Amarillo Heart Walk 2010

Come out this Saturday, October 30 to Medi Park (Area 9) for the Amarillo Heart Walk, as we try to "Create Hope, Inspire Change and Celebrate Success!" The walk is free and it is at 9:30am and their will also be games and activities going on. Come out and walk with us and our Little Heart Miracle, Natalie!

Pumpkin Patch

I hope everyone is enjoying fall so far. Amarillo has really started feeling like fall the last few days; leaves all over the ground, cooler weather and rain.

Wednesday was my birthday and I have to say, God blessed me with an amazing day. Morning was not stressful getting kids up and dressed. I actually got Carter to school on time and even got him some donut holes on the way. I had a great bible study and a wonderful lunch with Larry. We had one small meltdown on the way home from school, but both kids took naps and then my mom came over for dinner. Overall it was the best day, I even got Natalie's hair in pigtails.

Natalie is feeling so much better this week. I ended up going to get Corona, why I did not do that at first, I do not know why. I will not make that mistake ever again. Most of you are probably wondering what Corona is; no it is not beer. Corona is actually for horses, yes I know. Corona is for animals, but it is the miracle cure of diaper rash. I am not joking, ask any Amarillo mom and she will confirm. In fact, several mom's told me to go get Corona, but I didn't. I thought we have a prescription cream, so this should work better...not on Natalie. I think she was allergic to it, so the prescription cream made everything worse. Once we stopped the prescription cream and started on Corona, her little bottom look so much better.

I doubt you all can buy Corona at your Walgreens like we can, but if you ever need some for a bad diaper rash, let me know, I will send you some. Like I said, Miracle Cream!

Carter had his Fall Carnival at school this week. He wanted to be SpiderMan on Monday, so we went to Target, but once he saw the costume, he said it was too scary. We settled for our costume from last year, however, I noticed it was a little small as he was walking into school...oh well.

When we were in Dallas two weeks ago, Larry's parents took the kids to the pumpkin patch. The got some amazing pictures, which I have posted some.

Yes, I am still working on the video of Natalie walking. What happened to blogspot? I can't seem to download a video. I try and after 30 minutes of trying to load, I stop. If anyone knows what I need to or am doing wrong, please let me know, otherwise I will not be posting videos anymore only pictures.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

YouTube - The Reason for the World by Matthew West (with lyrics)

YouTube - The Reason for the World by Matthew West (with lyrics)

Here is the song by Matthew West, I talked about it in my previous blog

And Here We Go Again...

That is right, we went back to the doctor this week. I feel like we can't catch a break these days.

We went to Dallas this past weekend to see my brother and his family, Larry's parents and Larry and I went to the Arkansas vs A&M game. We had a wonderful time! The kids did awesome in the car. Natalie did not even cry once, she took a little nap and watch movies. Friday we hung out with my brother, sister-n-law, niece and nephew. Then Saturday, Larry parent's came in town and watched the kids while we went to the game. Sunday, we hung out with my brother again and then headed home. Overall it was great weekend!

Natalie woke up Monday with horrible diarrhea and I mean horrible. You knew when she went because she would start screaming bloody murder almost. So what happens to a baby when they have diarrhea...diaper rash. It is by far the saddest thing I have seen lately. Every time we go to change her diaper, she starts crying (the big tears type of crying) and starts shaking, because it hurts so bad. She laid on her side watching a movie for over an hour the other night. She is not herself at all. I took her to the doctor to be safe and everything looks good for the most part. The doctor believes it is because she has been on so much antibiotics lately, that this is the side effect. She has been on 3 rounds of antibiotics since the last week of August, each last 10 days, so you can see not much time off in between. She seems to be doing a little better today, so I am hoping we are turning the corner and getting well.

Carter has been doing good. He has some allergies right now, which makes him a little cranky. He is also trying to completely cut out naps. I still try and make him lay down everyday no matter what, but I can't make him go to sleep. So he has been extremely tired at night. I guess it is the never ending battle of parenthood.

We are starting to gear up for Halloween at our house. I got what little decorations we have out. I was trying to convince Carter to be what he was last year, a pirate (actually it is a skeleton sweatsuit, but he thinks he is a pirate). It actually worked for a while, but now he wants to be Lightening McQueen (from the movie Cars). He is so funny, I ask him what he wants to be and he says, "Lightening McQueen, Zoom Zoom." I think costume shopping is good father, son time (of course, Larry does not know that yet).

I can't believe it is already the middle of October. Where has this year gone?

I am not sure if any of you have heard Matthew West's new album, The Story of Your Life. He took stories from people's life that had written him and made them into songs. I have not heard the entire album yet, but what I have heard is amazing.

I was driving down the road one day and was listening to KLove, when Matthew was talking about this song, A Reason for the World. He talked about the story behind the song and then played for the first time ever to the mom who wrote the letter. I have to say, she seemed to hold it together a lot better than I did. I was crying so hard, that I am sure the guy at the drive through I was at, thought I was freak.

The song talks about a tragedy and finding comfort in the world, because...

"Maybe the reason for the pain

Is so we would pray for strength

And maybe the reason for the strength

Is so that we would not lose hope

And maybe the reason for all hope

Is so that we could face the world

And the reason for the world

Is to make us long for home"

I figure most of you know this, but some might not. I lost my dad two weeks before we found out about Natalie. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of him or miss him dearly. I am not sure why we have gone through so much turbulence, as I like to call it, but I know God has a reason and a plan. So, I do not lose hope in knowing God does everything for a purpose. I believe my dad went to Heaven, so that he could be in the operating with Natalie when we could not. I know I will see him again in Heaven some day.

This song also touches my heart, because I a friend I have made through emails and facebook. I spoke of her family and her son, Cohen back this summer. Cohen was a heart baby as well, but he lived only a few weeks, but is still making an impact on everyone that hears his story. Cohen's mother, Megan is such an inspiration to me with her continual faith and strength in the Lord.

So I could not post the video on this post for some reason. I am still not too smart with the whole blogging bit. I am going to make another post right after this with it. Also, if you search around on YouTube, you can hear Matthew West talk about the story behind the song.

Just remember during your time of turbulence that there is a reason for the pain, strength, the hope, and the world...so that we long for home.

Beeping...Flu Shots...8 Miles Down

Okay, I spent my entire morning trying to upload a 10 second video of Natalie walking. My computer and I are not getting along. I guess you can say, my morning has not been tops.

I had what I thought was the smoke detector beeping at me starting a 7am. Larry changed a battery out on one and we thought it was maybe our carbon monoxide detector, so we messed with it as well. Larry left for work and guess what...the beeping started back. I think I almost went insane changing batteries out and nothing was working. I finally called Larry about to cry and he said oh what, check the carbon monoxide detector in Carter's room. Thank you, thank you...the beeping has stopped! I know you out there that have that annoying beep from time to time no what I am talking about it, it drives you mad.

Both kids got their flu shots this week and they did awesome. The key was teddy grahams. Natalie got her shot and started to cry, I gave her a teddy graham and that was it she was happy. Carter was a sucker, once he got that sucker, he was pumped.

I am over half way with my running for the half marathon. I ran 8 miles last week! I wanted to ask you all again to consider helping me reach my fundraising goal. I understand if you can't help out financially, but I would like to ask you to continue to pray for me, my friends and family during our training process. The race is less than 2 months away. I am so excited!

http://www.active.com/donate/tsrh10/EBunn

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I will try again to post the video later, maybe my computer and I can be friends again.

Doctors, Doctors Everywhere

Well, since my last post we have been to the doctor's office multiple times. Carter woke up last weekend with a 103.4 fever...nice. I took him to the doctor Monday afternoon and what do you know, he has strep. I must say the poor little guy felt miserable, but he had the best manners while he was sick. I guess not having a lot of energy and your throat hurting does that. I could tell that Tuesday afternoon he was back....loud and running around the house. I decided to keep him home from school one more day to be safe, but we were both happy he got to go back on Thursday.

Thursday afternoon I noticed Natalie had white around the inside of her mouth. She had been having diarrhea for a few days, so I was waiting for her to spike temperature, thinking she was going to get strep, but never did. I took her to the doctor Friday afternoon. She has thrush along with an ear infection, that she has had and has never cleared up...poor thing. We go back in 10 days to make sure the ear has cleared up. Natalie has been on some sort of antibiotic all but a few days for the past month. I am hoping this is not what we have in store for us this winter. I guess it is time to start not leaving the house again. I just really thought we had another few weeks before illness set in, but better safe than a hospital visit.

I actually went to the doctor this past week as well. Most of you do not know this, but I have a heart murmur that I have had since birth. My grandmother suggest I go, since it had been over 10 years and I am training for a half marathon. I had an echo Thursday afternoon and met with my cardiologist on Friday morning. I am happy to say, all is good! I do not have to go back from another 10 years. I actually have 4 small leaks in my valves, but 3 are extremely common and one not so much, but not uncommon. I have been blessed to never have problems.

Besides just doctors office visit, we also took Carter to the Tri-State Fair a few days before he got sick (probably how we got sick). He had a blast! My mom kept Natalie for us so we did not have to bring her along and worry about her getting sick. Out of all the rides, Carters favorite was a fire truck that went up and down in a circle. He still asks if he can ride the fire truck....he is having a hard to understand the Fair only comes once a year (thank goodness).

Natalie is a walking champion now! She is walking everywhere. She is still have to hold onto something to stand up, but once she gets that down....it is over. I have been working on trying to get a video of her walking to post, so look this week.

I am still running and training for my half marathon that is only two months away. I am up to 8 miles now!

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" ~Proverbs 16:9