Garden of the Gods

About a month ago Milo and I headed down to Colorado Springs to celebrate Marissa's 5th birthday at  Chuck E. Cheese's.  I think that place is Milo's very favorite place on Earth right now, he's still talking about the party!  After the celebration I decided to drive on over to Garden of the Gods since it was a nice warm spring day.  It seemed that a very large portion of Colorado Springs also had that idea, the parking situation was horrible but I know of a little parking lot with a great trail that can't be seen from the road.  We were in luck, plenty of parking.  We "hiked" the Siamese Twins trail.  It is a mile round trip and only a 150 ft vertical gain so it was a fairly easy walk.  I was so impressed that Milo walked the whole way and he had a great time too.  After our hike we drove through the rest of the park and past Balanced Rock, no parking there so we just did a drive by.  We need to do more of this over summer break I think!

I was glad I had my camera and captured some great shots of Milo and the gorgeous red rock formations.

Red dirt bum

At the top of the trail is a hole in the rock formation
If it's not cloudy, Pikes Peak is framed in the hole.



A little rest on the way down



Friday The 13th of April...Five Years Ago

April 13, 2007 happened to be a Friday, just like this year.  There were big plans for that day that had to have some last minute changes but in the end it was PERFECT.

It was a cloudy and cold spring day.  It has been a very rainy, dreary week.  The window shade was pulled down in PICU room 7 as a 5 month old baby boy lay paralized and sedated in his hospital bed hooked up to IV's and a feeding pump as a ventillator, attached to his newly placed tracheostomy tube, was breathing for him.  The occasional beeping and alarming of equipment became background noise.  He lay there seemingly unaware of what was going on around him.   

Later that day, in a confrence room across the hall from the PICU, a very important court hearing was scheduled to take place.  In true Colorado fashion a spring snow storm had prevented most of the necessary players from traveling over the mountains to get to the hospital.  The morning became a whirlwind of phone calls and noteries and faxes so the hearing could still take place. 

Around 4:00pm a group of people gathered in a court room ready to procede.  Over 200 miles away I nervously waited a phone call so that I could participate.  The nurse stood guard to make sure that we had no unnecessary interruptions.  The phone rang and the proceding began.  On one end was the Judge, the caseworkers, the guardian ad lidum, and grandma and on the other end of the phone call was me, Milo & grandpa.  After all the formalities of an adoption hearing at approximately 4:20pm I became the legal parent to a very special little boy who's future was uncertain. 

After hanging up the phone I rolled up the shade in the window and watched as the overcast sky suddenly broke free revealing the brillient blue sky and warm sunshine.  No doubt God was smiling down on us that day!

Pictures were taken to commerate this special day.



Me, Milo & Grandpa



After securing the official Adoption Decree my mom drove up to be with us for the weekend while my dad and I ducked out for a little celebratory dinner at a near by restaurant.  While we were gone Milo's wonderful nurse Debbie was hard at work.




Milo's footprints April 13, 2007

 



You are forever mine & I am forever yours




 I will always cherish the kindness and thoughtfullness of the staff at Children's Hospital on this day.



April 2012, 5 years old



HAPPY 5th ADOPTION DAY MY LITTLE MIRACLE!!

Happy Easter!

We've been busy getting ready for the holiday weekend. 

Visited the Easter Bunny...

Did a little decorating...

Did a little Easter basket grass growing...

Did a little cookie decorating...



Gettin' ready to dye Easter Eggs on Saturday & on Sunday we'll go to  Church, an Easter Egg Hunt & a Party with family and friends!  Hope you all have a great Easter.

{Heart}

February is Heart Month and Feb 7-14 is Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) awareness month.  A great month to celebrate this little guy...

...who 5 years ago was fighting for his life.

Milo's first diagnosis, before he was even born, was a heart defect.  An aortic coarctation, a very narrow spot in his aorta that prevented blood flow from his heart to areas below his arms.  Little did anyone know, that was just the tip of the iceberg.  At 7 days old Milo underwent a 6 hour surgery to repair the aortic coarctation and his incredibly narrow trachea caused by a Left Pulmonary Artery Sling.  As the days wore on new diagnosis and concerns were being added to an every growing list of critical problems.  Many of his issues were not directly related to his heart but Milo also has very narrow portions of his pulmonary arteries which was causing added pressure in his heart.

Milo's surgery was a success and although the next 16 months were spent in the hospital the scars are now fading.  He came home with a trach and was ventilator dependant but by 2 1/2 those issues were behind him.  He still has a feeding tube but is eating a little bit my mouth now.  He is still followed by a host of specialitst, has had several cardiac catheritizations and now sports a metal stint in his right pulmonary artery.

Above all I am so proud of my little warrior!

It was hard to capture Milo's scar but if you look
closely you can see his trach scar then his heart
scar and abdomen scar that run from his neck to
his bellybutton.

I'm posting this in conjunction with a project on Pintrest (yup, I'm hooked) to raise awareness for Congenital Heart Defects.  Click here to go to the Faces of CHD board on Pintrest to read the stories of many, many people affected by CHD.  It really is inspiring to read all of their stories!

Happy 2012

Milo and his cousins wish everyone a very

happy & healthy New Year!



Brett (10), Milo (5), Dylan (7) & Owen (5)



   Milo's Top 10 moments from 2011

No unplanned hospital admissions this year!  Milo had a heart cath and pulmonary artery stint placed and stayed one night in the hospital & that's it for all of 2011.

Milo is eating more food.  He still won't eat fruit & veggies at all so he gets those through his g-tube once a day.

No more diapers or pull-ups for Milo.  He's a big guy who can independently use the potty now.

For the first time Milo went swimming this summer and LOVES it.  He has a floaty vest and can float and maneuver all over.

This is the frist year Milo went Trick-or-Treating house to house and went with his cousins in Alamosa.

Santa wasn't so scary this year!  Milo was totally into Christmas for the first year.  Opening presents was so fun.

Milo rode 3 trains this year, Thomas the Tank Engine, Halloween train in Alamosa and the Santa Express in Canon City.

Milo turned 5 years old!  His friends from school as well as other friends and family helped him celebrate.

On Milo's actual birthday I took him to The Lion King musical.  Even though it was loud and long he enjoyed it.

Milo's favorite thing from 2011 was playing with all his friends and family.  We made it to Alamosa several times and he LOVES to jump on Grandma & Grandpas trampoline with his cousins :0)

Time Flies...and A Little Flashback

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone! 



Milo sat on Santa's lap without crying this year!


I can hardly believe how fast the end of this year has gone by!  Milo turned 5 about 3 weeks ago and I haven't found time to post the pictures from his party but I will try to get to it after the new year.  We are heading out to visit family for the holidays and it looks like the weather might be a challenge causing us to leave a bit earlier than planned.  Milo and I have tickets to ride the Christmas Train with Santa in Canon City and a snow storm approaches, such is life in Colorado :0)

I thought I would leave you with a quick little video of Milo exactly 5 years ago.  He was only 3 weeks old, still had a feeding tube in his nose, a breathing tube in his mouth and hooked up to the ventilator.  He was also under the influence of several strong drugs, in fact he was only allowed to "wake up" earlier in the week (he had been sedated and not allowed to move since birth).  Milo has come such a long way in the last 5 years and is definitely proof of the Miracles that God performs!  

Autumn

In celebration of the first day of autumn we went on a walk at a nearby "nature area" and I snapped some pictures of Milo.  The scenery doesn't look too fall-like and the temperatures have been warm but comfortable.  I really do enjoy this time of year.  Enjoy our adventure!

I love how this one turned out,

the colors are fantastic & the ripples in the water add a special touch. 

He tossed rocks into that stream for a long time :0)

And my personal favorite image 

from this morning~~

he's growing up way too fast...he turns 5 in only two short months!