Tyson Hugh Hooper

Tyson Hugh Hooper
Our son, Tyson Hugh Hooper, was born with coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic arch, and a transitional avsd. His first open heart surgery reconstructed his aorta and was on day 9 of life. His second open heart repair was not anticipated to be needed until two or three years of age. Ty had other plans. We spent the vast majority of his first 3 months of life at Vanderbilt as he went into heart failure and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. As a result, the medical team concluded that he needed the repair much sooner than usually recommended, and at just shy of 3 months old Ty underwent his second life saving open heart surgery. God has already worked so many miracles in Ty's life and the life of our family and we know he is using our story. Because of this, we are grateful for Ty's special heart and feel beyond blessed that God chose us to travel this road. We ask for prayers as Ty continues to heal. We are praying for a full recovery and life without restrictions for Ty. We are praying for God to use our family and Ty for His glory.

Thank you to each and every person who supports us through prayer, giving, or just by loving on our family! We are humbled and blessed by all of the ways the Lord is providing for us and know that he is using Ty and his story to do great things!

Saturday, October 31, 2015

An update on all things Hooper...


Finding time to post always proves challenging, so I'm taking some times this Saturday morning to update everyone on the latest goings on the Hooper household!

This guy is 7 months old - already!
 Ty enjoyed his first trip to the beach this month.  He wasn't crazy about it, but he thought the waves were funny as long as he didn't have to touch the water.
 Ty had two MAJOR accomplishments this month along with many other smaller accomplishments.  The first is that we have KICKED the feeding tube!  We have only had to drop a tube once to catch up on fluids and, although some days are better than others, he is meeting or exceeding his minimum daily calories most days!  He is up to 17 pounds and if his growth stays on track at his next weigh in, I think we'll be officially free of the tube (hopefully forever)!
 Ty's other BIG accomplishment is sitting up!  He can't get himself into a sitting position yet, we are working on that in therapy, but he is doing GREAT at staying up and playing once you put him in a sitting position!  He loves being up where he can see everything and play with his toys!
 He LOVES bath time!
This is what he does every single time I take him out of the bath tub!  So sad.

Ava Grace makes him laugh every day!  She loves him... a lot!  She wants to hold him, "help" him, and TICKLE him!  He is the most ticklish baby I have ever met!  
He loves his Lily too!  True to her personality, she is much more of a practical helper.  She'll hold him and talk to him sometimes, but for the most part she does her thing and lets him do his.  She is great to keep an eye out for him, though, and help him get his paci or protect him from Ava Grace when necessary, lol.

Ty has started eating baby food and is getting better and better at it!  We have monthly feeding therapy to keep track of how he is doing.  He likes sweet potatoes the best.  This week we experimented with a graham cracker and he really liked it!

This big sis has been growing too!  She loves school this year and loves her teacher.

Her independent streak continues to grow!  She likes to dress herself now and that includes picking out her clothes, shoes, AND accessories.  She is really into shoes and clothes.  She says things like, "I am so fashion" and "I am stylish.  I am the fashionist girl in the whole city."  

Ava Grace is big time into crafting.  She wants to cut, glue, and paint everything.  She loves helping me cook and continues to be such a good eater!  She loves vegetables - We keep a veggie tray in the fridge and it's her go-to snack.  She also really likes just about any fruit, all meat, and will eat most anything I cook.  She even likes slightly spicy things - which totally fits her personality!  She has a sweet tooth as well, though not as big as her big sisters, and a passion for Popsicle!

 She dresses up like a princess on a regular basis and often asks to go out dressed up that way (sometimes this turns into a battle).  She was thrilled when we went to see Cinderella at TPAC and I allowed her to wear her princess dress out!
She resists naps with a passion, but if you can get her still she will crash and when she crashes - she is OUT.

Ava Grace LOVES her big sister and loves to play with her big sister.  Their play time is often cut short by a melt down because Lily isn't doing as Ava Grace instructs her to do, but it never fails, they are back at it in no time.  Lily is infinitely patient with Ava Grace and just the best big sister ever.

Lily is learning to play the clarinet, following in the footsteps of her Aunt Sarah, Aunt Gina, Aunt Jodie, and Great Aunt Jan!  In fact, her Aunt Jan gave her the clarinet that three generations of Hoopers learned to play on and gave her her very first lesson.

Lily still loves playing volleyball and has gotten really good!  She can serve overhand like a pro now and dives for balls like a champ!

Lily was recently invited to join the Junior Beta Club as well!  We are so proud of the young lady that she is becoming!
Lily loves watching the food network and is an aspiring chef!  We have recently turned her loose in the kitchen and she is learning to be more independent in her cooking!


Lily is still sweet, very innocent, and we are soaking up the remnants of her little-girl days before she heads to middle school next year.

 That pretty much sums up the kiddos!

 Please continue to pray for my mom.  She is officially done with Chemo!!!!  She will meet with her surgeon this week and most likely have surgery within the next two weeks.  Her tumor is less than half a cm now!  We praise God for the miracle he is working and pray for complete healing!  We want the cancer gone and to stay gone!  After surgery she'll have several weeks of intense daily radiation.  God provided her with the days for medical leave until her retirement day in the spring, so thankfully she can rest and focus on recovery!  Please keep her close in prayer for healing and recovery!  Also please pray for my Dad as he cares for her!

Also...
Mark your calendars!  Breakfast with Santa will be coming Dec 12 and will benefit our fellow heart family's organization, Project Heart!  Money raised goes to CHD research!  Check them out on Facebook under Project Heart and order a Project Heart tshirt!  (Ty and I love ours, but I don't have a picture of us wearing them yet - coming soon!)

I think that about sums it up!  Hope everyone has a happy halloween and a great weekend!

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