Thanking God on this Wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

I Praise God for all He has done and is doing for Ava. I made a short video of what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. Thanks again for all your Love, Support and Prayers. Your encouragement really helps. Happy Thanksgiving to all of Ava's WONDERFUL followers!



Ava is really into Santa this year. She begged us to take her out the very first time he was at our mall. She wasn't scared in the least. She told him she wanted, "Everything!" Gotta love a gal for trying! She is just growing into a little lady right before our eyes. She is very excited for Christmas.







~Terri

Ava the Cheerleader!

Yes it is official she is a CHEERLEADER!



I just had to post this short little video of Ava cheering. Lexis her older sister is a Cheerleader and she decided she was one too! She has been asking me to make her a cheerleading outfit so today I decided today was that day! She LOVES cheering.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hope you all have a great evening.

~Terri

Seeing is Believing.

Hello Ava followers. She is continuing to do well. I love that I only have to blog every few months. I appreciate all of you that have supported Ava throughout her start, through her troubles and her triumps. It means a great deal to me that so many care and believe in the Power of Prayer.




I found this verse today and was stunned by the impact it had on me. It took me back to being pregnant with Ava. We were so excited to be expecting our third child. I assumed everything would go as it always had, normally. But at 20 weeks I had some very unsettling feelings. I asked for an ultrasound and we found out Ava had Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. (No diaphragm...her heart was pushed over to the right. Her stomach, small and large bowel, spleen and liver were in the spot of her left lung. Her left lung was not able to grow.) The doctors were not very positive. They told us her odds of surviving were somewhere between 20 and 30 percent. To describe a little of our feelings well...devastation, confusion, a huge sense of loss, disappointment, and I was even a little angry with God. The Why's kept returning again and again. However I had grown up learning the Bible stories. I'd read all about the Miracles in the Bibile. How David had slane Golliath. How God had fed the 5,000 with 5 barley loaves and two fish. How God protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the inferno. BUT did he do miracles today? I'd never seen one in my life up to that point. We didn't know the road that would lie ahead. We didn't know the outcome. We only had Faith that IF this was the path that God had chosen for our life we would follow His plan and make the best of what we had.

Here is the Verse, John 4:48 Jesus asked, "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?"




WOW! He showed us Miracle after Miracle with Ava. It is quite grand to know that God's love is brightly around her.

I know there are many people out there today, struggling. It is hard in the midst of the storm to see the light. PLEASE have faith that God knows exactly what He is doing. Brighter days are ahead. Yes there are questions, there is doubt, just know you are not alone. I'm not sure why my post got so heavy. I just felt the need to let you all know the importance of trusting and knowing there is a reason for suffering. I appreciate life so much more now. My children mean the world to me. I believe with hard ache comes appreciation and love.

So onto the positive Ava is doing SUPER...We embraced the gorgeous weather yesterday and decided to take advantage of what may probably be the last photo ops of the season. Ava picked the dress and off we went. She has a spring to her step and her latest craze has been sparkly clothes and shoes. We took pictures over looking The Mighty Mississippi. Then we ended at her favorite location...the park!





I asked Ava for some ATTITUDE for this next picture....that is exactly what I got!






This was Ava's first year Trick or Treating. She's been doing so well we decided it was time! Here is a very short video of her Trick or Treating. She was a cat.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanks for checking in on Ava. The Winter months are always scary for us so please continue to keep her in your prayers.

~Terri

"Just Being a Girl."

Hello friends and family. It has been a wonderful few months. Ava is staying healthy and learning SO much. I love to watch her "Just being a little girl". Her speech teacher is super impressed with her progress. She is now talking in complete sentenses. She is ending her words with the proper sounds. Ava is not like your typical kid in many ways... starting at birth and now I find it funny that if she does ANYTHING wrong she apologizes. She is always saying she is sorry. Some of her words are still not right and "sorry" comes out as "Yardy". It is so cute and extremely hard to keep a straight face when she really IS in trouble. :)

Here is a few pictures I put together for you all. I know it has been a while since I posted. I'm just so grateful she is doing So well. These were taken today. She is also growing super tall.







We tried on a few costumes but have not decided on her final Halloween costume. She is so excited this year to go trick or treating. She really wants to be Scooby Doo so we shall see.



Here are some recent family pictures. Ava did really well.







Here are a few odds and ends pictures from the last few months. God has blessed us dearly!

This was taken at the homecoming parade. Ava always has so much fun. AND yes Brian is once again the Bull dog!







Oh yes one more HUGE change in Ava's life.... she is now sharing a room with Emeline. We put the bunk beds back in and painted it. It is just darling! I still check on her more than necessary. How can I not?





Thanks for dropping by. Help us continue to pray for her health and safety. We are looking towards a very bright future for a little girl whose start was very uncertain. Thank you Lord!

~Terri

“Celebrating Life with Ava.”

 

Okay so it has been a little while since my last post but that means all is fabulous here in Ava’s world. We celebrated her 4th birthday today with family and friends. Her actual birth DAY is on Tuesday the 31st. I can’t believe how well she is doing. I can remember so vividly 4 years ago. My heart was so heavy but HOPE was so alive in our world. God has been so good to us. I wish I could take away her painful memories. THAT is still sad to me. However I’m thrilled in her progress.

I put this video together and wow did it bring back the tears for us. Ava has been through more in the last 4 years than most of us will go through in an entire lifetime. Yes the video is long (20 minutes) but I promise you it will bless your heart and give you a huge blessing. (Just Beware some of the pictures may be disturbing to some viewers.)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

 

 

Here are her birthday party pictures of today.

 

Some precious pictures of Ava and some of her guests. She was adorable walking around telling everyone, “Happy Birthday….thank you.” I think she thought it was everyone’s birthday :) Silly Girl!

Grandma D lovin’ on the birthday girl.

Aunt Marsha and the Birthday girlie! Thanks Aunt Marsha for the delicious Dora Cake. It was the best!

Grandma H is shining in this picture of her and her Miracle grand daughter.

Uncle Billy and Ava.

Aunt Lela got Miss Ava the talking Dora doll she wanted SO bad. Thanks Aunt Lela!

Ahhhh…Daddy and his Little Girl!

Great Grandma Bonnie adores Ava.

Grandpa D….let me tell you how much Ava loves her grandpa. She follows him around like a duckling. Where ever grandpa is Ava is as well!

Ava and Great Grandpa Delbert. He had just stole a kiss from her….too precious gramps!

THESE three adorable girls are my most prized possessions in the world. We tried to get a family photo but since the birthday girl didn’t get her nap it was not possible.

BUT since I know you want to see it here it is… not pleasant I might remind you :)

Thanks for stopping by! Love you all!

~Terri

Conquering Her Fears...

Ava says "Hello Eveebodi!" She has been doing LOTS of new things. We went on a small family vacation last week to Adventureland. She rode on a few of the rides. She was not afraid at all. She rode the planes, trains, dragons, boats, lady bugs, small ferris wheel and kids semi trucks. She was in Heaven I have to add. She was smiling ear to ear most of the time. Before the end of the afternoon she was all tuckered out. We had a great day! Enjoy the slideshow of a few of our favorite pictures.

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Ava was a bit held back in her gaining weight due to a cold. We put her on breathing treatments that seemed to help out a ton. She is finally getting back to normal. I know it was due to her being so "out in public" but she really needed to get out an experience life.

I weighed her today and she is back to 31 pounds. She had lost a pound so I was very worried. Must have been all the sweet corn we've been eating lately with the REAL better added to hers. She eats the butter plain! Yep she loves it!

I was concerned about her g tube hole as it was getting red again but with a few days of antibiotic ointment it is looking much better. She has just a bit more to close and it will be all healed.

I took the girls on a bike ride today to the park. It was SO hot out today.I brought along my tiny camera to get a few pictures. Take a look.







Back to the title of the post... Forever Ava has been afraid of almost everything. She is very afraid to try new things. She holds back until she is 100% sure she will not get hurt. The amusement park was a big step for Ava but tackling the waterpark was HUGE. She went down the waterslide for the very first time yesterday. I was SUPER proud of her. Watch the video below...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Please continue to keep Ava in your prayers.Thanks for your love and support.

~Terri

Vacation + Ava = Stress.

Hello Ava friends. We are in St. Louis on vacation. We have a lot of family here and it is such a nice, busy place! We came on Friday and all was good. We celebrated 4th of July with the three F’s… AWESOME Family, Food and Fireworks.

My favorite picture of the 4th this year…

Okay this too is one of my favs. This is our newest addition to the family….Christian.

Ava enjoying fireworks.

My sister’s dog patches kept barking at her when she would try to ride the tractor. It was so cute.

Miss Celebration shows her 4th spirit!

Can I take your order? This is her favorite game. She asks and then she scribbles on the paper.

She now tells us, “I eat and get bigger and bigger and bigger!”

We have a pinata every year and the kids go wild. Ava not so much but we enjoy watching.

Here is all the grandkids but one.

Ava relaxing on the swing.

AND no 4th is complete without a tractor ride.

 

The WORKS!

We saw the air show and fireworks at the arch. It was a site to see.

Did you see the guy on the airplane? Yikes that scared us!    

This was everyone that went to the fireworks on the 4th. Pretty large groups huh?

Miss thing lovin the fireworks.

So yea this is me. We did glow in the dark sticks and got real creative.

My wonderful sisters and I.

Lexis, Emeline and Abby.

Awesome fireworks!

             

Ava as you know has to keep me popping! Yesterday she started becoming very tired and grouchy. She wasn’t interested in eating. I knew something was up with her. She then ran a fever of 101.8. Her hole (where her g tube had been) was red. It was also raised a little bit. It looked very different than the day before. I called her doctor’s office and naturally they were all off due to the holiday. I was then transferred to the ER doctor on call. I explained our situation and he reluctantly agreed to give us antibiotics. I felt confident it was an infection at the site. Within about 4 hours of giving her a dose of Tylenol and her antibiotics she was feeling much better, even wanting to eat again. Today she is pretty much back to her normal self. I am so glad that I got on top of it before it became a raging war. The hole is still open a tiny bit. I’m hoping it closes completely soon.

Thanks for stopping by and keep her in your prayers.

~Terri