Sweet Retreat

Two weekends ago, my sweet husband surprised me with a weekend away at a mountain cabin( thanks to some sweet friends for letting us use it)!! He arranged for my parents to come up and keep the boys. He left it up to me if I wanted to take or leave Cohen and I decided to go for it. We were due for some much needed rest.

We had a GREAT time. We went up on a Thursday night. On friday, we slept in, went for a walk in the community, both read books, an went for a hike at Ceaser's head.

Friday evening our sweet friends, Ryan and Molly, joined us for dinner and our traditional game of Hand and Foot( ladies won!!!! - woohoo). Uninterrupted conversation and hang out time with them both over dinner and again for breakfast was great. Ryan and Molly are great friends and it has been one hectic year!! There is no way we can ever repay them for the sacrifices they made for us through our pregnancy with Cohen and after his birth. They loved on us in ways that speaks so true of Godly community and words can't thank them enough. They spent the evening with us the night we were given Cohen's fatal diagnosis and many evenings thereafter just being there for us selflessly - always allowing our time together to be what we needed it be -it felt great to hang out without all the "needs."

On Saturday, Chris and I stayed most of the day and drove into Brevard and did a little smal town shopping.
We had a great time.

A few weeks after our 20 week ultrasound with Cohen, another couple allowed us a retreat in their mountain cabin for Chris and I to get away.We were in desperate need of it then and just as much as it was an incredibly painful time it was an incredibly wonderful time for us then too.. just a quiet, peaceful place for us to process and spend sweet, sweet time with our Lord. I can't really explain the joy we felt to return to the mountains one month shy of a year later to get some rest from taking care of our TWO sons. Life with two is certainly more hectic and with Cohen's extra needs and the emotional past year we have had the time alone for Chris and I was well past needed. We still haven't quite processed everything that has taken place. But I can say, that for two beach people, the mountains certainly hold a special place in our hearts now!!

Much thanks to my parents as well for keeping the boys!!!

Postponed

They called back and have postponed Cohen's surgery to the 29th of October. The reason is because it was originally scheduled at the surgery center branch instead of the hospital and the anesthesiologist
felt like he should be at the hospital to have it done due to respiratory concerns. I am thankful that they are thorough and are doing what is best for Cohen but frustrated that I just rearranged my entire Friday for the surgery and now it's not going to be then. Also, since Cohen's ears seem to be filled with fluid, they are probably going to get infected in the mean time which means more no eating, another trip to the doctor, and probably more antibiotics.

Also - to answer some questions - we did talk about Cort's adenoids but his breathing seems ok right now and we want to rule out allergies first.

Surgery time

Cohen's surgery will be at 7:45am. The other good news is that since Cohen gets my milk still he can have it as late as 3:45am instead of the cut off being at midnight!!!! Yea!!!!

ENT appointment

We had our ENT appointment this morning so here's the outcome:

Cort: We are going to try him on some allergy medicine first. He thinks he's pretty symptomatic of environmental allergies and since we are not noticing any hearing or language issues at this point we have some time to experiment. He will take the medicine for about 6 weeks and then we will go back to see him and see if he can see a difference. If he gets another ear infection in that time, we will probably def. do tubes. If the allergy medicine seems to help with all the cold like symptoms but we end up with more ear infections in the future, we'll still possibly do them. This sounds like a good plan to me. We may still end up with tubes but either way I want to treat him if he is having allergy issues - I know he has to be tired of then endless "sickiness."


Cohen: Cohen is getting tubes this Friday. The reason for the rush is really just because they had a opening that soon. But Cohen just finished up a around of Strong antibiotics this past Saturday and his ears are already getting infected again. I'm not sure what time the surgery will be yet - waiting for that call. I am not too nervous about it ... a little about him having to be put under but i know they will monitor him very closely. I am a little frantic in just trying to get everything set up for it so quickly( calling my pediatrician, rearranging other doctors appointments, finding something to do with Cort, etc.) but I'll get it done.


You can pray that the allergy medicine helps Cort and that the surgery and anesthesia goes well on Friday and that this helps Cohen stay clearer and eat better in the long run. Also, Cohen won't be able to eat after midnight tomorrow night so pray he naturally sleeps through the night tomorrow night( he has not been doing this recently).

I'll let you know when I find out what time the surgery will be.

Cohen is 7 Months Old!!!

Cohen turned 7 months old on Sunday. ( Sorry I'm late) 7 months almost seems like a bigger deal than 6 months... I guess because now it seems more like we're actually counting up to a year old!! I can't believe it!!

Cohen's had a great month. He learned to roll over from his back to his tummy and boy does he like to do it. He rolls over all the time... problem that he still doesn't actually really like it once he gets there!!! I spend a lot of my day rolling him back over. At times he'll stay on his tummy for a while and then just ends up just laying his little head down and watching Cort play - it's really cute. Rolling over is such a great accomplishment for cohen because he doesn't have the same leverage in his legs to roll his body over and the more limited range of motion of his legs and arms makes positioning them for rolling a little harder.

He also has been eating his solids a good bit better - he still isn't overly excited about them but he does eat more now.

He is also playing with his toys more and more. He will do easy cause and effect toys and puts everything in his mouth. He is starting to manipulate his toys more too - passing them from one hand to another... being able to turn the toys, etc. He tries so hard to do all these things but it's difficult for him with the shortness of his arms and the bowing. It's starting to be a bit of a challenge for us to find toys and that are appropriate for him and to make adjustments so that he can reach things.


This month we have seen a pretty remarkable difference in his trunk strength. He is able to sit up with our support for much longer period of times and without as much stress. He also will reach out and play while in a sitting position at times. Prior to now, this was very difficult for him and he was often uncomfortable and struggled to breath in a sitting position.


He's eating every 3-4 hours, with solids in the morning and evening. He still wakes up most nights. We had a week of him sleeping through the night almost every day but has gone back to waking.

Sweet Cuddles....Cohen has never been much of a cuddler and this month he has finally started to want to cuddle a little more. I love it!

Silly Face....


Rolling Sequence......












Just a note.... Cort and Cohen's ENT appointent is on Oct. 15.

And just cuz....Sneak Peek at Cort's halloween.....

Double Trouble

So Cort and Cohen both have ear infections...again.

This is Cort's 6th one 8 months and it's Cohen's 4th in 4.5 months so....
off to the ENT we go. Not sure when the appointment will be but their Doc predicts that Cort will have tubes by halloween but that we'd see what the ENT says about Cohen...might want him to get a little older but good to have him followed.

I 'm on board with this - i am tired of so many antibiotics being pumped into theri bodies and feeling like everytime Cort has a runny nose we have to go the doctor. I am there enough as it is and even though the visits are necessary it just makes me feel like I'm one of those mom's that's always running to the doctor.

Cohen doesn't really seem sick so that's a praise. Cort has a nasty cold so hopefully he'll feel better soon. Pray that Cohen does get any of the respiratory stuff that Cort has.

It makes me a bit nervous that it's just the beginning of October and Cort has already had 2 colds. Both times he's had colds, Cohen has seemed to pick it up to some extent even though he hasn't really been too sick. I am not sure how to keep a 2.5 year olds germs at bay!!!! I am thankful that the repiratory issues have remained small for Cohen... ie last time cort had a cold it lasted like 10 days but Cohen's symptoms only lasted about 2 days!! I guess Mommy's milk really does help!!! Plus, I am really thankful for the infections to go to the ears and not the chest. If we have to take something, we'll take ears!!!

Tummy by choice!!!

Cohen rolled from his back to his tummy today for the first time. I saw it coming over the past couple of days as he was flipping almost his whole body over except his head and shoulders and this morning he finally did it. I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not but then he did it like 10 more times in the span of about 15 minutes!!

The funny thing is he kept doing it but then would get almost immediately mad about it( thus I was unsuccessful in getting a picture) - and want back on his back( which for someone reason he won't do anymore).

Either way I'm one proud Mommy!! I think he was proud of himself too!

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While I'm on here I have 2 more funny Cort stories to take note of:

1) A week or so ago we somehow got to talking about Cort about life before Cohen was here. We asked him if he remembered when it was just Mommy, Daddy, and Cort? His answer was simply. " and Baby Cohen"( so sweet) and so then Chris tried to jog his memory with an event from last year and Cort just sort of stared at him. So Chris said, " Do you remember when Cohen was in Mommy's tummy and then we had to go to the hospital to get him out?"
And Cort said. " Yep, and Mommy said "pffffff"(making spitting noise with his mouth) and spit him out!!!" "Yucky!"

Side note - It's so sweet to me how Cort just embraced Cohen into our family. We really didn't prepare him for his arrival out of trying to protect his little heart from knowing such loss and it just warms my heart to see how much he loves him and includes him in our family as if he's always been here. God is so good even in those details. It's good for me to remind myself of that daily.

2) cort is studying Noah at church now and after the first day of it I was talking to Cort about it on the way home from Church and i asked him a little about Noah and then our conversation went something like this:

Me: Who does Noah obey?

Cort: God

Me: Does Mommy and Daddy obey God?

Cort: Yes

Me; Does Cort obey God?

Cort: NOOOOOO!!!!

Me: ( a little stunned at his dramatic response) Who does Cort obey?

Cort: Mommy and Daddy :)

Guess we'll have to work on getting him to connect it all. He'll get there!!

microwavable paint, haircuts, and heads up

*** Posted several new posts before this one....

Got this great idea from flipflops and applesauce and Cort had a blast. You make your own paint out of selfrising flour, salt and water, and food coloring....paint...and then microwave for 30 seconds and the paint bubbles and puffs up.





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I finally got Cort's haircut..... i miss it but it does look better even with it blown around by the super windy day we had here....




I get Cort's haircut at Jellybeans..... have always had a good experience and they do the first haircut for a penny!! I recommend it!
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Getting stronger and stronger on his tummy and keeping his head up!!!

Insectimania!!!

We went to a local science center for an event called Insectimania about 2 weeks ago. Cort had a blast and it was super nice to get out as a family since we don't do that often. We spent some time looking at all the bugs and then enjoyed a picnic. My mom was up for the weekend so it was nice to get to do that with her too( plus an extra set of hands is always great!!)! My mom got better pictures than I did but I least got a few.
Cort got to see all sorts of bugs, a butterfly release, look through a microscope, and even hold some bugs. He is sometimes a bit skittish about that kind of thing so I was glad to see him so excited and eager to get his hands on the bugs!!




Cohen really enjoyed the fish( though I am not sure why there was a fish room at insectimania) and the rainforest.


The science center is great - they do all sorts of events like this and have fun lights at Christmas. With 2 boys, I have a feeling we might be there often in the years to come.

First Day of School

Cort started back to school(Mother's Day Out) once a week a few weeks ago.

Here he is on his first day of school....


Chris drops him off so that Cohen can get a good nap in before we go to therapy. I hate not getting to see him run into his classroom so excited but I am glad he gets to do that with his Daddy. Cort loves school. His teacher told me the first day that he acted as if he'd been there for months. No tears or asking for Mommy for this boy. I haven't decided if that makes me totally happy or maybe a little bit sad!!!!!
Anyway, I just love getting to pick him up and him telling me all about his day, the songs they sang, the books they read, and the crafts they did. Too cute!!!

Here's a few pictures from last week with him proudly wearing his bookbag and holding his lunchbox.

Too cute not to post....

Cort was a bit preoccupied by watching himself on the video that he would forget to keep singing from time to time. Flipping the digital picture around so he can watch himself seems to be the trick to getting him to preform for the camera.

If Cort lived with the dinosaurs... and other Cortisms

...they probably wouldn't be extinct.
(Just in case you didn't see it - I updated the waiting post with Cohen's blood test results.... good news...scroll on down to it and then come back !)
Cort loves playing with his dinosaurs and his favorite is to feed them goldfish and give them water. It's super cute but a little messy.

I've mentioned before that Cort loves to pretend play. I love it that he always wants to include Cohen. On occasion, this can cause a few problems but in general it's super sweet. The other day we had a "picnic" - Cort had to make sure that Cohen got to participate!!! Gotta love a delicious meal of rocks served on trivets!!


A few Cort comments that I have to document for my own sake...

1. Over the past couple of weeks at church Cort has been learning about creation so we have been talking about it a good bit. Cort loves to name all the things that God created - especially all the animals. One day at lunch we spent a good 10 minutes talking about all of God's creations. After lunch, I asked him if he wanted some amish bread that we had made together early in the day. Wanting to remind him that he had helped me make it I asked him, "Who made this Amish bread?" He promptly replied, "God!"

2. On the same line of above on the way to church one Sunday we were continuing our conversation about God's creation and Cort was naming all the animals and then he said, " Where is God? He come to Cort's house? I told him that God's home was in heaven but that yes, God is in Cort's house too. That God was everywhere...and then because it couldn't have stayed that easy, " What's He doin'? What's God do?" ( he says this with a tone of if he's already created everything what i the world does he do now?) I hate to say I sort of fumbled through this answer and said something about God loving and protecting us....what would you have said?

3. I had been telling him that he was going to be in a new classroom at church called the sea turtles - we talked about this a lot just to ensure that the transition went smoothly. When we walked into our children's building - Cort stopped and looked all around - spinning even - and said, "Mommy, where are the sea turtles?" He totally thought there would be sea turtles at church!!!

4.When putting Cort to bed one night I told him we were going to sing one more song and as he often does he says, " no, two more" and held up two fingers. He then pointed to one finger and said, " and this one is twinkle and twinkle, " and to the other finger, "and this was is ABC's."

5.Upon finding a toy behind by back yesterday Cort says, "Mommy, I found it backhind you!"

6. We have been playing a little activity where I draw three animals( ie. elephant, bird, and spider) down one side of the paper and then draw their "habitats" ( jungle, tree(or nest), web) down the other in different places and Cort draw a line to take the animal to their home. He LOVES doing this. The other day he kept drawing the path for the bird to the very top of the paper( not to any of the habitats). And I say, "where does the bird live Cort?" - he draws another line to the top of the paper. I say, "The bird lives in the tree, can you draw a line to the tree?" He says, "No, Mommy, the bird lives in the sky"

7. Two little phrases I keep meaning to document, Instead of "What are those?" Cort says "What there are those?" and recently he keeps saying with much excitement, "I have and Idea!!!" I love it wen they imitate things they've heard.

Last one, I think....
8. Back to the Creation thing, My friend, Molly, was keeping him a few weeks ago and so Cort joined in on her home school time with her 5 year old daughter. They were doing creation and talking about day four. This included coloring the number 4 with the things God had created that day. So when I picked him up, I asked him what he learned about. He told me, "God." and so I dug a little farther and said, "What did God create?" and he said, "Numbers."


And just cuz their cute....

Chewing on those fingers....

Happy boy....



Look, long pants that fit( almost)!!! We don't have many of these so i thought I should document it....