Summer... almost!

The kids are out of school now! I am so looking forward to a schedule that is not packed so our family can enjoy spending time together.

I have to work on Tuesday :( and then we head to the beach! My side of the family is going to Nags Head this year --- there will be about 30 people there at various times throughout the week. It's always a blast --- crazy, but a blast!

Last Monday afternoon, Zach started running a fever. Once we got his fever down, he acted fine. Tuesday, he stayed home with Daddy and he ran no fever so we thought he was ok until 5pm when it started again. I took a look at his throat, which looked like he had 2 red-hot fireballs (you know the hot candies?) stuck back there. When I saw that, Zach did tell me that "his tongue hurt". The child hardly ever complains! I declare that he does not feel pain the way other children do, with all that he's been through. Anyway, I took him in on Wed. mornint and the dr. said his throat looked "impressive" but the strep test came back negative. She decided to treat him with an antibiotic anyway because the strep test is only about 90% accurate. He seems to be back to his old self again and was able to finish out the week at school.

So now, as a reward for taking such good care of Zach, I am the one suffering with a sore throat and now a "like-a-faucet-runny-nose" and sneezing. UUUGGGHHH! I woke up at 5:30am and could not go back to sleep. I kept trying to sneeze but could never get it out. My eyes are watering and watering. Please pray with me that everyone else can stay healthy for our beach trip.

Also, I have a couple of other prayer requests... Our neighbors, Jo and Al, have a new grandbaby. They knew something was not right all during the pregnancy but the possible diagnosis changed with each doctor's visit. He was born on Thursday, and they know he will have surgery sometime because his esophagus and stomach do not meet. I do not even know his name yet, but you can pray for Carter and Amy, his mom and dad. Many of you with heart babies know how they are feeling right now.

Also, please pray for Emma and her family, who go to church with my mom. I think Emma has the same heart defect as Zach and she had surgery on Thursday. I do not know any other details yet but will update when I know more.

Hope you have a blessed Memorial Day Weekend! We have so much to be thankful for in our country and we owe so much to those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and those who are serving us at this moment. Remember them this weekend!

Summertime!

I thought our blog was in need of a summertime makeover. I love all the FREE stuff that's out there for us bloggers, like Cutest Blog on the Block and Shabby Blogs. What others do you use, bloggers? I haven't gotten brave enough to design my own yet, so I make do with the freebies...

We have been busy these past couple of weeks. Daddy directed a camp for FCA last weekend. He said it was incredible! This is a picture of some of the 200 students at the camp during their Golgotha Experience, following in the footsteps of Christ on the way to His crucifixion. A very meaningful experience!

Rebecca spent last week at the beach with Nana and Papa getting S-P-O-I-L-E-D! They always have a blast shopping, swimming, shopping, eating, and shopping. She got some really cute stuff! Believe it or not, she is leaving Saturday to go to the beach again, this time with one of her friends. We will miss her, but I'm glad she is getting to go.

This week, Rebecca attended our local high school's volleyball camp for girls 6-12 years old. I was planning to upload a short video here, but Blogger has left out that icon on the tool bar for some reason. Anyone know anything about this? Anyway, here's a picture of our girl in action...

So, we have been trying to figure out what's going on with Mr. Zach this week. Since Saturday, he has had some tummy issues. He ran a low-grade fever on Saturday afternoon, but no more after that. He has had very loose BM's since then, once or twice a day. He doesn't particularly act sick, unless his tummy is "rumbly" but then again, he's not quite as wild as usual some of the time. I talked to our cardiologist to make sure it's not from one of his meds and he said just to make sure he is not getting dehydrated. We have tried to stick to the diet that they recommend - BRAT = bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast - but he doesn't like half of those things. He keeps asking for Chick Fil a and chocolate Teddy Grahams. Not so good for a sick belly. I do not want to take him to the doctor's office for fear of picking up a bug there. We are almost 2 weeks away from our surgery date, so I am getting VERY antsy. Any ideas of what to do for him?

In preparation for surgery, have your doctors recommended quarantine? We are really wanting to take Zach to see Toy Story 3 but that makes me nervous to think about taking him out around a lot of other children.

I am feeling a lot of anxiety about keeping him healthy and about surgery in general. Each day more and more, I feel the anxiety "boiling up" and the feeling of panic about overwhelms me. I keep reminding myself that God is in control. I have to depend on Him and allow this experience to strength my faith. So hard...

Thanks for checking in on us. We covet your prayers as we head down the home stretch toward July 7!

Big announcement and Family Beach Trip 2010

Things have been so crazy these past few weeks! I noticed that I have not posted in over 2 weeks! I have so much to update here... where to begin???

Well, first of all, I won't keep you guessing about my big announcement (lest some of you jump to drastic conclusions like "Pam must be expecting!" Let me assure you that 40-year-old Pam is NOT EXPECTING!) But there are going to be some big changes for our family!

I am the new School Library Media Specialist at a local Junior High School!

I completed my degree last December. We were originally planning to wait for me to find a job until Zach was ready for full-day 5K, but God provided this opportunity now. I don't know what the economy is like in terms of education where you live, but around here, things are tough. Word is, it will be worse for the 2011-2012 school year (when I was planning to hunt for a job). So, I am taking this job.

We have found a great preschool for Zach that is only about 1 mile from my school. It will be nice to have him close by in case he should get sick or something. He will be delayed in starting school because of his surgery --- his cardiologist said we could expect about 6-8 weeks, so that puts us at the end of August. We have a lead on a young lady from our church to stay with him some when Bill needs to work away from home.

Some days, I think I am crazy for attempting this right now, with all that we have ahead of us for the month of July. Please pray extra hard:

• for Zach to be healthy prior to surgery so it won't be postponed
• for surgery not to be postponed by us getting bumped
• for Zach's recovery to be complication-free so we can get home and do some real recouperating.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers!

Beach Trip 2010

We went last week to our annual beach trip with my family. For the past 10 years, my folks have rented a huge house for the whole family and extended family to gather at. It is always so much fun but so crazy with 20-25 people there! This year, Zach had an awful reaction to the sunscreen on the first day there. The crazy thing is, I know we used that same type of sunscreen last summer with no problems. I went and bought some milder stuff to no avail. He was pretty miserable and it affected his behavior as well. I ended up getting some Benedryl, which helped with the itching and made him sleepy rather than hyping him up. (One time, I gave Rebecca some Benedryl and her eyes stayed dilated for several hours! She was a wild child on that stuff! So, needless to say, I was a bit concerned about giving Zach the stuff, being that he is already a wild child!!!) He is no longer itching but still has the rash on his back, chest, and belly. The doctor said to let it clear up and then try a small patch with a basic cream sunscreen for babies. He said to avoid the spray-on stuff.

We have been really slack about having professional pictures made. Here's some pictures that my sister-in-law took of us on the beach. Zach cooperated for just a few pictures, but I was really pleased! I think they look quite professional!

I included the one of Zach on the steps going back up to the beach house. He had decided that the photo session was over!

We had a ping pong table, pool table, and foosball table in the media room. Needless to say, that is where the kids spent most of their time. This is Rebecca and my sister's two children.

  

  

Zach in his favorite hiding spot --- under the pool table!

As you can see, I have a big family. There's my mom, my 4 siblings and their spouses and kids, and some of my aunts and uncles from my mom and my dad's side. Lots of love to go around!

    

We also had a pool --- it was well used despite the water being quite cold.

We set up tents on the beach and Bill and Zach put them to good use for an afternoon nap.

In the afternoons, there was a huge tidepool for the kids to play in.

Low tide provided lots of room for a game of chase!

Our little heart warrior was just happy to splash in the waves! Don't you love the reflection in the sand?

Hope you are enjoying your summer, too!

Spring Break and Prayer Request

We are on Spring Break this week. So far, we have been to the beach and now we are at my Mom's. We went to the zoo yesterday with some family and had a great time even though most of the animals were asleep and it was pretty hot.

Zach loved running from the waves at the beach!

Zach with his cousins at the zoo

Dad and Rebecca visiting the zebra

Zach and Daddy on a safari

Look at this heart-shaped knot-hole I spotted. How cool!

I wanted to ask our heart buddies to pray for Zach for two reasons.

• First, Zach is scheduled for his cath for next Tuesday, April 6 at MUSC. We will travel down Monday night.
• Second, Zach has had some tummy issues the past couple of days. We hope it is just from not eating and drinking his normal stuff. He hasn't been running a fever or anything and feels good. He has just had a few loose BM's. Anyway, please pray that this would resolve itself before Monday and that Mom, Dad, and sister would be healthy, too.

Thank you for your faithful prayers!