You do you, MOM!

It's amazing how long it has been since the last time I've blogged. I think about writing a lot. I think of things that I would want to write about, but then the fingers never meet the keys. Why is that and Why now? 

When I started my blog, I probably really started it just from popularity. Blogs were the thing. I didn't have a "purpose" for writing, and I sure wasn't making money off of blogging. It was just me and my computer. Then I had a baby. A baby with a heart defect. And the blog became my outlet for my emotions and for keeping our friends and family informed. Then after sometime Knox became "stable," life took over, and the blog became quiet. I began to feel like I didn't have anything to say or rather, "Would anyone read?" In the world of technology and social media, it seems like everyone is online and everyone has an opinion. Writing a blog, putting your thoughts/feelings/opinions out there,  makes it easy for people to judge you, shame you, and praise you. 

When I think about what blog life looks like now, brings me to my two boys. Motherhood. Living life with kids. And work. And a house. And making dinner. All of this brings me to one the things I appreciate these days. The network of moms. I don't know about you, but I love HuffParents. I love to read all the articles, blogs, and stories about parenting, mom life, and the good/bad/embarrassing things that happen. 

Motherhood can be the most wonderful place and it can also be the loneliest. Motherhood makes us a bad friend. Motherhood makes us a bad wife. It's an adjustment to juggle being needed by so many people. And then after a long day of spit up, crying, potty accidents; while judging regular life it is nice to escape to the world of social media and see other mom's sharing their days both the good and the bad. Mom fails. Mom praises. 

Then the comments. Mom's supporting other moms. Friends, near and far connecting. Raising each other up. Making each day for each other...Mother's Day. Because shouldn't we always? Shouldn't we celebrate each other everyday? Social media can be so cruel. Shaming people for being different or having a different opinion. Breast milk or formula. Cloth vs. throw away diapers. Organic. Non-GMO. It doesn't matter. You do you mom. 

So, this Mother's Day I challenge you to raise up another mom. A few weeks ago I decided after reading someone's mom day I would take time this Mother's Day to praise another mom, or let her know someone other than shares her home thinks about her. If you know me, I adore cards and I love sending them. So I went to the store, bought a whole stack of Mother's Day cards, and this week they should be hitting the mailboxes. Ladies who are awesome "mom"-models. Ladies who I appreciate it, and am thankful for them being in my life. Some of them are people I see regularly, and some of them I haven't seen in awhile. 

So, girl, share your mom fails because someone has had the same happen to them. Share your victories and praises, so that we can respond with emojis, hearts, love, and likes. Write that blog that you are afraid someone will judge you on. Because, Guess what? You're a MOM! Do your THING! and... Happy Mother's Day!

The Christmas Miracle Book Drive

I admire people who blog for a living or all the time. I admire that they have so much to talk about or that they find the time to sit down and do it.

Friends, I let you down in the blogging area. Life happens and blogging doesn't. My last blog post way back in November of 2015 asked you to give to Knox's book drive. And you did! Man did you ever! But with life happening: house finished, moving in, and Christmas I never updated on how it went, or more importantly thanked you for giving.

So this is me saying I'm sorry and you all are awesome.

Since our new house was being remodeled and we were living out of a small space, all the wonderful Amazon boxes got sent to my parent's house. The boxes just kept coming! I cried. It was such as blessing for all our friends and people we didn't know to share in our quest to provide books for children and their families who were going to spend their Christmas holiday in the hospital. In a world with so much negativity, it really is beautiful to see things like this.....

 Every book received a stamp like the one below letting the reader know our little CHD warrior who the books were donated in honor of. But just how many books got these stamps?

When we started the drive I would have been happy if 20 books had been donated, but you wonderful people pushed my little wish out the window. With your wonderful help and support we donated 157 books to Nationwide Children's Hospital patients on the heart floor. 157! 157!

As we were lucky to celebrate Christmas in our new home with Knox I couldn't help but think about those families, and hope that they were cuddled up together by a crib or hospital bed reading a Christmas story and waiting for Santa to arrive.

So, thank you. Even though it is months late, I hope you will accept my thank you for helping us bring Christmas cheer to the hospital. Thank you for being so generous and thank you for loving our little miracle.

Knox's Christmas Book Drive

As many of you know we spent the days leading up to Christmas in Nationwide Children's Hospital for Knox's second open heart surgery. We checked in for surgery on December 19th and thanks to our amazing surgeon Dr. Galantowicz we were released on Christmas day.

With it being Knox's first Christmas, I was bummed that we were spending it inside the hospital walls, but the success of his surgery and his recovery was a beautiful Christmas gift. No matter what your child's illness is being in the hospital around the holidays is hard. Nationwide did a wonderful job providing gifts, decorations, and Christmas cheer to those in the hospital. Santa even snuck in while we were sleeping and left Knox a gift.

Not knowing how long we were going to be in the hospital I brought a Christmas tree, our stockings, Christmas jambes, and a few gifts for Knox in case we were in over the holiday. My dad went across the street to the CVS and bought us all hats so that we could start a Christmas tradition. It was a very humbling and intimidate time to be together, and be thankful for our Christmas blessings.

With the holiday season right around the corner, I can't help but think about our time in the hospital, and the families who will be there this year. To honor Knox's successful heart surgery and to do something for Nationwide Children's Hospital, our family would like to invite you to be apart of our Christmas Book Drive. If you would like to participate we ask that you donate a Christmas book or your favorite story to our drive. Families can gather together in the comfort of their hospital room and read a story together to celebrate Christmas and togetherness.

If you are out of town and worried about shipping your book to us, we have made an Amazon Wishlist (click here) with lots of Christmas stories on it. You can shop and the book will be mailed straight to us. You can always go to your local bookstore and purchase your favorite story and get it to us. All the books will receive a stamp in the inside stating that it was donated in honor of Knox, Congenital Heart Defect Warrior, and donated to the CTICU and the step down unit of the Heart Center at Nationwide.

We appreciate your interest in providing a little Christmas cheer to children with heart problems like Knox while they are in the hospital. We still can't thank Nationwide Children's Hospital enough for all the did for our little guy and our family, and we will continue to support them however we can!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Heart-iversary

Though we just celebrated Knox's 1st birthday a few weeks ago, today was another anniversary that will forever be important in the Hatmaker home.

Today is the one year's anniversary of Knox's 1st open heart surgery.

On some of my support groups that I am apart of, parents celebrate heart-iversaries with cakes and parties. I am not sure that I want to go down that road (because there will be a year I forget), but I do feel that this life event is one that we should celebrate as it gave our little guy hope. It allowed him to grow bigger and stronger, and have a life outside of the hospital.

I couldn't help today but think about that day a year ago. I remember staying at the hospital the night before holding him as long as I could.

And then you can't help but see how far we have come. I wonder what the future will be like when I have to explain to Knox why he has a scar down his chest. Will he feel self-conscious about it? Will it bother him? I hope that he can understand how brave he was, how special he is, and what a miracle he is to us.

As I spent my day with my little miracle, one of our heart families at Nationwide Children's Hospital lost their heart warrior. They too, like us, traveled from Kentucky to get their son the help he needed. He had a long, hard road, and fought his awful CHD as long as he could. Please say a prayer for this family as they go through the unthinkable.

Congenital Heart Defects are ugly. Though they range in severity, no child should ever have to go through all this at such a young age. We will continue to raise awareness and funds to help fight against it. And until they find causes, we will continue to celebrate our heart-iversaries and our heart warriors. I know I will.

One

Well we made it. 

Happy 1st Birthday Knox Andrew Hatmaker! 

For a whole 365 days I have been the mommy to a very special little miracle.  As all of you know we got off to quite a rocky start. It has been down right hard at times. But... it has also been wonderful and filled with more love than one might ever believe to know.

I am not going to lie... I have cried several times leading up to this day. And I am sure I will cry today and tomorrow as we celebrate this little guy. It is hard to put into words what this day means in my life. I guess when I look back to around this time last year that wondered if we would make it to this day...March 7th, 2015. But with the help of medicine, Dr. Mark Galantowicz, Dr. Carol Cottrill, Nationwide Children's Hospital, God, love, prayers, and support - we are here.

On Sunday we will celebrate Knox's birthday with family and friends at our home. I have had many people ask me what the theme of Knox's party is. The theme is: On the Night You Were Born. It is a beautiful children's book that my best friend Salena gave to Knox. Of course, it was to be read on the night he was born, but instead she shared it with him on their first visit weeks later.

The night that Knox was born was not a happy time for me like most parents feel. It was scary. It was uncertain. It wasn't a time of sweet baby pictures and cuddles. Our family was separated. This isn't how I want to forever remember the night Knox was born.

So the story, meaning, and colors of "On The Night You Were Born" theme is like a re-do. A time to remember the night Knox was born as the special night that it should be, and will forever be in my heart. What the story says is true...

On the night you were born, 

The moon smiled with such wonder

That the stars peeked in to see you

And the night wind whispered,

“Life will never be the same.”

Because there had never been anyone like you…ever in the world.

Happy 1st Birthday Knox! I love you more than you will ever know and so glad that God picked me to be your mommy. 

Heart Month and our Heart Hero

As many of you know February is Heart Month. While many think of only raising awareness for heart disease in women and adults, research for congenital heart defects (CHDs) is underfunded and doesn't get the attention it needs. 1 in 100 babies are born with a CHD and it kills more children than any type of children's cancer. 

Of course being new to the CHD family, I am not near as good as raising awareness as some of the other awesome moms I have met through support groups. I do what I can though. So when Nationwide Children's hospital contacted us about sharing our story during heart month we were eager to say yes. 

Though many of you have seen our interview with NBC 4 Columbus, I wanted to share the story. We met with Gina from marketing and Ellie Merritt the reporter and news anchor who would be sharing Knox's story in the Magic Forest at Nationwide. We were missing one very important guest at the party though - Dr. G! He was one of the reasons we were excited to do the interview because he would be there as well. We haven't seen him since we left Columbus, and of course, he holds a special place in our heart. 

We went up to the cardiology clinic - a place we were very familiar with and set up in a conference room. We began our interview and waited for Dr. G's arrival.  Of course when he arrived everyone stopped what we were doing. He seemed nervous because he doesn't like the spotlight, and apologized because he had been up all night in surgery. He was excited to see us and excited to see Knox. It was nice to see him and not be nervous and talking about surgery. He is such a wonderful individual and an amazing surgeron.  He have me some advice - but that's another blog. 

Ellie, the reporter was wonderful to work with- Very professional and extremely caring. She seemed interested in our journey and loved Knox. Who doesn't though? We were excited to see what they put together to share Knox's story. I am glad it is something we can show him as he gets older. Thank you to Gina, Nationwide, Ellie Merritt, NBC 4, and Dr. Galantowicz for benign apart of our heart awareness story. 

I have spoke a few times about being a part of support groups on Facebook. You can learn a lot from them and it's a great way to not feel alone. One of the groups I am a member of is exclusively for mothers whose children have had heart issues at Nationwide Children's Hospital. 

One of their projects during Heart Month is to make a video to thank the staff of Nationwide. Here is the wonderful video they made, and you might even see someone you know! Thank you JoAnne for making this video and allowing me to find comfort in this group. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/_Kf_AXNcUyU

Lastly, the important thing for us to remember is that we should raise awareness for CHDs everyday not just in February. I have seen way too many children affected by these issues this year. 

January 30th.

A year ago today, I was suppose to be in Fort Worth preparing for the Cowtown Classic Sale and celebrating my birthday at Tim Love's Lonesome Dove Bistro. Instead I was doing exactly what the doctor ordered - laying in the bed.

You see January 30, 2014 was my first day of bed rest. We had just returned from Denver and I was having one last baby check up before we headed to Texas. Instead I found myself headed to the Labor & Delivery floor to be admitted for blood pressure monitoring. After spending my first (turns out - of many) nights in the hospital, I was sent home not to travel and not to do anything. Well, we did go out for Mexican and then we came home and sat on the couch.

Birthday night 2014

In hindsight that first day of bed rest was pretty easy to what started spiraling after that first initial hospitalization. But as this 21st birthday (yes I have age issues - get over it) came around this year I couldn't help but reflect on what a different person I am this year than I was last year.

First being that I a mom to a precious -almost 11 month old - heart warrior who is my hero. That precious little boy has changed my life (literally, emotionally, physically, mentally) more than I would have ever thought possible. I have learned a lot about myself, my husband, life, medicine, the city of Columbus, and faith. I am a stronger person than I was a year ago. The person in the picture above would have been in the fetal position (and I was at times) when hard things came my way.  I have a stronger marriage. Not that we didn't have a wonderful marriage before, but going through the past year and having him stick by my side, hold me when I have cried, slept on hospital couches, and became the best daddy has made us both appreciate each other and marriage more.

Though 2014 brought Knox to us, it definitely wasn't my favorite year. It was hard. It was sad. It was nerve wrecking. It was the year that changed me, but I am so glad for that. I know that because of that year, that this year I am able to be a better mother, wife, and person than I was a year ago, and that is worth celebrating.

The Reason

Dr. Cottrill (Knox's cardiologist) told us sometime ago that she writes Knox's name in the prayer book at her church. That book is prayed over several times throughout the week. But it wasn't until our return visit after Knox's second open heart surgery that Dr. Cottrill told me that after our initial meeting back on February 13, 2014 - she prayed for me.  I was a WRECK. They had just confirmed my worse fear that something was wrong with my baby. They were sending us off to another state to have our baby. She told me that she would take care of my baby upon return, but what she didn't say was she was scared too. She said that when she gets scared; she prays. And that day she prayed for me and my baby. 

I think Dr. cottrill is a saint, and like Dr. G I feel like she was placed in our life and Knox's life for a reason. 

One of the only ways you can cope with all this is to believe it all happens for a reason. That we were all suppose to go through this for some reason. 

I have learned that congenital heart defects (CHDs) are like a community. Families need support and sometimes others just don't get what you are going through. After Knox's first surgery I emersed myself in Facebook groups for CHD. I read about others stories, and even found other members of our Nationwide Children's Hospital. It wasn't until October that I finally felt my reason. My best friend Salena told me her preacher and his wife had a newborn who after a pulse ox test was diagnosed with a CHD. I immediately asked for their email and reached out to them. I needed them to know they weren't alone. I felt God leading me to their family and their new little boy. To make a long story short, they saw Dr. Cottrill as well and ended up at Nationwide. He is doing well. 

Just recently the wonderful world of Facebook led me to a blog written by a young lady who was apart of my FFA story. Her pregnancy sounded a lot like mine met with preeclampsia. We messaged back and forth, and I shared my story with her and hopefully words of encouragement. Sometimes I think it's just nice for someone to know all the medical stuff you are going through without having to explain it. Her baby was born at 28 weeks and unfortuntately now they have found a CHD. My heart ached for her as they prepare for surgery tomorrow. 

Where am I going with all this? Like it or not, this is our story. This is my story. And if sharing my experiences, knowledge (or lack there of), and emotions helps someone get through a trying time than it makes it all a bit easier to understand. As we sometimes wander why we are put in situations; I realize now that God has put my family through this experience with Knox so that I can hopefully lend support to other moms finding themselves surrounded by medical talk, doctors, monitors, and hospitals. 

Dr. Cottrill prayed for me. I feel like it's not fitting if I pray for the moms who were scared just like me. 

One Month Post-Op

It is hard to believe that a month ago today we had just endured one of the longest days of our lives. Well, labor was long - all 28 hours of it, but I don't remember much of it so doesn't seem that long to me! 

Instead I speak of the 7 hours of surgery for Knox and the 7 hours of waiting for us. Now it seems like it was so long ago. Maybe I fee like we have put that behind us now, and only look forward. 

Anywho, for those of you who don't know we were released on Christmas Day from the hospital. Though it was a wonderful gift, NEVER try to get released from a hospital on Christmas. Of course, we arrived to family, friends, and neighbors welcoming us. 

Our Christmas was low key, but very good for little Mr. Hatmaker. We did things the day after, but Santa found his way. We have tried to stay at home nestled away from the germs and the flu as Knox continued to heal. 

We have been back to our local cardiologist Dr. Cottrill, who was very happy to see us and very happy with how things went in Columbus. Knox lost some weight from our hospital stay and our recent battle with the stomach flu so we are working on getting our appetite back and gaining some weight. 

With our 10 month birthday behind us now, we are now in full party prep mode! One year old! How can that be? I had a hard time with 10 months. Double digits and growing up. It's been quite the journey thus far. 

This week, mom and dad and all of our friends are enjoying Denver. We are spectating from home, but have been prepping Knox for his National Western time in the future.

I will leave you with this. No statement could be truer, and I am so glad that I get to be his mommy,  

'Twas the Night Before...

Merry Christmas Eve! 

Drew and I are watching for Santa to make his stop at Nationwide Children's Hospital from our large window on the 4th floor. Though Santa will come tonight to bring toys to children, for us Santa came last Friday in the form of Dr. Mark Galantowicz. He doesn't wear a red suit, but instead he wears a white coat. 

Dr. G has been Knox's surgeon from the beginning, and there is no one I would rather operating on my child. He is a world renown pediatric heart surgeon and transplant surgeon. He is a tall, kind, and gentle man who has a way of putting you at ease. I, of course have been a nervous wreck and a straight up hot mess leaving my child at the operating door. But every time Dr. G comes to talk to us before a surgery somehow my worry about the actual surgery is calmed. He knows what he is doing and he has the upmost confidence in your child. He is so humble and genuine. We really can't say enough good things about him other than we are so thankful God chose him to led us through this. There is no way we can ever thank him enough.  He truly gave us the most wonderful gift we will ever receive - a fixed heart. 

Of course we are still here recovering. It is  wonderful to know we are here together and Knox is doing well, but it's still hard to be away from our home for Christmas. To not be doing the normal Christmas things. BUT we have our tree and stockings up in our room, and we read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Though our Christmas Eve meal came from the hospital cafeteria we still shared it with mom, dad, Knox, Drew, and our family of nurses. 

A few photos from our night... Merry Christmas everyone! 

Across the Squirrel

If you followed our journey at our first visit to Nationwide Children's Hospital you may have heard something about a squirrel. 

The fourth floor's mascot is the squirrel. He is a large statue that separates the CTICU  from the step down unit. To move  "across the squirrel" means to move to the step down unit. 

They have been trying to send us across the squirrel since Saturday. Knox did awesome post op the night after surgery, but his recovery to move has been a little slower 

 

But today they let us loose. Though we are still taking some medications and are still working through some issues he is doing well enough to move. We have been in the surgical bay in the CTICU so we are happy to have a private room. 

Knox is starting to return to his old self and has been flashing some smiles today. 

We don't know when we will be able to go home yet, but it's always nice to know when you are one step closer. 

Day 2

Today is Day 2.  

             Morning of surgery

As most of you know on Friday Knox had his second open heart surgery. It was the longest 7 hours of my life. It was hard to sit there and wait. They didn't end up having to replace any valves at this time. They just repaired. The surgeon said it couldn't have gone more perfectly. 

We met Knox up in our old stomping grounds, the CTICU. Knox did great the first night, and they were already taking about moving us across the squirrel. 

BUT in true Knox Hatmaker style it just couldn't be that easy. We have had a few hiccups the last two days that have landed us to still be residing in the CTICU. NONE of them have to do with his heart. The heart looks great. (Insert insanely happy smile).  I don't mind being over here though because we are surrounded by old and new friends that are taking great care of our little peanut. Everything going on is pretty normal post op things around a surgery of this magnitude. His body just needs a little more time to recover. With the wonderful news we received from his surgeon, I don't care if he makes me sit here for 20 days. 

He is slowly becoming his old self. We even got a smile out of him this morning. Thank you again for all your texts, prayers, Facebook photos, and ridiculously amazing Knox Tshirt photos. 

We love you all From the bay in H4b! 

It's time

Well.... it certainly has been awhile. As I look back the last time I blogged was in July. Ouch.

Now its December. And Knox is 9 months old. When did that happen? He is such a little man and we love him so. He wants to touch everything and then put it in his mouth! Sometimes its hard to remember how our adventure with Knox began, but its always there. Looming in the back of your mind. When its time to head back to Columbus for phase two of Knox's congenital heart defect journey.

Merry Christmas, its time.

We knew it was coming. Every three weeks we would go to our cardiology appointment just kind of waiting for the word. We are still sitting pretty good because his numbers are still good, thus its not an emergency. Its just necessary.

So, next Wednesday we will load our family up for Columbus. This is the first time Knox will actually ride to Columbus out of womb. We will have all of our pre-op tests on Thursday, and then on Friday, December 19th Knox will have his second open heart surgery. They say if all goes well recovery usually is 5 to 7 days; which means we are likely spending our second holiday at Nationwide Children's Hospital.  I told Knox, like the Easter bunny, I'm sure Santa can find him.

This time will be hard and it will be different for Drew and I. Not that it wasn't hard the first time because it definitely was, but its different. When Knox was born he was a little baby who we didn't know. We hadn't cuddled. When hadn't spent late nights and early mornings together. We hadn't travelled to 14 states together, met Santa, and attended numerous cattle sales. This time it is our little man; who is wiggly and active. Please say a prayer for our strength through all of this.

But here is where I ask for a favor. Many of you wonderful people bought Knox shirts this summer. I ask that on Friday, December 19th you wear your Knox shirt for strength and support of our little guy.   Take a photo and tag it to Drew or I on Facebook so that we can make an album for Knox to see in the future of all the wonderful support he received. Of course, we also hope that you will keep Knox and his doctors, nurses, and team in your prayers.

If you don't have a shirt and would like one, there are still some available. Contact me to get one.

I will go back to updating this blog during our stay at Nationwide as I can.

Blanket of Love

Throughout 2014, thus far. I have been truly humbled by the amount of love and support Drew, myself, and Knox have been given by friends all over the United States, but perhaps none has hit me quite as hard as Saturday evening. 

As most of you know I was a member of the American Junior Simmental Association for many years, and competed at national classics for 11 years. Since aging out I have attended national classics to judge, promote our business, and continue my investment in some amazing young people of our breed. I served two terms on the AJSA Board of Trustees. 

You have seen from an earlier blog that Project Linus gave Knox a blanket while we were in the hospital, and the AJSA was making blankets for Project Linus as their service project. 

Knox, himself donated four blankets, and his great- Nana gave us two more blankets to donate as well. 

Other friends donated money in honor of Knox to make blankets. 

On Saturday night at the banquet, the junior board gave an update on their service project that the completed. The Louisville Project Linus chapter was given 150 blankets to brighten sick children's day. 

Allison then began to talk about three future AJSA members that got off to a rough start. Knox and his friends Breham and Berwick Bloomberg; twins of my good friend Blake who were born at only a pound a piece. They just got to go home last week. The AJSA Board presented our family as well as the Bloomberg family with blankets they made for us. 

They called us to the front to accept these blankets. I was a bucket of tears. Knox and Drew had stayed at the hotel so it was just me and my tears. I love the simmental breed and the AJSA, but knowing that they support my little guy and thought of him as they did this program was too much for me to handle.

We have been blessed by some great friends and even strangers since Knox came into this world, but this gesture was just too much for me to handle. I was (and still am) overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness to Knox. It will forever be a moment that will hold a special place in my heart as well as those young people who thought of my little man. 

Thank you AJSA board, you will never know how much I appreciate this blanket. I look forward to telling Knox about you all as he gets older. I am so proud of the success of your project and for helping children who need a bright spot in their day. 

 

Raise your hand if you are 4 months!

Monday we celebrated Knox's 4 month birthday! 

4 months? Whoa! 

We celebrated with getting our 4 month shots which he did not enjoy, and then shopping at Trader Joe's. Our pediatrician who we love, of course only sees us for normal baby stuff. She was very happy with his growth and development. 

4 month stats: 

Weight: 10 pds 3 oz. 

Height: 23 in. 

Knox loves: 

- Taking a bath in his bath tub

- Sitting up (with some help)

New things: 

- Went to his first wedding 

- Celebrated his first 4th of July

- Went shopping for the first time

- 0-3 month clothing

- Size 1 diapers!

Knox wasn't really into photo taking because he still didn't feel well. 

Some Good News

Today we got some wonderful news. 

A lot of you have asked what's next for Knox and his heart journey. We haven't known what to tell you because we weren't for sure ourselves. We have been waiting to see if the left ventricle of the heart will heal and begin to work better. 

Over the last few weeks our pediatric cardiologist here in Lexington has been very happy with Knox's numbers. She said that it looked like the left side was working better. Like she does every two weeks she sends his numbers to Columbus for our team to look at. 

Today during our visit Dr. Cottrill read us a letter from The Heart Center that said indeed the left side was doing better and believed that in the future it will be a working part of the heart. Which is AMAZING news. I couldn't help but cry tears of joy. 

Yes he will still have to have surgery but this route is the much more ideal route that the one we hoped for. It will also likely require some maintenance later in life. 

Tomorrow Drew and I will celebrate our four year wedding anniversary and we couldn't have asked for a better gift than this wonderful news. 

Please continue to pray for growth and strength for Knox and his heart. The prayers sure are working! 

3 months old

News flash! We now have a three month old baby in the Hatmaker residence! Well, we have for a few weeks, but it has been way busy!

3 month stats: 

Weight: 8.5 Pds 

Length: 21 1/2 inches 

Likes to: 

- suck our thumb

- chew on our hands 

- choo and make noises 

Father's Day

Today is a very special day. Today is Father's Day! Of course, as many of you can gather it also Drew's first Father's Day. 

I got pretty lucky when God designed my perfect match. He designed a wonderful, strong man who loves me unconditionally no matter what the circumstances. But it has never been more evident how amazing and perfect Drew is for me and was meant to be a daddy than this spring. 

God knew that I needed someone strong to sit beside in the hospital on one of our many trips to Central Baptist. He knew that I needed someone to told me when we first received the news about our unborn child. He knew that Drew would be the perfect person to sit with me through labor pains and tell me how wonderful I was and how great of a job I was doing. He made Drew strong to support his wife and child through 47 days at the Children's hospital, but more importantly, he made him the perfect dad. 

I know that I could not have made it through the last couple months without him. Knox is incredibly lucky to have him as a daddy, and I plan on telling him that for the rest of his life. The saying at the top really is true, my love for Drew has grown immensely as I have watched him care for Knox in and out of the womb. 

Not only did God make Drew to be my partner and best friend, but he made the perfect daddy for our precious son. 

So Knox and I hope that we can make the first Father's Day a special one for the one we love and cherish. We can't thank him enough for being the rock for our family. 

Favorite things

Someone is growing in the Hatmaker house! We are almost tipping the scale over 8 pounds! It's hard to believe! 

Here is one of my favorite things about our growing little guy. He smiles a lot. Mornings are the best to catch a few, but we smile throughout the day. 

Today Knox was awake for most of the day until after lunch. He was cranky, but you could tell he was getting tired. After our 3 o'clock feeding he started to dose off. I went to lay him down beside me on the bed, but he started to cry. So I spent my entire afternoon holding him in our bed while he napped. It was quite wonderful. Drew said he was spoiled , but I said one day he wouldn't want me to hold him like this. So I was taking advantage of it while I can. 

One of thing Knox likes to do is take selfies with his mom! Please ignore my nastiness. Apparently it becomes difficult to find time to showe when you have a baby! 

Only 2 more days to buy your Knox Tshirt from the Booster campaign! We are getting so close to our goal of 150 shirts. Proceeds go to Knox Hatmaker and The Heart Center at Nationwide. 

www.booster.com/knoxhatmaker

What's up with Knox?

I have been lacking on the blog posts because we have been busy at home learning our new routine with Knox. Plus he has a very busy social life at only 2 months old! 

Mothers Day - On Sunday, I was able to celebrate my very first Mother's Day with my two boys, my mom, and some family. I was definitely spoiled for my first Mother's Day by my family especially my two boys. They gave me a beautiful ring with Knox's birthstone.  Knox even ordered my favorite flowers. When I asked how he knew my favorite flower, Drew said that was between Knox and Granny. 

Knox's first sheep sale - Knox enjoyed his first sheep sale in Eaton, Ohio last week. We went up to watch Emily sell a few of her Natural Coloreds. Plus it allowed us to use our stroller for the very first time! I really liked it! I see a lot of walks in our future. Lucy (the lamb in the background) was very curious of Knox's stroller. Knox slept through the entire sale. We enjoyed seeing some friends that have been following Knox's story on here and Facebook.

2 Months Old - On May 7th, Knox turned 2 months old! We met our pediatrician for the first time the next day, and had our 2 month shots. Knox barely cried. Those shots were nothing compared to what he has been through. We've seen the cardiologist twice and the pediatrician once since we've been home. Everyone is happy with his progress and his growth. We are now over 7 pounds!

Meeting Laure - Laure Schadler was my midwife that was caring for Knox and I before we found the heart defect. I had to go in for my check up, and we knew she would love to meet Knox. We hated leaving Laure when they sent us to Columbus. She had taken such good care of us. 

Newborn Photos - Though we were a little late we finally had our newborn photos taken. Knox did awesome for our favorite photographer Kelsey Malicote of Malicote Photography. She took some amazing photos that captured our little cutie pie! I'm in love with them all. 

Shirts for Knox - Last, but certainly not least; my best friend Lauren has organized a fundraiser for Knox. Because I wanted to help others, not just us half of the money will go to The Heart Center. The Heart Center was great to us while we were at Nationwide. If you would like to purchase a t-shirt, you can buy one for $20 here.