Fall Days

We ARE still alive! My blog has been a bit neglected lately- sorry!

First of all- Asher is doing great!

He is back to his normal- super active, full of energy, major handful self. I am on a constant run, picking up his messes like crazy. But it is great that he has so much energy. Gone are the days of sleeping for 18 hours- now he naps a couple of hours a day, like any other 18 month old. Which is good- but life was less hectic when he was sleeping SOO much!

We have our first meeting with Early Intervention tomorrow, to get help with speech therapy, and see if he might have a sensory problem, as well. Should be interesting!

Jacob is growing soo fast!

I can't believe he is 3 months old already! It seems like he was born just yesterday. He is a much happier baby lately- his reflux seems to have resolved itself, and he smiles and laughs now. So cute!

Our house has been pretty chaotic lately. We just had a new furnace and ductwork installed:

The joys of purchasing a home built in 1970. It was built with electric heat, a furnace was added in the 80's, but it was done very WRONG. So, when our furnace went kaput this Spring, we saved our pennies. And now, after a week of mess and destruction, we have a new furnace and ductwork and our house is actually warm! Now it is being torn apart again, new exterior doors are being installed. Our 1970 wood doors were leaking air like crazy, so we decided part of our new furnace budget needed to go toward doors. Next up: fixing the drywall from having the new ductwork done. Some day this mess will be over and I can have my house back!

In the midst of all of the chaos, the grapes out back ripened. SO, it was grape juice time! Last week I picked 40 gallons of concord grapes, and made 65 quarts of grape juice. And yesterday I pick the white grapes, and made 39 quarts of white grape juice.

The crazy thing is, we actually drink that much juice in a year!

Otherwise, all is well in the James household. Staying away from people as much as possible (don't want Ash getting sick!). We've been playing outside, enjoying the last bit of good weather, and driving the canyons to see the fall colors. Time to go! Jacob is making his presence known.

Surgery Followup

Why is Asher bundled up like a little Eskimo?

We had SNOW!

Last week we had our first snowfall of the season. I'm not sure how much we actually received, but at least an inch of it "stuck". Asher was so excited when he looked out the window and saw it falling! So, we broke out the snowsuit and boots. So cute!

Asher had his surgery follow-up appointment today. Everything looked great, and sounded great. His heart is still a little more swollen than they would like it to be at this point, so he is going to stay on Lasix for the next 3 months (until he sees his cardiologist again).

Also, surgery for his pinkie finger (remember, the one he bit, had stitches, got infected, didn't heal right, and now needs a skin graft?) is officially scheduled for November 9th. Thankfully, it is just an outpatient procedure. He will be fully sedated under anesthesia, but he wont have to stay overnight.

And in other Asher news, we believe he has a speech delay (not surprising with these heart kiddos), and possibly a sensory problem. (We spoke with a speech pathologist while we were in the hospital). SO, he is being evaluated at the end of the month for Early Intervention.

We are busy, busy, busy, but Asher is doing great. It is such a relief, and so nice to have my happy, funny, active Asher back.