Holiday Update 2009

Ok...so my Mom has been asking me when I am going to update the blog!?! I just did it! :) Here is a copy of my recent Holiday letter that was enclosed in the Christmas cards....

Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, Happy Hanukkah,
Happy “Winter Break”, Happy New Year...
What ever you celebrate this time of year –
Have fun celebrating it!

Well, well, well. Here we are again! The year 2009 was so much like 2008, it was hard at times to even tell a difference! It all started with January, just like the year before. And before we knew it, February came along and then March. Our plucky yet uber-intelligent and gifted and talented children soon recognized the pattern, and we were able to confidently predict April and May. It was all downhill after that, barely even a challenge! David a future mathematician pursuing a PhD and an office all to himself, soon hypothesized that Christmas would fall in December this year, and sure enough, here I am writing to you and it will be Christmas soon (in December!!!).

Our children have excelled in absolutely everything this year, embarrassing themselves (and everyone else) with their extraordinary abilities. Fortunately, they have level headed and objective parents who maintain their feet firmly on the ground. We do, however, have them attend elocution and deportment classes in preparation for the various prize and award ceremonies we anticipate they will have to attend over their lifetimes. They have been enrolled in Swedish language classes for some time, because, after all, we would hate for them to be at a disadvantage when they travel to accept their Nobel Peace Prizes!

We were able to squeeze a little traveling in this year in between the children’s studies. We started in Aspen, went to Belarus, the Congo, Denmark, Ethiopia, the Falklands, Greenland, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Zaire. Our trip sailing our new yacht around the world was a great experience for the kids. We learned to communicate with the dolphins and even discovered a new region of deep water volcanoes.

I, of course, am still the envy of everyone with my perfection. Martha Stewart will be visiting our estate next week to get some more recipe ideas and decorating tips from me. She is just lovely and I enjoy teaching her many of my tricks, so they may be passed on to the more “common” folks around the country. In other news, I will begin an ancient Greek class next year, so I can see if the Bible was properly translated.

Brad has been immersed with another graduate study program. He has managed to co-author a paper on Multidimensional Customer Attribute Analysis by Conjoint Survey and has accepted a Nobel Prize for his discoveries in Quantum Physics. We are proud of his work serving on the Board of Directors of IBM, Coca Cola, and Walt Disney.

Well I could go on, but I don’t want you to feel inadequate at this very special time of the year. I do hope you have reached at least a few of your objectives and performance indicators you have set for yourselves.
Much love to you all, and do feel free to bask in the glow of our glory….

The Arton Family

Maybe I should explain...when I was younger, my parents had a friend that would send out a two page Holiday letter that was not a joke but a real bragging letter about everything their kids did for the year. Every year, when the Christmas Cards started arriving, we would look for theirs! This is my lame attempt of copying their annual holiday update! :)

Last Trip of the Summer :(

Christopher and Jacob playing in the sand

Christopher

Jacob kept putting his face down in the water but didn't want to get wet.

Last Thursday, the boys and I (along with Nana) headed back to the "Happy House". I worked that day so we weren't able to get out of town until about 6 and then began the long five hour trek to Destin. The boys fell asleep on the way and when we arrived at midnight Jacob and Christopher kept running around the house looking for Pop and G'ami. They were there last time we went and I guess the little boys thought they would be there again this time. Jacob ran around the house screaming "Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapppp". It was really cute...but after a few minutes and after having a long day at work and the long drive, the cuteness wore off pretty quick!

I think on my last post I put how much easier it is to travel with the boys...maybe I spoke a little too soon. This trip wasn't bad, but Jacob has been wanting to be held all of the time! So that on top of Christopher being too exhausted to walk because of medical reasons has TOTALLY exhausted me! I carried Jacob down to the beach, pushing the beach stroller (not a stroller for kids, but a special stroller to push the beach toys and junk down that rolls smoothly in the sand). On the way back to the house, he wanted me to carry him. I refused and so he cried the entire...I mean ENTIRE way back to the house. It was a long walk home! :) Thankfully the lesson was learned and the next day, no fussing and he walked the entire way there and back! The next day we went to the outlets and bought Jacob some big boy run fast shoes. They are "special" shoes that can not come off of the ground. You can NOT be held in them! They are soooo cool and seem to be working, so far...

the boys walking down to the neighborhood pool

David doing an awesome jump trick into the pool

Brad ended up driving down the next evening to join us. It was nice to have Nana (Stephanie) there too. It was man to man defense. It was nice for all of us to be able to go go-cart riding together instead of me (or Brad) having to stay behind with two kids while the other rides with one. Stephanie watched the boys one night so Brad and I could go out. It was super nice, I think we are going to have to start traveling with a friend to help out with the boys...or to allow date nights on vacation! :)

Brad and Julie

Summer is over now, this morning we went to David's school to drop off his school supplies and meet his teacher. It was tough to get up this morning (not just for him, but for me too!). He'll start school on Wednesday so today he wants to "just stay home" and tomorrow we'll head over to the Children's Museum in New Orleans. They love going over there! I'll post again later this week to show you pictures of David's 1st day of 1st grade...I can not believe he is going to be a 1st grader!! Time Flies!!

Brad and Jacob Go-Cart Riding

Update on Middle Man...

On Friday we went and saw Dr. Brumund. He ended up doing an EKG, echo and checking Christopher's O2 saturation levels. Christopher's pulmonary valve and tricuspid valve are still leaking and stenosed, but not significantly different from his last visit. Dr. Brumund does not think that is what is causing Christopher to be so exhausted. His O2 levels were lower than they've ever been since his surgery and his heart rate was significantly higher than it has been so he was sent home with a monitor to check for rhythm issues. We'll have those results later this week. I had mentioned how Christopher is still not sleeping through the night and waking up a lot! Dr. Brumund sent us to the Pediatric Pulunologist for him to check for sleep apnea.

Today Christopher and I met with the Pediatric Pulumologist and he said that Christopher does have sleep apnea. There could be many things causing it so we are going to do an overnight sleep study at their office to try and determine the cause. He mentioned that it could be something as minor as reflux...and we ALL remember Christopher's problems with reflux!!! It could also be heart related...we have a higher chance in that aspect too!! He also mentioned that it could be neurological. They'll place all kinds of wires on him and watch him sleep all night. Wow, what a fun job to watch people sleep in the middle of the night! :)

The Pediatric Pulmunologist also diagnosed him as having asthma. He explained that when they broke his sternum to get into the heart it could have messed up his tracheal tube and with his previous reflux problems on top of that it could be causing the asthma. I haven't had a chance to google asthma so I am really clueless what it is...but from what this Dr. said it is not anything too serious. It may affect him playing sports, but we are already limited in that area because of his heart. We were sent home with quite a few medicines that he'll be on for at least a year. He did mention that it is a chronic disease and we will have to visit him regularly for it to be monitored. We saw Dr. Thomas, he spoke on my level and explained everything in layman's terms. I really liked him and I'm glad to have another good doctor on our "team".

Since Christopher has been so puny we haven't been doing to much. Yesterday afternoon we were going to do touristy stuff downtown. We started with the USS Kidd. The boys loved it. By the time we were finished there, Christopher was too tired to walk around downtown so we just headed to Dearman's (the BEST burgers in the world!!) and then headed home for naps. Here are a few pictures.

Cardiac Christopher is back!

David, Andrew, Jacob and Bailey (Christopher would not get out of stroller)

Since we had a "cold" front come through this past weekend, we decided to take advantage of the 87 degree weather! Brad and I brought the boys to the New Orleans zoo on Sunday afternoon. We met Brad's sister-in-law and her sons. Her sons are close in age to mine and love hanging out together. We checked out all of the animals!

David and Jacob

For the past couple of months, we've been noticing a decrease in Christopher's activity levels. On Sunday, he did not even want to get out of the stroller to walk around the zoo! That is not like Christopher. Later that evening, I was looking for him and found him asleep in the middle of my bedroom floor. On Tuesday, his teacher mentioned again that he was resting a lot more than normal and more than he was playing. That afternoon I called to set up an appointment for Dr. Brumund, the pediatric cardiologist. As my luck would have it he was working in the Hammond and Lafayette offices later this week and the day he was in the Baton Rouge office he was booked. So why not just wait until next week...I would have, but he is on vacation next week!! I went ahead and made an appointment to see the pediatrician since she has a daughter that has the same disease as Christopher and could advise us if she thinks we should see another cardiologist in Dr. B's office or if we could wait until after he is back from vacation. We went to see her yesterday and she ran all kinds of test on him just to see if maybe something else was making him tired. She did blood counts, flu and mono tests and they all came back normal. She thought we should see the cardiologist sooner than later...so she called Dr. B and he is going to meet us this afternoon in the Baton Rouge office after he finishes at the Lafayette office. He is so awesome! We are thankful to have such a great team of doctors! I am anxious to see what he says! I'll update later....

Happy 4th of July!

After that last post from the heart conference, I probably should update you after a few e-mails I got...I am OK!! :) I just have sad days sometime and I chose that night to share it with y'all. Sorry to be so depressing. I am feeling happier now and we went to the "Happy House" (that is what G'ami named the Beach House) for the Fourth of July so I am back to a happier mode.

We went to Destin for the Fourth of July weekend. The kids had a great time. I mentioned this when we returned from the mountains last month, but it is amazing how much easier it is to travel with the kids since they are a little older so we are taking advantage of it this summer! Brad ended up coming home a few days earlier than I did, so I actually drove home with the three kiddos solo...and it was not bad at all! Jacob is able to walk (even though he still wants to "hold you me") and is getting much better about following directions not running away. We are still working on quiet voices though, especially in the car! They can get a bit loud and rambunctious! We have had a fun summer so far and this past week was no exception!

We headed to Destin last Thursday, along with the rest of the country. The traffic was pretty heavy and what usually is a five hour drive ended up taking much longer with potty stops, dinner and traffic! We arrived late and the kids didn't get to bed until midnight. We don't usually go by a strict schedule, but they are always in bed before midnight (usually around nine)...except last week! Jacob and Christopher loved playing in the sand. I tried to help them build sand castles, but I was about as much help as another three year old. David brought his boogie board and was pretty good at it. He would go out and ride the waves back in to the beach. It looked like a lot of fun so I made an attempt at it...it is not easy! Thankfully I don't have the video to prove it!!

On Saturday night (the 4th of July) we ended up grilling and then heading down to the beach for fireworks. Brad's brother's family and his parents were there too. It was nice to have the entire family together...even though with five little boys it got a little rowdy...ok maybe a LOT rowdy!

It was a nice week away from home and I really enjoyed the opportunity to take an afternoon nap each day! Now back to summer reality of heat with no beach, chauffeuring kids around, t-ball and no naps! :)

Creating Cupcakes with the Kiddies!

My Son's Broken Heart Breaks Mine!

This weekend Brad and I went to the National Congenital Heart Defect Conference in Houston. My parents watched all three of the boys. This was their first time to watch the kids overnight. They had a great time. My dad let David shoot my old bow and arrow. For those of you that may not know, I used to be the best gal archer in the state! I pulled out my old bow and we had fun shooting. My dad pulled out some old trophies and while we were gone they had competitions. David "won" a huge trophy and even Christopher won a trophy for shooting. Jacob shot too (with my Dad's help) but he wasn't too interested in a trophy like David and Christopher. The kids loved the trophies and my dad was happy to get them out of his house!

My brother had just returned from a deployment in Korea so he was at my parents with his children too. The boys love to play with Jack and Cammie, they are a few years older so the feeling may not be mutual...but at least they helped my parents by keeping my kiddos entertained! :) My mom said the kids were well behaved and didn't have any problems sleeping...well except Christopher waking up one night! I'm hoping that since my children were so well behaved (that was my mother's description of their behavior!) that they will be able to stay there again soon! My parents never left us when we were young and since she still works it is hard to convince her that she should spend her weekend with my three wild children to create chaos instead of having a quiet and relaxing weekend with just my daddy! :)

So while my kids were having a blast at their Grandparents Brad and I spent the weekend in Houston. Our main reason for going was to attend the National Congenital Heart Defect/Disease Conference. It was very informative (is that even a word??). I learned a lot about the genetics and chromosome disorders that usually go along with CHDs. It was very interesting and I think we'll probably have some more extensive tests run on Christopher. He has had some chromosone test run, but not the full screening (it is about $350,000 and insurance won't cover it!). Obviously we won't have that done, but we were advised of some specific disorders that he shows some symptoms and we'll have those checked. They are not anything serious, in fact the worst symptom of them is the heart defects, it is mainly just something good to know as some may affect his growth and will "run" in the family.

He is now three and a half years old now and I felt like I was finally comfortable with his disease. Sure it is on my mind daily, but I am finally at peace with it...or so I thought! This conference was such an eye opener for me. The Pediatric CardioThoratic Surgeon began the conference with a picture of him and his father fly fishing. You were probably thinking the same thing I was...how does this pertain to CHDs? His comment was that his personal goal when performing surgery on our children is to be able to give our children the chance to be 85 years old and healthy enough to go fly fishing with their children...unfortunately the reality of it is it will probably not happen in their lifetime. I guess I thought it was going to be more encouraging but it seemed to be much more of a reminder that my child is sick with a fatal disease with the reality of meeting other mothers that have had children die from heart diseases. Probably not the perfect timing since just last week Christopher's teacher pointed out that he seems to be tiring out faster than the other children and seems to be a little less active than he has been. I had been noticing the same thing and remembered how his pediatric cardiologist warned us that this would be the age that we should keep a closer eye on symptoms of heart failure. He has stenosis in his pulmonary artery and a leaky valve, it is causing his right ventricle to pump too hard and wears him out easily. I'd like to think it is just because it has been so darn hot...but it is hot for the other kids too! This probably sounds horrible, but for the past couple of weeks I have been secretly hoping that he is getting sick with a cold or virus or something, unfortunately he hasn't had a runny nose, coughing or any other symptoms... so I'm afraid it may be his heart. We'll head back to the pediatric cardiologist this week! For those of you thinking "Oh my gosh, why didn't you send him to the dr already?!?" We have already discussed this with our doctor and nothing will be done until he goes into heart failure. By the way, heart failure just means that his heart is changing and damaged more than it was at the previous visit. If it is the case, they'll wait until it gets to be at an unsafe level and then we'll head to Children's Hospital in Boston.

I hate to end this post on a sad note, but as I was reminded this weekend it is our life now. I try not to have too many pitty parties but I am not going to lie I HATE the fear I live with each day, the sleepless nights, wondering if the reason my child is crying is just a typical fussy fit that all kids perform or is he in pain, I hate keeping my fear of outliving my child quiet for fear of making others uncomfortable and them treating Christopher differently, I hate faking a smile and pretending that everything is OK...it is NOT.

This disease not only affects Christopher it affects our entire family! His brothers are shuffled around to doctor appointments and David knows he can't push his brother on his chest (not that he should anyway!).

It affects our marriage, we handle stress differently I know that Brad is having the same fears, especially after this weekend. We talked about Christopher's surgeons comments the morning of his open heart surgery. Dr Mayer said he was not necessarily going to be able to increase the quantity of Christopher's life, just the quality. It brought tears to our eyes. We never talk about Christopher's health problems or death. Brad is my best friend and we tell each other everything...except how we're scared! When it comes to stress we handle it differently....I need to be hugged and told everything is going to be OK - Brad wants to be left alone and not talk about it, so we don't.

It affects finances...duh!! crazy health insurance premiums and deductables; not to mention copays, medicines and the fear of what will happen after we reach his maximum insurance payout!

I hate that my son was born with heart defects and want to know WHY? Did I do something during my pregnancy to cause this? Will Christopher blame me? Siblings, marriages, finances and my poor little Christopher...something has to be done to cure him and unlike what the freakin' pediatric cardiothoratic surgeon at the conference said, it HAS to be done SOON! This is MY child dammit!

Father's Day

Our Kid Friends Came Over to Play and Make Father's Day Crafts
Our playgroup met here last week and made koozies for Father's Day. Brad was not really surprised since that is what we've done the past few years. David attached a pencil to his and got really creative about other gifts he wanted to give Brad. He went to the closet where we keep the gift bags and then traveled around the house stuffing it. So for Father's Day, Brad got his t-ball coaching t-shirt, a baseball hat that he's been having and a pocket knife from many years ago. It was really cute watching David "shop" through the house for things that Brad likes.

David's Week at C3 Camp

David with his Golden Arrow Award

Last week David attended C3 Camp. It is a camp that Chick-fil-A coordinates and sponsors at churches throughout the country. Chick-fil-A has set up a Winshape Foundation that offers residential Biblical based camps for children, marriage enrichment programs and foster homes in Georgia. C3 Day Camp is a break-off of their residential camp so they can minister to children around the country through local churches.

Pop, Jacob, Brad and David at C3 Camp

Last week, a church in Lafayette hosted the camp and David attended and then slept over with Brad's parents at night. On Monday, David called us and told us all about it. He was very excited and especially enjoyed the archery! On Wednesday, Brad's mother e-mailed us some pictures of how he dressed for Wacky Wednesday. She helped him dress up like a rock star!

David the Rock Star

On Thursday, they had a decorate your car competition. They were suppose to decorate the car to reflect their group name. David was in the Ocean group. Pop and G'ami live in the neighborhood next to the church, so they decorated their golf cart and ended up winning the competition for his group! As you can tell, they spent a lot of time and effort decorating it! David was in the blue group, so he ended up dressing in all blue and they even spray painted his hair blue! He LOVED it!!

Pop and the Ocean golf cart!

Friday was Chick-fil-A Family Day so Brad and I and the little boys met them at camp. Christopher saw the big inflatable cow in front of the church and was scared that the other cows would be there. He was so scared and wanted to be held constantly so Annette ended up bringing him back to her house. We were able to follow David around to his group break-outs. They offered a choice of many different activities like archery, soccer, dance, cheer leading, wiffle ball, wacky science, basketball....

David with his egg drop contraption.

We went to the wacky science group with David and they were having an egg drop competition. They were given four straws and a roll of tape. His group had to use those supplies to keep the egg intact from the drop. They kept it from breaking during the drop on the grass, but when they moved to the concrete it broke! After that we watched him play wiffle ball and then archery. He really enjoyed the archery and ended up winning the golden arrow award on Friday!

Jacob eating Chick-fil-A on Family Friday at C3 Camp

After the activities the minister of the church preached for a little bit and then the church band played their camp songs while the kids sang and danced. After that it was Chick-fil-A lunch time! David had so much fun, I am planning on enrolling him for a session they are having in Lake Charles later this summer. If you'd like more info on the camp or the Winshape Foundation, check out their website http://www.winshape.org/. They are also looking for churches that want to host the camp. Click on the camp link!

David dancing for Jesus

Christopher's First T-Ball Game!

Yesterday Christopher asked me at least a hundred times if it was time for T-ball. He was so excited to be big enough to play t-ball. I am one of the coaches so we went to pick up the uniforms to bring to the other players. As soon as we got the box of uniforms he wanted to put his on. Jacob was upset that he didn't have a uniform, he is not old enough to play this year. It broke my heart to see Jacob so sad, so I went and got David's uniform shirt from last year and he ended up wearing David's. When it was finally time to go to his first game, they both fell asleep in the truck! I woke Christopher when we arrived at the field...not really a good idea. He was sooooo grauchy and did not want to participate in the game. He stood out in the field but refused to put his glove on. When it was his turn to bat, he didn't want to do that either. He just sat on the side the entire game! He did not participate in the game until it was snack time...then he was a real team player!

David is playing t-ball again this year too but he is missing his first two games. This week he is staying at Pop and G'amis for church camp. Chick-fil-A cooridinates and sponsors a bible day camp. The closest one to us is in Lafayette this week. Yesterday he called and told us all about it. He is shooting "real" bow and arrows, doing Science experiments and playing wiffle ball. Yesterday after camp, G'ami was bringing him swimming. I miss him when he is gone, but he really enjoys staying at their house. Last time we went to visit them, David asked if Brad and I were staying. When we told him yes, he was disappointed. He likes it when we don't go because G'ami and Pop bring him to do fun things.

Want me to make a red beaux beaux so you can have a band-aid?

So a few months ago, the kids were going through boxes (yes, plural!) of band-aids in just a few days. Instead of wasting band-aids, I bought a bunch of stickers for the kids to put all over themselves and made a rule about band-aids. You must have a red beaux beaux for a band-aid.
Today Christopher had a red one and needed a band-aid. I gave it to him and Jacob threw a fit because he could not have a band-aid too. Christopher felt bad for him and got down in his face, put his hand on Jacob's and with such a sweet voice said, "Do you want me to make you a red beaux beaux right here? Then you can get a band-aid!". It was the sweetest and funniest thing. He wanted to make Jacob happy by getting him a band-aid and knew just how to do it....by making a bloody sore for him!

By the way, Jacob said yes!


P.S. What is the non-cajun spelling for beaux beaux? :)

May Update...

Ok, so now the May update...

David graduated Kindergarden - wow what an accomplishment! :) He had a little ceremony on his last day of school, he was chosen to be a reader. He has come such a long way since the beginning of the school year. I didn't realize how much farther behind The Dunham School was academically until he started kindergarden. David was behind in reading and math. He was able to catch up and on his final report card he had all AP (above averages the best you can get!). The first part of the year his teacher told me he would rather hang out with the girls. This was a new school to David and most of the boys (and other students) already knew each other from being in Pre-K together. By the end of the year his teacher said he was best buds with the boys. On the last day of school I had planned a fun day to bring David to Chuck E. Cheese. He enjoys going there but we don't go anymore because Christopher is terrified of Chuck. The little boys were still in Mom's Day Out and I was looking forward to spending the day with David alone...until I got dumped! One of the boys in his class invited him to go swimming after the program. I have to admit, I was kind of sad that he would rather hang out with them instead of going to Chuck E. Cheese with me. I allowed him to go and offered to bring him over to the boys house but he would rather ride with his friend!! Since I was dumped and already had child care lined up for the little ones, I had a little pitty party for myself and then ended going to hang out at work.

David reading during his graduation program

David and Julie after his graduation.

David excited to go to his friends house after the graduation program.


After David was finished with school we decided to take a vacation before it got too hot and all of the other kids around the country were out of school. We packed up the truck and luggage carrier and headed to the Smoky Mountains. The kids and I made a list of things we wanted to do and things we wanted to see. The only thing I really wanted was to see a bear. We stayed there for about four or five days hiking in the national park and doing all of the touristy things. We went to Ober Mountain. It is a ski resort in the winter and in the summer it has tobogganing, water slides, ice skating and other amusement park type rides. All of us rode up the ski lift to the top of the mountain to toboggan down. When we reached the top Brad and I just looked at each other like duhhhh...what did we just do!!?!? We realized we have THREE kids and only TWO adults. Every child must go down with an adult. Something we should have thought about before reaching the top of the mountain. Even if Brad went down with one of them, he would have to leave a child at the bottom to come back up and go down with another one...then this really nice stranger offered to go down with David. Brad and Jacob went down first so they'd be down there to meet David and then Christopher and I went after to make sure she brought David. The lady was super nice! After that, I stayed at the bottom on the playground and Brad would bring them one at a time! :) As we were leaving Ober Mountain we saw a bear in the parking lot!! That really made my trip...I was ready to head home after that, but we didn't! :) After spending some time in the Gatlinburg area we headed over to the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina for a few days. We went to the Biltmore (really cool!) and on our last day we drove over to bring the boys to Tweetsie Railroad, a neat amusement park that is railroad themed. They have a real steam engine train that goes around the area. In the beginning they had a cowboy on our car. During the train ride some indians came on horseback and tried to climb on board and steal some of our loot. Christopher and Jacob weren't too crazy about it, but the rest of us really enjoyed the train ride and being able to participate in the cowboy and indian show. They have all kinds of cowboy and indian stuff. The little boys enjoyed the rides.

Brad, David and Jacob going up the mountain to toboggan down...Julie and Christopher tobogganing down.

Tonya Harding just walked by :) Jacob (not happy), David and Christopher going to attempt ice skating

I had enough... :)

David and Jacob did too!!

Disclaimer: we were never in any danger...the land was flat on the other side of the fence even though it may not appear that way!

Hear no evil, see no evil. Christopher and Jacob did not enjoy the train ride too much! :)