Eva just turned four. She loves tutus and makeup and everything
pink. Rob says she takes cuteness to a whole new level – and she definitely
knows it and uses it to her benefit. She loves being a big sister and taking
care of Laura and does an amazing job at it. She can usually get Laura to go
down for her nap even when Laura doesn’t want to. She loves playing Barbies and
dressing up and singing. She knows how to write her name and loves playing
school with either Beth or Megan.
Jack is seven and is in second grade. His favorite things
are mostly computer games – minecraft, club penguin, and animal jam are top on
his list. He also loves Pokemon. He is super active and manages to hold his own
even with five sisters. He reminds us a lot of Rob as a child. He loves telling
jokes and making noise. He is a wonderful big brother to both Eva and Laura and
does an especially good job at taking care of Laura.
Beth is almost nine (her birthday is in two weeks). She is
in third grade this year and is an amazing student. She tested into the Gifted
and Talented program at school and got the highest score in the whole third
grade on the most recent grade-wide test. She loves reading and art and the
color purple. She loves sharing a room with Eva and has sent up a bed for them
on the closet floor as it is much cozier than the bed. She still wants to be a
doctor, a goal she’s had since the age of two.
Kylie is ten and is a complete tomboy. She hates girly
clothes and buys all her clothes and shoes from the “boy” section, which is a
blessing as she is very active and hard on clothes, and boy clothes are much
more sturdy. She is amazing at computer games and is almost as good as Rob at
playing “Rift”, an online computer game. She loves jokes and Pokemon and
ninjas. Her favorite color is blue. She loves helping Megan babysit and keeps
asking us when she’ll get to babysit on her own.
Megan is twelve and in seventh grade. She loves makeup and
jewelry and all things girly, but also loves bugs and dinosaurs and dirt. She
has started babysitting for us this year and we love having a child old enough
to babysit! She does an awesome job at it. She loves cooking; her macaroni and
cheese and sugar cookies are as good as mine. She continues to love reading and
writing and art. She’s been walking to and from school with friends instead of
having us take her, which makes us nervous, but proud that she’s growing up.
Rob continues to work for Fidelity and celebrated ten years
there last May. They have been a wonderful company to work for and we are so
grateful for them. His latest hobby is playing “Rift”, an online computer game,
which he plays with the kids. He runs the house and takes care of the kids at
night on his own. He does an amazing job at being the primary caregiver and
really loves getting to fill that role. He’s learning to cook and is getting
pretty good at it. He also enjoys going out with his friends to watch UFCs a
couple times a month.
I (Laney) graduated in June with my Master’s degree in
Marriage and Family Therapy. (This is the first time in our seventeen years of
marriage that neither of us is in school.) I managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA
through the whole five years. I took the MFT exam in May and then waited three
months to find out that I passed it. I received my license in August and am now
a LMFTA (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate). I am working as an
independent contractor for the private practice that I did my internships at
(Healing & Recovery). I love being a therapist and run the only group in
the DFW area for females dealing with intimacy disorders and sexual addictions.
I love that I can set my own hours and work in the afternoons and evenings so I
can spend the mornings with my babies.
Update on my heart – I spent 7 weeks doing EECP treatments
in February and March, which was really hard on all of us and completely wiped
me out. We waited for six months after the treatments and my doctor retested me
and found that I hadn’t improved at all. He told us the next step was a
referral to a specialist in Dallas that does heart transplants. Rob and I didn’t
like that option, so we decided to throw everything we could at the problem. I
started twice-weekly acupuncture treatments, weekly chiropractic visits, and
consulted a master herbalist. Within a week, my ejection fraction (the
percentage of blood pumped out with each heartbeat) had improved by 10%! We now
need to wait for another six months (until this coming February) to find out if
the improvements are permanent and to see if I improve more.
I’m feeling much better and starting to realize just how
much this has affected us over the past two years. If I make it to this coming
March, which we’re pretty positive about at this point, I will officially be in
the 50% that survive longer than two years past the diagnosis of postpartum
cardiomyopathy, and the 20% that survive longer than two years past a general
cardiomyopathy diagnosis. This has absolutely been one of the very hardest
things we’ve ever gone through. It has completely changed us. Even though it
has been hell, we are grateful for the experience. It really helped us to put
our priorities in order and to learn and grow in ways that I don’t know that we
would have otherwise.
We hope you are doing well! Happy Holidays!
Love,
Rob, Laney, Megan, Kylie, Beth, Jack, Eva, and Laura
