What a load off!

Love me some Martin boys!

Dallas made the comment on Thursday that, "if feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders"...as it should.  

Spend the day in Pre-K

Jude and Ryder....making change.  

Jude's teacher won 'teacher of the year' for our district last week and we are so proud of her!  I had so much fun spending all morning with my bubs in Pre-K. I'm so proud of him and how well mannered and behaved he is in school!  

Hallelujah

Did you know that some consider 'hallelujah' the highest shout of praise?

Last night while I was up at 1 am I started thinking some horrible things and I went back to my staple scripture that has gotten me through so many minutes and hours of bad dreams, day dreams and scary thoughts these past 6 weeks.

2 Corinthians 10:5 ~ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the       knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

I couldn't fall asleep last night and my mind has been wandering for the last day or so, just wondering what we would encounter this morning, how we would react and how we would move forward.  I was not doubting God's perfect healing for Rhett, just open to the possibility that we might be in for a long haul of faith for healing.  I had considered that we may have to believe and trust in God for some time before the results were evident.  To believe the battle was already won, and to daily trust that despite what the doctors say, Rhett is in God's hands and His protection over him is much more than we could ever offer.

This morning we are shouting hallelujah, no matter what, hallelujah to our healer, redeemer, our restorer, our strength, our help, our provision and our strong tower.  How do people live without Him?!  I would be nothing in His absence.

So, on to Rhett's testimony.  We took Rhett in to his cardiologist appointment this morning.  He needed to have a follow up echocardiogram to see the condition of his mitral valve that was leaking severely 4 weeks ago following his stint with Kawasaki disease.  His doctor was 99% sure that this leaking and heart enlargement was unrelated to Kawasaki's disease, but was just discovered during his echo.  We went today knowing that we may have some choices to make.  They presented us with a few options last time, but followed that up with "none of these are good options based on his age".  These included repairing the valve, replacing the valve and blood pressure meds to control the left side of his heart becoming too large.   Dallas and I added a miraculous healing to the list of options.

I studied the echo machine while the tech was doing her job this morning and tried not to think too much about all of the red and blue that I saw in that 3rd chamber of Rhett's heart.  He was such a good boy and so cooperative during the entire process.  We went into his room and waited for our cardiologist and prayed together, again.

When the Doctor came in she was so much nicer and more personable than last time.  She chatted and greeted Rhett and then looked at us.  She shook her head said, "Well, you guys, Rhett's mitral valve looks SO much better!"  She said that she didn't really know what could have happened, but it went from a severe leak enlarging his heart to a mild case of regurgitation (that is perfectly normal and nothing needs to be done for it).  She said that she would chalk it up to an atypical case of Kawasaki disease (you know, the thing she was 99% sure it was not caused from).  I asked her if she has seen this happen before and she shook her head and said, "never".   I just said, "Praise God" and told her that we have been praying for him.  Though she will rule this as an atypical KD symptom, we know better.  We know that God touched Rhett's little "big" heart and healed his valve.  He provided us with peace from the beginning and was faithful to do a work in our boy.  Hallelujah!

He will go back for another echo in 3 months, 6 months after that and then yearly until they are comfortable releasing him from being monitored.  I just couldn't have asked for a better result.  God answered our prayers completely.  Rhett will grow up to know that God touched his life and we will teach him about what faith means and how faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains!

Click here , here , here and here to read more about Rhett's testimony.

Also, I just want to say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone who has been praying, checking in with us, sending us scriptures, linking bloggers and friends to pray and for encouraging emails and texts.  We are so very blessed to have people in our lives lifting our child and family up to God.  Some of you I don't even know, but I am ever so grateful.  Thank you!

Our healed boy!

a few of my favorite words

Rhett's little chitter chatter is making my day.  It's so cute and funny when little ones pick up on things said and make it their own.

"I ya you moon and back!" {I love you to the moon and back}

"No way hosie hosie" {No way Jose}

"Shoot, shoot, shoot!"

"I hold you momma." {Hold me momma}

"Hi Nags" {Hi Dags (our dog, Dagney)}

Lately...

We have been super busy!  All of this busyness is self-inflicted, of course.  I decided it was time for Rhett to have a big boy room last week.  He discovered the thrill of scaling his crib and was escaping, 16 times, each and every nap and night. When I get an idea in my head I cannot escape it.  This was the weekend to tackle this project.

I have been collecting little things here and there for his room so it was fun putting it all together.  It won't be complete until I get his bedding, which is of course on back order.  He also has a pretty nifty globe collection from IL that my mom has for him when we visit at Christmas.

Here's a little peek...

 Gallery wall...saving some spots for pics coming up in November! Wall color is Cement by Martha Stewart, matched and mixed in Behr paint, of course.  

 I'm thinking of replacing these knobs with something more manly, but I may move it into the nursery and replace it with something white. I'm loving the white and gray together! 

 These cubby lockers were a craigslist find and I love them for toys and storage and a bit of an industrial look.

 Bought this large map for above his bed and have plans to frame it out with white moulding this week. It is 55" wide and came laminated.

Measurement giraffe

Here is his old room (same room, different stuff).  I've always felt badly that I didn't do more with his nursery.  We moved here when he was 8 months old and I didn't see the point I guess.  

Jude had a bad fall last Sunday.  He reached for the monkey bars, missed and fell flat on his face/chin.  Two of his bottom teeth went all of the way through the bottom of his lip and he was pretty cut up.  We had a quick visit with our pediatrician neighbor and she said the holes were too small to stitch and gave him an antibiotic to ward off an infection.  He's looks much better now...

Thankfully his injuries didn't hinder his scoring abilities at soccer.  He's a dominator and much improved from last year.  

Rhett has his echo this Thursday and I can't wait!  We took him up front at church today to pray with some of of our pastors and it was powerful.  We are ready.  

He has been extra sweet and full of kisses lately.  

Isn't he a cute little vampire?!

I made this recipe for pulled pork muffin cups that I found last night and it was delish.  We all loved them and it's super quick and easy, especially if you use the pre-made pulled pork and biscuits like me.

That's what we've been up to lately.  Hope you have had a wonderful weekend and are enjoying this beautiful fall weather!

Pumpkin Patch Birthday Bash

Well, Rhett is officially two years old!  I really can't believe how fast the last two years have flown by.  My sweet little 6 lb 12 oz baby boy is growing up.  Every minute with him leading up to this day has brought my heart complete joy.  He is so sweet and so amazing.  Secretly I want him to stay my little baby...forever.  Did anybody else pretend like your baby dolls had a weird and mysterious disease that allowed them to stay babies forever and never grow up when you were little?  No, just me?!

We celebrated at what is now my new favorite B'day spot...the pumpkin patch! It was just perfect for a party and I couldn't resist all of the fall goodness going on there.  I'd like to say that I've been planning this for months, but that would be a lie.  The idea hit me last Sunday night, so I quickly had invites printed and got on the horn with the best pumpkin patch in town.  They were gracious enough to give up a table on their porch to celebrate on Saturday morning.

This was all fairly easy to whip together, and inexpensive.  I had the burlap table cloth from a previous party and the napkins were leftovers from Jude's Home Depot party. I strung jute around the top of my appetizer platter and used it as a cupcake stand (cupcakes from Sams club). I used some card stock I had to make place cards and strung them to the munchkin pumpkins (bought at the patch) with jute.  I grabbed a pumpkin off of my front porch and stentiled it...it's now back on the porch:).  Oh, and I used felt and yarn to make the leaf garland that I found on pinterest here.  Each child was given a pony or a camel ride and a bag of feed for the animal petting area.  There was lots to do, and Rhett loved every minute of it!  

 I may need to go back for some mums.  They were gorgeous! 

 Rhett with his Evie girl.

Rhett is in stuffed animal heaven!!!  He loves them, snugs them and carries them around by their necks. 

A HIPPO!!!

 Picking out some munchkins for our friends.

 Jude's first camel ride (with Austin)

 Rhett's first pony ride.  He had mixed feelings, but I love this pic...how he is holding onto Dallas' hand.  

 Petting zoo

 A few of the cousins! 

Jude and Bridget...hunting corn.  

What a fun celebration!  We will likely be back for more pumpkin patch fun in years to come.  Two years ago today I went into labor with my little pumpkin just hours after spending the afternoon at the pumpkin patch.  It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

lately...

~Rhett has been beatboxing and it's possibly the cutest.thing.ever.  He will just be jabbering away and then..."p p ch p p p ch"...I guess he's learned this from Dallas?

~Jude weighs 41 lbs!  It seems like just yesterday he was 7 lbs 15 oz and stealing my heart completely.

~We are super impressed with our pre-k experience!  I expected Jude to basically just pick up some necessary social habits before kinder, but here we are in October and he has far surpassed my expectations!   Some things he has perfected (some he knew going in)...days of the week, months of the year, syllables, songs, rhymes, writing the alphabet in uppercase and lowercase, simple math, counting by 5 oh and,  "scissors aren't for your hair or your clothes" ;).  They have done science experiments and very cool art projects.

Jude's teacher had nothing but wonderful things to say about our boy at conferences.  She said that he is a joy to teach and he is always willing to help and offer answers when she asks questions.

Dallas and I are proponents for public school and feel like we are blessed to be in a very good district and have a very good teacher.

Here is "Jude's" very first school project ...

This yellow house was sent home for us to decorate.  He was the only kid in his class who drew picts of his family.  Everyone else had photos only.

and his very first school picture....

I really debated on whether or not to order school pics...I doubt we will use them for anything and have pics scheduled later this month.  I went ahead and ordered the minimum order amount (package of 6) after consulting with my sister on the matter.

Tonight is the fall festival as school that the PTA puts on.  I can hardly believe all of this is happening already...school, PTA, kids weighing 41 lbs!

~ Rhett seems as happy and healthy as ever!  He appears to be the picture of health and exhibits no signs or symptoms they told us to look for (blue lips, fatigue, shortness of breath, etc).  We continue to believe that Jesus has touched his little "big" heart and that he is healed!

~I had my 2nd bone graft/3rd oral surgery in 6 months a few weeks ago.  Everything is feeling better and seems to be going back to normal.  My mouth only feel a little paralyzed today.  The swelling is better everyday and I look a little less like I got a botched botox procedure with passing time:).  I will go in for my 4th surgery in February, and hopefully wrap it all up with one final procedure in July. Ugh.

~I had my annual visit this week and my doctor shocked me when he told me that every year I put off having another kid I add risks to the pregnancy!  What the WHAT?!  I just turned 30, like 3 weeks ago.  You have got to be kidding me.  They consider high risk age to be 35 now!  That is nuts!  I looked it up when I got home and he was right...cripes.  Happy Birthday, Sarah, your eggs are getting old!

This is what's been happening lately...hope you all are doing well and enjoying fall!

best.recipe.ever.

This girl loves the fall!  Unfortunately it is not cool enough around these parts quite yet.  I need it to be in the 60's throughout the day, cool enough for a sweater and boots, please.  That is not really too much to ask considering how stinking hot summer was for so long.

Anyway, I'm just going to pretend that fall is in full swing and get to all of my fall business around here.  I picked up some pretty pumpkins for $2.50 at Aldi the other day.  They have the best prices on everything. Rhett loves them.  I keep having to take him outside to see the pumpkins, hold them, hug them, laugh at them...he's a boy with an autumn heart...just like his momma.

Rhett and I made pumpkin muffins this morning and they are just as delicious as I remember. This is the easiest, tastiest and best pumpkin recipe ever!  It is from weight watchers and goes something like this...

1 can 100% pumpkin

3/4 cup water

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 box spice cake mix

Mix it all up and bake in muffin cups for 20 min on 350. 

I am confident that Valerie Bertinelli and Jennifer Hudson have been eating some of these guys the past few years, possibly lived off of them (I could)!  They are low fat, full of fiber and vitamin A, and are only 2 points per muffin on weight watchers.  This means nothing to me since I have no idea how the weight watchers system works, but 2 seems like low a lower number,  only 1 or zero would be lower. Or you can throw caution to the wind, slather them in cream cheese frosting or cool whip and down 3 muffins in one sitting.  I mean, they are low fat, right?!  Make them, you will like. 

Rhett likes "Pumpcakes"

Did you know pumpkin is said to be one of the healthiest things you can eat?  Don't ask me who said it, but it's true.  My kids love it, and I fed them pure raw pumpkin straight out of the can when they were babies.  They loved it!  

My Best Friend

10.10.2003

8 years ago today I married my very best friend.  

I thank God all of the time that He took two naive kids (22 and 23) and gave us such a beautiful life together.  He knew so much better than we did how great we are for one another.

Encouragement for today

I will remain confident in this, I will see the goodness of the Lord.  

Psalm 27:13

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we ARE healed!   

~Isaiah 53:5~

Distractions...

We have had plenty of wonderful distractions the past week or so.  Good distractions are the ones that keep my mind from wandering to a bad place and allow me to spend a great deal of time with my boys...all three of them!

I've been working on these guys the past few nights....

 Personalized Coasters

I picked up a bundle of these stone tiles for super cheap and have turned them into coasters.  I made sets for Jude and Rhett's Sunday school teachers and for his teacher at school to go along with a gift card for

Christmas.  Ever since I saw some that Aja has, I thought they would make a nice little 'thank you' gift.    

Do you ever just go stand in your garage and swoon over how organized it is? Yea, me neither.  We are staying busy doing things around the house that need to be done, things that don't cost a lot of cheese.  I picked up some great shelving units (2) at a garage sale last week and Dallas got right to work organizing the garage.  It looks amazing, and for two days I would randomly just open the door to the garage and gaze upon the organization in all of it's glory.  Is that weird?

So, we have a guest bedroom that is just, meh.  Really all that it entails is a bed and a matchy match bedspread.  The room has blah all over it, so I just shut the door and have lived with it for a year.  My plan is to turn it into a nursery for #3, but really, that could be years away!  Why should our guests have to sleep where khaki went to die? Because I'm on a major budget, like zero dolla bills is my budget (hospital bills start rollin in any day), I decided to go into the closet.  This is the place everything from our last house that didn't have a place here went to die.   It is still very khaki, but at least there are different variations of khaki, tan and beige:). It is much improved in my book.  I still have an armoire to refinish for this room, but other than that, she's done-ski!  Sorry no before picts.

 So it's not what I would do if I were going out and choosing things new, but for now it works.

k, so I don't have pics for the frames on the walls yet, but I plan to fill them with pictures of relatives.

Also, the Martin house is now a house with two girls!  Dagney moved back in this weekend.  The boys love her.

Our best distraction of all has been our two most beautiful creations.  We have been enjoying the awesome weather, taking lots of walks, running together and of course hitting balls out of the park, aka our back yard.  Rhett appears to be the picture of health.  He runs, jumps laughs, plays and carries on without any hesitation.  We are letting him do it all.

Rhett is catching on to our silly-face pics. 

 Poor baby had an upper respiratory infection and missed school 3 days last week.  

My dimply smoothie kid!

Dallas and I are experiencing extreme peace right now.  I don't know if this is the peace that the bible talks about, "peace that passes all understanding", but it is wonderful.  We are doing devotions together and praying together, and we both just feel extremely calm and peaceful.  I don't really know how to describe it.  Thank you for praying for us as well, many people have let me know they have prayed for peace for us.  Clearly God answers prayer.