Pictures of my treasure

He is cautious of rides but if Daddy's doing it he will too!




Lovin' on MeeMaw while she's trying to sew.



Scary picture of me but he's lovin' on me with a irrisistable smile (maybe a little cheesy but I love it)!



He asked to have this picture taken which rarely happens.

My treasure

Life has been a little testing at our house over the past couple of weeks. Many times I have thought I just don't have what it takes to raise our son. A wise person who I go to often for advise and encouragement gave me a picture that I hope I never loose site of.

Make sure you are raising your children because they are your treasure not your trophy. Too often I am concerned about what other people think. I get caught up in how I look as a parent as a result of how Gunner is acting. This wise person, who happens to be my sister, encouraged me to think of Gunner as my treasure. It changes your perspective pretty quick. Of course I want Gunner to be well behaved and do what mommy and daddy ask him to do, especially when we are in public, but the fact is that's not always going to happen. It's a process that we are in the middle of and if I make it about me he will never get it and probably end up resenting me in the long run.

Gunner loves life. He loves his Mommy, Daddy and Baby. He loves his Meemaw and Pawpaw. He loves his cousins. He loves his friends. He loves going to church. He loves playing inside, outside, it don't matter--he loves to play but not by himself, he wants to share that joy with others. He loves to get donuts on Saturday mornings with his Daddy. It's a double bonus if its nice enough outside to go play mini golf. He loves going to the lake house. He loves Brocco (his Pawpaw's black lab). He loves to ride his bike, look for puddles and go down hills. Honestly there aren't too many things he doesn't like--well maybe eating and getting his picture taken but I think that's just because he is required to sit still!

Gunner is my treasure. I love him more than life itsself and look forward to seeing what God has in store for this little man.

OK--I was going to post some pictures of him but it is taking For Ever and I just don't have time to wait. I'll try again later. Right now my treasure needs some attention!

MRI Results and the next step on this journey

Well I had meant to update this much sooner but life has not given me the chance to sit down at the computer for more than a few minutes with both hands available. You see generally when I am on facebook or blog stalking I am feeding Rylee so I only have one arm/hand available OR I'm on my phone and haven't figured out how to post to my blog--I'm sure it can be done but that will come at a later date.

Rylee's MRI was Feb 9th. Dr Raley finally called us on Thursday. He called our home phone so he had the pleasure of talking to Gunner on the phone! We only have our home phone for 911 and our alarm system and rarely get calls we want to take SO we let Gunner answer the home phone and talk to the sales men/women. They usually hang up pretty quick.

I was feeding Rylee and could hear Gunner's side of the conversation and figured out pretty quick that this person was not going to hang up so I told Gunner to get his Daddy. When Ed answered he started chuckling--it was Dr Raley the perfect person to chat with Gunner on the phone.

The MRI came back NORMAL! Praise the Lord! It was so normal that the radiologist asked Dr Raley why the MRI was ordered. So what does that mean? Well her arteries and veins are totally normal in her arm so there is no concern with her heart. Did I say Praise the Lord? We are now looking at a genetic abnormality meaning that for some reason her arm developed differently. We will go see a geneticist in a couple of weeks and try to get answers on how it will continue to grow and what impact it might have on her ability to use the arm long term.

As of now she is using the arm and grasping things with her hand so it seems her mobility and use won't be affected.

God is good. He has his hand on Rylee and we continue to trust in him.

Here's a picture of our sweet girl in her hospital gown. She's playing with her toys not having a clue what momma and daddy are getting ready to put her through. I'm glad she won't remember this day.

MRI

Well today was the big day!

We reported to St Francis Children's Hospital at this morning for Rylee's MRI. (The Children's Hospital is an impressive facility.) Everything went well. We just had to deal with the normal stresses here and there.

She was a trooper when they started the IV. Just cried enough to let them know she was hurt--her hand hurt and I think her feelings were hurt a little too. Ed conveniently had to go to the bathroom right when they came to start the IV!

We were told the MRI would take about 30-45 minutes. Unfortunately it took a lot longer then we thought. She was away from us for about 2 1/2 hours. We were told it took longer to 'get her on the table' than they expected. This could be because they actually had to do general anesthetic rather than just a sedative in her IV. So we had the tube down the throat and everything. Apparently they also ended up doing more scans once they got started. The waiting was tough on Daddy!

Recovery was tough on Momma. She was crying, wouldn't eat, and coughing like crazy. They also couldn't get a good pulse-ox read. Thankfully she looked good so they were not overly concerned about that. But the machines kept beeping and they kept having to mess with her feet to readjust trying to get a better read. Recovery lasted about an hour. She did decide a little sugar water sounded good and took about an ounce of that finally!

We have not heard from Dr Raley. Hoping to hear from him in the morning. I will update when we hear something.

Thank you for your prayers. The extra scan has me a little concerned but I am trusting in the Lord with my little girl. Look at that beautiful smile--love her!

Rylee's Arm (rewind...)

I'm feeling bad because a couple of you had no idea there was something wrong with Rylee's arm. So here is the original email I sent out (keep in mind some things have changed since this I sent the email). I am also including a picture so you can see the difference. We have our MRI scheduled for Feb 9th. We will know more then.

I'm sure some of you know there is a problem with Rylee's left forearm. I wanted to try to explain what I can. We don't know much except she has an AV malformation in her forearm. Basically her arteries and her veins did not form correctly. To know the extent of the damage we will have to do an MRI which will require her to be put to sleep. Not really sure how soon we will do that. We will probably end up going to Little Rock for testing and treatment. If you look up AV malformation on the Internet it is scary so I'm limiting my 'research' time. Most of what you find talks about the malformation being in the brain which is far more serious. Her left arm and hand are visible larger than her right. As I understand it, depending on the treatment, this is something that will be visible her entire life.Please pray for us. We will have a lot of tough decision to make in the months to come. Pray also for Rylee's health and healing.

It's cruddy outside and inside

Today I woke up with a dizzy headache. The room was spinning even when I was laying down. And when I tried to get up I would just stumble like a drunk. Ed went to work with me in bed, Rylee in her bed and Gunner downstairs watching TV. When Rylee woke up I had to get out of bed (I was thinking I would be better by then but no such luck). I stumbled to her room and down the stairs and took my place in my 'facebook chair' as Ed refers to it. Started to try to feed Rylee and about fell out of the chair when I looked down at her. It put a strain on my neck I could hardly bear. I decided I felt bad enough to have Ed take me to Dr Newcomb (my chiropractor). I have had a couple of spells like this, Dr Newcomb said this was as bad as my first which was really bad. That time I felt terrible for about a week. (Some of you may remember me emailing you asking for you to pray for me. I thought for sure I had a brain tumor and was dying!) I am praying it doesn't last that long this time.

So here I sit making this entry to my blog wondering what do mom's do when they are sick or out of commission? Generally I have my mom come take care of me and the kids but she is iced in at some friends house about an hour away so she can't come to my rescue. Poor Gunner doesn't understand when mommy feel bad but he has done pretty good today...lots of TV time!

Let me just say if I ever offer to help you out with your kids when you are sick I really really mean it (Michelle Clark). Appreciate your prayers for quick healing.

Ed's Cheezy 37th Birthday!

So if you were at dinner at the church on Wednesday night you got to witness me and my cheesiness. Ed's birthday was Wednesday and Gunner was into it! When Gunner woke up Wednesday morning he wanted to yell 'surprise' when he saw Ed. He was telling me he would count one, two, three and then say surprise. I kept trying to get him to whisper while he was telling me his plan but getting Gunner to whisper is, well, impossible (any pointers on teaching a 3 year old to whisper is much appreciated). Anyway he yelled 'surprise' just as he had planned and of course Ed got a kick out of it.
Ed went to work and the fun began. Rylee decided to sleep in so Gunner and I made Ed a strawberry cake--his favorite. Gunner had a ball and as usual was thrilled to be doing something special for his daddy. Next was our trip to Target to get candles and a present. We secured the candles, Toy Story and a Wii Fit. The excitement was building and Gunner could hardly wait until he could give Ed his cake and presents. The only problem was, since it was Wednesday me and the kids would be at church and Ed was planning on working late then going to church to play basketball. Gunner would be in bed before Ed came home. So I called Ed and told him Gunner had made a cake for him and was going to be very disappointed if he didn't get to share it with him so we decided to celebrate at church. I felt like a major dork hauling in presents and a cake. Even a bigger dork when I pulled out the lighter and lit the 24 candles for Ed's 37th birthday. But to see Gunner's face made it worth it. We shared our cake with the Clarks and the Vincents and had our self a little party in the middle of the gym. I thought taking pictures would just be over the top so there are no pics to share!
The Wii Fit is still in the box. Ed hasn't had the energy to get it out. I told him I was no expert on exercise but I had heard that you gained energy by working out!
We watched Toy Story as a family last night. Gunner's still a little young and for a little boy who usually takes handfuls of toys to bed took very few last night. I really think it freaked him out!