Three

I have been trying to think in advance about what I wanted this post to be about.  How would I describe the emotions and feelings we had three years ago as I've done so many times inadequately before.  It is just impossible to put into words.

This was our son, three years ago today.  August 17, 2007 marked the day that doctors took 12 hours to repair his little broken heart.  Nothing can prepare you for this sight.  Shocking doesn't even come close.

One word to describe my feelings on this day would have been fear.  Fear of letting him go to the OR and not coming back.  Fear that his little personality would change or he'd never be the same again.  Fear of the unknown, of what tomorrow may bring.

Well, we have lived three years of tomorrows since that miraculous day.  And I can tell you that we never took one single day for granted.  At that time in our lives we learned that every day is a gift and one we don't take lightly.  Spending precious moments with our son is the most important thing to us now and always will be.  His little life changed our perspective, and we are forever grateful.  One word I have to describe my feelings today when I look at that picture?

Proud.

Proud of Andrew for everything he's endured and for the way he fights through every hurdle he has had to endure.  I'm so proud of him.  His spunk, his zest for life.  I'm proud of our family for the way we've chosen to handle this life changing journey called congenital heart defects.  It is not an easy road.  But we've ridden it together, supporting each other and sticking together through it all, loving each other more now than ever.

 Three years have gone by without open heart surgery.  I honestly didn't think I'd be able to say that.  Whew.  They haven't gone by without plenty of caths and procedures, stents and narrow pulmonary arteries, doctor's appointments and EKG's... but that little scar on his chest is certainly fading.  A symbol of the blessings that have been bestowed upon us.

We know that scar will soon be bright and bold again one day, but until that day comes we will embrace the time we have together and live with the hope that only God can provide.

So as I thought about what I wanted this post to be about, I couldn't help but think of a more appropriate topic.  What we are doing at this same time, exactly three years later...

We're getting his school supplies ready for preschool.  Yes, preschool.  What an amazing feeling.  I actually cried when I opened up the welcome letter from his teacher with his school supply list attached.  My baby's first school supply list!  I just couldn't help it.  Proud again.  Proud that we've made it this far.  "You've come a long way, baby!" seems so cliche, but I'd say quite appropriate in this case.

Back on this day three years ago I might not have believed Andrew would ever be going to preschool.  You just don't think ahead to those things too much, because you just never know.  You don't let your mind get too far into the future.  So once again I am at a loss for words as I've been shopping for back to school clothes and supplies and having fun labeling things and getting everything ready for his first day.  It's how I always envisioned my life as a mommy would be.  And I'm so grateful I get the chance to do it.

Last night was Andrew's meet the teacher night at his preschool and he met Miss Erin, his new teacher.

 He took my hand and pulled me into the classroom.  He went straight for the centers, like he had been there before!  This year he is at our neighborhood school, which is so nice.

He was so proud walking into the school.  Not afraid at all, in fact quite the opposite.  He is very excited to go to school.

After chatting with his teacher for a few minutes, it was at about this point that he looked up at us and said "Mommy and Daddy, go away!"  It was too funny.  (Well, everyone in the room thought so...I think except for me!)  He was already ready for us to leave him.  My baby is all grown up.

So in a few short days we'll be sending him off to school.  With a new backpack, a faded scar and three years of cherished memories... Here's to a lifetime more!

 My cup runneth over...

What we've been up to

So what have we been up to the past couple weeks as my vacation blog updates have been posting??

Let's just say I've said the word "potty" more in my life than I prefer to!  ha!

This kid is so.stinkin.funny.

Only Andrew would wear Elmo slippers (that are about 3 sizes too small) around the house when it's 90 degrees outside.

Oh, and he wants to sleep in them too.

Anyway, the potty thing.  By far the hardest part of child rearing thus far for us.  I won't give you too much info, but let's just say I'm tired of cleaning up my carpet!
One thing I've learned is that if they're not ready, there's no forcing it.

 We always know when he has to go #2 because we'll sit him down and he'll say "Go away!"  Ha!  It is so funny.  Then he wants his Elmo Potty book and he's all set!
I'm feeling pressured because I go back to work in a couple weeks and he's not totally trained yet.  He's getting there, but he still needs time.  It's been about 3 weeks and he's just now finally started telling us when he has to go.  But it is still very inconsistent.  As with everything in his life, Andrew likes to do things in his own time.  So this has just been another hurdle to jump over.

 In other news, my good friend Lisa from high school now lives in Phoenix but was back for a visit and we got to introduce our boys for the first time.  Are these not the cutest 2 little boys ever??  I just want to squeeze them!

We had fun watching Andrew and Javi play.  I wish we would have gotten a picture of us with them, but they were keeping us pretty busy!

Daddy and Papa rode RAGBRAI for one day.  Craig is looking so studly in his biker gear, isn't he??  Ha!  He is eventually going to start making me run these updates by him before posting them!  Oh well, I'll get away with it while I can!  Ha!  Anyway, they went through Clear Lake this year so it worked out perfect.

Because Ga Ga, Andrew and I got to ride the boat while Daddy and Papa biked!  I think we got the better end of the deal!  Ha!  He was laughing here because he was making us dizzy going in circles!  Ha!

It worked out okay because we went to pick them up and they were ready for a boat ride!  They rode 53 miles in one day and it was super hot!

This picture makes me laugh because even though it was blazing outside, it still feels great when you are on the lake!  Andrew was even cold when he got out of the water!

For the longest time we've been trying to get Andrew to steer his Gator he got from Santa.  We took him to daddy's school a few times so he could have free reign and not have to stay on the sidewalk.  Nothing seemed to work and he was all over the place!  Well the other day we took him out and he was a pro!  He totally got it!  Something just clicked.  We think when we let him steer the boat it has helped him get the hang of it.  He drives all around the neighborhood now and loves it!  This picture of him cracks me up.  What a funny kid.

We've been having fun hanging out together the last few weeks before we start school.

You know, painting our toenails with marker and all.  Ha!  One day I checked on him and this was what he was doing!  I could have died laughing.

Chillin watching Scooby Doo.  Does he look relaxed!?  Ha!

Seriously.  This kid is pure comic relief!  Again, wanting his Thomas slippers this time.  Seems like he always wants slippers on his feet.  Reminds me of his grandpa Bill!

Along with his skinny little bird legs!  Ha!

The other day Craig called me downstairs to see what our son was doing.  He had dumped out his bins of dinosaurs and animals and decided to sort them all.

He was very precise. Ha!  I love how all his McDonalds Shrek toys are in a separate row!  He is totally sorting!  I'd say he could skip preschool, he's already a genius!  Ha!

We've been having lots of fun in the sprinkler and at the pools this summer, too.  One day I think we went to the pool 4 days in a row!  Andrew loves the water and has really taken off with swimming.  He swims all by himself now (with his life jacket on) and kicks his legs and back floats.  He enjoys the waterslides at the pool and goes down them all by himself.  We've really noticed how much he's grown up this year already.  He is just getting to be such a big boy!

On another note, I'd like to ask your prayers for a couple of new heart moms I've gotten to know through blogging.  Kirsten is currently expecting a baby boy, Ewan, who will be born with the same heart defect as Andrew, Tetralogy of Fallot.  I just remember when we were pregnant with Andrew, blogging was still so new and we knew nobody who had been through this before us.  I am so glad that their family can now be surrounded in prayer by many other heart families and other supporters!  Please visit her blog and offer some encouragement!


Another new heart mommy, Jill, is expecting baby Joshua who will be born with HLHS.  She is scheduled for induction on August 16th and his heart surgery will be soon after.


I know both of these mommies would appreciate your support!

Thank you, and happy last few weeks of summer!
**Side note: If you received an email update from Memorial Day, I apologize!  I have no idea why it sent that out!  It was an older update.  Blogger better not be starting to give me problems too!  Lol. 

Day 6- Gatorland!

We had fun reading through all the comments and emails about Craig's sunburn in the last update!  Haha!  I had to beg him to let me put that picture on the blog and he wasn't real thrilled about it (still isn't!  Ha!)  But he knew there was no stopping me.  It was too funny not to share!  Ha!  Luckily it didn't last very long and it's all better now (not even much peeling, if you can believe that!) :)  Sorry honey, I had to do it! :)

Onto the last post from our Florida vacation (are you all getting tired of these updates yet??  I promise I'll be back to regular Andrew updates soon, but I had to document this vacation and the blog is the perfect way to do it.)

We had to visit Gatorland- you know, since Gators are kind of a big deal in Florida!  Ha!  It was such a unique place.

It is just like it sounds-  FULL of gators!  Every time you turn around!

Andrew has been really into alligators lately.  He is obsessed with the crocodile from Peter Pan (of course they are all called alligators to him- there's no such thing as a crocodile!)

I'm actually embarrassed to admit that I taught 2nd grade for years and couldn't really tell you the differences!  Ha!  Aren't their mouths different or something??

Grrrrr!

We saw a show where this guy supposedly wrestled with an alligator.

"Wrestled" is a loose term, but this trick was cool!

The white alligators were neat- Andrew was fascinated.

This is the second time we've been unprepared for a splash park!  You'd think we'd learn!  Apparently, everywhere you go in Florida there is a splash park!  Always bring your swim suits just in case!  Ha!

Again, we just took off his shirt and turned him loose!

We had a nice ride around Gatorland on a train, which Andrew loved.

Carrie and EJ on the train.

This was my favorite part of the day... Andrew actually got to pet and hold an alligator!

Of course, this cost extra (doesn't everything??) but the guys in charge were nice and let us make sure Andrew would actually hold it first, you know, before they charged us.  I wasn't too worried since he hadn't been scared of anything the whole trip, but I certainly didn't want to be out ten bucks if he chickened out!

Well, he didn't chicken out!  They wouldn't let him hold it without Craig, or else he would have been sitting here by himself (if he had it his way!)  He loved it.  He could have sat there all day.

Then we saw another neat show- Gator Jumparoo!

They literally hold chunks of chicken above them and they all jump up to get it!

It is quite a sight.

Look at them all scrambling!  Andrew didn't take his eyes off the entire time.

Gators just hanging out!

In the gift shop (because isn't there always a gift shop??) Andrew stuck his hand inside this gator's mouth and went AHHHHHHHHH!  It was so.stinkin.funny.

Leaving gatorland...even though Andrew could have watched them all day!

He had a great time on our last full day in Florida.

We were so sad to say goodbye to our friends and leave Florida, knowing we probably wouldn't be back for a long time!

Carrie and I and our boys!

This marks the end of our Florida vacation.  I can't even describe what a wonderful time we had.  I am so glad we got to do this for Andrew's sake.  He had a cardiology check up last week and things still looked stable.  They are still not happy with the high pressure in the right ventricle, so they are monitoring him closely.  Doctor said he wouldn't feel comfortable letting him go much longer than another year without surgery, so looks like our vacation timing was meant to be.

Andrew still talks about all the things he did and his favorite things from our trip.  He still asks to ride the Peter Pan boat one more time.  He learned so many new things, too.  His first airplane ride was just as thrilling.  He keeps talking about when we went "up in the sky."  We feel very blessed to have had this opportunity to spend these precious moments together as a family.  Andrew is quite the little traveler!  He was so good the whole trip.  It is so fun to go on a vacation and see it through your child's eyes.  I remember going to Disneyland as a kid, but nothing compares to watching your child have the time of their life.  Life took on a whole new meaning when Andrew was born.  Things are all about him now!  

And I wouldn't want it any other way.