Look Who's 2!!

Aubrey gets a three-day celebration this year.  Yesterday (the 7th) was actually her birthday.  She and I did some special things throughout the day and then we went out with Daddy for dinner and played at Chuck E Cheese for a little bit.  Tonight is the family party--GiGi and PaPa are coming for dinner and she gets to open her presents today.  Saturday we are having a joint birthday party for her and our neighbor friend Lydia who both turn 2 this month.  We just invited all the neighbors in our cul-du-sac for a BBQ.  I am in charge of making a whole lot of cupcakes!  She is getting so big.

We have been having some pretty rough nights lately, though last night may have been a breakthrough.  Last week we went to this Aquarium in Houston for a fun family outing.  It a really neat day.  One of the coolest things this place has are these white tigers.  We were able to watch when they switched the tigers out--they seem to just have one on display on at a time.  The first tiger was getting pretty excited for her big moment to leave and with lots of people watching on the other side of the glass.  Aubrey was standing right up close to the glass with Brian behind her and the tiger wanted to play.  It crouched in the corner then all-of-a-sudden jumped up on the glass right at Aubrey, standing taller than Brian!  Aubrey jumped back and fell on her bottom, Brian jumped back--it was all very funny.  We got a ticket to play a carnival game for free and Aubrey won two little stuffed tigers!  Aubrey was pretty worn out from our big day and slept great that night.  The next night, however, she woke up with nightmares.  I finally got her to tell me what she was thinking and she said, "Tiger jump up, tiger jump up, big tiger jump, Daddy Aubrey, Daddy Aubrey."  This repeated itself the next few nights but I think she has finally forgotten (we hid the toy tiger.)  Our great little sleeper has been having lots of trouble sleeping in her bed lately--sometimes I wish she was still in her crib.  I am hoping we are on the back side of this for a while though now.

I am in a Beth Moore Bible study Thursday mornings.  I am loving it.  This morning was a little emotional for me though.  Aubrey and I battled over her medicine before we left the house.  We were both crying after that.  Then the whole drive to the church Aubrey was saying "Mommy no.  No, no Mommy.  Go home."  We get to Aubrey's class room and there is a little boy screaming in there.  Aubrey loses it.  I nearly do as she is clinging to me and not wanting to go.  Then I find out she cried off and on the whole time last week.  I reluctantly leave her in the arms of the very nice lady.  Then head down the hall and the woman in charge of the child care stops me and explains what the little boy's background is and assures me they will call if Aubrey doesn't stop crying.  I start crying again, as this lady is reassuring me that she'll be fine.  She checks in on her before I head to class and she's already doing fine.  After our discussion time, we watch Beth on video.  She talks a lot about fear and I always relate everything to Aubrey's heart.  The heart of the issue that she drove home was what God has been teaching me all year.  It isn't enough to trust God that the thing I fear the most won't happen--most of the things I fear won't happen and some may--maybe even that thing that I fear the most.  God tells us not to fear--more than anything else he commands in the Bible.  As Esther faced her biggest fear, "If I parish, I parish," I need to be able to answer that "if ______ then, _____" with God. If my biggest fear happens I KNOW that my God will be with me and ultimately I will be okay.  

In the trials we have faced so far--God has brought us through.  We have witnessed friends walk through the trial of losing a newborn and painful as it was and is, God brought them through.  God is good and he is still working on me in this area, but I feel like a few things clicked into place this morning.

When I picked Aubrey up she was so happy--she said she had fun.  The head lady came up to me and told me they had a great day, Luke (the little boy) stopped screaming and played the whole time and Aubrey never started crying again either.  What was I worried about?

Home to Alaska

What a wonderful time we had in Alaska this month.  We were there from the 8th through the 23rd.  It was great timing for Brian to have a work trip to AK, only working the first 4 days of our long vacation.  We split our time staying with two families and then camping the last weekend in Seward.  Aubrey had a blast playing with all of her old friends and meeting several of their new siblings.  We had great weather.  It felt like we were just at home.  We spent a lot of time with lots of our friends.  Everyone kept remarking that it felt like we had never left--we felt that way, too.  It was refreshing to be there.  

We were back less than a week and Brian took off again--for a week in the UK and Norway.  Hopefully I will be able to keep myself and Aubrey busy for a week alone!

Summer Time

It has been a long time since I have sat down to blog, sorry about that.  We have been very busy since summer started.  Aubrey is doing great.  We just spent a wonderful two weeks with Grandma Sue (Julie's mom) in town.  Aubrey calls her "Du."  She is starting to really talk a lot and even in short sentences.  She is growing in confidence as well.  She always wants to do everything herself and will tell you,  "Aubee, Aubee!" when you try to do things for her.  She is so much fun.  If you want her to get really animated, ask her about Shamu--we have been to SeaWorld three times now and she LOVES it.  She loves stickers, coloring, and pushing around her baby doll stroller.  We converted her crib to a toddler bed.  There were about three or four days of transition where she was always on the floor when we went in to check on her, but now she is doing great with the change.  She climbed out of her crib one afternoon when, apparently, she wasn't ready for her nap.  I watched to see if she could do it and caught her before she hit the ground.  That was the end of her crib days.  

We are looking forward to heading back to Alaska for a nice long visit in a couple of weeks.  We miss our friends so much.  I'll try and blog again soon.  

Health Update for Our Big Girl

We went to TCH today for Aubrey's scheduled cardiology appointment.  We were SO proud of Aubrey.  We practiced what was going to happen yesterday and I think she felt prepared knowing what was happening.  She laid very still for the whole half hour of the test and didn't even mind all the stickies they put on her for the EKG.  As for the results: things haven't changed.  The numbers were all virtually the same as they have been.  It is good to know that she isn't getting any worse.  As far as the incident that sent us to the hospital in January--there is no new explanation.  It may just be some fluke that we never fully understand.  We will be back in 6 months for her next heart check up.  

These appointments always leave us with mixed feelings.  On one hand we are so thankful for how healthy she is and that things haven't gotten worse.  On the other hand we so much want to hear that she is healed and are reminded of the seriousness of her condition.  For now we just get to enjoy the wonderful girl she is and our life as a family--and do our best to trust our gracious Lord and not worry.

Update and Reflections

Aubrey had several tests during and after her recent (a month ago) hospitalization.  Everything they tested has come back and everything came back normal.  The tests they did are some of the ways that a metabolic or mitochondrial disorder commonly show up.  They do not conclusively rule anything out--except for the one that ruled out an overdose on her medication.  We were kind of hoping that was the answer.  So, we are thankful for the results we have--even though they haven't been able to explain things as of yet.  I am so very thankful for Aubrey and the joy she brings to our lives and how healthy she is for now.    Some of our friends have been telling us lately that they admire our strength and perspective in the midst of these things we are facing.  I have to be honest, we don't always succeed at this, sometimes we are overcome by our fears even though the Lord tells us over and over not to fear. I have to constantly take my thoughts captive and not let my fears for her future take root. It is a frequent battle for me especially.  The Lord is refining us.  I have been learning that the Lord has given us each our own measure of hardship, our own cross to bear unlike anyone else's.  I think we have been able to be thankful despite the circumstance, but the next step is to be thankful for the circumstance.  We are thankful for the depth it has brought to our marriage, to our love for Aubrey, and to our relationship with the Lord.  Bottom line: We trust in the goodness of God.  ALL THE TIME He is good.

Dining Room Artwork

My friend Robin helped me start this project a few weeks ago when she visited.  I had so much fun tapping into my creative side and painting this piece for our dining room.  It is four pieces of wood each 2 ft x 2 ft, textured and painted.  

It's the Little Things

NEW SUIT

Here Aubrey was showing Daddy her new swimsuit when he got home from work.  

LITTLE HELPER

Aubrey was a big help when we were fixing the sprinkler system!  We were actually so proud of how well she played around the yard while we were digging ditches, glueing pipes, and filling ditches.  She has been very good around the pool so far.  She has enjoyed the hot tub very much the couple of times we have taken her in.  
JOYS OF PARENTHOOD

One of the greatest things about being parents are these little moments when we get to hold Aubrey after she has fallen asleep in the car before we transfer her to her bed.  What a joy!

VALENTINES DAY
Brian took me to the Houston Museum of Natural Science for Valentines day.  They had an event called "Love Bugs."  There was food and dancing amongst the dinosaur bones--a Salsa band played and we had a blast dancing.  We visited the body exhibit with the plasticised bodies--it was really cool and educaitonal!  We also got to go through the butterfly exhibit which was very cool.  Then we walked through a park in the warm rain.  It was a lovely evening.

Back to Normal

Brian's work had some balloons delivered to Little Miss--a perfect gift!

The pool is almost complete, we are filling it up this very moment!  
Aubrey was helping Daddy fix the sprinkler system this morning.



Thank you all again for your prayers.  We are doing much better.  

Thanks for Praying

Many of you know and some may not, that Aubrey was in the hospital this past week.  On Tuesday morning, Brian left early in the morning to fly to Oklahoma.  Aubrey hadn't woken up by 8:30 am which was unusual.  I went in to check on her and I knew that something was wrong.  She was staring at me, but didn't say anything.  She was shaking a little and her color was a little off.  When I touched her I immediately noticed she was really cold.  I took her into my room, called Brian, then the pediatrician, and then Brian's mom and we headed to Texas Children's Hospital ER.  I had planned on getting together with a friend that morning so she called and offered to ride with me to the Hospital.  That was such a blessing that helped keep me calm on the drive.  

A whole lot of doctors, nurses, and others quickly worked on Aubrey to get her temperature, blood sugar, and heart rate back up to a normal place.  It was very scary for me and I was SO thankful to have Brian's mom with me.  Once they got her to a more stable condition, they took her in for a brain cat scan and then she was placed in the PICU.  Brian was able to come back that evening and spend the next three days with me at the hospital.  Aubrey was doing much better shortly after getting into the PICU, though she was still very sleepy for the rest of that day.  That night was very scary for Brian and I because after Aubrey's dangerously low blood sugar level, it shot up to a dangerously high level.  Thankfully her body was able to regulate it over the nighttime so she didn't need any help with that.

While in the PICU, Brian and I were offered a room at the Ronald McDonald House located in the hospital.  That was a blessing for us to get to take turns napping and showering there over the night.  Aubrey was out of ICU status early wednesday morning, but it wasn't until late that night that there was a room for her on the Cardiac floor.  We were so glad to be moved to a much larger room with a place for us to sleep and a private bathroom with a shower.  Also they only checked vitals every 4 hours there and Aubrey got to shed most of her cords and stickers and cufs and other tethers.  She only had one iv left and since she was feeling better she was happy for the extra mobility.  

It was a very difficult time for all of us.  Brian and I were very emotionally exhausted from watching Aubrey go through so much poking and prodding.  She became VERY fearful of anyone who would walk through the door (besides Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa.)  It hurt me so much to see her hurting and afraid and not be able to do anything but be there for her.

The doctors are still baffled by what actually caused this incident.  We have talked to lots and lots of doctors.  We are thankful to be in such place with such WONDERFUL doctors.  There are so many doctors reviewing her case and trying to find answers.  She had lots of blood tests, eye exam, hearing exam, liver ultrasound, heart ultrasound and so far everything has turned up normal.  The cardiologists and the geneticists want her to have a few more tests to try and narrow down a diagnosis (or rule out certain other conditions.)  We have to take her back to TCH on Thursday for a big brain MRI  and they are doing a skin biopsy while she is under anesthesia.  They finally let us go home Friday night.  She has been SO happy since we left.  She is completely back to her normal bubbly, loving, smart, silly self. 

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.  Though it has been a difficult time, we have many things to be thankful.  We need prayer for wisdom and peace as parents.  We pray that Aubrey has peace and feels safe despite all the uncomfortable appointments she has to go through.  And of course we pray for healing.  We would like some answers, but we are okay without answers.  We need your prayers of protection: physical, emotional, and spiritual.  God is good.