2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch Party

We had a wonderful day at the pumpkin patch and pumpkin party at the Cole home. I think we have officially made this a tradition!!! I love traditions!!! The kids were in awe of all the pumpkins at Memorial Drive Methodist. James Thomas thinks they are funny looking balls and keeps trying to pick up the ones I bought and throw them across our living room!!!

The weather was perfect and all the kids had a great time having lunch and playing outside! Fall is the best time of the year, especially in Houston!!!

Here are pictures from last year and this year. I can't believe how much the kids have grown. We also have one new addition to the group! (only 1 addition is pretty good for a year, right?) We are going to head out to Dewberry Farm sometime soon too. So many fun things to do this time of year.

2009 pictures




2010 pictures

Lots of pictures

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. We have been staying busy around here and LOVING this awesome weather. In fact we are off to the zoo tomorrow.

James Thomas has had two awesome weeks with his blood counts rising! We are so proud of his little body. We lowered his dose by 10% so Friday should be interesting when we go in. PRAYING for good labs!!!! Steroids have been so much better than transfusions. We really want them to work.


Luke and James Thomas playing with pasta. They look so big.

This is the only time you will see this but thought it was too funny. JT's nap mat was out for 5 minutes and look who decided she loved it. Sorry Bailey, I am not ordering you one.

I had the privilege of going to Bush this month and read to the 5th graders. These were the kids I taught my last year in 3rd grade. It was so much fun!!!! I miss you guys and can't wait to come visit again soon.



This was James' apron. SO CUTE! James Thomas is very serious these days and loves to organize books. I can't get him to stop and smile for pics anymore. What am I going to do?????


I bought these tablets that change the color of the water. We also got bath time markers; BATH TIME is so cool now!!

These pictures were taken today before school. The cool weather finally allowed us to wear some fun, Fall clothes. James Thomas was a hoot playing around this morning!! I love this little guy.

From Bad, to Better, to finally the BEST EVER!

This week did not start out very well. On Tuesday James and I got the awful call from our IVF nurse telling us that I was not pregnant. Let me fill you in on the past few months. I started the whole meds process in July while we were at Camp Sunshine. Everything was going perfectly, I had 36 eggs retrieved, 30 fertilized, and 26 grew to day 3. On day 3 they biopsied them and sent them to Detroit for Dr. H to test. We had to wait until day 5 for our transfer. On day 5 all the embryos were doing great but out of 26 only 3 were HLA matches. This was pretty shocking for me but we only needed 1 so I was thrilled. They implanted the two strongest and I went home, was on bed rest for 2 days and waited for the big results. At the beginning of the cycle we were so confident it was going to work however this was not the plan. Tuesday was very sad but we have quickly learned that circumstances do not and can not affect our joy. We have so much to be thankful for and we will focus on that for now. This process was expensive, painful, and emotionally hard so we will wait a few more months to regroup before we try again.

We thought the week was only going to get worse because James Thomas was scheduled for a blood transfusion on Wednesday. He has been on steroids for 7 weeks and we have not seen a rise in his hgb. Our luck did change because James Thomas did not end up getting a transfusion!!!! His hgb stayed the same (which is still low) but it did not drop. To top that off his retic was really high. We decided to give the boy one more week to see if his hgb will finally rise and then if not we will do the transfusion. This was like a rainbow after the storm. I just knew he was going to need blood, but little do I know!! We are still hopeful and pray every night for a miracle but it looks like this trial is going to be a failure. He can't stay on this dose much longer and the fact that we have never had a rise in hgb probably means the second we lower his dose everything will stop working. This will be hard news for us but as of Wednesday things were looking better.

BUT the best part if this week was sweet Luke Jones' 1st Birthday party. This little boy is amazing and inspires me every single day. I will never forget when I heard Luke had EB and I researched the condition. I was heart broken, devastated, and had no clue what his little future held. But TODAY yes TODAY it was a great day. Luke was crawling around, eating birthday cake, smiling for photos, and melting hearts like always. He was surrounded by TONS of family and friends all celebrating an amazing little boy. Melissa did a fantastic job with his party and we all had a great time. Just what the Garretts needed to end this hard week.

Weekend at the Ranch

Two weekends ago we packed up the car and headed out to our good college friend's ranch in Columbus. We had no idea what to expect but were completely blown away. There is a little piece of paradise off of 71 in the middle of no where that is truly amazing. Robin and Dave were the best hosts ever and we appreciate them inviting us. James Thomas had a blast and we can't wait to take him back next year. They have an air conditioned tree house, a beach, swimming pool, swings, tractors, you name it they had it. We also got to see some of our other great Baylor friends as well as meet new people. We are already excited about next summer so we can go back and stay a lot longer. Thank you Robin and Dave for an awesome getaway.

Mommy's Little Helper

James Thomas LOVES organizing things and carry stuff back and forth over and over again. It is pretty funny to watch. The other day I was unloading the wash and not 5 seconds later I had a little helper. He had a blast putting the wet laundry into the dryer. I grabbed my camera so in a few years I can remind him that he LOVES doing laundry!!!!! It is so fun to watch him grow up and learn new things.

Gymboree

We joined Gymboree when James Thomas was 11 months old and he absolutely loves it. The first time we went he cried when we walked in. He thought it was another nursery and that I was about to leave. Once he realized that Mommy wasn't going anywhere, he opened up and really dove into all the activities. He has progressed so well and I really think he is learning a lot from our time here. 3.5 months later I realize that I have never brought my camera to catch the little guy in action, so here are some pictures from Gymboree.



The last three pictures are of James Thomas practicing his flexibility at home. I just walked in the kitchen and he was doing that!!! TOO FUNNY

Check out our new buttons

A very dear friend of mine, Mrs. Amanda Yokum, just updated the praying for James Thomas and Luke buttons. What a special treat for us. I can't believe how much these boys have grown. It is amazing to watch them learn and try new things every day. Thank you Amanda for doing this. It means so much!

James and I really appreciate all the prayers. God is hearing the cry of His people and watching over us. James Thomas is on week 4 of his steroid trial and has shown a response thus far. 80% of DBA kids show a response initially, so now we get to the tricky part. Over the next few months we will lower James Thomas' dose. We need his body to still respond until we get to a long term, healthy dose. About 40% of DBA kids are able to do this. Please pray that James Thomas is in that group!!!!!

We are right in the middle of the IVF stuff. I am starting to get really anxious about there being a strong embryo that is an HLA match. All I can do is turn it over to God but boy am I nervous!!! Prayers in this area of our life would be greatly appreciated too.

Again, I know we wouldn't be in the place we are today if it weren't for all our faithful family, friends, and friends of friends covering us with prayer. Thank you!