Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Crossons! We didn't get dressed up this year because I just didn't know how Spencer would be feeling...so next year we will have cute costumes to show! Here are some pictures from the last couple nights of just us playing around.

We put the kids in the laundry basket and Dean pushed them around the living room. They loved it...Dean did too! :)

We got these jammies for Spencer's surgery so we wouldn't have to go over his head with anything and we both just think they are the cutest things ever! He looks like a little man in them...very cute!

He smiles too!

She is going through a non smile stage...kind of awkward but cute at the same time!

I got them new jackets with Bambi on hers and Nemo on his, but of course they wouldn't look at me! Dean did and I cut his head out of the shot...sorry honey!The extent of our Halloween dress up! Thank you Auntie Cathy for sending us the bibs!
Aubrey eating kiwi...not too sure what to think about it.Spencer was too interested in playing with his kiwi on his tray to look at me for the picture.

Update from Spencer's surgeon

Spencer is really doing a great job healing from his surgery. We saw his surgeon today and she said he looks wonderful and is looking exactly how they wanted him to. (I could have told her that he looked wonderful, but I guess she needed to see for herself.) She did say that we will have to come back in a few months to recheck everything, but we should see his forehead continue to round out over time. The swelling is almost gone and he is looking just like Spencer before the surgery with the exception of the incision. The only real issue we have now is his sleeping and his clinging to me. He is getting better about the clinging, but the sleeping is still a work in progress. He is waking up every couple hours, but it is getting easier to get him back to sleep. The first couple nights home were pretty rough, he would only sleep a few hours at a time and only if I was holding him...needless to say we didn't get a whole lot of sleep at first. Here is Spencer standing up with Dean's help...he still isn't crawling, but does like to stand if we let him! We have had the cushions off the couch to put behind Spencer when he is sitting on the floor so I put them around Aubrey on the couch and she sat in the hole and loved it...and to think we spent money on toys and all she needed was some pillows around her on the couch!

She is crawling around like crazy and is starting to pull herself up on her knees, but doesn't have the confidence to pull up to her feet yet.

Here is the little man...you can already hardly see the incision on his head with his hair over it. We were happy and surprised that they didn't shave it all off!

And our beautiful little girl...crawling to her Mama. Actually she was crawling to the camera I was holding, but I can pretend that it was me that was the draw!

Here she is getting ready for bedtime one night and peaked out of her crib rails like she was in jail...too cute and always makes me laugh!

And last but not least, Aubrey's bed-head. Her hair is getting so long on top and in front that when she wakes up it is usually sticking straight up.

Home again!!

We are finally home and doing pretty good. I finally got my pictures uploaded on the computer so here are some more of Spencer's progression. This one was taken on the first day on the regular floor. He was pretty swollen and still sedated, but it was so nice to hold him for the first time!This was taken on Sunday morning. Saturday night he opened his eyes a tiny little bit, just little slits. It was pretty cute, he had to move his head back to see out of them. When he woke up Sunday morning, they opened quite a bit more to this. The swelling is really coming down at this point, I can start to see Spencer in his face again.This was Sunday evening. He thought he was all better...moving around, pulling on every cord and tube he could find and talking to me like crazy! It was fun, except he kept getting bored! I sat him up in his bed and he played with his little bear that he came back from surgery with. This was later on Sunday evening and still in good spirits. He looks so good! And we finally get that smile that we all love so much! He has gone through so much and has kept his up happy attitude. I was really impressed with him and am amazed at how much he can go through...he is my hero! Now we are home and I have never been happier! He is still healing, but now we can do it from our own beds! Aubrey was glad to see him and I was thrilled beyond belief to see Aubrey! I missed her so much being gone for 4 days...but she was in great hands and got to have great time with her Nana and Grandpa Krueger, her Auntie Carla, Uncle Eric and her Grandma Cheryl and Auntie Julie. I don't think she was hurting for attention that is for sure. Now we are going to fall back into our routine as best we can. Thank you all for the prayers and support...we love you all for everything you did for us!!

getting better

Just a quick note to say we are getting better slowly but surely! He has his eyes open today and has spent some time sitting up and playing with some teddy bears that the hospital gave him. It is nice to see his little eyes again! His little face is still swollen, but is down by more than 50%, I would guess. He still has a fever, but not as high and a few times he didn't at all. The nurse weighed him last night and he was just slightly more than when we came in, so he isn't holding on to too much extra water, although I am sure he has lost a little weight since we came in just because he isn't really eating like he does at home. He is laying quietly in his bed right now just looking around, trying not to fall asleep! With my luck he will fall asleep right when they come in to take his vitals and they will wake him up. (He isn't a fan of the rectal temp, but what are you going to do?) I have pictures of him with eyes open, but I am having some technical difficulties with getting them on my computer for some reason. I will keep trying and post them as soon as possible. I hope to update the next time from home!

First night out of ICU

Well we had our first night out of the ICU last night. He was pretty uncomfortable last night and had a hard time sleeping. For some reason he is always itching his nose...we have tried Benedryl and that doesn't seem to make a difference. He gets so mad though because he knocks his paci out when he rubs his nose with his bandaged hand...so my night was spent putting his paci back in his mouth and keeping him from grabbing his central line, his other favorite activity! They did give him a shot of morphine this morning at about 4 and that seemed to have gotten the pain under control again so he is more restful this morning. It is really hard for me to watch him get so agitated knowing that there isn't anything I can do but try to calm him down. He can't open either one of his eyes and I am sure that is hard for him to understand and add to that the swelling and pain and I can only imagine that he is agitated! He is drinking from his bottle better now that we started using our bottles. He is pretty picky about how he gets his formula apparently! :) I am hoping to see some improvement on his swelling today...we'll see. The plastic surgeon said that once he is able to open his eyes, the swelling goes down pretty fast after that. I will post more pictures as I take them and have time to get online! Thanks for all the prayers!

Day 2

As you can see by the photos, Spencer has gotten more swollen over night and even just through out today. He has two black eyes and some bruising on his face too. He has shown signs of improvement though. His last morphine shot was at 2 this afternoon and he has been comfortable on Tylenol with codeine so far. He is running a temp, but they said that was normal. I did finally get him to take 2 oz from his bottle, he isn't a fan of the hospital bottles. He is back on the IV, but if he continues drinking his formula, they will take him off again. The down side to him not being on the morphine is he is more awake and now he is trying to take himself off the IV! Not fun!! He is also frustrated by the fact that his eyes are swollen shut and he can't open them. He is moving around, kicking his legs and moving his arms in true Spencer fashion, he just has his eyes shut! It is both cute and sad at the same time. The plastic surgeon said today that once he gets his eyes open again, the swelling should go down pretty quickly.

I just wanted to show everyone that we are getting rest too...I know that this is only Dean getting rest, but don't worry about me, I am finding rest too. Last night I slept for about 6 hours in what they call the "quiet room", and that was nice! Tonight I will sleep in the room with Spencer on a cot, so that will be nice. Dean brought up my pillow, because last night the only part that sucked was the paper thin excuse of a pillow that they gave me! But, I am not complaining...it was better than sleeping in the chair in ICU.

I will keep updating as long as I keep getting new information! Spencer is settling down again...but not before he ripped off one of the monitor leads that were stuck to him from the ICU. They aren't being used anymore so it isn't a big deal, but I would imagine that it had to sting a bit when he tore it off!! Crazy kid!! :)

Spencer's Surgery

Today was a very long day! Spencer did a great job though, and is now sleeping soundly next to me in his hospital bed. Here are some pictures from our day. The first two were from right before his surgery. He was such a good boy for not having had anything to eat since the night before! He loved all the attention he got from everyone I think! The nurse that dressed him in his little jammie shirt said that it wasn't pink, it was light red! It didn't matter to us...he looks cute in any color! He was very patient while we waited for the 2 hours from when they told us to be there to when they actually started doing anything! It was harder on us than him...and believe me the time just ticked by! But, they finally came and got him about noon and they started the surgery pretty close to right on time. The docs were all very nice and explained everything to us all, and we had a pretty big group. It was me, Dean, my Mom and Dad, Eric, Dean's Mom and Dad and his Grandma, and his sister Julie. But, they let us all be with him at every step until he made it to the PICU, then they only let us in. Due to the flu season and H1N1, we are only allowed to have 4 people other than Dean and I, so our moms and my dad and Eric are the lucky ones to visit him up here. This his my little angel after his surgery. He looks pretty good, although they warned me that he will continue to look worse as the swelling continues and he may have some bruising. So far though, his swelling isn't that bad and he isn't bruised. He is sleeping soundly, thanks to the meds, and doing great. He did have his eyes open and was looking around for a while before he started crying...I was able to calm him down while we waited for the nurse to bring the next round of pain meds by singing "You Are My Sunshine"...it was sweet.

I want to say thank you for all the prayers and support...we love you all! I am going to go the "quiet room" for parents and get some sleep for a while...I am sure I will be up in a few hours to check on him out of habit and worry. I can't even imagine what he is going through, and I don't let myself go there too often because it breaks my heart, but he seems comfortable and looks like my Spencer...I can't ask for more than that!! Goodnight all and I will update more as we get more info!

Aubrey is crawling and Spencer claps!

It was a big day in the Crosson house today! Aubrey crawled for the first time! We were just hanging out on the floor while Spencer was sleeping and all of a sudden she started crawling for the remote, so I kept moving it farther away and she kept going! I managed to get a little video of her going for the prize of the day...the remote! (I took the batteries out of an old one and they love it!)

Here she is with her prize! She made it to the remote...and of course she put it right into her mouth!

Here is my smiley boy...hard to believe that he would NEVER smile at the camera and now he beams!

Here are the kiddos representing their Colby, WI roots! They each have their own shirts, I just didn't have them in it on the same day...I will soon for a picture of them together. Until then, we have separate shots of them each showing some Wisconsin pride! :) (The shirts were from Aunt Faye and we love them!)

Here is a little video of Spencer clapping. I couldn't post one of Aubrey and not one of Spencer too! He gets so excited sometimes and will start clapping, usually when I am singing Itsy Bitsy Spider.

We are still on for his surgery in a little over a week...it is getting scary the closer it gets, but we will be ok. He is getting over a cold and another ear infection, but should be good to go for surgery. I will be taking my computer with me so I hope to keep the blog up to date, if possible. If they don't have wireless internet I will have my phone and can get online with that too.