December. 12days tilll we will be in sunny California & our 2nd big boy ear!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our Brody followers! :) December has flew by so fast and we are only 12 days away from our (hopefully) last trip out to California. When we booked our flights and hotels for this trip it seemed like forever away and now we are only a week and a half away! Yikes. 

Brody hasn't necessarily been looking forward to this trip or is he not wanting to go. He talks about it once and a while. With not too much excitement about getting his ear but more excitement that his cousin Jack will be coming out with us for a week. 

I am excited for this trip as we are hoping that it is our last "surgery" trip. I will welcome the 75 degree weather with open arms. As far as the surgery, I am still nervous. You would think that this being his fourth one, I would know the ropes and it would be a breeze. It doesn't always work like that though. I am sure  I will be a nervous wreck through out the whole process just as the previous ones.  I am also hopeful that Brody will get his second big boy ear and that he can move on as a normal little boy without all the stares and questions. Not that I'm not open to all the questions because I love to share Brody's story, but I just want Brody to have a normal conversation with other kids with out being asked, "What happened to your ear?"  and being stared at for the next 5 minutes.

We fly out on January 7th and the surgery is on the 9th.  This time we are renting a house in Marnia Del Ray. Then before head back home we will once again head to Palo Alto to meet with Dr Robersons staff to make sure the canal is doing well and have a new mold made. If all goes well we will be headed back to Wisconsin on January 26th.

Happy Holidays to you and your family! I know this year has truly been amazing in so many aspects! Our little boy now has 2 canals and is so close to having 2 big boy ears! :) We are beyond blessed for all the support from the community, family, friends, and the amazing doctors which have changed Brody's life for the better!

Canal cleaning

WOW!  Sorry it has been a little while since I have posted on the blog... I guess as soon as we got back from California we went straight into benefit mode and I was focused on that. We did make it back to Wisconsin. Brody's benefit this year was amazing. We had beautiful weather and lots of volunteers to help us have such a successful weekend. With all the fundraising we have done from day one, we can officially say that we have raised enough money to pay for Brody's surgeries!!  We are so thankful for everyone who has helped us with this effort in so many different ways. THANK YOU!

Today we traveled to Milwaukee to see Dr Kershner for an ear cleaning. He checked his canals and said they look wonderful. He didn't need to have them cleaned. I very much enjoy these appointments where he doesn't need them cleaned, as Brody is not a fan of the whole cleaning process.

Overall Brody is doing very well and his new ear looks amazing!  The swelling has gone down a lot and the coloring is start to look like a regular ear! :) The ear is still pretty sensitive and occasionally gets bumped and hurts him. It is still in the healing process and will take quite a while for him to get used to his new ear. It is something he hasn't had before and will take a little adjustment.

We had ordered some travel tumblers (hot-cold) for the benefit. We completely  sold out of these and ordered a second round. We do have these for sale still and are $7 each. We will have them for sale at the Montello Holiday Trail on November 23rd at Kendall Tire and Auto just south of town. I'm hoping to serve apple cider in the mugs too!

Thanks again to all how are following Brody's Story. Many Blessings to all of you and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have some busy months coming up. Brody's birthday is November, Christmas and then we are back to California in January!

Hearing Test and Check-up with Dr. Roberson

Today we were back in Palo Alto where Brody had his canal surgery's done earlier this year by Dr. Roberson.  Brody had a hearing test for both ears to see where he is at with his hearing.  He did a great job with the test.  He played the throw the ball in the basket game when he hears the Birdy.  The audiologist said that he is hearing about the same in both ears which is great news meaning the prosthesis is doing its job in his right ear!   We then met up with Dr. Roberson for a check-up and to talk about his hearing.  He cleaned his right ear canal a little and also made a new mold for his new ear to wear at night to protect it, and to keep the canal the proper size.  He will wear this mold for the next 4 months at night.   Dr. Roberson  then went on to tell us that we (in his exact words) "HIT A HOME RUN" with Brody's hearing!!  He was more then happy with the hearing test results and told us he is hearing at 95% and there was really no need to wear his hearing aids!  This was the best news we have heard yet, since our goal in all this was to get him to normal hearing unaided!!!!!!! 

We had an appointment scheduled for Thursday just In case Brody's canal was to small he would have needed to wear a plug for a couple nights that makes the canal bigger before Dr. Roberson made the new mold.  The canal was good size so there was no need to come back!  We then said our good bye's until we meet back up with the CEI crew in January!

Tomorrow we are headed to a cool place in San Jose called Happy Hollow,  We took Brody there when we were here in June so he wants to show Rilyn all the fun rides and animals there!  We will then be flying home Thursday instead of Friday which we are all excited for, to be finally back in Wisconsin!!

Our princess Rilyn playing in our beautiful back yard at the last rental house.

My silly kiddos having fun!!!

My all-pro sports guy!!! :)

Cheese....



The world famous Doctor Rienich... We are soo thankful for him.

Last leg of our journey for September...(9.23.13)

After Brody got his ear cup off it was kind of a relief! We had been anticipated this for a long time.  We have to be careful for his ear to make sure there are no significant bumps, falls, wrestling matches, Etc. so far he has been very careful I think because it is very sensitive yet and new. Even Rilyn knows she needs to be careful!

Today we checked out of our house and had an appointment with Dr Renisch . He said everything looks good. And would like us to send him photos of Brody's ears. He likes to see all of his patients at least once a year. He informed us that his daughter just moved to Chicago so he would be more then willing to meet up with us there! :)

We are flying to San Jose tonight and checking into our stay bridge suites (with air conditioning). Our flight is to leave at 8:40pm.... When we checked in it had already been delayed 10 minutes.... Hopefully this is all it will be delayed. We are to arrive in San Jose at 9:40pm, so either it will be a peaceful ride or a very loud one!

Tuesday we have Brody's hearing test with the California ear institute and then our appointment with dr Roberson! Wish us luck! Thank again to everyone for your thoughts and prayers! We are extremely excited that we are only 4 days away from Wisconsin!

NEW EAR!!!!

Thursday at 4:00pm we had Brody's 'Big Boy ear Reveal'!! Brody thought it was going to hurt... He was so worked up he didn't care what anyone told him... He was not going to have that cup taken off. As the nurse puts it, he has a lot of anxiety!! Well after a short wrestling match... the stitches were off the cup  and the bandage was off the skin graft.... While he wanted nothing more to get out of daddy's lap and out of that room, He lunged for his momma and is desperation of him to stop crying and screaming, I said, "Hey look at your ear!" We walked in front of the mirror and mid cry-screaming, Brody stopped, and had the biggest smile on his face as he checked out his new ear!! Momma was already crying in amazement but that moment when he saw his ear for the first time was so AMAZING!! The tears were just flowing... I think the nurse had a few tears as well!! :)  

As that moment, there were so many emotions going threw my head. I was sad for Brody that he had to endure all the pain and uncomfortable Dr appointments. I was overjoyed with excitement when I saw his ear. It was a miracle all in itself. This little boy who was born without ears, now has an ear! An actual real ear!! I was in shock, I really didn't believe my eyes, It was surreal! And then when he took one look at it! It was instant gratification! :)  I'm pretty sure Daddy and Mommy had a permanent smile the whole Doctor appointment!! Rilyn was also happy to see her brothers new ear... She was clapping and saying "yeah Brody" Brody really enjoyed his sisters' excitement!!

The appointment was about 2 hours long, with the big reveal, the washing of the ear and the hair,  mom learning how to care and clean the new ear, making a new mold, Dr Renisch showing off his beautiful work to some Doctors from Holland, lots of pictures from both the Drs and Mom, lots of questions all around!

While we were there we took a quick snapshot of the ear and texted to the family. On the drive back to the house, I was reading all the replies to Brod. He couldn't get enough of what everyone had to say! (some needed to be censored a little.... :) He was laughing and smiling at their responses!!

All of these experiences are soo amazing... I don't even have words to describe them!! We are soo thankful for everyone who has supported us threw this journey in our lives! There are soo many people who care and love Brody soo much and followed this road to "Big boy ears".  Lots of love to you all!!!

DISNEY... Excited to see the new ear FINALLY!!!!!!

Disneyland. Oh my, where do I start? This place is ridiculously awesome!! I don't even know how to describe our experience! Lets just say you really use all of your senses! Walt Disney really knew what he was doing when he created Disneyland!!! The sights are incredible, all the lights and displays are awesome. The smells are so delicious they make you want to eat every single thing they have!! Even the rides have different smells that make them more desirable! The sounds of all the shows and music that are incorporated with every single ride is some thing that I can't even describe! It truely is an experience that everyone should do once in a lifetime!

Brody had an awesome time! Every time we would come back to the room he would say lets go do this, lets go do that! He was so overwhelmed by everything it was so enjoyable to see!!! He even got a little present from all his Disney friends! When we walked into the room there was a gift basket with some toys and snacks! It was adorable to see such a big smile on his face when he saw the present!  I think he smiled bigger when I told him who it was from!

Tommrow is the big day!! We get to finally see Brody's 'Big boy ear'!! Mom and Dad are very excited! I ask Brody if he is excited, and he just looks at me and says yeah and turns away! I think he knows it will hurt when they take the stitches out. Daddy has been talking to him how he needs to be strong and brave when they take the stitches out! He is a smart cookie and knows when we are trying to sugar coat  something!

Beach Bums. Heading to Anaheim today....

Sorry for the lack of writing.... to be honest.. .I  don't have much to report. No news is good news right? Brody is really doing GREAT!!! His rash-swelling in his elbow has gone down, (actually it is almost gone) and he hasn't complained at all about any pain.... :) Which is wonderful!!!! His ear cup is still stitched on and the bandage over his skin graft. Our next appointment is the 19th where they will take both off and wash his hair and his new ear!!

This last week we pretty much have not done much except walk down to the beach ( it is only like 5 blocks away from our house). We walked the beach and looked for seashells  and built sand castles.. Venice beach is a beautiful beach and I think I could make this my second home... The kids really like it too! They enjoy playing in the sand and digging for treasures!!

Today we are packing everything up and heading to Anaheim to stay at Disney Land!!! :) I'm not sure who is more excited for Cars land, Daddy or Brody? I myself am pretty excited to ride the cars racer experience!!  Miss Rilyn has a new love Minnie Mouse!! She is excited to see her! Brody wants to ride Tow Mater.... I told him I wasn't sure if we could ride him but we could get our picture taken with him... not sure he is ok with that, so we will see how that goes!! 

Enjoy a few pictures from our beach week!! :)

My little beach bums...

Digging for treasures....



Mermaid & Merman

Highlight of the week... A tractor on the beach

At the grocery store.... Brody is missing all his pumpkins
back home!! (Grandma, What you think? Should we raise our
prices?)