Carrie signs on!

hello dear friends.
i finally told my dear friends Sarah Beth Christie that i thought i was ready to take over the blog writing, and we realized that there wasn't really a way to switch it to Carrie Tuttle without losing all the posts of the past, so she has allowed me to take over being "Sarah Beth Christie."
so I am writing this from the dining room table in a very quiet house. i shouldn't say that, though, because inevitably one of my wonderful children will wake the moment i post...and the quiet will end.

we are celebrating that we have just gotten news today that the biopsy of the heart that was taken during the cath on thursday looked good! we already knew on thursday that the pressures and numbers taken during the cath were trending just the way the cardiologist want them to go, so we are very happy about that.

we are also learning a little more about the ups and downs that will come along the way. as we celebrate the heart being in great shape and getting through the cath, we have been dealing with a tummy that just won't work quite right. After taking an extra antibiotic about 4 weeks ago to fend off a potential infection with his cough, Heath started having tummy troubles. It continued, and after all sorts of tests and long nights up and not having much more than white bread and pedialyte for a long time, it seems now that it might actually be caused by one of his medications. We had been warned that this could happen periodically, even if no meds had changed. So we have our ups and downs. As our wonderful pediatrician said this week (after one of many, many phone calls trying to figure his issues out), heath is just probably always going to take longer to deal with these sorts of things than most of us. We rejoice in a healthy heart, though, and with that we'll take each day as it comes.

Ella brooks has LOVED being back in school at Westminster. She is going 5 mornings a week, and tonight was making us all sing the "wake up song" as we were trying to get her to do the opposite. She is pretty hilarious these days with her "almost 4" self. She has been a very sweet sister to Heath--even eating some of the BRAT diet just so he would follow his big sister!

Heath is talking without actually saying words that we understand. He is so demonstrative that you pretty much know exactly what he is trying to say, though. He is a funny guy--right now "DADDY" is said all the time with great inflection, which I personally LOVE in the middle of the night when he wakes up! I roll over and say, "um, Chris, your son is calling you..." :)
He said "water" the other day and "ball" is heard loud and clear in the neighborhood. He waves at every car that passes our house--which is pretty hilarious. Step by step. Deep breaths and good laughs along the way, without nearly as many tears. We'll take that!

we've had some great visits with our friend Mindy and our friends Gair, Rick and David. We have so much enjoyed our great neighbors--and being the house where the bus stops, so the kids can play, play, play together. Life is good.

As we have thought a little more about where we are right now, we realize that we would be in a much tougher place without the good health insurance that we are provided through the PCUSA. During this tough time of debate and questions about health care reform, i urge you to pay attention to the debate and think of all the people with illnesses as dire as Heath's who go untreated or people who go bankrupt trying to save their children. We met them; sat alongside them every day in the hospital. Ours has not been an easy road, but there are many more people in this country who struggle every day to pay for meds or treatment.
ok, enough. blessings to you all.
carrie
will post more pics soon.