Heart to Heart

Introducing Baby Girl Furr

2011-01-09T19:12:00.002-05:00

Due June 1st, 2011

To the "MOON" and back

2010-06-25T09:14:00.004-04:00

Ryan and Grace shared a special treat together on Father's Day. He gave her a moon pie :) But not just any moon pie, he showed her how to melt it for a few seconds in the microwave to make oooey goooey yumminess. Needless to say, she LOVED it.

Grace's End Of School Program

2010-06-11T17:32:00.005-04:00

I missed part of the song due to personal operator error :) but knew that the grandparents would love to see it anyway. Grace is on the front row and yes that is her at the end that says, come here mom, come here :) She really wanted me to come sit with her class.

Our "Little Old Lady"

2010-05-25T21:05:00.002-04:00

Grace came walking out in these crazy glasses, her pearl necklace and a tutu. I could not stop laughing. She looked like a little old lady from the waste up, but then the tutu added just made it :)

Grace's Park Day

2010-05-20T07:53:00.005-04:00

Grace had her first official "leave the school" field trip to a nearby park to end the school year. They children got to ride the church bus and all of the parents met them there for a picnic/play day.

Grace was SOOOO excited to get to ride the bus.

I was a bit worried that Grace wasn't going to have a good time at first. After she got off the bus, she just started crying and was really clingy. I still am not sure quite what the problem was, but she sooned warmed up and was off playing with everyone else. I think it was just such a change of routine for her, she was a bit overwhelmed. I wish I could post more pictures of her day. However, as this is a public blog and for privacy issues I chose not to. Most of them had the church's name on the bus and shirts.

Ear Tubes #2

2010-05-18T10:42:00.007-04:00

On April 16th,2010 Grace had her second set of ear tubes placed. Previous to that, she had had one and sometimes two ear infections per month for like 7 months. We had a recheck yesterday and everything looks great. Even more exciting is that she hasn't hadn't had an ear infection since placing the tubes :) Daddy was TDY on a job with the military, so Aunt Beth came to keep us company and love on Grace. Thank you Aunt Beth, you made the day so much easier and kept mommy sane!

Talking to Grams and Pops on Skype before surgery

Aunt Beth comforting Grace after the Versed started kicking in

Wheelchair ride to the car after surgery as she was still a bit loopy

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-14T07:48:00.002-04:00

Fashion Friday

2010-04-09T19:11:00.001-04:00

Rainy Days

2010-03-11T11:50:00.006-05:00

So what do you do on a rainy day? Why puddle jump of course. The rain finally slowed down enough for Grace to get out and play in it. She had so much fun. Our side yard floods every time it rains, so she has a "pool" of water to play in. Up until now it has been to cold to let her play in it, but today was just perfect.

Jump Rope For Heart

2010-02-09T08:34:00.006-05:00

We have a sweet friend whose son jumped in honor of Grace yesterday. Little did we know they had such a sweet surprise for us. John David was not only jumping in honor of Grace, but he was also wearing a shirt made for her. In talking with the athletic coach, he told me that the school had raised $15,000 for the American Heart Association so far. Is that not absolutely awesome! I was so excited to be invited and get to be a part of this event. Grace had so much fun and got to "jump" some as well.

NO NO, Jesus I Love You

2010-01-20T07:04:00.003-05:00

I had to document this before I forgot it. Grace knows she is not suppose to say, or should I say yell "no" to me when I ask her to do something. She said "no" once and I corrected her. She then proceeded to cut her little eyes at me and start singing, No No , Jesus I love you, Jesus I love you, no no. She thought she was being so sneaky and creative by working those no's into a song, that she already sings all the time. I wish I had been able to get it on video, but I didn't want to encourage this as a new version.

Pa and the Fire Trucks

2010-01-14T21:34:00.004-05:00

Grace's grandfather (Pa) is a firefighter and also drives the crash and fire trucks. We were able to go on a private tour of the fire station and Grace was able to sit in all of the trucks, as well as see the police helicopter. Thank you Pa for soothing her fears and letting her "drive" the trucks. She had so much fun and can't wait to do it again!

Build A Bear

2010-01-13T17:19:00.013-05:00

Back in December, Grace built her very first "Build A Bear" with Grams and Pops at the mall in Nashville, Tennessee. They originally went in just to watch and look; however, by the end Grace had convinced them that she really "NEEDED" a bear :) I apologize for the poor picture quality, I only had my camera phone on me at the time, but didn't want to miss capturing the event!

Grace picked out the bear she wanted and off she goes to begin the process of stuffing!

But first you must promise to love and take care of your bear (notice Grace's little hand held up saying her promise :)

Stuffing the bear

Notice, Grace is no where in sight. As the lady was stuffing the bear, her hand slipped and the bear slipped off blowing stuffing EVERYWHERE. Needless to say it scared Grace quite a bit and to Grams arms she fled.

The "Accident"

With all of the commotion of the stuffing, I didn't get a picture of Grace kissing the heart and putting it inside the bear.

Sewing up the bear

Giving the bear a bath

She LOVES her bear

The bear came with a Birth Certificate and if at any time she needs a doctor, we can bring it in to one of their stores and they will "fix" her :)

Thank you Grams and Pops!

Fashion Friday

2010-01-08T21:20:00.001-05:00

Project 365

2010-01-06T15:52:00.002-05:00

I was introduced to a project called Project 365 last year sometime. It is where you take a picture every day for a year as a way of documenting the "everyday moments" that make up your year/life. I thought this would also be a great way to look at things in a different way and capture things that wouldn't ordinary make a blog post. I started a separate blog just for this in hopes that I can have it printed out at the end of the year as a "scrapbook" of our year. I will still post on this site as well with stories,events and more pictures, but wanted to keep this project separate. The website is called furrfamily365.blogspot.com and I linked it on the sidebar as well. We love to receive comments, so please let us know you stopped by and if there is anything in particular you would like to see. Stay tuned as I am way behind on updating this blog and hope to begin to be able to catch up.

Updates

2009-12-31T08:51:00.004-05:00

I have a ton of updating to do; so beginning next week, be on the look out for several posts. Everything here is great, we have just been super busy. I am looking forward to showing you what we have been up to and catching up on others blogs as well.

We would like to wish each of you a Happy New Year!

Halloween 2009

2009-12-15T11:09:00.010-05:00

This Halloween, we traveled to be with Grace's cousins. Thank you for having us, as well as Ace. We had such a great time and jump at any chance we can get to get the girls together.

Grace with 2 of her cousins

Is SB not the cutest Kitty Cat you have ever seen :) Grace was too busy looking at her goodies to take time for a picture :)

I couldn't help but laugh while looking through the pictures from that night. Grace had her head in her bucket in almost every single one. Oh and check out that Pixie Stick, it was almost as tall as she was (for the record, we slipped it away when Grace wasn't looking and she never even missed it.)

Boo at the Zoo 2009

2009-12-14T08:37:00.009-05:00

In October, Sibley Heart Center sponsored "Boo at the Zoo" for all of their heart patients. They encouraged the children to dress up, provided free passes to the Zoo, lunch, arts and crafts, and time to meet other families. It was a wonderful event and time to spend as a family. For documenting purposes, I do have to share that Grace, you are still afraid of dressed up characters. You love the cartoon Curious George and we thought for sure you would be excited to see him at the Zoo. You had no desire to be near him, or even give him a high five. Below are a few pictures from that day. We had such a great time and would like to thank Sibley Heart Center for going out of their way to provide so much fun for the kids.

Grace's reaction to Curious George

Dancing and Hula Hooping to "Little Beat" music (notice the determination look on her face :)

Preschool Fall Festival

2009-11-10T21:48:00.003-05:00

Grace's preschool had a fall festival in October. The parents came and helped man the centers for the 4 year olds, then we went around with our 3 year olds while the 4 year old parents manned the centers. They had it organized into 10 centers and at each one you got a small prize or sticker after playing. They had bean bag tosses, thankful tree table, basketball toss, hula hoops around pumpkins, fishing, face painting, pin the apple on the tree, relay races, and mini golf. Her school did such a great job organizing the festival and we both had so much fun. Below are just a few pictures from the day.

Georgia National Fair

2009-11-10T21:34:00.001-05:00

We went to the Georgia National Fair a few weeks back and had a blast. This year was so much different than last year. Not only because she was taller and could ride more rides, but also because Grace was oxygen free. Sometimes, the days of carrying around oxygen tanks, extra nasal canules, hosing and tape seem like a lifetime ago. Daddy was brave enough to take Grace down the fun slide, not once, but 2 or 3 times. She LOVED every minute of it. There was also a mini roller coaster that was by far her favorite. I think we rode it like 4 or 5 times. I truly just thanked God over and over that evening for the gift that she is and for the "normalcy" that we are now getting to experience with her.

On the way to the Fair

Riding the "FUN SLIDE" with Daddy

Riding the Ferris Wheel

SLEEPY Grace

2009-10-21T20:00:00.003-04:00

This was a test to see if I could figure out how to upload videos. SOOO excited it worked, I will try and get better about doing so from time to time :)

AWANA

2009-10-18T13:52:00.005-04:00

On Sunday nights, Grace participates in a program called AWANA through our church. She is in the age group known as the Cubbies. They learn bible stories/scripture through games, puppets, crafts, lessons at home and their workbook. They are encouraged to memorize a specific scripture each week. For her age group, they are abbreviated versions and she doesn't have to know where it is found, but will begin adding that next year. They then recite the verse on Sunday night to their teacher and they receive a patch to be sewn on their cubbie vest. We are SOOO proud of Grace as she has recited all of her verses and received two patches. We have been out of town/sick 2 times, so she has missed out on a few. I LOVE LOVE how when we are in the car we use that time to work on her verses and talk about things. Grandma, I am going to have to bring her vest home for Thanksgiving so you can sew on her patches. I am embarrassed to say, even after taking homemaking in high school and having to sew an outfit, I still can't make something look decent. Below are a few pictures of Grace in her cubbie vest.

Grace with her first patch,vest and cubbie bag

Heading to church in her cubbie vest

New Home

2009-10-18T13:35:00.005-04:00

On September 23rd, we spent our first night in our "new" home. It is not new in the sense of the year it was built, but new to us. Almost a month later and Grace is still calling it our new house. Her little world/routine was shaken up quite a bit at first, but I think she really loves the house and the yard space it has to offer. We have a big open field area behind our house that she and the dog can run around and play in. There are also, several playgrounds within walking distance. We are still not completely unpacked, but with this move, I have learned I will get to it when I get to it. Grace won't be this age forever, and the time with Ryan, her and Ace, outweighs any guilt/stress I feel about having to get it all done immediately.

Stay tuned, I have many more updates to follow. I am a bit behind :(

New Family Member

2009-10-15T14:16:00.005-04:00

Meet Ace-he is our 1 year old Boxer we adopted October 3rd. Grace loves him (sometimes a little to much) and is learning how to be gentle and how to take care of him. So far he seems to be fully trained in the potty department and lets us know when he needs to go outside. We are so looking forward to all the memories to come.

Moving

2009-09-20T13:29:00.002-04:00

We will be moving this week, therefore my time on the internet will be pretty non-existent for a week or so. We are living in an older section of base housing which will be demolished soon,therefore they are moving us to a newer section of base housing. As soon as we get settled in and internet connected, we will be back to blogging :)

HOW?

2009-09-16T13:50:00.004-04:00

That is Grace's favorite word of the day. Yesterday, was the first day that Grace has ever asked me directly how something works, or is? I was dusting our bedroom and she said mommy dusting, how, like she wanted to know how the dust comes off. Then, I was putting her down for her nap and I told her to not get out of her bed or she would get into trouble. She said how? All I could do was laugh! I wasn't sure if she had officially entered this phase, so I waited until today to see and sure enough first thing this morning she was asking how again. How the garbage truck works, etc. Another thing she is doing is "reading" books to her babies. I wish I could catch her on video, but of course when I get the video camera out she stops. It is SOOOO exciting to see her entering new stages and wanting to learn. We have seen so much improvement in her development the past few months and it excites me so much to see how far she has come and how excited she is about learning and "cool".

Weekend in Savannah

2009-09-15T07:51:00.010-04:00

A few weekends ago, the 3 of us snuck away to Savannah, Georgia. We all were in need of a getaway, but only had the weekend to do so. Savannah is only about 2 hours away with a beach, so it was the ideal place to go :) When we arrived, we were upgraded to a suite at no additional charge and the hotel had an indoor pool. What a blessing having this room was. This room was HUGE! Grace had room to just run around and play. The first day we went to go walk around downtown and see the shops and boats. We weren't able to see all of it, but we did get icecream before it started raining. We then decided to head back to the hotel and let Grace swim inside. The water was warm and she had a blast with her daddy. The second day we swam a little more and then headed to check out the lighthouse and the boardwalk area. We weren't really planning on going all the way down on the beach, just walking the boardwalk. However, as soon as Grace saw the beach, she got SOOOO excited and kept asking for her "pool suite". How could we resist not letting the girl play in the ocean :) It was quite an adventure of its own, trying to get Grace and Mommy changed in the car with no one seeing us. Ryan braved the portable bathrooms. Craziest thing, the public restrooms had signs all over saying you couldn't change in the bathrooms. Your at the beach, so not sure where you are suppose to change, but we made do. I must say it was SO worth all the hassle of getting ready and trying to get all the sand off in the end, to see how much fun Grace had in the ocean. She had no fear and just pure joy.

Getting ready to go "wim" with Daddy

In the pool with Daddy

I had to show both of these pictures in order to get the full effect, notice who has the shades in the second picture :)

Happy Grandparents Day

2009-09-13T15:18:00.004-04:00

Grace wants to wish Grandma, Pa, Grams and Pops a Happy Grandparents Day! She is one lucky and blessed little girl to have such loving and devoted grandparents. We love you guys and thank you for being the best grandparents a little girl could ask for!

Grams/Pops Visit

2009-09-10T11:00:00.007-04:00

Grams and Pops came to see us a few weeks ago. We had a great time visiting and grilling out. Thank you Pops for the grill, we used it again for Ryan's birthday :) I think the pictures, more so than my words, will give you a better idea of our weekend fun. I wish I had taken more pictures. I was too busy enjoying the time to think of stepping away to get the camera.

Craft time with Grams

Snack time/movie time in Grams & Pops camper

SOOOO tired (after a long day of school,shots and visiting)

We had a great visit and look forward to seeing you guys again soon!

Look How Much I Have Grown

2009-08-28T12:07:00.005-04:00

This picture was taken on August 28th,2006

This one gives you a better realization of the size of Grace compared to the ottoman.

Now look how much Grace has grown in 3 years-this picture was taken today, August 28th, 2009.

New Posts/Changes

2009-08-28T10:40:00.001-04:00

I am working on several new posts right now so scroll down and come back soon to catch up. I am also going to begin writing some or all of the posts as I am writing to Grace, as this will one day be her "scrapbook" of her life. The posts will still be intended for everyone else as well though and please leave comments as I want Grace to know who all is praying and checking in on her and her mommy/daddy. I think I will do a post soon on how to leave comments. I have had several people say they didn't know how to leave a comment.

NO MORE G-TUBE :)

2009-08-28T09:12:00.008-04:00

Grace, you have had your feeding tube since March 2007. The picture below was taken the day you got your Mic-Key button (feeding tube). If you only knew how much Mommy and Daddy hated to put you through another surgery. Your body was just working so hard to heal and you would get so tired that you didn't have any energy left to eat. Of course from the picture, you definitely don't look like you were lacking in the nutrition department but that was because we were using a NG tube to feed you to bulk you up so your body/heart could heal. Mommy would have to change that out every time you pulled it out or it got yucky which ended up being sometimes weekly. I would have to stick it down your nose and down your throat and then listen with a stethoscope to make sure it was in the right place. After several months we realized that you were going to need to get most of your nutrition this way. We were advised, researched and realized that the best option for you long term, would be a G-tube (feeding tube in the stomach) which only had to be changed out every 3 months or so and did not affect your eating and swallowing. Looking back, we are so glad we made that choice. Yes, there were many nights and days of you and mommy or daddy, getting soaked when we forgot to clamp off the tube, or you decided to go poopy when we were feeding you and spew all of the milk out of your tummy. There were feeding pumps and alarms and one ER visit that was so traumatic for you and Mommy that I promised you I would never put you through that again. Your g-tube came out in the middle of the night and I didn't find it until the next morning. The hole in your tummy had started to close and Mommy could not get it back in. We still had another heart surgery to go and you still weren't eating enough on your own without the tube. Daddy was in Korea so I had no other option but to take you to the ER. If I had it to do again baby I would have demanded that they take you to the OR and sedate you to put it back in instead of doing it in the room. However, the pros of having it were that we didn't have to hold you down every time we changed your NG tube anymore and eating became fun for you. You got out of taking many "yucky" medicines because you had it and we never once had to worry about you getting dehydrated. We were also able to keep you out of the "failure to thrive" category as you were able to gain weight from Pediasure. As with anything, there were pros and cons, but I truly think looking back over it all, it was the best option for you.

So now on to what this post is really about :) On August 13th, 2009 we took your G-tube out for good. We have not been using it since December of 2008. There are no more looming surgeries ahead and you proved that you can sufficiently gain weight on your own. We had an appointment to have the doctor take it out on August 20th but the balloon popped in your button,it was leaking and needed to be changed. We called the doctor to see if we could just take it out and he said yes, he would take a look at the hole the following week to make sure it was closing properly. You were really upset at first as you thought mommy was going to have to change the tube out. I asked you if you wanted to take it out and you said yes. You amazed mommy and daddy, as you stuck the syringe in the end of it and with a little help, pulled out the water in the balloon and then you just pulled the tube right out. I am so glad mommy never let you try that before, as we may have never been able to keep that thing in. At our visit last week, he said the hole looked great and that the inside of the hole was closed. The outside will take some time to fully close. Mommy and Daddy still find ourselves saying be careful to you Grace when you slide down off of something, or go to climb up. After having it for 2 years, it has become habit to make sure we are careful with it. We are so glad you have more freedom now and you constantly tell us look no more tube :)

More About Pre-K /Special Visitors

2009-08-28T08:43:00.012-04:00

Grace's 2nd Day of Pre-K

Grace you have loved preschool so far (4 school days thus far) and you only get a little clingy if you see other boys/girls doing so. If I walk you over to the toys and help you pick out something to play with, you have been fine (the babydolls are your favorite). Grams and Pops came for a visit last week and surprised you by coming to pick you up at school with mommy last Friday. You had no idea they were coming and you just stood there and looked back and forth between them and mommy. I think you were trying to figure out how they got there. I wish I had brought my camera and taken a picture. You warmed up right away and they were your whole world for the rest of the weekend. In celebration of your first year in "school", Pops bought you your first schoolhouse. Thank you so much Pops! This is so special and hopefully we can pass it down to Grace's little ones :)

You have been sick this week (ear infection and cold which I am pretty sure stemmed from getting shots on Friday which is a whole other post)and have had to miss two days of school. You ask everyday to go to "cool". Mommy and Daddy hope you feel much better over the weekend and can return to school on Monday.

Sickies

2009-08-27T12:27:00.003-04:00

Bare with me as there has been and will be a lack of posts for a few more days. Grace and I have been sick and Ryan is busy working and taking care of us. Grace got started with antibiotics and a decongestant yesterday, so hoping she will be on the mend soon. There seems to be alot I need to update everyone on, so I will work on that just as soon as we are all feeling better and I am not going to bed at 8 every night. Hope everyone is staying well. The flu is going around crazy here, so wash wash wash those hands! Thankfully our family just has head colds and ear infections but we are anxiously waiting the flu shots this year. I just got off the phone with the pediatricians and they aren't scheduled to get any doses until the second week or so of September. Seems every fall/winter, we have to jump back into "GERM" mode. It sure was nice to be a little more relaxed about it during this summer.

For Their Joy

2009-08-24T15:10:00.005-04:00

I would like to ask that you follow Aimee and Jami's blog; but also please be in prayer for these two ladies as they minister to orphans in Ukraine. Aimee was one of my house parents when I was a summer staffer at Shocco Springs. She has the biggest heart and just radiates the love of Christ. Aimee asked on her blog that you please be in prayer for the following things:

- Pray for the hearts of the children that we will meet..that they would be open to the Gospel.
-Pray for the orphanage directors..we would really like to see them come to know Christ.
- Pray that we would gather all the information for Lifeline
-Pray that we would make wise decisions
-Pray that we would not get sick while on the trip
-Pray for prospective parents that will adopt these children
-Pray that we would build good relationships with the Ukraine people we come in contact with.
-Pray for safe travel and no complications for our flights
-Pray for our husbands and children that will miss us
-Pray that Lily (Aimee's adopted daughter) would not have any attachment issues from me being away

Please pass their blog along to anyone you know that may be considering adoption.

Pre-K- We're On Our Way

2009-08-17T14:41:00.017-04:00

Today was Grace's first morning of preschool. Overall, she was such a big girl. She had a few moments of anxiety and unsureness when we got ready to walk into her classroom. She began to cling to my leg and say no,go home. In so many ways, I wanted to scoop her up and just go home. As her mommy, I didn't want her to be scared or overwhelmed, just wanted to take her back to our "safe" place. However, I knew that this was just one of the first "giving her wings" moments and that we both could do it and needed to do it. Once I led her in to the toys, she warmed right up and never even had a second thought. We went last week for "meet the teacher orientation". We showed her where her classroom and seat were going to be, as well as met her teacher and other classmates. She had fun playing with the new toys that evening and familiarizing herself with the room. I think that meeting made a huge difference in the transition this morning. Daddy was able to surprise Grace by coming to pick her up also. We asked her if she wanted to go back to school again and she got really excited and said yes. She told us she played ball,ate goldfish,"popped" her drink (not sure what she meant by that or if I even want to know), colored a picture and that the teacher helped her. We then dropped Daddy off at lunch with his co-workers and Grace and I went to the mall to eat with a few other moms/kids from the moms group and then walked around. They called the event a "stroll and roll". I thought she would be exhausted and crash after today. I guess with so much excitement she is having a hard time winding down. As I type, she is laying in her bed kicking it and jabbering away :)

The first two pictures are from the orientation night

Daddy and Grace before work/school telling each other bye

1st day of Pre-K, here we come!

At Preschool right before we went to her class

Grace's first coloring page at preschool and Daddy and Grace after school

Odds and Ends

2009-08-11T08:54:00.013-04:00

I feel a bit behind on the blog. Therefore, I am just going to try to do one post and catch everyone up a bit on what has/is going on.

**Grace had her last speech therapy session with Susan on July 28th. Susan became like part of our family, as we saw her twice a week. We miss you so much Susan. Thank you for all you taught Grace, as well as her mommy.

**We also had to say goodbye to two of Grace's service coordinators. The EDIS program (early intervention) closed on base. If Grace needs any further therapies, she will be evaluated through the public school system. Thank you LeeAnn and Gaye for all you did to make this transition smooth. LeeAnn, you helped us out tremendously when we were transitioning from Virginia/Korea to here. Thank you for all of the emails and phone calls you put in to us, as well as everyone else involved. Thank you for always checking on Grace when she had her surgeries/procedures. We could not have asked for better, or more loving service coordinators.

**Grace and I joined a MOMS group that is local. We have only been to one meeting so far, but they have playdates and field trips scheduled for each month. There is no requirement, you just attend what you can.

**Grace's G-tube decided to come out this past Saturday evening. Unfortunately, re-inserting the tube is no easy task for us. It generally should be, however the past few times have been pretty traumatic for Grace and she hasn't forgotten. We were able to get it back in, but not without holding her down. We tried talking and reasoning with her first and bribery, but the trust factor just wasn't there. It definitely isn't there after holding her down. Thankfully she calms down immediately once it is back in and acts as if the whole ordeal never happened. We have an appointment on August 20th to get it removed for good. We are SOOOO looking forward to that. It will be one less thing to have to worry about for us as well as her. We have not been using it since December, but because of her heart cath and possible ear procedures, the doctors wanted it left in just in case. Now that all of those procedures are over and ruled out, we can safely have it removed.

**Grace will start a 3 morning a week preschool on August 17th. We have a parent teacher conference this Thursday evening. She will go from 9-12 on Monday,Wednesday, and Friday. We are all a bit nervous on how she will hold up health wise, but are excited for her. All of her doctors involved are in agreeance that she is fine to attend. We had started her in a one or 2 morning a week preschool here on base, but the program changed and she only went for a week or two. So this will be her first true time at preschool.

**On August 25th, we have an evaluation to determine if Grace still needs any additional therapies (speech, physical,etc). If she does, she will no longer be going to the church preschool rather a special needs preschool that will provide her with these therapies during that time. We are going to start her in the church preschool until we find out if she qualifies for any additional assistance. Alot of changes going on for her, but we are excited that she is getting the chance to be with other children (as her health has not allowed it before) and also get the services she needs.

**This past Sunday night was Grace's first time to attend AWANA. Ryan and I visited a small group and look forward to doing a study together and getting to know everyone.

**Grace received this dress (from Honduras) an infant from her Aunt Tammy. She wasn't able to get much wear out of it because of her hospitalizations, but she can now wear it as a shirt. She LOVES it and I have gotten so many compliments on it. Thank you Aunt Tammy! Oh and look who has enough hair to go in complete pigtails now. Mommy is having fun with finally being able to put bows in her hair (though she didn't have any in this picture).

P.S. If your still reading by this point, will you say pray that Grace remains well enough to start preschool. She has some drainage and a really raspy voice, so we are a little worried that she is coming down with a cold. She has been waking up 4 times a night lately and so I think the interrupted sleep is getting to her. We really aren't sure why she has been waking up so much, as she goes right back to bed when we lay her down. I am definitely not use to the waking up every couple hours. My body feels like I have a newborn again, walking zombie and is begging to go to bed by like 8, so I can only imagine how she is feeling. We are hoping the sleepless nights are due to her not feeling the best and not a new phase we are entering!

ENT Appt .

2009-08-03T15:24:00.011-04:00

Just to fill you in on a little background. Grace got an ear infection several months back. The infection cleared up, but the fluid would not go away. After further testing it was determined that one of Grace's ear tubes that had been placed last year was no longer in the right place and the fluid was remaining trapped behind the tube. We saw a ENT specialist here, that suggested she have a new set of tubes placed in both ears and have her adenoids taken out. Personally, we felt he was a little to quick to want to do surgery. After speaking with her cardiologist, he only wanted her to have surgery in Atlanta. This being, if something were to happen with the anesthesia, etc., her heart surgeons would be in the same building. Grace had a second opinion referral with an ENT specialist in Atlanta last week. He feels at this time, that it would be best to not place a second set of ear tubes. Rather, just wait and see if the current one that is out of place, will just fall out on its own. All of the fluid is now gone and she passed her hearing screen with flying colors. We will have a followup appointment with him in 4 months to further evaluate what might need to be done if the tube has not fallen out. She has not had any other ear infections and had no pain or trouble for months now. I just have to say this is just one more example for us of how God works everything out in his time. Several months back she might have truly needed the tubes, but because of needing a referral for the ENT in Atlanta and the time it took to book an appointment, the fluid went away and no surgery was needed at this time after all. I have to admit, I was so frustrated at the length of time between appointments and how long everything was taking. I am so glad that I don't have the final say :) Thank you Lord for protecting our little girl and for having a perfect plan for her life.

Just because a post is boring without pictures, here are a few of Grace "dancing"!

4th of July

2009-08-01T13:03:00.000-04:00

How did it get to be August already? I am a bit behind on updating, but I don't want to skip over any events as this is also a scrapbook/journal for Grace. We had a fun packed 4th of July weekend that involved getting to visit with some, of both sides of our family. The first half we met up with Ryan's parents and then we traveled to the farm to meet up with Laura's family.

Long day after traveling-So cozy in Grams lap.

I laughed so hard-they were pumping and pumping and it was SLOWLY filling up the mattress~come to find out there were holes in the hose from our past cat.

Going through a bit of a dry spell but ordinarily water would be flowing off of the rocks.

Grace and Pops

Eating Homemade Icecream at Granny P's house

Grandma and Grace playing the piano

Grandma and Grace waiting on the fireworks to start

Dancing (truthfully just trying to stay awake)

Family dinner

We had such a great visit with all of you and look forward to seeing you again soon!

Cookie Cutter

2009-07-26T08:10:00.010-04:00

What has our little girl been up to this past week? On top of playing with new friends, doctors appointments and pool time, she has been busy cooking in her new kitchen (pics at bottom) and learning how to use scissors. We were playing with play dough yesterday evening and for the first time she began using the playdough scissors to correctly cut the play dough. Every time she learns something new, I get this overwhelming sense of sheer excitement and pride in her. I had practiced with her before, but it never clicked on how to put her fingers in the holes. She just "got" it last night and then woke up this morning wanting to show me again :) This afternoon we are going to go get her a pair of "real, child safe" scissors.

We ordered Grace a play kitchen for her birthday. We had planned on having it put together in time for her actual birthday. Unfortunately, some of the pieces were broken during shipping. The company shipped new parts out and Ryan spent 2 hours last weekend putting it together. One of the reviewers on the website said it took him 3 hours to put it together. Ryan was determined to beat his time and that he did :) I think it is safe to say that Grace loves it. However, mommy has to make sure she checks all of the cabinets and appliances at the end of the day for any special treats that were left over. We have found a half eaten apple in the microwave, a cup of rotten milk in the fridge and Cheez-It crackers in the stove. If you leave a special request here in the comments, I am sure she will cook it for you :)

Post Heart Cath/Cardiologist Update

2009-07-22T17:35:00.011-04:00

Grace had her 1 month checkup yesterday for her last heart catherization in June. Can you believe her oxygen saturation level was 96 today :)The highest we ever saw before this procedure was low 80's. An x-ray or echo wasn't done today, because they want to wait a few more months, until the device that they placed in her is fully covered over with tissue. We have another appointment in October. We did find out some interesting information on why her mouth still tends to be blue. Evidently, her hemoglobin levels are high, but over the next few months, they should begin to level out. The way her body compensated for the lower oxygen levels was to create more red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs. Her body has not had time to adjust to the new oxygen levels and overtime we should notice a decrease in the blueness around her mouth. She was cleared to do all normal activity except for trampolines or football. I don't think our little girl will be playing football anytime soon anyway :) We plan on enrolling her in a 3 morning a week preschool at a church here, beginning in August. She was given written permission to sit down/rest if she wants or needs to and to watch out for dehydration. The cardiologist told us that post Fontan patients are much more likely to get dehydrated quickly when they play or are in the heat, as their little bodies are working sooooo much harder than ours. In addition, we have noticed that her energy level has increased significantly since the procedure was done. The girl danced and danced the entire time the cardiologist was talking with me and didn't slow down once. We have been enjoying the cooler weather break and spending time out on the playground. She begs to go everyday now :) I always forget to take my camera, but will try to get some pictures soon and post them for you guys! Thanks for checking in on us and come back soon, I have several posts I need to catch up on.

Baby To Toddler Overnight

2009-07-19T09:10:00.013-04:00

I think Grace just officially passed through the last stage of being a baby :( as she spent her first night in her toddler bed last night. In many ways, she has stayed a baby (stages) longer than most, but I am not sure that I am ready for her to be a big girl yet :) Grace, we are so proud of you! You stayed in your bed all night and didn't get up once. Now to let you in on a little secret, we purposely skipped naps yesterday and she played and played at the playground in hopes that she would be utterly exhausted and not fight staying in bed. At first, she thought her bed was broken and got upset, but once Mommy and Daddy assured her that it was just a big girl bed now, she quickly calmed down and gave in to the exhaustion. Grace rolled out of bed once onto the pillows we put down on the floor, but shockingly, she just stood right up, crawled back into bed and went back to sleep with not so much as a fuss. We have a camera in her room to listen/watch her. We love the fact that we can check in and see if it is necessary to intervene, or if she will calm down on her own. This morning, she cried out for us, but waited on us to come get her and didn't get down. NOW, truth be told, we are not expecting every night to be this easy and certainly not nap time, but oh how we hope that maybe we will be wrong. Stay tuned for updates on how the transition is going :)

Last shot of Grace's bed as a crib

Daddy taking the front off and putting on the side board to make a daybed

Daddy having the talk about staying in her big girl bed

You tell me what that looks says to you?

3 for 3

2009-07-07T12:21:00.028-04:00

What 3 year old do you know that gets 3 birthday cakes and gets to celebrate her birthday 3 different times? We happen to know one lucky little girl who fits this description :) We celebrated Grace's birthday with Ryan's parents first, then we celebrated on her actual birthday just the 3 of us, and last but not least, we celebrated again this past weekend with my side of the family.

You each made Grace's birthday incredibly special and we thank you so much for all of the birthday songs, presents and cards. I look at birthday's so much differently now since I had Grace. They are definitely something to be celebrated, but as is everyday. "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."- Psalm 118:24

Grace, you are truly a blessing to mommy and daddy. I have learned more from you in 3 years, than probably my whole life. We love you so much and look forward to many many more birthday celebrations with you.

Grace and I made a teapot cake on her birthday. She wanted all blue :)

Grace loves "flying the pane" outside of the BX on base. Since it was her birthday, she got to ride it a few extra times :)

The morning of her birthday I decided to take her to Chick-fil-A for breakfast and to play in their indoor playground. Unfortunately, it was a bit to big for her, but she had fun just climbing up and down one or two steps. The manager was so generous and gave Grace a cow PEZ dispenser and 2 free ice cream cone coupons.

Opening presents from the Voss's-thank you so much :)

Opening presents from the Cox's

Thank you Grams/Pops for my necklace, fun glasses, stickers and dress

My Little Pony Cake made by Grandma and Grace

Thank you Grandma/Paw for my Birthday bubbles, magnetic numbers, books, homemade pizza and homemade pancakes.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl

2009-06-30T09:58:00.012-04:00

Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we wish you a "HAPPY" Birthday. I will write more later, I am off to spend the day with by big 3 year old.

Grace's "Birth" Day

Grace's 1st Birthday

Grace's 2nd Birthday

Stay tuned for pictures of her 3rd birthday :)

Back to the Alphabet Game-Letter C

2009-06-25T14:57:00.000-04:00

I am going to try and get back to this alphabet game. I think it will be a fun way for me to show some old pictures that never made it to the new blog and document things/memories we want to remember about Grace.

1) Cute things Grace is saying now- she asks us if we are okay anytime we cough or sneeze. I LOVE IT, it is so cute to hear her say, you okay? If we don't answer right away, she asks again until we tell her we are okay :)
2)Cardiologists: A special thank you to:
-Dr. Schneider (who diagnosed Grace with HLHS and her other heart defects after she was born)(Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia)
-Dr. Romp and Dr. Lau-Grace's cardiologists for the first two stages at UAB in Birmingham, Alabama
-Dr.Fleenor-Grace's cardiologist while we were stationed in Virginia at Portsmouth Naval Hospital
-Dr. Cardis and Dr. Ham-Grace's cardiologists now in Macon, Georgia
3)Coarctation of the Aorta-one of Grace's heart defects
5)Clint-Grace's uncle (we must get more pictures of you guys together :) )
6)Candice-Grace's cousin

7)Chapel Hill Baptist Church-the church where Ryan and I were married and where my dad and grandparents are laid to rest.

8)Chocolate Pudding (Grace was 20 months old)

Explanation of Heart Cath Results/Pictures

2009-06-19T13:01:00.017-04:00

Grace went back yesterday around noon and Dr. Anthony Raviele MD successfully resolved her oxygen de-saturation problem. After Grace's Fontan surgery in December, a small hole called a fenestration was left. It acts as a temporary pressure release valve while Grace's body adjusted to the new circulation. It is usually closed, or closes on its own, anywhere from 6 months to a year after the Fontan. They found in the cath lab that while temporary closing Grace's fenestration with a balloon, that her oxygen saturations jumped up 15 points. They also measured the pressures in order to be sure if was safe to close this hole permanently. He said a safe range was from 10-12, anything higher being to risky, and her pressures were excellent with a 8. They actually re-calibrated and checked again because they didn't not expect hers to be that good. With these pressures, she was definitely a safe candidate for permanently closing the fenestration as she still has room for pressure build-up when she gets mad or fatigued. I will post a picture below of the permanent device used to close this hole. I actually have to carry a card in my wallet now with this device's information on it. I am completely in awe and just baffled at how they can do this procedure by simply threading a catheter up from Grace's blood vessel in her groin to her heart with this device on the end of it. In addition to the closing of the fenestration being needed they did find that she has a rather large AVM with several others coming off of it in her left shoulder area. However, as it stands, nothing can be done, or needs to be done with these at this time. Her oxygen saturations are considered to be in the desired range, so these are not a concern.

This link further explains the ins and outs of this procedure and more on Grace's heart anatomy.

Numbing Cream

Starting to feel a little loopy

We were told we have quite the little "druggie" on our hands. They said she kept trying to wake up and that the amount of medicine they had to give her in order to keep her asleep would have knocked you and I into next week.

This is what her stats are suppose to look like :) This was taken when she was recovering after the fenestration was closed. I wish I had taken one of before.

The device used to close the fenestration

Tired but oh SOOOO relieved Mommy and Daddy

Headed out the door and NOT looking back

Dare we say someone was just a "little" excited to be out of the hospital

Her Tutu was a surprise from mommy and daddy for all she went through yesterday

Dancing, or should I say "hobbling" in front of the mirror saying "Pincess, Pincess"

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-18T21:19:00.002-04:00

I am working on another post now, but in short we are home safe and sound. Most importantly, they were able to fix Grace's oxygen de-saturation problem in the cath lab by closing her fenestration. I will include a link in the next post explaining all of that. She did amazing and was soooo glad to be out of the hospital as you will see in the pictures to come. Thank you again for all of the prayers that were lifted up on our behalf.

Heart Cath Time

2009-06-17T17:04:00.002-04:00

We just received a call from the heart cath lab and we are to be in admitting at 10am. The procedure itself will not start until around 11:30 or 12 depending on how the cases are running (long or short) tomorrow. We probably won't have any results until late afternoon, but will try and update when we do.

Burden/Thank YOU

2009-06-17T08:18:00.007-04:00

I just have such a burden on my heart this morning to continually thank each and everyone of Grace's doctors/nurses/therapists. I wish there was a way for each of them to know just how much they have impacted our lives. I know not everyone has these experiences with medical personnel, therefore I continually thank our heavenly Father because we have had the most amazing individuals care for Grace every since Grace was still in utero. We have had nurses stop and pray with us, cry with us, a surgeon that was not willing to give up on her, even when every other sign was telling him he should, nurses who deserve WAYYYYY more credit than they receive, cardiologists who have had such gentleness, compassion and patience with our never ending questions and concerns, feeding therapists, occupational therapists,and speech therapists who have all become like part of our family. I don't have pictures of each and everyone of you, but please know if you have ever cared for our daughter, we truly thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Below are just some of the individuals who have been placed in our lives and have made this journey so much easier.

I couldn't end this post without including our family. You have been there for us in ways we could have never dreamed or imagined we would ever need you to be. From the countless number of prayers you have prayed for us, to the hours you have driven to be with us during each surgery/procedure, to making a quilt in the waiting room that each of us stitched a heart on, to decorating our hotel room to make it feel like Christmas, to buying us a microwave for our room, so we didn't have to eat out all the time, to letting us show our not so "nice" sides and still loving us unconditionally. There are soooooo many more ways I could go on and on, but just know none of them have gone unnoticed or unappreciated. We love you guys sooooo much and thank you for all you have done/do for Grace and for us. We are so blessed.

Here Birdy Birdy

2009-06-14T21:28:00.004-04:00

The past few weeks or so we have been able to watch several blue jays and cardinals flying around in our backyard. We decided to purchase a birdfeeder to put outside our living room window in hopes of getting a chance to observe them a little closer. We went this afternoon and picked one out. Ryan and Grace put it up, while mommy was the "memory catcher". She loves "helping" her daddy. Now were just hoping that the squirrels don't decide that we have put it up for them :)

We Have A Date

2009-06-11T14:17:00.002-04:00

We just received a call from the coordinator in Atlanta and Grace is scheduled for her heart cath on June 18th. We should have a morning time slot, but will know for sure the day before. It should be a 2-3 hour procedure and depending on the results/findings, determines whether or not she will go home the same day.

Plan Of Action

2009-06-09T12:16:00.005-04:00

We just received a call from the cardiologists nurse and they want Grace to have a Heart Catheterization done. Unfortunately, we have not been given a date as of yet. We feel like it probably won't be for at least another week or so because of needing to stop her baby aspirin (blood thinner) first. We were almost 100% sure this was the route we were headed, so it comes as no surprise. Now, we are just ready to have the cath reports and find out what exactly is going on. We want to thank each of you so much for your sweet comments and time you have taken to lift our family up in prayer. I will post here as soon as we have a scheduled date.

Cardiologist Update

2009-06-03T20:11:00.007-04:00

Over the past few weeks, we have noticed Grace's oxygen saturation's begin to trend downward rather than upward. We have also noticed that she has begun to have heavier breathing. After the Fontan surgery that she had in December, her oxygen saturations should be at the least, high 80's and mostly in the 90's. When we returned home in December, hers were in the mid 80's. However, they are now in the mid to high 70's consistently. They should be improving rather than decreasing. We had a cardiologist appointment this morning and an echo cardiogram, EKG, and x-ray were done. Those results will be sent to Atlanta and Grace's heart surgeon and a team of doctors there will be looking at the tests/her charts on Monday and deciding a plan of action. Her cardiologist feels like she has either grown some more collateral vessels (vessels that the body grows to try and "fix" the heart and itself) which steal her blood flow from reaching her lungs to get oxygenated, or that perhaps some of these vessels she already had, have gotten worse. There are several possible reasons as to why her saturations are lowering, but all of them will more than likely require a heart catheterization to be done in order to find the problem/s and/or to fix them. We hate so much the thought of her having to go through any more procedures, but know that some answers need to be found and that it is all what is best for her in the long run. We will update next week once we here more about the game plan.

Just so this post isn't all a downer, thought I would post a picture of Grace this afternoon after painting. She started out with a paint brush and this is how she ended,obviously using her hands was much more fun :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-01T20:21:00.005-04:00

We had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Unfortunately, Ryan was still TDY. However, Aunt Beth, Uncle Brad, Payton, Grant and Sara Beth came to visit Grace and I. I am so thankful that we are close enough to family for these quick and last minute trips. Sometimes those are the most fun. We were able to take in the local Air Museum outside of base, some Krispy Kreme doughnuts, watermelon and the time to make more memories. Sara Beth, thank you so much for "reading" to Grace. She LOVED it and she now "reads" to all of her baby dolls. She misses you so much and asks about you everyday. Payton, Grace asks to ride the "pane" with you everyday. She says, "sit in Pate's lap, ride pane soon". Grant, she wants you to ride in our car with us every time we get ready to go somewhere. She points to the front seat and says, "Gant ride". Thank you guys so much for coming to visit, we enjoyed it so much.

Fashion Friday

2009-05-22T20:51:00.005-04:00

Who knew a shower cap could be so glamorous ;) Oh and pair it with a pair of heels and you are set, no more bad hair days. I promise you none of the pictures I have posted on Fashion Friday's have been staged. They are all Grace's very own fashion choices. I just have learned to always have the camera close as you never know what she will come up with next :)

SAND-sational Time

2009-05-19T13:37:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago, Grace and I were able to go visit Ryan while he was working in Virginia. We had the best week being able to spend some time with Ryan, Grace's Aunt Tammy and cousin Laura as well. Grace had a blast at the beach. I must admit, I thought she would not like the sand or the ocean, but boy was I completely wrong. Thank you so much Aunt Tammy for letting us stay with you for a few days. The rest of the week we stayed with Ryan at his hotel. They had an indoor heated pool that Grace was able to take advantage of during the day. At first, she was a little hesitant about getting all the way in and just wanted to hang out on the step. However, once I put her baby doll in the pool, she wanted to "wim" like her baby. Grace still has a thing about not wanting her face to get wet (so does her mommy though), even in bath time. She would however, lay on her belly for me and kick her legs and "wim" as she calls it. I wasn't able to get any pictures of her at the pool because it was just me with her, but we did get some great ones at the beach. I am using this blog as a journal/scrapbook as well, so I have to add cute saying she says also from time to time. Instead of calling it her swimsuit, Grace calls it her poolsuit :)

Fashion Friday

2009-05-15T21:47:00.003-04:00

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-10T09:04:00.008-04:00

Ryan and his mom

My mom with me the day I "officially" became a Mom :)

Happy Mother's Day to both of you. We love you so much!

Laura and Ryan

Way Behind/Easter Weekend

2009-05-09T08:33:00.002-04:00

As you can tell, I am way behind in the updating department. I can't believe Easter was really almost a month ago. Grace and I have been doing alot of traveling the past month or so, spending time with Ryan and family. So to backtrack, Grace and I were able to go spend Easter weekend with my sister and her family. Can I just tell you how much I LOVE having family close :) It makes deployments and life so much easier. We had a wonderful Easter weekend filled with egg dying,egg hunts, yummy food, church and family time. Thank you so much Beth for the yummy homemade cinnamon rolls, you make them taste just like Nana's :)

I am going to have to add another montage of pictures here. There are just to many to choose only a few :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Prayers for Gavin

2009-04-22T09:38:00.002-04:00

I wanted to ask each of you to lift up Gavin, his mommy and daddy, and all of the medical staff working with him today in prayer. Gavin will be having his final repair (Fontan) for HLHS today. My heart aches for Faith knowing how hard it is to have to kiss your little one and watch them be wheeled off to surgery and to have to sit for hours and hours and wait. I am clinging to this verse today~do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4:6-7

Fun Friday

2009-04-10T09:41:00.003-04:00

Grace and I woke up this morning with a spur of the moment idea to go to Krispy Kreme and Starbucks. Okay, okay, it was really my idea, but she enjoyed it just as much :) Oh how I LOVE drivethroughs, we loaded up in our pajamas and off we went. We are going out of town this weekend, so we surprised Grace with some Easter goodies a little early. A special thank you to Grandma Pugh for Grace's bunny, Grams and Pops for our Easter cards and Aunt Erin for Grace's bag and other goodies.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I do want to teach her the true meaning of Easter and that the goodies are just fun things but not what it is all about. I saw these Resurrection Eggs on another website and thought they would be a great tool in helping explain Jesus' death and resurrection. They are geared toward a little older age group though. Do you have other ideas for a 2 or 3 year old? I know there are many more "seasoned" parents and teachers out there full of ideas and advice :)

Air Show and Birthday Fun

2009-04-06T10:49:00.003-04:00

Grace and I went home to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend to celebrate my niece's 3rd birthday and to see the Blue Angels air show. We were so thankful to be able to have VIP parking and a place to sit, courtesy of the Tuscaloosa Fire Department (they allowed on-duty firefighter's families to park there and to have reserved seating). I hope your not tired of the montage's because here is another one :) There were way to many pictures taken to just pick a few. Ryan, we missed you SOOOO much (he is still in Illinois working). Fortunately, with being in the Air Force, we will get to see many many more airshows together :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy "early" Birthday Sara Beth

2009-04-02T08:57:00.002-04:00

Happy 3rd birthday sweet girl. We are so excited to get to spend your birthday with you. We love you SOOOOO much and can't believe you are already 3. Look at how much you have grown. You and Grace have the best time when you are together and you teach her so much. Below are just some of the fun memories we have had with you and we can't wait to make MANY MANY more.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cheeeeeese!

2009-04-02T08:41:00.004-04:00

We tried taking a few pictures the other morning when Ryan was leaving and well, that is hard to do with a two year old :) However, the the ones below turned out pretty cute.

Grace and I are headed out to my parents to visit, to celebrate my niece's 3rd birthday and to hopefully get to see an air show. I hope to have some fun pictures for everyone when we get back.

Happy Birthday Grandma Pugh

2009-03-30T14:08:00.004-04:00

These are just some of our favorite memories with you! We can't wait to make many many more! We love you!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fashion Friday

2009-03-26T13:34:00.004-04:00

So, I really just made up Fashion Friday to be able to share some cute pictures of Grace this week :) I won't be around much tomorrow, so I thought I would go ahead and post this today. Who knows, maybe I will keep Fashion Friday and show you Grace's fashion style each week. Guess you will have to keep coming back to see :)

Happy Birthday Pops

2009-03-25T09:48:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Pops! We love you so much and hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Update on the sickies

2009-03-19T16:12:00.003-04:00

Well, I would love to say we are all better, but unfortunately these infections just love us to much to leave just yet.

Grace: we took her back to the pediatrician this morning, as she was still having alot of ear pain, waking up every 2-3 hours and having a hard time keeping her fever down. Tricky situation is the antibiotic that helps the most with the pneumonia, doesn't do that great at clearing up the ear infections. The pediatrician was hoping that the ear drops and 1st antibiotic would do the trick, but in her case, not this time. So, he added her on another antibiotic to hopefully knock out the ears as well. The reason he didn't add it on the first visit is having her on two antibiotics at once, causes her body to fight off the good bacteria which could cause her to have problems balancing her yeast. The key now is to try and get her to eat lots of yogurt and stay hydrated. I am praying that this round will do the trick. I am beginning to have to write down all of the medications and when they are given as Grace is on 8 different things right now and I am on 4.

Laura- I am beginning to feel better. I still have some tightness in my chest, congestion and fatigue. However, I can breath alot easier and haven't had any more fever. My biggest obstacle right now is the steroid I am on is keeping me awake all night.

Ryan-he came home from work early yesterday with a fever and sore throat. He rested throughout the day and seems to be feeling much better today. He is so good at fighting off colds. I don't think I have ever seen the boy really sick. I hope I haven't spoken to soon.

P.S. Dad, I remember when I had that horrible ear infection and was in so much pain. You called the pharmacist and drove to get me a prescription in the middle of the night (one perk of growing up in a small town). Mom, I remember you just holding me and rocking me and always making us feel so much better. Sometimes it is hard to believe I am not that little girl anymore and I am now doing those things for my daughter.

Thank you everyone for all your emails, calls and prayers. Sara Beth, Gracie and I loved your message, thank you so much. I'm sorry Aunt La La didn't have much of a voice to call you back.

So I want to hear from everyone. What are some of your memories of being sick and/or special things your parents did for you, or maybe treats you only got when you were sick?

Happy Birthday Beth

2009-03-16T15:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my sister Beth! We love you and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Miserable Monday

2009-03-16T14:33:00.004-04:00

We took Grace into the pediatrician this morning for an ear infection and poor baby has pneumonia also. We were just at the pediatricians office on Friday for her cough, and her chest/ears were clear at that time, but she was put on a cough medicine. Throughout the weekend, she just gradually got worse. Evidently this drastic weather change has really hit alot of little ones hard. The office had already seen 4 other pneumonia cases this morning. The pediatrician put Grace on an antibiotic and we are also monitoring her oxygen saturations closely. I must brag on our big girl though, she sat there and let the doctor look in both her ears, her nose/throat and listen to her chest multiple times without fussing at all. Now the blood draws and x-rays were a different story, but who could blame the girl.

I took the picture below, after setting Grace down with some cartoons so I could call her cardiologist. I was on the phone for about 8 to 10 minutes and this is how I found her after I got off. She was absolutely worn out from all the tests this morning. If you look closely you can see the drainage coming from her ear. I am so, so thankful for the medicine and doctors we have available to us. She is now cuddled up in her bed with cozy pajamas on and fast asleep.

Oh Happy Day :)

2009-03-12T08:54:00.006-04:00

We had a momentous day yesterday in our house. We said GOODBYE to all of the oxygen tanks and concentrator. Grace saw her cardiologist last week and he gave the go ahead to turn in all of her oxygen equipment. What a PRAISE! The cardiologist also said he doesn't need to see us back for another 3 months, rather than every month. I will admit it is was a comfort going every month. However, I know and believe that her life is in God's hands.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."- Psalm 139:13-16

BYE BYE OXYGEN!

Potty Training

2009-03-11T09:12:00.007-04:00

I have been waiting to post this, because I didn't want to speak to soon :) However, I think it is now safe to say, that Grace has pretty much mastered when she needs to go potty. She still needs a diaper during nap time and bed time, but wears big girl panties throughout the day. You are becoming such a big girl Grace, mommy and daddy are so proud of you.

Prayer Request

2009-03-02T16:24:00.007-05:00

Please pray for the Gledhill family today.

Letter B

2009-02-24T22:39:00.012-05:00

1) Beth and Brad-Grace's Aunt Beth and Uncle Brad have been there for us in more ways than we can say thank you for, through all of Grace's heart surgeries and just everyday life. From decorating our hotel room so it would fee like Christmas, to organizing prayer chains that reached farther than we probably will ever know, to loving on Grace and I in so many ways last year while Ryan was gone. We love you both so much and couldn't begin to list all the ways here that you have loved on our family and touched us.
2) Birthdays-they have so much more meaning to me since I have had Grace :)
3) Bunny Rabbit-Grace received the bunny rabbit below from her grandparents for Easter last year. To this day, she carries it around with her all over the house. The poor bunnie's arms are falling off. Whatever room Grace is in, you can pretty much guarantee the bunny will be there too. I can't say she has anywhere near the same feelings for the human Easter Bunny though. Needless to say Mommy won't be putting her through that again this year-broke my heart.

4)Babies-Grace loves her baby dolls and is such a sweet little mommy to them.

5)Bananas-Grace use to LOVE bananas, or so we thought. Come to find out, her body was craving the potassium from them. Her medication (Lasix) was robbing her body of potassium. She stopped wanting them immediately after she was taken off of this medication. We learn so much looking back, but I guess that truly applies to all aspects of life.
6)Boooookoooodles-Grace and I are sending bookoodles of LOVE to you Ryan :)

A to Z

2009-02-24T08:44:00.013-05:00

I saw this idea on several other blogs and thought it would be fun to give it a try here. You start with the letter A and create a separate post using each of the letters of the alphabet. I thought it would be a fun way to bring back old pictures and also maybe, give everyone tidbits of information about us that you may not have known.

A
1) Aspirin-Grace has been on baby aspirin since she was born and will remain on this for the rest of her life.
2) Alivia- This is Grace's first name. We chose the A because both Ryan and I's mother's middle names begin with A.
3)Atlanta, GA-Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston-this is where Grace had her 3rd open heart surgery (Fontan). We couldn't have been happier with the staff and our experience there.
4)A-a good friend of ours that is now stationed in Texas :( We met while we were both stationed in Virginia. She was there for Grace's birth and I had the opportunity to be there for her sons birth as well.
5)Airplanes- we are so very thankful for the critical care flights that have been available to transport Grace. This girl has flown just about as many times as her mommy has and she is only 2.

6)Alabama- I am a southern girl :) The picture below was taken in Washington D.C. back in 2005.

Okay, so I think that wraps up the letter A :) Keep checking back as the alphabet lists may grow as I think of things. I also want to add a few more pictures but I seem to have misplaced the power cord to our hard-drive :(

My First Pigtails

2009-02-20T11:59:00.005-05:00

Grace and I were playing dress up and I decided to see if maybe, just maybe, she had enough hair for pigtails. I didn't have any small ponytail holders, so I had to use mine :) Grace loved them and wanted to leave them in to show her speech therapist. I think they are so adorable, I just had to share :)

Our Little Valentine's Weekend

2009-02-17T15:04:00.009-05:00

February 14th means Valentine's Day for most of the world, but this day will always have an added meaning for our family. It is also known as A Day for Hearts-Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day. We took advantage of the long weekend and went to visit with Grams and Pops. We had a wonderful weekend and as always, Grace was spoiled :) Grace received her very first pet, a goldfish from Grams and Pops. We are proud to say "Jaws" made the trip home and even found himself a new "home". Ryan felt like the fish needed more room to swim around (he is always so thoughtful :) and so we took Grace to the pet store to pick out a new "home". Grace has received her first official "chore" and that is to feed her fish. She loves doing so, and will go check on him various times throughout the day. Thank you Grams and Pops for a wonderful weekend, Grace's new clothes/shoes, and countless memories I know we are going to have with "Jaws" and probably Jaws 2, 3, etc.

P.S. Ryan if you are reading this, we love you dearly, miss you already and hope you are able to stay warm (the military sent him to Massachusetts for a few days)

Grace Feeding The Ducks

Grace Lovin On Pops

Grace and Grams

Grace and her 1st pet

Thank You's

2009-02-11T09:29:00.006-05:00

We received the piggy bank below from some sweet friends when Grace was born. Grace LOVES getting to put money in her piggy bank. Ken and Kari, thank you so much! You have no idea the amount of enjoyment she has gotten out of this. She and her daddy love to put his "mosey" also known as money/pennies :) in her piggy bank.

We received the plaque below from a dear "heart" mom Amanda. I was given the opportunity to meet her while we lived in Birmingham and her daughter has the same heart condition as Grace (HLHS). Amanda, thank you so much for your continued thoughtfulness. You could not have picked a more perfect plaque. The scripture, monkey and colors are soooo fitting.

We received the monkey nightlight below from Grace's Aunt Beth, Uncle Brad, and cousins Sara Beth, Payton and Grant. Grace LOVES it. I have no idea where you found it, but it couldn't be more fitting. As you can probably tell by now, Grace loves monkeys :)

Dress Up

2009-01-26T10:01:00.007-05:00

Grace is in a stage now where she loves to play dress up and put everything on her head. The picture of the tights on her head happened to be during speech therapy. Susan (speech therapist) and I got so tickled, I had to grab the camera. Though I must say, some of that probably comes from her mommy insisting that she at least try to wear headbands and hair bows :)

You Were There

2009-01-21T14:31:00.003-05:00

Someday she might ask where she was on this historical day. And I'll tell her we watched together and we prayed together.

Grace was to cute. Once she saw/heard them playing, she ran and grabbed her flute to play along with them.

1st day of preschool

2009-01-08T07:56:00.008-05:00

Grace had her first day of preschool yesterday. She was a bit clingy at first, but warmed up quickly and began playing. I was able to slip out and watch for a little while through the window. She did great, I had a harder time than she did :) It is only going to be for 2 mornings a week. The cardiologist and pediatrician cleared her to be around other children and resume normal activity. We are hoping that the interaction with others her age, will help with her speech delays. As a special treat afterward, we went to McDonald's for a Happy Meal and of course the toy that comes along with it. Grace was so funny, she wanted my hamburger more than she wanted her chicken nuggets. We had such a fun day and hope you enjoy sharing it with us.

A Year In Review

2009-01-06T08:15:00.004-05:00

I saw this idea on Gavin's blog and thought I would borrow it.

January
Grace took her first steps
Grace's pacifier was taken away but she did great and really didn't even miss it

February
Grace began really walking on her own
Ear Infections

March
ER visit to reopen Grace's G-tube hole (it had fallen out in the middle of the night and began to close up)
More Ear Infections

April
Daddy came home for the month for his midtour from Korea :)
Grace's 1st Zoo Trip (Birmingham Zoo)

May
Uncle Clint's Graduation
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Reunion at UAB

June
Mommy and Grace's Birthday's (celebrated with our families and a special Dora Cake)

July
Grace had her gallbladder removed and tubes put in her ears

August
Fun in the swimming pool (thanks Grams and Pops, I can't wait to use it again this summer)

September
Daddy returned from Korea :) and we moved to Georgia
New Doctors
Visits from family

October
A visit to Jacksonville Florida to see Grace's great grandparents
Trick or Treating with my new friend Sydney

November
Flu Shot
Heart Catherization
Thanksgiving at the farm

December
Grace's 3rd heart surgery (Fontan)
Grace was 2 and a half
Christmas at home :)

2 and1/2

2008-12-31T07:31:00.005-05:00

Grace had a followup cardiologist appointment yesterday. He was very pleased with her healing and has begun to decrease her diuretics. We are super excited about this. We were going through a pack of diapers in about a day or two. Poor thing would soak through a diaper as soon as you put a new one on her. The diuretics were also interfering with her sleep as we were having to give her a dose before bedtime. Thankfully that dose has been taken away and another diuretic altogether. So now we are just on Lasix twice a day. Potty training might actually happen in the near future :) We are also still oxygen free and so very thankful for that. We have another appointment with her cardiologist in a month and they will do an echo and possibly stop her diuretics altogether.

Now for the title of this post, Grace was officially 2 and a half years old yesterday :)

It's Raining, It's Pouring

2008-12-31T07:16:00.003-05:00

You know the saying, when it rains it pours. Well that seems to be the case for one of Grace's heart buddies, Gavin. Unfortunatly, I don't think he is getting much sleep like the rest of the song says. He had to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas in the hospital. Poor little guy is just having a rough week with RSV and a virus. If you guys would just lift him up in your prayers.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T09:42:00.004-05:00

We wanted to wish each of you and your families a very Merry Christmas.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

P.S. Grace had her 1 week surgery checkup on Tuesday. I can't say she was thrilled to be back there, but all went well. She had her stitches removed and had a chest x-ray. Her lungs still look a little "wet" so they decided to leave her on her diuretics for a little bit longer. We will follow up with her cardiologist in another week or so.

Happy 7th Anniversary Babe

2008-12-22T15:23:00.002-05:00

Happy Anniversary Babe. I have had an amazing 7 years with you and I so look forward to the next 53 years you promised me this morning :) I think I fell in love with you even deeper this past week. Thank you for always supporting me and loving me unconditionally.

Your Bride,

Laura

The "Furry" Little Elves

2008-12-21T19:22:00.002-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Home Sweet Home

2008-12-19T18:20:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to pop on here real quick and let everyone know that we are home safely. I just laid Grace down and we are getting ready to have dinner. We can't thank you enough for your prayers, emails, calls, texts, and comments. I will try and post more pictures in the next few days. We hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.

Rumor Has It

2008-12-19T08:41:00.002-05:00

that we should be going home today. We don't have the official word yet, but we have already packed up our suitcases and started cleaning up the room :) Discharge seems to take all day. So, the next time you here from us, I hope to be blogging from our couch, with the Christmas tree lights twinkling in the background and our sweet girl sleeping in her own bed. Oh how we are all longing for our own beds and a full nights sleep. Though I must say I truly thank God for this week. We have had such fun and sweet times as a family in this room.

Chest Tubes Removed Successfully

2008-12-18T12:21:00.002-05:00

Grace's chest tubes were removed successfully as well as the pacer wires from her heart. They gave her some morphine and verset before the procedure. Verset acts as an amnesia medicine and Grace will never remember the procedure. She was still awake during the procedure and a little mad, but her sats all looked great. Her oxygen levels are still a little lower than the doctors would like, but we still have some time to see if they will gradually go up. She stats well when she is sleeping, but when she is awake and upset, they drop pretty quickly. The surgeon seems to think they will gradually increase as she heals.

They are planning on trying to do an echocardiagram within the next hour to check the repairs to her heart and see how things look. They tried doing it when she was awake, but she was not having any part in it. So we are going to try again while she is sleeping. She is such a light sleeper, I don't know but it is worth a shot. They will do a chest x-ray either later today or in the morning and if everything looks well we may be discharged tomorrow. It went from being her a few more days to chest tubes out and discharge talk all in an hour. Needless to say we are excited, but also don't want to jump the gun to quickly. We will keep you updated as we get any more news.

Prayer Request

2008-12-18T10:54:00.002-05:00

Grace is having her chest tubes and pacer wires removed as I type. If you read this within the next hour will you please lift her up in prayer. It is definately a good thing, but scary for us as well. I am not allowed to be with her, and that is difficult. They will need to check her vitals every 15 minutes for the first hour or so and then she will need to rest in bed. I will update again when I can. Thanks so much!

Good Evening From Atlanta

2008-12-17T20:44:00.004-05:00

Well, not many changes today, but in some cases that is good. Grace's chest tubes continue to drain quite a bit more than is allowed to remove them, so we wait. We are so proud of her, they don't seem to slow her down. If you could just see her walking up and down the halls, you would never known she had open heart surgery less than a week ago and still has tubes sewn into her chest. They did add another one dose diuretic today to try and pull some more of the fluid off. One side effect of these is that she breaks out into drenching sweats even at a resting state. Needless to say,she has received many sponge baths the past few days. They also removed the dressing that was over her chest incision. It is hard to tell exactly how it looks as there are still steri strips; but from what I can tell it is looking great. Her oxygen saturations haven't been quite as high today, but not low enough to need the oxygen back. This is to be expected we are told and will take some time for them to settle out. So, we do all we can to keep her from getting upset as that tends to make them drop quickly. I have a feeling we have a spoiled girl on our hands, but I do believe she deserves to be for a little while :)

We continue to thank God for all of the the doctors and nurses he has placed in our lives. We have had some of the sweetest nurses that have loved on Grace and done all they can to let her get sleep. Hospital life does not allow for the best sleep, so these stretches are so much appreciated. I have had just the sweetest times laying in bed with her while she falls asleep. She will scoot all the way over to the railing and pat the bed for me or Ryan to lay with her. It is quite a sight to see Ryan and I squeezed in the crib with her, but oh I wouldn't trade these times for the sore bodies anyday. I just kiss on her sweet face and cheeks constantly. She will lay in bed and carry on her own conversations with her baby doll for a good 10-15 minutes before she falls asleep. I don't know much of what she is saying, but she sure does.

Well I am off to try and get a few hours of sleep before the next round of vital checks and meds. Thank you so much for checking in on us and all of your continued prayers. They mean soooo much to us.

What a difference a day makes

2008-12-16T15:32:00.005-05:00

Notice anything different?

We have had a big day today so far. The biggest news of all is that Grace was weaned off oxygen in the middle of the night last night. She has been holding her oxygen saturations all day :) I truly think we may be done with the oxygen. Hard to imagine after almost two years, but it is a huge praise. She has also seemed to have very little pain and has actually been weaned off of Toradol (sp?) and switched to Motrin. We are trying to get her on a regimine of meds we can give at home. The chest tubes still continue to drain, but we are thankful they are doing so and not collecting fluid pockets. They don't seem to be slowing her down as she has been up and walking the halls most of the day. She also got to meet some Atlanta Falcon football players today and also some clowns. ;

Aunt Beth came to visit us today and Grace had so much fun playing tea togather. Thank you Aunt Beth for the sticker book and balloon. They are sure to bring lots of entertainment and fun :)

Monday Update

2008-12-15T19:08:00.006-05:00

I have started this post a few times but never seemed to be able to finish it. Thank goodness for being able to save drafts. Grace seemed to feel relief from the pain today. We have a pattern now of Tylenol with codeine in between the tordal and morphine to keep her from hitting that point of the medicines wearing off. She actually requested to go on a few walks down to the playroom today and has been sitting up most of the day. Her chest tubes are still draining so they will remain in place a few more days. We are still not able to wean her off the oxygen yet. We were off for 4 hours today, but had to put her back on it. The surgeons would like her to stay above 85 and she likes to hang out around 82 or so. The respiratory therapists think that once the chest tubes are removed that she will be able to take deeper breaths. She is afraid to cough or take deep breaths right now due to the pain. She still doesn't have much of an appetite, but we are seeing a small improvement each day. Chicken noodle soup with a straw seems to be the winning meal for now. I apologize for the lack of pictures. There aren't any computers that we have found here that will allow us to upload pictures. I will try and upload some just as soon as I get access to one that will. Oh and we have a huge praise, Grace's smile and giggles have returned. They may only come every now and then, but we are so thankful to see that side of her. Well,I have a little girl peeping through the bars in her bed looking at me so I better go and get her to bed. Good Night!

Lazy Day

2008-12-14T11:27:00.007-05:00

We are having a lazy Sunday today and taking it easier than yesterday. Grace has had a more difficult time with pain and maintaining her oxygen saturations since last night. This mornings x-rays revealed the culprit=fluid buildup in her lungs. With the help of some additional pain medications and an increase in her diuretics we are trying to keep her comfortable. Her chest tubes have been draining significantly more today so they aren't planning on removing them for another day or two at least. She was able to nap comfortably for 2 hours this afternoon. Sometimes sleep can be the best medicine of all.

We wanted to sincerely thank ALL of our family for traveling to be with us during this time and for ALL that you do for us. We truly have the best support system a family could have. We hope you know how much we love each of you and this road would be so much harder to walk down without you. Kate, thank you so much for coming to see us and for the white chocolate yummies, I am eating some as I type. Those boys just don't know what they are missing. Debbie and Barney, thank you for coming to love on Grace and us,for the goody bag of snacks and for Grace's bear. She woke up from her nap and that is the first thing she reached for. She has been having some pain this afternoon and has not let go of it. Ryan is not much of a sweet eater and has already had a few sugar cookies. Ryan agrees with you Barney on how yummy they are :) I am going to have to get the recipes from you Debbie for both of the cookies. It is amazing what how much home cooked goodies can brighten up a day :)

Going for a Ride

2008-12-13T13:53:00.001-05:00

Day 2 Post Op Update

2008-12-13T11:11:00.008-05:00

We were moved to our own room last night on the cardiac stepdown unit around 6:00pm. Ryan and I are now able to stay in the room with her. Grace has been weaned to 1 liter of oxygen as of this morning. She had a much more restful night with the help of some morphine and toradol :) We haven't gotten any reports back on her blood work or chest x-rays. Weekends tend to be much more layed back and not as rushed. Yesterday's x-rays were a little "wet" so we are hoping with the increase in Lasix (a diuretic) that today's look much better. The plan for today is to wean more on the oxygen and try and get her up out of the bed moving. If all goes well, her chest tubes may be able to be removed tomorrow. I am going to post a few pictures below from the past few days. The first picture is yesterday (the day after surgery). The second picture is a few hours after the surgery. The third and fourth pictures are from our pre-op room before surgery.

Day 1 Morning Post Op Update

2008-12-12T11:08:00.003-05:00

-Foley Catheter has been removed
-Weaned down to 5 liters of oxygen from the 10 liters on a high flow canula
-They are removing the central line from her neck as I type
-She had been started on another pain medication called Toradol
-One heart function medication has been stopped (milnadrone, not sure of spelling)
-Goal for today is to wean her down to 3 liters of oxygen and try to begin feedings
-If she tolerates this well she can possibly be held by mommy and daddy and be moved to the cardiac step down unit this afternoon/evening
-We aren't sure of exactly how conscious she is. She will sit straight up and cry out or look around and then lay back down. The cardiac team plans on weaning one of her sedation medications today as well to see how well she will do a little more conscience.
-We continue to thank each of you for all of your prayers and support.

10:50 PM Update

2008-12-11T22:50:00.002-05:00

Grace was extabated at 9:00 pm. We have been told by all the nurses that she is a fighter in all aspects. She was fighting the breathing tube so hard,shaking her head back and forth and holding her breath, they decided to try her on her own. She had some difficulty at first with secretions and a paralyzed vocal cord from the intubation, but they placed her on 10 liters of oxygen through a high flow nasal canula and her blood gases seem to be gradually improving. Needless to say, she is in soft restraints in order to keep her from pulling out anything (chest tubes, etc.). The plan/goal is to try and wean the oxygen down through the night and have her completely breathing on her own and possible move to the step-down unit by tomorrow. We won't have much of an update/game plan until around 10 am after rounds tomorrow but will keep you posted.

Surgery Finished

2008-12-11T15:14:00.003-05:00

Grace is out of surgery as of 3:15. From the mouth of Dr. Kirshbom, it was a long day and rather difficult surgery but Grace is stable and doing well. They had alot of scar tissue to go through which took quite a while. The procedure itself proved to be difficult with the anatomy of Grace's heart (dextracardia, etc.), but he was able to complete the grafts and other necessary procedures. We should get to see her in about an hour once she has been stabalized in the cardiac intensive care unit. The plan is to begin waking her up either this evening, or possibly let her rest and do so in the morning. Extabation will then follow once they see that she is breathing on her own against the ventilator. We can't thank you enough for taking the time to lift up our little girl/family and doctors in your prayers.