When it rains it pours

On Friday we had our normal family meeting which this one I did attend, the last couple I missed since I stayed home to spend time with Marcus, to make sure he knows we love him and he feels he gets just as much attention as Maia. After the meeting we went to my eye Dr. appointment, then after, we were on our way to Marcus' Taekwondo. While making a left through the intersection we were hit by another car, pushing us through the intersection towards the light pole, butt end of car leading us as the car that hit us was pushing us, and you can hear the tires screeching from being sideways. Right after being hit, I looked and saw the pole, traffic at the intersection, the center island pole. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw no car, looked in side mirror as I looked at Rizza and saw a car in Marcus' door. Without panic, I then looked back at Marcus and he was safe, gained control, all within the 2 or 3 seconds that this happened. Marcus did say later that Marissa helped push the car straight, and that he saw her. We pulled over and it was a little old lady that hit us and she was shaken up, but safe and not hurt. Marcus did jump out of the car and was yelling "that was awesome!!!" while raising his fist in the air. Poor lady, she could not hear him, we could only imagine what she was thinking. Well after we exchanged info with her and the witness that stated she clearly did not look and she just merged over into us, we made sure that the little old lady was calm enough to drive to her hair appointment. She made it to her hair appointment and Marcus made it to Taekwondo on time.

Saturday morning.

We were off to the hospital as we do everyday. Stopped by Philz Coffee Mission,

and got us our cup of love and some for our cousins that were going to take Marcus for the day, thank you J, Rachyl, Jaeda and Ezrah. We got to the hospital and we called the little old lady that hit us to make sure she was okay and to ensure her we were okay. Then when we walked into the unit it all went crazy, where Maia took a turn for the worst. Maia's lungs were filled up and her heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen all went down. Dr's did not expect Maia to make it through the day and told us to prepare, as all of us started crying. Rizza will go more into detail in her blog post. Between all the prayers, the Dr's putting their heads together, nurse Chrisma taking car of Maia and us as parents making the best decisions for Maia, she is still here, still fighting, still living and warming all our hearts.

Through all of this Marcus is growing in a way that any parent would be proud.

We do always remember that he is just a kid. It all started when he was 4-1/2. When we told him he was going to have a new brother or sister. At first his OCS (Only Child Syndrome) came out. As always, he did want a sibling. We asked what he wanted, boy or girl, and he was undecided as we still did not know at the time. After going to Dr. appointments with us and just talking with Marcus he said he "wanted a girl". He even told us if we have a boy we should save the receipt and take him back, funny kid. One time I told him that we would have to move his car seat from the &;middle and put him on the side so his sister can be on the other side and he said "just put her in the trunk". This kid. I told him we never put you in the trunk! As the pregnancy went on he loved his little sister in mom's tummy.

Then in the third trimester after we got an official diagnosis, we had to let Marcus know that his little sister was going to be born and become an angel. That took time and took many different ways of explaining for a 5 year old to understand and accept, and this all happened while in preschool. Throughout transitional kindergarten, he always had his angel, Marissa by his side and would see her and play with her. We would even go out to dinner and he would always tell the host, table for 4 and get mad at the waiter if they took her place setting away.

Then we were having another baby, another girl. As you know in previous posts,

Marcus named his little sister, Maia, and her nickname "Mighty Maia." He was so excited and happy to have a little sister. As life continued and he was going to enter kindergarten now, we had to again talk to him about his new little sister, Maia. This time his sister was not going to be become an angel. (At least the diagnosis was not fatal.) Moving along, he was just happy to have a sister, a sibling, a little buddy, to teach her everything he knows. For almost a year now, he has been by her side, in her crib, cheering and praying for Maia, to be strong and to fight, and to be able to come home and stay home

Marcus

As parents we do our best to make sure Marcus knows we love him as much as Marissa and Maia throughout everything our family has been through. Sometimes it's hard since he does not know how to explain how he feels, what his emotions are what he is thinking and why. We do, daddy and Marcus days, and we go and do whatever Marcus wants, usually its going to DB, Dave and Busters. I love it because its hours of video games, eating bad and just hanging out with my little buddy, Marcus. We also have kept him busy, in T-ball, Taekwondo where he earned his red belt, and we walk, ride our bikes and play in bay and mud. 

    

There has been days that he acts out after we leave the hospital, but again he is a kid and we recognize that this is not just being bad, he does not know how to express himself. We still will talk to him about the behavior and let him know we're all sad and hurting too but we can't act out. He understands.

Marcus most recently made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, for the most pizzas tossed, at Tony Pizza Napoletana in SF. Great fun, great
accomplishment.

In a couple Sundays from now, we're having a Marcus day, and we are inviting friends and family we know with kids around his age, to come over, eat pizza and we're having a birdhouse painting party all for Marcus, for being the best big brother anyone could have. So throughout all this he knows that everyone loves him, adores him and that he is the best big brother to Maia. I love you Marcus.

During and after our scare, we've had many family members and friends come by to see Maia and cheer her on. Each group that has come by we've sat them all down in the waiting room first and went over a brief update on how Maia is doing. I did have to remind everyone that Maia is a sick baby, and as good as she looks, she is still very sick, despite looking good. But her good is not what we would think. Each day she may be good, but she is not improving. As much as I do not want to say this and as much as we do not want it to happen, we have to always remember Maia is a sick baby, and I have to remind myself, my family and everyone that Maia can become an angel like Marissa. With all the prayers, all the support and all that 7 East does and has done, Maia is still with us, still kicking and making faces through her little Hannibal Lector mask. She is a strong little fighter that is growing in size, and growing in our hearts. I do thank everyone that has come to see Maia as we have noticed a huge difference in her eyes and in her look since she's seen everyone in <b>person</b> and it has made her even stronger to know that she is loved by so many. The analogy I use to describe coming to visit Maia, is like going to a football game. You can watch it on TV but when you see it in person is a completely different experience. To walk the steps, to smell the popcorn, see the field and feel it when someone gets hit, the noise of the crowd in your ears, there is no comparison. When visiting Maia, you go through the frustration of traffic, parking, the walk down the halls, having to go through security, the elevator ride, seeing the staff all in scrubs, entering the doors to Maia's room, the smell of the hand sanitize, seeing all the machines and hearing their different noises, seeing the displays all working together, with their different beeps, tones and numbers popping up, all to keep Maia stable and alive.

One of the many people who visited this weekend was my sister Julie... thank you

for coming. She asked me "What is your best memory to date of Maia?" I told her the 2 1/2 weeks Maia was home. The driving in the car and her just looking at the world and not looking at the ceiling of the hospital. Her sleeping in our room, walking up to her, her at home smell, taking care of her. Laying on the floor playing and watching TV with Marcus. Being able to take walks, take her to the store, the park, Marcus' Taekwondo, and just hanging out in the garage with her. The smiles she had and the smiles she gave us. Priceless. Fondest memories.

Through this weekend and for the rest of our kids lives, we are and always will be positive, caring and right by Maia and Marcus side no matter what. We love our kids with all our hearts and would do anything for them. God Bless everyone for supporting us, praying for us and following our journey. This Blog is Dedicated to Marissa and to big brother Marcus as he starts school in less than a month and he has been so brave, strong and loving over the past 2 plus years.

I also made a video about faith. Song by Kutless What Faith Can Do. Also is a couple other videos made with Maia click link below