Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
SNOW DAYS 2011
We rarely get snow but this year we got a good 3 inches early January. I must say it did snow here the day after Christmas but by the time we got home from Church it was gone. This recent snow stuck around for several days thanks to a nice layer of ice on top. So our weekend turned out to be 4 days!!! And since we live in the south our town pretty much shut down...which led to a lot of cooking and family bonding time :)
Yep, that is Jacob being pulled in a skim board behind a 4-wheeler. Fun from what I hear. All the kids tried it but Abby Grace, she was content eating the snow.
Yep, that is Jacob being pulled in a skim board behind a 4-wheeler. Fun from what I hear. All the kids tried it but Abby Grace, she was content eating the snow.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Crazy catch-up
Wow, I am soooooo far behind in blogging. When we started this blog so many years ago it was to document our journey to get Abby Grace. When we came home we continued as a way to document for her and for ourselves all of the amazing things that she has overcome and learned to do. Now, well it has become kind of a "When I get a chance to get around to it" kind of place. So now that I have a moment I am going to try to do some catching up with a few pictures from the 2nd half of 2010.
Summer gave way to the cooler days of fall and the leaves turned beautiful shades of reds and pinks. Abby spent many afternoons outside playing in the leaves and even collected a few that she pressed in her books in her room.
Abby Grace worked on her skating skills with her 1st ever trip to the skating rink. Now she wants skates for her next birthday. Owen on the other hand just enjoyed watching everyone skate.
We celebrated her 5th birthday with a dress up party with some of her girlfriends and big brother Owen and she finally got a big girl bike!!!
Christmas arrived and we celebrated with family the birth of our Savior. Of course no Christmas would be complete with a trip to our local light display. I love how in and amongst the myriad if Kai Lan and Wonderpets there is always the nativity. The true symbol of the Christmas season.
Shouldn't have wasted money on Christmas gifts, Abby found hours of fun drumming on the paint cans we've been using to paint around the house.
Jacob tested for his yellow belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and once again Sean held the board for his impressive kick.
Unfortunately, Owen has inherited some poor vision and reluctantly got glasses in November. Hope the glasses improve his vision and that is helps him learn those popcorn words and letters quickly :)
So that's it a quick look at the last half of 2010. Hope your 2011 is blessed!!
Summer gave way to the cooler days of fall and the leaves turned beautiful shades of reds and pinks. Abby spent many afternoons outside playing in the leaves and even collected a few that she pressed in her books in her room.
Abby Grace worked on her skating skills with her 1st ever trip to the skating rink. Now she wants skates for her next birthday. Owen on the other hand just enjoyed watching everyone skate.
We celebrated her 5th birthday with a dress up party with some of her girlfriends and big brother Owen and she finally got a big girl bike!!!
Christmas arrived and we celebrated with family the birth of our Savior. Of course no Christmas would be complete with a trip to our local light display. I love how in and amongst the myriad if Kai Lan and Wonderpets there is always the nativity. The true symbol of the Christmas season.
Shouldn't have wasted money on Christmas gifts, Abby found hours of fun drumming on the paint cans we've been using to paint around the house.
Jacob tested for his yellow belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and once again Sean held the board for his impressive kick.
Unfortunately, Owen has inherited some poor vision and reluctantly got glasses in November. Hope the glasses improve his vision and that is helps him learn those popcorn words and letters quickly :)
So that's it a quick look at the last half of 2010. Hope your 2011 is blessed!!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
3 years
It is hard to believe but yesterday was our 3 year anniversary or as Kristi calls it referral-a-versary of getting the call for Abby Grace. 3 years ago yesterday we saw the scared little face for the first time and immediately fell totally in love. It is amazing to look back on those pictures and look at pictures from recently and even recognize her as the same little scared girl living on the other side of the world without the love of a family.
Then: waiting on us to come bring her home
2010 thriving with the love of her family:
We LOVE you baby girl to the moon and back!! We are so thankful to HIM for blessing our lives by bringing us you as our daughter and little sister.
Then: waiting on us to come bring her home
2010 thriving with the love of her family:
We LOVE you baby girl to the moon and back!! We are so thankful to HIM for blessing our lives by bringing us you as our daughter and little sister.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Fabulous Friday!!
We had a great first day home. Sean did not disturb us until 10 when it was time to head to pick V up from church camp with her friend Morgan. She was so excited and surprised when I met her at the church. She was expecting us to still be in Charleston, I think she underestimated her little sister. V and I ran to Wally World to do some fat free shopping so Abby could have something to eat. We were delighted to find some yummy things to eat: cheese slices, yogurt, sour cream (she loves to eat it by the spoonful) some cottage cheese and lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I found myself looking a labels in a new way. I am one of those yep looks good let's get it shoppers. I never look at labels but WOW we really need to pay attention to the amount of fat we have been eating. I am looking at this 6 week no fat thing as a chance for us all to get a little more healthier. I was just cooking some dinner (tacos) and Jacob came in and said "Yuck...fat free tacos." We had a little discussion that aside from the cheese and sour cream everything was the same as "fat-in tacos." Boy was that a relief to him.
Abby has bounded back amazingly well. Today we stopped off at Nana and Papa's and she showed them her zipper.(code for incision)She was so proud of it. While I shopped on-line for V's textbooks she ate some of Papa's pickles. She may not be related to him by blood but the do share an amazing love of pickles. Once we got home she played outside in the yard with Owen and ran up and down the driveway a few times. I kept telling her to slow down but she had a freedom about her like never before. Not one did she say she was tired or appear out of breath. She just amazes me. My walking, talking miracle girl :)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wheels!!!!
Abby Grace slept until after 10 this morning just before rounds happened. She was still wiping the sleep from her eyes when the team came bouncing into our room. After a bit of listening and looking they announced that tubes were coming out and we were going home TODAY!! Woohoo :) :)
So tubes came out around 11, had our x-ray and echo and we were cleared to leave. We made our way over to the pharmacy where we waited for almost an hour for her meds which Bryna had tubed over 2 hours earlier.
Nurses Note: We had Bryna when we were here for Ab's first heart surgery and let me just say she is fantastic. She is so sweet and calming with Ab. She is having a baby boy in September and she is going to be an incredible mom :D She won't be here when we are back down here in December for a few days when we have dental surgery but we were so happy she was here this time. All of the nurses here are super. They truly have a heart for what they do. Caroline, Tara, Lindsey, Rachel, Ms. Sandra, Mrs. Mary and all the other nurses were just wonderful :) Funny story...the other day I ran down stairs to grab a sandwich and left Ab up in the room eating her noodles. I returned to hear her carrying on a conversation with one of the nurses at the station in the remote. I told her if you need anything just press the button, well apparently she just needed to talk :)
Anyway, we went to the playroom to return the menagerie is toys we had borrowed and for Ab to have one last date with the doll house. Then we returned to the room for one more meal of noodles, ketchup and hotdogs. Bet she won't touch another hotdog for weeks. Now we sit playing Cooties, watching Enchanted (for the 10th time) waiting for our wheels to arrive to take us home. It is going to be so great to sleep in our own beds tonight and just be back with our family.
We don't have many limitations right now just a few not so great ones:
No swimming for 2 weeks in the pool. (lake, ocean, stream 12 weeks)
No soaking in the tub for 2 weeks.
No bouncing on the trampoline for 6 weeks.
No school for 6 weeks.
* And the kicker and worst one of all.. No fat diet til September 9!!!
That last one will be the hardest one to deal with. Luckily we can do some pasta. She is actually allowed 10g of fat a day but I guess Chick-fil-a and McD's are out for a while :( I was looking at options and really it should not be too hard to do but just have to start reading labels on stuff.
I will post an update in a few days. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Abby Grace and offering encouragement and support!
So tubes came out around 11, had our x-ray and echo and we were cleared to leave. We made our way over to the pharmacy where we waited for almost an hour for her meds which Bryna had tubed over 2 hours earlier.
Nurses Note: We had Bryna when we were here for Ab's first heart surgery and let me just say she is fantastic. She is so sweet and calming with Ab. She is having a baby boy in September and she is going to be an incredible mom :D She won't be here when we are back down here in December for a few days when we have dental surgery but we were so happy she was here this time. All of the nurses here are super. They truly have a heart for what they do. Caroline, Tara, Lindsey, Rachel, Ms. Sandra, Mrs. Mary and all the other nurses were just wonderful :) Funny story...the other day I ran down stairs to grab a sandwich and left Ab up in the room eating her noodles. I returned to hear her carrying on a conversation with one of the nurses at the station in the remote. I told her if you need anything just press the button, well apparently she just needed to talk :)
Anyway, we went to the playroom to return the menagerie is toys we had borrowed and for Ab to have one last date with the doll house. Then we returned to the room for one more meal of noodles, ketchup and hotdogs. Bet she won't touch another hotdog for weeks. Now we sit playing Cooties, watching Enchanted (for the 10th time) waiting for our wheels to arrive to take us home. It is going to be so great to sleep in our own beds tonight and just be back with our family.
We don't have many limitations right now just a few not so great ones:
No swimming for 2 weeks in the pool. (lake, ocean, stream 12 weeks)
No soaking in the tub for 2 weeks.
No bouncing on the trampoline for 6 weeks.
No school for 6 weeks.
* And the kicker and worst one of all.. No fat diet til September 9!!!
That last one will be the hardest one to deal with. Luckily we can do some pasta. She is actually allowed 10g of fat a day but I guess Chick-fil-a and McD's are out for a while :( I was looking at options and really it should not be too hard to do but just have to start reading labels on stuff.
I will post an update in a few days. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Abby Grace and offering encouragement and support!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
103.3
Way to high for an ox sat and way to high for a fever too but that was the case last night!
Abby had a great Monday even walking to the elevators and playroom. She ate wonderfully, colored, painted, played doll house and then it hit. We got our vitals done around 10 or so and she was HOT!! Nurse Tara and Ms. Mary immediately called in the resident. They took her chest bandages off and looked at her chest. It was a bit red but nothing too alarming. They went ahead and drew blood and sent it off for a culture, ordered an x-ray and gave her some antibiotics. A little after midnight we finally drifted off to sleep.
This morning she woke up in a "Crabby Abby." Did not want to eat any breakfast at all. Unfortunately since we had a fever last night we could not leave the room to go to the playroom. So we spent the morning in here coloring and watching movies. After lunch Dr. Bradley and Mrs. Cathy signed off on getting her mid-line tube out and neck line out. That was rough but once they were out she was thrilled.
,
2 volunteers named Sam & Summer stopped by to pamper her a bit by painting her toe nails beautiful bright pink. She loved them so much they left her the bottle and I later painted her fingers, my fingers and my toes too. She was so excited and wanted to show everyone that we matched. Sam was a high school student here in SC that wanted to start a volunteer project here at MUSC last year she decided to start "Sam's Special Spa" she comes in once a week and paints the toes or fingers of little girls in the hospital. So sweet of her to volunteer a day to brighten the day of these little patients. Her mother is in charge of the happy cart here which is a cart that comes around on Thursdays and the kids get to pick a toy to keep. Last week when it came by Abby Grace was asleep so I picked a princess pillow for her, she loved it.
Dr Bradley stopped by before heading out on a much deserved vacation. I tell you what that man is a miracle worker here on Earth. He is so nice and gentle with children and has a great bedside manner. I will never forget our first meeting with him in April 2008 when he told us he'd have to operate on her ASAP. I just get tears in my eyes thinking about what might have been had we not come to MUSC. He is such a special man and will always hold a special place in our hearts. To think that he actually held her heart in his hands amazes me. He truly is using his God given talents to perform miracles here on Earth. Thanks Dr B!!!
Fluid levels have dropped a lot and we are still on track for going home by this weekend. We sure are ready to get back to the family especially since my sister and her family will be down from Toronto for a few weeks.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.
Abby had a great Monday even walking to the elevators and playroom. She ate wonderfully, colored, painted, played doll house and then it hit. We got our vitals done around 10 or so and she was HOT!! Nurse Tara and Ms. Mary immediately called in the resident. They took her chest bandages off and looked at her chest. It was a bit red but nothing too alarming. They went ahead and drew blood and sent it off for a culture, ordered an x-ray and gave her some antibiotics. A little after midnight we finally drifted off to sleep.
This morning she woke up in a "Crabby Abby." Did not want to eat any breakfast at all. Unfortunately since we had a fever last night we could not leave the room to go to the playroom. So we spent the morning in here coloring and watching movies. After lunch Dr. Bradley and Mrs. Cathy signed off on getting her mid-line tube out and neck line out. That was rough but once they were out she was thrilled.
, 2 volunteers named Sam & Summer stopped by to pamper her a bit by painting her toe nails beautiful bright pink. She loved them so much they left her the bottle and I later painted her fingers, my fingers and my toes too. She was so excited and wanted to show everyone that we matched. Sam was a high school student here in SC that wanted to start a volunteer project here at MUSC last year she decided to start "Sam's Special Spa" she comes in once a week and paints the toes or fingers of little girls in the hospital. So sweet of her to volunteer a day to brighten the day of these little patients. Her mother is in charge of the happy cart here which is a cart that comes around on Thursdays and the kids get to pick a toy to keep. Last week when it came by Abby Grace was asleep so I picked a princess pillow for her, she loved it.
Dr Bradley stopped by before heading out on a much deserved vacation. I tell you what that man is a miracle worker here on Earth. He is so nice and gentle with children and has a great bedside manner. I will never forget our first meeting with him in April 2008 when he told us he'd have to operate on her ASAP. I just get tears in my eyes thinking about what might have been had we not come to MUSC. He is such a special man and will always hold a special place in our hearts. To think that he actually held her heart in his hands amazes me. He truly is using his God given talents to perform miracles here on Earth. Thanks Dr B!!!
Fluid levels have dropped a lot and we are still on track for going home by this weekend. We sure are ready to get back to the family especially since my sister and her family will be down from Toronto for a few weeks.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Rainbows
After every good summer storm I love to look for rainbows in the sky. Well today was our rainbow day. Abby Grace woke up in a fantastic mood. She did however once again throw up her morning meds because there was just too much going in to her little empty tummy. She we got her all cleaned up changed her bed and played barbies as we waited for the rest of the family to arrive. One great thing about being @ MUSC is that there is so much to see and do in Charleston. While we were playing Barbies Sean and the crew headed over to the Yorktown Battleship. The boys had a great time checking everything out. Unfortunately though I had the camera at the hospital so there are no pictures of their adventure.
They finally arrived at the hospital a bit after lunchtime but we had to wait until 2 to go to the Child-Life playroom. Let me tell you once we got there we did not want to leave. It is only opened from 10-12 and 2-4 on the weekends and we sooo wished it were opened longer. Everyone had a great time.
Abby talked V in to playing barbies and play house.
Sean and Jacob enjoyed some pool and then of course some video games.
I think Owen thought he was in toy Heaven. He played with dinosaurs, cars, castles, pirates and even tried his little hand a playing pool.
After our fun play date we decided to leave Abby at the hospital for a bit and go downtown for dinner. You know you can only enjoy hospital food for so long and then ugh. It was great to get out for a bit and I knew she was in great hands with our nurses B and L. We ended up going to T-B*nz and even ventured out on a carriage ride through historical Charleston. It was something I have always wanted to do but never have done before. Owen was very excited :)It was really interesting to hear about the history and see some beautiful sights. I was gone a bit longer than I had hoped and Abby let me know she was not at all happy with me when I returned. Huge tears filled her eyes and she started to cry. She refused to talk to me for almost an hour. I offered her the treat I brought her but she just nodded no. We finally got back on speaking terms when I offered to do a craft with her. Then things were fine. We have decorated her room with all sorts of pictures, paintings and projects. It looks so happy. In fact yesterday she said, "Momma I kinda like this place." That was something I never thought she'd say.
We are so lucky to be able to be this close to a great heart hospital for children. And we are so blessed to be the family HE chose for Abby Grace. She is our little miracle and we stand in awe of all that HE has done in her life over the past 4 years.
They finally arrived at the hospital a bit after lunchtime but we had to wait until 2 to go to the Child-Life playroom. Let me tell you once we got there we did not want to leave. It is only opened from 10-12 and 2-4 on the weekends and we sooo wished it were opened longer. Everyone had a great time.
Abby talked V in to playing barbies and play house.
Sean and Jacob enjoyed some pool and then of course some video games.
I think Owen thought he was in toy Heaven. He played with dinosaurs, cars, castles, pirates and even tried his little hand a playing pool.
After our fun play date we decided to leave Abby at the hospital for a bit and go downtown for dinner. You know you can only enjoy hospital food for so long and then ugh. It was great to get out for a bit and I knew she was in great hands with our nurses B and L. We ended up going to T-B*nz and even ventured out on a carriage ride through historical Charleston. It was something I have always wanted to do but never have done before. Owen was very excited :)It was really interesting to hear about the history and see some beautiful sights. I was gone a bit longer than I had hoped and Abby let me know she was not at all happy with me when I returned. Huge tears filled her eyes and she started to cry. She refused to talk to me for almost an hour. I offered her the treat I brought her but she just nodded no. We finally got back on speaking terms when I offered to do a craft with her. Then things were fine. We have decorated her room with all sorts of pictures, paintings and projects. It looks so happy. In fact yesterday she said, "Momma I kinda like this place." That was something I never thought she'd say.
We are so lucky to be able to be this close to a great heart hospital for children. And we are so blessed to be the family HE chose for Abby Grace. She is our little miracle and we stand in awe of all that HE has done in her life over the past 4 years.
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