Daytona 500

Ethan: Mommy, did you watch the race last night?
Me: No buddy, it got rained out and they are going to try again tonight.
E: But what did all the racecars do last night while it rained?
Me: The cars probably stayed in the garages and the race cars drivers went home and went to sleep.
E: In their race car pajamas?
Me: *hysterical laughter* 

Baby Evangelynn

Monday morning we had our cordocentesis for baby Evangelynn. She did great!! Her platelets were 150,000 and we were so excited to come home still pregnant. I going back to HIROC tomorrow and hopefully after this appointment we will have a better idea of when we will get to meet our baby girl.

Here we go again!

With several new friends in our lives I wanted to give a quick glance into the past of where we have been and give everyone an update on where we are about to go.

A little over four years ago God decided to reveal to us just a glimpse of his sovereignty by saving Ethan's brain from bleeding (and probably his life) through what was the scariest moment in our lives and one of the worst case scenarios during labor; the prolapsed cord.  You can read all about our experience here and here.

During Ethan's six day stay in the NICU we discovered that Philip and I have a blood platelet mismatch.  This is very similar to an Rh factor mismatch in that I make antibodies against our babies' platelets while I am pregnant.  It is dissimilar to Rh factor mismatches in that there is no magic shot to stop the immune response against the baby.  Instead of a shot, I must undergo weekly infusions beginning at 19 -20 weeks of IVIg and continuing for the duration of the pregnancy.  I wrote a long post about the treatments and the biology behind them when I was pregnant with Asher.

Because nurses typically have a hard time drawing blood from me or starting IVs, after the first couple of treatments of IVIg we chose another, slightly more permanent, option: a PICC line.  This catheter stays in my body and gives my home health nurse great access to infuse the IVIg into me every week.  No needles!!

I can't believe we are already here, but on Monday we will be 19 weeks pregnant!  This go round the insurance has been incredibly swift and easy to deal with (not that there haven't been a few snags) and on Monday my nurse called to say that the IVIg treatments are approved!  Tomorrow afternoon I will get my PICC line installed and we begin treatments on Monday.  We are so excited to have the same nurse that we had when I was pregnant with Asher, Angie!!

My prayer requests at this point are for treatments to go well (people can have wicked side effects from IVIg) and for my general peace during this time of transition.  Ultimately I know that no matter what happens God knows what is best for me and will grow me during this time!  My hope and prayer is that I glorify Him in all situations and that I share our testimony with people I meet during this time.  We have been so blessed I also pray that I can rest in these blessings instead of fretting about what tomorrow will bring.

Thank you all for all of your support!

Fall in the Mountains

Danielle was here with us last week and we took a day trip out to the Smokies to see the fall colors.  Here are some of the pictures we took:

New Videos

I thought we had our youtube channel linked here but we don't!  Here are our latest videos:

First day of Pre-K

At seven am sharp my four year old boy bounded into my room wanting to know if his shorts were on backwards.  As I helped him get dressed he told me all about the dream he had, "I dreamed that I woke up and put my clothes on.  Then I waved good-bye to all my friends (my friends were in my room).  Then I left for school.  That was it."  He was so excited he dressed, ate breakfast, and was ready to leave 30 minutes before we could and 45 minutes before we had to.

This one is a little fuzzy, but captures the mood of the morning!

First day of school!!

"This is how you make 11."

Asher needed to check out the toys too!

Ethan playing at one of his classroom tables.

Asher thinks, "Hey man, I'm ready for this place too!"

For more pictures of this morning you can head on over to SmugMug.

A look back through the years.

With Ethan starting school this week I thought it would be fun to take a look back:

On July 2, 2007 Ethan (at 41 weeks) decided to make a dramatic entrance into the world.  He spent the next week in the NICU before coming home as a healthy baby boy!

He took his first trip to the Smokies later that same year (3 months).

Ethan loves his Auntie!(6 months)

In April, we went on a hike with the Boudreauxs.  

Apparently Asher did not invent the "scrunchy nose face". (9 months)

Sitting with Pop while he plays on the Wii.  (16 mon)

Eating gumbo like a true Cajun should! (18 mon)

 Celebrating Mother's Day (20 mon)

Celebrating Jonathan's birthday (2 years)

Bed head! (2.5)

So tall! (2.75)

While Mommy took care of baby Asher, Ethan took care of baby Martin. (almost 3)

Ethan loved playing at Little Gym this past year (3.3)

And no matter how much he likes to read or love on his brother...

....he is ALL boy! (3.5)

He is also our budding photographer!

I'm sure on Monday I'll have some great "First day of school" pictures!