5

5. It's a big number.

5 years.

260 weeks.

1825 days.

My sweet Hope Noelle you would have been 5 today. While I do stay busy with your sisters and brother, you are never far from our thoughts. At times, moments catch me off guard when I stop to think of all the things that we will never know... what does your smile look like? what is the sound of your laughter? what does your voice sound like? which would you have liked better, a swing or a slide? A lot of dreams were shattered and lost when you died and a lot of tears have fallen since you left this Earthly world. It also would have been a lot of suffering, a lot of sadness, a lot of pain. Hope we miss you every day more than words can say and I would never trade the short time we had with you but I would never wish you any pain or discomfort. Rest easy sweet girl. You are still loved. My cup runneth over. My cup runneth over.

A Taste of Spring

This past week the weather has been wonderful here so we have been out burning off some cabin fever! What was that? You asked the best way to end the day? Oh, that's simple... with some frozen icceeesss!!!

My my my...

Oh how things have changed over the last year! I still cannot believe I have let that much time pass without blogging!

As you might have noticed, there is an extra face in our pictures these days! Yes, we welcomed another baby into our family in January. Little Miss Peyton.

So much has gone on over the last year! Chayse is talking up a storm and is learning Spanish. While she is a very independent child, she is such a joy to be around and brightens our days! She had double eye surgery in September and seems to be doing well. We still are seen monthly for check ups and she may have to have surgery again at another time but for now, we are so thankful for the gift of sight.

Garris has started walking and talking and he is SUCH A BOY!!! He loves trucks and balls and loves to play in the dirt. He is 100% boy! He is currently cutting 8 teeth in one shot. The child has gone from 8 teeth to 16 teeth in less than 4 weeks. Talk about getting them all done in one shot!! Shewhhhhh!

Peyton is our newest addition to the family. She is our runt and is 2 months old now. She is a sweet sweet baby and loves to snuggle. We could not be more thrilled to have her in our family!

Nathan is still working with the fire department and I am still a stay at home mom. I spend a lot of my time working on my quilting. A friend and I started the NC Chapter of Quilts for Kids about 10 months ago and we have had a ball doing it! If you don't know about it, you should check it out. It is a great way to give back.
www.quiltsforkids.org

Double Day at Duke!!

Today is the day we have prayed for and about for so long. Chayse will be going in for double eye surgery today! We pray that everything will go smoothly and that she will have no problems with her eyes as we move forward in life. We are so blessed to be so close to such wonderful doctors and amazing facilites. God is good.

A sad day

It's June 14th again. A day that is so bittersweet to our family. Four years ago, we welcomed an amazing little girl into this work, only to lose her too soon. Today, on Hope's 4th birthday, she got an amazing present... a puppy. And not just any puppy, but our puppy. Our beloved Red Blood hound, Sandy May, died unexpectedly this morning at just 6 years old. While our hearts break from the losses we have suffered on this day, our hearts smile knowing that Hope got the best birthday present ever. Happy birthday sweet girl. I hope you will love Sandy as much as we have! Sandy May, you are already missed.

A Day at Duke

This morning, I packed for a long day at Duke and I am glad I did! We were there for over 5 hours! What a day it has been! We had to go today for Chayse, as she had two doctor's appointments scheduled.

First we had to go to the Duke Eye Center to meet with Dr. W. and let him check on Chayse and her progress. Chayse's eyes have gotten no worse, but they have not gotten any better either. We did learn today that her glasses were made with the wrong prescription in them, which didn't hurt her at all, but they were not strong enough to help her either. So, we are now without glasses for a week while the lenses get replaced with the correct prescription. Hopefully once they glasses are replaced, she will be able to focus and see correctly.

Her eye is still turning in so we are continuing with the occlusion therapy in hopes of strengthening that eye muscle. We are praying that we will not have to do surgery on her eyes and that this will all correct itself over the course of therapy over the next few months.

Time will tell.

Once we left the Eye Center, we walked over to the Children's Hospital to meet with Dr. B. to have her murmur checked out. It is something that Chayse was born with but it has to be checked as she grows. Dr. B. worked with us when we had Hope and would have been her surgeon had she ever gone into surgery. I always felt very at ease with him as he spoke in simplicity and never let things go over my head. Today was no different as he went over Chayse's heart with me. Chayse had an EKG and Dr. B. listened to her heart valves and the flow everything in there and all in all, she is just fine! It will be something to watch as she grows but overall, it does not appear to be something that will be a life changer for Chayse.

Praise God for the blessings in life we receive when we least expect them!

Occlusion Therapy

Chayse seems to be adjusting well to wearing her patch during her therapy hours. It is something we are able to do here in the home so that has made this part pretty easy so far. The first few minuets she has it on are a little challenging but once she gets ajusted to it, she does ok. She has run into the furniture a few times but I think that will get better as she gets used to using her eye again! I also think that this gives her a little headache though as it is pushing her brain and eye to work together in ways that they have not worked in a while, but is what we are wanting to happen!

This is the face of occlusion therapy!

And this, is her little brother!