Who Knew?

**Sorry for the picture quality. I just snapped a picture of the pictures, to lazy to scan them. ;-)

We had no idea 15 years ago that together we would have

12 addresses

13 vehicles

4 pregnancies

5 children

3 births

2 adoptions

7 surgeries

5 dogs

2 cats

built 2 houses

lived in 4 states

said goodbye to 6 grandparents

survived with a work from home job

survived homeschooling our children w/ the above job situation.

We have learned to listen, to love, to laugh and to live, together. 15 years ago we had no idea the adventure God would take us on. It has been a good one and I can't wait to see where the road continues on. I am blessed.

Cousin Fun!

Sage, look at the camera!

The camera is not that way, look HERE Sage!

Come on Sage, look at ME!

Oh Sage, even Mavery is looking!
It is hopeless with that child! ;-)

Cousins: Makenna, Adley, Jaylyn, Malaine, Dalayna, Mavery, Sage, Colby & Sawyer

My cousin is in this week from Indiana and we were so excited to get to let the kids play and visit today. It was a perfect park day! Trying to get 9 kids to look at the camera was not easy as you can see. Wonder who it is that if off in her own little world.. Hmm, yes that is my Sage. Any day now we will have one more cousin joining the bunch as Amy is due on Monday! (and ready to deliver 2 weeks ago!) Thanks Dawn for coming to visit, we miss you all!

Mavery Update

Excited about checking out from the hospital!
She loves her robe, and so do all the nurses!

Her morning nurse had just returned from Disney and told Mavery all about the Mickey Ice Cream, that sure got a smile!

Poor little foot. By the way, the nails are supposed to be painted like ladybugs compliments of Makenna, but that is why you see that black. Though the toes are really bruised & cut up. Not to mention the bruising on her legs from her cath.

Mavery is recovering well this time around. So much better than our last cath was. She is still not herself, but nothing like before. Today was spent outside the house and that seemed to help her mood, and mine considerably. The first few days she cried that her legs hurt and really just wanted us to sit on the couch and snuggle her. For some odd reason, I seem to bring out the whining much more. If I am not here, she does not cry for Mark. Surprise! ;-)

Yesterday she pulled a shelf off of the bookshelf and dropped it on her foot. She cried and I mean WAILED for a long time. It was cut, as you can see in the picture so I know it hurt. I figured if she took a nap she might be better but nope. She woke up wailing. So, off to the doctor we went for an xray. Thankfully there is no break and today she is not complaining so I think the combination of not feeling good from the hospital mixed with a sore foot was just enough to do her in.

We will see our heart doctor in 2 weeks for a follow up so I guess we will talk about the next cath then. Interested to see if he will want it done before Disney (late September) or have us wait. Part of me says lets get it over with, part of me thinks lets put it off. The surgeon had said in 3-6 months so we will see.

This friday Mavery goes back to "play "with the occupational therapist. We will get the final diagnosis on the sensory stuff and she was going to see what insurance covered. Praying it covers what we need.

Thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes for Mavery this week.

A plug in the throat

They moved Mavery onto the heart floor from the cath lab at 7pm. That is when the cath lab closes. So they waited till she was in her room to turn off the good drugs, and really they are good! So she is in her new room, still asleep. The doctor comes in and is messing with her, the nurse turns the medicine off and she begins to cough. And choke. And the nurse and doc both start calling help, pull out the big breathing thing (she was already on oxygen through the day) you know the scene in ER w/ the parents standing there crying while choas seems to be going on? Yep, that was what it was like. They were not asking us to leave, so I kept thinking if it was really bad they would ask us to leave, right? Mavery then begins to scream and the doctor cheered and things calmed down. They ordered a chest xray to make sure there was not a blockage in her lungs. Thankfully that came back clear and he said it was most likely just a plug in her throat and that sometimes happens from surgery and then being under. Since you are not swallowing as normal, the "junk" in your throat can get stuck. Not long after this excitement she began to wake up and while she did come up swinging at one point, overall she woke up pretty well. As soon as she was awake they took her off the oxygen, let her drink some apple juice and finally let me hold her. Thankfully the nurse put a blanket on me and just as I was asking what the weird sound was she was making, because we figured it out. I thought she was not breathing well again but really she was trying not to puke which she then did all over us! ;-)
She is SOOO much better than the last time and while groggy is really in a pretty decent mood. She is eating vanilla wafers and just being cute. She is asking for Sagey and she was able to talk on the phone to a few people. Not looking all that tired so hopefully we will get some sleep. Thanks for all the prayers! We are supposed to get out of here about 10 or 11 in the morning.
Sorry the pictures are out of order, I am to tired to mess with them. She is enjoying a back rub from daddy in the ones, her very favorite thing! Notice the bow stayed in through surgery, and then we had some fun bed head later! She is calling me for bedtime prayers, so night night!

Mavery is out

So far Mavery is sleeping soundly. They are doing a echo on her now in our room and she has not moved. A miracle as you know!
They did place 2 stints, one on the left and the right side. The blockage was down into the lung. Those stints are very interesting. He showed us the video of during the surgery and how they balloon the artery and then place this chicken wire in there. The good news, is they got those in. The bad news? There is alot more blockage so we will most likely need more stinting done in the next 3-6 months. Trying to make sense of it all because you know that whole dr talk but here are some of the details..

• They did not do a stint during her first cath in January because they saw the aneurysm and knew open heart surgery was needed. They do not like to stint knowing they are going in and they hoped they could fix that during surgery.
  
• During surgery they did try to fix part of the artery, but the focus was the large aneurysm which they did remove and today he said that looked good.
  
• He also said that they are just not really able to fix alot of the arteries into the lungs w/ open heart surgery, they are only able to do that with a cath. So that is why it was not done at that time.
• They did not stint all of the arteries at this time because you can't do everything at once. Basically it has to do with time and not being able to shoot all that contrast in there. Can hurt her kidneys.
  
• As for her lungs (which was a big concern that one was not forming well because no blood flow) he said that your lungs develop until you are 8. Since she is young and they are aggressively trying to fix things now, the lung SHOULD develop better. Will she be a long distance runner? He said probably not but she might. She might get winded easier than most but not a huge noticeable thing. Right now we think it is noticeable.

So, overall things are better, they got the stints in, and he felt very positive about it.

We felt better, and though we hate to hear she has to endure more, we just feel relieved for now. After last time hearing that she had an aneurysm and needed open heart surgery, this felt like a relief. You know we knew going into adopt Mavery that she MIGHT need some things done. Really, this is not a surprise. Of course we prayed that she would be healed and healthy, but we know that God has a plan with our girl. If it involves bringing us to Childrens every few months, so be it. Above all we know that Mavery is home, right where she should be, getting the best medical care she could and surrounded in the love of family and friends.

Mavery is back

Mavery did really well this morning with no food. She had an initial meltdown but then really was not bad. She did ask about 1000 times in the car when she gets to eat but overall she did great and I know that she was being prayed for!

They gave her the happy juice. The last 2 times she left me with no issues and we were laughing so hard when they took her. This time she was screaming for mama when they took her. ;-( Hope that is not a sign of things to come for the rest of the day. They promise this new drug WILL work!

They said the surgery will be about 3 hours. They will do some exploring and he almost made it seem that both sides are questionable. We will see.

Thanks for the prayers. We are supposed to hear something about 1:30.

Maverys Heart Cath on Thursday

Today we went to Childrens for pre-op testing. Funny how comfortable we now feel at the hospital. Amazing how far Mavery has come and how great she did today really. Mark was not able to go so I took Makenna along for an extra hand. Trying to talk to doctors over screaming Mavery is not easy so Makenna was willing to come along to distract her! But there was no screaming and for that I am thankful. (Thanks Amber for watching the kids, Sage is still talking about "sherman" coming to play with her!) ;-)
Nurse Becky remembered our girl quite well and was so excited to see her again. She was amazed at how much she has changed since January. I forget to stand back sometimes and look at the change. First thing out of her mouth was "Don't you worry, we have some GOOD drugs for tomorrow!". I am trying not to remember that they told me that before and praying that these drugs really ARE good. If you don't remember last time, it was bad. REALLY really bad. I am tempted to write on Mavery with a sharpie " I WAKE UP EASILY".
Mavery lay on the table alone during her echo which is a big step! My biggest complaint there is, they schedule us for 11:30. Meaning we had to leave our house at 10:30. Then they were running behind. So they have her in this echo during lunch time. And yes I had snacks but if you know Mavery, she needs a schedule and she needs her food. Thankfully we made it through the echo, the xrays and were on our way through McDonalds in no time. So funny during the xray they let her stand on a stool and she has this big cheesy grin and keeps saying SMILE! She knows the camera now!
We have to be there at 10:30 tomorrow and they HOPE to get started at 11:30. We are 2nd on the list so that could mean we are bumped later. Good news, no getting up at the crack of dawn to get out of here. The bad news, Mavery can not eat in the morning. So, if you think of her early tomorrow, please pray that she will not flip out over the food, or lack of. She likes to eat, RIGHT when she wakes up. We plan to do a morning drive, a bath, a spa session of nail painting, till time to leave. And hopefully drugs as soon as we get to the hospital! ;-)
The plan is to balloon the artery and place a stent in it. (which is basically chicken wire they told me) We will be staying the night, and you know I am once again praying for that private room for our little diva. Becky said today the heart floor is very quiet so hopefully she will not have to torture a room mate all night. Quiet, for now. Those poor people when we get there! Then we just have one week of laying low and we are good to go. We hope.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. I feel much more peaceful this time and more comfortable. I guess after open heart sugery this seems so simple. Still scary though any time you have to take your child in. Every day I pray over Mavery and with my hands on her chest just ask that her heart would be healed. She now prays the same thing with her little hands folded and her eyes scrunched closed "Dear Jesus, please make my heart all better". Yes Jesus, please do.
**Mavery was having fun when I cleaned out our winter basket trying on all the hats!

B & B Weekend

TV in our living room. They had a ton of DVDs to watch.
They brought dinner into our room which was so nice!

Bedroom/bed

I just thought this was so clever, they had a board sitting there and I finally figured out it was to use for your makeup while getting ready! ;-)

Whirlpool Tub in bedroom.

Living Room, Comfy Couch!

The grounds are beautiful

Firepit in the middle of the chairs and under the awning is a hottub!

Entrance into our room

Front of House

Mark & I had a great time in Arcadia, Mo this weekend. Our 15th anniversary is not until 6/11 but with Maverys heart cath this week we wanted to celebrate early. If you live in the area, it is worth the drive. You know I was hesitant to visit a Bed & Breakfast. Just the whole idea of being in someones home seemed odd to me. But my fears were quickly put to rest. Our room was on the first floor and very private. We actually had our own entrance which was nice. We also had a sitting room and bedroom. I was nervous about eating with "strangers" which is just a stupid thing for me to be nervous about. I have always enjoyed meeting new people and so not sure why I worried. It was fun meeting other couples and conversation was interesting. The owners are christians and we spent hours out by the fire one evening talking to them. They felt like old friends by the time we left.

The food was AMAZING. You can order dinner made by them and they set it up in your room for you. We had steak and it was the BEST I have ever had! The breakfasts were also delicious.

The Inn is located not far from Elephant Rock State Park and Johnsons Shut In. There are also lots of little antique shops around. The drive was just a little under 2 hours from St Louis. If you need a weekend get away with your hubby, GO! Thanks to our parents for staying with all the kids! I was a little worried how Mavery would do but she did fine and I think loved being spoiled by grandparents all weekend!

Last Day of School

Victory had their last day, which was just a 1/2 day last Thursday. We were excited for summer break (well I think we are excited) but sad knowing our time at Victory is over and the kids will be staying home in the fall. (BUT we are excited to homeschool, will save that for another post) We are so thankful for grandparents helping us out so the kids could attend this half of the year. Financially and my dad drove them home every single day. We could not have done it without them.

Makenna finished up 5th grade. She is such a great student and really takes school seriously. I never once had to tell her to do her homework, she just comes home and does it and makes sure she studies for tests. I tried to get a picture of her with her teacher but she put her foot down. You can tell she is very excited that I made her stand under the sign! ;-)

Malaine all smiles in her Kindergarten Rocks Tshirt! Last day and in her words " Now I get to stay home with you every day and you get to be my teacher!"

Sawyer with his buddy. Sawyer is for sure into the social life of school more than anything! ;-) You can see he had a teacher that was lots of fun and we are so thankful for her patience with Sawyer this year! 3rd grade here he comes!

Sawyers Glasses

We have had a "fun" year with Sawyer this year in school. I should say we have alot of fun with Sawyer all the time, but school in particular. I thought it was me, but he was really struggling with handwriting and spelling. Well once in school things did not get better. At first we thought it was adjustment. But finally we decided we needed to get agressive and figure out what is going on. First step, a vision therapist. His vision tested at 20/20, but his focus was not where it should be. So keeping something in focus is not working for him. She is trying glasses with him to see if that helps but he will also be doing some vision therapy. We go back in a few weeks for another test and to talk about the therapy plan. We are all happy to know that there might be a reason handwriting is so hard for him. It is really odd, Sawyer is an amazing reader, reading way above his grade level, but can't write or spell. And I should say he CAN spell out loud, just not on paper. So, maybe it is all to do with his vision focus. Who knew there was even such a thing to have a problem with?
Excuse the hawaian punch face. I had to take a close up to not show that he is wearing pajama bottoms and went to the eye doc in them. With the mustach. Blame his father, I did not see him before he left! (yeah last week we went out shopping and Mark buckled Sage in her car seat w/ 2 different shoes on....)
So yes, fun times around here. Our insurance is getting a workout that is for sure! We are VERY thankful for such good insurance. I got word that all his vision therapy & glasses are covered so that is a big blessing.

Our little Graduate

Our little Lanie bug graduated kindergarten! She has been saving up her $ to buy Kit when we go to Chicago. When friends were heading to Chicago and offered to shop for me if I needed anything, I could not pass up the chance to have them get Kit and surprise Malaine with her! As you can see she was excited, so thank you Karen for stopping in at American Girl for our girl! It is hard to believe that Ms Malaine is old enough to be moving on to first grade. I know my older kids think I brag on her all the time but she really does have a great personality. A little "blond" at times, ;-) but I swear if I was promised more of her I would have 10 more kids!. I am serious!
When the school year started and we kept Malaine home, I was so sad for her to miss out on attending Victory as her siblings had done. Ms Sherman is such an amazing teacher and the older 2 just loved their kindergarten experience. I wanted that for her, and I am so thankful that we went forward with sending her right after coming home from China. She did wonderful and really enjoyed it. Not to mention that Ms Sherman has now made it super easy for me to homeschool her for 1st grade! (1st grade is wonderful there to and if we could we would send her for that... And 2nd grade is awesome, and 3rd grade, you get the point)

My very favorite thing is how the children are taught to love Jesus as much as they are taught to love reading. Because to me, that is what really REALLY matters in my children's education. One of the best things about the ceremony is that the parents are asked to submit a bible verse that we have chosen to represent our child. Mark and I did much searching till we found one that we felt fit Malaine so well.

You are the light of the world, like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead put it on a stand and let is shine for all. Matthew 5:14-15

Our prayer for Malaine is that she will always be a light, always keep her smile and always SHINE! We love you Malaine Shaye and are so proud of you!

What is really crazy is that I have now graduated over half of my children from kindergarten. Wow! They are growing to fast, time needs to stop for awhile. Well besides the fact that I have to get these two tornado's out of toddler hood! Yes, Ms Sherman, they WILL be at Victory for kindergarten, get ready, you have 2 more years! ;0)