Fun with Mommy....

We finally were able to take Cade to the zoo this past weekend afer about 3 weeks of rain. It was a reward for the great job he did while we had to put 6 drops in his eye each day for about 2 weeks. My parents were in town and they were very excited about getting to go with us as well. Cade has always liked animals from a far off, which is why he likes the zoo so much. We do not have any pets at home and don't think he would even entertain the fact if we even thought about it. He likes them to have their distance from him, so zoos are perfect. We actually saw many animals this time and they weren't hidden or asleep. We fed the koi fish cheezits, which I am probably sure was forbidden, but it brought them all to where we were and they fought over the food. Cade loved that!

He loved seeing the tigers and alligators, but didn't want to get too close to the glass. He kept asking to see the elephants and giraffes, so we made our way over there and of course the elephants were behind the massive rocks. I got some great pics of the zebras and giraffes. In fact, one giraffe posed for me-ha!

These special times never get old for me! I love to see and hear his excitement. I love to hear him laugh and try to explain how excited he is! Even better is the next day when we go to school and he tells every teacher about his fun day at the zoo. Love that!

I am looking forward to spending more time with him this summer and just having fun everyday! These are reasons why being a teacher is the greatest.. we have the summers off!!!!

WE ARE NASHVILLE!

If you remember the movie WE ARE MARSHALL, the storyline was about coming together during the midst of a tragedy and pressing forward despite the odds. Never has this been more clear than in the past week here in Nashville. Our community has come together like no other to help those who have nothing. It is a picture that I drive through each day, houses gutted, yards filled with dry wall, appliances, toys, insulation, carpet, etc. We have church groups, businesses, restaurants who have come out to help each and everyday. It has been amazing to see people take days off work to come and help. Stay at home moms finding sitters so that they can go help. Pizza places walking the neighborhood delivery pizzas to volunteers and homeowners. I am so thankful to live in place where the community has truly become one in the hopes to rebuild neighborhoods and the city of Nashville. It will take some time, but we will get there.

Chris and I have not had cable/internet since last Saturday which is the least of the problems in Boone Trace, so have not had access to the news. I did hear that Anderson Cooper from CNN was in the Bellevue area yesterday. I am so thankful that someone is addressing this situation at the national level! If you would like to donate items there are many drop off locations around the Nashville area. Our church has a location at the HWY 70 old Circuit City building next to Home Depot. Any type of donation would be great! I know many of the homeowners in our area requested gift cards.
Please continue to pray for our city and the families that have nothing! We are strong, we will survive, WE ARE NASHVILLE!

We are Here and SAFE!!!

We are safe and sound in Nashville. It has been a crazy few days. I will have to blog later about what we have experienced here, but it has been heart breaking! I have put a couple of pics up of some of our neighborhood. Boone Trace looks like a war zone right now. It has been very hard to drive down our street in the last few days and see homes and lives that have been destroyed. I am very thankful our house was spared, but I have felt guilty about being one of the three homes that were spared. Chris and I are still trying to process everything. We won't have neighbors for some time and I think that is what is so hard for us. Please pray for the Boone Trace community and the remainder of the flood victims around Nashville! Will post more later! Thank you to everyone for your prayers!!
(the pics are from the front of our house and our street Boone Trace)

The Next Step....

Cade had a checkup today with his doctor here in Nashville, Dr. Mawn. It is crazy now, that I have to specify which doctor he is seeing-Waner, Fay, Nerad, Holland, Mericle, Mawn, Heil. Anyway, she told us that it looks as if the VM is becoming more apparent in both eyelids. The next step is to wait for another scan, which could be a CT, CTA, MRI, or MRA from Dr. Mericle who helped with the previous surgery in February. After assessing the imaging they will go back in and remove what they can. The process of removing this VM completely looks like it will be a long term thing.

I think the hardest part of the visit today was finally realizing that this is something we could be dealing with for a long time. Vascular malformations/venous malformations grow as the child grows, which explains the growth in both eyelids. The great part about all of it, is that what has been removed in the past has not returned! So we will take one day at a time, one procedure at a time, one doctor visit at a time.

The most important part about all of this is that we continue to work on the amblyopia. Cade's vision in his bad eye is 20/50. So we will continue to use the Atropine drops in the good eye so that he will use the bad eye. Yes, that is how we refer to his eyes, "good" and "bad."
So with the strength from the Lord we will continue on this journey and we will "wait." We know He is the great healer and He has taught us so much!

On another note, Cade has been awesome through all of this and his conversations with us have been so cute. In our last visit to Ohio they upped the dosage of his drops to 6 times per day. We made a sticker chart for him and he gets a sticker for every drop. At the end of the week he gets a big surprise. This past week we took him to the "pizza place." This weekend we are taking him to the zoo. He has done great and he is looking forward to seeing all the animals.
I do have to share one more moment from Cade this week. Every morning he goes to early care and he is in there for about an hour with kids his age and some older kids. Before the kids leave for their classrooms for the day, Ms. Anna takes prayer requests from the kids and prays. Today Cade's teacher told me that he raised his hand and asked to "pray for his eye." So he and his buddy Christopher held hands and they prayed together for his eye. This made my day and brought tears to my eyes.
Yes Cade, Jesus will take care of you and your eye. You are getting so big and you are one tough kid!! I know the Lord has huge plans for your life and I can't wait to see what He has in store for you! I love you so much and so sad that you have to deal with all of this at a young age, but we know the Lord is going to use you in mighty ways!!

My glass is FULL!

We just returned from a follow up visit for Cade in Ohio. We saw Dr. Holland again today and he wanted to make sure the eye was healing properly. It seems as if Cade's tissue is reacting to the graft that was placed in the eye a month ago and is inflammed. This can cause the tissue to melt the graft and the scarring to re-appear on the cornea. So our instructions are to continue with the steroid drops not 4 times a day, but 6! Wow..it was hard just getting 4 in a day, now 6? On top of that we have an ointment we have to use each night. We will return the first week in May and Dr. Holland will assess Cade in the O.R. He will check the eye pressure and if the tissue is still inflammed, he will give Cade a steroid shot to decrease the inflammation immediately.

So where am I in all of this??? Let's just say that I have had so much strength for four years as I dealt with stares, doctor visits, surgeries, procedures, paying doctor bills,etc. but it seems as though Satan is attacking me and my strength is becoming weak. I feel weak and I feel that I cannot go another four years of this. My glass is FULL! Yes, I realize there are many children who go through so much worse and visit the doctor everyday and I am thankful that our son is a healthy 4 year old, but this momma is tired!!! I am tired of watching Cade tremble every time we visit the hospital. I am tired of doctor visits. I am tired of the process we go through each time we have to hold him down to put drops in his eyes. I am tired of explaining to strangers why his eye is blue. I am tired of all the stares. I am tired of not knowing what surgery will come next and what state we will have to travel to next. I am tired of receiving medical bills in the mail every day! When will it be over???? Is this our life now??? My glass is almost spilling over.. (okay,a momma has to vent ever so often)

I know this is all Satan!! The Lord has provided me the strength that I needed every time. He has walked through each door before we even knew what door we were going to walk through. He has been my rock. He has brought me comfort on many occasions. He has carried Cade through every procedure successfully. Today I just feel tired, not physically, but emotionally I am spent. Days like these don't come often, but these are the days where I must completely surrender all!! "Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28 It is a promise. A promise kept by the ONE who tells us to leave our burdens at the foot of the cross and find rest in HIM! In the days ahead I will cling to that promise knowing that is where true rest is found..IN HIM!!! Thank you JESUS for a glass that is FULL! (did I just actually write that??)

Cade and Christopher

Most of you who follow my blog know that I have talked about Cade's buddy Christopher. They both attend school together and they absolutely love each other. Cade prays for Christopher every night. He asks about him each morning when he wakes up-he wants to know what class he is in for the day because Christopher only comes three days a week. He treasures this friendship so much and we are so thankful that he has this close friend.

Part of Cade's healing for his eye requires us to put drops in his eyes 4 times a day. So this means I go over during my lunch period to put the drop in his eye. Each day I get Cade off the playground and bring him in to put the drop in. Christopher always comes in with us and helps me. He holds the top for the drops and watches me put the drops in Cade's eye. It is so cute. Cade loves it and the teacher gives them both a treat. I think they both like that the best--HA!

Cade's birthday this year fell on a Wednesday. So I thought it would be great for Christopher to come home with us for a little while. Wow!! They had the best time. They both laughed at each other the entire time. We went to the playground, threw rocks in the creek, and had dinner at McDonalds. They were both so hungry. They each had a hamburger and chicken nuggets. It was so cute to watch them interact with each other!

Chris and I are so thankful for all the friends the Lord has blessed Cade with. He loves going to school and loves his buddy Christopher!!!

The river, Cade's birthday, and Easter

I have been such a slacker that last few weeks in blog world. We have been extremely busy since returning from Ohio. Cade has healed quite well and we are so thankful!
One of his favorite things to do is visit the river. Since we live quite close to the Harpeth, it is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. We decided to take him fishing also. I thoroughly enjoy to fish. My dad used to take us all the time growing up and I fell in love with it. Chris, on the other hand could care less about it.
We followed the trail down to the river and began to fish. Cade did it for about 5 minutes and then he wanted to throw rocks. I thought I had caught something there for a few minutes and then realized it was a rock! HA! Cade was not that interested..he has always loved just throwing rocks, so we did that for about 30 minutes.

The next Saturday we celebrated Cade's 4th birthday! He wanted a wrestling party (W.W.E. style). This year we only did the family thing. We had a great time. Some of his favorite gifts were the wrestling belt, his own fishing pole and tackle box, soccer goals, and a bike. We had a great time and the weather was awesome!!! I can't believe I have a 4 yr. old. He is growing up too fast!!!

This past weekend we celebrated Easter with my parents in Chattanooga. Cade had a special time with Nana and Papa as Chris and I went on an date. They took him to Chuck E Cheese and to get ice cream! He had a blast!! Cade had two easter egg hunts-one on Saturday and Sunday. Being the only child there is obviously no one to compete with finding the eggs. We had gorgeous weather all weekend and so thankful that Spring has sprung!!!