I'm a tired girl, and don't have much to report, but I do have a funny Mason-ism. Today he got new toothpaste that has a picture of Spiderman on it. Tonight when he was brushing his teeth he said, "Mmmmm, this tastes like minty webs." Funny boy.

Things have been pretty busy around here. The twins have decided that they do not need sleep, and therefore will not nap during the day- at least not for any extended period of time. I can still get Hays to stay down for a couple of hours at some point, but Will is all about the power catnap. I don't think he slept more than an hour total all day, and that was stretched out over three little naps. I'm not sure how I'm going to get them back into a good sleep pattern, but I have to find some way or we're all going to die of exhaustion!
We're also worrying about Matt's grandmother. She's having trouble with her heart and may be facing surgery. At this point the doctors are still running tests to determine the best course of action, but we do ask everyone to pray for her. She's stuck in the hospital and that's never fun, so everyone just pray for comfort and healing. We know your prayers work wonders- look what they did for Will!
Will and Hays had their first physical therapy session with the therapist from Babies Can't Wait. She thought that they both looked great for their adjusted age. She suggested some things we can do to help their development and help them learn to sit up, crawl, etc. but a lot of it was stuff we're already doing. She said that she can see a change in them from when she saw them a couple of weeks ago. It's great to get someone else's perspective on that. Since I'm with them all the time I don't always get the full scope of the amazing progress they are making.

We finally got an adorable twin picture! They are too precious. Hays has been kind of puny the past few days. I think his mouth hurts because he cries when I start to feed him and he's gnawing on his hands constantly. He hasn't been sleeping well the past few days and he's starting to look like a refugee with his hollow, glazed eyes. Poor little guy. Hopefully he'll shake off this little funk soon.

Will is great. He's sucking down bottles like a champ. He finished all of his bottles except one today! We're so proud. If he keeps this up, he'll have that g-tube out in no time flat.

Mason is going through a little sassy stage. We had to have a talk about stealing the other day because he swiped a Power Ranger from Walmart. Luckily, Matt discovered it as soon as they walked out of the store and they returned it immediately. I'm not sure our talk really got through to Mason. All he said was, "But mommy, I wanted it and I didn't have any money, so I stoled it." We're trying to teach him that that's not really a good rationale for petty theft. So if you see him on America's Most Wanted in about 20 years, you'll know it all started with a pilfered Power Ranger!

Well, the den re-do is almost done, and it looks darn good if I do say so myself! We painted the walls a bright apple green and put dark chocolate brown slipcovers on the furniture. The biggest upgrade was thanks to Matt's parents who gave us a (very) early christmas present- a flat screen tv! Woohoo!!!!! It is pretty fabulous, and Matt is beside himself with excitement. Since we got that, we were able to get rid of our way too big for the room entertainment center. That opened everything up so much that the room looks twice as big. So now we're all fancy-like in our new living room.
All the kids are doing well. Will had a doctor's appointment Friday, and his pediatrician was amazed at how great he looked. He also rolled over for the first time on Friday! Guess he just needed to get those hoses out of his way. I am trying to get some good pictures of Will and Hays together, but one of them looks kind of goofy in all the ones I've taken so far!

All is well on the homefront. Will had another great day. When our nurse got here today, I was feeding Will in the den. Bo automatically assumed it was Hays and went in to Will's room, only to find no baby and the equipment turned off. He came into the den and said, "So I guess he doesn't need the vent anymore?" And I was thrilled to tell him, shoot, he doesn't need the trach anymore!

We found out that we will still have the same ammount of nursing care for now. In a while our hours may decrease, but we'll still have care. Since Will still officially has tracheomalacia (weak airway) he's still at risk for respiratory issues. Because of this, we'll get nurse care for the purpose of monitoring him. But this means that I get to keep my extra pair of hands around the house. Hooray!!!!

We really got to enjoy having an equipment-free baby today.Will's always gotten lots of love, but it was hard to snuggle and cuddle him like you would with a baby that didn't have all that gear.

Miracle on Tuxedo Lane

We're home!!!! And Will has no trach!!!!!!!!! The broncoscopy went well. The doctor found that the weak area is still weak- it was pretty much unchanged. But his airway has grown enough that the opening is large enough for him to breathe through. He still has what is considered a "compromised" airway, but the trach is no longer necessary, or particularly beneficial. Our only real concern is that he may have some trouble breathing if he gets a cold or something. In that case he may require some oxygen or CPAP, but that's something we can handle pretty easily. He's also going to have to go in for a sleep study in a few weeks just to be on the safe side, but that's no big deal.
So now we're home and Will is snug in his bed, sleeping soundly and his oxygen sats are at 100%. We are so thankful and overjoyed, there truly are not words to describe our happiness. All day long my heart has been saying thank you, God, oh thank you. It was so wonderful to be able to just have all three boys in the den and no medical equipment in sight. We laid Hays and Will down on a blanket together and they both were just talking up a storm. Hays was grinning at Will like he was so happy to see him. It was the sweetest thing. The best part of not having the trach is the little things, like being able to carry Will down to the mailbox to check the mail, and especially, being able to hear his voice. I never thought I would think a cry was beautiful, but after six months of near-silence, it is music to my ears.
We have proof that miracles happen and we are so lucky to have been blessed with this one. I pretty sure it's better than winning the lottery!

Today is the big day. The ENT doctors and pulmonologists are going to do a broncoscopy on Will. That means they'll stick a scope down his throat to look at his airway to determine whether we can leave the trach out or not. He's still doing perfectly. His oxygen saturation levels are awesome and he's breathing with no trouble at all. The doctors are very optimistic that he'll do fine without the trach. Matt and I are hopeful, but scared. All signs say that Will is just fine, but you never know what tests can show. The good news is, if the test comes back fine, they should discharge him today so we can take our trach-free baby home!
We're not sure what time they're doing the scope. He's an add-on to the schedule, so they could take him at any time. Everybody just pray that today goes well, and we'll post an update as soon as we can.