Happy Birthday Mallory!! :)

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER MALLORY!!! Where to start? 9 years ago today this lovely little baby came into Clint and I's life we fell in love with her instantly!! She is a smart, talented, sweet, caring, full of life little girl!! Don't get me wrong though she definitely knows how to be a drama queen!! She is a wonderful Big Sister to all these Crazy boys! I wouldn't know what to do without all her help!! We are so lucky to call her our daughter!!

We love you Sissy
Mommy,Daddy,Mason,Carter,Cavin,Maxton,Cayne and Maccoy

News

Just back from Maccoy's Cardiologist appt.! We got good news! We don't have to go back for 8 weeks which is great especially since that hospital is crawling with sick kids and bad germs maccoy doesn't need! His echo today showed no new progression which is awesome his 02 Sats are still good he is growing GREAT (thanks to his mama's good milk) so we are still looking at another few months before surgery!! Good news!!

I almost forgot

I had both babies laughing out loud on Sunday night (10-18-09)! It was so darn Cute!! They thought I was pretty funny (or funny looking)!! They are such sweet easy babies!!

Today's the Day

Today is Maccoy's Cardiologist appt. and echo.. I am very nervous. Why u wonder? Well this is one more appt. closer to surgery. This could also be the appt. they tell us it's time for surgery. Both of these things make me nervous,scared,emotional and panicked... He is doing so good that my gut feeling is it will be a few more months before surgery,but I could be wrong. I will post later on what we find out..

Ok

So I am getting a taste of what life would have been like if Maxton was my last child and I couldn't be HAPPIER that I have the twins! Cavin went for a "test run" at preschool from 11:30 to 3:00 today and so while the babies sleep it was just Maxton and me and now he is down for a nap and I am lonely :( I thought I would love it,but I don't!! I seriously think I could be the crazy lady that has 20 kids because I love these little guys so much! The older kids don't need me as much nor do they want to cuddle as much and I hate that! I know as the kids get older their needs change but I have a feeling I am going to be so lonely during the day when they are all at school. Maybe that is crazy and I will be happy? who knows!! But right now in this very quiet house I miss my "Cavi" and I don't really want him to go to preschool! Yesterday as I was quizzing him on his colors and shapes for today's Test Run he looked at me and said "I am not going to tell you what they are cause I don't wanna go to school" and today when I drooped him off and he looked at me with those BIG Blue eyes grabbed my hand and said "can't you stay with me" as tears fell down his cheeks I almost cried right there and brought him back home, but I held it together and said No Cav you are going to have so much fun! I then turned and made it to the van before I burst into tears! Poor Guy!! Poor Mommy it took all I had to leave him there crying...Nobody ever told me How Much I would love My kids, so much sometimes it actually hurts!!

Found!!

I found these pictures yesterday and realized I never posted them!! Boo Me!! Anyway these are My Grandparents!! I love them dearly!! They are two of my most Favorite people in this world!! I would do anything for them!! I have very Good memories from spending lots of time at their house as a child!! I used to talk to my Grandma weekly but since I have had Maxton it has gotten harder for Grandma to call because she is always afraid I am to busy to talk, but Grandma I am Never to Busy for you!! Anyway I thought my family would enjoy these. Grandma Barb and Grandpa Dick holding the twins when they were 2 weeks old!! Look how little the babies are!! Man they are growing fast!! When I see these pictures it really makes me miss my PaPa Charlie I know he would have loved to see my kids!!

Love you Grandma and Grandpa!! Miss you Lots!!

The Video

The below video is very long, but it is the BEST information I have heard on TET. He explains everything so well! So if you are interested here you go!

I LOVE THIS VIDEO

Some Good Days Some Bad

So as our next Cardiology appointment approaches for Maccoy(Oct.22) I find myself starting to fall apart.. I start researching and reading and crying and asking why.. I think all of this is a normal thing considering what lies ahead for our little guy and our family. I read and read and read. Some things I read 10 times over and over trying to find more information,but it really all says the same stuff. Then I start to second guess everything, myself mainly (did i understand them right? is this what they meant when they told us this?) come on nurse brain where are you ? I start replaying that horrible day July 5th in my head and then my stomach gets upset. Then I perk back up because I don't have time for a pity party I have 7 kids and a husband that need me to be me! So I move forward to fill my mind with all the information necessary to keep Maccoy healthy to do what is Right for him. What does sitting on the couch crying holding your sweet baby get you? What does beating yourself up for being responsible for his defect get you? Feeling sorry for him/yourself gets you nothing. But reading and researching and filling my head with knowledge gets me to the place I need to be, so that is what I will do! I have been blessed recently to have found some other families going through the same thing we are and that has been a huge help. To see their stories and see their little ones doing so well after their repairs! I have Faith that everything will be fine for my sweet baby!! So I will continue to research and read and cry because that is how I deal with this HUGE issue we are facing! Everyday the surgery gets closer and closer and everyday I get more and more scared. And I think that is normal too? I am thankful that his O2 Sats are still really good, his color is good, we have not had any TET spells, and he is gaining weight really well! I hope that when they do the Echo on the 22nd they tell us all is stable and we can be put off the surgery for at least another 3 months hopefully longer! We will start getting his RSV shots in November and I hope and pray that these keep him safe from RSV which could be really hard on him. He will receive an injection every 28 to 30 days from Nov. to April the peak season for RSV. They are VERY expensive like $1500 each so insurance won't cover them for Cayne. You have to be high risk which Cayne isn't. I am going to leave you with a "bleep" from a site I came across today during all my reading! It puts the 4 Key Factors of Tetralogy of Fallot into easy to understand terms. I liked it very much!

Tetralogy of Fallot Fact Sheet

What is tetralogy of Fallot?

Tetralogy of Fallot (fuh-LOE) is a combination of four different birth defects in the heart.

A healthy heart is a strong, muscular pump that pushes blood through the circulatory system to carry oxygen and nutrients to the body. The heart has four chambers -- two on the right and two on the lef. Blood is pumped through these chambers and regulated by valves that open and close like tiny doors, so that blood can move in only one direction.

After its trip through the body to deliver oxygen, blood is a blue color because it’s no longer oxygen-rich. The blue blood returns to the heart through the right chambers and is pumped through the pulmonary artery into the lungs. In the lungs, it picks up more oxygen and becomes bright red. It then goes back through the pulmonary vein to the left chambers and is pumped through the aorta and out into the body again.

If your child has tetralogy of Fallot, it means the following defects are present:

1.)	Ventricular septal defect (VSD): This is a hole in the wall between the heart’s right and left ventricles (pumping chambers).
2.)	Overriding aorta: This means the aorta is located above the ventricular septal defect, to the right of where it should normally be.
3.)	Pulmonary valve stenosis: This is a narrow place in the pulmonary valve (between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery) that forces the heart to pump harder to push blood through it.
4.)	Right ventricular hypertrophy: Because the heart must work so hard to pump blood through the narrowed pulmonary valve, the muscle wall of the right ventricle may become enlarged and weakened.

Together, these four defects reduce blood flow to the lungs and allow oxygen-poor (blue) blood to be pumped out to the whole body. As a result, the body does not have enough oxygen to meet its needs, and breathing becomes difficult.

We Will Get Through this!! He will be okay! I know it! God wouldn't have given me this beautiful sweet baby if he wasn't going to be okay!! I pray this everyday!! I love you soooooo much Maccoy! Your going to be fine!! It will be hard but you are my fighter and Daddy and I will be right here with you fighting for you!! Together we will get through this! Stronger than ever before!

PLEASE PRAY

Please say a Prayer for Baby Scarlett who like Maccoy has Tetralogy of Fallot and had a full repair done yesterday. She made it through her 7 hour surgery and is doing okay! Although we have never met her or her family I feel a need to share her story and pray for her full recovery from this surgery! If you want to visit her blog and read about Sweet Baby Scarlett hear it is

http://heartbabyscarlett.blogspot.com/

So SICK and Tired.....

I am so SICK and TIRED of this stupid Swine Flu.. It has taken 8 days to make it through the 5 older kids and Clint. Mallory,Clint and Maxton are sick as I write this.. I have felt like crap all week so I am not sure if I have had it or apparently we were passing around another cold type something before the swine flu hit us so the babies and I may have that? I am so sick and tired of everyone crying and whining and coughing and sneezing and crying and whining oh did I already say that? I must say that this is much better than the stomach flu!! Although there has been a few episodes of vomit to clean up.. yuck!!
I feel sorry for Clint right now. You see I got lucky to marry a man with the gift at being Mr.Fix it or maybe you call it being a tight a** and not wanting to pay somebody to do something he can figure out how to do. I mean anything from laying carpet, to plumbing to electrical, to drywall and right now he is a HVAC man. A few weeks ago he tore into our duct work in the basement to fix it so that the ceiling won't be so low when he gets it done, and well it isn't done and we can't turn our heat on until it's put back together so sick,fever,flu and all he is trying to get it done so we can turn our heat on cause it is really cold out!! Poor Guy!!

Also this week we were told that Cavin is color blind? Not sure if we believe it or not? I took him for his annual eye exam and this is what they found? My girlfriends husband is color blind and she says it comes from the maternal side? Not sure if either of my grandpa's suffer from this so I will need to ask them? So of course just another thing to worry about I know it's not a huge issue but of course it will cause some problems in school.

So the count is at 3 sick, 3 have had it and 3 may still be getting it?? Keep your fingers crossed and prayers coming that if Cayne and Maccoy do get this crap it is very mild for both of them!!

Pictures!!

Starting from the top

Maccoy sucking his thumb
Cayne sucking his thumb
Mason and Maccoy
The last ones are all from the Fall Festival Parade and the one with all the kids sitting on our front porch was from our Fall Festival BBQ with some of our Great Friends!! the little girl with Mason and Carter in the last picture is Lily she is my Best Friends little girl isn't she so CUTE? Her and Mason get along so well!!

Maccoy

Maccoy's "first" smile caught on camera!! So cute!!

3 months Old

Cayne and Maccoy are 3 months old Today!! Wow where did that time go?? They are getting so big TO FAST!! They both smile when they are talked to! Which they love!! They both have found the LOVE of sucking their thumb which is cute now but not so cute when they need braces later on!! They are trying to let out some laughs and a few coo's! For the most part they are happy healthy sweet little babies!! They fit in with our family so perfectly!! As of Oct.2 Cayne weighs 15lbs4oz and Maccoy was 13lbs even!! Cayne has even started wearing some 6 to 9 month clothes :) we call him "Fatty Patty"!!! The kids call Maccoy "coy coy' which has caught on and I even catch myself calling him that!! Funny all the kids had little nicknames when they were babies only Mason's never went away cause we all still call him "Bubba"!! They look a lot alike so the thought is always there as to if they are Identical or Fraternal? But our Dr. says there is really no reason to test to see? I will post pictures later this week so everyone can see how big they are getting!!

Swine Flu oh my :(

On Friday morning Mason was about to eat his breakfast when he started to cry and said "Mommy I think I am going to puke".. I thought oh great here we go with the lovely stomach flu, but after 2 hours of a upset stomach and NO puke I was a little relieved only to find Mason had a 103 temp and a headache as the day progressed he complained of a sore throat and headache and ran a temp no matter if he had motrin or not? I thought maybe strep throat? But at 3 a.m when his temp was still 103 and he started in with this nasty cough I thought no it isn't could it be the flu? But where did he get it? NO notices from school about being exposed? We don't go anywhere? So I took him into the Dr. to have him checked out lucky for me and him our Dr. was the one doing Sat. clinic! He took one look at Mason and said "He has Swine Flu no reason to even do a test" and immediately my thoughts were of what will happen to Maccoy? He can't get this? I began to tear up and then the Dr. and I came to the decision that we needed to know if it was the flu so we did the test and 15 mins later it was back that yes indeed it was... Mason was a very sick little guy Friday and Saturday running a fever no matter if he had Tylenol and Motrin, complained of a headache and upset stomach even vomited after taking his tamiflu, wouldn't eat or drink, and wouldn't really even talk or answer questions and his eyes were like glass red glass.. He looked so horrible lifeless.. But today he looks to be getting better the fever is low if not gone even without Motrin or Tylenol. He has been eating and drinking and even talking!! So 1 down and who knows how many to go!!