Abi started Kindergarten!!

Well, we did it...we dropped off our first baby at Kindergarten! She was excited to go, and though I was almost brought to tears when we were leaving her, I didn't actually cry! I'm so proud of myself! Abi was so excited to get up this morning and go to school...Emily looked as though she was going to cry when she hugged Abi goodbye, and Benny, well he just sat in the stroller like a lump :) It was a good morning. Now, it is just Emily, Benny, and I at home...whatever will we do :) Here are some pictures from the morning!

Finally, I know!!

I know, I really stink at updating this thing. I'm sorry to everyone for lagging, I just finally uploaded the pictures from my camera for the past couple of months! That's how behind I am. Well, as I am supposed to go watch a movie with the girls soon, I will do a brief update. Besides, pictures are what's most important, and I have included those as well!

Benny - is doing really well. His heart hasn't had too much change so our appointments are now every 2 months as opposed to every month! This is good news for us because not only is it easier on me to only have to worry about appointments every other month, but also it means that his surgery will be a bit farther away, giving him time to get bigger! Hooray! He's getting so big too! He's just about 9 months old now, and while he is getting big, he has just recently graduated to wearing his 6 month clothes. At his last doctor visit, he hadn't broke the 15 lb. mark yet, but hopefully September's appointment will show differently! He's such a sweet boy and is always smiling. We really have been blessed with a terrific boy!









Emily - what a ham this girl is! She's always into something, especially kitchen cupboards (they're her favorite hiding spot when the girls play hide-and-go-seek). She is very creative and is always making up stories about something. I definitely think she is the imaginative one! She's always inventing "friends". It's really cute! She's enjoying being the big sister to Benny. She's always wanting to help change his diaper. She's looking forward to when Abi starts school I think. She knows it'll be different, but I'm looking forward to the time I'll get to spend with just her. We have our preschool workbook picked out and the day Abi starts school is when Emily starts "school" too! She's looking forward to it!










Abigail - is starting school on Monday!! I can't even believe it! She will be an official Kindergartener. We had a chance to meet her teacher on Wednesday night, at "Meet the Gator" night. The gators are the school mascot. She will be attending Aue (pronounced ow-wee) Elementary and will be in Mrs. Ellsworth's class. There are actually 2 Abigail's in the class, kind of funny right?! We picked her name because we thought it was different! Ha! While it is a sad day for me, I also know it will be a great one as well! I definitely think the dynamic at home will be different now that Emily will be the big sister around the house. We shall see!












Darin & Elisia - are doing great. Darin just celebrated his 27th birthday (yep, he's pushing 30) on the 14th, and is currently in San Diego for the weekend as his celebration. His mom and I purchased him a plane ticket to San Diego for a long weekend. He left Thursday night and returns on Sunday afternoon. He was very excited to get to go home and see his friends! He took Benny with him so that the grandparents could enjoy him, giving mommy a break as well. It worked out well too because now I am able to do things with the girls that I normally couldn't because of Benny. We went to Sea World today with my friend Amanda, and her boys Ethan and Corbin. It was a long and hot day, but the kids enjoyed themselves! Tomorrow, we're going to go see a movie and maybe grab some lunch or something.



I hope everyone is doing well. I will try to remember to post pictures of Abi's first day of school on Monday! Hopefully none of me crying :) Love to you all!

Cardio appt update

Just a little update from today's cardiologist appointment:

Benny's murmur sounds about the same as it did last time, which is good news. It's not getting significantly worse, so he still has some time. Dr. Rogers does want to get some opinions from his colleagues so next Tuesday at their conference he'll be talking about Benny and asking input as far as when the best time to do the surgery is. He'll be asking the surgeons as well, and get their input so that we can maybe get a more definitive time line for when things will be happening. He's going to call me and let me know what is discussed and suggested. I think it's a great thing and I'm looking forward to hearing what the surgeons and other cardiologists have to say.

He has gained weight too! He weighed in at 13 lbs, 12 oz. This is 1lb, 4 oz more than last month! Wahoo! I guess that solid food is sticking! He has a well check tomorrow, more shots (for all 3 kids in fact), so we'll get some more stats tomorrow probably. He is starting to crawl, it's really quite cute. He can get up on all fours and rock back and forth but he just can't figure out what to do with his hands and legs to make himself move so for now he has resorted to throwing himself forward and landing on his hands. We figure within the next couple of weeks he'll be crawling!

I will let you all know how his appt. goes tomorrow!

Gearing up for Summer

We cut Emily's hair yesterday...nice and short for summer! She wanted to do it, and I figured since I was cutting her bangs I might as well! We think she looks so cute (not that she didn't before). I trimmed Abi's bangs too but that was a disaster. We went a bit shorter than plan :) Darin said it's like a mullet, business up front party in the back. Oops! Oh well, we told her she looks great and she's going with that! It'll grow out soon!

Wow...I need to get better at this!

I realized this morning that I'm really bad at doing this...I should try to be better. I'm going to try, but I make no promises! :)

We've been in Texas for about a month and a half now and we definitely think we made a good decision. We just love it out here. We love that we now feel like life has slowed down a bit for us, which is definitely a good thing. The kids are having a ball, going to the pool, the park, playing in the backyard! It's wonderful for them. Although they do make comments all the time about going to Monkey's house and Nani & Papa's house! So, since it's been a while since I've poste
d anything, I thought I would do a brief update on what's been happening (it's not exciting, I promise).

Most importantly, Benjamin had a cardiologist follow-up yesterday and while his echo showed some minor narrowing again, it wasn't enough to show concern and think about action at this time. This is great news! It means that his procedure he had done in San Diego before we left is working...it's buying him some time, which is all we can hope for. He'll be seeing his cardiologist once a month from now on. While I'm glad that he's following Benny closely, I sure hope our insurance comes through soon! These visits are getting expensive! Yesterday, his appt. cost $783! Isn't that crazy!! That's a discounted, private pay rate too! Benny is doing absolutely wonderful. He's getting so big, he's like a little man now. He weighs 12 lbs, 8 oz and is 24" long. So, he's definitely growing. He's actually starting to move into his 3-6 month clothes and out of his 3 month clothes! He's started solid foods and he is quite the eater. He loves his sweet potatoes and 'nanas. But he's not picky, he pretty much eats everything we give him! He's a good sleeper at night too, usually only waking up about once a night, usually early in the morning around 3a or so. Although the past 2 nights he has slept all the way through, so we're hoping this is a sign that it's getting better! He's rolling all over the place, stomach to back and back to stomach. He's very strong. We think he'll be trying to get around within the next couple of months for sure. He's just perfect and we couldn't hope for anything more...God has definitely been watching over our little man!

As for the girls....well, let's just say that at the moment I am typing this, Emily is crying because Abi did something to her. That's a typical day here, except that moment takes place usually 2-3 times an hour. It's getting ridiculous. They want so much to play together but when they do all they do is bother each other. Abi has been a big instigator lately. She likes to antagonize her sister ALL THE TIME!! They keep me busy. But they also have good moments, as you can see by the picture. Sisterly love is great! Abi will be starting Kindergarten in August, hooray! She's so ready as am I! She is very excited about it and asks questions about it all the time, primarily about nap time...she's really tired of nap time :) Emily will enjoy the one-on-one time with me I think. It'll be good for her to spend time away from her sister too! She can become more independent.

Darin loves his job. The pace is a lot slower than he's used to, which is a good and a bad thing, but he's adjusting. He likes the people he works with, they've all been really nice. He's so close to home that he's been able to come home for a lunch a couple times too. What a treat! It's funny though that as soon as the kids start screaming he has to go back to work. I don't get it?! :)

We've been busy around the house trying to get everything situated. We're still nowhere near where we want to be, but hopefully soon. Darin's mom is coming out in July so our goal is to have it together by then! Last weekend, we built a mantel for the fireplace, it needed something desperately! Darin is quite the handyman! He built it and we both stained it together. It turned out really nice we think. It was Darin's idea to add a bit of Texas flair to the mantel, hence the stars in the corners. It is a project that we are proud of! I've taken to gardening, if you can believe it. I'm trying to turn my brown thumb to a green thumb! So far, I've been successful. My garden is in full bloom. I'm growing carrots, cucumbers, green beans, onions, tomatoes, and lettuce (although the lettuce isn't doing too well). Darin built me my vegetable bed for mother's day! How sweet huh?! I will try to post some pictures of my garden later, if I remember to take the photos!

That's pretty much what's been happening around here! Nothing too bad, just a lot of busy work. I'm going to try and post pictures more frequently of the kids. Keep your fingers crossed! Oh, FYI, I added a couple links on the sidebar for Christus Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, which is where Benny will be having his next surgery, and for the Congenital Heart Institute of Texas. I also added his new cardiologist's name with a link to a page with info on him in case you're interested!

We're finally here!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are finally here and getting settled in good ol' Texas. It's been a crazy week and a half but things are coming along. Darin started work on Monday and is enjoying it thus far. He's more excited about the fact that he doesn't have to get on the freeway to get to work. On a side note, the roads here are crazy...yield here doesn't mean "yield" it means "stop" apparently. There are people stopping on the freeway at yield signs! It's a bit scary. I'm adjusting better to it than Darin! The kids are all doing well and the girls are excited. They've already been to the pool and the park, and Monkey even bought them a little plastic pool for the backyard for when mommy is feeling lazy! It's been very humid here the past couple of days but we've been warned to get used to it! So we're trying.

Benjamin is doing well. We thought he was finally getting over his congestion..he had a couple of days without it! But of course, he sounds as if he's getting a little sick again! Poor guy just can't catch a break. Tomorrow is his follow up cardiologist appointment. We're going to meet his cardiologist and make sure the results from the procedure are still good. His new cardiologist will be Dr. Rodgers. He was referred to us by Benny's previous cardiologist in San Diego. Apparently he's very popular (which hopefully means he is good) because his next available appointment wasn't until June! So I just had to name drop..."Benjamin Carr"..."oh yes, I have his information here, is tomorrow good for you?" and we got in! It's nice to know people! I will let you know what I find out! I'm still waiting on a referral for a surgeon but I'm going to talk Dr. Rodgers about that tomorrow too.

Okay, off to put my bathroom together and finally take a shower!! Mugginess is yuckiness!

Procedure Update

Benjamin's Cath procedure went very well overall. I shall start at the beginning though so that you know all that has occured in the past 24 hours.

Benny's cath procedure took about 4 hours, as we were told it would. It was a long boring day at the hospital for me, as I had no one there. Needless to say, time went very slow. After his procedure I had to wait an additional 2 hours before I got to see him. When I finally did get to see him, he looked good, just sleepy is all. He looked comfortable and in no pain. I didn't stay too long because my mom had the girls and my plan was to return later that night after the girls went to bed. However, I was so tired by then that I just decided not to go. I called to check on him before I went to bed and was told that they started him on Hepirin to help thin his blood because the circulation in his left leg (the leg they used for the cath) was not up to par. His temperature in his left leg was very cool and they couldn't find his pusles. So, I went to bed just hoping that it would work and that we could still bring him home today. Around 3:45am this morning, I got a call from Dr. El-Said (the doctor who performed his cath) informing me that they were going to be starting him on a stronger drug becuase the heperin wasn't working. It had been 5 hours and they saw very little improvement. They think that he had a clot in his leg. Since there are more risks with this new drug, Dr. El-Said told me that they would be staying by his bedside over the next 4 hours to monitor him, which I must say made me feel more reassured, and that they would keep me updated on any new developments. Try falling back asleep after that phone call!

Around 7:30am, Dr. El-Said called again and informed me that the new stuff worked great and that he had greatly improved. His temps in his leg were normal and they were finally able to find the pulses. I was quite relieved to hear this! They took him off the drug and put him back on Heperin, but because he had this new complication, they decided it would be best to monitor him for another 24 hours. So, he will be spending one more night in the hospital tonight. Though I am sad that my poor Benny has to be apart from me another day, I know it is in his best interest.

My visit to him today made me feel so much better. He looks great, is moving around like a champ, and even cracked a few smiles for his momma! Thanks so much for all the prayers and I will let you know any new news!!