Monday, December 10, 2012

What I've Been Up To

Hello, Everyone. I know you've been wondering what we've been up to and how we are doing. I will try to give you a little update. I appreciate those who have inquired. Before I get into too much, first I would like to let you know that my computer crashed, and I am working on a laptop that I am unfamiliar with and that does not have my pictures; so I can't post any photos at this time. I am trying to decide if I should put photos on Flickr and post them from there. Do you know how to post pics on  your posts from Flickr? I could not figure it out. I am also wondering if I can post pictures from my Facebook page and how I would do that? I did not see that option. If you know how to do these things, I would really appreciate if you could share that information with me.

One of our daughters, Kimberly, second oldest, just got married a couple of weeks ago; so I had been very busy with helping her plan her wedding. Samantha, our 16 month old, was the flower girl; and Matthew, our 4 year old was the ring bearer. He pulled her down the aisle in a wagon. It was just darling. Our 9 year son was one of the ushers, and he escorted me to my seat. I felt very proud walking with him. The boys looked so handsome in their suits. The music for the ceremony was a violin and guitar duet. It was beautiful.

And are you ready for this? I am going to be a grandmother in February. I can hardly believe it. We are excited. Samantha will be 18 months when he is born. Aunt Samantha. How does that sound? They will be more like close cousins.

Samantha is doing fantastic. She is 16 months old now. She is saying several words, mama, da da, up, apple, happy and lots of babbling with many different sounds. She is so happy, giggling and smiling most of the day. She is so beautiful, fun, cute and sweet. She is just absolutely amazing. I can't properly convey to you just how awesome she. We are really enjoying her. She is sitting up well now. Playing with her toys. Her core is getting stronger. She is getting up on all fours and could possibly be crawling in the next two to four months. She learns the motions to little songs and rhymes very easily, for example, patty cake and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. She adores music and sings in her own baby language and sways to the music. If she is fussy, all I have to do is sing; and she cheers up. She has an occupational therapist from ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) who comes to our home once a week to work with her and teach us how to work with her and a developmental therapist who also comes once a week who works with her on the cognitive stuff. For those who do not know about Samantha, she was born with Trisomy 21. She was born healthy and did not have any heart issues. Just click on "Samantha" under "topics" in the sidebar to read my posts about her, her birth story, progress, a video of her babbling, etc.

It has been 9 months since my husband's heart attack. He is doing extremely well. He has lost a lot of weight.  He is now back to his high school weight in the low 170s. He is 6 foot tall. His cholesterol is in the 130s and the other numbers are in normal range as well. After his heart attack, his heart was functioning at 30 percent. He had an echocardiogram last week, and it showed that he now has full heart function. His doctor said he could not see any damage on the echo and that he has completely reversed his heart disease. An ultrasound of the arteries also shows that his veins are clear. The doctor was amazed and asked him what he has been doing. The radiologist says that the most he could have hoped for was 50 percent heart function and that he has never seen improvement like this. After his heart attack, he was told that there was a lot of damage because he did not come in for three days due to the fact that he thought it was indigestion and that he would not regain full heart function; so this is so amazing. We are so thankful to God for this. And I am also so proud of my husband for caring enough about himself and his family to work so hard and be so disciplined with his diet and exercise.

I haven't done any sewing lately. I plan to carve out some time to do some projects, hopefully soon. My 12 year old daughter Emily has sewn several things recently, a nightgown and a couple of dresses, one of her own design, which I will try to share with you as soon as I figure out how to load the photos. I am juggling many things in my life right now, as I'm sure you are. I am homeschooling three of our six children and doing therapy with Samantha every day, and scouting keeps us pretty busy as well. I also try to fit in exercise several days a week. And preparing to start my own jewelry business. So I am not able to blog as regularly as I would like right now. I am going to have a goal to try to do a post once a month, more often when I can, and sometimes less often. I would like to stay in touch with you and share with you our creations as well as updates on our family from time to time. Hopefully I can blog more frequently in the future. Would that be enough posting for you to keep visiting, or would you just lose interest? Knowing how you feel will help me determine the future of my blog and if it's worth the effort to keep it going; so I appreciate your feedback. Many of you have been a support and encouragement to me during difficult times, and I have enjoyed the many comments on my sewing projects. So it is hard for me to just let my blog go even though I don't have a lot of time to blog at the moment because I would miss you and the sense of community I feel here with like-minded people. I have also made many meaningful friendships through blogging, which has enriched my life immensely. Even though I have not been posting much lately, I still visit my favorite blogs daily, rarely missing a post, and try to comment when time allows. You are all so inspiring.

I hope I can figure out this whole picture thing because I would really love to show you some shots from the wedding and of our beautiful Samantha and how much she has grown. So please be sure and leave comment if you can help me figure that out. Thanks for visiting and for your input.

Well, take care and have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. 

25 comments:

  1. Wonderful news, Trudy! I would love for you to write a post on how your husband healed his heart. God did make our bodies with an incredible ability to heal themselves. So happy your baby is bringing you so much joy. A wedding and grandbaby..so much joy!

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  2. There is so much going on in your life, Trudy. Wow!!! It was just wonderful catching up on it all.

    First of all....I am so thrilled to read about your husband. That is amazing. I know that many prayers have been sent for this healing and it is wonderful to see them answered.

    I do hope you can sort out the pictures so we can see the beautiful wedding. I can imagine the tears of joy!

    Samantha is going to love having a "little person" in her life. I have known aunts and uncles YOUNGER than the neice or nephew. That is the joy of big families. Congratulations. You are going to love being a Grandma.

    I always enjoy your posts - no matter how often you get a chance to put one up. Don't stress over it. We will all look forward to them when they appear.

    Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  3. I certainly will do a post about how my husband healed his heart. Thanks for asking. I will wait till after the holidays so everyone can enjoy the holiday treats without guilt.

    I was stressing about how little I have been able to post and wondering if I should even be blogging; so I really appreciate the encouragement to not stress over it and the affirmation that you enjoy my posts no matter how often I put one up. Thank you so much.

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  4. You don't have a full plate, you have a platter! I'm glad I dropped by to visit and very happy to read that your husband is doing well. Stay strong and don't forget to take care of yourself!

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  5. SO glad to hear from you. Whew, you make me tired just reading this, but the business is what keeps you young, right? Hugs, Dear. Thank God your family is doing well.

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  6. PS: You don't have to write a whole lot when you post. We just want to know that you are okay. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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  7. Great news all around about your husband, your newlywed daughter, you little Samantha and your impending grandmotherhood! It certainly sounds like your life is packed with challenges, but lots of love and support too. I'm sure that everyone else will agree that if you only have time to post a quick "We're OK", we will appreciate the effort. Hugs to you and your family.

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  8. Trudy, you can save any picture by right-clicking on it and then save as ..... (give it a name) and I save it to my desktop. I find that easiest. Or you can make a file for it, but I just save to the desktop, then when you blog and want to load a picture, click on the image icon, and then you will get a message that asks you where to find the photo. Just click on browse and then on desktop and double click on the photo you just named and saved there. It will load.

    After that, I usually delete all those extra photos from the desktop, if they are not ones I wish to save, or you can put them into a file in your photo folder.

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  9. wow trudy ...marriage grandma and healthy kids and hubby ...how wonderful...my nice just had a baby at 19...she is the best mummy...and my sister is a grandma at 43...i have not flogged either...my mum us unwell and i now home chool 3...crazy busy life....hope you all have a wonderful Christmas...xxx

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  10. Your like seems very full and you are truly blessed!

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  11. Thank you for this update, Trudy. It's always good to hear from you. Samantha sounds like such a darling who brings you much joy. I'm so glad your husband has healed from the heart attack. Your family has been through so much.
    Congratulations on the addition of a son-in-law and soon addition of a grandbaby.

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  12. Dear Trudy, so glad to hear all your wonderful news, and there is so much good news to digest!! Congratulations on all counts; impending grandmother-hood, a wedding, your husband's good health and your daughter's progress.
    I do the same as Julie Culshaw above with my photos too...
    and blogging is for you, your own private activity; and I will visit whenever you choose to post :)

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  13. Good hearing from you! My blog is lacking too so don't worry. Family members in & out of hospital, sudden move, still transporting sewing stuff from one place to another. I didn't realize you had a grandchild. Is it from your oldest daughter. Congrats on your other daughter's marriage, and your husband's speedy recovery. Thank you, LORD! :-). I'm still trying to figure out how to post "You may also like." You take care and trust me, I've had the same thoughts about my blog, but I'm gonna keep it going even if I can only post once a year! :-).

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  14. Hi Trudy, have missed you. Praise God for His mighty works. Glad too hear the news of fam....Do tell how your husband or what your husband's diet/exercise consisted of. Maybe he needs to start a blog to tell his trials and accomplishments. I would love to know what he did. Welcome back, Trudy.

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  15. So glad to hear how well your husband has recovered! I am glad that you are so blessed and can see it in your lives.

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  16. Thank you for the note on my blog. It was good to hear from you and to read about such exciting news about your children, husband, and a new grandbaby. You are blessed. :)

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  17. Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving me a lovely comment. I've been stopping by your blog once in a while and wondering how you and your family are doing. That's great news that your husband as recovered so well! Congratulations on the marriage of your daughter, and on the news that you'll be a grandmother! So many lovely blessings in your life right now. I'm so happy for you! :) I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and happy new year, as well!

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  18. OOooh Trudy! I was reading the whole first half with baited breath - and am SO happy to hear that your dear husband is doing so well!!! I am thrilled that things are going so well with the family, a wedding AND a new baby to come! How perfectly wonderful. I which I could tell you more about flicker and such (but I THINK you can post from there) as I would love to see some picts! Alas, I am just as lost when it comes to all that.
    HAPPY Christmas to you - it will be a good one! xoxo

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  19. It is so wonderful to have an update from you Trudy. How encouraging to read of all the ways God has blessed your family. Have fun with your new business. I am not tech savvy at all, so I can't help there. Just wanted to say it's great to hear from you!

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  20. It's good to hear from you, and I'm glad your family is doing so well! I'll keep reading as long as (and whenever) you keep posting.

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  21. Trudy,
    Praise be to God for this wonderful news! :-) And of course once-a-month posting or whenever is best for you is fine. :-)

    God bless you!
    Margaret

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  22. To God be the glory for the things He has done!! So glad to read your wonderful news ^_^ All the blessings of this season to you and yours!

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  23. I have your blog in my blog roll and was so pleased to see such a happy update.

    I use picasa for all of my photo needs, it is free to download and easy to use. The best thing is that you can upload pics to a picasa web album, which takes around a minute to do a ton of photos! Then when you want to upload your photos to your blog there is an option to upload from web album, then a window opens and you click on the pic you want and it is there immediately, on your blog. It is the easiest way I know xx

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  24. Hi Trudy! God is AWESOME! I am so glad to hear from you my friend! I became a "Mee Mee" almost fourteen years ago for the first time. Everytime one of my 4 grands says "Mee Mee" my heart melts and I feel good all over!!!!!! Blessings from heaven!

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