Soccer Girl

Last night was Ava's first soccer game. The team had their first game last weekend, but we missed it since we were at the beach. She looked so adorable in her uniform, I could hardly stand it! She was excited to play with her team, the Fruit Loops, and to see her friends Catie and Keilani. I made the girls matching soccer hair ribbons to wear and she could not wait to give them to her friends! She did a great job during the game. While she wasn't the most aggressive player on the field, she did stay near the action and got a few good kicks in. When she was playing defense there wasn't too much to do (our team is pretty good and spent most of the time near the goal) so she and another player just played in the grass. :)

We are looking forward to many more Friday night games this season!

Ava modeling her hair ribbon

Keilani and Ava-best friends

First Grade!

I can not believe I am the mother of a first grader!

My little boy is getting so big! Here he is on his first day of first grade:

Drew was so excited to start school again and see his friends. He was really looking forward to staying all day (kindergarten is a half day) and eating lunch in the cafeteria. I wasn't as worried about him starting first grade as I was with kidnergarten, but there was a little anxiety. It's hard to leave your child in the care of other people, especially if you haven't even met them yet! So I met with the principal before school started and gave him a letter about Drew and his medical history. It made me feel better. :) And he was very understanding and even forwarded the letter to Drew's teacher and PE teacher.

So this morning, as I was walking Drew to his classroom I got to meet his teacher. I introduced myself as Drew's mom and she told me that she got my letter and that her older sister has congenital heart defects and has had heart surgeries, so she's familiar with CHDs. We didn't have much time to talk since school was starting, but I felt such a relief! When am I going to learn to let go and trust God? Once again He provided the perfect teacher for Drew--probably the only one who has experience with children having heart surgery. Thank you God for always putting the right people in our lives and for gently reminding me who is in control.

Drew in his new classroom

After school I picked Drew up and took him and Ava out for ice cream--our first and last day of school tradition. He told me he had a good day, he liked his teacher, he liked his friends and that his favorite part of the day was recess. And that is about all I could get out of him! I pray that this is a great year for him, that he learns a lot, makes new friends, and continues to be a kind and compassionate friend.

After school-he made a hat!

Enjoying ice cream after school

Ohio Trip

Our family made a trip out to Ohio to see Dan’s cousin, John, get married. We hadn’t been out to Ohio since Christmas of 2006, so it had been quite a while! The kids were so excited to fly-I don’t think Ava had been on a plane that she could remember. We got up so EARLY-4 am- to get to the airport for our 6:30 am flight. Both kids did great on the planes and even though it was a long day of travelling, everyone was in pretty good spirits when we arrived around dinner time that night. We stayed in a hotel near Connie & Bill’s house (Dan’s aunt and uncle) and spent the days with them and all the cousins.
Drew and Ava loved playing with their cousins! There were 8 kids between the ages of 2 and 9 and they all played really well together. We had a big family bbq one night, complete with volleyball, cornhole (more fun than it sounds!), and catching fireflies! Another day we visited a sprayground, and then of course, there was the rehearsal and the wedding!

John and Katie had a beautiful ceremony at a church in Cleveland with the reception at Progressive Field. All the little cousins danced the night away! It was so special to be able to be with family. What better reason to get the whole family together than to celebrate love!

Daddy and Drew on the plane

Ava on the plane

Drew playing volleyball with some cousins

Aunt Jennifer and me playing cornhole

Ava catching fireflies

Drew and his fireflies-they slept next to them in the hotel!

Katie and John toasting with mead at the rehearsal dinner

Drew and cousin Ron

My handsome son and beautiful daughter all dressed up for the wedding

Our family

Dandrea

Himmelbergers

It's hard to get a picture of 8 kids all looking at the camera!

Happy 4th of July!

Our fourth of July celebration started on the 2nd, when our family got to visit the TNT warehouse and take home A LOT of fireworks! Two years ago when Drew was finally discharged from the hospital after six weeks we came home on July 3rd to a very large variety of fireworks thanks to the very generous Cathy C. who works there. She offered to provide fireworks for our family every year, and so far she has! The kids enjoyed walking through the warehouse with her this year as she picked up various fireworks and loaded them into our box. They also really like their fireworks playing cards!

Drew and Ava selecting some fireworks

Our family with The Big Timer!

Drew and Cathy from TNT

On the actual 4th of July the kids got dressed in the American Flag t-shirts and we all went to church. Then we had a wonderful day on the river with our friends the Parks, who took us out on their boat. I did a little wakeboarding and Drew even got to try some tubing. We cruised up and down the river and had a great time! We headed home around 7:30 to get ready for our own personal fireworks show!

The kids eating snacks at church

The Parks' Party Boat!

Me and Dan cruising

Me and Ava cooling off in the river

Drew's first time tubing-with buddies Tristan and Eben

Once we got home, we got the kids into their jammies and our friend Kate came over to enjoy the show. Drew helped Dan unpack the fireworks and choose which order to do them. Then we sat in our lawnchairs with blankets and earplugs (for the kids) and enjoyed the show!

Getting the fireworks assembled

Watching the show

My attempt at taking a picture of a firework

We hope you had a fun and safe 4th of July too!

Basketball Camp

This week, Drew attended First Covenant’s Sports Camp for the first time. It is a summer program for kids ages 6-12 and they offer programs in soccer, volleyball or basketball. We thought Drew would enjoy basketball, since he played his first season of basketball this year. Some of his best buddies signed up to play too, including Jacob, Eben and Tommy. They had fun playing each night and it gave Dan and me a chance to spend some time alone with Ava. On the last night of camp they had a tournament and the kids got to play a game before getting their medals at the awards ceremony. A fun week for all!

Drew during the game

Taking a shot

 Drew with his medal

Tommy, Brandon (a new friend), Jacob, Drew and Eben

The girls wanted to have a picture taken together too!

Sleep Over!

This week the kids got a special treat: Ava got to have her friend Keilani come over and spend the night, while Drew got to go sleep over at his buddy Eben’s house with a couple other boys who were attending basketball camp.

As soon as Keilani arrived the girls went straight to the dress up closet and got dressed in their princess attire. They played so nicely together! They had a tea party and ate dinner as princesses. Then they helped me bake cookies for dessert. Yummy!

They went to bed easily, although I had to make a few visits back to Ava’s room to remind them that it was time to go to sleep! In the morning, they enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes. They are the sweetest little friends!

Camp Taylor Family Camp

The kids of Camp Taylor

We just got back from our first visit to Camp Taylor Family Camp. What an amazing experience! This camp is for heart kids and their families. They also hold a youth camp and a teen camp for older kids. We have been wanting to attend camp for years and it never worked out. One year was too close to surgery, another year we registered, but Drew got sick and some years the dates just didn't work for us. So we were very excited to be able to make it this year and we attended the camp held in Santa Clara. It was more of a family retreat than a camp since we got to stay in a hotel, enjoy catered meals and all the amenities. We also got to spend a day at Great America with other heart families. The camp pairs each family with a mentor, a teen or young adult survivor of CHD. Our mentor was 18-year-old Ryan and he was awesome!

I remember hearing Ryan's story at a fundraiser we attended in February. Ryan had a heart attack on the basketball court when he was 13. He was dead for four minutes before paramedics arrived and were able to get his heartbeat going again. (A brief aside~this illustrates the need for EVERY school to have an AED on campus, but sadly, most don't.) Ryan's defect was undiagnosed until his heart attack and the damage that it caused meant that he had to give up sports, and he is a sports fanatic. But, he is such an amazing kid that he doesn't have a bad attitude about that at all. Instead he spends his summers volunteering at all three camps for Camp Taylor and he is great with the kids! Our kids loved him and wanted to say hi to him, hug him, sit on his lap, or play with him every time they saw him. He sat with us at meal times and helped watch and entertain the kids while the adults got to play bunco one night (Dan and I were the big winners!).

Drew and his mentor, Ryan

We also got to meet another family that doesn't live too far from us. They have a 15-year-old and their two younger kids are the same age and gender as ours. Their six-year-old son is also their heart child so our boys and our girls enjoyed hanging out every chance they got. We stayed with them during our visit to Great America. Drew and Cole enjoyed going on the rides together and Andee and Ava loved the waterpark.

I always get teary at things like this and this weekend was no exception. The first night we went around the room and introduced ourselves and our families. And while I know the room was filled with some of the strongest and bravest parents and kids there are, I couldn't help but be heartbroken at all that these kids have been through. I heard multiple stories just in that one room of kids who had been through three open heart surgeries, only to have their hearts fail and be transplanted. Which is a miracle in and of itself, but that is a lot of heartache for a family to go through. The last day we had a question and answer session with Dr. Desai, an amazing and generous cardiologist at LPCH. He mentioned that many of the medications that our kids are on have not been tested in children. They have done studies on adults and they are safe for adults and are most likely safe for kids, but it is not known for sure. And that just made me sad again. I gave my newborn baby some of those medications and didn't even ask if studies had been done. I guess I probably would have done it anyway, what choice do we really have? The same goes for the information on heart kids and ADHD. They think it is linked to time spent on bypass and time spent in the NICU, during the critical period of time when their little brains are developing. But when they need the heart surgery to live, it doesn't really matter if that treatment may increase their chances of developing ADHD.

I don't want to end on a sad note, the talk with Dr. Desai was very informative and interesting. And he even gave everyone a personalized diagram of their child's heart, that's something we didn't have yet! After that discussion we ended the weekend together with everyone sharing what Camp Taylor meant to them. For us it was a lot of fun making great memories, meeting other families and celebrating our heart hero!

Some of the mentors

Drew and Daddy playing a game

Our family at dinner the first night

The kids doing some crafts

Himmelbergers ready for a fun day at Great America

Mom and Ava driving the car

Drew and Cole riding the roller coaster together

Ava wanted to ride all by herself!

Ava wasn't tall enough for a lot of rides, but she liked the carousel

Drew and Cole

Heart buddies

Cole shared his CT towel with Drew

Meeting up with Ryan at lunch

Posing with Snoopy (Ava said no thank you)

The kids enjoying the wave pool with Daddy

Last ride of the day

Drew and Nick, our friend from Hearts of Hope

I love this picture!

Exhausted after a long day of fun!

Drew and his shadow buddy-all the heart kids got one and the buddy has a scar on his chest too