The Insall Family

Bethany turns 8 months!!

2012-02-02T15:23:00.001-06:00

Well Miss Sunshine…you’re 8 months old today…EIGHT!! I still can’t believe within just 4 short months we’ll be celebrating your first birthday! I thought time flew by with your brother, but with having both of you keeping me busy it’s going by even faster. In a way I hate that, knowing you are our last precious baby, BUT at the same time it’s closer to time we will get to have many many many fun day outs together. I can wait for that though. HA.

I have no idea what you’re weighing exactly these days, but I’m guessing some where around 20 lbs or so. I tried to measure you to see how long you were, but you didn’t want any part in that. Ha. From what I could tell you’re about 30 ins. Which means we will probably be getting you a big girls car seat this weekend. : / I noticed on your carrier it said to up until 30ins or less. That will be another hard time for momma, but just another sign showing me there’s no stopping you on this growing thing. Ha.

It took me forever to get a cute decent picture of you this time taking your monthly pictures since we didn’t have brother with us to make you laugh and keep you attention. You’re just soo active and want to be going going all the time.

Silly girl...trying to get the camera and put it in your mouth like everything else. Ha.

You still haven’t accomplished the whole crawling thing yet. I figured you would have by now, going by how you are sooo close to it. You just rather roll ALL over the living room to get what you want. Ha. I know you will crawl on your own time even though I know you want to crawl and chase your brother soo bad. Your brother didn’t start crawling until he was almost 10 mons so we will see if you get it done faster than him.

You have been eating cereal and lunch/dinner tub of baby food along with fruit and veggies this month, but near the last you started having bad diapers so I pulled you off everything until it cleared up. We just restarted again and so far so good. I don’t know what you were eating that was causing that, but we will be more careful now. : ) You still have about 24oz of formula a day.

As far as sleeping…you’re still a champ at sleeping through the night. Although this last month you have started where you think you have to be put down for you to go to sleep. It’s nice in a way because you’re brother was totally opposite, but I miss our snuggle times.

Ha..you're such a character!

You’re still saying Da-Da like a champ and has since added a few Bubbas in there, but so far no MaMa.

You have a fascination with mouths. You will start screaming and if we do it with you, you will proceed to stick your finger in our mouths. Ha. I don’t know if it’s the teeth or what. Crazy girl.

Caught you with you're tounge out. :)

Speaking of teeth you still just have the bottom two. No new ones yet.

So sweet and innocent..

....then so serious. Ha.

You have also started with this pointing thing with your finger. You just won’t stick your hand out and grab it. You have to point to it, until you touch it, then you will grab it.

The ladies at the nursery who take care of you during Sunday School at church has told me you’re getting where you don’t like me dropping you off anymore. : / But that’s the only time you’re away from me all week, usually that is until Daddy and I decide to go out on a little date. You’re definitely a momma’s girl…for now that is. Daddy will probably win you over when you get older. Ha.

You and Daddy playing after bath.

You still suck your finger, but its only when you’re trying to go to sleep or getting hungry. When you go to sleep, you always have to have your blanket to hold in the other hand and rub it against your face as you suck your finger on the other hand.

You fell asleep on daddy's arm after playing...

You hate being put in the car seat these days. As soon we start to unbuckle you, you arch your back trying to get out right then.

You love playing with you’re toys. I can set you down in the floor and you’ll play play and play…until mommy walks by. Ha.

You're officially in 12 month old clothes. You still can wear a few of your 6-9 onesies but for the most part you're in 12 mons. You are wearing a size 3 shoe and still in size 3 diapers. :)

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, but I'm trying to actually get this post on your 8 month birthday. :) We look forward to see what you'll learn this month. Maybe you will finally accomplish crawling. I don't know if big brother is ready for that now or not. Ha. I love you baby girl. You're defintely our little sunshine!

I love your smiles!! :)

My Oh My!! Look how much you're growing!!

Happy 7 months, Miss Bethany!!

2012-01-06T09:39:00.001-06:00

Happy 7 months Sweet Pea! It’s hard to believe it was 7 months ago we were blessed with your presence in this world. It became sweeter that’s for sure! You were busy this month! I guess that’s why it flew by as fast as it did. I sure hope it doesn’t mean the months are passing faster. : /.

I don’t know your exact weight or height, but I’m guessing you’re about 19.5 lbs and about 29ins.

You looking cute as always!

You started eating fruit this month and you LOVE the peaches and pears the best!

Ha- not a very good picture...but had to put it on here because you can
see her teeth! :)

Pretty baby girl!

I started putting you in your crib at night. I was worried you wouldn’t sleep all night and the whole your not beside me anymore was hard at first, BUT you did/are doing great! During bubba’s Christmas break you got off schedule for whatever reason and was waking up at night, but you have since been ok since he went back. Thank Goodness! HA.

One morning when I woke you up...I always put you down the same way
every night, but you are always in a different postion when I go to wake you up. :)

You officially became a sitter December 7^th! Which helps out a ton and you can tell you enjoy you’re independence.

Playing before bedtime. :)

Momma gets the joy of fixing your hair now!! It's finally long enough to put up in pig tails...So far you do awesome while I'm fixing your hair. You're hair is crazy all over the place if its not up in pig tails, but I refuse to cut it! Ha.

So precious!

You had your first Christmas this month and you cleaned out good! Momma had to clean out your closet for the stuff we didn’t need anymore just to make room for toys! You can sure tell we have a baby in the house again. You did good opening up presents even though I would have to take the paper away from you before it ended up in your mouth like everything does. Ha.

You and Kaden with your cousins. :)
Makalya, Chloe, Bethany, and Kaden.

You and Papa (My daddy).

Some new clothes...12months! Yes you're growing like a weed!

Ducky! You love this!

At Nannie and Papa's house playing with your new toys.

Playing with your new toy!

Daddy getting you started early...he the same
thing to your brother about the same age.

You and your daddy...

Memaw, Kaden, Papaw, and you. : )
(My wonderful grandparents)

Daddy, Gramps(Derek's step-dad), and Bethany.

You and your Aunt Amy...(Derek's sister)

My precious babies. : )

Kiddos in their chairs their Great Memaw gave them.

You are getting close to crawling. You will get up on your knees and try to push off but you won’t get completely up on your hands yet. (Maybe you will be like your daddy and do the “army crawl”). I know it will happen in your own time.

We went to bubba's Christmas party at school and the little girls all said,"Aww" as soon as we walked in and Kaden said..that's my little sister. He loves you soo much! It was priceless. :)

The outfit you wore.

Your Christmas outift...I had to order a bow to match it...

Precious picture with the bow. :)

Love this picture...I asked Kaden to watch you for a second
while I was getting both of y'alls clothes ready so we could go to the
heart doctor and this is what he did...he gave you a controller and you
looked like you knew what you were doing...TOO cute!
He's always taking good care of you!

You also started reaching to us on December 27^th. It’s soo cute. You just don’t reach out you pat our hand when we open our hands to you.

You had your first vacation this month! Actually the first one Daddy and Mommy had with you kids period that was out of state that is. We went to Tompkinsville, Kentucky to see mommy’s best friend Lizzie. So in your first 7 months of life you’ve been to Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky (It has taken me 24 years to do that. Ha). We left out December 30^th at 7 pm and arrived December 31^st just before 8 am in Kentucky. You were a great traveler! Maybe it was because we traveled at night, but either way it went better than I had expected. You had a great time. You didn’t get too fussy the whole time were gone. It was your first time to meet Lizzie and you LOVED her just as much as she loved you! : -)

Having fun swinging! :)

Love her! I hope and pray you're able to find a true friend like
her in your lifetime. She's awesome.

She loves him too of course. :)

We also went by to meet some of her family and you didn’t fuss one time…ok you did, but it was just when I was putting you back in your car seat to leave. Her grandma loved you and you obviously loved her! I’m so glad you are such a happy baby.

You are pretty much content with anything and anyone holding you, unless momma gets out of sight then here we go. Ha. You also loved Coy, Lizzie’s soon to be husband. You were content with him too while he was holding you at the New Year Eve party his family was having. I can’t wait until we go back up there in October for their wedding. : - )

On our way back through we stopped at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

Yes you had shoes...we just had to get you out of your stroller to take
a picture and well you were almost asleep - thats the reason for your hand in your mouth too. Ha.

It was wonderful. I wish I remembered my camera and we could have taken some better pictures, but we were in a hurry and wanted to leave the house as soon as we could to get on the road. (It was Daddy’s last minute decision to take a road trip. Lol) We got back home around 2 am on January 2.

Don't mind the hair. Ha. She just woke up and I just happen to snap this picture
and her eyes just popped out! ♥ it!! Her eyes always look like a different color.

It's a joy watching you grow and learn! This next month should be interesting to see if you start crawling and getting into everything! I guess I better get ready and start baby proofing the house for one last time. I love you sweet baby girl! You bring so much joy to our family that only you could have brought. Not everyone gets to say we have two kids...one boy and one girl. Our little happy family of four! God is amazing! May you always keep him first and the rest will just fall in place. Happy belated 7 months precious girl! Daddy, Momma, and Bubba loves you soo much!!!

Bethany is 6 months old!!

2011-12-09T11:48:00.001-06:00

Well Miss Bethany you’re ½ a year old already! This year has just flown by, but I have a feeling it was because I didn’t want you growing up too fast. I love you baby girl. I wish you could stay little forever and be my little cuddle bug even if its only just when you want me to put you to sleep. You’ve grown so much in this past month it makes me wonder where our baby girl went to. I know I’m late on this update, but you didn’t have your appointment until Monday then momma got carried away with making you a winter dress.
: ) But with out any more waiting…

You are now 18.8 lbs and are 28 ins long and have 18in head circumference! That puts you in the 95 percentile for everything!

You are indeed our big girl. But as in the words of Dr. Shaw, you’re no where near fat you are just a big girl…You are going along your growth curve just like you’re suppose to be, its just you are on top of that curve for your age. Ha. Dr. Shaw informed me on your 4 mon check up, you were the size of an average 6 mon old…well at your 6 mon check up he said you’re the size of an average 9 mon old!! So momma didn’t get to enjoy your “little” stage as much because you decided to just start off growing with no signs of stopping! I’m just hopeing you make all the 6-9 mon old winter clothes last until winter is over! You are sure making this clothes thing hard! Lol. I think you just about skipped the 3-6 month size all together.

You started eating vegetables on Nov.7 and we stayed with each one for about 4-7 days. I give you them around lunch time before I give you your bottle. First was carrots…you didn’t seem to like it, but after a while you were loving every bit of it. Then we proceeded with green beans, squash, peas, and sweet potatoes. Yes, I went ahead and started you on them, you just seem like to me you were ready for them and I wasn’t going to hold out another month just because the doctor recommended it. Ha….Next month we’ll work on fruit. : )

You are still taking about 6 oz of formula every 3-5 hours, I say five because there is always a strectch at least one time during the day (usually after 10 am) you will fall asleep and will wake up about 5 hours (12:30- 1) passed your last eating, wanting the bottle. Other times its 3 hours on the dot pretty much. : )

This is how I have to put you to sleep...
Laying on the left side, sucking your right finger, while we softly pat you on the bottom.
Ha..you just wont' have it any other way.
Stubborn girl! :)

You’re still being a good girl and sleeping through the night. After you get over your congestion I’m going to start putting you in your crib at night since we got the baby monitor. As you can tell momma is wanting to put that off as long as I can (I sleep better knowing you‘re right beside me vs. nearly on the other side of the house.). Ha. You’re just starting to get to big for your bassinet. : (.

Your precious little hand. :)

You have officially won the battle with the paci vs. your finger. Agh. Momma tried, but you insist on going to sleep with that precious little finger…index finger on the right hand to be exact and won’t take any other one, even the index on the other finger…instead of the paci. Hopefully it won’t be hard to get you off of it.

We gave you and early Christmas present this month. Ha. We were going to get you this for Christmas, but since we knew you were growing like a weed we just decided to go ahead and let you use it now so you can get more use out of it…Exer saucer…and man do you LOVE it!!

Having a grand ole time!

And so does your brother...Ha.

You said you’re first word this month…Da-Da…on November 12^th…although you don’t know what you said. Ha. No, daddy loves it and enjoys every mintue of it although you haven’t put the two together yet I’m sure you will soon. You are daddy’s little girl, but just as much as you’re momma’s. : )

We went to the park for a little bit this month and momma put you in a swing for the first time and you loved it! Too bad it’s starting to get cold now! At least we know what to do when it starts to warm up. Your brother has always and still does love the park. His favorite thing used to be the swing too, so it looks like you got the same genes far as that goes. Ha.

Attacking Momma's earphones...
I wish this picture showed your eyes better...you have the prettiest eyes,
but I can never capture them. :(

But this is the only way I could get you to look at me for pictures. lol.

So precious!

　
Speaking of you and your brother…He’s getting where he LOVES talking to you and playing with you! And you just laugh at everything he does. I think that’s why he loves it so much. He seems to get you laugh so easy compared to your daddy and me, but then again I’m glad you two are getting and building that close bond already! He can just bark at you and you start laughing so big. He can just start talking and you start looking around trying to find him and then just smile the biggest smile at him. He loves pushing you around the living and kitchen while you’re in your walker although I have to remind him to go slow and be easy. Lol. When you’re asleep in your crib for an evening nap we have the monitor in the living room with us watching tv, every move he hears you do he thinks you are awake and wants to go see you…by see you I mean wants to get in your crib with you to play. Lol. But I have to remind him just wait until you start crying because you could just be moving while you’re sleeping. He's pretty good with you though, just as long as you don't put his toys or blankets or anything really of his in your mouth or drool on them...he' ok with you. I just love seeing/hearing y’all together. Just brings a smile to my face thinking about it. :)

Bubba barking at you...and you just cracking up laughing...
*ahm...don't mind the stuff bear under her exer saucer we were waiting
for the company to send us the stablizer feet for it* lol

Bubba talking to you...

Trying to get bubba to take a decent picture...

At least you are being good and smiling lol...

Oh well I gave up...bubba started making funny nosies and
you had to look to see what was going on lol..

My precious babies...

Finally a picture with you both smiling! lol..

You had your first big holiday this month…Thanksgiving. It was nice celebrating it as a family of FOUR this year, you complete our family. : ).

Not the greatest picture, but didn't have my camera with me,
just my iPhone...

I was trying to take a picture of your brother and me,
but like always he won't stay still. lol.

You and your Great Grandma.

You’re the only girl on your daddy’s side far as little kiddos. (Kaden:5, Garrett: 5 (8 wks younger than Kaden), Travis: 16 mons) but you and Travis are going to be a tag team to get your brother and Garrett. : ). You were so interested in him and his paci. But you seem to love all kids no matter what size. : )

You and your Great Grandpa and Travis.

Bubba being goofy as always...

Aww Sweet Hugs. :)

Ok Travis...hand over the paci! :-)

You and MeeMee

As far as my side, Kaden is the only boy so you fitted in just fine (Kaden:5, Makalya:5 (81/2 months younger than Kaden), Chloe:14 mons) now you and Chole will be a team against your brother and Mak.
We had a great time together on Thanksgiving and of course I loved showing you off. You are just the cutest baby ever…even though you are my kid. Ha.

Such a happy girl!!

Before the teeth popped through. :)

You sprouted your first tooth this month on November 29, 4 days before you turned 6 months. (bottom right center) Followed by the left center a day later. And you already know how to use them! Hopefully you won’t be a biter. They sure are sharp. I see some on top that look like it will come any day now, but then again you’re not drooling near as much so maybe not too soon.

You are getting VERY close to setting and staying that way by yourself. You will set for a while until you see something you want and start to reach for it, then there you go toppling down. Ha. But I know you will accomplish it this month. : )

It's blurry, but you reached for a toy, and lost your balance. Ha.

It's a work in process!!

Your such a happy baby and I LOVE that about you. You are pretty good while at the grandparents and church, but I have seen signs of you starting the separation axitey when you leave your momma. :/ I can't walk by you while you are in your exer saucer or bouncer without you wanting me to pick you up and if someone wants to hold you at church you make sure they don't get too far from momma. lol. Dr. Shaw says that is usually in full swing by 9 months but hopefully you won't be too bad, but then again you're at home with me all day long so we will see how it goes. I love you baby girl and enjoy having a girl oh so much! After all I have started making you clothes already! :) I can't wait to see what this next month holds for you, and see you at Christmas. Hopefully you will be setting up by then at least. :) Happy belated 6 months old sweet pea! Momma, Daddy and Bubba love you oh so much!

Bethany and her Sunday school buddy and future best friend
who is 4 days younger than her, Miss Brenna Ollila. :)
(Bethany is in the 95% and Brenna isin the 15%. Ha)

My babies with Santa! :-)

Day 4: My little sweet pea, Bethany Kate.

2011-11-04T13:49:00.001-05:00

Day 4: My little sweet pea, Bethany Kate.

Bethany,
My adorable little sweet pea. : ). I thank God for sending you to me after waiting 2 years to hold you. You are indeed worth all the wait and tears I shed as I watched other people, family, and friends becoming pregnant without trying and here we were trying with no success. I guessed the Good Lord listend to me when I had your brother because I made the comment, I didn’t want another baby until he was 5 and wanted a summer baby. Well guess what…when you were born your brother was 5 and you were born in the summer. Its all in God’s timing. : )…You bring so much joy to our family and the perfect last piece to our family. How many couples actually have one boy and one girl?!?!?

I loved you from day one. When we found out that Kaden was going to have surgery (or so we thought) in March of this year, I was so heartbroken, but you never let me get a good cry out. Ha. Every time I start in real good you would make me gag almost to the point of going to far. To me, it was like you were trying to say “Calm down, Momma, everything is going to be ok” and strangely enough I felt comfort in that. Thank you for that sweet pea. We soon found out a few months later that he wouldn’t need surgery and it was time to just focus on you baby girl. I had so much fun picking out everything for your room, your stroller/car seat, things for the baby registry, just happy to finally being able to hold a baby in my arms again after so long of trying.

silly girl...blowing rasberries..:)

I was so afraid when I was in the OR getting prepped to have you. After they finally got my spinal in (which they had trouble with that)…my blood pressure there for a while wouldn’t stablize and I was so afraid they would have to put me out and I wouldn’t be able to hear your first cry, but once everything did FINALLY stabilized and I seen your daddy walk in I was soo happy. Then when I heard that first cry it was such a relief. My baby girl was finally here.

　
I thank God so much for you in oh so many ways that are indescribable. For your sweet smile I get every single morning when I get you up to put you in your car seat so we can head out to take bubba to school. As I buckle you in I just start saying “Good morning sweet pea” and you just start grining from ear to ear…For all the goo, gahs, screams, and laughs I get from you…for all the cuddles…for all the wanting/needing JUST momma to put you to sleep (even though I don‘t get time to me, lol)…for all the conversations you think you’re have with bubba when momma is driving…for all the having to reach for our faces when we talk to you…and yes all the fusses you give us at times when you just don’t want to do anything! Lol…Then I just simply thank God for blessing me with such a wonderful little girl.
Like bubba, I pray for your future spouse. I hope you find that Godly man who will take care of you, cherish you, treat you the way you need to be treated, and most importantly loves you to the ends of this earth. I pray that you keep God number one in your life. I pray that we’re able to teach you and your brother the bascis of this life and revolve this life around Christ. I pray that you will stay the happiest little girl. I pray that God will lead me to teach you through my doings on how important God is. Thank you God , for such a wonderful little bundle of PINK joy! I love you Miss Bethany Kate!!

Now that I’m caught up hopefully I don’t fall behind this weekend. Ha.

Day 3: My Little Man, Kaden.

2011-11-04T09:38:00.001-05:00

Ok so obviously I didn’t get to post Day 3 yesterday. We had a change of plans and we didn’t get home last night until 10:30. Derek’s work was having a dinner/meeting so we went to that while my Memaw watched the kiddos for us. : )

Day 3: My Little Man, Kaden.

Kaden,

You’re momma’s precious baby boy. Even though I know you aren’t a baby anymore, you are quick to tell me you‘re not, but you will always be my baby. You’ve have been through some things during your almost 6 years of life, that no kid should ever have to do or go through. I know right now you don’t know you’re any different and I pray you never have to find out through surgery. I wish you didn’t have to go through the things you might have to face in the future, but your special heart has made me appreciate life so much more. I think God sent you to us to have a way, to have people in aw when they hear all the little miracles he has blessed you with. I’m thankful for God giving us you.

Thankful for Him:

… blessing us with your presence…sending you when he did….because of you we have met so AWESOME heart families…trusting us to bring you up learning about Him…giving us the pleasure of watching you grow and learn…for every conversation we have with you…for every “I love you” out of the blue you give us…for every step you have taken…for every kiss when I drop you off at school…for every wave you give me as you’re walking into school…for every laugh we get to cherish…for every “will you play with me” even if we just got done playing lol…for every “can you fix me some noodles” (your favorite food lol.)…for every “Momma, I’m hungry again” even if you just got done eating it makes me thankful for a growing boy…for every heart check up we get to hear “he’s stable”…for all 3 of scares with heart surgery having the fear of handing you over to a surgeon and maybe not getting you back, because we got to witness just some of the miracles God has performed in your life. All 3 times He has pushed the surgery off, and we were/are going back to every 4-6 months just for a check up!…for all the times you get excited when you hear “We are going to Memaws”. It brings back memories the way I use to act when I heard that and thankful you get to know what and awesome Memaw she is…for all the conversations we have when I pick you up from school telling me about your day…for all the “can you read me this book?”…for being such a great big brother...

for all the times “Jesus wouldn’t like that” when you think we are being mean… and for all times I simply get to hear “Mommy”.

I could go on baby boy. You bring so much joy into my life. I look forward to you growing with each and every day. I look forward to basketball season, then baseball, then maybe you can do soccer next it all whatever you wish to do Kaden. The world is at your fingers tips and I pray you keep God first in your life and everything else will just fall in place. I pray God gives you a godly woman when you decide to get married and you both grow more in the Lord as your daddy and I have. I know that’s a way down the road, but that is what most of your life will be with. Your future spouse and children. I pray you stay happy and loving God as you do. Thank you for you little man. Mommy loves you oh soo much!!

I’m currently working on Day 4...Ha. So I’m hopeing to for sure get it posted today…

“30 day of giving thanks”...Day 1 &2.

2011-11-03T10:09:00.001-05:00

I decided to take the “30 day of giving thanks” on facebook a step further. I think God deserves to hear more than just a couple of sentences for a status of thanks for each day...Although it would be interesting to do it for the whole year. It makes me think of that song we sing at church from time to time…
Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings to see what God has done…
I’m sure it will leave you feeling blessed for sure if you don’t already.
Once again I know I’m late, but just thought of this on the way back from dropping Kaden off from school. It’s amazing how your mind and just start thinking of different things while driving. But to start things off…

Day 1: My Loving God.

Dear God,
These next 30 days are you for. Counting my blessings for 30 days. First and foremost I have to start with you. I’m thankful for you. There is so much I can try say that words just can’t even start to describe how I feel for you. I was blessed enough to come to know you at an early age of 10. Thank you for that salvation. Thank you for your son Jesus. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for “knocking on my hearts door”. Thank you for all you have brought me through in my life when at times its been SOO hard!! But I know without you there’s no way in this world I could’ve gotten passed it. Thank you for bestowing all my blessings upon me. Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for being there when I felt alone. Thank you for listening to me when I was pouring my eyes out to you. Thank you for listening to me when I was praising you whole heartily. Thank you for never straying even when at times I have. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your miracles. Thank you for your forgiveness. Most importantly thank you for LIFE!…I hope these next 30 days will bring you happiness. Thank you for my life, God. Thank you for you! Here’s to you…and many more thanks through this life

Day 2: My Husband.

Babe,
Today I’m going to publicly write a thank you letter just to show everyone how thankful to God I am for you. I thank God for you everyday since he has brought you into my life. Who knew that just logging on the Christian Chat room that night around 10-10:30pm on May 11, 2004 that I would end up talking to my future husband?!? I know God leads every couple together, but when we were both not looking for mate just to chat with someone, you know God had his hand on leading us together. : ) Babe, thank you for your time that night and every day since then. Thank you for all the small things you did while we were dating. Thank you for Pinky (btw she‘s the pink bear in Bethany‘s month pictures for those who didn‘t already know). : ) Thank you for the numerous trips from Denton to Callisburg (45min drive one way, yes we lived just mins from each other and ended up meeting online in a world chat room) every day there for awhile after school just to see me. Thank you for riding your BIKE when your truck was in the shop to Sanger (which was between 8-10 miles, Ha now you know why I asked you.) when I was there for my cousins pee wee football game and then again when I went with Lainey to her tennis game. Thank you for all the movies we went to see. Thank you for the countless nights when we went to Subway to get our sandwiches and then headed out to the lake to set on of the piers just talking. Thank you for the nights you stayed late just because you didn’t want to leave…and I didn’t want you to. Thank you for the doll you gave me that you and your dad had picked out for your mom. Thank you for telling me all about your dad before he passed the good and the bad. I still wish I was able to meet him to see what he thought about me, but I think that one dream, I had when we were dating, him telling me loved me helped filled that void. Thank you for marrying me. Thank you for picking me to be the one you wanted for the rest of your life. Thank you for being the husband you are today. Thank you for being the daddy you are to our two wonderful children. Thank you for being there for me during our son’s rollercoaster heart journey. Like that song…God gave me you for the ups and downs…Thank you for all them. Thank you for being patient with me during our time trying to get pregnant with our daughter. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for all the stuff you went through just to make us happy. Thank you for working your butt off even when you feel like giving up. Thank you for being the man you are. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for all our arguments they are what makes us stronger. Thank you for the laughter. Thank you for all the tears. I could go on and on…most importantly…Thank you for being YOU. I love you babe.
　
Day 3 coming later today…I hope. Motherly duties calls…Ha.

Bethany is 5 months old!!!

2011-11-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

Happy 5 months to my precious baby girl!! It’s hard to believe you’re just ONE month away from being a half of a year old!!! I know I say it all the time, but where does the time go?!? You are such an active and happy baby! Everywhere we go they compliment on how happy you seem. I hope you stay that way. The only time you wasn’t so happy was on time during Sunday school in the nursery they had to page me to come settle you down. It was because you were getting tired and well lets face it, you being home with mommy all day long shows, lol. Once I got you in my arms after a few pats on the bottom, you were out. The little ladies said well we’ll know what to do next time. : ) They absolutely LOVE you and Miss Brenna (Your little playmate who is 4 days younger than you). Now on to the things you’ve done this passed month.

I don’t know how much you weigh exactly but just taking a guess around 17.5 or so pounds since you were nearly 16 last month

And are about 27 ins long...going by or tape measure that is. :)

You’re now eating 6 oz about every 3-4 hours on the dot along with some cereal at night. Dr. Shaw (your pediatrician) doesn’t want us to start you on anything else until you’re 6 months.

You didn’t care for the cereal at first,

but now you’re liking it pretty well. You get excited when you see the spoon coming towards your mouth.

You have went up to size 3 diapers as of yesterday. : ( You’re our growing girl!

I think you totally skipped size 3-6 months pants all together because they are like capris on you. You can still wear 3-6 mons onesies though. But as far as pants and sleepers miss long legs, you’re wearing 6-9 months.

Miss long legs!

You are still our little rolling pin, although most of the time you get aggravated as soon as you roll on your tummy because you aren’t patient enough (ha) to roll back on to your back.

In action!

You have given up the paci all together BUT momma is still trying to get you to take it instead of your finger! BUT the good thing is you only suck your finger/fist when you go to sleep or getting sleepy. Hopefully I will win this battle. Ha. Here’s to hopeing anyways.

You think you have to have your finger and blanket to go to sleep.

You LOVE to grab our faces when we talk to you. You get the biggest kick out of it!

Attacking bubba...As you see he's loving every min of it!

If I ever need to get you to clam down or start laughing all I have to do is call on your bubba. He can make you laugh better than anyone! Basically all he has to do is roll around on the floor, him falling down on the floor then saying Ow! (Ha), or just acting like his play fighting, will get you laughing every time unless you’re tired that is! : )

You are getting closer to setting up on your own. Yay! Can’t wait until you get to experience that!

Until then you LOVE to set in your bouncer,walker, and bumbo.

You had your second holiday this month…Halloween! : ) You were such a cute little lamb. I wanted you to be a lady bug I just couldn‘t find one I thought was cute enough, but I have to admit the lamb was pretty darn cute too.

Halloween onesie with the bow momma made to match! :)

LOVE your face here!

Everyone thought I made it, and thought when daddy was holding you, that he was holding a stuffed animal.

We’ve done a lot this past month. We went to the Depot Days, Peanut Festival, Bubba’s Fall Festival at school, Zoo Boo, and then at last Trick or Treating! It was a blast doing it as a family of FOUR! You definitely complete our little puzzle called family. We got our little girl who just brings SO much joy to us. I know I will be saying this till the day I die just different age put in, but I can't believe you're already 5 months old already! You're Momma's precious baby girl. Although daddy will probably win you over when you get older like he has Kaden, Ha, just remember Daddy can only do so much when it comes to girls. We on the other hand can go shopping, get pedis, and do all the girly stuff! lol.

I Love you my little Sweet Pea! Happy 5 months!!!!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T09:58:00.000-05:00

I thought I better post this while I can because tomorrow I will have to do Bethany FIVE month old post already! Wow!

We started the Halloween weekend off by taking Kaden to his school's fall festival.We didn't go the previous years becasue I think we always had something to do at that time. Either way Derek had a meeting with one of his ex-cowokers (I don't think he can function with out Derek. Ha.) about a chart he didn't know how to do and of course my husband being the caring guy he is went and helped him out. So the kiddos and I went to the Fall Festival and had blast.

It cracks me up the way he stands like this at times.

Picking a duck for a prize with his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Holman. :)

My lil Woody and Lamb.
This is the only picture I got both of them in.
Either one or the other wasn't in the mood any other time. Ha.

Going fishing for a prize.

Dart throwing for a prize...his Pre-K teacher was doing this one.

Ring toss...I should've got him some real boots to wear, but didn't think about it.

Is he a cowboy or what?!? Ha.
Trying to knock down the cups by shooting the gun at them.

That lasted about 3- 4:15...then at 6 we were going to the zoo boo. We’ve been going ever since Kaden’s first Halloween. Although I think after this year we’ve just decided we are going to stop doing it. I think it’s more of seeing the zoo than it is about trick or treating, but since we will be paying 28 dollars next year since Bethany will be 1 it won’t be worth it with them only getting MAYBE 12 pieces of candy each. We’ve seen the zoo PLENTY of times now. Lol. Although Kaden did have fun and that is all it matters. : ).

Daddy and his little lamb..although he doesn't like this picture of him. Ha
He thinks he looks old in it. Which by the way will be 26 on the 16th. :)

Ready for candy...
Yes he already had some from the Fall Festival. lol.

Checking out the flamingos.

My little Woody lol. His hat fell off because of "Sparky's ear..

And that is why he's standing like this. Ha.
Love my lil family!

Oh and he LOVED this... Getting a picture with Curious George.
He loves that show and it was cute because George was playing with the
kids acting like the real George. :)

Getting goodies.

My Woody. :)

Checking out the porcupine.

Winning the girls over...and Bethany catching the attention too.

Here's the stance again. He's crazy!

Finally a picture with Momma. :)

Just one of the many props they had.

Then it was over for that night. Sunday we got a break and was resting up. I planned on posting all this previous stuff, but I was too tired. Then yesterday I wasn't feeling so hot and didn't get around to posting yesterday either. But just decided to wait because I knew there were more pictures to come from trick or treating. :) This was the first year we took Kaden trick or treating. Why we waited this long? I don't know. But Kaden had fun once he got over his shyness. Everyone ohh and awed at Bethany too of course. There were people thinking I made her costume, but nope I got it at Walmart. :) Can't wait until next year we will be chasing two little ones.

Getting ready to head out..

Daddy and his girl...

Kaden not so sure abut this...

Finally sucess with the first home..

Getting better, but daddy still has to go first. Ha.

Evil eyes...Ha he was pretty used to it by now.

Momma's girl.. :)

Our little man!

We're doing finally! :)

Bethany already gave it up long time ago! :)

Needless to say we had a BUSY Halloween weekend plus Monday. :) We had a blast though and can't wait until next year when we will have another little one walking around. Now that Halloween is over it's time to focus on Thanksgiving then with Christmas fastly apporaching finding the perfect gifts for our precious two little miracles. It will be a fun holiday season. The Lord knows we have a TON to be thankful for! May God bless you all! Hopefully I will be able to get Bethany's 5 month post on here tomorrow. So stay tuned!

Two post in one. :)

2011-10-24T12:54:00.000-05:00

I never got the chance to set down and do a post on these when I wanted to. With Kaden getting strep and trying to get him well while taking care of Bethany I just didn’t have the time…BUT better late than never. These pictures were from 2 different weekends. I figured I need to try to get this done since Halloween is this weekend.

Depot Days in Gainesville, Texas.

October 8, 2011

It’s been kinda our little families tradition ever since they first started this we would go and see what they had out. Its always on the second Saturday of October. They didn’t have hardly anything for the kiddos to do, but I think Kaden managed anyways…

　
It took me forever to convince Kaden this slide would be fun. Him and his dad have this thing if they swing to high, or go down a hill to fast, or even slide from this high up….

Their head “tickles”. Ha. Needless to say I don’t understand what they mean, but both of theirs does it. It’s funny driving down a steep off ramp in Sherman, because they will grab their head at the exact same time laughing.

They had a little bike show there too and Kaden loved watching it.

I was given the same look from the both of them. Ha..

They were watching the bike show...

The Cooke County Courthouse is behind them.

Miss Bethany and momma just hung out and walked around. I didn’t see anything I could die for, but then again there wasn’t much there this year as compared to previous years.

I just put her back in after she was asleep and she
kept doing this when she woke back up.
crazy girl. :)

　
We didn’t stay long this year, but had fun anyways. It’s just always fun getting out together as a family of FOUR now instead of three. : -)

After we left, we decided to go grab something to eat at Applebees out by the local outlet mall where I used to work up until Kaden turned 2 then I just decided being home was more important. While I worked at OshKosh B’Gosh the ducks from the two ponds they have out in front of the mall would always walk around the mall and when they were in front of our store and didn’t have any customers we would go and get some bread to feed them. Well when we were walking out of Applebees the ducks were close to our car. We had some fries that Kaden didn’t eat and was planning on taking them with us. But we decided to give a fry to one of them and man they came running for more. So needless to say we didn’t get home with the fries, but enjoyed Kaden’s reaction watching Daddy feed the ducks the fries. Its one of them once in a lifetime type things. Just glad I had the camera with us. : )

46^th (I think) annual Peanut Festival in Whitesboro, Tx.

October 15^th, 2011

This is another one we try to get to every year. I couldn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked, there were just people everywhere!

It was kinda sad seeing all the rides Kaden used to beg to ride when he was younger and just watching him pass them up like he knew they were for younger kids. My baby is growing up! He LOVED going down this slide although I quickly realized he’s getting so big as he was walking up the slide all by himself without even asking if Daddy or me could go with him. Can’t believe in February I will have a 6 yr old already!

My baby going up by himself. :(

He did ride this one it made me feel a little better. : )

Giving the man the tickets

Can’t wait until next year we will have a little one running around again begging for the little rides. Ha.

Watching Bubba..

There was a parade, but like I said there were people EVERYWHERE and Kaden had to get on his daddy’s shoulders so he could see....

Kaden watching the parade...and Derek had his eyes closed. Ha.

Even though we had a blast, the fun came to an end that night at 10 when I just happened to feel of Kaden and he was burning up. He ran a fever until when it finally broke Thursday morning. We took him to the doctor on Monday and come to find out he had strep.

His fever stayed in the high 102-104. I hate seeing my baby so sick and was so glad when he started being Kaden again.

This Saturday will be another day of fun well evening that is. It’s Zoo Boo night. We been taking Kaden there ever since it was his first Halloween. Hard to believe it will his 6^th one this year. He has been a monkey, train conductor, ninja, GI Joe, Iron Man, and this year he wanted to be Woody.

Kaden's First Halloween. : )

LOVE his face in this one...typical cowboy! :)

And we can't forget our precious baby girl...

Our Little Lamb. :)

So glad it's getting holiday season again... It's so much fun with the two of them especially our little boy AND girl. :) God is Good.

Stay tuned for the post from Zoo Boo...can't wait!

May God bless you all!

Happy 4 months to Our Pretty Girl…

2011-10-04T12:35:00.000-05:00

Miss Bethany Kate, we love you oh so much! I can’t believe my baby girl is 4 months already! You’re growing like a weed and showing no signs of stopping! At the doctor yesterday I was informed that you are an average size for a SIX month old! No wonder it seems like you are growing up fast! As much as I can’t wait until we are off and doing girl things together, I don’t want you growing up just as much. You make our life so happy, and the perfect finishing piece to our wonderful family. Ok I won’t try to go on forever and get to the things you have done/accomplished last month…

Yesterday at your 4 month check up you weighed

15lbs 11oz

And measured in at

25 ¾ ins.

And head circumference was

17.

You were in the 90^th percentile for ALL three! In the words of Dr. Shaw, “Well she’s well proportioned, she’s just a big girl!” : )

As much as I was saying that you are taking after your daddy, I looked in my baby book and noticed at my four months I was 25 ¾ ins as well and weighed 15lbs 9oz. So it will be interesting to see who you take after. Your brother was 24 ¾ and weighed 16lbs 12oz, and he’s tall and skinny like ya’lls daddy! : )
You’re now eating 5 oz every 3-4 hours.

You're becoming a blanket lover

Your typical day now consist of:
waking up around 7:30, momma changes you and we’re out the door to take your bubba to school.
We get back around 8 and that’s your first feeding for the day.
We usually play and put you in your bouncer some until around 9:15-9:30 then you get tired and decide you need to be rocked to sleep.
It usually doesn’t take you long to fall asleep (unless you decide to fight it. Ha.). I lay you down in your crib around 9:45-10.
You usually sleep until 12:30-1 and then your wanting another feeding. I know you go a while between them two feedings but it’s the only time you do! Lol. Plus it gives momma time to do some cleaning.
After that feeding we’re back to playing during tummy time and usually put you in your walker for a little bit.

2:15: Sometimes you decide you need to take a little nap and sleep until we get ready to go pick up your brother at 3:15.

3:40: We are usually rolling back in and daddy is home. : ).

4 - You’re wanting another bottle. Then you usually are playing with Daddy while momma fixes some supper.

5:30-6: You crash until the next feeding around

7-7:30. We play until you are tired around

8:30 and sleep until I wake you up around

10:30 to change your into your sleeper and give you your last feeding which is just usually 2 ounces and you don’t bother to burp most times because by then you’re out like a light. Then momma puts you down for one last time for the day and you sleep until

7:30 comes around the next morning.

Glad it's finally getting cooler, but it's making your allergies start. :(

You accomplished rolling from your tummy to back this month, as well finally given momma that big laugh I‘ve been waiting for!

You now prefer your fist over your paci any day…but still will take your paci to help your drift off to sleep.

You have become quite the talker. At your appointment yesterday there was a lady with her little boy waiting as well, and as soon as you seen them you just let out one of your hey’s. Nothing else came after which is rare for you. Lol. And I know you’re still too young to put your words to meaning, but you just said hey clear as a bell and she thought you were talking already. Ha. Not yet, but you sure do think you can!

Sitting in bubba's chair watching Daddy play a game

Your hair and still that auburn color. I’m like daddy , I don’t know if it’s mine and his hair mixed to make it look auburn or if it’s actually auburn. Your granddad (one you will never get to know or meet, your daddy’s dad) hair was auburn and your Nannie was born with auburn hair but her changed when she got older. So it’s in your blood, it will be interesting to see what it actually becomes, I’m hopeing it will stay but we shall see. : ) Some of your hair in the back has fallen out. I think it’s because you have been sleeping on your back, but I have since started putting you on your stomach at night since you’re out of the risk for SIDS.

First pony tail...Momma couldn't resist. :)

You had your first babysitter other than grandparents this last month while Mommy and Daddy went on a date night. It was your uncle JD and his girlfriend Kelsey, but I think Kelsey took care of you the most. Ha.

Lovin' on your teddy...

You went to you first birthday party this last month. Your cousin Chloe turned the big 1! You and her are going to be partners in crime against your brother and Makalya.

We got you a bumbo this month and you just LOVE to set in it. Probably because you’re setting up finally and not laying down.

Waiting to pick up bubba...testing it out for the first time!

You’re still in size 2 diapers and you can still wear MOST of your 0-3 onesies, your dresses are getting to short. Your 3-6 mons sleepers (ones you have been in since you turned 2 months) are starting to get snug on your shoulders so it looks like I’m going to have to get the 6-9 mon ones out as well as the pants because your 3-6 pants are getting too short. My baby girl is just getting too big!

You and bubba just chillin'. Watching Daddy play a game, obviously Kaden was distracted.

Your bubba has been showing more interest in you this last month. I guess because you are getting bigger and you start smiling and talking every time you see him. When he starts talking to you and you start your smiling he will say "Oh no here we go again" with the biggest smile on his face...He loves his little sister!

I love this picture...he was trying to get you talking.

Love the expressions...
(the stain is from the silver nitrate they used on your belly button to keep it from oozing
when you were 2 wks old.)

He wanted his sister in the tent with him...

Such a good brother...He put the pillow beside you to keep you from sliding over..

I'm oh so thankful for the both of my precious babies...although bubba will tell me he's not a baby anymore. :P I thank God for both of you. You are both my miracle babies just in different ways. I pray that you and your brother's relationship always remains close after all God and family matters the most. I look forward to you learning...not so much growing. Ha...next month. I love you baby girl! Happy 4 months!

Pictures from the kids first photo shoot!

2011-09-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

My sister and I decided to take advantage of the deal a local photographer (which is a little girl from Kaden's pre-k class last year's mom. She has a crush on Kaden and still does. It's so cute and we joke around with Kaden about her being his gf. Ha) was doing during the summer HOT and I mean HOT...almost 69 days straight with triple digit weather!...days, and get the kids pictures taken together since we've been wanting to do this since Bethany was born. They did great. They all had their moments of melt downs and I don't want toos but after it was said and done...we got come pretty cute pictures. :-)

And just in case you are wondering what ages they are...in these photos..

August 27, 2011
Kaden is almost 5 yrs and 6 mons exact.

Makalya is 4 yrs 9 mons 10 days.

Chloe is 11 mons 10 days.

Bethany is 2 mons 26 days.

Funny/weird thing...When I had Kaden, my sister was 2 weeks pregnant with Makalya and had no idea...Well when my sister had Chloe, I was 2 weeks pregnant with Bethany and had no idea. :) It just weird because after all the time we were trying I just happen to get pregnant 2 weeks before Chole was born. Ha. Love these kiddos!!

The group photos

Yes, the two youngest ones are redheads!! :-)

My Precious kiddos!!

My lil loves!

My fav!...

Kaden is such a stinker!! lol.

My adorable nieces

Chloe is such a character...

I love this one...

Then the individuals..

Mr. Kaden Anthony Insall
(The leader of the pack)

My fav...

My lil man growing up on me!

Miss Makalya Michelle Thomison

Miss Chloe Bell Thomison

Redhead and all! :)

She's her auntie's lil girl...She comes to me everytime she sees me. :)

Such a hamm!

And last but definitely not least...

Miss Bethany Kate Insall

My baby girl...

We tried to get to fall asleep, but she wasn't having it. Ha.

Thank you Jessica if you're reading this...They turned out so adorable! You're Awesome. :)

Well that was all the pictures...well not all. Just the ones I thought I had to post. :) I hope you enjoyed them.

They are their Papa and Nannie's joys, and their parents world! Hopefully my brother will have some boys after he gets married one of these days so Kaden won't be the only boy, but if he was it would be so fitting for him. Ha. My sister said she was done with having kids, and I know we are! We have one of each and that's what we wanted, we just got lucky enough for it to actually happen. Thank you for reading/looking. Take care and May God bless you all!

Happy 3 months to our precious baby girl…

2011-09-04T15:30:00.003-05:00

(two days late...ha)

Well here is Bethany baby. You are now officially 3 months old!! How did that happen?!?

I can’t believe how fast you’re growing, but will admit I love watching you learn and catch on to new things. I’m enjoying every bit of our girl times, I never thought I would have a boy then a girl. It’s makes it fun. Daddy can go fishing with Kaden and you and me and go to girl things…like spend daddy’s money on cute clothes and glittery stuff… : )

Momma made you that bow. :)

I don’t know you’re exact weight but since you were almost 13 lbs on your two month check up, I’m guessing you’re about almost 14lbs now…and growing like a weed!

You are about 25 ins long now…

You're taking mainly 4oz sometime 5oz every 3-4 hours. You just refuse to eat anymore than that. Although I wish you would so we could space your feedings out more… :)

You usually crash about 8:30-9 and sleep until I wake you up for your last feeding before I actually put you to bed around 10:30 and usually sleep until 7-7:30 when I have to wake your brother up to get ready for school.

You love your bouncer!!

You’ve been getting a little bit better about me laying you down during the day to sleep, as long as it’s not in your bassinet…I guess you connect that with bedtime. So I have spot on the couch where I lay you down for your naps during the day on your stomach, and you usually do pretty good.

Such a stinker!

You’re getting better about taking your paci…finally! You still don’t want it unless you’re tired but at least it helps you dose off…

You have also started sucking your fist some, as well as your two middle fingers(them are the ones mommy sucked too, but I wouldn’t take a paci at all)

And you’ve become a little drooler bug!

You have found your hands and feet this month! I love watching you try to reach for your toys when we hold them in front of you…

You have started to be more alert now and wanting to be talked to while you’re awake.

You have had your first mini photo shoot of you done this month along with your big brother and two older cousins. This is the outfit you wore...

Along with the bow I made just for the pictures! :)

You are getting where you don’t like tummy time anymore. : ( I think because you’re too nosey about whats going on and want to be set up to see.

Your hair has started to get more red. : ) and them eyes are still blueish grey.

You still have every bit of your hair and hasn’t lost any of it yet. That we can tell anyways.

You love being held up in the air and being talked to while in the air. You give us the biggest smile every time.

Momma’s been waiting on that big first laugh, but you still haven’t gave it to me yet. But then again I guess I shouldn’t compare you and big brother together (he first laughed the day before he turned 3 months). :- )

So innocent looking! :)

It’s just been me and you lately while Daddy is working and big brother is at school. I think you miss him while he’s gone. You love to watch him play! And when we go pick him up, you can be crying until he gets in and starts talking to me about his day, then you will just start cooing and gooing non stop. I love the connection you two have already!

I love you baby girl! I can’t wait to see what new discoveries you make this month or new things you will start/learn. Happy 3 months pretty girl! Mommy, Daddy and Bubba loves you bunches!

Daddy's girl!

But then again...you're momma's girl too! :)

Kaden's "Silly Ole Heart" Journey...

2011-08-16T16:20:00.000-05:00

My friend and fellow heart mom - Stefenie is once again sharing "Every heart has a story ... " on her blog, Here linking and connecting heart families across the world to help connect and support each other but also the main purpose is to spread awareness of CHD ( Congenital Heart Defects). Stop by her blog and read these stories, you will be very BLESSED . 1 in 100 CHILDREN WILL BE BORN WITH A CHD.... What if 1 of them was yours?? I never even knew about it until it happened to us... Spread Awareness and Create Hope ~! (Got this from another heart momma, Rhonda, but thought it was a good way to start this out!! :)
This is the Journey of OUR 1 in 100....

Kaden Anthony Insall

From the beginning….

Kaden Anthony Insall was born Tuesday ,February 28, 2006. I had a wonderful pregnancy no problems what so ever! I was 3 weeks from Kaden’s due date and was going for yet another check up. They asked if I’ve been having any headaches. I said no…Well come to find out my blood pressure was sky high! They sent me over to labor and delivery to be monitored. After 3-4 hours my doctor came and said, “It’s your choice but whatever you choose you aren’t leaving…”, so I was thinking ok it’s time. He preceded to tell me that he could induce me and have a chance of having seizures or a stroke because of the stress with my blood pressure and still have 50/50 chance of having a c-section or he could schedule the c-section for that evening. So Duh I chose the c-section. At the time my husband and I had no clue there was anything wrong with our soon to be precious little boy.

At 5:25 pm Kaden made his grand entrance into this world weighing in at 7lbs 8.6 oz and measuring 19 ins long and screaming his head off!

…Shortly after we were told that they heard a heart murmur but not to worry MOST of them go away. No biggie right? …Or so we thought. Everything continued to go well. Kaden had a round with jaundice and were kept longer in the hospital so they could treat him for that.

Sunday, March 5, we were able to finally take our little pride and joy home!

March 15, 2006, we took Kaden back for his 2 week check up. To our surprise his heart murmur was still there. So his pediatrician then referred us to a wonderful amazing woman we would soon get very close to…Dr. Lee Ann Pearse. On March 17th we were taking our little boy to see his cardiologist, that’s the day Dr. Pearse told us our son has Aortic Stenosis. From that moment on we would have more knowledge than we thought we would ever have about the aortic valve. We learned a month later that our son’s aortic valve was bicuspid and he could have surgery anywhere between 2-4 months old. God had a different plan though Kaden never had to have a surgery done…

Fast forward to April 10, 2008. We took him for a check up and to learn the balloon procedure would no longer work, because his valve was now leaking. So Dr. Pearse scheduled a catherization to get a better idea what was going on in his little heart. April 24, we took him to have it done. From the results we found out his leakage was mild and the valve was leaking between his leaflets which means when he will have to have a surgery it would have to be the ROSS procedure, but he shouldn’t have to get it done until he is a teenager. Praise the Lord!…

We continue to take him off and on anywhere from year to 6 months. Our last visit was on August 12, 2010. We found out that his valve is leaking quite a bit more. The wonderful thing about this is Dr. Pearse and us don’t agree with the ROSS procedure…so she is thinking his valve could be repaired. Wonderful news, but we have to find a surgeon we want to perform open heart surgery on our little boy. We take him back in 3 months (Nov 22) to have him reevaluated again since the two previous appointments (May 09 and Nov 09) Kaden didn’t corporate very well and was fighting us as well as the nurses, and Aug 12th he was a little angel didn’t fight what so ever so we are hopeing he does the same in November.

We were told it could be time for surgery anywhere from 6 months - 5 years. So obviously waiting until a teenager was out of the picture but at least they can repair it. So this is where we stand. Praying to God for a miracle but asking for guidance on our decision for a surgeon. We’ve been so blessed with the CHD community! Without the support of our “Heart Family” there’s no way I would still be sane through all of this. Lol. We’ve learned so much from watching our child grow and learn with a heart problem, he just never lets ANYTHING get in his way.

If you want to talk more or if your child had a aortic valve repaired please let us know. We think we are going to be using Dr. Fraser in Houston, but we don't want to make any sudden decisions. He's just the one we have found so far with more experience.

UPDATE SINCE LAST POSTED THIS A YEAR AGO:

My husand and I have decided to have Dr. Fraser operate on Kaden.

So on Feb 4th, 2011, we took Kaden to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Tx, so Dr. Fraser could evaluate him himself and see where he stood from their exam. Kaden did wonderfully this time as well and he LOVED going and staying in the hotel while we were down there. From this appointment Dr. F (I don't know how to spell her name lol. but she is the cardiologist that sees Kaden when we take him down there) told us that his left ventricle was larger compared to back in November.

Such a trooper!..Hanging out with "Houston" while getting the echo.

That she would expect him to have surgery this summer. Talk about being heart broken. I just broke down but tried to keep it under control because Kaden was in the room. We then saw Dr. Fraser's nurse and she was like he's just a healthy little boy huh? and I was like oh yeah, then she proceeded to say "He just has a silly old heart", that he does. Then we saw Dr. Fraser and he agreed that surgery would have to be soon. I then informed him that I was due to have our baby June 3. He didn't like the idea of me having a newborn with a child recovering from open heart surgery so then he decided he push it up to late March or early April. Once again I couldn't break down there with Kaden, I just didn't want him to see me that way. We were handed a BLACK...out of all colors...folder. Inside it was booklets, sheets, all sorts of information on pediatric open heart surgery. It just hit me that this is actually going to happen...and SOON! So we left that appointment and started our 5 1/2 hour drive back home. Thinking. Wondering. Worrying. Praying. Crying. and Praying some more. Yes we knew Kaden would have to have surgery one day. We knew this. But with surgery been thrown in our faces two times before and by the Grace of God it never happened I guess I was just kinda expecting the same thing this time around, but no. Or so we thought...

Late March, I still haven't heard from Dr. Fraser about surgery date, so I e-mailed his nurse and asked if there was a date yet or what was taking place. Well come to find out during one of their (Dr. Fraser along with all of the surgeons and cardiologists there on staff at Texas Children's) conferences they brought Kaden's case up. Well come to find out they disagreed on performing Kaden's surgery. They didn't think it was time. Since Kaden doesn't show any symptoms and his left ventricle isn't TOO large, they decided this wasn't the time to do it. They were planning on repairing his aortic valve but as you heart parents know, it doesn't always goes as planned and it could end up him needing the ROSS therefore leading to more open heart surgeries because with him being only 5 he will out grow them fast...So by the Grace of God, yet again...surgery was pushed off...Thank God! but he did want to see Kaden back in early April to have to him re evaluated to make sure everything still looks good. Dr. Pearse then put Kaden on Enalapril to see if it would help.

April 6th, we took him back again to have a check up. Thankfully everything remain stable! Praise God! But he did want to keep a close eye on Kaden. We could either go to his local cardiologist in or Houston, but he wanted Kaden to be seen every 4-6 months. Thank you Jesus! We were able to now focus on our new to be bundle of joy!

June 2nd, Kaden became a big brother to his adorable little sister, Bethany Kate. She was born with a head full of hair and most importantly...NO heart murmur!!!...

June 23rd, we took both of them for heart check ups! Bethany is heart healthy!..Although Dr. Pearse did make our heart drop, when she came in and started the sentence with..."All she has..." Which is a very small ASD but said all babies that age usually have it and they grow back before a year old, even if it didn't there's nothing they will do with it. So she's good there, but we are going to take her back in a year to make sure it is closed.

As for Mr. Kaden...in the words of Dr. Pearse "His heart is liking the Enalapril!"....Everything looked good no changes and we don't have to take him back for another 6 months. Woo Hoo!! God is good!

I don't know where Kaden's heart journey will take us. I don't know if he will every have to have that open heart surgery, I would like to think not, but I know he probably will. I just wish he could grow up being proud of his special heart God has blessed him with. I know it has blessed me. I've learned to live life from day to day. I've learned not to take the little things for granted. I've learned that getting my nursing degree isn't important as compared to raising and staying home with my children. I know I will get that nursing degree one day, but right now I'm enjoying my two precious miracles God has blessed me with. Hard to believe he will be starting kindergarten on Monday. My lil boy is growing up on me!!

To say I wish this never had happened to us, is wrong. Yes, I wish Kaden wouldn't have to go through all the pain and suffering, that I wish wouldn't have to happen, but having his special heart has opened my eyes to the REAL life. Loving people. Caring for people. Telling people how amazing God is through Kaden's CHD journey. It's amazing. Without God, family, heart families, and friends I don't know where I would be in all of this. Thank you to each and everyone who has supported, prayed, and just loved us throughout our journey. I appreciate it beyond words so don't stop! Ha. There are some amazing angels here on earth. Please keep Kaden in your prayers as he faces his next cardio appointment in December. Thanks for reading. Take care and May God bless you all!!

With love from the ♥
The Insall family,
Derek,Kaci,
Kaden and Bethany.

http://pinterest.com/ruth_h/the-faces-of-chd-congenital-heart-awareness-week-f/

Rambling

2011-08-07T17:14:00.001-05:00

This school year is quickly approaching. 16 more days to be exact and we will be proud parents of a big kindergartener! I believe this summer is flying by, I guess it has something to do with Bethany. With them two it can make a day just fly by. I still can’t help but wonder what this school year is going to hold for us.
I didn’t post much during his Pre-K year of school, but we had a lot going on! From thinking surgery was near, to buying our new home, to getting pregnant (finally), then going to Houston to meet the surgeon and shake the hands that would one day hold our son’s heart, to thinking surgery would be in March, to my mom getting diagnosed with breast cancer, to having taking Kaden out of school so we could keep him healthy until surgery just to having to re-enroll him back into school a few days later because surgery would be put off…again, to enjoying his first t-ball season, then finally ending it with the birth of our precious baby girl.

I can’t wait to see what is in store, but then again wondering what it would lead us to. I usually don’t do any post like these, mainly because I feel like Kaden’s heart condition isn’t near as bad as most out there. Although last school year we were slapped in the face with reality and soon discovered his condition could very easily change…in a hurry.

So that’s the main reason I set around at times wondering what our future will hold with our precious baby boy. It doesn’t even seem he has a “silly ole heart”. I would like to think our little boy is heart healthy, and most of time it seems that way. I would like to think he would NEVER need his little chest opened. I would like to think he could live a healthy long life without worrying about his heart. I hope as Stephanie put it in her post, that some little girl will look at him as him and not some one with a heart problem. I can’t help but think how Bethany’s life is going to be affected because of his heart condition, hopefully if any all for the good.

I never really worried about Kaden’s heart from the first time surgery was put off to be honest. It hit me HARD when I first found out and the few months after the fact, but I knew I wasn’t in control of it, as bad as I wanted to be. I knew I couldn’t fix his heart. I knew I couldn’t trade places with him. But I also knew the only man who could fix it. It was then I turned it all over to our Great Physician and I never really had a problem with it from then on, until last school year when it was coming all to real and I was wondering if I should tell Kaden about it or not. With Kaden getting older it makes it harder.

On his last cardio appointment (we took Bethany for a check up and she just had a little hole (asd) in her heart but they all are born that way and most of them close so nothing we should worry about, Thank God), his cardiologist called me ahead of time asking me if I could talk with a heart parent when we came in for his appointment that her little girl (7 yrs) would be there around the same time and asked if she could give them my info. I said sure, of course. A few days later I receive a call from that mother and come to find out she has TGA and already has had 4 heart surgeries. Wondering why his cardiologist wanted me to talk to her, we went ahead talking about our wonderful precious children that were born with special hearts. Come to find out at the appointment his cardiologist wanted her to talk to me since I had such a big support group. I told Dr.Pearse about me having different heart parents on Facebook and Carepages and she told me this mother wanted another mom to talk to and figured I could tell her about finding the other heart moms. But I said all of this to say this. While Bethany was having her echo done and we were waiting on that to get finished up Kaden’s cardiologist asked me to come talk to her and meet her. It was hard comparing her little girl with Kaden. Here she was already had FOUR heart surgeries and Kaden still didn’t have one. Then her little girl wanted to ask their cardiologist something, but was too shy to ask. So her mom tried telling Dr. Pearse but started tearing up. But she finally got out what her daughter wanted to know…”She’s wondering why she had to have 4 heart surgeries”…then her mom went into one of the rooms and started crying. I went to comfort her as best as I could. She was saying it’s just getting so hard because she is starting to notice she is different, and that she has a scar and other children don’t. Then I asked if she had attended any heart groups that I know one is in Ft. Worth. But she said no. Her little girl and Kaden was just messing around with Dr. Pearse (love that she is so kid oriented), wishing I could help her little girl feel better by saying Kaden has a special heart too, but him not having “the scar” I didn’t know if it was the right thing to say. Her mom was going to keep contact with me, but I haven’t heard from her since. I’m thinking about calling Dr. Pearse to get her phone number to call her.

It’s times like those, I feel like Kaden is “normal”. But it leaves me thinking what Kaden will think if and when he ever has his heart surgery. Kaden LOVES going to his heart doctor now. He actually looks forward to it, but I don’t think he realizes his heart is any different. Yeah he know he has to take medicine for his heart, but I don’t think he knows anything is wrong with it. I would like to think there isn’t anything wrong with it to, but I know there is. I know his heart is doing good, but I wonder how long it will last. We take him back every 4-6 months. Every 6 months at the moment. I now I just cringe at the thought of every appointment, because of the unknown. We know at any appointment it could change. We are due to take him in December and I’m praying we get good results. I like the fact his “heart is liking the Enalapril” (heart med he’s on). But I wondering how long it will like it. Ever since Kaden has been diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis with bicuspid valve (now he has aortic vavle regurgitation) I’ve learned to live this life from day to day.

I guess all this came from because I know another school year is coming up. It’s another teacher I will have to let know about his “silly ole heart” and the symptoms we look out for just in case something arises. But then again it’s another teacher that will be amazed how he can live with a heart defect and you can’t even tell. Another teacher that will be charmed by his cuteness he seems to put on when not around his momma or daddy. Lol. Another teacher that will grow to love him for him.

He does make me one proud momma when it comes to his schooling. Last year he got student of the month out of about 60 kids. He actually listens at school (lol he just chooses not to at home) and loves it once he gets back in the groove. The thing he can’t wait for is learning to read. I’ve tried to work with him this summer but with his attention span here at home along with me having to take care of little sister too makes it hard. I can’t wait to see what he learns this year. Although he can be a handful at times around momma and daddy, he seems to be a little shy angel at school. Lol.

So on August 18th, we will be taking him to meet the teacher night. Then on August 23rd we will officially be proud parents of a kindergartener! It’s seems unreal that he is already starting kindergarten, but ready to see what he learns this year. Hopefully he won't get sick near as much as this last year. He had both type A and type B flu, strep (twice), along with 3 cardiologist appointments he had miss school for...totaling to 18 of missed days becasue he couldn't go back until he was fever free for 24 hours. :/
Prayerfully we won’t have any surprises along the way, but if we do…Everything happens for a reason. : -)

Here are some pictures from his Pre-K year.

Kaden's first day of Pre-K!

Setting with his classmates for the first time..

Kaden being shy..

Momma's big boy!

Chistmas party

Chowing down on snacks

Better picture of them...oh and this was one of the days he was running 103 temp.
But couldn't miss this!

They spelt his name wrong but we got it replaced just didn't
have a picture on the computer of it yet,

It has a glare, but this was for the month of January.

Kaden being reconized by Mrs. Flint for the Pre-K

Student of the month...He was being shy. lol.

Doing the Hokey Pokey Dance

Waiting in line for the limbo...

Tug of war at field day...

Thanks for reading my rambling. I wanted to do another post but couldn’t get this off my mind and had the baby down for a nap…finally…so I took advantage of it. Take care and May God bless you all!

Happy 2 months to our precious baby girl…

2011-08-02T21:43:00.004-05:00

Bethany you’ve had made such an impact on our little family in such a short time, and you’re growing like a weed! You seem to be growing faster than your brother even though I know you’re not, maybe it’s just because I know you’re the last baby I will have and I don’t want you to grow up. : ( But nevertheless…

This is the only smile you would give me this morning lol

So serious lol...

You now weigh…12lbs 15.5 oz (Kaden weighed the same at 2 mons!); You weighed 9lbs even at your two week check up

You are now…24ins long ; You were 21 ¼ at your two week check up.

You are in the 90% for your height, 95% for your weight, and 90% for your head circumference which was 16. Looks like you and Kaden will be taller than me before I know it. Ya’ll are taking after your daddy!

Looking at your bubba's shirt

My loves!♥

You had 3 shots today, and you cried and cried! You can tell you’re a little girl compared to your big brother who just cried for seconds after. You on the other hand cried just about the whole way to the car. : (

You still hold that head up like a champ and have since you were a day old believe it or not..

Momma still has problems with not getting her milk supply up, but you still nurse off of me before every feeding during the day until you get what’s there out.

Otherwise you’re taking 4 ounces of formula every 2.5- 4 hrs.

You’ve been what seems like trying to get a sleeping pattern down at night but still has some nights you get off…Usually you have your last feeding around 11-11:30 and sleep until 5-7. Which is so much nicer than you eating at 9, 12, 3, 6. But momma will take whatever schedule you throw out.

You still won’t go to sleep by yourself no matter how hard momma tries to lay you down you still scream until I come pick you up, then you proceed to fall asleep…but then again your big brother was the same way!

As of right now you still sleep in the bassinet next to momma during the night, but I have to admit there are times I have stuck you in bed with momma and daddy because you wouldn’t go to sleep any other way, but since you’re sleeping longer there aren’t that many times any more.

You still won’t take a pacifier unless you are fed and sleepy then you will until you dose off then out it comes.

You’ve started smiling like crazy…It’s so adorable! It just melts my heart every time I see it.

You’ve also started “talking” more…you seem to love it when you are called pretty girl…hmm; - )

You love setting up and don’t like laying down on your back that much.

You don’t seem to mind tummy time…which is nice because your brother hated it!

Tummy time on the blanket your great Memaw hand stiched just for you!

You sound asleep on your Great Memaw today...
I hope you're able to get to know her better one day,
She's a wonderful woman!

You’ve got some strong legs muscles and love to be held up and talk to while you stand.
You absolutely LOVE your mobile in your crib. I can lay you down and as soon as I start the mobile you give this big smile EVERY time! I don’t know if it’s the music or watching it move but either way you love it!

You still have them big blue eyes. I don’t know what color they will end up being…probably brown like your daddy and brother, but yours aren’t as dark blue as your brother was, so just MAYBE you will be green eyed like Momma. : - )

You still look more like your daddy. I wonder who you will look like when you get older. Hmm…

You STILL catch everyone’s attention when we’re out in public. They always comment on how much hair you have! You must have got that from momma, I didn’t have as much, but did have a head full, expect mine was red. And you still have every bit of it…no signs of losing it yet. It’s such an unique color. It looks dark brown, until you get in the sunlight then the red comes out! I don’t know if it will change much, your brothers did, but I love the color it is now. : - )

You still have your daddy’s heart in your little hand, and you will for the rest of your life. He loves you soo much and I just melt every time I see him with you. You have a pretty awesome daddy if you haven’t notice already yet.

Your big brother is excited that your growing more. He loves you and tells me every time you start crying but won’t hold you too much…I think it’s because you’re still too small for him. But when you start “talking” and smiling he comes to see. Before he heads off to see Nannie (my mom) he always gives Momma and Daddy hugs and kisses, then he heads over to you wherever you are and gives you a kiss on the forehead…it’s priceless. I love seeing you two together. My lil boy and my lil girl. : - )

And of course Momma loves you dearly! I can never be thankful enough for God sending your daddy to momma. It’s because of him, that I get to spend all these precious first moments with you, (and your big brother’s first moments too) while he works and supports our family. I hope one day that you find a good man of God like your daddy who just sweeps you off your feet and treats you like a queen, but lets not think about that yet. Lol. As much as I don’t want you to grow up, I can’t wait until we have mother and daughter time. I love you Miss Bethany Kate! You have indeed made our little family complete! You might be Daddy’s girl…but you’re momma’s girl too, but we won’t tell daddy that. : - ) Happy 2 Months Babygirl!! I love you more than you'll ever know!

One Month Old!

Two Months Old!

Bethany's Birth Story...This is Long...

2011-08-01T17:05:00.003-05:00

I realized never did write a post about Bethany’s birth story. I was typing up her 2 month old post and caught myself going into when she was born. So I just erased it and decide to do a whole different post on her birth…and of course I will have to do one on Kaden’s too since it’s only fair. : - ).

This is was our life leading up to her birth.
It was October 12, 2010 when we found out we were pregnant. It was a bitter sweet moment to say the least. We had been trying to get pregnant a year and half before with no luck. I was starting to just give up and just take the fact I couldn’t get pregnant any more, which was hard coming from me I never wanted anything more in the world than to be a mother. I wanted at least one of each, but at that moment in time I would take another boy in a heart beat.

August 12, we found out Kaden would need the open heart surgery we have waited seems like forever for! Something about the CHD journey…it never happens when you want it to. It was then we decided to stop trying to get pregnant. One of my biggest fears was I would be having a baby at one hospital while Kaden would be at another one having his surgery. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be there for my little man. At this point I really didn’t care if I got pregnant or not. My focus was now totally back on Kaden. After been told on two different occasions he would have to have surgery and they ended up falling through and lead to more waiting. His cardiologist wanted us to look around and decide on a surgeon so she could send the records and get it rolling…In the mean time we were getting ready to buy a new home and signing papers on it. My husband and I, after looking and reviewing and comparing different surgeons from all over the US we decided on Dr. Fraser at Texas Children’s in Houston Texas. He has more experience in repairing Aortic Valves and he was close so that was a plus.

October 12, as stated before we found out we were pregnant. I thought I might have been but I didn’t want to get the test just to see another negative. Derek is the one that was actually pushing to get one this time. So he picked one up from work that afternoon. After telling him I wasn’t going to take it, we might as well wait a little longer. He proceeded with, “Kaci, there are two test. If it is negative we still have one.” So I gave in and took it. For you ladies out there, that was the LONGEST 3 mins I think in my life!! Once I seen it was postive I just started tearing up. Because one…I was happy, I really was. I was finally pregnant, BUT second…I was thinking my worst fear was going to come true. That fear was put to the side as soon as I walked in the living room. Derek was playing outside with Kaden and came to check on me. He said well… and I was like “well…we’re pregnant” lol. His response…”I told you!!” Ha. Then he went out side and started running around with excitement. (little fyi, he’s a runner. He runs 5 miles a day even on his lunch break at work). After saying we wasn’t going to tell anyone until futher along…I found myself taking a picture of the test and sending it to my mom, and my sister. They couldn’t believe it….*weird family fact…when I had Kaden my sister was 2 weeks pregnant with her first, Makalya and didn’t know it at the time…well when she had Chloe…her second…I was 2 weeks pregnant and didn’t know it, ha** Anyways they were excited and couldn’t believe it. Since Derek’s mom couldn’t receive picture text we went over there…The way we broke it to her was I had pictures of Kaden’s thumb that he recently, at the time, shut the car door on. There was 2 pictures on there and I told her there were 3 with the third one being the picture of the POSTIVE pregnancy test. It took her a while, but she asked if were serious and I was like uh yeah lol. Needless to say everyone was excited but by the end of the day…by the way I took the other one the next morning just to make sure lol…I was setting wondering how God was going work this one out.

Feb 4, we took Kaden to Houston. Of course you all know the story I posted it on here. But they were wanting to have surgery this summer. But when they found out that’s when I was due they bumped it up to March. While we were waiting on a surgery date and not hearing back. I e-mailed them and asked what was taking so long. They disagreed on the timing of the surgery and decided now wasn’t the best time for surgery but wanted us to come back to check everything again.

Feb 6, I went for a check up and ultrasound to try to find out what we were having. They tried to find out what she was but she wasn’t showing, and rescheduled to come back 2 wks later to try again. While we were waiting for me to see the doctor, I got a call from a perinatal specialist, Dr. Gore, they were confirming the appointment for the next day. Not knowing I had an appointment, I asked if they could change it to that day and they did. They wanted to check the baby’s heart of course. Praying and hopeing for good news. I was nervous as all get out. Thankfully everything came out great and couldn’t see anything wrong with the heart…and we found out we were having a GIRL!! I continued to see the specialist once a month up until I had her. At the time I didn’t care if we had a boy or girl, we actually already had a boys name picked out: Preston Wesley (preston after Derek’s maternal granddad’s dad, and Wesley after my maternal granddad’s dad), but didn’t for a girl. When I was pregnant with Kaden we had Emily Grace for a girl picked out but didn’t have a boys name. So I guess it was just meant to be. I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough to have one of each. God is Awesome!

April 6, we took him Kaden back and everything was stable! We were told once again that surgery will be put on hold. Thank God! I no longer had to worry about his surgery now I could focus on this new PINK bundle of joy.

Now for the good stuff. :)

I was scheduled for a repeat c-section on June 3 at 7:30amand had to be at the hospital at 5:30am. I went to the doctor May 25th and was told it was going to be moved to June 2, because my doctor was going out of town the afternoon on the 3rd.

June 1st, I couldn’t sleep for nothing! I had a last bit to eat at 11pm before I had to be cut off from drinks and food at midnight. I was listening to “I saw God today” just smiling and over excited, while Derek was playing a video game and Kaden fast asleep on the couch. I had a million things running through my head. Who would she look like? Would she have my hair color? Would she be ok? Would everything go smoothly? Most importantly…would her heart be ok even though we were told it would be?…

Derek and I couldn’t go to sleep that night. I think I finally dosed off around 1:30 just to wake up to the alarm at 4:30. We were on the road by 5 heading to the hospital. As soon we got there they were getting all the information they didn’t have previously, getting my IV started (kudos to my nurse she got the first time, and said I was the first redhead she was able to get the first time. Ha), and waiting…some more, and me STARVING. Ha...

My parents finally arrive and get Kaden to the waiting room. I gave my little man a kiss bye…and I give my momma one last kiss before I’m wheeled away just a hour from then. I couldn’t help but tear up. My mom is awesome, I love her so much she so strong and fighting breast cancer wonderfully. I couldn’t believe God was giving me a daughter that I could have a special relationship like my mom and I do. Before too long it was 7 and everything was set to go, they were just waiting on my awesome doctor to come and talk to me. Dr. Grafa finally came around 7:30 and said, “Well we made it, are you ready?” . My response, “Oh yeah”. : - ).

My Momma and Bethany (her #4 grandkid and 3 granddaughter)
Two out of the 3 most important girls in my life!
The other being my Memaw!

My wonderful Memaw and Bethany.

Nurses came in about 7:40 and asked if he came in and I said yes. Next thing I know they were telling Derek to get ready and they were wheeling me out.
They got the surgery blankets and I was switching beds and they were putting the blankets over me it was oh soo cold in there! Lol. I didn’t remember all these details with Kaden I guess because it just happened so fast then and didn’t have time to think about the details. (I’ll go into details when I do his birth story).

They asked if I was having a tubal and I said no. Then they started with the spinal Derek and I decided not to. We didn’t want any more kids, but just incase you know. But If I was able to change my mind in that OR I would have!…I didn’t have a good experience with the spinal this time. It took them a while to get it in. They had to use a bigger needle and put it in a different spot of my spine. I don’t know if that was the reason, but my blood pressure dropped 2 different times dangerously low. I had trouble with nausea and they kept giving me medicine for that. For you ladies who have had a spinal you know what I’m talking about when I say, when I felt the numbness start coming closer to my chest it was fine of course and it’s a werid feeling, but once they got me some what situated I felt it start coming up to my throat and had some trouble breathing. SCARY feeling!…My nurse was starting to get worried because my lips were turning pale and my face, after another dose of the medicine for nausea (making it 4 total), I was finally feeling better and my nurse (loved her!!) said you look better, your lips match your hair. Ha. Then she proceeded to tell me that my blood pressure dropped really really low two different times. I was thinking oh that’s why I was feeling like that, no more kiddos for me! Then next thing I know they were saying, ok she’s stable bring in the dad. At this time they were already cutting on me. Derek walked in and felt so much better seeing him, but told him this is the last one, no more kids. Lol.

It took Dr. Grafa a while working around all the scar tissue, but I kept asking Derek what time it was. Finally I heard ok Dad do you want to see…and next thing I know I was hearing the most sweetest cry! Kaden was screaming when he came out (even 3 weeks early), Bethany was crying but not screaming. Such a girl. Ha. Dr. Grafa mentioned how big she was and had a ton of hair. I guessed her to be 8lbs 6oz she wasn’t that but she was born at 8:06am : - ). They took her over to the bed to clean her up and Derek was saying she has your hair and she looks like you…

A few second old!

Of course momma was smiling ear to ear along with the tears lol. She was screaming good by then, but when they brought her over to me, like with Kaden, as soon as I started talking to her she calmed down.

First time I seen my babygirl!

That’s the best feeling, knowing she knew me already. I was happy, so estatic that I had my girl and she was healthy as far as I knew.

They took me to recovery and brought her back in there along with Derek. You can so tell we had a heart kiddo first because the first thing Derek said…”She doesn’t have a heart murmur”…Praise God!! Then he said she is 8lbs 10.6 oz and 19.5 ins long. It was so nice to hear she didn’t have a heart murmur and her O2 stats were good. I was one happy momma that couldn’t feel anything. Ha

I was then rolled to my room soon after and I was able to see my little man and the rest of my family. Once they gave Bethany a bath we soon noticed her hair wasn’t red, its but mainly in the sunlight. It’s dark brown with red mixed in. And a few days later we noticed she looks more like her Daddy than she does me. Lol. But she still adorable of course. : - ). Our family is now complete. We have our boy AND our girl.

She was worth the year and half waiting to get pregnant. She was worth all the trouble I went through during the OR. She was my daughter and I wouldn’t trade her for the world. I love you Bethany Kate!!

All ready for town...along with the bow my momma made me!

Aren't I cute?!?!

The way she got her name:

We decided on Brooklyn but after a few months I decided it wasn’t girly enough for me. Lol. One day Derek was talking about Starbucks (he’s a coffee addict. Lol) and was talking about his favorite one in Allen, TX. And I was like where and he said in Allen you know off of Bethany dr and Frontage. And I was like That’s it! Bethany! Lol…

We struggled for a middle name for a while. He talked about Marie, because our ice cream shop we used to eat at while dating (still do) was called Beth Maries and he just thought that would be perfect and I told him you got Bethany but your not getting Marie. We went through different names like Mae but I didn’t want her initials to be BMI . I’m weird when it comes to naming kiddos lol. So one day we were at a bookstore, Derek and Kaden when looking at something while I was looking for baby books in Barnes and Noble, and came across a Christian baby name book. So I started fliping through it, I was looking to see what Bethany meant and it was House of God, thought that was neat. Then I went to my name Kaci and came across Kate while flipping back to find my name. Noticing it mean pure one, I thought this is it! Bethany Kate…It just fits. When I told Derek he was ok whatever and didn’t seem to care. When it got closer to having her he wanted to change it and I was like look you got Bethany and I can have Kate it’s only fair. Lol. So he didn’t seem to fight me too much on that since. So Bethany Kate it is. Beautiful name for a beautiful little girl.

Now you get to watch her grow up throughout the years through our blog along with her big brother. I will posting a post on her 2 months tomorrow or Wednesday according to how she acts tomorrow after her shots. :/ Thanks for reading.. I know this was long. Take care and May God bless you all!!

Fourth of July

2011-07-25T22:21:00.001-05:00

Last year we started our own little family tradition. We took Kaden to see the fireworks in Denton, Texas at the University of North Texas stadium where they were having a firework show put on by the Kiwanis. I have to admit, my hubby was right, it was a pretty amazing show. I was used to my dad’s side of the family putting on their annual show (which they still do) just to have fun and spend family time together, just out the country. So it was nice to see a show like that. So since Kaden LOVED it and asked every time throughout the year we passed that stadium going through Denton, if we were going to stop to see the fireworks, we decided it something we need to do as a family every year. Last year at this time we were babysitting Saydee.

Kaden being goofy like always. :)

It's funny...Bethany had more hair than her now, then Saydee did at 5 mons. lol

Me and my lil man!

She’s like our little godchild in a way just don’t have that title. Lol. We had her every other weekend it seemed like that year. Her mom was a teenage single mother (I went to school with her older sister and knew her growing up) and just needed time away. Little did we know a year later we would be taking OUR precious little girl to the firework show. : ) It still amazes me thinking about it. Derek mentioned while we were waiting for the show to start, “I bet you couldn’t picture this, at this time last year”. And it’s true. About this time last year I was beginning to think I wasn’t able to get pregnant again. We tried a year and half about to get pregnant this time around, that’s what having Bethany means oh so much to me and of course her daddy. : )

Me and my girl!

Daddy and his lil girl...she was getting hungry. Ha.

Big brother and his lil sister...love the faces. Momma had to get a picture though. :)

It was HOT this year, but we managed and daddy went by Sonic to get us some drinks. Derek took Kaden to play on the bounce playgrounds while Bethany and I just hung out in the stands. Of course I had to take a lot of pictures….

I gave Derek the camera to take pictures of our lil man playing.

I ♥ Him!

Such a hamm...He's growing up WAY to fast!

Elvis was there too!! :-)

Me and my loves... don't know what is up with the face I'm making lol.

lol...Kade didn't want his picture taken again.

lost count of what number this attempt to get all 4 of us..lol.

Another attempt...closer though! lol.

Daddy and his kiddos...looks like he was getting tired of pictures too. Ha.

But of course not when he wants one of him and his baby girl...
brown belly button and all, thanks to the sliver nitrate.

We finally gave in and had someone take one of all of us...
Our first family picture of the FOUR of us. :-)

Me and my lil man taking pictures to pass the time..

And of course he wanted to do a "goofy face" picture.

lol...can you tell we we were getting bored?!?

Wiped out!

Starting to get crowded..

Chow time!

My brown eyed boy!

Chillen out...I changed her outfit so it wouldn't be so hot!

Daddy goofin off...

Our Happy Baby Girl!!

We have tons of pictures like this...
It just melts my heart seeing him with his baby girl.♥

Finally the show started...we got the rest on the video camera.

As you can see we had a blast!! We got there a tad bit early, but we didn't know what time it was going to start for sure. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures... I'm trying to catch this blog up before Bethany's two month post. :) Can't believe she will be 2 mons on the 2nd! Time is flying by! I will end this post with some pictures I took of my dad's side of the family's little get together on the 3rd of July for fireworks...Take care and May God bless each and everyone of you!!

My niece Makalya with my aunt and uncle and Kaden in the background

Kaden thought he had to change clothes because he got wet,
so yes he did dress himself but had to have a flag shirt (from last year) on still.

My crazy dad...these were suppose to be for the grand kids lol.

I think they got more enjoyment out of them than the grand kids.
Gotta love them!

Attempting to get a picture with all 4 grand kids.

Priceless!!

Kaden: 5 yrs 4 mons 5days old
Makayla: 4yrs 7 mons 16 days old
Chloe: 9mons 16 days old
Bethany: 1 mon 1 day old

They are my parents pride and joys! Yes Kaden is the only grandson...for now anyways.
Please keep my mom in your prayers she has just two chemo treatments left then she'll start radiation
5 days a week for 5 weeks. She goes back this Thursday for a treatment.
Thanks for the prayers!
God is Good!
:-)

Introducing...

2011-07-21T12:50:00.001-05:00

Miss Bethany Kate Insall

Born:

Thursday,

June 2, 2011

at 8:06 am.

8lbs 10.6oz and 19.5ins.

These are just a handful of pictures from her first month that I picked out. I will do a post on her month birthday as well as a picture post from our first July 4th as a family of four. :) God has blessed us with wonderful precious children. How we were lucky enough to have one of each right after each other, I will never understand, but now...Our family is complete!

May God bless you all...

Update on Kaden...

2011-07-21T11:41:00.001-05:00

We’ve had so much going on since last post and never got around to posting anything, but now since we are calming down and getting into a routine I can now make time to update this blog hopefully when I want to. I will get to all the details in between with what we’ve been up to, but for this post I will just make it about Kaden from his heart stand point.
April 4th, We went back to Houston to Texas Children’s Hosptial so he could get the full work up check over by his cardiologist there, Dr. F(hard name to spell and say. Lol), and be seen by Dr. Fraser himself. Thankfully we got the news we were hopeing for. It was a lot different from last visit which is when we were told he would have to have surgery this summer. :/ BUT this time EVERYTHING was stable, Praise God! Which put us back to where we were before…waiting. Dr. Fraser as well as Dr. F, wants him to be kept an eye on every 4-6 months. As soon as he starts showing symptoms of heart distress or his left ventricle start enlarging more than it already is, or when his aortic valve starts showing signs of wear and tear, that’s when it will be surgery time. When will this be?!?! We have NO idea. That’s why Dr. Fraser wants to keep a close eye on him. Thankfully we won’t have to make the 5 ½ hour trip every 4-6 months. He said he felt comfortable with his local cardiologist (Dr. Pearse) keeping an eye on him. Which a hour drive is soo much better than a 5 ½ hour drive.

June 23, We took him back to see Dr. Pearse for his check up. These appointments never get any easier either. BUT once again God prevailed. Everything was stable, and looked good. And as in the words of Dr. Pearse, “His heart is liking the Enalapril!” We don’t have to take him back for 6 months. Thankful we are now able to enjoy the rest of our summer.

Kaden will be starting Kindergarten on August 23. Thankful he is able to start with out being interrupted by a surgery. Now we are praying this next appointment goes well. Kaden has some exciting news to share in the next post that has been keeping us busy. He’s loving every minute of it. : ) Thank you all for keeping Kaden in your prayers, and please continue to do so. I never seen a kid dodge so many chances of surgery, but with God in control anything is possible and prayerfully he won’t ever have to have a surgery. This has made the 3rd time (2 mons old, 2 yrs old, 5 yrs old) we’ve been told ok it’s surgery time, then they change their mind. God is Good!

Now on to the next post….(as you can see I'm working on updating the blog too. :) )

Pictures from Houston Trip. February 5-7.

2011-04-05T09:26:00.000-05:00

On on way to Houston. This was in Lewisville,Tx. Yes we were driving in the melted ice/snow trying to get out of the area before the next expected snow hit.

Kaden having fun at the Houston Zoo!

Children's Museum in Houston, Texas.

Kaden at Texas Children's Hosptial

Playing the games in the waiting area

He didn't want me to take pictures of him. Ha.

His theory..."If I close my eyes they can't see me!"

Mom stop... lol...With the lil bunny "Houston" he was given in the waiting area.

Ok just one mom...
My precious baby boy.

And we wait some more...

Smiling with Houston along with Daddy in the background.

My brave lil man.
Lovely EKG time...He doesn't care for this too much.

2011-04-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Kaden's 5th Birthday Party!!

A LOT has happened since last post...

2011-03-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry for that. :( I told myself I was going to stay on top of this and well things come up, things in life get switched around where it makes it difficult to get on here and type out a post. Unless I do small ones and well that's never possible for me. Ha. Where to begin??

January 19th: I went to the baby dr to see if we could find out if we were having. They couldn't tell because well, this lil one is stubborn! She doesn't like to show off for anyone, unlike Kaden did. She wouldn't move for ANYTHING so we could tell. So they told me to come back in 2 weeks to see if they could tell. Well we didn't know it, but my dr had already called a specialist for the baby to check it's heart and everything out. Well they happen to call me while I was in the waiting room waiting to see my doctor asking if I could make the appointment the very next day. Since Derek already took off for that day I called them back asking if there was a way we could make it down there that same day. They were able to work us in thank goodness! So far, everything looks perfect with our little one...and we also found out while we were there that...we would be having a precious little GIRL!! We couldn't believe it. One boy and one girl...How lucky were we?!? Kaden had been wanting a little brother up until that morning when I asked him what he thought the baby was going to be a little brother or sister...and for some reason he said sister. So needless to say when I told him that he was going to have a sister he said,"I know momma". He's SOO excited for his little sister to get here!

I'm now 29wks along soon to be 30wks on Saturday, but come Friday it will be 9 weeks exactly until we are able to hold our lil princess. They are doing a mandatory c-section since I had Kaden by c-section and they are going to take her a week early. As of last Thursday...little Miss Bethany Kate...weighed 3lbs 1oz. She is in the 63% and is measuring a week ahead than her due date. They are guessing she is going to be a 7lbs 13oz little bundle of joy since she will be a week early, but said if she went to term specialist would guess 8lbs 4oz and my OBGYN was guessing 8lbs 8oz. So we will see. :) I'm starting to go every two weeks now. I'm also still going to the specialist once a month. At the last appt he said he's pretty certain that her aortic valve is 3 leaflets! Praise God. But we go back late April for another screening.

Now on to our lil man....

February 5th: we were Houston bound. With having to replace a wiper blade arm, along with having to get a new tire to replace our other new one... yes it was 2 months old and it blew out on us on the way to Houston and it was after hours but thankfully it happened in a town where my mom's cousin lived and they helped us out since they knew someone who owned a tire shop and they were willing to open it just for us to get us a new tire so we could finish the 3 hours we had left to make.

The next day we took Kaden to the Houston Zoo as well as the Children's Museum.

Then the next day, February 7th, we were on our way to Texas Children's Hospital for them to check over our lil man. From the echo, to ekg, to x-ray, to being listened to by the cardiologist on staff, Dr. Fraser's nurse, to Dr. Fraser himself. We found out that surgery would chances are be this year. The Good note on that is he thinks Kaden would be the perfect candidate for a repair, but we were still left to pick the back up option in case they got in there and seen they coudln't do a repair for whatever reason which would lead us to having a ROSS for a back up. We orgninally thought they were going to do surgery late March/early April because Dr. Fraser didn't want me having to take care of a newborn on top of a child recovering from open heart surgery. BUT on February 28th...Kaden's 5th birthday. I got an e-mail stating to call them. So when I finally got a hold to them they said they had some disagreements about the timing of the surgery since he isn't showing any symptoms (not that we want him to) and that his left ventricle didn't have a MAJOR change from November to February but there was some change. SOOO now we're left with we know it will be sometime after I have the baby which is scheduled for June 3rd and recovered from the c-section. They did want to see him back so they could get another look at him. So April 3rd we will be Houston bound yet once again for his appointment on April 4th. So please keep us in your prayers for a safe trip, that I'm not in too much pain being that I will be 30 weeks prego traveling 5 1/2 hours one way, and most importantly we get Good news that surgery won't have to be for a while longer!!

February 28: My baby boy turned the big FIVE!!...I will post pictures in another post...

A few weeks ago, I called Kaden's cardiologist (the one he usually sees regularly) to double check if it was ok if he played t-ball. It was late far as sign ups go, but since he wasn't having surgery I didn't want him to miss out on it. They were able to work him in so that's why I called to double check. We were given the ok to do so, but she asked me if Dr. Fraser ever mentioned about putting him on a medicine for his heart. I told her well he mentioned it but that's as far as it went. So needless to say Kaden is now on a heart medicine. He has been since last Friday. It's called Enalapril. Thanks to the wonderful pharmacy they made it where he absolutely LOVES the taste of it. So I don't have to fight him to take it Thank goodness! I doubt it will show anything when we go on the 4th but prayerfully it will do it's job and at LEAST buy him another year without surgery so we can enjoy our new PINK bundle of joy this summer and family of 4! So please pray it works in our favor!!

Another prayer request. My wonderful and amazing Mother was diagnosed with breast cancer on the 21st of this month. Could this be God's reasoning why Kaden didn't have to have surgery?!? Who knows. But God is the one in control. She is doing good. We are still waiting on one more result which we should find out tomorrow. If the lymph nodes they took out are cancerous or not, if they are then they will have to go and remove the whole breast. BUT the dr said it looked good from what he could tell, but you can't be 100% sure until the test results come back. So we will wait...nothing new right?!? and pray that we receive Good news in that area as well, but if not we still know God is in control and he can bring her though this as well as the family. So I will leave with this...Its something I made yesterday...

Thank you all for the prayers and please keep them coming! God is Awesome and he brought us through many many hard times and I know he won't let us down now. Take care and May God bless you all!

With love from the ♥,
Kaci Insall

Going to meet with Dr. Fraser.

2011-01-13T10:24:00.000-06:00

That's right...We will be Houston bound February 7th possibly 6th if we decide to stay the night in the hotel to avoid getting up around 4-5 am and heading to Texas Children's to be there by 10:30 am. It will take is 5 1/2 hours but that isn't including traffic SOOO we might stay the night.

We will have to have Kaden there by 10:45 to check in and paper work...yuck!
He will have the echo around 11-11:15.
We will see the cardio on staff...a woman. at 1:30.
Then they set us up to meet with Dr. Fraser by 3:15. :/
And said we should be headed home by 4.

So it will be a long day then another 5 1/2 hours back home. I'm nervous of course but anxious to meet the man that will be opening my son's chest one of these days hopefully not soon. Hopefully we will get a better picture on when surgery will be although I know it's not telling with heart kiddos.

So please keep Kaden in your prayers. Pray for a safe drive for us as well as a safe return...Poor Derek will be driving.. I don't do city driving...I'm a small country girl. lol.

And of course we will have to allow time for restroom breaks considering my Doctor wants me to stop every 2 hours to get out and stretch for the baby. It will be an interesting day but will be well worth it. :)

May God bless you all!

With love from the ♥,
Kaci

Sorry for the WAY overdue update….for that reason...It's LONG!

2011-01-07T11:08:00.000-06:00

I just usually get on long enough to check e-mails and face book…post a few status or updates, comment on some friends status, post if anyone I know is needing prayers…just never make it far enough to check blogs or carepages…

PLUS there has been quite a few changes around here….
Most of you might have known if you followed us on carepages or whatnot…but we’ve been trying for another one with no success and once we found out the news of Kaden’s cardio situation back in August we put on trying for another one on hold after a year and half-two years.

August was a crazy month…

12th - Cardiologist Appointment. : we got the news we never wanted to hear. My baby’s aortic valve was now leaking more…there was talk about surgery…Soon. We left knowing we HAD to make a decision for a surgeon knowing that we will one day…sooner than we thought…would have to hand him over and trust him…but most of all trust God…that our little boy would be ok.

23rd- Our baby boy started school…It took a major adjustment on Kaden…ok Mommy. Kaden did/is doing wonderful. But I was now stuck at home…in silence.

September was calm for the most part…

2nd - Mommy’s was on cloud nine…My baby boy came home with a Good leader on his folder. Knowing he was having fun…being good…Loving school…I could rest and know he was ok.

9th- We made the decision all heart parents NEVER want to make…We decided after much research…The Surgeon we would have operate on our precious baby boy would be Dr. Fraser at Texas children’s in Houston. Yes we knew we would have to drive 6 hours south but distance was never a concern when it came to the best surgeon to repair our son’s Aortic Valve. It was comfort to know though we wouldn’t have to go out of state like we were considering…it helped knowing other heart parents who had experiences with Dr. Fraser and his staff and hospital…just made it feel right when we came across him and started considering him. Now.. We wait!…nothing new there!

17th - We welcomed my brand new niece into this world…

Chloe Bell Thomison

7lbs 10.2 oz 19 ins

Proud Auntie! :)

We spent the rest of the month…Packing. And packing. Moving packed stuff in storage…..packing some more. Lol….My poor wonderful husband…having to do most of the moving by himself you will soon to find out why…

October was yet another crazy but exciting month..

Don’t know the dates for sure but We decided to start looking for a house…
Then We decided on one…
Paper work time!

13th - We found out something that would change our lives forever…not just mine…or my husband…or even for Kaden on that matter…but for all of us…

That’s right…When we stopped trying…That’s when God blessed us with this other miracle…We decided we weren’t going to tell Kaden until we got out of the area where chances for miscarriage goes down…. I was shocked…I cried. Derek I talked about when we got pregnant we wasn’t going to tell anyone until later. BUT that didn’t happen. Derek brought the test home.. I told him not to get one cause test after test it showed negative and I decided I wasn’t going to get one until weeks into missing period…because I frankly just didn’t want to see another negative. Well needless to say he got one…and yes I was further into the missed period than the other times but STILL didn’t think I was because I wasn’t keeping up with dates…we weren’t trying…didn’t think it was possible. Needless to say he talked me into taking it…It was a two test box…So he wanted me to take one that after noon when he got home and if was negative I could take the next one in the morning since the better time to take it is in the morning…well…I took it….Waited…and waited…and waited some more….

Derek was outside at time playing with Kaden. I was stuck in the bathroom waiting which seemed to be FOREVER knowing it was going to negative just knew it…but there was still that “voice” in the back of my mind saying “what if”…3 mins later. As I was watching it go across. I was thinking this CAN’T be true…what if Kaden had surgery when I was having the baby…That soon left my mind…I was standing there in shock. Went in the kitchen where the box was explaining it at…to make sure. About that time Derek walked in and said well…I just simply told him…well we’re pregnant. It didn’t hit me until I was on the phone with my mother….Took a while to tell her huh?!? Can you tell I was excited?!?…How did I tell her? Well I took a picture like the one above on my phone…texted it to her and nothing else. She responded back with “are you serious?” So I called her. I then began to start bawling…I was SOO happy finally…finally…after all this wait…I was pregnant. We then went to Derek’s mom’s house later that evening. Since she couldn’t receive pictured text… I had taken pictures of when Kaden smashed is thumb in the car door…(poor thing still hasn’t healed completely yet…waiting for the nail to fall off) I took 2 pictures of it…then the picture I took of the test was right after that. I just told her there was 3 pictures so just keep going until you see the third one…. She was “WHAT? Are you? I’m going to be a mee mee again!!”…

Kaden would soon be a big brother…

we were getting a new house

with THREE bedrooms not just two.

God had a plan from the get go.

I was just to stubborn to understand that.

We were getting a new house just in time because 8 months from now we were having a new BABY!!! PS: I still took the other pregnancy test in the morning…and it was still positive!!!!

A weird family fact…My sister was 2 weeks pregnant with her first one….Makalya…when I had Kaden and never knew it…….When she had her second…Chloe…I was two weeks pregnant with this one… and never knew it….YES, God I know you had a plan! Lol..

23rd- We moved in with mom…while they were getting our old house 14x70 pulled out and getting the area ready for our new one to come in…18x76. Yes we have sooo much more room…until baby 2 comes along. Haha…

30th - We took Kaden to Zoo Boo. Something we’ve ALWAYS done since his first Halloween. He loves it and we don’t have to worry about spiked candy. Since we live out in the country it’s kinda hard to even go trick or treating…He had a blast…as IRON MAN!!
Pictures to come soon… those were on my mom’s camera since mine was in storage…

November never slowed down…

3rd- I went to the baby doctor the first time in 5 years…not just for a check up but because there was a little one inside me!! It just confirmed what we already knew and the typical first appointment… My official due date would be June 11th….I would go back the 24th day before thanksgiving for a check up and the first ULTRASOUND!!!!

10th- we finally had electricity hooked up to our new house thanks to my wonderful uncle Jeff… It’s nice being part of a big family…there’s always someone there to help. Derek and my brother who just happens to be a plumber hooked up all the stuff in that department.

11th - We FINALLY got the go ahead to move in! Once again Derek did most of it expect my cousin helped him move the big stuff in. We finally got to enjoy our bigger home…so much space…so much wall space that looked empty…

12th- 21st….was spent rearranging…praying…moving… Praying…Unpacking…praying for Good news…

21st- Kaden found the pregnancy flyer thing that had every stage of pregnancy on our kitchen counter…He asked what it was. I told him it’s a baby inside peoples tummy like Chloe was in Ashley’s (my sister) tummy. Then the lil’ smarty asked if there was one in me.. I said well do you want one to be….He said “yes”, “so there can be two kids”. “so it can grow up like me”…relieved that he wanted a baby sibling, I asked what he wanted it be. He said girl. Lol. But it has since been changed to a boy. He wants a baby brother. So we shall see..

22nd- We took Kaden to the cardiologist for yet another check up… on a Good news note… his leakage was stable…. His heart size didn’t increase any although he has grown some… BUT (there is always a but)…We were asked when the best time of the year would be best for surgery…. What?!? Why?!?….was going through my head… We proceeded to say the Summer so it wouldn’t affect Kaden’s schooling. Then my jaw dropped… knowing it’s a possibility…She started talking about THIS summer…All my worries of having another child while having a heart child was starting to come true…. Dr. Pearse (Kaden’s cardio) was talking about this summer MAYBE…She’s basically leaving it up to Dr, Fraser to see what best time he thinks is time for intervention… We take him back in March sometime the week of Kaden’s spring break so he doesn’t have to miss any school that way she said if surgery needs to be scheduled for this summer they will have time to do so…So we may being having a baby June 3rd since they want to take it a week early considering I had a c-section with Kaden. Then possibly 2 weeks later if not sooner we might be heading down to Houston for Kaden’s surgery while our new baby is 6 hours away and me having to pump all this time. AGH… Yes, I know God you have a plan…. So with that being said…We are praying. Hopeing his Surgery won’t be until Summer ‘12 so we can enjoy this summer as a family of FOUR! But if God sees time…then we will just take one day at a time…
(I talked to his cardio about me being pregnant while we were there and they want to do a fetal echo on this one to make sure all is good. This should happen sometime this month)

24th- Our first Ultrasound with baby # 2. Kaden was out of school for Thanksgiving holiday. So he was able to go with us to see his baby sibling for the first time!

11weeks 4 days
Isn’t it cute? It was standing on it’s head the whole time but did make some movements for us. Heartbeat was strong. This pregnancy is so different from Kaden… I have morning sickness and headaches!!

25th - Thanksgiving!!! Needless to say we have SOO much to be thankful this year. Not to mention just in the week leading up to this day. We got Good news some what with Kaden. Our little bean is growing and right on track with a STRONG heartbeat. New house. God has been doing wonders in our family just this past few months!! God is SOO Good!

December was a calm month…

Considering our past months. It was spent…me being sick. I started watching my nieces in November as well as my sister went back to work. Having a blast with them…but still miss my baby boy!

25th- Was a wonderful Christmas! We are always busy running to different places but its was wonderful. They brought my papaw home from the nursing home. First time in 2 years. He’s did and is doing wonderful. He has since caught the cold, He’s amazing. We had a great time with family. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Spending time with family together celebrating Jesus’s birthday! Doesn’t get much better.
Pictures to follow later don't want to make it too long! lol.
January has been calm…so far.

This past year had its up and downs. But doesn’t every year?… Nothing much has happened so far. Kaden started back school on the 3rd it took mommy readjusting again. I’ve been watching my nieces off and on. On the 19th is the day we are waiting for… at least I am. We go to try to find out what this little trouble maker is. Trouble maker? Yes very much so…

With Kaden it was an AWESOME pregnancy it really was. Never had a problem until 3 weeks before he was due I developed High blood pressure and well they ended up taking him that night. With the one. HA… I’ve had morning sickness from day one. Thought it would go away after my first trimester. HA again. I get sick every morning. I don’t have an appetite for anything! Ok maybe just biscuits with jelly and Chicken noodle soup. Sad huh? Lol The thought of food makes me gag. Every time I eat something… I know as soon as I stand up I will start gaging... It never fails. I have these HORRIBLE headaches every day or every other day. Just was told it was hormones. Really?!?…and smellss are the worst! I never…repeat never!…had a problem changing a baby’s diaper… but with me watching Chloe I gag almost to the point throwing up when I change her diaper or if she spits up and some food when I cook it gags me lol. Needless to say I’m ready for this kiddo to get here…. I will be 18 weeks tomorrow! Almost half way there! Woo hoo!

Kaden ask every day just about if we can cut it out yet. He is wanting it to be here. He’s excited. The good thing is… his last day is June 2nd. They will probably take the baby the 3rd. Talk about timing!…once again… Yes I know God. Haha…

Funny story. I think God must have listened lol. But when Kaden was born. I said soon after I didn’t want to have another one until he was 5 and wish it was in the Summer so it will be far from Christmas…Well as time when on. He grew. I longed for that baby back. I wanted another one…BAD!…So we began to try when Kaden was 3. Well…Kaden will be 5 years and 3 months and some days old when this one gets here….and well…it will be in the summer… I think I got my way. I just wanted it sooner. Impatient? I say so.

I said this was long. I wasn’t joking. Now for all of you who made it this far. Thank you for keeping up with us although there are periods in-between I go with out updating. Life gets a hold me to me. I don’t stay on the computer long. But I love you all. I thank you all for keeping Kaden in your prayers. I just ask you do the same for the other little one. We go sometime at the end of this month I’m guessing to do a fetal echo. :/ Praying everything is ok there. I hope you all had a wonderful new years! And I hope this year will bring each and everyone of you so many blessings! Just don’t forget to thank God for them! Thanks again. May God bless you all!

With love from the heart,
Kaci - Mother of soon to be 2

And the Doctor is….

2010-09-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

We’ve chosen to use Dr. Charles Fraser down in Houston, TX to perform open heart surgery on Kaden. We’ve sent well Kaden’s cardiologist sent his info down to Dr. Fraser’s office and they received it on Tuesday. So we are one step closer for Dr. Fraser to review Kaden’s info on his heart. :/ I feel comfortable with him doing the surgery, but it will be Kaden’s first open heart surgery. Now we don’t know when it will all take place. We are suppose to take him back November 22nd to his cardiologist for another check up. If his valve (aortic) is leaking more then I believe she said that she will send us to Children’s soon after, may be a few days, to have the TEE done. Which is where they sedate him and do a scope down his throat to get pictures like an echo cardiogram so they can see what exactly his valve is looking like. They did this when he had his catherization back in April ‘08. Then we will go from there.

They originally didn’t want to see back for another 6 months, but since in his previous readings (5/09 11/09) he was fighting so much they couldn’t get a good stable reading. So they wanted to move his appointment up to 3 months so we can hopefully get a good reading like we did on August 12th.

The thing that has got me worried is my common sense lol. Weird I know, but they base his aortic valve leakage on a “z score”. I don’t know if you heart parents are familiar with this or not but the normal range is from -2 to 2. Ok so..

May of 09...he was fighting them soo bad they almost just didn’t do an echo. Ha…anyways his z score reading then was 1.9.…so almost over. :/

November 09...he was fighting but not near as bad. And his z score was -.2. So it dropped a lot since May.

August ‘10...he was awesome. He didn’t fight whatsoever laid there and took it with no problem…they mentioned it was the best reading they ever got…BUT his z score reading then was a 2!!…

So here is what I’m thinking. I may be totally wrong but this what common sense is telling me. Heart moms correct me if you know different. I was thinking ok since he was fighting them soo bad I would think his leakage would be more since his heart is beating faster therefore there would be more back flow.
Hmm…and when he wasn’t fighting AS bad it went down. So it was -.2 when he was fighting but not to much and a 2 when he was still, his valve must be leaking quite a bit more. But then again like my husband said it could also be that they weren’t able to get a clear reading since he was fighting…..
And another question that just popped in my mind was… I don’t know if this has anything to do with it or not…but he has been sitting up in all the appointments prior to this last appointment in August then he was laying down…would that have anything do with the increase????? Ugh. Looks like I’ll be calling his cardiologist tonight.

Any who beside the point lol. I think we will be looking at surgery within the next 3 years. We’re still praying for a miracle of course but we’re also getting ourselves prepared in case God decides to heal him through surgery. Thank you for all the prayers. Thank you for all the comments. Thank you for just being there listening. Or reading lol…
Take care and May God bless you all!!

With love from the ♥,
Kaci

PS: pictures coming soon from our trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo. :)

Proud Momma!

2010-09-02T20:13:00.003-05:00

Kaden is LOVING school...once he actually gets in there and away from mommy that is. Kaden ALWAYS seem to love school when I pick him up, but from the time I wake him up to dropping him off is another story. He started in last Friday by whining when I first wake him up to crying by time we are ready to walk out the door and crying/whining the whole 10 minutes it take to get to his school. Making mommy feel bad and leaves me thinking is this the right time to put him in school since it isn't required right now?!?...

Well starting Tuesday I kept him laughing and smiling by being silly. Hey I'll do whatever it takes to keep him happy until I drop him off. What do I do may you ask?!? HA...remind you Kaden is 4 ok and loves cars. Well as soon as we get off our gravel road onto pavement..yes we live out in the country..I put the sunroof window back and he "thinks" we are going fast because he hears the wind coming from it. Then as soon as we get on one of the main roads that lead to the school...it has a lot of curves...I start being silly by waiting for cars or trucks to pass us (it's a two lane road)...when we don't see any cars I say.."Here car car car..."then if a truck comes I act like I'm scared and say "I didn't say you truck", then vice versa. Sometimes there are times where there aren't cars for a while and I act like the road is mine and be silly by singing crazy songs and then once we see a car I act like I'm mad lol. It keeps him laughing. I only have to do for about 8 mins by the time we get on the main road....Crazy?..Yes. but it keeps my baby happy so I'll do what it takes! Hopefully it won't last for long! HA...

So to the title of this post...I'm a proud mommy for more than one reason of course but today is one in particular... Kaden gets a sticker everyday if he has a good day. Well he has received one since day one. :) but today..not only did he get a "nice work" sticker there was "Good leader" written right above it!!... For those who know Kaden in person. He's SHY! but he gets that from his mom and dad both. We were shy when we were younger...I've come to learn from his Sunday school class and now it's looking like he is now in school... once he becomes comfortable with his surroundings he blossoms. :-) He of course wouldn't tell me what he did other than eat lunch and play on the playground, but I'm proud to see that on today date! I'm tempted to e-mail his teacher and ask how he's doing and what did he do for her to write "Good leader" on his folder. Until then I will continue to be a proud yet "silly" Mommy.

I will update later on the doctor we chosen to use for his surgery so stay tuned. :)
Thank you all for checking in on us. Please keep all the heart, cancer, and sick kiddos in general in your prayers! Take care and May God bless you all!!

With love from the ♥,
Kaci Insall

Kaden's CHD Journey!

2010-08-25T08:49:00.008-05:00

From the beginning….

Kaden Anthony Insall was born Tuesday ,February 28, 2006. I had a wonderful pregnancy no problems what so ever! I was 3 weeks from Kaden’s due date and was going for yet another check up. They asked if I’ve been having any headaches. I said no…Well come to find out my blood pressure was sky high! They sent me over to labor and delivery to be monitored. After 3-4 hours my doctor came and said, “It’s your choice but whatever you choose you aren’t leaving…”, so I was thinking ok it’s time. He preceded to tell me that he could induce me and have a chance of having seziures because of the stress with my blood pressure and still have 50/50 chance of having a c-section or he could schedule the c-section for that evening. So Duh I chose the c-section. At the time my husband and I had no clue there was anything wrong with our soon to be precious little boy.

At 5:25 pm Kaden made his grand entrance into this world weighing in at 7lbs 8.6 oz and measuring 19 ins long and screaming his head off!

…Shortly after we were told that they heard a heart murmur but not to worry MOST of them go away. No biggie right? …Or so we thought. Everything continued to go well. Kaden had a round with jaundice and were kept longer in the hospital so they could treat him for that.

Sunday, March 5, we were able to finally take our little pride and joy home!

March 15, 2006, we took Kaden back for his 2 week check up. To our surprise his heart murmur was still there. So his pediatrician then referred us to a wonderful amazing woman we would soon get very close to…Dr. Lee Ann Pearse. On March 17th we were taking our little boy to see his cardiologist, that’s the day Dr. Pearse told us our son has Aortic Stenosis. From that moment on we would have more knowledge than we thought we would ever have about the aortic valve. We learned a month later that our son’s aortic valve was bicuspid and he could have surgery anywhere between 2-4 months old. God had a different plan though Kaden never had to have a surgery done…

Fast forward to April 10, 2008. We took him for a check up and to learn the balloon procedure would no longer work, because his valve was now leaking. So Dr. Pearse scheduled a catherization to get a better idea what was going on in his little heart. April 24, we took him to have it done. From the results we found out his leakage was mild and the valve was leaking between his leaflets which means when he will have to have a surgery it would have to be the ROSS procedure, but he shouldn’t have to get it done until he is a teenager. Praise the Lord!…

We continue to take him off and on anywhere from year to 6 months. Our last visit was on August 12, 2010. We found out that his valve is leaking quite a bit more. The wonderful thing about this is Dr. Pearse and us don’t agree with the ROSS procedure…so she is thinking his valve could be repaired. Wonderful news, but we have to find a surgeon we want to perform open heart surgery on our little boy. We take him back in 3 months (Nov 22) to have him reevaluated again since the two previous appointments (May 09 and Nov 09) Kaden didn’t corporate very well and was fighting us as well as the nurses, and Aug 12th he was a little angel didn’t fight what so ever so we are hopeing he does the same in November.

We were told it could be time for surgery anywhere from 6 months - 5 years. So obviously waiting until a teenager was out of the picture but at least they can repair it. So this is where we stand. Praying to God for a miracle but asking for guidance on our decision for a surgeon. We’ve been so blessed with the CHD community! Without the support of our “Heart Family” there’s no way I would still be sane through all of this. Lol. Kaden is doing wonderfully. From day one you couldn’t tell he had any heart problem, and still can’t. He started Pre-K this year going from 8- 3:30 Mon-Fri and he LOVES it!

We’ve learned so much from watching our child grow and learn with a heart problem, he just never lets ANYTHING get in his way.

If you want to talk more or if your child had a aortic valve repaired please let us know. We think we are going to be using Dr. Fraser in Houston, but we don't want to make any sudden decisions. He's just the one we have found so far with more experience. Thank you for reading about our little Kaden. Please keep him in your prayers! Take care and May God bless each and everyone of you!!

With love from the ♥
The Insall family,
Derek,Kaci, and Kaden.

Kaden's CHD journey...

2010-08-24T16:28:00.001-05:00

Posting tomorrow!!
I've been working on it today and wasn't able to get it all done..
So stayed tuned. :)

With love from the ♥,
Kaden's mommy.

Some of the pictures from Kaden's Birthday Party!!...Spiderman!!!

2010-05-20T08:38:00.003-05:00

Catching up...

2010-05-19T13:44:00.003-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Once again, I'm behind! lol. I can't believe it's been 3 1/2 months since I posted the last update. Oops!...I update his carepage, but forget to update this one. So sorry for all of you who keep up with Kaden through here. A lot of things has happend since February 4th.

First of all February 28th, out precious little boy turned FOUR!!!...It just seems like yesterday since I was finding out I was pregnant with him, which would be 5 years ago next month! Wow!...As bad as I wish he was still that little newborn, cuddling him, smelling him, loving him, singing "Hush little baby" to get him to fall asleep...I want him to be the age he is now!...After all I can still cuddle him, smell his hair, love him....but only when he allows me too lol...and singing "Hush little baby" is a no go these days, because tell you the truth I think he still remembers it. It came on TV the other day off some cartoon, so I started singing it, and the first thing he did was just look at me like he knew what it was, and proceeded to tell me he wasn't a baby anymore. Now days, I take a hug every moment he offers one, cherish his "I love you, Mommy"'s with everything in me, and continue to love MY baby although he's growing like a weed!...We found out at his 4 yr check up that he's in the 90% for his height and 75% for his weight....going to be just like his daddy, who is starting to look more and more like!...

Then April 22nd, I went to register "big boy" Kaden for PRE-K!!! I get teary eyed just thinking of it. He will be starting school August 23rd, and will be going from 8-3:30: Monday-Friday!...I'm excited, but sad all at one time. But I know this is just another milestone in his life, but it's sad knowning that his first stage of life is over. While he probably won't cry his first day, mommy probably will be crying from the moment I wake up! lol... I won't be spending my day watching my baby grow and learn. Instead, I'm going to go to work for a while. becasue well I won't be able to stay home with nothing to do! lol...I'm going to work untill I get pregnant...Yes, we are going to be trying..again..come August!...I'm excited, hopefully and prayerfully it won't take us long. : )...I just decided we are going to raise how ever many kiddos the Lord will bless us with, then once they are all in school, that's when I will go back for my nursing. We've just decided, after having Kaden, how much I love doing it and how much I don't want them to be raised by day care. We didn't put Kaden in daycare becasue well at first it was because of his heart condition, but then we relized how much a blessing it is to be able for me to do that. Like I said before, there will always a college there, but kids won't stay little for long!...

April 30, my sister found out that she's having another precious girl! So the end of September sometime miss Chole Belle Thomison will be making her way into this world!...Hopefully Makalya (3 yr old,big sister) will do fine. We think she's going to have some jealously issues, beucase she already told my mom and dad that Chole can't go over to their house lol and her daddy can't play with Chole! lol...This to shall pass I'm sure lol.

May 7-8, we babysat my friend's little 3 mon old girl, Saydee! I think that's when we really decided we were ready for another one. :) Kaden did so well with her and was telling us to be careful when we were changing her diaper...it was priceless!..Then while sitting on the couch, while Saydee was sound asleep we had this convo:

Kaden: Mommy, what is 'Kayla' (thats what he calls Makalya) going to have?
Me: She's going to have a baby sister.
Kaden: Like mine?
Me:...*laughing*...no this isn't yours, baby, we are just watching her. She will be going back tomorrow. Mommy don't have a baby in her tummy.
Kaden: Oh...'Kayla' mom does.

LOL. It was too cute. Soon Kaden.. hopefully. :)....I'm sure Kaden is all confused and wonders why his mommy don't have a baby in her tummy, because Makalya is going to have a baby sister due end of september, and Garrett his other play buddy ( actually Derek's cousin but he's 8 weeks younger than Kaden) is going to be having a baby brother due the middle of August. lol. But maybe when September gets here we will get pregnant, because my sister became pregnant with Makalya around the time Kaden was born and just didn't know it at the time lol. But all we can do it pray that will all work out for the best! : )

Back track a little...Feb 28, on Kaden's birthday, we joined our new church. First Baptist Church in Whitesboro, Texas. :) Awesome church! Kaden loves it! In March, I was asked to be the temp 3-4 yr old Sunday school director because their teacher has breast cancer and taking chemo. Keep her in your prayers Donna Alsup. It's been a blessing. It gets crazy at times, but I love it! So it didn't take us well me to fall in place lol. God is Good!

With Kaden starting School in August, and since Kaden's cardio check up wasn't until November, I decided to reschedule his appt to some time before School started so I can get an ok and feel better about him starting. So He will be going back August 12 for a check up and hopefully, prayerfully, we will get STABLE!!...

Kaden gave mommy scare May 4th when we woke up. He took a tumble on the local school May 2nd, and I noticed when he woke up on the 4th that he had a knot behind his ear...well I knew from taking some anatomy classes...that it was possibly the lymph node, but it was HUGE and it had me worried becasue it was on the same side of where he hit his head on the track so I called and they got him in. Come to find out it was just an infected lymph node and probably was from his scrape on his forehead from when he fell...gave us some antibotics to give him...and if he didn't go away in a week, we would have to take him back in and they would probably have to drain it...Well I notice Monday morning it wasn't down all the way. It did go down some but I could still see it. So I gave it until Tuesday then Icalled and asked about it...wanted to be safe than sorry...well they wanted to see him. Come to find out it's Normal! The Lymph node just sit on top of the bone so therefore you can see it. We were told as long as it isn't tender to the touch, or enlarged like it was, then it's ok. Thank you God!....

Well, I think I've updated all I can think of anyways. I will try to get some pictures on here tomorrow or at least before Friday!...

Keep all the heart kiddos in your prayers as well as any sick kids out there!
Thank you for checkin in on Mr. Kaden!

Take care and May God bless you all!!
With love from the ♥,
Kaci :)