I cannot believe it has been another year since my last post. What a great year Bodie has had! The one major illness was a bout of pneumonia just before Christmas. Luckily, Bodie got out of the hospital before Christmas eve.

Bodie has spent more time outdoors this year and his speech and communications skills have improved also! In other news, Bodie stepped up to a regular twin bed and we have the old crib for sale. He weighed in for surgery on August 10th at 23lbs. That's only three pounds more than he weighed in 2013. But we are going to look into this.

Probably the funniest moment of the entire year came during the Spring of 2015. We had a crawfish boil at the house with lots of friends and coworkers. I decided to fire up the go-karts and give the kids rides on the "General Lee". I took Bodie first and then dropped him off and picked up another kid. Bodie went absolutely nuts when I started to go. He "Hulked out" according to my friend JD and in the process earned a nickname, The Hulk.

Bodie's favorite things to do are watch youtube videos of children's learning channels, play with his Minecraft toys- a love he's inherited from Wade.

Bodie has also stopped napping this year, and we no longer use the baby bouncer.

Overall it has been a great year of progress for Bodie and I am very proud of my beautiful 5 year old. We love you Bodie! -Dad, Mom, Wade and all of your family, friends and supporters!

                                        HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY!!!

Edited to add: After looking back and reading Brandi's post on Bodie's 1st Birthday and seeing how far we've come- I decided to repost it here:

FROM MOMMY, August 17, 2011
Well my love...it's been quite a year. Without a doubt, the hardest of my life. 
When we decided to have another baby, I thought the extent of my sacrifice would be going through the pregnancy, delivery & baby years all over again. We never imagined we'd both be going through an emotional breakdown instead. We never imagined we'd be watching our baby fight for his life.
Of course you know about all the bad things that can happen, but you never really think it could ever happen to you. You see things on tv, and you cry along, and you think if that ever happened to me, there's no way I could handle it...but you do. You get through it one day at a time, one hour at a time, you go numb, you build up walls, you pretend like it's not real, you spend most of your time with your head in your hands, you go through the motions like a zombie. You hope, but you try not to hope out loud cause your scared you might jinx something. You cry in the shower or in bed cause you don't want to freak out your 3 year old, and you don't want your Husband to see how weak & hopeless you are. You try to maintain your feelings so you don't pile anymore stress or grief on your partners shoulders. But mostly, you fill up your mind with all these selfish little thoughts, because if for one second you let yourself think about the hell that baby is having to endure, that's when you lose it.
Look at you now though! Look how far you come, it's absolutely amazing! You have been through so much, but you still smile all the time. I guess you appreciate life more than most people, because you know firsthand how fragile it is! I love watching how determined you are to do everything, you don't let anything get in your way. Just like you were determined not to let anything cheat you out of your life! I hope you always keep that happy & positive disposition all through your life. 
It's funny to think back to those first few months and remember how angry and bitter I was that this happened to us. I felt unlucky. And now I realize just how lucky I really am. I got to witness an honest to goodness miracle, I got to find out how strong I am, and how dedicated this family is, and I learned how to be grateful. But mostly, I'm lucky because I have you!
Happy Birthday Sweet Angel!

Happy Birthday Bodie!

My beautiful baby boy turned 4 years old on the 17th. What an incredible 4 years it has been!

 Looking back, I wondered if we would even see this day, and if so would Bodie have made as much progress as he has? Thank God my questions have been answered & my son is doing great.

 At 4 years old, Bodie is now: Running, playing, jumping and dancing! He is eating all of his food by mouth and his diet is only supplemented by two feeds using his g-tube. He has wonderful energy levels and loves to play and learn. He knows all his ABCs and letter sounds and has even begun to write his ABCs. His vocabulary is improving as are his communication skills. All in all, year four has been his best & most productive yet!

The trach progress has also been wonderful! Bodie has slept a few nights completely capped and spends every day now completely capped. As soon as he has corrective oral surgery to remove & repair some back teeth, we plan & hope to proceed with another attempt to decanulate (remove trach). This time we are very optimistic that it will be successful.

So again, I'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to Bodie Mitchell. I love you so much son! 

 I am thankful for all you are and every day with you!

Edit to add a very special thank you to everyone who has helped Bodie get this far! Family, All the staff at Oschner Hospital, Therapists, Friends, my Employers, our Church and God above.

-Dad

Summer 2014...

We've had an interesting Spring to say the least. In mid April Bodie got sick. It progressed over the weekend & on Monday we went to see Dr. Harper. We ended up in Ochsner's ER and Bodie was admitted. Turns out he had early pneumonia & we had caught it just in time. After an agonizing three weeks in the hospital, my precious baby boy got a clean bill of health to come home... . . .

December 2013.

Wow. I have been seriously slacking on my blogging duties. A whole YEAR has passed without a single entry. I am so sorry! A LOT has happened since December of last year. We had a good Spring & no major issues. Early in the summer of 2013 we moved. Thanks to D&P we moved into a new home in Biloxi. Thank You! The house is plenty big, with a garage on 2 acres in the country. I love that Bodie & Wade can play in the yard with minimal supervision as we have only five houses on our dead end street & practically zero traffic. So I've been busy moving, unpacking (still), fixing & planting. We even have a chicken coop with two chickens! The School District is very good & Bodie has been making good progress. Medically, He's 20lbs now and growing very, very slowly. He's vocalizing more though. I hope to attach a few of my youtube videos. The trach & feeding tube are still in (fingers crossed that THIS will be his year to finally be free!) He's really been able to play & get out more this year. Wade really enjoys having a play buddy, and is a good big brother to Bodie. Mom visited last Christmas & is scheduled to visit again this year with Tyler next week. Will try to update more & post more pics! RH .

. . . . . . Bodie has graciously been chosen as the benefeciary of an annual charity event hosted by Dragon's Den Tattoo in Ocean Springs & Big Hoss BBQ to be held Saturday, December 22nd at 11:00AM at the tatto shop. Address is 1408 Bienville Blvd, Ocean Springs, MS (228) 818-2755 . . . . .. . A Paypal Account has been set up to accept donations, just click the donate button below & follow the instructions.

We are very thankful that Bodie has been chosen & we are very grateful for all the help he is receiving. -Ryker

Bodie turns two & more great news!

It's been a long, hot sick summer.

Bodie & Wade both got sick this summer & the colds held on & made life miserable at times. In between colds, Bodie has been doing better. His walking has improved greatly and he now runs up & down the hall and around the house! Just today he climbed on a box of supplies that was almost a foot tall all by himself. He even figured out how to get back down without falling.

 

 

 

 

 

Mom (Mimi) came to visit in August for Bodie's second birthday & had a really great but short visit.

Debra, (Gaga) and Paul came too & he got lots of presents. We had a Luau at Debra & Pauls house and I cooked a whole pig for the occasion. The weather didn't cooperate but we made the best of it.

Bodie is progressing well & we get to go out more that before & he really enjoys getting out of the house.

 

We are hopeful that he is growing & will be able to get rid of the trach this fall. A HUGE step in the right direction is he has begun to taste foods! He actually swallows small amounts toothpaste, ice cream, baby food & is all over us when we try to eat.

 

Bodie takes his first steps unassisted! That's me taking the video & screaming like a girl... LOL

RH