Going Home: Day Five

Gracie is ready to be released from the hospital! We will probably be gone by noon today. She has recovered extremely fast and seems almost totally free of pain with only a little tylenol to cut it down. As of last evening we could really see that she was begin to act like she normally does. So, we will spend the night at the house in Crozet and make our way back to Dumfries tomorrow.

Recovery: Day Four

Last night Gracie left the PICU. This morning she had her chest tube out. She has just one more line that needs to come out and she will not have any left. She is eating well and her appetite is starting to pick up. Were not sure yet how many more days she'll need at the hospital, but she is doing great.

Recovery: Day Three

Gracie looks great this morning! She continued to have a good appetite through out the day, remained pretty comfortable, and has resumed playing with her binky. There is a chance she may move out of intensive care today since she is doing so well.

Recovery: Day Two

Gracie looks a lot more comfortable this morning than she did last night. She has been eating 2-3 ounces at a time and seems much happier. She was awake for a while this morning and staring at us without crying and fussing. As you can see, she looks quite a bit better than yesterday right after surgery.

Broccoli with Lemon Juice

For making it to the top of the staircase on one of her positive-behavior- reinforcement charts, Darcy earned a ticket for a date with the parent of her choice.  She chose me.  I was flattered and whisked her off one evening to Panera for dessert by the fireplace.  I had run across an article about taking time to ask your children questions and really listening to their answers. As she sipped on her smoothie and nibbled on her cornbread, I took some of the suggested questions in an effort to get to know my middle child better.

"Darcy,"  I began as she crawled in my lap.  "What is something that mommy does that you wish she wouldn't do?"  I cringed as I awaited her response.  It had not exactly been a stress-free year.  Between trying to homeschool her older sister to taking care of her baby sister, surely I had lost my temper with her a few times.  I'm sure she'll ask me to not get so loud when I'm frustrated.  Or maybe she'll ask that I don't grab her arm so tightly when I'm trying to get her to listen to me.  Perhaps she'll ask me to use less hostile methods to get her to obey.

"Well..."  I braced myself for her answer.  How could I reverse the scars that I've given my child?  "Can you please not give me broccoli ever again?"  I furrowed my brow as I tried to understand.  "I only like broccoli with lemon juice."

Kids are so resilient.  So forgiving.  I've made so many mistakes that I've feared to be irreversible, but here all Darcy can complain about is the dish of broccoli that I apparently forgot to season with lemon juice.
Haley and Darcy, as you are in Pennsylvania this week with Grandparents, please know that I love you and miss you.  Soon we'll be together again, restored, refreshed, and healed.  I look forward to the time we'll have catching up over a freshly steamed plate of lemon broccoli.

The Champ: Part 2

There she is! Gracie continues to remind us that she is one tough character. We are so glad that everything has gone so well and look forward to her getting through the next couple of days as restfully as possible. She is really uncomfortable, as one would expect, but the doctors and nurses are taking great care of her. Here is the flashback from August.

Real live baby doll

I came downstairs to the playroom the other day to find Gracie like this on the floor. Her sisters must have had a fun time playing dress up with her; Gracie just kicks and coos and loves all the attention.

The Glenn

That's the name of the surgery Gracie is having tomorrow morning. For the curious reader you can go check it out. For the rest of you, it will suffice to say that it is a 4-5 hour open-heart surgical procedure that will help Gracie maintain a tolerable Oxygen saturation in her blood for the next couple of years. If all goes well, we should be looking at a 4-6 day stay at UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, VA. Stay tuned for updates throughout the day and thank you for your support and prayers.

Arranged Friendship

This is Gracie's BFF, Ainsley (Josh and Jadey Burke's daughter), who came over to play. She was born less than a month after Gracie. I think--by default--they will be friends for life.

Pros and Cons of Homeschooling

PROs
1.  Being able to spend cold mornings inside by the fireplace talking about Egypt, mummies, souls, pyramids, and the afterlife.  (Yes, we still have our Christmas tree up.  Don't judge me.)
CONs
1.  Having a mountain of unused toilet paper on the bathroom floor for the next week.

Thank you, Aunt Jennie...

...for my new Jumper. As you can see, It's giving me a good workout. Soon I'll have strong neck muscles and not almost fall out of the leg holes!

The wife of a preacher-man

Yup...I married a good one.  If you want, you can even listen to Colby's messages at the church website.  Type in Esther into the search box at the bottom of the page to listen to his sermon on the book of Esther, otherwise you'll see the most recent one (on one of the hardest books of the Bible, Zechariah) there in the audio files.

Here's to 2010

I am pretty happy with my digital scrapbook for this year;  however, I wanted to rearrange the page order and couldn't figure out how to do it.  It allows for some creativity, but conveniently allows you to choose a page layout and background.  Lots of options.  You can finish an entire year of scrap booking in...approximately...6-10 hours (depending on how much of a perfectionist you are).  I think that's worth it!
Here's the link: The Best of 2010

Happy New Year

The tradition continues...