Introduction

Hello blog world! This is my brand-spankin-new blog, and I'm fairly excited about it. I'm not sure how often I'll post, but I'm excited to see where this takes me. I usually feel like I'm wasting time by being on the net. Nowadays, I'm not a fan of wasting time. So we'll see. Anywho, this is the part where I introduce myself and the very most important people in my life. Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday. My favorite color is yellow. I'm addicted to iced coffees/frappes. I would rather fish than shop...I love outdoors! I don't really like makeup and I love my tshirts more than my cute clothes. I adore animals, which probably explains why I live with a "farm" lol. I am wife to Thomas, who is my rock and my best friend from day 1. We've literally been joined at the hip since the first time we saw each other. I can't imagine the last 5 years without him. 1 of the most wonderful feelings is being the half to a whole... completeting a person. The other most wonderful feeling is being a mommy. Especially Emmett's mommy. Our son was born July 18, 2008 at 7:01 pm. 6lbs 9oz, 3 1/2 weeks early at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. I love being asked if we got his name from Twilight, which has happened quite a few times lol. His name means strength, and there is no one who deserves such a name more than him! See, our baby boy isn't just our baby boy... he's so much more than our son. He's our warrior, our super hero. Emmett was born with a severe CHD known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Physically, he pretty much only has half of his heart, his right half. He had The Norwood (open heart surgery) at 6 days old and The Glenn at 3 months old. We're awaiting his last surgery in the series, his Fontan. Its a hard pill to swallow when you're told by your newborn's heart surgeon to be optimistic, but realistic. This is what we were told before Emmett's first surgery, because The Norwood is one of the most complicated and dangerous surgeries ever. It was terrifying at first, but once we got past that part and started focusing on recovery, I felt a lot better. Don't get me wrong, the recovery was extremely hard and scary, too. Those are the negative aspects we've had to deal with on this amazingly emotional journey. We were not only BRAND NEW parents, but parents to a special little miracle. Becoming a parent for the first time is scary enough without adding the extras. You can try with all your might to prepare yourself to see your perfect newborn after open heart surgery, but its something you won't understand until you face it. I gathered all of my strength, and strength from Thomas too...but no matter, it just wasn't enough. By far, the hardest time in my life thus far was seeing Emmett after his first surgery. I'll save all the details for another blog. I think my next blog will be the negatives and positives of being a heart parent. I know what you're thinking, if you are the average parent... "Oh my God, I can't imagine going through that. I can't imagine my child going through that. How could there be a positive side to it?" Well, regardless of what you're thinking, there is. Atleast there is for us. See, we don't believe in focusing on the negatives in my house. We don't even really believe in complaining about little, insignificant things...although on bad days, we can't resist. In my family, we recognize that Emmett is a special, extraordinary little one and he's treated like the greatest blessing ever (Because he is.) BUT- he is NOT treated like he's handicapped, weak, or pitiable. We don't pity Emmett, because there simply is no reason to. That's one of the things that bothers me about outsiders. I know people mean well, but its actually offensive to us when they offer sympathy or pity. He's the strongest person we've EVER known. Sure, he's been through Hell and back and fights daily for life. Every second with him is more than we've been promised. But he is a warrior, and the strongest one at that. I remember one time someone explaining to someone else who didn't know Emmett's story that he was "fragile" and  I remember the feeling that gave me. In my eyes, in OUR eyes, Emmett is the farthest thing from fragile. He can't be around cigarette smoke... but NO kid should be. We have to be careful in flu season.... so should every other family with little ones. I try my hardest to make sure he eats very healthy... everyone needs to eat healthy. So in reality, its not that he's fragile, its just that we care enough to make sure he is the very healthiest he can be. And he's VERY healthy. So don't pull a sympathy card on us, just love on Emmett (which is the easiest thing to do when you see his big blue eyes and blonde curly ques..)
Wow, its easier than I expected to write a ton on this thing. I'll save the rest for another time. Until then.... Peace, hope, love <3