Twenty-something South Carolina native. Mommy to two amazing and beautiful children.
wife to an amazing husband.
Always trying grow closer to God.
Loving and enjoying my family and my friends....
What a start to the work week, Parent/ Teacher conferences.. Not my idea of fun! However they were pretty successful and fairly painless. HA.
Yesterday however, not so much. I don't what was in the air but both, not one.. I mean BOTH of my children screamed and cried pretty much all. day. long.
I don't want to post pictures of my kids crying.. so here are some nice pictures of them in their regular playtime attitudes.
a moment of peace.. playing in Mommy's Uggs
Seriously.. I love being a mom and trying to have a lot of patience, but after hours of it, you start to lose your grip a little bit. I was just so ready for the day to be over with so that I could go to bed and SLEEP.
But of course we just needed one more thing to throw a wrench into my day. So my husband decided to take his Uncle's new moped out for a "quick" joy ride around the neighborhood to test it out.
Needless to say a few mintues later I get the phone call... "Honey, there's been a little accident." Just the words I wanted to hear. Of course my first feelings were fear of if my husband was ok. After I found out he was, my feelings turned to frustration. I am just not sure how many more hits I can take!! He did have some serious road rash that we are tending too, but for the most part he is alright. So today I just woke up, already in a funk from the previous day's drama. I just could not wait to see what the day was going to have in store for me now. So as soon as I get to school I realize, Oh yeah.. today is staff picture day and we were all suppose to wear black and white. DO you think that I remembered that? No of course not! Just awesome. awesome Monday. But I am going to try and be positive and think tomorrow is a new day. It just couldn't be another manic Monday!
Tomorrow is another trip to MUSC for checkups on our little girl with the neurologist. HOpefullly all goes well! Updates when we get back!!
Since December 28th I have seen God work in a few different ways and our lives have been put to the test, but through all of our tough times I still believe in God. and I believe he can work miracles. and Our daughter is living proof.
It started a few days after Christmas when I took Harper to the Peds for her two month check up. There they did the usual measurements and checks. When the doctor got into the room he asked, do you have any questions or concerns? I said well actually I think her head is getting kinda big. He agreed and looked at her measurement. It was off of the ricterscale as far as what it should be at her age. He then looked at what it had been only two weeks before. It had made a significant jump. So he said that he would put a call into his neurologist friend at MUSC to see what he said. Two hours later he called me at home to say that he wanted Harper at MUSC the next morning for a MRI scan. Since she is such a young baby, they had to put her asleep to do the scan. That in itself was a scary experience. My doctor had said that they would probably keep us overnight just to monitor her from being under anesthesia. But when she woke up in radiology they said she was fine to go home and that our doctor would call us in a few days after they read the scan.
We get back home, pick up our son from my sister-in-laws, get settled back at home, and then the phone rings. At 10:00 pm. Our worst fears.. It is a doctor from MUSC who looked at her scans and all they would tell us was that they found something on her brain that needed to be taken care of right away. They were sending an ambulance to pick us up and bring us back to the hospital. Needless to say, I lost it. What was wrong with my daughter? Was she going to be ok?
When we get to the hospital they bring us up into the children's ward and a million doctors come in to talk to us. Harper has a congenital nervous system disease called Hydrocephalus that was caused by aqueductal stenosis. This means that the fourth ventricle in her brain is too small for the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to get through. So she has fluid on her brain that was causing swelling because it has no where else to go. Hydrocephalus poses risks to both cognitive and physical development. However, many children diagnosed with the disorder benefit from rehabilitation therapies and educational interventions and go on to lead normal lives with few limitations. So we were told that she would have to have surgery the next morning to implant a VP Shunt into her brain. This along with a catheter that runs from the valve to the stomach would remove the fluid to another place in her body where it would be absorbed. This is something that she will have for the rest of her life.
Harper after surgery in the hospital.
She will have more surgeries in the future to fix the shunt when it fails. We were in the hospital for almost a week before we were sent home.
Now we are home and recovering. We are constantly going to back and forth to MUSC for check ups and shunt adjustments every few weeks. She has some of the best neurosurgeons and neurologists in the nation and we feel so blessed that it was caught early. Hopefully early enough that her development will not have a lot of delays or problems. Regardless, we are going to love her and put her in God's hands. He has done amazing things so far. The doctors say that she is doing remarkably well.
So Thank you MUSC.
We have also been very blessed by the outpouring of love from our families, friends, and community. They have gone above and beyond in our time of need and we can't express how grateful we are!!
This fight is far from over, but we know that with God's love and guidance we will get through it.
My husband and I are now a part of the hydrocephalus awareness association and are looking into making a WALK in Myrtle Beach in the next few years.
6 days after we came home from the hospital, my Grandaddy passed away. He had suffered with cancer for almost a full year.
He was an amazing country singer who gave me my passion for music.
Even in the short amount of time that he got to be a great-grandaddy, he was an awesome one who was full of love.
I am so happy to have had so many amazing memories with him and stories to tell my kids when they get older.
So even though God took my grandaddy to heaven to be with him, he kept my precious girl down here with me and for that I am grateful.
With all of life's struggles, you can forget somethings the important things in life. With this past month truly putting my family to the outer limits of what we thought we could hold. God showed us that we were strong and could handle it all.
I found a special prayer that speaks to my heart and I could not say it any better. So I leave this long post with you tonight with a prayer that I would like to share with you, because it has truly helped me.
Dear Lord, I want to thank you for another day of living. and being able to see, hear, and walk. I am blessed because You know me, understand me, and most of all forgive me. You have given me so much and You continue to bless me. You have forgiven me for everything I've said, done, or thought, past, present, and future. Please shelter me from all evil and harm. Guide me each day and give me an "attitude of gratitude". Let me make the most of each day and clear my mind so I can hear from You. Provide the wisdom I need to accept all things, good and bad. Don't let me dwell on the negative circumstances I have no control over. Give me the strength and courage I need when I feel I've reached my limits. Even when I don't pray, You listen to my heart. You have a plan for my life, so guide me to do Your will. Continue to give me your grace so that I can be a blessing to other people. Keep me positive so I can provide encouragement to others. I pray for those who are struggling and have lost their way. I pray for those who haven't discovered You yet. I thank you for my belief in knowing that You can change all people for the better. There is no problem, circumstance, or situation in this entire world that is greater than You. I give my burdens and struggles to You for nothing worthwhile can be accomplished without You. Father, I love You, need You, and want You in my life. You don't give up on anyone.
I am enjoying my two week vacation at home with my family. This has been a great Christmas holiday and I have loved every minute of it. Today with the weather being cold and rainy, I decided to keep myself and the kiddos in pj's all day long.
Since I am enjoying some down time, I finally have time to update yall with a post. Sorry it's been so long. I promise one of my new year's resolutions will be to post more often!
Anyways...
Christmas eve was spent at my Granddaddy's house. This will be our last Christmas with him. He has cancer and has been progressively going down for the past few months. My mom has moved in with him to help in his last weeks. After we spent time with him, we went to my inlaw's for presents!
Harper with my mom
my little pirate.
Christmas morning we got up and opened Santa's presents with the kids. Well mostly Landon.. Harper isn't at that stage yet. It was one of my top two Christmas mornings!! Then we headed over to my Grandmother's house for brunch and then dinner at my Mother-in-law's house.
I feel very blessed for such an amazing family and how fortunate we are to have a nice Christmas.
I know it's been a long time since I have written, but I have been trying to get adjusted to having two children under the age of two.. while also loving on the while I was on my SHORT maternity leave. I am back at work now, having only taken 4 weeks off.
Tomorrow my sweet baby girl will be 6 weeks. She is beautiful and continues to change every day.
I am struggling with juggling keeping up with the cooking, cleaning, teaching, and mommy-ing. And still somewhere in there getting sleep, showers, and time with my husband. It's been a whirl wind and I am still not standing on two feet yet. So if you actually still check this blog. THank you.. and I'm sorry I can't write more often. I DO still check everyone else's blogs, I just can't update mine.
Thanks for understanding.
Here's some picture updates :)
Here we are at the 10 day countdown. I am dying with anticipation of when this little girl is going to make her arrival and what she is going to be like! I can't wait. Every day my husband wakes up and asks me, "am I going to meet my little girl today?" He's so sweet. He has been so helpful these past few weeks, I know he is as ready as I am.
To get ready for own new addition, I decided to change the blog title, as you may have noticed. We will no longer be a family of three, but a family of four. So I thought it was time to freshen it up. I think this one will stick this time! What do you think of the new name?
The nursery is finally ready.. the car is packed.. and I am in nesting mode. This morning alone before 9:00 I had already made a batch of brownies, fed Landon breakfast, done a load of laundry, and picked up the living room! haha maybe all of the moving around will kick start some labor! :)
I will keep you updated as things change. Next doctors appointment is tomorrow afternoon!
Still at home resting with my little man.. waiting for missy mae to make her arrival!! I have 3.5 weeks left in this pregnancy... and I am ready when she is!!! I hate being away from my classroom of children, but I must admit.. I love being at home with my other baby. Being a stay at home mommy would be lovely, if only we could afford it..
This past weekend I had both of my baby showers. One on Saturday throw by the sweet girls that I work with, and the other was throw by my mom, grandmother, and mother-in-law. Both were lovely and I can't wait to set everything up in the nursery. We have ordered the furniture, but it has yet to arrive. I expect to it start coming in the end of this week. Then I just have to get everything out of the room that is in there now like our guest bed and office desk. Where I am going to put that stuff.. I do not know! But I think her room is going to be awesome when its all done!!
Today I am working on laundry, nursery, grading papers, and thinking about making a baked potato soup for dinner. The hubs doesn't get home from work until almost 10 tonight. At that time me and lil'man will prob. be asleep, but since both of my boys have been feeling a cold coming on.. i figured soup would be a great dinner idea. I just hope that I don't catch their funk too!!
Happy Tuesday everyone! My favorite shows come on tonight!!
