Click on image to view larger

Craziness!

Just a word ... about the way it felt to enroll my baby in preschool for this fall! Wow ... life has sure changed ... but change is good!

2009 Heart Walk

Okay ... I'm 2 weeks late in posting this. Let's say life's been a little crazy lately!
We had a great time at the Heart Walk. One of my friends, and her daughter, walked with us ... as well as Annie & Mimi! The threat of a thunderstorm kept most people away. We had great success in selling t-shirts, thanks to Uncle Sam's creativity and especially your generosity! We'll donate $175 to the American Heart Association. Claira received her red survivor hat again (Evie thought she had to have one too) so everyone would know what she's overcome. Thank you again for all your support!
To see more Heart Walk pictures visit our family website ... Partyof8

Happy Heart Day Claira!

Two years ago Claira's 2 holes were repaired via open-heart surgery. She came away with a lack of desire to eat, and a long road ahead. Today she is a CHUNKY (emphasis on chunky),healthy, active, vibrant 2 year old that loves to eat! In lieu of her past struggles ... and this most blessed day ... I've posted a few pics of her 1st homemade pb&j sandwich! Her favorite saying is, of course, "NO! I'll do it mysowf!"

(Sorry the pics are such poor quality ... the camera on my new phone is terrible!)

Thank you to all that helped us support the AHA by purchasing shirts for the upcoming Tulsa Heart Walk ... we will be giving the organization a donation of $175.00. It's not much, but every little bit helps! It certainly helped advance medicine by researching new procedures and medicines to help little ones like our Claira!

Order a 2009 Tulsa Heart Walk shirt!

The first year we participated in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk, Uncle Sam designed the shirts we wore in Claira's honor ... it was only 2 weeks before her open-heart surgery. This year he has once again designed the shirt, and I think he's outdone himself! They're WAY CUTE! (I'll put picture up as soon as I can figure this out!)
You can order one of these adorable shirts AND support the American Heart Association's research and awareness for CHD.

• Pink short-sleeved tee with brown logo $12.00
  
• Pink baseball tee with brown sleeves and logo $15.00

Contact me by email eastmanpartyof7@yahoo.com
Saturday, April 18th ... wear your shirts and walk with us!

Prayers for Ethan

Ethan is one of Claira's heart buddies that could use your prayers right not. In a message from his Mom ... "We leave early this Thursday, March 26th, for Ethan's heart cath. It is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. In the heart cath, they will be plugging a fenestration hole that they put in the Fontan (tube that goes to the lungs) to allow more blood going to the lungs for oxygen. The tube was put in his last heart surgery, June 2008. Please pray for Ethan, Brian & I. Please pray for Dr. Sperrazza (the cardiologist performing the heart cath), nurses & anesthesiologist taking care of Ethan. Please pray that Ethan acclimates to more blood going to his lungs smoothly. Thank you so much for your prayers. We appreciate them so much."

You're NOT Excused!

Claira burped today! Why is that a big deal you ask? Well ... 1 week after her heart surgery, she had a feeding tube placed directly into her stomach so we could force food into her body. During the surgery she had a fundoplication, which means that her stomach was wrapped around her esophagus. The hope with this procedure was to keep Claira from vomitting her, so desperately needed, nutrition. The bad side is that she couldn't vomitt if she had a virus, and ... she couldn't burp! We were told it would start to loosen up in a few years, and that she'd be fully restored by the time she was an adult. The first few days after her procedure were miserable for her while we learned how to manually burp her, even though her tummy was very full of gas. After her mickey button was removed, there was no way to relieve the gas or "back-up" except to wait for her body to move it the other direction!
So ... now do you understand our excitement? She burped!