Happy Hearts

Fall Catch Up

I've gotten a tad bit behind in my blogging.  Amidst the dr. appointments, we've done a lot this fall and have enjoyed lots of fun family time together.  Trent and Maggie play together more and more and with that comes more and more fighting/arguing.  Maggie misses her bubby when he is at school and always wants to know when he is coming home.  Trent is doing very well in school (after a little extra discipline at home).  He can write his whole alphabet and is sounding out and spelling lots of words.  He has a lot of maturing to do before he starts Kg so I am very glad that he has an extra year before starting.  Maggie is quite the little "helper" and is as always full of life.  She is enjoying being able to eat lots of yummy food again!  This week we are working on getting her re-potty trained.  You may remember that my sweet girl potty trained herself the week before she turned 2.  However, this last surgery and the lasix and diuretics she's been on have really shot that one out of the water.  We have rearranged her med. schedule with hopes of being able to get her back in panties again.  Today has been a success so far and for that I am sooooo thankful! 

So, take a look at what we have been up to in the last couple months:

Trying their best to keep Ryan from going on his business trip

Maggie's first big time owie (other than surgery).  While Ryan was out of town, she fell off of the bar stool and her ear hit the other bar stool wrung as she came down.  Ouch!!!  She was mighty tough.  This picture doesn't even do it justice.  It looked even worse.  Poor Baby!  It's all healed up now, though.
 

Enjoying some spaghetti!  This girl can eat!

Ryan is so good at coming up with fun things for them to do! He's an amazing Dad.

Carving pumpkins on Halloween.  Trent wasn't very interested.

Maggie wanted a princess pumpkin so Ryan carved a crown.

Princess Cinderella

Trent, the famous golfer

My sweet nephew, Seth Robert, the Rodeo Clown

 

 

Abby's Surgery

My niece, Abby, is in the o.r. right now getting her cochear implant.  They got started an hour late.  They came in 30 minutes ago and said that it will probably be another 2 hours.  We are all very anxious and ready for it to be done.  Abby was so sweet this morning waiting for her surgery.  She didn't have a clue anything was going on.  She was just playing and sticking her head out the door to talk to people.  My sister-in-law has a blog to keep everyone updated:  http://www.holestinefamily.blogspot.com 

Abby Grace

As many of you know, my 2 yr. old niece, Abby Grace was born with a severe hearing impairment.  She is technically deaf.  Abby's deafness was diagnosed at birth (thanks to the required hearing screening in MO) and her treatment began almost immediately.  At 2 months of age she received her 1st pair of hearing aids and has had speach therapy every week since then.  All of her therapy is through St. Joseph's Institute, and they have been wonderful.  She has amazed her teacher with her speach ability.  They do not teach her sign language at St. Joe's.  She is being taught to speak.  She knows LOTS of words, but there are several sounds she can't hear or say.  So, we are all so very excited that she will be getting a cochlear implant on June 17th!  This will change Abby's life.  This wonderful piece of technology will enable Abby to hear much more clearly than with the hearing aids. With the implant and her continued speech therapy, she will most likely have speech so close to perfect that most people will not realize she is deaf as she grows older.  Again, we are so thankful that we live in the time that we do.  We are so thankful for the technology that God has blessed us with.  Abby is one special little girl and we are so proud of her. 

Please join us as we pray for:  The doctors and nurses who will perform her surgery, peace for her Mom and Dad as they hand her over for surgery, Abby's recovery, success of the implant, continued therapy.

Thank you all for your prayers for my sweet little niece.

Too Cute!

My nephew, Lawson Robert, will be 4 on Feb. 2nd and he is so stinkin cute.  My Mom just did his 4 yr. old pictures and they highlight his personality so well.  Happy Birthday Lawson!  It's hard to believe you're almost 4!

Some of the pics are with his Daddy (my brother).  Luke has been a paramedic for several years but he just completed the fire fighter academy in December.  He has been waiting a long time to get in to the academy and he finally did it!  Selfishly, I wish that he wasn't a fire fighter, but I am still proud of him. 

New Niece

I am getting a new niece this next week!  This may come as a surprise to many of you because you haven't heard that any of my sisters are pregnant.  Well, they aren't.  Ryan's sister leaves for India tomorrow to pick up their new little girl.  They have been waiting to get Senthamarai for over 2 years.  Karin and Ryan's Mom will be in India for about a week and then they will finally be able to bring Senthy home.  We can't wait to meet her.    The flight is 18 hours long so they are very worried about how she will do.  Please pray for safe travel and that everything will go smoothly.

Soccer Aunt

Most of you know that I can't wait until I can get Trent out on a soccer field.  I did buy him a pair of indoor soccer shoes at Gap, and I do have to say that they are pretty darn cute.  Anyway, I can't wait to be a Soccer Mom.  Seeing Trent out on a soccer field for the first time could possibly end up being my proudest moment (just kidding).  Even though I am not a Soccer Mom yet, I am a Soccer Aunt.  Claire started playing pee-wee soccer this fall and we all went to her first soccer game last weekend.  She even got to play goalie.  We had lots of fun watching her, and Trent and Lawson had lots of fun playing in the dirt.  Check out her pictures below. 

Abby Grace

My Mom took Abby's 3 month pictures and they are so cute.  As you will see from the pictures she is a happy little girl.  She is a really good baby.  Check out her photo album to see her newest pictures. 

Whew, I'm tired!

Ryan, Trent, and I went with Hannah, Seth Robert, Abby, and my Mom to a really cool park in St. Louis today because the weather was really nice and Seth Robert needed to get out of the house.  We had a lot of fun.  Thank goodness Ryan was there because he played with Seth most of the time.  Half of the time, Seth just wanted to watch the "Bob Cat" tractor that was at the construction site by the play ground. We could have just gone to a random construction site and Seth would have been just as happy.  He loves tractors. 

I was smart enough to put sunscreen on Trent, but not my self so I have a nice sun burn.  Oops!  Afterwards, we went to Cold Stone Creamery.  Yummmmm.   Anyway, it was a fun day, but I am tired.  We just rented Pride and Prejudice from the McDonald's Red Box which I think are the most wonderful things that McDonald's has come up with in a long time. 

Abigail Grace

As of April 25th, I have a new niece.  Abby is so sweet.  She is such a good baby.  She's starting to be a momma's girl already.  She is so tiny and petite.  She looks a lot like her big brother, but we think her looks favor her mom instead of her dad.  I already love her so much!  You can check out her photo album for her sweet pictures.