our sweet valentines'sred mustang for valentine's
This was our transportation for our Valentine's date last night! Brice surprised me by renting a red mustang! I have to say that it was more romantic than our minivan! The kids, especially Isaac and Ethan, thought it was so cool. They got to ride in it this morning and they were in heaven!
our sweet valentines's
our sweet valentines'sbest "echo" yet!
Ethan had his 6 month follow-up appointment with his cardiologist this morning. We are very grateful for the good news we received. The doctor walked in after reading Ethan's echocardiogram and said that this was Ethan's best echo yet (huge sigh!) When Ethan was born, he had 3 main areas of narrowing: his aortic artery, his aortic valve and his mitral valve. All 3 areas are growing and currently show only minor narrowing. He has good blood pressures, pulses and blood flow.
Ethan cooperated very well. He was actually a very serious little boy, sitting and lying completely still during his blood pressure check, EKG and echo. I tried to get him to relax and at least smile, but he didn't move much. It was funny to see him like that, but it definitely helped make everything go smoothly.
Dr. A did talk to me a little about Ethan's future as far as playing sports are concerned. Ethan's aortic valve is not normal and never will be. It may require surgery or another type of intervention in the future, but it may not. Only time will tell that. Either way, there is a good chance that this abnormal valve will limit Ethan as far as competitive sports are concerned, especially in the area of the intense conditioning required for these sports. Playing t-ball, basketball and soccer at the preschool/elementary level is fine, but he may not be able to pursue them into highschool because of the limitations of his heart.
As parents, we don't like to hear those kinds of things, but we do trust that God has a perfect plan for Ethan's life. It will be exciting to see what happens. His next appointment will be in nine months - the longest he has gone between appointments!
We have so much to be grateful for. I have mentioned Cora in previous posts and following her story the last few weeks has brought back a lot of memories of the scary times we experienced with Ethan. When he was 6 days old, we almost lost him. It could have been Ethan in that little casket at the front of the church. God spared his life and spared us so much grief and sorrow. I wish He would have spared Cora's life too.
Ethan cooperated very well. He was actually a very serious little boy, sitting and lying completely still during his blood pressure check, EKG and echo. I tried to get him to relax and at least smile, but he didn't move much. It was funny to see him like that, but it definitely helped make everything go smoothly.
Dr. A did talk to me a little about Ethan's future as far as playing sports are concerned. Ethan's aortic valve is not normal and never will be. It may require surgery or another type of intervention in the future, but it may not. Only time will tell that. Either way, there is a good chance that this abnormal valve will limit Ethan as far as competitive sports are concerned, especially in the area of the intense conditioning required for these sports. Playing t-ball, basketball and soccer at the preschool/elementary level is fine, but he may not be able to pursue them into highschool because of the limitations of his heart.
As parents, we don't like to hear those kinds of things, but we do trust that God has a perfect plan for Ethan's life. It will be exciting to see what happens. His next appointment will be in nine months - the longest he has gone between appointments!
We have so much to be grateful for. I have mentioned Cora in previous posts and following her story the last few weeks has brought back a lot of memories of the scary times we experienced with Ethan. When he was 6 days old, we almost lost him. It could have been Ethan in that little casket at the front of the church. God spared his life and spared us so much grief and sorrow. I wish He would have spared Cora's life too.
Cora's Memorial Service
We drove down for Cora's memorial service on Tuesday. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking. When I saw her little casket, I broke down. It just wasn't fair. Family members wore pink in honor of Cora - a sweet touch.
The service started with a slide show of pictures of Cora and her family. I am sure there wasn't a dry eye in the entire church. The pastor did an amazing job. He read scriptures that gave assurance that Cora was in heaven with Jesus. He read letters written to Cora by her grandparents, aunts and uncles. Joel and Jess had written a letter to Cora and one of Cora's uncles read that - another tearful moment, but so precious. We sang "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" by Matt Redman. I couldn't sing this part:
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
Not because I don't believe these words, but because they were too painful to sing at the time. The words are so true. It is a CHOICE to praise God even when we don't understand why He took Cora away.
Cora's body was buried in a simple, beautiful, country cemetery. It seemed the perfect setting. At the burial service, the pastor told Cora's family about a tradition some people had of remembering those who had passed away. It was based on the scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:8 (King James Version)
8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
The pastor went on to explain that these people would say the name of the person who had died and then everyone would say altogether, "Present." This signified that even though their loved ones were gone from this earth, they were present right now with Jesus in heaven. The pastor closed the burial service by saying "Cora Paige McClenahan" and we answered altogether, "Present."
Afterwards, we were able to talk to the family. Something I will probably remember forever is my brother hugging Joel and both of them sobbing. Why did this have to happen? I hugged Jessica and told her that she was an incredible mom. I also told her that she looked beautiful. She did - the peace of God was clearly evident on her face.
Cora's grandparents invited everyone at the burial service to come over to their home. I thought this was an incredible act of service on their part. In their pain, they were still able to open their home and serve OTHERS!
Please continue to pray for this family. The hardest days are yet to come as they learn how to live without Cora.
Click on this link to read Cora's obituary: http://www.thekansan.com/obituaries/x545176829/Cora-Paige-McClenahan
The service started with a slide show of pictures of Cora and her family. I am sure there wasn't a dry eye in the entire church. The pastor did an amazing job. He read scriptures that gave assurance that Cora was in heaven with Jesus. He read letters written to Cora by her grandparents, aunts and uncles. Joel and Jess had written a letter to Cora and one of Cora's uncles read that - another tearful moment, but so precious. We sang "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" by Matt Redman. I couldn't sing this part:
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
Not because I don't believe these words, but because they were too painful to sing at the time. The words are so true. It is a CHOICE to praise God even when we don't understand why He took Cora away.
Cora's body was buried in a simple, beautiful, country cemetery. It seemed the perfect setting. At the burial service, the pastor told Cora's family about a tradition some people had of remembering those who had passed away. It was based on the scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:8 (King James Version)
8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
The pastor went on to explain that these people would say the name of the person who had died and then everyone would say altogether, "Present." This signified that even though their loved ones were gone from this earth, they were present right now with Jesus in heaven. The pastor closed the burial service by saying "Cora Paige McClenahan" and we answered altogether, "Present."
Afterwards, we were able to talk to the family. Something I will probably remember forever is my brother hugging Joel and both of them sobbing. Why did this have to happen? I hugged Jessica and told her that she was an incredible mom. I also told her that she looked beautiful. She did - the peace of God was clearly evident on her face.
Cora's grandparents invited everyone at the burial service to come over to their home. I thought this was an incredible act of service on their part. In their pain, they were still able to open their home and serve OTHERS!
Please continue to pray for this family. The hardest days are yet to come as they learn how to live without Cora.
Click on this link to read Cora's obituary: http://www.thekansan.com/obituaries/x545176829/Cora-Paige-McClenahan
so very sad...
Little Cora passed away early this morning. She had just turned 11 months old. We know that God is Sovereign, but we don't understand why He chose to take Cora. She is with Jesus, but it is still so very sad. Please remember this family in the days to come. Their loss is so great.http://www.themcclenahans.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
