Saturday, July 28, 2012

Day at the beach

On Wednesday, we packed up and went to the beach for the day.  Anthony's parents came with us and we had a great time!  It turned out to be a beautiful day.  It was overcast, but pretty warm and not too windy... perfect weather for playing on the beach!

Our little water boy.  He loves to go in the water no matter how cold it is (and it is freezing cold, by the way!). He would have gone in a lot deeper if we would have let him.

Papa trying to get Nolan to put his feet in the water.....
....but he wanted nothin' to do with it!


Granny loves the water, too!  She spent much of time wading with the kids and helping them find sea shells.
The kids had a blast in the sand







This was Natalie's first trip to the beach.  She was super impressed, as you can see.  She slept the whole time.

Burying Talon in the sand.  He thought that was pretty neat.


Love having fun days with the kids!
Must be nap time!
Of course, we had to stop and get some caramel corn and Salt Water Taffy! Then it was Mexican food for dinner, a stop at Starbucks, and we headed home.  What a full, fun-packed day!  We all slept really good that night. Can't wait to do it again soon!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Update on Natalie

Natalie had her first follow-up appointments and ultrasounds yesterday since her cath procedure.  After 4 hours, 3 ultrasounds, 2 visits to see Dr. B and peds surgery, and a visit with Dr. K.....

Report from Dr. K (cardiologist):
She weighs 8 lbs, 13 oz and is growing great!!  Her right atrium (which was very enlarged before the cath) is still slightly enlarged, but much smaller. Her pulmonary pressures are much lower, and her oxygen sats are 99%.  She still has a moderate sized ASD (Atrial Septal Defect), but there is a lot of excess tissue around it, and hopefully it will close on its own with time.  If it doesn't, she may need another cardiac catheterization to close it when she is 2 or 3 years old.  She will continue to have serial ultrasounds and echocardiograms every so often as she grows to check her heart function and pulmonary pressures. (At least, until the hemangioma shrinks drastically and doesn't pose as a threat to her circulation.  There is still a chance that, as she grows, other vessels that were too small to coil at this time, may grow and perfuse the hemangioma and cause issues.)
She is now off of all of her medications, including the baby aspirin.  Her leg is pink, warm and well perfused, but does not have a good pulse.  Dr. K thinks she probably lost her femoral artery, but there is still a small chance that, with time, the pulse may return and the artery will be fine.
She will have her next appointment in 6 months, unless she starts having issues and becomes symptomatic.

Report from Dr. B (surgeon):
Hemangioma is about the same size, maybe just a little smaller, but the blood flow inside of it is reduced.  Her liver is a little over 6cm in size, and the hemangioma is about 3.2cm- half the size of her liver.  There is no plan at this time to biopsy the hemangioma or resect her liver.  We will do another ultrasound in 6 months and follow the size and blood flow as she grows.

We are hoping and praying the hemangioma just dries up and shrinks, her ASD will close on its own, and that her femoral artery will open up and be okay.

So thankful for God's healing touch on our amazing little girl!!

Pardon the absence!

Yes, things have been a bit busy around the Starr household the last couple of weeks, and I have had a hard time keeping up with the blog.  I have posted updates on Natalie's condition to Facebook quite frequently because it is easier and less time consuming then calling everyone that would like a quick update on how she is doing.  I have a ton of blog posts that I have started, and pictures I have uploaded, but haven't got them published yet.  So, I will attempt to get caught up in the next couple of days.  Feel free to check back at your leisure, but you may need to scroll down past this current post, because I will try to keep the posts around the time the events occurred or the original drafts were created.  You can always figure that if there are no new posts on our blog, it means one of two things.  Either there is absolutely NOTHING going on around here, or there is so much going on that there's no time to write/blog about it.  (Hint: It's most likely the latter!)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Summertime fun

The kids love playing outside and riding their bikes.  They also love playing in the swimming pool, wrestling around in the grass, and playing in the dirt!  So thankful for some good weather these past few weeks!!

Snips & snails & puppy dog tails.... with a whole lot of dirt mixed in!!



Ooops!
Monkey see, monkey do!
Love this expression.  He was trying to explain something to me.


Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma!!

We went to my parents' house and celebrated my mom's birthday last night.
Ahhh, ain't she purdy just a snugglin' that grandbaby?!?!
Nolan loves Auntie Kayla
Hooray!!!  Grandpa set up the 'bouncy'!

Playing with sidewalk chalk with Uncle Jeremy

Hmmm.... everyone looks half asleep.  Must have been a long day!
Aunt Donna getting some practice in for their little one that's scheduled to arrive at the beginning of February.  So exciting!  Yeah for cousins!!!
More snuggling with Grandma
Happy __th Birthday, Mom/Grandma!
We love you!!!
Note: Number of candles does not reflect actual age.  Some have been removed to protect the sanity of said birthday person.  (Also, to protect the frosting from completely evaporating off the cake!!)  =D

Monday, July 23, 2012

New helmet

Nolan has been snagging the older kids' helmets every time he gets a chance.  He loves them!  So, while Talon and Kaitlyn went somewhere with Papa and Granny, we took Nolan to the Healthy Kids Fair at Randall Children's Hospital and got him his very own helmet.  As soon as we got to the car he wanted it on. He loves it!
Of course, we had to make a stop at Starbucks while we were out.

The boys.... just bein' goofy!
Nolan holding his little sister and loving on her.


Wearing his helmet around the house. I have no doubt he'd sleep in it if I'd let him! 
"Diddle, diddle dumpling my son Nolan.... one shoe off and one shoe on..."

"Mama. Hat on!"