Christmas in Rochester

Kassie and I went to Lowes to pick out a tree. We ended up picking out a medium sized one.  Lee thought we'd come home with a small one, so he was a bit surprised.  JD did ok with the ornaments.  We put the Christmas decoration buckets in front of the tree to block little hands.  Actually, Samantha was probably worst with stealing ornaments.  She thought they were prefect little toys to play with. 

We made gingerbread houses.  I got a special recipe for the icing that was pretty good.   

 Lee of course made a three story house with a basement with no problems. 

 Tommy wanted his perfect which didn't happen.

 Kassie made a non-traditional ginger bread house.  She thought she did a pretty snazzy job.

Samantha ate most of her supplies but did manage to build a small house. 

Christmas stockings made by my grandma and aunt.

Christmas dinner 

Christmas morning there was lots of snow on the ground, surprise! (We weren't really surprised.)

I made cinnamon rolls the fast easy way.  I bought frozen dough and let it rise over night.  I totally cheated!  They were yummy!



My thoughts, one year later

 As of March 2014, I am completely off of all my heart medication and have a clean bill of health.  It's amazing in so many ways that I am healthy and alive.  Doctors are still baffled by my case.  This past year has been really difficult but it also has been a blessing.  Despite being really sick, I was still able to accomplish so much because I was surrounded by an amazing group of friends and family.  My wonderful friends did so much for us and made it possible for me to put our house up on the market and move with 4 kids.  They helped pack my house, painted for me, watched my kids, packed the truck and cleaned my house before we left.  I still feel so overwhelmed with gratitude from all of their service.  The year of recovery and "taking it easy" wasn't easy.  For the first six to eight months, I was supposed to keep my heart rate below 100 and the medication made me tired and groggy. 
Once we got settled in Rochester, in August of 2013 I met with a new Cardiologist.  I had another Echocardiogram and a stress test.  My echo was "interesting".  The ultra sound tech almost gave me a heart attack.  She said she thought she saw a spot on my heart and rushed out of the room to get the Radiologist.  I was freaking out quietly while I waited for the doctor to check my heart.  It turned out that everything was fine!   My new Cardiologist said I should remain on heart medication until one year at least but he did say I could exercise and not worry about my heart rate.  I was disappointed a bit but glad I didn't have any restrictions. 
As the month of December approached, I started to focus a lot on what happened but not in a bad way.  It was mostly more thoughts of gratitude for my life and for all the service we received.  We celebrated JD's 1st birthday and we all felt so thankful that the little guy was healthy too.  The dates in December were important.  I would say, "just 12 months ago I was in the ICU on ECHMO", or "today is December 18th, I came home from the hospital today".
Now one year later it's kind of like it never happened in some ways because JD and I have no ill effects from what happened.  All I have is a small scar on my neck which is hardly noticeable.  I do think it's something that shouldn't be forgotten.

 It was a miracle.

 

JD's first birthday celebration

JD turned ONE on December 5th.  He is such a fun and happy kid.  JD loves to give hugs and kisses.  His kisses can be pretty scary though.  They are usually him lunging at you with his mouth wide open but that's ok.  When he hugs, he wraps his arms around our necks and squeezes.  It's really cute.
Lately he's been pretty high maintenance but it comes with the age.  He's walking but still falling a lot and doesn't like me to do anything besides pay attention to him.   His eczema has improved so much.  It hardly flares up but we make sure and use his creams and do bleach baths once in a while.  JD knows some baby signs and says a few words.  His favorite thing is to make grunting noises and shrug his shoulders.  We can't imagine life without this adorable little guy.





JD's favorite toys are balls and all electronic things like our phones, the IPad and computer.







Last two photos by Sarah Martin