Channing's Birthday

So, Wednesday was Channing's first birthday, but today was his party. we were pretty crazy...:)

first, he had his birthday outfit on from Grandma Julie...isn't it cute?

the birthday family

my cool cupcakes...if you look closely you can see that i melted chocolate chips and made letters for his name. they turned out pretty cute...:) tiny cupcakes and big cupcakes

he had lots of fans there: my friend, ruth...below...her almost-done baby, and her little brother, Isaiah; Kev's family: his mom, grandma, brothers, and his brother's girlfriend; and us

Channing had so much fun!

gettting all messy eating his cupcake

here are some pictures to catch up:

his cute little bandana

channing and auntie megan

pushing his water jug around....curling

channing and mama...in her cool UW sweatshirt

i made dresses for my niece who's a little older, but the same size as channing. he was my model.

her "adam and eve" dress...i put leaves on it

her tutu

his first pair of shoes... from his daddy

channing playing with his dad

blowing out his candle today

playing with Ruth

walking outside today playing outside with his dad today

we have such a sweet boy and we are so glad he's a part of our family. my mom is doing well and should come home in the next day or so.

birthdays, livers, and ICUs

Okay.....!! here we go:

a year ago today, our little boy Channing was born, after much anticipation and waiting in the delivery room. but after a few months in the NICU, he was doing much better. so now, after being relatively healthy, he is a year old!!!!

i have pictures but not right now.

so, yesterday morning, my mom got the call to have a liver transplant. she's been on the active list since December and dealing with an autoimmune liver disease for 20 years. so we knew it would come to this eventually, but it's been hard to wait as her health has been declining, and that's just not like my mom.

so we got the call yesterday morning, had to be there an hour and a half later, and then a few hours after that, the new liver had been checked to see if it was a good size, fit, and healthy enough to give to my mom. the surgeon said, "it was the cutest little liver i've ever seen!" so, there you go....cute livers and all. the surgery normally takes 6-14 hours, and hers took 4 1/2. so it was super fast and everything is going well, and she is doing great. thanks for all the prayers. it should be a long recovery process over the next few months, so we'd appreciate any prayers we can get.

so...Channing got a great birthday present....a new liver for grandma so she can do all the things she wants to do again, and she'll be out of the ICU tomorrow if things continue to go well.

it's been a long medically challenging year, but it's all good. we've had so many miracles happen, and things are going well, and we have been so blessed by the Lord.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHANNING! and HAPPY TRANSPLANT DAY, GRANDMA!