Mush-Pot – Part II

We were visited by two special friends today.

Ricky brought us lunch. He has been a great friend to us and to our girls for several years now. Here is his picture with the girls.

Mrs. Syble brought the girls matching dresses (which they will wear on this Sunday). Mrs. Syble is like a third grandmother to our girls and they love her tons!

On another totally different note, it’s interesting getting the mail these days. We are starting to receive notices from Blue Cross telling us all they have paid out to USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital, UAB and the doctors involved in Victoria’s surgery. It’s a little overwhelming to see the large dollar amounts that have accumulated during Victoria’s illness. When you are in a medical crisis there isn’t a lot of time to think about how much things cost, like a jet ride to UAB, for your baby. You just know her life depends on it and you agree to whatever the doctors say needs to be done. We are truly blessed to have insurance with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. We know that many parents who go through similar circumstances may not have that blessing. We have also been blessed by the Rileigh & Raylee “Angel Ride” Foundation. This foundation provides financial support for families who have to travel and stay out of town to receive medical care for their child. We have also been blessed by numerous family members and friends. We praise the Lord for His awesome provision!

Last but not least, I end this post with two video clips. Watch them in order. The second video is a continuation of the first one. I believe Elyssa will bring a smile to your face! She did mine!

June 6, 2008
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Fun Day

Today at Mom’s Day Out they had a Father/Daughter Breakfast in honor of Father’s Day. Mark went with Elyssa and here are a few pictures from the breakfast.

Okay, so who do you think this munchkin looks like? The mama or the daddy?

Today at MDO it was also Water Day! Here is Elyssa enjoying the activities! You can tell by the video she was a little afraid on the water slide.

While Mark was able to be with Elyssa at some of the MDO events today, I could not be present. I had to take Natalie and Victoria to the eye doctor. Natalie may have some problems focusing her eyes on things right now, but it looks like the doctor will wait until she is a year old to re-acess her condition, unless it seems to get worse during the year. If you wanna know what it was like to be with her at the eye doctor, or even for the past few days (because she also has a lot of teeth coming in, too!!), look at the following video. This is Natalie crying tonight. Just multiply what you hear on my room monitor by , like, 1,000 and that will give you a good idea of the screaming that we all had to endure during her doctor visit. You would’ve thought the doctor was torturing her when in actuality, he wasn’t even touching her and wanted her to only look at the light he was holding in his hand. I can imagine he thought, “What in the heck kind of child is this??? She has totally flipped out!!”

Victoria seems to still have blocked tear-ducts. Hopefully, that will improve over the next month or so. Her left eye is getting so red from the irritation of the constant draining. She also has “jiggly eyes” since her surgery. At least, Mark and I haven’t noticed this until after her surgery. They will keep an eye on this and check on it again later. Hopefully, she will outgrow this condition.

We continue to be blessed with meals and thoughtful gifts from people. We cannot say enough how blessed we have been. God has been so good to us and has taken care of us in wonderful ways!

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Tear-Jerker Moment

I just came across this video on my camera. I didn’t even realize anyone filmed this clip. It was me holding Victoria the morning she was being taken from the RNICU unit back for open-heart surgery at UAB. It was such an emotional time for me. As I held her, I began weeping. You can hear and see me start to cry. Watching this video tonight brought tears to my eyes again. I can remember what awful feelings I had in this moment. Knowing my child was about to be taken back for such a serious surgery was so difficult to handle. It was moments after this video was taken that she was moved into a portable pod and wheeled over to the surgical unit. This was the last chance I had to hold her before her surgery.

My, what God has done since this video was taken! This clip will always remind me what we went through with Victoria and what God brought her through.

Thank you, Lord, for such a powerful memory!

June 5, 2008
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The Singer – Part II

My dad took this video of Elyssa and Natalie at our home while Mark, Victoria and I were at UAB. I thought it would add to the previous “The Singer” post. Maybe these will make you smile today!

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