a GRAND visit with Grandma!

Grandma Iller came for a visit this weekend and we had a fun time showing her around Albuquerque! We went to Tinktertown and Old Town and ate lots of tasty Mexican food - even Archie sampled some spicey stuff! We are looking forward to her next visit because we miss her already! Check out all of the new pictures in our May 07 photo album. Have a Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

Don't forget to call your Mom!

p.s. Archie has been accepted into a feeding clinic at a local hospital beginning in June. He will be followed by a whole team of therapists and feeding specialists and hopefully they will be able to make big steps in getting Archie to eat and get him OFF his feeding tube!

Archie News

Archie has had two cardiology appointments from two different doctors in the past two weeks (we like second opinions). Neither doctor feels that Archie will need open heart surgery any time soon...they are hoping his homograft will keep functioning well and it still is :) So surgery has not been scheduled and won't be scheduled anytime soon. One of his heart medications has been dropped too, so now we are down to 4 meds, twice a day...His reflux has cleared up - he no longer spits up formula and he is biting everything! His favorite thing to bite is pickles and our shoulders when we are holding him. He doesn't swallow much though but we are happy that he is showing an interest in wanting to try out his new teeth! We are still working on getting him to crawl and talk and clap and wave, not necessarily all at the same time. He is getting very big and very tall, he loves Baby Einstein and the swings at the park and giving big "air" kisses!

There are some new pictures up from our trip to Cliff's, Albuquerque's very own amusement park! http://www.cliffs.net/ Josie liked the kiddie rides but the rollercoaster was her favorite.

We are looking forward to Grandma Iller's visit at the end of May!

Egg-cited part 2

The Easter Bunny came to Albuquerque this year and Josie woke up to find a bunch of eggs hidden around the house (click here to see video). After Josie found all of her eggs and presents, we woke up Archie (he likes to sleep in) and headed to our Sunday Brunch at the Hyatt (click here to see the video). Here is what it looked like in the dining area (click here to see video). Then we headed outside to the main lawn for the Easter Egg hunt.

Egg-cited!

We're getting ready for a Merry Easter in Albuquerque! (it was snowing this morning)

Our neighborhood is having an Easter Egg hunt at our playground tomorrow morning and then after that we are headed to the Hyatt Regency Resort in Rio Rancho for Easter Brunch. Chris has lost 20 pounds during Lent (no meat, no liquids other then water...which means no Dr. Peppers) so he deserves some tasty treats! We decorated Easter eggs today (click here to see video) while Archie hop hop hopped in his jumper (click here to see the video). Archie is still doing fine without oxygen support and prefers wearing rabbit ears on his head than a nasal cannula in his nose. We have all had a pretty crummy cold the past few weeks but thankfully Archie is handling his like a trooper, - he's definetly getting stronger, more active and more vocal...he is rolling all over the floor and loves to hear himself squawk and yell. Another therapist will be coming at the end of the month to assess his verbal skills because he is not saying any words yet. He is still on the feeding tube and refuses to eat or try anything by mouth, except his hands, feet, toys and plastic easter eggs...hopefully a chocolate easter bunny will do the trick. :)

See our April 2007 photo album for more pictures...

Happy Easter to All of our Friends and Family! and especially to Archie's little cousin Samantha - celebrating her very first Easter!

Good Archie News

Archie had a cardiologist appointment today and when he left the doctor's office, he left behind his oxygen tanks!

We still have to check his oxygen saturation levels a few times a day with a pulse oximeter to make sure he is breathing well and we will have oxygen tanks on hand at home. But unless he's huffing and puffing hard, he doesn't need to wear the nasal cannula anymore! Yay!

He had an echocardiogram done and his heart and homograft still look the same - no better, no worse, which means no open heart surgery anytime soon...

Last week he was also taken off of his medication for anemia, only 5 more meds to go! However, he will always be on some type of heart medication...the other medications are diuretics and prevacid for reflux (which he still has).

Archie has been rolling all over the floor and when we place him in a sitting position he stays and doesnt topple over! which is great progress! And his top two front teeth are coming in to make a grand total of 4!

Happy First Day of Spring!

Our Trip Out West

It took us half a day to drive to California...we drove past the Petrified Forest, some tourist-eating dinosaurs, a meteor crater, saw snow in the mountains, and almost ran out of gas in the Mojave Desert. We made it to Anaheim on Thursday night, slept like rocks and went to Disneyland Friday morning.

The park was a lot different than Disney World in Florida - Sleeping Beauty's Castle is much smaller than Cinderella's but just as pretty. Main Street looks like it did when the park first opened...the penny arcade and the Main Street Cinema (showing Steamboat Willie) are still there! (Disney World replaced theirs with clothing stores :( Our first ride was Snow White's Scary Adventure...Archie took it in stride, Josie was terrified!

We rode King Arthur's Carousel next which was more Josie's speed. Next stop was the Princess Fantasty Faire, we got there just in time for one of Josie's favorite princesses Cinderella was doing story time!

Next stop was the Blue Bayou Restaurant, Chris had always wanted to eat there as a kid! It was very dark inside because its right next to the Pirates of the Carribean ride, we could see the boats going by too. Chris had meatless jambalaya because he gave up meat for lent :( I had a Monte Cristo sandwich mmmm! Josie had a deep fried PB&J and Archie had Pediasure :) We went on the Haunted Mansion after lunch, Archie and Mom were mesmerized, Josie was terrified and Dad laughed. Josie went on a Winnie the Pooh ride next, saw Tigger and Pooh in person and their hugs made her feel much better!

Caught the Parade of Dreams next, Josie was happy to see Ariel, not so happy to see Ursula!

We hung out in Toontown for the rest of the day where Josie met the Mouse!

and Josie rode her first rollercoaster with her Dad! He told her to hold her arms up and scream to show everybody she wasn't scared. She rode it again and again and again....

We went to Disney's California Adventure on Saturday, first stop was the Monsters Inc ride...

"Mike and Sully to the Rescue" Josie did not want to get off...we went to Disney's Aladdin's, A Musical Spectacular - a stage production of the movie, where the genie stole the show and was funnier than Robin William's in the original.





We went to A Bugs Land next and Josie rode bumper cars, ladybugs and chinese food takeout boxes while Archie people-watched.

We headed back to Disneyland that night with the rest of California (it was VERY crowded) and hung out in Toontown til we dropped!

On Sunday we headed for the mountains to visit Chris' sister Maddie and Auntie G.G. - after a very windey and windy ride we found Aunt Maddie, ate some great pizza at Round Table where Chris's second cousins Matt and Tori Vine work (Matt even gave us a family discount - thanks Matt!)








and stopped by Auntie G.G.'s new house for a quick pop-in before we took Maddie to work.

It was a short but sweet visit! We headed back down the mountain and stopped by Chris's old neighborhood in Ontario, CA.





We saw his old school and one of the houses he grew up in...after that we went to Downtown Disney and hung out there for our last night. Brush fires/forest fires were burning nearby, we could smell the smoke and we drove thru a lot of it Monday morning, it was a good thing we had Archie's trusty O2 tanks with us!

All in all it was a good little trip and totally worth the long drive.