Another day of firsts...

The boys...

My kiddos...Halle was enjoying some exercise inside the house:-)

My three Gingerbread students...

Port-Kindi

Haynes-Giant

Ella-Elf

I walked everyone to their class, since we drop off to almost every house this year!

This little one got me a little teary...she's so big, but so little at the same time! She walked in without even a glance back in my direction:-)

What will Halle and I do this year without all our little ones around...

parties and field trips probably!

Lots to be thankful for....

Today all three of my oldest kids headed to Gingerbread for the first time! As we were getting ready to leave Port said, "Mom! What are you and Halle going to do all day?!"

Great question Port:-) Actually Halle has two important doctor appointments today. Port yelled at Haynes and ran to Halle. He laid hands on her and said, "Jesus, we just declare that Halle will be healed completely before she sees the doctor today." I love how God uses my sweet kids to encourage my heart!

Halle and I headed to Children's for appointments with the ENT and Genetics.

ENT

Halle weighs 11.3!

Her breathing sounds amazingly perfect

They discharged us from having to be rechecked for laryngomalacia!

*Dr. Glade said, "I really haven't seen a patient recover from this before a year usually. This is amazing!"

Genetics

We met with the geneticist and they measured Halle to be 22 inches long! They determined that they were going to do another more specific blood test to determine what part of chromosome 7 is missing. We were thrilled that they were offering to do a more in-depth study to confirm that Halle is healed! When we actually started talking to the specialist she seemed a little unsure of what to say to us. Since we have run most of the tests, Halle has passed, she seems to be doing well developmentally, and they couldn't really tell us what features resembled William's syndrome...she just told us we should come back in about 6 months to check up.

We are beyond thankful for great report! Halle has been healed of laryngomalacia!!! She is continually growing and getting bigger every single day! We sent that blood work off and are expectant that they will come back with results they can't explain...chromosome 7 will be where it's suppose to be!

"Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes."

Psalm 115:3

Kindergarten

My baby boy is ready to head into his first day of Kindergarten! We feel like God has spoken that Port will be a "BOLD LEADER" this year. We love that he gets the opportunity to be a leader at his school as a kindergartener.

Love these sweet brothers...

they were arguing over whether or not Haynes tiger could be in the picture...

Port won and the tiger had to hide:-)

Oh how I love these too...

Port just absolutely adores sweet Halle. I think he would have taken her to Kindergarten with him if it was possible!

Must do a silly picture...

Halle joined in on the picture too!

Love these mighty men!

I must confess I saw this idea on Pinterest and LOVED it!

Happy 1st day of Kindergarten!

Halle and the Urologist

This week we had an appointment with the urologist since they found a little fluid on Halle's left kidney a few weeks ago. The urologist was not concerned about the fluid at all. He took her off the medication and said he would have us come back for a routine check up in 6 months. This is the really fun part of the appointment...

The PA comes in initially to get all our information and check Halle. She wanted to know our story of how Halle was diagnosed with William's Syndrome. She seemed surprised by our story and wanted to know if we had seen genetics yet. (She use to work with genetics at Children's) After Dr. Kropp had come in and talked to us about Halle, the PA finished up our appointment. She said, "It's really amazing that Halle doesn't have any heart problems, her kidneys look great, and she doesn't look like a William's baby. She also seems to be developmentally where she should be...I would guess that her only issue is that she is just a little smaller than average!"

Yes... we know that her words are not authority to us, but isn't God so good to just use people all over to encourage your heart. We were able to share that we are actually praying specifically for all those things and watching God heal her every day! Thanks for continuing to partner with our family in this journey. The kids and I have been talking about how fun it is knowing people all over the world (literally) are fighting for Halle's healing with us!

One more celebration for the Hartsock family!

Hartsock Brothers

This last Sunday was a really fun day in all the Hartsock homes. Jake, Blake, and Brian all preached in their different churches. We didn't get to hear Blake since he is in Waco, but Jake and Brian were great! It just overwhelms my heart to think of the day when all my kids will be preaching all over the world on the same day...what will Brian and I do?!? Great problem to have:-) Here's the link to Brian's teaching about having an expectant heart....

www.normcom.com

I couldn't begin to put into words how proud I am of my amazing husband. I love watching him walk out in the giftings God has blessed him with. We are expectant for GREAT things as we walk into this next season!

*this was the only picture I could find of all the boys...need to work on that!

Eyes...check!

Today we headed to the opthamologist...

He said, "Her eyes are PERFECT! She doesn't need glasses, shows no signs of crossing (a symptom of william's syndrome), and there is NO star pattern in her eyes (another symptom of william's syndrome).

Although I'm not the biggest fan of having multiple doctor appointments each week, I don't mind at all listening to them tell me my daughter is perfect and showing no symptoms....

Praise God!

*I promise to upload pictures soon of what my other three cuties have been up to...nothing but fun around here in the Hartsock house. Summer is coming to an end and we are making every day count!

A little more explanation...

Last Friday I got a little bit more clarity on our kidney ultrasound. They did the ultrasound to look for any deformities in her kidneys or blatter, due to the Williams Syndrome.

THEY FOUND NOTHING!!!!

Halle's kidneys are a little smaller than average, but so is the rest of her:-) Meaning...there isn't any concern over her kidneys and bladder. The fluid on the left kidney could mean that her bladder has reflux, which could lead to bladder infections, UTI, etc. The great news is that this is pretty common and kids grow out of this quickly. We will schedule an appointment with an urologist, to try and prevent our little one from having any infections.

I talked with our PA, Amy, and she was beyond encouraging. Her words were, "Halle is doing amazing! She hasn't tested positive for anything having to do with William's Syndrome except for the initial blood work. She is developing great, growing, and thriving!"

We just love celebrating around here!

*I was listening to a teaching the other day and Bill Johnson said, "If we can't get excited about the headache that's gone, we can't be trusted with the empty wheelchair." Our family is committed to celebrating EVERY victory along the way, no matter how big or how small!

Sooner Start

Today we met with Sooner Start to determine our "plan" for the next 12 months. Both of the women that are working with us have been absolutely amazing. They have been kind, compassionate, and show true affection for our sweet Halle.

We had to write out an evaluation of Halle. I was able to tell Ellen about Halle's blood test coming back great, kidney ultrasound was a good report and we have another appointment next week. She was amazed at how on top of things we are and that our doctor is really on top of things! (Really felt like an encouragement from the Lord about how well Dr. Stacey has taken care of us through this process.) The only thing she wanted us to try to do was have a regular hearing exam done. Thankfully we see a ENT at Children's every month for Halle's larnogomalacia, so we will have them check her hearing too!

Halle slept through the beginning of the appointment, but when she woke up she was SO happy! She sat up and talked to Ellen the whole time. Ellen, our therapist, said she thought we should redo her test because of how much she has improved in the last few weeks!

It was really fun being able to tell these two women that although Halle has been diagnosed with Williams Syndrome and the diagnosis says we should expect delays in her developmentally, my goals for Halle are that she will not only meet the development standards of normal kids but exceed them! So we set our expectations for next August as...

-Halle will be taking 5 consecutive steps

-Halle will be able to say at least 4 words

-Halle will be able to respond to at least 2 commands

-Halle will be able to draw on paper with a crayon

The last few days Halle has been extra fussy, not her normal personality at all. I was hesitant to call the doctor because I didn't want them to just assume it was colic because of her diagnosis. This afternoon she was running a slight fever, so I called Cathleen to look at her ears for me. Halle's ears look perfect, but she does have a bad case of thrush. I'm thankful for the diagnosis and believing for quick healing!

*My computer isn't working right now, so I can't download pictures. I'm hopeful to get it working this weekend. Until then...no pictures:-(

Halle Beth Update

Let's Celebrate!

Dr. Stacy had needed us to do a few tests just to have basis. We have done blood work, a kidney/bladder ultrasound, and next we will meet with an opthalmologist.

Monday morning Halle and I headed back to Children's for her kidney/bladder ultrasound. We had a super sweet tech that I was able to pray over. We have felt so overwhelmed by God's love and protection over each of our appointments in the last few weeks.

Today we got her kidney/bladder ultrasound results. Halle has Grade 1 fluid on her left kidney. They are not concerned at all, and usually infants grow out of this. We are contending that the fluid will dissolve quickly!

Thanks for continuing to pray for our sweet Halle.