Here we go again...

Yep, that's right. Another catch up post. I am really a slacker here lately! I guess that's what happens when you get older! Today is my, ahem... 34th birthday. Sigh. (LoL) Its also my sister-in-law's, & my two cousins' birthday, too! So, if you all are reading this post... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

So, back to the catching up. We've been having fun around here! We're trying to get things ready for our fish tank, so that we can get it set up vs. sitting in the garage. I still need to get some stone for it (about 90lbs. more) & get the filter situation figured out. So, maybe by... Christmas we'll have fish in it (LoL)! Believe it or not, the MUCH smaller tank we have, we actually have 3 of the little glow fish that have lasted nearly 2 months, which is a record around here ;0)

The girls are very normal! Fighting like most sisters do... so nice (in its own way) to have such normalcy around here!

Of course, we had quite the weekend with celebrating the holiday, & the multi-faceted birthday party! On Friday, we went down to our church for the annual 4th of July celebration. They've been having a little festival of sorts for the last 10 years or so. It started as just a church function, but has blossomed into a full blown carnival. They have free hot dogs, hamburgers & chips. They also have funnel cakes, cotton candy... all the typical carnival stuff. Usually there's a show in the sanctuary for the kids, then its on to the fireworks! They are some of the best in our area. Here's some pictures ...

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Poor Vaeh... screamed after the first one went off & Jon had to take her inside. It was kind of cloudy, so the noise level was a little higher. All in all, they girls had a wonderful time! Then on the 4th, it was a surprise birthday for one of my birthday-sharing cousins. We had a nice time just chatting with family.

Today I plan on catching up on things around the house. What a way to spend my birthday, huh?! Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!

Catching up...

I have really been a slacker lately! I hope you all will forgive me... please?! We've just been hanging out & enjoying the summer. Nothing much really going on around here. Thankfully every one's been fairly healthy. Although Daddy had a nasty ear infection that landed him in the ER a couple of weeks ago, & now I'm brewing one (they're so NOT fun) & I had a lovely gallbladder attack the other night. Oh well, at least the kids are healthy! Only typical bumps & bruises that accompany summer!

Here's a few photos to catch up on the past few days. Last weekend I traded off days of helping my Mom & aunt's out with decorating. I went & helped set up on Friday for a reception while my cousin Erica came up & stayed with the girls. She has a little boy & girl, so the kids had a great time playing with their older cousins (Leslie & Jake). Then on Saturday it was a repeat of Friday, except that I stayed with the kids while Erica went to help decorate. They all had a really great time playing together. It was quite "busy" in our house those two days (ie: noisy, cluttered!)!

Oh, while all the little one's were here, we found out that our kids are miraculous! They were walking on water!!! Let me clarify...

They were having a blast running "on" the water ;0) We recently got a big fish tank (more on that to come in a future post!) & Jon filled it up to make sure it didn't leak before we put it in the house. So they were running through the drain off water from the tank.

Here's a couple more shots from the weekend...

Gabby couldn't wait to feed Emma!

Little miss skinny legs showing her stuff!

Sharing a root beer float with Daddy!

Happy Father's day, Daddy!

We were supposed to have the photo shoot with the Littlest Heroes Project this weekend, but with the weather supposed to be HOT we decided to reschedule, considering its an outside shoot & Vaeh (& the rest of us) don't handle the heat too well. I'm waiting to hear back about that.

On Sunday, however, we're going to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th birthday!! We're having a picnic type get together with our family to celebrate! I can't wait! I promise I'll put up pictures from this weekend, & when we get our fish tank up & running I'll put pics up of that, too!

Hope everyone else is doing well. Our little friend Elijah is home & recovering quite quickly from spine surgery! Also, our friend Krista is scheduled to have her little man July 1st! How exciting! Also, please continue to keep a beautiful little guy that Amber & her family have taken in. He remains in the NICU.

Whew! I need to get back in the game:0) I've been off my blogging game since the weather has gotten nice! I've really got my work cut out for me. Miss Vaeh loves to go "owside". It really makes it difficult with her being on lasix, I have to watch her sun exposure.

This past weekend, however, Mommy was busy helping out with wedding decorating & flowers. I was asked to help my Mom & her sisters out with their weekend... 3 weddings! So, Daddy was in charge of entertaining the twosome on Saturday. So, knowing their love of the "owside", parks, & slides... they headed to one of the local elementary school's playground. They LOVED it!! Miss Vaeh is really beginning to keep pace with her older sister! Here's an overview of their day...

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They were both tuckered out by that evening! Even with being soooo tired, Vaeh was still asking to go "owside" as she was drifting off to sleep:0) Then yesterday, our cousins came in for a fun summer day. Leslie (12), Jake (11) & Josh (8) usually spend the days at their house, but occasionally come in to hang out with the girls & I.

The boys really are in love with mowing lawns, so it worked out yesterday that my yard work got done & the boys were ecstatic to mow ;0) Leslie helped out, too! Then of course, you have to reward hard work with ice cream, so off we headed to the local dairy bar (yum-yum). Then I had the bright idea of going swimming. My in-laws have an above ground pool in their back yard, so we had supper & headed over to get into the water. The kids had a great time! Vaeh lasted about 15 minutes before turning all sorts of shades of blue, purple, & everything in between! The only bad part was that I forgot the camera through the whole day :0( You would think that I would have learned by now, but noooo! Maybe someday my brain will catch up with the rest of me ;o)

Hope you're all enjoying your summer! If you wouldn't mind keeping a couple of our friends in your prayers... Mr. Elijah is scheduled for surgery this Thursday. He'll have to be in the hospital for a couple of days, I think, so keep him & his parents in your prayers! Also, Krista is expecting her second son soon! Amber & her family have taken on another little foster child. He's a precious little guy who's battling for his life in the NICU. Please keep these & all of our friends in your prayers!

I'm terrible!!

Oh-my-goodness! I REALLY have been a slacker with this blog:0( I promise that nothing bad is going on...you all know that one of the first things I do is let our "blog family" know about anything - good or bad. We've just been enjoying life! Both the girls are having so much fun "owside," as Miss Vaeh would say!

This past weekend, we took the girls up to the elementary school's play ground... & they had a blast! Gabby was all over the jungle gym stuff, & Miss Vaeh loved going up the steps & down the slides! The only bad part was that - bad Mommy - forgot the camera:0( I'm sure, however, that we'll make at least one trip back there this summer!

Hope everyone else is well & enjoying the summer!

Promised Pictures:0)

Okay, to start off here's a video of our newly deemed "mountain climber". On the swing set we have there's a "rock climbing wall" that Vaeh has been eyeing for quite a while. We started out when the weather got nice letting her try to climb it & she did fairly well. Look at how she's doing now... (Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the page & pause the music before you watch her in action!)

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So much for needing therapy or being behind developmentally! Boy, am I going to have a fun summer trying to keep up with her & her sister!

So, did you get a good look at her in the video? Did you see her hair? Take a peek again in this shot...

Isn't she just as cute as can be?!! (okay, so maybe I'm biased!) Here's Gabby's new do...

Doesn't she look so grown up?!?! I don't know if I can handle this - ugh! Oh, & I'll even show my new look. They took about 6 inches off the back & I love it!

(I put that picture up just for you, Amber :0) I cropped this out of a picture that my Mom took of our little family right after Miss Gabby's graduation last week from pre-k...


So there's some up to date pics of us! I'm sorry that I've been a slacker here lately. I have no excuses. But I'll warn you I'm not sure how frequent posts will be coming in the next couple of weeks. After we get past tomorrow (I have to help blow up balloons for my Mom & Aunt's - 500 orange balloons that will be released at a funeral tomorrow...) I'm going to buckle down & try to get Miss Vaeh potty trained! She doesn't like to wear diapers anymore - just pull ups. The problem is she won't yet tell me when she needs to go. She isn't really grasping the concept yet, so we're going to try regular big girl panties!! I'll let you know how things are going... :0)

Hopefully everyone is doing well. Oh, & if you would remember to keep Mr. Elijah in your prayers... he is scheduled to have surgery to release a tethered cord June 18th. He's one of our little heart buddies that is just too cute for words! I'm sure he & his family would appreciate your prayers! Thanks again for checking in on us!

Oh, goodness

I did it again. I went 10 days without a new post. Boy am I a slacker! But in my defense, we have been busy.

We were able to finally get our flower beds mulched, which really gave the house a finished touch. (It only took 3+ years - LoL!) And yesterday, Jon & his Dad hung my flag that I've had for nearly a year... just in time for Memorial Day. I'm a very patriotic person, so it was nice to have that flag flying.

We also all got hair cuts! The girls (myself included) are all short-haired now. Gabby & Vaeh both look soooo much older, it almost hurts! But they also look VERY cute! Gabby wanted hers up to about chin level, so that's where it is. Vaeh's is a little shorter than that, but I'm hoping cutting hers now will help it thicken up. With all the surgeries she had, all that anesthesia, along with her pulling her own hair all the time... lets just say her hair is quite thin. As for me, I just needed a change. I used to color my hair every 6 weeks. Now I'm lucky if I get it cut once a year!

Vaeh had her preschool assessment. She's too good - meaning she doesn't qualify with her therapies to have county based services paid for. So I'm going to try to get her into regular preschool this fall, & if I can't then I'll just wait until next year! To show off her skills, I have a great video of her, but can't post it right now. I promise I'll post it soon!

Oh, & Vaeh had her first sleep over somewhere other than the hospital! She & Gabby spent the night with Mawmaw. So Daddy & Mommy actually had a date night! The entire night without kids! We figured we hadn't been kid less (other than when Vaeh was in the hospital) in 5 YEARS!!! So, we went to see a movie - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was a really good movie!

So, just a quick update here. I promise to post pictures sometime tomorrow. On a quick note, though... would you all keep Jesse's family in your prayers. He is a 15 year old that lost his battle with leukemia last week. I'm sure his family would appreciate your prayers.

Promise, more coming soon... :0)

One year ago today...

We were in an all too familiar place, for yet again sending our 'Reflection of Heaven' into surgery for a third time on her little heart. This time to hopefully complete her repair. Thankfully she did better than any of them expected her to!

We headed to the hospital around 7 am... scheduled for surgery at 8. They gave her a dose of versed & we were able to get some pictures of our "drunken" little girl before we would see her with all those tubes & wires, on a ventilator & sedated. I hated seeing her like that. Thankfully we don't have to worry about that again any time in the near future.

So, we're celebrating Vaeh's heart day today! Its amazing where we've come from...

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to where we are now...

( How can you resist that gorgeous face?! )

Thank you all for joining us & supporting us along this journey. We couldn't make it without all of your love, support & prayers! We love you all!!

So much info... so little space!

I fear that this post may take up quite a bit of space, since I've been lacking on my blogging duties:0) To start off, Happy belated Mother's day to all you wonderful Momma's out there! I hope you all were blessed with a wonderful day with your families! The girls both made me wonderful gifts - Gabby gave me a little poem & a hand print from school, & Vaeh colored me a picture in Sunday school! I will treasure them always. And yes, they were both worth more that the other gift I was given...

Okay, so its really for the whole family, but as Jon says "its Momma's ride." We previously owned a 1997 Chevy Blazer that was on its last leg. We found this one (a 2005) on my brother-in-law's used car lot & couldn't pass up the deal. Its so nice to have the extra room the 3rd seat provides, too!

Now, as for my little stinker! My oh my how much personality Miss Vaeh is beginning to show! I think that she went through the "terrific 2's" & is now moving into the "terrible 3's" just like her older sister did:0) She's really beginning to push buttons to see how far she can take Mommy! I love every minute of it!! Today while we were waiting to have her echo done, she was kicking around, hitting me, etc. Then during the echo, she decided she wanted to pull on the EKG leads that they had on her. She created quite a bit of artifact in the strip, but the pictures they got at least turned out well enough. Just take a look at this face...

Playing before Megan started her echo.

Getting started.

Here, let me help you! She loves the gel!

Showing several "shots" of her heart.

Her appointment went very well today. It started off with perfect sats - 100%!! I just love seeing those triple digits:0) Her blood pressure has leveled out too, back up in a more normal range vs. being on the low side. Then onto the scale. I think (?hope) I told you all how Miss Vaeh had lost some weight right after we had her button taken out. Well, for a short time we kinda got a little worried but once she adjusted to being on the revatio, her appetite picked up & she seemed to be getting back to normal. Well, the scale proved that today. Since we were there to see Dr. Butto in March, little miss thing has gained almost 3 pounds!!! She weighed in at 27lb 14oz today!!! That really did my heart good!

Dr. Butto also said that the revatio is doing its job. Her right ventricle pressure is down from 55 to high 30's/low 40's! He did say that we still can't change her dose any, as the half-life for this drug is short & her pressures are still elevated. But we're moving in the right direction. He also gave the okay for her to go to a center based preschool vs. home!! So, come this fall I'll have 2.5 hours to myself 4 days a week! I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'll start planning now! (LoL)

Other than that, she's doing great & we don't have to go back for - are you ready? 3 months!!! We've never gone that long without seeing Dr. Butto! I think I'm going to go through withdrawal LoL!!

The girls are both enjoying the nicer weather. Vaeh is constantly asking "ow-side." I'm going to have my hands full this summer! They're both getting so big. Vaeh can now tell me both of her meds & which one each is by looking at the color. Check out this video of her taking her meds...

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How many 2 year olds do you know that can say the name of their medicines?! Just early training for her to go into the medical field (LoL)!

Gabby is doing well. She's getting excited about starting kindergarten. We even went & got her immunizations up to date, which meant that it was her turn for a poke (actually 3) :0( She did so well, though. That's one step closer to my baby going to school - ugh! These kiddos need to slow down. Vaeh's doing it to me, too! Look at her latest feat in the world of getting older...


Yep. She's in a toddler bed instead of her crib. Her first night in it was last night & she did fairly well. I did hear her around 2:30 this morning, & went in to find she had rolled out of bed & underneath the bed! She didn't even wake up when I pulled her out & put her back to bed! Glad she's a sound sleeper!

Well, there you have it. Sorry its been so long. I promise I'll try not to let it happen again! Hopefully everyone is doing well. Thanks for checking in on us!

PS - If you all could, would you please keep a couple of our friends in your prayers? Most of you probably know Miss Gracie, but if you're new here please link over & read her story. Her family is such a strong ,wonderful bunch & they're going through some trying times & could use your prayers.

Also, another friend of our family are in the midst of a battle for life. Jesse is a young man who is once again battling leukemia & things are dire at this point. He is in critical condition after a failed bone marrow transplant & they're hoping that he can gain enough strength to fight for a second chance at transplant. I know the family would appreciate your prayers, too!

Update coming!!

Sorry its been soooo long since I've updated. There really hasn't been much going on around here other than "normal" life (if you can define normal - LoL!). Vaeh & I are headed to our "date" with Dr. Butto, her cardiologist. So, as soon as we get home & I get a chance, I'll put up a long overdue update as to life in the Walp household!

Hope everyone else is well & had a great Mother's day!