Silent Sunday

 

Thank you cousin Landon, for the fun farmhouse! It is my new favorite toy ;) <3 River

Trick or Treat

River had his first experience with "trick or treating" this year. We took him to the neighborhood that I work in, Garlic Creek. One of my girlfriends, Meredith also lives there and we set up in her driveway to hand out candy. We took River around to some houses to trick or treat. Even though he can't say "trick or treat" or eat candy yet, it was all about the experience! Let me tell you, the homeowners go all out on Halloween! We saw house that were covered from end to end with Halloween decor including a haunted graveyard and orange stringed lights choreographed to Halloween music. One house served hot dogs and frito pie, had a flat screen tv set up showing a football game, and rented a bouncy house for the kids. River could not get enough of the bouncy house either. We reluctantly let him join the "older kids" as he attempted to stand up and jump...key word is "attempted"! He was bounced around like a little rag doll but still had a blast. He threw the biggest temper tantrum ever when it was time to get in the car and head home. All in all, it was a success! Here are some pictures of our future little golfer:

 

Silent Sunday

 River is wearing a "Prayers for Ryan" bracelet. Ryan also has Hyperinsulinism and has been through so much. Please continue to pray for him and his family and read about his story:

Ryan McGowan's Caring Bridge Site

Austin Childrens Museum

River is feeling much better this week! He has so much energy, it is amazing. We have not been able to get him back to his usual feeding schedule though. He can only last about 30 minutes in between feeds or his blood sugar drops fast ;( He also continues to try new foods and puts pretty much everything in his mouth (markers, dog food, foam). We really have to watch him closely now.

On Thursday, we met up with my good friend Autumn and her precious son Dean for a play date at the Austin Children's museum. 

Afterwards we got some Yogurt and yummy toppings. We all had a great time! They had a dinosaur exhibit and lots of cool play areas for the kids. 

Here are some pictures of baby Dean, he is 10 months old: 

River and Dean had a lot of fun playing with the slide:

My girlfriends and I did some pumpkin carving/cupcake decorating this week. I carved an owl for River:

Thanks Pinterest for the adorable owl cupcake idea:

So much Happening!

This is going to be a long post because so much has been happening over the past couple of weeks

First of all, River came down with a terrible stomach bug and he was just miserable. It lasted for about 8 days and boy were those 8 days, the loooooongest days ever! He was having diarrhea almost every hour and vomiting 4 times a day. No one got much sleep in the Ross house either. We were up either changing diapers or cleaning up vomit. His blood sugar was running low leading up to the illness and during so we  had to put him on a continuous feed just to keep his blood sugar levels stable.  River also got a terrible diaper rash and it got to the point where we had to dip him in a warm bath instead of using wipes to clean his little bum. He got around 8 baths a day. Did I mention we were all exhausted? Daddy, mommy, and grandma Becky all came down with the stomach bug too. Daddy got it Friday night, mommy got it Saturday night, and Grandma got it Sunday night. It was only a 24 hour bug for us but it was just terrible. We are all feeling much better now and thankful it passed quickly. River's illness ended in a trip to the ER after mommy noticed bright red blood in his diaper. After a blood draw and stool sample collections, we got the results of the labs and everything came back normal. They said the blood was from his intestines being so irritated after 8 days of diarrhea. I hope River never has to be admitted into the hospital because he couldn't sit still for a second in that ER room. He was literally bouncing off the walls, getting into everything, and making friends with all the doctors and nurses. You can't hold this boy down, even when he is sick! As of yesterday, River is feeling much better his poop is finally back to normal and everyone at the Ross house is getting some rest. We are just so thankful to get back to "normal". Well, our normal at least!

We also have some VERY EXCITING news to share! River is finally eating and interested in food. It is like a light just switched on his his little head! This started happening on Friday morning. I went to Sonic and got some french toast sticks and he was fussing and reaching out to grab one from me. So I gave him one and he carried it around all morning just sucking on it. Then at dinner on Friday night, he climbed up onto the table and Chili's and dipped a french fry into my ranch dressing. He sucked the ranch off of the fry and then started dipping his fingers in and licking it off! It was amazing to see. Eating seems like something we all want and love to do, but it never has been that way for River. Seeing him have the desire to eat and go back for more makes me want to jump up and down for joy!  Since then, he has eaten peanut butter and jelly and oatmeal!! I can't wait to start experimenting with more foods and see what else he will try! This is a HUGE milestone for him.

Here are some pictures of River enjoying his oatmeal this morning:

We also went down to the Pumpkin Patch in downtown Buda this morning. It was not easy getting a picture of River with the pumpkins because all he wanted to do was run around and explore everything but the pumpkins!

 

I added something new to River's playroom so we can display his artwork: 

Love,

Amber, River, and Daddy E

Silent Sunday

Low Blood Sugar ;(

River has been having some low blood sugar readings over the past 3 days (in the 50's which is extremely low!). We aren't exactly sure why which can be extremely frustrating! I took him to the doctor this morning because he has been running a low grade fever and wanted to get him checked out. He had an ear infection last week and is just finishing up the antibiotics.  I began to wonder if the antibiotics didn't work and that is the reason for the low blood sugar. The doctor said it looks like his ear infection is getting better and he potentially could have a cold virus. I'm not sure about that though because he hasn't had a runny nose or cough. He has been acting completely normal. Oh, the ups and downs of this disease;( Sometimes it is hard to pinpoint exactly what is causing them. Hopefully he starts to improve soon. Otherwise, off to the endocrinologist we will go. Please keep him in your prayers this week!