Suth Life

CapeMay Zoo

2011-06-19T16:46:00.000-04:00

And Let There Be Calla Lilies!

2011-04-26T16:09:00.001-04:00

The Top

Back Side

I Had Problems Getting the Fondant all the Way around So I went with a Button Motif.
I think It Gave the Cake a little bit more Character and Spunk! :)

For the First Time Attempting Gum Paste Flowers, I am satisfied and I know some New Tricks for next time that I want to use to make them even better.
Oh Those are Gumpaste Leaves as well.

Happy Anniversary, Tim and Liz!

Let's Go Out to the Ballgame! (Brrrr!)

2011-04-26T07:33:00.007-04:00

It was such a beautiful day yesterday! The temps got in the high 70's and there was a blue picturesque sky with puffy white clouds everywhere. However that all changed by 6 that evening and the fog started rolling in and the temps went down in the 50's.

The kids still had a great time in the cold and played with a sweet little girl from our church, Brianna. You can see they were a bit silly at that!

Kenny's men's softball team from Cornerstone had a game last night so we took advantage of our Spring Break schedule and watched a few innings before Maia had to go down for the night. It was a fun night, but definitely a icky, cold night as well.

Most importantly, our team won by a landslide! Way to go, Cornerstone!

Easter Sunday

2011-04-25T17:10:00.001-04:00

Maia and Gideon struck a few poses before Sunday Church yesterday. For some reason, Gideon was having some weird poses. Finally the last one turned out great of the two of them. But I loved Maia's pose on this first one, so I cropped Gideon out and focused on her. Hope that doesn't appear to be a rude mom. LOL!

They are just too cute!

Happy Easter to you and yours!

Gone Fishing Cupcakes

2011-04-23T12:32:00.002-04:00

I made these cute little creations for a good friend's wedding yesterday. Andrea's now-husband, Dustin, loves fishing and we thought this would be a nice addition to the wedding cake. I got the idea from the fabulous website, lacremecupcake.com! You should check out her website. She has some major skills! She has so much creativity and I hope that my copying was a form of flattery!

Well, the bride and groom called me today on their way to their honeymoon in the Poconos, just to thank me! How sweet is that?!? They said the cupcakes were wonderful and they tasted better than the cake that the reception site had made. Love to hear that! :)

Have a wonderful marriage, Dustin and Andrea! May God Bless you in all your years to come!

It's a Snowman Gathering

2010-12-20T21:40:00.003-05:00

I saw these cute little guys on the internet and I just had to try them out. Aren't they just darling?

Wanna make these guys yourself?

Go to...

Disney's Family Fun Website

This is my stoic snowman.

These two are my sympathetic guys. They look a bit worried, don't they?

And Finally, Here is my Chorus Line of scarves and top hats.

I broke a few in the process and they do taste yummy as well.

Also, instead of orange gel for the nose, I just cut little bits of orange gum drop for this beak instead.

Ladybug's Heart

2010-09-20T20:08:00.003-04:00

Well, I am pleased to say that Maia's heart appointment two Fridays ago went very well. We were very much prepared for her cardiologist to say that she needed to have a heart cath procedure next month, but we got just the opposite. Her heart is looking fantastic.

Her VSD is only 2 mm in diameter. We thought he would want to go in and close via a catheterization process, but he said that it is not growing any larger and the cath won't be necessary! Woohoo! Praise the Lord!

Dr. Zales went on to say that her pulmonary valve continues to grow more in ratio with that of her left side and those thick walls keep getting thinner and thinner. We are just amazed!

Thank you, Dear Lord, for all that you have done for our daughter! For the prayer intercessors she has! For the amazing medical community that has intervened on her behalf! For your healing power for Your Glory!

She is a feisty, smiling, almost two year old who loves life! We love her so very much. May we be all we can be for her! Lord, please make us the best parents for this amazing child with HRHS.

12th Birthday Celebrations

2010-08-25T16:25:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful time celebrating Brenna's 12th birthday with her. It was so nice to have most of the family there. We miss you, Joseph! Happy Birthday, sweet niece. Hope it was all that you had wished for. We love you and miss you already!

Fun Friday with Fam

2010-07-16T17:45:00.000-04:00

Uncle Micah, Cousin Kaya, and Maia are having fun together!

Silly Pizza

2010-07-02T08:22:00.006-04:00

One thing I really appreciate about the summer is the time I have to be more creative with my children. When I am off from school and the daily stresses are no longer lurking around every corner, I am freed up in my mind to be a more pleasant and fun momma. I try to be that way during the school year and I succeed every once and a while, but it definitely is more apparent during winter break, spring break, and during the summer months. I think it is partly because my brain takes a lot longer to geared up now and it just takes me longer to come up with inventive stuff.

So here is one of our little fun lunches. Now that I built up this "creativity thing" you are probably expecting this amazing feat of genius, but no...just a fun afternoon making silly pizza faces with my son, Gideon.

Of course, my final success came when Gideon tried out the pizza and told me that it actually tasted like real pizza. I think he fears my cooking. During the school year we do so much already, pre-cooked type meals that he doesn't know that his momma can actually cook. LOL Hopefully this year will be different. I have my new line-up of classes for the upcoming academic year and it looks much more stress-free than this previous bear of a year. I am excited to see if my kiddos can actually get a more on-top-of-it mother this year. We shall see.

Look at those cute little eyes looking up at you! You just have to smile. Right? :) (I'm not talking about the pizza's eyes either!) LOL

Final Product. The Crust was made from Costco's whole wheat wraps. They were very tasty!

The Rest of Our Day!

2010-06-19T19:58:00.001-04:00

Okay, I can only blog 4 pics at a time via Picasa / Blogger so here is the rest of the slideshow of our day. It was so very fun!

Let's Party!

2010-06-19T19:49:00.000-04:00

We had such a wonderful time celebrating with the White family today!
Amelia turned two today!
Her mom, Lauren, was Maia's babysitter most of this school year.
It was a beautiful day to have an outside party.
Here are a few of our memories we made today.

Our Little Boy...Not so Little Anymore

2010-06-19T09:53:00.003-04:00

Gideon is offically a first grader now! We had a great time celebrating his promotion to the next grade on Tuesday night this week. Come take a look at our evening together.

Thank you for all you have placed within him, Lord. He is such a precious gift to our family. May we continue to guide him in all your ways.

Here with My "Peeps"!

2010-04-03T15:10:00.005-04:00

Dominican Republic Trip 2010

2010-03-19T21:26:00.002-04:00

Our Seniors from Calvary Academy are in the Dominican Republic, as I type this blog. I am so very excited for each one of them and their chaperones. I can't wait to see how God will provide for them in this country. May God use them in the lives of many and may they also be touched deeply by His eternal and everlasting presence as they obey Him these next few days!

You can view their daily posts by going to our school blog. Just click on the photo image above and it will link you to this site. You can also sign up to follow the site and get updates when a new post is uploaded.

Please pray with me for not only this one small group from our school, but for so many around the world who journey to this country and their neighbor, Haiti. So many need so very much! God can and will provide. Let us obey in prayer and action.

By the way, G.O. Ministries is a great organization that you can support for an ongoing, long-term ministry to the D.R. and Haiti. My friends, Jeff and Vicki Rogers, are a part of this amazing ministry that God is using in extraordinary ways. They have been there for many years before this year's devastating quake and will continue, with God's provision, to do so for many more.

Seniors, you are missed, but press on! Touch! Grow! Minister! Be ministered to! We love you and are praying for you daily! May God radically use you in phenomenal ways that will blow your mind! May you just catch a glimpse of Who our God really is! May the people there experience that same glimpse and hold on to our Savior and never let go!

Oh, to be Sixteen Nowadays!

2010-02-20T15:33:00.004-05:00

This is definitely more the trend the past few years! I made this cake for a girl that is turning sixteen today. I guess with all the cake decorating shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss, plus all those cake showdowns on the Food Network, kids have a much grander idea of what a cake should look like! Ha, ha!

I truly enjoyed doing this cake. The Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty are made of fondant that I cut out free hand and then all the buildings are also fondant. The stars are molded white chocolate with a little silver dust on them. Many of the ingredients were purchased at The Chocolate Belles in Brick, NJ, on Chambersbridge Rd. The rest is good ol' buttercream, white cake, with a raspberry torte! Yum! It was a lot of fun! I hope the young lady is as pleased as I am with this cake!

Wonder what kind of cake she'll have for her wedding in a few years?

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T11:04:00.004-05:00

Celebrating my Lovin' Man!

We have laughed, lived, and loved...

for 10 years now!

I thank the My Father for bringing such a perfect mate

to me!

Kelly Moore Bag Give-away from MckMama!

2010-02-12T13:50:00.006-05:00

Do you love Kelli Moore's designs? Here is an awesome give-away from MckMama's site for a gorgeous camera bag. Go over to her site and sign up for the give-away! Hurry up! It will be closing soon. Click on the bag above and you'll be directed to MckMama's giveaway page! Good Luck!

Kentucky Christmas: Nice Memories

2010-01-09T16:01:00.003-05:00

Kenny, Gideon, Maia, and I travelled to Kentucky the Eve of Christmas Eve to spend some very much needed quality time with both the Sutherland and Gerdis families, as well as many good friends. We spent nine days in Good Ol' Kentucky and we sure were blessed by so many of you and just catching up with you.

We started our Christmas festivities over at the Sutherland Clan on Christmas Day and then had our Gerdis Christmas the next day. Kenny and I just felt the busy-ness of our lives just melt away and the warmth of family fill our hearts.

The following days we were able to get together with the Paulson Family (unfortunately we forgot our camera that night), Abby, Joel Nussbaum, The Tenney's (to celebrate Heather's birthday), the Henson's to celebrate the New Year's with dinner, a play, dancing, and just pure fun. The last night we spent over at Joel and Toby's and finally got to see my niece, Kaya. I have only seen her one other time and it was so good to hold her in my arms. We had a treat and Julia and Gina were also able to come!

Here is a very long slide show of our time there. You can click on the slide show and go to the pictures uploaded on my web album on Picasa.

WE love you all and had a wonderful Christmas time!

Happy Birthday, Meaghan!

2010-01-09T11:49:00.002-05:00

My, sister-in-law, Meaghan is celebrating her birthday today!
She has been part of the Sutherland Clan now for five glorious years!
Hard to believe the years have flown by that quickly?!?

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Hope it is a Wonderful, Glorious Day and Here is to A Fabulous New Year!

John Mayer's - I'll be Home for Christmas

2009-12-21T12:35:00.001-05:00

Gideon and I have been singing to this version of the song "I'll be Home for Christmas" for days. It is my new favorite version of this song! I absolutely love it and I dedicate this to all my family and friends in Kentucky whom we shall see in a few short days! Love you all!

Editting and Additions

2009-12-20T21:34:00.001-05:00

I wanted to edit a few of the pics from earlier today and add a few from that were taken inside our apartment. Enjoy!

Blizzard 09'

2009-12-20T16:46:00.002-05:00

We had so much fun in the after affects of the Blizzard of 09'. I don't know about Kenny though! Sorry Daddy!

Sick Day

2009-11-05T16:30:00.002-05:00

I don't feel well! Help me momma, help, help me momma!

Here comes brother to the rescue!

I didn't ask for you, Gid-gid!

Well, I guess I can tolerate it for now! Hmmp!

Are bunny ears what the doc prescribed?

Maybe not, for little sis, but I like em'!

What a Wonderful Celebration!

2009-11-03T21:23:00.003-05:00

What a wonderful celebration it was this past Sunday! The last 365 days plus have been an amazing journey and so many of you were there right beside us, lifting Maia up in prayer to our Lord and supporting us in so many ways. We had a time of worship and praise to our Heavenly Father for his healing touch upon Maia and how he has used her for His glory already in her young life.

We are so very busy, but I wanted to get this up for you. You can also link to the web album at the link below.

God Bless!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tdsuth02/MaiaSBirthday#

25th Anniversary of Baby Fae

2009-10-26T11:57:00.002-04:00

This video popped up on my home screen today at school and I just had to post this immediately.

Baby Fae was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome 25 years ago. At that time HLHS was a death sentence and there wasn't a baby born that survived. Her doctor did an experimental procedure and transplanted a baboon's heart into her little body. At the time, this caused much an ado concerning animal rights and medical ethics.

I am so humbled and inspired by the medical advancements that have been made since little Fae's birth. Thank you, Lord, for your intellectual imparting to these researchers and doctors since that time! Thank you, that Maia's doctors knew exactly what to do for her little heart last year, this very week!

Below is a trailer for a movie of Stephanie "Fae" that will be coming out.

What a Month!

2009-10-11T11:40:00.003-04:00

Okay, Okay! Can you tell it has been a very hectic first month of school for me??? Between Kenny's new ministerial responsibilities and my teacher responsibilities we pretty much look at each other across the room in the evenings, give a knowing nod to each other, and hit the hay way much earlier than we have at any time this past year! Whew!

Oh, what? I didn't tell you what Kenny is doing now at church? If I didn't tell you, it wasn't intentional. Kenny is now the official men's minister at our church in Lakewood, NJ. It is a volunteer position and he still works his full-time job. He is loving his new minsitry and the Lord has given him such a gift of teaching! I am so very proud of him!

With ministerial position comes more expectations and responsibility however. It is a good thing and we know that God is in it, but he also needs to be at church for different functions about three nights a week. Add that to my Bible study I am taking and my teaching responsbilities and it adds up to quite a sum of "busy"ness. I am hoping things start balancing out a bit more.

Gideon is loving Kindergarten and is learning his numbers and letter sounds quite proficiently. Of course his favorite part of kindergarten right now is prize day. Every four days a student does not get his frog moved to the orange lily pad of poor behavior he gets a prize. Gideon is beyond "giddy" on those mornings of the prize-pick-out!

Maia is jabbering away, speed crawling, pulling up, and giving those great big smiles I love her for! I can't wait to celebrate her 1 year bday at the end of this month. I want to go back to CHOP and to the Ronald McDonald House to show our gratefulness for they did for Maia and our Family.

Well, busy-ness or not, we love you all and miss you dearly!

10 months old!

2009-08-29T21:49:00.007-04:00

Ten months ago

A little girl with a tiny heart was born, but....

Many were praying for her and God heard and said, "Yes"!

Slowly but surely He is revealing this healing to us, day by day!

And she is a testament to so many of His unfailing power!

She is Maia.

Which means "Close to God" in Hebrew.

Her middle name means...

His promise, His oath, or Consecrated one!

May her life always be used by Him for His Glory!!!!

In Honor of Maia's celebration of Life,

The following is a video link about CHDs and a few of my

blog friend's children are featured.

Get out the tissue!

Please click on the following:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=919536ae53bca5144f3877&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

West Virginia, Mountain Momma!

2009-08-24T21:00:00.002-04:00

I will post more later about our trip, but for now enjoy a little slide show. If you want to see the pics individually OR see a few of them that are actual video clips, left click on the slideshow and it will take you to the web album. It was a great time! Thank you Gunnoe Family for opening up your home to us!

A Much Delayed Post

2009-08-13T19:39:00.007-04:00

Sorry it has been awhile since I posted AND it just dawned on me today that I still hadn't posted Gideon's bday picture on my blog so here are a few. It was a great day of fun and laughter with our now 5 year old son!

Egg Race.

Opening the presents.

Our Cousin Kim with Maia.

Sorry there aren't any more pics. It was a busy day and even though I love documenting our days with the camera, I just didn't have the time to pic up the camera like I wanted.

On other news, while all my KY friends were saying good-bye to their kids for their first day of school this morning, I still have about three more weeks till Gideon has his first day. It is nice to know there is still a bit more summer left for the Sutherlands.

My mom is now done with all her chemo and radiation treatments and now it is time to just focus on healing. Part of that healing will be to see her grandkids and daughter next week!!!! We are so excited to meet up with my parents and the Gunnoes at their cabin in West Virginia. It is the halfway point between NJ and KY...exactly!n What a nice trip that will be! We are so looking forward to that time! Maia has grown so much since our visit in April and I cannot wait to carefully hug my mom and give a great big hug to my dad since his full recovery from a recent stroke! God is good!

Bye-bye Brenna!

2009-07-31T16:49:00.002-04:00

We are sad to say good-bye to our niece, Brenna. We have enjoyed her presence for the past three weeks. It has been a wonderful time of 10 year old fun, loving on cousins, and being beach bums at the "shore".

Here are some photos of the past week or so. It has been a blessed time and we wanted to share.

Bronx Zoo

2009-07-18T20:39:00.003-04:00

Bronx Zoo

Click on the picture above and it will LINK you to a web album of our day. Choose the slideshow on the web album page to see a nice little clip of all the pics!

We had a great day at the Bronx Zoo with our Niece Brenna today! What a gorgeous zoo! It was full of wonderful exhibits that I could tell the animals really enjoyed and it was just a massive zoo with plenty of shade for the zoo-goers! It is definitely everything I have heard about this zoo and much, much more!

It cost a pretty penny to get in to the zoo. The four of us cost $108, but we could have just adde d$42 more and got a family pass for the whole year to all five NYC zoo locations and the aquarium. It was tempting, but we had to pass for this year.

The kids are all tuckered out and fell asleep as soon as the car got on the highway back to Jersey, but it was definitely a good tired!

A Video from PreK Promotion

2009-07-10T22:20:00.003-04:00

Okay! I don't have sound to this but you gotta watch it just for the facial gestures that Gideon makes! In no way could he be related to me! LOL! I was the mundane kid for school performances...NOT! I guess the apple don't fall too far from the tree!

First Futbol Feat!

2009-07-06T20:01:00.003-04:00

Gideon had his very first soccer practice tonight. It was so precious watching these four and five year olds learning their drills at various stations. Too cute, really!

Gideon was doing some weird movements while we were waiting for the session to get started. I asked him what he was doing and he replied...

"Mom, I have watched what they do before soccer matches before and this is how they warm up!"

So here is what he was doing!

My son is just adorable. That is all I gotta say!

I'll post more pictures in a little bit of the practice itself!

How Fun Can a Latex Glove Be?

2009-06-21T21:15:00.006-04:00

How can you make a little boy's day and bring big smiles?

Bring out a medical latex glove that you swiped from the E.R. from your last visit.

Shhh! :)

Then you stretch it over your boy's head.

This might take a few tries; make sure he leans into it!

And, Voila!

Chicken Boy is Born!

And One Happy Boy is Created!

He was definitely acting silly once this was on his head!

Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!

Too Funny!

As a side note, Gideon, Maia, and I were out running errands yesterday.

It was downpouring when were about to drive into the parking lot of the grocery store.

I prayed a little prayer out loud.

"Dear Lord, please help us find the perfect parking spot so Maia does not get too wet. Amen."

Gideon sees an open parking spot that is pretty far away and announces that he found the spot Jesus wants us to have.

I see it and I tell him that I am not so sure that is the "one".

Gideon then says that this is the one Jesus wants us to have and we need to be thankful for what the Lord has provided us.

Out of the mouth of babes. I took another look at the parking spot with new eyes.

Even though it was very far away from the entrance to the grocery store (five stores down might I add), but now I see that it really is very close to the front of the plaza and we can run pretty quickly to shelter.

I announce thank you Lord Jesus for what you have provided.

"Yep!", announces Gideon "the perfect spot; thank you Jesus!"

Officially a Kindergartener

2009-06-21T00:27:00.005-04:00

This week we attended Gideon's PreK Promotion Ceremony at Calvary Academy.

It is so hard to believe that our little boy will be attending Kindergarten this coming year. It just seems like yesterday I held him in my arms for the first time or I cut his little locks from his head while he sat in his highchair. Boy, time has flown.

I know that most parents can identify with these statements. As a child I heard my parents say similar comments, but could not truly understand what they were saying until now. The months and years sift through my fingers like sand. I cannot hold onto them as much as I like.

I try to be a parent that relishes each moment and truly enjoys the little things of my children. Because of this attitude, I feel that time has been a bit slower for me than it could have been. It has been a real treat to be Gideon's momma and I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity I have had with the my son these past five years! It has been a wonderful experience.

While I was driving Gideon and Maia around today. Gideon was feeding Maia a bottle in the back of the car and she started to giggle. It was a fun sight to watch my Gideon's eyes light up as she continued to belly-laugh at him. I asked him if he was getting a kick out those giggles and he replied..."Mom, you have two adorable kids don't you?!?" Yes, I do, Gideon! But I definitely have one amazing young man blooming before my eyes!

Gideon walked down our apartment hallway after his ceremony this week and announced...

"I am officially a kindergartener, aren't I mom?!?"
"Yes, you are, Gideon!"
"What does officially mean, mom?"
"It means that you really are a kindergartener, Gideon."
"Yes, I really am!"

Yes, you are babe and I couldn't be prouder!

Ladybug Says Boo!

2009-06-14T16:12:00.011-04:00

Maia wasn't herself yesterday.

She woke up limp and clammy.

We decided to head to the ER just to rule out anything serious,

especially with her special heart.

Of course by the time we arrived at the ER

She was back to her normal happy-go-lucky-self.

Before we left the house, her pulse was 174, in the SVT range,

but while we were at the hospital,

She was in her normal range of 130's or so.

Oxygen levels looked great too.

She was never blue, but very clammy.

So we hung out and waited for the docs to tell us to go home.

Momma was even brave and took a pic of herself.

Even though she still had bedhead and was make-up free.

We aren't sure what happened and the docs don't know either.

We hope it doesn't happen again.

We are wondering if maybe it could have been the sweet potatoes

she had the previous day.

Well, she was the hit of the ER and she flirted with every nurse and EKG tech

she could find.

Thank you, Lord for keeping our daughter safe!

No more sweet potatoes for quite some time...if ever!

April Rose

2009-06-10T09:43:00.004-04:00

For the past two months I have had a link up on my site for Little April Rose, a baby who had been diagnosed with Trisomy 13. The mother was an unwed Christian lady who was now telling her story along with that of her unborn daughter. It has been discovered this week that the whole story was a farse and many were misled to pray and to also give funds to this young lady, now known as Beccah.

MckMama and many other reputable bloggers have come forward to reveal the new details even further. I will not go into any more detail about this but you may want to go to McMama's site for further information, she has a great description of what has been discovered. I would also agree with MckMama and others that we need to pray for this miguided young lady and that the Lord would use this situation for His glory in her life and that of others and not allow Satan to have a foothold.

A Most "Pleasant" Evening!

2009-06-01T16:43:00.024-04:00

Pt. Pleasant Beach and Boardwalk on a Saturday Night!

We're Waiting For Daddy to Bring the Grub.

Hmmm. Will He Ever Get Here? I'm Hungry!

I'm good! I've had my bottle already.

Food has come and Momma is chowing down on some yummy corn.

Gideon is flying in a helicopter ride! He's definitely happy!

Very Pretty Evening = All the Locals are Out to Have Fun Too!

Wait until after school is over then all the Philly and NYC people will join us as well!

Whew!

Head out on the Highway, Searching for Adventure!

I'm not sure about this one guys????

Waiting for Gideon to Get Done with His Rides is Fun with Momma and Daddy!

This one is for the Grandparents? Okay! I'll bat my eyelashes and give it all I got!

Family of Four Pic! Our first one since October!

Fun at the Shore!

Daddy getting ready to pose with Maia by the shore too.

Oops! That COLD shore got his toes. A bit cold I presume???

Gideon doesn't mind! He loves it!

Daddy and Daughter

Momma and Daughter

Won a Prize on the 1st Try! WTG, Gid!

It truly was a most "pleasant" evening!

It just makes you breathe in easier!

It makes you exhale with satisfaction.

It was wonderful!

Only 18 More School Days Left!

2009-05-24T14:57:00.015-04:00

Many students do not think that teachers look forward to holidays and summer vacation. They believe that teachers love school so much that they would live in the school building year-round, if they could.

Well, that is what I believed as a kid at least.

Let me dispell this myth for you! I am so looking forward to summer vacation!

I cannot wait for summer days with my son, daughter, and even husband on some days! We plan to take walks, go to the park, have picnics, and then on Fridays to go to the beach with daddy on his day off! Yay! It is going to be very nice. We might try to squeeze in reading and math readiness activities for Gideon so he is nice and ready for kindergarten, but that is pretty much all I want to do with school this summer.

School is officially out on June 17th. The teachers have one and a half more days after the students are released. I know this sounds so late for my Kentuckian counterparts, but we don’t return to school until after labor Day in September, so it really isn’t that bad. In fact I would rather have it that way. This year’s Labor Day is unusually late and we don’t go back until the 7th of September!

Woohoo!

Don’t get me wrong, by the time mid-August comes around, I will be chomping at the bit to get in my classroom. I love the smell of school! I know this sounds odd, but it is so true! I don’t know if it is a universal teacher thing or not, but it is definitely true for this die-hard teacher! I love the smell of pencils and of desks and of the new lunchbox you get every year. Oooh! It gives me goose-pimples just thinking about it! I usually cannot sleep the night before school starts because I am so excited to get started and see my lovely students!

I usually cannot sleep the night before school starts because I am so excited to get started and see my lovely students!

So in other words, have no fear! This teacher loves school and her students. I am just in need of good bit of R&R with my kiddos this summer!

Hasta La Vista la escuela! For now at least! J

I know the pictures have not necessarily coincided very well with the topic at hand but these two are the very reason that I look forward to this summer!

There is one pic that I would like to give a bit of explanation for. All the others are pretty self-explanatory.

The one where Maia is wearing the Ronald McDonald House onsie is very special. She is finally able to wear the onsie Grandma Judy bought her from our stay the Ronald McDonald House while waiting to have Maia discharged.

We love the Ronald McDonald House and the amazing service and love they give each of the families. We will forever give to this charitable organization. It is truly a house that LOVE built!

We weren't sure how long we would be there and we weren't sure if Maia would ever get to the stage where she could wear this onsie, so we are forever grateful!

Stroke!

2009-05-22T08:01:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone!

My dad had a stroke yesterday and Praise Be To God, He is doing wonderfully. Here is my mom's email giving all the details.

Tom met Jim Bickley, a friend, for lunch today across the river on the Indiana side. As they sat down to eat Tom mentioned that his left hand felt strange. It wasn't until they had finished their meal and Tom tried to reach for his credit card, that he realized he couldn't move his hand at all. *

Jim promptly drove Tom to Baptist Hospital East where a team of medical personnel (nine in all) started working to get the necessary medicine, i.e. blood clot busters into his body. Before I arrived at the emergency room he had a CAT scan and then after I arrived they scurried him off for a MRI. About 5:15 the doctor came in to give us the results.

The CAT scan showed that some time in the past Tom had a small stroke. The MRI showed a stroke today in his right brain affecting the use of his left hand. He was admitted to the hospital where he will remain for three days while they get him started on an all out aspirin regimen, conduct tests to determine where the clot originated (neck or heart), and start physical therapy on his hand. They also will not let him come home until they can get his blood pressure down.

Tom is in good spirits and isn't experiencing much pain. When I left him he was begging for a steak. I doubt seriously that he will get one. In fact, he will probably be sorely disappointed in whatever they happen to bring. Please be in prayer that he will not suffer any undue stress during this time and that he will be allowed to come home in a timely manner

*
Judy

I appreciate your prayers for my father and also for my mother during this time ( for his recovery and for her stamina while trying to go to and from the hospital to visit him while recovery for chemo and getting ready for radiation) Fortunately, my mom's good friend, Yvonne Perry, is coming for a week starting tomorrow! Yay! She will be good medicine for them both.

Beautiful Brenna

2009-05-19T21:27:00.001-04:00

My sister-in-law, Becky, sent us some beautiful pictures of our niece, her daughter, Brenna, today and I just had to share! She is just becoming such a sweet looking young lady!

She was getting ready for her 5th grade dance in the above picture.

Look at those cute little freckles. Okay, I am a doting Auntie, but who wouldn't be with this cute kid? Right?

The below pictures are right before she left for her big event! The kid is disappearing so quickly! And a young lady is appearing right before our eyes!

Stop that, Brenna!

Okay!

With the one below I had a little fun with the Picasa site and the editting features.

I just had to!

That "Brenna look" was screaming for me to dabble just a bit and create a work of art out of my niece!

She already is!

"How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!"

Song of Solomon 4:1

Not My Lumbego?!?

2009-05-18T16:23:00.003-04:00

Well, here goes another Not Me Monday, originated by MckMama herself and now presented to you by Suth-ern Momma Well, where to start? Hmmm!I, in no form or fashion, had completely sore legs today. I wasn't wondering at all why they were so achy either. It couldn't be from some cancerous tumor or fatal disease? Right???Nope.No hypochondriac tendencies here!Hmmm! Maybe all that re-organizing Gideon's room yesterday into Gideon and Maia's room, from all the bending over, up and down, picking up toys, putting toys away, moving beds, etc. Naaa!Couldn't be!No!I am not that out of shape that my legs would feel like a baseball bat was taken to them?No way!I did NOT look like an arthritic granmother feebly going up and down the school stairs today (why don't they have an elevator anyway!?! hee hee). I in no way caused a traffic jammed behind me of hungry high schoolers who were trying to quickly get to lunch so they could scarf down their ham and cheese hero sandwiches before being tardy to 6th period.Oh, my lumbego (sp?)!Oh, and I am not totally grateful for all those intercessors and prayer warriors we don't have for our heart baby, Maia.Nope! Not one little bit!God NEVER EVER answers their prayers. First, He never answered their amazing prayers for Maia's tricuspid valve and pulmonary valve to be enlarged more. It wasn't the perfect size for the valvuloplasty when she was born.And Now...She didn't grow almost 50% more in two months time, after we never requested those same prayer warriors to get down on their knees.I am NOT totally and utterly humbled and amazed by our circle of friends and more so of our Lord God!

Contagious Laugh

2009-05-13T15:17:00.001-04:00

Okay, if you would like a nice chuckle or laugh, then you need to view this viral video, Contagious Laugh.
It definitely got me to chuckling today and I hope it brightens your day just a bit and maybe is just the "good medicine" you needed.

Kayleigh Is Home

2009-05-12T14:50:00.003-04:00

Last night Little Kayliegh Freeman went Home to be with her Heavenly Father. Please be in prayer for this hurting family. If you left click on the above picture you can view their farewell post and pictures of their precious daughter. Thank you.

Does Our Hearts Good!

2009-05-09T16:01:00.005-04:00

"The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my HEART trusts in him, and I am helped.

My HEART leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song."

Psalm 28:7

Miss Maia Elisabeth "Ladybug" Sutherland had her first cardiologist appointment in 2 1/2 months yesterday and WOW is God amazing! He has done more in her little life than we could have ever dreamed! If God saw fit 6 months ago to take Maia from us so she could live with Him in heaven we were prepared and ready for whatever came and to give Him praise for He is good, but that was not His plans.

Dr. R reported to us yesterday that Maia is doing so well she MAY not even have to have the second valvuloplasty!

What?!? Did we read that right?!?

Yep! You did!

Here is the low-down.

1. Maia still has her VSD "hole" and it is measuring exactly the same as it did 2 1/2 months ago and pretty much the same as it did the day CHOP released her from the Cardiac Unit when she was two weeks old, but at the same time Maia's heart has grown and the hole has not grown with it! It is much smaller in relation to the size her heart was 2 1/2 months ago. Does this makes sense? I hope so. Anyway this is great! We will just have to see as time goes by if we need to do anything with that stubborn VSD or not. Hmmm.

Anyhoo!

2. The pressure in Maia's heart has gone down quit a bit! This is wonderful news. Babies with HRHS have a lot of pressure in their heart because of the narrow pathways and tight valves. In other words, it is really hard going, but Maia's pressures have calmed down.

3. So let me reiterate this from earlier in this post. Since Maia has such little pressure, her heart is growing well, and her VSD does not seem to be hindering her in anway...she might not need to have another procedure! Boo-yah! We are more than ecstatic! We are beyond thrilled! God you just blow us away!

4. Maia is doing wonderfully with her weight! She is now officially 15 lbs and 3 oz. Again...another wow! At the last appointment, Dr. R was very concerned with Maia's weight gain and was afraid she was trending down, but now Little Ladybug has made up for that it such a nice way!

5. She is strong. Anyone who has met Maia knows this! She has always been a bit of a she-ra, holding her head up when she was only about two weeks old, grabbing on to people's fingers with a death grip. Ladybug kept grabbing the ultrasound instrument from Dr. R yesterday, literally.
Everytime Dr. R was busy keying things into her computer and not actively working with the instrument, Maia was knocking or grabbing it out of the doctor's hands each and every time. i am not sure if the Dr. saw the humor in this. :)

Kenny and I are so very glad to hear this news. 2 1/2 months is a long time to wait to see how your daughter's heart has grown and changed. Everything was looking good from the outside, but we wanted definitive answers about what was going on the inside.

It was only suppose to be a 2 month wait and we aren't sure if everything is totally worked out with the insurance company and Dr. R's office. I think each side thinks they are in the right so I don't know what exactly is going on. All I do know is that I don't want a phone call the day before her appointment in August stating that we can't come in because of insurance issues once more.

Continue to pray for wisdom in how to deal with this. Should we stay with Dr. R who is very reknown in the field of pediatric cardiology and was a godsend to us as we prepared for Maia's entrance into this world, but has an office manager whom we prefer never to deal with again OR should we start the process of switching over to another highly recommended pediatric cardiologist, Dr. A? We really want to have the best for Maia. We want God's best. May the Lord direct to the best decision.

Three months now until the next appointment. She is doing that well! Thank you, Lord! Nice belated half-year present!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end!
They are new every morning! New every morning!
Great is thy faithfulness, Oh Lord! Great is thy faithulness!

Laugh at My daughter crying? Not Me!

2009-05-04T16:23:00.005-04:00

Well, here is my first "Not me!" Monday participation blog. If you would like to learn more about the founder of "Not me!" Mondays, go to MckMama's site here. This is Stellan's momma! Yes, that is the famous Mirculous Stellan! Now that MckMama is back into the swing of things at home, she is also back to her routine blogging format and this is what every Monday brings.

This format is a cute and funny way to confess your faults by stating it definitely was not you!

Get the picture?

Well, here it goes!

First of all I never I have a problem admitting my weaknesses. Nope, "Not me!" :)

Pride! What? I am the humblest person EVER! Pshaw. Pride...definitely not me!

This is not weird at all for me to tell you what I did wrong this week. Nope, "Not me!" I am totally cool with exposing myself, yuck and all!

Well, yesterday, I did NOT laugh at my daughter as she cried her little heart out because I was force feeding her homemade green beans puree' . Nope, "Not me!" As her crying escalated to a frenzy, I did not chuckle one bit, not me! Okay, at first it is was only a little grumble of protest: I promise. Then as I kept NOT trying it, well...you get the picture. I am not a sadistic mother in the least bit.

Oh by the way, I was not covered in Green Beans Puree' by the end of the meal session either, if that is what you are thinking! Not me!

I did not daydream about what I could be blogging about during yesterday's sermon on...umm well never mind that. Not me!

Cinnamon tortilla chips are very yummy and I want to bring in some homemade ones for my homeroom tomorrow for Cinco de Mayo. I was cutting tortillas into strips yesterday for a practice turn and I did not carelessly slice my thumb open with a knife. I am not that clutsy. Never! Not me!

And lastly, I never-ever procrastinate. Just ask my mother or husband. They would say I am absolutely perfect in this area of my life. One of my strongest suits. Yes-sirree, Bob! I did not even postpone one little iota on my lesson plans this weekend and end up staying up until 11 p.m. on a Sunday night to email them to my vice-principal. Nope, notta, never me!

Okay, you get the gist now? Whew! Hmmm! That was a bit cathartic!

I recommend you try this post yourself, if you haven't already!

Oh, I forgot one!

And I absolutely never want to curse out blogger for always formatting my posts incorrectly!

NEVER! EVER!

LOL

(frickin-frackin-fray!!!)

Last Chemo For My Mom

2009-05-03T15:26:00.003-04:00

I am so glad to report that my Mom had her last chemo treatment this past Friday! I am so very glad. I have been so worried about what this chemo was doing to her. I know I should be worried about the cancer, but the chemo symptoms are what are visible at the moment and it is so hard to hear what my mom is going through! She emailed her circle of friends and family last night with the latest. Here is what she wrote...

Chemo, Numbness, Fingernails & Leaks‏

Sat 5/02/09 8:11 PM

Chemo or No Chemo?Last Friday I went in for my blood work and a private exam by one of the Oncology nurses. Primarily we discussed the numbness which had taken over my fingers, the bottom of my feet, my toes and, strangely enough, my upper lip and bottom of my nose. Katie sighed and said, "You know, Judy, you have been through so much and have had so many side affects to deal with. When you come in next week for your treatment you need to discuss this with Dr. Code and if you really want to, they will allow you to pass on your last treatment." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I could have a free pass? Why that was like the "get out of jail free" card, wasn't it? I contemplated what she said the rest of the week and decided that if the doctor could answer two major questions I would go ahead and pass go and head straight for home.

Tom and I arrived at 8:30. I was surprised to see all my chemo buddies still sitting in the waiting room. Usually they were there ahead of me and already setting up their beds, saving one for me in the middle. We all started discussing why we had been allowed a little extra bed time and decided it was because of The Oaks (the fillies equivalent of the Derby always run on the Friday before the famous first Saturday in May). In fact, all morning and into the afternoon the Oncology Clinic had their own versions of The Oaks and The Derby right there in the hallways. It was a gas! As Tom and I waited in the examination room I was a little on edge, not having met this new Dr. Code on previous visits. Would he be able to answer my questions? He arrived and I had to stifle myself from laughing out loud. Why he was barely wet behind the ears! Was this a joke? Doogie Howser was going to answer my questions? Let's get real. But in his eyes I saw such kindness. I asked him, "Have you read my records?" He replied that he had read every single word and couldn't believe all I had been through. Such gentleness...such empathy. I liked this guy. He asked me some questions and then it was my turn. I asked, "I have experienced unusual numbness in my hands, feet and lip. Will this next treatment of Taxol mean that since this numbness is still with me, that it will be twice as bad as the last time?" His answer, "It could." Second question, "Can you assure me that if I have numbness again that it will eventually go away?" His answer, "No, I can not." Well, that was to the point! Then he continued, "For some people it subsides rather quickly, maybe within six or eight weeks after treatment. For others it can last a year or so. And for some, it never goes away." So I said, "Katie mentioned to me last week that I could consider not having this last treatment but that I should discuss it with you before making a decision. I know there has to be a reason why 8 treatments were prescribed for me. Can you tell me what you think?" He answered that eight is not necessarily a magic number but that in trials eight treatments were used with the most successful results. He told me that considering the type of cancer I had it would be wise to take full advantage of the treatment recommended and the results would be a less likelihood of the cancer returning. But, he also told me I could opt out if I really wanted to.

I looked at Tom. He had heard the whole conversation. I asked him for advice. His reply was, "Judy, you need to weigh the options here. Opt out and take a risk that the cancer will return at some point but you won't have the numbness. Take the treatment and know you have done everything you can to squash this thing and risk having some numbness." Well now, that was simple. You heard him, Doc! Dr. Code did say that he would instruct the nurses to give me a lesser dose, instead of the two and a half hour Taxol drip, I was to get 30 minutes lopped off. So the grand total treatment with premeds, flushes, (Oh you bet I make sure I get flushed out!) and other drips came to six hours instead of six and a half.

I was the first one back to the beds so I staked out claims for all my friends who arrived shortly thereafter. For Lorrie it was to be her last treatment, too. She admitted to me in private that she almost opted out, as well, but not for the same reasons. She just has had enough of the pain. She had breast cancer when she was 28 years old and begged the doctors to take both her breasts. They told her it was too drastic a step for someone so young. She said, "Judy, if they had listened to me I wouldn't be laying in this bed right now with stage 4 cancer in my gut and I can't get that out of my mind." Mid morning Donna Gunnoe arrived with Panara Bread quiches and pink roses (two of each - one for Lorrie and one for me). Right before I left one of the nurses brought me a card that had been signed by all the treatment room medical staff. They had each written a special note. It meant so much to me.

When I return for my last blood work and doctor's visit I am going to bring them all a big box of My Favorite Muffins. Yum! Everything has been set up for the radiation. My first appointment to get records in and pre-examinations with tattoos put in place will be within two weeks at Bluegrass Radiation in Frankfort. I'm delighted they would take me. What a blessing. The actual treatments won't start until June.

Fingernails It appears that, unless the Lord intervenes, I will be losing all but my thumb nails. The nails are working their way out from the nail beds which is a strange sight, believe me. Last week I spoke with the Athem BCBS advisor who insisted that I needed to take the polish off so that the nails could "breathe". When I did, I could see that my nails were turning black and blue, just like I had hit them with a hammer. I decided they didn't need to breathe at all so I covered them back up with polish. Today when I was working on them I could tell that they were buckling up and away. All it would take is a nice sized bump, tug or pull and adios! My toenails might fall to the same fate. The last time I wore closed toe shoes I was in agony so I'm glad that spring and summer have arrived so I can wear open toe shoes/sandals without freezing my little piggies off.

Leaks No, ladies, it's not that kind of leak. It is my tear ducts! I think it is the steroids I have to take right after my treatments. Whatever it is, though, it is a nuisance. My tear ducts drip/leak constantly and at the most inappropriate moments. Some days it is all day long. Other days it comes and goes. When I'm working and someone comes into the model I just have to apologize and say, "I'm so sorry. I'm really not crying. I'm having a reaction to some medicine I'm on. Don't mind me." Everyone has been so gracious and understanding thus far.

The Last TimeSo here it is, Saturday evening and, yes, it has started. It begins in my back and then my shoulders. Tomorrow it will be in my feet, legs and knees. But this is the last time, Alleluia!!!

Judy

Next comes the radiation treatments in a few weeks. They will be every day for 6 weeks. Whew! I am so glad one leg of this journey is over, the next one is soon to come, and then by mid-summer it will be over and we can all breathe!

I covet your prayers for my mother once more! Thank you so much for your intercession!

Our Heart Hero's Half Birthday

2009-04-28T15:03:00.011-04:00

Well, today is officially one half year with our ladybug, Maia! We weren't sure when she was diagnosed in utero last August if we would get to have this celebration, but here it is! She is 6 months old today! Hooray!

It is 6 months and NOT a year yet,...cupcakes and cake in general were out of the question. Anyone for sweet potatoes and oatmeal birthday surprise??? Hmmm???

We have had a mild rollercoaster ride compared to so many who have received the diagnosis of Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome for their child, but nonetheless it has been a rollercoaster year.

Helen, her sitter, and Maia celebrating today

6 months ago we heard the loud cries of our daughter in the labor and delivery room at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She had some major lung capacity going on and we were so very thankful. We had been praying for months to be able to hear that cry on the day she was born. It was so beautiful.

Now we hear that cry and we are still so very thankful. It might get a bit wearisome at 2 a.m. in the morning, but please Lord, please never allow us to become callous to that wonderful and beautiful cry!

Maia, today, wearing Daddy's Baseball cap OR is it balancing on her? Hee hee

The day after her birth she received her valvuloplasty, massaging her pulmonary valve open with a tiny balloon threaded from her femoral artery, the balloon, smaller than the width of a hair! Amazing! She had two transfusions that day, but that beautiful chest remained scar-free, hopefully we can keep it that way, but however the Lord sees fit. We will praise Him.

5 1/2 months ago Maia was discharged from the hospital and we made our way back to our home in New Jersey. We never expected to leave so early. We thought for sure that we would be in Philly for a good 4 to 6 weeks. That is what they had prepared us for. That was being realistically optmistic. But God's reality prevailed!

For the first month we saw the pediatric cardiologist each week. Then the next month, every two weeks. Then the next month we waited four weeks. Now we are waiting 8 weeks.

The next procedure should be in about 6 to 18 months depending on the growth of her heart and the blood flow. Another valvuloplasty will be in order.

Milestones she has completed since her six months on Earth...

Laughing at and being totally mesmerized by her big brother

Reaching for toes to suck on and chew

Eating sweet potatoes, berries and bananas, peas, applesauce, and oatmeal

Finding her voice. She rarely cries, instead she yells at us to get our attention. Okay, Maia!

Sitting up, almost by herself.

Turning over and scooting on her belly forward and backward (not really crawling right now)

Friends and family have rallied around Maia and our family from the time of Maia's diagnosis, birth, homecoming, and the Love keeps going on! Thank you so much! I know Maia would tell you if she could!

We have truly enjoyed our Little Ladybug these past 6 months. Thank you, Father, for this time with her. She is a little dynamo of strength and energy. Thank you how You designed her so perfectly!

Maia, is truly our Heart Hero!

This One Is For Uncle Joel

2009-04-26T20:39:00.003-04:00

My parents have a picture of Joel when he was about this age doing the same exact pose. Gotta love those yummy toes!

Matters of the HEART

2009-04-25T16:37:00.008-04:00

If the above slideshow does not appear, click on this link that will take you to the photos.

I think we are finally completely acclimated back to New Jersey life after a full week back at work. It was a rough start at first with major sleep deprivation. Last weekend, Gideon wanted to shave off all his hair. I don't know if it was because he saw his Grandma Judy over spring break and it inspired him once more or that he just likes that haircut now. :)

Maia has had a pretty good week. She seems bigger and bigger everyday. I don't know if she is having an allergic reaction to one of the foods we have introduced lately, but I think I am going to get rid of the banana-oranges gerber mix and see if that is the culprit. She has a rash under he chin and she seems very itchy all over. Benydryl has been helping and so has the cortizone cream, but she is still very frustrated by it all.
*

We were a bit taken aback on Thursday when we learned that the cardiologist appointment we have been anticipating for the past two months, but especially this last week, was to be postponed. We are having insurance issues once more, but it appears this is more of a problem with the physician's office and their policies than it is with our insurance. Please be in prayer that we can solve this issue quickly. Maia needs to be monitored and if we had known there was going to be issues earlier on, we would have tried to find a new pediatric cardiologist. It was very disheartening to learn this news the DAY BEFORE the appointment, to say the least.

Again, it is time to trust in the LORD in all circumstances. As Proverbs 3:5 and 6 states.

"Trust in the Lord with all your HEART

and lean NOT on your own understanding,

In all of your ways, acknowledge HIM

and HE will direct your paths."

We want his perfect wisdom in this situation. We don't want to be rash and try to figure this out in our own imperfect minds and emotions, especially emotions right now. May the right doors open and the wrong doors close.

*
*

Oh, Kenny is in Sandy Cove, MD, for a men's retreat this weekend. Ah! He has a balcony overlooking the Chesapeake Bay and he gets to spend time in prayer and devotion on the bay on one of the most beautiful warm weekends we have had all of 2009. It can't get any better than that! Have fun sweet husband and daddy!

We are also so very proud of Kenny's brother, Joseph, who graduated at the top of his medics class in the Navy this weekend! Way to go, Joseph! If you would like to see some pics of the family celebrating his accomplishment in Chicago you can go to my sis-n-law, Meaghan's website, Into the Blue. Just click on her blog title and you'll go right there.

Also in Sutherland News, Brooks, Meaghan and Joseph's youngest son, has been suffering terribly from allergies. He had been officially diagnosed with a few,allergies but needed to go to the allergist for further testing of other possible reactions last week. Meaghan has been praying for Brooks' healing and right before his examination, he appeared to be feeling much better than usual. When the allergist tested Brooks this time, he was completely allergy free! Completely! Not one allergy showed up! What an answer to prayer! Thank you for showing YOUR healing power in our little nephew's life Oh, Lord! What an amazing testimony!

On the Gerdis side, Grandma Judy is getting her taste back! Guess the latest mix of chemo cocktail has one nice benefit. Otherwise she is very, very weak, tired, and achey. Please continue to lift her up in prayer as she faces the last chemo treatment this coming Friday. Thank goodness, the chemo portion will be done!

I am totally in awe of my mother as she has faced this cancer treatment head-on! She has only shown trust in the Lord, glorifying Him, each and every step. I know she would probably say that she hasn't, but we know differently, don't we.

I also want to thank all the friends and family that have rallied around my mother this year. It has been such a comfort to know that my mom is being taken care so wonderfully and with tender-loving care. It is so hard to be here in New Jersey during this time, and it was even harder to leave her after our visit during Spring Break. Really hard! I just wanted to stay and be with her so badly!

Well, it was a beautiful day and Gideon, Maia, and I did some beach clean-up volunteering this fine beautiful morning. It was great fun and hopefully I can post some of those pics in an upcoming post. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Here's More On Gavin

2009-04-25T15:58:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest...

Still no bowel movement. Last night Dr. Peter came back up to the hospital (he was not on call) and spent some time with Faith and Adam. He explained to them that he still feels that Gavin is doing well. The intestinal issues are not uncommon. Dr. Peter and his wife have given Faith their cell phone numbers and have told her to call them at any time. I feel sure that Dr. Peter will be back up here before the day is over. Gavin still has fluid draining and had dry heaves last night. They have given him something for nausea so we are hoping that will pass soon. Gavin is asking for milk, water or juice. He can't have anything to drink right now. Continue to pray for the obvious and also for family members here with Faith and Adam. Thank you for your support of this precious little guy! Mitzi

Gavin Update

2009-04-24T19:51:00.001-04:00

Please continue to pray! This was just posted concerning Gavin...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Another update
Faith just came to the waiting room and said that Gavin had thrown up again and it had blood in it. They have called Dr. Peter. He also has developed a fever. Still no bowel movement. The catheter relieved his bladder. Will update soon. Mitzi

Prayer for Gavin

2009-04-24T15:27:00.002-04:00

Please be in prayer for another one our heart buddies, Gavin Parker.

He had surgery for more repair on his heart that has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.

His surgery was yesterday and he is in a lot of pain and discomfort. He is not urinating or passing a bowel movement. Please pray that he will do so very soon. If not they might need to do a urinary cath and some other type of procedure.

Thanks so much!

Orange Makes Us Remember to Pray for Stellan

2009-04-21T17:08:00.005-04:00

We are praising God for you, Stellan.

Our Son, Gideon, has been singing songs of prayer for you today all on his own.

I'll have to see if I can record one of his precious songs.

Maia, your heart buddy and birthday buddy, wishes you well!

We are so glad your surgery is going to make your heart "BLOSSOM" with health and happiness!

May the Lord's Healing Power Fall Upon You in a Mighty Way!

I Samuel 25:6 "Say to him: 'Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!" (NIV)

Cradle Cap Tips and Baby Acne Help

2009-04-17T18:13:00.016-04:00

Okay, when my daughter, Maia, was 2 months old she developed an awful case of cradle cap which in turn caused her to have a really terrible case of baby acne as well. I tried many tips I found on the internet and I wanted to share what worked for me and what did not.

I tried the baby oil. Everyone recommended the baby oil. It got off a bit of the cradle cap, but Maia's cap was very thick and as soon as I had gotten it off it would literally grow back within 12 to 24 hours. It was crazy! I swear I could see the skin cells developing as I looked at her skull. It was so very frustrating.

*
I tried the over the counter cradle cap formula, i.e. the picture below. Now for those with mild cases of cradle cap this would probably work, but I would put this product on her head ritualistically every night and the next day. Voila! Cradle "crap" again. Pardon the word, but it was! I also felt bad for my daughter because her head was bright red and raw each night. Not a nice thing for a mommy to see. Especially since I was the one doing "it" to my precious little one!

I had heard that I should try Selsun Blue or Head and Shoulders. Hmmm. I was very cautious about this since it was so chemically based and I really didn't want to go that route. Well into month 3 1/2 I was desperate and asked the pediatrician about these products and my sweet pediatrician agreed that I should apply Selsun on her head nightly for two weeks and that should cure her. Hmmm. Okay here it goes.
*

*
Well, I tried it and while the cradle cap came off very easily with the Selsun she was still having it come back with a vengeance about every other day until the day of revelation came. Dum, Dum, Dum!!!! (I had to add the dramatic affect, it really was a very spectacular moment for a frustrated momma!) I combined the baby oil and the Selsun blue together! It has been a wonderful time since this discovery.

Here is what I did....

1. I like to work on my daughter on her changing table or the cushy ottoman in my family room.

I place a folded towel under her head so the ottoman doesn't get wet.

2. I get a warm bowl of water, wash cloth, the Selsun, baby oil, comb and soft baby brush.

3. I wet my daughters head with the warm wet wash cloth and then squirt a small dab of Selsun onto her scalp.

4. I massage the Selsun with a warm wet wash cloth till it gets nice and sudsy on the scalp.

5. Now here comes the "Voila" moment. I add baby oil all over the scalp with the Selsun suds still on the head.

6. Now I usually use my soft baby brush at this moment and scrub the head very well with it.

7. Then I take either a baby comb or a fine tooth comb and start at the cradle cap. Now I know my daughter doesn't look like she needs it, but she was just a little scaly and I thought she needed a treatment. When it was really bad, the dead skin crud would come off so easily and her scalp would be completely clear.

8. After I have done the picking of the cradle cap. I rinse her head with warm water and dry with a clean towel.

9. Then you have a clean and clear baby head. What a wonderful sight! This clear scalp would last much longer than the other treatments did. I could go about a week. And each treatment it would last a little longer. She is now 5 1/2 months old and has just a little dry skin on top that I treat occasionally. What a relief to see my sweet daughter without the ugly cradle cap!

Oh! I want to mention what I did for her baby acne. I saw this online and it really does work very well! I just would use some warm water, about two cups and then about two or three tablespoons of baking soda mixed in. Then I took a clean wash cloth and dipped it into the solution and lightly cleansed my daughters face and neck. Usually, the next morning, (if applied the night before), she was clear. Once the cradle cap was taken care of, I didn't need to worry about the baby acne.

Well, I hope this helps any parent out there that is struggling with this frustrating condition. I wish I had found this technique sooner. Hopefully you found this sooner than later!

Visit to Kentucky

2009-04-16T15:16:00.004-04:00

Does this look a bit busy?!?!

Well, if you would like to see each one in a slow-paced slide show

please click this LINK!

We had a wonderful time with friends and family and boy did it go by way to quickly!

We wish we had more time!

Four days was definitely NOT enough time.

When you come to pics of Maia that look really old, they ARE!

Those are pics of me.

We decided that Maia and Momma are twins 37 years apart. hee hee

Oh! And if you want to make copies of photos and just look at certain ones without the slideshow, then click this LINK.

Oh! And the last few photos are of Maia's new amber necklace, compliments of Aunt Meaghan!

Thanks, Auntie Meag!

Getting Ready for Easter!!!

2009-04-06T19:16:00.010-04:00

We are so excited about seeing family and friends in a few days! We hope Maia cooperates on our long drive to Kentucky on Thursday evening. If she has a hard time, we might have to turn right around. Too much prolonged crying just wears her out and depletes her oxygen sats. Just be in prayer that it is a calm, happy, sleepy drive there.

I have some wonderful friends that have given Maia some absolutely beautiful dresses that are just perfect for Easter. Since she can't wear them all in one day, she adorned the first one this past Sunday. Here are the results. It was so fun to have my actual real baby doll to dress up for a change! So much fun!

Please continue to lift up my mom in prayer. She is still struggling with her taste buds and downing anything of nutritional substance. She is losing weight quite considerably. She is also going to be put on a new cocktail of chemo this Friday since the last one was definitely not the right mix for her. Hopefully this one will give her a break from the awful symptoms she has been having. Lord, please surround her with your peace, calm, healing power!

Also, Stellan is going in and out of SVT and more so today IN SVT. IT appears that a new physician in taking on his case and will treat him remotely unless Stellan requires surgery and then he will be airlifted to this new location. Jennifer does not want to reveal the location yet, but will divulge this at a later time. They are asking people to pray for wisdoem in each decision they are having to make for Stellan and of course for his healing power to be upon their son's heart.

Baby V, Veiyah, whom I have mentioned in the past for prayer has been having some struggles as of late once again. She was very sick with the flu and had to be admitted into the hosptial. While there she they were concerned about her eyes turning inwards and they did an MRI since they were concerned that it was a brain thing. Thank you, Lord! It was not! They were concerned that in the past that there might have been oxygen deprivation, but it looks like the eyes are correcting themselves. Continue to pray for this dear baby and this sweet family, Ani and Jeremy and big sisters as well.

Both these families have funds set up to help them financially. My mom also just emailed me about a family with a little girl, Kari, who is being treated at CHOP, Maia's birth hospital. She has major heart complications but it appears the Lord is miraculously at work in this little girls life.

I have a whole slew of links to heart buddies on my sidebar. Whenever you want an update on one of the these sweet heart babies, just give it a click. Thank you so much for your prayers for our new found friends!

We cannot wait to see many of you in a few days in Kentucky. My mom is wanting to have a get-together on Saturday or Sunday so if you want to come by let us know and we will see what we can do!

Oatmeal, Applesauce, and Grins!

2009-03-28T20:13:00.007-04:00

1/2 OF AN ANGELS HEART
It's a beautiful day up in heaven. Jesus is rounding up his tiniest angels,

to go live on earth, and be born. One of the sweetest angels says to Jesus "I don't want to leave,

I like it here, and I will miss you".

He reassures the scared little angel that everything will be okay,

and that she is just going for a visit. She is still not swayed on this idea.

So Jesus kneels down, and says, "How about if you leave half of your heart here with me

and take the other half with you, will that be okay?" The angel smiles and says,

"I guess that will work". But the little angel is still a little scared.

She asks, "Will I be okay with only half of my heart?"

Jesus replies, "Of course you will, I have other angels there that will help out,

and you will be fine." Then Jesus gives the angel more details about his plan.

He says "When you are born, your mommy will be scared, so you have to be strong,

and when you feel weak just remember that I have the other half of your heart."

"Enjoy your time with your family, play and laugh everyday."

"And when its time to come back to heaven, I will make your heart whole again.

Always remember that you are not broken, just torn between two loves."

-Author Unknown

Getting Ready for Some First Bites

Mmmmm. This is pretty good!

Waiting for some more!

Interesting! Very Interesting!

I'm having fun with this! Yum!

Celebrating the Feeding with My Big Brother!

We do have a prayer request we would like to put out to you all. Heart babies can have a hard time gaining weight and up until now, Maia has been fine in her progress week by week. But now...Maia is slowing down in her growth. Her weight gain is coming to a standstill as of late. She is right at about 13.4 pounds tonight, which actually is 4 oz. from her last doctor's visit two weeks ago. We are probably going to have to go to caloric supplements in formula as well. We will see what the doctor says we need to do.

I have a feeling that she is just going through sympathy behavior in honor of her Grams who is losing weight left and right from the affects of chemo. We love you Grandma Judy! We are praying for you as well!

We want to continue to praise God through each circumstance! Through the trials of Maia's condition, through the ups and downs of my mother's treatment, through the loss of Grandpa's Ken's job we know that the Lord is Good and He will be glorified! Praise you, heavenly Father!

For Aunt Becky!

2009-03-23T21:58:00.011-04:00

Aunt Becky's Turn! Aunt Becky, Ken's sister, got this precious little velvetine jumper for Maia. There was a matching dress and matching pants as well! Too cute! I just, again, had to make sure to get some photos for posterity sake that showed Maia in such a wonderful little oufit! Thanks, Aunt Becky! We love you!

Then we just had to include a lot of "mug shots" of that cute face as well! :)

2009-03-23T14:57:00.003-04:00

Please be praying for a baby boy named Stellan. He was born the same day as Maia.Prenatally he had a condition that should have killed called SVT. SVT is a condition where the heart beats too fast.He was miraculously healed of this condition inuteroHe has not had any symptoms since his birth until now.Yesterday he had congestion and flu-like symptoms so his parents took him into the hospital to check him out.He was given an albuterol treatment which sent him into an SVT condition once more.They have not been able to get him out of this fast-paced rhythm as of yet.He cannot go much longer at 300 bpms!Please pray for Stellan.You can click on the picture above and it link you directly with his mother's blog.Thank you so much for your prayers.I will update you when I get further news!God's Blessings!Trina

For Aunt Meaghan

2009-03-18T20:28:00.003-04:00

Oh the frustration of Blogger sometimes!!! Arggh!

I have tried over and over to get this pictures to justify correctly. It looks fine on my edit page and then voila I go to the preview and it looks totally skewed.

So here you go! This is the best I could get it to go! Sometimes I just don't understand the idiosincracies of Blogger. Phmmmpt.

Our sweet Aunt Meaghan gave

this cute little onsie to Maia

before she was even born.

She is about ready to bust out

of it size-wise so I thought I

better get a snapshot of her

in it before it is too late!

Thanks Aunt Meaghan!

Don't I look cute even though

I am mesmerized by the flash

of my momma's camera?

How did you know I was going

to be so smart?!? You are amazing!

Little hand

for both my Grandmas!

We fold our hands in prayer

for each of you every night

that you might

get better!

Love You Guys! Seriously!

Free Personal signatures - cool!

2009-03-18T18:14:00.003-04:00

I found a great site for signatures! Have you seen those cool signatures that people have at the end of their blog or their facebook notes? Well, I have found the a site, My Live Signatures that helps you manufacture one (you can go to the link in this sentence). Now I got the "free" signature, but you can also write your own signature on a piece of paper, scan it, and email it to this site and they will make you an HTML code for your very own personal signature. Too cool! For now, my signature looks like the one down below, but I can change it at my whim. I might want to try that scanning thing and then have my permanent real siggy. Stay tuned!

God Bless!

P.S. I might need to change my webpage design so that the Signature looks better. The brown background doesn't seem to go very well. Hmmm.

Momma's Medical Musings Part III

2009-03-18T09:29:00.003-04:00

Okay, I've been lax in my updates from my mother so I am going to post two different emails I have received recently from her. Thank you again for the prayers you have been lifting up to our gracious Father on behalf of her! She, I , we are so very grateful!

Judy's posts...

My hand....‏

I wanted to update you on a serious situation with regards to my hand and the redness which began last Saturday. I went through the weekend watching it closely to see if there were signs that the streaks were progressing up my arm. Other than the redness deepening, it didn't appear to get worse.

On Monday morning I called the oncologist center where I receive my treatments and talked with a nurse. After going over my regimen since my last chemo on the 27th, we were finally able to arrive at a cause for my present problem. When I had my treatment on February 27th I told you the procedure was completely different. It involved a much more detailed and lengthy time and I was consigned to a bed throughout. Sometime after 1:00 p.m. my male nurse, Mark, announced that he would be leaving for lunch and that while he was gone another nurse would check my IV's and when the bag was empty she would flush out my lines (a 30 minute procedure) before sending me home. Everyone there at the time remembers his explanation because he wasn't sure he would be back by the time I would be dismissed to go home.

Sure enough, when the bag emptied a nurse came over and instead of starting the flush, she began to disconnect all the lines. I told her that I needed to be flushed first. She responded that I had already been flushed out. I told her that I hadn't and that Mark had made it very clear I should be before I left. She looked at my records and said that I had previously been flushed and there was no need to do it again.

What was I to do? Defy authority? Ask for another nurse? Ask for a doctor? Hind sight now indicates I should have done all three. Even my new chemo mate, Lorrie was upset. So I gathered my things together and the last thing I said to Lorrie was that I would appreciate it if she would tell Mark when he returned from lunch. When I got to the elevator Mark was getting off. I stopped him and told him that I suspected I had not had my lines flushed out. He said that he would check with the nurse when he got to the treatment room. He did not ask me to go with him or to stay until he could either confirm or deny what had happened.

All was fine until a week later when I went in for my regular blood work. Normally I get a little pin prick on a finger but this time the tech indicated I needed to have blood drawn from my hand since he had to retrieve several vials. Saturday my hand started to redden and by Saturday night it looked like I had a severe burn with the red streaks beginning to form. I really had no idea if this event had anything to do with my sore hand but when the nurse heard this she knew and confirmed that by not having the flush, the toxitier remained in my veins and this was a normal side effect.

They scheduled me to come in first thing this morning. I certainly received the red carpet treatment. Even my oncologist came out to render an opinion. Pictures were taken of my hand. They have upped my dosage of antibiotics and over the next three days I have to go in for shots to boost my immune system. I've been told that if the lines progress further up my arm, I am to call them immediately and report to the emergency room.

One concern is that this will develop into cellulitis. The other problem with this hand situation is that the previously scheduled repositioning of my port (for tomorrow) had to be cancelled. That makes three times now that the procedure, which would have prevented all this from happening in the first place, has been delayed. I ask that you pray for healing of this hand, for wisdom from the doctors in my treatment and that I will be more bold in the future when faced with conflicting situations. Below is the definition of cellulitis:

Cellulitis (sel-u-LI-tis) is a common, potentially serious bacterial skin infection. Cellulitis appears as a swollen, red area of skin that feels hot and tender, and it may spread rapidly.
Skin on lower legs is most commonly affected, though cellulitis can occur anywhere on your body or face. Infections on the face are more common in children and older adults. Cellulitis may affect only your skin's surface — or, cellulitis may also affect tissues underlying your skin and can spread to your lymph nodes and bloodstream. Left untreated, the spreading infection may rapidly turn life-threatening. That's why it's important to seek immediate medical attention if cellulitis symptoms occur.

Judy

Second Email...

Port Day‏

Yesterday was PORT DAY...finally! I was so excited that I would have it repositioned and working for my next treatment this coming Friday. But, there was a problem. Wouldn't you know it? It took over an hour, five nurses and one doctor to get an IV line into me. At first, my main nurse, Peggy tried. She stuck me three times. First in the underside of my wrist, and then twice up at the bend of my elbow. When she was unsuccessful, she called for help. A gal named Brenda came in and three other nurses who were nearby and idle at the time decided to give both her and me moral support, holding my hand, offering encouragement.

Brenda's first attempt was a disaster. She went in somewhere between my wrist and the bend in my elbow. She thought she had it and so they started the IV fluids only to have me start writhing in pain. Swelling was instantaneous and they pulled out the needle, pronto! Apologies were coming from everyone. So she tried two more times on the under side of my arm, once toward the outside and the last time way over to the outside near my elbow. It was agonizing. Pure pain.

In the middle of all this I asked them to call Tom out in the waiting room to tell him to pray and to call for prayer. They did and he did. They kept saying to me, "Girl, do you ever need a working port!" No joke! Finally, they had exhausted all their options and they called the anesthesiologist from the OR.

Dr. Yates had been out to talk to me earlier. She looked at my bruised, bleeding, swollen left arm and quickly decided there were no more options there. She announced that the only remaining site would be the right side of my neck. Yes, you read that correctly! I cringed. "Will this hurt?" "Yes", they replied. It did. I came so close to crying. But I didn't. The Lord was with me and once it was in I felt no pain. Mainly because they started filling me with the most luscious relaxing meds they had on hand. (Smile.)

Once Dr. Hoagland got into the port site he soon realized that the port wasn't fit to be repositioned. It was a dud. So I got a brand new one. Donna Gunnoe brought me home so Tom could zip over to his office and tidy up some things. It wasn't long before he joined me at home.

As I was preparing to retire for the night I glanced at myself in the bathroom mirror and horrors! The left side of my lower face was swollen from my chin to my ear. What now? I had a restful sleep with the help of some pain medication and when I awoke this morning I could see that the swelling had not subsided. If anything, it had gotten worse. I called the doctor and we discussed what might be causing this. He thinks it is due to the port site and that he implanted the port deeper in the tissue than last time. Well, isn't that special?

Other than that, I am doing well today and haven't had to take anymore pain medication. I plan on going back to work tomorrow and Thursday. Friday I will have treatment #6. I can see a light at the end of my tunnel. PTL!

Judy

Alternative Route to Rolling on the River

2009-03-14T16:13:00.002-04:00

Well, for some odd reason the embedded videos from Google are not appearing to work out on my previous post, so now I am going to Plan B.

Please go to the following two links to view the videos...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3929961233360058015

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4569063344416106555

Link one is of Maia rolling over and Link two is of Maia feeding and grasping on bottle.

Rolling On the River

2009-03-13T20:36:00.002-04:00

Maia has been a rolling fiend as of late and I thought you would like to see her accomplishment. Mommy, Daddy, and Gideon of course are tickled pink!

Here is another video that I took tonight of Maia drinking her bottle of formula. She is really beginning to realize what those things that move on the end of my arms are for. She is starting to reach out for various things including reaching out for Daddy and Momma to pick her up. I think she likes that one the best so far.

Birthday on Broadway

2009-03-09T20:26:00.014-04:00

We had a great time this weekend celebrating my 30 something birthday.

What!?! You want to know how old I really am?

Well, you are just going to have to guess.

Kenny had been saving up and gave me a wonderful surprise.

We went and saw "Mary Poppins" on Broadway!

Yes, the real Broadway!

My dream come true!

Yay!

It was a wonderful experience and what most people don't realize is that the theatres in NYC are much smaller than that of the KY Center of the Arts.

There really isn't a bad seat in the house other than leg room.

Poor Kenny's right knee was about to be bent out of shape by the end of the play.

Fortunately we were on the left end and he could stretch the left leg out.

I had visions of the a time when the Gerdis family made a trip to England in 96'.

We ended our last night in the UK with a performance of the musical of "Oliver".

We got tickets in the highest balcony.

Evidently this is where the skinny peasants sat in the 1800's or something

They also must have been about 4 foot 10, as well.

My dad, mom, Micah, and I sat sideways to fit our legs in these seats.

It was crazy, but what a memory! Wow!

Anyway, back to "Mary Poppins".

It was wonderful!

Of course, they couldn't use the cartoon penguins or some of the other scenes from the movie.

Instead they used marble statues that come to life in the song...

"Its a Jolly Holiday with Mary"

The "Step in Time" rendition was out of this world!

And of course the way they interpreted "Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious" was truly mesmerizing,

Especially the tail-end of the song!

I think you can go to the website and see that performance.

Kenny and I ate at an Irish Pub style restaurant on 44th Street.

It was very yummy and had great earthy atmosphere.

It was so nice just being with my "honey" and two instead of four for one evening.

We had a wonderful time just being a couple!

Ah! Love!

My parents sent me a check for my birthday and with some of the moolah I bought this purple top! As soon as I saw it at Lane Bryant it was a must have!

Kenny and Maia right before the babysitter showed up!

Coral, our babysitter, and Maia!

Angus McIndoe, a great restaurant.

My Teddy Bear and I

He's so sweet, I just can't help but smile ear to ear!

(Ew! I just noticed that my spearmint gum is showing and it looks like a got a piece of spinach between my teeth! Promise...its gum!)

Took this pic at church the next morning in the nursing mother's room

This is a very surprised Maia (LOL) and her little friend, Ava!

Ava is so cute, she reminds me of a little oompaloompah from the new version of the movie!

Later on that day, Gideon and I went to a birthday party for his friend Jay.

We did that photograph sketching machine.

Here's the results.

I've sure got a cutie of a son!

Benjamin Thomas Gerdis

2009-03-08T20:54:00.006-04:00

Benjamin Thomas Gerdis

Born on March 6th, 2009

at 6:47p.m.

7 pounds 14 ounces

21 inches long

Proud Momma and Grandma

Proud Dad and Papa!

My parents also visited Kaya, Micah's little girl this weekend.

She is getting to be a chunk. They all she does is sleep and eat.

Hopefully she will be discharged from the hospital in about two weeks.

She is starting to stay awake more during the day than the night. This is a promising sign.

You can tell she still has a fight ahead of her though!

Sweet girl, we are praying for you!

We can't wait to see our new nephew and our new niece.

Hopefully for Spring Break! Hopefully!

We LOVE YOU!

More of Momma's Medical Musings

2009-03-03T10:22:00.005-05:00

OK, I have a winner. My friend, EJ Krueger Blohm, came up with this alliteration and I think I'll keep it. Much better than Momma's Mutterings!

My mom has sent out a new update. Poor Momma!

Mom writes....

I hate to be a pest but I certainly would appreciate it so much if you would be praying for me right now.

As you know, I had my 5th chemo treatment on Friday and since it is a new "cocktail" of meds I wasn't real sure what side affects would pop up, if any. I stayed home Saturday and Sunday and other than feeling a little weak and shaky, I thought I was doing fairly well.

Last night around 9:00 p.m. I started having sharp pains in my toes and feet. This progressed into the ankles and both knees. As the evening wore on the pain took over my back, hips, shoulders...even my hands and fingers. Tom prayed for me twice. I was afraid to take anything of any strength to combat the pain because I didn't know how it might interact with the other medicines so I had a very restless night of sleep.

First thing this morning I called the doctor and spoke with a nurse who assured me that I could take more powerful drugs to ward off the pain. I did that and even though the pain has somewhat subsided from time to time I'm still in a lot of discomfort. Even my teeth hurt. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've suffered like this. The doctor feels that this new chemo treatment has stirred up a storm within my system that has brought out the fibromyalsia full force. If I knew this would only last a day or two, then I can deal with it but, of course, I don't know what to expect. Please be praying for me that I can endure this latest set back with grace and peace of mind. Thanks so much

My mom also sent an update at the end of last week that I thought you would like to read...

Back on Track

Thursday I didn't feel much better so I was worried that my chemo would be cancelled again. But by the time I went to bed I could tell that my cough had dried up and wasn't as severe. I slept quite well for the first time in two weeks. When I woke Friday morning I hardly coughed at all so I was very excited. I told Tom to be sure and bring reading material because I knew I would have my treatment.

We arrived at 8:15 a.m. and I had my blood work then we met with the nurse practitioner. I started having the "rice krispies" again but she wasn't too concerned about that. She gave me the all clear to have the treatment and added that I would not be having the Neulasta shot. I was out of my mind with happiness!

A Whole New Routine

Donna Gunnoe had reminded me that during my orientation they had mentioned that at some point in my treatment I would no longer be assigned a chair but a bed. So, I was not too surprised when the nurse directed me to a bed. I should have known that this would mean a different routine for the treatment but no one had prepared me for just how detailed things would become nor how long the treatment would take.

Tom and I had rushed out of the house without anything to eat, thinking that I would be finished with my treatment by 11:00 a.m. or so. There are always snacks available for people to eat and a refrigerator full of soft drinks and juices. Tom did grab an apple from our kitchen right before heading out the door and this came in handy later in the day.

I started on my treatment at 10:30 and I wasn't finished until after 2:30. It was a long day. And, boy, was I hungry! We know now to pack a snack or a sandwich and bring it from home.

The pre-meds took as long to administer as the entire treatment I received for the first four. Remember I told you all that I would be on a different "cocktail" so they really doped me up good before flushing the line and starting me on the new solutions. That took nearly two hours followed by another flushing.

They had me hooked up to a blood pressure monitor and as they started me on all this new stuff my blood pressure started sailing higher and higher. Each time it went up I started to cough. I was so embarrassed. Here were all these sick people on either side of me and my cough sounded like it had earlier in the week. I tried to confine the spray to my blankets and buried my face into a pillow. It finally dawned on me that my cough hadn't necessarily returned but that the blood pressure was causing me to go into these fits.

Understanding Why

Remember how I wondered why all this coughing had caused me to have to go to a different treatment schedule? I was really bummed out that instead of Tuesdays I would now be on a Friday schedule. Now I think I know why this has all been part of His plan.

Susie Dana had told me that she shied away from the "support groups" because she felt they turned into pity parties. She said she received more encouragement from those who were there at the times she received treatment. I had been looking for that but each time I had my Tuesday treatment I saw different people and many of those were none too friendly and preferred not to talk.

When I arrived at my bed I noticed a lovely young lady in bed to my left. The curtain was partially pulled for privacy so I didn't say anything at first. But soon, she had to get up to go to the bathroom and she stopped at the foot of my bed and said, "Do ya'al go to Southeast Christian?"

Tom was wearing his Master's Men Southeast Christian sweat shirt and it had already been the source of conversation in the waiting room. Of course, it didn't hurt having Tom with me anyway as he is such a conversationalist and he started up dialogue with just about everyone around us. One lady in the waiting room saw his shirt and asked about our former pastor Bob Russell and mentioned to her companion that she must go to the Easter Pageant this year. Turned out that another man waiting in the room had a nephew who attends Southeast and we know him well from our Bible Class...Bill Kalbfleish.

So we replied to the young lady that, yes, we attend Southeast. She mentioned the pageant and introduced herself and her husband. Lorrie and John Holmes from Brandenburg, Indiana. We became fast friends and the curtain was pulled back permanently. In between our bouts of sleepiness we talked and talked. Tom and John never ran out of things to say. Lorrie was receiving her 5th round and has three more to go, like me. We are now on the same schedule and so we promised to save beds next to each other for our next treatments.

Lorrie's situation is a little different than mine, however. She is only 41 years old. They have two daughters. One is getting married to their pastor's son this coming June. Last summer she started having problems with her digestion and lost 30 pounds in a matter of two months. They started running tests on her, mainly her stomach and kidneys thinking that was where the problem had to be. I think she said she had over 100 biopsies on her stomach. Finally a doctor got the idea that they needed to check outside her stomach and there they found cancer wrapped around several of her ducts. It was not the primary source however and one doctor remembered that on previous mammograms a ridge had shown which they didn't think amounted to anything. They did a biopsy and that was the source of the cancer. It had gone to her lymph nodes and set up residence in her uterus, as well. She is stage four and all her treatments have been of the more aggressive style. Her attitude is amazing and she has a deep faith that is contagious. We talked of the Lord and she was just a delight.We had a wonderful time of prayer before leaving.

So now I know that the Lord had all this in mind from the beginning and I'm not at all upset anymore that my schedule has changed. And, I'm so glad Tom will be able to come with me as this new process is very tiring and he was so much help.

Side Affects

As of now I'm unsure what side affects this new treatment will show. At the moment it appears to be diarrhea and a little vomiting. Not much, though, and I'm not nauseas at the moment. Usually the third day tells me what to expect. Today I'm weak and shaky and I'm coughing a little bit. The consensus is that whatever the side affects I shouldn't have them as long as with the first four. That is promising. I look forward to getting back to work faster

Judy

Angel Boy!

2009-03-02T22:20:00.014-05:00

Pre-Snow Pic!

Making a Snow Angel!

Ah! There we go! It looks like an Angel, Momma!

Can it get any better than this! Look at that face of happiness!

Cold Booty!

Everytime I turned around He was eating Snow!

See! There he goes again!

Ah! Help me momma! I am sinking! It has me! I won't last long! Help me, momma!

(We have a major pretender in our family!)

Either he was eating snow or throwing it at me! :)

I think he's happy! No, I know he is!!!!

I had a great opportunity to play in the wintery white stuff with Gideon today. It was so nice to play one-on-one with him. I don't get that chance (out of the apartment) lately. Oh yes, we play in the apartment, but now that he has a little sister, mommy-Gideon time has been sparse to say the least, especially in the great outdoors.

I saw this McDonald commercial today where an older brother is doing so well getting used to the his new little baby brother that his mother realized that she needed to take him out just them alone. Of course they went to McDonald's but it almost made me cry like a Hallmark commercial normally would! I realized I need more of these moments. Kennyis going to get some more requests for this time in the near future!

We romped in the foot of snow, made snow angels, and just had plain old fun with some snow balls!

Ah! Pure Bliss!

Proverbs 24:13-14

13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.

14 Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul;
if you find it, there is a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off

Sharing Gideon's Interview About His Mom

2009-03-02T11:22:00.001-05:00

Kid AnswersShare
Sunday at 6:15 p.m.
Cut and paste these questions and ask your kids their answers....it is a RIOT!
Gideon, Age 4

1. What is something mom always says to you?
G: "i love you"

2. What makes mom happy?
G: When I love on you!"

3. What makes mom sad?
G: "When I get hurt by rock or something."

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
G: "By telling me silly, silly, silly, silly stories."

5. What was your mom like as a child?
G: " Playing your mom's piano"

6. How old is your mom?
G: "how old are you?" "45?" NOT! (my words)

7. How tall is your mom?
G: Like this tall (he holds up his hand to the top of my head as I am sitting on the couch.) :)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
G: Play with me.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
G: Think about me.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
G: Build

11. What is your mom really good at?
G: You are really good at controlling the remote for the cartoon channel (not sure how I feel about that one! Hmmm)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
G: Carrying really big things

13. What does your mom do for a job?
G: You are a teacher.

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
G: Fried Rice

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
G: When you get food for me

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
G: the stretch mom in the Incredibles ( I like that)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
G: We play games

18. How are you and your mom the same?
G: We have blue eyes

19. How are you and your mom different?
G: I'm a boy and you are a girl...that's different

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
G: I know...you say I love you so much, Gideon. You say it all the time.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
G: He has brown eyes.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go
G: Sushi places!!! Mmmhmmm

CELEBRATE

2009-02-28T20:17:00.000-05:00

Great Exclamations for Teachers!

2009-02-27T15:56:00.007-05:00

Okay! I was grading papers today and just wanted some more creative words than what I had been using lately so I decided look up exclamations and interjections from the English language on Google. Then I still didn't feel quite satisfied so I then cruised the Exclamations and Interjection lists of Spanish and Italian (since we use those quite often in our language as well). Here is my collection of fanciful words to use when grading papers. Please feel free to swipe any you would like. I printed my list off and now have them posted with tape on the side of my computer monitor so I have easy access while I am hunched over my students' papers!

All Hail
Alleluia
Attaboy
Bingo
Bravo
Cheers
Encore
Eureka
Great
Hot dog
Hurrah
Hurray
Jeepers Creepers
Hot Dog
My Word
Wahoo
Yippee
Yay
Yes
Bravo
Bravissimo
Perfecto
Stupendous
Excellent
Fantastic
Phenomenal
Extraordinary
Righteous
Brilliant
Never Ceases to Amaze!
Just Right
Past Perfect
Sizzling
Oops
Gee-Whiz
Goodness Gracious
Zowie
Icaramba!
Oh My!
Zounds!
Ole’
Gadzooks!
Che Bello!
Groovy
Congratulations
Complimento!
Meno Male! (thank goodness)
Muy Bueno
Excellente

Please leave a comment of any you think I should add! I love to give my students something a bit unexpected! It makes the day more delightful! Hey! There is another word I didn't have. Add "delightful" to the end of that list!

The Bridge

2009-02-26T22:47:00.003-05:00

This is one of my all time favorite videos off the internet and even though I posted this last year on our blog I thought it was time for a resurrection! I wanted to make sure that all my friends got an opportunity to see a wonderful analogy of the ultimate sacrifice for mankind! Absolutely beautiful and so very humbling! Enjoy, but get out a hanky...you'll need it!

I just wanted to let you know as well that God has performed a mini miracle this week! Dr. Rivera is going to see Maia tomorrow after all that rigamoro with the insurance! We are so very grateful to our Lord for opening doors and obliterating obstacles concerning this matter!

Thank you to those who prayed over this situation! We are so grateful to Dr. Rivera, as she is the one who made the initial prenatal diagnosis of Maia's condition which led to our amazing medical intervention at CHOP! She is so key to the positive outcomes for Maia thus far.

I really feel like the enemy was trying to thwart this care for our daughter this week, but he did not reign victorious! Amen! Thank you, Lord, for your supreme intervention in our lives and in Maia's life! We are completely humbled by your love and care for us!

My Momma's Mutterings

2009-02-24T19:30:00.003-05:00

Okay...I was trying to use alliteration for my "witty" title, but I don't think it gives just desserts to my mom's amazing updates. Alas, I could not think of one word that relates to updates or new happenings. If you can think of one, leave a comment at the link below this post and I'll be happy to let everyone know your idea for the magical "m" word and attribute it to your amazing mind! :)

Seriously, though, my mom sent out an update to everyone on her email list and I wanted to make sure that it got out to my circle of prayer warriors as well! You guys are amazing and I don't want to miss an opportunity to share what is going on with my mom an d her ins and outs with this battle with cancer.

Here is my mom's words from today...

Hello to all my friends and faithful prayer warriors. Thank you for keeping our family at the top of your list. As I wrote last week, the oncologist did not want to have me go through the 5th chemo treatment due to the cough and congestion so everything, including the repositioning of my port, was moved back a week.

I called the office yesterday just to give them a heads up that I felt I was worse than last Tuesday, not better. They scheduled me for a chest x-ray first thing today and then I met with the doctor immediately after. The x-rays still showed no pneumonia but when he listened to my chest he said, "Oh, there are lots of 'rice crispies' going on in there." (Meaning that he could hear the snap-crackle and pop of the congestion moving through my lungs.) He got to hear first hand the tremendous coughing which this week resulted in pulled back muscles and a burst eardrum.

I can't describe to you how very debilitating this cough is. I try to sleep on an incline so as to get better air flow but last night I kept waking every 30 minutes, not to coughing, but to the strangulation of my air pipes as they are shut off. That results in coughing so I can clear those airways and reposition the congestion. Then I sleep for another 30 minutes until it happens again. So frustrating!

I could tell the doctor was frustrated, too. He was quite adamant that I couldn't go through with the chemo treatment today. He fumbled around with his thoughts on what he might prescribe which would break up the congestion. Finally I said, "My friend Nancy told me that I should suggest Zpak. What do you think?" He jumped on it right away, saying, "Yes! That's a good idea!" So the plan of action now is to start on the ZPak and if I am even remotely better by Friday I'm to go back in and they will try the chemo treatment.

This has its advantages and disadvantages, however. The disadvantages are that I will, for the rest of my treatments, have them on a Friday. My work schedule right now has revolved around my treatments being on Tuesdays or Wednesdays so those have been my days off. Now this means all of that will have to change. The advantage, however, is that Fridays are Tom's days off during the week. He can now take on the responsibility of getting me to and from treatments. I don't know how he feels about that but I think it will be good for him to experience some of what I deal with every three weeks. So, there my friends, you have it. I guess the prayer request for this time would be that the ZPak will do the job and that by Friday I am improved enough that they can start on the next chemo treatment. Oh, and the port surgery has been postponed until I can get back to "normal".

Judy

Again, thank you for your prayers for all our family!

As a bit of an update to our post from this past Saturday, Kenny did find out that it does appear to be a problem with the insurance company and that it was human error. We don't know if we are going to be able to repair our relationship with Maia's cardiologist however. This is where we could use a miracle right now. We are praying that the Lord provide us an opportunity to rectify this situation and that Dr. Rivera's office will miraculously start accepting the payments from the insurance company and the phone calls from the vice-president of the company who is now apparently on the case.

On a good note, Kenny's work is getting new accounts this week. The Lord never ceases to amaze us and he is listening to our prayers! Thank you so very much!

Oh...I gotta post a picture of Maia in one of her new outfits she received this week as a hand-me-down! I love it so much! Thank you so much, Amy Walsh! Please tell your friend thank you as well! The clothes are adorable and she is in all her cute glory! You gotta love the hat! :)

Pardon the Drool Stain! hee hee

Karg Family Update on Veiyah!

2009-02-24T08:35:00.001-05:00

Thank you so much for praying for little Veiyah. Ani has a wonderful post that she put out on her blog this morning. I will let Ani tell you what is going on in her own words! Click on the link on my sidebar that Has black and white button of Veiyah and her sisters. This will take you diretctly to their site and the latest amazing post!

Those Eyes!

2009-02-23T20:16:00.000-05:00

I Wonder What God is Up to Now?

2009-02-20T18:43:00.003-05:00

I have been reading "Louder Than Words" by Robert Stanley. It is a book on Godly character. I have been reading and discussing this book with my ninth grade literature class. It is a book that they need to be reading for their Bible course and I am working with them on comprehension, vocabulary, summary skills and more. Well, anyway, today we were discussing how the author's idea that it is in our weaknesses where we become more spiritually intimate with God and therefore develop a more Godly character. It was a great discussion today.

Also, in devotions, a colleague (Roxanne Southcott-Roberts), shared from a book she has been reading. I am not sure what the exact title was but I think it was by Kathy Lee DeMoss and it was about the refiner's fire and purifying silver. It really touched me about how the silversmith is constantly right by the fire watching the silver ore as the impurities little by little are exposed and cleared away by the smith as the fire is administered precisely at just the right times with just the right amount of heat. He doesn't give up until he can see his reflection perfectly in the silver, until then it remains in the fire slowly emptying the impurities out. I really related to this anecdote of our Christian lives as my family has definitely been going through some refining this year.

Little did I know that these two lessons were a bit of a preparation for me. I was about to hear some sobering news at the end of the day where I needed to be in the right frame of mind, knowing that my Lord, my Father, has me right where he wants me....right where he wants us, my family. I definitely talk the talk at school with my students and they have seen me walk the walk, but now is another chance to walk the walk one more step.

We got a call from Maia's cardiologist today AND NO THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO DO WITH MAIA's HEART so please do not panic for her. She is doing great!

Now, back to the story...the office called and the last two checks from our health insurance company have bounced. Now each of Maia's office visits with the echocardiogram and EKG run about $1,400.00 per visit. She used to have them once every week, but we have finally weened to once a month.

The office has informed us that we cannot bring Maia back to Dr. Rivera unless we have at least $700 for this next visit, if not don't even bother coming next Friday.

Kenny's work covers our insurance and it is a self-funded policy, so his company basically pays the medical bills. What does this mean? It means that Kenny's company is so bad off financially that they cannot cover their insurance plan.

This brings so many questions to mind. Will Kenny have a job for very long? Will this upcoming paycheck be there next week? Should we try to get on to my school's health insurance plan for emergency reasons. It is much more expensive and does not even compete in the type of coverage we have been getting through Kenny's work...well at least up until now.

Of course our main concern right now is that Maia get the medical attention and monitoring that she needs to continue to thrive and progress as she has. Dr. Rivera's office was very understanding and they have seen this happen before, but they also needed to set boundaries which is very understandable.

Now, let's go back to the God part of this. What is God up to now? I am excited to see. Am I nervous? Yes. But I need to walk the walk here. Here is another opportunity for Him! Guide us, Lord! Speak to us! Work through us! Work a miracle! Lord we give this to you and lay it down at the altar. Help us not to be tempted to try to fix this on our own! Help us to listen to your still small voice and know where you are pointing us. I want to be faithful! We want to be faithful! Praise you our Abba Father! Thank you for all that you are doing! We will wait to see what you have in store.

Here is an opportunity to become more intimate with you and to refine the impurities out! Okay, Lord. Here we go! You and our family! What a great way to go! The BEST!

Oh, My Son, Your Are Too Much!!!

2009-02-19T20:01:00.004-05:00

Okay, I have a Gideon story from earlier today in the car. While driving in the car after school, Gideon asked me if our family could go see a movie at the movie theatre tonight. I told him that it was a school night and that is NOT something we can do on a school night. It got quiet. I could hear the wheels turning in his head at this point.

He then lamented..."Mom, you are trying to be responsible, but you are not being responsible about this!" (Oh, my! This is where I almost busted out laughing, I really had to hold it in.)

I told him that I was being responsible because he had to get up early tomorrow and going to the movie theatre would cause to be up way too late.

He then tried to play the "Jesus-card". Again...oh, my son! He told me that Jesus would not want us to stay at home tonight and miss the theatre because there are alot of people around the world who can't go to theatres and have fun. What does this have to do with us, Gideon? It got quiet again and this time he had to concede. He had nothing to come back with this time.

Wow! What an amazing conversation and I was very surprised that my son finally decided he couldn't agrue his train of thought with me anymore. I love my son! What creativity and what a vocabulary!

"Responsible???" What four year old comes up with that?!?! Gideon...that's who!

V's Knees

2009-02-17T19:26:00.002-05:00

Click on this button above and it will take you to the updates for the Karg Family concerning little Veiyah. She survived another surgery yesterday. Please continue to lift this family up in prayer. Veiyah is doing okay, but still in PICU. Thank you for all the prayers you have sent up to the Lord so far! God is at work! I have this button on my sidebar for future reference so you don't have to find this post to link to the Karg's blog.

Happy Valentine' Pancakes with Love!

2009-02-14T09:10:00.017-05:00

I gotta get my beauty rest for Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Mommy's making pink valentine pancakes!!!! Fun!

This Valentine had to big of bottom so Mommy practiced her Easter pancake instead.

Ew! Maybe we won't go this route for Easter. Mutilated Bunny Face might freak out the kids!

Gideon getting ready to eat his yummy pancake! Cool Beans!

Let's get a close up of those gorgeous eyes! I Only Have Eyes for You!

That was played at our wedding reception and we danced to that song on our Engagement night.

Love that song!

1
OK, MOM! I agree! This is freaky! It's Freddy Bunny! Yikes!

Gifts for My Two Loves!

Gideon's card played "ABC, easy as 123"!

Kenny's card played "What I like about you!"

Maia all dressed up in hearts for this special day!

Monster's Inc socks for V-Day?!? Well of course!

Where's My Sister? I gotta find her!

Gideon giving his sister some Valentine Love....well sorta! :)

Hmmm! I think I'm a bit traumatized!

Na!!! I was just joking! I love Gid...seriously!

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family!

We love you all!

WE miss you too!

Love, Kenny, Trina, Gideon, and Ladybug Maia

Happy Birthday, Conner!

2009-02-13T22:07:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday Dear Conner!

Happy Birthday to You!

Gideon, Maia, Aunt Trina, and Uncle Kenny all wish you a Happy and Extra Special 3rd Birthday!

Hope you have a wonderful time with your Grandma and Grandpa!

Happy Valentines Day too!

Pretty In Pink

2009-02-13T12:50:00.013-05:00

Maia received this cute little outfit from her Great Uncle John and Aunt Sharon for Christmas!

It fits her just in time for Valentine's Day!

Beautiful!

Update on Veiyah

2009-02-12T14:41:00.003-05:00

For an update on little Veiyah, please go to the sidebar of my blog and their is a buton with a picture of Ani and Jeremy's daughters and the words Pray for Veiyah. If you click that button, it will link you directly to their site and the update. They have pictures of her that are post-op and she is looking pretty rough, but very typical for the surgery she underwent. It can be a shock to your system at first to see such a sweet little baby with the tubes coming out every which way. Just prepare yourself.

I thank you all for your prayers. Veiyah is not out of the woods by any means yet, so continue to intercede for her and her family! The Lord is at work in her life and Jeremy and Ani are so grateful for their Christian brothers and sisters who are praying. Thank you!

Whimscial Valentine Cupcakes

2009-02-11T22:06:00.003-05:00

Gideon's Pre-K4 Valentine Party is tomorrow and I wanted to do a fun little cupcake for the kids. I hope they like them. Gideon helped me place the homemade hardened royal icing decorations into the buttercream earlier tonight and he is gnawing at the bit to get a hold of one these goodies before the party. Sorry Sweetie! You are gonna have to wait!

Urgent Prayer Request

2009-02-11T16:55:00.002-05:00

As I type this at 4:55 p.m. on Wed. the 11th, my friends, Ani and Jeremy Karg, are waiting while the doctor's work on their baby daughter, Veiyah. She was taken off bypass about 45 minutes ago (after surgery) and her stats started to plunge. She went back on bypass and the doctors are trying to correct whatever went wrong with the glen procedure for her heart the first time. Please, if you are reading this at a time where you think they still might be working on her, please get on your knees before the Lord Almighty our Jehovah Rapha and pray for her heart to work correctly, the doctor's hands, her brain while she is on extended bypass, and for her parents and family. Thank you!!!

Okay, One More Time

2009-02-10T16:39:00.001-05:00

Okay, I just had to make one more post with a shot that was more close-up so you could get a better look at that awesome smile and those chubby legs!

Bath Time

2009-02-10T16:34:00.001-05:00

Gotta Put Some Bathtime Shots!

I think she is liking this clean thing! :)

Our Sweet Sixteen Niece!

2009-02-07T11:27:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen!

We Love You, Larissa!

We Wish We Could Be There!

Have Fun on Your Big Day, Our Niece and Cousin!

Yay, for SNOW!

2009-02-04T07:56:00.003-05:00

We had some beautiful snow fall yesterday and I got some of it captured on my camera.

Gideon waiting on our balcony for Daddy to get home.

He is definitely excited and happy that Daddy wants to play outside after work!

I couldn't go out with them, because of Maia so this is the red-cheeked pic after the fun!

Maia sporting her new snowman bodysuit for the first time! Too cute!

Some Heart News

2009-01-31T13:33:00.004-05:00

Maia had her first cardiologist appointment in a month yesterday. Kenny took her, now that Fridays are Daddy and Daughter day. There was a medical student who was shadowing Dr. Rivera, so we got a lot more detailed information this time around.

Blood flow from the heart is now at 37 ml per second. Last time it was anywhere from 20 to 31. So it is improving. Dr. Rivera says that once it gets up to about 60 ml per second she will consider doing the next valvuloplasty procedure (balloon catheter) to massage that stubborn pulmonary valve open some more. We definitely do not mind this! We were prepared to have her chest opened up that first week of life to work on her heart. If all the docs want to do is put a catheter in her femoral artery...we will take it!!!! Oh, by the way a regular child has anywhere from 90 to 120 ml of blood pumping out per second (just so you have a frame of reference). So she is about 1/4 to 1/3 that of a regular heart.

Her pulseox levels at the office was at a 94! This means that our readings at home of 97 are very realistic. 100 is where most people are. When she was discharged from the hospital in November her levels were anywhere from 70 to 80, so we are thrilled with this improvement. This means that for now we should not have to see the blue skin that so many "heart" parents have to witness day in and day out.

We also learned that another reason Maia is doing so well is that even though she has a very narrow hypoplastic right ventricle, it is the nornal length for her developmental stage! Thank you, Lord. This helps her heart to react better, even though it is so narrow. Remember many children born with this very rare HRHS condition have no right heart at all or very small everything on the right side.

Maia is officially 11lbs. 10oz. as of yesterday. She is gaining weight like a trooper. Just right and the doctor is very impressed. It is usually very hard for "heart" babies to gain weight. Eating tires the out from the exertion it puts on the heart, I assume. She is now officially out of all her NewBorn clothing. We regorganized all her drawers to today with 0 to 3 month clothing. It was neat to see the new little outfits she will get to wear from our caring family and friends, but at the same time I felt like she hardly got to wear some of the newborn clothing. Oh well! I am just so glad she is growing and thriving. Again, thank you, Lord!

Maia turned officially 3 months on Thursday. We are so appreciative of this time we have had with her, especially since most of that three months have been at home. We have so many friends that we have made through this ordeal whose sons or daughters have had to fight it out at the hospital and the parents' days are spent in limbo waiting and praying. Again...we very appreciative.

However, before the cardiology appointment yesterday, I think that Kenny and I were almost waiting for the other shoe to drop. We have had so many blows this year to our entire family and Maia has been doing so well that it was almost like it was "too well". I don't know if you know what I mean or not. This cardiology appointment was very reassuring to us. Like my mom told me this morning after I told her these thoughts. "We have had enough shoes falling in this family. It is time for all of us to put our shoes on and keep them on!" Thank you, Mom! I agree!

Like I said, I talked to my mom today. She is doing okay. The chemo symptoms have been very minimal this time around and we thank our friends that have been lifting her up this week. However, she had to have "nulasta" shot on Thursday. This is an antibiotic that has been keeping her whiteblood cell count high. She can fight off disease and illness better with this shot, but everytime she has it her glands in her neck swell and she gets pain from her neck all the way into her arms. Well, it happened again. Yesterday was a blur to her. She tried to catch up on Netflix movies that she had been meaning to watch. She can hardly move her right arm today.
Again, keep her in your prayers. We love you, Mom!!!

She also filled me in on what is happening in the region due to the ice storms. There are 700,000 people in the region that are still without power. Many people have bought generators but have never used them before and didn't read all the precautions. There have many families that have died because they hooked them up in the attached garages and everyone was poisoned by carbon monoxide. How awful and sad! There are whole neighborhoods where no one has gone in or out yet and they don't know if people are alive. They might not have water due to the pipes freezing on top of all of this.

Our family appears to be okay. If they don't have power they are taking shelter with friends or extended family.

Right now schools are going to have to make-up days almost till the end of July. This is pretty extreme since in that region of the U.S. they get out by May 31st at the latest most years. The public school system is petitioning the government to allow them to waive these days so that families can have some summer. We shall see.

We have not heard much from Micah and Gina the past few days. I will have to catch you up on Kaya's status on another post.

Again, we are so grateful to our Lord for how he is using our lives for His Glory. May we be his vessels and instruments in spreading his love and truth. A friend of mine, a heart mom too, posted this at the end of her blog this week and I like it so much that I am stealing from her.

May I be the kind of woman who wakes up in the morning and the devil exclaims. "Oh CRAP! She's up!" Lord make me that kind of woman!

Winter Wonderland or Deathtrap?

2009-01-30T14:45:00.004-05:00

My family in Kentucky have been experiencing some amazing weather this week. Last fall they experienced the strong forces of a hurricane from the gulf hundreds of miles away and now they had a snow and ice storm that came in on Tuesday and Wednesday has knocked out power to over 100,000 residents in KY alone.

My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and Kenny's parents were all affected. My mom and dad miraculously got their power back on as of yesterday morning, but they are the only ones so far.

This is quite an answer to prayer since my mom had her chemo treatment this past Tuesday and is really starting to feel the affects and needs to be a warm, comfortable place while she recuperating from treatment. Thank you God!

Becky, my sister-in-law, has gas heated water and a gas fireplace in their livingroom. Her daughters are staying with friends that have heat, while Chris and her hunker down at home in the dark at night. I am not sure about Joel's family, but Kenny's parents do not have any heat and stay bundled up under the covers in the dark at night in their small apartment. Oh! And out of the 72 people in Becky's office at Humana only 3 of those have power at all!

LG&E, the electric company, is predicting that it could be up to 10 days before power is restored to all residents and now the regional meteorologists are predicting 10 inches of snow this coming Monday! Oh My!

I am also so grateful that my sister-in-law, Meaghan, and my two nephews just moved to California. We miss them so much, but it is nice not to have to worry about if they have heat or not.

Please be in prayer not only for my family but all the residents that have been affected by this powerful storm and maybe the one to come. May they be protected. Pray for the homeless who don't have shelter at all.

Schools at this point have nine days to make-up between this week and the week of the hurricane. Who knows if they are going to have Spring Break?

Becky sent me pictures via an email today. They posted below. Beautiful but Deadly!

2009-01-27T20:13:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday, Becky!

January 27, 2009

Kenny, Trina, Gideon, and Maia wish their sister and aunt

a wonderful birthday!

Hope it is (was) a good one!

We Love You, Aunt Becky!

Introducing Kaya Francine Gerdis

2009-01-23T16:26:00.002-05:00

Kaya Francine Gerdis
Parents: Micah Gerdis and Gina Clements
Big Sister: Julia
Born: Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Time: 10:23 p.m.
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
Length 20.5 inches long
Apgars were 9 and 9!

Kaya (pronounced Ki - uh, rhymes perfectly with Maia) came into this world a beautiful young lady with a head full of dark hair with blonde-tips.
She has everyone that sees her wrapped around her little finger already!

Keep Kaya, Micah, and Gina in your prayers as they transition into their new life together.
Kaya will be in the hospital for a while longer with some other medical issues. Pray for health for this little one!
Micah and Gina need prayers for financial blessings and a new home to stay in.
God is a God of miracles and we pray that the Lord shall provide mightily for them!

We love you, Kaya! Happy Birthday, Little One!
We love you Micah and Gina, Daddy and Mommy!
We love you, Julia, the Big Sis!

Much Delayed Photo Montage

2009-01-20T18:14:00.030-05:00

Okay. These photos are much delayed and they are chronological in reverse order for the most part. Hope you enjoy Christmas photos and the Grandparent visit photos. We had such a wonderful Christmas holiday and one in retrospect that we weren't sure we were going to have the opportunity to celebrate the way we did. We are in such awe of how God has worked in Maia's life and in ours this year and we have much to be thankful for! I look at these happy photos and stand back in pure amazement of our Lord!

The grandkids and their Grams and Papa

Grandma Judy doting on her granddaughter just one more time.

Call me Rico Sauve! Don't hate me because I am handsome. Muhahaha!

Okay this is just so much fun!

I really love this painting set! Thanks Uncle Joel and Aunt Toby!

Both girls looking very content!

Well! Hello "dare"!

We love each other so much!

Taking a five. Try talking to me a little later,...Okay?

Usually a daily occurence at the Sutherland household. He's so darn cute even when he is being punished!

Our Papa probably facebooking. What's your status?

How Cute! Thanks Uncle Joel and Aunt Toby!

Wow! Too cool! And what is funny is that it only drives backwards. But Grams convinced Gideon that this Spiderman toy is "extra special" because of that! Hee hee! I love my caniving, mother!

It is a "must" that you stick out your tongue while balancing on roller skates! Didn't you know that?

My green guitar! It had to be green! I can't wait to sing and play worship songs with Uncle Joel and Uncle Micah when I come for a visit.

The first "look" as he walks out and sees the toys around the Christmas tree on Christmas morning! "Oh my!," he said.

The view that he "Oh My-ed"

Our good friend, Valjon. What a sweet dear lady and another auntie to our Maia and Gideon.

Clop, clop, clop went the donkey's feet

Clop, clop, clop down the stony street

Nod, Nod, nod went Mary's head

She was so tired she needed a bed.

Knock, Knock, Knock went Joseph at the door

Is there room for just one more?

No, no, no the innkeeper said.

Hmmm, wait, you could use my stable for a bed

Shh, shh, shh what is that I hear?

Waa, Waa, baby Jesus, so dear.

Our little Shepherd Boy.

Ah, Mom! Another Picture?!

Definitely a "look". That is a "look" for sure! :)

Resting! Snug and Warm.

Maia's Baby Dedication Ceremony

Her baby dedication dress! Too precious! The Reeds gave Maia this gorgeous ensemble! What a perfect dress for a perfect day!

Well, it is Kenny's birthday today. He is celebrating 34 years on this earth. Thank you, Lord for blessing our family with Kenny! He is such a wonderful husband, father, brother, and son! We are so encouraged to have an amazing person as him. May he have a great new year of life that continues to glorify the Lord with every breath. May he walk in God's steps each new moment.

May he find joy and peace with each new day! We love you, Kenny!

Kenny might have to share this birthday with a new family member. They think Gina is going to have this little girl today. I will keep everyone posted as soon as I hear more!

My Apologies

2009-01-07T05:05:00.003-05:00

Hello All!

I want to apologize to you. Many people have been inquiring and wondering why I have posted anything in a while, especially since my mom and dad came to visit us for Christmas last week. One reason is that I am not sure where my cord to upload my pictures of that precious time is and I am a very visual person and to me a blog without pictures is pretty boring. So is it really worth it? Of course it is! But the other reason is that while I was with my parents last week I didn't want to take time away from just relishing in their presence and this week I started back to my teaching position at Calvary and therefore was extremely busy over the weekend and the beginning of this week to even think about posting the happenings of the Sutherland family.

So you may wonder why I have time all of a sudden on Wednesday morning and that is a good question. Well, it so happens that my lovely daughter gets up for her 4 a.m. feeding and by the time she is done it is about a quarter till 5 and I normally get up at 5:45 a.m. to get ready for the day anyway. I tried going back to sleep yesterday and did, but when I got up an hour later it felt like a Mack truck had slammed into me. I was thoroughly exhausted, so since I feel pretty good and decent after Maia's feeding I have decided that I should probably just go with it and stay up for the day. I might need to rearrange my schedule at night time to compensate, but this definitely gives me more time to start my day off right with devotions and then maybe some extra time to prep for school and of course the most important duty...Blog. Hee hee

My time with my parents was wonderful. They got in at noontime the Saturday after Christmas, taking their time on the way up to stop and rest at a hotel the night before. They stayed until the next Friday, the day of New Year's. We had a great time of just fellowshipping and being with each other. I was trying to prepare emotionally for seeing my mom without any hair in person. I had seen the picture, but I wasn't sure how I was going to react to seeing her right in front of me in all her "chemo reality". When she arrived she had the cutest chique wig on, but later that night she got all comfy and took off the wig. You know what? It was great! She really is really cute with no hair. I might need to convince her to "Sinead" it after the chemo is done. She really has a good complementary noggin to her face. LOL Of course, Gideon had to try on the wig and he looked like a Rock Star. He got out his green guitar he got for Christmas and gave us a little rock concert in the livingroom with his new hair doo (sp?). It was too funny. We were all cracking up.

I have gotten some really cute photos of the grandkids with their Papa and Grams (as she is now officially called after this visit). I am not sure how that one started. I'll have to ask Kenny when he gets up in a little bit.

Papa, while he was up in this neck of the woods, decided to travel on Tuesday up to his side of the family in Berlin, Connecticut. It is ony a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive on a good day if the traffic isn't horrendous around NYC area. He visited with family and of course his real intent was to get in the UCONN girls' basketball game on Wednesday. He rang in the New Year up in Connecticut and came back on Thursday morning. It was good to see him back. I am glad he got that opportunity and I know he felt like they were imposing since we live in a two bedroom apartment, but I was very glad he was back and enviously wished he hadn't gone up to CT in the first place. I relished every moment I had with my parents, knowing it might be a while before we get to see them again.

I hope my mom didn't think I was slacking on my motherly duties while she was here. I don't think that was the case, but I just wanted her to have every opportunity she could get to hold, cuddle, and give tenderloving care to her new granddaughter. When family is visiting from KY, I know that they only have a little time to be with my family and I don't mind if they monopolize my kids. I love being with my kids and some mothers might find it hard to give up holding and even feeding their little one for long periods of the daytime, but I absolutely loved watching my mom and dad holding Maia and showering her with kisses and hugs.

I am going to wrap up now, because I actually do need to get ready for the day. School this week has been much better than I thought it was going to be. Thanks go out to those who have been lifting me up, knowing that I was going to face this tough transition this week. I have felt the Lord giving me His peace and joy during these past few days. I am already anticipating different learning experiences I can shower on my students for the new year and I am truly excited to be here. I'll write more later about Maia's doctor's appointments as of late and other Sutherland happenings. Maybe I'll even get to it tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m.! Yikes!

Love You All!

Oh! And by the way...if there are typos in this posting I am purposely not going to spend time correcting my errors. Too early and so little time! Hee hee . Take Care!

New Development

2008-12-18T11:54:00.002-05:00

Alrighty! Lord, you are good and I know you will provide in your perfect way,whatever that means. Everyone that was left at Kenny's company was given a 10% paycut today. Please be praying even more fervently that the Lord provides a caregiver for Maia by January so I may return to work as soon as possible. Each new trial is an opportunity to point to Him more! I am not be sarcastic, I promise....I am actually very excited to see how God is going to use this new circumstance! Father, work!

Oh, also...Mom is having a rotten day. She is feeling pretty poorly right now. It is the official 48 hours after chemo treatment woes. Please pray that nausea and fatigue and pain away!

Whew!

2008-12-17T15:07:00.002-05:00

Kenny just called me and said that his bosses laid off 22 people from his company today. His company is not that huge so this is quite a large development. Everyone was hoping to get bonuses today. This is the typical day for the bonuses to be handed out. What a shock it was to come in and be handed your pink slip and then be escorted off the property. They are not even letting them work the rest of 2008. Thank the Lord Kenny was not among those without a job now, but he wanted me to get on my blog and let everyone know to be praying for his friends and colleagues who are jobless now. There are many hurting and scared folks out there.

The LOVE for a MOTHER

2008-12-17T10:43:00.002-05:00

This past week my mother's hair started to fall out. It didn't fall out in clumps, but just more hair in the brush and individual hairs falling out a little at a time. She decided to go to the salon last Thursday evening to get it all shaved off. Little did she know that as she was preparing to go to the salon, my brother, Joel, was shaving off what he could at home, including his beard and mustache. Toby, Joel's wife, entered the salon first and handed my mom a bag and told her that Joel wanted her to have it. She opened it and wondered why Joel would give her such dark ugly hair that wasn't even her color. As she was about to pick up some of the hair, Joel walked into the salon in all his ineptly shaved glory. The salon erupted in howls and claps. Many of my moms friends were there for support. Joel looked pretty rough. He did get it cut shorter by the stylist after my mom's head was complete.

Here is a picture of my beautiful mother and her wonderful son!

I wasn't sure how I was going to see my mom bald, but she looks awesome! I am so proud of her and how she is handling each day and each new challenge with this stinking illness! I am also proud of my brother and I love him so much for showing such awesome love for our momma.

Toby tried to prepare Ethan, their son, for his dad's change in appearance on the way home from the daycare. She told him that all of daddy's hair was gone. Ethan kept saying on the way home..."Daddy hair gone, Daddy hair gone". When he entered their home and saw Joel he kept laughing and laughing and couldn't stop for a while. Too funny!

I am also proud of my two guys. They were inspired by Joel's act of love and wanted to show their mother-in-law and grandma the same heartfelt act. So here they are in all their shaved glory as well.

It is weird to look at all my family members and only see bald heads. It is going to take a while to get used to this. Gideon and Kenny both are much colder when they go out and need to wear snow caps on their heads. I wanted to "Sinead" it (go bald) for my mom too. I have always wanted to shave off all my hair and what a great reason to do it for my mother, but I just spent a lot of money on a style and color job a few weeks ago and Kenny would have killed me if I had shaved it all off so soon. Maybe in a month or so! Hee Hee

Doesn't he have a cute noggin? He loves rubbing his daddy's head and his. The "feel" is cool he says.

All my baldies! Too cute!

Can't wait to get a picture of my mom with my family in a little over a week.

We love you so much, Grandma Judy! We will look at all our bald heads and be constantly reminded to lift our loving Grandma up in prayer each and every day! May the Lord be with you encouraging in soul, spirit, and body. May His healing touch be upon you!

Here is one of our Christmas gifts to you!

Reflecting

2008-12-11T21:56:00.017-05:00

Amazed by the World Around Her

Daddy's Girl

Doting Cousin

Why Oughta!

My Reflective Pose

My Cousin Kim Visiting Me From Connecticut!

Hanging out with my Bro before Bedtime and After my Bath

Our Ladybug!

I think my Brother Loves Me!!!!

Yup! He Does and I Love Him too!

I used to think that that our family was immune to the woes of this world. I would watch different families around us suffer different tragedies while our family seemed to have a hedge of protection around us. I do believe there was a hedge of protection around us. Did we suffer sadness? Yes. But it was more of the normal kind...not the big stuff that some had to deal with...until this year. 2008 will be a pivotal year in the history of the Gerdis family, well at least in my heart and mind. I thought that between Maia's HRHS diagnosis, mom's dealings with cancer, my dad breaking his arm, and parents almost getting obliterated by a semi truck. That would be it you would think. Right?

Well, we have one more notch to add to the Gerdis 2o08 list before the year is out. This is actually a mixed bag of good and bad news. My brother, Micah, and his longtime girlfriend, Gina, just found out that they are expecting a little girl. Gina has been very sick with lupus symptoms and has been in and out of the hospital this year for treatments on her liver and recently on her kidneys. With all the pain and symptoms she has been experiencing she did not know she was pregnant. She has been on different medications throughout the pregnancy. She only has 9 more weeks until her due date, however she is 75% effaced and the doctors think she might go into labor in the next week or so. She is a little over 31 weeks and the doctors really want her to make it to 34 weeks if possible. Please be in prayer for this little baby, for Gina, and for Micah! This is a difficult time for them. May the Lord surround them with his love and healing during this time. The baby will have many issues when she is born according to the doctors. Development of the lungs and bleeding on the brain are some of the major concerns.

Now, I don't want you to think that all of a sudden I am bitter. I am not. I am just realizing that this hedge of protection that I have always felt from the Lord and taken for granted seems to have lifted for a while. I am not sure the reason, but His reasons are always sovereign and for His glory. Lord, I pray that our family will only be used as a testament for You.

My mom had her head shaved tonight. She has about a quarter of an inch of hair now. What was very special about this night is that Joel shaved his head and goatee as a symbol of support and solidarity with my mom as she fights this battle. She did not know that he was going to do this. Many of the ladies that are such a support to my mom came to the hair salon tonight. Toby showed up and handed my mom a bag and told her that this was from Joel. My mom opened it up and there was all this dark brown ugly hair in the bottom of the bag. My mom thought..."Why would Joel send me such ugly hair? It isn't even my normal color!!!" Then at that moment Joel walked into the salon in all his bald-headed glory! The salon of ladies erupted in laughter, whoops, and claps! They said they took many pictures and hopefully I will get to post some of them on this site soon. Mom said as she was going through the process that many of the people were crowded around her saying that she looked really cute and that she had a great round head. It was pretty nerve-racking for her though. She got her wig fitted and she said she feels pretty comfortable with it.

I wish I could have been there tonight! Oh this darn distance! I told her that I would have loved to have shaven my head as well, but since I just spent money on a haircut, style, and color, I better hold off for a while. :) I think my boys, Kenny and Gideon, might want to shave their heads as support for her as well. If they do, I will make sure to share the images. Dad wanted to know if he should shave his head for my mom, after he found out what Joel did. After trying to picture my father without hair, my mom told him definitely not! :) I agree. Hee hee.

Oh by the way, Toby, Joel's wife, was trying to prepare their son, Ethan, for his daddy's change in appearance. Ethan is 2 1/2 years old. She told him that Daddy had no more hair. So all the way home from daycare tonight, Ethan kept saying..."Daddy no hair, Daddy no hair". Well, when he got in the door and saw Joel, Ethan started laughing uncontrollably. Too funny! Thanks for the comic relief, Ethan!

Maia had her cardiology appointment this past Tuesday. She is doing well. Her right ventricle has grown a millimeter. Her blood flow out the heart has improved. The ductus between the two sides of the heart is still about the same size as it has been for the past month. Her oxygen levels were okay. I asked what the blood flow of a normal hearted baby was and Dr. Rivera told me that she doesn't and won't compare. I guess I will have to do my own research, but Maia's was (at the highest) 31. I am not sure what that means, so I will have to bone up on that and get back with you all. Maia is also gaining weight like a champ and is now a whopping 8 lbs. 11 oz. You go, girl!

Dr. Rivera did mention that sometime later on, Maia will probably need another valvul0plasty (the catherization and balloon procedure she had her second day of life outside the womb). She told me that this is typcial with HRHS babies who have had this procedure so early on in life. I was comforted by this, since Dr. Rivera did not mention the Fontan or Glen procedures that open up the chest. I will have to ask Dr. Rivera if these are still possibilities later on in life for her or if she thinks this might be all.

I will be going back to work next month on January 5th. I have mixed feelings about this. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at home with Maia, but at the same time I have missed my school family and try to stop in and visit with them whenever I can. I don't have a caregiver for her yet, so it is still up in the air, but I am trusting that the Lord has the right person out there. Please continue to pray that the Lord will provide the best person to watch out little ladybug.

Please also pray for this transition time. I know it will not be easy and also trying to get back into the swing of things might be difficult.

I thank the Lord for all his blessings. Thank you, Lord, for all You have provided, but more importantly for all that You are. May all your attributes be magnified as I ineptly try to point towards you in my life!