Camden

Mery Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hi all, I can't believe how long it has been since I have made a post. Sorry about that! We are having a very busy year. Camden turned 3 in November and we had a huge birthday bash that included a bounce house and a ride on Thomas the Train! He had so much fun at his party! The babies are now 10 months old and are crusing around everywhere. We can't contain them! On a very sad note, we lost our beloved best friend Jimmy today. He was almost 15 years old and lived a full, fun life. It doesn't make it any easier though. Tonight is the first night in almost 12 years that I haven't spent with him. I miss you, Jimmers! Cam is not totally aware that Jimmy is gone, but he did tell him good bye and that he loved him before we took him to the vet. How do you tell a 3 year old that his best friend is gone? So glad we have some great memories with our JimDog.

We are getting excited about Christmas and watching Cam's excitement grow each day. Every morning he asks, "Is it baby Jesus' Birthday today?" He sings Away in the Manger and does the motions he learned at our mommy and me class.
Chad was awarded the Teacher of the Year at his school! We are so proud of daddy! He pours his heart and soul into his students and they are blessed to have him as a teacher.

Here are a few pictures to share. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the new year.

Love the McBane's

We're Home!!!!!!!!

2010-07-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

Hey all! We made it home around 9 last night. We had quite a party with Chad's mom and dad and our niece Erika! They had a cake, balloons, glow sticks and party noise makers waiting for us! Cam was so excited! The twins were still awake and happy to see us too! We had a fun day with our family. That's all for now. Thanks for praying for our little guy!
Julie, Chad, Cam, Max and Mason

Status Quo

2010-07-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hey! Cam had a post op follow up today and the dr. was pleased with his healing. We have had a very uneventful few days which is a good thing. We have just been keeping Cam still and doing a lot of lounging around the Children's House. Tonight our nurse from Hopkins came over to visit and eat dinner with us. It was so nice to see Shonda! Then the therapy dogs came to the Children's House to see all the kids. Teddy and Sherman were so cute! Cam loved petting them. It made us miss our dog Jimmy. We have been skyping my mom and aunt so we got to see Max and Mason tonight. They are getting so big! I can't wait til we are home and one big happy family again. Cam has another doctor appt. on Friday and if all is going well we will be able to leave Friday or Saturday. We'll keep everyone posted. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers. God is good! Hugs to everyone!

Julie, Chad, and Camden

Cam's Doing Great

2010-07-12T05:03:00.001-07:00

hey everyone! Camden had a successful surgery last Friday up in Baltimore. He is resting comfortably at The Children's House, which he loves! They have so many toys and games to play. We went to the Aquarium yesterday and he liked seeing the fish and sharks. The twins stayed in Florida with our parents and we miss them so much. This trip would have been impossible with them though! Here are some pics from the hospital.

xoxo julie, chad and cam

The McBane Boys

2010-04-16T00:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I just realized the last post was at Christmas and that was a very long time ago! We have been pretty busy since Christmas. I ended up in the hospital 3 more times before I finally delivered the twins on February 8! We named the boys Maxwell Colton and Mason Edward. Max weighed 5. 13 and Mason weighed 7.2! No wonder I was so HUGE! Both babies are doing great and big brother Camden is adjusting well to having 2 new baby brothers! We had lots of family support during the first 2 months! We are so grateful for that! I'll post some pics so you can see and I'm still working on the birth announcement. The best way to sum up how it is going is.." They are great babies.... there are just 2 of them!" We are a little sleep deprived at our house, but loving every moment with our 3 little men! Hope you are all well. Keep in touch!
The McBane Family
Party of 5!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-29T21:03:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you enjoyed the Holidays. Cam was so into Christmas this year. It is so much fun to see things through your child's eyes! He named every santa claus, baby Jesus, snowman, train, reindeer (etc) in front yards all over the neighborhood! He discovered Charlie Brown's Christmas and can sing every word to "Jingle Bells". He got a new bike for Christmas! Check out how excited he is!

We had to celebrate our Christmas a day late because I started having some contractions and was admitted to the hospital on the 23. They kept me there until Christmas Day, but I got out by 2. The babies are doing great...I guess they just wanted to come out and celebrate Christmas. I was not allowing that! So now I am on House Arrest and have to really lay low. My wonderful husband is taking care of everything!!! Cooking, cleaning, entertaining Cam (and me~) is a tough job, but he is doing it all! He's going to need a vacation before these babies arrive! The boys are getting big and I'm getting even bigger. The babies weigh around 3 and 4 pounds each. Well, we will keep you all posted on the twins. Take care and keep in touch!
Julie, Chad, Camden, Jimmy, and twins to be!

Happy Thanksgiving and 2nd Birthday Cam!

2009-11-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Camden celebrated his 2nd birthday one week ago. We had a great day of celebrating with family and friends! Cam is getting busier each day! He repeats pretty much anything you say...He is getting excited about Santa Claus this year. I am 6 months pregnant with the boys and doing great! Both babies are healthy. We'll keep you posted!

Julie, Chad, Cam, Jim and twins on the way

Milk and Cookies take two....

2009-10-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this video will work...my brain is not funtioning these days!!!

Milk & Cookies, Barney, & Oh Boys!

2009-10-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Just thought we would update the blog with some new pictures and videos! Cam is really talking now and is so much fun! We are loving the cooler weather today! Here are some pictures from Cam's first trip to Universal Studios, dunkin milk and cookies, my growing-by-the-day belly and more! We are having two boys!!! Our house is going to be quite active! We are so excited about our growing family. Take care and talk to you all soon!

Julie, Chad, Camden, Jimmy, and twins on-the-way!

Hair cut and big news!

2009-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Today Cam had his first haircut! We went to the neatest place called Cow Licks! They had a race car, airplane and a Barbie Jeep to sit in. We won't tell you which he picked...He looks so handsome and even more like his dad. Cam didn't even know his hair was being cut because he was so busy driving the car, watching Mickey Mouse and eating his lollipop! They gave him a balloon and a really cool certificate with a before and after picture. It was a really cool experience for his first haircut. My little boy looks like a little man now.

We have some big news....we're expecting...twins!!! We are still pretty shocked, but are so excited! We're getting a double blessing! The doctor thinks they are identical. I am about 3 months so we don't know the genders yet! Please pray for the health of our little ones! Cam is going to be surprised when 2 little monsters invade his space. He is going to be an awesome big brother!

Chad is back to work and I am working 2 days a week. We had a nice visit from my mom, sister and 2 nieces. We hope you are doing well. Stay in touch!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Camden, Jimmy....and Twins McBane

Busy Camden!

2009-07-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Sorry it has been so long since our last update. Camden has been keeping us very busy! We are enjoying every minute with our wild man. The cutest thing he is doing at the moment is answering questions. If you ask him a question like, "Do you want to go in the pool? He says, "Yeah!" It is so funny! If you are eating something he bombards you with " Bite, Bite" meaning he wants a bite of what you are eating! He is certainly growing. At his last check up he was in the 97th percentile for height! Guess basketball is in his future! We were able to go to the midwest to visit all of Chad's family this summer! Once we got there, (only had to make an emergency landing in Orlando due to a mechanical problem on the plane, lovely!) we had a wonderful time. Chad's parents had so many toys for him to play with. Cousin Erika kept him entertained with peek a boo. Cam finally got to meet his great grandparents on Chad's side along with 3 great aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins and so many other family members! We also got to see alot of friends out at Scott and Leslie house. Their son, Caleb, and Cam had a great time playing together! It was such a great trip! Cam learned new words everyday, like Hey batter batter batter swing batter! Chad and I got to go to a Cardinals game with Sean and Kateri. We took alot of great pictures, but they all have a smudge mark from someone's little fingers! We celebrated Chad's birthday on the 4th and ended the night with fireworks! Cam and Cooper loved watching the fireworks. He kept yelling, "Ohh, Aww!" We are relaxing and enjoying our summer vacation. Cam swims everyday and loves it! He is putting his face in the water and blowing bubbles! I'll post some pictures for you to see him! He is in need of his first haircut, but I don't want my little man to look too grown up! Take care and drop us a comment to tell us how you are all doing!

Julie, Chad, Cam and Jim

One Year Later

2009-05-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

Camden had his first surgery a year ago today. We are certainly glad we are not going through it all again. It is amazing how far he has come in 1 year. He is bringing so much joy to us everyday! From running around the house chasing Jimmy to talking up a storm, he is such a blessing! Thank you all for supporting us, especially at this time last year. We still look through all of the cards that we sent to us. We celebrated by buying 3 new Bar E (Barney) dvds! I'm thrilled to report that he is finally sleeping through the night. All of those hospital stays interrupted his sleeping pattern. We are just so happy that we don't have to go to Baltimore this year. We are enjoying time as a family and can't wait to spend some time at the beach and in the pool this summer. We hope you are all doing well. Take care,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy
(My camera is on the blink...I'll post a pic soon.)

Best Friends!

2009-05-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all! We hope you are doing well. Camden is just doing so great. We wanted to show you his new best friend! They were both cuddling in bed last night! Cam is started to say so many new words. He says, Baba (bottle,) Maw (more) Bye Bye, Mama, Dada, KyKy (cousin Kylie) Nana, Maema (Jimmy ?) Outside, ball, Dog, Kitty Cat, Keys., Big step, and wawa (water). He has also decided that he wants to sit in a big chair at the table...no more high chair! We have been swimming almost everyday. He loves the pool. My goal is to teach him how to swim this summer. He will blow bubbles in the pool, kick his feet and jump in to me! I hope he is a fish by the middle of summer.

Love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy

Sit Boys Sit

2009-04-04T18:58:00.001-07:00

Hey! We had to share how well trained Camden is! Jimmy has always been able to sit and now Cam can too! The other day I was telling JimDog to sit and all of a sudden Cam plopped down! These two are best friends! Hope you enjoy!

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy

Yummy Watermelon!

2009-03-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here is Camden eating his favorite food....watermelon!

Cam is walking...watch out world!!

2009-03-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share with you all that Cam is walking! It is so great because he is getting pretty heavy! He is growing like crazy and even saying a few words like "ball and einsteins" (Little Einsteins!)

Chad's basketball team made it to the playoffs. He was really excited for his team! Cam loved going to all of the games and being the official mascot! Jimmy is getting all of Cam's food, whether is is given to him or not! Take care and enjoy the video of him walking. Sorry its of his back...can't exactly follow directions yet!

Cam's featured in The Children's House newsletter

2009-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hey! We hope you are all well! Cam is growing like crazy. He is starting to take a few steps on his own. We wanted to share an article with you guys. The Children's House featured Camden in the February newsletter. We don't know what we would have done without The Children's House. Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.believeintomorrow.org/familystories.html

Enjoying life!

2009-01-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

We have been home for over a week now and are enjoying being here! Cam is doing great. You would never know he was in the hospital for 2 weeks. Since we didn't do any Christmas shopping before Christmas, we had fun shopping with the sales after Christmas. At The Children's House, they have this awesome playhouse that Cam loved to play in. Chad calls it a "Manly House". We searched all of the stores and online and couldn't find the exact one (without paying a fortune to ship it.) On our last attempt to locate the house, we found it at a Wal-Mart in Coral Springs. He has been playing in it 24/7. It is a gas station, school house, market, atm machine and (Chad's favorite) and has a basketball hoop! We had to rearrange our house to fit his into the back room!

Baltimore is still haunting us. The first day we were back home, we were in the car at a stop light. All of a sudden, we felt a bump from behind. The man in the car behind us bumped into us and he was from Baltimore! We were all fine, but what are the chances?!

Chad has started coaching basketball. My mom is coming for 2 days and then Chad's parents are coming for a week and a half.

Cam is getting so big and we are loving his new sounds and watching him explore! He loves his JimDog and going on walks in his wagon.
We hope you all had a Merry Christmas a nice New Year. Keep in touch!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and JimDog

2008-12-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

Cam is out of the hospital!!!!!

2008-12-22T20:41:00.001-08:00

We finally have some good news to post! Cam was discharged from the hospital today at 4. He is pretty much over the stomach bug and his surgery was successful. Until this morning, we were concerned that the surgery had some complications, but Dr. G. reassured us today that all is well. Tonight was one of the most special nights we have had. The Children's House invited all of the families to ride in a limo, eat dinner out at a restaurant and have a visit from Santa! Cam loved all of the lights inside the limo. It was a big Excursion limo. He fell asleep when we got to the restaurant so Chad, Nana and I actually got to eat together! Then Santa arrived and brought all of the kids several gifts. At the very end, he brought bikes to all of the older kids and gave Camden a very cool ride on truck. We can't express how much joy this brought us to see the kids so happy under such difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, Cam slept through Santa's visit, but we did put him on Santa's lap and got a picture. Tonight helped to erase some of the bad moments we have had up here. Our plan was to fly home tomorrow, but we need to stay in Baltimore for one extra day. We are flying home on Wednesday night, just in time for Christmas Eve at my sister's house (where I hear we might have another Santa sighting!). Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers throughout this trying time. We have felt the prayers from far away. We can't wait to get back to the Florida sunshine. Merry Christmas to all!
Love,
Julie, Chad, Camden and Nana (Jimmy says hello from Orlando!)

Update from Nana

2008-12-21T19:50:00.000-08:00

Julie and Chad are both well now and busy taking care of Camden. Camden had to be readmitted to the hospital Friday afternoon. He was dehydrated and needed a couple of stitches to keep his stent in place. He definitely does not like the hospital or anyone there. I stayed with him Friday night and Sat morning I fell victim to the awful stomach bug that Julie and Chad had. Everyone said I would get it. Luckily it didn't hit me as bad and by Sunday I was ok but banned from the hospital room. Julie and Chad have been taking turns staying with him trying to keep him calm while he is there. I became the housekeeper and gopher for now. We should know more Monday when Dr. G comes to see Camden. We need to pray for Cam to be able to keep his fluids down and for good healing of his surgery. Julie and Chad are taking such good care of Camden and God is giving them the strength that they need to see him through this rough time. Camden is such a trooper and is still watching his favorite DVDs and clapping his hands even though one is covered up because of his IV. Julie and Chad had a visit from their friend Leslie Jack's mother and that meant so much to them today. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Nana

From Bad to Worse

2008-12-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

Well, just when we thought things were bad enough, Chad and I ended up in the hospital. As Cam was being discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, his pediatrician was wheeling me down to the ER. Chad took Cam back to the Children's House and he started to feel ill too. Our favorite nurse, Shonda, came to the rescue. I don't know what we would have done with her. She came over and watched Cam so Chad could also go to the ER. It took me 4 hours to get in since there were 75 people in the waiting room. By the time I got in, Chad had arrived and they rushed him back. After being pumped full of fluids, Chad was released around 4 am. I still wasn't doing much better so they sent me up to an observation floor. Poor Shonda had to work the next morning, but she stayed with Cam the entire night. Talk about your own private nurse! I was discharged from the hospital Thursday evening. One of our friends Maria came over to watch Cam during the day so Chad could rest a little. Thursday night we became concerned that Cam was becoming dehydrated so we took him back to the ER. They told us it was going to be a 2-4 hour wait, but we must have looked so bad that they took him within 15 minutes. Ealier in the day, my mom hoped on a plane and flew up to Baltimore to help us out. Chad and I have never been so happy to see her! Maria's husband, Phil, picked her up from the airport. So now we are all resting at the Children's House. This has been such a traumatic experience. I think we all might need therapy! We are praying for a restful weekend. It is supposed to become very cold this weekend. Cam has a doctor's appt. on Monday and then we fly home on Tuesday. We can't wait to get home and put this awful two weeks behind us. Hope to report better news later. Thanks for your prayers. Keep em coming...we need em!
Love,
Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Oh what a few days...

2008-12-17T11:30:00.001-08:00

I just realized in all of our craziness that I had not posted to the blog. Let's see...where do I begin about the past fews days..We are still in the hospital. Cam's surgery site is healing nicely and all of that is on course. However, he caught a stomach bug and has been miserable! Since he had the bug, he was put in solidary confinement! I'm not kidding. He had to stay in his room and all of the nurses and doctors had to put on gowns and gloves just to walk in his room. After the epideral came out on Monday, we were hoping to take wagon rides, but we couldn't. He was pretty dehydrated so they started the 4th (yes 4~!) IV last night and pumped him full of fluids. He had a MRI on Monday morning so he couldn't eat anything after midnight on Sunday. Once he came out of the anesthesia, he refused to drink anything for about 36 hours. He did eat pizza though. He had been receiving all of his medication through an IV, but in order to get out of here, he has to take them all by mouth. That has been fun...He has thrown up every medicine we put in him. I was the target for many of those! So we are waiting to see the surgeon and will hopefully be discharged this afternoon. We hope when we get out of the hospital, he will calm down and start drinking and eating better. Chad and I slept about 3 hours since Friday. Did I mention that our laptop broke again! We are borrowing one from the hospital. This week seems so much worse than the entire 6 and a half weeks we spent here earlier this year. Well, we are hopefully on the upswing and this will all be behind us.
I'll post when we get out of the hospital.
Julie, Chad and poor Cam Man

2008-12-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

This is a quick video from before surgery. He was having so much fun! Cam is resting comfortably now after a rough start this morning. Cam has a medicinal patch that helps to control bladder spasms. It is supposed to be changed every three days. His seems to always wear off about 12 hours before it is supposed to be changed. The nurses were very quick to get him a new one, so his spasms didn't last very long. Tomorrow they are going to turn off the epidural. If his pain level is not to high they will remove it tomorrow night or early Monday morning. He has been taking lots of formula and we think once we get him up and moving he will begin to eat food again. The weather hasn't been too bad. The temperature has been around 40 during the day. We are hoping for one day of snow once Cam is out of here. Hope all is well back home. Thanks for all the comments! We love staying in touch!

Chad, Jul, and Cam

Hanging in there...

2008-12-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hey,

Sorry we didn't post yesterday. Cam was having a great day of just sleeping until we noticed around 6 pm that his IV had come out. You know Cam, he can't stand to have all of these wires and tubes in him! So it was a pretty traumatic night getting it restarted. Two great nurses from the NICU came up to restart it. When he has surgery, they start off using a mask to sedate him and then they put all of the lines in so he doesn't feel them. Anyway, it is back in. Chad spent the night with him and neither one of them slept very much. They are both sleeping now! We hope to have a calm day. The doctors are still happy with his progress.
Cam's friend, Luke, had surgery yesterday and he is moving to the floor today. Yesterday, a pastor in the Baltimore area came by to visit Cam. He is a friend of one of my cousins. He came to visit several times when were up here this summer. He reminds us of Dan Myers, our friend and one of the pastors at our church back home. My school's Christmas Play is tonight. I haven't missed one in almost 10 years. It is always such a joy to see the students present the true meaning of Christmas. Cam would have loved all of the music.
On a sad note, a former student of mine was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident on Monday. Please keep his family in your prayers. His memorial service is tomorrow and I wish I could be there.
Wishing we were home,
Julie, Chad, and Cam XOXO

Surgery was a success!

2008-12-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Cam came through surgery with flying colors! He began the day playing in the Pre-Op waiting room. He had everyone in the room laughing at his sounds and how hard he was playing. Then, it was time to go back to the OR. The hospital allows 1 parent to scrub up and walk back into the OR with their child. Chad always lets me do this, which I couldn't imagine not doing, but at the same time, it is the hardest thing I ever do as a mom. He had an awesome team of doctors and nurses taking care of him. Dr. Gearhart felt the surgery was a great success. His bladder measured on the larger side as far as exstrophy goes. We were thankful for that. He is a true fighter because when it was time to take the breathing tube out, he did it himself! He was awake when he wheeled by us on the way to Recovery. After about 1 hour, we were on our way back to the 6th floor. Cam is a bit of a celebrity here at Hopkins. Our room has been flooded with visitors since we came in. Even when Cam was in surgery, Chad was walking down the hallway and a medical student yelled, "Hey, you're Camden's dad!" Cam's roomates dad asked if Cam was singing autographs! It's nice to feel like you know people when you are so far away from home. Cam is resting peacefully right now. He has an epidural and is on quite a bit of pain medicine. We are relieved that Cam has had 2 major surgeries while he is so young and hopefully won't remember them. Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes today. We felt our support team with us. It has been a long day...we'll write more tomorrow.

Love,

Camden, Chad and Julie

Cam's all packed and ready to go!

2008-12-09T17:21:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

We are up here in Baltimore. It is a little chilly! We had a great flight. Cam slept for the majority of the way here. Cam has surgery tomorrow morning. The surgery will last about 5 hours. He had an appt. with his surgeon this afternoon and he was so pleased with how everything has healed since the first big surgery.

We saw many people we met when we were up here before. Everyone is shocked at how big Cam is! Tonight he has become Mr. Independent. He was walking with this push walker and I was helping him steer. He took his hand off of the walker, pushed my hand away and then started walking again!! It was the funniest thing!

We saw the Therapy Dogs again. He saw the same dogs the night before his big surgery. We will update you all tomorrow. Please keep Cam in your prayers. He is such a strong guy!

Love from Baltimore,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Jim

Happy Birthday, Camden!

2008-11-18T19:18:00.001-08:00

Can you believe Cam is 1 today? What a year we have had! He is doing so well. We had a fun birthday celebration with family and friends on Saturday. It was even warm enough to swim in the pool! The party theme was Mickey Mouse! Tonight we took Cam to The Cheesecake Factory for his birthday dinner! They sang "Happy Birthday" and brought him an ice cream sundae. He didn't like it. Can you imagine that? Thanks for supporting us through his 1st year! Enjoy the pictures!

Yoda - the force is with you!

2008-11-06T04:51:00.000-08:00

Hey, here are the pictures from Halloween!

Halloween Pumpkin

2008-10-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Just thought we would show your our little Pumpkin! We went to the Library tonight for Spooktacular Reading!! For real Halloween, Cam is going to be Yodo and Jimmy is going to be Darth Vader! We'll post pics of that! Cam is on the move. He army man crawls all over the house. He has started pulling up and has taken a few crawls. He claps, waves his hands and loves to do the motions to "the wipers on the bus!" We are enjoying every minute with our little man!

One of Cam's friends from Hopkins is having heart surgery tomorrow. We're sending lots of prayers his way. He is 7 months old and his name is Luke.

Take care and hope you are all doing well!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy

Introducing Cam's cousin Haylie!

2008-10-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. My sister and Rod had their new baby girl! She is too cute and so little! Cam and I went up to Orlando this week to meet the newest addition to our family! Kylie is a proud big sister. While Haylie slept the days away, Kylie and Camden played hard together! It was so much fun to see them interacting! Enjoy the pictures!

Julie, Chad, Cam and Jimmy

Fun in the pool and walking Jimmy

2008-09-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to update you with a few pictures of Cam. He loves to swim in the pool and walk his best bud, Jimmy. He is doing the army man crawl all over the house. He had a high fever over the past few days, but it seems to be better now. Hope you are all doing well!

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy

Cam Man

2008-09-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone~ We are busy with life right now!! Cam had 2 birthday parties this weekend. He is doing great! You should see him roll around on the floor. He is quite a rascal now!! He says "MaMa" now when he sees me! I love it! He loves it when daddy comes home from work and chases him around the house! Cam loves his big brother Jimmy, especially when he sneezes! He loves watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and eating! Enjoy a few pictures of our little angel!!

Hope you are all doing well! Take care and drop us a comment to let us know how you are doing.

Julie, Chad, Cam and Jimmy

Cam's doing great!

2008-08-14T18:50:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been so long since we have updated. We have been so busy since we got home and have just been enjoying our time. As of last night, Camden began sleeping through the night. It was a long 3 and a half weeks of getting up 4-5 times a night. He has been to 2 birthday parties, swam in the pool a ton, been to a Cardinals/Marlins game, had a visit from Nana, Gampi, Aunt Jenn Jenn and Cousin Ky Ky, been to the beach, and so much more. He is almost sitting up all by himself and he is eating Cheerios! He loves sleeping on his side and he rolls all over the floor! He even smiles at the camera when you take a picture of him!!!

In this crazy year, Chad has successfully completed his Master's Degree in Educational Leadership. We are so proud of him! He is going to make a great principal one day!

Here are a few pictures of little man! Hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you all soon!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy

cam'

2008-08-13T18:11:00.001-07:00

Someone looks happy to be home!!!

2008-07-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Most of you know by now, but we are home! It feels great to be back in sunny Florida! Sorry we haven't updated before now, but we have been getting about 3 hours of sleep each night. Cam is doing great! He is recovery nicely from his surgery. He is just having a hard time adjusting to being home. He had to keep his legs wrapped up for 2 weeks and we just were able to unwrap them yesterday. He likes being free! He looked like a merman (not a maid!) We can't tell if he is having pain or just wants to be held all of the time. He is also used to seeing someone by his side at all hours of the day and night, so when he wakes up in his crib and doesn't see us, he lets us know! We are finished weaning him off of all the meds. He doesn't have much of an appetite yet. Hopefully it will come back soon. He still loves his swing! We got a jogging stroller and he loves to go on long walks!

We are so glad to have our Jim Dog back with us! Cam has noticed Jimmy! He laughs everytime Jim comes near him and especially when Jimmy sneezes!

I don't know if you guys have seen "Hopkins". It's a reality show about Johns Hopkins. We watched it each week in the hospital. Since we left, we can't seem to bring ourselves to watch it. We lived "Hopkins" and while it is an amazing hospital, it brings back all of those long days and night we spent there.

Chad has been doing his internship all week and Cam and I have been hanging out at home.

Thank you all for following our journey with us. We have felt the love from our family and friends during this difficult time. We have also met some incredible people throughout this whole ordeal. We know that God has big plans for our little man and we feel honored to be along for the ride. We started this blog when we left for Baltimore back in October 07 so we could keep in touch with everyone back in Florida while we were away. It's funny... we met so many great people in Baltimore and from all over, that we want to keep in touch with all of you that are far away now. Cam received the most amazing care up at Hopkins. The nurses, doctors, and the others are top notch! We are so grateful for the care he got up there and we know he will be just fine because he was there. We met people from so many other states and countries while we were there. We will try to update Cam's blog every so often so you can see how much he has grown! We will be back for another surgery by the end of the year so we will update from Hopkins again! We just don't want to think about that right now! Hope you all have a great weekend and we can't wait to see everyone again soon.

Love from Deerfield!!!

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy

2008-07-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

Cam is out of the hospital! It is the best feeling to have him back with us. We feel like we have a new baby again. We are all exhausted, but happy. Cam was discharged at 11:00 and by 12:30 he was in the car taking Nana to the airport! He had a funny expression at first in the car...like, "Wow, it's been a long time since I have been in here!" Actually, the windshield wipers in our Trailblazer quit working the other day, so Chad took it in to the dealer at 7 this morning and we had to rent a car for the day. We didn't want to take a chance driving without working wipers!

Cam slept for the majority of the day. Several volunteers provided an awesome dinner tonight at the Children's House and we got to eat dinner with Jack and his parents! Jack is having surgery tomorrow. The boys rolled around on the floor tonight while Chad watched the All-Star baseball game. We had to give Cam more meds tonight to keep with the weaning schedule. He has still been getting sick, but the docs don't seem concerned. We hope it stops soon. We plan on doing nothing tomorrow! When Cam sleeps, we are going to sleep! Thanks for the continued prayers for safe travel home.

Love,

Julie, Chad and Camden

Pack your bags, Cam!

2008-07-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

We got official word that Cam will be getting out of the hospital tomorrow!!!!! Words can't even express how happy we are! It has been 46 days since his surgery here at Hopkins. We have received incredible care while Cam was here. Some days it seemed like the nurses and doctors were taking care of us as much as they were taking care of Cam! He has been so strong through all of this. We are so proud of him.

My mom is flying home tomorrow and we are planning on leaving on Friday. We will stop somewhere in the Carolinas Friday night and then in Orlando (we will get Jimmy!) Saturday night. We should be home by Sunday!!! Chad has flown home a few times and he said our house seems so big compared to the corner of Cam's hospital room that we have been living in! We are going to enjoy our last few weeks of summer!

The picture is Dr. Gearhart holding little man. He is Camden's surgeon. Dr. G. is truly a wonderful man and surgeon. He came in and scooped Cam right into his arms.

We did schedule Cam's next surgery for November 21. We don't even want to think about coming back up here so soon, but we should only be up for 2 weeks then. We seem to be making it a tradition to be in Baltimore for Thanksgiving.

Check back tomorrow to see pictures of Cam outside of the hosptial! What an answer to prayers!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Camden's Adventure Continues!!!

2008-07-13T09:44:00.001-07:00

Cam's playing doctor!

2008-07-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we thought we were cruising right along into the home stretch.....until Camden decided to practice his doctor skills. A few hours after the doctor removed 2 of his tubes, he decided to remove the last tube himself! We were in shock. He literally handed me his tube! I was like, "What is this?" We went into panic mode for a few minutes because we thought he was going to have to go back to the Operating Room to get it reinserted. This would have set us back a few days. Thankfully due to the doctors quick response they were able to reinsert the tube without a trip to the OR. One of the residents who was operated on Cam happened to be at the hospital so he came and did the procedure. This was a God thing because being a weekend it is hard to see a doctor you know. The tube was scheduled to come out today or tomorrow, but they needed to do an ultrasound first and then measure all sorts of things with the tube still in.

He also developed a little rash so we are trying to get rid of that. He has begun eating better than he did on Friday so we are happy about that.

On a happier note, a group came and set up this model train set. We took Cam down in the wagon to see it. The sound of the trains put him right to sleep! We met the host of Bindo yesterday. She was excited to meet Camden!

Please pray for a calm day today! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Julie, Chad Camden and Nana

2008-07-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

We have had a few eventful days!!! As you can see from the other pictures, Cam is out of bed and we can hold him! It is the best feeling to hold him again! He is so heavy and long!!! The pins and fixator were removed on Thursday and two stints were removed today. He only has one more tube in his little body. Yesterday he was going through a little bit of withdrawal from all of the medications he has been on. They are slowing weaning him but he is showing some signs of withdrawal so they had to slow it down a little more. He has done ok for the past 12 hours so hopefully we can keep weaning tomorrow. The plan is to have an ultrasound of his kidneys Sunday or Morning, then remove his last tube and leave the hospital 24 hours later!!! I can't believe we are actually saying, "Leave the hospital!!!" We will stay at the Children's House for a few extra days and then hopefully we will be on our way home by the weekend!!!!

We had a few visitors yesterday! Our friends, Merryl and Austin Reynolds were up here for a some doctors appointments and they stopped by to see little man. I have known the Reynolds family for a long time and had the privilege to teach Chrissy and Austin. It was so nice to see friends from Florida! They have been so helpful to us through this whole ordeal.

Cam is keeping Daddy, Nana and me busy! He loves to read books and watch Veggie Tales. We are counting days the days til we get out of the hospital. We have had such a good experience here with the nurses, doctors and everyone else who works here. We thank God everyday for bringing us to this hospital for Cam's care.

We'll keep you posted on Cam's big exit from the hospital! It may take us three wagons to get out of here. One for Cam and 2 for all of his stuff!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

To The Playdeck!!!

2008-07-11T10:48:00.001-07:00

God's Presence and Great News!

2008-07-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone~

Cam got his xray this morning! It was orginally scheduled for Monday and yesterday we heard that they would do it on Friday. This morning the Ortho team came in and said they were taking the xray this morning!!! Everything on the xray looked good so the pins and fixator come out and off tomorrow morning at 6 !!!! This means we get to hold Cam! We are so excited! Chad is flying back tomorrow and he is going to try to take an earlier flight. All of the nurses can't wait to hold him too! They are going to be lined up outside of his room! I'm going to have to fight off Chad, Nana and all of the nurses!! Once the pins come out, they will wait a few days and then start removing the tubes. If all goes well, he could be out of the hospital by early next week!! Today is day 40. It's hard to believe we have been here this long. He has had a great day. But I can tell he is ready to move around. He has been flat on his back for 5 weeks and 5 days. Thanks for all of the prayers.. they have been heard and answered!

I finally went to see the Jesus Statue at the hospital. It is breathtaking. The story behind how Hopkins got its name is pretty cool too. A man named Johns Hopkins (Johns was his great-grandmother's madien name) became a successful business man and wanted to give back to the community. He wanted a hospital that would serve all people so he donated 7 million $ and started the hospital and university. This was back in the 1800's. This statue has remained in the hospital and it has been said that is why so many miracles take place here. God truly has blessed this hospital. There is a book that you can write a note in and leave a picture. We did that for Cam today.

Please pray for the little girl next to Cam. She was in a near-drowning accident. She is the most beautiful little girl. Her family is so strong.

I have enjoyed spending quality time with my mom and I know she has loved being here with Cam. We read him a book last night and he laughed through the whole thing! His spirit is so bright. I am so glad he didn't lose that sparkle while he was stuck in bed. If anything, he is even more animated than before! The picture is with 4 nurses who love Cam so much!

Hopefully tomorrow we can post some pictures of him sitting up or going for a wagon ride around the hospital! Keep the prayers coming!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Nana and Cam

2008-07-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Cam is having a good day so far! He drank 10 oz of formula overnight! He is starting to get his chubby cheeks back and it is so good to see.

Our niece, Kylie, is missing her Nana so we put a picture up so she could see her. Nana misses Ky Ky. Kylie also misses her best friend, Baby Cam. He misses her too!

We received a package from Alisen and Rebekah and their boys, Johnny and Judah, with lots of movies, magazines and a soft book for Cam! Thanks you guys!

We keep seeing miracles up here. There was a little baby girl from Honduras who had a hole in her heart and she was going in for surgery this morning. The doctors came in last night and said the medicine is working so they didn't have to operate today! Cam is our everyday miracle with how well he is doing!

Please keep a few others in your prayers: The little girl who had a portion of her brain removed had to be readmitted to the hospital and please pray for Jill's mom (Grandma Smith). Chad teaches with Jill.

The scripture verse on our blanket reminds us that, "With God all things are possible"!

We'll keep you all updated!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Cam's had enough!

2008-07-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! This picture of Cam (well the blanket and his arms) shows us that he has had enough of this hospital!!! Just kidding. He is actually doing really well. He seems content and happy most of the time. When the nurses come to his bedside, he pulls the blanket or his shirt over his head! It is the funniest thing! Also, when he wants to go to sleep, he pulls the blanket over his head. He can sleep with the blanket over him at the hospital because he is hooked up to all sorts of machines, but when we get home, he is going to have to forget the blankets. I think it has something to do with the light and noise in the hospital!

Chad is on his way back home today. It is always hard when he leaves, but he will be back on Thursday. My mom is still up here so Cam is getting spoiled by Nana.

We had fun celebrating Chad's birthday in the hospital. The nurses helped us decorate the halls and Cam's room and then they came parading down the hall singing Happy Birthday! He said he felt like he was at the Olive Garden! We all ate yummy cake and then Chad and I went to the Orioles game for a birthday date! It was nice to get some fresh air, even though it rained on us a little. The Mays family gave us tickets to the game and the seats were awesome. We were on the 5th row right next to 1st base!

So many people have sent us nice packages. The Trentecoste family (Cathy was our labor and deilvery nurse at Hopkins) sent us a wonderful selection of fruit, The Schneider family sent us tons of goodies to eat and magazines to read (The National Enquirer was very entertaining!), Brandy, Brett and boys sent us this great a Game Time basket with great snacks and checkers!! The Mitchell Family (who we met at The Children's House) sent us this super soft blanket with a Bible verse on it. Each of you are so creative and thoughtful! Thank you so much! The many cards have been so uplifting! Each one is appreciated! We are so blessed by our friends and family. We couldn't get through this difficult time without all of your thoughts and prayers. We can't wait to see each of you soon!

As it stands now, Cam will have an xray on July 14 (next Monday) and then things will start rolling. I hope we are home by the end of July so we can enjoy a few weeks of Florida summer. It is kind of cool here for July. Last night I wore long sleeves and pants and was a bit chilly! I know I'm a wimp, but I love the Florida heat!!!

We miss you all!
Julie, Chad, Camden and Nana

Daddy's Birthday!

2008-07-04T21:04:00.001-07:00

Daddy's Back!

2008-07-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Cam had a great day! His daddy came back up to Baltimore and it brought the biggest smile to his face! Many doctors came by today and all of them said he is doing great. He is still "talking" up a storm and it is so cute to hear his little voice. One of the great nurses at Hopkins bought Cam a shirt for him to wear when Chad came back. It says "I got my muscles from my dad!" Chad got the biggest kick out of it! Yesterday Cam won Bingo and he got the cutest Winnie the Pooh hooded towel. Tomorrow is Chad's birthday. We have lots of surprises for him. Chad and I plan on going to the Orioles game and Nana will stay with Cam at the hospital. We heard we can see the fireworks from the hospital so we plan on watching them. We hope you all have a Happy 4th!

Lots of love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Nana

New tricks!

2008-07-01T19:05:00.001-07:00

Well, who says you can't learn anything in the hospital? Cam is talking up a storm! He learned how to high five. His newest trick is he pulls the blanket over his head whenever a doctor or nurse comes by his bedside! It is really funny! We keep telling him, "You can't run, but you can hide!" He tested out his heart monitor lead on his tongue the other day. From his expression, it didn't taste too good!

He is eating much better now. We are trying to get him some protein so we asked for a meal pureed for dinner. I put the smallest bit of chicken on Cam's lips and he instantly had a gag reflex! We're sticking to sweet potatoes and fruit!

Right now Cam is scheduled to have his xrays on July 14 and then hopefully he will get out of the hospital a few days later. This is a little longer than we expected, but its ok.

We miss daddy so much! He is loving his internship, but I know he misses his little man.

When we see Cam's sweet smile or hear his adorable laugh, we are reassured that God is taking care of him. God gave Cam the perfect temperment to stay in bed for this long. I don't know many people who would be this happy in bed for so many weeks. His Nana loves singing to him and he loves to hear it.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers.
Love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Nana

What a weekend!

2008-06-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been a while since we have posted. It has been a whirlwind of a weekend. My mom came back up on Thursday so Chad and I could go to the annual picnic on Friday and Saturday. We met people from all over the world and their kids were so cute! The surgeon gave Cam a shout out over the mic that he was the newest member of the crew! These doctors are brilliant and we are so thankful that they are taking care of Camden!

Chad flew home today to start his internship tomorrow. He didn't want to leave his buckaroo, but he did get to fly home on first class thanks to my Aunt Betty and Uncle Hank! We miss daddy, but he will fly back up on Thursday just in time for his birthday and the 4th of July!

Our friends from Maryland, Julie and Justin came to visit Camden today. It was so great to see them again. We spent so much time talking and playing with Cam. They are expecting a baby in November!

I am so ready to come home. Cam is handling it all better than me right now. He loves all of the attention he is getting from mom, dad, nana, and all of the nurses! The bubble machine found its way back to Cam's room and it is keeping him entertained. With all of the medicine he is on, it must look pretty cool. We need comments to keep us going!

Love

Jul, Chad, Cam and Nana

Goodbye Dr. Ernie!

2008-06-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today Cam had a great day! He seems to have given up on trying to jump out of his bed and has come to terms with the fact that he is going to be here for awhile. He still has his fight in him, he is just finding other ways to entertain himself. He loves to pull the leads from his heart monitor off his chest, wait for the machine to beep, and then laugh! It is so funny to watch him! He likes to ride his "handle bars" as we call them when he holds onto his fixator. He was "talking" so much tonight! He has momma down and now we are working on dada. When I say dada he shakes his head 'no' and then goes on to say "momma". Chad and our nurse, Shonda, were giving him his bath today and Chad told Cam to say thank you and he said something that resembled "thank you". They were both impressed! He responds to his name now! All of the nurses and doctors say his name so he has really learned it!

One of the medical students that has been following Cam for the past few weeks has really shown a special interest in our little man. He finished his rotation on our floor today, so we wanted to give him a special shout out from Camden! Cam made him a special card and he gave it to him today. Thanks, Dr. Ernie!

We received some incredible packages today! Cam got Bert and Ernie puppets, along with some very cool shirts from the Milanese family. We also a package from the Heyward family. It was a very tasty collection from Harry and David, which happens to be one of Julie's absolute favorite stores. Just when we thought the day was done, one of our nurses came in carrying this great big package from our neighbors Marc and Doris. It was a collection of gourmet snacks! We have both gained a few pounds snacking by Cam's bedside, but we love it! Please know that we truly appreciate all of the cards, letters, emails, and packages. Each and every one brightens up our day. We are so very thankful to feel so loved from so far away. We feel blessed to have such great friends and family. It is something we thank the Lord for every night.

Chad, Julie, and Cam Man

Send in the Clowns!

2008-06-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Cam had his first experience with clowns today. It didn't go so well. The clowns have been to his room several times, but he has always been sleeping. So when they came in today he was actually awake! He liked them for all of 3 minutes so we could snap this picture and then he started wailing. They were blowing bubbles at him and it didn't help. I'm glad we didn't go with a clown theme for his room!

His surgeon came back and saw him today. He thought Cam had gotten bigger in the week that he was away. He also said that he usually sends his patients home when they have too many toys on the bed. Bring on the toys! He was very positive and thought Cam's recovery is going great.

We received some great packages from Jill, Al and Grandma Smith, my family in Savannah, Julie, Loyal, Benjamin Addisu, and Baylee, Donna and Dave Knudsen and several students from Eagles Landing have sent giftcards. Our nurse, Shonda, bought Cam his bath soap and lotion! She also bought us some Tasty Cakes! We don't think we can get these in Fl so we may have to bring a few boxes home.

This Friday will be 4 weeks after surgery. We feel like we are on a really bad vacation that will not end. We left home on May 24 and can't believe it is now June 24. Counting down the days til we can hold Cam again.

Love,

Julie, Chad and Camden

Sleepy Day

2008-06-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

Cam had an uneventful day that consisted of sleeping all day! It probably has something to do with the fact that he was awake all night! He has his days and nights mixed up! The good thing was that he would take his bottle even while he was sleeping. It was the most unusual thing... but hey he's eating! Cam and I watched the gymnastics olympic trials together and now he is sleeping again. Chad had a bad day in the MLB world when the Cardinals lost in overtime.

I am tired of posting pictures of Cam lying in the bed so I put up a picture of us in Patterson Park. The whole gang went there the day before his surgery. The week he is out of the hospital and we have to hang around Baltimore, we plan on spending a great deal of time at the park. He needs some fresh air and sunshine so badly! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. He is doing great!

Love,

Jul, Chad and Cam

We made it through a Friday!

2008-06-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

We have been pretending that today was either another Thursday or already Saturday because the past 2 Fridays have been too eventful. The epidural felt out the first Friday after surgery and then the IV fell out last Friday! Thankfully nothing fell out today and we still haven't needed the feeding tube.

On a fun note, he has started saying, "Mum Ma" or that is what is sounds like. We aren't sure if he really knows that is me because Chad will say "Dada" and he replies with "Mum Ma". Even the nurses have heard him talk! He has been laughing and his new favorite song is "The Wheels on the Bus". He especially likes to do the hand motions.

I am putting some pictures on with us and the one of me is awful, but Cam had the biggest smile. I did get a 3 hour nap today, but from the bags under my eyes, you can't tell. We enjoy every precious moment with our little man.

Owyn was moved to a hospital near his house in Pennsylvania today. We are so happy that their family can be all together again. The Children's House had a cookout tonight for all of the families and the food was great. We miss everything about Florida. There is a channel on the TV at the hospital that has beach scenes to relax patients and we can't wait to really see the beach.

Love,
Jul, Chad and Cam

Eat Up Cam

2008-06-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Cam has had a great 2 days. He has been happy and playful. This morning got a little scary when the pediatricians came in and told us he wasn't eating enough and they were going to have to give him a feeding tube. We have known that this is a possibility, but we were hoping he wouldn't need one. He needs calories to heal his body. 5 minutes later the dietician came in and calculated his food intake and said he had taken enough food and didn't need the feeding tube. What an answer to prayers!

As the day went on, he slept for the majority of the day and didn't eat enough. So tomorrow morning we are prepared to hear that he may still need the tube. It will not be permanent and he can still eat and drink by mouth with the tube. He just doesn't like to keep tubes in his body, so we are afraid of how many times he will pull it out. He is a little fiesty like his mom!

We are sorry the pictures don't get more exciting than Cam laying in bed, but that is all he is allowed to do. We put his play gym on his bed and he has been having a ball! We won links in Bingo yesterday and they were the perfect addition to his gym! Its his Baby Einstein Sea Creature gym that Lisa and Casey Farmer gave him! Each time a new nurse comes to visit he stretches his arms up as if to say, "Will you pick me up because nobody else will!" It has been 3 weeks since we have held him and that is one of the hardest parts. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since his surgery and the halfway point! All of the nurses are fighting over him and they have been so wonderful! We know that Cam is in the best place possible and that ultimately the Great Healer is taking care of him. We can't wait to come home! We hope you are all doing well! I received an envelope with letters from my 6th graders at SRCS. We have decorated Camden's room with the sweet cards! Thanks for all of the support!

Love,

Julie, Chad and Camden

Happy 7 months old!

2008-06-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

Hi from Baltimore. We have had a whirlwind of a few days. We're not really sure where to begin....Today Camden is 7 months old. We put up his play gym in his bed and he loves to play with his toys! Of course today was Bingo and we won new links for our gym! Chad even got into Bingo today so I had to share my board with him! This morning a group of professional BMX and skateboards came to visit the children in the hospital. It was outside on the 3rd floor playdeck so Cam couldn't go. Chad and I went for him and got to talk to one really nice BMX guy named Jamie Bestwick. He has a 3 year old son so we shared stories about our little guys. There is a big event here this weekend at Camden Yards so they are here to compete.

Cam's procedure went well yesterday. He went into surgery at 2 pm and was finished by 3. He had a tough time waking up from the anesthesia. Once he woke up a part of his fixator came lose and we had to page the orthopedic doctor at midnight. He came to fix it and they took an xray this morning and everything looked like it did in last week's xray. He is still having trouble with his medication, but I think that is going to be a battle until we get out of here. We also removed the air mattress he has been laying on to see if that will help keep him still.

Jack, Leslie, Mark and Izzy came to visit us yesterday! It was such a fun time! Jack is as cute as he can be and all the nurses were so excited to see him. He was almost walking by himself through the halls! Jack and his family have been such an inspiration to us! They brought Cam a Veggie Tales video and some wonderful homemade salsa and chips! We know that God is in control of this whole situation because we were having a rough day and it really brought our spirits up to see them.

We continued to be showered with love from home! We received some beautiful flowers from Anita and her family. The cards are so appreciated! We are hoping to have an uneventful next few weeks. This Friday we will be at the halfway point. Thanks for following our journey with us. We will be so happy to have this part behind us. Here is the picture of Chad and the BMXer.

Love,

Julie, Chad and Cam

Back to the OR

2008-06-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Well, after having a fun Father's Day, Cam was supposed to get his Pic line on Monday morning. They wanted to try to do it at his bedside so they wouldn't have to put him under anethesia. The line wasn't going in right and Cam got hysterical. I have never seen him so upset. It didn't seem like he was in pain, just mad. It took 30 minutes to calm him down once they stopped the procedure. It was a pretty traumatic experience for all 3 of us. The rest of the day was fine. He slept for quite a while after. Today, he has to go to the OR to have the line put in. The procedure should start between 12 and 1, so please keep little man in your thoughts and prayers. He hasn't been able to eat since midnight, but he is sleeping comfortably right now. (so is dad!)

We are so thankful that God is wrapping His arms around our little man. He is giving us all the strength to get through this. Thankfully the hiccups we have had have been more with keeping him still instead of with the major surgery. It has been 2 and a half weeks. 3 and a half more to go.

They are cleaning Cam's room today so we had to move to a different room. We we get back from the OR he will be back in his clean room. Every 21 days, they have to move the children so this will count as his move.

I'll post a picture later.
Love,
Jul, Chad and Cam

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there! We hope you had a great day with your families! We made the best of Chad's first Father's Day in the hospital! He received all kinds of gifts from the hospital gift shop! My sister sent Cam a camoflage shirt that says, "My Dad Rules" and I found a matching "World's Greatest Dad" shirt also in camoflage! They looked so cute together! We did take out for brunch this morning at a little diner called Jimmy's in honor of our Jim Dog!

Cam and Chad had so much fun playing together today. It was nice to see Cam so comfortable and happy. He gets his new pic line in the morning so please pray that goes well.

We have received so many encouraging cards! Thank you all so much! Gail Nugent sent a beautiful Creative Memories album and we love looking at all of the fun pictures of Cam. The Milanese Family sent some awesome puppets that I think Chad and I are enjoying as much as Cam! He also loves his Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Thanks to all of you!

Our little buddy, Owen, was moved into our room tonight. We are so thankful that he is out of ICU. His parents are both teachers and are staying at the Children's House, too.

Still counting down the days til we can hold our little man again.

Love,

Chad, Julie and Camden

Another obstacle

2008-06-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well, just as we thought Cam was on "Cruise Control" as his surgeon said this morning, his main IV line came out. He has been receiving all of his antibiotics, pain meds and fluid through this IV in his neck. Since he has been squirming a little, it worked its way out. Two IV specialists tried to start an IV in Cam's hand, but were having trouble finding a good vein. It took a third nurse to find one in his hand. This is temporary until he can get a more long term IV called a pic line on Monday. He was poked 4 times at least. He was such a trooper through it all. The only drawback now is that he has a big No No on his arm. It is to prevent him from pulling at the IV, which he needs! Cam has been frustrated because he liked having the ablility to move his arms and play with his toys. He can still play with one arm and he is working on a plan to remove his No No. He really is smart! It is going to be a long 4 weeks with only 1 arm in use. Through it all, he continues to smile! God gave him a great sense of humor!

We received some great shirts for Cam to wear from my sister, Rod, Kylie and friend Ann. Ann sewed up some really cute shirts, one in particular says, "My dad rocks" which Cam can wear on Sunday. Jenn also sent me some clothes since I seemed to pack very unpractical clothes for the hospital, like you are all surprised! Thanks you guys! My family in Georgia sent Cam this great Dr. Seuss book and homemade fudge! Thanks Henrietta and Sid!

Two weeks are down, and 4 more to go. Cam has become a favorite of the nurses. Even when he is not one of their patients, they always stop by to get a smile or coo from him. He loves it! We are holding on to each other and getting through this. Cam is our inspiration through it all. We continue to feel lifted up in prayer and can't wait to see everyone soon.

Love,

Julie, Chad and Camden

What a difference a day makes!

2008-06-11T19:00:00.001-07:00

Well, we have hit the boredom phase and we are just fine with that. The doctors said the first few days were going to be eventful and the last few days will be exciting, but the 5 weeks in the middle should be boring. Cam had such a good day today! He was laughing and playing with his toys and nurses! He is quite the little flirt with all of his nurses! His little personality is returning and that brings a smile to our faces! He is cooing and smiling so big! And giving belly laughs when daddy shows him his balloon. Chad and Cam watch their Cardinals each night on the computer and then they play their own version of baseball in the hospital bed.

We had the opportunity to meet 2 great people yesterday. One of my cousins had a contact with a pastor in the Baltimore area and he came to visit and pray for Cam with us. It was so nice to have a visitor. The pastor reminded us of Dan Myers, the pastor who married Chad and me. He had a very calming presence and told us to call him if we needed anything, even at 2 in the morning! We also met a volunteer from the hospital whose daughter had surgery by our surgeon 24 years ago. Her daughter is now in medical school. She is sewing 5 more shirts so Cam can wear them with all of his wires.

The other highlight of the day was Hospital Bingo!! I am addicted! I see why my grandmother loves it so much! They broadcast it from the 9th floor and we watched it from Cam's bedside on the 6th floor. If you win, you call up to the 9th floor and read out your Bingo. We won Bingo and Cam got a cool Winnie the Pooh blanket! They have some awesome prizes so we can't wait until next week. Bingo is played every Wednesday at 2:30 so now that is what I will look forward to every week. I know...it's bad~! There is another family we met with a son with the same condition and I heard she was quite the Bingo Champ! Go Stacie! Leslie and Jack are coming to visit tomorrow so we are looking forward to that! The nurses will love seeing little Jack again, too!

Thanks to Brandy, Brett and their boys for the delicious Edible Arrangement! We have munched on it all day. It is also quite a hit with the nurses! Thanks Scott, Leslie and Caleb for the cute outfit and snuggle blankie. He is sleeping with it right now! Thanks for Gary, Jessica, Hailey and Addison for the box of goodies! The oreos are great at 2 am! Chad hasn't put down his magazine yet! I loved reading all of the nice emails from many of you. It helps make the time go by and feel like we are still connected at home.

There has been some major activity at the hospital. A little girl from Texas was having half of her brain removed to stop her seizures. It is caused by a rare neurological disease. She came out of surgery around 5 today and is stable. Their family is staying at the Children's House too. Two other toddlers were hurt in a shooting in Baltimore and they were in our room. Thankfully they are doing ok.

We continue to be thankful for our support crew from all over the US. Each of you has helped us along our journey and we appreciate it so much! We know God is healing Cam right now and that He has big plans for this little guy! We can't wait to watch him grow up! I know I have said it many times, but this place really makes you appreciate your health, family, friends and each day we have. Moms and dads hug your kids, and kids tell your parents you love them.

We will update you all again.
Love from Baltimore,
Julie, Chad and Camden

Getting his appetite back!

2008-06-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who know how Cam eats, you will be happy to hear that he is regaining some of that hearty appetite! He has eaten a whole container of sweet potatoes and he tried peaches for the first time today. He is also taking more formula than he had been so all of this food will help him heal. We seem to be getting everything back under control. He has discovered TV and likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Please pray for one of his roomates. He had a code blue this morning and it was really scary. The little guy is back to his playful self this afternoon, but I have never seen so many doctors and nurses come running so quickly. There were 2 other codes on the floor this morning so we pray that tonight will be quieter.

The doctors come in and say that everything is looking good. We just heard that there are a few other doctors who perform this surgery and some only keep the child in traction for 1 week. There can be problems with moving too soon, so we are grateful that our doctor takes extra precaution, even though it means sitting here for 6 weeks. It will be worth it in the long run. We will update you all later!

Lots of love,
Jul, Chad, Nana and Cam

One step back

2008-06-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well, unfortunately Cam's epidural fell out yesterday. We were hoping it would last 3-4 weeks, but we only got 1 week out of it. Now we are having to give him pain meds through his IV and it isn't working as well. Daddy spent the night at the hospital with him and they were both up all night. They are both sleeping now. We just feel like we are back to where we began. Please pray that Cam gets some relief and stays calm.

The picture is from the other night with the nurse drapped the fiber optic tubes over him from his bubble machine. No, it's not some weird medical treatment...just trying to give him something to look at. He looked so bright in all of the lights!

Thanks for the comments. We'll update more later.

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Day 7!! But who's counting??

2008-06-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Things are going much better now. Cam has actually smiled and played with his baseball. The only thing bothering him at the moment is his belly. He has to eat lying down and he can't burp. The doctors are really pleased with his progress! He has several "girlfriend nurses". He got his 2nd tooth today! He probably didn't even feel it because of all the pain meds. He also had his first bath since surgery! He smells so good! We are enjoying reading all of the comments so keep em coming!

We have met some amazing people here at The Children's House. If you want to add a few more children to your prayers, please keep Owen, a 2 week old boy with heart problems, Chelsea, a 17 year old girl with a brain injury (she was a cheerleader!), and Christopher who has Hodgkins Lymphoma. All of their parents are such strong people and we have enjoyed talking to them.

Chad, my mom and I are with Cam around the clock. He is beginning to accept the fact that he is stuck in bed, but he knows we are here with him! Thanks for all prayers and thoughts. We only have 5 weeks left!

Love to you all!
Julie, Chad, Camden, and Nana

Hanging in there

2008-06-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Now that we have passed day 3 after surgery, we are hoping things will keep improving. Cam looks so sweet in his big hospital bed. All of the nurses just love him! We are trying to find the balance between keeping him totally zonked and in too much pain. Last night his blood pressure and breathing were both getting a little too low and slow so we have decreased his pain meds a little. The doctors told us he would sleep for 2-4 weeks depending on how his recovery is doing. It is just hard to see your little man go from such an active little guy to sleeping all the time. But, God is in control so we are keeping the faith. Thanks to the Kreisel family for the sweet card we received yesterday. My parents neighbor, Ann, has been taking Jimmy on long walks! I know he loves them! Thanks, Ann! In the picture is a blue blanket from a Brownie Troop in Maryland. It is called Project Linus. This is a program that donates blankets to hospitals to help keep kids comfortable. He loves his blankie!

Love,
Julie, Chad and Camden

Cam got a baba!

2008-06-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Today was the first day Cam could have a bottle since his surgery. He is doing much better now that his belly is full. Both of his surgeons were pleased with the way surgery went and with his recovery so far. The nurses are working hard to keep him still and comfortable. He is requirring quite a bit of medication for such a little guy! Even with all Cam is going through, being at Hopkins, we still feel like this is "minor" compared to so many other situations. Thank you for all of the prayers, well wishes, calls, texts, and everything else. We will keep you all updtaed on his progress.

Love,
Julie, Chad, and Camden

No more NG Tube!!!

2008-06-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

Julie stayed the night with Cam last night and I was able to get some rest at the Children's House. I brought her breakfast in her chair this morning. It was not quite breakfast in bed, but it worked. We met with his orthepedic surgeon this morning and he said that everything is going great. Hearing the good news Julie and I went to get a shower and do some laundry. We received a call about a twenty minutes later from Gampie letting us know that Cam had ripped his NG tube out!!! This is a tube that goes into the nose and keeps the stomach empty. Oh, did I add that he did this right in front of the doctor! The doctors were great and said we can leave it out for now, or at least until we hear from Dr. Gearhart. Dr. Gearhart will decide if he is able to start eating again. If they say yes to food, then we will not have to put the tube back in. We are hoping for a yes, as it seems Cam is a hungry boy! Every single hour he looks more and more healthy. He has had some bladder spasms that cause him a some pain, but the pain management team is giving him a patch that will ease the pain. Valium seems to be his drug of choice! I think we could all use a little right now. We are hangin in there!

Cam's Big Day

2008-05-31T18:33:00.000-07:00

Cam's surgery began roughly around 7:30am on Friday. It lasted until about 5pm Friday evening. The doctors were great about updating us almost every hour. He came out of the surgery and went to the Pediactric Intensive Care Unit for Friday night. It took a little while to settle him down as he was coming out of the anethesia. Julie and I, along with my brother David, slept in the waiting room and took turns by his bedside. Katy did a great job of keeping Cam calm while in the PICU. He slept through the night, and has now been moved to the sixth floor. This floor focuses on infants and small children. He will be here for the next 5-6 weeks. The nurses here have a great deal of experience with exstrophy and have made Cam very comfortable. Today our families have been able to spend more time with him and Julie and I got a good nap. He is very heavily medicated, so he basically sleeps all day. We are hoping and praying that he will be able to eat again on Sunday. As you know he hasn't missed any meals until now, so he is pretty hungry! Thanks for all the calls, emails, texts, and cards. Thanks AJ and Divina for the postcard, the Youngs family for the wonderful gift basket, and the Mays family for the beautiful flowers and chocolate. We also want to really say a special thank you to both of our parents, David and Erika, and Jenn, Rod, and Kylie! They have been so great through this whole journey. We can't wait to share all the stories of love and support with Camden!

Love,
Chad, Julie, and Cam (and Jimmy, even though he is in Orlando!)

Cam's Surgery

2008-05-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Every hour the doctors or nurses will come out and update us on the status of our little man. The orthopedic surgeon has already been in and out. Dr. Gearhart is in doing his part of the procedure as we type. Each time we are updated they have been positive and encouraging. We don't know exactly how long this part of the procedure will be, but they have estimated 4-5 hours. Then, the orthopedic will finish up by putting him in his traction. He should be in the PICU for a night before his move from the seventh floor to the sixth. We have already met two other families that are having surgery for the same birth defect. One is from Indiana, and the other from Russia! It is a very supportive environment. We will update more as the day goes along.

Cam's Big Day!!!

2008-05-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Cam is back getting prepped for surgery. The family is here and we are anxiously awaiting every update from the doctor. We brought our computer to help us pass the time, and wanted to add a picture or two. His procedure could last anywhere from 7-14 hours, but we will update when he comes out.

Thanks again for all of your prayer and support.

Chad, Julie, and Cam

Pics from May 25-27

2008-05-27T18:16:00.001-07:00

Our First Day in Baltimore

2008-05-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We arrived in Baltimore last night. Camden had his first doctor's appt. this morning. Everything is on track for surgery on Friday at 7:30. Our familis are coming in town tomorrow and Thursday. We are getting settled into The Children's House. Here is our address for the next 2 months:

The Children's House
Julie and Chad McBane # 205
1915 McElderry Street
Baltimore, MD 21205

Our phone number is (410) 614-2560 ask for our room number 205

We'll keep in touch!

Julie, Chad and Camden

Our journey begins!

2008-05-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

We have begun our trek to Baltimore! We left Deerfield Beach last night in the pouring rain and drove to Orlando. Jimmy will stay here for the 2 months that we will be in Baltimore. Cam is already awake, but Daddy is still sleeping. We plan to leave Orlando this morning between 9-10 and drive to somewhere in the Carolinas. We'll stop there tonight and then drive in to Baltimore on Monday. I have overpacked as usual and Chad can't see out of the back window. I may have to leave some stuff here! We will keep you guys posted!

Love,
Julie, Chad, and Camden

2008-01-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We hope you are all doing well. Here are a few more pictures of Camden. He goes for his 2 month check up tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

Little All-Star

2007-12-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! We are noticing it was a whole lot easier to post to the blog before Camden was born. We are enjoying our little man so much! He is growing everyday! He turned 1 month old on Wednesday! Today we went and had pictures taken. We are becoming regulars at the photo store! Chad's last day of school is tomorrow and then we will have Daddy home for 2 weeks! We hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Celebrate all of the little miracles!

Picture Day!

2007-12-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We are getting settled in and things are going great! Camden had a doctor's appointment today and the doctor was so pleased with his weight gain! He is a whopping 7 pounds 15 ounces~! 1 ounce shy of 8 pounds! Chad went back to work on Monday and Cam and I are hanging out at home. We went to our first mommy and me class yesterday and we learned a ton of things! Cam slept the whole time! My mom came down yesterday to spend some time with Cam and let me get some sleep! I felt like I had a live in nanny last night! We went to the Christmas parade with his best friend Cooper! Today we went and had pictures taken at Portrait Innovations. Hope you enjoy seeing our little man!

Love,
Julie, Chad and Camden

We're Home!!!

2007-11-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! We arrived home last night!! It was great to get home before the holidays. We had a wonderful trip and Camden is doing just great! The surgeon wanted to wait on the big surgery until he is 6-10 months old so we will be going back for the long stay in the summer or fall. Jimmy likes his new brother! Chad and I are getting used to a lack of sleep...even though he is a good sleeper... it only lasts for about 3 hours! We have 2 doctor's appointments tomorrow. Thanks for following our journey with us! We appreciate all of the prayers and supportive messages! They really helped us get through being away for a month.

On our way home

2007-11-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

WE left Baltimore today at 2:00 and are on our way to Orlando. The trip so far has been good. Baby Camden likes to ride!!! We will stop in S Carolina tonight and hopefully in Orlando by Sunday. Soon he will be back in Deerfield to his real home.
Mom and Dad are adjusting to their new roles just great. They are natural parents!!
Pray for a safe trip for us.

CAMDEN COMES HOME

2007-11-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

Today was an exciting day. Julie and Chad brought Camden "home" from the hospital.
They are all settled in the Children's House for now and are busy with all the baby fun of changing diapers, feeding and changing diapers!! They are so glad to have him out of the NICU. Chad has already made a run to Babies R Us since we didn't have a bed for the baby. Soon we will start our journey home to Camden's real home. Kylie got to meet her new little cousin before she left today. Julie and Chad had a welcome home group with her Dad, sister Jenn, brother in law Rod and Kylie and Nana as they left the hospital with Camden. Julie and Chad are too busy to add to the blog right now so this is Nana again to let you kmow what is happening. Thanks for all the prayers and support and we are truly celebrating Thanksgiving with Camden's safe arrival.

Mommy's little angel!

2007-11-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say hi and let everyone know how we are doing! Camden is the healthiest baby in the NICU, which is wonderful! He is boring some of the nurses! I got out of the hospital yesterday, but we are still there round the clock! Gampi (my dad), Aunt Jenn Jenn, Uncle Rod and Ky Ky came to visit Cam yesterday! He was very excited to meet them! Ky Ky can't wait to kiss his toes! We are enjoying visiting with family! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers! Our little man is amazing and I can't wait for everyone to meet him! We are back in the technology world with Chad's laptop. It came back yesterday so we will get some more pictures posted soon! Love to you all!

Julie, Chad and Cam

A short clip of Cam!

2007-11-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

Here is some video of little Camden! The video is from last night (Tuesday) before they sent him down to the "basement" for an MRI. He also had surgery today. Dr. Gearhart has given Camden the best care and we have met people from all over the country that have traveled with their children so he could perform their surgeries. Dr. G assured us that everything is going well and we should be encouraged from all we have seen. Julie has been discharged from the hospital and is feeling well. We are so thankful that our network of family and friends has been so supportive. We truly know that this is the best place for Camden to receive his care. God is good! Enjoy the video! Chad and Julie

Camden Daniel McBane

2007-11-19T15:22:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone this is Nana again. Here are pictures to introduce Camden Daniel McBane. I know I'm his Nana but let me say he is a good looking boy and so cuddly to hold. We are so grateful for his safe arrival and that Julie is doing fine. We are so thankful for everyones prayers and support. It has been a blessing to all of us. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Baby Mcbane arrives

2007-11-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

Great News!!! Baby McBane arrived on Sunday November 18, 2007 at 2:35 PM. He weighed 7lbs 10oz. Mom and Dad are so excited and doing great. Nana is entering on the blog for the first time since Julie and Chad are staying with the baby. I am so proud of my new little grandson. His little cousin Kylie is going to love him so much. Here is the first photo of the happy little family.

Uncle David Visits!

2007-11-17T15:51:00.000-08:00

To our surprise, yesterday Chad's brother David came to visit us! We went to dinner at the Cheescake Factory at the Inner Harbor, a special night out! Today we went to the Thanksgiving Parade at the Harbor. The weather was nice enough to enjoy the time outside. We must have walked 8 miles today, again they are trying to rush this baby along! After the parade we grabbed a quick bite to eat and Chad and his brother toured the battleships around the Harbor. Their favorite was the submarine. It's been nice to share all that we have learned about Baltimore with someone. We are starting to feel like locals! All of the walking has tired us out. Tomorrow we will take David to the airport and then head to church. Chad is hoping that the baby does not come during the Colts game on Thanksgiving Day! Knowing how things have gone, it probably will!

Pictures in the Park

2007-11-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to Patterson Park to take some more pictures before Baby McBane arrives. It was kind of a chilly day. The wind was really blowing. But the leaves are beautiful up here. This is one of our favorite pictures. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he said the baby is ready to go! It could be anytime now! Chad and my mom are making me walk every mall we can find! I know most of you won't believe this, but I am not in the mood to shop! As most of you have commented, nothing fits me anyway!!!

We thank all of you for your continued prayers. We were a little disappointed on Thursday because we were supposed to meet with Dr. Gearhart, but he was called into surgery. We couldn't be too upset because he will doing the same for us one day! We rescheduled our appointment for Tuesday. We miss you all and can't wait to get back to sunny Florida!!!

The Aquarium

2007-11-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Today we went to the National Aquarium at the Inner Harbor. It was quite amazing to see all of the exhibits! The highlights were the dolphin show and the fish feeding at the coral reef. Two scuba divers were in the water hand feeding the fish. There was the largest puffer fish I have ever seen!

We have three doctor's appointments over the next three days. We meet with the surgeon on Thursday for a consultation. There is a magazine out up here in Baltimore that describes the "Best Doctors" in Baltimore. Our surgeon and 2 of the OB's were listed! We know we are in the best place possible.

13 days until my due date...but we are hoping for a little sooner! Thanks for all of the emails. We are trying to respond, but our laptop is still in Kentucky so we are at the library. This whole experience is really making us feel grateful for all we have at home! Thanks for all of your prayers. We miss you all!

Love,
Julie, Chad and Nana

The Inner Harbor

2007-11-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

There are several places in Baltimore that we have found to be interesting. One of the best places is the Inner Harbor. This part of Baltimore is down by the water and has various restaurants and shops. We had a quick lunch at the Hard Rock and walked around the harbor for the afternoon. Julie and Maxine went to the Gallery Mall right across the street. They have 100 shops to browse through. My buddy Phil (who recently moved to Baltimore) and I watched the Colts get beat by New England at the ESPN Zone. It was a sad day.

The baby is just chilling! Julie has started experiencing contractions that she can actually feel on a daily basis. When we took our childbirthing class the nurse said she would be like this for a short while, then the real contractions would start. It has all been very exciting!

We have been spending a lot of time at the library since the great computer crash of 07. My classwork is slowly getting complete, and Julie is able to keep in touch through email. We hope to have video up soon!

Our temporary address

2007-11-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
Several of you have asked for an address for us. Here it is:

Chad and Julie McBane
2000 McElderry Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21205

Mail will be sent to the main office and then they deliver it to our townhouse. Once we move into The Children's House or Ronald McDonald House, we will update our address.

A busy day....

2007-11-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

What a day! We had an ultrasound, toured the labor and delivery, and took a childbirthing class! Oh, and it is only 4 o'clock. We also met baby Jack. Jack is another exstrophy baby. He was so cute and looked excited to meet us. His mom was a great resource and will be in Baltimore for the next three weeks. I have a feeling that Julie and her will become close during our stay. It was great to talk to see what our baby will be enduring in the hospital.

On another note, my computer is on the fritz. Luckily, as we learned with our digital camera, I am very good at buying the service plan. So, while our computer is on the mend, we will be "hopping" from computer to computer, updating the blog. We are so thrilled that many people have responded. Feel free to share the blog and pictures with others. Right now we are at The Children's House. The Children's House provides housing for parents with kids that are patients in the hospital. We are not allowed to stay here yet, but Maxine has started volunteering and they are allowing us to use their computers. She has already spent a few hours teaching someone how to use email! The Childrens House has Playstation, Xbox, and a pool table. All a dad could want! The people here are very nice and the house is so cheerful with several murals painted on the walls. They provide dinners throughout the week to help the families offset some of the cost.

We love you all and appreciate your prayers and support!

Chad and Julie

A Trip to Wal-Mart

2007-11-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

When you are this far along in the pregnancy every trip is an adventure. We had to make a trip to Wal-Mart for some odds and ends yesterday. Because the baby is near, Julie had to ride around in the senior citizen motorized cart. I thought everyone would enjoy this picture! We are moving downtown today, and we are very excited. Julie wants to take pictures in Patterson Park, so we may have to go borrow a wheelchair from the hospital to push her around town! Thanks again for all the support!

We're Here!

2007-11-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Julie had a scheduled doctor appointment. They found that she was having some contractions. The problem is we were not in Maryland yet! The doctors admitted her to the hospital to slow down the contractions and on Wednesday afternoon we left for Baltimore. We drove straight through the night, (well Maxine and I drove while Julie slept!).

Because we came up early, our scheduled temporary home is not ready until Monday. Therefore, we are staying at the Homewood Suites for a few days. Things are moving along, and Julie is feeling great. All of the phone calls and prayers have been great! The snacks that several of you sent along with us have been great.

Thanks to everyone that has been so generous and giving during this time.

On our way to Baltimore

2007-10-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

After hearing the diagnosis of our baby, Julie and I have decided to document our baby's journey into this world. We will update the website with news and pictures to share with all of our friends and family. It is unfortunate that our little one will have such a rough start and be so far away from home. However, the staff at Johns Hopkins is the best in the world! They have been so helpful when our emotions have been a roller coaster. Please feel free to add comments or post pictures for us to see of you. There are many events we are going to miss and we want to hear the stories!

A special thanks to both of our families and friends. Also, our school families have been so supportive. Please keep us in your prayers during this difficult time.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12