Who would've known...

I have had my share of doctor's visits, health problems, surgeries...heck, I almost died during pregnancy with my son. However, I'm pretty sure the hardest thing I've had to face to date was last week when my 3 year old boy had to get a tooth pulled. This should not be that big of a deal. Well, putting a 3 year old under antisthesia when he is the light in your life, the reason your heart beats, the purpose for your being...is surreal.

Last Christmas Wyatt and our dog were outside playing in the ice. As we know, snow and ice in Texas is rare so I try and let my kids experience all things new and interesting in this world. Of course one thing leads to another and my boy is knocked over by my dog. Wyatt falls to the concrete, knocking a tooth out of place.Well, it bled for a few moments- then the realization that boys will be boys swept through my thoughts as we moved on about our lives'.

This brings us to about a week ago when the tooth we had forgotten about started wiggling. One dentist visit later led to the fact that his tooth was detached from it's root and both needed to be removed. So, lo and behold we go to a dental surgeon. He suggests putting Wyatt down under antisthesia for the process- so as not to "totally freak him out." Of course Danny is working, an hour away, and I call him to make sure he is ok with this. We are ok with the process...but I am unaware of the journey I'm about to take.

Sitting in a chair with my three year old son's limp body, corneas twitching because he is "out" is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do. The nurses informed me he was in an unconscious state and led me out of the room. I walked in to the waiting room and wept. By myself. Staring at the door and waiting for a nurse to come back and get me to tell me he was fine.

Sure enough the nurse came back to get me about 20 minutes later...which of course felt like an hour. She walked me back to his room and there he was...limp, eyes open but he was not there, twitching...they kept telling me he was "fine" and that "he did real well" but as his mother- I was scared. I just wanted him to focus. I wanted him to SEE me. I waited. And waited. Five minutes went by. Then ten more...I was starting to think that he was having trouble coming out of it. And then- his limp arm reached across his little body wrapping around my neck..."mommy" he whimpered...I was elated. Tears streamed down my face as I answered simply, "I'm here."

Back to it...

After months and months of not writing on my blog, I have decided to start up again. The past six months have been more challenging than I had ever begun to dream they would be. But in the same breath, they have been the most rewarding as well. God is god and he has most definitely been working miracles in our lives'.


Our baby girl joined the family on January 12th. Alyssa Lynn Easterly was born! Who would have known in those first seconds that I held her in my arms how much she would teach me in her short life. She has exhibited such strength in her first six months. Two weeks after her birth I started noticing some brown spots on her skin. There were only two at first, but as the weeks went on I noticed more and more. I questioned myself as a mom, at times wondering why I had not noticed these spots at birth? Little did I know this was the beginning of a long period of questioning and uncertainty. 


At her two month appointment I pointed out the spots to our pediatrician, who referred us to a pediatric dermatologist and then to an opthamalogist and finally, a neurologist. Long story short, she probably has a neurological disease called neurofibromatosis. What is that, you may ask? We did. We had never heard of such a thing. Looking it up on the internet scared us so bad that we were in tears for days. My husband stayed home from work and we just wept together. Why? Why did our daughter have to go through this? What did her future entail? It was a long week of sadness and confusion. That was four months ago...


Since then, our baby girl has learned to sit up, she eats solids, she sleeps regularly, eats normally, communicates appropriately and she has the biggest smile you have ever seen. To say this child is developing "normally" is not correct- she is developing "perfectly" for us. Alyssa is just that- perfect. She is physically beautiful, yes. But more importantly she puts a smile on every one's face who meets her. She is smart, loving, snuggly and happy all in one. She adores her brother and loves her dad and I. She recognizes and appreciates her family. She is curious and  energetic. She amazes us in so many ways. God knew exactly what he was doing when he blessed us with this child. Now when we ask the question "why?" it's in a different context- Why didn't we trust that God knew exactly what he was doing?