upcoming cath

In two weeks, we'll be heading back over to Seattle for Maddie's 'pre-fontan' heart catheterization. This will be the 6th time she's had to undergo this type of procedure, hopefully this cath's purpose will be more investigative rather than interventional. Doctors will be checking her heart's pressures, the valves, chambers, and getting an overall look at her heart's function to determine whether she's ready for the last surgery, the Fontan. If she needs a tune-up while they're in there, they'll intervene. She's currently weighing in at 31 lbs. which is around 14 kilos...the goal for surgery is 15 kilos, so we're getting close. When I talked to the nurse the other day after Maddie got into her baby asprin bottle (all was ok though) she mentioned that the team of cardiologists & surgeons will meet on her case the following Monday after the cath. Together, these 26 doctors will come up with a plan on Maddie's surgery and then we'll get the call to schedule it. We're told that we'll get a say in this one, which is much different than her past two surgeries, they were both rushed and necessary right then. This makes going into the Fontan much different for us. We've never really had a choice on when is the best time for Maddie and for our family.

Are we ready? In some ways, yes--getting passed this last big hurdle will be nice. It will feel like we can get on with life. Our daughter won't be so blue and out of breath all of the time. Her oxygen saturations will hopefully be in the 90's versus the 70's that they're in now. I'm anxious to see the "new Maddie" after her Fontan. She will be healthy going into surgery, which is a big plus. But in other ways, how do you prepare to have your child cut on again? It's open heart surgery, she'll be on heart-lung bypass, she'll have a stay in the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit), she'll be on a ventilator, she'll have many life-saving drugs pumped into her little body, and there will be several tubes and wires. It's simply...scary.

But I do believe that the good this surgery can bring far out-weighs the risks and fears it brings. If all goes as we plan, Maddie will have the chance to grow up feeling well, not huffing, puffing and coughing like she does now. Not having to climb into my lap several times a day, remarking "I tidered, hode me". She will run more, play more, jump more, climb the stairs more throughout the day, instead of wanting to be carried around and held. She will gain more independence and growth after this final surgery. Hopefully, she's young enough that she won't remember it later. This is what I will focus on. And that the Fontan will finally be behind us.

peace & joy

We had a visit from the Maxwell's this week! We so enjoyed their company and the kids had a blast playing with Gavin, Teagan and watching baby Bode cruise and crawl around.
The girls picked right up where they left off. They are true friends...heart sisters.
The topic of our visits used to revolve around surgeries, hospital stays, feeding issues, future worries...even though we still have a lot of "heart talk" we seem to visit more about normal life now. This is a good thing. We've made growth and are content with the paths we're on. Yesterday brought me much peace and joy. Watching these two interact is precious...I'm so grateful God knew we'd need a heart soul mate to share this journey with. Teagan and her family are just this and have been with us from the very beginning. We are grateful for their friendship.
These two played in Moom's kitchen, making coffee and giggling with each other. Maddie and Teagan are a very sweet pair. They've made our hearts full; through their struggles and perseverance we've been taught so much. I look at this picture and can't help but think that someday, they will be walking away from us as teenagers, going off to summer camp together in this very same way. We have much to look forward to.

a very long Christmas post...

December flew by. We had a busy, busy, busy month filled with Christmas programs, parties, family gatherings and we finished out the month with a trip to Disneyland, courtesy of Grandma and Pa Allred and our farm. Here's a recap in pictures...
Cade's preschool program...he was a wise man. Very cute, my class did an outstanding job if I do say so myself with our version of "Christmas in a Manger" and their songs.
Right before break, we had a fun pajama day and celebrated with a party! Preschool, jammies and Christmas make for a crazy but totally fun day! The kid's frosted/decorated upside-down ice cream cones and their "trees" turned out fabulous!
Jace also had pajama day and a fun holiday party in his 1st grade classroom. I was able to help and the kid's enjoyed frosting/decorating gingerbread cookies.
Jace in his school program...he's hard to see, my camera does not take pics well in this gym.
Maddie stayed fairly healthy all of December until our trip to D-land. She tagged along to most parties and programs and is starting to feel better since being home.
Family get-togethers started early for us, the 20th. We had a really fun night down at mom and dad's, these are my brothers...we've always taken a picture like this in front of the tree. I'm the middle child :)
Nany and Ba (my parents) with the grandkids...there is one more on the way, Ryan and Jess will be having a baby boy in March!
and the "fab 5"... Bryan and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on the 22nd! We still need to plan a date, Subway was fun but not that romantic :) Why did we get married so close to Christmas?
Maddie and cousin Tripp (whom she lovingly calls Trippy or baby). My brother Jason and nephew Jett were hit head-on in a car accident, so mom brought me Tripp and we loved having him come play. Only by God's grace, Jason and Jett were ok...Jason did have to put down a horse that was in his horse trailer during the wreck. It was very sobering for us all and made Christmas that much more special with knowing how close their/all of our lives could have changed. Prayers for the other vehicle passengers...3/4 are in critical condition the last we heard.
After church on Christmas Eve. The kid's are always pumped to pose for pictures, especially when they're eagerly awaiting present opening... my parents came up here for dinner and we let the kids open most of their gifts since Bryan had to feed bright and early Xmas morning at the feedlot. In fact, he woke everyone up Xmas morning :)
This guy was a bit disappointed in Santa, he delivered a castle but not a "lego" one like Caders had asked for. He's hard to please sometimes. Maybe Santa will deliver the right goods next year buddy. Miss Maddie loved everything, she'd say "Ooooh, my favorite" with each gift she opened then quickly wanted us to open up the box up so she could play with it. Her brothers enjoyed telling her, "Come on Maddie, Rip it like you want it!" when she'd carefully open each gift.

Christmas morning, we always go out to Bryan's parents, Pa and Grandma's. The brunch is always yummy and our day here is very laid back, which I love. By Christmas day, I'm so tired...probably like most of you mom's.
Pa and Grandma got Maddie and her cousin Jill darling metal pedal cars. She's adorable "Flinestoning" around it in (hasn't figured out pedals yet).

Christmas Night, we had the entire Stewart family up to our home. We played some super fun Minute-to-Win-It games, ate lots of Mexican Food and had a $10 gift exchange. I loved having all of my aunts and uncles, grandma and cousins here. I'm still laughing. Wished I had pics to share. The next day, we packed up for our trip and headed out to the big Allred Christmas at Jerry & Chriss' home. Always good food and conversation at these gatherings (no pics here either). So the Magic Kingdom was beautiful but PACKED. The day that we got there, we went over to the park and couldn't get in at 12:00...they'd already reached capacity and didn't allow anymore people into Disneyland! We had 2 great days of weather then the last 3 were so-so. Rainy, cold, windy. Although it was better than home-- temps in the teens.
This was Maddie's face when she first saw "binkerbell" (her favorite besides "rella" Cinderella)
Waiting for ponchos--man it poured!
Jace loved the rides and is our thrill-seeker...Splash Mountain was his favorite, even after getting wet. Oh yes, we ate Churros everyday too. They're yummy any time of day and can be substituted for a meal we decided. We also hit Knott's which was just as packed as D-land but we did take this rollercoaster man on the wooden coaster "The Ghostrider"-SCARY and so fun!
Cade on the carousel in Fantasy Land. The waits on lines were all very long...at least 40-90 minutes. Gave us lots of quality time together and sore backs from holding little ones.
Aunt Lesa booked a fun night at "Medieval Times" where we ate with our hands, watched Knights joust and the king announced that Caden had slayed a dragon for the kingdom!
The last morning, we had a character dining experience at our hotel, The Grand. The boys loved the characters....Maddie only liked them far away. No posing with a fuzzy creature for her.

Allred grandkids...they're a cute and fun bunch :) We hope you enjoyed your holiday as well! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas...

and I'm sure we're going to have one! We've had more snow and cold weather than I can ever remember...it's snowing as I type this and it is beautiful. (Don't tell my family--they have to feed lots of cows, break ice, shovel bunks, and the snow only creates more work for them!!) It sure gets me into the Christmas spirit though. Living on a hill has shown it's perks too...lots of fun sledding for the boys. Yes, we're enjoying this winter wonderland!

"kissmas time"

I love seeing Christmas through a child's eyes. Maddie is loving this time of year...she's referring to it as "kissmas time" and admires each decoration, tv commercial and Christmas card with lots of oooh's & ahhh's and then remarks with how cute, beautiful, coldy or "windy" (aka snowy) it is. She's got Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town down and sings throughout our days, although she's a bit afraid of Santa and kindly says, "No Santa, no Ho, Ho, Ho" when we speak of him. No offense Santa, she's just not keen on the mascot types. She loved decorating along with me and has really spread the Christmas spirit around here. But I did have to invest in more super glue since some of the more breakable decorations magically found themselves on the wood floor. I guess this pretty girl adores pretty things!

thanksgiving

We enjoyed having Thanksgiving this year in our new home. It was my family's year and my mom had already done all of the grocery shopping, so she just brought everything up and we prepared the meal together. It was lots of fun and the turkey turned out great. She gave me some "lessons" on cooking a Thanksgiving meal, I really enjoyed the time we had together. I especially loved setting & decorating the table. (This has always been my job).

I made Maddie's dress and headband, she looked so cute in it and it reminded me of a calico dress I wore as a little girl. The boys enjoyed sledding with cousin Jett after our big meal....I can't recall having this much snow on Thanksgiving! Wished I'd gotten a picture of them.




We finished off the weekend with an overnight stay in Portland for the Duke vs. Oregon basketball game with Bryan's sister and husband. So we braved the roads with Mike & Lesa (only took us 7 hours) and enjoyed some great shopping too! We stayed at the historic Benson Hotel, which was so beautiful. We were fortunate to have missed the "near bombing" at the Xmas tree lighting in Pioneer Square...while walking through there, we kept wondering why there were so many reporters. Good thing the FBI was on the case and busted it far before it was planned to happen and lucky us. It was a fun weekend and we got most of our Christmas shopping done, with no tax! Yay :)