Month of Thankfulness... Day 7

As I sit here, struggling with a sinus infection that is kicking my butt, I'm am so very thankful for antibiotics and steroid nasal spray! 

I'm also thankful for a husband who went out last night, when he would have rather been watching the election night coverage, to pick up my medicine and even brought me a special treat to help me feel better.

And I would wager that my children are a bit thankful that mommy isn't going to be a hardcore homeschool mommy today.  :-) 

Life around here

The first week in January the kids all had the stomach bug. Thankfully it was very mild and passed quickly.

The second week in January was the week my children decided to destroy my house, room by room.

This week, they're passing around another virus.

I keep telling Curtis, "I need a break!!"

This weekend Timothy started running a temperature. By the beginning of the week, it was over 102 and starting to disturb his sleep. We took him to the pediatrician, and he had an ear infection. We suspect it was a bonus from the virus because the doctor told us that his temp shouldn't have been that high because his ears weren't that bad.

Tuesday afternoon, Micah started having asthma issues.

Wednesday and Thursday both big boys ran temperatures.

And here's the scene this morning.....

Benjamin is fine and so far, Elizabeth has been spared.

We're praying that Micah starts feeling better soon so that my mom can come visit! I'm looking forward to seeing her, and having her help so I can maybe get a bit of a break.

Month of Thankfulness Day 27

4 years ago today, we received Benjamin's diagnosis or craniosynistosis. It was a very hard day. I'm thankful for the modern medical attention that Benjamin received. I'm thankful for the smooth recovery he had. I'm thankful for the daily grace that God supplied as we walked a very challenging, hard road. I'm thankful for the mighty, healing hand of our Savior. I'm thankful for the healthy little four year old I have been blessed with.

The best of plans.......

Well, I didn't make it to my Aunt's wedding. Despite that, I am genuinely thankful for marriage, and chose not to change my scheduled post. However, I do want to fill the details of how the start of our Thanksgiving started off a little rougher than I had hoped.

Monday morning arrived. I had a full schedule and we were planning on leaving town. I bounced out of bed, ready to tackle the day with coffee and homemade banana muffins. As I was making muffins, Micah came out and informed me that his ear hurt. Of course!

Curtis left just after 7am to get the oil changed.

8am-9am Timothy had speech therapy.

9:30am all four kids and I head to the pediatricians office. Micah was diagnosed with an ear infection and the beginnings of pneumonia. Though it was not the calm start to the day I was hoping for, I was so thankful that we were able to get Micah into his doctor and got the diagnosis before leaving town.

I headed home to finish packing.

1pm Curtis leaved work!

2pm, Elizabeth and I were at the dentist so she could get a cavity filled. Sweet girl was cracking us all up as she chit chatted while on "laughing gas".

4pm Hit the road. Our hope was to make it all the way to Wichita, have Tuesday to spend with family, then Elizabeth, mom, Megan, Ephram and I would head to Branson for the wedding.

Shortly after we hit the road, our van overheaded. We turned it around and headed to the mechanic. We ended up having to replace the radiator. Rather than leaving Monday, we had to wait to leave on Tuesday at about 3:30.

It wasn't the way we wanted to start our trip! But we were very thankful that we were able to deal with all the car issues in town, rather than on the side of the road. God was very good to us, reminding us of how much we have to be thankful for.

Month of Thankfulness Day 17

Today is World Prematurity Awareness Day. Over one million babies die each year due to complications from their early birth. Today, I am thankful for how God ordained for Timothy to be born early, possibly sparing his life from problems that he and I were facing with the pregnancy. I am thankful for the technology and medical advances that have taken place, which allowed him to receive the care that he needed. I'm thankful for groups like the March of Dimes, which has been a voice for these tiny babies.

Most of all, I'm thankful that even when things are unknown and scary, God is good, and his plan will not be thwarted.

Pics from my phone

Here are a few moments that I've captured over the past month or so when I didn't have a real camera handy. A little glimpse into my life.

It's summer in Texas! Time to break out the pool! But for Timothy, swimming in the "big" pool with his siblings can be a little overwhelming. So I filled our empty sandbox with water, and let him have his own private pool,
We've entered a new era for Timothy. Climbing! Nothing is safe. And homeschooling just got a lot more interesting!

Recently, Timothy's been falling asleep in his highchair during lunch. Sweet boy.
Watching the royal wedding.
Usually, my boys are rough and tumble, wild and crazy. One evening, Micah laid on me while I was on the couch, wrapped his "little" arms around me, and told me he would keep me safe from Benjamin. I savored this moment!
Another savorable moment..... a late sleeping Benjamin!
While we were in OKC last month, Elizabeth, my Mom and I took a break from the craziness and got pedicures. It was wonderful! Such a special time with two very special ladies.

For six straight days, we were sick. I think we ended up passing around two different viruses. This picture of Micah was taken during one of SIX doctor's visits that we made during our sickness. Poor little guy. Elizabeth and Benjamin were the same way the day before.

1 year with a new smile

March '10

May '10, a couple days after surgery

A few weeks after surgery

1 year after surgery!

One year ago, I claimed a bible verse on behalf of Timothy.

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." John 9:3

Today we rejoice in the work of God in Timothy's life, and in our lives.

Timothy's cleft repair surgery was a hard, emotional journey for me as a mother. I tried to chronicle these thoughts and emotions in a few blog posts.

A Wonky Lip (March 2010, after our cleft repair journey began)
Wonky Lip Part 2 (My thoughts after scheduling Timothy's surgery)
And Odd Mental Process (thoughts on the emotional ride of "fixing" your child)
Craniofacial Awareness (a summary of Timothy's cleft story)

Poor Micah

Micah somehow managed to slam his finger in a kitchen cabinet, while standing on the counter.

No, it's not broken.

Yes, he's quite miserable.

These boys are really making my life exciting....

3 years ago

Three years ago, I was packing and preparing to head to Austin for Benjamin's craniotomy. It was a very hard, very emotional, very exhausting day.

Three years ago tomorrow, was Benjamin's surgery. Though walking that road was hands down the hardest thing I've had to do, I think back to that day and simply see evidences of grace. God was so, so gracious and good to us!

Since Benjamin's surgery, I've been blessed to be contacted by several families who are walking similar roads. Curtis and I have hoped and prayed that our journey would minister and encourage others, even if their children weren't facing something like we faced. As you watch the video below, I hope you're able to see the mighty hand of God in our life. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How could anyone?

How could anyone ever tell you
You were anything less than beautiful?
How could anyone ever tell you
You were less than whole?
How could anyone fail to notice
That your loving is a miracle?
How deeply you're connected to my soul?

How Could Anyone by Libby Roderick

I heard this song for the first time today, and immediately though of Benjamin and Timothy, two little boys born with deformities. I also thought of a new friend of mine. Her daughter is having cranio surgery today, similar to the surgery that Benjamin had. Please keep baby Samantha in your prayers today.

My thoughts also went to the people we are surrounded with, who have loved us, and our children, and seen them as beautiful. How thankful I am to be in a community of people who don't see the deformity, but rather the beautiful children that I'm blessed with. Though we did get many second glances, and several questions of, "What's wrong with your baby?", we never once heard any negative comment about the boys. I know that's not the case for every parent who has a child born with a deformity.

Not only did I think of Benjamin and Timothy, but also of my other two children, who are equally beautiful in my eyes. I look at them, and am amazed by how God formed and fashioned them, how he is growing them into the people they are becoming, and how richly I am to be blessed with four incredible little blessings.

Mostly, I share this song so that as you look at yourself, your children, and the people you are surrounded with, that you will see the beauty in them. Have a beautiful day!

What a week!

I am thrilled to report that we lived through a very rough week.

Monday, Curtis had 13 planters warts removed (lasered) from the bottom of his foot. Very, very painful!

Tuesday, Micah had an asthma attack during co-op. We skipped the park that afternoon, and opted for a trip to Rosa's and then the new HEB. While driving Elizabeth to dance, Micah had another asthma attack which led to him throwing up everywhere. Poor guy! And poor Elizabeth who was sitting next to him. Once I got the boys and I home, I realized that Micah, Timothy and I were all running temps. Super.

Wednesday, everyone, except Curtis were coughing, temperature running messes. I took Micah and Timothy to the doctor. Timothy was diagnosed with a cold (which of course you can do nothing about in an 8 month old!) and Micah received several new medications to help with his asthma, and we were able to make a place to help control his asthma.

Thursday, Curtis went into work in the morning. By the afternoon, I was running a temperature again, so he came home.

Friday, day 4 of me running a temp, I finally went in. My only symptoms were the temperature and a killer headache. Turns out a I have a nasty sinus infection in my upper sinuses. No fun!

We're all doing okay now. Curtis is still having a lot of discomfort, I'm still running a low grade temp, Elizabeth has a special cough, Micah is high on three different steroids, Benjamin is snotty and coughy, and Timothy is snotty.

Here's hoping for a healthy week next week! Pass the OJ!!

And the good times keep comin'

I know weekends like this are rare. And I know that days like this will become less and less. But MAN! GIVE ME A BREAK!

After our crazy day yesterday, we enjoyed a quiet evening. Just what this tired Mommy and Daddy needed. Despite all the craziness, we really had gotten a lot done around the house, and it was nice to just enjoy it. Little did we know that God was carving out some quiet time in preparation for another crazy day.

This morning, Micah woke up with severe ear pain. Benjamin's been sickly for a couple days. So we got everyone ready, and were out the door just before 8am. We stopped on our way to church at the clinic. I ran in with the boys while Curtis made a coffee run. We were able to quickly see the doctor, and discovered that both boys have ear infections. Benjamin's lung sounded iffy, so the doc ordered a chest x-ray.

I was able to run Micah out to the car to Curtis, who then took Elizabeth, Micah and Timothy to Sunday school. He got back to the clinic right as I found out that Benjamin doesn't have pneumonia... yet. But he's well on his way. Curtis, Benjamin and I headed to church.

We enjoyed a wonderful morning with our church family, and a fun fellowship meal afterward. We're having a little down time before kids' choir, and Covenant kids.

I'm thankful that all the things we've dealt with have been minor. But boy am I ready for some peace, quiet and calm!!

That didn't go as planned....

On Thursday afternoon, we are leaving to start our trip up to Wichita. Two years ago, we spent the 4th of July in Wichita with my family and with Matt and Megan. We had a blast!! This year, we decided to do it again. Matt, Megan and Jeremiah are flying into Wichita, and we're loading up our crew and driving. Since this is our first big car trip with Timothy, we're going to take it nice and easy, and stop in OKC on Thursday night, then head to Wichita Friday morning.

We're looking forward to spending some fun time with family over the weekend, then Curtis, Timothy and I will be leaving on Monday. Yep! Just Curtis and I and Timothy!!! The three big kids will be staying for a week in Wichita at Grandma Camp! I know that they will have a wonderful time with their grandparents and Aunt Shannon. And Curtis and I are looking forward to a few things too. We're planning on redoing the kids' bathroom (tile the floor, paint the ceiling, texturize the walls, paint, put up new light fixture)! And when I'm not painting the bathroom, I'm looking forward to taking a nap or two, something that hasn't happened since Valentine's Day!

Since we had so many big plans, our goal was to spend this past weekend working on getting things ready for all the craziness. Instead, I spent it horribly sick. I was diagnosed with herpes zoster (no, this is NOT the STD herpes :-)). Basically, it's the chicken pox virus, which had been dormant, flaring up again and attacking the nerves in the left part of my face. I had a rash, blisters, lips the size of TX, and so much pain. It was excruciating!!!

Now that I'm feeling better, we're in a flurry of activity, trying to get ready for our trip. Doing laundry, making piles, making lists, trying to remember the little things that I'm libel to forget..... that about sums up my day.

Oh, and did I mention that Timothy broke my camera? sigh. Never a dull moment!

Sunday morning thoughts

This morning, I have the privilege of being home from church with my sweet baby and my sweet two year old, who has a double ear infection. Though it wasn't what I had planned, that's where I am.

While snuggled up on the couch with Benjamin, watching TV, I saw a commercial for a new show. A clip from the show had an older daughter asking a very tired and frazzled looking mom, "Why did you have another kid? Wasn't three enough?"

This morning, after a busy weekend celebrating Micah's birthday, playing hostess to my in-laws, while pouring myself another cup of coffee to combat the sleepiness left over from a rough night, and while getting goo out of my son's ear, I found myself asking the same question of myself. "Wasn't three enough?"

The transition to four has, overall, been fairly smooth. I know a big part of that is because of how much older my kids are than the last time we added a new member to our family. A lot of the ease is because of the fairly easy baby that Timothy is.

Despite the overall smoothness of the transition, I've become very aware of how much one tiny person can change the dynamics of a family. I'm still adjusting to having a baby in the family again. I'm still learning what being a mommy of four young children is like. So on days like today, as I'm pouring my second cup of coffee and looking around at my house that I just can't keep clean, I think of what the very tired frazzled looking mom wittingly told her daughter, "Three kids is for quitters!"

Wordless Wednesday

taken at 1:56 am

Of course....

A couple posts ago, I mentioned that we were all healthy, just busy. Well, that almost changed for us this weekend!

Micah's been having random asthma issues this fall. We're unsure of what the trigger is, so we're left to just treat the symptoms as they come. This past week, Micah had a pretty severe flair up of eczema, which is usually tied in with allergy issues and eventually asthma. I took him in on Friday and he was put on oral steroids.

Last night, I noticed that he was coughing a lot, which is also a sign of a coming asthma attack. Cough medicine did nothing, so at about 4am, we did a breathing treatment. When more cough medicine and another breathing treatment didn't help, I decided to take him in.

He has the beginnings of pneumonia! I'm so thankful that I got him in before if went all the way to pneumonia, since we're leaving for Kansas in just two sleeps.

But I couldn't help but laugh at my "at least we're all healthy" post below. Let's change that to, "At least we're pretty healthy!"