Lately...

I'm a little embarrassed it's taken me so long to update Joshua's blog.  So much has changed since my last post, I don't know where to start.  I guess I'll start at the beginning....

Jon began working for USCF in May.  He spent his weeks in SF, and came home on the weekends. Meanwhile, I stayed at home in Roseville with the kids as they finished school and we sold our house.   Our house sold pretty quickly, but the process felt very long since I had to keep the house spotless with 4 kids on summer break - while my husband was semi-permanently out of town.  In hind sight the process was seamless and the timing was perfect, but living through it was challenging. Jon's mom was our realtor & she was amazing.  I think I would have lost my mind without her, she was great!

After our house sold we found a perfect little home just south of the city.  We moved at the end of July (thanks to our families & their tremendous help with the process) and had plenty of time to get acclimated with our new surroundings before school began.

Once we got settled in, the only thing on my mind was ensuring the kids had a memorable summer. Poor kids spent the first half of their summer at the mercy of potential home buyers walking through our house with little - if any - notice & then had to pack up the only home they ever really knew and say goodbye to family and friends.  It was pretty hard on them so salvaging what was left of our summer break was really important to me!

Now onto the fun part...
We have just loved our new home town. We are minutes from the city about a mile and a half from the beach and steps away from hiking trails. We feel like we've hit the jackpot living in this small community, so close to so much fun & less than 15 minutes from Jon's hospital.  With so much to do, we've really kept busy going to beaches, exploring hiking trails, camping, fishing, discovering new parks and making new friends.

Except for the fact that we miss our family and friends back home we couldn't be happier at this moment in our lives.  Coincidentally, this leads me to my next topic...Joshua's heart.  I think I've spent the past month just completely letting go of the issues that have caused us stress over the past year and a half.  It's been such a blessing the way our path has lead us to where we are right now & has taught me to always remain faithful even during the most challenging moments.

During the past month I've been able to more fully enjoy my role as a mother and grow closer to my kids and Jon.  During this time I think I've almost forgotten about Josh's condition (well as close to forgetting as you can - you never really forget).  That is until today, when he had his first visit with his cardiologist in SF.  We've actually known his new doctor,  Dr. Tyndell, since Josh was born.  He was Josh's cardiologist while he was hospitalized at UCSF (for all 3 surgeries) and Dr. Rivera was his 'home' cardiologist.  So we felt very comfortable knowing he'd be transferring to a doctor we already have a relationship with & we really like.

Since this was technically Josh's first visit as Dr. Tyndell's full-time patient we spoke at great length about Josh and his recent history.  Several topics came up and after discussing it all I felt somewhat overwhelmed by it all.  I think I generally speak about one issue at a time as they arise, but discussing his whole case felt daunting.  There was one new issue that I wasn't aware of, but the doctor will be in touch with me since he didn't have all of the information in front of him at the time.  We don't know the full extent of the problem just yet. It could be quite serious, but then it may not be too concerning just yet.  Sorry to speak so cryptically, we are praying it's going to work out okay.  In general, things look pretty much the same as they have and so we are grateful for that.

Josh started Kindergarten about two weeks ago and I thought I would wait a few days before I let the teacher know about his heart. Now trust me, if he were so critical that she needed to know day 1...she would have known.  I wanted to let her get to know Josh without any preconceived notions and see how things went.  Her report to me at the end of week 1 was that he's a great little boy and she really enjoys having him in class & he's a good listener.  She seemed surprised I was concerned with Josh because he was pretty well adjusted by this point.  I didn't go into great detail, but I gave the "Josh has half a heart..." speech in a nutshell.  I am kind of on the fence with how much I tell people and when the appropriate time is to pass along that information.  Not that we are ashamed in anyway, nor do we want to hide it, but I don't want him being defined by his heart defect, or being labeled as limited in any way because according to his doctors, he doesn't have any limitations placed on him.  As far as his kindergarten teacher was concerned he was no different than any other kid in the class.  I am really pleased that despite all he's been through & despite the fact that  his physiology isn't ideal, he's able to do normal little boy things and no one knows any different.  I don't know how long he'll be able to keep up, but I'm very happy that he's able to at this point.

I was concerned with Josh starting kindergarten since TK was pretty tough for him last year.  He did well enough, but he really didn't enjoy it.  On many occasions it took strong persuasion on my part to get him out the door.  Thankfully, he absolutely loves Kindergarten. His teacher is phenomenal.  She's been teaching for 40 years, she is a fun, engaging and an experienced teacher who is a perfect fit for Joshua.  After several conversations with her I just know her teaching style and personality will make for an amazing year for Josh.

As a mom, I have to say it makes life much easier sending him to school happy with a smile on his face rather than tugging at  his little hand and easing him through the classroom door and hoping it'll be a decent day.  We really feel blessed with the way things are going for Josh.

Finally,  apologies for the delay in posts to those of you who follow this blog and have been wondering how Josh is doing. We appreciate your love and concern so much & hope you are well!