Pictures, pictures, and more pictures!

We have been doing a lot of traveling around the Garrett household but now we are back in Houston for a little while. I have wanted to post some of these pics for a long time.
Nancy had a great idea when James Thomas was born. She said that every year I should take a picture of James Thomas in one of James' work shirts. It would be really cute to watch him grow into it as he becomes a young man. Well, we have our birth and age 1 shots!





James Thomas has been obsessed with the outdoors lately. I can't wait for Fall to get here when everything cools down. He got a sand and water table for his birthday from Mimi and Papaw, and loves playing in it. Swinging is another one of his favorites right now and once he gets in, you can't get him out. We have had a lot of fun lately!




Cliff and Sarah got married this past weekend at Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina. Palmetto Bluff is a little peace of heaven on Earth. They had a beautiful southern wedding surrounded by their closest friends and family. It was perfect! We are so happy they moved back to Houston!!!! Congratulations Cliff and Sarah!

This is the chapel they got married in!!


While in South Carolina we had the best little get away. We got to ride bikes, James saw dolphins while kayaking, we went to Hilton Head one morning, and enjoyed relaxing as a family. It was a much needed vacation for me!!!!






We are on week 3 of our steroid trial. I am very hopeful and optimistic that James Thomas will show a response. He is handling the steroids very well and the side effects have been minimal. That alone is answered prayer. If you think about us when praying, please continue to lift up James Thomas' trial to the Lord. We know that the steroids can work for us!

Back in town

Camp Sunshine was AMAZING! We were so blessed to get to spend the week with other DBA families in the beautiful state of Maine. We learned more about DBA than we ever thought possible and FEAR is no longer the word I would use to describe this journey. We start our steroid trial Friday and we are praying for success. Steroids can be a very good road for these kids. I am ready to get started. Here are just a few of the many many pictures we took last week.












After Maine we moved on to the state of Kentucky for a wonderful 90th birthday party for Grandpa. Almost all of James' family was there to celebrate the life of Grandpa Tassie. You could see the love for this amazing man and I am so glad we made it. We also got to see Grandma and Pawpaw which is always a good time. This was James Thomas' first time to Kentucky and he was great. I am so proud of our little guy because he traveled perfectly.










While in Kentucky we got to see the Hutcheson family. This was a special treat. I have prayed for Kashiku and Lemlem, seen pictures of them, heard numerous stories but to meet them in person was priceless. We had an awesome lunch and the kids played with James Thomas. I have known Karen a long time and to sit with her and John Mark and watch our kids play was awesome. I wish they lived closer. Here are some pictures from our great lunch!!!

Caring Bridge Page

I decided to set up a Caring Bridge Page for James Thomas. Lots of other DBA families have them and they are awesome when it comes to following all these kids through their medical journey. For the past 8 months we have really been in what I call the Honeymoon phase of DBA. We go in for our bimonthly transfusions, meet with our Hematologist, and monitor James Thomas closely for fever. I have gotten very accustomed to clinic, the ER, and all the staff at Texas Children's. Our hematologist feels that James Thomas is needing transfusions too frequently and so she is moving up our steroid trial. We originally wanted to wait until he was 18 months old but that is not going to be the case now. We wanted to wait until we got back from most of our travels. We leave on Friday for our dear friend Richard Duge's wedding in Austin, from Austin we fly to Maine for Camp Sunshine, then we go to Louisville for Grandpa's 90th birthday (and we are going to get to see the Hutcheson family WOO HOO), and then back to Austin. So our big date is July 23rd! I am super nervous about this entire process. We want James Thomas to respond with minimal side effects. It is also time to start our IVF stuff too. We had the most amazing consult with Dr. Hughes and he said everything is ready in Detroit. With all this said it was time for Caring Bridge! I am still going to update this blog. It will be more of what is going on with our day to day life. It will be my place to post fun pics and record all the great things James Thomas is doing each week!

Thank you for following us through out this journey. Your prayers have been heard and we are doing so well. If you think about us in the next week or two say a little prayer for all our travel. I do not LOVE to fly and we will be doing lots of it with a 13 month old!




www.caringbridge.org/visit/jamesthomasgarrett

First toothbrush, Father's Day, Lake and more!

James Thomas got his first toothbrush at the beginning of the month and he has LOVED using it. Anytime he sees James or me brushing our teeth he whines until we give him his. He will walk around forever holding that brush and playing with it. It is so cute! Hopefully this great oral hygiene lasts.

My mom came down last week and went with us to clinic. She has never been to clinic and never met Dr. B. I am glad my mom got to go so she can picture where we spend so much time. It is nice to have the company when you sit and wait for hours on end. My mom LOVED Dr. B which is very reassuring. We are so thankful we switched doctors back in December. We had back to clinic Thursday for a transfusion. We also set a date for our steroid trial. We will begin in late July once we return from Camp Sunshine. I am so so so nervous about the entire process. Please keep us in your prayers as we begin this coarse of treatment.

Happy belated Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there. James, you are amazing and I couldn't raise James Thomas without you! He is truly blessed to have you as his father! I love my dad more than I can express on this blog and James' dad and Jim have taken me in like their own daughter. I am truly blessed and surrounded by fantastic men.

We had a wonderful time celebrating at Lake Limestone this weekend. We should make that a tradition!

Here are some fun pics of JT with his toothbrush and at the lake!



PS I got some new curtains for our kitchen. I will post those too!




Waiting for some birthday cake!


Enjoying some yummy birthday cake with Grandma and Pawpaw