Cruise

At the end of most Dennington Decor seasons Aaron has usually bought himself something for a job well done and then uses the rest of the money to pay off debt. Well, this year the season wasn't even over when he decided that he would be going on a cruise to reward himself for this very tiring season. So, even before we had found out about Aaris's heart condition we had committed to taking a cruise. And, I must say that Aaron definitely earned a vacation this year!!! We were talking about it with our friends the Perkins, Eli and Kristen, and they thought that sounded fun as well. So, we found the most inexpensive cruise out of Galveston and packed our bags for the last week of February. Aaron and I left the kids with my parents for three days and then his parents for 3 days.

The first day was just departing from Galveston, but it was so nice to have a 3 course dinner that I didn't have to go buy groceries for, cook or clean up. Also, that night at dinner we were introduced to the now famous, Chocolate Melting Cake dessert. We were given a choice of three new desserts every night, but could also get a few standards. One of the standards was the chocolate melting cake. So, every night we almost all ordered our "regular" (choc. melting cake) and one of the other new choices.

The boat was much smaller than the other cruise ship I've been on so I did feel it's natural sway a lot more. The first day at sea was not as activity filled as I would have liked just because I didn't feel all that great in the morning and then once I got a motion sickness pill I fell asleep for a couple of hours. Later I talked Aaron into joining me in the ships main swimming pool. He even went down the slide. I guess he wasn't wet and slippery enough and had a little struggle actually getting himself to slide down the slide. I went down about 4 times and it was fun. Then we just set on the deck and read. Very relaxing. We all got dressed up for dinner that night because it was formal night. It's so fun to get to do that. Molly, Eli and Kristen's 9 month baby, also came with us, but I would almost forget she was there because she was so quiet when awake and would sleep anywhere.

We ported in Cozumel and ended up going to a beach resort. They had a rock climbing wall that I had wanted to try, but after I found out I had to pay, we decided we would try rock climbing some other time. But, then we saw the floating "ice-berg" out in the water that seemed very similar to a rock-climbing wall experience. We checked out a paddle boat, which was fun in and of itself, and went out for an adventure. It was harder than I had thought because it was swaying on the water, squishy and flexible from being inflatable, and we were wet from the water. But, getting to the top felt great. Plus, sliding down into crystal clear water is a very fun way to come down. I think I went up 4 times and Aaron went up 3. We then came back to the market place and window shopped. The weather was gorgeous and even seemed a little hot (and this was only February). The water was beautiful. I love nature because I feel closest to God's wonderful glory and design.

Our second port was at Progreso. The water there must be very shallow because the ships had to port a couple of miles out on a dock and then we had to be shuttled into the shore. Progreso seemed more like a village whereas Cozumel seemed more like a city. I like the quaintness of it. They had a great open-air marketplace. Then, I think I got lost in the beauty and moment of being on the beach surrounded by the crystal clear water, and the weather being just right that made me give into Aaron's persuasion to get my hair braided. I was just going to do the top front of my hair, but Aaron is very good at talking me into things because he always makes everything sound so fun. The ladies that did my hair where not gentle by any means and I must say that my eyes watered more than once. But, I got the true Caribbean experience and walked around with my hair braided for 3 more days. One great thing is that I didn't have to spend any time getting ready. I just washed and let it dry.

The last day was the toughest. During the night we had hit a cold front. We could hear the ship crashing into the 10-12 foot high waves and we could DEFINITELY feel them. I once again spent time during the day sleeping with motion sickness pills. There were barf-bags at every elevator and they were all used up. But, by late afternoon it had all calmed down.

Some of my favorite things were spending time with Aaron just talking without being interrupted by kids, our great conversations with Eli and Kristen every night at dinner, karaoke, and the games we played late at night (Scattegories and Catch phrase). Things I could have lived without were the motion sickness, the strange irritated bumps I returned with on my face (lasted about a week), the 2 hour departure process, the guilt of being on vacation at such a hard time in our lives, and the 5 extra pounds. But, was it all worth it....DEFINITELY YES!! A HUGE thank you to Aaron for letting me share in his reward for all his hard work this past year!

Mr. Tee

Okay, so I have been known to call Titus "Mr. T". Well, I just might have to keep calling him that, but with a different spelling..."Mr. Tee". Titus LOVES to play baseball on the baseball tee. He is amazing at it. In January we started going out to play in the backyard after not being able to during the Christmas season due to Aaron needing the space for Dennington Decor supplies. Titus went straight for the baseball tee. He knew exactly what to do, and he did it perfectly. I'd say 90% of the time he hits the ball right on the money never hitting the tee or missing the ball. He will stand there for 30 minutes at a time while we just reload the balls (it would be longer, but that's as long as I last). He will stand at the back door and cry to go out several times a day mainly so that he can go hit the baseballs. I asked his preschool teachers at the time if they had been doing any playing with baseballs, baseball bats, baseball tees, and anything of the like, but they said no, so all I can guess is that he is just a boy, and they are just born knowing this stuff. The crazy thing is that I never pictured my kids as baseball players. Since Aaron and I both grew up being big soccer players, I always pictured them doing that. I played softball 2 years when I was in elementary school, but I was only good at catching the ball, and running the bases. I was not good at hitting the ball and especially not good at throwing the ball. Well, actually let me clarify, I was not good at getting the ball to go where I wanted it to go. I could throw the ball hard and long, but I don't have good aim (much better with my feet). Plus, I'm just not very patient at watching baseball. But, if Titus keeps this up, I might just have to learn to like being a spectature of baseball.

UT Basketball

I got an email from Texas Exes a couple of weeks ago telling me about tickets to the UT vs. Nebraska home basketball game for $6 a piece. Well, we figured that we could push the budget for this price. Titus and Aaris both have seemed interested in the guys playing basketball in the courts at our gym (courtesy of Poppy and Mamaw...thank you). The funny thing is that today on our way to the Frank Erwin Center I called my dad to see if he had any suggestions on where to park. Well, he didn't just have a suggestion, it ended up that he also was there himself with my mom parking to attend the game as well. We set in our separate assigned seats (second to top row at the very top for us) the first half and then meet up in some empty seats together for the second half. Mimi did what any good grandma would do and bought Aaris a pom-pom to go with her cheerleading outfit. She and Papaw also treated Aaris and Titus to a hot dog and cotton candy. This was their first experience with cotton candy and needless to say they loved it. Titus wasn't so sure about it at first, but after watching Aaris and Mommy for a little bit, he opened his mouth wide and dove right in. Throughout the game Aaris was interested in the cheerleaders and dancers. Every time they did something she told us how she was going to be one of them when she gets bigger because she can, or likes to do what they were doing (running, dancing, tumbling, jumping, etc.). As soon as the game was over Aaris and I rushed down to the court from the upper decks to try and meet the cheerleaders. Literally as soon as our feet hit the gym floor the cheerleaders left into the tunnels. We were very lucky to find one cheerleader who had stayed behind to chat with her family. Her name was Lauren and she was very sweet to come over and talk to Aaris. You will see a picture of her in the slide show. We ended up having a little trouble trying to get the attention of the dancers as well to come over and let Aaris talk to them (they had security all around the court to not let the public on the courts to mess it up I guess), but finally one sweet dancer noticed Aaris and came over and took a picture with her as well. One really gracious and surprising thing that happened was that the sweet cheerleader, Lauren, and her dad came over to us and informed us that she, and maybe a couple of other cheerleaders, might try to make it to see Aaris in the hospital. Wasn't that just the sweetest gesture? It was such a fun family night. We will be eating pb&j sandwiches for the rest of the week, but it was worth it to have such a fun experience.

Surgery Date Set

Okay, so the date for Aaris's surgery is set for April 10. We were expecting it to be the last week in March, but when the doctor found out that my birthday was that week, he suggested 2 weeks later (he will be gone the week in between). At first I said it didn't matter, but then decided to go with the April date because I know that it will probably be a date we celebrate every year, and I would like it to be set apart from, and not lost in my birthday.

We did find out that there will be a little more to the surgery than originally thought. With Aaris's type of congenital heart disease, primum ADS (hole between the right and left atriums...low in location), they have discovered that there is also always a cleft mitral valve (valve between the left atrium and left ventricle). While this valve is working okay now and not leaking, a large percentage do start to leak and not work well later on in life. This would later require another open heart surgery. So, instead of risking having to have another surgery later in life, the surgeon is going to fix the cleft now. It can be a little more risky, but hopefully not as risky as a later surgery. We are very blessed to have a doctor who has had much training and experience in this mitral valve surgery.

Of course we were hit with a lot of information. The doctor is Dr. Ken Fox. We really like him. He has 3 girls of his own and was wonderful to Aaris. He explained all the risks, but expressed that it seemed less risky for Aaris to have those complications. He of course has to tell them to us. If I didn't keep God in the forefront of my mind, I would be really freaking out right now. I can feel my nerves more on edge, but hopefully I will only try to listen to God's words right now instead of the devil's fears. Just please pray for no complications and that the surgery will be done in a timely manner. Some of the risks included needing a pace-maker, the cleft surgery making things worse than better, needing to give her extra blood, taking too long/being on bypass too long resulting in the brain, kidneys and heart having complications, and infections afterwards. And of course there is the worst case scenario and we will not even think that.

Along with prayers for Aaris physically, I also strongly request that you send up prayers for her spiritually. She is a very, very, very faithful prayer and believer. I anticipate some hard questions like, "Why is she still in pain if I already prayed?". Please pray for Aaron and I to listen to the Holy Spirit and know the right answers to give her in order to keep her faith strong. Today she saw some pictures of a little girl and baby in the hospital and with all their tubes, ivies, and scars right after their surgery and I think it shocked her a little. She just got a little quiet for awhile. Pray for calmness and trust in God on her part.

Okay, so a little more logistics. This kind of surgery typically lasts around 4 hours. Aaris will probably be in the hospital for 5-7 days. If she recovers well, she could be sent home only taking Tylenol or Motrin!! She will probably need to take it easy for a week after coming home, and not doing any seriously physical playing (jungle gym, etc.) for 4 more weeks, but then be well enough to do most normal things after that. Isn't that amazing!!! She will have to go in for a pre-op four days before the surgery. She will also be set up with a hospital tour.

Okay, so that's all I can seem to remember to write for now. Again, remember that it is a blessing that they found this and that with a successful surgery she will be able to have a healthy heart the rest of her life. Thank you all for your support, love, and encouragement. And, please keep sending up those prayers and petitions to God.

Much love,
Jessica

Kite Fest

Today was Zilker Park's 80th Annual Kite Fest. We have never been, but our friends, the Beards, let us know about it. We packed our picnic and headed to the park right after church. We didn't have any idea of where to park, so we took the free shuttle from downtown. It was pretty good for getting there, but a pain for getting back because we had to stand in line for about 25 minutes to get on a shuttle to return to our car. The clouds kept threatening to rain on us, but only managed to sprinkle a couple of times. We spread out our blanket in front of the "competition field" for our picnic, but didn't see much except a lot of huge kites on the ground. We just figured they only went up at a certain time. Only later did we find out that they never went up today because it was TOO windy. Can you believe that...TOO windy for kites! We still had a good time watching all the other personal kites being flown. Titus hardly ate anything because he was too interested in everything going on around him. Aaris was very excited about flying her own kite! I managed to find one in the back of a closet this morning. I have not had much luck with kite flying the last couple of attempts. Anyway, we put ours together and then spent about an hour trying everything imaginable to get that thing to fly. I would have walked away about 20 minutes in if I was on my own, but I had two kids watching me and I just kept thinking about what they would think if I quit mad. Well, we did finally get the kite to stay off the ground for extended periods of time. But, we had to face the fact that our kite was a low flying kite. It just nose dived after a certain height was reached....about head level. :) We took it all in baby steps. I got the kite somewhat working on my own. Then, the kids set on my shoulders while I held the kite. Next, the kids held the kite while I held them. And, finally, Aaris was able to hold it herself. She did great and was so excited that we never gave up and that we finally got it to work. We didn't get home until 4:00 and Titus only got an hour nap (it's usually 3 hours), but we all ended up having a great time. Fun, FREE, family day!

(P.S. In the pictures it doesn't look like many people where there, but really there where thousands and thousands. We started off among them all in the busy kite flying sections, but after running around looking stupid trying to get my non-flying kite to fly, I decided to leave for some place less embarrasing. We ended up in a back corner where it seemed like most of the "kite challenged" people hid themselves.)

Perfect Project

Aaron finally got to take Aaris to the Home Depot Day. She's been going but with either me, my dad, or Aaron's dad due to Aaron's busy work schedule with Dennington Decor. So, they went Saturday, Feb.2 and it ended up being the perfect project for them to work on together. Aaron loves football and hosted a men's only Super Bowl viewing party at our house the very next night. Well, this month's wood-working project was to make a football shaped step-stool with the Super Bowl emblem on top. Aaris loves to paint her projects when she gets home from making them. First she suggested painting it the colors of her princess bank castle she made last month (pink, purple, yellow and aqua blue) but we nudged her into thinking that maybe we could paint it the Dallas Cowboys' colors. She was actually very easily persuaded. She even suggested painting the top brown since it looked like a football and that's what color footballs are. We, having the themed decorated rooms we have, actually have a Dallas Cowboys bathroom. It's the guest bathroom that the kids use, so an extra stool in that room that actually matches the decor ended up being the perfect project for us. In the second picture you will see Aaris sitting on our commode in the Dallas Cowboys bathroom holding her finished project. :)

Aaron's Granddad Jim (Vicki's dad) passes away on Jan. 17 and we all gathered in Tyler on Jan. 25 for a Memorial. It was beautiful and really honored him well. Aaron gave a beautiful speech and also played "Taps" on his trumpet that moved us all to tears. Something that I'll always remember is that when Aaron started playing "Taps" standing at the back of the chapel Titus marched out from our pew and into the center aisle looking for his daddy knowing that was him playing. Aaron's brother, Alan, and his wife, Kristina, were able to make it with my sweet niece, Cosette. Cosette and Titus are almost exactly 6 months apart. It's so cute to see them together. Right when we all arrived Titus was generous in giving Cosette hugs and kisses. Titus and Cosette probably weigh about the same and I'd say Titus is only about 1 inch taller than her for now. But, I bet that won't be the case one of these days because I have a feeling that Cosette has her daddy's genes and will be on the tall side, and Titus has both Aaron's and my gene's and will be on the short side.