Now Look Who

Molly taught him how to do the weird face thing. I think my cute kid photos are over for awhile! YIKES!

Janie Stark Stallions

We live a couple of blocks from the school Molly will attend for Kindergarten. When she turned two we started telling her that is where she would go to Kinder. Sometime last Spring the girl went Stark crazy! Every time we passed it she would yell out, I'm going to Janie Stark when I am 5. How long until I am 5 mom? Over the Thanksgiving break my sweet friend Jill invited us to see the inside of the school. Whoa! I think it freaked Molly out a little to actually step inside. Jill even bought her a Stark Stallions shirt to wear. She told me yesterday that she feels pretty awesome about her new shirt ;)

Don't ask me where she learned how to do all the weird faces. Every time I try to take her picture she puts her hands on her face and stretches it out.

Decorations Check!

I haven't loved decorating for Christmas in at least ten years. I know, BAH HUM BUG! Really, it just seemed like too much effort for this time of year. Molly and Timmy deserve a traditional Christmas for sure! I put my big girl pants on and did it. I know it seems strange but I thought decorating would trigger too much sadness.

NOT SO! We debated about what kind of tree to get and where to put it. I didn't want the tree in the living room because French Bulldogs eat EVERYTHING! Sorry Sunshine, ornaments and limbs don't digest well. After much discussion and Mom and Bob taking over ;) the real,tree is in the sun room/play room. Katy even came over and helped the kids make homemade garlands. We blasted Johnny Mathis (which was my Dad's favorite) and created some new memories for everyone.

Sunday Snapshot-Molly Kate

Dear Molly,
I am so proud of you. You are the most flexible and generous little girl I know. You have been so brave through Timmy's surgery and you have loved him so well. Even when he has not been nice to you, you responded with love (sometimes sadness first but always love). You are a precious gift from Heaven and I am so thankful that God picked you to be my little girl!
Love,
Mommy

Molly's current interests are baby dolls, cooking, playing with her brother, princess computer games, sounding out words and Taco Cabana.

Back Home!

 

Kim and Cam Wow!

People have asked, how do you make it through a 9 hour heart surgery? The waiting....so long. Well, I had tons of family with me. We had some serious and sad moments but you can't just stay like that for 9 hours. It's way too heavy. So we read about Kim Kardashian and her break up. Then Shannon showed me the Cam Wow app for the iphone. It is the most fun! We were dying laughing. From crying to laughing and crying, this is how we made it!

More Photos of Our Ji

I realize that these photos are difficult to look at. This is the reality of life in an orphanage. Honestly, these aren't the worse photos I have seen either. These images are what I think about when I lay down at night, get up in the morning, and every other minute during the day. There are 146 million orphans in the world. This is a crisis. A HUGE ONE! Maybe you aren't called to adopt or don't have money to donate. However, there are many many kids on waiting lists. I encourage you to pick a child and pray for them. I recently read a story about a woman who wanted to adopt yet her husband did not. She picked five waiting children and began praying for each of them. Today three of them are matched with forever families, one of them is home with their forever family, and one is still waiting in an orphange. Everyone can do something!

Sunday Snapshot-3 Days Later

Here is Timmy, 3 DAYS AFTER MAJOR OPEN HEART SURGERY! Can this be? He is walking and smiling. He only has 1 iv left and they are taking him off the oxygen today. Last night he left the CVICU for the regular pediatrics floor. This freaked me out a little bit but he's doing great! Prayers have been answered and Timmy's imperfect heart has been made new!

Favorite Photo Friday-Ji's Visitors

Three of Julie's sweet friends went to visit Ji last weekend. We received a full update and 33 photos. Yes, I counted them :) Look at this precious girl! I can't wait to get my hands on her. No, I haven't forgotten about Timmy. He is doing well. He even walked today and is eating mac and cheese for dinner. The surgeon and cardiologist think he will be coming home on Tuesday. I'll post his pics later tonight.

Surgery

Timmy's surgery was 9 hours long. I'm too tired to write much but I wanted to post. Everything was repaired and he is at 100 percent oxygen saturation. He has been at 78-80 percent since birth. This boy is going to feel good in the near future. Timmy Meeker you are our super hero! I LOVE YOU!!!!

From Shannon

This was written by Shannon (my cousin the ER nurse). She went to the pre-op today with us. Here are more details about the surgery if you are interested.

Timmys pre-op went extremely well today. For the medical people here is what the surgery will consist of in a nutshell.

Determination from heart cath-
Timmy has a hole in between his ventricles in the septal wall and has no pulmonary artery linking his right ventricle to his pulmonary branches. In utero and after birth Timmys body adjusted by growing collateral vessels that connect directly from his descending aorta to his pulmonary branches (thank god he has the branches some kids don't and the vessels connect directly to the lungs themselves-much more serious).

So basically in Korea they put in a Potts shunt- a synthetic hose that connects his ascending aorta directly to the right pulmonary branch (which this surgeon says they probably thought was attached to a pulmonary artery that was narrowed, but again Timmy doesn't have a pulmonary artery and they wouldn't have necessarily seen that).

So right now Timmys blood flows from body to right atrium to right ventricle to left ventricle to ascending
aorta (where some is pumped through the Potts shunt into the lungs and then back around through the left atrium to the left/right ventricle (it's a big hole) to the ascending aorta again hopefully making it to the descending aorta (where his collateral vessels could re-route some already oxygenated blood back to the lungs again and through the cycle once more) and eventually the body receives a combination of completely unoxygenated blood and blood that may have cycled through the lungs several times. Not a very conducive system which is why his heart sounds like a washing machine. He also is not perfusing the top right and left lung lobes due to strictures. So only using about 70-85% of lungs.

Pre-Op

Timmy's pre-op was today. He had his blood work done, a chest x-ray, and then we met with the surgeon. Dr. Mendeloff is awesome and he explained Timmy's condition in a way that anyone could understand it. The procedure that he is having is as follows.....complete repair of tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia including construction of conduit from right ventricle to pulmonary artery and closure of the ventricular septal defect. I'm tired just typing it :) Timmy did well and didn't even cry when his blood was taken. The surgery will take place tomorrow at 6:00 am and will be about 7 hours long.

These pictures were taken right before we headed to the hospital. The top photo is Timmy's new signature look. He is making "cute eyes" and did it for everyone at the hospital as well. Poor Molly was sick all night with a fever and throwing up. So we sent her to Aunt Susie's because we don't want to risk Timmy getting sick. I'm going over there in a little bit :( I'm sad but it just has to be this way for now. Thanks for the prayers and I'll update tomorrow during or after the surgery.

Love to all!

Amy

Halloween Friends

We celebrated Halloween on our street with our friends. Molly was Alice, Reese was Rapunzel, Quinn was Minnie Mouse and Timmy was a Skeleton. We trick or treated on 2 streets and ate dinner at Miss Linda's annual cookout. She brings her fire pit out front and we all roast hot dogs and smores. YUM. I love Halloween on my street!

Halloween 2011