10 months

Jake turned 10 months the other day. I wonder where the time is going. It feels like yesterday I wasn't posting his 3 month update. Everyday he does sometime new. It's so much fun. He is officially sitting. He still falls over sometimes but for the most part he is a sitting boy. He is sleeping through the night and eating like a little piggy. He is about 19 pounds and 27 inches long. BIG BOY!!! I thought I would share some pictures and a video.

Jacob meets Santa

Brent and I are members of NAPVI which stands for Minnesota National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments.

Mission of NAPVI

NAPVI is a national organization that enables parents to find information and resources for their children who are blind or visually impaired, including those with other disabilities. NAPVI provides leadership, support, and training to assist parents in helping children reach their potential.

NAPVI hosts gathers for the children to get together and be with other kids like them and for the parents to be able to talk. This past Saturday NAPVI hosted Cookies with Santa and Jake was able to meet Santa for the first time. They had a craft table, treats, gifts and coco. We had a great time and got to meet so many other children with visual impairments just like Jake. There were so many children Jake's age. It's nice to know that Jake will have all these children to grow up with that he will be able to relate to. Here are some pictures from the day.

Jacob saying Mama!

I got a video of Jake saying Mama. Wait for it.. I promise he will say it!

Tuesday's Top Ten: Movies

My BFF Kristi did top ten 80's movies on her blog today and I was going to do that but decided that I'm going to include all movies.

1. Urban Cowboy
   
2. Hope Floats
3. Goonies
4. Elf
5. Overboard
6. Grumpy Old Men (all of them)
7. Big
8. Baby Boom
9. Step Brother's
10. Anchor Man

So that's my top ten and I have so many more. There are a lot that I love that should on this list but this isn't top twenty Tuesday.

TFT-Inadequacy

My family and I attend Eagle Brook church. I’m sure some of you that live in the area have heard about it or attend as well.   Each month the church starts a new series of teachings and because the new series really hit home for me I wanted to share with everyone. The series is called OVERCOME and each week there is a new message. This week the message was overcoming your feelings of inadequacy.  

I feel inadequate at times when I’m blogging.  If I don’t receive comments it makes me wonder why I write when no one is reading. But then I remember that I’m not just writing for people to read my blog but also for my son to have record of his life growing up.  I also have the tendency to compare myself to other women. 

So the questions for you today on TFT are

1. Do you ever feel inadequate?

2. When you were a kid, who did you look up to? What qualities did you see in them that you

admired? Did you feel inadequate to them? How?

2. The root of inadequacy is comparison. Why do you think it’s not good to compare yourself

to others?

 THINK ABOUT IT

We don’t have to accept the status quo or keep playing the same old destructive tapes

in our minds that create barriers and stop us from becoming, hoping, dreaming and

trying. What are the things that are keeping you from experiencing the rich, full

and satisfying life?

Wordless Wednesday

Top Ten Tuesday

I'm copying my BFF Kristi's idea today and making a top ten Christmas list.

1. A new camera (I think this is on everyone's list this year)
2. A new pair of Silver jeans
3. A new pair of tennis shoes
4. New make-up from ULTA
5. LA Candy and Sweet Little lies(books)
6. Grey's Anatomy box set
7. Pedicure
8. A new crock pot with multiple settings(mine cooks too hot
9. Photoshop or some type of photo editing system
10. An ipod or a new radio for the gym

I know my list is simple. I don't want much. I would be happy with just watching my son on his first Christmas and having good quality time with my friends and family.

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I will post pictures once I upload them. So how did everyone do with November blog month? I didn't make it. In fact I think I failed a few days in but it did help me to post more and I enjoyed it.
I don't know about all of you but Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love decorating and all the family time. I'm excited for Jake's first Christmas although it may be more fun for B and I this year. I'm sure that he will have more fun playing with a box than the toys he gets. I'm sure he will love all the lights.

Tomorrow is the first day of December and still no snow. I'm ready... Bring it on...

9 Months!

Yes that's right....my little man is 9 months.

Jake turned 9 months old on Tuesday. I wanted to wait until his 9 month check up to post so I can post all his stats. So here it is...

Weight- 18lb 7 oz
Height- 2' 3.25"
HC- 42.2 cm

Jake has one little tooth coming in on the bottom. It also looks like he has two coming in on the top. Jake is some what sleeping through the night. He usually goes down around 7:30 and will sleep until 7. Sometimes he will wake up for the rest of his bottle but its usually before 11. He has been working really hard with his therapist Karla on sitting up. He is now sitting for a minute or so by himself before he falls over. Because of his lack of vision he is delayed in some areas.
He says mama and dadadada but he still doesn't know that he is saying our names. He is a big time talker. He is eating lots of different foods. This week we moved him up to stage 3 baby foods to get him used to chunky food and help him learn to chew. He's not liking it much but the doctor said to keep trying. He is so over formula. It's like pulling teeth to get him to drink. We introduced the sippy cup to him and he is doing great holding it but isn't too sure about the drinking part.

He gets more and more fun everyday. He talks so much and sings. He makes funny faces and makes us laugh. We can't believe that he will be a year in 3 months. Where does the time go???

He loves to chew on celery. 

Time with Great Grandma and Grandpa

This weekend Jake spend a lot of time with his Great Grandma and Grandpa Anthony. Friday night they came over and watched him while we went to dinner and then on Sunday Jake went over to their house. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for watching Jake. He loved it!!!

Happy Birthday!

Friday night B and I went out to dinner at Akita with the girls for Sonja's B-day. It was SOOOOOO yummy. Here are some pictures from the night.

My dinner. All you can eat sushi. I ordered too much and cheated and took home left overs. Shhhhhh

Brent's much needed drink

Stay tuned

Stay tuned.... Tomorrow I promise for an interesting post...

Or at least I will try..

I hope you all had a great weekend.

Kim

Happy Friday

I'm blogging now because I forgot to all day and if I don't now I will forget and miss yet another day. B and I are off to dinner with most of my bff's and their significant others for Sonja's B-day. We are going to Akita which is an all you can eat sushi bar. I love love love sushi but B has never had it so I'm not sure how it will go. My Grandma is watching the baby for the first time and I know that she is excited. Too bad B has to work at 4 am tomorrow morning or we could really enjoy our night. Can you believe that he has to work Saturday and Sunday 12 hours and then back to work Monday-Friday 12 hours. That is like 12 days in a row that he will work at 12 hours each day. I feel sooooo bad for him.

Gotta love a hard working Dad.

See ya

TFT-Skin Care

As we get older it gets more and more important to take care of our skin. I wish that it was instilled in me as a child that proper skin care is soooo important. I maybe would have avoided the tanning beds and sun more. As I get older I notice that my skin is in need of improvement. I still have scars from my bad skin that I had when I was younger.


I am still wrinkle free for now but I know that I need to start a skin care regiment. As of right now I have NONE. I go to bed without washing my face and I know that is gross but it’s the truth. I want to get a good skin care line but they are so expensive and who knows what will work and what is a waste of money.

So my question for you all is

What is your skin care regiment?
What products do you use?
What has worked for you and what hasn’t?

Why me Wednesday!

I hate to whine but today is a WHY ME WEDNESDAY!! Some days you just need to vent and today happens to me my day. I hope you all don't mind. I've decided to use bulletpoints to make for easy reading. See I care. I will throw a couple happy points in to shake things up...

• I can't shake this cold for the life of me. I keep thinking I have something more and I'm dying. I know, I'm so dramatic.
• My poor little boy is teething and holy MOLY is he crabby. Sleep is a thing of the past. Oh wait! He didn't sleep in the past either. Oh well our time will come again. I just feel so bad for him.
• I've been going to the gym for about two months but can't go everyday because of our schedule so I am ashamed to say I haven't lost any weight but I think I am toning(that is what I am telling myself). I'm frustrated and I'm just going to say it.. I need help!!!
• I wish I could wiggle my nose and get B a new job. He is so tired from working 60+ hours a week. I'm afraid they are going to break him.
• I HATE MY CLOTHES!!
• I Love Christmas and can't wait for the day after Thanksgiving so I can put up my tree. (happy bullet)
• I love staying home with my son but I need a hobby. I've always worked and even though we are busy with therapy, doctors visits, playing, learning, I still need something to keep my sanity.
• I want a REALLY good camera for christmas. The one I want is like 599.00. That seems a little extreme.
• Does anyone else have problems posting pictures in blogger now or is it just me? There is also no spell checker anymore, unless I just can't see it. Oh and I am a poor speller so I need that.
• Even after all my why me bulletpoints I can still say that I love my life and I am very lucky have such wonderful people in my life. Especially B and my little man Buggy.

That's all for this edition of why me Wednesday.

Kim

How's it going?

It's been crazy at our house with the baby cutting his first tooth. Holy crabby!! He has so many coming in and he is sooooo crabby. Sleepless nights and a lot of tears.. My poor baby. I can't wait for this teething phase to be over with. UGH!!!

So how is everyone doing with the blogging everyday in November? I've already failed and missed a day but am trying to keep it going. It's hard to come up with something to talk about every single day. Are you finding it easier when you use a theme like TFT or Top Ten Tuesday? Does anyone have any other ideas??

How about sharing recipes??

Sick Monday

Since I am still sick I thought I would just share a cute picture instead of a post..

3 Things

Can you believe that I already failed to blog everyday by forgetting yesterday.. Geez that didn't take long. Oh well. I'm going to keep going though.

3 Things


THREE NAMES I GO BY

1. Kim

2. Mama

3. Cooter



THREE JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE

1. Human Resources Coordinator

2. Process and Research Rep

3. Administrative Assistant



THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1. WBL, MN

2. Bloomington, MN

3. North Minneapolis, MN



THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH

1. Desperate Housewives

2. Grey's Anatomy

3. Brothers & Sisters



THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN

1. Acapulco, Mexico

2. Hawaii

3. Cancun, Mexico



THREE PLACES I WANT TO GO

1. Alaska

2. NYC again and again and again

3. Italy



THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS

1. French Fries

2. Wings

3. Salads



THREE THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO

1. Christmas

2. Anything that has to do with Jake

3. One week of sleeping all through the night


THREE THINGS I AM REALLY SCARED OF

1. The economy

2. Sids

3. Jake never seeing



THREE FAVORITE BOOKS

1. The Twillight Series

2. The bible(I know I'm a nerd)

3. What to expect in the first year



THREE FAVORITE BANDS/SINGERS

1. PINK

2. Aerosmith

3. Blink 182



THREE FAVORITE MOVIES

1. Urban Cowboy

2. Hope Floats

3. Sex and the City



THREE FAVORITE DRINKS

1. Water

2. Ice Tea with lemon

3. water



THREE THINGS I FIND MOST ATTRACTIVE IN A PERSON

1. Humor

2. Kindness

3. Thoughtfulness



THREE THINGS I COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT

1. My son
2. My Friends

3.  My family

Bulletpoint Friday

I've noticed a bulletpoint trend here in the blog world so I decided to make today my bulletpoint day. Here we go.

• B  left about an hour ago to go hunting and I already miss him..  : (
• I finally caught up on all my blogs in my google reader. I like this November blog month because its nice to have so many different topics to read about.
• I want a new camera soooooo bad for Christmas. I LOVE taking pictures and I really want to do it more but I feel like I need a good camera to start with.
• Has anyone heard of GIMP? It's a photo editor and everyone rants and raves about it but I can't figure it out for the life of me.
• I want someone to tell me how to take a picture where the subject is in focus but everything around it is out of focus.
• I wish that fall lasted longer than a few months.
• No one ever told me how hard the teething stage was. Thanks a lot
• I love to cook and want to start a recipe blog.... hmmmm
• It sucks when you have one nice vehicle and one crappy one and then your other half goes out of town and leaves you with the crappy vehicle. UGH
• I swear someone took all their leaves and dumped them on our lawn. The other day the trees were bare and the leaves were picked up and now it's like we never raked. (and by we I mean Brent)
• There is this guy across the street that is obsessed with his leaf blower. He blows all hours of the night. and he's been doing it since the snow melted. He blows everything even the snow off his truck. He just loves that damn blower.
• I can't wait for Jake to sit up. I pray that everyday will be the day. Because of his blindness he is delayed in many areas but man can he play his piano..

That's all I got for now...

Thoughts to Ponder

I wanted to share something I found online for my TFT. These are great thoughts to ponder.

• Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

• When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

• The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've every had.

• It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

• Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back! Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart but if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

• Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

• There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real!

• Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

• May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

• Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, It probably hurts the other person, too.
  

• The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

• Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

• Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear.

• The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

• When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Wednesday Works or Woof Wednesday

I realized with all of us blogging every single day in November our topics may get sorta out there or really reaching. I decided to share some thoughts on my dog Gizmo for my topic on Wednesday Works. Some of you may have read an older post on Gizmo and if not you can click here.

Before Jake was born Gizmo was my life. I was sorta obsessed with him. I thought of him and my old dog Gus as my children. As soon as Jake was born my feelings changed and all the things I thought were cute were now not so much. Don't get me wrong I do love Gizmo but it's like a screw went loose the minute Jake walked in the door. Everyone says it's jealousy and I'm sure that's the case seeings as how he used to get hours of cuddle time and after Jake it turned into minutes. It's strange to me how my kid can scream for hours and my nerves are still okay and then the minute I trip over my dog I lose it.

What I would like my family to work on is finding more patience for our four legged furry friend that we once adored. Brent used to have hour long cuddle sessions with Giz and I would get jealous now the sight Giz makes Brent scream. I feel bad for my little buddy and I would like to get back what we once had. So to you Gizmo this is your Mom saying I promise to try harder if you promise to not.....

Run out in the street almost giving me a heart attack
Lick  Jake's face and head
Jump over Jake's face when you hear someone at the door
Eat the garbage
Tear up the diaper bag
Pee on Jake's toys
Attack the vacuum
Take out every single toy you have in your toy box and not play with any of them(and then I trip)

If you can work on these things I will give you more cuddle time.

Top Ten Tuesday

Topic of choice is TV shows. These are in random order.

1. Rita Rocks
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. CSI (vegas and miami)
4. The Good Wife
5 Lost
6. Big Brother
7. Brother's and Sister's
8. Desperate Housewives
9. The first 48
10. I survived

HodgePodge Halloween Monday

I have sooo many pictures to post so I decided to make today a hodge podge Halloween picture day.

PS.... I don't know if anyone else had this problem but blogger switched the way everything is set up so posting all these pictures took much longer than it should have.

Jake at Zoo Boo

Anyone that knows Jake knows how he HATES to hold up his head. This was as good as I could get until he started screaming. Oh well. Still cute!

Jake and Daddy picking out pumpkins

Look how good Ton Man sits

Martha made pumpkins for the kids.

Jake in his Monkey costume

Grandpa, Jake and Martha

Jake is his Halloween outfit

Jake has a hard time sitting but still did a great job.

Mama and Jake at the pumpkin patch

Auntie Syn and Jake

Big Jake and little Jake

NaBloPoMo

November is National Blog Posting Month and I decided to try it. I did almost forget and would have failed before I even started.
I'm not sure how long I will make it or if I will remember to blog everyday but wish me luck.. I've been saving a lot of pictures to have blog topics.
So to all of you that are going to try this with me. Good Luck..

Kim

Rain rain go away...

Will it stop raining sometime before the snow comes??? Geez.. It's so dark and gloomy out but we're not going to let that bring us down.

I swear there is nothing better than waking up to a happy baby talking through the baby monitor. I think it's one of my favorite sounds. We had a great nights sleep last night which is nice because the night before Jake was not happy. Those darn teeth. UGH.

So I decided to work my ass off on having a blog that is some what interesting to read. Maybe then I will get some followers(hint hint). I love posting about Jake and the new things he is doing but that is not the only reason I have a blog. I need an outlet and I decided this is it. Most people go to work and get to talk with their co-workers about what's going on in the world, celebrity gossip, pet peeves, etc... When you are a stay at home Mom it's hard to not lose your mind. So I decided to be proactive with my sanity and blog. We'll see how long it takes for me to let life get so busy and I forget about my blog once again. To help me out I decided to try and participate in NaBloPoMo(national blog posting month). Would anyone like to join me?

I've actually decided to make it a contest to get some participants. This is actually harder than you think. I am not sure if I can do it. So if you are a reader of mine and you are in my google reader and you post every single day in November at the end of the month I will put your name in a drawing and if I pick you I will send you a prize.. I promise it will be a good one.

So good luck to all my fellow bloggers. I look forward to reading your blogs.

Kim

8 Months

Today you turned the big 8 months.. WOW! Time is just flying by. Everyday you change and everyday you get more and more fun. You are a great little man with a HUGE personality.

You're working so hard on sitting up. Everyday we practice and once a week Karla comes out for your therapy and she is helping you too. Soon you will be sitting up big and strong. You also get to play with Marcia once a week too and she helps you with your eyes. You love your light toys.

You love your bath time. You suck on your wash cloth and kick and splash. Such a big change from when you were really little and hated the bath.

You still don't like to eat much but you are getting so big so we know that we're doing something right. Peas and bananas are your FAVORITE. Oh and guess what? This week you started sleeping through the night.
Yes that's right... Can you believe it? We thought this day would never come. Last night you went down at 7:30 and didn't make a peep until 7:30 am. We are sooooo proud of you.

You love going to the gym with Mama because you get to play with all the kids in the daycare.
Everyone comments on how happy you are when they see you and we feel blessed to have such a special little boy. You've been through so much and still you have such a great personality.

I feel so lucky that I get to stay home with you and see all the milestone first hand. Daddy works 65+ hours a week so that you can have me home with you and we're lucky to have such a hard working Daddy. When Daddy comes home from work at night and you hear his voice you light up. You are really into feeling our faces and you know Daddy from his scratchy face. It makes you laugh because it tickles your hands.

We love you and are so excited for all your firsts and all the years to come.

Happy 8 months Buggy I love you sooooo much.

Sometimes it's fun to laugh for no reason

He just started to crack up for no reason. Sorry the video is so dark. It was taken on my digital camera.

Pictures!!

Jake and I met Jessica a fellow blogger for a photo session. She was kind enough to send me a sneak peek.. I will post more once they are ready. I wanted some with his glasses on but they are s thick the glare wasn't working out too much.. He is sooooo cute!

2 nights in a row

Some of you know that my son has a little bit of a problem sleeping. Well I am happy to report that Jake slept through the night two nights in a row for the first time. I can't even tell you how happy we are. We are hoping that he keeps it up and that our sleepless nights are a thing of the past.
I had an early education teacher come out to the house the other day and she gave me some good tips and they're working. It seems that Jake wasn't getting enough sleep during the day. He was taking one long nap in the afternoon. Now he is taking a nap in the morning and one is the afternoon and going to bed an hour later. He seems to be a lot happier.

I'm now feeding Jake in his high chair because he is getting really messy. Before I would just use his bouncy seat. I had to stop that when he started spitting his food at me.. He loves peas, squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, pears... Pretty much everything. I can't wait until he gets some teeth and can try some more foods. We think he will cut a tooth very soon. We can feel it when we rub his gums.


One of Jake's favorite things to do is bounce and lately he has been falling asleep while bouncing.

Holding his head up has been something that Jake doesn't like to do. Here we are doing some tummy time to work those neck muscles. Therapy is helping so much.

This is one of Jake's favorite things to do with his NUK and it cracks me up.. He is just soooo goofy.

This is one of Jake's favorite toys.

He's doing great!

I feel like I have so much to say. I never though in a million years that I would have to worry about anything when it comes to my child. I thought it would be like FIRST words, walking, first everything. When I found out that my child would never see, it hit me like nothing I ever thought would.
I brought my 4 month old son to a routine eye appointment. I held him in my arms in the chair as they examined him. She looked into his eyes and took a moment. She then looked at me and said your son is blind. I sat in that chair and said to her "I'm going to cry" she gave me a tissue and said it's okay. I asked her, will my son ever see and she said 'probably not' I asked her if surgery would help and she said 'not with his condition'
my world collapsed around me. She told me that she needed a second opinion. The next week Jake saw Dr. Quiram. She said that he needed surgery. On July 17 Jake underwent double eye surgery to reattach his retinas.

I haven't been blogging for a long time because of everything going on but I decided that it's time to start again. I want to have a record of this time in Jake's life.

Here is Jake during therapy.

He is finally working on looking up.





We say to him 'look up Jacob' and tap him forehead and he looks up

Everyday he gets stronger and learns something new. He is amazing!!

TFT- Facebook vs Blogger

Yes that's right I am blogging. I bet you thought you would never see it again. Man I tell you, having a kid makes you busy. UGH. With Jake's surgery, therapy, benefit and just daily life I find myself only able to post on facebook. Which brings me to my thoughts for Thursday topic.

Facebook VS Blogger

How many have you found that since you started to use Facebook blogger has been put on the back burner? I have. It's so much easier to facebook. I get lazy and just upload pictures to facebook. One thing I love about blogger is having that record of my sons life. Everyday I say, today I will blog and then the day is gone and I didn't. I think I need to take a little time maybe two days a week to blog about life and about my son. Yes, that is what I will do. So starting today I am making this my goal. A blog twice a week and to also take time to visit my long lost fellow blogger friends.

Wish me luck

Jake's webpage

http://ourvisionsofhope.com/

Jake's Benefit

For those of you that have shown an interest in donating to the silent auction, if you could send me a message with your email address that would be great. I will pass it on to the girls in charge of the benefit so they can contact you. They would like to have donations collected in the next couple of weeks. Thank you all for all your help and support.

Love, Kim

6 Months

This week Jacob turned 6 months old. WOW!! Where does the time go. He has developed such a great little personality. He is very vocal. He loves to coo and yell just to hear himself. He has now mastered rolling over and is working everyday on sitting. Because of his blindness he still doesn't hold up his head. He can but he chooses not to. It drives me nuts when I am trying to take his picture. He also doesn't open his eyes that much. You will notice when I post his pictures that his eyes are closed a lot. I've found myself taking multiple pictures of him in the same spot just trying to get one with his eyes open.
Jacob had his 6 month check up and he is growing wonderfully. He is 26.5 inches long and 16.4 pounds. His weight is a little low but the doctor said it could be because of his surgery. Unfortunately Jacob has developed a nasty rash and we can't pin point why. We have been lubing him up with cream and giving him meds but nothing seems to make it go away. He is VERY itchy.

Jacob has started to sleep really good at night. He sometimes sleeps 10 hours in a row. There are still nights where he is up a lot but he is growing.

Here is a list of what Jacob likes to eat.
Pears
Apples
Bananas
Beans
Peas
Peaches
Oatmeal
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
I love that he likes everything that he's tried. He is also taking about 5-6 ounces of formula every 4 hours.

His favorite toys are still his plastic rings but he also loves his teething beads and teething cloth that Nana Donna brought him while he was in the hospital. He is really good at entertaining himself for periods of time as long as we continue to talk to him to let him know that we are still there since he can't see us.

Next week Jacob has a pre-op appointment, an infant massage and a procedure with the surgeon and the eye doctor. He is going under for his procedure which makes me nervous but it's the only way they can really get in and do what they need to do. He is also getting fitted for his glasses next week. How exciting. He's going to look soooo cute. After he gets his glasses the therapy can finally start. On top of the therapy we have a develop mental specialist as well as a vision specialist that comes out once a week. We also have an infant massage person that will be coming out often.
Once we get him settled in to his routine we would like to travel to Michigan where there is a doctor that specializes in Jake's condition. He comes highly recommended and I would love to hear what he thinks about Jake's condition.

Although my little man has been through sooooo much in his short 6 months he is a VERY happy baby. No matter what obstacles we face we will face them as a family.

After dinner

Tummy time

Hanging at Auntie Rachel's

Starting to like Johny Jumper

Big B and little B

Sleep?? What is that??

Sleep is a thing of the past for Brent and me. With B having to work so early and with the baby refusing to sleep, sleep is non existent for us these days. Last night the baby woke at 10 pm and was up every hour after that until 6 am. Brent has to get up for work at 3:30 am so he was a walking zombie at work today. I am on robot mode.

I am not sure if we will ever figure out this sleeping thing with buggy but we are determined to try. His thing is the swaddle. He has a love hate relationship with it. He wants out but then when he is out he wants back in. Tonight I put him in a sleep sack and am attempting to get him to sleep without a swaddle. I know that if I am consistent he will get it down eventually.

His surgery has him all out of sorts. He just started to open his eyes last week which was such a treat considering we really haven't seen his eyes since his surgery on 7/17. He still won't hold his head up. The vision specialist says that it's because he has no reason to look up. We know that he can hold his head up he just doesn't because he can't see anything. We've been to the surgeon twice since his surgery and she said that because she had to remove his lenses his pupils are no longer normal looking. She is not sure if or when they will go back to normal.

Next month he will be put under to have a full exam and to be fitted for glasses. The surgeon said that until he has glasses he will not be able to fix or follow anything. His eyes are 6 months behind on development and his brain doesn't know how to use them so it will be a lot of therapy to teach him. The surgeon is still unsure how well of if he will be able to see. It's all just a waiting game.

We are hopeful and pray everyday. I hope all is well with everyone. Maybe someday soon I will have time to sit down and catch up on all the blogs that I miss so very much and actually get to comment.

Kim

Benefit Information

On June 20, 2009, Jake was diagnosed with a rare genetic eye disorder called Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy (FEVR). With this diagnosis it was discovered that Jake has only “light” sight and minimal peripheral vision. On July 16 and 17, Jake underwent double eye surgery to reattach his retinas and remove fluid blockage with the hopes of allowing him the chance to see, at least, shapes and shadows. It will be another 4-6 months before they will know if the surgery was successful. What is known, is that Jake will need extensive eye therapy, glasses and most likely multiple surgeries throughout his life. FEVR is a progressive disorder with no known cure. The only thing that can be certain is that Jake will be fighting for sight for the rest of his life.Kim and Brent have been through so much in such a short time to do what they can to help their little guy.

On September 18 we are hosting a benefit in their honor to help raise money and ease the financial burden they are already facing and that will only continue to face as the years pass.Please join us at the Fridley VFW for a night of food, music and fun to show your support for such a great family.

The evening will include…
*Silent Auction
*Raffle*Live Bands
*Chili Feed
*Bake Sale
*Cash Bar

For those who have expressed an interest in donating items to the raffle or silent auction, please contact:

Daria Hashemi-Rad
daria.hashemirad@gmail.com
612-805-3237or
Lanee Josephson-Neby 651-785-8204


We would like to have the donations collected by Monday, September 7.Items can be sent directly to Daria at:

936 Mississippi StFridley, MN 55432

5 Months

Last week Jake turned 5 months old. WOW! Time flies. Here are some of the things that Jake is up to.

Jake started eating solids

Eats 5-8 ounces every 2-4 hours

Smiles at our voices

Sleeping pretty good. Still wakes up at least once.

Started eating cereal last month and this month he has tried Carrots, Apples, pears, sweet potatoes and loves them all.

Rolls over from back to tummy.

Can stand on legs for a long time with help.

Cracks up when we tickle him or make funny noises.

Discovered his voice and likes to scream just to hear it.

Still loves his swing and laying on the floor under his play gym.

No longer hates the bath. He loves to splash around now.

Wakes up between 7-8, takes a cat nap around 9 or 10 then down for a big nap at 12. He will go down awake for his nap and fall asleep on his own and sleeps 3 hours. Around 6 he will take another cat nap then bath at 7:30 and bed at 8.

Jake is doing amazing and even though he has problems with sight he is developing right on track for his age. He is a blessing and we thank god everyday for him.

Jake's surgery

As most of you know our little one Jake was diagnosed with a rare genetic eye disorder which left him almost completely blind. After seeing a retina specialist it was determined that surgery would be needed in order to give Jake the best chance at sight. There was no promise of sight for Jake but there was a good chance that with surgery, glasses and a lot of therapy there may be some sight. This is a progressive genetic disorder so this may be a life long battle for our little man.
Basically Jake's retina's were completely detached in both eyes preventing him from seeing. There was fluid build up between the retina and the lens blocking his vision. The surgery would remove the fluid and reattach the retina.

Last week we brought Jake to Children's hospital in St.Paul for his two surgeries.. One was scheduled for Thursday and one was scheduled for Friday. Jake and were going to be stay at Children's from Thursday through Saturday. We got to Children's Thursday afternoon to get Jake prepped for surgery.

Jake and Daddy getting ready


The surgery took about 2 hours. It felt like it was about 10 hours. Brent and I were nervous wrecks. Neither of us were prepared for what Jake was going to look like. The surgeon came out after the surgery and said that she was able to reattach the retinas but that she was not expecting the damage that was already done. His retinas were badly damaged. She said that it looks like his eyes have been like this since they were formed in the womb. She did give us some hope by saying that the retinas were attaching like they should. Unfortunately it would be 4-6 months before we Will know if the surgery was a success.

Because the retina is so sensitive there is only so much you can do in one surgery without pushing it too much and causing more damage.

Our baby boy after his first surgery

In his room after the first surgery

Grandma and Jake. I love how he is holding her necklace.

The second surgery went well. The retinas in this eye were the same as the other. One eye isn't better than the other.

After his second surgery.. He is starting a stuffed animal collection.

Night night sweet pea

I thought his little feet were so cute and sad all at the same time.

On our right home.. Finally sprung from the big house.

My new nickname for my little sweet pea is buggy

Brent's work sent this.. How thoughtful.

The past few days have been very hard. Buggy is very sore and is also teething. He refuses to eat and cries most of the day. The doctor and surgeon said that is normal for especially after everything his little body has gone through. We are just praying for strength and for a speedy recovery for our little man.

Friday we see the surgeon for a check up. I feel bad saying this but his eyes are not the best thing to look at right now. They look painful. I can't wait for my baby to get his beautiful peepers back. Next month he will be fitted for glasses and we start therapy soon.

Even though this is probably two of many surgeries we are thankful for our family and friends who without them we would be lost.

Brent and I would like to thank our family and friends that came to visit us in the hospital, those that called and those that just let us know they were thinking and praying for us. We are thankful for all the support we have.

Love you all,

Kim