Baby Heath Updates: milestones & good reports

I am sitting here on the eve of Heath Tuttle's first official day of PRESCHOOL! Yes, he is starting in the MOUSE class tomorrow morning. We've been cleared by our dear friends (he had a really good check-up at Duke last Thursday!!!) at Duke to let him venture even further into the real world--and perhaps I should say, "watch out world, here he comes..."

The Thomas the Train backpack is sitting ready. He went to sleep beautifully--if only his older sister had also hit the sack, I'd be an even happier mama (she had her first day today and was so happy she couldn't go to sleep--I suppose I should be grateful for such things).

The end of the summer has been one crazy wild ride--in the car.

I've been doing some driving to Cary: I was invited to do a 2-month youth ministry consulting with cary presbyterian (you will remember that they are my "home church" and have been so wonderful to us through all our good and tough times). It has been like coming home again in so many ways--except all the players are 13 years older than the last time i was there regularly.but we'll just let that part go... :) I have really enjoyed my time with them. The family adjustment to my brief stint working 15-hours-a-week has been interesting, let's just say. we're grateful for mattie anne's regular afternoon each week with the kids and for chris' friday not-so-off.

To New Orleans: We saw Aunt Sarah, Uncle Robert and Bartlett off to New Orleans--we miss them! They were such a regular part of our lives. The kids keep pretending to travel to New Orleans.

To Virginia: I took the kids to northern virginia to see my family and had a good old time with "the cousins" in Nana's garden.

To Black Mountain: The kids, Chris and Sarah were able to join Pat & Bob in Black Mountain to celebrate Bob's birthday and Bop's 98th birthday. Milestones. so many.

To the beach: We were also able to go to Harker's Island for a few restful days at the end of August. The children slept. We played and actually felt more rested coming home from vacation than we have since we had children. again--milestones. sometimes its the little things like SLEEPING that make all the difference. We came back from Harker's Island a little early to attend one of the most amazing gatherings I can imagine--Duke Hospital's first ever Heart Transplant picnic--celebrating 25 years of heart transplants. There were 700 possible adults and children patients (or their families) from over those years who were invited to come, and I think there were about 120 patients and about 400 people total (families, docs, nurses, etc...) at Duke Gardens. old, young, middle age. i think heath & olivia might have been the youngest transplant patients. because we were running around after our very busy heart transplant kids, we weren't able to hear all of the program--the people i could hear speaking were very emotional and moving--but I suppose we weren't exactly in the moment to reflect too much. the tears came later. i think of all the milestones in that space. wow. below are a few pictures of the pediatric patients who were present and one from the back of the huge group of patients in their pictures. i am sure we'll get the official one at some point, but i thought it would give you an idea of the group.