A quiet moment

I am sitting in our little office area right now. The tv is off, the radio is off, Gavin is sleeping, Bronwyn is sleeping and Wes is having a nap. All I can hear is the hum of the refrigerator. Wow! This is a precious moment. My soul feels serene. This so great as the last few days have been anything but serene. We had Gavin's birthday party yesterday. It was great fun but definitely not serene.

I have included a couple pictures.

I would ask that you all continue to pray for baby Quinn. He is stable for now but they are praying that he doesn't run into any other complications before they get a heart. He has shown himself to be a strong little man, but the waiting has not been without difficulty and it is very wearing on his health and on his family. I think of Kim and family so much. Most parents can think "That could be us." But you don't really understand how narrow the margins are that separate healthy babies from babies with complications.

I can say this however, that even through Bronwyn and Quinn were born with heart defects they have already made a huge impact on their families and all that know them.

Kids, kids, kids...

We are having Gavin's birthday party on Saturday. I am not sure I can pull it off. I am so scattered in everything I do that I seem to get nothing done. I start one thing, think of something else, start it, realize I was in the middle of something else, stop what I was doing and then start something all together new. Really it seems I am turning into my mother!

Bronwyn is doing great. She is gaining weight and has had good saturations. She is very alert and bright. She gurgled and almost laughed in response to her Dad's laughter this evening. It was very cute. She really has a lovely and happy disposition. Which amazes me after all that she has been through.

Gavin is also doing well. He is asleep in his own bed as we speak! Whew. The problem we are having is keeping him there through the night. He has been arriving in our room in the middle of the night and crawling into bed with us. He is still our sweet baby boy after all.

Wes and I are doing well. He is busy with work and house projects and I am busy, well busy running in circles!

Thank you to everyone who has continued to check on our progress and who has shown such great love and concern for our family.

Embrace the chaos

I have discovered that the secret to serenity with a two year old in the house is to "embrace the chaos." The two year old will only drive you crazy if you expect anything to go your way or to happen with out incident. If you expect to be cleaning behind him, finding bits of fruit in the DVD cases, and vaseline poured into your water glass - well then your day will go as planned. This level of acceptance comes much easier some days than others. The day you are in a hurry is the day he gets away from you while you are changing his diaper and you run around frantically trying to keep poop from spreading through the whole house!

Having said this the antics of a two year old are also the best medicine for any bad mood. If you sit back and watch Gavin work at his world it really is a joy.

Bronwyn is smiling and interacting more and more. I am so pleased with this. I expected some delays in her development as she had such a rough start to her little life. But so far she seems to be within the realm of normal (again as normal as a child of mine can be). We likely wont know until much later if there are any side effects of all that she has been through.

Yesterday when I was changing Bronwyn on our bed Gavin decided it would be fun to have a pillow fight with her. Well, his Mom had issues with that - what a bummer eh?

The above picture is Gavin terrorizing a baby other than his sister. It is Cadence Mackenzie.

So I say - if you have a two year old - embrace the chaos!

Keep praying

Just a quick note tonight. I read Kim's update about baby Quinn and his surgery today was a success. They were pleased with the outcome. But the first 48 hours are very crucial. So we need to continue to pray for his stability and continued success.

I believe deep in my heart that God has Quinn in his hands! So just pray pray pray!

We are good here.

Quick update

I don't have much time to write tonight. Our little girl is starting to fuss and well I guess that means she wants some munchies.

I did want to email to let you all know that baby Quinn is not doing so great at the moment. I would ask that you all please remember him in your prayers over the next week. They will be doing a surgery where they band his pulmonary artery. I am sorry I don't 100% understand the procedure but it is meant, I believe, to stabilize his oxygen levels. This is a very different treatment than anything they did with Bronwyn so I am out of territory that I understand. The important thing is that he needs a lot of prayers and support. Please also remember his parents and family. Having just gone through a major surgery I can tell you that they prayers for peace and reassurance. It is my prayer that they will go into the surgery with confidence.

Kim and family were such a huge support to us.

We continue to do well and I am gaining confidence every day. Yesterday when we were out for our anniversary dinner I felt so thankful. I was quite emotional about all that God has done for us and what a wonderful little family I have. Each one of our children has enriched our lives in many ways. But I know that every parent feels this way about their children.

Oh, duty calls!

Learning to relax

I am slowly learning to relax a bit about Bronwyn's weight. Some nights she gains, sometimes she looses a bit. But on the whole she is gaining steadily. She has been gaining just above what they want her to gain. For this I am thankful.

We are doing very well. Bronwyn is smiling more and more. She really has a lovely disposition. Her brother quite likes her and wants to help with her care. But then he wants to help me do everything. Make dinner, chop vegetables, cook, clean - AGGGH!!! I try to find ways to involve him that don't involve dangerous things like heat and sharp knives. But those are the things that seem to be the most attractive.

I have been enjoying the days lately. I love fall. The clear crisp days are just so great!

Wes and I are going out tomorrow night and leaving the kids with their grandparents. We can't be gone for long as we have to get home in time to give Bronwyn her medicine. Mom and Dad offered to come in so we could go out. I couldn't figure out why and then they reminded me it is my anniversary tomorrow! Oops!

Wes and I have been married five years. So I said to Mom - Five years and two kids later - here we are! Oh dear, Gavin is crying in his bed - I better go see what's up there. Off I go.

Pictures

At times I have problems posting photos with blogger - not sure why. So here are a couple I tried to post the other day.

Fall days

I haven't written for several days as we seem to be very busy. I am happy to report that our business is no different than the business of any family with two young children. We haven't had any "real" scares or situations yet. And we have done our duty with all the medical visits last week. This week should be open for socializing.

For those of you who are wondering if I intend to keep blogging - well I do - just not as often. I started it so that I could efficiently communicate with everyone who would want keep up to date with Bronwyn's progress. Trust me I had no idea of how many people fell into this camp - and we are thankful for each and everyone of you. I found out quickly that it was an effective way to share photos and stories with family and relatives some of whom are very difficult to communicate with because of the miles that are between us. We can also keep everyone up to date with Bronwyn's progress but many of you are in a position to see us weekly or call us occasionally.

My big worry these days with Bronwyn is her weight gain. It is an ongoing and crazy process. One night she is up 100 grams the next she losses. The Doctors keep saying we are looking for steady and progressive growth over the long term not individual nights. But boy of boy how this nightly weigh in affects my attitude. If she's up I am thrilled and all is well. If she is down I am looking for signs of low oxygen levels or signs of a cold or heart failure. It is important that I keep a close eye on her and watch her symptoms but I have to learn to figure out what is real and what is fear based. I am sure the better she does over time the more confident I will get.

Gavin is doing great - he is at this moment sleeping in his own bed!! Yeah! Not sure if he will stay there - but we are please that he went down (second attempt) fairly easy. He is such a funny little guy - he keeps our spirits up. He is talking more and more too.

We are thankful for so much. For all the stress and concern we have had over the last few months we are still totally thrilled with our family and our life. Our little girl is such a great addition to our family. I couldn't have a better husband - he is a perfect match for all my imperfections - he suits me well.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and may God bless you all as richly as he has our family.

A fairly normal family

I can't claim to be a totally normal family - that would just be a lie! But we are doing very well. Our biggest struggle since we arrived home was getting settled in and finding places for everything. We had not anticipated being discharged from Edmonton so we needed to go get a bassinet for Bronwyn to sleep in. We set it up beside our bed - Gavin pushes it over to the bed and climbs on the bed and then proceeds to "help" Bronwyn. SCARY! She has survived surgery but I am not sure she will survive her brother.

When I take her out of the bassinet he throws himself into it! He has to try all of her things. We had a melt down last night when we wouldn't let him get into her little plastic tub. I really don't see how he would fit! So as you can see my issues at home (knock on wood) are no different than any parent who has a new born and a two year old. What an amazing blessing this is!

Bronwyn saw her cardiologist yesterday and she was very happy with her. We are so thrilled that she is doing so well. Everyone in the medical community is so surprised by how she is doing. Of course we aren't because we know that God is behind her recovery.

Both kids are napping at the moment. Gavin is having a short nap - he has been staying up very late and refusing to sleep in his room. Who needs more than one bedroom. He is running us ragged - so I am going to try cutting his nap short to see if he will wear out a bit earlier tonight. If this is the worst side effect of having a new baby in the house I'll take it. He really is so good with her.

Bronwyn sees our family doctor tomorrow so after that she should be caught up we can start getting into a routine here.

Baby Quinn had his procedure yesterday - I think they put a stint in his septum. I find this stuff all quite hard to understand. But I sure am glad that there are men and women who have devoted their lives to making sense of it. The Doctor is very happy with how it went and they are hopeful that this will by him the time he needs for a heart to come available. So please keep praying for them. I honestly can't think of anything worse than the waiting! Kim and Ben are amazing in their strength and courage.

God Bless you all and thank you for your continued prayers!

Life starts again

So here we are at home. I feel like we are just resuming our life - that we pressed the pause button for a couple months and are now just trying to get organized and back into the swing of things.

Gavin is in his crib at the moment yelling "Why, whywhywhywhy!!!" This is what he yells now when he doesn't want to go to bed. We weighed Bronwyn tonight and she hasn't gained enough weight over the last couple days. I hope it is just the transition to home and that she will start gaining again tomorrow like she was in the hospital.

We went to church this morning and saw so many of our friends and family. It was the first time Uncle Jon and Auntie Cindy were able to see Bronwyn. Robbie and Carissa were quite impressed with her - Carissa more than Robbie. He came up and asked me - Who is this?

It feels so great to be home amongst our friends and support people. We of course are also thankful for all our friends who have been supporting us from afar. We appreciate your concern and love very much.

Tonight I would like to ask that you all think of baby Quinn in the morning. He is having a procedure to help stabilize his oxygen levels and his heart. Please pray that all goes well and that he will recover well. The best thing at this point would be for a heart to be available so that they don't have to consider other treatment options that would be headed down a different road.

Our house is a disaster at the moment as we have moved everything back in from Edmonton but even with that it is great to be here.