Bok! Bok bok bok BOK!

You might be wondering about the title of the post. Click below...



The question is...

Just how many ways can you fix chicken???!!!

Hopefully, we only have a couple more weeks on the low fat diet (PTL), but I declare... I cannot wait to go get a big, juicy, dripping cheeseburger! Wherever we go to get that big burger, I'm sure when we ask Zach what he wants to eat, he will say, "Chicken!"

Zach loves to tell everyone, "I am on a fat-free diet!" like it's something to be proud of. Not easy to explain to complete strangers in the grocery store or to the poor girl at Chick Fil A that took our order today (he can eat 1/2 of a grilled chicken sandwich from CFA --- he cannot eat his favorite 6-pack of nuggets). And I'm pretty sure that Zach is the only 4 year old who reads nutrition labels. The other night we were having a snack and I was reading the label on a couple of boxes from the pantry. He said, "Lemme see." He turned the box around to the label and said, "OK, two grams of fat!" Funny Boy!

So, praise the Lord, Zach continues to do well. He still gets tired but we are at that point where an afternoon nap keeps him up at night, so we just deal with a grumpy boy at night and try to get him to bed earlier. We have been trying to adjust his schedule to get him used to getting up early and going to bed early because he starts preschool Monday! He will just go for 1/2 day for a few days this week to allow him to build some more endurance. I am nervous about dropping him off this week and pray that it goes smoothly. We have not been used to getting up and having to be much of anywhere early in the morning so this is a big deal!

Rebecca has been in try-outs for volleyball at her school this week. There are 40 girls trying out for 12-15 spots! We hope she makes it --- I might be biased but I think she is pretty good! I think she is all ready for school --- in middle school a girl's gotta have just the right school supplies and clothes!

Bill has been busy following up from summer FCA camps and gearing up for the new school year. Football season is always busy for him --- lots of ministry opportunities. Zach has been glued to Daddy's side these past few weeks, so we hope we can un-glue him (Zach, I mean) on Monday.

I worked the first three days this week getting my library ready for the start of school. I love the folks that I work with and am really excited! I felt like our kids on their first day of school --- Bill just had to take a picture of me all ready for my first day of work! Notice the sleepy look in my eye and the large mug of coffee?

Thanks for checking in on us!

Eating right...

A while back, I checked out a book, one of a series, from our library called Eat This, Not That. Have you seen these books?

Eat This, Not That!

There is a ton of info in these books! Go to Amazon and check them out. They sell them at Walmart, too. I try to be careful about what we eat, but I was blown away as I read some of the nutritional info of the foods that I am buying for my family. Yikes! The fat... the sugar... the sodium! I have never really worried about sodium all that much, but I have been thinking about it more lately, especially for Zach. He's currently on Lasix for some pulmonary vascular congestion, so maybe I need to pay a little more attention...

The Funky Heart got my attention today with a post about "Low sodium" salt and that got me thinking... how much salt should Zach be getting? I haven't taken the time to Google it and I can't seem to remember to ask our cardiologist about it (my brain usually turns to mush during appointments and I can't remember a thing --- need desperately to make a list). Maybe I'm worrying about something that is not really a problem, since our doctor hasn't given us any diet restrictions. In any case, does anyone have any guidelines that they use? Any good recipes? Other tips of what to get a picky preschooler to eat?

Cardiology checkup

Zach had a checkup with the cardiologist this morning. Dr. R is following him closely in preparation of his upcoming heart cath on April 6 at MUSC. He did another heart cath and said that everything looks as good as it can get. His leaks are the same (not worse - PTL!), murmur sounds the same, systolic function (whatever that means) is as good as a healthy heart.

I asked about Zach's weight (he was 30.3 lbs) and if we should try giving him something to supplement his diet. He is a typical preschooler in that he eats mostly chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. He likes baby carrots w/ ranch and will eat green beans with a lot of encouragement. He loves fruit. The problem is, he doesn't drink much milk and lately doesn't eat cheese except on pizza. He does like yogurt and eats 1-2 tubes of Go-Gurt a day. He said it would be ok to try some Pediasure. He just doesn't want to overdo it because he is pleased with Zach's growth thus far and proportionally, his weight measures up to his height (no pun intended). He doesn't want him to get chunky.

One thing that he said bothered me a bit --- no, a lot. He said the heart cath would help them assess whether Zach was a good candidate for the Fontan. Not sure if he meant "right now" or "ever" and I didn't think to ask at the time. So, not having the Fontan means... what? Anyone with any insight on this, please chime in and calm this mama's nerves.

The biggest blessing of our visit with Dr. R is that he prayed with us! We circled up and held hands, Zach included, and had prayer for Zach's cath, for safe travel to MUSC next month, and for wisdom for us as Zach's parents. How precious! We are so blessed to have a wonderful, Christian doctor!