Oscar's Odyssey/Stella's Story

I had the opportunity on Thursday and Friday this past week to do conferences with my students' parents. As I led these IEP meetings or spoke on behalf of my students I was reminded of how important my job truly is.  An advocate, is a person that publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. As a Moderate/Intense teacher I am an advocate for my students. As a professional I need to grow in my ability to be more tactful and not so forceful, but I am passionate about what I do and who I do it for. I had 2 parents request for their children to repeat their 5th grade year, so they could stay in elementary for one more year. That says something to me about what I do in my class for my students and the staff at Stranahan Elementary. My students are loved, accepted, welcomed, and apart of these general ed rooms. Along with that in these students daily curriculum they are made to feel part of the school community through doing jobs like office deliveries, putting out co...

One of Theodore’s favorite movies to watch is Finding Dory . Near the beginning of the film when Dory meets Hank, an octopus who can’t stand the thought of being released back to the ocean, he brings to light a very peculiar human interaction. Hank pokes fun of our response to the question “How are you?” He is flabbergasted at our human nature of simply saying “fine” or “good” when presented with this question. He cannot fathom why all humans seem to have the same fake answer. For the first time in my life, I truly have to pause when asked “How are you doing?” or “How is your day?” As a father and husband I have been confronted with the fact that I am in a situation that I cannot fix with my own strength. I am left feeling powerless and drifting at sea. The only fix I can provide is to turn the situation over to the Lord. It is His strength that has allowed me to keep going. Learning to trust in Him and in His plan is a struggle that I try to overcome on a daily basis. Recently at...

   What Makes a Mother By Jennifer Wasik  Written with love for all the Mother's missing their babies   I thought of you and closed my eyes and prayed to God today I asked, “what makes a Mother”? And I know I heard Him say, A Mother has a baby, This we know is true. But, God, can you be a Mother when your baby's not with you? "Yes you can!", He replied with confidence in His voice, "I give many women babies, when they leave is not their choice. Some I send for a lifetime and other's for a day And some I send to feel your womb but there's no need to stay." I just don't understand this God, I want my baby here. He took a breath, and cleared His throat, and then I saw a tear. I wish I could show you what your child is doing here. If you could see your child smile with other children and say, "We go to earth to learn our lessons of love and life and fear, but My M...

Oscar's favorite picture pose! "Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free" ~Psalm 118:5~ The Lord heard our cries and answered our prayers. Thank you to each of you that have prayed for our Oscar's life so far. Yesterday, Monday, October 9, Brian and I began our morning at Toledo Hospital MFM. Oscar's follow up ultrasound began around 9am. Through this ultrasound we found out nothing has really changed for our son which is a praise.   He continues to show the Dandy Walker Malformation, Bilateral Cleft Lip & Palate, Heart Defect, Ascites, Club Feet, and his left leg his shorter and bent funny. When reading that list of anomalies you may think my goodness that is a lot, but guess what yesterday there were no new malformations or defects. That is a huge praise! Along with that Oscar's heart was beating 153 bpm and he is weighing in around 2lbs, 11 oz and he is continuing to only be about 1.5 weeks behind what he should ...

It has been a few days since I wrote which is good because that means it has been quiet in our home and with Oscar. We had an OB appointment Wednesday, September 27, after school and all was well. I am measuring exactly 28 weeks and Oscar's heartbeat was found right away and beating steady at 145 bpm . I got my flu shot and my goodness my arm was sore until today. I feel kind of bad Theodore is going to have to get the shot this year. I am hoping he will not be nearly as sore as I was. My OB said all seems to be going as usually and said due to this being a high risk pregnancy we will begin non-stress testing in the next few weeks. This means I will come in weekly along with my appointments and just get hooked up to the baby monitors for 20 minutes or so. This will allow for Oscar to be monitored and make sure there are no sudden changes with him. Some other news I have been loved greatly this week by some colleagues/their families at work. I was given two gifts and the funny...

Our sweet Oscar will be 27 weeks on Wednesday, September 20. One thing Brian and I wanted to do was get bracelets to help individuals to remember to pray for Oscar and our family. We have partnered with  Threads of Hope, Inc.  to do a  Love Project  with Oscar's bracelets. This means that 100% of the funds from #OscarStrong bracelets will go straight back to the work Threads of Hope is doing in the Philippines. You may be asking why Threads of Hope. Well...Threads of Hope was a booth at Bible Missionary Conference at Beulah Beach this summer.  If you read our story from the beginning at this conference on July 23, I said to Brian, "I think something is wrong with our baby" and then on July 24 my feelings were confirmed with a call that we needed our anatomy ultrasound bumped up and some additional appointments scheduled that day too. 1. to see the genetic counselor and 2. to have a consult with the MFM doctor as well. Threads of Hope not holds a place in my hear...

I am always thankful for the weekends as a chance to reset and refresh before another work week begins. Although I feel the weekends go by way, way too fast. This weekend's productive was not nearly as high as the last, but we were able to celebrate my Father-in-law's Birthday and enjoy time with family which is so sweet for the soul. Theodore and I also got to go to my best friend's, Larisa, daughter's first flag football game she cheered at. We are blessed to have family and dear friends close by that are with us through the ups and downs of this life. We also have prayed lots this weekend and I have been leaving the Weather Channel on in the background with reports about Hurricane Irma. Brian's grandparents live in Naples along with his 2 uncles and their families. Brian also has cousins that live in Naples and West Palm with their families. My brother, Jeffrey, lives in Orlando with his wife, son, and daughter. I heard from Jeffrey a little before 9pm and he sai...