The Draz Fam

Soon we’ll be off to Auntie Kirstin’s and Uncle Mark’s for Easter dinner. The boys couldn’t be more excited; after all, they’ve been confined to the house for weeks–actually for months. Come to think of it, the adults are equally excited for a family outing. We’re having a great weekend; here are some of my favorite images thus far:
Ryan enjoying Quackers One, Quackers Two and Quackers Three!

Karli reading a story to her doll.

Anna, Drew and the three Quackers.

Ryan “reading” to Drew.

Ryan rubbing Drew’s sore knee.

Karli loves Anna.

Easter eggs!

Daddy Snuggling!

Have a blessed Easter Day!
Nana Barb

The Draz children heard an Easter story…

and colored Easter eggs.

However, there is no question that the activity with top billing was the surprise arrival of some ducklings. Yes, Drew’s special friend, Anna, arrived with three of the cutest ducks ever!

Thank you, Anna! Once again you have found a way to make our special little boy very, very happy!
Nana Barb

This could have been a hard time for Drew. After all, he is confined to a body cast and it’s been too cold to go outside. He could have been stuck with nothing more to pass the time than the TV. However, Drew’s friends and family haven’t let that happen. When Drew was in the hospital, his nurse commented that he didn’t remember any other child having as many visitors as Drew. The visitor parade has continued during his confinement at home. The weekends are the busiest. Here’s a summary of last weekend.
On Friday afternoon another member of Auntie’s church stopped by with a helicopter kit. Drew loved it. He also received a package from an SMA friend. Taysen sent finger puppets, a zui zui, bubbles, a movie and some snacks. WOW! On Saturday a friend of mommy’s stopped by with her seven-week old baby. Drew absolutely LOVES babies and they played together on the floor all afternoon. On Sunday Drew’s old nanny, Kelly, stopped by with “Big Ry” and their baby, Elliott. On Sunday evening Auntie and Tommy arrived to play Webkinz.
Yes, Drewie’s Team is gaining new members and the old members continue to come through for him.
Enjoy the video:

Only two more weeks to go until we lose the cast!!!
Nana Barb

The image above is a picture of a failed IV attempt on Drew’s inner forearm. As it has started to fade, Drew is convinced that it is an image of an angel. He says, “The angel is watching over me. You can see her head, her wings and her robe.”
Look closely and you, too, will see one of many angels that are watching over Drew.
Nana Barb

Yesterday Lanny L, a member of Auntie’s church, came to visit Drew. Lanny had heard about Drew’s surgery and knew that the days pass slowly for Drew while he is confined to his cast. Lanny creates beautiful art pieces using aluminum. First he showed the boys an example of his art.

Next Lanny worked on a piece of art especially for Drew. All the children were very interested.

What a beautiful piece! Drew plans on mounting his name plate on his scoot.

Thank you, Lanny, for becoming a part of Drewbie’s Team!
Nana Barb

We are at the mid-point of Drew’s confinement to his cast. Three weeks down and three to go. Although he is tired of it, he remains in good spirits. We had a busy weekend with many visitors to help keep Drew occupied. However, before I describe the events in detail, I want to write about the highlight of the past few days.

When Drew was in the hospital Uncle Mark visited bearing gifts. To my surprise, of all the gifts Drew received his favorite by far was a DVD of “High School Musical 2″ from Uncle Mark. Drew has watched the movie over and over to the point that he has memorized all the songs. This weekend Auntie brought over a Wii game where players use a microphone to sing along with the songs. Drew loved this and shared it with everyone who visited. Unlike his nana and mommy, Drew has a beautiful singing voice. I suspect you may be as entranced as I was as you watch him:

As for the rest of the weekend, it started with Karli getting her first pair of shoes. She wasn’t sure what to think about those pink things at the end of her feet. On Friday afternoon Auntie arrived with zui zui pets. Just in case you missed the press about the hard-to-find, number one requested holiday gift, zui zuis are battery-run toy hamsters that act amazingly like real ones. As mentioned above, on Saturday the Wii game was set up by Auntie and Uncle Matt. Soon Anna arrived. To Drew’s delight, Anna stayed the rest of the day. They sang with the Wii, made clay animals and Anna introduced Drew to the story of Harry Potter. On Sunday a friend of Jay’s visited, accompanied by his two daughters. I am so very grateful to all who are helping Drew pass the time that he is confined to his cast.

Nana Barb
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt

Although Drew is off pain meds, he still experiences occasional discomfort. His most frequent complaint is that his left knee hurts. His nurse suggested that we try gentle vibration, so we brought out the small vibrating instrument that we have used for therapy in the past. It is even shaped like an elephant’s head. Always ready to help, Ryan did a great job of massaging Drew’s knee.
Apparently Ry thought the therapy looked relaxing; the next time I looked he was trying it on himself.

Keeping Drew occupied is a bit of a challenge, so we were grateful for the project that Auntie Kirstin dropped off. We planted an Easter egg greenhouse. Hopefully we’ll soon have some marigolds to transplant outside. Thanks, Auntie!

Two weeks down; only four to go until Drew won’t need his body cast. In the meantime, we’re doing just fine!
Nana Barb

The Draz kids had a well-deserved fun filled weekend as Drew continued to recover from surgery. On Thursday grandpa and muumuu arrived. Grandpa discovered a fishing app on Ryan’s iPod Touch. He shared each prize fish that he “caught” with Drew and Ry. Muumuu helped entertain the children. On Saturday Nikki and Phil joined everyone for dinner. Drew had a wonderful time sharing the evening with family and friends and even tasting a bit of mac and cheese. The children were sad when it was time for their grandparents to head home, but each child received the traditional lipstick kiss from muumuu.

On Sunday my good friend, Kathy, and her son, Nash, brought their adorable dog for a visit. Drew loves Kathy’s tiny terriers. In fact, he has decided that one day he will probably choose one for his companion dog. Although I have always claimed that I am a kid-person, not a dog-person, I will admit that this little dog was adorable and was no trouble. He visited us for several hours and all three children adored him. Kathy also brought two boxes of DVDs and two individual DVD players for the boys to use the next few weeks to help keep Drew entertained while he is in a cast. A big thank-you to Kathy and Nash, the newest members of Drewbie’s Team!

Sunday afternoon brought record-breaking high temperatures, so the family spent some time outside. This was a real treat as the children have been in “lock-down” ever since Drew returned from PICU last fall. Karli appeared stunned to find that there is a world outside the four walls of her house. Ryan pushed Drew up and down the street and the boys looked for signs of spring.

Drew is doing better each day. Again I want to thank all of you for your continuing thoughts, suggestions, help, visits and prayers. I hope you enjoy the following video of our weekend:

Nana Barb
It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining. Stephen Hawking

I got tears in my eyes when Drew named the newest video, “It was Worth Going Here.” He is referring to the fact that having surgery and living with all unpleasantries of recovery will be worth it if he is pain-free in the end. Although Drew does have difficult moments, for the most part he is positive and enjoying the days with his brother and sister. Of course, keeping him occupied is one of our challenges. Drew loves the Anamoto videos, so today I suggested we create one using pictures from the days in the hospital. First I collected all the pictures and told Drew he could choose which ones we would use. I clicked on each picture and suggested he say YES or NO. After he responded with a YES to the first 15 pictures we agreed to just include them all.

Next we needed to choose the music. Drew was adamant that it be a song about “friends” since so many friends had visited him in the hospital. We spent over an hour listening to all available songs. None of them was exactly what he had in mind except one that we had already used. Drew did not think we should use a song more than once. Finally I suggested we use that song for now with the promise that tomorrow we’ll continue the search for the perfect song about friends. (Have I mentioned that Drew tends to be a bit of a perfectionist?)

So, here is Drew’s video as it stands now:

Please continue to pray for this amazing little boy.
Nana Barb
I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. Christopher Reeve

First we want to thank each and every person who has sent good wishes, prayed for Drew and been thinking of Drew and his family. Drew came home on Saturday morning. While we are certainly busy, we are doing just fine. Today we began, successfully, to decrease Drew’s pain medication. We also began to develop a plan for keeping him safe and happily occupied for the time he will spend in his cast. We have videos, books, and projects. We know that family and friends will visit. Hopefully the weather will continue to turn to spring so that we can even take Drew outside. Surgery is over and life is good.
I think you will enjoy the following video which was shot moments after we wheeled Drew in after his hospital stay. Karli was obviously very glad to see her brother.

Drew’s parade of visitors also continued last weekend. Drew loves Anna. He says she is the only “grown-up” that “doesn’t treat me like a kid.” Here he proudly displays the miniature elephants she made out of playdough.

Uncle Matt also stopped by to chat.

Best of all, Karli once again has her morning bottle snuggled with Drew in his bed.

I think it bears repeating: Drew’s surgery is over and life is good!
Nana Barb