Another Addition to Our Family

We just found out that our daughter and her family will be adding a new member to their family in August. This is a great way to start the new year. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me and my family to you and yours!

Date Night

Date night with the man of my dreams. My hubby of course. We went to see War Room. It was great. Everyone should see it. 

Updated Family Picture

How has everyone been? I think of you often. I have been crazy busy as usual. This has been a busier summer than usual with camps and water parks, as well as many, many other things. Whew! I have also been been doing a lot of research in the health and wellness arena. I'll be sure to share some of that with you at a later time.

With my babies, minus our two oldest who have flown the nest. Hubby is the photographer. This is after a day at the children's museum. 

The kids had an amazing time. This was one of Samantha's favorite activities. 

What have you been up to this summer? Take any vacations or work on any special projects?

Dr. Seuss Bedding & Birthday Party!

Our daughter Kimberly is decorating her just-turned-2 year old son's room in a Dr. Seuss theme. She asked me if I would make the bedding as part of his birthday gift. She sent me a picture of herself on her knees begging with her cute little pouty lip; so of course if said yes! The Fabric came from Fabric.com. I used one of our thin blankets for the inside and the backside is from a soft, flannel sheet that I had in the linen closet. The result: cute, comfortable and economical.

PARTING SHOTS FROM JACKSON'S DR. SEUSS BIRTHDAY PARTY:

Our Baby Boy is 6!

Matthew turned 6 in February. He wanted a cake made out of donuts and jelly beans on top. Why not! And no baking and took only a couple of minutes to assemble. We spent the day the zoo. Fun family time.

Samantha's First Time on a Carnival Ride

Samantha 2 and Matthew 6 riding on a carnival ride together. This was Samantha's first time. She loved it. Matthew was very protective of her and had his arm around her during the ride.

My Precious Boys

There's nothing so sweet as brotherly love. This was not a posed shot. My husband grabbed the camera when he saw this.

My Grandson and I

I love being a Mimi.

Gifts From My Daughter in Italy

My daughter in Italy sent me flowers for Mother's Day and a plaque for my birthday. They are both very sweet and thoughtful gifts. Feeling loved.

Date Night With Hubby

Date night with the love of my life. We went to see "Mom's Night Out." Thankfully we came home with the children and the home in one piece. Did you see it? Wasn't it good?

Our Baby is 21!

I can't believe our baby (next to the oldest) is 21. She is a beautiful wife and mommy now. We are so proud of the woman she has become.

Mother's Day at the Beach

It has been our tradition for several years now to spend Mother's Day at the beach with our family. This year my sister and her daughter joined us.

Mother/Daughter Tea With My Mini-Me's

My mini-me's (2 and 13) and I at a mother/daughter tea. Love these girls.

Long Overdue Update

Hello, Everyone,

I know it's been so long since I've written in this space. I have been busier than I've ever been. I figured that I probably don't have any, or many, readers left; but then a couple of ladies contacted me asking how we've been. That really touched me to know that someone actually cared and was thinking of us. So I thought in case there were others that I would do a little update.

As you many of you will remember, our daughter Kimberly was married. Then they had a baby. Well, our sweet little grandson is almost 1 now. My, how time flies! Her husband joined the Air Force, and they are stationed in Italy for 3 1/2 years. They are loving it! We are enjoying the pictures she posts on Facebook. Such an amazing place. They are very lucky to have this opportunity. They will have beautiful memories that will last a lifetime. We are able to keep in touch through Facebook, Skype and talking on the phone using MagicJack. What a difference it makes. It makes them seem not so far away.

Here is a picture of myself with our oldest daughter who is now 25 and Kimberly as a baby.

Here is Kimberly with her son.

And their family picture.

Going back a little bit, here are a few wedding shots. A couple with Marty and I and one with our son Matthew, Age 4 at the time, as the ring bearer and Samantha as the flower girl. Matthew pulled Samantha in a wagon decorated with tulle down the aisle.

And here are a few pictures of our children still home.

Emily, 13.

Martin, 11.

Matthew, 6 at the end of this month, wearing Daddy's glasses.

And Samantha, 2.

Marty is still doing well and is fully recovered. We are two years out from his heart attack. Emily has started a little blog, Fashionista Emily. Emily and Martin are enjoying scouting with American Heritage Girls and Trail Life. Matthew loves to build with all kinds of building toys and run and play. Samantha is doing very well. She is healthy and has a wonderful bubbly personality. She loves to sing and bounce to the music. She has four therapists that come each week and will until she's 3, developmental, speech, Occupational and physical. She is very bright and picks things up very quickly. Her language is good. She speaks clearly and has over 70 words. She is behind physically, but the therapists say that will come in time. We are working to help her strengthen her core. She is not crawling or walking yet, but we are hoping that in the coming months she will be able to do that.

I think about sewing quite often and keep hoping I'll find the time. And if I do, I will of course share that with you here.

I would love to hear how you are doing as well.

How My Husband Reversed His Heart Disease After a Heart Attack

As many of you remember, my husband had a heart attack February 27th, 2012, with 100 percent blockage and only 30 percent heart function. You can read about my post right after his heart attack here. He was told he would only gain maybe 50 percent heart function, that he would always have damage. Well, fast forward to today, and he has full heart function and they could barely find any sign of damage on his echocardiogram taken a over a month ago. His cardiologist said he has reversed his heart disease and is considering taking him off of all meds. He also had an ultrasound of his veins done in his legs and neck, and they are clear. You can read about that post here. I was asked by several readers if I would share what he has been doing to get this improvement.

He exercises daily. For the first 12 weeks he went to physical therapy. He now walks at a fast pace, walks the stairs at work, lifts weights, hula hoops with adult size hoops and does pushups. Not everything every day, but he usually does two or three of these each day, doing something aerobic 45 minutes at least four days a week. He is very committed and consistent. I believe the exercise may even be more crucial to his healing than the diet; although they are both important.

Below is what his diet consists of. This diet and exercise has brought his cholesterol and weight down significantly. Animals products are not more than 20 percent of his diet.

We place a big focus on eating whole, non-processed food. Lots of salads and fruits and nuts for snacks.

We eat foods low on the glycemic scale. You can find one by doing a search on Google.

We do not drink juice or coffee. We drink tea.

We do not eat: dried fruit, corn, white potatoes, white rice, wheat (so no pasta, sandwiches or cereal), milk, full fat cheese, deli meats, sausage, hot dogs, etc. or beef.

No salt. We use Mrs. Dash as a substitute.

No butter or margarine. We saute with Grape seed oil or pure extra virgin coconut oil.

No store bought dressings because of the high sugar content. We use extra virgin olive oil and vinegar or fresh squeezed lemon.

No Ketchup or mayonnaise. High in sugar. Mustard is okay.

We use stevia in place of sugar.

We use unsweetened almond milk.

Here are some of the things we eat: one weight watchers cheese stick a day, and not every day. No other cheese in diet. Oatmeal; eggs; plain yogurt mixed with stevia, blueberries, raw oats, raw walnuts, raw sunflower seeds, flax seeds and chia seeds; salmon; lean ground turkey; chicken breast; beans and brown rice; soup (not canned) (We often put pearled barley and canned diced tomatoes in our soup and bean dishes); lentils; sweet potatoes; raw almonds as a snack; raw pumpkin seeds as a snack or in salad; peaches; plums; apples; pears, berries; oranges, cantelope; watermelon; tomatoes; avocados; red graces (not green); various vegetables; salad; quinoa.

Watermelon is high on the glycemic scale but affects the body as if it's low.

Dairy is low on the glycemic scale but affects the body as if high because it is in high in lactose sugar.

We eat eggs because even though they are high in cholesterol, they are low in saturated fat so the cholesterol does not affect the body in a negative way. Cholesterol is a problem in high fat foods.

We don't eat many packaged foods; and when we do, we check the labels carefully, especially for sugar content and salt content.

When eating out, we typically will order fish, chicken breast, non creamy soups, or salad. We do not use their dressing. If they do not have oil and vinegar, we will ask for lemon and use fresh squeezed lemon and avocado if they have it. We do not eat the bread or chips.

Examples of breakfast: oatmeal (old fashioned oats, not instant or quick cooking), plain yogurt mixed with berries, nuts, sunflower seeds, oats, banana, stevia; salmon, banana with almond butter, avocado, eggs. (Banana tip: The riper the banana the higher the sugar content. We try to avoid overly ripe bananas.) And we don't eat too many bananas because they are higher in sugar than other fruits.

A very important key element to the success of our diet aside from low sugar and very little carbs from wheat would be trying to have  protein with each meal and snack as often as possible. Protein slows the absorption of sugar, helps to maintain muscle mass and therefore burn more fat and it also aids in the feeling of satiety and the result is eating less.

Foods with protein: nuts and seeds, plain yogurt, eggs, chicken, fish, turkey, beans, Weight Watchers low fat mozzarella cheese stick, almond butter.

The fat in avocados and nuts are okay because they are the good fats and will not make you gain weight. Weight gain in diets comes mainly from too much sugar or foods that turn into sugar, bread, corn, white potatoes are some examples. The good fats also make you feel full longer so you eat less.


As you have probably gathered by now, sugar and high-sugar foods are to be avoided. It causes health problems as well as weight gain, which are all bad for the heart.

Some of the supplements he takes are a multiple, a green barley drink, fish oil, Coenzyme Q10, cayenne, D-3. We are still researching the supplements. He should probably be taking calcium and magnesium as well. We are   also still learning and improving our diet. 

I am also eating this way as well in hopes of preventing a heart attack and/or stroke. Heart disease is one of the, if not the, number one killers of women.

Again, a good, strong aerobic exercise program for 45 minutes a day, four days a week (work your way up to this and check with your doctor first) and a really good diet similar to the one above are key to preventing and reversing heart disease. Could save your life. Exercise is what saved my husband's life. The doctor said that because he had exercised for years before his heart attack that he had built collateral arteries so that blood was still able to get through; otherwise, he would have died instantly since he had 100 percent blockage in the main artery they call the widow maker. So if you will build up a good sweat on a regular basis, you will build collateral arteries too. A book we are finding very helpful is Younger Next Year and Younger Next Year for Women, minus all of the evolutionary talk. It explains the exercise connection and exactly what to do and how much to add years to your life. It was written by a doctor and his patient and how it helped him. Hope you find all of this helpful, and let me know if you have any tips. We are still learning.

On a side note, I have been doing some sewing for my first grand baby who should be here in two weeks or less. My hubby sent my computer off to be fixed; and if all goes well, I will have it back this week. So hopefully I can start posting mine and Emily's sewing projects again. So be sure and check in. And I have decided to have the grands call me Mimi. I really like the way that sounds. I think it's sweet. What do you think? I was stuck on Gigi for a while, but I just wasn't sure. Then I found out that my son-in-law's mother really wanted to be called Gigi; so I decided to go with Mimi.

Picking a Grandmother Name

As I mentioned in my previous post, I will be a first-time grandmother in February. I'm not so sure I want to be called grandma. I would love some help in picking out my grandma name. The two I have been thinking on are Gigi and Mimi. Which one do you like better? Do you have any other suggestions? And what do you think about being called Grandma? Does it sound too old? Or do you like it?

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. 

After the Heart Attack

Hello, Everyone. I'm sorry it's been so long. It has been so hard to write for several reasons. For one, I have been so very busy taking care of my husband and children. Spending much more time in food preparation in order to provide heart healthy meals for my husband and also trying to do what I can to relieve him of some of his duties at home so that he can rest. Another reason, it's been difficult to sort through my feelings with all that has occurred this past year. There have been times of great stress and depression that I have had to work through. I feel like I am coming out on the other side. I am learning to find the beauty in the midst of challenges and the unexpected. I am learning to be grateful for what I do have instead of focusing on what I don't. I want you to know that you have made such a difference and have helped me through this difficult time with your kind words more than you'll ever know. I really appreciate you being there for me.

Marty is doing well. It is slow going. He is going to physical therapy three times a week. He gets dizzy and tires easily. After one session last week, his chest hurt all night; so that was a little scary. They did an EKG and said everything was fine, to just take it easy. We go for a stroll together in the evenings which is very nice. It's nice having that quiet relaxing time together. For those of you who are new here, you can read about the situation here.

Many of you have asked about Samantha, our special baby born with down syndrome. Here is the first post I wrote about her after her birth for those who have not read it. When you read it, realize we were not expecting this diagnosis. We were caught off guard and did not know anything about it. I was very scared and was grieving.

She is now 9 months old. I am so in love with her. She is so perfect in every way and so very beautiful. She is patient, sweet, content and smiles readily. She lights up when any of us pay her attention and/or picks her up. She is so very precious and the essence of her beauty, inside and out, reveals itself more and more to me each day. I kiss on her and hug her all day every chance I get, which is constantly.

She had and EKG and echo done, and her heart is perfect. The two holes that were there have closed on their own. She is very strong. She nurses well, says da da, buh buh and yea while clapping her hands together. She rolls from front to back and back to front and pushes up on her hands while doing tummy time. She can shake her rattle. Her occupational therapist who comes to our home three times a month is thrilled with her progress and says she gets stronger each visit.

I feel very blessed to have her for a daughter. I feel we are going to be fine. When I feel uncertain about the future with her, I just remind myself to enjoy her in the stage she is in now, just enjoy her being a baby. She is just like all of my other babies. I see no difference. When I hold her, all stress melts away. Holding her is therapy in itself.

We have many medical expenses which we are having difficulty meeting. If you find it in your heart and your means to help us, I have placed at end of this post a secure Paypal donation button. Thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart to those of you who wish to do so. I pray that God doubly blesses you.

I am looking forward to bringing you some sewing posts soon. I will be introducing a new feature on my blog that I think you will enjoy. Thanks so much for hanging in there and allowing me to have this time to take care of the extra needs of my family and adjust to new way of life. I'll leave you with some sweet pictures of Samantha.

Until soon and with much love, Trudy.

Linking with Never Growing Old.

 Samantha adores Daddy and reaches out to him to be held.

 All six of our children together at one time which doesn't happen often.

 Matthew adores his baby sister and kisses on her almost as much as I do.

 Emily loves taking care of her little sister.

 She's so pretty in pink.

 Matthew and Samantha cuddling in bed together is a nightly ritual.