Total Eclipse of the Heart

Okay, okay. I'll stop with the Bonnie Tyler songs already. :)

Today was Josie's appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. We are so thankful he could see us today! He decided that she needed to have the 24 hour monitor done, and she is scheduled for the 21st for that. Luckily this is something she can take and wear at home. No hospitalization needed. I think the more regular things are, the better.

In the meantime, if another episode happens again, we need to book it to the ER. He said he just needs to see (a recording of) what's happening when it is racing. If we go to the ER and it stops, just go home. I kind of liked the sound of that! :)

I just wanted to thank you all for your fervent prayers for our little Jozo. It's a scary thing when something goes wrong with your child, and even scarier when it is something we can't see. Your prayers and support have helped make an uneasy time bearable. Thank you!

Josh and Josie at a baseball game. :)

It's a Heartache...

Josie had an appointment this morning with her doctor. They agreed with the ER that she should see a pediatric cardiologist. There is no pediatric cardiologist in our town. The closest place would be at the U of M. We found out today that they don't take our insurance provider, so that was out. My doctor then mentioned that there was a pediatric cardiologist that comes to town once a month, and she said she would give them a call. Sure enough, this doctor does accept our insurance, and he just happened to be coming to town tomorrow, and he just happened to have an appointment available at 11:30!!! Praise God as He has gone before us, even in the little details. :)

They scheduled an echo, and a 24 monitor (like an ekg that she can walk around with), but we learned that our insurance would not allow that either until the cardiologist ordered it. Josie's doctor was just trying to get it all done before the appointment so the cardiologist would have more to look at.

So it's a waiting game, and I am okay with that. Josie is her regular old self (besides being really tired) and is just glad she didn't get poked today. :)

Somebody is starting to get freckles! Can you spot them?

The Beat Goes On...

Today started out as any other. Emma is off to school, and I get Josie and Addie dressed and eating breakfast, so I can get ready myself. That is where the normal ends for the day.

This morning Josie called out to me while she was eating breakfast that her chest hurt. I called her over and her little heart was pounding out of her chest. I couldn't think how that happened. She wasn't running around. She was just sitting next to her little sister, eating her bowl of rice chex.

She felt better after a minute, so I thought nothing of it. Today was to be a good day. Today was play group day! I think I look forward to Tuesdays as much (if not more) than my kids because I have a morning to be with my dear sisters in Christ, encouraging each other, praying for each other, and generally just having a good time! Today was an even more special Tuesday because the group was meeting at one of my friend's house for a picnic lunch. After a couple hours there, we get in the car to go home. I ask Josie how she is doing. She mentioned she had another "fast beating" as she calls it while we were there. I thought I should find somewhere and pull over to call the doctor because we were already on that side of town. As I pulled in, she is clutching her chest, saying her head hurts, and her arm too! So as I recover from a mini freak out moment, I grab my cell and call the office. They couldn't see her because they were booked so they told me to call another office. They could not see her either, but strongly suggested we go to the urgent care clinic.

When we got there, they gave her an ekg. After reading the test, they determined she was having premature atrial contractions (or PAC), and they sent us to the ER.

After a couple of very uncomfortable hours there (having blood work done, and I.V. in, and x-ray of her chest and stomach and another ekg) the doctors determined that she would be okay. The PAC would be something she could go her whole life and not even know she had it. Josie however, had a huge gas bubble in her tummy that was pressing on her vagus nerve, and it caused her heart to race. I couldn't believe all of this was happening because she had to burp!

When we left, they told us to call our doctor (which will be done first thing tomorrow!) and they will determine if we need to follow up with a pediatric cardiologist to check on her extra lub in her lub dub (as Josh calls it.) :)

Today as I was cuddled up with Josie in my lap, I just was overwhelmed with what a miracle our human bodies are. Just the complicated workings of the heart alone are so awesome. I was doing really well until I got home tonight. As they were going to bed, I let the worry and stress of the situation get the best of me. What if it was something worse? What if she didn't get to come home with us? I can't let those thoughts get to me. Worry can tear you apart and jump all over the pieces if you let the "what ifs" keep coming.

Josie got a lot of extra squeezes and smooches tonight. She just might wake in the morning to find her mommy cuddled in bed with her too.

My silly, sweet Josephine. I thank God for this precious gift!

Spring Recital

Last Sunday was Josie and Emma's spring dance recital. This year, thanks to a generous gift from a very special family, both Josie and Emma were able to participate in dance, even though their school lost some donations and they were no longer giving out full scholarships.

This was Josie's first year in dance. She was in ballet, and she LOVED it! Her routine was very cute, and the costume made her look like a beautiful little fairy. She was very brave on stage and she did great!

Emma was in her third year of dance. She did ballet and tap. I think she is really improving in both! She is very good at memorizing the choreography, and getting every movement at the right beat. I didn't like her costume as much as years past, but it looked really sharp on stage. :)

The recital itself took for-ev-er this year! I mean, we are talking close to THREE HOURS! No fun. They were having a lot of music problems, and set up. My guess is not enough people volunteered this year. Even though it was a long day, in the end I was very glad to see the girls perform after working so hard all year.

Josie the little fairy. :)

Emma in her ballet costume.

Josie is in the front dancing to "Kiss the Girl" from the Little Mermaid.

Emma is right in the front and center here doing her tap routine.

More AWANA Excitement!

I have been super slow at posting lately, and although it is a couple of weeks late, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to share in something that Josh and I were very excited about.

A couple weeks ago was the AWANA awards night. It was a night to celebrate all the kids have achieved the past year in AWANA.

I know I have mentioned AWANA before, but here is an interesting tidbit for you... Did you know that Lance Latham, one of the founding fathers of New Tribes Mission (the mission organization that Josh and I serve with) is the same man who founded the AWANA ministry?

This awards ceremony is certainly not a big show. We were just proud of how hard Emma and Josie worked at memorizing scripture. I still have Bible verses that come to mind that I learned back when I was in AWANA. Emma had finished her second book in Sparks, and Josie finished her first book in Cubbies!

We enjoyed an evening of fellowship with friends while feasting on hot dogs and jello!

Emma getting a hug from her section leader, and good friend!

Josie with her first book award.

Emma and Josie show off their awards with their buddies Gavin and Brandon.

Spring Choir Performance

Sometimes things go better than you could ever plan. When I went into my surgery, I was told it would be a three to four day recovery. When I came out, they said four to six WEEKS!

This sure put a rift in our plans. One of those plans was a week long trip with the students to WAYUMI and learn what a tribal missionary really looks like. I was SO looking forward to this trip. It was going to be great to see the students reactions, as well as revisit a place that was our home for a year.

When we found out we could not go, we let the teachers know that Emma wasn't going to be missing school for a week as we previously thought. Her teacher said she was glad because she was counting on Emma for the choir performance.

Little did we know how much she was counting on her! Emma was given a solo. Not just a line of a song and seven other kids have one too. She was the only soloist to sing in the performance (except for the opening Star Spangled Banner). She sang the song "Let's go fly a kite" from Mary Poppins, with the choir singing at the chorus. It was so fun! She was also one of a few students selected to play an instrument. :)

Her concert was my first outing since my surgery. I am so glad I made it! Josh was wonderful enough to get pictures for me as I needed to stay seated. He got some great shots!

Emma singing her solo!

Here she is singing with the choir.

Playing the xylophone.

Posing with her music teacher.

Sister Act

A couple weeks ago the students at NTBI had a "No talent night". This is a time where the students do some songs and comedy acts, and is generally the highlight of the spring semester.

This year, my daughters asked if they could be in it. Why not? So, these three brave little girls went on stage in front of a bunch of college students and danced and sang to the "Sisters" song from the movie "White Christmas". It was really cute, and I was proud of them for being so brave!

Here they are preforming.

I think it helped their bravery that their Daddy was the M.C.

Sparks-a-rama!

This post is a little late, but I wanted to share anyhow!

At the end of March, Emma was invited to the AWANA Sparks-a-rama. There were churches from all over southern Michigan competing. Although there are a lot of things that can't get me out of the house at seven thirty in the morning on a Saturday, this one sure can!

I was so proud of Emma and the Cascades team. They worked really well together, and they came in first place!

You can tell she is really concentrating. :)

This one is blurry, but she grabbed the orange pin! Way to go, Em!

Here is Emma in the midst of her group holding the award!

A Blogging Break and a Pee Wee Hike

I know it has been a while since I wrote about our spring break. Truth is, I had surgery last week. I am still on the mend, and my mind is starting to clear from the Vicodin fog it has been in for a little over a week, so I find myself able to put a clear thought together again. :)

Our time in North Carolina could not be topped, but as all good trips, had to come to an end. We came dangerously close to overstaying our welcome, and we had to head north to attend a much anticipated wedding in the family.

We were so blessed to have so much family up for the wedding. Such a fun time of reconnecting after a long winter.

The day of the wedding we had a little time to kill so we took the munchkins on a "hike". They had a great time, and so did we!

Josh braving the trail as our guide.

Steve and Sarah made sure the smallest ones didn't get too far behind.

These cousins are forming quite a bond. Even though Sophie is closer in age with Josie, she can relate to the "baby sister" role with Addie. :) It's either that, or they are trying to stay warm! It was 29 degrees that morning. Quite a difference from out time in North Carolina!

Just a little bit of beautiful Mio.

Visiting the Farm

After a good nap, we all went to a friend of the family's farm. The owner had just had a baby, and wasn't able to ride her horses. She asked if we could come out and give them some exercise. :)

When we got there, they were just feeding the chickens. The neighbors ducks come over during the chicken's feeding time, so we got to feed the ducks.

Emma and Josie spend a lot of time playing on the tire swing in the barn, and up in the loft with the owner's son. Once Addie saw the horses, she couldn't take her eyes off them!

We all had fun feeding the animals, and riding the horses. Even I got on one. I haven't really been on a horse in I think six years, so it was a little weird, but a lot of fun.

Addie and Emma feeding the ducks.

Addie watching Daddy ride a horse.

David's Dad (also David) helping Addie find a horse.

The handsome cowboy I found down there. :)

All three girls riding.

I just thought this was a cool picture of Josie riding Peanut.

Addie was in love with Peggy.

Egg Hunt

After an amazing Sunday dinner including something called Mississippi potatoes that I'm going to have to get the recipe for, the girls went on an egg hunt! Well, it wasn't just the girls. David and Kristi and all the college age relatives and friends went on it too. :) I don't know who had more fun! After the hunt they played "egg toss". Thankfully the little girls used hard boiled eggs. Especially since they only made it one or two steps.

All that good food and fun in the sun made us sleepy, so we took a nice two hour nap! Tomorrow I will tell you about what we did after our nap, which was declared one of the best things we did on vacation by Addie.

Emma had a game plan. An egg hunt is no funny business to a seven year old!

Josh helped Addie find some eggs. She just wanted to eat them right then.

Josie showing me all the eggs she found!

Oops! They forgot one!

Easter Sunday

After a day at the beach, we all drove to David's parents house to stay for the holiday. What an amazing family he has! We felt as if we were just another part of the family. They are so gracious and hospitable. Seeing David interact with his siblings made us miss ours so much!

They have such a beautiful home, full of love and life. They also have some pretty cute pets!

We went to a church David used to attend when he lived in this area. It was so nice to be worshiping with fellow believers (even if we didn't know any of them!). We really enjoyed the service.

The girls all spiffed up. Perhaps I should have taken pictures before the two hour church service in 90+ degree heat. They might not have looked so wilted.

This cat is 18 years old. I liked him.

Addie did too. :)

This is their beast of a dog the size of a bear. I think that was even his name. HUGE!

First Trip to the Ocean!

We made it to North Carolina to visit our dear friends David and Kristi! It was REALLY great seeing them again. There is just something to be said about old friends where you can pick up where you left off, not just reminisce of days gone by. The Mizes are those kinds of friends, and we had such a fun time.

After dinner and a good night sleep, we took off for the beach. This was the girls first time ever to the ocean! They had a great time. Honestly, there wasn't much difference than Lake Michigan, because the water was still really cold this time of year, and the waves were very small that day. I don't think they even noticed that it was salt water because it was so cold!

Kristi and I riding in the back with the girls. :)

Addie giving David a big hug after our long ride.

I just had to get a picture of Josh carrying the Hello Kitty bag. he he

Emma the brave! She was the first to run to the water.

Addie did NOT like the ocean. After getting in for a second, this is the closest she would get.

Josie, on the other hand, LOVED it!

Emma spent the majority of her day collecting shells. She was a little sad at the end of the day when Daddy said she could only take as many as she could carry in one hand. She picked some nice ones though. :)

Spring Break Road Trip!

Last week was Spring break for Emma's school, and also New Tribes Bible Institute. What better time to take off for a road trip?

We had a wonderful week, full of adventure. I have decided to take all week to post about our time. I did this for three reasons:

1. I have too many pictures to share in just one post.

2. I haven't had much to post about lately so this is fodder for my blog. he he

3. Everybody loves a good "to be continued" don't they? :)

To start our trip we did the unthinkable. We pulled Emma out of school a day early. I know, I know, we are one of those parents. When I realized that our whole carpool was not going to go, and heard Emma mention something about a "movie day", I decided I would rather her waste her hours of non-learning in a van with her family, not in a classroom watching a movie. That is a whole other topic of discussion for another time. Movies at school? Really? Okay, really. We will discuss at another time.

So, you may be thinking that because we had pulled Emma out a day early, we got an early jump on our trip. Sadly, this was not the case. We left after she would have already been out. That happens a lot in our family when planning big trips. Noon becomes two, then three...

After a good ride at night, and a not so nice stop at a hotel, we were on the road again!(sung in your best Willie Nelson voice).

I was really actually surprised at how quick our trip went. We made it to North Carolina in record time! Well, record time with three little girls in a van. :)

I'll post more tomorrow. Here are some pictures on the road...

Not too packed. It was a comfortable ride.

The handsome driver I hired. Pretty cute, right?

There is something very un-nerving about driving into a mountain.

I wish I could remember where this was. I thought it was beautiful.

Our destination!