Life Is Good: Serious Shopping

Friday, April 29, 2011

Serious Shopping

Today I scored big time at some garage sales. I was able to buy 5 (really good) pairs of jeans with cinchable wastes, a pair of shoes, several long sleeve shirts, a couple of short sleeve shirts, a pair of shorts, 4 sets of pjs, a jacket for playtime, a nicer jacket, 2 heavy coats, and a good supply of toys...the biggy being a complete Fisher Price Diego set...all for less than $35. WooHoo! Most of the clothes are for Ryan for the upcoming school-year. The Diego set, although the most expensive individual item, was a great deal and considering the opportunities for creative and imaginative play I just couldn't pass it up.

Ryan took the day of garage sale shopping very seriously. He was pumped and ready to go before going to bed last night. The very first (and best) garage sale we found today he found a shopping cart that was just his size so he took that cart around and meticulously browsed through the toys finding just the right ones and carefully placed them in his shopping cart. When he was finished he rushed his little cart to the trunk of my car. Without me! Oh...and...he forgot to pay. Thankfully the sale was in town and several of my friends were running it and alerted me to the ummm....situation. I called Ryan back and we unloaded his treasures. He was so very proud of his finds. I was proud of him too. I didn't have to keep a close watch on him at that garage sale and was able to browse through everything else without worry. He took it all very seriously and was so very well behaved. (This is a VERY BIG thing for us.) Everyone thought it was the cutest thing in the world to watch him "shopping"...just like me.

Ryan and I shopped with intensity. He for toys and I was on a search for clothes for Ryan (and a new patio set would have been nice.) Evan, however, took a more laid back approach to the whole shopping thing...

"Aaaaa...Whatever"

1 comment:

mimi and Grampy said...: My Favorite way of spending a morning "Garage Salein!"; April 30, 2011 at 10:24 PM

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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