YARD SALE!!!

So.... On Saturday there will be a yard sale and it is going to be a good one! he he

Silly me... I am getting rid of all of Gabe's stuff (clothes, shoes, blankets) up to 12 months so if anyone is interested in boy clothes come on over. The yard sale is going to be located at Brandi Rainey's house on Saturday morning from 8-12. I do know she is putting her diningroom tables in the sale. I also know of two other moms who will be putting things in and they both have boys. So if you want/need directions give me a call. OR if you are free with nothing to do just come chat!!! he he

Hope to see you there!!

Normalcy!!!

Well today is the big day! Andre is off to work again.... Gabe and I are having a rough morning without him. I took for granted how much help my husband is... he has been a wonderful most amazing blessing these last six weeks(talk about someone who sticks with you through the thick and thin). I am already tired and its only 9. Gabe chose to have a rough night and wake up again at 5:30am. I think he knows life is changing once again. He woke up saying "dada". So as you can tell we are both having withdraws! I tried to convince Andre to just quit :) last night before bed. I know impossible but after spending 24/7 together since we moved home you get attatched.
So here we are taking another step towards what we once knew as normal! It is a bitter-sweet step. I do feel like I am somewhat back in business as a mother and a wife! Last weekend Andre went away with some of his best friends and Gabe and I SURVIVED! I was pretty excited because I was able to clean the house while he was gone. Something I haven't done in quite a long time. I am now functioning completely on my own ..... as far as equipment like the "potty chair" and the shower chair. Oh and the best part is I am not sweating near as much because I lost the three pound brace!!!!! Let me tell you- it has been such a blessing the last two weeks (tomorrow) to not have to carry that thing around.
Just a small update on our status! I will update more during Gabe's nap today. If you think of Gabe, Andre, and I today just say a little prayer that time will go fast so we can all be together again tonight!
thanks again

Peeing, in the middle of the night, made easier!!!

First things first!!!!!!!!!!! I am now BRACELESS!!!!!!!!! This was the inspiration to the title! I can now get out of bed and go to the bathroom, which is something a prego does frequently, in the middle of the night without my brace. Yahoo!!! The Lord is still healing me and now I am so blessed to get the hot sweaty thing off. After my wonderful doctors appointment we rented a hotel and took gabe to the zoo the next day. It was a celebration!!!!













Here I am holding my baby for the first time and ready to throw the brace in the trash!!! Yahoo!!!













daddy and gabe playing at the pool













gabe eating ribbs













gabe and uncle adam


















gabe meeting the meerkats









gabe and daddy feeding the giraffe




















i love this picture










checking out the zebra

















sharks!!!

our family...can you tell gabe is ready for a nap

gabe feeding the zebra on the way home

we stopped to visit pappy at work on the way home...gabe was helping him with a phone call

We made a trip to Northern Indiana to visit some family. There was a crew of us: uncle delmar and aunt jean, uncle van and aunt jolene, grandma zetta and joe, my mom and dad, and us! The rest of the crew painted/cleaned my blind uncle marv's house while we hung out with jonique and nate for the weekend. We had fun playing outside, shopping, and just talking.

The gang...Andre, Me, and Gabe -Jonique, Nate, and Jack.














Gabe was so hyper and he was being so silly... I love this picture!









Bath time!




















Great uncle Delmar and Great aunt Jolene told gabe to walk through the water puddles!













Playing at Jack's house












The boys... Jack, Micah, Gabe, and Peyton!










Andre and I made our FIRST overnight trip (without gabe)! We went to St.Louis in honor of our anniversary that we somewhat missed in June, do to the hospital stay. We really enjoyed ourselves. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who has stuck with me through the thick and thin!








My hubby and I










Our supper!













Fireworks after winning the game.












Married for 6 years!!!!!











Andre and Gabe have matching hats!

Looking back...

A few nights ago when I woke up and couldn't sleep the Lord was reminding me of where I have come from. Only a short 12 weeks (this coming Saturday) ago I was laying in a bed unable to move myself. Wow! God is truly amazing...it gives me goose bumps to think about it. So I am going to reminisce for a minute.....

While at Methodist Hospital:

*Everyone was excited to see that I could wiggle my toes...that is it there was NO other movement in my leg at the time!

*From Saturday to Friday I didn't move my body... I laid on my back unable to roll, bathe, or go to the restroom.

*On Thursday and Friday the physical therapist came in and sat me in a wheelchair and only after an HOUR I was sweating and ready to lay back in my bed... talk about scary for one who likes to take walks and exercise.

*A gown became my attire for over a week...a gown can sure make you feel like a superstar!

*My legs were in terrible pain after surgery on Monday.... It felt like my legs had fallen asleep and they were very restless and prickly(like if your legs were to fall asleep only 50x worse). I had to have someone helping me move them and rub them 24/7.

*My appetite was gone due to the pain meds...however, I needed to feed the little girl inside of me.

*And the WORST-I hadn't seen my baby since Saturday night! I had no clue what he was going through or what he looked like. I missed him with all of my heart but GOD definitely gave me grace to get through!

As you can see I experienced some not so pretty things! BUT I have seen more now then ever how God can heal, be our provider in every way, be close(so close that I knew I could just rest in him), extend grace, extend mercy, hear our prayers, and most of all he showed me LOVE! He showed me just how a person should be loved through all of you. I was just blown away to see how many wonderful people I have in my life. And actually there were many of you who provided for us and I didn't even know you or your gift was anonymous. WOW! There are many wonderful people that I have met because of the wreck and I will never forget their motivation for me or their believing in me. It is truly because of you and your prayers that put me at this computer typing this post right now. God is so good-however, that statement just doesn't seem to do him justice!

Once again I couldn't ever re-THANK YOU! If you ever have a down day just look at what you did for me through your prayers and then KNOW God is good!

love ya all
mams

Gabe's weekend with Jack...

Garret, Sarah, and Jack came to visit us this weekend. We had a blast just hanging out and laughing at our boys. We went to the park, swimming, to the pet store, and played outside! What an event filled weekend! Its nice to have a little normalcy to life again. Thanks for the good times Swartzentruber's!




The boys building the mommies a fire!

















Early morning entertainment by
Garret!!! The boys were laughing
out loud.















Just hanging out together...

















The whole crew! Sarah, Jack, Garret, Andre, Gabe, and Mandi....












Sharing cheetos!!!!!
Buddies!!!!















Swimming at my mom and dad's
Gabe, Andre, Garret, and Jack













At the pet store!
Gabe laughing at the hamsters...










The farret was licking Gabe!
















The boys discussing what their
purchases might be...









Playing in the sand

Ella Nyah Marie at 20 weeks...

Ella Nyah Marie is HERE!!!

....well..not "here" but ..here.

Anyway, isn't she adorable!

The position she was in explained

why Mandi is lob-sided...Ella's

head and abdomen is all on one

side...only her legs on the other!

She is truly a miracle!!!!!!!!! (Just click

on the pictures to enlarge them!)

Whats on my mind!

As I go throughout my day many things run through my mind. I have felt like I was supposed to post this small reminder for a while and I finally am. It is a reminder not to take the SMALL things for granted. Sometimes in this crazy world we get busy and pass by the small things. I just want to bring to your attention some things I haven't been able to do since the wreck (10wks yesterday). I am not mentioning these things in order for you to feel sorry for me, but in order for you to take a step back and thank God for your body and its mobility. So here are some things on my wish list - and I know that one day I WILL do them again.

Mandi's Wish List:
1. Scrub my bathroom floors - now don't get me wrong they have been cleaned!
2. Roll around on the floor with Gabe
3. Get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and not have to put on my brace
4. Going to bed with NO leg pain... my legs wear out and get very achy at night
5. To bend over to the floor without holding onto something near by- incase i loose my balance
6. To RUN
7. To walk around all day and not have to take breaks because I am tired
8. To pick up my little man anytime, anywhere
9. To sit down on the floor all by myself, nothing around to hang onto
10. Cuddle with my sweetie and my sweet boy without a hard brace seperating us
11. To get dressed and be able to see what I am wearing
12. To wear a necklas....many times I have went to put one on and I forget that my brace is in the way
13. Stand in the shower
14. The simple task of bending over to pick up toys is actually one that I really miss
15. To be able to give Gabe a bath
16. Taking walks with my boys
17. To put Gabe in his crib for naps
18. To balance on one foot like I used too
19. To pick weeds out of my landscaping
20. Cutting my toenails
21. To put lotion on my feet without the pain of my legs being stretched

These are just a few things I have thought about throughout my time at home. I took them for granted and I am asking the Lord daily to never let me get to that point again!

20 weeks...

I am now officially half way there! (However, I am more then half way because of them inducing me early!) It seems like this pregnancy has flown by. I do have to remind myself that the last 10 weeks have been a little different then normal. We are so excited to meet her and we have been talking that in just 4 short months our lives will change once again. We are excited and ready for the change. We have been trying to talk to Gabe about being a big brother. I am sure that he won't understand completely until she moves in with us! I am feeling her more and more. We will have our 20 week ultrasound this Tuesday! We are excited to see her again and it is always a blessing to hear the heart beat. I will definately update on Tuesday with pics of our precious little girl.

I feel really guilty because with Gabe I took pictures every month. Ella is going to be a little disappointed with me, hopefully she will understand the situation.

Picture update...

Gabe having a blast at the park, with
his daddy!















Playing in the rocks and dirt.
His favorite thing to do when outside!


















I enjoyed Gabe snuggling up next to me
to watch his movie. I miss these days...hopefully soon the brace with be gone!














I actually got to sit indian-style and
fold our clothes. I was excited b/c
I haven't been able to sit this way
since the wreck. Another small
stepping stone!











Gabe and daddy swinging some more!
















This picture is cute but scarey!













Gabe loves to take walks around
the block. This is him holding onto
daddy's finger.














Playing with cousins- Braylee and Brynna.










Jeremiah (friend) came to stay with us.
Gabe enjoyed having a friend around to
play with.








Our first fire... we put Gabe to bed
and then enjoyed ourselves by the fire.













Gabe and Bruce checking out the
neighborhood dog.

More WONDERFUL news....

God is so FAITHFUL!



Yesterday we (Lou-my mother- in -law, Andre, Gabe and I) made a trip to Indy for Gabe's follow up visits. His first appointment was at 11am at Methodist. She was a physical therapist who had seen Gabe while he was at Riley and she was astonished with how well he was doing. She just kept saying "he looks so Good!". She evaluated him and sent us on our way. She released him and told us that unless we have concerns there would be no reason to return! Wow! We were thrilled!

His next appointment wasn't until 2pm so we decided to head to Riley for some McDonalds. We at lunch and then uncle Adam stopped by to give Gabe some kisses. Gabe also enjoyed throwing pennies in the fountain, picking flowers for his mommy and gramma (Lou), taking a ride in the wagon-the last time he was in this wagon he didn't look as good, taking rides on the elevators, and just walking around. Andre and Lou also showed me all around, the rooms Gabe had stayed in, and what emotions ran through my head. All I could say was THANK YOU JESUS! I just kept thanking him that we were now on the outside looking in. We were the healthy ones looking at where Gabe WAS. God is so faithful to our prayers... however, he doesn't always answer them the way we would like BUT he does hear them!

Then off to see the neuro/pulmonary doc. He too was impressed with Gabe's success. He asked many questions digging deep to find something wrong and it was the most wonderful feeling to be able to answer every question with positive answers! He also told us unless there are any concerns then we wouldn't have to return! Great news... we don't have any more follow ups with indy docs! Gabe is 100% and more.... little stinker progressed faster then his mommy!

Overall, it was a wonderful day. We accepted all of the good news and celebrated by eating out on the way home.

Throwing pennies in the water

Gabe and daddy picking flowers

Andre, Gabe, and Adam

Gabe taking a ride

Playing while waiting on the doctors

water fountain

throwing in rocks

picking more flowers

look mom "I found a ball!"

A little update on my progress!

As of a week and two days i have been DONE with MY CANE! I am now walking all by myself. I am slowly but surely making progress. I sat indian style the other night and folded clothes, this was a huge stepping stone for me! I have been stretching alot and was excited to see that one day soon I will be able to sit with Gabe on the floor and play again. I have seen added strength in my legs. My endurance is building slowly- i took a walk around the block with Gabe and Andre. And yesterday at our Riley outing I walked the whole day-which was actually alot of walking! So my goal is to get my brace of next month so I can lift gabe and start doing some back and stomach exercises.