Where did March and April go?

I have been slacking on my blogging lately and wanted to get up to date on a few things. So here goes:

My brother got married in Vegas on Valentines day so we wanted to do something special for him. My Mom and several of her friends and I threw a Cookout celebrationg for Chad and Holly in March. Here are a few pictures from that special day:

The Money tree and Brides Table.

We had cheeseburgers with all the "fixins", chips and dips and homemade pies for dessert. It was a small family affair but was very lovely to have time with everyone.

Picnic on the Boat:

We spent an evening on Jody's fishing boat with Emory in March. We took a picnic to enjoy while floating on the water. Emory loved every minute of it. She wanted Daddy to go "faster" and screamed with delight when he did. It was so wonderful to sit on the lake (one of my favorite places) with the people I love the most and enjoy God's creation together. This was by far one of my most favorite dates with my family.

Strawberry Patch:

One of my sweet friends arranged for us to have a Private picking at the strawberry farm here. We were so excited because we have been trying to make it for the last two years and they are always all picked over....so we jumped at the chance. I need to mention the day we had scheduled was one of the most windy days ever....so windy it actually knocked me over at one point. So the kiddos picked for about 2 minutes and then played inside the office while the Moms finished picking !

Growing Like a Weed:

I just want to put this in here so I will remember this: We measured Emory on her growth chart in March and discovered she had grown 3 1/2 inches in 6 months.....no wonder her pants are all too short! Here she is in a cute outfit her Granma bought for her where she looks so tall!

First time for Everything

We took Emory tent camping for the first time this past weekend. One of my new year's resolutions was to hit three state parks this year.....one down, two to go. We had such a great time...just the three of us. Emory LOVED the tent and hardly wanted to get out of it. But, we did get in some family hiking time and trips to the lake. Jody grilled hamburgers for us and we learned first hand how hard the ground can be......smile....

ZOO fun

Em and I went to the zoo last Wednesday to celebrate Tate's birthday. We had such a great time. She is old enought now to really want to see the animals and call them by name. We discovered the train this time and thankfully I purchased the all day pass.....because we ended up riding it several times!!!!

God was gracious that day and gave us wonderful weather to run around in. I am so thankful for that one on one time with Em and all the fun we had!

Turning 5- Happy Birthday Tate

Dear Sweet Tater Tot:

April 1, 2009

Where does the time go sweet baby boy? It is hard to believe that you would be 5 this week. I can't even fathom you starting school with your other buddies this year. For some reason, your 5th birthday is extra hard this year.

I wanted to write about the day you were born....or at least what I can remember of it (smile...Mom was on good drugs that day).

We found out at 20 weeks that we were having you (A BOY!!! Just what we wanted). With that "fun" sonogram came a big blow. The Doctor said they couldn't find your fourth chamber in your heart and we would need to go to a high risk doctor to get a better sonogram. So, we waited a couple of really LONG weeks and met with the High Rish Dr. Only to find out he couldn't tell what was wrong with your heart either. He refered us to a Heart specialist at Cooks and we waited another couple of really long weeks to see her. She brought your heart sonogram up on the screen and immediatly said....ok, He has what is known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). It basically means all your chambers were there, but the whole left side of the heart could not function and was very very small.

We were relieved to have a diagnosis until she gave us our options: terminate the pregnancy (not an option!!!!), heart transplant (I'm sorry but WHAT???) or a series of surgeries performed over the first few years that could possibly lead to a heart transplant later....or not. Oh, I forgot to mention the most gut wrenching one....she said we could do what is called (sympathy care) and just bring you home to die after you were born.

So......what do you do with that? The choice was obvious for us....we wanted to give you your best chance and do what was right for you in our eyes and we chose the surgeries.

On the day you were born:

We woke up extra early that morning and headed to the hospital. The high risk doctor thought it would be best to do a c-section to give you your best chance. I wore this sweet shirt your Ninny made me with a picture of your sonogram really big across my belly....it was so sweet.

The c-section went really well and I will avoid details of that fun stuff. When you were born, the nurse brought you around and held you up to me just for a second before they put you in your little "box" and wisked you off to Cook Children's. They had a team of people waiting on you to check you out. I didn't even get to kiss you! Thankfully I had thought ahead and brought an old poloroid camera to take a couple of snaps of you to have in my room with me since you couldn't be there.

Over the next couple of hours, I was trying to get feeling back in my legs so I could come over to your hospital to see you. Unfortunaly, this process was very slow and several hours later I insisted they roll me over even though I couldn't feel my legs. So off we went through the tunnel that connects the hospital.....family in tow and me on a gurney laid flat.

They parked me right beside you. Oh, can I find the words? Glorious, amazing, heart wrenching, breath-taking.....I was overwhelmed. You were so beautiful.....and big! You didn't look like a little sick baby, but a healthy strapping boy. You were asleep.....an angel. I laid there for a long time while people came in and out to meet you. I couldn't take my eyes off you....oh to touch you and hold you.....only a dream to me at that time.

I cannot even tell you what the rest of your birthday held. I was so overwhelmed with love for you my memory has erased what happened after I met you.

Happy Birthday my love.....I miss you every second....