Hello Blog Nation

Hi everybody, you're stuck with Daddy again this week! Steph is cranking on some school work right now so I am taking over. We had another great week here. Braden continues his incessant gnawing on anything he can get his hands on. It is only a matter of time until those teeth start popping out we think.

You can tell by the gums in this super smiley shot!











Grandma Patsy and Auntie Marci were in town this weekend too. Braden is becoming a little entertainer. He started taking his blanket and pulling it over his head and hiding. He then pulls it down and has the biggest smile going on. He started doing it for G'ma and Marci as soon as they got into town. It is really cute. Braden is becoming quite the little ham for the camera also. The video camera is another story though. Every time you take it out he clams up and just stares at you. It is really weird, there is no lights or anything on the front of the camera but he can definitely tell it is different.
It is amazing to go back and look at the old pictures of him and how far he has come. He looks like a totally different kid. Besides the fact that all of his hair fell out after surgery two, everything has changed about his looks.
Here are two pics to check out:
Before After














It truly has been an amazing journey so far with a long way to go. Things continue to go slowly, but well, with getting our non-profit charity (Heart of Gold Charity) up and running. We continue to wait on paperwork from the state that would finalize and legitimize us.

Our website is about 85% done and we will post a link on the blog when it is done.

Steph and I are really looking forward to getting things going here so we can start to give back. We have been so fortunate to have so many people step up and help us, we feel that this is the best thing we can do to return what has been done for us.

When I get the website finished up it will explain everything that we plan to do.

Our big fundraising event is going to be a golf outing and banquet dinner at Twin Lakes Country Club. So mark you calendars for Aug. 11th! It will be here before you know it.


Prayer request of the week: Lil' buddy Carter for his continued recovery after heart surgery.
Also Superman Sam for a successful upcoming heart cath procedure.


Thanks,

Rich

Carter Update

Carter's open-heart surgery yesterday went very well. His mom and dad are very pleased with how well Carter is tolerating post-op. They won't know until about 6 more weeks if this procedure (cryo-ablation) worked. Thank you for keeping this sweet little boy and his family in your prayers.

Steph

We're not here to cause no trouble.....

we're just here to do the Superbowl Shuffle!

That's right Blog-A-Holics your stuck with me this week. I kicked Steph (the blog-a-hogg) off the blog for this weeks edition.


Hope things are going as well out there as they are here with Braden. He continues to grow and learn and get stronger everyday.

This week he started rolling over to avoid his dreaded tummy time. I don't think we will be seeing him rolling from his back to his stomach anytime soon that's for sure.





He continues to log more and more time in his exer-saucer working on that neck strength.
As you can tell from the photo he pretty much ignores the toys and gadgets around him and loves to chew on this poor little giraffe's head.

I picked that thing up the other day and it was soaked like a big slobbering dog just got done with it.





This week he also started in on eating new foods! He started eating sweet potatoes!

The pic says it all!

This was fun....
He is doing really well with it, and chows right down.






Braden had some visitors this weekend in from the UP, Great Auntie Chris and Uncle Steve stopped by on their way back from visiting Baby Ivan in Kentucky. Uncle Steve told Braden all his fishing stories and some stories about Grandpa Greg during the 1970's. Braden told Uncle Steve he needs to buy a bigger fishing boat before next summer so he can take out his 3 new little fishing buddies.

Grandma Patsy and Aunt Marci may be in town next weekend too. He's excited!






This pic is of Braden imitating the hard-partying Bears fans on TV after a big touchdown!

TV is such a bad influence.....





On a serious note if everyone could say a prayer for Braden's buddy Carter he is having his surgery on Weds. Be strong Carter we'll be thinking of you.

Have a great week everyone, stop by and visit us anytime.

Take care,
Rich

"Bear" Down to Victory....

Hello everyone, here are some pics from today! As you can see, Braden has been a rock star with his neck strength lately. This is the only area that he's been "behind" in. He was not a fan of tummy time, so we had to be creative in the neck strengthening department. He's now able to go into his exersaucer...yeah new toys to play with! We just went to the pediatrician on Friday for another RSV synage. He's now15 lbs 3 oz and eating like a champ! Braden did really well this week as he now goes to Grandma Lois's for the day and mom did really well being organized and on time!! Rich is like a kid at Christmas as his Bears held on for a win today. We also welcomed a new little cousin today. Terri and Jay Ollis welcomed into the world, Ivan Phillip, early this morning. Congratulations to the Ollis and Trombly families! Braden can't wait to meet his new little cousins, Jacob and Ivan! Rich and I have off tomorrow....aaahhh, the joys of being a teacher in Illinois :-)
Have a great week!
Love, Steph, Rich & Braden

Carter Update

Carter's surgery has been postponed. I will post when I know the date of his surgery.
Thanks, Steph

Prayer Request: posted on 1-09-07
Hello,
Our friends, the Solgos's, will be taking their son, Carter, to Lutheran General tomorrow for an open heart surgery. He is just two years old. The surgery is a bit complicated to explain, but the goal is to get Carter's heart to beat at a "normal" rate and establish "normal" rhythm. Just last March, Carter went in for his first open heart surgery. After this surgery, his heart rate and rhythm decided not to cooperate. Carter has tried many medications (some of them being very dangerous for a kiddo his age), and has undergone other procedures to try and correct this. After much frustration and many days/nights spent in the hospital, they are hoping and praying that tomorrow's procedure will work. Please pray for sweet, little Carter as he endures another procedure to try and correct his heart. Please pray for the strength of his parents as well.

Thank you so much,
Stephanie
PS.....I went to college with Erika Solgos. Her maiden name was Erika Lukas for any of you Carthage Alum reading this.

Back to Work...

Hello Everyone,
I hope this e-mail finds you well. Is everyone keeping up with their New Year's resolutions?? Just thought I'd ask :-) Well, this week was quite a blur. I started work on Wednesday, and I felt a wee-bit "out of shape" (if that's such a phrase used in the working world). Stepping into my teaching position in the middle of the year was not as easy as I anticipated. My substitute, Lisa, spent the morning updating me on a "few" things I missed out on while I was gone. This really helped me out a lot.....thanks for the "tune-up" Lisa. I received a very warm welcome from the staff which helped my day go very smoothly. My team-teachers have been amazing and have helped me "regroup" a bit before I dive back into teaching. Thank you to everyone who called and e-mailed to wish me luck on my first week back.

As far as leaving Braden....he did better than I did. I was okay though....not too many tears. Grandma Lois came over the first few days, so we could ease into the "morning rush." Tomorrow will be the big test on how organized we all are :-) We made a Wal-mart run tonight to get the remaining goods that Grandma Lois will need for Braden. We also loaded up some of Braden's toys (the noisy ones) to bring and keep at G'ma and G'pa Petska's house.

Well, not a whole lot new as you can read....rather dull. Dull is just fine with us though :-) We were a little lazy on the picture taking this week..... few too many things going on. The one pic was taken after I attempted feeding Braden cereal. Grandma Lois told me how good he's been doing with eating his cereal. Well, for me, all he wanted to do was blow his tongue out at me and play. After he grew a beard of cereal, I called it quits! Oh, and you can see the remaining sprig of hair he has sticking up on the back of his head.

Well, have a great week and until next Sunday.................
Love, the Petska's
PS...some of you have asked.....our heart buddy Sam is now home. He came home on Friday with an appetite...yeah! We're very happy they're home after spending two additional weeks (over the holidays) at CHW.

A Post From Braden

Hello everyone, I hope you like my pictures mom and dad took of me. Mom tried posting yesterday, but the blogger wouldn't cooperate. I heard her say a few words I shouldn't repeat. I think her post was a little mushy and all....I'm just going to get to the point (without all of the mush).

I had a really great week. I got to go to one of daddy's basketball games. It was an early game and not very crowded, so it was pretty "safe" for me to be there. Uncle Nick said my eyes were as big as saucers when I discovered where in the heck I was.....it's pretty exciting for a little guy like me to get out every now and then! Grandpa Harvey was there to guard any flying b-balls from coming my way. After the game daddy brought me into the locker room to show me off to all of his players. That was fun, but it kind of smelled like my diaper pail in the locker room - not sure how anyone can stand it!

I helped celebrate my daddy's big 3-0....yep, he's just as old as mommy now! I don't rub into him as much as mommy does, cuz he gets a little grumpy.

I've been eating like a champ! I think mom and dad discovered I was working over-time with the slow-flow nipple. I've now increased my feeding by 2 whole ounces. After I chugged all 6 ounces for the first time, daddy did some sort of wiggle with his butt....I think he called it the happy dance. I was polite and smiled....I waited to giggle after daddy went into the kitchen. I think I even saw Snickers's whiskers wiggle like he was giggling at daddy too. Other things I like to do include playing patty-cake with daddy, finding anything I can to chew on, kicking my legs all over the place, and singing with mommy. Well, mommy tries to sing, I smile, and daddy plugs his ears.

I finally got to meet my buddy Evan. Evan and I were both in our mommy's tummies at the same time. They exchanged lots of stories and complained at times how Evan and I would kick them in the ribs with our big feet. I even heard rumors that they took birthing classes together, but I'm not sure. It was finally nice to meet my friend I've heard so much about!

I'd like to close with a few comments about my new pics I posted. There's me and my kitty cat; me just chillin' in my chic pajamas, and me in my Bears duds. Dad thought it would be so cool to dress me up for the Bears game. I didn't complain since they're a team actually going to the playoffs....sorry Packer fans. I did, however, giggle a bit when they lost....sorry Bears fans. I should've worn my Packer bib and booties....oh well!

Well, it's about that time to wind down for the night.
Hello to my fan club (that's what mommy calls all of you) and good night,
Love, Braden
PS....Happy New Year!!!!