A Final Post :( & Some Holiday Fun

So I'll start off with the disappointing news that I am going to take down this blog in the coming week. With intentional effort to simplify my life, try and give back some time to us, and take some pressure I put on myself to do so much, I have decided that blending this blog with my Hobby Collector blog makes the most sense. We want to stay connected with family and friends who appreciate the updates on all that we do so I will transfer all of the posts here to my other blog and continuing posting there. If you want to follow what we (and G) are up to please bookmark that site, follow it by email (find a ways down on the right hand side of the blog), or add the Hobby Collector to your feed reader.

Before we officially say goodbye I thought you might like to see how G spent his Christmas. We had a great Holiday even with a little cough. Legos and Ninja Turtles were the biggest hits but G loved everything.

We are lucky to have so many people that love us and give so much. We wish everyone a wonderful New Year and I hope that you decide to follow our lives through my Hobby Collector blog in the future.

Brooke

Thanksgiving "Trailride"

Look Gramps, no hands....wait...what I really mean is look, Gramps is not using his hands. Greyson is holding on and in charge (sort of) while Flo follows Gramps around the corral.

G LOVED it and got his first lesson on clicking his tongue to let Flo know it was time to go and how to pull back on the reigns to get her to stop.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Brooke

First Days of PreSchool

It's official... Greyson has grown up beyond the point I was ready for. What an exciting week for him though. Here are a few highlights...

He was really excited...can't you tell?

Walking in with Daddy

Silly faces before going in.

Giving Mrs. Heather her hand soap gift (idea from Pinterest on my give page)

Second day silliness. That goofy smile cracks me up.

His name tag below his bag hook.

His cubby.

Tracing school tools and line drawings.

First official school note - bring an apple.

Introduced a calendar to help him understand what days are "Mommy/Daddy" days, "sitter" days, "school" days, and "special" days.

He also started a chore chart.

And we visited a possible college (kidding, went to U of A Campus to get haircuts)

He brought back apples as requested...she didn't expect these.

Art work with his friend- G's is the traced picture.

Introducing the first letter - A. Noticed he traced his name (sort of)

Learning the color RED

Greyson loved school and Mrs. Heather so much that he wants to go there everyday instead of to the sitter. That's a good thing; too bad not possible. And finally... Please don't think I will be making posts like this every week or taking pictures of everything he brings home, but I had to capture another 1st.

Brooke

 

The Jasper County Fair

Last week we visited the Jasper Count Fair. We visit a barn in our neighborhood where a family has been keeping their daughters 4H hogs. We made sure to visit the night she would be showing. G had lots of fun and was very excited that Mira (and family) joined us.

 

It was HOT

and G was obsessed with this fan

One of the students I visit - she placed high

The baby goats were cute

Gramps we want you to get some of these

G was telling Mira the names of the equipment

Yes , they were prompted to hold hands.

No rides at this fair but maybe when he goes with Gramps and Grandma to the Bourbon County Fair.

Brooke

 

Silver Dollar City

A couple of Sundays ago we headed to Silver Dollar City with Gramps and Grandma Becki. It wasn't very warm so we didn't do any water rides but still it was a great day. Greyson had tons of fun and even handled standing in a long line waiting to ride his first roller coaster.

Riding the roller coaster with Gramps. They had their hands up at first.

The Teacups was the only ride we could ride together.

The first ride by himself.

This isn't made for an adult :) but Michael and I made it one.

The best fried hot dog and spiral potato. He ate the whole thing. 

He loved the swings. 

We did get season passes so we will get back soon. We need to hit those water rides for sure.
  

Trip to the Big City

Last week we made a trip to KC for G's follow-up MRI six months after surgery. He was such a great sport and worked with everyone without a complaint. We were amazed at how much he has grown up since his MRI last year.

He had an OT appointment before going in for the MRI. The therapist was very happy with his range of motion and strength. She feels like the skin color and scar tissue will continue to improve for up to a year after surgery. We did order a new glove. He requested black with Batman on it. He earned the medal for being so good.

Greyson's MRI followed and took about 2 hours. The interventional radiologist read the scans after and didn't find anything he felt like needed to be taken care of now. He does have some tissue filling up in his bicep area but it isn't bothering him. We sent everything on to Nationwide Children's docs in Columbus, OH and will wait to hear what they have to say. If there will be any follow-up treatments we will let you know.

We finished up our trip with a visit to the bookstore...

and PF Chang's where G learned how to use his chopsticks...

...and he did a little reading on the way home. 

The day was fun for sure.
Brooke

Vascular Anomalies Clinic Visit

In the beginning of March, Greyson visited the Children's Mercy Vascular Anomalies Clinic...basically an appointment with 4 specialists (dermatology, radiology, plastics, hematology). They reviewed all documentation and history since his last visit there (before our trips to Columbus) and basically just told us that he looks great and seems to be doing great.

Lunch at Fritz' between appointments (trains bring your food)

Greyson will have an MRI and Ultrasound April 17 to check out things further. The MRI was already scheduled but they did go ahead and schedule an ultrasound for that same day. They had us take G down for an XRay to check on a Phlibolith (blood clot) that showed up in his pointer finger a week before. He has had a couple of these before and from what we understand they don't hurt him and aren't an issue but take time to break down naturally.

He picked it and wants the next one to be black with Batman.

While we were at Children's Mercy we also took Greyson to visit Tracy in OT. She checked the fit of his new compression glove. We, along with Dr. Spaeth, decided that compression does seem to help his hand swelling a little and having a glove keeps me from having to wrap it with Co-Ban every night. It was kind of a pain since it had to be cut down to fit his fingers. We massage his fingers with vitamin E oil twice a day to help with the external scar and scar tissue. Tracy told us that scar tissue can take more than a year to break down.

He fell asleep waiting for docs.

I will add an update when we have some info from the MRI and ultrasound. We hope that they will guide us in making decisions for upcoming procedures. We will get opinions from doctors at both Children's Mercy in KC and Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH.

Take care to all of you.
Brooke, Michael, and Greyson