Fevers....

So last night Collin was running a low grade temperature, so I figured it was him teething b/c he was super cranky, so I gave him a dose of Motrin and put him to bed. Well he woke this morning with a 102 temp. so I gave him another dose of Motrin. Gonna watch him this weekend and if it has not broken, taking him to the doctor on Monday to see if it is anything else. Here is a picture of us this morning at my dad's. We were supposed to go to the Oliver Hardy Festival but since Collin got sick, I stayed home with him and dad and Tina took Mallory she had fun. Here are some pics of her riding the pony and a ride.

ok so I have said this before..

BUT this time I mean it. My goal is to loose 20 lbs by the end of the year. Now that I know the Y offers spinning classes, I am doing those on M,W,F also along with weight training. Tue/Thurs I am running on the treadmill and doing abs. Sat and Sun will be my off days, maybe every other Sat I will run on the treadmill. I am so ready to be rid of this fat. Here is to me getting motivated and getting rid of this weight!

Heart Walk 2009

Here are some pics of our heart walk. Since having Collin, I am trying to do the "little" things to help out other heart patients. I am excited to finally try and become part of our local chapter of the heart program.



This is my dad and his g/f Tina. The shirt they are wearing is from last year's walk. This year we didn't make a shirt. But that picture was taken after he had his BT shunt when he was 2 months old. He really is a survivor and a true blessing to our family!




This is Collin with his heart hat. On the side it says "I'm a survivor"



This is Mallory, Collin and I before the heart walk.

Some new things

Collin has greatly improved since June 2009. Before he wasn't doing nothing but being a big blob on the floor. LOL Now he can sit up, commando crawl EVERYWHERE, push to sit, and he is now rocking on all fours. He has took a few moves but for the most part, he is just dragging his self around. We are still working on sleeping 12 hours without waking, but we are getting there. He will go most nights 8-10 hours a night. I do not feed him (nurse that is) unless he just will not go back to sleep. I can't believe he is 14 months old and we are so lucky to have him. Every day with his is a huge blessing! Here are a few pics from my dad's house on Labor Day along with his big sister Mallory.

my newest addiction!

My newest addiction is finding other "heart" mom's out there and to find out that I am truly blessed! Now how can I say that I am blessed when I have a heart baby and a sometimes bratty 3 yr old? Well a lot of heart mom's out there and have lost their babies and I still have mine or some mom's out there have a 3 yr old that can't walk and talk and aggravate their mom's everyday. So I am blessed. Although, Collin can't do the "normal" things an one year old can do, he is doing things on his own time and I am forever grateful for him and the things he IS doing. I was having a self-pity party for myself yesterday and I really want Collin to be "normal" but to me he is normal. A stranger might wonder well "How come your 1 yr old isn't walking?" Well when I tell them, they look at me dumbfounded and then feel stupid for trying to make me feel stupid. Make sense? As of right now Collin sleeps almost thru the night. He goes down around 8pm most days and the others he goes down around 7pm, and sleeps until 3 or 4am then goes back to sleep until my sweet little Mallory wakes us up. On a side note, I am getting extremely frustrated with Mallory again. She is into not listening again and so we yell at her more now and I am really not liking this side of me again. I have started the time-out thing again with her and hopefully she will get the hang of it. She is so MEAN to her cat but the stinking cat STILL loves her. I think Shadow thinks Mallory is her mommy or something, it is quite cute though. As far as my job goes, I really like the kids, but once again these little ones do not listen. I am hoping once they get the hang of the routine they will settle down and be quiet. But hey, you can't expect much from pre-ker's, kindergartners and first graders. Well laundry is calling and I have an hour before I have to go to work. I think I am going to start blogging more if I can get the hang of it and make time for it. After all a one year old and 3.5 year old will keep ya busy. Will post pics soon!

Collin's birthday

So here are a few with his birthday shirt on and playing with some balloons. All we did for his birthday was have family over and had some cake and homemade vanilla ice cream. Collin hated the cake, but loved the ice cream. His fall wardrobe was complete thanks to family and friends. It was a really special day and a true blessing for him to be here with us. Thank you God!

ok so I am not a big blogger

So this is what has been going on in the Gibson household:
1. got a part-time job working for the Y's Primetime. hours are 3-6pm Monday-Friday. Very excited!
2. Collin has turned on year old. He can army crawl and can sit up pretty well by his self. He gets physical therapy once a week and is doing very well. I say within the next month or so he will be going full speed and getting into everything.
3. Collin had his 1 year check-up with Dr. Lutin and he is 16 lbs 11 oz and is 29 in long. He wasn't very pleased with his weight gain which was about half a pound within the last 3 months. So his new diet is anything with good fats and high calories.
4. Mallory will be starting ballet on August 18th for one hour a week. She is very excited and so am I.
5. As a part of me going back to work and working with the Y, I get a free membership and add both kids for $10 a month so I will be starting on Monday. I still have 20 lbs to loose by the end of this year.
6. I think that is it!


Tara

It's been awhile

So I don't have much to add, but on Monday I am starting my official weight training, I have been saying it for the past 8 months, but I am officially starting. Angie got me a personal trainer at the Spin Gallery and we are both starting. They give you an hour workout, and then we spin for about 45 min. He gives us a new diet every 10 days. I am so excited. 130 or bust. I have freaking 40 lbs to loose, so you do the math on how much I weigh..it's a lot. but in about 7 weeks, I will be a new Tara and a hot one at that LOL....So wish me luck

As of April 15, I am down 20 inches and 4 lbs...go me!! Start new diet tomorrow...then get weighed and measured again in 10 days, I am going to try and not cheat. I didn't do too bad, but by day 6 I am SICK of eating the same crap!!

March 5

Me and Amanda are going to see Britney Spears in Atlanta on March 5!! I can not wait!!!!

Collin's surgery pics

He had a diaper on his arm because he had an IV and he kept trying to play with it so that's how they keep the babies from picking at their IV's. I wish I had gotten a pic of him in the CICU, but he was there only a day. These are from the stepdown unit which is where they go to recover for a few days after surgery.

a few random pics

Collin's surgery

His next surgery is on February 12, 2009. He will have the Glenn shunt. Here is the definition: Glenn shunt: A surgical operation for children born with cyanotic heart disease ("blue babies"), in which a large vein (the superior vena cava) is anastomosed (connected) to the right pulmonary artery so that blood bypasses the malformed right chambers of the heart and is shunted directly into the lungs to be oxygenated.


This is his last surgery until he is three years old. Please say a prayer for us and I will update before and after his surgery.

So today is February 13 and Collin has had his glenn shunt. He is doing really well and has already been knocked down to the cardiac stepdown unit. He is off the ventilator and has all of his IV;s out except one in his hand and foot. He still has his chest drains in but those should come out tomorrow. He is still on a little bit of oxygen but that is just for comfort and they will wean that off slowly, I mean he did just have surgery :) But also all the nurses say that typically "glenn shunt" babies go home about 4-5 days after surgery that would put us at home around Mon or Tues. Mallory is staying with my Angie this weekend and Melissa on Mon and Tues. Say a prayer for her LOL...anyways I am so blessed to be his mommy and just love him to pieces. I will post a few pics of him when I get home.

Matthew 6:14,15

yesterday Chris and I went to church for the first time as a family. I have not been since I was little. I have always wanted to g back, just never had the courage to find a church that was right for me. Well the guy that married Chris and I, Shane, is the youth pastor at the Church of Greenbrier. It is inside Greenbrier High and I must say that I feel really good about this church. The message was Matthew 6:14,15. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not frgive your sins.
This really hit me because of what has happened to me in the past year. First my mother was taken from me and now my grandpa. How can I forgive these people that did this to me? I know when the time is right I will forgive them, but I just cant possibly do it right now. I started crying when Chuck (the preacher) was saying all this and had to leave the auditorium. When the service was over he came over to me and said he was sorry for what happened (Chris told him what had happened) and said he understood and if I needed to talk to someone he would be there. So I think God was telling me that everything would be okay and it was meant for me to be here on that day. I really didnt feel like going b/c my stomach had been REALLY hurting the day before, but glad I sucked it up and went. I am really excited about taking this journey again and getting closer to God. It seems like the perfect fit for our family. They have what they call the "Brier Patch" for the kids. Mallory was in the 3 yr old room and Collin stayed with the babies. There are only 4 babies including Collin so I didnt feel bad leaving him. I just have to make sure no one is sick since his surgery is only a few weeks away. But they just fell in love with him, I mean who wouldnt? LOL anyways....I feel really good about this.

say a prayer for my family

Today I found out that my mom's dad was murdered last night. We dont have a lot of details yet but what we know so far is that someone broke in or was let in and my grandpa was shot 3 times in the head so this is leading me personally to believe that it was someone my grandpa knew and was let in and had an arguement and he was shot. I was never close to him, so its not really effecting me that much but my aunt Angie is really taking it hard. I have been over there all morning and she is really upset. We have lost my mom and now my grandpa. So if you could say a prayer especially for my aunt....Thanks

Well today Jan. 15, is the viewing for my grandpa, and tomorrow is the funeral. There is so much going on right now that my head is spinning. I am so worried about my aunt Angie. She has been through so much and its really starting to take its toll. Please pray for her. Thanks Amanda..I should have mentioned it but didnt want to bring it up at Madisons party.

I promise....

to be patient.
to listen more.
to play more.
to give you more of my time.
to just let you be yourself.
to try harder.
to be a better mommy.

I am writing this because here lately I feel that all I do is YELL at Mallory. She is such a great kid and I have been feeling like a really bad mom. I know most mom's have their moments when they loose, well I have. Not like to the point where I beat my kid because I would never do that. BUT all I do is yell at her ALL day long. She knows what I am saying to her even if she is only 34 months old. She is a very smart, bright little girl. I am so proud of her and what she has accomplished at such a young age. The only thing is when she doesn't want to do something, well she just won't do it. I just feel like I need to do the above for myself and quit feeling such guilt about not being the best mother I can. So from this day forward, I promise to try harder, have more patience, and listen more. Even on those days when she is really crawling my nerves. :)

He found his feet

These were taken today. He found his feet and its so cute!!

My handsome boy

This is my little fella named Collin. He is a blessing in disguise. At about 20 something weeks in utero that is, he was diagnosed with a congiteal heart disease. There are many names that he is diagnosed with., here they are: L-transposition of the great vessels, left AV valve atresia and ventricular inversion. commonly known as double outlet right ventricle. He had his first surgery at 2 months old and that was the BT shunt and Danus Kaye Stansel. HIs next surgery is scheduled for the beginning of Feb. and that will be the Glenn shunt. This will be his last surgery until he is about 2 or 3 years old. He is such a happy baby and I am truely blessed to have him in my life. Here is journey from the day he was born until now.

Thanksgiving 2008

Dad, me and Collin


Collin and I

Exercising

Today Chris and I have officially started eating better and working out. I have never really ate bad, but when I get lazy and dont feel like cooking, we get fast food or order a pizza. Not saying that we will never do this, but we going to start doing this in moderation. I have a TON of clothes that I can't fit in, mainly pants. I actually only have 2 pairs that fit and I had to go buy those after Collin was born. It is so weird to me, because after I had Mallory I was fitting back in my clothes after 2 months. and this time around it's just not coming off and I primarily breastfeeding, with the occasional formula bottle because he has to have them in order to gain weight for his next surgery. but after that it will be just the boob LOL. Hopefully this will jumpstart my weight loss also.