Amazing!

Hopefully this will be my last update on Joshua's weight issues....but it's a good one..
The power of prayer is just so amazing!!! Joshua's doctor called this morning regarding Joshua's stool test (which we had redone last friday) and amazingly there was NOT EVEN A TRACE of fat in his stool on this retest. So the whole reason for the panic of fat in his stool & malabsorption has just disappeared!! The doctor redid the test in the off chance that the first one was wrong but I don't think he expected to see all the fat completely gone. So I really have no explanation other than it's a God thing! So now the doctor actually just wants to wait 8 weeks to see what happens w/ Joshua's weight before doing anything else if they even do anything else. Praise God!

P.S. The picture is of Joshua pointing at a plane.

We were so blessed today to get to go take the Cystic Fibrosis test a whole week early!! And praise God that the test results came back normal!!! It's such a relief to have that out of the way. Now we have to figure out what else is going on with Joshua. We don't know which tests are next but I know that anything will be easier to handle now that the big scary test is out of the way.

In other news, Joshua has become quite the monkey. He is climbing all over everything and likes to pull things up to stand on to get to other things. I'm just praying that he will not start crawling out of his crib.

He is learning more and more words everyday. Right now he LOVES LOVES LOVES to call Riley. He can say Chester too but prefers to say...Riiiiilllleeeey!! Since that is how I say it to call Riley inside. He copies a lot of words that we say. Here is the word list that he can say that I can come up with on the top of my head: ball, balloon, Riley, Chester, Daddy, Mommy, apple, duck, hat, juice, book, blueberry, this, pat, up, bear...that is all I can think of...but he does mimic 50% of words that we say. You can also ask him what a dinosaur says and he will roar. He definitely understands 90% of what we say. We can ask him if he wants to go to Time Out and he very adamantly shakes his head NO! Oh...and I forgot one very important word - Bye bye!! Which he says ALLLLLL the time now. When I hang up the phone he says, bye-bye. He is just so precious.

Last thing...he now has 11 teeth. 4 top center, 2 lower center, 4 molars. Well, that is all the updates for now. Now for a really good nights sleep since my stress level has gone down!

Few updates...

Joshua is finally showing an interest in actually listening to me read books which makes me so happy. Because for months and months I've been reading to him while he just runs away or blabbers over me...so I love that now he will actually bring me a book and sit in my lap while I read it. He does get hung up on certain pages with prettier pictures than the next page but I'm just thrilled that he is interested. He will also sit on the floor by himself and just flip through them. So sweet. He is really interested in picture books - especially if there is a ball in there somewhere.

I've been working with Joshua A LOT on giving him a little more freedom and him not taking too much advantage of the freedom. For instance, we have had him baby gated out of the kitchen which is now down. He really loves getting to explore a new area and get into my Tupperware. So far he has been pretty good but we do have to pick up the dog/cat food during his waking hours. And now all my Tupperware has dog hair all over it because if you didn't know Tupperware is a magnet for dog hair.

The pic of Joshua surrounded by toys is Joshua getting into a bin of stuff that John was supposed to put in the attic. Joshua was just SOOOO proud of himself for his mischief.

In other news, we are waiting to get Joshua tested for Cystic Fibrosis due to his weight issues and some other test results. Waiting to find out if our son has Cystic Fibrosis is so very hard, scary, nerve wracking, etc...and is ANOTHER HUGE lesson in patience. God has tried to teach me this lesson so many times and I guess He thinks I just don't get it...cause I keep getting tested. I don't quite know how to feel about this big unknown. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster of emotions and absolutely hate that on top of it all I don't have my mom to lean on. I'm trying to just trust in God but I know that His plan might not always be what we want. I know that He will give us the strength to handle whatever comes our way but man, I really hope this isn't what he has in store for us. I teeter between feeling like this is just something the doctor has to rule out, thinking they are all just paranoid, or feeling just dread that the doctors wouldn't make Joshua go through this test if it wasn't a real possibility. **Sigh*** I know I would rather have something wrong with me a million times over than watch our son suffer.

If you don't know much about Cystic Fibrosis, I encourage you to learn because this has really given me a new compassion for the 30k people in the U.S that struggle with this disease and for the non-stop worry I'm sure it causes their families. Maybe, if nothing else a little awareness will lead to someone finding a cure for this horrible disease.

Anyways, hopefully in about 10 days I will be rejoicing that we are all in the clear and can finally get a good nights sleep.

15 Month Check Up

Well, I'm totally bummed because we thought that Joshua's weight was doing better but unfortunately it's not. He has lost weight and now is not even on the percentile chart for weight anymore - which means he is less than 3%. He did grow 2 inches and is in the 20th % on height but the weight is now a big problem. So after getting 4 different shots today he had to go get blood work done for further testing. Next week we have to go to a gastronologist (spelling). I'm anxious to hear what the blood work shows and hope that it's something really simple. Unfortunately, there can be some pretty serious issues and diseases associated with this weight problem that scare me to death but I'm trying REALLY hard NOT to think about them. Anyways, keep my little guy in your prayers. Otherwise, the doctor thought he was completely developmentally on target if not ahead - so at least that is good. So in the meantime, we will wait and see and hope for the best.

Back from the grammy & pa-pa's!

We just went for a trip to visit John's parents, Grammy & Pa-pa to celebrate Pa-pa's 60th birthday. It was a really nice time and a great opportunity to see lots of aunts, uncles, great aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. While we were there we went to the boardwalk and Joshua rode some of his first amusement park rides. It was very exciting and Joshua really had a blast (but I think Grammy was a bit more excited). Also, about a week ago, Joshua called John's dad Pa-pa all on his own, so now we are calling him pa-pa. I'm tired cause we just got home so this is only a quick update so I could load some pictures for all of Joshua's fans!

Another sign that Joshua is growing up....

Joshua can now even hold onto the big swings at the park - it's just soo sooo soooo cute to see his little legs hanging off the edge of the seat and him holding on. He isn't fantastic at it yet...but he is trying. What a big boy!!

He also doesn't quite understand that not ALL balls can fit in the basketball hoop...hmmm..

New Videos!!

My little boy is growing up again...sigh***. As of this weekend, he no longer uses his highchair. Now he is sitting at the table like a big boy in his little booster seat. SOO precious! He also doesn't even need a mat in the bath any more. Man, they grow so fast.

His other new little thing is to "tickle" us. Of course, we have to fake laugh which he thinks is hilarious. But he will lift up our shirts too to get to our bellies to tickle us.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before...but Joshua is OBSESSED with balls. The problem is...he doesn't really have anything to do with them but carry them around. So this weekend we decided to get him a mini-basketball goal. He LOVES it. He puts ANY ball in the hoop over and over and over and over and over again. It just never gets old. We will see if one day he ends up being a sport lover!

Okay now for some new videos so you can see how fast Joshua really is!! These were taken tonight.



This one is of him saying a few words before being on the run again...

Chicken Enchilada Dip

SOOOO yummy... and if you eat it standing up there are no calories!

INGREDIENTS
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8 ounce) jar mayonnaise
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place chicken breast halves on a medium baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven 20 minutes, or until no longer pink. Remove from heat, cool and shred. Place shredded chicken in a medium bowl, and mix in cream cheese, mayonnaise, Cheddar cheese, green chile peppers and jalapeno pepper. Transfer the chicken mixture to a medium baking dish. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Our friends Sue & Evan had a fun fourth of July party at their house yesterday. Of course, John was the biggest kid in attendance - but everyone had a great time. We played badminton but couldn't beat little Evan the 6 year old badminton king. We launched rockets, played in the pool, went down a zip line, and ate lots of yummy food. Then, after being completely wiped out - we came home and John & I were asleep by 9pm. John also finally finished cleaning out the garage yesterday while I showed houses so he can finally get his car back in there. Hooray!! Joshua's teething pain seems to be a little better and he continues to learn more and more. He tries to repeat everything we say lately - or at least the key words - although they don't always sound completely right. He likes to say the word blueberry now - which is his new favorite fruit but it comes out 'boo-bear'. He has also been really interested in trying new foods which is fantastic because it's really hard to go anywhere when he is so limited on food choices. But he seems to always want to try what we are eating now even if he ends up spitting it out...I'm glad he is trying.

Zoo/Museum Pics

Joshua & his buddy Zach at the Natural Science Museum where they just added a new fancy zoo. Aren't the tigers cool?

Been busy..

I've been trying to post a new message but have been pretty busy lately. Last Sunday we went to Music in the Park with some friends which is a local event that they do every Sunday night through the summer. The pictures on here are from John playing catch with our friends kids at the back of where the music is being played. THey also had a great time putting Joshua's fake snake in the grass to see if they could scare people as they walked by. I taught vacation bible school at our church all week and was late almost every day as I tried to get back in the routine of getting Joshua fed, dressed, and out the door. He really enjoyed hanging out in the nursery with the other kids. Thursday, my college roommate, Aimee came into town with her family so we went to the pool and had dinner with them. (I'll post pictures from that once she sends them to me since she is quite the photographer.) It's funny cause I was so afraid I would not have anything to do all summer since most of my activities take a hiatus over the summer but I've been quite busy - which is good.

John still cannot park in the garage cause it's still filled with my mom's stuff that we have to take care of. I was very motivated right after her death and now it's all just been sitting there for weeks. So that is on my very long to do list.

We have a few cook outs to attend this coming week which should be lots of fun and will probably go downtown on Wednesday since they have quite a few 4th of July celebrations. Other than all that....I really don't know very much. I'm sure Joshua is doing all sorts of new adorable things but I can't think of one to specifically tell you...but I'll keep thinking and see if I can't come up with one. :)