Kinnaird, party of five

Well, at least the adults are looking at the camera.  I know I haven't posted pictures in a while and this was my attempt to get a good picture of my family.  It was the best we could do.  

Today was Daniel's birthday and we had a great day.  It made me appreciate my husband for about the millionth time since we've been in the hospital; if we're still here on MY birthday, I will probably be a little grouchy about it.  But not Daniel- he had a good day, even though the extent of his birthday celebration was cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a dance party with our kids.  OK, that is pretty awesome.  And we had lunch with my family, and that's pretty awesome too.

Caleb has been doing fairly well.  He has had a couple bad days here and there, days where he is working really hard to breathe and retaining a lot of fluid.  We are really thankful for his improvement since a few weeks ago.  He continues to put on weight and his cheeks are getting so fat that they make me laugh just looking at them.  I know some of it is him retaining water, but some of that is also legitimate weight gain.  Whatever it is, it's super cute.  I love this kid.  Here he is wearing Incredible Hulk hands.

On Monday we will have been in this hospital for 5 whole months.  I never would have dreamed that would be the case.  I keep thinking surely he will get a heart soon, it's GOT to be soon.  I honestly have to choose not to think about it, because if I start thinking about how badly I want it to happen, I start to feel this desperate feeling that actually hurts.  It physically makes me ache.  So I just put it out of my head the best I can.  Overall, we are doing well.  We have a lot of fun together and that makes the days here enjoyable and not sad.  Also, we have so much to look forward to!  Caleb WILL get a heart, we will go home to our new house, we will have a life again outside the hospital... 

Aaaaaaaand we're going to have another baby!  That's right, we thought life was getting a little boring and maybe we should add some excitement.  :)  In truth, we've wanted to have another child and have always tried to plan around Caleb's stuff.  Then we finally decided, forget it, we have to keep living!  We have no idea what our future looks like and if Caleb has proven anything, it's that we have no control whatsoever over his journey.  So we went for it!  And we are SO excited!  And so are the boys.  Everyone is sort of rooting for a girl, but a family with 3 brothers seems pretty stinking great too.  Either way, this baby has already brought us so much joy and excitement and it's just another assurance that we have wonderful days (even if they are exhausting days!) ahead of us.

Here are some specific prayer requests we have right now:

1- Please pray for this issue of Caleb retaining fluids.  For the last week, it's been a daily issue.  Please pray for that to improve.

2- Pray for Daniel's job.  This is his busiest time of year and you can't even imagine what his day looks like.  He is with his family every waking minute and starts work as soon as the boys go to sleep.  He has an awesome attitude but he is getting so weary.  Please pray for energy and stamina and focus!

3- Please pray for me as I'm carrying a baby through all this.  I am 8 weeks along and mostly just feel tired.  Fortunately we have tons of support and I take a nap every day.  How spoiled am I?  It's not too shabby to have awesome nurses who say, "Why don't you lay down, I'll change Caleb's diaper".  

Thanks for your continued prayers!  And Happy Easter!