Update on Violet

Last Friday, Violet had her yearly appointment with the cardiologist. For those of you that may have not been following the blog over the last year or so, you can read about the journey to this point here

Since, we were tagging a trip to Iowa after the appointment Friday afternoon, we left our house in a little bit of a rush--and of course, Arby's cannot be fast when you need them to be. But, we made it down to Grand Rapids and the new Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. (Can I say wow--such a great place.) The cardiology department is on the 10th floor, and all the exam rooms are on the outside of the building, giving you a great view of the city while you wait. Both kids enjoyed standing in the wells of the windows to look around.

The appointment went very smoothly; by now, Violet is a pro at having the electrocardiogram and the ultrasound of her heart, and I am just amazed at how kid friendly they have been able to make everything.

The good news is that Violet's condition hasn't worsened. Her heart is growing with her, and the enlargement from blood flow is growing in proportion to the natural growth of her heart. Since we have not noticed any adverse health conditions, the cardiologist strongly encouraged us to wait on the surgery; however, he also encouraged us to get a second opinion if we wanted more information. The main reason for delaying the surgery in his eyes was--if, by chance, they get in there and are unable to fix it properly or at all, replacement of the valve would need to happen, and that brings a whole other realm of side-effects and long-term lifestyle changes. It also would mean that if it was done too early, the procedure would have to be done again because an adult valve does not fit in a child's body.

So, again we sit and wait. In some ways the good news was discouraging for me because it still does not give us an answer. Part of me just wishes we could go in and get the surgery over and done with. But, another part of me hopes that maybe we can avoid the surgery all together. The possibility of that is slim to none, but the cardiologist also told us that he has patients that have gone 15 years without getting to the point of necessary surgery.

The one downer of the visit was that the cardiologist did forewarn us that until the surgery is completed, that he would probably restrict her from many sports (basketball, track and field, soccer, etc.). At this point, Violet has shown more interest in dance than any other sport, so this forewarning may be a mute point, but Ben and I are fairly athletic and sport driven, and the idea of our children not being able to physically participate is a little hard to swallow. Youth sports are not of concern because of the casual/everyone participates philosophy, but upper elementary/middle school/varsity would be of concern.

All in all, we are getting a very large lesson in patience and relinquishing control. We love our daughter and she brings so much joy to our lives and the lives of many other people. And although it may not be the journey we had envisioned, it is a wonderful journey in and of itself.

Thanks again to all of you who keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We ccovet them immensely and will continue to keep you informed/updated.

The big news....

VIOLET CAN READ!

I had really hoped to catch the big news on video, but a big 4-year old will got in the way. :)

Hopefully she'll become a little more comfortable (our little perfectionist does not like to read books if she doesn't know she's going to read all the words correctly) and we'll be able to capture her reading very soon.

Christmas in Iowa

I had a few questions about the absence of pictures from Christmas #3 and Christmas #4 in the slide show. Truth is, we left our camera at Christmas #2, and so relied on Grandma Fynaardt's camera to record moments of Christmas's 3 & 4. To prevent having to send multiple emails, and/or explain to my mom how to get the pictures to me, we just uploaded everything to Shutterfly the last evening we were in Iowa. Those of you who use Shutterfly know it's wonderful for storing and printing photos, but not so wonderful for getting photos off their site onto your computer. But, I did want to show everyone that we had some fun in Iowa while we were there. Enjoy!

Photo slideshow created with Smilebox

What we've been up to

I believe I piqued everyone's curiosity with my last post, but you'll have to wait a little longer for the biggest news that's occurred in the Talsma household. (no, I'm not pregnant). For now, you'll have to live with the knowledge that we've been enjoying life, and staying VERY busy. Miles is entering into that super-fun (yet exasperating) period of constant exploration and disaster making and Violet continues to amaze us as she grows. Enjoy this slide show of some pictures of some events since the last post, and stay tuned for more exciting news from Possibility Manor.

Make a photo slideshow

Still here

Yes, we are still here.  And there have been things happening.  Specific update to come.....

Our little man....

From Baby...

...to little man

Violet's First Day of School

Today marked the start of pre-school for our big girl.  She was VERY excited, and managed to hold off tears until I was just ready to leave--and I think it was more of a domino effect of other kids crying than it was her actually not wanting to be there.  I got word that the tears had stopped very shortly after I had left. 

This year of pre-school is kind of a testing of the waters for us.  With a September birthday, Violet falls on the cut-off date of many states for kindergarten eligibility.  Michigan has a tremendously late cut-date (Dec. 1) so Violet would make that with no problem next year, but since Ben and I are both teachers, we know what a big difference 4 months can make in a 5 year old.  So, we'll see.  We have no doubts that academically she will be ready, but we want to make sure that socially she's not always trying to keep up.  So, we'll see how things go, and let the guidance of our knowledgeable pre-school teacher help us make that decision next spring. 

We are very happy with the pre-school we have selected.  It's a little inconvenient, but feel very comfortable leaving Violet in this teacher's hands.  It also helps that they will be transporting her to her daycare after pre-school is over, which allows me to put in a full day of work during normal hours and not having to make up hours throughout the week.

Here are some pictures of Violet as she headed off to her first day of school--can't believe we're already marking the beginning of having school-age children!