Little Gracie got to have some Grandma time today and she really relaxed and enjoyed herself.We were told today that Gracie's first procedure will be next week some time. It may be on Tuesday, but no earlier than that. She will have a Blalock-Taussig Shunt surgically installed between the aorta and the pulmonary artery, as well as a little procedure done on her atrial septum. It is the first surgery in a series of 3 surgeries called a fontan procedure. The second surgery will be at the 4-6 month Read More

Immediately after Gracie was born the pediatric cardiologist did an echocardiogram to get a better look at Gracie's heart. If you don't know what's going on you should read this first. The heart echo confirmed the diagnosis that was given for Gracie while she was in Utero. Her pulmonary valve is blocked and the right side of her heart is very small and under-developed. The doctors will be meeting together today and tomorrow to try and determine the best course of action from here. She will Read More

Gracie and Daddy will just have to a share a birthday! What a rare gift to welcome a baby on your birthday. She was born at 11:12PM on August 9th, 2010. We were told to expect here to be a little "blue" upon arrival and she may have been for the first minute or so, but she was really looking good when her mommy got to hold her a few minutes later. Right now she's being tested and we are waiting to here the results of the tests being done on her heart. Annie is healthy and of course tired, but Read More

Annie woke me up at 7:00 AM this morning and said, "Happy Birthday! I think I am going into labor." The contractions seemed to be steady for the greater part of the next hour, and I had packed the car to be ready to go the hospital. By 8:00 the contractions had slowed and became milder. We all ate breakfast and waited for them to pick back up. With no signs of action on the horizon I headed out for a run hoping to return and go to the hospital. Since that time the contractions have been about Read More

I often do not write about things that are going on because they do not seem to deserve an entire post. At the same time I often want to mention these very things and see what others might have to say. My goal is to resolve the tension in which I only blog those things that a general audience would be really interested in, while commonly having thoughts about posts that I know will interest a certain few. My new solution to the problem is the classic game-show lightning round, hopefully a new Read More

Yesterday we drove to our Dr's appointment at UVA Medical with our car all packed for the long stay here. The appointment went well and found out that I am now dilated 2 cm.  The Dr. asked me if I wanted to be induced on Sunday....it was tempting, but I declined.  We want her to cook as long as possible. Last night for story time, Colby recounted the last two years of our life and all the different places and houses we've lived in.  Haley remembers every detail of this journey Read More

In May when I went to my first Doctor's appointment at UVA, I asked tons of questions...One of them was, "Can I still go to beach week in July?" When he said, "I don't see why not," we were both surprised. What a fun week of cousins, waves, games, sunshine, biking, good food, Colby getting stung by a jellyfish, and many other memories. You can see the rest of the story here... Read More

On July 8th we were driving home from one of our hospital appointments in Charlottesville, VA (about 1.5 hours from where we are currently staying) and we were trying to figure out the details of having a baby that far away. We were trying to figure out when we would go to C-ville. We were trying to figure out where we would stay during the likely surgery. We were trying to figure out where we would stay during the recovery time. We were trying to figure out how we would make sure Haley and Read More

I have to say....being back in America for the Fourth of July was SO amazing. It was the best Fourth I can remember; I appreciate my country more than I ever have. We were able to go to three different fireworks shows. For the first one, I just stepped outside and was able to see the firework show from our front porch. It was like my own personal worship service as the sky filled with lights and I just thanked God for our freedom. This year, as the national anthem was sung, I listened and Read More

10.  Having two bathrooms (Oh, the things you take for granted...)9.  A King-sized bed (How can we ever go back to a double again?)8.  A themed kitchen (Haley said the other day, "Wow, they must really like apples)7.   Listening to the rain fall on the sky lights6.  A bathtub (I don't think they believe in bathtubs in Europe)5.  A big yard and a long driveway for the kids to ride their bikes on (My new favorite words to say:  "Kids, go OUTSIDE and Read More