Pierce's Big Day

Fix A Heart Day - My Amazing Baby

Daddy's Pep Talk/Cuddle Session The Night Before

Our Name Is Our Virtue

So I have come to learn that even in the smallest ways, if you are open to it, God is always talking to you. It may not be a direct conversation like you would have with your good friend over a round of cold ones, but He's there and He's trying to reach you or teach you in some way or another. You may remember back to November when we found out we were having another boy and I had a post about what his name would be - even though we had a list of agreed on names and knew what we wanted - for a week or two Dave and I kind of tossed around a few other name options. Of course as we all know we came back to our original choice of Pierce, which has Irish origins and means like a rock. To me - this is a HUGE example of how God was talking to us about what an amazing baby he was going to send our way. And today, with his amazing performance during the surgery and immediately after in his recovery there was no better way to describe him than as our rock!!!

Back In Our Pre-Op Room Just Hanging Out

Rocking His Surgical Gown

I mean here is this little baby who normally eats every 3 to 4 hours and he had to stop eating at midnight last night, it was after 9:00 this morning and all though he was no doubt hungry, he took it all in stride, he was a little fussy, but nothing a little rocking and cooing couldn't distract. Dave and I, on the other hand, were starving and scrounging through my diaper bag for snacks! Then they give him his sedative and he begins feeling the effects, and although he was up late last night and awoken early this morning, he just kept fighting to keep his eyes open so that he wouldn't miss anything and he just kept smiling at us, glassy eyes and all. I have to admit that as he finally began to fall asleep I did tear up a little, just thinking about all he would have to endure before he woke up again, and even though I tried very hard not to think about it - I prayed he would not be the (less than) 1% that never wake up. Of course as we now know today went well, the time actually passed fairly quickly - the up date phone calls from surgery were one hour intervals which was just the perfect amount of time and before we knew it we were able to go back and see him. I didn't sleep much last night (a little over two hours) but I am telling you I didn't feel tired one bit - couldn't have slept if I was paid, but as soon as we got the call that all was well and he was resting in recovery - it all came crashing down - it was all I could do to stay awake to eat my food. Talk about a major exhale!!! It was one of those long & short days - I am so happy it's over but now that the day is ending - thinking back today feels like it lasted a week!

Our Angel In Recovery - He Is A Rock Star!!

My Heinz 57 Post

There Are So Many Random Things. . .

Bless Those Tech Support People!

So after an almost five year run with our last wireless router it took it's trip to the great modem in the sky this last week, so on our way home from Pierce's Pre-Op we stopped at Sams and got a new one. Now I don't actually know what it means but our last linksys was a "G" and our new one is an "N" - if they went straight through the alphabet for models we were practically rocking an antique! OK so this was just an upgrade, right - we already had one and this one came with an install CD - logic says it should be a snap to make the switch. Unfortunately logic was on vacation and somehow our patience went with it! After a week with no internet I had hit my breaking point, Dave attempted to spend some time on it yesterday but his assistant, Kaiden, didn't understand they were supposed to fix it, he just wanted to watch 'crazy kitty on com-pewter'. So after two hours on the phone with linksys support last night we (I'll go ahead and give myself credit for this since I know Dave would have figured it out eventually, but I couldn't wait any longer) finally got fast, wireless internet! For what it's worth, if you have the need for phone support don't start the conversation at 10:30 - it makes for a late night!

A New Coffee Machine

I'm not entirely sure how it has worked this way but our purchase of coffee machines some how always coincides with some major thing in our life dealing with our boys. Our first and former machine was purchased the Sunday before Kaiden was born - it was a Cuisinart - which we loved, and I have to say I'm disappointed that it's already needing to be replaced!! As I mentioned this was our first coffee machine, we had been given one when we were in college, but it was typically just used to make hot water for tea or hot chocolate, so we don't have much experience with them, and even though technically it still works you have to add one to two extra cups of water to make sure your coffee comes out like coffee as opposed to thick espresso! This time Sams had a DeLonghi which is pretty cool because you pull open a drawer on the front and load coffee into a reusable filter and pour the water into a shoot - as you can tell we aren't really coffee efficianados we just like it to taste good, and be hot (especially after we add our southern butter pecan creamer - thanks to our first neighbors for that addiction)!!

Our Little Entertainer!

You may remember this past October when I posted Kaiden 'dancing' and I received a few comments about his rythm and timing. . . Well you will love this - he has now added a booty drop, a hip out and a toe raise to his dancing repertoire! Enjoy!

Ignoring The Elephant In The Room

It's official today is the last day that I have to continue ignoring the fact that my little baby is having open heart surgery. No one wants to have surgery (well except for elective procedures) and even then I think the people are still a little hesitant - and as the doc put it on Friday 'we aren't removing a toenail here.' And although we do the best we can not to make a big deal out of things I think we can all agree that on the scale of surgeries this is definitely closer to the major end than the minor end. I have complete faith in our Dr. and I know this is an everyday occurrence to him - I mean it's his life - but Pierce is our life and well his life will be in Dr. Kanter's hands and that makes a Mommy just a little nervous. I pray for Pierce's surgery to go smoothly, for his speedy recovery and can't wait to see him healthy - the skies the limit!!

I'll keep everyone posted tomorrow and I thank you in advance for your prayers for Pierce, his surgeon and the medical team!

Happy Father's Day 2009

On Dave's Behalf

So since Dave admittedly doesn't even read my blog posts, he just looks at the pictures, you know for darned sure that he isn't about to sit and write one so I'll do it for him. This week Kaiden, Pierce and I were on a mission to find a few gifts for Daddy that were going to fill needs and be useful - Dave hates 'want' gifts - that are fun for a day or two (like last years Father's Day gift) and therefore are a waste of money. So with Dave returning to the real world work force we wanted to get him a few new neck ties. I know, I know, how freaking original to get a dad a tie for Father's Day - but it's what he needed. And while checking to see what ties he already had I noticed that he could also use a tie rack and a belt hanger so we added that to our list and headed out.

Now attempting to run errands with one child is an adventure but add to that an infant with a heart condition in the heat of June and we are talking about some really great fun! Especially since department store shopping carts are at maximum capacity with a toddler in the seat a 'Mommy's Bag' and an infant in a car seat in the basket - but we found a way to make it work! Only once did Pierce get over heated and spit up a little which was his ticket out of his seat. So that meant for a while I was holding him, feeding Kaiden his chicken sandwich, pushing the cart with my hip and attempting to look for gifts - multitasking at it's best!!! Surprisingly Kaiden was pretty helpful in the decision making process - Dave needed a hard cover for his phone and Kaiden picked black - he also helped pick a couple ties - and while at the dollar store he chose a balloon for Dave, it was the same soccer ball balloon he picked out for me & Pierce on Pierce's birthday. He also did pick out a 'Drive Queen' pool toy along with just about everything else in that store that had to deal with Cars & Nemo - but luckily they found their way back to their shelves before we left.

I would say it was a pretty good day for Daddy, we had breakfast he opened his gifts, played with the boys, got to rock-a-bye Kaiden for his nap then once he was down Dave got to enjoy some quiet time with the couch and trixi - yes we named our universal remote control - we did the pool, he watched some golf and later after a yummy dinner at Mom's we chased lightning bugs in the front yard and listened for the ice cream truck. Then we topped the night off with a slice of chocolate ice cream cake and called it a day! We wanted to make sure we took the time to acknowledge the sacrifices Daddy makes for our family and to show him a little extra love - thanks for being such a wonderful Dad!!

Photo Fridays

Daddy & the boys, PJ Fun, and Great Hair Day!

In Honor Of Father's Day. . .

PaJama Morning Fun. . .

You Know You Love His Hair!

A Fairly Productive Weekend

More Painting Projects & A Special Blessing For Pierce

Room Two Down - A Hall and Dining Room To Go!

So after my success with the office I was so excited about painting the rest of the downstairs that I couldn't wait to get started. I had an idea of which colors I wanted in which rooms so off to the Depot we went & got the paint sample cards - which if you haven't stood in front of that wall of colors in a while it can be time consuming. Well that, and when you are there you grab three colors that you swear are the exact same just with different names then you get home and wondered what you were thinking picking such an awful shade. OK back to the story, so upon returning with my color choices, I began attaching them to the walls in their respective rooms and then I made Dave come to each room and help me choose the final color. Kind of like when you deal with your toddler, you give them a few 'choices' (you know, pre-selected options that you are fine with no matter what they choose) because Lord knows if you gave them unlimited choices a decision would never be reached or who knows what they would pick. And since I know Dave pretty well, I know that he has the patience of a toddler when it comes to standing in front of the color options so I picked what I thought would be nice and then he finalized the colors and I have to say he did a GREAT job!

Later that week while we were out and about running errands we happened to be in the same area as another 'Depot and we went in to get our paint. I figured since I was already there I may as well go ahead and get all 3 gallons no sense making that trip twice. They were running behind at the paint counter, so luckily Kaiden, Pierce and I are really good -well maybe good is pushing it, I'll say experienced - at sitting and waiting, so we found our way to the patio furniture section, picked a pretty sofa to try out and we copped a squat. Kaiden enjoyed some grapes, and chatted on Mommy's cell phone to both Daddy and Grammy while I fed Pierce a bottle and smiled politely at all the passers-by who thought we made a cute addition to the section (I'm sure it was more the boys than Mommy, but we were a package deal).

Saturday Work-A-Thon

So one of the things that just about any Mom can tell you is that once you have a baby you always have some project on your agenda. Now most of us can get (and HAVE) gotten a lot of projects started but it's the completion of said projects that always seems to be the problem. The project could be as simple as unloading the dishwasher or as involved as painting a room, or cleaning out a closet or maintaining a blog. And the interruptions could be anything from a phone call, to a crying baby or simply that you walked in a different room saw something else that needed attention and Motherhood induced ADD sets in and off you go to something else completely abandoning your first project. That is, of course, until an hour or a day, a week or a month later when fate takes you back to the site of that first (abandoned) project that you even remember you started it, and of course that is also when the guilt or frustration or annoyance, depending on which day of the week it is, sets in that you didn't finish. . . . I said all that to say that I started working on rotating the boys closest at least five weeks ago. We had taken a trip to the outlet mall I had gotten new summer appropriate gear for both boys and was editing out all the too hot for summer stuff. Of course in both rooms I got to the point of making piles of both clothes - thumbs up and thumbs down piles- and hangers and that was about it. So Mom agreed to come sit and chat with me while I worked, to try and help keep me focused and keep the Mom ADD at bay, and of course she volunteered to scower the boy's bathroom which I was more than delighted to let her do. I am happy to report that we finished Pierce's room and I'm now about 65% in Kaiden's room.

Then once the boys were fed, changed and down for their naps I decided to go ahead and paint the kitchen. I couldn't wait to see it with it's new color, burnished copper (I think) and to feel like I got another project accomplished. I believe I began painting the trim around 2:30, when done right trim is VERY time consuming! Probably around 6:00 I was a little over half way done with the trim - there were lots of door ways, mouldings, windows and cabinet fixtures- so at this point Dave - who kind of hates to paint - volunteered to help 'fill in' the walls and although I had originally wanted to do it myself (I think I've been hanging around Kaiden a little too much - me do-) I was all too happy to have his assistance. Even with Dave's help which he was very fast, I didn't finish the trim until around 9:00'ish when the pizza guy showed up with dinner. At which point I quickly washed off all painting supplies and was so proud to have completed the kitchen and eat hot pizza that it wasn't until Sunday morning that I realized I had forgotten completely about the wall around the window over the kitchen sink - which to this day still hasn't been painted, I'm hoping to finish that remaining section this weekend and maybe start on the hall.

Before. . .

After. . . .

A Special Blessing For Pierce On Sunday

Our church parish is an absolutely amazing, supportive and caring community. And although we haven't been able to attend service regularly we have been in pretty constant communication with them about how we're doing and of course how Pierce is progressing. Towards the end of the week Father Keith, who did Kaiden's baptism classes and performed his baptism, sent me an email inviting us to come to Sunday's service because it was going to be a special 'healing' service. They understand that we have to be restrictive about where we go and who we expose Pierce to, especially this close to his surgery, but they wanted to make sure we knew it was happening. So I discussed going with Dave and we decided to go ahead and attend and we would just make sure to ask people not to touch anywhere near his face or hands - babies are irresistible to people, especially when they have a full head of dark brown hair so I was OK if they patted his head or tickled the toes but everywhere else was off limits!

Since the service was right at the same time as Kaiden's nap Dave stayed home with him which was fine because although they have a nursery at church we also have to be restrictive of where big brother Kaiden goes and who/what he gets exposed to because obviously he could infect Pierce as well. So I asked Mom to come with me, which was great because she and I took turns holding Pierce. After Communion you could step to the side and have a special blessing and prayer of healing for yourself, or a loved one so we got in line and as luck (or fate) would have it, Father Keith was available and was able to pray over Pierce for his well being during surgery and a speedy recovery. It was a very nice service, and I am so glad that we went with something as big as open heart surgery - especially in your little three month old - all the extra prayers and blessings you can get are very welcomed.