Nate Hudson

xmas4

2010-11-03T18:20:00.001-07:00

Elegant Lace Snowflakes Christmas Card

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

2 year pics

2010-03-15T17:52:00.001-07:00

Pictures from Julia

2010-02-12T19:27:00.001-08:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Photos

2009-11-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

Check out the newest photos of the little guy. There is a slideshow button at the bottom.
http://taprootphotography.net/gallery/splash.php?gallery_id=6

Bike Riding

2009-08-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

It has been so hot down here and the nats are terrible. Nate is getting stir crazy inside all day so I had to come up with a way for us to spend some time outside and not pass out from the heat. Nate and I are now spending our afternoons on the bike!

2009-08-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

2009-07-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

2009-07-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hudson Family Photos - Taproot Photography from Taproot Photography on Vimeo.

Choo Choo

2009-06-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

Having fun on the fire truck!!!

Please pray for Ellen McCranie. She is a precious little girl that received a heart transplant and she needs our prayers. Pray that her body will continue to heal and accept the new heart!

March of Dimes

2009-04-30T18:36:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who helped contribute to the March of Dimes. Nate raised $990, the most of any individual walker. He got his first medal. We had a great time and were joined by some amazing friends. You can check out photos at www.natehudson.shutterfly.com.
Thank you again!

A Year

2009-04-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a year. Scott and I made it through all the firsts this year. Firsts brought about many feelings for us. Memories of our excitement when we first found out we were expecting, getting the nursery ready, bedrest, birthday, holidays, and even the seasons. Nate was born on Good Friday. I can remember when they told me we were going to deliver Nate early, that we would go into surgery as soon as possible, and the fear on my doctor's face. When I went in for my last xray before surgery I remembered that Scott's grandfather passed away on Good Friday a few years before. I thought that was a sign from God that Scott's granddaddy would watch over all of us and get us through the day. What was amazing was as soon as I came out of the xray I told Scott right away and he had been thinking the same thing at the same time. I believe that God saved us both that day. He had plans for us and he wasn't ready for us to be with Scott's granddaddy just yet. I didn't know what those plans were but I am starting to get an idea.

Our family has faced so many obstacles this year. We are all stronger for it though. Nate has already inspired so many people and influenced their lives. He has reminded people that a healthy baby is an everyday miracle. Nate reminds people to love what is important in their lives, to face challenges head on and not give up the fight. Nate taught me that it is all in God's hands and that prayers work. His smile warms the room instantly and when you look into his eyes your heart is warmed because there isn't any scars of the pain he once endured. He doesn't care that he can't hear everything around him or that he is slower to crawl or walk than other kids his age. He lives to make us smile and I hope to do the same for him.

So as we look back on our first Easter since Nate was born I remember how much God has given to us and thank him for it everyday. I pray that this year will be easier on our hearts, but we will understand that it is all God's plan. Last year on Easter morning, Scott gave me two sapphire rings before he left me to go be with Nate. This year I was so happy to sit at Easter service with my husband at my side, my rings on my finger, and my son on my lap.

updated pictures

2009-03-31T15:19:00.001-07:00

I put some of Nate's pictures from his birthday on a new shutterfly site. Check it out at www.natehudson.shutterfly.com

I hope you enjoy!

2009-03-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Nate had an amazing 1st birthday. Nate was born on Good Friday and what better day to baptise him, but on his first birthday. It was such a great day and Nate had a blast. He even ate birthday cake, which has so many levels of excitement to it, since he doesn't really like to eat.

March of Dimes

2009-03-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

Nate, Scott, and I are participating in the March of Dimes next month in Valdosta. For those of you that do not know, the March of Dimes benefits research for premature babies. Check out this link to see a cute e-card of Nate! http://ecards.marchforbabies.org/MA5V9T

New pics

2009-03-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

Nate got his 1 yr pictures last week. Go to www.carrieviohl.com and scroll down and you will see Nate. you can click on any of the pictures and it will take you to a screen where you enter your email and name and then you can view all of his pictures. Hope you enjoy.

Puppy!

2009-01-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

PUPPIES!! We are getting a new puppy in a few weeks. We can't wait. Puppies and babies....we will never sleep again.

Happy New Year

2009-01-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas and a happy New Year. I think we were all in bed by ten. As you can see Nate had a wonderful holiday and a ton of fun!!!

I have to start back full time in February and we are looking for someone to come to the house to help take care of Nate. If you know of anyone you think might want to help us with this precious little one shoot me an email. juliaeg02@aol.com. Thanks so much!

All I want for Christmas.....

2008-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

is my two front teeth. Nate's top two teeth broke through yesterday. He now has a set of four so he can really bite!! ouch. He has been a blast recently. This is such a fun age and he is really discovering the world around him. He loves to do high fives with Scott, as you can see. We have been doing physical therapy twice a week and this has really helped him strengthen his trunk muscles. This will help him get closer to sitting and crawling. He definitely has the drive to do it. As soon as he is able to start moving we are in trouble.

We had a great visit to the auditory verbal center in Macon on Friday. They are helping us with Nate's hearing to develop it to the best of our ability. We are really excited because Nate responded to low frequency sounds. This is the first time we have been 100% sure that he was hearing something. I thought I was going to cry, but I knew I had to pull myself together since they would think I was a giant softy. Normal language is in the medium to high frequencies so this doesn't mean that Nate can hear everything. What it does mean is that he is responding to low frequencies and we will use that to continue to teach him to respond to those sounds. That way if he is hearing the medium to high sounds he will let us know by responding. The therapist said he may not be hearing the medium to high sounds or he might be hearing them and just ignoring them. Most men will understand that concept.

He also had a great appointment with his liver doctor. He was so pleased with the way he looked we didn't have to do any lab work and we are cleared for four months!!!! Nate has a great laugh and got tickled while we were seeing Dr. Romero. Doc couldn't stop laughing with him and I think that was Nate trying to smooth him over so he didn't have to do labs.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and enjoy all of the things you are thankful for.

Could be an interesting week

2008-12-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

Nate is having a very rough day. Poor guy has a stomach bug that he has been enduring for about a week, his reflux is terrible, he is congested, and he is cutting another tooth. Oh yeah and Scott is out of town for work. He is asleep on my lap right now so I am able to type just a few words before he awakes. He has both of his bottom teeth in and the top ones are right around the corner. He and I have been decorating this weekend and finally got our christmas cards ordered. If we don't already have your address, email me at juliaeg02@aol.com. Also, the old carepage would send out reminders to everyone when I updated Nate's webpage. This website doesn't do that as I am sure you have figured out so I will send out an email when I update it. So...if you want an email let me know your email address. Happy shopping. Here he is eating his sweet potatoes on Turkey day.

Tooth

2008-11-28T17:16:00.000-08:00

Nate has his first tooth!!! He is growing up so fast. His tooth is on the bottom right. He had sweet potatoes and absolutely loved them. It could have something to do with the fact there was sugar and marshmallows in them. Peas will never taste the same. It was a great holiday.

Four Generations of Hudson Boys

The Rollercoaster

2008-11-25T08:17:00.000-08:00

We are getting ready to celebrate our first major holiday with Nate and we have so much to be thankful for. He is such a cutie!!! We met Nate's new Ear Nose and Throat doctor last week in Atlanta and had a great appointment. He told us that many kids with Auditory Neuropathy grow out of their condition when they are diagnosed as early as Nate. Nothing is for sure but it gave us hope that he will not have hearing problems. We had just started to accept that he would have permanent hearing loss. That is the rollercoaster of parenthood I guess. We were really thrilled but try to keep our emotions in tact so that we are not too down if he doesn't grow out of it. Time will tell. The doctor gave us some good tips and a speech therapist that can teach us how to do speech therapy with him. We are very positive and thankful for how far he has come.

While we were in Atlanta, Nate also got to see the neonatologist that truly saved his life. I can't tell you how amazing it was to see how pleased she was with his progress. She did so much for our family and I think she got attached to the little booger. He has come so far and we were blessed to have so many people work so hard to get him where he is today.

Nate has had a very busy social calendar recently, meeting lots of new people. He is definitely getting use to a life full of attention.

I have so much to be thankful for this year!!! I am thankful for the love and support of my family, the care from Nate's physicians, the nurses that answered all of our questions and cried with us too, the therapists that work with him everyday and encourage both Nate and I, my friends who have done more for me than I could ever payback, the people who don't know us that prayed for Nate, my loving husband, and more than anything the happiness that Nate has brought into my life. He has taught me so much and I really love him with all of my heart.

Darius Goes West

2008-11-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Scott and I attended Leadership Ga this past weekend and were so inspired by a group of young men. Please visit their website and watch the video at http://www.dariusgoeswest.org/the-film/

I promise you will enjoy it!!

Things happen in our lives that we never completely understand. God truly has a plan for all of us and it is so amazing when you are able to be a witness. After discovering that Nate would have hearing loss this week we were so touched by Darius and his friends. They really spoke to our hearts and let us know that everyone can make their mark on this world. They are a challenge to each of us to become better people and to do our best to make this world a better place. I often feel that Nate has had an impact on many people's lives already in just the short time that he has been here. He has brought so many people closer to God, their families, and friends. Nate challenges me everyday to cherish what is meaningful and to bless other lives as we have been. So please take the time to look at this website and purchase on of their dvds. You will love it!

This group of guys are currently traveling the US and would love for you to host them at any group setting that you think would learn from them. They do an amazing job.

Nate is growing so fast. He is up to 17 lbs. Yeah!!! We are so proud. He has done so well since he has been off the feeding tube and we are so lucky!!He really is a fighter and defies all odds.

They told us that he wouldn't be able to come off the feeding tube until he no longer aspirated. The thickened formula would be too much of a challenge for him to take all of his nutrients. It would require too much energy. Not for Nate. He takes his thickened formula all day and even though he has to work harder, he keeps on going. Nothing stops this little guy.

My buddy and me

2008-11-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

My in-laws surprised me tonight when I got home from work and had a special bday cake waiting for me. Nate loved the candles and wants to have birthday cake everyday.

Nate is trying his best to get adjusted to the time change, but has

been struggling to figure out exactly what time we are suppose to get up in the morning. He is rising a bit early. He is happy to lay in bed and play though, which is fantastic for mom and dad. As long as he has his hands to chew on he can play in there for awhile. Poor little guy is teething something terrible and has kept his hands in his mouth for the past three days.

Hearing

2008-11-03T12:23:00.001-08:00

We are on our way home from the doctor and we completed Nate's ABR. The results that came back confirmed that he does have auditory neuropathy. Again we do not know what exactly this will mean for Nate. He will most likely have some hearing disabilities. He did very well sedated and did not have any problems with his breathing. This was a big relief. Scott and I are happy to be done with the test. Even though we still do not know what extent of loss he will have we are glad to be moving forward. We will focus on his therapy and take each day at a time.

On a fun note, we bought a video camera on the way home. So if I can figure out how to work it we will put some videos of him up.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We are so blessed.

Prayer Request

2008-11-02T05:19:00.000-08:00

Nate has had a very busy week. He recently started physical therapy and is doing that twice a week. He loves it! They teach us fun games and exercises to do with him. He will play until he has absolutely no energy left. We are working on developing his trunk muscles and head control. We are still working with a speech therapist on eating and he has been doing really well with rice cereal.

We have a big hearing test on Monday back in Atlanta that we are pretty nervous about. Nate is getting another ABR done. This test tells us whether or not Nate has auditory neuropathy (AN). It will not tell us how much hearing he does or does not have though. There is a very small chance that this ABR will tell us that Nate does not have AN. There have been a few cases where children with high bilirubin levels (like Nate) have found out that they in fact had auditory immaturity. Essentially when the first ABR was done back in July he was still so young and still had an elevated bilirubin. The auditory nerve just may not have developed properly yet. So... Scott and I are praying for another miracle from God for our precious baby boy. He has already blessed us so much and we are so lucky to have a healthy and happy baby. We wanted to ask our friends and family to say another prayer for our little guy. He has worked so hard through life already and we would love for his hearing to be something he doesn't have to work hard for. They also have to sedate him to do this test, which I am really nervous about. I know everything will be fine, but I can't help but worry about his breathing when he is sedated like that.

On a lighter note... Nate can't have anything to eat or drink after 3 am tonight until after the test at 9. So he should be alot of fun on the car ride up to Atlanta. Poor little guy will probably scream the entire way. I am ready for tomorrow to be over with already.

Scott and I are so lucky that Nate has come so far. He is such a happy baby and has brought so much joy into our lives. He sleeps on a schedule, eats when he is hungry, and plays all day long. Again, we are so blessed. We are one of the lucky families. So many children that were in the hospital with us have not has outcomes like ours. We were and are so fortunate to have had the support from our family and friends. I received a flyer in the mail the other day from the Ronald McDonald house where we stayed in Macon. They were there for us too. So if you ever have time or donations that you would like to share, support your local Ronald McDonald house. http://www.ronaldhousecga.org/support/index.html They were very good to us and so many other families during a terrifying time. I am sure they are struggling with the current economic conditions as well.

So keep your fingers crossed about Monday and we will let you know something by the end of the night.

Nate's great grandmother Green came to visit with his great uncle Jeff and great aunt Cathy. This was the first time they have gotten to meet the little guy. It was wonderful to see them. We wish they lived closer.

Halloween... a day early

2008-10-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

So we live in South GA and football is practically a religion. So much that the town decided to move trick or treating to Thursday night since there was a football game on Friday. So here is our little monkey on his first Halloween... a day early. He only got to take part in the festivities for an hour since his bedtime is at 7. He was too cute, but very sleepy.

Nate's first time on the beach

2008-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

He fell asleep ten minutes into our walk down the beach. I would say he definitely enjoyed it.

2008-10-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

"What a beautiful life we all are given! Sure, it's got some hurdles every now and then, but in the end, all rain does is make the flowers grow higher and prettier. I hope I get to share some of your flowers with you, and maybe spend some time playing in the puddles with you while it's pouring."

A dear friend of mine posted this quote to her blog and I absolutely loved it. We go back to Atlanta in November for more hearing tests. We are pretty nervous as we will begin to get a better idea of Nate's hearing. We pray that we will have better results, but as the quote states it is about the journey that we will go through. We know that we are lucky to have treatment options, but we hope that he will be able to hear.

He is doing so good. He is really reaching for things and holding on for dear life..including my hair. He is happy all the time, especially after his naps, and I enjoy every moment with him. My heart melts every time he gives me one of his giant smiles. He is such a sweetheart.

Nate really liked his second go round in the high chair. We tried peas for the first time and he really liked them. I think we are going to skip rice cereal all together.

Nate is one of those babies that doesn't spit up...He throws up. He really gave us a good soaking and all I could do was laugh. It was all over him and me, including in my hair.

Busy boy

2008-10-11T11:58:00.001-07:00

Nate loved cruising around the neighborhood in his Baby bjorne. I think he thinks he can fly when he is in it.

Grandpa and Grandma came to stay for a few days and Nate loved the stripes on my dad's shirt. He could have stared at them for hours.

We tried a few new things today. I finally got Nate a high chair and decided to try rice cereal for the first time. As you can see he wasn't all about the chair or the rice cereal. We will try and again.

I also thought we would give Johnny Jump up a try. Again didn't go to well. I think he is still a little small for it. He didn't have enough leg power to jump. He kind of enjoyed just spinning around.

Becky's Wedding

2008-10-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Scott and I went to Becky Miller's wedding this weekend in Wadley, Ga. Everything was absolutely gorgeous, but most of all the bride. Nate stayed at home with his exercauser.

Movin and Groovin

2008-09-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

Nate is one happy camper now that he no longer has his feeding tube in. Let's just hope he can keep up the good work and stay off of it. Nate is now really reaching for things and playing. He wants to be playing all day long. No longer are the days of laying around and cuddling. He is sooo happy! He got great news from his liver doctor... all of his liver function tests came back normal for the first time in his life. This is HUGE! They took him off another medication due to these results. We have had so much fun with him this week.

A week with grandma

2008-09-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Scott and I went out of town last week and came home with a bad stomach virus. Scott got it first and then gave it to me. I am still in the bed recovering and miss Nate so much. He has stayed with Scott's parents so that he didn't catch this horrible thing. It will have been 6 days since I have seen him. I am going crazy, but know that he is in good hands. He pulled out his feeding tube on Sunday and since Scott and I were both sick we didn't want to expose him to this virus so we didn't put it back in. Since then he has been taking all of his bottle by mouth. If he is able to continue taking enough by mouth he can stay off the tube.

He went to the doctors in Atlanta this morning and got a good report from the liver doctor. He took him off three of his medications so we are down to four, which is really exciting. He had another swallow study to see if he was aspirating and he still is on the thinner consistencies so no change. This was discouraging. They will not test him again until he is a year old. If he is able to continue gaining weight by taking enough of his bottle by mouth than he will be ok and will not have to put a feeding tube back in. Keep your fingers crossed.

World's greatest exersaucer

2008-09-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

Scott and Nate enjoyed a boys day on the couch watching UGA football. Go Dawgs

I bought Nate a new form of entertainment. His exersaucer. I thought he might be a bit little for it, but he actually really likes it. I added a some parts from other toys and created something that every parent would only dream of. I think it might be a little overstimulating.

Frustration

2008-09-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I struggle with the weight of everything that has happened and the fear of the future. Today is one of those days. Nate pulled out his feeding tube for the second time this week. It breaks my heart when we have to put a new one in. He has gotten smart and knows what it is before we put it in. I have been fighting with the insurance company to try and get Nate approved for a synagis shot. This helps in case he were to get RSV, a respiratory infection that can be extremely severe. We are now officially into RSV season so we are at risk. I was also disappointed to find out that we were denied by Medicaid. I spent weeks preparing the application because Nate is not eligible based on income but should be based on his medical conditions. It seems like you have to work so hard to just get a little bit of help. It is really not worth it.

I have to focus on how good Nate is doing and he always makes me feel better with his precious smile. He laughs all the time. We have been fortunate to have a great resource through GA Pines which helps families who have children that are hearing impaired. They have been really good to us and are always teaching us something new. I know Nate will have to work a little harder for everything in his life, but I know he can do it. He has already come so far. He is such a fighter and yet such a sweetheart.

He loves to sleep on the couch now and especially on his brown fuzzy blanket. As soon as his face hits the blanket he is out like a light.

Sniffles

2008-09-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Nate has gotten a touch of a cold. He coughed two or three times and I immediately called the doc to get him checked out. They did some xrays and his lungs look fine. There was a little bit of fluid on them so we decided to go back on Lasix, which is a diuretic that takes the excess fluid off his lungs. He has a stuffed up nose, but nothing bad. We are still lucky that he has been so healthy thus far. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't get worse and stays just a minor thing.

I want to thank everyone who has continued to pray for Nate. We are so happy to have so many great friends and family around us that think of Nate often and check up on him through this blog. Everytime someone tells me that they have been keeping up with him, I am so thankful!

Rolling

2008-09-06T14:34:00.001-07:00

Nate rolled over this week. He did it first with Scott's mom earlier this week and then we saw it officially today. So proud. Here is a pic of him riding in his stroller.

Nato Tomatoe

2008-09-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

Nate has got terrible dry skin and the doc recommended baby oil. I struggled to find any at the store but finally found some while we are the beach. We tried it on him yesterday and he had an allergic reaction to it and turned bright red. It was Grandma Hudson's birthday and it looks like he got to close to the candles with that bright red forehead. I felt so bad for the little guy.

Beach Boy

2008-09-04T12:00:00.001-07:00

Nate took his first trip to the beach this weekend. He didn't get a chance to hit the waves since Hurricane Gustov was on the way. I think he enjoyed getting out of the house and seeing new things. It was nice for him to get to spend some quality time with Aunt Whitney and Uncle Shane.

Doc

2008-08-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Nate had a great day at the pediatrician's yesterday. She was very pleased with the progress he has made. His weight is always a big concern and every little ounce matters. He is growing perfectly along his growth chart without any dips or plateaus. She was thrilled. They also said that his coloring looked really good, which is a good sign that his liver is improing. The size of both his liver and spleen have gone down alot as well, but are still enlarged. We will take every little bit that we get. He is continuing to do well moving his arms and legs and lifting his head. She would like for him to spend a little more time on his tummy to work on his upper body strength. As he gets stronger everyone feels that he will continue to improve. His reflux should get alot better when he starts sitting up on his own and eating solids they said. It would be nice. His hernia at this belly button has almost completely healed, again a sign that his muscles are developing and strengthening. She also felt that we won't need to get a "g" tube in his belly. She seemed confident that his progress with his feedings will get to the point where he can do it all by mouth. He has made so much progress over the past few weeks. He is even taking entire feedings solely by mouth at times. We try not to stress about it, but it is exciting when it happens. We go back to Atlanta at the end of September for another swallow study. He is really alot of fun right now smiling and laughing and really interacting with us. What a bundle of love.

Friends and family

2008-08-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

Nate has been doing well. Just working on taking his bottle. He is taking about half of his feeds while he is awake by bottle. There are two feedings at night when we do not wake him up. We are working on our sleeping schedule, which no matter how hard we try changes every night. We keep hearing that "early to bed" later to rise. He has been falling asleep early the past couple of nights. We tried to put him in his crib around seven and he was not up for it. He is currently sleeping on Scott's chest. Oh well.

Grandaddy Green

Alicia and Janie came to visit

Portable DVD Players

2008-08-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful creation. A friend of Scott's recommended that we try getting a portable dvd player to entertain him while he was in his carseat, which he hates. We had to go to Macon today for an appointment with the pulmonologist and Nate usually cries the entire way up and back. Not today. Nate is now the proud owner of a dvd player that plays his new best friend "Baby Einstein." He watched it the entire time. What a relief.

We got a good report from the pulmonologist. His oxygen saturation was 99%. AWESOME. The doc said that he felt that Nate looked alot better. He is retracting less when he breathes and he said that his liver felt alot smaller. His spleen is still pretty big and will continue to prevent us from getting a g tube (one in the belly). He made a good point in saying that hopefully Nate will be able to take enough of the bottle on his own soon without the help of his feeding tube and we will not have to deal with a g tube. It would be nice to avoid it completely because they would have to sedate him. He did focus on the upcoming flu and cold season. We still have to be very cautious with Nate and try our best to prevent them. A simple cold could cause Nate severe problems and he would end up back in the hospital and back on oxygen support. We will do our best to protect him.

Taproot photography took some more photos of Nate that turned out really cute. I will attach them.

Therapy Day

2008-08-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of therapy. Nate's speech therapist came for the first time today. The speech therapist is actually the one that will help us work with Nate on his feedings. He was very impressed with the progress Nate has made since his initial evaluation of him. He felt that he was getting stronger and that time and Nate getting bigger and stronger will be the most beneficial to him. He also feels that the feeding tube in his nose could be contributing to his problems with aspiration, which is a catch 22 because he has the feeding tube because he aspirates. We have discussed putting his feeding tube directly into his stomach through a small a small hole in his belly. He is not a candidate for this yet since his spleen is still enlarged. The spleen is overlapping into the area where they would put a "g tube," which is a tube that goes through the belly. Time will tell.

We also had a great opportunity to talk with a physician that has a specialty with children with auditory neuropathy. She gave us alot of very valuable information and hope that Nate will have the opportunity to live a healthy and normal life. We are going to take things one day at a time and will we have a little bit better idea about his condition after we have the next hearing test in November.

Taproot Photography

2008-08-17T19:00:00.001-07:00

Here are the pictures they took of Nate back in July. Nate was a really good sport.

2008-08-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family,
I thought it was time to retire from Carepages and start a webpage all about Nate and how much better he is doing on a daily basis. It is also alot easier to post pictures here. Some days are better than others and I thought this might be a good way to express what we are feeling, a type of therapy. A friend told Scott this weekend some really good advice. He said that when you are having a tough time, think back two or three weeks and see how far Nate has come. This blog will let us do that.

Things have been going well recently. Nate has been off oxygen for two weeks now and we are loving it. It is so nice to be able to pick him up and carry him around the room without thinking about getting tangled in a cord. He is also taking his bottle alot better since he no longer has the oxygen in his nose. The milk he takes is thickened since he aspirates when he takes normal milk. It is like a milkshake and takes alot of energy to take down so he still gets some of his feedings through his feeding tube. We will go back in October to see if he is still aspirating. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here are some pics of Nate over the past couple of weeks. Go to http://taprootphotography.com/blog/ to see some more pictures of Nate. This is the photographer's blog. Scroll down and you will see one titled "Little Miracle."