A quick update

Well, Sept 25 came and went. If Weston had gotten a transplant by that date, we would have had a chance at going home by Christmas. Since that didn't happen, we will be spending the holidays here. We are still figuring out all of the logistics of how the kids can spend the holidays together. My next "goal" holiday is to make it home by the time Ellie is born.

Adam has been busy learning to make cheese. He has always wanted to and it turned out pretty yummy. I supervised and decided that he needs to get a strainer because I wasn't all that thrilled with standing there holding a stinky bowl of cheese curds. I think he is planning to make cheddar when we go home. He just doesn't have room for it here. For now, he can stick with making mozzarella.

I have a new list of recipes to try in the coming weeks. Pinterest has been great for some friends and I to share everything from recipes to maternity picts. I LOVE maternity picts!! They are right up there with tutus, frilly bows, and matching kids.

We got an offer on our house yesterday-yippee! Unfortunately, it is too low so Adam counter offered but I doubt they will take it. I know God will send us the right buyer at the right time. The market is just so bad right now. This selling a house thing has been terrible and I don't ever want to buy or sell or move again.

And, last but not least, we found out number 7 is a girl! YAY! I would have been happy with either but I am excited because we actually had a girls name. Ellie will make her debut in January. The girls are over the moon excited-except Avery. She is busy learning to walk, avoid talking, and get into everything in between. We are still looking for a middle name for Ellie. I can't decide on whether we should name her Ellie or Elizabeth and call her Ellie. If we name her Elizabeth, the middle name choices are endless. If we name her Ellie, the middle names that go are just minimal. And Mae is not going to be her middle name.

We are in such a weird spot in life right now. It is like somewhere between a midlife crisis and traumatic stress. It is definitely not in those cookie cutter parenting books or any sort of book on life. There is no survival guide for how to deal with the unknown of your 5 year old needing a heart lung transplant or how to deal with waiting for the phone to ring every second and wondering if it is finally time. There is no "how to" for how to entertain a 5 year old in intensive care and no guide on how to not let seeing children die around you send you into a spiral of despair. We are learning quickly about the really important things in life and how the rest is just "fluff". No one tells you that you will lose the friends that can't handle everything you are going through but along the way, you will find the real friends you have always known you had. I am blessed with tons of wonderful friends out there who not only pray for us but listen to me vent, send me texts and emails, and through their funny blogs and posts, transport me into a happier place-even if it is just for a minute. For that, I thank you all.