Doing Great!

This is just a quick update from my iPhone at the hospital, so it will be brief and very well may contain some grammatical errors. But here's the great news: Berkeley is out of surgery and is doing great so far. She apparently did very well in the operating room, and the surgeon said that her heart repair went beautifully. Keep praying for her recovery to go well!

Pat-a-verse

 

Brighton has somehow put pat-a-cake on the same level as scripture and prayer. I'm not exactly sure how this happened. A few weeks ago, she was saying pat-a-cake, and getting pretty into it. She was wrapping it up - "and put it in the oven for baby and me!...AMEN!"
This morning, she spontaneously said one of the bible verses she's memorized - Ephesians 6:1. She had learned the verse by way of a little cheer we made up. When we say "Ephesians," we roll our hands and draw the name out, like a rah rah sis boom bah kind of cheerleader routine. I guess it worked - she recited it perfectly! "Children, obey your parents, as believers in the Lord." Then came the ever spiritual pat-a-cake reference. Instead of Ephesians 6:1, she cheered,"Roll it...6:1!"

Animation of the AV Canal surgery

AV Canal Surgery

go to this link if you're wondering what exactly needs to be fixed in Berkeley's heart, and how they're going to fix it.

Change of Plans

 

Sean, Berkeley, and I spent 8 hours at the hospital today doing preop activities...lots of fun stuff, like x-rays, echocardiograms, EKG's, blood draw, and more! Berkeley got her stamp of approval on having surgery tomorrow. Later this evening, we got a call from the nurse telling us that Berkeley had gotten bumped from the schedule on Thursday (some little baby needed surgery more immediately than her). The nurse said that it wouldn't be Friday, either...but I'm praying that something will open up. I was so hoping to have the surgery before Spring break and have that whole week off as she recovers.
Right now we're just waiting for a call to let us know when the surgery will be. I figure it doesn't hurt to ask God to get us in sooner than later!

Surgery Calendar

Okay, here we go. This calendar is intended for family and friends to see who is coming to visit Berkeley after surgery so that people making longer trips can plan accordingly and not all show up at the same time on the same day. We'd love to see everyone all at once, but Berkeley probably won't be able to handle too many people at one time for a while. I'm sure local family and friends will be around a lot as well, but this should help those making the drive to see what's going on. Please, please, please make use of the calendar if you are planning to come see Berkeley. This will help us a lot in knowing whom to expect after surgery time, as we will probably be tough to catch on the phone for several days. I've gone ahead and marked off her surgery time on March 12th, and we can expect her to be in ICU for about three days after that, so that's marked as well. Anyway, go ahead and sign up for times that you plan to be around, and yes it's okay if you come at the same time as someone else, but if there's already several people on the same day, please try to find a day with a little less traffic. Oh, and if you have trouble using the calendar, just post in the comments when you'd like to come by, and we'll try to add you in ourselves. Thanks!

EDIT: Apparently, the calendar I embedded for you is difficult to interact with for posting new appointments. You can go to the bigger version of the calendar and make your appointments and see them updated here on the blog version. The link for the full calendar is here:

Berkeley's Surgery Calendar

Martha Stewart Stall Tactic

 Returning misplaced toys, taking lost socks to the laundry room, straightening a crooked potty, and closing all the closet doors in the bedrooms were suddenly a top priority for Brighton tonight. She may have been stalling to avoid bedtime, but we were amused by her Martha Stewart-like precision about the whole process.
Sean and I just keep saying what wonderful girls we have. We love them so much. And, much to our joy, Brighton is at the age at which she can express her love to us. She initiates the "I love you" now. It usually goes like this -
Brighton: I love you, Mommy.
Me: I love you, too.
Brighton: I love you, too.
Of course, she also "loves" Peter Pan and her stuffed dog,Nana. But we know we're her real favorites.

New pictures from 2009:
http://picasaweb.google.com/seanjuliesmith/Web2009JanuaryFebruary?authkey=KHz-PkNF4PU

1 Doctor Visit Too Many...

 

Berkeley went to the doctor three times this week - once to the cardiologist for a final check-up before surgery (which should be in early March), once to the pediatrician for her shots, and the third time was really me showing up to the pediatrician the day before that appointment...on the WRONG day! Yes, that was very embarassing and I still can't figure out how I managed to do that. I had taken off of work and everything!
She had a busy week of doctor visits, and that was before she got sick. There's something going around, because Brighton got it, too. Our weekend has turned out to be busy with taking temperatures, cleaning throw up, giving pedialyte and gatorade to the girls, and lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
The girls have been angels through it all. Sean has behaved pretty well, too.