2 Years old!!! - October 13, 2015

Wow we have had some exciting things happening for the Gandy family in the last few months. Lets see, the last time we updated the Blog was in February, Sorry!!!  WOW a lot has been happening, Owen was finally released to step out into the big world of germs and meet all of his little friends in mid March!!!  The first ones are some of his favorites; Baby Rhett and his Big Bro, Blaise!!! Who instantly loved each other!!!!

We have been working with Owen on helping around the house, I think we have been Successful!!! First we started out with folding the Laundry...

Then we got into walking the dog.....

 Next, was a tough one, but we thought he was ready to help Blaise on the Farm...

And Papa Rick has been training him to cut the yard...

Sweeping up the driveway....

After all of Owens hard work we took a trip to Canada to see Amy's family. We got to do a lot of fun things including going to the Zoo, riding his new Tricycle, eating his first ice cream cone and hanging out with family. 

Once we got home from Canada it was right back to work!! This time it was helping in the Garden and watering the flowers!!!

Then it was time for some golf

And lots of fun trips to the park with lots of his friends!!!

 Owen loves going out to the farm to visit Dad, take rides on the tractor, and get lost in the cotton!!

 Oh did we forget to mention.....

Owen loved the water this summer as long as it was warm!!! We did some swim lessons and went to Great Wolf Lodge during one of our doctor appointment trips to Dallas!

 We Can't believe how quickly time is passing us by, our little man is TWO!!!!! He had a great time celebrating with Friends and Family, and he LOVED the cake!!!

Of course he is a HUGE Blue Jays Fan!!! GO JAYS!

Its crazy to be looking through these pictures from the last 6 months and see how far he has come. He mastered the art of Walking in May, and along with walking came talking!!! He is quickly catching up with everything!! We are so proud of him. We are starting HIPPO (Horse Therapy) tomorrow, where he will get to ride a horse to improve his balance. Owen Loves reading books and Coloring with his "K-ons"

In the last month we have been to Dallas twice for Doctor appointments and both went great. First we saw the ophthalmologist and nothing has changed with his eyes!! Then we saw the Neurologist for his head and he doesn't want to see Owen for 2 years!! This is all great news!!!

And yes, Owen is going to have a baby Sister in January!!! He is going to be a great big brother!!!

Neurosurgeons - February 21, 2015

We have had a busy couple of months of doctor appointments, therapies and follow ups. Owen is doing great, continuing to develop at a consistent rate. He is pushing his walker and starting to balance on his own. He is loving the freedom of getting around on his own. He loves to be outside and hates it when it is time to go in. We have been lucky with some beautiful days here lately. He is starting to eat better, drink out of a straw and feed the dog plenty of food that he didn't want (PJ loves him for that reason only).

We had his MRI to make sure that there is no pressure on his brain. it continues to look ok, but the neurosurgeon is concerned about the shape of his skull and the space that his brain has to grow into. He is concerned for his future progress and development and wants to do cranial distractors to create room for his brain to grow. We were in shock since he is constantly showing progress. We decided to get a second opinion with a more experienced cranial surgeon in Dallas. He sent us to get a second CT scan with the thought that Owens sutures could have fused since July. This was not the case and he does not think that surgery is the answer right now since the sutures are open and Owen is not showing any other signs of pressure on the brain. This is such a tough decision for us since we have 2 surgeons telling us very conflicting diagnoses and treatments. One surgeon believes that some suture can stop functioning even though they are open and the other does not believe is that concept. We are heavily relying on our great pediatrician to help walk us through this decision. Right now our plan is to work with the doctor in Dallas who wants to closely monitor Owens skull growth or get a third opinion. Please pray that we are making the right decision for Owen and his future and that the doctors have Owens best interest in mind.

Owen and his BFF Aiden love hanging out, since they are both quarentined until flu season is over. These boys have over come to much, and continue to amaze us!

Loves walking his Brother!!

Loves being outside!!

Owen loves his bubble bathes!!! 

Silly boy

Hamburgers are almost ready!!

Christmas Time!

Christmas time now will forever be an extra special time for our household, not only the birth of Jesus Christ, but the anniversary of when we got to bring Owen home from the hospital!! We are definitely celebrating on the 23rd with cupcakes and extra hugs and kisses. 

Owen has been doing big things in the past month!  The Monday before Thanksgivkng he started to crawl and hasn't stopped!! He is pulling up on things and starting to cruise. He is constantly learning more sounds and getting better at communicating. It is so amazing to watch him grow and become a big boy with all 7 of his teeth!!!

 

He is still wearing a helmet and will be until March probably. Our trips to Dallas have been spread out to every 3 weeks.

We saw the neurosurgeon and they ordered another MRI to double check that there is no swelling in his brain. He shows no physical symptoms of it, so we are very hopeful!

January will be busy with 2 trips to Dallas, an MRI, high risk appointment, many therapies, pediatrition appointment and an appointment with the opthamologist.

Owen has been off of oxygen for 5 nights now and has been doing great. He seems to be taking some time to adjust with the changes but has been able to hold his oxygen levels up all night. He is officially off of all medications and oxygens!! Very exciting!!

Please pray that he continues to stay healthy this flu and RSV season.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

14 Months young!!

Owen is 14 months old!! He has been keeping busy with trips to Dallas, doctor visits, therapy and visiting dad on the farm! He is around 18.5 pounds and gaining pretty steadily, but the doctor is still keeping a close eye on him.

October 17th, we went to Dallas to get a new helmet since Owen had grown out of his first one. The new one looks so much bigger.  Since we have been home with the new helmet Owen has not seemed too comfortable in it and it probably didn't help that he was sick the first week with fevers and an upset stomach. We are very thankful that it wasn't anything respiratory since his lungs are still very fragile.

Two months ago we started bringing Owen to a Chiropractor, and we are really glad that we did. We came to this decision because Owen would scream if you put him on his tummy, so we decided that something had to be hurting him. Sure enough his neck would not hyperextend, it was even hard for him to hold his head up straight. with in two visits Owen was rolling onto his tummy (on his Own!!!) and not screaming!! It was a miracle! It continues to improve every treatment and we are so grateful!!

We saw his ENT that specializes in Cranial reconstruction and he did not see a huge improvement with his head according to the measurements that he took and suggested that we see that neurosurgeon, which we are scheduled to do early December. He did say that he rarely does cranial surgery on babies with out early fusion so he is not thinking that we will go that route. The neurosurgeon will give his opinion if he thinks that there is still pressure on Owen's brain. We are praying that there has been a big enough change in his head to relieve the pressure that there was.

We must be very careful now when putting fingers inside of Owen's mouth since he now has 4 teeth!! and it also looks like two more on the way!!

Owen has been working really hard with his many therapists. He is getting closer and closer to crawling and is also loving to walk around with Mommy and Daddys help! Owen is eating solids better, he has started to pick up 'finger foods' and feed himself We are still working on teaching him how to chew bigger foods, but that will come with time. Lately it seems like he is adding more and more 'tricks' like waving, knocking, playing with his brother PJ and walking!!!

Last week we went to see the Ophthalmologist to get his eyes checked. He got his glasses 7 months ago and his eye has gotten a lot worse since then. The Doctor gave us a new prescription and they have made a big difference already. Owen is now enjoying books for more then just an afternoon snack and interacting a lot better with everyone. We are hoping that this will really help him with his fine motor skills as well!!!

In the next 2 months we will be seeing High Risk, Neurosurgery, immunologist, ENT and our normal Pediatrician, chiropractor, and therapists.

Brushing his Teeth

Most creative Halloween Costume - Our little Minion!

How do you use this Mom?

The Bear 

Was really excited to see the Cotton

Maybe he was just confused...

He was smiling in this one!

Our Little Country Boy

Loves his Pickles!

Birthday Boy!!! September 11, 2014

A year ago today we kept waking up all night long hoping that it was just a nightmare and that Owen was still safe and comfortable inside Amy. But that was not the truth, he was downstairs in the NICU with tubes down his throat and lines in his veins and machines hooked up to him as he was fighting for his life. At this point we were just in shock and did not really know what to think. All we knew to do was to pray and stay by his side as much as we could. We were never going to give up on this little 2lb fighter. As the days went by in the NICU and the roller coaster had its ups and downs Owen proved to us over and over again his strength and determination that he had to fight through. He also let everyone know that he would do everything on his own time, known as "Owen time."

Owen has taught us so much in his first year of life. He has taught us Love, Patience and faith. They say the love you have for your children is something that is so indescribable you have to experience it to believe it. Well that is so true, there is no other way to explain it then you have to experience it. I am sure all you other parents out there understand. I thought that I had patience before I met Owen, but I must say we have learned to push Owen to develop as much as we can but he is on "Owen time" so we have to let him tell us when he is ready. We have learned the power of prayer to a much deeper level, it is so amazing! Thank you to everyone that prayed for this little man, we know a lot of you did and a lot of people that we have never met!! We prayed all the time as well for Owen and everyone at the hospital that was looking after him 24 hours a day.

A year old and we can certainly say that Owen has really developed a personality!! He is Happy, very Social (loves all the attention!), knows what he wants when he wants it and is very serious most of the time!! He is sitting up SOO good! Owen and PJ have started to enjoy each other at times, he has gotten his first tooth (yes just one right now hehe) and he is loving his first word, "Dada" he says it all the time! It was so cute at first, but I think it is time to move on to other words.. like ''Mama" :)

Owen is just  over 17lbs and growing!! We are still traveling to Dallas every 2 weeks to get his helmet adjusted. We went on Monday and they are very pleased with the progress and do not think that he will be in it for the projected 8 months!! maybe only 6!!

Thank you to the UMC staff for the most amazing gift anyone could every receive!!! Thank you to all of the prater warriors that never stopped praying!! Thank you to our friend and family for loving us and Owen and for being there for us!!! One year down so many to go so excited to see what is in store for Owen!!!

I'M ONE!!!

And serious about it!!

Awesome Cake!!

Wondering why we are singing to him

Focusing very hard on destroying the cake!! Very proud parents!!!

Decided to have a couple bites!

MMMMMmm 

Thinks his Birthday care is funny!!

Loves his new toys!!!

Pj was a little more interested then Owen