Our Little Valentine Baby

Its MJ's First Valentine's Day!!!

Since he is feeling so much better we had to do a photo shoot. 

Here is a lil photo shoot my sister chloe and I did on Valentine's Day. At first MJ loved it but after a while he got over it really quick. We did get some really cute pictures out of it though. Hope you enjoy our little Valentine Baby!!

Some other things that we did on Valentine's day....

We got an edible arrangement from daddy so yummy!! MJ loved the bear and balloons that came with it. 

Chocolate covered strawberries for breakfast... why not it is valentine's day. 

Candy jewelry is always fashionable. 

Maui pancakes are so yummy straight from Hawaii. 

We had a relaxing Love filled day!!

We Are Home

Sorry it took me so long to update everyone on our return home.

WE ARE HOME!!!

I have learned that just because we are home doesn't mean that everything is good and back to normal. MJ is still healing and everyday he gets better. When we arrived home MJ's Aunts Chloe and Raimi made 2 banners for him they are so cute. Such a thoughtful thing to do. It had little drawings on them saying supper MJ, MJ and Mickey, MJ and all the family members in stick figures lol Sooo cute!!

MJ got a bath when we got home his first real bath after surgery and he loved it. Even though it doesn't look like it in the picture. 

He then took a long nap this is not like him at all I can't ever get him to take a long nap. He was happy to be in his own bed. Home sweet home!!

We want to thank Aunt Sandi and Uncle Don for an amazing dinner the night we came home. They also brought us home made bread and lunch for the next day. It was so nice to come home to a home cooked meal thank you both so much. It was great to see you.

Fruit & Snack Basket from Mommom (MJ Great Grandma Hall)

We also want to send a huge thank you out to Matt & Kim Curtis they brought food for days!! And a GIANT MICKEY!! Thank you so much for coming over and hanging out and all the food it was so great. 

Also a big thank you to Great Grandma and Grandpa Merritt they also brought us a ton of food. We are so grateful for you as well it was such a blessing not to have to worry about food. 

We recieved a bunch of flowers and gifts on top of the food deliveries it didn't go unnoticed we are so grateful for all the love and support and prayers!! We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends so thank you from the bottom of our hearts!! 

Puppy Flowers from the Buehring Family

 Pink and Blue Flowers from Katy Holt-Larsen and the Monavie Team

Thank you everyone it means so much to us!! This is a pic of MJ in his stroller. When he first came home we couldn't get him to fall asleep. He fought sleep so much so we would walk him in the house and around the neighborhood till he fell asleep. 

On our way home yippee

We can't wait to get there so excited to be going home to our own room and bed. 

                                 

                                

WE ARE GOING HOME!!!

Yay!! We are going home!! MJ is doing so good he hasn't thrown up since last night. Yay. We are so excited. We know this will be a big transition for MJ but we think he will be so comfy in his own room and bed. Please pray that he continues to heal fast. Thank you 

                                  

One Step Forward Three Steps Backward

                                   

MJ is so cute he is laughing and smiling
but he is still in so much pain. Today we were moved out of the ICU (room 5116) I think that was hard on MJ it was stressful. He also had his first sponge bath today. He didn't like it much lol. We need prayer that he will keep food/liquids down. He gets sick a lot. They thought it was the pain meds so they slowed those down. He is now only on Motrin and Tylenol. He is still in pain when taking those. He is still getting sick and he hates taking the meds because they taste so bad. He has learned how to spit them out smart lil guy. His blood cell count was low so he will get that tested again in the am. He just can't get comfortable which is so difficult to deal with because I can't really do anything about that. On top of that he has blown his 4th IV. They didn't put another one back in yet to give him a rest and see if things turn around tomorrow and we go home. Which I don't think will happen. So he is bruised and poked from head to toe. He is also still really swollen so that needs to go down. We are asking for prayer that things keep pushing toward healing. We miss our lil baby.

Mr. Blue eyes is back

He is doing so so good. HE OPENED HIS EYES!!! The swelling is going down and he is getting more active like moving his hands around and reaching for things. His eyes opened at 5:30am this morning we both were there when he opened them. He opened his eyes and we could see him just slowly look around it was the best feeling. He keeps staring at the balloons we tied on his bed. He is the best baby so peaceful and relaxed. Sorry for not posting yesterday it was a busy day. Thank you for all that came to visit us it means so much to us. On Tuesday we had Uncle Eulie Brookins who is my uncle and he also married us and was my youth pastor growing up. He drove from Ocala to see us and pray over MJ thank you. Also on Tuesday we had Jimmy Benner who worked with Nick at ups and he was in our wedding. Thank you Jimmy for coming and just sitting and talking with us durring the surgery it means a lot. On Wednesday we had Rodney and Michelle Gage from Rethink life church they are good friends and neighbors. Thank you both for coming over and talking to us and praying over MJ it really does mean a lot that you were here. On Thursday Great Grandma and Grandpa Merritt came to see us and MJ it was nice to see them and get to talk and hangout for a bit thank you so much for coming over. Also on Thursday Jody and Regis Andrews came to visit. They said that when they didn't see me post on the blog yesterday they knew they needed to come and see us and pray over MJ. Thank you for that you two are so great. 

MJ is improving so much the dr said that we could be moved out of ICU today. Please pray that the swelling continues to go down and that he will be able to keep food/formula down. MJ is getting sick randomly we are thinking it's from the pain meds. Today he just now kept down 4 oz of formula so we are praying it stays like this. 

Thank you for all the goodies that were sent for MJ. We are so grateful for all the prayers for our lil guy. 

MJ Update from Aunt Clo and Aunt Rai

Thursday’s update, it has been a very tough few days for everyone, especially MJ. It didn’t hit us hard until the moment we said goodbye to him just before surgery. He is such an amazing little boy with the best personality. He never cries. He is always smiling, and he has the most adorable little giggle. Coming into the room in the ICU after his surgery was extremely hard. Hearing that perfect little boy in such agony was heartbreaking. We broke down. He has been so tough throughout this whole experience, and we couldn’t be more proud of him. Today he has improved a lot. Yesterday was definitely his worst day. His swelling is finally starting to go down, and we are starting to see our perfect little MJ again. He brought us so much joy today when he started talking and giggling again. He hasn’t cried at all and has been so calm. We are getting so excited to see those beautiful blue eyes again! He just opened his right eye the slightest little bit tonight! Please continue to pray for his swelling and his pain to go completely away! We are hoping to see him open both eyes tomorrow.

P.S. Thank you all for the goodies and balloons. MJ will love seeing them when he opens his eyes!

Much love,

Auntie Raimi & Auntie Chloe

To send MJ cards and goodies

A lot of people have been asking where they can send cards and goodies to MJ. We are at: 

Nemours Children's Hospital ICU

Merritt J Whitt room 3101 

13535 Nemours Parkway
Orlando, FL 32827 

We are still in the ICU the Dr told us today that we might be here the whole stay or most of our stay. If you are wanting to send anything please put attn to Merritt Whitt. They are very good about deliveries here. We will be here for about 4-5 days.  Thank you to all that have sent things for MJ mom and dad appreciate it. He will love seeing gifts when he opens his eyes. You can email us too

Growingupwhitt@gmail.com

Thank you for all the love and prayers. 

Long nights turn into early mornings

  

Yesterday he was groaning and whimpering all day in pain/frustration. Since this morning he has stopped that and is sleeping so peaceful. And he started eating yesterday bottles only but he was hungry. Grandpa got to help feed the lil man. 

He is doing amazing today. Nick and I took turns staying awake with him last night which helped so we could get some sleep. This is the sunrise this morning. Every once in a while he wakes up and rubs his eyes and moans. He doesn't understand why he can't open his eyes. (They are swolen shut) The swelling has gone up a lot just since this morning. The doctor said he thinks it will reach its peak tonight and then slowly go down from there. His eye lids are also turning black and blue this is all normal. We miss seeing his big blue eyes. One thing we are so excited about today is poop he has pooped!!! YAY!! Never thought I would get so excited about poop. Lol. He is so good. Since he can't see us he loves to be held and the doctor said this helps him relax. So everyone has been coming in to take turns to hold the lil cutie.