Sledding Fun

Since we have had a lot of snow already this year, Jayna has gotten to do some sledding. She loves to be outside in the snow. (She's not at all like her mom when it comes to cold weather.) She began her sledding adventures at Grandpa Gene and Grandma Ellie's on Thanksgiving Day...

Down she goes!
Jayna and Grandpa Gene at the bottom of "Messer Hill."
Sledding adventure #2...Jayna and Taylor with Grandma Hess.
Jayna and Taylor give Grandma a hand at the bottom.
Jayna and Taylor pile on Uncle Justin for a ride.

We have such good sports in our family. It blesses my heart to see how willing they are to play with the girls. Fun memories with family last a lifetime.

Ann Arbor Report

Autumn had an appointment in Ann Arbor today with the Chronic Kidney Disease Clinic, as well as her yearly ultrasound. Not too much has changed in her kidney functioning. Her kidneys are still quite small, but they haven't gotten any smaller since last year. This is a blessing! Her lab work was all pretty good. This is another blessing! Her blood pressure is still quite high, which is not a good thing. They increased some of her medicine and would like us to take her blood pressure regularly at home. We should have our own blood pressure cuff soon. Finally, she isn't gaining weight like she should be. If you know her at all, she is SUPER busy and burns off every calorie she takes in and then some. Our wonderful nutritionist instructed us to put butter on her food so she has some extra fat calorie intake. Another suggestion was to mix a special concentration with her new formula, which is special for those with renal issues. Other than that, they are watching her labs a little more often and want to see us back in June.

After our appointment, we visited the NICU. We were able to see some of the wonderful people who took care of Autumn while she was there. They so enjoyed her running down the hall, talking, playing, signing, etc. They said seeing babies doing as well as her gave them encouragement that their jobs were making a difference. We thanked them for being God's instruments in Autumn's life. Also, a dad of a current NICU baby walked in while we were there and said to Aaron, "There is hope beyond here," as he saw Autumn. I am so blessed when I see God using our children to encourage others. He has a plan and a purpose for everthing. His greatest plan was played out through His son Jesus. Coming to earth as a helpless, dependent little baby; growing up into a man; living blameless in a sinful world; dying an innocent death on the cross. God's plan in all this...TO GIVE YOU AND I AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM. What a loving plan that one was. I pray this Christmas season fills your family with many blessings, especially the blessing of a loving Savior.

Stay tuned to the Hess blog...I am on break and have lots of fun things to share!

O Christmas Tree

Last year's Christmas tree tradition was done on a pretty warm day in between Autumn's hospital stays. We took Grandma Hess with us and had a great time. This year had a bit of a different spin on things...

It was a very cold day.

I had to cut the tree down because Aaron wasn't able to with his hurt hand.
Unlike last year, Autumn was not contained in a car seat. She managed to lose both her boot and sock in the middle of cutting down the tree. Needless to say, she had a very cold foot.
We still had a great time as a family and came home with a nice tree. (Jayna took this picture.) When we got home, Grandma Hess came over and helped get the tree in the house and standing upright. Then, Jayna and I enjoyed our time putting all the decorations on. Thank you Lord for this nice family time and tradition.

Surgery Is All Done

Sorry I haven't posted lately, but things have been a little busy around here with Aaron's hand and the holiday season that is upon us. Aaron had surgery on his finger today. He did very well throughout the surgery and after. The doctor was a little disappointed because he was unable to repair the joint like he wanted to. Aaron lost 1/2 of his bone (at the upper joint) when he injured his finger. The doctor ended up putting two pins in and some bone proteins to hopefully help the bone to grow back and fuse together. Only time will tell. For now, he is to spend some time recovering. He will get the pins out in two weeks or so. The total recovery time will be 4-6 weeks. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him. Please continue to. God has certainly been shining His light on us. I pray your family is being blessed with His presence and goodness as well, especially throughout this Christmas season.

Something to Pray About

In case you haven't heard yet, Aaron hurt his right hand on Saturday. He was working on the door to our back garage. Well, the spring to the garage door sprung on him to his surprise and got his hand quite a few times. The ER doctor said that he was lucky it wasn't his face and that he only had the injuries to his hand that he had. He ended up with some stitches in his thumb and ring finger, as well as some other significant cuts on his fingers/hand. He also fractured the ring finger at the upper joint and tore a tendon. We went to the hand surgeon today, and he wants to do surgery either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. There is some infection in the wound that needs to clear up before he can repair the joint. Aaron is currently on an antibiotic for this. Thankfully, he is not in much pain at this point. God has been so good to our family through this. We are so thankful Aaron is not hurt any worse than he is. We are thankful he is not in a whole lot of pain now. We are thankful this can be repaired with some fairly simple outpatient surgery. We are thankful Aaron is able to still work at this point. We are thankful we get to help Aaron out a little bit. There is just so much we praise God for. Please join us in prayer for the infection to heal, surgery to go well and recovery to be quick. Thank you for your love and support.

A Little Bit of Autumn

Autumn is quite a character. She definitely has her very own little personality. In these videos you will be able to catch a bit of who she is. She is all girl, just like her sister. She loves her baby and her purse. She also is walking now, which makes her a super busy girl. Enjoy!

Leaves Part 2

Okay, we had to have another round of leaf raking, jumping and burying. It was lots of fun!

This time Jayna used a real rake.
Apparently, pushing with the rake was easier than pulling.
Now, this is the face of a very happy child!
It's no longer a spectator sport to Autumn.
Jayna and Autumn had fun together! What a blessing to have these two fun-loving girls in the house!