Our Story

This is the story of our son Roman and his journey with a congential heart defect. At 2 months old, Roman was diagnosed with a congential heart defect called coarctation of the aorta and also bicuspid aortic valve. They are 2 different conditions that can be found apart or they can occur together...he has both conditions. Coarc as I will call it, was the most serious of the 2. It is a fatal condition when left untreated especially to the degree that Roman had it. It means that his aorta was narrowed down to the point of like a pencil in one spot instead of being nice and wide the whole way through. It caused his heart to work extra hard to pump the blood out because it had to push it through such a small opening. Half of his heart became enlarged because of this and his blood pressure was high except in his legs which was so low that they couldn't register it at all in one leg. The aorta delivers blood to the lower part of your body and his lower part of his body had been deprived of enough blood up until it was fixed by surgery. He was diagnosed after being sent to a ped. cardiologist for some tests when his pediatrician heard a murmur that wasn't present at birth and had trouble finding his pulse in his legs at 2 months. We went to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and they confirmed the diagnosis and then decided to do heart surgery the next day. They took out the narrow part of his aorta and stitched the wide parts back together. He was in the hospital for about a week. Recovery at home was a little longer...couldn't pick him up under his arms and he had meds that had to be adminstered at certain times through the day. He spent one night in the red pod which is critical and then the green pod which is still critical but a little better and then finally got his own room at the hospital. Neal and I stayed with him and never left until he did. We say now that it was the week that time stood still. Nothing mattered anymore. Just our son. We remained very calm and had faith that he would be okay. Lots of people were praying for us and it really gave us a peace that is hard to describe. He still has bicuspid aortic valve disorder and they monitor it yearly at VCH as well as keep an eye on his aorta to make sure the narrowing does not reoccur. We had our checkup there this week and they did a heart ultrasound and an EKG and gave him a very thorough work up. They found that his aorta is getting stronger and his valve isn't leaking like it was at the last visit. It is the best news we could have received. I don't understand why our family has been picked to go through this but I do know that God is in control and it has given us fresh eyes to what is really important in life. Through Roman's journey we were introduced to a wonderful charity, Saving Little Hearts. They brought us a surgery care package while we were in the hospital with him  that was filled with hospital survival necessaties and info on his condition. They even gave us a camera and a journal to record our time there! Saving Little Hearts raises awareness of congenital heart defects and provides surgery care packages to young heart patients at a lot of different hospitals. For more info on them you can google them..they have a website with items available for purchase. Roman has 2 scars that serve as reminders of the miracle of what we went through. If you know him personally, don't mention his scars because he has become self-conscious about them. We are working on fixing that! Thanks for taking the time to read our story. Hope it helps someone!

Hitting the Polls with the Boys

Today I took the kids with me to vote. I always vote in the big elections such as presidential elections but to be honest when we first moved here and didn't know anyone I didn't vote in the local ones simply because I didn't know who to vote for at the time. The boys were aware that school was out today due to elections and I wanted to set a good example for them and exercise my right to vote. I took them with me and prepped them a little on the way to not be loud, keep hands off of the election equipment, etc. They usually are very well behaved and do not cause problems in public. Can you see where this is going? It was a short line and I thought "we've got this..no problem" as I walked in. Overconfidence can sometimes be a downfall for people. Isn't there a saying that pride comes before the fall? A stranger who I'll call Chatty Cathy became the turning point. She kept talking to me and asking questions in line and the boys began to think...hmmm this might be a good time to pick each other up in the air, etc. When we are distracted is when kids seize their little opportunities. Nipped it in the bud and then headed to the booth where the little old man began to go through the process with me. After all that coaching on not touching the equipment...five little fingers reached out repeatedly and kept grabbing at the buttons. Luckily he didn't reach any. The boys started fighting over who was standing closer to me so I told them to go look out the window behind us at the playground outside. The little old man then said..."BOYS! I need you to move around to the side of the table over there. No one is allowed behind the voter." I quickly wrapped it up and headed for the door. I was proud of myself for going as we left walking down the sidewalk past the campaigners. When I reached my car I exercised another right of mine... :)

Back To School

Wow! Can't believe we are back to school already! The baby of the family has started Kind. this year and the oldest is in 3rd grade. Roman loves his new backpack and wears it around all the time. Carson has already started learning multiplication tables and is starting on cursive writing. I think it's gonna be a big year of learning for him! We are trying to get back into the routine of school but so far the mornings are still hectic. I think I'm gonna have to start getting all of us up earlier in the morning. The kids are just moving too slow and I am having to rush them (which stresses me out). We have been putting them to bed a little earlier since it is taking them so long to wind down in the evenings. I don't get it! I know Carson in particular is so tired but he fights sleep so much. Roman is doing half-days this week but will start full days next Monday. It was hard yesterday because he had to walk in by himself (except with Carson). He just seems awful little to be getting out at the curb and finding the gym. He says he can do it himself and he doesn't want Carson to help him. I have told Carson to walk with him to the gym every morning and it's sweet to see him put his arm around his little brother and walk a little slower so he can keep up. I think I am raising 2 very good boys!

Summertime

Well we are getting ready for our yearly 4th of July celebration. We always have a big cook-out PARTY at my mom's. There is swimming, a parade around the pool by the grandkids and some of us big kids :), dancing to patriotic and summertime party music (by grandkids mostly), a big cook-out with usually around 20 - 25 people, more swimming, a family firework buying event at the local firework stands, and then a firework display that could rival some professional events in the last couple of years. That is in part due to me and my nephew Sam plus my niece Anna planning the fireworks display :) I have been trying to officially pass the torch of firework display coordinator to my nephew Sam for a year or two. Last year I told him that was it for me and I had faith that I had trained him well. If he was reading this, which I know he is not, he would be getting a kick out of this post! I have been taking my 2 older nephews and my oldest 2 nieces for as long as I had a drivers license to purchase fireworks. The group has grown now with the addition of my own children and more nieces and nephews (which does make the shopping experience a little more difficult (scratch that) fun. It is always hot, sometimes raining, and always fun. This year I bought some glow in the dark sticks for all the kids to run around with at night. I usually try to get some patriotic hats or headbands but this year I am simplifying a little. My mom always fixes brownies with little flags in them and she has her backyard and deck totally red white and blued out! We are talking streamers people, and lights in the shape of stars, table top decorations and matching plates, napkins, etc You get the point. We kinda go all out.

New Laundry System

I got this idea from another blog. Thought I would give it a try and it really works for me. Here's my new system:
I have one laundry basket per family member labeled with that person's name. They stay lined up in the hallway outside the laundry room(this is because we don't have a big enough laundry room to line them up in). When I fold the clothes I put them directly into the correct basket. When the basket gets about half full I say "BASKETS" and the kids know to go get their basket, take it to their room and put their clothes away. They put all undies, socks, jammies, and shorts/pants in the correct drawers. All shirts are hung up in the closet by the kids themselves. They then must bring the laundry basket back downstairs to the hall. For the dirty clothes- a hamper is provided in the boys room and when it gets full they bring it down and dump it in the laundry room. This has helped me a lot!!! My problem was the clothes would get "stuck" once they were clean and folded. I had trouble putting them away. I would pile them up in clean piles but not put them away. This way everyone is responsible for putting away their own clothes(including me). My kids are 5 and 8 and once I showed them how to do it they have done a great job with hanging things up themselves...may not always be perfect but hey...I'm far from perfect myself.

Our Trip

We just got back from a trip to the Smokies. First time for Roman and first time that Carson can remember! It was a fast one but so fun! We stayed at the Clarion Inn Willow River this time and it looked like an old southern plantation house instead of a hotel. The back of the hotel very closely resembled the White House. Very impressive! It had an indoor pool with a hot tub(which the boys loved) and an outdoor pool with a lazy river(which I loved). It was a bit far out from the main attractions of Pigeon Forge...it was in Sevierville and about 10 miles from the red light to go to Dollywood. We went to the Wonderworks Museum and it was fun for the kids and Neal especially! Neal and the boys all climbed a rock wall while I took pictures. We got to experience what hurricane force winds feel like in this one simulator. It was mostly a science type museum which is right up Carson's alley. For supper that night we were in search of a Pancake house. We couldn't find any that were open except the chain IHOP....so we ate there. The kids devoured their breakfast for supper so it was a good idea to stop there. We had eaten earlier for lunch at Fudrucker's and the kids didn't hardly touch their burgers. Dollywood was HOT the day we went. It was in the nineties that day with some passing thunderstorms. They had to stop the rides twice for thunder and lightening while we were there. We all loved the River Battle the best I believe. You get soaked! The boys (and me I will admit) loved shooting the water guns at people. We all rode Blazing Fury which ended up being a bit much for Roman we found out too late. It was a little scary since it was indoor roller coaster and mostly in the dark. Roman however LOVED Daredevil Falls which scared Carson and I quite a bit! The rampage was shut down while we were there so that was disappointing but overall a good hot day. Except for when we got poop splattered on us from ducks flying overhead...it was so disgusting!! It covered this family sitting on a bench as we walked by and we got the leftover splatters. Thought Carson was gonna throw up on the spot. We washed off in a bathroom and headed for a water ride to help get cleaned up. On the way home, we stopped in at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World and it was neat to watch the fish swim. Neal and the boys LOVE going there and I actually don't mind it either. Reminds me a little of my dad's store growing up I used to work there. We were all so exhausted from the trip that we slept at least 8 hours the night we got home. The boys slept about 10!

The baby graduates today from Pre-K! Can't believe it! Trying to get a plan for the summer for our family. It usually works best when we keep some sort of structure to our days. Thinking about doing the summer reading program again at the local library. Also want to take the kids on some educational day trips. The area around here is rich with history and great stories for the kids to hear. I am wanting to get fishing licenses for all of us this year so we can take the boys to the lake and let them fish over the summer. We haven't fished here...usually save that for when we visit my mom or my husband's family. I love summertime and having boys running around in the evening catching fireflies :) We currently have a jar of tadpoles on the backdeck that came from the top of my mom's pool before they opened it. We are hoping that some of them will make it to adulthood. So far we have 1 with 2 back legs! Don't know if we should feed them something or not. We put a big rock for them to stand on when they are able and having been checking on them daily. I want to start walking again in the evenings like last summer. I think it would do us all good to walk about 30 min everyday. But first, we must get through this week of end of the year school stuff.