My Brave Little Guy...

If you are in need of hero, I have a suggestion for you; Andy!!! This little guy is one big, brave
super boy! After going to the doctors for an ear infection his pediatrician seemed unusually worried. She asked when his next cardiologist appointment was and I told her it wasn't until August. She said he needed to be seen within a week, a few weeks at the very most because his heart sounded worse. Matthew and I chose not to share this with the family in case it was a false alarm, we didn't want people to needlessly worry. Ultimately, he seems to be doing fine and won't need to be seen again until DECEMBER!!! Wow, way to go little buddy! He sure is a fighter and we are so proud of him. He sure is our little hero!



This is a nasty echo machine. He's getting a sonogram done of his heart. He HATES this part! My heart is always more broken than his when I see him like this.



He wanted to help the nurse. He was outraged he couldn't hold the wand...



Finally, he is a little calmer. Mommy or Daddy are always at his side giving him anything that will make him happier!

Nana and Primary's come to the rescue! Nana brought cookies and Primarys let him watch cartoons on their T.V.! By the way, notice all the little Spider Man's on the wall?

Dr. Pulver is extra proud of Andy. He thought Andy would be needing work done by now but the little kid is tough!!!



Here is Doctor Pulver listening to his ticker. Yes, his ticker is much more awesome sounding than yours!!! Look how happy this kid is! Nobody tell him he's in a hospital....

If you give this kid two cell phones (at one point he had 3) he will hold still for all the doctors and nurses that visit him. That day he had 2 nurses and 3 doctors work with him. Maybe we should have given him 5 phones!

This sweet nurse is blowing bubbles for him while he has a B.P. done.

Look at the nice couch we are on! Normally we get stuck waiting in typical waiting rooms but all of the rooms were full this day. They put us in the fetal heart monitoring room and we really didn't mind, it's better! I will be coming to this room for every pregnancy I have from now on.

I can't believe how happy this little guy is! Nothing ever gets him down...

Here we are looking at the gigantic fish that 'swim' in their fish tank in front of the elevators. Not all parts of Primarys are bad, there's a lot of nice things there too!

As always, we appreciate your prayers and concerns for Andrew. We know the Lord has heard our prayers and has given Andy extra time to grow and get stronger before needing intervention. We are grateful and know that he is in God's hands.

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Psalm 73:26

I found this in the scriptures today during sacrament. It has extremely significant meaning to me, especially at this time. I know God was saying it to me.

A Heartfelt Thanks....

There is a project called the Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Quilt that my family has been so lucky to be a part of. Volunteers show their love one stitch at a time making quilts that honor children with CHD (Congnital Heart Defects) and take these quilts on tour all across America. They are used to help pass legislation and bring about awareness and education. Each child gets their very own block with a heart that represents them personally. The fabric used displays something about their personality. Their name, nicknames, condtions, birthdays (and sadly sometimes their passing day) are put on their block. Then the blocks are stitched together to make a quilt. At least 37 quilts have been made so far. You can see more of them at http://www.chdquilt.org/. I want to thank Nancy and J.D. (as well as all of the other hard working volunteers) for making Andy's heart block. I am profoundly grateful and very touched at the amount of support she has shown. Sometimes I feel very scared and alone about all of this but if there is one thing that has come from this is support and friends. I believe these children with 'broken' hearts have actually healed many hearts by unifying people in love and understanding for a great cause. By the way, if you don't know the story behind Spiderman I'll tell it to you; One day while holding Andrew in the NICU I was stroking his head and asked him "What are you dreaming about little man?" His nurse walked past and said "He's being Spiderman, being big and strong and catching all the bad guys!" I thought that was so cute. Again, while at the hospital where Andy was having an echo done I noticed on the walls big stickers of Spiderman all over! He was only 2 months old, he was definately trying to tell me who is hero is don't you think? Also, at Primary Childrens Hospital on the 3rd floor the have a lifesize replica of Spiderman- he's even wearing a cast! Anyway, Andy is my little super hero Spiderman. He is strong, he is brave, he is my braveheart. Thank you Nacny and J.D., for honoring my little guy!

15 Month-Old Soccer Hooligan

So, Andrew turned 15 months old today, and daddy taught him how to play soccer (well, sort of). These videos are great! This is the first time he's ever walked more than two feet. Unfortunately, we didn't get the video camera in time to catch it when he walked clear across the living room, but these are great anyway.

My Superhero

The artwork on the left is named "Even Superman Needs a Dad" and it's by Liz Lemon Swindle. Click here to see her website.

The picture on the right is Daddy and Andy on their way to the park. This photo was taken on May 5, 2009, two days before Andrew turned 15 months old.

Look how happy he is!

This picture makes me laugh for two reasons. One, Andrew is so cute! and Two, Amber focused the camera on her mother in the background, and Andrew and I are slightly out of focus. That's our Amber (mama) and we love her just the way she is!

Andy and Bobby

Andy was able to meet his cousin Bobby. They live in two

different states so they hadn't had a chance to meet yet!
This is my cousin Brad holding both the boys.

This was the first moment Andy met Bobby. Look how excited Andy is! Bobby was still a little tired, we woke him from a nap- sorry!

Still very exciting!!! Bobby wasn't quite sure what was going on and he started to cry. Andy though that meant he needed to cry too!!They seem to be done taking pictures now....

This last picture is for pops who used to work for a train company. We took the picture even though Andy and Bobby wanted to be done taking pictures. They are quite the cuties together.These two boys are Muffy and Pops only two great-grandchildren. You can tell they both definitely have Muffy's Swedish in them- they both have blond hair and big blue eyes! So cute! I get told all the time that Andy looks just like my dad who is Muffy's son. Thanks for coming to visit us Bobby. We loved hanging out with you!

Space Aliens Attack!!!

People of the world be warned! Aliens are going to attack and the only way you can protect yourself is by wearing a kitchen sifter on your head!I remember after finding out that I was going to have a boy I suddenly realized I had never played any 'boy' types of games- army men, super heros, trains, dinosaurs- but I am really glad that Andy still lets me play with him- and look at what a BOY he is in his little Spiderman pajamas! He kept spinning around in circles on the floor with the sifter on his head. I think this was some sort of strange way to communicate with the aliens in outer space....??

'Uh-Oh!" Where did my hat go??? Playing aliens is the very best when mommy plays too!

First Steps! Yay for Andy!!!

This little guy has been working hard trying to balance on two legs. I don't blame him, sometimes I'm not so great at it myself!