Hidden Talent

I may not be the best wife, mother or friend. This is all stuff I am working on.









But there is no question about the skill that I do have.................











this is something that I was born with and you can't teach................











this my friends is my skill!

My sister and I learned this special talent at a young age and would sit across from each other and try to pick our noses and see who could get it in further. (after looking at this picture I think my tongue might have put on some extra baby weight too....better work on that.) As Brenda would sit and couldn't even get close to her nose. We decided a few weeks ago for some reason to show everyone at a family function how proud we our of our talent and were wondering where on earth did we get this anteater ability from. It was apparent that we didn't get it from my Mom when she willfully stuck out her tongue. Then my dad stuck his out and WOW.....we definitely got it from him. We were all laughing so hard we were nearly in tears.

Guess my Dad has a hidden talent we were not made aware of either.

Do any of you have any hidden talents like us, that you probably shouldn't public put out there like I just did? haha

Congenital Heart Disease..Please read, it could save a life!

A heart friend of mine that I met last week (whom I know wasn't by accident, she is such an awesome woman) sent me this story of a baby named Cora who passed away at only 5 days of life in the arms of her mother from an undiagnosed case of congenital heart disease.

Reading this story made my heart sink knowing this could have been my little girl too. It's so hard to understand how she was seen by 4 different doctors to check her heart at the hospital and at her first check up and no one picked up on it until I took her to urgent care for something unrelated.

The same thing happened to my friend Rhonda and her son Zeb. She knew something wasn't right with him from the time he was born cause his nail beds were blue and also his feet. She mentioned this 2 times at the hospital and was told that it was normal for newborns to have that and was sent on her way without a pulse ox test. Four weeks later she noticed him being unusually fussy at night (alot like Berlyn ) she noticed him sweating and breathing funny. She called and spoke with the ER and was told that it was probably a stomach issue and to follow up with her Ped. Thank God for her Mommy instinct she took him in and as soon as the doctor saw him he knew something wasn't right. They called 911 right away and he was taken to a Children's Hospital where they diagnosed him with Severe Aortic Stenosis (same as Berlyn) and they were told if it was another hour or two they would have lost their precious son. He again had to have the same procedure Berlyn had only another 4 weeks later after the first one. Zeb had to not only go through those 2 procedures at his young age but he also had to have open heart surgery on his 3rd birthday almost 3 months ago. What a strong little boy. Rhonda has been such an inspiration to me and someone who has the same beliefs as I do. I'm sure she is probably sick of all my questions I've thrown at her this past week. :)

Why am I bringing all this up you ask? How might this effect you? Well I will tell you why! I have pretty much worn out my computer reading up about this and I wish I would have known more not only before I had Berlyn, but before I was even pregnant with Aven. I think if women were more aware of this it would save ALOT of babies. If you are pregnant, plan on being pregnant, know someone who is pregnant, or you are a father you need to know about this. Both of us were blessed to be able to find out about our babies but alot of parents are so lucky and their precious babies end up dying in their sleep.

Impact of Congenital Heart Disease

* Congenital Heart Diseases are also known as congenital heart defects. Over 30 known congenital heart defects exist.

*Often the abbreviation, "CHD" is used to refer to congenital heart disease.

*According to the Children's Heart Foundation, CHD is the Number ONE baby killer.

*CHD is also the most prevalent birth defect, according to the March of Dimes.

*About 1 in 100 babies are thought to be born with the birth defect in the United States. Different organizations use a different number, I've seen it as high as 1 in 70.

How do you know if your baby is one of the 1 in 100?

*Some CHDs are picked up in utero by an regular ultrasound

*Others can be picked up by a level 2 ultrasound

*Some say a fetal echo cardiogram should be conducted on every mother and child to test baby heart.

*Others want an echo cardiogram, test that uses sound waves to get a picture of the heart, for every newborn.

*Cora's Mom is in the stage of lobbying for Cora's Law which would be a standard screening for newborns for a pulse oxy test on every baby. This test is cheap, quick, non-invasive.

What can you do?

* Until pulse oxy tests are standard. You can tell mothers and fathers to ask their doctor to run a pulse ox on their newborn between 24 to 48 hours of age.

*Spread the word. Awareness means more support for much needed research funding.

Awareness means less mothers and fathers will find out about CHD from the coroner.

I never in my life would have ever thought I would have to go down this road and be researching this stuff. Since I am going down this road I want to be used to be able to help other Moms who may be going down the same road and be able to reach out to them. If you know something doesn't look right with your baby or you have a gut feeling go with it and make sure you question those doctors and don't just walk away if you know in your heart they are wrong. It could save their life!

Strong-Willed Child?

Is your strong-willed child driving you insane? Do you feel like every minute of every day is a nuclear battle of wills?

Raising strong-willed kids is hard on your complexion. They can rob your joy, your confidence and your sleep! For the record, most parents think they have strong willed kids. The fact is, every child goes through seasons when their capacity to test boundaries and assert their will exceeds our pay grade. I’m not talking about these types children. When I say, “strong-willed” I’m talking about those miniature Winston Churchill’s that somehow got assigned to your family photo. These kids are stubborn, argumentative, inflexible, and tough as nails. They are not going to budge from what they want and they have all the energy and time in the world to wait for you to come around.Don’t panic. And don’t surrender. Smile. God has so much confidence in you; he assigned you the job of raising a great leader for him.

Sometimes raising a strong-willed kid is like trying to saddle a rhinoceros.

The biggest problem that strong-willed kids have is that they often have weak-willed parents. These kids are a gift, and God made them the way they are for a reason. Our job as parents is not to break their will, but to bring them up in an atmosphere of grace that builds character into their heart. Obviously, these kids need discipline and respect for authority, but they also have a great need to have choices and control over as much of their life as possible.As long as they're eating, who cares if they want to dip carrot sticks in their chocolate milk? As long as they are going to bed, who cares if they want to wear their Halloween costume and galoshes to sleep? The less battles you create, the fewer you have to win.

Raising strong-willed kids takes courage, stamina and a whole lot of ibuprofen!

Strong-willed kids are a gift from God; not a curse from your parents. These are your future leaders, dreamers and visionaries; but as children, they are a force to be reckoned with. The battle of wills, however, is a war that you must win. But the fewer battles you create, the fewer you have to fight. Before engaging in a sparing match with your kid, ask yourself one question: Is this hill worth dying on?You can circumvent a lot of battles by allowing your strong-willed child to make choices within guidelines that you establish. For instance, as long as they take a nap, who cares if they sleep under their bed dressed as G.I. Joe!Save your energy for those disagreements that aren't open to debate. Focus on issues of moral significance, and make your goal not behavior, but character.

Parenting

"When it comes to parenting, the days are long and the years are short."

This weekend I am attending a parenting conference. Not cause I don't think I don't know how to raise a child. I mean I have been able to raise two kids so far and they have both made it this far. I guess I'm doing something right.....right???

I think sometimes we as parents get so busy with the day to day stuff that we are raising our kids but are we actually raising great kids? I think in the world today it's even tougher and tougher for our kids growing up with all that is out there for them and even though mine are still young I want to know that I am equipped to handle the stuff that is gonna be throw at them. I think alot of times we compromise on stuff cause we see other parents out there allowing their kids to do certain things and don't want to be the "un-cool" parent. I know how I was growing up and I Thank God that I made it through some of the stuff I did. I know those things are in the past and they have shaped me into the Mom I want to be for my kids.

I think the main reason I thought it would be good to go to this conference was for this little one....

He amazes me everyday with the things he says and how he wants to do everything for himself.

He is my strong willed child.

I know you are probably thinking..."Well she is a strong willed person, why are you surprised your son is one too?"

Well you see....THAT'S WHAT SCARES ME!!

Since he was born I knew that he would definitely be a kid to keep us on our toes and he is everything that I imagined and more. Don't get me wrong I love this little personality. After a long day no matter how bad, he can still make me laugh.

I just want to make sure that I learn to bring out the best in this child of mine.

I want to make sure to raise both of my kids in an environment of love and respect.

I pray for this one everyday. I pray that God doesn't give me too much pay back for the strong willed child I was for my parents :)

I am so excited to be going to this. I will update everyone how it went. I expect to be a tougher and more loving parent than I was before.

I will be Mrs. Sgt Adams and get this household back into shape come Sunday. WATCH OUT!!

Mini Van

I would have sworn a few years ago I would have never considered to own a mini van but after having two kids and a double stroller and beach toys, blankets, bunch of other stuff I couldn't tell you, we are running out of room in our ford edge. My husband swears mini vans are so cool cause he usually gets to drive one when he's out of town on business and I wasn't so convinced. After seeing this video on another blog I may have to go out and get one to join the club. :)

Hot Date

Tonight was probably one of the nicest dates I've been on in a LONG time. (no offense to my husband) Can't really expect many nice dates when you've been pregnant for almost 3 years straight :)

Chick-fil-A was having a mother son Luau and I decided it would be a great cheap way to spend a little time with Aven by himself. Since Berlyn has been born we haven't had much one on one time together and I figured he would have fun spending time alone with Mom.

I took him to get his hair cut for the big date.

He got all cleaned up after his hair cut and we got ready for our date. I even let him wear some of Daddy's cologne so he could smell nice for Mommy :)

They had it set up pretty cute. They gave us both conversation starters we were supposed to ask each other. He is still too young to understand what they meant but we did it anyway.

Then we got to decorate cupcakes for each other. Aven was just more interested in eating the cupcake. Who has time to decorate them?

Here is my finished cupcake. I thought they were so cute what they did. They mixed brown sugar with regular sugar to make sand.

Aven was more interested in the cow next to me. No I'm not talking about me.

Aven is obsessed with cows. Maybe because we live in Chino and that's all we see driving around out here. He also has a new game he likes to play and we call that fly hunting. He's getting pretty good at it. ha

He would chase the cow around yell, Hi Cow! When the cow would turn to back to him Aven would yell. NOOOOO Cow. He had everyone laughing.

Heart Mom

Here is a poem written by a fellow heart mom on the lessons we learn:

Heart mom lesson number ten...

Forget who you were...and who you have been,
Life is about...to take a detour,
And you will be shaken...to your very core.
You've just found out...something's not right,
How will you make it through this plight?
What can you do? What should you expect?
Of life with a child...with a heart defect?

Heart mom lesson number nine...

You'll learn to say...things are just fine,
When people stop... to just say hi,
There will be days...you long to cry.
Bound by worry, fear, and stress,
At times you'll think..."I am a mess",
You'll smile, thinking...can they tell?
Then say..."thank you we’re doing well".

Heart mom lesson number eight...

You'll learn just what it means to wait.
Patience is a virtue right?
Who really needs to sleep at night?
A hospital room... not a permanent state,
As each day passes... home must wait.
Patience is knowing...things won't stay the same,
Patience is accepting...a changing time frame.

Heart mom lesson seven here...

Our children's futures still aren't clear,
Innovations continue to thrive,
Each year more children will survive.
These children...and their families,
Will rise to fight...these CHD's.
Research...is imperative,
Our kid's deserve a chance...to live.

Heart mom lesson number six....

It's clear life holds no easy fix,
If life were perfect...in every way,
I guess...I'd have no need to pray,
I'd still be living...blind...and dim,
Forgetting...I must lean on HIM.
I cannot change the way things are,
But prayer makes God...seem not so far.

Heart mom lesson number five....

Cherish this day...your child's alive.
Today we frolicked in the snow,(Did he like it? hmmm...well...no)
I watched him smile..as snowflakes fell,
I thought...thank God...he's doing well,
A bundled boy...warm hat...one glove,
No doubt about it...this is love.

Heart mom lesson number four...

There is always time for more,
More messes that need cleaning up,
More cartoons on t.v,
More yes...I'm gonna tickle you,
(The best things remain free)
More bubbles in the bathtub,
More stories...one more song,
More this little piggie went to market,
One more...just can't be wrong.

Heart mom lesson number three...

Their special hearts...help us to see...
Did I always understand?
That God holds our lives in his hand?
Before my child...I took for granted,
The gifts in my life...that God surely planted,
Before my eyes...I missed them...how?
My heart child came...I see them now.

Lesson number two...

take heart...It is okay, to fall apart...
It's not easy, we don't know...
Will we watch our children grow?
God looks to his angels...saying see why I chose her,
She's never afraid to lose her composure...
In her heart...she feels defiled,
But nothing will stop her... from loving her child.

Heart mom lesson...number one...

It must be said...we're never done!
That day...will never come you see,
We'll always face uncertainty,
But I will face each day unknown,
Taking heart...I'm not alone,
These lessons... remind me to cope...
Stand strong...
believe...and always hope...

~Stephanie Husted

2 months...well actually 3

Goes to show how fast the months are flying by for me lately. I didn't even get a chance to post Berlyn's 2 month picture before I realized she is 3 months.

She is getting SO big and SO fast it makes me want to cry.

This picture was taken only 4 days after they were in there working on her little but strong heart. This little girl is so strong even at her young little age. She got all dressed up this day to go get her two month shots in which she weighed in at 12lbs. 11 oz. and 22 in. long. For a little one with a heart condition she sure loves to eat and is a super healthy baby :)

She is now 3 months and weights about 14 lbs. We got to see her Cardiologist on Monday and the news we got couldn't be better. Her heart has remained unchanged after her procedure and still has no leakage which is what we wanted to hear. Her gradient level was about a 70 when she went in and is now down to about a 20.

She likes to try and sit up already, which I can no longer let her sit on my bed without be supervised. As you can tell she likes to roll over.

She thinks it's pretty funny when she does it too!

I am so proud to be the Mommy of this little girl. She brings me no sleep but alot of fun and laughs to make up for it. She is one happy girl (unless I put her down). She has a set of lungs on her and can scream like her Mommy does on those amusement park rides. (Torie will know how this sounds) haha

Aven wasn't as happy that he was getting no attention while I was taking a few snapshots of his sister.

BUT MOM!!!!!

Flashback Friday

This was from last year on Mothers Day. Little did I know that year I was carrying the best give someone could have given me that year. Our precious baby girl Berlyn. I have added a child every Mothers Day so far. Can't wait to see what this next year being a mother has in store for me :)


Wishing all you beautiful, hard working Moms out there a Happy Mothers Day!

I Will Carry You

If you remember this post I did awhile back. I had a video on there of a couple who lost their baby girl only 2 months before I had Aven. I have followed her blog since then and just this past Saturday the book she has been working on hit the shelves. Of course I had to rush out and grab it so I could read it. I absolutely love her blog and her writing style. (Please excuse mine. After all I did go to Chino High...what do you expect?) I will be honest with you. It's probably the first book I've read front to back since I read Green Eggs & Ham when I was a little girl. haha I am so not a reader.

As soon as I got home I read the book until my eyes were burning and I couldn't keep them open any longer. The next day I picked it up and went outside to enjoy the beautiful day and finished the WHOLE thing. This really hit home for me. Ever since I found out about Berlyn's condition a part of me has changed. I view life alot different than I did before. Not that I thought I was so invincible and nothing would happen to me or my family. But, sometimes you tend to go about your life thinking stuff like this doesn't happen to your family. Life seems so perfect and everything is going so well and then BAAAAM (I know this isn't a word) it's like a rug has been pulled from underneath you. Guess my life isn't going to be the way that I had planned. I even had a conversation with my brother about 3 days prior to me finding out about Berlyn and how we have been so fortunate with all the kids we have in our family and we really haven't had anything major happen. Little did I know those words would come back to haunt me on March 30th.

For me I have learned that doing what is right isn't always the "popular" thing. These past few months I have decided that I want to start going back to church and raise my kids up to know what is most important in life. It seems like every since I made that commitment my whole life kinda turned upside down. Yes, I know from the outside or from alot of Mom's blogs people seem to put up this front that life is so great and that they have it all together when the truth is everyone has their struggles. Whether it be with your job, kids, finances, husband, etc. I think living like that does no one any good including yourself. I am not saying that my life is horrible by any means but lately everything for me is being tested. My relationship with my husband, health of my child, my patientce with learning how to adjust to two little ones and not feeling guilty about not spending enough time with each one, trying to juggle and keep up on my job, making sure my husband gets the attention he deserves. Sometimes I think am I the only one who has these issues? Is it just me or does everyone else seem to have it all together? I want you to know that we don't.

One thing I have learned from reading this book and everything that I have been going through the past few months is that you either believe and trust that he is in control or you don't. When you are hit with certain things in your life what do you have to cling to except trusting that he has a plan and a purpose for your life. At the time you maybe thinking why if he says who he says he is he can't fix my child or get me that job or fix this mess with my husband or family? I can't fully answer those questions but I do know that he does have a purpose. I used to think before that I was doing good trusting and having faith when my life was going so good. Then when you are hit with something that really turns your world upside down it's not so easy to be that same person you thought you were. I think the reason things happen in our life is to bring us closer to him and be able to be an example to others and be able to relate to people who are also hurting.

I have no other explanation as to why the day of my daughters surgery everything was so peaceful and she not once cried or even made a peep even for not eating for 6 hours straight.(what newborn does that?) I know for a fact that it was all the people praying for my daughter and know that he was there with us.

It's so strange that yesterday as I was reading this book in my backyard. As she talked about the day her daughter died April 7th, 2008 and how she was so amazed how peaceful that day went. How her daughter went ''home'' to be with Jesus I thought that day looked awfully familiar. It was the day that we got to bring Berlyn "home" with us after her surgery. For some reason that really hit me.

I would suggest anyone who is a Mother, was a Mother who has lost a child. Or you know someone who has lost a child or even going through other issues. This book is one you don't want to pass up. Really makes you view life a little different and realize how fragile it is.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing

of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work so that

you may be mature and complete,

not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4