Trick or Treat!

Its just not right... it shouldn't be the end of October! Oh well, guess we'll just have to roll with it! It was the yearly trick or treat night here last night, so of course we had to get the girls all dressed up...

Aren't they just the most adorable little ballerina's in the world?! Thanks again, Kathy, for the cutest tutus & leotards!

One of the local churches here in town had a "trunk or treat" night, so I took Gabby over to that. The members of the church park their cars in a circle around the parking lot & open the trunk (or hatch, etc.) to pass candy out from. They had the fire dept. there with lights so everyone could see. Gabby had the best time!

While we were out begging for candy, Miss Vaeh stayed back at our house with Mawmaw & helped to pass out candy. Mawmaw said she had fun looking at all the costumes & seeing the kids. I guess she even really went crazy happy when a little girl came up with a Dora hat on - she's really into Dora right now!

Hope there weren't too many ghouls & gobblins bothering everyone this season!

PINK!!!

So, Miss Vaeh has been sleeping in her crib for a long time, but its been in Mommy & Daddy's room. I wanted to keep her close because of the feeding pump, O2, sat monitor, etc. Well, since she's been off the pump & not throwing up, we finally got her bedroom ready. We'd kinda been using it as a "catch all" room, but not any more! Now its a little girls room! Take a look...

Is it pink enough for you?!

Is this right, Daddy?


"Nevaeh - Reflection of Heaven"

We painted both the girls rooms over the past couple of weeks (to see Gabby's click here to go to her blog to see pictures!) & the girls had a ball! The lettering in the last picture is an applique that I ordered. Its a new thing I found called Uppercase Living. Basically its like a sticker that you put up on the wall. If you decide you don't want it anymore, you just peel it off. You can put it on walls, canvas, glass, etc. There are so many things you can do with it! I had the girls' names custom made for their walls & they turned out great!

Vaeh is doing really well in her own room (& so is Mommy;0)). She hasn't had any difficulty sleeping. Most likely because of all the hospital stays - she can sleep anywhere! The snotty nose is all but gone! She really didn't have a hard time with it, thankfully!

I'm going in on Friday to schedule my surgery. I'll have to be in the hospital for 2 to 3 days, then have lifting restrictions for 4 to 6 weeks - UGH! Oh well, the pain will be gone!

GERMS!!!

Okay, I know that germs can't be passed through the internet, but I've been wondering here lately?! Seems like all of our little heart friends are catching bugs, & now its Vaeh's turn:0)

She's had a stuffy nose lately, but not really running or any drainage. We kept her home from the halloween parade on Thursday night because it was quite chilly & didn't want her to catch a cold. Well, to no avail! She got me up this mornning around 4 AM with a plugged up nose! She wasn't too happy about me trying to clean her nose out, but she did tolerate her breathing treatment well. She was so used to that thing before that since we haven't needed to use it I think she's forgotten her former best friend (lol)! She didn't seem to mind it though, while sitting on my lap.

So we had a xopenex/pulmicort party this morning & as of 9 AM, she was still fast asleep! So, anyone else who wants to join our party... stay away(lol)! We don't want to pass this along to anyone! Praying that everyone else remains healthy &/or gets back on track soon!

"Wii" would like to play!

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I think I have professional bowlers in my house! The girls were having a great time playing the Wii last night. Gabby does pretty good playing by herself, but of course little Miss V wants to be included. So, Mawmaw found a toy remote (that's actually a tin with gum in it) that looks like a real one, so we pretend that she is playing too! I wasn't able to get her almost running on video, but thought that her playing the Wii was pretty cute!

Thanks for all the well wishes for me! I'm getting back to normal, but not quite 100%, but I'm getting there. Hope everyone else is doing well!

Update!

I'm here! Sorry I didn't update last night , but I just wasn't up to sitting at the computer last night. I'm more sore today than I was when I got home yesterday afternoon, but all in all I'm not feeling too bad. And as for the drugs, well... let's just say percocet & I don't get along! (lol) So Tylenol is my friend for right now:0)

Of course, the doc was running behind yesterday, so it was actually 2:30 PM before I was taken back. After what seemed like an eternity, I woke up in recovery. It was then that I realized that it had only been about 45 minutes since I was taken in! It was a great nap, though! Jon said that Scott (my doc) came out & talked to him about 5 minutes after 3 PM. Jon said that the doc told him that I have a "very angry uterus." He found that I have fibroids & that's what's been causing the pain. (Funny how that didn't show up on the ultrasound!)

So, the next course of action is most likely I'll have a hysterectomy at some point. Okay, I'd been begging him to just do that in the first place! But at least now the insurance will cover it because there is just cause! So, that's the scoop on Momma! The girls are both doing just great! Vaeh is almost running! The biggest problem now is that someone in the house is going to break something by tripping on her oxygen tubing! (lol) So, we'll be having a discussion with the cardiologist about when her angio will take place to get her off the O2.

Thanks so much for all your prayers! I really appreciate them & know that they help immensely!

Momma's Turn!

Okay, so I'd say about 97% of the blogs I follow are about kids that have heart conditions, & the others are because of health related conditions. So usually posts referring to surgery are about our kids. Well my friends, not this time. Yep, its Momma's turn tomorrow. I'm going in for an outpatient laparoscopy.

I've been having pain in the left lower abdomen off & on since shortly after Vaeh was born, & in the past year it has gotten considerably worse. A couple of weeks ago I had a trip to the ER for right sided pain, which was unrelated & quite coincidental! After trying the most recent treatment that didn't work at all, my doctor thought that we should do the lap procedure to actually see what's going on in there & figure out the problem. From what I understand from the surgeon, if they find anything they will go ahead & take care of it while I'm there.

So, tomorrow at 12:45 its MY turn in the OR. I have to be there at 11:45 for the pre-op stuff (IV,etc.). I'm extremely nervous about it - afraid is a better way of describing what I'm feeling. I've been having bad thoughts about not coming home, etc., but we won't re-live those:0)! I know that everything will be fine & I'll be home & in 'la-la' land tomorrow evening (hopefully they give me some really good drugs!).

So, I would greatly appreciate your prayers tomorrow & I'll update as soon as I'm coherent enough! (lol)

And while we're sending prayers up, please keep Gracie in your prayers today. She's had some fluid collecting around her heart & it has worsened quite rapidly. She is on her way to the hospital tonight (Thursday) for a procedure to drain the fluid tomorrow because it is increasing. Please keep her, her family & the doctors/ nurses in your prayers!

I'll be chatting with you soon...

I'm it - twice!

So, once again in blogger land, I've been tagged by another heart momma for two different tags! They seem kinda fun, so I'm going to pass it along! Hollie got me with this one.

Tag #1: A photo tag. You're supposed to pick your 4th file, then pick the 4th photo. So here goes...




I cannot believe that this was my Gabby girl about 4 years ago! Wasn't she absolutely adorable?! And you all thought Vaeh had a head of hair!! She'd had several hair cuts by the time this picture was taken (at least 2!)

Tag #2 : Again, Hollie got me with this one! What a busy woman she is!



Now for the 7 random/weird facts about me! (okay, everything about me is weird! - lol) 1.) I've lived in the same small town in Ohio all but 11 months of my life. Yes, boring I know!

2.) I was a licensed physical therapist assistant for 10 years before Vaeh was born. I still hold my license, but not sure about renewing it...

3.) I dyed my hair red for about 7 years - any shade of red you can imagine, I was probably it at one time (even matched Ronald McDonald for a while!)

4.) Jon & I had our first date, became engaged & were married inside of 7 months!

5.) I played the saxophone (alto & tenor) for 8 years in the school band (from 5th grade through high school)

6.) I've "broken" my upper palate - I wore a palate expander for 3 months to widen my upper jaw. Terribly uncomfortable & makes you talk funny!

7.) I share my birthday with my two younger cousins, sister-in-law, Sylvester Stallone & Pres. G. W. Bush!

Now, its my turn to 'share the wealth'! Here are the people I'm tagging: Carley, Vanessa, Megan, Amber, Karen, Krista & Ana. Hope everyone has fun learning more about each other & maybe yourself in the process!

Keep these cuties in your prayers!

Just a quick note to ask everyone to keep a couple of our heart friends & their families in your prayers. First off, our little friend Gracie had her heart cath on Wednesday, & is having some not so fun times:0( They have finally figured out why she was having some difficulties after her procedure (thanks to her wonderful Momma!)& hopefully she is on the way back to being her happy little self.

The other friend is Kaitlyn. She had another open heart a couple of weeks back & was doing great, just turning one last weekend! Early this week, her Mommy noticed a red spot on her incision which earned her another stay at the lovely hospital. Latest report is the blood cultures came back negative & she should be going home soon!

Please keep these two cutie pies, & all our other little heart friends inyour prayers. I'm sure they appreciate them as much as we do - prayer changes things!

Blessed!

Aren't they beautiful?! Yep, its an older picture, but I just love this one! I've really been thinking a lot this week. It all started when I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition this past Sunday. I've always loved that show & the fact that they do something incredible for families who deserve it. This week, the family was from outside of Cincinnati. A family of 5, with 4 of them having a life threatening condition. I mean, its hard enough with one child who has "special needs," but to have all of you children & your spouse?! I can't begin to imagine.

The three children were precious; two girls & an older brother. Big brother, like his Dad, has Chrone's disease. I'm not sure of all the particulars, but I know that it can be very painful. The two younger girls both had spinal muscular atrophy. Again, not sure of all the particulars, but they were both confined to wheelchairs.

I know that when I watch the show, I need to have a box of tissues close, & this week was no different. Such a greatful family with a great outlook on life. I guess when I have my down days (which are few & far between, & not one in sight for a while, I hope!) I just need to think about where we could be. All I can do is thank God for bringing us this far!

I promise I'm not down in the dumps, but just wanted to let everyone know we're all okay & very blessed! Thanks to all our family & friends (this includes all of my "heart family," too!) We love you guys!!

Little Ballerina!

Yes, we're still here! I know its been over a week, but time really seems to get away from me. Plus, I had a doctor's appointment & had to schedule a minor surgical procedure, but other than that nothing too big has been happening!

That is, until yesterday. I know that I posted about Miss V's first steps. But this time its about actual walking! She's finally got it down pat, to the point that she's walking all over the place. It all started yesterday morning out in the kitchen. I was cleaning up from breakfast, & I just happened to catch her walking between Gabby's little table & one of the chairs at the big table. Little stinker thought she would get by without me seeing. So we took to the living room & I made her do it again. This time she stands up all by herself without holding onto anything! She's been holding out on us! The next thing I know she's walking out from my bedroom all the way to the living room (about 35 ft.)! All this with the O2 tubing wrapped around her little feet! She should have great balance when she's older (lol)!

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The therapists came today (PT & OT) & they were quite suprised to see how much she was doing in such a short time! This was from tonight, with the girls wearing the most adorable tutus & leotards from Kathy, Isaac's momma. She has an online store where you can get these adorable outfits & so many more. You can visit her online store by clicking here or on the 'heart 4 hearts' link on the right hand side of the blog. She was so kind to send an outfit, including a tutu, leotard & barrett, for both of the girls! Thanks Kathy, they really love them! Here's some more pictures of the girls in their tutus tonight!

My little ballerina!

Dance lessons!

Like this, sissy!

Thanks for our tutus & leotards, Kathy!

Thanks for checking in on us!