Cade's Heart Surgery

We have wonderful news about Cade. Since his birth we have known that he had a hole in his heart between the top chambers. He has gone to many cardiologists regularly and sometimes the hole was bigger and sometimes smaller and as you can imagine, an emotional roller coaster for us. We have been trying over the last year to get Cade big, strong, and healthy enough for a less invasive procedure versus open heart surgery. We finally made it and he was able to have the catheter procedure. What they did was insert a catheter in his vein in his groin and thread it to his heart and insert a patch. The doctors were surprised on Wednesday to find that Cade had THREE holes in his heart which would explain the different readings that they were always getting. The largest of the holes was 1 1/2 centimeters and the other two were slightly smaller. The doctors were able to close all three holes with one device and built a heart wall for him. Cade spent one night in the hospital and the next morning was a crazy man with so much energy and trying to bust out of his crib. He would not stop wrapping himself in his cords and trying to eat them. So they let him go home and he escaped without a scratch on him. This surgery should improve his lung condition and add more energy so he can advance in his development. We could not be happier with how smooth it went. Thanks to all who came to the surgery and to those that prayed for Cade. Thank God for medical technology.

My boys are tired after a long day of opening presents and traveling to see family

With Krugs on Christmas Night

Dodd Christmas

We spent Christmas morning at Bob and Andre's. Uncle Blaine got Cade a Hooters shirt so he had to model it for everyone. Again, he wasn't feeling great on this day.

Santa Came!

Santa came to visit Cade at my parent's house so he could drop off Cade and Rachel's presents at the same house. Tyler made the naughty list so Santa didn't leave him any. Cade and I both have some serious bed head. He enjoys rolling on Rachel and playing with her like she is a toy. She studies Cade intently and tries to figure him out.

Akin Christmas

We went to Granny Akin's and spent Christmas Eve with Banks and his family. Cade wasn't feeling well so that is why he wasn't happy to be getting his picture taken. He started the night in a really cute outfit but got hot so he ended up in a t-shirt and diaper. He got to meet his cousins Alyssa and Tyler.

Reading with Uncle Tyler

Therapy

Cade's therapists come to our house about twice a week and work on various things with him. He is currently working on sitting and can hold it for a little while but then falls. He is always cutting teeth so everything that he touches goes straight to his mouth. He loves chewing on his fingers, his toes, his shirt, my shoulder, etc. He also desperately wants to crawl. He is getting close. He lays on his belly and gets so excited and is beginning to propel forward. He doesn't have his motions coordinated yet. So now when he wants to get somewhere, he rolls. This morning when my dad was watching him, he rolled clear across the living room and under their Christmas tree. He had a pretty strong grip on things when Dad saw him. He got in trouble for his first time at his grandparents house. He is becoming more work but he is so much fun. We have really enjoyed watching his progress. We hope that his upcoming surgeries won't set him back too far.

Tow Mater

We have began calling Cade Tow-Mater because in the movie Cars, the tow truck has two big buck teeth just like Cade. He has been a very happy boy lately and has been showing us his teeth quite often.

Congratulations Blaine!

Blaine Graduated from Texas State University after 5 and a half long, but fun, years. We are so proud of him!

Cade's second first birthday party

We had another party for Cade at our house and we had some family over. Cade didn't like his cake because he doesn't like things that are cold and it was an ice cream cake.

Someone is ready for Christmas...

Cade's First Birthday

We celebrated Cade's birthday early this year with his friend Laylin because we were not sure when his surgeries would be and we didn't want him to miss out on having his first birthday party. Our plan back fired though because he ended up having double ear infections and a sinus infection that made him a pretty grumpy boy at his party. All he wanted to do was sleep and his mean mother kept waking him up to open presents, eat cake, and take pictures with his many
friends. His grandmothers and some of his aunts and uncles and cousins were unable to be at his party so he will probably be having another one.