Addison's Broken Heart...

We received some tough news just before Christmas and for the most part kept it to ourselves since we did not have all the facts.

With the loss of Jason's job we thought it would be a good idea to have the girls checked by their pediatrician since we would be without insurance 2 weeks later. During the visit their pediatrician detected a heart murmur on Addie. He said he did not want to alarm us but we needed to have it checked to see if it was innocent or not. Best case scenario it would be an innocent murmur, worst case; a hole in her heart. Jason asked what he meant by innocent and he said, "Innocent meaning just that, innocent; not OJ innocent"...lol. He sent us for a chest x-ray, and an ECG, then referred us to a pediatric cardiologist. The pedi. cardio. sent us for an echo too.

Two days before Christmas Addison was diagnosed with an ASD, Large Secundum Atrial Septal Defect...she has a hole in her heart. The ultrasound tech. did not do her job right and the test was incomplete so they were unable to tell us the size of the hole. Since we did not have all the details at that point in time we kept the diagnosis a little hush hush.

She had her echo done again this past Friday with her pedi. cardio. and we were told the news that we were dreading to hear...
Addie's hole is BIG. It is actually causing one side of her heart to enlarge. She needs to have surgery soon and is not a candidate for catheterization which means she will have open-heart surgery. Of course as a Mother I wanted to know exactly what that entails so thanks to the internet I googled it. If you want to read what the Mayo Clinic had to say click here.

As a Parent, reading that your babies heart will be stopped is absolutely devastating. No matter how many of these procedures they have done or how amazing the hospital and staff is, it is OUR baby that will be on that table. The sweet little girl her big sister, Mommy, and Daddy prayed for. A good friend of mine said that God would not let us get this far, place that baby in our arms, and then take her away. I have to believe that she is right for no other possibility is acceptable for me.

Her case will be presented to the board at Loma Linda on Wednesday and we should receive a call by Friday to let us know where we go from here. I will post any updates on the blog.

We are praying and keeping faith that the Lord will see us through this obstacle as he has all others. Please keep our baby girl in your prayers too.
~Shea

PS. The Lord sure does work in mysterious ways. We thought Jason getting laid off was so tragic...when in fact is has brought this all to light for us. Without the lay off we would not have found out about her heart this soon. As a friend shared in a story recently at MOPS..."Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God."

Addie's heart. The hole is measured by the dotted line connecting the two little pieces of wall that do exist. That entire area should be solid.

What melts my heart

The love between these two little girls is what melts my heart.

Peyton was very ready and anxiously waiting for a baby sister. I can honestly say that not a day has gone by since Addie's birth that she has not enjoyed her baby sister. To see these two girls light up when they see each other is a such a gift. Peyton told me that she gives thanks to God for giving us her little sister because she loves her so much. Although Addison can not talk I know she returns the admiration too, you can see it it her eyes every time her big sister talks to her.

Addie & her Daddy

Here is what you can typically find Jason doing...on the computer (like I'm never on there...lol). This is also what you can typically find Addie doing...looking at her Mommy. Her little eyes follow me wherever I go :O).

New Pics of Addie (5 months old)

I Love...

when my husband does crafty things for me on the computer.
the laughter of my girls in the back seat.
a sunny day with blue skies, white clouds, & a cool breeze.
a chilly night with a cup of cocoa topped with whip cream.
when my husband helps me clean the house.
to look at my husband holding the baby.
interaction between Jason & Peyton as he talks to her about God.
it when Peyton adds her own "special touch" to her prayers.
when the girls smile.
that Addie does cheerleader moves when she gets excited.
to hear Peyton talk to Addie as if she were a 6 year old too.
when Addie responds to Peyton with a smile and a giggle.
when everyone goes to sleep and the house is peaceful.
spending time with friends and family.
Pinkberry.
doing creative things.
a clean house.
going to the movies.
watching Christmas specials with Peyton.
when Jason makes me laugh.
my life.

My husband is such a stud!

Look at what he did for me! He created my custom "A Monkey & A Peanut" header for me. He also created our Bunko groups "Holly Rollers". He is such a stud!

The Invisible MISTAKECASE

As I was sitting here this morning eating my blueberry instant oatmeal I remembered a cute story I would like to share with you...

Peyton has a book called The Invisible MISTAKECASE by Charise Mericle Harper. It is about two friends, Charlotte; a green alligator and Kate; a pink poodle. Charlotte calls Kate a big pink baby and stomps away into the house slamming the door behind her; leaving Kate outside all by herself. Kate cries all the way home. Charlotte immediately begins feeling badly for what she did and tells her Grandpa. Grandpa tells her that "this is one for the invisible mistakecase." Then he proceeds to tell her about the invisible mistakecase. "The invisible mistakecase is a suitcase where I keep all the mistakes I've made once and never want to make again. I carry it everywhere I go. It's right here," said Grandpa, and he pointed to an empty space on the floor. Charlotte asks him what's in it and he shows her a piece of pie; invisible of course. Then he shares with her the story of that piece of pie and the lesson he learned. You'll have to buy the book if you want to know the story behind the pie! He tells her about how he carries the pie in his invisible mistakecase to remind him of the promise he made and how the case is "heavy on the inside, but light on the outside". The next day Charlotte goes to Kate's house and apologizes. She put Kate's name on an invisible name tag, puts it in her invisible mistakecase, and then tells her all about it.

Peyton was 4 when I first read this story to her. After reading the story we started a discussion that went something like this:

Peyton: Remember when I accidentally cut my hair?

Me: Peyton, that was no accident.

Peyton: Yah butt...

Me: Remember how Mom cried when you did that?

Peyton: OK, let's never talk about this again.

Me: I think this is one for the invisible mistake case don't you.

Peyton: Yah, let's put it in the invisible mistakecase!

I thought it was quite appropriate that we had that conversation right after reading that book, it was a perfect fit.

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