Mother's Day 2011

The weekend started out with a little mini-reunion in Austin with a few very good friends from college who were all exactly my age.  We had the best time and I LOVED catching up with everyone.  Austin has changed SO much since we were in college and it is the best city.  Did I mention it was my first time to leave Field overnight?  He was bachelor'n it with his daddy and they did great.  I got several text pics and updates from the hubby so that eased my mind.  I wasn't even gone for more than 24 hours, but it felt good to get away and I barely worried about my boys.  ;) 

Love my girlfriends!

Mother's Day began with a very sweet, sincere, and emotional speech from the hubby.  He told me how proud he is of the way we have handled our first year as parents and how, as a mother, I have endured more than most momma's ever have to go through in a lifetime.  (Probably true, but I know some moms have been through way more.  I count my blessings every day.)  He then went on to say he wouldn't want to go through parenthood with any other person.  I feel the same about him.  Love you Brad!   

Aren't these two of the cutest boys you've ever seen?  

Love my hubby...love my baby boy...I am truly blessed.

I mean, does it get any cuter than this?  I LOVE his outfit.  My mom says that when she used to dress my brother like this when he was little, he would cry the entire time.  Ha!  Thanks, sweet Fieldie, for being a good sport.  I know you like the Polos and khaki shorts but your momma loves to see you dressed up every once in awhile.

Sunday morning, we had a fun brunch with my family over at my sister's house.  I love these 3 children!  The girls might just be my nieces, but Aunt Li Li loves them as my own!

Ellie loves to hold hands with Field.  So very sweet.  

We asked Caroline to grab Field's hand, but Ellie Belly did it all on her own.  

And this sweet little girl, also my goddaughter, makes me smile.

Gorgeous Lina Bean!

These 3 cousins have a blast together.  

The girls letting Field ride their horsey.  Field and Ellie are getting to the age where they really like to look at each other and "play."  They are going to be the best of friends.  

Now Field is in their Baby Bouncer.  Field is looking at Ellie again.  

I think she wanted in the bouncer but he was telling her no.  HA!  

Bounce, bounce, bounce.

Look at those legs on Field.  

So. stinkin. cute!

The mommas.  BB (my mom) is an amazing mother.  She is patient, loving, and devoted to her family.  I love that her husband, children, and grandchildren consume her heart.  She will do anything for us.  She has really taught me how to love unconditionally day in and day out.  She also knows how to spoil us too.  It is not uncommon for BB to walk in the door with a bag full of goodies for both Field and I - and for no reason other than she saw some things at the store that we might like.  I love that!  And she has great taste so I always love what she brings me.  My sister is a wonderful role model for me.  She helps me to relax and not to worry so much.  I love that I have her to lean on when I have questions or concerns.  She's also so fun to be with.  She loves Field and I love that about her!  

Mommas and daughters/sons/grandchildren. 

We missed Aunt Tara!

The dads.  Well, Uncle Bubba isn't a dad, but he will be someday!  And his nieces and nephews LOVE their Uncle Bubba.  As for the rest of the dads in the pic...they'll have to wait until Father's Day for my special words about them.  :)

The hubs is holding our niece and Uncle Michael is holding Field.  

Poppy (my dad) is holding Caroline.
Once again, Field is staring at Cousin Ellie.

Then we enjoyed a quiet afternoon while Field napped and mommy and daddy took turns getting out for a quick work out (it's getting to be quite ridiculous that I have not lost all of this baby weight yet.  Ugh!).

Then we had dinner over at the Johnsons.

Nonnie and her handsome boys!
Field loves his Nonnie and his Uncle Matt.  

I love my MIL!  She knows a lot about raising boys.  :) She always has a smile on her face and has a beautiful spirit.  I've really grown in my faith thanks to Nonnie (Brad's mom, my MIL).  She loves to laugh and I love that Field brings her so much joy.  We are so blessed that they live so close and are always willing and ready to help out with Field.  Back when Field wasn't sleeping through the night yet, Nonnie would come over often to spend the night and take care of Field all night so the hubs and I could sleep.  It was such a wonderful gift!    

Happy Mother's Day to the precious moms in my family - and to all of my sweet mommy friends - in real life and the blogging world!

Love you all~

Field, you are 10 months baby boy!

Dear Field,

Hey, sweet boy!  It has been 10 months since the day you graced us with your presence.  

For 10 months, my love for you has grown stronger each and every day and for 10 months, you have made our family whole. 

Oh sweet Field, it's also been a very hard 10 months too.  I know every parent worries, but your daddy and I have really struggled with all of our worries and fears for you and your heart.  We so badly want to know that everything will be ok and that you will not have to endure much more, but we know that you are God's child and He loves you so very much and you are always in His protective hands.  

That is such a comfort for me and your daddy.

Sweet Fieldie, here are some things about you right now at 10 months:

You never sit still.  Seriously, ALL BOY!  I told the pediatrician how you seem to be overly hyper active right now and the pediatrician said that is so normal.  

She said that I should be running ragged by the end of the day with you.  

Uh hum, that's about how it is, but I wouldn't have it any other way! 

And on that note, as you can tell, the monthly pictures are getting harder and harder to take.  

I had to have daddy's help this time around.  

Trying to flip over the glider and pull the curtains down...oh those are just normal activities that happen one million times daily around here.

You are a speed crawler.  I dread diaper and clothing changes because it doesn't take long for you to flip over, crawl to the bookcase, pull up, and knock every book off the shelf.  You could do this all day if I let you and we are so, so thankful for your continued developmental progress. 

You are eating lots of solids and doing so well at feeding yourself.  In fact, you are pretty much over the baby food.  You cry when I feed you baby food and you laugh when I put solids on your tray for you.  Lately, you enjoy eating bananas, carrots, pears, apples, mango, cheese, bread with butter, and chicken.

You are FULL of personality.  It's never a dull moment with you, Field. 

You learned how to pull up in your crib and now it takes you longer to go down for naps.  

You'd rather pull up and look around then lay your sweet head down to sleep.  (Poor mama!) 

Giggles - we love your giggles.

We went to see the Developmental Pediatrician for a check-up and you are right on track.  

Such a miracle as you have spent many of your days laid up in a hospital bed.  

What an awesome boy you are that you keep up with your peers, Field!

Field, You are such a sweet and precious boy!  

You are SO perfect and we thank God for blessing us with you for our child.  

You are smart, funny, and a joy.  

Your mommy and daddy love you up to the sky and around the whole wide world!

Love you so, so, so much!
Mommy

*And on another note, sorry for the lack of blog posts lately.  The Johnsons have been very busy and I just haven't had time to upload pics and write posts (bad mommy!).  Hoping to get back on the blog train soon!  :)

Lake Time in Texas

It's Lake Time in Texas!

We took Field for a fun weekend at the lake with his cousins and had the best time.

First ride in the boat!  

Not loving the lifejacket...

Very serious Caroline riding in the back of the boat all by herself.  

Mama Sedlak and Ellie

Cool cousins

Father/Son time.  Love it!

Playing in the grass.

Hmmm...trying to get a nice picture of the cousins and this is what Caroline does.  Ha!

The best one I could get of the 3 of them!

We can't wait to spend more time at the lake...

9 months ALREADY?!

I cannot believe that our little guy is 9 months old.  I am trying to avoid the typical "time flies" comment that parents make, but it is so true.  Time goes way too quickly and I really am trying to praise God for every day I get to be Field's mommy.  He is the apple of my eye and I am so proud of him.

9 months old and as active as ever.

I have to admit.  I am really not a fan of the milestone reporting.  Solely because it stresses me out and I believe that all babies are on their own timeline.  But I do have to say very quickly how very proud I am of my little man.  He has been through SO much in his 9 months of life and he continues to thrive.  Field is very close to crawling.  He will do whatever it takes to get the toy he wants.  He will scoot, slide across on his belly, side scoot, backwards crawl...whatever it takes!  It is not uncommon to find his barnyard toy (which is quite large) sideways laying halfway on top of him, along with his music table toppled over, and his basket of toys all over him as he reaches for the toy he wants.  Really, sometimes I worry (as if I don't have enough to worry me) about his high energy level.  He never stops moving!

Field is such a playful one these days.  One of our old "tricks" to get Field to sleep was to spin him around the room - I know seems weird, but it always soothed him and made him close his eyes.  Well, that "trick" is NO more.  In just the last week, we'd spin him to get him to sleep and he would just giggle, laugh, and squeal.  Almost as if he was saying, "Wheeeeeeee!"  Guess we need to find a new method.  Ha!

We went to dinner last week at a restaurant and sat on the patio.  Field has sat in an actual high chair at restaurants very FEW times but we decided to try it out.  We fed him his dinner at the table - he ate an Ella's organic "Green One" pouch, some cheerios, and some yogurt puffs.  There was a table of ladies behind us chit chatting away.  Field was so into their conversation.  He turned his little body around and stared at them the entire time.  It was quite hilarious.  Fortunately, I remembered to snap a photo.  :)

We want to especially extend our gratitude to Major Josh DuBois who has been overseas for 6 months serving our country in Afghaniston.  Josh is a neighbor of my sister and he has a beautiful wife, Holly, and 2 precious children (one of which is almost the exact same age as Field).  A few weeks ago there was a "Welcome Home" party for Josh that we were invited to and to our surprise, Josh presented Field with a gift.  On the day of Field's surgery back in January, Josh flew an American flag across Afghaniston in Field's honor.  Josh is a doctor, so he was transporting patients and he had a special flag en route with them.  He gave this special flag to Field to keep forever.  Josh is actually a pediatric anesthesiologist and trained on the cardiac team at Stanford so he is VERY familiar with Field's surgeries and he said he checked the blog every day overseas to make sure all was good with Field.  How awesome is Josh?!?  We are so glad he is back safely with his family and we look forward to hanging out with the DuBois fam soon.  Thank you, Josh, for a once in a lifetime keepsake for Field.  We will treasure it always.  And shame on me, I forgot to snap a picture of Field and Josh.  :(

The DuBois family on the day of Josh's homecoming.

Field and daddy at dinner with the DuBois family.  

Field and daddy were twins!

Glitz and Glam for a Good Cause

We had a wonderful time Saturday night at the American Heart Association's Heart Ball.  It was out at the new JW Marriott in San Antonio, which is absolutely amazing.  You can bet that Brad and I will be back to spend more time at this beautiful hotel!

Pictures from Michele Gordon 

As I said in the last post, we were chosen as the 2011 Heart Ball Passion Family, so we were able to share our story during the event.  My husband had the more difficult task of sharing what all we have been through these last 9 months and I finished it off by asking for those who are able, to donate to the AHA on not only our behalf, but the many families dealing with heart disease.  

Before the "speech," I was super nervous and Brad told me to remember that most people wouldn't be listening - they'd be eating, drinking, and chit chatting (what we all do best, right?).  Well, lo and behold, we got up and there and as soon as pictures of our precious Field were up on the screen the room was completely silent and ALL eyes and ears were on us.  

It was moving.  

I was proud.  

Proud of our story.  

Proud of our son, our hero.  

Proud of my husband for so eloquently sharing our journey.  

And proud of the faith we continue to have in our Lord as His plan for our life unfolds.  

We had a great time visiting with friends, family, and other heart supporters.  

Brad and I with the Wenders

Marty Wender was the chair of the event.  

Allison (my sister), Courtney, and me

The Williams and the The Johnsons

Girls and guys enjoying the night

Thank you to our family and friends for supporting us through this event.  It was most definitely a night to remember.    

Brad's parents, me and Brad, Brad's aunt and uncle

Brad and I with my sister and brother-in-law

And in case you are wondering, Field spent the night with my parents (BB and Poppy) and did great!  Slept through the night and in the words of my parents, "was an angel."  :)

Sharing Our Story

A few months ago, Team Field participated in the American Heart Association's Start! Heart Walk.  We had so much fun and we were blown away by all of our family and friends that came out to support us.  In fact, we had so many supporters of Team Field, that we won an award for raising the most money in the "community teams" category.  We give all of our gratitude to those who supported Team Field and all the glory to Him for making Team Field a success.

After the Heart Walk our local AHA chapter kept our family in mind and then just recently asked us to share our story at the American Heart Association's Heart Ball this coming Saturday night.  This is a night of glitz and glam, but more importantly, a night to raise awareness and funds for heart research.  We are honored and blessed to be this year's "Passion Family" for the American Heart Association.  We have a 5 minute speaking opportunity where Brad and I will share the story of our amazing son, Field.  We hope that our story will be both encouraging and inspiring and that those with the funds will feel led to donate to the American Heart Association to support all that they do for heart research.

To say we are a little nervous about speaking is a SLIGHT understatement - yikes!  But on the other hand, dressing up and enjoying a nice night out for a cause that is near and dear to our hearts is worth the tangled up nerves in our stomachs.  Gulp.

I'll keep you all posted on how it goes...

A Drink for a Great Cause

One of the greatest blessings of the blogging world is that I have connected with the most amazing women who are also traveling this heart journey with their own precious babies. I recently read a post by my friend Tiffanie who was linking back to a post by another friend Meagan.  (Did you follow that?)

You might remember that Tiffanie and I met when our boys had open heart surgery at the same time in Houston back in January.  She was a wonderful support at that time and has become a great friend.  Meagan and I connected back in the Fall through several different "friend of friend" connections and her daughter, Quinn, is just a few weeks older than Field.  Meagan has twins and has been SO helpful to me on feeding schedules/nap schedules/how to get your baby to gain weight. etc.  Meagan and I joke as we plan an arranged marriage for Field and Quinn. :)  Quinn will have her surgery in the coming months.  

Anyway, if you are still following me after all of that, Tiffanie and Meagan posted a link about a wine called Colby Red.  The story is amazing and I encourage you to check it out here.  What an amazing family and rock star kid.  

Sounds like the wine is delicious and the cause is even better.  

Walgreens...here I come.  I think Brad and I will drink to that.  Cheers!