Priceless.....

You have all heard those ads where each item is given a price until the last item or experience which is always....PRICELESS?

Well, here is my version for today, Garrett style:

Flatscreen television shattered from being banged on....$1,200

Portable DVD player smashed from being thrown and hit...$200

Holes in house walls from slamming doors backward

s.....$250

Broken doors from above issue....$350

Replacement console for my car from being kicked and breaking radio and climate control buttons...$500

Mito cocktail supplements not covered by insurance....$250 per month

Respite care and babysitting since he turned 4...$THOUSANDS

Diapers for him for past 6 years and 3 months......$I cannot count that high

Finding him in his undies, eating Raisin Bran while standing in the kitchen drawer.......PRICELESS!!!

Usually, the things that we think are right are not so right and the things we think are wrong might not always be so wrong. So I will try to look at the huge amount that is IN my glass, not the bit that is OUT!!!

May the anticipation and excitement of the Christmas season and the birth of the Christ Child fill you with positive thoughts and ways to look for the priceless things today!!!

Godspeed,

Clara-Leigh

Thankful!

Thankful. Thankful. THANKFUL!!!

I am just thankful!

I could write a list, but it would take all day.

I can pray, but I cannot even begin to say it all. (But I try!)

So I will just say that I have so much to be thankful for!!!

I just post a few pictures from the past few days of some of my very favorite people!!!

Oh, and the elves came!!! I will post that tomorrow!!

Love to all on this day to just be thankful!!!

Godspeed,

Clara-Leigh

I LOVE YOU!!!!

That's how Garrett wakes me each morning now.......tip-toeing in too early to wake Mommy, but how can I be mad when I hear the door open and feel him bump into my side of our bed and with the sweetest little raspy man-cub voice just say, "I love you."

Last week Garrett had a hearing exam, and ENT appointment to review the screening results and our first appointment with our new pediatric cardiologist and my new VARY FAVORITE doctor!!!

First, Garrett passed most of his hearing tests easily, but one he flunked, but the ENT wasn't worried at all. WHEW!!! What was most amazing is that he allowed the audiologist to stick all sorts of things in his ears and was pretty okay with it!! He would get mad or frustrated with the process and would just tell the sweet audiologist that he loved her!!!! We will return to her office December 5 to re-do the part he failed just to be sure.

Cardiology was simply amazing. This lady was the best ever as far as bedside manor with Garrett, and that's saying tons as we have been fortunate to have seen some of the most wonderful, passionate, kind doctors. She was even able to get his blood pressure, and NO ONE has EVER been able to do that while he is awake!!! She tapped into his love of music very quickly and sang a little song in correlation with inflating the cuff. He joined in by beating his chest like a drum along with her song!! CLEVER!!!!! He was so proud of himself!! Garrett had a PDA or a vessel left above his heart that was necessary in the womb but should have closed shortly after birth but did not. He had is closed with a metal coil placed during a heart catheter procedure at TX Children's when he was just under two years old. We are now being followed annually for that and just watching his heart since it is a muscle and his muscles are affected by Mito. The cardiologist had him do an ECHO and an EKG, and he did fantastic for both of those....soooo amazing how he is tolerating more now. It makes these appointments so much better!!!! Given Garrett's Mito, his PDA and a couple of episodes he had as a sleeping infant with a very high heart rate, the doctor ordered a Holter monitor to be put on him for 24 hours. He did great, so well in fact, that he didn't want to take it off!! He said it was what made him a real baby robot...thanks Andrea!! But we had to take it off at 2 pm the following day, and then today I dropped it off at the FedEx/sign shop/ice cream shop in our little town to be sent back to the office for retrieval of info. Addie will be going to see this same cardiologist on December 9 for some tests as a previous ECHO she had showed some slight abnormalities in function that are not alarming but should be followed annually. At that appointment, we will get the results of the the monitor Garrett wore.

As for the appointment I mentioned in my last post......it went well, but it was a business opportunity that looked great, but then upon further thought and time, Grouch and I realized that it was not that great of a deal. WHEW!! I love it when our intuition matches. It makes it seem like a more solid decision. However this still leaves us pondering what is next for our personal lives as far as business and/or work. Grouchy will have to go to work for 2 to 3 weeks sometime this week for his consulting job. We hate it when he has to go, but we are also very thankful in this economy that he has a job that is solid and that supplies for our family's needs and allows us to have time home together. Long term we dream of having our own business again and being under the same roof every night.....wherever that may be!!!

Addie and Ainslee are such amazing troopers!! Home school is going very well. Next week we will celebrate being 1/3 finished with the school year by having two scoops of ice cream at our favorite ice cream shop/sign shop/Fed-Ex store!! We usually have one little scoop each week we complete. SO the 1/3 mark is big!!! The girls are so committed to their work and make it more fun for me and for Grouchy when he helps us with school!! One of my favorite times is when he is working at home in our office/school/play room and is there with us and offering his help. The girls love Daddy's help!!

And that leads me to the daily realization that I am married to such an angel of a man. I am so incredibly blessed, and I know I am always taking him for granted!! So many things had to line up just right for us to even meet.......so it was not by chance. It was a Plan. I am praying for him more than ever and hoping I can do better showing my appreciation, love and support. I can never do enough to show him, but I commit to trying my best!!!!

Tomorrow will come soon. I will sign off as Garrett always does now....

I love you!!!

Clara-Leigh

Amazing.

Not 100% well, but 100% precious!!!!

Garrett is amazing.

I have been knocked of my feet by Garrett's recent progress!!!

You have probably read the blogs about Garrett's negative words being miraculously changed to "I love you." I have shared some of his increased patience in some situations, but really, he just keeps pleasantly surprising me each day!!! Today we had a neurology appointment and a pediatrician appointment. His neuro appointment was uneventful. We will follow-up with that doctor in a year. We scheduled a last minute pediatrician appointment since Garrett started with the green snot today. Seems he just has a virus. He certainly isn't 100%, but he is overall happy. He is just a little down. And as he told his Aunt Jennifer tonight, "I have lots of boogers in my nose!"

Tonight I was able to sit him on the bathroom counter and use the electric clippers to cut his hair AND clip his toenails, and he was fine....completely fine!!! In fact, he talked to me, asked questions, and told me it just didn't bother him anymore....WHAT!?!?!?!?!? YES!!!!!!!! It is like a cloud has been lifted in his little world and things are just looking up! He is more patient, more talkative in a logical way. He is more kind and considerate and tells everyone "I LOVE YOU!!!!" And I mean EVERYONE!!! It has been quite and exercise in psychology to see people's responses and reactions to him telling him he loves them. The pediatrician he saw today was a man, and very kind. The first time Garrett told him he loved him, the doctor just said, "Why thank you!" And then just at the end of our appointment, Garrett told him again, and the doctor's whole demeanor changed as if time stopped, and he said, "Well, Garrett, I love you too." It was such a neat moment. So real and sincere. Garrett told the lady in McDonalds at the drive-thru window he loved her. He told our veterinarian " I love you" in the grocery store last week. He tells us he loves us all day long!!! He will just say it anytime, when least expected! It is just the most wonderful thing to happen in my life lately.

And so I reflect because that is a large reason for my blog....to reflect and share and hopefully provoke some thoughts and ideas in your life as well. So why am I here? Why is Garrett here? And why does any of it matter????? I have shared my selfish heart many times here, and I believe God is at work on my selfish nature daily, especially through Garrett's life. I am honored and blessed with a marriage to my best friend and three angels of kids. I also still have both of my AMAZING parents living as well as Oscar's beautiful family in Louisiana. But Garrett......I have battled with this little soul of his and its purpose so many times. I couldn't get over why he had to be so miserable so much of the time between his tummy and his temper and sensory issues, delays, screaming and frustrations. I mean, why put anyone through that? Okay, God, you have some explaining to do. That was my mantra for many, many months. People outside our household, including well-meaning family and close friends would comment on how Garrett is such a witness of God's love and creation. And these were the same people who kept saying, "He looks so normal! How can anything be wrong with him??" And as you may have read here, those comments shook my soul and made me angry most of the time. They didn't live in our little home and "do this" day in and day out. But for me, this is my ministry, my mission experience in Calcutta, the Congo, etc. All of the things I thought I might be doing but am not, that's what this is!!!! Garrett is a huge blessing, and these recent changes in his language and temperment have helped me see the purpose of our souls more clearly. Garrett's sisters are also doing better with him and are so much more willing to entertain and play with him since he has sort of turned around. Yes, I know that this may be a phase, but I plan to enjoy every minute of it, just like I did when they were only minutes old....savor it and never forget it!!!

Meanwhile, the rest of life keeps going!! I know, sad, isn't it? But that means new opportunities!! Please pray for us tomorrow. We have a meeting in the morning that may lead to some great things in our life as a family. It may offer some sanity and relief for us in our family life and home life. Sorry to be so vague, but it's just not time to be too open just yet. But I can assure you that if things go as they appear to be going, you will be seeing a post soon about claiming God's blessings and knowing I need to spend more time on my knees in thanks and in pleas for more understanding and direction in life. You know how sometimes things are just sooooo clear????? Just a quick prayer, please!!!

Love and hugs to everyone, and please remember our mito friends inpatient tonight.

Godspeed,

Clara-Leigh

Trailer Trash

Before anyone gets offended, let me clarify. I am not talking about people living in pre-fabricated homes, campers, mobile home parks, etc. I am talking about the stereotypical trailer trash......the people who live in something that doesn't look safe, driving a car with a huge payment attached, several dogs tied under the trailer....shoot, the people like the movies portray in my home state of Alabama (except the reality show about the little blonde trying to find "mr. right" through smooching on all the :contestants" for weeks on television....that's trash too.!!) SO keep this image in mind....the stereotypical one...

Garrett gets off of the bus after a little bit of Halloween celebration at school, and his developmental therapist (better known as my dear, sweet, beautiful friend, Andrea), meets him at our house. Addie, Ainslee and I were out running some errands. When he comes into the house, Andrea immediately engages him in conversation and brain work as she always brilliantly does. She notices some purple Mardi Gras beads around his little neck and asks him where he got them. His response, "FROM THE TRAILER TRASH!!!!!!" I can imagine Andrea is on the floor laughing by now, so she sends me a text about it and of COURSE I have to call my dad, Pop, for a good shared laugh!!! I get home an hour or so later and Andrea is still grinning about it and shares that later as she kept trying to clarify what Garrett had said, she finally gets him to say it more clearly.....T-R-E-A-S-U-R-E C-H-E-S-T!!!!!!!

That's my boy, always keeping us laughing and on our toes!!!

Godspeed,
Clara-Leigh