Maternity Photo Sessions, do you really need one?

I am sure not everyone will agree with me, but my answer is YES, DO IT! YOU WILL REGRET NOT DOING IT!  

As you know this journey we have been on has been a difficult one!  Even still we have tried to keep it "normal" minus the ultrasounds every month, echos and hospital tours.  We have done the parenting classes, breastfeeding classes, 3D/4D ultrasounds (for fun!) We wanted to do maternity photo session and babymoon too.  So we got those on the schedule.  Last weekend we were able to check one of those off!

My dear friend Lora has been one of our prayer warriors for over a year.  Her strength and support has been so wonderful.  And I was so sad when she and her family moved to Tennessee.  Luckily, social media is a great way to keep up with each other.  I have loved seeing her boys grow up and her sweet baby girl coming into her own!  I was so excited to see that she was coming back for Easter weekend and was going to be doing photo sessions.  I am pretty sure I "attacked" her post and her messenger app!  (not going to lie, I just did the same this past week when she posted she was coming back in July.)

So without further ado, here are some of our faves!!  (these are the ones in color that we love the most....black and white ones might show up later in another post!)

All photo credit: http://loralynchphotography.com/

The little stinker strikes again!

Monday night we tried AGAIN to see Shea's sweet face.  We thought Grams and Gramps being there would help bring Shea out of hiding. We also thought...3rd times a charm, right? 

Nope!  That little stinker is determined to keep his face a surprise for us to meet in a few short weeks. I'd rather that be the surprise than the heart. #brightspot.

Shea is very proud of his ear and foot though. Below are some great pics of both, if you look closely at the "bumps" on his head, you will see that little man has hair...and lots of it!  #theheartburnisreal.

best face pic we have (3/12)

fist picture #alltenfingers   notice the bumps on the back of his head---hair!

That foot is about 3 inches long!

Very proud of his ear--best one I have ever seen! (3/28)

Like I said...we are super  proud of our ear and foot #alltentoes!

Baby shower with family and friends

My sweet friend, Emily, threw me a baby shower! Paul laughed at the statement because of course I thought nobody would want to throw me a baby shower. And now at the time of writing this blog,  I have had for one from my New Town family,  one from my class, one from my Nourish group and one from my friends and family.  Don't ask me why I thought no one would want to throw me a baby shower... I can be a bit to handle, I'm really annoying and I guess I just don't think that people would want to celebrate me and Shea.

I know I know that's ridiculous but it's just what I was thinking.

I absolutely loved the decorations, the food, minus the chicken salad... Just kidding!! (Inside joke)  The games were so much fun I even won the purse game: never mess of the girl who owns a pickle!! (don't know what a pickle is contact me... you need one mother, father, college student, single person... you need one trust me!)

Everything, I mean everything was just wonderful! I loved the games, the food, the company, the decorations!! Everything was just right. And of course I love seeing the presents and opening them one by one. Some of my sweet friends' kids had wanted to give me a gift too and wrote me such adorable notes. I will admit one of them made me cry! You know about our sweet friend Olivia.  She has the biggest heart I know and I just love that she shares it with me even though I haven't taught her in 2 years and barely see her now because she is in 3rd grade!

Enjoy the pictures!

Good Friday Realizations

I don't post much about my faith mostly because I have wanted to share our journey.  Although I know I have mentioned how God has played an important part(the biggest part!) in our journey last year and again this year...and let's just be honest all the years to come!

I was convinced that all the trials and tribulations we went through last year was because God was working on us and bringing us back to Him. I still truly believe that! Last fall when we learned of Shea's heart condition, I realized God still wasn't done with us. He still needed to work on us, He still needed us to think about Him, to pray to Him daily.  Now I realize that He wants that every day and from everyone. But I guess I need the constant reminder that He is in charge and that He will take care of us and that I need to trust Him.

Last night our church had a Good Friday service, like most churches. This year just like last year, our pastor, Derwin Gray, went through the 14 stations. It's not the first time I've heard the 14 stations but something really struck me-- Jesus died on the cross for us.  (I'm not losing it...just bear with me! )

This man, loved us so incredibly much, that He took all of our sins, before we had even committed them and died for us.  He was tortured, beaten, forced to wear a crown of thorns and then nailed into a cross and forced to die a slow, painful death for us. (Okay not earth shattering, but stay with me!)

I'm sitting in service and Shea starts to dance (it might have been the pizza that I no lie, ate while walking into church...I figure no one was going to judge a pregnant woman on Easter weekend!) And the tears just start to flow. I would do anything, 300%! anything for my child not to suffer. I would go through all the surgeries, painful procedures and disappointments that I know he will have during his life, if I could.  And that is what Jesus did for us when He died on a cross. We all have tough times, go thru painful hardships and have massive disappointments in life. But without Him doing that for us, our lives would be so much worse. We can't even imagine a world like that and I'm so incredibly grateful that we don't.

Some of you may believe that Jesus was just a man, and that's okay, I still love you and care about you and want you in my life. A man who goes through all of that because He believed He could save us is an amazing man in my book. This very emotional momma-to-be finally "gets" (if just a little bit) how much love goes into the child or children a parent has.

The Lyons take over South Carolina

My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were able to come down this weekend to celebrate Baby Shea with us!  I have not seen the twins since last summer in July. They have grown so much and are now 5 years old...they're like real human beings! It was so much fun to spend the weekend with them and to share in the excitement of Baby Shea.

My nephew is obsessed with the United States Presidents and he knows way more than I know about the Presidents. He put me to shame and I'm sad to say that I am not as smart as a five year old when it comes to presidents or at least the smartest nephew I know!   My sweet niece just adores our dogs!  It was so sweet to see her talking to our dogs, playing with the dogs, and asking about our dogs.  Every time we were driving somewhere, we would have to take two cars and she always wanted to come in the car with Uncle Paul and Aunt Mackenzie.   We had such fun little conversations about Shopkins and we even played Mad Libs. It was so funny trying to explain an adjective to her. Paul and I giggled a lot when we were saying to describe "Lily" and we were throwing out adjectives to describe her.  When we said "sassy" she had the most sassiest face back! Not like she was confused just like "no I don't want to use that word for myself!"   Later when we were describing Uncle Paul, she right away said "stinker" so of course the adjective i wrtoe in was "stinky"

Saturday afternoon we had plans to do a 3D ultrasound. We were hoping that an audience (family and our sweet friend who drove hours to be here) would make Baby Shea want to show his face on camera. Alas that was not the case :(  Baby Shea is very camera shy.  Although I'm now wondering if he's saving it all for his debut in April. Maybe he'll be the biggest ham in the world when it comes to a real camera and being outside the womb.  For right now he likes to hide his face. Lily and Tommy did a great job waiting and waiting and waiting for Baby Shea to show his face.  And then Aunt Mackenzie needed help cleaning off her belly.  It was covered with all the gel.  They really tried to help, but Uncle Paul had to step in to help too!  

Aafter that we went to lunch, I, of course, was starving and had to ask my sister-in-law for a snack. Luckily she comes ready to feed an army wherever they go and I was so thankful for that! After lunch we were going to go to Andrew Jackson State Park. They were having a celebration there and since my  nephew is so into Presidents we thought it'd be perfect. But we ate lunch a lot later and driving down to Andrew Jackson State Park was going to take us a while, so we ended up going to my parents house.  They would all be staying there so it was good to get the car unpacked.  

Then we went to the Grandparents Park. The kids loved playing on the playground and I think it was the adults who finally got cold and said okay guys time to go back to the house!  The boys had fished and by boys I mean my dad, my brother-in-law and my husband.  We did take out and then Paul and I went home.  I had rest up so we could par-tay on Sunday!

Baby shower, The Lyons Den way!

My sweet class threw me a baby shower on Friday afternoon. I was so excited to share this moment with them! They've been with us since the beginning of the pregnancy and I have loved sharing the news with them that I was pregnant the news, that it was a boy and now getting ready for baby and all the things that are needed for a baby too.  

My one sweet little friend walk then first thing at 7 a.m. saying "Is there cake this afternoon?" I of course had no idea what was planned other than a baby shower so I said "I don't know but I think if they know Mrs Lyons pretty well though have cake." and he responded with "Yeah, if they know me, they know I love cake." All day we wondered if there'd be cake!

When I picked them up from their special, we walked back to the class with my own parents to find class parents and my husband waiting there was a table full of a huge delicious-looking cake, water bottles, juice boxes and surprise little eggs that were filled with the most yummy chocolate ever!  We also had a table full of presents. I was floored! Never did I think that that many presents would be on the table. I knew that my parents had been collecting money and I just figured there be one class gift and I was totally okay with that and very excited about it! Not only was there a class gift but there was gift from individuals as well.

We absolutely loved opening each and every one of them. I tried to get the kids involved by saying "Do you think we really need this many wipes?" They all laughed out loud because of course they knew how many wipes a baby needs, some of them have younger siblings. I felt bad because I was opening up all the gifts and making the kids excited. So of course I let Paul open one. He was funny looking through it.

We were so excited though to see the books and the clothes and all the fun stuff that the kids and parents had gathered for us. My families has been very generous this year and no surprise they were very generous for the baby shower as well. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been part of their lives this year and they will forever be part of Shea's life just because "when Mommy was pregnant with you and in my belly" those kind of stories. 

The kids love when I'm reading a story and Shea starts to move or kick or bounce about. They and I will never forget when Shea first discovered my bladder. It was quite hysterical moment for all of us during a very serious teaching moment. None of us could really keep our smiles away.

On Friday night I was able to write thank you cards to those who it individually given gifts. My thank you cards came Tuesday afternoon for the whole class.    I'm so excited to write them, they're going to be from Shea. I'm going to post them in the mail so the kids can open the card at home. I know they will absolutely love getting mail, I know I did when I was six and seven!  And hey even now!!  Send me a card I love getting mail that's not a bill of course!

Babymoon/Staycation/3rd year anniversary Update

So, you probably already know that the doctor axed our plans to go to Myrtle Beach the weekend of April 8th. He said we were too close to our due date and nothing against Myrtle Beach hospital, but our situation is way too serious to be delivering there.  Shea would have to be airlifted and I ambulanced back to Charlotte, totally not worth the trip.  Since this doctor has said "Yes" and "Probably" to every other question I have asked him since meeting him, I had to take this "No" as a serious one.  I was super bummed, Paul has always wanted to go there, I knew about this quiet hotel right on the beach and not going to lie I was really excited about going to Medieval Times for the first time!

If you follow me on Facebook you know that I was trying to collect restaurant and activity ideas for the city of Charlotte. Well let me tell you, y'all came through big time!!  Here is what I gave Paul last weekend to tell him about the new babymoon:

I know what the surprise entertainment is on Friday but I can't tell you, because it's a secret for Paul and believe it or not he reads these blogs! Maybe one day he will make a guest appearance and write a blog for you :)  Also I think we are going to do the Funny Bus Tour, anyone ever done that?  I'd never heard of it 'till a friend and reader told me about it  (and I've been here for 9 years!!)

Our 3rd year anniversary is May 11th and while we definitely be in new parent mode and not going out, we will also most likely be in the hospital still. I don't even know that dinner just the two of us in the cafeteria will be an option...though I'm sure our parents and close friends will try to pry us out of the room. (Love you guys!)  I'm hoping Paul and I can treat this staycation as our anniversary too and enjoy some adult time at least as a party of two (our last one) !:)

Tell Me Something Good....

Did anyone else just hum that little tune?!  Song in my head!  There is so much negativity and conflict going on right now..I just can't handle it!  We need a little positivity around here!

I challenge you to leave a comment with three good things.  I think we could all use it :)

Here are my three:

1. I made it to 34 weeks!  There were some days that it seemed like I would never get here, but I did!  (and now most days I like food..hehe)

2. A close group of family and friends will be in town this weekend for my baby shower.  I can not wait to see them all....and especially these two: 








3. Remember this girl right here?   She did some baller fundraising for our schools Jump Rope for Heart.  In fact she raised the most in the whole school!  I burst into tears when the announcement was made.  People always say that teachers can make a huge impact on kiddos, but really, I am the one who has been impacted.







Okay....now it's your turn!!  3 good things...GO!

6 Weeks Left

Oh My Gravy!!!   Thursday marks 34 weeks....that means only 6 weeks left...or less!!!  Holy cow....there were times when this pregnancy felt like it was taking forever, and then whole chunks that flew by!  

It was about 18 weeks ago that we found out the very scary news about Shea and his Congenital Heart Defect (CHD)  I will tell you that time has flown...but when we were going through it, man it was sooooo slow and rough.  People are so surprised on how calm I am talking about it.  Not only have I had time to process it, but it's the calm before the storm...and I might be crying about it in 10 minutes.  I am not in a state of "poor me" or pity party, just scared of what is to come.  And what Shea's journey is going to be.  Of course we don't know the exact road, but we have met and read different kiddos journey's and its just overwhelming.

We had this amazing contact we made through Baby Luck and had dinner with the parents and sweet boy who has gone through two of the surgeries we will most likely be facing this year.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I needed that conversation, dinner, friendship making, oh and I definitely enjoyed the little boy wanting Paul to watch Elmo with him!  See that whole week we were waiting to hear back from the doctors in Boston.  

On Friday morning we heard back.  The news wasn't bad, in fact it was exactly what news we thought we were going to get: yes Shea has tricuspid atresia and the treatment plan is what we would suggest.  So that should have been good news right?  Well I just fell apart.  There have been very few times that I have needed to call Paul at work, when I myself am at work.  My wonderful TA took my kiddos out for recess so I could have a moment..aka call my husband and talk some sense into me!  This man I am married to, seriously deserves a medal, trophy, statue made, something!  He offered to get us to Boston so we could meet with them in person and compare facilities.  I declined and we talked about why Charlotte would be a better place for us as a family.  

1. I wont have to be separated from Paul for weeks ahead of delivery.
2. Paul wont have to fly in a short notice to make it in time for delivery.
3. Follow up appointments wont have to be a huge travel ordeal.
4. Our support system is here and we really do need them, now, during and after.
5. Our surgeon is very capable and has experience with these types of surgeries.

So, we are staying in Charlotte! I pray daily that we have made the right decision for Shea. Please pray with us that the doctors and all medical professionals involved are guided by God's hands and take care of our baby boy.