Update on Brenda

Most of you probably know, but Brenda's surgery on Friday went well. The procedure took a little more than an hour, recovery took another hour, and back home we went. Brenda's mom was wonderful and watched Joshua and Ben that afternoon, and stayed the night to help out as well. At this point, from what we know and see, the procedure appears to have been successful. The incision is healing normally, Brenda has not had any fluid drainage, and after visiting the doctor on Wednesday, he told her she was done! We are both still cautiously optimistic about everything... I think having to endure this for the past 10 weeks has made us a little bit skeptical, but with each passing day we both grow more confident that this chapter is finally behind us. Brenda is still experiencing some pain in the incision (all normal) and does not have much energy (also normal), but all of that should hopefully pass soon. At some point in the near future, one or both of us will probably reflect on the whole thing and post our thoughts. Thanks to everyone that has helped out through all of this.

Maple Family Update

Well, we have been a family of 4 for 2 months, and everything is going well. We haven't really updated in a while, so here's the goings on of the Maple family over the last few weeks.

Ben is now 2 months old, and is thriving in every area. He's such a healthy, sweet and happy baby. We are truly blessed to have this little guy in our lives. At around 8 weeks, Ben really started smiling. His favorite things are to be told "Hi, Big Guy!" and to watch his blinky star on his baby gym thing, and the mobile in his crib. Whenever he sees them, he flashes the cutest smile that seems to say "My friends are here!". He had his 2 month check up on October 11. He tipped the scales at 11 pounds 7 ounces (50%), and measured 24 inches long (85%). Apparently, we do not have short children. Not sure what's up with that, but I guess we're just supposed to have giants running around our house! He passed every other milestone on the doctor's checklist with flying colors, so he is the picture of health. Joshua is still completely in love with his brother, and loves to try to play with him. He will shake toys and noise makers over Ben's head and say "See, Baby Bo!" Josh has a never ending supply of hugs and kisses to dole out to his little brother. Ben seems to think Josh is pretty cool too. Now that he is able to focus on things, I often catch Ben intently watching Joshua. I think we're going to have some great playmates in a year or two!

I went back to work on October 10. It was nice to be back in the normal swing of things. I wasn't as excited to go back as I was when I had Josh, but I was also not upset about it. I like my job, and to have that grown up time. I have kept my part time schedule for now. I'm not sure how long we'll be able to continue that, but we will for as long as possible.

Mr. Joshua is officially daytime potty trained. He does not wear diapers during the day (except for naptime, which we probably could stop doing too since he usually wakes up dry). He tells me when he has to go potty, or sometimes he just goes in and goes without even saying anything. We are so proud of him! He is the only one in his class that is not in diapers. We thought we may have some trouble with this teacher being cooperative with our potty training efforts after a little mishap the first day, but the other teacher in the room, who is awesome, has really taken the reigns of Joshua and is very attentive to his needs. In a week and a half, Joshua has only had one accident at school, which was on his first day.

A while ago, Andrew had posted about a complication that I had with my c-section incision. Well, the healing completely stalled, and so I am going in for surgery today. Apparently, the seroma that developed when I had Josh created a lot of scar tissue. My OB attempted to remove a lot of that when he delivered Ben, but I guess a lot of it was still hanging around and is now keeping my current seroma from healing. I now have a plastic surgeon who I met through the Chandler Regional Hospital Wound Clinic, and he is going to go in and take out all of that scar tissue and surgically close the seroma. So our prayer is that this whole thing will be over this afternoon. Please keep me in your prayers. I guess there is about a 10% chance that another seroma could develop under the new incision. But if it does, it should heal a lot quicker because the scar tissue will be gone. So whatever happens, the surgery is a forward step toward healing.

That's about it for now. We'll update as things progress.

Making Cookies

Well, my maternity leave is drawing to a close, so yesterday, Joshua and I decided to do something special together. We made cookies! It was so much fun!!! Joshua helped stir the dough...














He poured in the ingredients...














He also scooped the cookies onto the cookie sheet like a pro...














He was so proud of his work...














And of course, the best part... tasting our yummy creation!














He did such a good job and we had so much fun together. I am really looking forward to lots more cooking and baking with my little helper. Can't wait to make Christmas Cookies!!!

How To Poop

In honor of Joshua's success at potty training, we present a wonderful instructional video on "How To Poop".