So It's been 10 days since my last update, and I guess I have wrapped my head around things... I guess. As much as I can really. I had a few days after we first found out, where I was sad & mad, and really sad, & really mad! I mean there is still that lingering question of "why her?" and as much as I hate that, I have managed to look at the "here & now"... it is what it is, and we can't changed that. Whatever God's reason, this is the way it's going to be. That being said, we have talked about it over and over and over, and there are positives, many of them. Well.... at least as far as them finding it now and her being strong and what not. When we look at it that way we can only be thankful. Never the less there is that "scare factor" that will not go away... no matter what anyone says, or how we look at it, she is our baby.

We did however have a crazy Christmas. By crazy I do mean fun ;) We were able to open presents without waiting for the computer to slowly dial daddy through skype and wait for him to answer. No crazy is not an understatement! We have 4 children 6 and under... every gift had to be opened "right now!" There were plenty of gifts too! After the way December started, with someone hacking our bank account and draining all our money & then some ( we Finally got it all back after almost a month), Then the bomb of surgery being dropped on us....we honestly weren't sure how well jolly ol' Santa was going to perform this year. No that is not the reason for the season, not at all... but with 4 small children, who typically get the "traditional" Santa package deal, I couldn't help but feel a bit sad for them.
And though Santa is NOT the reason for Christmas, Jesus is. That being said, he really was there for us this month.... despite all the negatives this month may have held. We were blessed with awesome family and friends, praying for us and with us..... we managed to make it through this month and Santa managed to come through too... although he forget to bring that addition to our playroom!

We did enjoy Christmas eve with his family... it has become a bit of a tradition to have them over to our house for Christmas eve brunch, and then we do our gifts with them. It was nice & relaxing, and of course the kids had a blast.

 I guess that was 1 too many pics of him helping get brunch ready ;) 

cousins ready to open presents! 

We later celebrated with friends & family at our neighbors house. This too has become a tradition of ours. The kids absolutely love this too because they get to play with their best little friends & see their Nana & Pape again. Not to mention eat lots of treats and run wild through the house, and it's all acceptable because it is Christmas eve. 

Then it's home to get in our jammies and put out our treats for Santa. He happened to call each of the kids that day & during the call he told them he wanted chocolate milk, cookies & candy left out for him. SO cookies, milk, a few m&m's & a small candy cane is what he got. He enjoyed it! ;)

leaving out the treats

tracking Santa with daddy before climbing into bed

Santa came, he saw, he conquered! It went from being a peaceful picture of gifts set perfectly around a lit Christmas tree....

And stockings hung on the stair rail with care...

To shear pandemonium..... :) 

However I did manage to get this little ones expression before the chaos, as she walked into the living room just after waking up....

Christmas day was finished off at my parents house, where the kids were spoiled a bit more... the day was spent opening gifts, eating & playing.

gifts @ Grammy & Grampas

uncles are good for building toy story legos 

good clean fun ;)

The month may have been a rough ride but with God, family & friends by our side we made it. Thanks to everyone for the support and prayers, we have needed them & felt them... please keep them coming as we enter the new year waiting for more detailed news on what is to come in the months ahead. 

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

in the blink of an eye...

It is so amazing how quickly your whole life can change. Your perspective on every little detail is rearranged... all in the blink of an eye. You read about these things. You hear stories of other peoples families going through different situations. You never in a million years, ever imagine your baby needing heart surgery... Heart Surgery!
God doesn't give you more than you can handle... at one time. Had this happened last year while Daddy was away, I do not think I could have handled it (nor could he, being so far away)... God knew that.
So here it is, God laid it out on the table, brought it to our attention now. Now that Daddy is home with us, now while B is young and so strong. He built our wild little girl tough for a reason. God has reasons for everything, and while I throw my hands in the air and I yell at him, and tell him how mad I am, and ask him WHY!?!? Why our baby, what did she do to deserve to have to go through this!? I still know that he Will carry us through, and he will carry HER through. He works in mysterious ways, and I don't know why but he chose our little girl, and he WILL bring us all through this.

About 2 months ago spunky little Missa had her 2 yr check up. Her Dr. heard a heart murmur and wanted us to come back for a follow up 2 weeks later so he could listen again. Heart murmurs are fairly normal and some come and go. She actually had one when she was born, but by the time we were ready to bring her home they no longer heard it. It wasn't thought of again. Until now... here it is again, so we were referred by our reg. pediatric Dr. to a pedi. cardiologist at the Dartmouth Hitchcock CHAD unit. After a long afternoon the results were that B would need to have heart surgery to replace her aortic valve. Not something you want to hear. We were praying the news would be that it was an Innocent murmur that was completely functional like many people have.

It is truly life changing. B is a happy and otherwise healthy toddler with no symptoms what so ever. People have said "Wow, I didn't know..." Well honestly neither did we, it was like a bomb dropped. At the same time this is a blessing, a blessing in the way that it was found now. Her Dr. heard something and did something about it. She was a good girl at her 2 yr appt and sat so nice, he was able to hear it and act on it.

She was such a champ at her cardiologist appt. laying so still for her EKG and all her blood pressure checks, and then a half hour laying like such a good girl for her ultrasound. Then she got a new little friend... her stuffed bear, whom she named "Obear". Obear was smothered in kisses for the rest of the day ;)

How do you let her just run and play normal, I just want to wrap her in a bubble and protect her. Hold her and not let her go. She is so healthy though, that we have to just go on until the next step. We will start our new year with a meeting on what type of valve replacement our baby girl will have during her heart surgery. We will find out when the surgery will take place. We have faith in our pediatrician, and he got the ball rolling, we have faith in this Cardiologist and his team as they discuss the best route, and we feel relief in knowing her surgery will take place in Boston where some of the best Dr.s are. People come from all over the world to Boston, and we are blessed to have it in our own backyard, so close.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

We really appreciate all of the support and prayers from our family and friends. We need it now more than ever.

"Lord Bless our baby girl"

guest blogging

I have said it before... Blogging is like a journal for me, one that I want to share with others and also get feed back on. I love to read all the comments I get & hear what others think, and also how they relate or what their own stories/traditions may be.

I have a few blogs I follow & always watch for their new blog posts, and I get so excited to read it and get my update on them. One in particular has become a favorite of mine. ("The New Normal") It is a personal blog like my own.  I would say it is similar in the sense that it is almost used like a "sharing journal" the way I use mine. The blogger herself is a mom and army wife. They too are a national guard family. I have followed them through their deployment journey, and she has followed ours. Their deployment was a few months off from ours... Her husband has just returned home safely & I am SOOO  happy for them. Reading her latest blogs on the homecoming events brought me back a few months to ours. Actually made me teary! I feel like we have become "friends" through our blogs... it is nice to find people out there who you don't know personally, but can relate to in so many ways and share stories and feelings with. Especially when it comes to the national guard, where we don't live on base and are in a way "disconnected" .

She is actually giving me the opportunity to be a guest blogger on her site. It's a good way for both of us to share with even more bloggers out there... or even those who don't blog themselves, but enjoy following/reading them. They have had a very exciting few weeks with all their homecoming Awesomeness! (yes, I said Awesomeness) ;)  She wants to keep her blog updated and thought having a guest blogger, would be a good way to do so.... while she enjoys some very deserved family time!

My post will be featured on her blog today, when it is up and running I will post a link to her blog to share. I hope you enjoy catching up with me on her blog and also learning a bit about another blogger.

(Great minds think alike... she actually linked up her blog & mine as I was posting this... so here is the link to her site to check out my guest blog, and while your at it check out some of her other posts as well.  I have found them to be very inspiring and uplifting... And I can't wait to hear all about life with their soldier back home again!) 
http://thelongyearahead.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!