Her name

We decided on her name a few months ago.  My goal was to know her name by the time I went to First Monday at the beginning of November.  Sounds dumb, I know, but I wanted to buy a few things especially for her!  It took us awhile for us {Aaron & I} to agree on a name.  We had plenty of boys names, of course, but finding the perfect name for our daughter was tough!  When all was said and done we agreed on a name that had come up when I was pregnant with Cohen.  It was Cohen's girl's name, I guess you could say.  We have loved it for almost 3 years, so we are bound to love it forever!  So, our precious baby girl's name is...

We definitely can't wait to meet our little Harper!  Or "Hawper" as Cohen says. :)

Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," 12even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. 19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain!21Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Updates

We wanted to pass on some great news, thank you for your prayers and ask for you to continue to pray. We saw Dr. Laird, the pedo cardiologist again today and he called the check-up "very encouraging"! The fluid around the heart is now gone and it appears to be pumping "better". Also, the VSD (the large hole) appears to be "smaller" than it was and in his words "could possibly be trying to close up". The right ventricle was still slightly smaller than the left and the tricuspid valve still has a "moderate" leak. He said the words "very encouraging" several times, which made us smile...a lot. The structural defects are still there, but the heart overall seems to be functioning better.

We're in no way out of the woods yet, but he's stretched out our visits to every two weeks for now and things seem to be headed in a good direction. Thank you so much for your prayers. We ask that you continue to pray for her (and us).

Here are some pictures as of recent.  I feel very behind on updating, but this is the best I can do right now!

Noah turned 5 on the 21st and had a pirate party!

We had our Thanksgiving Feast and program at preschool.  Cohen was a turkey and wasn't really into singing in front of a large crowd!

Noah was a pilgrim and did a great job singing his song, saying his poem and playing instruments.  Still can't believe he is 5 and that this is his last year of preschool!

Our family of 4!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Christmas will be here before we know it!  Yikes!

Update on our baby girl...

We had a follow-up visit with Dr. Laird, the pediatric cardiologist and the report was not good on our baby girl's heart. The three structural issues that were identified last visit appear now to have been the result of a larger problem with the heart. In the last 5 weeks, her heart has grown "larger than it should be" and is now struggling to "squeeze" or pump normally. Some fluid has started to gather around the heart as a result of it being over-worked and in general he said "the heart looks worn out". The cause of these issues has yet to be identified. She could simply have a defective, weak heart. It could also be as simple as an infection in the heart or in her blood and the heart has been working extra hard to compensate. At this point they don't know anything and he wouldn't speculate given the wide range of possibilities. He did give me some medication that will hopefully help strengthen the baby's heart and pump more efficiently. We're meeting (hopefully tomorrow) with the same doctor who performed the level 2 sonogram to get another overall picture of the baby and her general health. This could help to pinpoint a cause of the symptoms or rule out others. We're also scheduled to meet with Dr. Laird again next Monday to check the progress on the heart.

Your continued prayers are appreciated!

From Captain Hook & Peter Pan:

A little Halloween preview....

Please pray for our baby girl...

On Tuesday, I had an appointment with a Dr. in Dallas for a level 2 sonogram at the recommendation of my OBGYN.  At my previous appointment with her, she noticed an abnormal heartbeat while listening to the baby.  So, she thought, just to be on the safe side, I get a more in depth sonogram done.  She assured me that she didn't think it was anything serious but wanted to be cautious.  So, we went to our appointment, thinking that they are just going to confirm what the OBGYN heard, and that it wouldn't be a big deal.  Well, it turns out the heartbeat sounded normal, but when looking at the heart he noticed what he thought was a heart defect.  He couldn't give us a ton of information since that isn't his expertise, so he referred us to a pediatric cardiologist at Medical City and made us an appointment for today.
   
So today, I had a fetal echo done on the baby (a very fancy sonogram). The doctor found 3 areas of concern on the baby's heart. The first is a "moderate to large" hole on the inner wall that separates the left and right ventricles. (Called a ventricular septal defect or VSD). The other concerns are that the right ventricle looks to be “slightly smaller” than the left and a valve on the same side has a “moderate” leak. I won’t spell out all the potential ramifications, concerns, etc. but the bottom line (with all 3 concerns) is that they each have about a 50/50 chance of improving/worsening. The good news is that none of these issues are having an affect on the baby’s development in the womb. So praise God for that.

We go back to the same doctor to check the progress in one month. The hope is that all three areas have improved. If they are the same and/or worse, the baby will probably need serious care and or surgery after birth. We ask that you pray that the strength of her heart will improve, that hole will close up and the leak will stop.

Thanks for your prayers and I will keep you updated!

What the what?!

We are still in shock, with the news we recieved earlier today...

Yep, you read right.  It's a girl!  We couldn't be more excited!  Praise God for a perfect, healthy baby girl!

Yee-haw!

Today was Cowboy/Cowgirl Day at Preschool...

and I'm 18 weeks!

The BIG sonogram appointment is THIS coming Monday!!!  What do you think?  Boy or Girl?

Happy Fall!

Today, we celebrated the first day of fall with a trip to the Arboretum!

I {heart} fall!

It's Soup Season!

The temperatures are dropping {slowly}, which means it's time for soup season!  Seriously, one reason why I love fall is beacause I love the smell of a good soup simmering on the stove.  I've never shared a recipe before, but I want to share one of my favorite soups with you!  Why you ask?  Because I've been known as the "Soup Queen" to some people {okay maybe just one person}, since I love to make soups! 
Disclamer:  I  have gotten all of my favorite soup recipes from my mother, so maybe SHE is the "Soup Queen?

Shrimp Corn Chowder {Aaron's most-favorite soup ever}

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 c butter
3 c whole milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
1 can of Rotel tomatoes and green chillies
2 cans of creamed corn
1 T dried basil
1T Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning  {this is spicy, so add more or less to whatever degree of spicyness you like}
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/2 lbs small shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined {you can find them in the frozen seafood section}

Saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic in butter until softened.  Add the rest of ingredients and simmer on medium for 30 minutes. 

Serve immediately.  Aaron and I like to sprinkle a little Tony's on top before eating.  This soup is delicious with corn bread!

Enjoy!

How have I not blogged about this?

Maybe because I'm not that faithful to blogger, or because I'm a busy Mommy, but how could I forget to announce this to the world {or about a hand full of people ;)}???

Cohen is without pacifier. I repeat, Cohen is without the beloved P-A-C-I!!! {We have to spell it, around here, because he's still missing it some.}

This is an iPhone picture from a bit ago....cracks me up every time!

He's been without it for about a month and still mentions it from time to time.  We decided to do the cold turkey method and after a few days he finally went to sleep without crying out for it.  We were very excited it went so well!  Yay for being a BIG boy!

First Day of Preschool

But first a 14 week picture...

Here are the boys on their first day of preschool!

Noah (4 1/2), Cohen (2)

Noah with his teacher, Ms. Kelly.  She is awesome and he is so excited to be in the "big" class this year. 

Can't believe he is already in Pre-K!

Here is Cohen with Ms. "Corky" (Courtney).  He really does love her, he just woke up from his nap!

We all had a great first day, The boys did awesome and my class did great!  We are looking forward to a fun school year! 

Last Last Friday Night

We braved the heat 2 Fridays ago, and made our way to the Rangers game!  It was Cohen's first game.  He did great!  Here are the pics!

Aaron's company Pacific Dental Services is an official sponsor of the Texas Rangers.  Every time there is a strikeout of the opposing team this flashes on the ribbon board...

We had a great time!

12 Weeks

I'm already 12 Weeks!  Time is ticking right along.  I have felt pretty good thus far.  Between weeks 6-10, I was nauseous off and on.  That's something I've never experienced before.  Just a little tired, but other then that, I feel pretty good.  I'm definitely showing sooner this time around.  I guess that's pretty normal for your 3rd baby.  Still weird to think we are going to have a 3rd! 

The boys are still very excited to be big brothers!  They still want a "Baby Sister" {I think Cohen does, because that's what he hears Noah say}.  Looking ahead at my appointments, I will probably find out at the end of September.  My first guess is that the baby is a boy {duh} because the second I'll start thinking it's a girl, I'll get my hopes up!  That might have already happened a couple of times.

Anyways, our gospel community {small group} is on a little baby kick lately and one one of them came over for a play date.  Here are the boys with Baby Rowan...

 

They are getting some good practice in!

Anyways, there's a little summary of whats been going on lately.  We are very excited to start school in a couple of weeks.  Until then, we'll be trying to stay cool!

Family of 5!

Baby #3 is due March 4, 2012 and we couldn't be more excited!  I am a little over 10 weeks and already have a tiny bump!  Prayers for a healthy baby and pregnancy would be appreciated!

The boys couldn't be more thrilled!  They are loving the idea of sharing a room and bunk beds!  When we told the boys, Noah said with excitement, "I'm going to have a baby sister?!"  We said we didn't know yet and that it could very well be another brother.  So, we shall see if Noah is correct in a couple of months!  I will be posting a belly pic soon since it seems to have expanded even earlier this time around. Thanks again for your prayers!

First Trip to the Dentist

Noah and Cohen both had their first Dentist visit yesterday!  They did AWESOME.  I figured Noah would do great and was worried Cohen wouldn't sit/lay still.  He surprised us all!

Cohen getting his digital x-rays taken...

Say AHHHHHH...

Still shocked he let them do this.  Although the dentist and hygienist were great with the boys!

Noah loved watching the movie above him...

And on top of them being so well-behaved their teeth looked awesome!  Yay!

LAst dAY oF DisNeY!

Finally!  I'm posting our last day in Orlando which seems like ages ago!  We started out the day at the pool...

Then Mimi and Pawpaw took the boys to Animal Kingdom while Aaron, Kami, James and myself went to Epcot for a few hours...

Wine tasting in Germany...

The End!  Can't wait to go back someday!

Day 6: Our 2nd Day at Magic Kingdom

Since Magic Kingdom is SO big, I definitely recommend 2 days there {especially if you have small children}.  Once again we were up early and ready to get to the park when it opened.

Our first ride {that I documented with a picture} was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.  We loved this ride...probably not as much as Toy Story Mania, but still real fun!

We next moved on to Astro Orbiter.  You take an elevator up several stories, so you get a good view of Magic Kingdom...probably the only cool part about this ride ;)

Next up was Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor...very cute show.  Even James' joke was featured in the show!  Then, it was on to Mickey's PhilharMagic.  This was definitely my favorite show there!  No pictures from either attraction.  The next part of the day, was by far the highlight.  While the "big" kids rode Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mimi and Pawpaw stood in line with the boys to see Jessie and Woody!  The line was LOOOOONG, but well worth it.  Every 10 min or so Jessie and Woody would go to "check on Bullseye" {AKA a new Jessie and Woody would come out in the 95 degree heat so that they wouldn't get over heated}.  This happened twice while we were in line and of course it happened when they got to the very front of the line.  It did make for a cute picture though!

The "big" kids then went off to ride Space Mountain...

Oh, and somewhere in there we fit in The Hall of Presidents and the Haunted Mansion.

This is Cohen in line for the Haunted Mansion, getting a little weary from the long day.

We ended the day with catching the afternoon parade...perfect ending to Magic Kingdom.

Next up:  Day 7:  Our last Day in Florida