eye surgery

Clark's surgery went really well.  Now we just have to wait and see what his brain will do with his newly positioned eyes.  His eyes could cross again, get even straighter, stay the way they are now, or spread apart.  Time will tell.  Thank you for all of your comments on here and emails and support and prayers!  It made the experience a little easier.

Here is a before shot and a few after shots...

Before:
(taken a couple weeks ago)

And after...

Clark is doing great. He doesn't seem to be in any pain or be uncomfortable.  There is some redness, but the stitches and real yucky parts aren't visible because they are farther back on his eyes.

A little about his surgery:

Clark was given general anesthesia so he was completely out and intubated (i.e. tube down his throat to help him breathe). Then the ophthalmologist pulled open one of his eyelids very wide, detached the medial muscle, and then reattached it a few millimeters farther back on his eye. Then she did the same thing to the other eye. OUCH!

5 months and 2 1/2 years old

Clark has hit the 5 month mark.  He still reminds me of a pendulum.  He can be the sweetest, happiest, giggliest little fellow on earth with a grin bigger than any baby I've ever seen, but then he'll swing to the other extreme and be super fussy.  He still rarely relaxes and just chills.  It has been one thing after another with him.  Our current obstacle -  eye surgery.  He has crossed eyes and his eye surgery is scheduled for September 22. 

Here's one where you can see his eyes better.  haha.  What a cute, silly little man face.

Willa has grown up so much in the past couple of months.  She just talks and talks and talks and sings all the time.  She is full of energy and keeps us laughing.

We went tubing last month and Willa LOVED it.  And we loved watching her.

I was told by a good friend that all you have to do for the first 3 months of an infant's life is survive.  I've been looking forward to feeling like life was "normal" again.  But I still feel like I am in survival mode most of the time.  So I am starting to think that life will never be "normal" again. 

Blogging and picture taking have dropped down on my list of priorities. I took most of the pictures in this post in our backyard today.  We were out jumping on the trampoline and it was gorgeous out so I ran in and grabbed my camera to take some pictures for those of you who have been asking for more pictures.