Brigham Update

I got to spend the weekend with Justin, Rebecca, Carrie and baby Brigham. It was so great to finally meet Brigham. It was very hard seeing him hooked up to so many tubes, IV's and not being able to hold him. I was able to hold his hand, touch his head and hair (it's a beautiful highlighted blond color), or his feet.
He is still swollen from all the fluids they are giving him. His kidneys are working but can't keep up with all the blood products and fluids being added. He is on the ECMO machine, it is the heart lung bypass machine, it allows his lungs to rest and let the machine do the work. Eventually, he will need to come off the machine and learn to breathe on his own. He still needs to have surgery to correct his intestines and liver being in the chest cavity, those will be moved to where they are supposed to be, it hopefully will also relieve pressure on his lungs and the hypertension might subside. He has a long road ahead of him and so Justin and Rebecca are having others besides just family help with Carrie, bring in meals once in awhile and they are going to stay some with Rebecca's parents so they can cut down on the drive back and forth. It is about 45 minutes to an hour from their home to the hospital. Justin would prefer they be able to be at home, but they will give this a try.
To find out the latest updates, go to their blog at justinandrebeccagreer.blogspot.com

Brigham Justin Greer is Here!!!!

Born at 2:03pm January 7th, (One week before my birthday) 6lbs 5 ozs, dark hair and lots of it!
So excited and happy for Justin, Rebecca and Carrie.
Rebecca did incredible! 3 1/2 hours basically from the time she got the Pitocin and had Brigham.
There will be up and down days as we watch Brigham progressing through his diaphramatic hernia problem. Surgery will be in the next several days and the doctors will continue to watch him carefully in the NCIU. He is intubated and on an oscillating ventilator.
Earl and I hope to go to Arizona in the next several days to help in whatever way we can.
It is so hard not being "there" and wanting to help.
I'm reminded of how fragile life is and when one of these babies comes, it truly is a miracle. Each and every one of them are created by our Heavenly Father and it is just incredible how perfect they are.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas everyone. Well it has been awhile since I have updated my blog and lots of things have happened, so let's get started catching up.
On September 14th, Rugby Calvin Smith arrived. He is adorable and a very good baby, he likes to eat, sleep and you know the other part!
Savannah has decided he can stay, I think at first she probably thought he was just there for a visit, now she realizes he is permanently going to be in "her" house.
Then on December 10th, Isabella (Bella) Jilian Gonzalez arrived. She is also adorable and has a ton of dark hair and we are all hoping "blue" eyes.
We are also awaiting Brigham Justin Greer who is scheduled to arrive January 7th (inducing Rebecca if he doesn't come before then).
All of our grandbabies are doing great. Savannah turned 3 in February, Liam turned 3 in July, Carrie turned 1 in January, Ben turned 1 in October, Logan turned 3 in October and now we have Rugby and Isabella.
I will be downloading my pictures from my camera to my computer so I can download all the new pictures of everyone.
We will be spending Christmas with Justin and Rebecca this year, it's my year to have everyone at our house, but Rebecca can't travel this late in her pregnancy, so we opted to go to Arizona. JJ and Danielle and their family as well as Brooke & Will and their family won't be able to be with us this year, so they will definitely be missed.
We are planning a summer reunion all our kids and their families. It will be wonderful. We hope to go to Northern NM and rent a lodge/big cabin for everyone, take lots of pictures and make memories.
Stay tuned...........

Grandbabies and more grandbabies!

Well, it has been awhile since I have updated. But, let's see Danielle is expecting a girl December 7th, Isabella for sure, but not sure of a middle name. I say Isabella Gonzalez is a mouth full already! Alysha's baby boy Rugby is due September 14th by C-section at 7:30am. Rebecca is expecting a boy due January 11th. Brigham Justin Greer. So excited for all these new babies.
We found out when Rebecca and Justin had their ultrasound that Brigham had a little problem. It is called Congential Diaphramatic Hernia, his diaphram has a hole in it and that causes problems for his lungs as organs move into the chest area that shouldn't be there and it doesn't give the lungs the room they need or the heart, it moves things around. There are alot more specifics, but I am just keeping it short. They will do ultrasounds at every visit and Rebecca will be seeing many specialists for the remainder of her pregnancy. She is considered a high risk pregnancy. Justin and Rebecca are being very strong in the wake of this news. We all know that miracles occur everyday and our prayer is that Brigham will be one of those miracles.

Ben is approaching 1 year old and Brooke thinks he will be walking very soon. He crawls everywhere but Brooke says he doesn't really get into everything like Liam did. Hee Hee

Savannah starts a pre kindergarten program on Thursday, she will ride a bus, wear a school uniform and go for about 2 1/2 hours everyday. She will go in the afternoon since the morning class had all boys and the teacher didn't want her to be the only girl. I soooooo wish I could be available to help in her classroom. (The teacher might not agree, but I think I need to be there). Liam will be doing a preschool coop program with other kids in their apartment complex and he should love that. He is a very social boy. Ben is a smiler and seems happy all the time. They are great buddies.

Logan wants to ride sheep, its called mutton bustin this fall. I'm not so sure. He is quite a tough little guy, but I love it when something happens and he is all "little boy" again, not so tough. He is so sweet and so smart.

Carrie is a little petite princess. She likes being mommy to her dolls and likes to help Rebecca do housework, cook, put dishes away from the dishwasher and help load the dishwasher.

I am going to get to have Carrie with me for a few days in September. I can't wait!
I definitely do not get to be with these babies as much as I wish I could be. They are all so wonderful. They truly are a blessing in my life. When I look at pictures of them, it just makes me smile..
More to come

Alysha is Having a Boy

There you have it, Alysha is having a boy. We are so excited. Should be interesting to see how Savannah likes a little brother. She loves kitty's now and had a time out recently for laying on the kitty at her daycare providers home, she was just loving the kitty :).

And More babies coming!

We got to visit Justin and Rebecca and Carrie at their new house over Mother's Day weekend. How fun it was! We got a nice surprise, Rebecca is pregnant and due January 11th. Carrie's birthday is January 23rd, so they will be almost 2 years apart.
Their house is amazing. Tons of space, lots of room for new babies and so nice. We are so happy for them and this "major" step into being homeowners.
I know Brooke and Will are now looking forward to being homeowners as well. Will graduated May 16th and is officially all done with school. Great job Will, way to hang in there Brooke, Liam and Ben.
So blessed with all our kids and their families.

More Babies Coming

Danielle is pregnant and due December 7th. Wow, can it get any better? Alysha will find out in a week or so what she is having and Danielle will find out in later June what she is having.
Ben is absolutely adorable and is such a happy boy, he always seems to be smiling and Liam is such a good big brother, they are so cute in pictures together, unfortunately that's what I have to settle for right now. I haven't got to see them together. I am so hoping to get to see them soon.
Will is done with school! Now the job search is on, or I should say it is continuing.
Everyone is doing great. Logan is pretty much potty trained and Savannah is working on that as well.
Carrie is a very busy, independent little girl, she is so petite and adorable. Earl and I are going to Arizona for Mother's Day and can't wait to see her and Justin and Rebecca and their new House!!
Happy Mother's Day everyone.