Happy Easter!

Easter Morning

This morning we attended Holy Trinity with Grandma & Grandpa Garcia, Great-Grandma & Great Grandpa Warren, Uncle Chris, Aunt Megan, Stephanie (Uncle Chris' girlfriend) and Tia Nubia. As you can tell from the picture...John was by far the most handsome 6 month old in church and received several comments on the black patent leather shoes and pinstripe vest. The afternoon is going to be spent with San Antonio family and friends (with a short break to talk with the Rekowski family on Skype.)

Priests, Godparents, Family, Friends and Water on My Head!

Ready and Waiting in White

Today we were blessed to be surrounded by friends and family for John's baptism at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in San Antonio, TX. Father Charlie and Monsignor Fater presided over the baptism. Uncle Chris and Aunt Lizzy have officially taken on their roles as godparents and seem to be fulfilling it by refusing to set John down and spoiling him with gifts. :)

Monsignor Fater & Father Charlie baptize John

Christian Family Photo

One of Mom's Favorite Pictures from March

Teeth!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we now officially have 2 teeth poking through on the bottom. I swear they popped through in no time flat because this morning they weren't there and this afternoon....bam! Something sharp hit my finger when he chewed on it!

It's a just a matter of time before our first tooth-filled grin!

Another Milestone!

Today John had his 6 month check up. We recieved a clean bill of health for the first time since his 1 month check up. Finally! He's weighing in at 17 lbs 9 oz (55%) and stands up at 27.5 in (75%). While he hasn't decided to roll over or crawl yet and is still providing toothless grins the doctor was so impressed with his ability to sit up without any support that we got the go ahead for sippy cups and cheerios!

My First Cheerios!

Friends From Afar

Celebration is in order! This week John's blood work came back better than ever. His blood counts appear to be going up on their own and he's been doing great! Lots of smiles, giggling, cooing, and most recently---blowing raspberries. We're counting our blessings and are looking forward to not having to do blood work for 2 full weeks!

In the meantime, Callie and Jake were in town for a family gathering in STL and took the time to drive across the river to say hi! They met John for the first time and we enjoyed a few drinks over lunch.

Great to have friends in town - even if it's for a quick lunch!

Heme/Onc at STL Children's

Our first visit to STL Children's went really well. The staff is great (we're working with Dr. Bednarski) and they really seem to care about all the children. They were able to draw some additional blood for testing, but nothing conclusive came up as far as causes. The clinic also recieved word from Brenner's Clinic that the blood that was sent off to the Mayo Clinic two weeks ago came back with nothing conclusive. Frustration is prevailing!

We spent the whole day at the clinic getting a transfusion because his hemoglobin level was at a critical state again (ps...I'm extremely frustrated at our new pediatrician because I asked if she would order blood work earlier this week and she refused because he already had a clinic appointment on Friday--we may be searching for a new pediatrician!). Additionally, they couldn't find a vein in his arm, foot or hand...so they had to put the IV in his temple. It was by the far the worst thing in the world. He screamed louder than I've ever heard him scream, constantly tried to rip it out of his head, and now has a bruise and idodine stains on the side of his head. It's the first time I've cried while they've started an IV and I was there when they took the equivalent of two splits of wine out of him in NC.

They've put him on folic acid to try to bump up his blood counts. Folic acid is a major building block of red blood cells. We're getting labs done every week and hoping for the best.