friends with heart!

There have been many blessings along our heart journey with Maddie but at the top of the list has been meeting some awesome families along the way. The instant bond you share is something difficult to put into words. There is an understanding that nobody else can really "get" unless they've walked in your shoes. We share the same triumphs, worries and fears. These heart kids are simply amazing...and their families are too!

We visited Teagan last week in the hospital. She's making steps in the right direction! It was great spending some time with the Maxwell's. Teagan and Maddie are the sweetest to watch together and they have big plans for a sleepover soon! Love it! 7 years ago to the day, Maddie had had her 2nd heart surgery, the Glenn. I was a bit emotional walking in, thinking about how far she has come!

Jesse (Luke's mom) came to visit too and it was great to see her as well! Bringing Luke was a highlight for Teagan as her mama is expecting and she loves babies! So glad Luke could perk her up!

We LOVED bumping into our favorite nurse Stacey! She remembered Maddie right off the bat...it was great catching up with her! She is a fantastic nurse and she and Maddie had quite a friendship during our Fontan stay. It was fun hearing that Maddie was one of her favorite patients of all time and we are a family she hasn't forgotten...maybe that's not a good thing?!?! Lol!

With Angie and Natalie in town from Alaska, we drove over for dinner a couple of days before Teagan's surgery...The five on the right all have single ventricle hearts...they're all post-Fontan except Luke.  I was super teary taking this photo as between them all, they've had 14 open heart surgeries and too many heart caths and other procedures to count. God is sooo good! Many share the same surgeons and doctors.

Maddie towers over her heart buddies...3 "soon-to-be" second graders & Gracie will be in 1st.

Bumping into a new heart buddy at Wal-mart! His story is an incredible one and I've loved getting to know his mama!

We're still here!

We're still here! Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog, life is so busy with 5 kids! I rarely have a minute to sit down, let alone update the blog. But I so enjoy reading other friends' posts and since I don't journal or scrapbook, I'd like to capture some memories of some of our life! We are so blessed with these kids and life is very full...

Jace is almost 12, how did this happen? He's heading up to a Gonzaga Basketball camp with his buddy Merit for 3 nights as I type this. I'm missing him already. Other than being our sports fanatic, he's a great big brother and just a fun kid to be around. He's worked really hard on the farm this summer, I'm proud of the responsible young man he's turning into. When we talk about the apples or cherries, he knows more than me! It's a little embarrassing. It's so fun watching him grow and mature. He had an awesome 5th grade year, loved his teacher and has great friends. He'll be a 6th grader this fall. I love our talks, his insight and perspective on things is mature. It's so nice to have his help around the house and with the little ones too. 

Jace with friends Kate & Colin at Jump Rope for Heart

Jace & his buddy Merit

these boys like cool cars

Cade is determined, focused and a go-getter around here. He never has idle hands...always building something lego, bouncing a ball, playing on my phone, or just fidgeting. He'll be taking his first pig for 4-H in just a few weeks and "Meg" is a sweet hog. He's enjoyed his pig project so far. Like Jace, he's been busy helping his dad on the farm...he's "head gopher trapper" in the orchards and says he "thinks Gopher" now! His gopher trapping stories are entertaining. He had a farm accident this spring while driving a forklift, luckily he just had to have stitches. It could have been so much worse! He had crutches for a week and his ankle has healed nicely. He's our emotional one, when he's happy its so contagious and when he's, well... you get the point. Cade is deep, thoughtful, and he has a sense of justice and loyalty that I admire! 

Scouts Pine Wood Derby

Rug Rat Nation 3 on 3...his team was the champs!

Pitching for the Royals - Spring baseball league in Moses Lake

Maddie is still in a growth spurt! This girl is T-A-L-L! She is as sweet as ever and really balances out these boys. They all adore their sister and she's the princess around here still. She likes to refer to herself as a sporty girl and tries to keep up with her brothers outside on the basketball court. She learned to ride a bike this summer, she was determined and it only took one lap with me holding the bike and chasing her for her to say "Ok, let go mom, I've got it" and she was off! I hope she'll always attack life with that mantra, "I've got it!" It's a moment I don't want to ever forget. Maddie is trying out a 6 week gymnastics camp this summer. She enjoys playing outside with her brothers, dancing and singing in the mirror, packing around Luke, and just being my side kick. I love having a daughter, she makes life so much sweeter around here. She loves to sneak into my makeup, jewelry, finger nail polish or put any ol' knick-knack in purses and bags. She's a pack rat! Maddie loves hanging out with her cousins and friends too, and I can't believe she'll be in 2nd grade. 

Maddie rockin' the 80's for dance

Maddie & cousin Jilly at Easter

Maddie & cousin Kylie before their baseball game

Sam is busy, wild, naughty, cute, smart, fast, stubborn, tender, curious, athletic, and did I say busy? Whew, he tires me out. He's done things my other 3 have never even thought of. He marches to his own beat for sure. Other than being a stinker most of the time, he's also our most loving and cuddly one. Thank goodness for his tender nature...we're still potty training...going on 8 months now. He's finally making some progress. Sam only does things on his terms. He's re-defined parenting for me. He's my patience tester for sure! I love watching him explore and learn, he's truly an amazing, bright boy and has lots of talent and more determination than I can handle most days. Now just to channel that in the right direction! We love our Sammer Jammer! He makes things pretty spicy around here. As I'm typing this, he just ran in singing "ev-wee ting is awesome, ev-wee ting is tool when you pot of a team!" Our team wouldn't be the same without this little dude on it.

Skiing at Schweitzer after Christmas. Sam enjoyed the snow-snow as we didn't get any this winter!

"gwasses like daddy" (pretend ones)

This boy loves dirt!

Luke is now 10 months and taking steps! Yes, I thought I had a baby too but he's proving me wrong. He is quick to change, grow up and is reaching milestones before this mama is ready. He's in the 20th percentile for his weight, 60th for his height and 90th for his head! He's got a noggin on him! He's a dear, mellow, quiet, sweet little guy. We love having Lukie Doodles as our baby boy...he's spoiled, carried around and cuddled most of the day and is used to being on the go with his older siblings and their activities. I've "worn" him the most as I've needed free hands and have so enjoyed having him attached. I'm so thankful we decided to have a 5th and we feel so blessed with this little guy.Pukie Lukie is another name he's acquired ;)

Wearing my babe!

Easter Egg Hunt

Bananas are Luke's fave

Bryan and I are doing well, we've been together for 18 years! We'll celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary this December. He is truly my rock. He works so hard for our family and is admired by everyone in this family. I can get pretty razzed up with these kids and he knows how to handle me! We've had to go through some tough changes lately with my family and I can't imagine going through all of this without him. He's fair, honest, and exudes strength. I'm one blessed girl to have him in my life and feel so fortunate to have him as my best friend. 

Enjoying a Mariners Game with the boys! We loved sitting in the Diamond Club seating, what a treat!

 A father's day golfing excursion

Cade caught a salamander & a bull frog one morning while working with Dad on a pump. They lasted 24 hours. We need to institute a "catch & release program" for the pets these kids catch around here.

Lukie's first 4th at Derek & Carly's 

Silverwood!

Suncadia!

Cardiology Appt.

 

Maddie Moo had an appointment back in November...and I'm a month late posting about it. We've just been relishing in the fact that she had no alarms or "wait and see's" on this visit! She had a fantastic visit! I think this was the best report she's ever been given.

Her sats were the highest we've ever seen in clinic, even with her fenestration still open, the pulse ox read 93%!!! Dr. C was pleased with her echo, blood pressure and ekg. He even talked about spreading her visits out to once a year but decided we should have 1 more good appointment like this before doing that so in 6 months she'll have another cardiology appointment. She continues to grow like a weed, shocking us all with being in the 94% for height and weight. If only her brothers took after her? I joke that the extra calories we fed her to get her to grow as a a baby have finally kicked in, causing some fast growth in this girl! It just reassures us that her heart likes it's plumbing and tall genetics have kicked in.

What I took away most from this appointment other than her awesome numbers, was witnessing how grown-up and mature Maddie has become at her dr. visits. She carried on a sweet conversation with Dr. C, answering his questions and visiting about her experiences in 1st grade. One question she had for him was if she could play basketball...she was recently told by a peer at school that she "can't play because of her heart" which has bothered her. When she came to me with this, I explained that I thought she could but the best person to ask would be her Doctor. Luckily, we had an appt. the following week, so it was a perfect time for her to talk to him about it. I absolutely loved his answer... "Maddie, you can play and participate in almost any sport  I can think of" then he winked at me and whispered, "lets not take up kick boxing or anything like that." She sure puffed up when he gave her the go-ahead. She's been wanting to play basketball, like her big brothers do, and she is so excited to be doing that on Saturday mornings now. I love that my HS coach and good friend are the coaches.

As we watch Maddie grow (oh how she's grown!) and become this dear little girl, we stand amazed. Amazed at His goodness and at His provision over her life. I know I've said this a million times but we never expected life to be this good. We are so very blessed. Thank you for following her journey and for your prayers on her behalf. They have been answered!

Our household's happenings

Somebody around here turned 3 yesterday! This cute little boy is as naughty as he is adorable most of the time. He's our spicy one and we love every bit of him. Sam is very strong willed, determined, focused, and independent! Never a dull moment with this one :)

 Mr. Sam is very into Paw Patrol or "Patrol" as he refers to it. We celebrated with just the 7 of us last night. It was relaxing, quiet and very enjoyable. He loved all of the attention and sang "Happy Birthday" to himself. When he opened up this gift, he threw his arms in the air and shouted "Oh My Gosh!" It was precious. I soaked him in last night...he also told me "Mama, I love you so so much" when I tucked him in. Oh my heart.

Wow! All of our kids!!! I'm a lucky mom.

 This was a few weeks ago but it's too cute not to share, he looks like a little bird ready to eat :)

 Maddie is enjoying being the only girl...she's a great helper and loves all of her brothers and they think she's pretty neat too.

 My football/baby loving boys. These two are really good buds, their relationship is pretty awesome most of the time.

 Cade celebrated his 9th birthday a couple of weeks after Luke was born...he enjoyed having all of our family over, playing some football with his cousins and of course, building with his new lego sets. He's a master builder for sure...Caden is kind, serious and smart. I receive lots of compliments on how nice he is, he's an easy kid to have around.  

 Luke is now 5 weeks old! He had a little procedure yesterday at the ENT's office...had to get his tongue clipped, which will hopefully make a difference with his nursing! Out of our kids, 3 have been born with very tight tongues, 2 have needed clipped. He weighed 10 lbs. 8 oz. yesterday! 

Last Saturday night, the boys had their "Black & Gold" Football Game...it was a cold evening but fun watching all of our Royal football players. I love that Bryan coaches- he does an awesome job with the offense and really enjoys it. Football in our community is kind of a big deal, I'm glad he's invested in it and thrilled that the boys love to play. We are starting basketball now, they'll overlap with their football schedule for 2 weeks...life continues to march on for us!

No. 5

Finally a post!

I can't believe our caboose is already a month old...

Luke Bryan (not named after the country music star, don't even know a song that guy sings) just minutes old... he weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20.5 inches length, born by a scheduled c-section at 8:03 am one month ago today. A healthy baby boy, what a blessing!

 Love at first sight...Luke and mommy meet

In post-op recovery, getting to hold him for the first time

 What a sweetheart! We are IN LOVE with him. The kids have loved having a baby in the house, they're all really helpful, fight over who's holding him and thank God, Sam has finally warmed up to him ;). He was on ignore mode for the first couple of weeks! Maddie is quite the little mother and it's such a joy watching the older ones interact with him.

So far, fingers crossed, Luke is a really good baby. He's had some trouble nursing and lost quite a bit of weight that first week so I've been both pumping and nursing. He's quite a combination of all of our kids, we see glimpses of each one in him but he has his own look as well. The little fuzz of hair that he has is brown, darker than our other babes. I hope he continues with his laid back nature as being the last one in this crew of kids, he's going to need to be easy going! Things can get crazy around here!

I've enjoyed stepping back from everything I am usually involved in, staying at home and just lapping this little guy in. I was quite emotional that first week at home, my hormones were going crazy. So glad that has passed! Recovery has been smooth for me, just some sleep deprivation that goes with having a newborn, all is great!

 Our lives are full! Besides school and apple harvest, there's football for the older boys which  Bryan's coaching, dance for Maddie, bible club, 4-H for the boys, and scouts. Our plate is always full. We've had lots of help and have been spoiled with wonderful meals, visits and gifts for this sweet boy. Our family of 7 feels complete (I can't believe I have 5 kids, a basketball team!) and I am so, so thankful this little man has joined our family. More to come...

Fontanniversary & a heart re-check

waiting after her echo to see Dr. C

Today marks 3 years since this girlie's had heart surgery. We call this her "Fontanniversary" and try to recognize it in some way as it's a special day. May 24, 2011 was the day she completed the three-staged surgical repair on her heart, having her third open-heart surgery called the Fontan. Tonight we'll celebrate with chocolate cupcakes and her choice of movie, which I've been informed is "Beauty and the Beast" (the boys will be so thrilled!) 

In fitting fashion, we made a trip over to Seattle yesterday for a quick heart "re-check"...over the past couple weeks she's been extra tired, her sats have fluctuated between the upper 70's-mid 80's and we've noticed more blueness than we have in a long time. I'm glad she and I made the trip over. After an echo, Dr. C commented that she's developed more collateral vessels and when they can be seen on echo, they're usually quite significant (or we just got lucky) but they're also tricky to figure out where they're robbing blood flow from/or dumping it in. She's struggled with growing collateral's in the past, the question remains do we do something about them as he believes they'll just continue to grow. Some kids just grow them, Maddie is one of those kids. Her sats were 87-89% in his office, which is great & within her norm, so as of now, he'd like to wait. If she begins to trend down and stay down with her O2 saturation's, then she'll have to have it addressed in the cath lab and hopefully they'll plug her fenestration while in there. She still has some mixing of unoxygenated/oxygenated blood which causes her sats to be lower than if she didn't have a hole in her Fontan conduit. The best part of the day yesterday was just spending time one-on-one time with my girl-chatting during the drive, shopping at the outlets in North Bend, and having a nice lunch at one of our favorite places.

Subbing in Maddie's Kindergarten Class!

Little did I know that this girl would teach me so much...Having a child with a life-threatening condition has changed, stretched and strengthened me. It hasn't happened over night, accepting the unknowns of Maddie's future is difficult, but it has thankfully brought me closer to God than anything else I've experienced. I'm incredibly, eternally grateful. 

Happy Fontanniversary Maddie, you continue to amaze me each and every day! I love you so much!

Easter & a baby on the way...

Easter 2014 ~ We enjoyed a wonderful church service then hosted Easter dinner at our home with Bryan's family and my folks. Kids enjoyed an egg hunt and baseball game together! 

  

Our family of 6...soon to be 7! Yes, we're expecting!!! I'm 18 weeks along, due Sept. 22nd but will most likely have to have a c-section again (our hospital doesn't do VBAC) so baby #5 will arrive sometime around the week of Sept. 15th. My 20 week ultrasound is on May 8th and we're planning to find out the baby's sex this time around...we need to shuffle some kids around and paint over pink walls if its a boy plus I feel like I need to start getting prepared! Maddie's already telling people it's a girl, so I keep giving her talks "if this baby is a boy, you're going to love having another brother, right?!?" I'm not sure she's convinced...

Life is busy as usual...Bryan with orchards in bloom and frost control, PTO for me, running kids all over: baseball twice a week for Jace in Moses Lake, soccer twice a week for Maddie, dance for Maddie, Cade & Jace are almost finished up with scouts for the school year, and Caden has been itching to get down and ride his horse at Nany & Ba's. We may have a cowboy after all...he's been begging me to teach him how to rope. Love it! And then there's Sam...this boy is t-r-o-u-b-l-e. He's into everything and I mean, EVERYTHING!!! He's quite the mess maker- markers, paint, anything he can get his hands onto and then creates masterpieces everywhere. It's a wonder he's only made one ER visit in his two 1/2 years of life...he recently opened up the car door at a baseball game and fell smack onto his head on pavement. We rushed him to the ER and luckily, a little glue fixed him right up and thankfully, no head injury. Oh boy! I think Maddie has a valid point on wanting a baby sis this time around. On the flip-side, Sam is such a cuddly, loving little boy...he has the cutest little voice, really nice manners saying "tanktoo" for everything, and has a great belly laugh. We love him to pieces and he's my little partner around here. We feel incredibly blessed with our four kiddos and really look forward to adding one more to the mix!