of stomach upset return.  This is very frustrating for us as we really want him to gain weight!  We are hoping that soon this will be resolved. The ENT doctors have finally determined that his tubes placed last October are no longer working properly.  This is causing the fluid to build up in his ears leading to the infections.  We are planning for Aiden to go back to surgery on August 13th for them to take out the old tubes and place new ones.  We are hopeful that this will be successful in preventing Aiden from further infections.  We hope that this is the only issue leading to the recent stomach problems and that they will resolve as well so Aiden can FINALLY put on a few pounds!!!  Prayers are appreciated as Aiden goes for his ninth surgery since birth :(

21 months

       It is hard for us to believe that Aiden is already 21 months old.  In just three months we will be celebrating his 2nd birthday! He is growing so fast and learning so many new things!  He is on the move and hardly ever slows down it seems.  Aiden is constantly exploring and has now learned to climb! We are so thankful to report that for the past month we have not had to make one trip to the doctor! This is such a blessing for us because Aiden stayed sick most of the winter. We are so grateful to God for keeping Aiden well!!!

         Aiden is showing lots of progress with his feeding therapy.   He has finally learned that food is fun!  He still does not eat a large amount but he is finally starting to explore new foods.  Just this past week he ate almost all of his lunch one day at daycare.  This is a major accomplishment for Aiden!  He usually eats only a few bites.  His progress is slow, but progress is progress!  His favorite foods to eat are spaghetti, bananas, grapes, and crackers.  For now we are still using his tube to supplement and maintain his weight.  We are still doing bolus feedings through the tube and he is tolerating larger amounts of the formula now.  This makes the tube feedings go quicker.  This is a really good thing considering it is very hard to keep Aiden still long enough to do his feedings!  Thankfully, Aiden has never pulled on or messed with his tube.  He knows it is there but really just does not bother it, which is pretty amazing to me. 

      I'm amazed everyday at all Aiden has accomplished since coming into this world.  He has already overcome so many obstacles! There is no doubt God has been with him and our family every step of the way.  We are so blessed to serve an amazing Savior that never leaves or forsakes us! Thanks again to all those that have prayed for Aiden along the way.  We are so thankful to each one of you for the love and support shown to our special little boy!

19 months

 

      I'm so behind on posting an update, but this past month has been really busy for our family.  Aiden has continued to struggle with ear infections.  He also was sick with a stomach virus two times!!  Two weeks ago his ear infection returned and his lymph nodes in his neck became very enlarged.  It was very scary for us and painful for Aiden.  Thankfully, we recognized this quickly and started back on antibiotics.  We are so thankful that he is now better and FINALLY off all antibiotics! Praise God!! I pray that his ears stay well!

Aiden and Big Pawpaw at Christmas

        We also have had two deaths in our family over the past month.  Aiden lost his Great-Grandfather to Lou Gehrig's disease.  He was a wonderful christian man that will be greatly missed!  I'm so thankful that Aiden was able to enjoy time with him before he became ill.  We will all cherish the time spent with Big Paw Paw and especially the pictures of him enjoying Aiden!  We also lost a very special uncle this past week.  Please keep our family in your prayers as we continue to grieve the loss of two special people! 

On a brighter note, sickness has not kept Aiden down.  He is walking really well now, and is starting to pick back up with his eating.  He has tried several new foods recently and we are very excited with the progress he is making in therapy!  We traveled to Jackson last Thursday for a check up with Aiden's surgeon.  He received a great report...He has gained weight!!! He now weighs 18 lbs 7 oz. and is 31 inches long.  The surgeon was pleased that he had gained almost a pound since his last visit despite being sick.  We don't have to go back for a check up for 2 months this time!!! We are praying that Aiden is finally turning a corner with his battle to gain weight and is really going to fatten up!  He is drinking more milk now and is tolerating bolus feedings well through his feeding tube.  Aiden is learning so many new things! He has started to say several new words.  He has also learned to count to three.  He loves being outside, playing with his trucks/cars, dancing, singing, reading books, and riding in his wagon.  We are so thankful for Aiden's progress!! Aiden has such a wonderful spirit about him.  He is a little comedian and keeps us laughing! We are so grateful God blessed us with our special little miracle.  Aiden continues to inspire us and is forever a reminder of what a AMAZING God we serve!

Aiden has his cars & trucks all lined up! 



Being silly!




18 months

We can not believe that Aiden is now 18 months old!!! This month we are very excited that Aiden is finally starting to walk!  He is just starting to get confident enough to take a few steps without holding our hands.  He is so proud of himself and we are very proud of him too!  He has become very inquisitive.  He loves to play outside, ride his tractor, play with his trucks, and play ball.  He also loves books.  He just cut his 14th tooth!!   Now if we can just get him to using them and eating that would be great! We are still relying mostly on his tube for nutrition. He now weighs 17lbs 9 oz.  Which is not much more that what he weighed six weeks ago at his last visit in Jackson.  His surgeon is starting to get concerned because he is still not growing fast enough.  He does not like to drink his milk.  The few foods he does like are crackers, cookies, bananas, and yogurt but only on occasion.  Thankfully, Aiden is finally back in feeding therapy with a new speech therapist.  She specializes in therapy for infants and children with feeding issues.  She is wonderful!  We have only had two visits with her but she has already given us tons of information and tips to help Aiden. Unfortunately, He has been sick for over six weeks with ear infections and this is continuing to hinder any progress with his therapy.  He has been on two different oral antibiotics which always seem to upset his stomach. Thus, making it harder for him to gain any weight!  We thought getting the tubes put in would help but that doesn't seem to be the case.  Finally, this week the pediatrician decided to culture the drainage from his ears and we found out that he has a resistant type of infection in his ears that can be very serious.  We are thankful to have finally figured out why all the antibiotics were not getting him well, but now he has to take an even stronger one.  We are praying the new medication does not make him sick! We are so ready to get his ears well! Our surgeon in Jackson has referred Aiden to a pediatric ENT. This will be the next step if the new medication does not work. We would like to ask for prayer that Aiden can get well and we can get his weight up soon!!

Aiden pushing his tractor!