Christmas '08

Well the kids had a blast this Christmas! I think they enjoyed all their gifts, except the coal wrapped in their stocking ( Sean loves to do that). There were plenty of other gifts there to make up for the coal. Hope everyone else had a relaxing holiday!

Merry Christmas!

God Answers Prayers

We prayed that the baby's left ventricle would be functioning, and it is not only functioning, it is a good size with good blood flow. We came back from Little Rock with a different diagnosis. While this diagnosis is not perfect it is so much better than what we thought we were facing. The baby has a Double Outlet Right Ventricle. What this means is the Aorta and the Pulmonary valve are both coming out of the right ventricle. The Aorta is supposed to come out of the left ventricle and send all the newly oxygenated blood throughout the body. There is a hole between the left and right ventricle, but that is ok. They will be able to go in and patch the hole in a way that fixes the hole and allows the Aorta to get the blood from the left ventricle only.

I will still deliver at UAMS, and the baby will be taken straight over to Childrens. Childrens has a pediatric cardiac ICU, not very many children hospitals do. Everything after that depends on how the baby is doing. The baby will have the first (and maybe only) surgery at 1-2 weeks old. If the baby is doing well and strong enough they will patch the heart then. If the baby is not as strong as they would like then they do a temporary patch and do the permanent patch at 4-6 months. The pediatric cardiologist we met with yesterday did say this baby had some things going for him/her. There are no obstructions. They usually see obstructions in the large veins with this diagnosis and that is the biggest concern right now. I will have to go to Little Rock every 4 weeks and have another fetal echo done to make sure there are no obstructions or any other complication.

I was on the ultrasound table for like 2-2.5 hours yesterday and we saw every part of this baby except the gender. We don't want to know if it is a girl or boy, but the baby has made sure we didn't cheat! Every ultrasound the baby has had his/her legs crossed and grabbing and playing with his/her feet! The baby has hidden his/her face most of the time, but yesterday we even got some 4D images. They were measuring everything and looking for any other defects so they even had a shot of the lips and we could see nostrils. So we know there is no cleft palate.

I can't wait to meet this baby. I feel like I already know him/her and the personality he/she will have. Which is weird since I don't even know if it is a He/She (although I REALLY think it is a she).

Anyway, please keep us in your prayers. The big thing now is no obstruction!! And thank you! The calls, hugs, prayers, and emails have kept me going the past week and a half! I will scan and upload the 4D images later, they are so neat.

Rock Stars

I read Monica's last post and it makes me sad. (This is Sean speaking). Now, we can be sad and we can try to stop the world and change outcomes that really aren't in our control or we can prepare our family and leave this situation in God's hands where it belongs. Besides, the title of this blog is 'a blessed life', we know how this is going to end. It's right there in the title. Besides, if it doesn't end how we would have scripted it, we know that God will ultimately work this for the best. It's right there in Carolina's name Carolina Faith (I pre-appologize if you turn out to be Evan instead). So, in the mean time let's not turn to George Michael and talk about 'cause I gotta have faith'. Let's turn to Bachman Turner Overdrive and live a couple of these lyrics:

"If it were as easy as fish'n

You could be a musician

If you could make sounds LOUD (in my families case) or mellow.

Get a second hand guitar

chances are you'll go far,

If you get in with the right bunch of fellows.

People see you having fun

Just a-lyin in the sun.

Tell them that you like it this way.

It's the work we can't avoid,

And we're all self-employed.

We love to work at nothing all day

And I'll be taking care of business every day."

Therefore, dear God thank you for the rock star childern I already have. If you give me the oportunity to have another, I'm sure I'll rock out with that one too. But in the mean time I'll be

"Taken care of business and working overtime.

Work Out!"

This post would be nothing without more pictures, enjoy. (Therefore, Monica, when you catch me doing this please fix the pictures I've posted and add some more.) As always, Monica is the photog. Thanks again--Mama Rock Star.

Faith

Before Sean and I were married we had decided on a girl baby name. Carolina, because he was born in North Carolina and he loves the name. And Faith because as he said, we have Grace, now we need Faith (For by Grace are you saved through Faith, It is a gift from God....). He also likes to say that he will, many times in his life say "Grace and Faith I need you!"
Anyway, when we found out we were finally pregnant we decided not to find out the sex of the baby. We both have felt from the start that it is a girl though. We actually call the baby Carolina and her. We still don't know the sex of the baby, but after another ultasound yesterday we know that this baby will probably have a long road ahead of her (or him).
We currently have the diagnosis of probable Hypoplastic left ventricle and probable overriding Aorta. This basically means that the left ventricle is too small and the aorta is placed wrong. The aorta will actually get blood from the right and left ventricle instead of just the left. This means it will get oxygenated and unoxygenated blood.
This means that instead of delivering my baby 3 miles from my home surrounded by family and friends, I will deliver in Little Rock(2 hours away) surrounded by a surgical team waiting to take my baby to her first surgery.
This is where Faith comes in.
I need faith right now.
Faith that God is all knowing and is in control
Faith that the doctors will take care of this baby and help us do what is best.
Faith that my family will get through this.
Faith that God has my baby safely in his protective arms.
Faith during the times that I fall apart and cannot function for fear of the unknown.
I need Faith.
We go to Little Rock for more tests on Dec 19. Please keep us in your prayers that day. My hope and prayer is that these test will come back normal. God can heal. Sean had a long talk with the baby last night and told her to work on growing that ventricle. She kicked him alot during this talk so maybe she was listening. Next Friday we will be undergoing test and finding out the results and making plans for the future. The future of our baby.
Please pray that God gives us Faith.

This Little Man

Turned 7 last week! Seven! Because of the holidays we did not do a big birthday party for him. He had a friend over for the day Saturday and we went to the movies and out for pizza and then just let them play. He had a blast! He is really into Legos right now. He loves the Batman, Indiana Jones, and Speed Racer sets and he can put them together by himself now. I just can't believe he is seven! It goes by way to fast!

Happy Halloween!

G&G were Batman and Poison Ivy. Sean and MG made her costume themselves. I guess because her costume was G rated people did not connect the whole Poison Ivy and most thought she was Mother Nature, but they were excited! We live in a great neighborhood for trick or treating and we have more candy than we will ever eat now. Several of the neighbors gave them full size candy bars and they don't get to eat full size candy bars that often so they were really happy! They may never come down off the sugar high, but they are really happy!

I am a little dissappointed in myself this year. I love fall. LOVE it. I have barely got anything up in my house, and my mums (I love mums) died this year and I never got any more. My front porch is bare. I just feel like I am never home, and when I am I am just too tired to do anything extra. The dishes get done and the laundry stays within reason (kinda). I need energy! I need to start nesting!

A Little Bit of Everything

This is their new cousin!

This is the face you make when someone kicks your knee instead of the ball. (she was ok)

It has been a while. I am 19 weeks now. It just seems to be flying by! Everything is going well, the baby is the size of a mango now. S/he is 6 inches and 8.5 oz. The baby is proving it will be a soccer player just like G&G. I get kicks and punches alot. I am feeling really great, just tired. I am told this will pass soon!

G&G have been very busy. Soccer is starting to wind down and basketball is starting up. I am helping coach MG's team again this year. The season ends about a month before my due date. Maybe the refs will cut me some slack if I am huge pregnant on the sidelines! Last year, they weren't my biggest fan, but I will admit I got a little mouthy. Something to work on!

Since I can't post without photos...

OK, it posted the photos first. I don't understand blogger sometimes!

There is a baby Bum in my oven

Sean thinks that is a very corny joke, but I like it! After a very long time of trying and seeing just one pink line on many pregnancy test, I am finally pregnant. According to the ultrasound I was 12 weeks on Sunday, by dates I will be 12 weeks on Thursday, but I just can't stand not saying anything anymore!! We told G & G last night and Sean told his family so I am now posting it for everyone to see! Oh, and MG is very excited! GW is ok if it is a boy, if it is a girl he will run. I am not sure where he will run, but he will run. Oh, and if it is a boy he wants to name him Rocks (or Rox, not sure of the spelling) I have no idea where he got this name, but he has wanted a brother named Rocks for a while now. I am sick and I am so tired, but I am loving it!! I had to go off my migrane meds so I have had alot of migranes and the new meds are not as good. Dr. Laws thinks they will start to get better at about 15 weeks, please pray that this is true. And please pray that S/he will be healthy!! I am still very nervous, things have gone very well and for some reason that just makes me more nervous.

First Day in the First Grade

Can you name that Veggie Tale movie??? I was also MG's first day in the 5th grade. She is now in middle school. She changes classes and has a locker (locker decorations are the most important thing about staring school this year!) She is doing very well. I am 3 weeks late posting this and she has done well so far, I can monitor her grades online and she has a study hall to get most of her homework done.
GW is loving his class. He has a wonderful teacher and most of his buddy's are in his class. Not sure if that is a good thing or not yet, but he loves it! I have lots of pictures to post. We had a busy summer. Cute photos from Minn. where we finally got to meet the newest member of the family (7 month old Cora), fastpitch softball, and lake pictures. So I promise I will post again soon!!

What do you do with a possum after you catch one?

My wonderful 73 year old born and raised in the country, but now lives in the middle of the city dad caught a possum yesterday. He actually had a pet possum when he was young. His name was Sammy and Sammy lived in the house. Anyway, yesterday morning there was possum under my dads car and then it went up a tree, so my dad caught it. That was were he stopped the story.

So I asked him what he did with it.

He threw it in the trash.

The trash trucks were coming so he just threw it in the trash. When he put something else in there later he said it just looked up at him. So now my dad thinks there is a happy possum running around the dump. I didn't want to tell him that the crusher thing probably took care of the possum before he even got to the dump, I will just let him think he made the thing happy!

The kids are in Minnesota and I am bored out of my mind. So I will post of pictures that I have taken recently. Gracie in all her mountain biking gear and Garrett swimming. Oh, and Barbie giving Garrett a bath. I really think she thinks he is hers. She gives him a bath every chance she gets. I think every boy needs a Barbie dog!

Just a Quick Post

These were taken after her team placed 2nd at state. She was trying to smile while crying. She played so hard and we are so proud of her, but these pictures are just sad.

Garrett being Garrett.

I am looking forward to a nice relaxing long weekend of swimming and cooking out! I hope everyone has a nice relaxing fourth!

It Has Been a While

It's summer so we have been swimming and at the ball fields. Just thought I would share a shot of GW celebrating the fact he made it to second base! Have a good weekend!

The Difference a Lens Can Make

Today is my 33rd birthday and my wonderful hubby got me the lens that I have needed for a while now. Our house has wonderful lighting for living. Very soft lights, but for pictures it pretty much was awful. Most indoor pictures are blurry. So Sean got me the 50mm lens for my b-day. These are straight out of the camera and I love them. I should also be able to get the basketball shot that I want next year! I am just so excited! The kids are already tired of me sticking the camera in their faces! Barbie even got her picture taken and I usually cannot get one of her that is not blurry! I will spend the next several days playing with my new toy!! Sean, it was the perfect gift! Thank you! It is so nice to have a husband that gets me!

Rituals

Every year I take pictures of all the girls on the softball team and make little books for them. At the end of the year party they pass these books around and everyone signs them and they have pictures of themselves in action and one of all the girls. My favorite pictures are the batting pictures. Gracie always looks mad. I don't know if she is trying to scare the pitcher or if the sun is just in her eyes. Several of the girls stick their tongues out while they bat. Some have thier faces screwed up in concentration. One girl has her eyes closed in almost all the pictures of her batting. It is amazing what your camera catches. Things you don't notice while watching the game. Gracie has a ritual before every pitch. She draws a line from the point on the plate out, then she crosses it like she is marking her spot. Then she pounds the plate with her bat. Then she is ready. She repeats this with every pitch. The other night we were watching my nephews baseball game. This one boy came to the plate twirled the bat and hit his cleats a few times then got into his stance. After the third time Gracie asked why he did that. I just looked at her and said cross, cross, pound, stance. She just smiled.

The Graduate

I had such a harder time with graduation than I did when he went into kindergarden. It just seems like yesterday that Grace was in her little cap and gown and now she is going to middle school and Garrett will be starting 1st grade and they just don't stop growing!! He was nice and loud for this performance also. You could hear him above all the other children. I will have to remind him of this when he is older and too cool to actually sing in the school programs. Anyway, he made it through K-5 and we will see how 1st grade goes!

Wild Boy

I haven't talked about Garrett lately. Soccer season was over today. I missed a lot of his games. When they both have games I usually go with Grace and he goes with Garrett. He did have a lot of fun and did not want it to end. He will move up to all boy teams next year and he will make a great defender!

Remember Gracie and the solo drama. Garrett has no stage fright. In fact he could be heard even when he wasn't in front of the mike. His teacher promised them 10 merits if they sang loud and GW as determined to get his ten merits. He sang loud and off key, so maybe he got extra merits for that!

Teeball is in full swing now. I just haven't uploaded any photos yet. I will make a post someday that does not involve sports and children, I just don't know what I will post about yet! It seems like this is all I do!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Julie has posted some challenges for NSD on her blog so I am posting my layouts here! I love challenges. I would have never gone in Gracie's room and found an old treat bag in a basket on her desk, cut it up, and put it on a page. Just a simple page from the dad and daughter dance.

Ouch!

And this is the face you make when the ball hits your hand instead of the bat. I felt to so bad for her. That had to hurt. Well, it is softball season. I really did not want her to play softball this season, but really it has been a life saver. She loves it. Plain and simple, she loves it. She loves her team and she enjoys playing with them. Oh, and I am not a mean mommy. She shook her hand a few times and continued on with batting practice. I will post some fun photos from this weekend when my computer decides to obey me. Lots of outfielders running to get balls hit by my daughter. Fun times!

Insanity

We have had a truely insane weekend. Grace had 7 games yesterday. Seven. We started at 7:45 at the soccer fields and we left the softball field at 11:24pm with first place trophies for both tournaments! You would think she would be falling over tired (I was). NOPE. I am very proud of her. We were running from one field to another. She didn't miss any games and she played her heart out. We got to one softball game right as she was up to bat, her coach was calling us and pretty nervous, she is third batter. She ran to the field and batted and when she made it around the bases she ran to the dugout and asked if she had time to go to the bathroom! Even through the last softball game she was yelling cheers and having a blast. I think she thrives in this enviroment. Free time drives her crazy. I have tried to get her to rest and watch movies and read books today and she wants to run around and play outside. Sean came to some of the games, we didn't think Garrett should have to spend his day running around and going from field to field, so he had a dad and Garrett day, until the last couple of games, he fell alseep in my lap at the ballfield. I have a feeling this is just the beginning of insane busy weekends.

Julie wants seven random facts about me.
1. 4th grade science is kicking my butt. Seriously, do you remember the 5 layers of the atmosphere or all of Newtons laws?
2. I am becoming a scrap product collecter instead of a scrapper. I need to make time to scrap.
3. Sunday after church I will google the words to songs the band sings so I can find the songs on itunes. Then when I mow the lawn or I am folding clothes I can listen to worship songs. They usually sound better coming from the band at church, but I have found some great artists and songs this way.
4. I am a Big Brother junkie. I read the spoiler threads at a couple of sites. This seasons people are skanks. Seriously and you don't know that unless you read the spoilers.
5. I love the movie Enchanted, but I cannot look at McDreamy and not be mad at him because he is not with Merideth.
6. I volunteer in the office at my children's school once a week and I love it. I miss having other adults to talk to.
7. I have been wearing flip flops and my toenails are not even painted yet. Really, I have no business wearing any kind of shoe that shows my toenails or cracked heals, I need to take care of that!