A loop in the roller coaster...

Here is the post that I wrote in the beginning of the week, before our urgent prayer requests for Grace's illness...  After you read this prayer request, I'll update you on what turned out to be a very eventful week (why does that sound like a reoccurring theme in our lives?)...

Village, we are in need of your prayers as we approach what could be a wonderful or disaster of a week...  we leave for Family Camp tomorrow (Sunday afternoon), which we are looking forward to; however, I have to be honest about the fact that I can easily become overwhelmed trying to wrap my mind around how Grace is going to do in the heat, how she will do with her teachers/counselors (the kiddos spend a good bit of time with their AMAZING [times a million] counselors), GERMS, our ability to pour into Abby and Andrew like we desire (in the event that Grace is having a hard time and it becomes distracting), how she's going to eat and sleep in a completely new environment, will I be able to enjoy date night or will I be worried about how Grace is doing, will I be able to communicate her needs to her counselors well.... you get the idea! The list of "what if's" goes on and on, so I'm praying that I can change the "what if's" to "even if's" and that God would cover and bless every second of Family Camp, drawing us closer to Himself, our family, the other families that are there, and the camp counselors.  Last year was our first time attending Family Camp and it was most certainly a Divine appointment, in that it was exactly what we needed at that exact moment.  We found out on a Friday about Grace's very serious heart defects, which at the same time further convinced me that we were having a child with "Up's."  Needless to say, two days later I was at Family Camp as a very scared and broken vessel that didn't even know how badly I needed the love and encouragement of everyone at Family Camp.  The other families there walked through the valley with us that week, praying over and encouraging us at every turn, all week long.  I can remember so vividly the words of each prayer spoken over us, the feeling of the faithful hands that were laid on us, and the hope that was experienced as we prayed and trusted that some how, some way it was going to be alright.  Now, a year later, we are so honored to get to go to Family Camp again with our little angel Gracie in tow, as a living, breathing testimony of answered prayer (even though many of the answer's were "no"-   Remember...  When  I begged God to heal her heart, He said "no,"and when I asked Him to spare her/us from her having "Up's," He said "no.") .  The good news is that we got a "yes" on the most important prayer, that we are practically guaranteed a "yes" on, and that's that God would align our hearts with His will.  God willed Grace into our family and our hearts overflow that we get to be her parents (heart defects, extra chromosomes, and all :-) and get to experience God more intimately than ever before as we cling to Him daily.

Update on this week- After Grace was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday evening...  we started dropping like flies!  Despite my best "crazy, lysol and hand gel loving mother" efforts (I seriously felt like one of those guys in yellow in Monsters Inc. that takes contamination SUPER seriously), Andrew and I got the stomach bug on Wednesday, David on Thursday and so far Abigail has been the sole survivor.  Will you PLEASE pray that she doesn't come down with the stomach bug, since we are supposed to leave for family camp tomorrow?  Abigail had her ticker Dr appointment on Friday (which lasted 4 hours!) and the Dr did hear a murmur and arrhythmia, but he said that they were both "innocent"... Phew!  The Dr said that there is no reason for us to follow up...  is the roller coaster really slowing down for a moment... the Dr then went through the notes from the appointment that Abigail had with the ticker Dr at just 13 days old and when he saw a note that said, Abby's Aunt had an issue with her aortic valve, he proceeded to say that since there can be a genetic link to valve issues (especially as it relates to the aorta) and the pictures that they took before were not very good because she was so small and wiggly at the time, he wanted to get another echo.  The end result is that her aortic valve looks good, however she does have mild regurgitation in her mitral valve (as the blood flows into the heart, a door like valve closes to prevent the blood from leaking out- her valve for what ever reason is letting a very small amount of blood back out).  This isn't something that can even be heard on exam because it is so mild, the only way to catch it is with an echo (if we didn't have a family history of ticker issues, we probably wouldn't ever know about it unless it got much worse).  The plan is to just keep an eye on it just to make sure that it doesn't get any worse. We are suppose to go back in a year for another echo, so that they can get better pictures, from various angles of the mitral valve to get a better idea of what may be causing it.  One big praise is that it's not a "cleft" which is a bigger concern (where the leak is on the side of the valve), instead it is leaking out of the center.  We are praying that it never gets any worse and never causes her any problems.  Will you please join us in praying for that too?  Now, if they just had a rewards program or punch card for visiting the ticker Dr, our family would be living large :-)

"Our silly mitral valves (one is leaky and the other is stenotic) keep our Mommy on her knees before the Lord!"

Wow!  We are keeping you busy with prayer requests, huh?  Well, thank you for joining us on this roller coaster ride, we wouldn't want to be on this ride without you and without God as our contractor and conductor :-)!

She broke out!!!

Praise the Lord, our prayers were answered!  Grace was discharged from the hospital TONIGHT!!!  They did an EKG, echo, x-ray, labs, blood pressure, pulse ox (measured her oxygen level and it was 85%, which is better than her normal number of 82%).  The echo showed that her mitral stenosis is the same as it has been (still very much severe, but stable, once again a miracle that she doesn't have clinical symptoms with such high pressure on that valve).

The kids didn't know that Grace and David didn't have to stay the night (or two), so they were so excited when they saw the rest of Team Ducks walk through the door...

Clearly, Grace didn't get the memo that she doesn't need a full blown physical before going to Family Camp, so hopefully she doesn't have anymore tricks up her sweet little sleeve :-).  (((hugs))) and thanks to you once again, Village!

Update on Grace...

So, the day has taken an unexpected turn...  David took Grace to the pediatrician first thing this morning, when I called him for an update, our sweet pediatrician answered his phone (with David's permission of course.  He's a smart man, he knows that I would pepper him with questions that he couldn't answer, so I mind as well get the information from the horse's mouth :-) and explained that while Grace's vitals appeared to be alright, after speaking with her cardiologist, they decided that it would be safest to admit her to Texas Children's Hospital to observe her and give her support (maybe fluids, oxygen, etc), so that her body doesn't have to work so hard to fight what ever is going on.  Like I have said before, I know that with heart babies they don't take ANY chances...  if they appear remotely out of sorts, they get a fast pass into the hospital.  By God's grace, she hasn't even had as much as a sniffle in her 9 and a half months of life (outside of the womb that is :-), so we hadn't experienced that reality until today.  It's amazing how the course of the day can change in an instant, so we are putting our hands in the air and saying "weeeeeeee" as we continue to ride our Divinely constructed roller coaster.  This roller coaster is built in such a way that we can't see the tracks in front of us, so it's in faith that we try to enjoy the ride.  By the way, your prayers were felt so very tangibility last night and today.  THANK YOU for your prayers, encouraging comments and texts, they are like the refreshing wind and safety harness that we get experience while on this crazy ride.  Will you please keep praying that Grace gets totally well soon, her heart function isn't just alright, but great, her and David get to come home asap and that she is healthy enough to go to Family Camp?  Just when I thought that we would have all week to pack and prepare for Family Camp.... life happens :-).  Insert my favorite bible verse...  Proverbs 3:5-6- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths (or roller coaster :-) straight.

Praying that God would give you a big hug for me and that His blessings and mercy would be abundant in your lives today!

Urgent prayer request...

Grace has thrown up a couple of times today for no apparent reason.  She had two therapies today and finished her bottle in between the two appointments.  It wasn't long into her second appointment that she honked everywhere.  She then proceeded to gag and try to throw up (she didn't have anything left in her tummy to throw up) about 4-5 more times.  We are taking her to the pediatrician first thing tomorrow morning just to make sure everything is alright.  In the mean time, the Dr called in a prescription for nausea medicine, so we are praying that it does the trick.  We are praying that her episode today was a result of all the drainage that she has had lately due to her teething.  You know how you can feel nauseous after a few days of having crazy drainage due to allergies, a cold, etc?  I didn't actually know what that felt like until moving to Texas and discovering that I'm allergic to... something in Texas.  A heart Momma can't help but worry that any sort of illness or symptom could be a sign of an unhappy heart.  I have heard about other heart babies, like Grace, that have gone downhill fast with severe mitral stenosis.  The symptoms are usually vomiting, a decrease in eating, lethargic, and fussy.  So far, she just seems to have one of those symptoms, but it's hard not to worry that it could be her heart causing the problems.  Will you please pray that Grace's symptoms fully resolve overnight and that the cause IS NOT her heart in any way, shape, or form?  I already have a post written about how fearful I am that we are suppose to leave for Family Camp this coming Sunday (I will post it shortly), so with Grace's odd behavior today, I can't help but wonder... are we going to be able to make it?  What if we can't, how do we make it up to Abby and Andrew?  Will you please pray for God's will to be done as it relates to Family Camp and that we would find peace, joy, and rest in whatever is in His will?

I look at this picture and think that it's Grace's way of saying "Momma, you need to kick it (like me) and not worry about me so much!"

Village, thank you for covering us in prayer!  We need you!

SUPER eventful weekend...

This has been a SUPER eventful weekend!!!  Here we go...

Abigail graduated from Kindergarten!  This year has been so special for so many reasons, making the end of her Kindergarten year sort of emotional.  Remember her first day of Kinder, shortly after walking her in for the first day of school, my water broke and our sweet Grace Astrid Ross blessed us with her presence.  Despite all of the chaos (with Grace alone we had 6.5 weeks in the hospital after birth, two open heart surgeries- one of which was in Boston and a whole lot of ups and downs in between), this school year was packed full of SO many rich memories and blessings!  On Abby's last day of school they had a little performance and awards ceremony.  We got to watch Abby (and all the other sweet Kindergartners) perform about 5 songs for us and afterwards we went to her class room for individual awards.  The awards were "candy" themed and Abby got the "Sweet Tart Award" which read  "You are a genuine sweetheart, anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend!" Abby's best friend, Julia (aka Ju Ju) got the same award in her class.  I thought that was so special considering they both could have received any of the other 18 "Candy Awards", but they got the same one! Those girls are certainly blessed to have each other!  Abby's amazing teacher put together a slideshow with pictures that she took throughout the year, while the song "You'll Be in My Heart" played in the background... cue the tears!!!  It was precious and will serve as a great reminder of God's goodness through a colorful year :-).  We love and appreciate you, Mrs. Gazaway!!!

Abby had her tap recital on Friday night, which was such a treat to watch!!! Their routine was to "You've Got a Friend in Me," which was a perfect fit for Abby because she has grown up with all things Toy Story for the past 3 years, thanks to Andrew.  

Her dancing sponsor, Nana Lu Lu, came into town for the festivities too, making it even more special!

Andrew didn't want to be left out of the spot light, so last night, he got all packed up and ready to go to....

get a staple in the back of his head!  He was bouncing around on Abby's trundle bed (they have been having slumber parties in Abby's room since she got out of school) and decided to bounce on his booty and throw his head back...  the wood border of the bed didn't make for the best pillow, so he ended up with a nice deep gash.  Thanks to your prayers, David and Andrew left for the hospital and returned home with a staple about 30 minutes later.  That in itself is truly a miracle in my mind and by God's grace, Andrew was super brave.  He only let out a small whimper when they put the staple in (he was distracted by having his head phones on and watching Despicable Me, so I think that he was caught off guard).

If you don't like blood then scroll down really fast, so that you can avoid the next picture...  It's really doesn't look that bad (especially since we took the picture after cleaning off most of the blood), I just want to be sensitive to people that don't enjoy bloody images (i.e. Jackie- sorry that you caught a glimpse of the staple at church today :-).

Grace also wanted to make sure that she made the "highlights reel" from this weekend, so she pulled off two performances that are MOST CERTAINLY praise worthy!  She is getting better and better at sitting up by herself...  she sat up for 20 seconds all by herself!  That may not sound like that big of a deal to most, but for how hard Up's children (and their parents and therapists :-) have to work to achieve milestones that just seem to happen with "typical" kids, it makes for just one more reason to celebrate!  It is sort of a sweet treat that Gracie has Up's and does things a little slower because we get to truly enjoy and appreciate every little milestone, instead of it just passing us by without much thought.  It also gives us one more reason to get excited and act silly :-).  Grace's other super exciting achievement is that she has slept through the night (hasn't woken up for 2-3 hours to party in the middle of the night like she did for a week and a half straight) for 3 nights in a row now.  Please, please, please pray that it continues and wasn't just a teaser.

I like this picture because you can see Gracie's two teeth (on the bottom) and her Cindy Loo Who hair doo :-)

Gracie got to attend her first wedding on Saturday night!  It was such an honor to get to pray for the bride and groom during the ceremony since they hold such a special place in our families hearts!  Nana Lu Lu had a playdate with Abby and Andrew while we were at the wedding and you can tell that they had a ton of fun due to the explosion of toys in the background of this picture :-).

The two youngest members of the "Zipper Club" at Abby's recital...

Update on Grace's Cardiology appointment- she didn't have an echo this time, so we don't have a very clear picture as to exactly how her mitral stenosis is doing (her Dr could still hear it when she listened to her chest, which means it must still be in the moderate to severe category), but all of her other measures (oxygen levels, blood pressure, chest x-ray, exam) were stable (normal for her).  We are grateful for a relatively uneventful visit!  Thank you for your prayers!  Will you please continue to pray that God would keep Grace healthy, that her mitral stenosis would improve without any intervention, and that her heart is growing and functioning perfectly for a biventricular repair?  Please also pray for an uneventful cardiology appointment for Abby, which is scheduled for June 22nd.  Thank you, Village!  We truly feel your prayers and pray that you know just how much you are appreciated and loved by us all!

We are 3 for 3...

Abigail and Grace had their well visits today (Abigail, 6 years old, and Gracie, 9 months old).

They were both blessed by the news that they didn't need any shots this visit!  Abby is holding strong in the 3rd percentile for height and 5th for weight... Grace has fallin' off the "typical" kids chart, but is in about the 50th percentile for weight and height on the downsy-doo/ Up's chart.  Did I mention that we make little people?  I pray that the term "downsy-doo" doesn't offend anyone because it is truly a term of endearment for our family.  Those of you that know us well know that we have a nickname for just about everything, so this is no different.  We really, truly LOVE that Gracie has Up's, in fact we have often times said "I can't believe that we got one" (meaning, lucky us).  Now, don't get me wrong, having a precious little downsy-doo isn't always rainbows, cupcakes, unicorns, and sprinkles; however we choose to rejoice in the fact that God chose us to be the parents (and siblings) of a very special little girl that we feel TOTALLY and COMPLETELY inadequate to raise (I guess I should say, even more inadequate than we do with our two other little peeps), therefore keeping us on our knees hugging the feet of Jesus all day everyday.  It's kind of like a never ending roller coaster ride, so I'm learning to just stay put, hang on (to Jesus), and enjoy the ride!  Everything that Gracie has taught (and will continue to teach) our family is priceless, as it allows us to see and understand our Heavenly Father through eyes that our previous state of comfort blinded us to.  All that to say, we celebrate Grace's designer Genes, hence the sticker that we got for our car...

The reason for the sticker...  it seems like everyone in our neighborhood has a white suburban (or something that looks identical), so I told David that I need something on the car to help me identify it better because I'm forever getting excited, thinking that I see David driving just to find out when I get close enough.... nope just another white suburban!  I told David if he didn't pick some sort of sticker, then I was going to pick something and that got him busy in a hurry, so this is what he chose :-)

So, the last update on our "well child" check up's today is that David and I are batting 100%...  Oh yea!  3 out of 3 kids get to see the ticker Dr (cardiologist)!  Abigail had to see a cardiologist, do a halter monitor, etc when she was first born (they heard a murmur in the hospital), but that was the last we heard of anything, until today.  Our pediatrician (who we love and is super thorough) heard a murmur and arrythmia on Abigail today and while she thinks that they are most likely "innocent", she wants us to see a ticker Dr (Cardiologist).  While that's never the news you want to hear, I'm grateful that she will get her heart checked out because a few months ago I said to David that I kind of just wanted Abigail to see a ticker Dr, just for peace of mind that her heart is alright (since Andrew has a murmur and Grace... you know the story :-).  I guess God agreed with that strategy because He certainly orchestrated the necessary events to make it happen today.  Will you please pray that Abigail's ticker checks out just fine?  Also, Grace has a follow up ticker Dr appointment tomorrow morning.  Will you please pray that her chest X-ray, oxygen levels, and all other vitals look great?  If you remember...  maybe you could also pray that she very quickly grows out of this phase of thinking that it's party time in the middle of the night!!!!  For the past week and a half she wakes up in the middle of the night and just wants to party.  With our other children, we would let them fuss it out and learn to put themselves back to sleep, but Gracie comes with a contingency...  she's not suppose to get too upset because of her heart, which makes shutting down the party a little difficult :-).  This too shall pass, right? :-)

Thank you Village!  We love you!!!

Abigail's 6th birthday and then some...

Well hello sweet friends....  We've missed you!  The past couple of weeks have been crazy busy for our family and we have another crazy week upon us, since David has a week long (all day) class this week.  Please pray for us :-).  Here is a quick run down on what we have been up to...

Two weekends ago we were blessed with the opportunity to go to the 30th Anniversary KSBJ concert with some dear friends.  We had a GREAT time, but I think our very favorite part of the concert was one of the "surprise guests"... Steven Curtis Chapman performed a set that was full of amazing singing, laughs, and of course tears when he sang his song "Cinderella."  I'm just wondering if anyone out there with young kids can listen to that song without ugly crying?  When it comes on the radio while I am driving I usually change the station because I can't afford to ugly cry at that moment, but there was no turning the radio station while sitting at the concert and I'm sure glad that wasn't an option.  The song talks about a father preparing his daughter for her wedding day (at the request of his daughter to practice slow dancing with her)...  long story short, hearing the song this time, not only touched me thinking about Abigail growing up, finding her prince, and becoming a wife one day, but it also made me picture our sweet Gracie and I couldn't help but picture her Daddy always being her prince!  Those two have a special bond that is truly an honor to witness every day!

King and Country was another one of our favorite performances and we loved their message too!

Last weekend, David and some friends ran the Spartan Race...  We are so proud of David for not only surviving the race (I was worried that David has forgotten that he is no longer a spring chicken that can run a marathon without training like he has in the past), but for doing a GREAT job! Here are the shirts we had made to support David...  They say "Team Ducks" on it because when David and I got married we decided that we were going to be the Ducks because ducks supposedly find a mate and stick with them until the end, no matter what.  We had "The Duck's" engraved inside our wedding rings and the kids are now proud members of the Ducks!  The back says "Do all to the glory of God" because
1 Corinthians 10:31 is our family bible verse.

Gracie-Doo, our Team Ducks shirt model...

Here's the front and back of our shirts that were created by our friend's, Tad and Jo's company!

Daddy Duck after the Spartan Race...  I can't figure out why this picture is stretched out and looks weird, but you get the idea, right?

Andrew had "Splash Day" last week and it was a treat to get to see him interact with his friends and teachers!  I can't believe that this time next year, he will be graduating preschool and headed to Kindergarten!  He is going to preschool 5 DAYS next year!  That's a lot in comparison to Abby who only went 2 days a week her 4 year old year.  Andrew loves school and is SO ready for a 5 day program, especially because his best friend (Abby) goes to school that many days, so he thinks that he should too :-).  LOVE THIS BOY!!!

Abigail Lynn Ross turned 6 years old on Friday!!!  All that she wanted to do for her birthday is go camping, so we went camping with some dear friends (who's daughter happens to be Abby's best friend) on her birthday.  Praise the Lord that the weather was amazing (not too hot with a nice breeze and a whole lot of shade), Gracie Doo got to come hang out at the campsite for a few hours before my parents took her home (it meant a lot to Abby that she was there :-) and we got to have a good bit of grown up time once the kids went to sleep!

Us in front of our mansion...  I mean tent (compared to our first camping trip in a 4 person tent, this IS a mansion :-)

Blast from the past... Our first camping trip with the kiddos 3 years ago in our pinner tent!  We are movin' up in the world :-)

Our camping buddies, The Glass' (excluding baby Noah, who was at home with his Grandma-ma).

 This tree is always a huge source of fun!

BFF's

 Time to feed...

More fun in the tree...

We somehow forgot to pack the candles for Abby's cookie cake, so instead we used this very special "campfire candle"...  Phew, glad that she bought that idea and thought it was cool!  Thanks BG!!!

For Abby's 3rd birthday, we would ask her what she wanted for her birthday and all she would say is "to get Andrew a present", so once we agreed on what we could get Andrew, she helped us with birthday ideas for herself.  Long story short, she started a tradition that on the other persons birthday, they get their sibling a present.  Abby got Andrew this Buzz Lightyear (I got it for a couple bucks, gently used :-) and Andrew LOVES it!!!  It sleeps with him at night and he almost made it in to church today...

Somehow, after  a fun night of camping (which usually entails going to bed really late and getting up early), we were able to clean up and make it to Abby and Andrew's soccer game in the morning and they had what might be there individual best game yet AND their team won 5 to 0!!!  GO AVENGERS!  What made the game even more special is that Aunt Becca, Cousin Joe, and EVEN Uncle Brian (he usually has to work on Saturday's, so we were excited to see him too) came to the game and we got to have lunch with them after!  Here is a picture of the cousins... and David :-).

We brought the soccer ball home with us from the game...

Thanks for sticking with me for this long post!  We continue to praise God for you (our village :-) and pray that you feel a renewed sense of God's love, peace, and joy as we enter into the excitement and craziness of the Summer!