Summer Reading List

I love to read. Honestly though I haven't had much time at all. Between Mark and Hannah, work and going to school, I have sooooo little time to read for pleasure.

I was recently asked if I could read books this summer, what would my list be? This is probably more of a wish list than an actual "will read" list but hey, a girl can dream, right? :)

Here are 5 books I would love to read this summer:

This would be my #1 choice. This is a collection of Amish stories by 4 different authors. I have read Amy Clipston's "Summer Storms" and I LOVED it! I just haven't had time to read the other 3 novellas. If I could read any book this summer, this would definitely be the one I would choose.

I also love Beverly Lewis' books. I've read the first book in this series a few months ago. I would love to read this book.

This one has been on my wanting to read list for so long. I love inspirational books, especially Christian inspirational books. This book focuses on realizing God's everyday blessings in your life---the little things that we don't think about. I've heard so many wonderful things about this book and I've been wanting to read it. I just haven't had the time.

This is a book I won at a Mother/Daughter retreat I spoke at. Like I said, I absolutely love Christian inspirational books and when I got this book, I was so excited to read it. I've read a little bit and I really like it. Any time you can learn prayers to pray for your children, I think it's awesome. :)

This book is something I've been wanting to read for some time. I'm always looking for ways to grow in my walk with God and this is a book that I think would be great. It has a study included with it and I would really like to do that, too. I'm in the middle of a Bible study on Jonah and it's hard for me to do more than one study at a time. So I'm thinking after I get done with the Jonah study I would really like to try this.

Now if I read all of these this summer (especially now that summer is halfway over), it would be a miracle. However, we all know miracles can happen! :)

I can do this....right? :)

A roller coaster couple of weeks

Last summer we spent all of June in the hospital after Mark suffered a brain bleed. I was looking forward to this summer when we'd be able to enjoy it more without hospitals and doctors so much.

Yeah, it hasn't quite worked out that way.

A few weeks ago Mark had a bad fall. He had bruises all over his left side on his back, arm and knee. He looked beat up pretty good.

About a week after that fall, we started noticing his left foot swelling up and it was getting very painful.

I finally took him into the ER. They did x-rays, a bunch of blood work and an ultrasound. It was then that they told us he had a blood clot. Because of his previous brain bleed, he couldn't be on blood thinners. He needed to have a filter put into his leg to catch the clot before it traveled to his lungs or heart. This was a procedure that couldn't be done at our local hospital and Mark needed to be transferred to higher care.

So he was emergently brought down to the hospital where he had his kidney transplant in anticipation for the filter surgery.

At the hospital the specialists went back and forth deciding what was best for Mark. The filter would be a surgery and Mark was high risk surgery no matter what. It was late in the afternoon before they decided they would do another ultrasound to see the clot again and make the final decision based on the size of the clot.

It was then we received news we never believed we would get. The clot was in the superficial vein of Mark's leg and not the deep vein. This meant it wasn't nearly as serious and the only treatment was rest and elevating the leg.

We were given the okay to go home! We went from a very serious situation to going home!

The next day we were given even more amazing news when the hospital called to tell us the final read on the ultrasound showed there was no clot at all.

That's right---NO. CLOT. AT. ALL.

When the doctor told this to me he said the only explanation was that the clot dissolved itself or the heparin Mark received for that little bit that he did while trying to decide what to do for him, fixed the clot. I told the doctor another explanation was that we serve an awesome God who answers prayers and performs miracles.

So we were home!!

However, Mark's foot continued to be so painful for him and continued to swell up.

So after another week, I took him back to the ER. There they redid the x-rays and blood work and found everything to be....fine.

We left the ER that night feeling so discouraged. We knew something just wasn't right.

I talked to Mark's primary doctor that night who agreed that something just wasn't right. He said he would order a CT scan in the morning to check it out and would see Mark later that afternoon.

I brought Mark in that morning for the CT. We knew something was up when they brought Mark out of the CT imaging room and said they would be taking us up to see the doctor right away and not that afternoon.

Honestly both Mark and I were relieved when they said the CT showed he had broken his heel.

I actually cheered. Yes, I did. I was just so relieved to finally have an answer! We were praising God for so many reasons:

For an answer for his pain and swelling at last!
For gut feelings. Both Mark and I had gut feelings from the beginning something was broken and kept pursuing when tests came back "fine"
For a primary doctor who knows us so well, will listen to our concerns and knows when something is not right.
For our wonderful family and friends by our side.

He needs to be completely off his heel for quite a while, possibly months. With his diabetes, the location of the fracture and the fact that he's been walking on it for 2 weeks at least, proper healing could be an issue. There may be permanent damage but it's too early to tell.

Mark isn't really a candidate for crutches as he is already unstable on his feet, so he has a knee scooter now.

I think Hannah is having more fun with it than Mark is. She even asked if we could rent another one. :)

It hasn't been easy for Mark. Even little things like going to the bathroom, getting his pills out, etc. are so tough for him. Not only does he have the pain from the broken heel, he has to maneuver a knee scooter in tight corners with poor eyesight.

It's hard for him, especially during the summer when he wants to be out more. He wants to be able to do more with Hannah but knowing he will likely be using a knee scooter for quite some time just isn't an easy pill to swallow.

We would appreciate prayers!

Gotcha Day 2017

Dear Hannah,

It's been 5 years today that you were legally declared our daughter.

These past 5 years you've grown so much honey. I know you don't yet quite understand the magnitude of this day but one day you will.

In the past year, I've been amazed at how much you're beginning to understand. It was only a couple years ago that I was explaining to you that you were born from a different mommy's tummy and you said "Silly Mommy! I came from YOUR tummy!". Now you know you have a "tummy mommy", and you know had a different name when you were born and know that family isn't always about blood.

I think you understand much more than we give you credit for.

I want you to know on this day that we will never stop talking about your "tummy mommy". We will always talk about the way you came into our lives. Every journey is special in their own way and your journey isn't any different.

It's honestly so hard to know just how to feel on this day. While it's such an exciting day as it symbolizes the courts declared you our daughter, we also never want to minimize the beginning part of your life.

When your birth mother was legally your mother.

When your legal name was Levaha Elisabeth.

Nothing will ever change that and I want you to know we always want that to be a part of your story.

To be honest in other years, I haven't really felt this way. I've just been excited that today marked the day back in 2012 that we no longer had home study visits, that we could start making appointments under the name of Hannah and not Levaha, that we would soon be getting a revised birth certificate with Hannah's name on it, and we would be able to apply for a Social Security number.

All things you should be able to do right after the baby is born--and we just had to wait 6 months.

But this year, as I hear you talk more about your "tummy mommy" and how she gave you your first name, I realize that it is an important part of your story. It's a unique part and one that you should be so proud of.

Because we know to your birth mom, you're Levaha Elisabeth. She gave birth to you. She gave you life. She made one of the hardest decisions of her life.

We never want to forget that.

So while we celebrate becoming a family legally 5 years ago today and that you were legally named Hannah Dawn, I also want to also keep your birth mother in our hearts and minds, to remember how you were brought to us, the way we were made a family and how much you are loved by your birth mom.

I'm so honored to be your mom and just as honored that you were born Levaha Elisabeth for it's a reminder to me of the wonderful people in this world and just how special you are.

I love you Hannah! Happy Gotcha Day! We are so blessed to be a family.

Love
Mommy