Wow... 2017 was QUITE a year for us! In fact, I think it wins all the prizes. Best, Worst, Most Exciting, and definitely Most Challenging. 2017 challenged my entire family in every way. It challenged my patience, my faith, and my marriage. There were happy tears, sad tears, frustrated, angry, worried tears and so many tears of relief.
March started our crazy spring sports schedule. With the Bigs in Soccer, Baseball, and Kickball we were pretty busy!
In May we prepared to spend the next few months in Houston as we had made the decision to seek treatment at Texas Children's Hospital. While we figured out logistics and planning and prepared we also celebrated Mackenzie's 13th birthday.
June came all too soon. Lydia and I officially relocated to Houston on June 9th, just three weeks shy of our baby's birthday. Those were the longest and shortest three weeks of our lives.
Thomas Xander was born June 29th and made our family complete.
July's biggest event was Thomas' first open heart surgery. He was just six days old.
August brought a lot of excitement as we were discharged locally from the hospital on August 14th, celebrated Derek's birthday on August 24th, and then attempted to hunker down for Hurricane Harvey. We rode out the storm for a few days but it became very clear very quickly that it was time to leave.
In September we spent a few wonderful weeks at home here in Austin as we waited to sort out any possible damage that our townhouse in Houston sustained. It was just a taste of what life could be or would be like once we were home for good after Thomas' second surgery. I was both dreading going back to Houston and anxious to get back. Going back would mean being away from my Bigs once again, but it would also mean that we were preparing for the second surgery and that we were that much closer to being done and home for good!
November came and we were again locally discharged from the hospital. We stayed busy packing up the townhouse and making arrangements to come home to Austin for good. November 15th was our final appointment with our Houston Cardiologist and with her blessing we drove home that afternoon! Thanksgiving was quiet and low-key but, understandably, very emotional for me. We had so much to be thankful for!
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| January- Lydia started swim class! |
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| February- we combined my birthday with a gender reveal. |
April was when our world was turned upside down and everything we had planned for the near future came to a complete halt. April 7th was supposed to be a regular sonogram and checkup with my OBGYN. Instead I was completely blind sighted by the news that our little man had what was called Hypoplastic Left heart Syndrome and would not be able to deliver him with our doctor.
As we were left reeling from the news that would affect the rest of our lives we began to plan Lydia's first birthday, and Mason's 12th birthday while googling and researching our diagnosis during any spare second we had.
In May we prepared to spend the next few months in Houston as we had made the decision to seek treatment at Texas Children's Hospital. While we figured out logistics and planning and prepared we also celebrated Mackenzie's 13th birthday.
June came all too soon. Lydia and I officially relocated to Houston on June 9th, just three weeks shy of our baby's birthday. Those were the longest and shortest three weeks of our lives.
Thomas Xander was born June 29th and made our family complete.
August brought a lot of excitement as we were discharged locally from the hospital on August 14th, celebrated Derek's birthday on August 24th, and then attempted to hunker down for Hurricane Harvey. We rode out the storm for a few days but it became very clear very quickly that it was time to leave.
In September we spent a few wonderful weeks at home here in Austin as we waited to sort out any possible damage that our townhouse in Houston sustained. It was just a taste of what life could be or would be like once we were home for good after Thomas' second surgery. I was both dreading going back to Houston and anxious to get back. Going back would mean being away from my Bigs once again, but it would also mean that we were preparing for the second surgery and that we were that much closer to being done and home for good!
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| October 25th was Surgery Day! |
When Thanksgiving was done I began to really get into the holiday spirit! I wanted nothing more than a Christmas at home with all of my kids who we wanted to spoil rotten. For us, Christmas was not only a celebration of Jesus' birthday, but it was also a celebration of the end of the hardest year we've had as a family. We had made it, everyone was safe, healthy, and happy. Our family is complete.
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