Bad Week!

You ever have one of those weeks that starts out bad and continues to get worse? They say when it rains it pours. Well this past week was one of those.

First, after having our hopes set on buying a house this year, we realize that it is not the right timing. We need to work on getting some debt (two car notes and school loans) knocked out to be able to get the kind of home we need. Now for those of you who aren't familiar with Virginia Beach real estate, it is astoundingly high! I often wish we lived further down south so that we could build a brand new home for what they want for a 'starter' home here. It's very discouraging. However, the prices have recently been going down slightly. So we have decided to find a single family home to rent for the next year or two and really work on knocking out some debt. Needless to say, we are moving in the next month and a half (we have outgrown our condo) but don't have a place as of yet. So if you think about us please say a prayer that we'll find a great space that will work for our growing family.

Then on Tuesday I get a call from Matt early am. Someone had broken into his work trailor and cleaned it out. They stole over $5,000 of equipment. They must have worked for a long time to pry open the lock because it was the kind of lock you can't cut with bolt cutters and there was some damage to the clasp. He was mad but we thought it would be covered by insurance. He called the company he has his business insurance through only to find out that his policy covered literally everything except theft! Unbelievable! So I decide to call our renter's insurance. No luck there either. Because the trailer was parked on the job site and not on our property the best they could do was send Matt a check for $250!!! Talk about being really mad. We pay alot of money to these insurance places just to find out that if they had taken a few minutes to go over the specifics of coverage, we would have been properly covered, but we aren't so we are screwed! So basically Matt has to start over and build up what took him almost four years to acquire! Thankfully he has been able to replace two paint sprayers for very good price and the rest will come with time.

We know this is an attack and we are just going to keep pressing forward. We have too many things in our life that are good and too many blessings to let this get us down. God is in control but sometimes we have to go through the valley's to get to the mountain top!

Waiting rooms

I've fallen off the blog wagon. These past few weeks have been crazy. We've spent a lot of time in waiting rooms at the Dr's office. First we went to the Children's Cancer and Blood Disorder at the Children's Hospital on Feb. 13th. All the Dr's and nurses loved her! She was so good even though she was obviously exhausted as we were there during her nap time. The nurse had to wake her up to "find a vein" and she didn't even cry. Finally she found a plump vein in her right foot. She only cried for a sec but the was soon distracted by her daddy who had taken a surgical glove, blew it up like a balloon, and was dancing around. Leave it to daddy to put a smile on Gracie face. She loves her daddy. They had to take A LOT of blood but we should know something in the next few weeks. The Dr also gave me a list of blood work that he wanted my OB to test me for.

The next Dr's appt was for Momma. We took Gracie with us so Dr. Ferebee could see her now. The last time she saw Grace she was delivering her. She loved her and said she should be on the cover of a magazine. I ended up getting an ultrasound (I'll post the pic of the little peanut soon) and we saw the heartbeat. According to the size of the baby I'm due Oct. 3rd. I think seeing baby surprise made it more real. I think I was in denial up until that point. It also made me and Matt excited at the thought of new life and a new addition to our little family. For those of you that don't know, this baby came a HUGE surprise to us both. We had planned on taking a few years to focus on Grace but the Lord had a different plan and we all know his plans are much better than any plan we could have for our lives. Anyways, back to the Dr's appt, they had to take 12 viles of blood from me. They let me go get something to eat first so I wouldn't be queasy. I go back on March 19th.

Lastly, we went to see the cardiologist on Feb. 24th. They did and EKG and some other heart test. Grace did great for both and the best part is that there is nothing wrong with her heart. It is perfectly fine. So we can scratch that off the list and be assured that her heart didn't cause the stroke in utero. Praise God!!

Surprise!!!

My best Valentine!

We had a wonderful Valentines Day weekend. We left Friday after Matt got off work and made our way to Winchester, VA to visit my parents. They hadn't seen Grace since Christmas and were missing her very much. Matt originally wanted to stay at a Bed-and-Breakfast near there but wouldn't you know, they don't take kids!

We had a great day with Mom and Dad. We took them to the Picture People where they got their picture taken with Grace. They were having some sort of Valentine event at the mall where they handed out these heart headbands. We got one of the last ones. Gracie kept it on her head most of the day. Look how adorable she is!!

Next we took Mom and Dad to Red Lobster (their choice) for a late lunch. Gracie was so excited and having a great time that she didn't nap the entire day! We had a wonderful 1st Valentines Day with Grace and my parents. It wasn't the traditional "romantic" day Matt and I had shared in the past but it was a special family day that I wouldn't have changed for the world.

Tis the season for sickness, colds, and the flu!

We are finally getting over our weekend of runny noses, coughing, and other things I will spare you the details of. Being sick is really a humbling experience as a mom. You can't just lay around and be waited on by your mom (unless you are blessed to have your mom live close by..wish you were closer mommy!) My husband tries his hardest but it just will never compare to my mom.

Now that I am a mom I know how it feels when your child isn't feeling good and there is nothing you can do but hold them, sing to them and just love them. I'm so glad Gracie didn't get the worst part of it. She was a little out of it for a day but even with a runny nose and some congestion she is just the best baby ever! I am amazed and humbled by her everyday. Especially when I am the one breaking down crying cause I feel so awful..she just looks at me and puts her little hand on my arm to comfort me and then everything is okay. It's hard to be miserable around her.

Hope everyone who is under the weather feels better soon and to those who haven't been bitten by the flu bug or cold bug yet, I hope it stays that way! Be blessed!

Proud Parents!

So as many of you know, Gracie's evaluation was this morning. Her service coordinator, an Occupational, and a Physical Therapist came to the house to meet Grace. She did SOOOO GREAT! She excelled in most areas tested both cognitively and physically. She even tested older (in the 10 and 11 month range) in some areas which they seemed very pleased with. They said they were very impressed with her and that she would be any therapists dream come true.

We worked on some short term and long term goals that we would like to work on through PT. Their recommendation for now is PT once a week for 45-60 minutes! PRAISE GOD! I asked about OT and they said that at this age they overlap and that if the PT thinks she needs it then she will recommend it and we can get that started too.

Overall it was just very encouraging. Of course we think Gracie is wonderful and can do anything because we are her proud parents, but it's so nice to hear it come from trained professionals who work with kids for a living. She was a ham..just like her daddy!

I just want to thank all of you for prayers and for continued prayers for Gracie. We have her blood work and her EKG this month and then we meet with the neurologist in March to go over all of it. We are just so thankful and praising God for her progress and for everything she IS able to do. We are sooo proud of her!