For the Love of Ivey

Thirteen Things about Ivey 1…. She has a sweet personality with a little bit of sass! 2... She has a beautiful smile. 3... As of this morning, she weighs in at 8 lbs. 6 oz. (4 months 1 week old) 4... She loves her pacifier. 5... She can rub her conformers from her eyes. (Not so much a good thing.) 6... She has a sweet cooo when she talks. She is loud when she cries. 7... Her reflux has improved since she switched to Prevacid. 8...She looks beautiful in pink, also in green. (mint green) 9... She actually prefers to were her mouthpiece (aka = NAM) 10.. She Loves to wear bows in her hair. 11.. She has blonde hair. 12.. Her first surgery is scheduled for Friday, October 27. (Georgia/Florida Weekend!) 13..She has met some new friends with similar disabilities via the world wide web and ICAN. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thir...

Many of my friends are in the same boat I am in right this very moment, for the most part. Life with small children. There are several modes needed to survive life with small children, or probably children in general. - I do think that survival is the appropriate term for the moment. - I will go out on a limb and speak for the majority of my friends, all based on any given conversation, and say that we feel like we have everything under ' control' at all times. It is all a delusion. Today, I am functioning in the most detrimental mode of them all. I have lost 'control' , which I probably never had it to start with. But, I think that I am still in 'control' . Havoc is running rampid throughout our household, but hey, it is all okay. Why you ask? Easy, I have it ALL under 'control' . To start with, my friend Sarah rode with me to our 7:10 AM, that's right 7:10 AM, appointment at Scottish Rite this morning. After encouraging her that we should be on the...

Sunday Ivey attended her first service at our church, St. Peter's Epsicopal. I do believe it was one of our more magical moments. She made it through the service with minimal fussing. (Or from the parents of three, Matt and I thought it was minimal.) She seemed to enjoy the music and Father Ard's voice. Ivey cooed through them both. At moments, it seemed like she was sending out her acknowledgement of what was being said. It was almost impossible to hold back tears as I held her and she accepted her first communion in St. Peter's. It was even more overwhelming to pray aloud for her during the service along with the other members of our congregation. I think she knew her name was being spoken. This was Ivey's first time out, with the exception of hospitals and a few lunches or dinners with friends. Ivey has been held so closely in the hearts of our church, we wanted her first time out to be in the confidence of St. Peter's.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 As an individual I had a plan for my life. So far things have worked out according to my plan. The general outline was as follows, high school, college, and career, find right man, get married, have children, raise children, and grow old with husband. Along this path, the threads have weaved themselves into a fabric that has become the canvas for my life. Looking closer, the detail in the canvas is exquisite. A true masterpiece. Today Ivey is 4 months old. I can’t help but wonder what her plans are in her own heart. And yet, what plan does the Lord have for Ivey? Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 Ivey is full of wonder. She is a Gift from God, given a very special skill. She has the unique ability to touch the heart and soul of every person who whispers her name. She can unlock hearts that would ne...

Let me preface this Thank You letter by telling you of a decision Matt and I made the first day Ivey was born. With the uncertainty of Ivey's condition, we were given the choice by our neonatologist to transport Ivey to Atlanta or stay here in Rome. She listed the pro's and con's for being in each location. She also pointed out that our family and friends were here. Our decision was clear, we stayed. Unbeknownst to us, outside the hospital walls our family and friends were already gathering for our rescue. Matt and I quickly discovered how fortunate we were to live in a close-knit community like Rome. For me personally, I discovered myself finding comfort in having so many people from Cedartown employed at the hospital, people who knew me. Neither town is exceptionally large; however, Rome is a substantial town compared to Cedartown. Thank heavens they are in such close proximity to one another. Thus, the blessing of small towns. I never did appreciate the safeguard of gro...

This has been a week where you sit back on Friday and think "Thank the Lord it's OVER"! Instead, I have taken a moment, (boys are at grandparents, baby asleep, and husband still at work) reflected and decided "I must be a stronger person today than I was on Monday because I am alive to tell you about it, everyone is healthy, and life is still interesting"! Here I will say,"Thank you God for giving me a life full of living!" Contrary to the previous post, I may be a little more on the insane side too! I will give you a little overview. Ivey Sunday, admitted to hospital. Tooth pulled. Other small complications. Don't worry things turned out okay. Monday evening, released from hospital. Tuesday morning, appointment with orthodontist at Scottish Rite. Tuesday evening, heart monitor alarming. Again, things are okay, just a scare, but never has happened before. Wednesday, she rested. Thursday, appointment with Feeding Clinic at Scottish Rite. Friday, vis...

OK, I admit this blog has turned out to be a place to go to let out some frustration, which was not its original purpose. It has also been great to meet other moms in similar circumstances. And yes, I have forgotten on occasion that there are people reading this who know Matt and I as a couple, know Matt and I as separate people, some we have not seen in years, some are family, others are friends, many are here reading because they heard of our situation, and still others are our friends that we do not see often enough. All are reading my ramblings here on the world wide web. I promise I'm not crazy....Yet. In the beginning Tasha updated you, then it became easier for me to make postings due to the sheer fact there was so much information to sift through. At first, I wanted things sweet and to the point - no emotion involved. Somewhere in the midst of it, my emotions got the best of me. (Not to mention hormones and the three babies, all under the age of three, swarming around my fe...

Gwen and I spent the weekend looking for “house items” for the new house. It was nice to give Gwen a break and we certainly appreciate her mother for staying with Ivey so we could get away. We hope to move into the new house the first of next month. I have always told people I have the best family and friends any person could ever dream of having. Thank you to everyone who has helped with Ivey. While you may think that a note, prayer, phone call, or posting on the blog is a small gesture, it means a great deal to us. The support has been overwhelming and we appreciate it. The load is a lot lighter due to everyone being so generous. Thank you to all of our friends, your support has proven that we do have the best friends imaginable. People ask me all the time how they can help. Until now, we were not sure how to respond because each day was so different. Now that Ivey has seen all of the specialist and is starting round two with most of them, we now know what to expect. Here are some th...

Thank you for taking a moment to say a prayer for Addison. Her mom says she made it through the surgery just fine..... I wanted to take a moment to update you on Ivey's progress. The past two weeks have been very eventful for her. In nine days she has been to the Opthamologist, Orthopedics, Feeding Clinic, Ocularist twice, Dr. Rogers three times, the cardiologist once and somewhere in there she had therapy, not to mention time keeping up with her brothers. Whew! Her eyes are adapting to the new conformers. She also has a new addition to her mouthpiece that will begin to raise the flat side of her nose. After x-rays with orthopedics, her physician explained that her spine and hips look good. She does have some "oddities" to her sacrum bone. We will have to wait to see how her sacrum will affect her long term....crawling, walking. Ivey also received good news from her cardiologist. The heart is working well; eventhough there is a defect in her aortic valve, it does not see...

Ivey would ask that you say a special prayer for her kindred spirit, Addison and her family. Addison is twelve weeks old and will undergo open-heart surgery today. www.inthemidstofit.blogspot.com