Way Back When-sday!

Our family computer bit the dust last summer during a lightening storm and with it, hundreds and hundreds of our digital pictures!! Or so we thought. We didn't even bother to try to get it fixed until this spring, when a co-worker of Britton's mentioned that he had recently had the same thing happen and was able to recover all the lost data and pictures. So Britton took our computer in and ta-da!! All our pictures right there where we left them! I was so happy I almost cried!

I have been looking back through file after file of "old" pictures and I am so happy that they weren't lost forever. There are so many precious memories stored on our hard drive, and we are working quickly to get them all saved over to disks so that we never lose them again!

So for today's walk down memory lane. . .

From the moment that Kaylen found out that our new baby would be a girl, she started dreaming (out loud) about all the fun things that they would do together! First item on her agenda? Play dress-up! I explained to her that it might be a little while before her baby sister was old enough to play dress-up, but Kaylen was patient. One day when Avery was about seven or eight months old I was folding laundry and Kaylen and Avery were playing in her room. Pretty soon, Kaylen called to me, "Mommy, mommy! Come see! Come see!"

And this is what I found!

Oh. My. Gosh. Were they ever this little? They are so precious it makes me want to cry!

And I'll let you in on a little secret. . . They are so precious it makes me want another one. . .

Shhhhh!

Yikes! July?!!

I can hardly believe that its already the end of July and in a few short weeks school will be starting again! It has been a busy, busy summer and a blog-free one too! I can't believe how I've neglected this poor, abandonded blog!

Who knew that a little thing like this blog o' mine could cause me so much guilt. Each day I stop by here and see my last post from (GASP) April and I feel so guilty. Guilty for not updating more often and guiltly for ignoring my blog!! I know this is silly because there are probably only two other people in the world reading this, but still. . . I don't like to start something and not keep up with it, so here goes. . .

So what have the Harts been up to since I last posted?

Well what a better time than July than to talk about what happened in May I say! In May, Kaylen Rose turned seven!! We celebrated by throwing a rock-star themed sleep over and it was a hit! I ordered these rockin' invitations from Designs by Georgia off of Etsy! If you need a fun invitation and a quick turnaround time, Georgia is your gal!

We decorated our basement with tons of balloons, sparkly stars, and streamers. To create the effect of a "dance party" we even had a friend of ours who is a DJ bring over some fancy "strobe" lights that flashed in bright colors to the beat of the music. With the lights turned down and the music cranked up it was the perfect setting for the little divas to get their groove on!

As you can see in the picture above, it was kind of hard to get good pictures of the rock stars as they were "dancing" - aka, chasing each other around our living room:) But you can see the fun "disco" lights!

This is the only shot I got of all the girls together, as the night was winding down and they stopped for a minute to watch High School Musical 3 in their jammies. This party was so much fun, it really deserves a post all of its own. . . we'll see;)

After Kaylen's birthday weekend was Dance Recital Week. This was Kaylen's second year in jazz and ballet here in Emporia and gearing up for recitals is always a big deal! Kaylen had dress rehersals EVERY night for a week and then perfromed on two different nights! In the end it was worth it and the dances turned out very cute!

Here are Kaylen and two of her dance buddies at rehearsals.

After school was out, we took Kaylen to Chicago to visit the American Girl Store. What a fun trip! Yup, that trip certainly deserves its own post!

Here are Kaylen and I eating lunch with her doll, Mia, in the American Girl Cafe! What an amazing place to visit! More on that later. . .

We also took Kaylen to Branson at the end of June for a quick weekend getaway. I didn't even take pictures on the trip. We've been there so many times, and we were having so much fun, I just didn't snap away away like I normally do!

While in Branson we took Kaylen to White Water- a water park with tons of wild and crazy slides. I had no idea Kaylen was such a daredevil! Just last summer she wanted nothing to do with the water slide at our local pool, but she didn't say no to a single ride at White Water!!! She even went down Kaluni Falls, the picture you see below! It was a little scary, even for me, let alone Kaylen, who was just barely tall enough to ride it!!






At the end of June our best friends visited from Arizona! We always enjoy having them stop by, even if their visits always feel too short. You can see the amazing pictures my friend Bethany took of our family while she was in town by clicking here.

Another fun part of summer for us is hanging out on the lake on our friends' boat. We enjoy boating so much that we are thinking about getting a boat of our own for next summer!! Kaylen had a blast tubing with daddy and our friend Garrett!



Avery even got to go tubing for the first time! I don't know how much you can see here, but in between Daddy's feet is her little face. You can't hear it on the video, but she was laughing and clapping the whole time! She loved it! I guess we have two daredevils in our family! For the most part she loves being in the boat and hanging out in the water!






Well, that pretty much sums up May and June! Wow! Birthday parties, dance recitals, vacationing, lake trips, and visits from friends! I guess I didn't realize how busy we really were this summer! See. . . no wonder I haven't found the time to blog:)


I really am going to start blogging at least a little more often than every three months because I'm getting a blog makeover soon!! I can't wait to reveal my new look!

Hollywood

Last month we traveled to Los Angeles for Avery to undergo a surgical evaluation at UCLA medical center. After many months of researching different surgical centers we made the decision to travel to UCLA to meet Dr. Gary Mathern, a highly respected neurosurgeon.

It was a long and difficult trip for many reasons. I detail more of Avery's medical stuff here , but we are hopeful that the surgical team at UCLA may be able to pinpoint the brain tumor that is causing Avery's seizures and remove it.

After we were discharged from the hospital we took in some of the sights and took Avery to the ocean for the first time We just happened to have a professional photographer with us to capture these precious memories. My dear friend and her sweet family made the six plus hour trek from Arizona to hang out with us after Avery was discharged. We had a blast with our friends in Hollywood and learned that Miss Avery loves the ocean. She laughed until tears ran down her face. The entire ordeal was worth that precious sound!

Pottery Barn Schmottery Barn

When I saw this bedding in the pottery barn kids catalog I instantly fell in love. . . with the bedding that is, not so much with the price. I have purchased a select few items from pbk, but usually when it goes on sale. I showed my mom this adorable ensemble and mentioned that I thought it would look precious in Avery's room because her walls are already this shade of blue she said, "Well, let's make it."

Right.

What she really meant was, "I'll make it for you." There's no "let us" in doing something that requires sewing because "us" doesn't sew. My mom is a talented seamstress and I have no idea how to sew a button back on a shirt.

A couple of days before Christmas she and my dad dropped off armloads of goodies to put under the tree for the girls and when I saw several large packages and bags for Avery, I knew exactly what it was. . . I don't know if my mom is reading this, but I'll have to admit that later that afternoon, I pulled back the tissue paper ever-so-slightly and took a peek at the quilt inside and as my friend Bethany likes to say, I might have "squealed out loud" with delight.


My mom's version of the quilt and the accessories is sooooo much cuter, more detailed and yummier than the Pottery Barn version. She went with brighter, bolder colors, and included details I never would have thought of! Check it out:





The theme of this bedding is owls, which has special meaning for our family. Yes, they are all the rage these days, but we've loved them much longer. My mom has been collecting "owls" for most of her life, and they were her thing long before they became 'popular.' So of course, my mom had Miss Avery (who is basically non-verbal) saying "Whoo Whoo" before she could say some of her most basic words. If you ask Avery, "What does a horse say?" or "What does the doggie say?" she doesn't have a clue, but ask her what an owl says. . . .



My mom turned 78 this week! I think it is amazing that someone at her "wise old age":) can still sew like this! She has had cataract surgery and I know this has to be harder than it was for her a decade ago.



And these little cuties from the pbk catalog. . .



Grandma's version: Too stinkin' cute!





I saw these sheets in the store and the colors are perfect for our version of the bedding so I'm hoping they'll go on sale soon, otherwise I may just have to splurge!



I've always wanted to take pictures of the different rooms in my house for sharing. I'm snoopy that way. I love to see the insides of some of my long distance friends, family, and even 'blogging friends' and don't mine sharing my favorites, but this is why I don't!! I'm a horrible photographer. These pictures just don't do Miss Avery's room justice (or my mom's handiwork) but you get the gist of it:) Avery and I spend so much time in her room. I absolutely love it, and it just might be my favorite room in the house for so many reasons. It is peaceful and playful all at once. I do some of my best 'thinking' and praying in Avery's room while rocking her to sleep at night.



Grandma, (mom) if you're reading this. You are amazing! I love this and all of the other keepsakes you've made for us. Kaylen loves her Mia wardrobe and is so proud to show it off to her friends. They will become heirlooms and mean so much more to us than anything you could buy in a store (or off the Internet.) She just learned how to do that too! Amazing I tell ya'! The next thing you know I'll have her on Facebook:)


We love you!

Tiny Caskets

I didn’t think I had anything else to say about our current situation because the last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. I don’t think that I can possibly explain all that has taken place in such a short time in this small space but if you will bear with me while I vent for just a couple more paragraphs then I will try!

This ridiculous disease has changed absolutely everything about our lives. Tuberous Sclerosis has now officially ruined two of my favorite t.v. shows. Yes. That’s right. A genetic disorder has robbed me of two hours of pure viewing entertainment.

I am a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan! Before Avery got sick I watched all the drama unfold, sometimes on the edge of my seat, and breathed a huge sigh of relief as the credits rolled and everything ended neat and tidy. The tumor was removed. Ta da! You’re cured! The perfect donor match for an organ transplant is found at the last second and within an hour the patient is lying in bed surrounded by family giving thanks for their great fortune. Now I watch and just yell at the screen. “Are you serious?” I mean really? How dumb do they think their audiences are? On a recent episode Dr. McDreamy performed an open craniotomy (exactly like Avery had during the week of her grid placement) and his patient, in an attempt to kill himself, beat his open skull against the back of his metal bed repeatedly. A few minutes later he is carrying on a conversation with the beautiful nurse who has taken pity on him. Right. Because that’s what you do after you bash your exposed brain against a metal bed.

Ummm hmmm.

Let me just clue you in. When a doctor is performing a nephrectomy (removing someone’s kidney) in the OR they don’t turn to the doctor next to them and say “Oh, no! We have to do a nephrectomy. We have to take out his kidney.” They don’t have to explain to their colleague what a nephrectomy is because, hello!, if I know what a neprhectomy is than so does the doctor standing in the OR! Or at least I sure hope so!

I digress. This episode was so far out there, but one part really struck a nerve with me. One of the characters was giving another doctor a hard time for being callused and not having empathy for her patients, in this case children. She launched into a dramatic monologue about the fact that she not only has empathy for the children and their families, and especially the patients she loses, but it bothers her so much that she dreams of tiny caskets.

I too, have nightmares of a tiny casket.

(Bear with me. I’m not being morbid. This is my reality and I’m just being “brutally honest” as so many of you have commented about my writing.)

I’ve had the same dream several times and it never fails to leave me sick to my stomach and curled up on the floor next to Avery’s crib. In my dream I’m standing at the back of the church I’ve gone to since I was born. I’m standing at the end of the altar looking toward the front of the church and I know that there is a tiny casket at the end of that altar. The altar my parents carried me down to baptize me. The same altar I would years later carry Kaylen and then Avery down to be baptized. The altar I walked down to receive my first communion and the altar that my father walked me down the day of my wedding. In this dream I’m walking down the altar toward the tiny casket and I see people I’ve known my whole life filling the pews. I fight my way up out of this dream every time, willing myself to wake up. I force myself up out of the depths of my sleep into consciousness before I reach the end of the altar. I never want to reach the end of that altar, because in my dream I know who rests in that tiny casket.

This is just another of the many ways this horrendous disease has changed our lives. Even our sleep isn’t a place to escape from it. *And please don’t email me suggesting therapy. My dear friends, been there done that. The one time I spoke with a therapist he suggested I embrace the philosophy “Carpe Diem” In other words, “Seize the Day!” He actually said that after I told him Avery’s story. Did he not hear a word I had just said? “Carpe Diem?” Seize the day? Seriously. I busted out laughing right there on the leather couch! Seize the Day! Are you kidding me!? We’ve been seizing every dang day for two years. I can only imagine what he wrote in my chart:) This is my therapy:)

My other favorite show is the Bachelor. I know, I know. It’s a little trashy but it’s also very funny. So if you’re followed along, this season’s bachelor was the much loved Jason. Towards the middle of the show he had to choose between two girls that he supposedly cared about equally. On one date in particular he took two girls and at the end of the "date" he had to decide which girl to send packin’ and which girl to ‘keep.’ Really. It sounds much worse than it is. But in his obvious distress he made the comment, “It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make.”

And now I’m out two good shows.

The hardest decision he’s ever had to make.

If only. Right now Britton and I are trying to decide if we should allow surgeons to cut into our precious girl’s brain for the third time to remove most of what remains of the left side of her brain. Or perhaps we should we continue switching medicines on her like musical chairs hoping that one of them will eventually stop the seizures? Or perhaps we should do nothing and just accept that they will always be a part of her life, all the while, hoping and praying that one of them won’t take her life. I’ve told many friends that having a child with a devastating disease is like living my worst nightmare. That’s not exactly accurate is it? Losing a child to a devastating disease is certainly my biggest fear. I worry every day that I will lose my Avery Elizabeth to a seizure. It happens my friends. The monsters under our beds are very real. We live with them day in and day out. So I’m not being morbid in the slightest when I tell you that I am so afraid of losing my baby girl.

How is anyone supposed to make these kinds of decisions? We have prayed, and weighed the options, and researched, and prayed some more and on Sunday we will leave for LA for Avery to undergo her second surgical evaluation at UCLA Medical Center. Depending on the results of that evaluation, Avery will be having her third brain surgery as soon as early May, but more likely it will be closer to June. My brain can’t even begin to contemplate these sentences I just wrote.

We are also faced with the unthinkable decision of temporarily dividing our family in order to get Avery closer to the therapy she so desperately needs. Through an amazing connection we made a few weeks ago, we have found a center where Avery could receive the recommended forty hours a week of ABA therapy. However, it is in Kansas City and we are here. The jobs that we love are here, our home and the community that we love is here, Kaylen is here and Britton is here. Our family is close by. But the therapy Avery needs isn’t here. We can’t just pack up and move. So do we divide and conquer? Do Avery and I leave Britton and Kaylen during the week so that sweet girl can get the help we believe in our hearts she needs? How can I leave two of the most important people in my life? How do I choose between my girls?

So Jason. Buddy. If choosing which beautiful girl to date is the hardest decision you will ever have to make, consider yourself blessed.

So there you have it. You’ve laughed, you’ve cried. I’m back. Thank you so much for your kind words and messages after my last not-so-uplifting update (on Avery's CarePage). I know from the emails and private messages I received that many of you were concerned that I am suffering a “crisis of faith.” We are very tired, but our faith is the only thing that keeps us going. If I’ve learned anything in the last three years, it’s that it’s o.k. to get angry with God sometimes. He is bigger than our anger and he can handle it. When your children are mad at you because you won’t give them something they really want, do you turn your backs on them or write them off? Of course not. I delight in the Lord and know, despite what I feel and think sometimes, that he will never leave or forsake us. We know that God is God and we are not and this is enough. I think sometimes we’ve been taught to tiptoe around God, but we believe and scripture tells us it’s o.k. to come boldly before the throne.


Thank you for continuing to do just that for Avery and our entire family.

"Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" Hebrews 4:16.

Lisa needs. . .

(I borrowed this picture from another blog, but now I can't find it to give her credit?

Seriously that's what I need! Chocolate!)

This is too funny. It's actually a version of a note going around on Facebook (Which I am totally addicted to and is one of the main reasons why I neglect this little blog. Did I say that outloud?) Anyways, you go to Google and enter your name plus the word "needs" all in quotes (so "Lisa needs") It is pretty funny to see what comes up in your search. It's even funnier when done in a bar with good friends and an iPhone after a few drinks. . . Ehh hemm, Amy? Jennifer? What do you need?

Heres what you do: Go to Google.com and do a search. Type in your first name and the word needs after it in quotes. Then copy the top ten things Google says you "need." O.k. here goes:

1.) Lisa needs braces. (I had braces when I was 15, but some of my teeth did turn back, so I guess this is kinda true?)
2.) Lisa needs to get a life! (Hmmmm. I'm pretty happy with the one I've got thanks!)
3.) Lisa needs a nap. (Amen!)

4.) Lisa needs a home ASAP. (Nope, I'm safe and sound in my beautiful home!)

5.) Lisa needs your help! (O.k.?)

6.) Lisa needs help with her vertical blinds. (Those darn vertical blinds. . . )

7.) Lisa needs a bigger grin. (Hence the braces.)

8.) Lisa needs braces. (Holy cow. This was like every other google hit! I must seriously have bad teeth?)

9.) Lisa needs a new concealer. (Yes! Yes I do! I have dark circles and age spots! This one is true!)

10.) Lisa needs to be committed (and the tag line underneath: "Okay all I'm going to say is that girl is very unstable. She seriously needs her head checked. " ) Too, too funny! True?

Soooo, Bethany, , Rachel, and all my Facebook bffs, what do you need? (Some of you need to get your own blog- That's what you need. Umm hmm. You know who you are:)

Good Intentions

When I first started this blog, I had every intention of updating it often. Then life happened. In a good way. I don't find as many hours in the day this spring as I did last year at this time to pop in and upload pictures and tell stories. I'm hoping that someday things will settle down (Right.) and I will be able to be a better blogger! For now, you can send me to blogger time out. . .

Since I last updated, things have settled down for Miss Avery. We think that our last trip to the ER was due to her anti-seizure medication levels being off. I could write a book about the woes of weaning and adding seizure medications. Hate em'! She has had a lot of good days in the last three weeks which is such a blessing. Right now sweet Avery girl is my shadow. I mean literally. She is pretty much within twelve inches of me nearly all of her waking hours- and sometimes her sleeping hours too! She just doesn't want to let me out of her sight and I'm o.k. with that, it just makes things complicated. Things like laundry, cooking, cleaning and blogging can become tricky with a 35 pound toddler attached to your hip! Sometimes I can get away with talking on the phone for long periods of time because I can continue to play or do whatever it is Miss Avery insists on while holding the phone between my shoulder and ear:)

Kaylen has been busy with school, dance, Girl Scouts (and selling cookies!), birthday parties and losing teeth (a total of four now!) She is growing up so fast, with her seventh (gasp!) birthday party fast approaching! We are playing around with ideas for a theme right now, but I think we are going for a cross between a camp-out and a diva slumber party. We'll see how much time I find in the next month or so to pull something together! Britton's schedule is still crazy with winter sports just ending and spring sports beginning. Many weeks the girls don't see him for several days in a row because he leaves before they are awake and gets home long after their bedtime . Two weeks ago, I spent a week in D.C., advocating for increased funding for TSC research, have been planning our trip to California for Avery's surgical evaluation at UCLA over spring break, and am trying to stay on top of assignments for my Master's class, besides working part time and keeping up with two very busy little girls. I don't mind being busy, I just wish sometimes I had a few less items on my to-do list:) So for now I will leave you with a few random pics of the main reasons why I don't find much time to blog these days! Excuses, excuses. I know:)