Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday began with Sunrise Service at my family's church back home. In Woolwine, its tradition for the men to cook a big meal on Easter Sunday morning - and following sunrise service we all enjoy the fruits of their labor. This year was no exception....we had a nice service, on a BEAUTIFUL morning, then yummy food.

Following sunrise service, it was time for Katie to open her Easter basket. It was filled with a light up bouncy ball, duck bubbles, a flexible flower, a M&M toy, and of course - eggs with candy. I wasn't sure what Katie's reaction would be to the Easter basket....she always surprises me. She picked up the Egg shaped basket, dumped out all the contents onto the floor....then started exploring all the goodies inside.

We had such a wonderful weekend at home with Gigi, Nana, and Papa. Now this week - Easter with the Barnes Family. Katie's going to love getting all these Easter baskets!!! :-)

Egg Hunt

We are in Woolwine for Easter. Its become sort of a tradition to spend Easter with my family. We are getting spoiled this year with beautiful weather, good food, and lots of family fun. Katie loves it in Woolwine. I've never seen her unhappy here. I love watching her enjoy some of the same places, people, and things I did as a child.

Today, Matt and I took Katie to an Easter Egg Hunt at the Bretheren Church that my Aunt attends. The church members hid more than 400 eggs for the littles ones to find. Today was Katie's 2nd Egg Hunt - she participated in her first at school on Thursday. She was a little wiser about the Egg Hunting process. For example, the first egg she found - she didn't even bother to put into her basket. She immediately opened the egg and started trying to open the candy inside. HAHA! The little sweet tooth.....

After the Egg Hunt was over we took a few pictures by the River....and inside the covered bridge. There are 2 covered bridges in Woolwine, both considered historic landmarks. The bridges are no longer in use, obviously, but they are beautiful structures and a fun place for Katie to explore.

Katie also helped her Great Grandma - who she now calls GiGi - decorate her Easter hat. Once it was decorated, Katie thought she'd model it for Gigi! :-)

Sometimes I can't believe how much changes over the course of a year. Below are pictures of Katie from last Easter - in her helmet, only 7 months old, not able to crawl, not able to walk, not able to talk. I wonder what changes will come between now and her next Easter.

1st Place

Katie's school had Field Day games today. Apparently, our little girl took 1st place in the Push Toy race. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. She's been practicing for this day for months.....pushing all her toys around the house and into my walls - ha! I couldn't be more proud. This little ribbon is going into the scrapbook! :-) As you can see, things are back to normal today.

An update

This afternoon Katie had her appointment with the cardiologist. There is both bad news, and good news. The bad news is that Katie has a heart defect called Altria Septal Defect (ASD). You can look up the details if you'd like, but the short version is that there is a small hole in the wall that separates the top 2 chambers of her heart. The facts:

• The whole is approximately 6-8 millimeters


• There is a 33% chance that it will heal/close on its own as Katie grows and develops


• There is a 67% chance that it will not close naturally


• There is a 50% chance that it will get larger

The cardiologist says for now they will monitor Katie, hoping the hole heals naturally. If her heart doesn't heal on its own - or if it worsens - surgery will be required. The surgery wouldn't occur immediately. It would likely be sometime between age 3 and 6 (depending on many different factors).

There are 2 options for the surgery. One is a catheterization process, one is open-heart. The doctor indicated Katie's hole appears to be a good candidate for the catheterization process, which is much less invasive and risky (put this on the good news list).

Speaking of the good news: I've reminded myself this evening that this is a defect that could heal on its own. The defect she has is more mild than some others we could have faced....and I'm grateful for that. ASD is something that is "fixable".....either by nature, or by surgery. And, unless something drastically changes, Katie will continue her normal activities. No medication required, no restricted activities.....so there is no real impact to her daily life.

Matt and I took the news as well as could be expected today. We've been down the road of surgery discussions before - multiple times actually. While I hate to be back there again, I'm a little better prepared than I was for round one. For now, we are planning for the worst and hoping/praying for the best.

Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers! And, of course, for letting me vent (ha!).

Feeling Defeated

I'm feeling absolutely defeated today! A little over a week ago, we took Katie to the doctor's office because she had signs of an ear infection. While checking Katie, her pediatrician noticed a heart murmur. She said that sometimes when kids are sick a murmur develops temporarily and then goes away once the child is better. So, the doc advised us to bring Katie back to the office after 10 days of antibiotics, expecting the ear to get better and also the murmur. This morning we took Katie back for the follow-up. And.......the murmur is still there. Her pediatrician is sending us to a Cardiologist tomorrow for further evaluation. Could be nothing, could be something. I know many children have heart murmurs and that most are benign. But, Katie's other mid-line issues put her at an increased risk for a heart defect. In fact, 30-40% of children who have congenital scoliosis also have either a heart, kidney, or spinal defect. Her kidneys and spine were checked as part of an MRI she had back in November. When they came back as normal, we assumed there were no problems with her heart either (possibly a bad assumption). Its so frustrating to feel like you are finally getting past the worst of your child's health issues only to be confronted with more. I hope I'm just overreacting to some bad news at one appointment.....but I fear its more than that. Matt says I should stop worrying until we know something definitive. But, telling me not to worry about Katie is like telling me not to breath. Fortunately, Katie is as happy-go-lucky as always - oblivious to all of the worry around her. I'm just praying for good news from the Cardiologist.....and I'd appreciate everyone else's prayers too.

Flower Girl

Spring is here and I think our little flower girl is ready!!!

Hmmm.....What can I get into now????

Let's blow a few bubbles.....

Pick some dandelions....

Then stomp on them....

A fun day!!!

Glasses are here!

This past Friday we got a call that Katie's glasses were ready. The first couple of attempts to get Katie to wear them on Friday were unsuccessful. Despite the fact that they help her vision, she is still reluctant. Unfortunately we've resorted to all types of bribery to give her at least SOME time in the glasses (i.e. Katie you can watch a video on the computer if you wear your glasses.) I know - bad idea....but we've got to do something.

We actually got 2 pair - one that's more durable for everyday use. The other pair is wire rimmed and not ideal for an active toddler. But, the wire rimmed ones are a bit nicer looking. So, we got both. Below are a couple pictures of Katie in the everyday specs.

Snip, Snip

I'm a couple weeks behind on my blog posts because work has been very busy lately. I'll be working 3 out of 5 weekends due to server moves and database upgrades throughout April. So - bare with me on the tardy posts.

Two weeks ago, Katie got her first haircut.....which only took us 19 months! :-) Her hair on top is still growing in, but the mullet in the back was getting out of control. So, we packed her up on Saturday afternoon and headed over to "Pigtails and Crewcuts" - a kids salon nearby our home. Now, when you grow up in Woolwine, Virginia there are no such things as Kids Only hair salons. You just went with your mom to the nice lady down the street who did hair cuts in her basement (like Mrs. McAlexander). Needless to say, I was a bit curious. Also, I wasn't sure if Katie would cry the entire time or if she would love it. You can see from the picture below, she was a little unsure at first.

The chairs at the salon resemble the model cars which we had to put a quarter in as kids to ride. (For those of you who don't have young kids....those cars aremore like $.75 these days). Katie got to pick between a fire truck and a yellow taxi cab. She picked the fire truck! :-) So I picked her up, put her in the truck, and the haircut was over within about 5 minutes. Katie didn't cry once and I was so proud of her. The nice lady who cut Katie's hair took a special picture of her and preserved Katie's golden locks in a zip lock baggie. Finally, Katie got to pick a prize from the treasure chest as a reward for being so good during her hair cut.

Here she is on Sunday morning before church with her new do......isn't she cute! :-) I just love this little girl to pieces!