10 & 11 month check in!!.. #28

It's been 2 months since I've checked in or given everyone an update. The past 2 months have flown by!! We had our 10 month GI check up and things went great.. We have started expanding our food options and are now doing 3 solid meals a day! Isaac had meat for the first time 2 nights ago. He had chicken :) He wasn't sure about it but did eat a few bites. I also found a specialty pancake mix that he can have so I've made him pancakes 2 mornings in a row. Raspberry one day and vanilla elecare (his formula) the next. He seems excited to try new things.. Or mash them together.

We had our 11 month surgeon appointment. We've been seeing her every 2 months instead of monthly. She said everything looks great and we will start seeing her less and less. We are graduating!!! Lol.. Makes us kind of sad but it also shows us he is doing really well. Can't believe it's almost been a whole year. Things have gone by so fast.

We started planning his FIRST birthday a few weeks ago. We decided to do an Elmo theme since he loves him so much. I can't wait to post pictures. We have spent a lot of time and planning on this. It will be perfect!!!! I ordered a "couture cake" from a local bakery. And they are also doing a special smash cake for him due to his allergies. We rented an Elmo costume and will be having a family member dress up. I hope the kids don't get scared! It will be a lot of fun. I found a photographer to do the party.. She is actually a friend so it will take a lot of stress off of us trying to capture all the moments so we can just enjoy the party!! :)

We did go a little overboard on the party but I don't care. He will only have his first birthday once and after the rough start he had, we all had, he deserves the best.. We have so many reasons to celebrate.

The Puyallup Fair is going on right now and we've been 4 times. My mom has a booth there so we've been going to visit her. Isaac loves all the animals and all the people. It's been such a great time. Last year I was still pregnant so we just went to eat. We did family photo buttons, picture booth pictures, and I got a special bracelet that says Isaac's name. I might try to go again before it's over so Isaac can ride the ponies or the camels. :)

Over the past couple months Isaac has really grown up. He is starting to take a few steps on his own! He is saying a few words too. His mind is sharp as a tack. You show him something once and he will remember it. It amazes me how their minds are like little sponges. He points to everything now. His favorite thing to do is to point at an object and order you around to get it. He uses you as a mode of transportation. It's so adorable!!!

Isaac also got his first haircut on September 11th. He did so well! He sat so quietly watching cartoons. It was so precious. We went to this kids salon and spa near our house. They were absolutely fabulous!!! We kept some hair for his baby book. Afterwards, he looked like such a little man. Even more grown up than he already does.

I will try to update again soon :) It's hard when you are so busy and things are going well!!!

9 months!!!.. #27

Everything has been so hectic with our move that I have had ZERO time to update. We don't have Internet at the new house yet so I'm updating from my phone. Last week we had Isaac's 9 month well baby check. Everything went great! He weighs 21 pounds 6 oz, is 28.5 inches long, and is ahead on all his milestones. :) My smart baby!!! We are still choosing to be vaccine free (proud of it) so we got out of there with no pokes. We don't see our surgeon again until August so no updates in that area. Everything continues to move along great and we couldn't be more pleased.

We are for the most part in our new house. We love it! Isaac has no problems adjusting and loves all the extra room he has. The weather has been pretty warm so I've been taking him swimming a lot. He loves the water. Between swimming, moving, and unpacking I have no time!!!! I can't believe we are already thinking about his FIRST birthday. Not exactly sure where we are going to have it yet. Inside? Outside? What's the weather going to be like in early October?? Here in the Pacific NW you never know.. We also need to find a place to have it. Our house is bigger, but not big enough for a party with kids and lots of toys :)

Lots of news!.. #26

Sheesh I haven't been able to update in almost a month! Lots has gone on. First and foremost, we found a house and get the keys tomorrow!!! We are so excited. We have a month to move from our apartment into our new house. Which makes it nice because I don't think moving with an almost 9 month old is going to be easy :)

Over the past 2 weeks we have seen Isaac's GI and surgeon. Both said he is doing great. He is up to 21 pounds 3 oz. We talked about his diet more and added a few more things to it. He can eat puffs!! Well he is allowed to eat them, he just hasn't figured out what to do with them yet. He is still turning his nose up to a lot of new foods. The dietician suggested mixing in new foods with foods he has already eaten and likes. So we began adding more fruits to his veggies and he is fine with that. Since he is doing so well we don't see them until the end of August.

Isaac is full blown crawling now and also started to cruise the furniture a few days ago. He is standing on his own.. It is really crazy! Once he does something it's like he learns it so fast, and wants to do it all day.. AND ALL NIGHT. :| He also has gotten another tooth and working on cutting another. Which brings the total to 4. All on the bottom!

So all in all, BUSY BUSY over here!! And doing very well :)

Happy 8 Months Isaac.. #25

We met with Isaac's dietician on the 8th of this month which was his 8th month birthday :) Since he is doing so well we added a lot of new foods he can eat. I went and bought the baby bullet so we could make his food since a lot of the pureed food is limited. I pureed some blueberries and he is taking that slowly. He gets a bitter taste on his face and kinda has the look of  "What is this?!" We will try peaches next week.. Can't wait to start making all these yummy foods for him. My mom (Gammy) planted a garden at her house so we can have fresh veggies for Isaac. And we planted pumpkins for Halloween..

He is growing like a weed... He grew 1/2 an inch since our surgeon appointment and is up 5 ounces. He is now fully crawling and goes so fast! He is also getting better at standing. He scares me sometimes.. We have to constantly watch him. My baby is getting big so fast.

We are still looking at places. Only about 6 weeks until we can finally move. I can't wait! House hunting is so hard. But I am sure we will find the right place.

Well not much to update about, just that he is doing well and a happy baby boy!!!! Until next time! Thank you for following Isaac's journey..

Not now mom, I'm busy!!! 

Monthly surgeon appt!.. #24

We had our monthly appointment this morning with Isaac's surgeon. Everything looks great! He is such a ham.. Weighing 20 pounds 3 ounces. He grew AN INCH in a months time.. Can't believe how big he is getting. She also said we could wean down on his treatments to every other day. Which is great news!

He is doing so many new things it's hard to remember it all.. He is pulling himself up to stand on his own. That's his new favorite thing to do. He is also clapping and babbling a whole lot. I swear he is saying the word "UP" but it could be just a word he's throwing around. But I think he is pretty smart because he says it right before he stands up. He is also spoon feeding himself. It is so cute. What happened to my little baby!!? :(

We also looked at a house yesterday and we really liked it. I can't wait to move in less than 2 months.. Moving is not my favorite thing to do but I will be excited to have more room for Isaac. By the time we move I have a feeling he will be walking. Both my boyfriend and I walked at 9 months so he isn't too far off. Can't believe he will be 8 months next week. Time really flies.

Handsome :)

2 teeth!

March of Dimes Walk.. #23

It's been almost 2 weeks since the March for Babies walk. I haven't had any time to update! Isaac is now mobile (crawling & standing) so it's hard to even take my eye off of him for even a second. And when he goes to bed at night I am so worn out I fall asleep right with him. :)

The walk went really well! We ended up raising 800$ IN UNDER ONE MONTH. Yay for us! We put together a great team and raked in those donations. Next year we will have an even bigger team and raise even more money. We actually finished top 20 for our county for donations. So we are so proud!

Our shirts came out great. I even had people asking about Hirschsprung's Disease. It was so cool to have one more person know what this disease is. And we were the only HD team there, I am sure of that. LOL. Here are some pictures from the walk...

The Franco Family

Mom & Dad

Marisol, Kelly, Me, Isaac, Laila, and Diane (grandma)

Kelly & Me

Our Team Captain - Sweet Baby Isaac

Carry & Logan, and Kelly, Laila & Marisol

Annie and her family

Annie, River, Grandma & Isaac

Carry, Logan, and Courtney

Ready for the walk!

7 months already.. Sheesh. #22

Isaac turned 7 months old yesterday. I can't believe time has gone by so fast. It seems like so long ago we were in the hospital getting ready to bring him home.. But it has also gone by so quickly. Does that even make sense?

He is now starting to crawl. We can't turn our back on him for even a second! He also thinks that pulling himself up to stand is pretty cool too. He is constantly wanting to stand. I am not ready for him to be mobile! :)

 We have our March of Dimes walk in 4 shorts days.. Saturday. I designed shirts for our team - SWEET BABY ISAAC - and they arrived today. We have 8 team members and we have raised $650. Which is awesome because we only found out about the walk a month ago. I am surprised I pulled a team of 8 together and also go so many donations. We even had people buy shirts that aren't even walking. They just wanted to support Isaac and raise awareness for Hirschsprung's Disease. Which I think is awesome. This disease is virtually unknown, and yes it is rare, but it affects families immensely. We still don't have any HD friends in our area, most are over the internet. I would like to find some local families so we can kind of support each other. Our surgeon said she has 9 HD kids in her practice so I am thinking about asking her to pass along my info to them in case they want to make some new friends.

Here is a quick look at the shirts! I will post pictures from the walk.. We can't wait! And an added bonus... It is supposed to be 75 degrees :)

 And of course.. Isaac and his daddy..