INTRODUCING...

Ethan Cole Greene

7lbs. 10oz. 19 3/4in.

born on

7/28/2009 at 2:28pm

Little Ethan entered this world today by c-section. Kim and the baby are both doing GREAT!! Everyone was extremely excited. You couldn't wipe the smile off of Nick or Emma's face. It's amazing how much Ethan and Emma (as a baby) look alike! Here are just a few of the special moments that we were able to capture. Enjoy!

Emma seeing Ethan for the 1st time.

Can we keep him?!?

I'm a BIG sister!

The PROUD Mama.

My Baby Brother.

Sleepin' Away.

The PROUD Papas.

Family Portrait.

What Have I Got Myself Into?!?

PRICELESS

I couldn't resist sharing this with you. Jackson met me outside this morning wearing this (and only this!)!

Fire truck pajamas. $7. Pack of Elmo underoos. $4. Spider-Man boots. $9.

Jackson Boyd. PRICELESS.

WARNING! This is NOT for the SQUEAMISH!!

We tried to warn you!...This is what we are now dealing with. Jackson is trying to "spit a stitch". (No, we did not make that up!) The technical terminology would be a foreign body reaction. Basically, the body recognizes the stitches as "foreign" and so the body tries to get rid of them. This usually happens over the knot of the stitch which is why his is occuring at the bottom of his incision. As horrible as this looks, they say that it's not infected. We have been communicating with the doc's this week and we actually took him in to be seen yesterday because it has gradually gotten worse (and because it's the weekend). They did go ahead and start him on an antibiotic by mouth just as a precaution (which made me feel better!). They wanted us to continue to watch it like a hawk and use the antibiotic cream. All we are waiting for now is his body to "spit the stitch"(the stitch will actually come through the skin, the doc's will snip it, and it will all be over with-WE HOPE!!). Jackson did spit a stitch after his second surgery but nothing like this. SO... PLEASE pray that this does NOT turn into an infection. As you can imagine, infection would be a very bad thing because it has a path straight to the heart! Otherwise, Jackson is doing extremely well!! WIDE OPEN to be exact!! As I said before, PLEASE pray that God would wrap his arms around Jackson and continue to heal him completely.

LOVE Much, LAUGH Often, and PRAY HARD!!

Made You LOOK!!

Nuttin' New To Tell

Well, it's been a little bit since our last post but it's been a whirlwind around here. Hopefully, things will return to DULL and BORING real soon... we can't wait!! Jackson continues to do really well. We did have 2 doctor appointments last week. His cardiologist said that everything still looked and sounded good, so no changes for now. The place on his chest that we were concerned about is still there-really red and scabbed, so we're still watching it closely and putting antibiotic cream on it. We're still limiting our exposure to crowds and probably still will for a little bit longer. It's been really hard "limiting his activity". I feel like we're constantly saying "NO, you can't do that" or "Get down from there". He's been a pretty good sport about it though. He does seem to need a nap since surgery which we think is related to him lying around for so long, but we have seen a big improvement in his activity tolerance. Before surgery, if he was running for a long distance he might would have to stop and rest halfway there. Tonight we went to Darrin's softball game and Jackson was able to run to and back without resting and he was barely winded. This is a big improvement for him! I don't have any new pics, but we'll try to work on that this week. So for now our plan is to patiently wait on the arrival of our new nephew who will be arriving July 28 (if not before), and do NOTHING!!

Thank you again for all the prayers for Jackson, Papa, and our family throughout the last couple of weeks. It's been a few weeks of HI's and LO's, but we have truly been blessed to have our church, family and friends supporting us all the way.

We LOVE You, Papa!!

Today around 12:40pm my Papa passed away (David Curry). He was diagnosed over a year ago with multiple myeloma (a type of cancer that effects the cells of the bone). He's 82 and has endured chemotherapy among other things throughout this past year. The family made the decision to place him in the McCall Hospice House, which was an absolute blessing! The children tried to keep him at home as long as possible and with the help of 3 very special caregivers, they were able to until he became to weak to handle at home. Papa was the most generous, hard-working, OPTIMISTIC, fun-loving, family-loving man that I've met!!

He will be GREATLY missed but NEVER forgotten!!

WE LOVE YOU, PAPA!!

We Love You!!

Home SWEET Home!!

We never knew how GREAT it would be to be back in our own bed!! Saturday night we all crashed once we hit the door. Jackson is still doing great! He's back to his old WILD MAN ways with an attitude of course but, we're working on that! We have to remind ourselves that it has only been 11 days since surgery and he's probably been through more in 9 days than most adults will go through in a lifetime. Anyway, he continues to do really well. We do have some post-op rules to follow...1. no activities that require his feet to leave the ground, 2. no large crowds, 3. no picking him up under his arms(This is probably the hardest, try picking up an almost 40 lb child "baby style"). They sent him home with several different medicines, all but one will be for a short time only. He's now on aspirin (This is used to thin his blood. He has been on this one since the first surgery and will be for life.), enalapril (This one is used to "dry" up any fluid from around the heart and lungs), and lasix (This is what most older folks call their "fluid pill". This is used to get rid of the extra fluid via the kidneys.), and last but not least oxycodone as needed for pain. He's not too fond of taking medicine anymore since this hospitalization (he has always been an excellent medicine taker!) so, every morning and night is now a struggle when it comes medicine time. We have 2 doctor's appointment this week- the pediatrician, and cardiologist. He does have one spot on his incision that does have us slightly concerned. He has an area at the bottom of his incision that is red and has a small pus filled area. We think that he is trying to "spit a stitch" (this happened after his 2nd surgery). This basically happens when the body recognizes the stitches as "foreign" and tries to reject them. We're watching this area very closely and we'll see what the cardiologist says on Wednesday. Well, that's basically "US" in a nutshell! Thank you so much for your prayers, calls, cards, gifts, and visits! God has once again truly blessed us! We're still praying for a quick and complete recovery without any complications. We love ya'll!!! Stay tuned...

Wild Man

Makin' Stuff

Playing Baseball on a Wii

Still Smilin'

Notice Anything Missing?!?

Keller and Jackson

SEE YA!!!!

HT, Here We Come!!

The numbers for Jackson's chest tube were right on this am, but we had to wait on his surgeon's approval. Once again we played the waiting game. He finally came around about 1:30pm and said to pull it. He went ahead and pulled it while he was there. We took Jackson back to the treatment room (where they do all procedures) which he screamed the whole way! He pulled it without any pain med or sedation and Jackson was back in his room within 5min. Jackson has been WIDE OPEN ever since! After an ECHO and chest XRAY. We got word to head to the house. After getting all of his medicines, etc. we got home about 10:30pm tonight. Needless to say, but no pics for tonight. The bed is calling our name!!!