Davion and Mia's birthday party

Wow it has been a crazy weekend! Yesterday was Chantal and Andrew's wedding and today was Davion and Mia's birthday party: Luau style!!! Sam and Sophia absolutely love spending time with their cousins, and were so thrilled to be here. They had little grass skirts for the girls and hats for the boys. It is so hard to believe how fast Davion is growing up, it seems like just yesterday I was away at college and so sad that I was missing this beautiful little baby growing up. And here we are eight years later, and I still feel like he is growing up so fast. We love you so much Davion and pray that you have a fabulous next year.
This party was bittersweet as my sister, her husband and their kids are planning to move down south to florida this summer. So this unfortunately will be our last time that we are able to spend Davion's birthday with him for a while:-( Denise and Ron we wish you the best and pray that God opens new doors of opportunity for you while you are there

Chantal's wedding

The beautiful bride and her handsome groom


My best friend in the world. We have been best friends since we were 13years old. I was so honored to be her Matron of Honor



All the brides' maids



Matt and I. It was so nice to have time to be a couple, and to get dressed up and have fun without the kiddos

This past saturday was my best friend's wedding. It was such a wonderful time, I was stressed about being away from the kids but it was a good time. We had a lot of wonderful people that helped watched the kids over the few days of festivities, and the kids loved all the different environments to play in. And some dear family friends took the kids overnight saturday!!! Thanks Uncle Jody and Auntie Paula. The kids had a great time, I didn't worry (too much) and Uncle Jody now knows he is done having kids:-) We didn't even get home until about 2am, and then it took FOREVER for me to get all the bobbiepins out of my hair to be able to wash it and go to bed. And then we SLEPT IN!!! It is such a different feeling to get up so late, but it was wonderful...

Playground fun

If you look at the picture below this you can see Sophia peeking through this same window!!! This is one of Sammy's favorite playgrounds because everything is so high.


See he LOVES all of this climbing stuff, but it totally gives me a heartattack. He just flies up these pieces of climbing aparatus and it scares me to death. It would be one thing if we didn't have a bleeding disorder, but since we do it is a whole new ball game, but I don't don't want to keep him secluded from real life

You need to Shave!!!!

Sophia wanted to "shave" Sam so we got out the play foam soap and they had a blast

Drum roll please.....

FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY I heard from GI!!! I spoke with the GI doctor's nurse and essentially she said that the capsule endoscopy was NORMAL!!!! PRaise God! So essentially what this means is that God has healed him, or that they still just don't have a clue where this bleeding is coming from. The doctors over at MGH talked about a possible AVM but I am not sure what would be the way to diagnose that. He hasn't had any episodes of bleeding lately, so I am trusting God that this part of our lives may be over. The question still remains though does he have an actual bleeding disorder or is the bleeding caused from medication or something?
Last week when we came in to see the immunologist we also got to see Sam's little IVIG buddy Keegan who was in the hospital. Sam was so cute with Keegan, and very concerned. And Keegan treats Sammy like a little brother and is so generous and protective of him. It amazes me that these kids who go through so much medical stuff are so kind and grown up and compassionate. Sam was so comfortable at Children's he just climbed right up next to Keegan, and ate Keegan's supper with him:-) Fast friends thanks to being immunodeficient...

SPRING!!!!

Had a fabulous walk today with my friends. I am hoping to really work on my own activity level and get into shape. I have no excuses, I have been blessed with a double jogging stroller, we live in a good neighborhood for getting out and now I just need to be motivated. But that is where these wonderful ladies come in. We did a 3mile walk today and it went fairly quickly, even though my two kiddos (and ONLY mine) were a little irritable. But we survived, and weather permitting we will do it again tomorrow:-) Pray for me that I can stay motivated and do this:-)

Our weekend away!!!

Matt and I went away for the weekend and had a wonderful time. It was an eye opening experience, as I realized that so much of my interaction has been focused on the kids. This has been something that happened so easily that I didn't even realize it. The weekend that we did is through an organization called FamilyLife and the program is called "A Weekend to Remember". We learned a lot about each other and ourselves. Check out their website: www.familylife.com
The kids stayed at my aunt and uncles and did very well. The first night Sam fell out of bed, but went right back to sleep. Sophia woke up and ended up in their bed with them. The second night both kids woke up a little I guess, and then they both were in their bed:-) But the kids had so much fun, as they took them to the park, to see the ducks, swimming etc. We are so blessed by their willingness to do this for us. My poor aunt when I spoke with her saturday morning, said that she was exhausted. And they didn't even get them until late friday afternoon:-) It is exhausting though. AND TO TOP IT OFF.... THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD TAKE THEM AGAIN IF WE WOULD LIKE!!!!! Thank you Auntie Irene and Uncle Bud:-)
I called GI again yesterday and still have been unable to get the results of Sam's capsule study. I am trying to not get frustrated and be inpatient but I am really starting to get annoyed. They had told me that it would take about two weeks when he had it done. Thursday of this week will mark FIVE WEEKS and we still haven't heard anything at all. So please pray that we will get these results quickly.
In other news yesterday Sam had his appointment with his immunologist. All went well. His IgG levels are in a good range, his liver tests are all normal (a side affect of the IVIG can cause some elevation), he has gained some weight (32lb 10oz) and is now 39inches tall. I mentioned per DR V's request about his recent sinus infections and respiratory symptoms since the fall. He has started him on a new medication, called Flonase, to see if that will help the inflammation in his nose and sinuses. He also noticed that his tonsils are very large. He said that if the nasal congestion, and respiratory symptoms don't improve, it might be something in his adenoids and he would then want to do an x-ray to see what they are looking like. So I am praying that this flonase helps to decrease all of this irritation. He actually did allergy testing while we were there, for all the environmental allergies and everything came back negative. Praise God!!!
Off to the playground today, and praying that we hear from GI! Have a blessed day:-)

STILL waiting!!!!

Officially we should have had the results from Sam's capsule endoscopy last thursday or friday. Yet this week NOONE has a clue why they are not available yet. And of course my mind keeps wandering to the what if's of what was visible on the camera, and that isn't a comforting place to be. But prayefully week four will be the week that we get answers.
My dad had his quadruple bypass on tuesday and did really well initially. I am so thankful that God brought him through. But since yesterday he has had some struggles, mostly with pain control, and them not being able to control his pain. THere have also been some blood sugar issues, and some issues with tacyhcardia and with atrial Fib. So please please continue to pray for him, I know that God is with him through all of this. ANd please also continue to pray for my mom, she actually fell down on the cement steps at the hospital and hurt her ankle and knee pretty badly, so please pray for her.
In other EXCITING news....Matt and I are going away this weekend!!! I am so looking forward to getting away and having our focus just be on each other. It has been so easy to get caught up in the day to day life, or the problems that are surrounding us, but this weekend it will be all about loving each other the way God wants us to! It is going to be a blast.
I am a little anxious to leave the kids, but am so thankful that my aunt and uncle are willing/desiring to take them. It is such a blessing to have them together and with someone they love and who loves them. It is also comforting to know that they will be very close to Matt and I so that if there was anything wrong that we could be there super quick. Please pray for my aunt and uncle that the kids don't run the ragged, and that the Lord will bless them deeply!!!
Thanks and have a wonderful weekend:-)

Easter

This year the thought of what Christ did for me is just so overwhelming, I am reminded that I don't deserve His love and forgiveness, but that He CHOSE to give it to me. And I am ever so grateful.
This weekend was spent spending lots of time with family and friends. Between decorating easter eggs, church and visiting Dad at the hospital it has been quite a busy few days. But they have been beautiful.

Prayers please

A picture of my parents with the six of us kids last summer


And here is my parents from DJ and Lyndsea's wedding in November

My dad has had another heart attack!:-( You may remember that he had a heart attack two years ago almost exactly on the day that I had Sophia. I asking for your prayers to cover him and heal him. The plan is that he will be going in for quadruple bypass surgery on tuesday morning.

Playdate with friends

What a fabulous day we had. We invited a bunch of our friends out to the playground with us. I don't have pics of everyone but we had 10 moms and 20kids!!! It was such a wonderful start to hopefully a lot of nice weather this summer. My two ran almost non-stop the entire time we were there. And speaking about running, I am at a loss as to what to do with Sophia. She has gotten it into her head that darting into the road is a fun game. And I have NO IDEA how to stop this behavior. We have tried multiple time outs, we have actually left the playground/walk/our yard etc trying to punish her. Today she actually did this multiple times, to the point where the last while we were there I held her and wouldn't let her go, and she wasn't happy about it. But if you have any ideas on how to fix this let me know:-)

Sleepover

They really wore each other out



Sammy's little friend Keegan and his family were gracious enough to allow us to sleep over last week on the night when we had appointments at MGH on one day and at Children's the next. As usual Sam and Keegan had a blast together:-)