Firsts...

First Day of School...

Cade is in Mr. Buster's 1st Grade Class (Uncle Mike) and he's super pumped about it! His best friend Bennett is in here too! 

 Jace is in Mrs. Janett's 3rd grade (Aunt Kerry) So fun having family for our kid's teachers!

 Miss Maddie started preschool. I'm teaching one class, a dozen of them and 11 will go to Kindergarten next fall together! They're a great bunch of kiddos, I'm pretty partial to this one :)

 Jace has started Grid Kids Football. He's loving it (this is his mean face) and it's extra special since his dad is one of the coaches!

And let's not forget Sammy! He's been taking his first steps!!! We find him standing alone in the middle of the room often, with nothing to pull-up on or hold onto. He's taken several steps but then chooses to sit carefully down and crawl. He's a very speedy crawler and walking is a bit too slow for the lil' guy still! Can you believe he's already 11 months old?

Mike, Lesa, Bryan and I attended the Seahawk vs. Packers game this week! This was my first Monday night game at the stadium...ear plugs would have been handy! It gets so LOUD, Seahawk fans are awesome, hilarious and entertaining for sure! Whoa refs, but hey, we'll take it! A win is a win :) It was a fun game. Go Hawks!!!

time for another cath...

Maddie had a cardiology check-up on Monday. It was a full work up which was bumped up a couple of months due to her sats declining over the summer. Back in May, she was satting 90-92 and on Monday, her O2 sats read 84%. Though she still has a fenestrated Fontan (hole created to help give blood flow an alternate route due to pressures, which creates some mixing of O2 rich/poor blood) her sats shouldn't be this low now with her physiology. So, Dr. Chun and Dr. Johnston discussed her crummy echo pics and decided she needs to go to the cath lab to figure this one out since nothing could be determined by echo. We have a few hunches: collateral vessels again, her Pulmonary Arteries may be narrowing back down again, or her conduit may have an issue where it's sewed to her own anatomy. To be entirely honest, I hadn't worried much or had that "feeling" going into this appointment. I've noticed her more winded, a tinge bluer and she comments frequently that her breath hurts but being passed the Fontan, I don't worry about it like I used to and overall, she's been about the same energy wise. I'm glad her doctor is pro-active and wants to get a handle on this. We're grateful for their wisdom and how much they care for our daughter and her well-being.

Our plates are very full right now and I wasn't expecting this. Bryan's dad is terminal with cancer, he's declined rapidly the last few weeks and going through this experience has consumed us. It's been a roller coaster and thank God for our family and friends who've helped along the way. Watching someone you love go through this process is agonizing.

But one thing I've learned over these past four years with Maddie is to rely on His strength, His timing and rest in the peace that God has this one covered. When life is heavy and we feel beat down from what we're going through, He is there. Always. What a comfort this brings in times like these.

Covey Run 2012

The Covey Run proved to be a great weekend for our family before getting back into the grind of back to school. Team Maddie Moomer's was the third highest fundraising team for the run, raising $2,075.00 for CHD Research! Thanks to all of you for your generous donations and support towards reaching our goal...which we far exceeded! We love you!

 Our team of 5K runner/walkers & 10K runners

 Catching up with fellow heart friends Jen & Gracie and Jesse (Luke's mom)

My cousin Ashley & Baby Conor joined us too!

Miss Maddie running across the finish line (she rode in the double jogger with Sam until we reached the finish line)

Awesome kiddos who participated too...great job gang!