A Royal Night Out

It has been a VERY busy week and the craziness will continue until Friday is over. The job I have started helping Community Connections has its busiest time of the year in November. Friday night is A Royal Night Out, our biggest event of the year. I have been contacting media this last month, making sure that information about the event is sent to newspapers, magazines, radio & TV stations, websites and local events calendars throughout central Arkansas. Now I'm working on the printed materials needed for the event and next will be the pictures and music needed for the evening. Anyone local is encouraged to come out and support kids with special needs!

Boys photo shoot

Luke had an appointment last week at the hospital to see the pulmonary clinic. He continues to gain weight and the doctor was pleased with his growth curve. For the last few months, Luke's growth has plateaued and the newborn clinic (which Luke would visit every month) was really out of ideas - his formula is 35 calories per ounce and we are feeding him everything he will take. Now, Luke's curve is back and the pulmonary doctor feels he is doing well enough to discontinue oxygen during the day! He is still acting much happier and seems more energetic. We will just use the oxygen at night and Luke will go back in a month.

Saturday we took the boys to have pictures taken. They slept on the way and were still a little sleepy, but they did well! To view all of the pictures click here. Here are a few:

Back home

Had a great trip and just got home. I knew Rachel and Mom had projects they were working on while I was away, and here is what I found on the dining room wall leading into the living room:

More pictures from my trip

Great day having fun and getting to know some other Arkansans better. They will be serving for the next year at Our House, a "working" homeless shelter in Little Rock. Don't know much about what they do, but we may be able to help each other out in the coming year.
Here are some pictures from today:

Sandia Mountains in the distance



We took the bus tonight to head out and see what we could find



The scenery and surroundings reminded us a lot of the movie Cars



Passed these on our walk to dinner



We skipped the hotel dinner again - had to find some real authentic New Mexican food before heading home



Dinner was great! My enchiladas were topped with VERY spicy red chili sauce, but everything was very good. Half a day to wrap things up, then we will head to the airport and be home tomorrow night!

Update from New Mexico

The boys are doing well. Luke goes to the pulmonary clinic at the hospital tomorrow for a follow-up from his 9-day hospital stay. The boys are also going to the doctor in the afternoon for the first half of their one-year shots.

My mom flew in for the week to help Rachel with the boys while I am gone. All I know is that there are some super-secret projects going on at home and I am in for a surprise when I get back Thursday night...

I am in Albuquerque, NM for some orientation/training for my job this next year. The job is helping provide free extracurricular actiities for special-needs kids through Community Connections of Arkansas. Technically the job is a one-year volunteer position through the federal government's Americorp VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) program. Over 150 volunteers from the southwest region of the country have gathered for a pre-service orientation.

I am working with three great women - Jodie McGinley, Kelly Coffman and Jamie Tyler. We are having a good time, but miss our families and are ready to be back home. It really is nice to lose my responsibilities with the boys for a few days, but it would be much more fun if Rachel were here.

One block from our hotel is "Uptown Albuquerque" with a great view of the Sandia mountains



We passed a patch of cactus along the sidewalk on our walk to Starbucks




We found a cool custom cookie shop that had all kinds of interesting creations






New Mexico is known for their annual hot air balloon festival - there is lots of balloon stuff around



Tonight we decided to skip dinner at the hotel and headed to a Japanese steakhouse



Jodie, Kelly and Jamie



Stopped in the Apple store to check out the new iPods and MacBook Airs

Jack's day

Jack did extremely well today. He was VERY cranky before the surgery because he was hungry and tired. Jack and I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 for an 8:30 surgery. He was good for the first hour but he cried off and on for the second hour. His normal schedule is to eat around 5:30/6:30 and then go back to sleep until around 8 so he didn't get to eat and he refused to close his eyes. The nurses took him to the OR around 8:15, they started surgery around 8:45 and I was back in recovery with him at 9:20. He was MAD when he woke up but promptly took 7 ounces of formula and was a happy boy. The anesthesiologist did a caudal block on him which is supposed to keep him numb for about 6 hours. It helps keep the need for narcotic pain meds low and usually Tylenol and Motrin controls their pain. Jack rested for about 45 more minutes and we were able to come home! Jack and I came home and took a 2 hour nap together and he has been a happy boy all day. He has been a little extra cuddly but that is fine with us. He has been standing and crawling with out any problems. Luke had a plastibell circumcision but they had to do a regular with Jack. It is a little more painful than the plasibell and it is more swollen and red. Hopefully Jack will be in the same good mood tomorrow and just need some Tylenol and Motrin. Thanks for the prayers. Will post a picture or two of Jack from my iphone in the next post.----R

Another (scheduled) day at the hospital

Arkansas Children's Hospital really is our second home. It's a good thing Rachel works there and we are both very familiar and comfortable with the place. Tomorrow morning Jack will have a quick visit with Dr. Jackson before he is put to sleep and gets circumcised. Keep Jack in your prayers tomorrow - the surgery is scheduled for 8:30am. We hope he does as well as Luke did (happy and back to his normal self the same afternoon).

Luke is still doing great at home. He's very happy, eating just as good or better than before, and seems a little more energetic. Maybe he has needed some extra oxygen for a while and we just didn't know it... He will have fun tomorrow morning when he has the house to himself and no competition for whatever he wants to play with.

We will post updates and let you know how Jack does tomorrow.