Stephen's Heart

In an ideal world I would be a neat freak.  Call me crazy but I like things to be in there place.  Dirty clothes should be in the hamper not in the hallway and dirty diapers should be in the trashcan not on the living room floor.  With the addition of each child I had to give up a little more of the ideal and adopt more of the practical.  With four kids I am pretty sure all of the ideal is now gone and won't be making an appearance any time soon.  I tried fighting it.  I told my self I can do this one room at a time.  Each day I picked a room to clean and each day my efforts were undone.  I even mopped my floors twice only to find them covered in dirt, play-dough and spilled milk.  I tried fighting it because I love a clean house and I feel accomplished when I have a clean house.  Since I realize a clean house is out of the question I found myself setting new standards.  I now love a house that has been played in and feel accomplished by playing.  So if you stop by there may be dirty diapers on the floor, dishes on the counter and milk stains on the cupboards, but hopefully it is because we were too busy playing to notice =0)
Today Joe and I drove down to Rady's for a cardiology appointment.  We got to meet Dr. Davis, the cardiologist who will be following Stephen, and absolutely love him.  Stephen is still looking great and the shunt sounds good (whatever that means).  We will follow up with him again in June and then in July he will either have a cardiac catheterization or MRI (both require him being sedated and intubated) to get a close look before the second surgery.  We won't have an actual date for the surgery for quite some time but it may fall sometime between late August and early September.  Just the thought of it is no fun...so no more thinking for me =0)
Other good news...the results from his lumbar ultrasound came back normal!  Since it had been a week and we hadn't heard anything I was figuring no news was good news and it was.  Praise God!  The lump on his spine has now resolved itself and any concerns from the birthmark were put to rest.
Stephen is growing and developing as he should.  He is getting so strong and has been picking his head up to look around.  Michael cheers him on as he does it...it is adorable.  He is more alert and awake in the day time so we are finding fun ways to play.  Today Lizzie and Audrey read him some books and colored pictures for him.
Since I cant take Stephen out too much I am trying to find fun things to do at home.  Joe and I have also been talking about how to give back and serve.  We have so many great ideas for the youth group but also a few that I want to do with our kiddos.  Next week we are going to bake some goodies to bring down to the NICU staff.  I think I want to make it an every other week thing where we bake something and bless someone with it.  We also want to make little goodie bags for families at the Ronald McDonald house and maybe even some get well cards for children in the PICU.  I wish I new how to crochet...never quite picked that up, but maybe eventually make some simple fleece blankets.  This won't be an all at once venture, but I am hoping teaching my kids to serve will be a lifelong lesson.
We also wanted to update the prayer requests.  Please Pray for no complications before the next surgery and no illnesses for him or our family.  We pray that God would continue to protect his little life and strengthen his body.  And pray that God would continue to use his story to make a lasting impact on others.  Thank You!
And now some pictures to enjoy =0)