Another Bodie Update

We went to visit Bodie today and he is continuing to gradually improve. His lungs are being allowed to work more for themselves and they tried to feed him some of his mother's milk for the first time. He wasn't a big fan of it and they decided to try formula instead. Either way, it means that his body is getting stronger. This is a rare view of him without his blindfold on. Sara visited him in the morning and then came again when others made an afternoon visit. He had quite a few visitors today. He slept through the afternoon visit, but both sets of grandparents came by along with his uncle Knick, his uncle Claron, his aunt Carla, his cousin Catrina, his mom and dad, and his two twin cousins (who were born before him, but still barely outweigh him combined). We were going to try and smuggle the twins into the NICU for a wrestling match against Bodie, but the twins tried to get out of it by faking sleep. His favorite visitor of the day was probably his oldest sister. Skyler got to touch him for the first time. She really enjoyed it, except for the part where she noticed the tube in his side. He seemed to crack a little smile when he held her finger. Skyler participated in the family fast. It was her first time fasting and she was very happy when she didn't end up starving.

We appreciate the continued prayers of so many of you. We also appreciate all of you who have helped through fasting and offering to help us with whatever we need. We have felt a great sense of comfort through this difficult time.


Here is a little bit about how Bodie got his name:
Bodie is a ghost town in Mono County, California. It also happens to be one of Joshua's all-time favorite places to visit. And Bodie is named after that town. It is pretty amazing that name hadn't surfaced during previous pregnancies, because once Joshua thought of it the name immediately jumped past Kahuna, Kahlil, Moises, and Knathaniel to the top of the list. Sara wasn't sold on the name, but gave it to Joshua as a Christmas present. The middle name didn't go as smoothly.
Joshua likes historical figures. "Machine Gun" Kelly was a notorious gangster from back in the day. So, Joshua thought Machine Gun would be a perfect middle name. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on who you ask) Sara didn't see the historical value of the name. Joshua kept pushing for the middle name and thought it might happen. There were a few other possibilities discussed, but Joshua was so sold on Machine Gun that he didn't seriously consider other names. After being given a deadline by the birth certificate lady(I'm sure that is her official title), Sara and Joshua finally decided to hash it out. With about 10 minutes to spare before the deadline, they finally agreed. Some of the middle names discussed were Rockwell(after Porter Rockwell), Winchester(after The Winchester Mystery House, another one of Joshua's favorite places to visit), Bitner(like The Prophet, Gordon Bitner Hinckley), Troutman(suggested by uncle Jedidiah), and Kato(suggested by Kato Stransky and immediately vetoed by Sara). Rockwell had been discussed when Sara didn't know that Madison wasn't going to be a boy, but it just didn't feel right. Winchester was originally liked by Sara, but after thinking it over she thought it sounded like an old man's name. Bitner wasn't liked by Joshua and Troutman wasn't liked by Sara.
That brings us to the winning middle name. McCoy came from the T.V. show "Las Vegas". One of the main characters is named Danny McCoy. Joshua heard the name and liked it enough to use as a backup in case Bodie didn't make the cut. Here is a picture of the actor who plays Danny McCoy. Coincidentally, his name is Josh and is good on the eyes(just like Bodie's dad). We'll update you more on Bodie as we know more.