Life Is Good

Friday, August 7, 2009

Last weekend we spent Sunday with Mimi, Grampie, Moo, Jennifer, Madison, and Wade. It was a great day and a much-needed break from the craziness around our house. We played outside, ate burgers off the grill, and shared stories and pictures.

Mimi and Grampie have pretty flowers...

An ENORMOUS cat, who by the way put an old-fashioned whoopin' on our sweet Myndi...

And pigeons...

Ryan really enjoyed helping Grampie give the pigeons some water to swim in.

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Ryan is doing very well. He has had what I call *another* language explosion. I'm amazed at what the boy comes up with. Just this evening we were sitting in a restaurant when a low flying airplane zipped by. Ryan saw it and said, "airplane". Now to most of you that's no big deal, but we don't have airplanes around our area (other than the really high jets flying overhead). There has only been one other time that we've talked about an airplane when one was visible. Now he either recalled it from that conversation or he picked it up from something on TV (we watch Sesame Street, Praise Baby and Baby Einstein). I was a bit shocked when he pointed at it, recognized it and labeled it. WooHoo!

Here's more...

Tonight we were reading the book "Old Hat, New Hat" (Dr. Seuss book). After Daddy read it, Ryan stood at the couch "reading" the book himself. The book is about new hats that are too big, too small, too loose, too tight, too silly, etc... Ryan turned each page and said, "too big" and "too *something*" and talked about the hats.

Ryan has recently learned how to say Myndi's name..."Minmi". He often can be heard saying..."No! No! Minmi"

For some reason Ryan thinks his Momma is silly because I get told "Silly Momma" several times an hour!

Ryan has also become quite a little parrot. If it comes out of your mouth it will probably come out of his too. The days of watching uncensored (not that I watch bad stuff) televsion are over. No more adult shows while Ryan's awake...only kid-friendly stuff!

Peepee is a word that's thrown around alot in this house for two reasons...I want Ryan to start potty training ASAP and Myndi needs to learn about pottying in appropriate places. So...Ryan has started showing some understanding (woohoo...time for some potty training) of what peepee is and now points at any toilet...in a bathroom or not...and says "peepee". However...(Mommy lesson number...ummm, lost count)... I really shouldn't announce when I need to go potty. A day or so ago Ryan and I went to Lowes. As soon as we entered the door I quietly told Ryan that Momma needed to go potty. Ryan, rather loudly, said "Momma Peepee!" all the way from the front...to the back.

Poopy is another word of the day, but he hasn't quite got the meaning of that one for everytime he toots he says, "uh, oh poopy". Goofy kid.

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them now. Rest assured...I'll share them when I remember them.

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Things are finally rolling on the house, so Wade suggested I start a new blog just about the house since this isn't just a simple find a house...buy it...and move in deal. There's a lot more to it, and we want everyone to join us on this new adventure. So hop on over to:

Making Our Home Sweet Home

We will be sharing the story of our new home...from start to finish...on this new blog. Join us in yet another one of God's great blessings.

1 comment:

Hilary said...: Oh man don't you just love it when your kid(s) tell the world when you need to go to the bathroom...Yeah that Ryan learning new words though!!! Sorry Myndi got beat up by the cat too poor pup..man some lessons hurt...Have a great weekend :) Cute pictures too; August 8, 2009 at 8:46 AM

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander