Samuel's Fire Truck Birthday

Samuel turned 3 years old on May 27th.  He is in love with all things cowboy and fire trucks.  He asked for a "fire truck birthday" and we bought him a his first cowboy hat and toy gun.
His actual birthday was on Friday and we celebrate as a family with firetruck cookies and presents before heading over to some friends house to swim. 
On Sunday after Church we ate pizza ate our favorite local pizza place and then headed to his party at the fire station in town.  The birthday boy grinned from ear to ear the whole time.  He loved seeing all the fire trucks, eating cake and opening presents from his friends.  It was a blast to watch him have so much fun! I LOVE you Samuel Sanborn Krum!

Rebekah's 1st birthday

Monday May the 9th she had heart surgery and Saturday May 14th she turned one year old.  WHAT A WEEK!!
Recovery from the surgery went well at home, we could once again get out and about.  So we planned a FULL weekend for her birthday.  Saturday after her morning nap we took our kids to the park to celebrate the birthday girl with some yummy cupcakes and swing time.  Then after the park we attended a high school graduation party for another sweet Rebekah that we know.  Sunday was our first day back at Church since her diagnosis and then another friends birthday party in the afternoon.  We had a lot to celebrate and we partied HARD all weekend :)

Rebekah's surgery

We spent the morning  of  Rebekah's heart surgery holding her tight and meeting the team that would be taking care of her during the procedure.  They explained their part in the event and answered any questions that we had. 
I am sure that May 9th is a date that will always stick out on the calendar to me.  It was the day that I had to watch Trey hand our precious baby girl over to the nurse who would then walk her into the Operating room for her balloon valvoplasty.  All Trey and I could do was hold on to each other, turn our backs and walk away.  Although she seemed to be a very sweet lady, she was still a stranger that we had met only a few hours before. This was by far one of the hardest things I have ever had to do! Still weeks later it brings tears to my eyes and I get a giant lump in my throat just reliving the moment.  I am so thankful that I had my faith and my wonderful strong husband to hold onto during that time.   
When we left Rebekah we headed down the elevator to the waiting room, where our sweet friend Paula met us. There we sat and first thing we did was get online to send out updates.  I was immediately overwhelemed by the numbers of people that we saw that were already lifting up our girl and her procedure.  What a comfort God's people were to me during this time.  Just knowing that we could join together in prayer, no matter where we were,  and pray for Rebekah and that a living God was hearing my prayers... Such comfort!
We waited for our hourly updates.  Not only were we delighted to hear that things were going very smoothly at hour 1 but we were elated that at our 2 hour update the team had completed what was estimated to be a 3 hour procedure.  We were moved into a meeting room to have a personal update from the surgeon himself.  He explained all they did and gave us her new pressure levels as of post op. Praise the Lord that they were able to fix her valve so easily.   He then instructed us to wait for one final call that they were ready for us up in recovery.
We held our breaths for just a few more minutes and then recieved the call to head upstairs to be with our baby girl.  We walked to her bed to see her laying there, waking from anesthesia, white as a sheet.  I was so glad to see her little face but she looked so pitiful.  The nurses immediately let me hold her then I handed her off to Trey, Shepherd needed to go potty :) We then spent the 6 hours of recovery taking turns holding Sweet Rebekah while the anesthesia wore off.  She started to perk up at about hour 4 we were released after 6 hours of observation. 
We are thankful that the surgery went so smoothly and without any complications.  I know that the Lord used this event to bring Himself glory.  I am honored that the Lord not only used it in my life,  but we also know that He used it in the lives of others that we know.   

Summer is here

On Cinco De Mayo I took the kids on an imprompto trip to Stewart Beach for the day.  We had been staying home so that Rebekah would not get sick before her surgery.  This seemed like the perfect place to have some fun together before the procedure.  It was a weekday so it wasnt crowded and it was outdoors.  The Big kids had been missing out on a lot of activities so that we could keep R from getting sick, so I felt they deserved a fun day in the sun.  We had a great time with our friend Paula. 

Shepherds visit with the specialist

Since we now have a child that that has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, my OB wanted us to have Shepherd's heart checked as a precaution.  He referred us to a Specialist in The Woodlands for a high level ultrasound and possible inutero echo cardiogram.  The Wednesday after Easter, while Abigail, Hannah and Samuel were still with my parents, we had our appointment.  The sonographer that works for the OB was very knowledgeable and thuro.  The Doctor really thought that they got some great images from the ultra sound and that Shepherd's heart looks fine.  So, she did not see a need for the echo.  Praise the Lord for what appears to be a healthy heart for our little man.

4D ultrasound picture of our little man.  Cant wait to meet Shepherd Sanborn Krum

Rebekah's surgery consult

Trey, Rebekah and I left Corpus Christi the early on the Monday morning after Easter.  The big kids got to have have their first visit at MeMe and PawPaw's without us.  We left them there for a couple extra days because #1 my mom and Dad where willing to keep them and #2 we had a couple of Dr. appointments for the babies that we could not take them to. 
On Monday afternoon we had our first appointment with Rebekah's surgeon at Texas Childrens Hospital Downtown.  The appointment went GREAT, it was long but that was to be expected. They did an additional chest X-Ray and then with had the consult with Dr. Petit.  We also met with his nurse after we visited with him.  All of the information was communicated very clearly and consisely.  They called us the very next day with the date of her procedure.  I am very thankful that my parents watched the kids b/c the waiting would have been stressful with the additional kids tagging along.  Here are some pics for the appointment. 

In the waiting room.  One of the nurses fell for the adorable smile and brought Rebekah out a teddy bear.  I dont judge her that smile gets me ALL the time.

Playtime with Daddy while we wait for the Doc.  I love that man! The one in the picture not the Doc :)

Easter 2011

We love to celebrate Easter in Corpus Christi with my parents.  It is a wonderful time with family and a great way to usher in Spring with the warm temps and all the water.  This year the big kids were little fish at my parent's swim club and we also enjoyed a couple parks.  Resurrection day was a great day of celebration that consisted of Resurrection rolls, Church, Easter egg hunts and playing at the park.  We had a Wonderful time away from East texas with MeMe and PawPaw. 

Trey's 35 birthday

My Love turned 35 on April 9th and we threw him a little bash :) Thanks for all who came to celebrate it was a GREAT evening

On his actual birthday night with the homemade strawberry cake that i made him. 

Hanging out at Trey's birthday party

Cherry pies for the party, Trey's favorite

Happy Birthday to you!

Congenital heart defect

At our sweet Rebekah's routine 9 month check up, our doctor heard a heart murmur.  We have been waiting to have our first appointment with a pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's Hospital.  She will be 11 months old next week, yes we had to wait a LONG time to get in.  I was waiting to post because it could have been nothing. 

We had our appointment last Thursday and it turns out it may be the first of many appointment. 

We had been told the murmur was loud but oh, how we wish it was NOTHING.  That is not the case.  Rebekah was diagnosed with Pulmonary Stenosis (PS).

From the American Heart Association:
The pulmonary valve opens to let blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs.  Narrowing of the pulmonary valve ( valvar pulmonary stenosis) causes the right ventricle to pump harder to get blood past the blockage.  Moderate to severe PS will require treatment with heart catherterization or surgery. 

Rebekah's pressure level is high, at a little over 4. Which puts her in the upper moderate to severe level.  Her valve only opens about 20-30%. 

She will require a procedure called a Balloon Valvuloplasty.  This is a procedure done in the cath lab at the downtown TCH. 

We do not know the date or much about the procedure yet.  We will have a consultation down at the Med Center, hopefully within the next week and then the procedure will follow. 

We would definitely appreciate your prayers and I will keep you update the best I can. 

I am truly thankful for God holding her little heart  in His hands.  I am also amazed and SO thankful that she is not exhibiting symptoms.  From what I understand, once symptoms start to show it can be a sign that the defect has progressed to the point that permanent damage may have been done to the heart. 

Here are some pictures from our visit:

Beautiful girl as we were heading out the door to the appointment

oh, that face :)

Wonderful Daddy praying for his little girl

Daddy holding his baby girl, trying to get her to sleep for the echocardiogram

And she's out safe and sound in her Daddy's arms

Getting hooked up for the EKG

"Mama?!"

"What is all this?"

Precious girl sitting still for the test

Garden addition

We have some new additions to the garden. Trey planted some hops for his beer making process. He is very excited! Here are some pics

Learning through life

One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is that we can learn all the time.  Even without lesson plans and books.

Did I just hear you gasp?!

We can learn in all we do throughout our day.  Not that we always do and not that we always have fun. BUT we CAN.

It is those moments, when I realize that the kiddos are learning in an unplanned way, and I take advantage of it, that make me fall more in love with homeschooling.

The other day on our walk we had one of those special moments. 
The girls remembered seeing butterflies over by the azalea bushes near Trey's office, they wanted to check it out again.  So, we took a little detour over to the bushes to take a look. 

To our delight the bushed were covered with both butterflies and bees. 

Here is a conversation Abigail and I had.
I asked Abigail what the butterflies were doing and she said, "drinking nectar from the flowers." I also asked her what the bees were doing and she said, "drinking from the flowers." when I asked here what else they were doing she said, "helping the flowers grow." I then asked her what the bees were gonna do with the nectar and she said MAKE honey :) Yeah Abigail!!!

My little Pumpkin Pie, aka Hannah,  also knew that the butterflies and bees were drinking and that the bees were helping the flowers grow.  Way to go Punkin!

Here are some beautiful pictures of the azaleas.

Physical activity

We have not lack of physical activity around here, which I love.  Between playing outside, riding bikes, going on walks, and our newest activity playing on the sports field up at Daddy's work, I don't feel a need for a formal physical education time. 

However we do play outside and get our bodies moving everyday.  Well, unless we are under the weather. 

Here are some pics from some our latest activities.

in front of one of the trails

Yes, I made them stop to pose for a picture :) But the smiles are real!

Rebekah goes for our walks in style

wearing them out on the sports field

soccer time

Library visit

We took a trip to the Library Tuesday morning.  Abigail's sound for the week was the short /oo/ sound like in "book".  It seemed fitting that this be the week that we get back into the routine of going.  The girls were very excited about, Samuel had no idea what was going on.  We have not been since he started walking :) So, first things first we had a talk, before entering, about being on our best behavior and how we have to whisper in the library. 

We actually happened upon pre-school "story hour".  We were a little late but the kids got to make a Mardi Gra mask and had a snack.  From what I could tell it is put on by 2 local moms.  The group meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month.  So we may give it a whirl and see what kind of stuff they do.

After "story hour" was over we headed to look for books.  Before the kiddos starting grabbing books I handed them a place marker, our library uses the wooden paint stir sticks, and showed them how to place the stick on the shelf before they removed the book that they wanted to look at.  I let them know that we were supposed to do this so that when we were done looking at the book we could remember where it belonged on the shelf.

The big girls had a good time looking through book, completely based on the covers :) Which meant that they were only choosing the ones on the end b/c they were the only ones that had their covers exposed.  They each chose 3 to bring home.

I chose some books about tools for Samuel.  He pretty much just walked around the whole time taking in the new sights.

Rebekah crawled the isle for a while until she found the child magazine section.  I then realized I would need to put an end to that activity.  I figured they would probably like to keep the pages inside of their magazine covers. 

Best find of the day by far was, Baby on theWay, William Sears, M.D., Martha Sears, R.N., and Christie Watts Kelly.

The book explains how Mommy may be feeling, what is happening with her body, how they can help Mommy and Daddy, and what to expected once the baby arrives. This book seems to address some of the more curious questions that the big girls have been asking lately and it answers them in a way that they can really relate to and understand. 

I am so glad that I found this book.  We have already read it several times.  I will probably recheck it so that I can have it on hand as Shepherd's birth day gets closer.

Baby boy #2

Baby boy number two is officially named.

Drum roll please.......

Shepherd Sanborn Krum

will be joining us late July. Oh, who am I kidding I am sure he will hold on until August.

more updates to follow :)

Growing

We got the garden planted a couple of weekends ago.  I am so excited to have fresh organic veggies of our own again.  The kids love to check on it daily and always want to help water. 

This year we planted

lots of tomatoes

Green beans- hopefully they are successful they have not been in the past.

cucumbers

zucchini and squash

this years new addition: 2 blueberry bushes


I planted plants and seeds so that we would have veggies at different times.  Things are already starting to sprout out of the soil.  YEAH!! Now if I can just keep them alive, we are hoping for a plentiful harvest. Go veggies go!