Dandelions...

Every spring we prune and cut and mulch our lawns to be sure they look the best "green" as possible. Now is the time I see many a men out kicking dirt around frustrated at the meer sight of a tiny hint of yellow popping up among the sea of green. I must tell the truth that crisp canary yellow invasiveness of the dandelion can be very frustrating to keep out of the pallet of green. However after to today I will never look at a dandelion with disgust again...

As we walked along the yard's edge the bees and butterflies flew about and coming to the end of the yard we saw a large patch of bright yellow; A bright wonderful pillow of yellow dandelions. You would have thought our yard was just a dandelion patch planted on purpose. Jayci was now a few feet behind me and I could see the joy in her eyes as she knelt down to pick her first dandelion. She picked another and then another and soon she had a whole bouquet of dandy dandelions. She looked up to find me and started running towards me, "Mommy...Mommy...(in an out of breath voice) Mommy..." As she reached me she was clearly out of breath after only running twenty feet. She stopped short of my feet and handed me the bouquet she so carefully picked... and after a few minutes of trying to catch her breath that was so shortly lost she finally said to me, "Mommy...they are so beautiful...I picked them for you cause I wuv you!" My heart melted of course and yet it was heavy at the same time. The effort it took for Jayci to pick those dandelions for me took all of her strength and yet she still pushed on running to give me her beautiful collection of what someone else would call a weed. Suddenly I find myself appreciating the dandelion's beauty that God has created. What someone else finds as a nuisance now becomes a beautiful reminder of His many gifts we overlook.

Daddy's Girl...

Jayci has had a bond with Mom since she was born... It's only natural right? And it makes sense that babies bond with mommy's first, its that mother/newborn bond that takes place even before birth. Jayci in particular is no different than the others. However with Jayci being the baby and having her heart defect she does have a special kind of bond, no more or no less than the others just different. She does tend to want to be with Mommy more than Daddy... Although as of lately she has been wrapping herself around her Daddy's little finger. And I think that is just adorable. We must include Daddy at lunch...even though he is at work and we pretend to call him about a dozen times throughout the day. Jayci loves to "cook," she helps with all aspects of preparing dinner and preparing spaghetti is a special tradition with Daddy. First they make the meatballs and that process is amusing in of itself with Daddy in charge, then they prepare the noodles and set the table. I being the observer, can just sit back and listen to the conversation between Dad and Daughter. Such questions as, "Daddy....why you put crumbs in the meatballs? Mommy throws crumbs in the trash can." And, "Daddy...why you makin a mess? Mommy's not gonna like that." You would giggle too if you heard this converation taking place in just the other room. Just as amusing it is to watch Justin interact with Jayci in doing something Mommy would do, it is equally amusing to hear what Jayci thinks about Mommy trying to do something Daddy would normally do. Take our toilet seat for instance... Yes I'm going to tell a toilet seat story my apologies... The endless 3am slammings of the toilet seat and lid in the bathroom had finally done in the set. I mean there is only so much dropping at terminal velocity that the toilet seat can handle before it needs to be replaced. (Having boys involves replacing many ordinary household items often, but thats another story for another day...haha). So getting back to the story, Jayci and I embarked on a trip to Lowes to find a brand new toilet seat/lid set. We entered the store and to my surprise Jayci blurts out, "Hey! This Daddy's store we have to look for him!" I laughed and we went straight back to look at the sets. Jayci and I tried them all lifting and slamming seeing which one would best fit, then we found it a lid and seat combo that has built in resistance and allows for quiet closing! I shouted, "Yippie!" Finally a lid/seat combo that will not awaken the whole family in the middle of the night. So Jayci agreed this was the one to buy. We got it home and when I decided I was going to try to install it myself Jayci insisted that Daddy was in charge of those endeavors... She waited patiently all day for his return and when he walked through the door she insisted he get to work... As he did she was in charge of making sure everyone gave him room as he struggled to take the old one off. Again the comments and conversation between Daddy and Daughter were hilarious. "Daddy...you need those tools over there, (a loud thump and groan), UH OH Daddy.... You hit you head! You okay I'll get Mommy!" And I hear a chuckle from Justin just before I get up to see if he had indeed hit his head, so I knew all was well. Just then I hear, "Daddy...you don't fit back there!" And then, "Yay Daddy... You fixed it! Daddy... that toilet seat doesn't match..." It's a wonderful thing to watch the bond between Justin and Jayci grow and change they have that unique Daddy's little girl bond. You know the "Daddy can save the day" kind. Just the other night when it was time for bed she asked Justin if he would build her a castle someday... I'm sure he would if he could!

Lets Catch Up...

In 2010 Jayci did not have any surgeries or any hospitalizations. It was a banner year that's for sure. Along with having a hospital free year (with the exception of monthly doctors visits) Jayci was granted a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She wished to have a birthday dinner with the Princesses. And so we embarked on a trip to Florida to have dinner with the princesses. Jayci turned three in July and what better way to celebrate her birthday than to do it in Disney World. Yes we went to central Florida in the middle of summer. It was sweltering hot but we all did pretty well with the heat, Jayci included. Heat as you all may know has just as an adverse affect on CHD kids as cold does. She was indeed more out of breath than usual and we had to closely monitor her fluid intake to prevent dehydration however with having the passes that got us to the front of the line at each ride we were able to get through the parks in the morning and spend the afternoon at the water park at GKTW Village. Give Kids The World Village was a wonderful place geared towards the needs of special health needs children where we stayed while in Florida. It was minutes from the parks and just a great location to be. All four of the kiddos loved it there and they were all spoiled during our stay. It finally came time for Jayci's birthday dinner with the princesses and what a dinner it was. Jayci didn't care much to eat what she had ordered just about whether Cinderella was coming to her table. And finally Cinderella appeared through the door and Jayci was in awe of her. Cinderella knelt down to give Jayci a hug and as she talked with Jayci a glow came across her face like none other I've seen before. It was a fantastic sight to see and one that will forever hold a special place in my memories. From that day on Jayci has been in princess mode. Everything she sees or gets must be princess approved... While 2010 was hospital free I am sorry to say that 2011 will not be. We are in the middle of planning a surgery for the summer... It was very nice to be hospital free for one whole year. She did a lot of growing and playing like a "normal" child would, however it just makes the idea of another surgery that much harder to swallow. I think the "new" surgeon is thinking of attempting the Unifocalization/VSD closure. The VSD closure is what scares me. She will have blood flowing where it should be flowing not where God had intended when her heart was forming. This will cause pressures inside the chambers of her heart and resistance in her lungs. Again this simplest phase of her repair journey scares me...

Pro-Log

I started this blog almost two years ago and found it easier to update the carepage instead, however lately I feel the need to blog instead of the carepage. This need to blog is met with many more features and "bells and whistles" if you will, that carepages just cannot offer. For those of you who wish to still keep up with Jayci through carepages I will be doing that as well. This Blog will be more about my family and how we all cope in our own unique way with Jayci's illness. The carepage is great don't get me wrong but for those of you who are interested in the whole story please feel free to follow along. I expect to post here at least once a week...HAHAHA hopefully.

Family Photographs...

Okay so yesterday was not only my Dad's birthday it was also family portrait day. Every few years we have our family photo taken for our church directory. Well I thought going to the dentist was rough, getting four kids ready for a photo session was like torture. Nobody seemed to want to get dressed and when they finally found the outfit that was just right, it was way over the top. I mean my oldest at one point had on a bright blue/aqua skirt with and orange tank top and a white feather boa. I am all for letting them express themselves but that was a little too much for a church directory. So after a few disagreements about what we were wearing we finally got into the car and went. We arrived and had to wait of course. I accounted for the waiting but did not think we would be in such a dilemma. On the far counter was cookies and pretzels, this of course to suffice the long wait if there happen to be one. A very thoughtful idea on the part of the photographer. We managed to convince the kids that those were for after pictures so not to get crumbs on our cloths or face. That was torture for the darlings. While I distracted with a few cunning jokes, which the kids didn't find all that funny, Justin sang songs with our youngest. He called me to watch her little dance and we both sat in awe of how cute she was. All the while we were cooing over our two year old, the older children proceeded to get drinks out of the water fountain. What is with water fountains by the way? Every drink fountain we pass, someone wants to get a drink from it. Anyway I turned to catch them in the act and when all three turned around there were water marks all over the front of their shirts. I looked in disbelief and then could not help but laugh. "Oh well" is what I thought. I was actually hoping we would have to wait a bit longer so that it would dry.
We got our chance to sit for the photo and all seemed to be going well, besides the occasional squabble amongst the children it actually went pretty smooth. We gathered the children around and we all sat down to review the digital pictures to pick which one we liked best. It started out all right with a picture of all of us smiling except Lucas, he was making a funny face. So we decided to go on to the next set of pictures and before I knew it I was looking at at least fifteen pictures of Lucas making funny faces. In every picture Lucas tried so very hard to make a funny bug-eyed face to show his humorous side. As the poor photographer went through each photo I quickly realized they were all like that. So we had to pick one where Lucas' face was not as drastic as the others. While he was still making a funny face it doesn't really look that bad. Yes my son the comedian. I am so glad he makes me laugh...

Introduction...

This is my very first post... I say that in hopes that you will forgive me for not knowing what I am doing.

I have been a stay-at-home Mom for two years now. I can tell you that the experience of being just a full time mom instead of being a full time mom/working full time is definitely different. My youngest daughter was born with a Congenital Heart Defect. After she was born and we learned of her exact diagnosis there would not be an option for me to return to work. Her health and well being would rely on me being home with her 24 hours a day. While I do miss the interaction of a work place, I would not trade being home with my children for anything. The lessons I have learned and attained have made me who I am today. The joy of watching them grow and play and learn is the best gift of all.

My hopes for this Blog is that you'll follow along my amazing adventures of being a Mom of four very special and amazing children. And the journey our family has taken with Congenital Heart Defects.

Thanks for stopping by and look for more posts soon...