From New Hearts to Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas...Happy Holidays!  When Mike and I were first married I remember his Aunt Sandy asking me what I found the most irritating about living with my new husband. I told her it was his dirty socks that he would leave all over the apartment but mostly slightly shoved into the couch cushions. She then proceeded to tell me about her pet peeve with Uncle Ted. In the morning he would get ready and start to make breakfast and a coffee. He would leave every cabinet door and drawer open as he went through the kitchen. She would be so mad as she went behind him and closed every opened door and drawer. One day though, Ted went to a conference and was out of town for a bit. As Sandy got ready and went into the kitchen she noticed that the cabinet doors and drawers were all closed...Ted wasn't home and there was no sign of him. She told me to cherish the cabinet doors & dirty socks. From then on when I found the dirty socks shoved i...

 It is crazy to think that it has been 6 weeks since Mike has been home. Our goal date for Mike to be home was Halloween. We would tell the boys, maybe by Halloween dad will be home. We have been able to pick out pumpkins, carve them, go on family walks, play games, read together, and live life together all before Halloween came.  Mike is doing so well I literally sit in awe sometimes and catch myself forgetting that this all happened. The physical scars are a reminder of the fog that was August and September. Mike is walking over 10,000 steps a day and is still at a level 1 Rejection. The doctors have started the very slow process of weaning him off his steriods...half a pill to start with! With Mike's new weight bench he is smashing leg and arm days. He is working his way up to visiting with people and getting out in the town. He even completed a little Honey Do List for me recently. He is getting anxious to start some work again and maybe head back to working at home mid De...

 This past week was filled with adventure, firsts, and movement forward! The boys are finally healthy...except for a lingering cough. This means that we can finally be all together in the house. Eating meals together, reading the bible together at bedtime, and just enjoying each others company. We took this opportunity to reset and make it a no technology week, the boys did not like this idea but it worked out so well! We were able to focus on just being a family and not worry about the other stuff. Mike and the boys watched football together, played games, went on walks/bike rides, and helped with homework....Mike has the math brain in this household!  Mike and I were able to take a trip to Grand Haven and enjoy the last 78 degree day of the year. We ate at our favorite bakery, Village Baker, and enjoyed some of the best soft pretzels I have ever tasted. We walked downtown and window shopped, and enjoyed a stroll on the boardwalk before having lunch on the beach at Noto's. It...

 A lot can happen in just one month; milestones, anniversaries, life, death, love, loss. But with this past month we celebrate 1 month with a new heart!  This past week has felt like a few weeks for the Neubert Family. Blake continued to go to school despite his barky cough and Easton stayed home with a never ending fever totalling 10 days. After some blood tests and a chest x-ray Easton was diagnosed with pneumonia. They went ahead and treated Blake for pneumonia as well. After a couple days of antibotics the boys are starting to feel better and Easton's fever seems to be dwindling. The beautiful weather has allowed us to go on walks as a family and sit outside on the patio. It has helped to get some fresh air and feel the sun shining on us. Hopefully next week both boys will be back at school and we can figure out a new routine.  Mike's heart cath, echo, and biopsy went well this week. No major changes from the week before and still at a level 1 rejection. His blood pre...

Three whole weeks with a new heart...it still amazes us and I don't think it will ever stop amazing us!  Our first week and a half home has been an interesting one. I think the boys and I were on autopilot for quite awhile and now that Mike is home our bodies caught up with us. Blake got a nasty cough and cold the day Mike had his transplant. After talking with the doctor and seeing the doctor it is decided that he has a viral cold that will take a long time to get rid of, three weeks in and he is still coughing. Easton is on day 3 with a fever and developing that nasty cough as well. I had a sore throat (negative for step) and am trying so hard to not get this cough and cold from the boys. With this, Mike has been enjoying some alone time in the basement, wearing his mask in the house upstairs, and using the warm weather to spend time with us as we walk up and down our street. Definitely not how we saw Mike's homecoming going. We are longing for the day we can eat meals togeth...

 As Mike and I walked down our road hand in hand we couldn't help but ask each other if this was all but one big bad dream. How could the last 52 days turn into a beautiful Saturday afternoon 2 weeks post transplant together as a family. It's like our brains went on autopilot and we just existed, now we have woken up to a whole new world.  September 18th Mike and I spent the morning together in his hospital room. People coming in and out, going over education, and checking off all the boxes to move towards discharge. The Pharmacy team came in and laid out all his medications; 20 new bottles to keep track of. They lined them all up in two lines explaining each medication; medications you need to take daily, and medications that are as needed. Out of the medicaitons that he needs to take daily there are 29 pills and 1 liquid; we were told this is on the lower end of what most people go home with. Then the team diligently went over each medication again letting us know the brand ...

 20 years ago Mike and I started dating. But before we started dating we had a conversation.  Mike discussed with me about his dad passing and about his heart disease. He told me he was looking for a wife, not just a girlfriend. Then he posed this question: Would you be willing to marry me, have a family, and then one day you become a widow with young kids. Mike just thought that his fate would become his dad's fate. I thought, prayed, and talked with my mom for three days. I don't think as a seventeen year old you can truly comprehend what that would look like and feel like. However, I knew that the life we would create would outweigh the fate that he portrayed, every second we would have together would be worth the devastating loss in the end.  My husband almost died twice on me...but now he has a new heart...a new life...a new ending.  I am beginning to see that ending, picturing us growing old together and having him around as the boys grow older. Something that ...