Pictures!

This is Conner with Jackie right before leaving for Charleston!
The morning of the surgery...lil man was tuckered out!
Hamming it up for all the great nurses in the OR!
After surgery and still as cuddly as ever!
Leaving the OR for possibly the last time!!!

AMAZED!!!!

Can I just say that my heart is overflowing with joy? For those of you who haven't already heard....Conner is done with surgery for awhile. At his last surgery on July 8th, Dr. Hochman came in during pre-op and said that everything was looking so good that we could cancel the appointments for August, September, and just come in for an office visit in October! Praise God that is such an answer to our prayers. Conner is looking so good and the hemangioma has shrunk and is no longer a threat to his eye or his airway! Thank you Lord for all of your answered prayers!!!! Speaking of answered prayers I would like to repost a part of the very first post on this blog. It was our prayer list and I just wanted to show you how many of these have already been answered!


***There are several ways you can help us pray. Please pray specifically that:
A. Conner will be convicted and come to trust in Jesus at a young age. (Still praying for this one!)
B. God will use Conner's journey to bring others to HIM! (Family members that weren't even in church before this journey began have come to know our Saviour and His saving power!)
C. Conner will always wake up after his surgery. General anesthesia is a scary thing for mommy and daddy to understand! (Praise God after every surgery we anxiously waited for them to tell us Conner was awake and there was never even a scare...he always woke up with no side effects from the anesthesia!)
D. The doctors will guide us in making the right desicions for Conner regarding his medical care. (God led us to exactly the right place at the right time to help us make the correct desicions!)
E. Conner's ulcerations will heal and there will be no infection. The rate at which an infection would spread through his little body is alarming at best. (There was not any spread of infection! Conner is completely healthy! Glory to HIS name!!!!)
F. No matter the outcome, that our family and Conner will continue to know that God has and will continue to keep us SAFE THUS FAR!
(Our God IS able to do exceeding and abundantly above anything I could ever ask or imagine! Thank you Father for all of your guidance through this incredible journey!) **

:)

This is Conner about three hours after his surgery...Isn't he just adorable? We will be headed to Charleston on Wednesday with my bestie...Jackie! YAY! So thrilled to have the opportunity to spend time with her and let her hang with Conner! We spoke with Dr. Hochman's office this week and were able to schedule his surgeries from now until September. Conner's face is looking wonderful. It is just amazing to see how God is working in his life. I am convinced that God has a huge plan for Conner's life and is going to use him in a mighty way. As we celebrated Independence Day I was reminded that God has been our strength throughout this whole journey. He has protected us and blessed us. Just as He protects and blesses this great nation!

Still Blessed

We are battling some summer colds but I wanted to let everyone know Conner's last surgery went wonderfully! He had minimal swelling and we were able to come home quickly! I am so thankful for all of God's blessings in our lives. I will post pictures soon! :)

Growing Daily

So I have typed this post three different times and each time I have lost it to the internet at large. Apparently I am having a technically challenged week. LOL!

Conner is doing wonderful. His last surgery, although dramatic in appearance was a huge success and we are just thrilled with the progress. We went to Charleston late Wednesday night. Arrived at the hospital and the girls were ecstatic about seeing the hospital. Although they have been to Charleston with us this was the first time they actually got to go with us to the hospital. They were very well behaved and I was so proud!


Conner was taking back to preop and the nurses were just wonderful as always. I don't know how God saw fit to bless us with such a wonderful team. But I am so grateful for them all. And ofcourse Dr. Hochman came in to check on us...and to be honest there are just no words to share my feelings for the love and compassion of this man!



In recovery I noticed that Conner's face looked more tender than normal. But I was not prepared for what happened next. His face started swelling. ALOT! Within an hour his eye was almost completely swollen shut and within two hours he had a huge bulge underneath that eye. With a little reassurance from Dr. Hochmans' nurse Brooke (we love you Brooke!) and alot of reassurance from the VBF family advocate and my friend Corrine (thank you for all your support Corrine!) we opted to stay in Charleston for an extra night just to observe him. The hotel we were staying at was so sweet. They sent us to the SC aquarium for free and checked on us a ton. IF you are ever in the Charleston area please stay at the Hampton Inn. You won't get better service anywhere I promise!




Once we got home Conner spiked a fever. Thankfully it was unrelated to the surgery and was simply another ear infection. Poor baby! All in all despite alot of stress on me and Billy it was a wonderful trip and we are excited to see such a change in Conner's face.

Our daily prayer is of thanksgiving. We cannot thank God enough for sparing our son more damage to his eyes...not allowing the hemangioma to block his airway...and for sending us to the correct care provider at the right time. Please remember us as you pray. That our attitude will be right, and that we will remember to be thankful! Thanks again for all your love and prayers!

Easter and other news!

We are so blessed as always. I say that alot but really there is not another phrase that could sum up our life better. We are today and always SOOOO blessed. We celebrated our Risen Saviour today, (the kiddos were sick on national Easter, so we had Carswell Easter.) It was such a blessing watching our children devour the truth of Jesus' death, burial and ressurrection. Conner wasn't quite old enough to get it but he will and we pray daily for all three childrens' salvation.

Conner's third surgery went really well. It was the first time we haven't tried to do the 10 hour drive in a 24 hour time frame. (5 hours there, hospital for 2 hours and then 5 hours back makes for a long day!) We took Mallory and Makenna along and it was such a blessing even if we were only there for a little under 48 hours. Dr. Hochman said Conner looked wonderful. We are scheduled again for the beginning of May.

We also were encouraged to have a benefit for Conner this weekend. A dear friend at work hosted a benefit at her church and it was such a blessing. Lots of wonderful friends came and the singing (minus me lol) was wonderful. We were given a little over $1000 in donations and it was just amazing. Thank you to our families, friends and the wonderful people at Crossroads Community Church.

I also just wanted to share a tidbit....Conner is making words!!! He says "Boom-Boom" which the girls insist come from the many times they recite "Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom", their favorite book, to him. He also says DADADADADADA! I guess momma will come later and it will be wonderful! He wants to roll everywhere and is still the happiest little boy I have ever seen.

Thank you as always for your prayers, love, support and encouragment....and without further ado....SOME PICTURES for your viewing enjoyment!!!

Finally Pictures!!!

Just a real quick update for those of you who don't know already.  Conner did not get to have surgery on March 11.  He had RSV and they didn't feel comfortable putting him to sleep while he was sick.  So we are rescheduled for April 1.  Please help us pray that things will go smoothly.  Also, we met the ENT this week and he verified that Conner definetly did not have an airway hemangioma!  Thank you Lord.  There was some other slight drama while we were at the ENT, but I am chosing to forget about it and blame it on the fact that even doctors are human.  Have a blessed day and enjoy the pictures!  : )

This is Little Man the night before his second surgery back in January.  Such a handome boy!

Right out of surgery!  Looks like a painful sunburn to me!

This Mickey is Conner's favorite toy.  He cuddles with it all the time!

I can't believe he is almost 6 months old!

Right before they put him to sleep for sugery number three.  Too bad the laser didn't work this time!