Amie's cardiac cath

It has taken me a while to get these posted, but on January 31st, Amie had a cardiac cath for two reasons. 

The first was because they were concerned that her arch was becoming an aneurysm.  When they did the evaluation of the arch, they determined that the velocities are consistent through the arch, so it is not an aneurysm at this time!!  Yeah!!

The other reason was the aortic valve has continued to get tighter and tighter & they were going to try to balloon it open to buy her some time.

This picture shows how abnormally thick the valve is.

The balloon was a failure, so we are now waiting for an appointment next week that will tell us what they are going to recommend next.  The interventionalist cardiologist stated she might be a candidate for a procedure where they cut the abnormally fused leaflets.  Not sure if this is something they do through a cath again, or if it will be some other type of surgery.

Either way - it is just frustrating worrying about her little ticking timebomb in her chest.  :(  We have to keep this valve as long as possible because the younger she is when the valve is replaced, the more valves she'll have to go through in her life.  But her velocities are also at severe stenosis, so I am always on edge when she gets short of breath or tired from running.  Wish there was a magic pill that would just fix it all!  

Christmas party with the family

Christmas gathering at Grandma Miller's house.  It was a great year to have a gathering.  Darwin and I were still a bit in a funk from the whole heart string yanking that DCFS had done with us and Aubree.  And in fact at Thanksgiving - we were ready to just pack a cooler and hit the road...but we didn't.

So - a few weeks later it was time to have our family Christmas & Darwin came downstairs wearing a hawaii shirt!!  So, Amie and I obliged and also wore Hawaii attire!  :)

Such a great looking tree!  Amie LOVED the cherries!

So let me tell you about this innocent looking bowl of jelly beans......a few days before the party Darwin watched a dirty jobs show that talked about "beandoozled" the weird jelly beans by jelly belly.

Here's the list of what the jelly beans taste like:

Licorice or Skunk Spray

Buttered popcorn or Rotten Egg

Chocolate Pudding or Canned Dog Food

Juice Pear or Booger

Coconut or Baby Wipes

Top Banana or Pencil Shavings

Berry Blue or Toothpaste

Peach or Barf

Caramel Corn or Moldy Cheese

Strawberry Jam or Centipede

We put the bowl on the table, but didn't notice anyone trying them.  So.....when we retired to the sunroom to play some cards Darwin brought them in & set them on the table.

Justin ate quite a few of them and then all of a sudden said, "Ewww yuk"  To which I could not control it any longer & bust out laughing.  The funniest thing was that after we told him what it was & showed him the box - he continued eating them!  He finally decided that "Barf" was not worth eating!

Unfortunately - Tim heard what was going on & ran to the bathroom & had some of his own ummmmm B...

And since it was Darwin's idea to get the jelly beans - Darwin got to clean it up!  :)

We got Janet a little gag gift this year.  While we were in Tennessee there were tons and tons of possum gift items!  And after her little visitors last year we couldn't resist!

We even found a wonderful little window sticker!

 The kids had their gift exchange first.  Tim had Dea's name & Dea had Tim's name.

Amie had Kylee & Kylee had Amie

Kylee really had a hit with the cardboard house & markers!!

For Kylee's gift - we decided that Kylee was old enough to get Grandpa's initiation!  She got box in box!!  :)

The note said - find a package that is wrapped in this paper.

She found it in the other room!

Time for the adult game!

Kylee and Amie really enjoyed the coloring house!

It was a great weekend of family & fun - just what the doctor ordered!