Baby Vance-A 24 hour portfolio

He pretty much has been sedated since the surgery yesterday. When I spoke with my husband this evening he said the baby was in quite a bit of pain. So the doctors ended up giving him morphine. He said it was so terribly sad as the baby's face kept wincing up in pain but he couldn't really cry because of the tape around his mouth and the tubes in his throat. My heart goes out to him. If you all would please continue to pray for his well being and also that his pain can be relieved we would be so appreciative. On a lighter note, the doctor is well pleased with the surgery and believes that he won't have to have more surgeries later on. We are elated with this news because before this most recent surgery he thought he would have to have more. What a wonderful blessing this is and we are extremely thankful for it.

Heather with baby Vance.

Heather, grandpa Vance and baby Vance

Baby Vance, Heather, son Vance and daddy Vance. I just love all these Vance's!

I was told that he now has the tube out of his throat. Hopefully that will bring him great relief.

Father and son passing the time together in the waiting room.

I wonder who's head dropped first!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

It looks like little Gemma couldn't hold out any longer either!

Grandpa sharing his drink with Gemma. (Hope her hands are clean!!)

And my favorite....grandpa and Gemma snuggling!

Grandpa Vance cuddling baby Vance the night before his surgery.

AH, it doesn't get better than this!

There can't be anything better than to have two grandpa's in the same place and the same time. I'm sure Gemma is loving it. Here is Heather's father holding Gemma and the other guy belongs to me!! Heather's mom and dad came over from Utah for the week too. I'm so thankful Vance and Heather didn't have to weather this week alone. I love family! I only wish I could have been there too. But at least I have almost instant photos of all that is happening. Internet is a wonderful thing!

Baby's update with picture

My husband just called to tell me that after about 5 hours of surgery our little guy is nearly finished. The doctors told them things went well and that they had worked on him a bit more than was expected. We will know more in a bit when the doctors come and talk with our family. Right now they are closing him up and family should be able to see him in a couple hours. We are praying prayers of thanksgiving and look forward to seeing this precious guy getting back to normal. Thanks all for your sweet comments and many prayers.

Baby Vance is in surgery

It is about 7:25 in Tucsan as I am posting this.  I just spoke with my husband and he said that the baby is just going into surgery.  I will update as I can.  Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers.

On Wednesday last Heather had him at the cardiologist and she was told that most likely he will have to have a number of surgeries throughout his life because of how his pulminary arterie developed.  Vance and Heather have great faith and I know it will be what sustains them through this ordeal with their precious blessing.

Scenes from September

We had a wonderful couple of weeks. Daughter Juli came for a visit with her family, and while she was still here my mother came too. My mom hadn't seen Juli in almost 10 years, had never met her husband nor her 2 young children. It was so fun having them together. Here are a few pics of our time together.

Big sister Juli with baby sister Mary

So cute how Mary and her nephew Beckham interact. They played really well.

Mary playing on the swing with her niece Aubryn

Grandma enjoying some card games with Makenzie and Janai. Granddaughter Aubryn smiles big for a picture with her great grandma.

Mary getting a hug from her brother in law Kelly!

seven of our nine girls smiling for mama

Granddaughter Aubryn (center) enjoying dress up with her two aunts Mary and Janai. These three girls play so nicely together. They are so precious!

Gotta take advantage of the camera when you have 4 generations together!!

Grandpa's teaching Beckham how to make the perfect smore!! He says, "How can I be a grandpa when I have my own kids drinking sippy's, wearing pull ups and sitting in car seats?" (Does he really need me to explain) This next week he will be in AZ with our other 2 grandchildren. I have a feeling that by the time he gets home he'll have no choice but to accept the whole grandpa thing as being a fact!!

Why do they want to grow up so fast?

"Mom, can I wear this dress to church?" "No, Mary, it's too big for you!"

"NOOO, can I wear it when it grows into me?"

Sure Mary, because I'd rather IT grow into you rather than you grow into IT. I like the idea of you staying little.

I think I'm going AWOL

From blogging land that is!! But only for a couple of weeks. The month of September is full of joyful happenings and I don't want to get too "blogged down!" I do hope to be able to pop in and out to keep up with you all and what is going on in your lives. As for us, this is what our month looks like:

On Saturday last we got a phone call from our married daughter Juli and she is coming from Texas for an impromptu visit. We are all so excited to see our 2 oldest grandkids Aubryn, 5 and Beckham 3. And Juli and Kelly only add to the treat. She will be leaving next week and then my mother is visiting for a week. Thankfully, we worked it all out for the visits to overlap since my mom has never seen her newest great grandkids!

Then at the end of my mom's visit Grandpa Vance Smith (CEO of Freedom First Society) is coming to give a mini-conference on Reclaiming America! After he goes back home my husband will be flying to

Arizona to spend the week with our son Vance as our littlest grandlove Baby Vance will be having open heart surgery. So right now our family is busy with all that entails when there is are going to be visitors coming and going for the next couple of weeks. I will miss everyone and pray you all will have the Lord's choicest blessings upon you.

101 reasons as to why I homeschool

Reason 95

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."~Albert einstein

Reason 96

"Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind. Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be rather a sort of amusement; this will better enable you to find out the natural bent of the child."~Plato

How many different ways can one play with a basketball?

THIS is how my boys play with basketballs!!

And THIS is how my girls play with basketballs!!

A glimpse into my future perhaps? (Oh boy, I'm so not ready for this!!)

Wordless Wednesday~Big brother, baby sister

Some day I'll get this figured out

When a child is sick and wants to cuddle with mom,when will I learn to keep a towel between us? But it wasn't the first time and probably won't be the last when a child shares their last eaten meal with me. I can't count the number of times I've found myself running to the shower to rid my hair, face, ears, neck, every part of me of their little "accidents!!" But now we both are bathed, and hopefully at least one of us is feeling better!! I think that would be Mary since she quickly fell asleep. As for me, well, the taste is still in my mouth and I've completely lost my appetite!!

A Christie look alike

Janai found this picture of big sister Christie when Christie was her age. She came to me and said, "Look mom, now I know what I will look like when I grow up!! I'll look just like Christie."

Surgery scheduled for Baby Vance

This dear, sweet boy is gearing up for his second heart surgery and most serious one. He is scheduled Sept. 28 for this one and it will be an open heart surgery. I ask that you all will please pray for all things to go well and that his mom and dad will be blessed with a peace that only can come from the Lord. Papa will be flying out to AZ on the 27th to spend the week with them and to help in anyway he can. Besides giving lots of loves to big sister Gemma while there!