Simply Sara

David is continuing to struggle with complications from the surgery. His heart is doing great, thank you Jesus! But his little body is having a difficult time. Please continue to pray for healing for him, and Brock and Amy as they endure this roller coaster ride of good news and setbacks. It looks like they will be at UAB for a while longer.

Amy called tonight and said that David got through the surgery and is stable!!!! They will find out tomorrow if it worked! Thank you for your prayers! If all goes well this week and David can thrive off of his medication, they hope to be home by the weekend! Yes Lord! Yes Lord! Ava has a double ear infection and RSV. She's such a sweetie, we had no idea she felt that bad.

Our girl is sick, but you can't tell it by the sweet smile on her face today. She's such a trooper; in between blowing snot bubbles and getting her temperature taken, Ava gave us a few grins. (Thanks, Mimi , for these great pictures and for watching our girl today so we could go to church .) I have to be honest; I've been kind of frustrated the past couple days. My dear daughter has only wanted to nap in my arms while the dishes are piling up and I'm getting more and more behind in my christmas shopping. I don't want to sound like a calloused mom; the truth is, I love that I get to hold her so much and that she finds such comfort in my arms. I just wish I had a maid and personal shopper until she gets over this cold. I guess it's the Mary/Martha principle; right now I'm focusing on what's important (Ava) and not on my to-do list. Please pray for Ava's cousin David . He's having open heart surgery tomorrow and he's only 3 weeks old. Pray for ...

So my last post was all warm and fuzzy, but I have to be honest and say that the rest of the day didn't turn out that way. In fact, a melt down (my own) started about an hour after I wrote that happy, don't have a care in the world hogwash, oops, I mean post. Matt came home from a job to find me a blubbering mess, still in my stinky work out clothes, and stressed to the max. Neither kid wanted to nap, our bathroom floor refused to come clean even after I scrubbed it on my hands and knees, and the dishes kept piling up in the sink. It wasn't pretty. The week has gotten better. Oh there are still dishes in the sink, not the same ones praise God, and now I'm off to (hopefully) finish the Christmas shopping.

Our house is a total wreck right now. There are boxes of Christmas decorations in the hallway waiting to go in the attic, dog hair piling in every corner, a bathroom that is in desperate need of cleaning, toys everywhere, dirty dishes in the sink, laundry waiting it's turn, my first sewing project spread out over the dining room table, and cookies that need to be made for L's school party tomorrow. Presents need to be wrapped, Christmas cards to be mailed, shopping to finish and holiday baking to be started and completed. And I stink to high heaven after a great work out at the gym this morning. I may have to delay my work until I get a shower. Matt would probably appreciate that. What in the heck am I doing blogging right now? :) But it's okay. No, I'm not being lazy or exhibiting extreme avoidance issues. I'm just savoring a morning spent watching my two precious children begin building the fragile and wonderful relationship between siblings. Somehow we ended up o...

Ever since we found out that a Dunkin Donuts was being built near our house, Lucas has been begging to go there. He asks constantly to drive by and see if the "donut" store is open yet. Well today is opening day! I had plans on taking the kids out after lunch for a special treat, but when it started to downpour as we were leaving the gym, I figured the drive thru would suffice. After placing my order for 3 donuts, I didn't want Matt to feel left out, they asked if I wanted a free medium coffee. Did you say FREE? Oh yes, they did! Ahhh, who can beat free coffee. The perfect fix on this rainy day. Have I mentioned yet that I have a slight coffee addiction? If you're in Anderson, stop by the Hwy 81 DD and get yourself some yummy goodness. Lucas wanted one with sprinkles! He's still wearing that chocolate frosting on his hands, face, and shirt, but I figured that's part of the magic. Lucas's love of donuts must be genetic - his Grandma is crazy about them! Giv...

We may have a humble, non-professionally decorated tree compared to many, but I love it! Because it is filled with special ornaments signifying special times in our lives. This particular cutie came from Vail. I bought this marshmellow man for Matt in 2001 while my sister Amy and I were in Colorado visiting our cousin Virginia. We had been dating for less than a year when I gave this to him for Christmas. I can't remember who gave this to Lucas, but I think it is so cute! As we unpacked 5 or 6 "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornaments for Lucas, I realized that we need to buy some for Ava this year. These blackbears were purchased in Dillsboro last year after Lucas's first train ride with Aunt Steph and Uncle Andy. Ahhh, our first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. We had a huge tree that year. It was real (the artifical one didn't come until Lucas did) and so beautiful! I remember what a special Christmas it was that year for the two of us. I wish I could remember what we gave...

Sunday night we (finally) put up our Christmas tree. I say finally because it seems like everyone except us decorated way early this year. What's up with that? I'm all about enjoying this amazing season, but sometimes it's just too early. We first had to get all of our decorations out of the attic of our old house before we could decorate our new one. (No, we haven't sold our house yet - feel free to pray about that!) We decided to put the tree in the playroom simply because of the space. Even though we doubled our living space in this house, we somehow managed to fill most of it up, imagine that. Lucas got to work right away; he knew exactly what to do. I grabbed the camera while Matt and Lucas went to work hanging ornaments. I quickly realized that Lucas was taking his job very seriously. He hung about 10 ornaments on that particular branch! Of course we can't go back and rearrange them; our "ocd" child will notice if the ornaments are in new places. S...

Can you believe our girl is 4 months already? I can't! We just got in from seeing Dr. Stone for Ava's check up. Here are her stats: Height: 24 inches (45%) Weight: 13 lbs 4 oz (50%)!!!! Head: 16 5/8 in (85%) - I'm not surprised the poor girl has such a big head! Lucas's head has always been in the 85-90 percentile. I blame it on Matt :) She is strong, reaching her developmental milestones as she should and "a perfect little girl" to quote the doctor. I know I'm not supposed to brag, but it's not bragging when I quote someone else is it? Actually, I do brag on my kids all the time. They are awesome! And such a blessing! My life is so full and wonderful! I am THRILLED that Ava is finally gaining weight and growing as she should be. What a relief after the struggle we went through for 3 months. I will confess, I feel a little sad when I think about not breastfeeding anymore, but then the cloud lifts when I realize how much she's gained and is thriving...

David got through the heart cath great! He had to receive a blood transfusion later in the day, but the doctors say his is doing well! It appears that heart surgery has been avoided! Please continue to pray for Brock and Amy. I can't imagine how hard it was to leave the hospital today without their little baby. If all goes well, david should be home by Christmas! praise God!!!!!

It's been an exhausting couple of days. We drove the 4 1/2 hour drive to Birmingham on Monday - with the two kids it took us a little over 6 hours. We went straight to the hospital where family was gathered. Lucas had a blast playing with his cousin Alyssa. They only get to see each other every couple of months, but they love each other so much. Amy is doing well recovering from the labor and delivery. David weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces! A great size! We got in late last night around 10:00. It took us 7 hours to get home. (Wow, kids really add to the travel time.) It was a rough ride - Lucas didn't sleep and Ava got tired of being in the car seat (who can blame her). I rode the last leg of the trip between the kids in the back of the tundra. At one point, I was holding hands with both of them! It was so sweet, I almost forgot how cranky and tired I felt! David is scheduled for a heart cath some time today. I haven't heard yet from anyone to find out how it went. I'll keep...

Our family grew a little more last night with the arrival of our first nephew - David! Praise Jesus! I was on the phone throughout the night with my Mom a.k.a Grandma, who kept us updated on David's arrival and condition! From what I've heard, he's a little fighter! We're packing up the Tundra and driving to Alabama this morning to meet him! Please pray for my sister Amy, her hubby Brock , daughter Alyssa and brand new son David! Thanks!