Our Little Miracle

We are so thankful for the report we just received back from our latest MRI from Blake.

His brain has gone from looking squashed and crowded, to having plenty of space to grow. His spine has gone from looking crimped, to being nice and straight down his throat. The spaces in between his vertebrate used to look like a ladder with oval baloons filled with liquid in between, and now look deflated. It is nothing short of a miracle. Even to the untrained eye, the difference is amazing! I have seen a miracle with my own eyes!

We are so thankful to God for saving our little boy. We praise God for all the friends and family who helped us through with their prayers, food and company. Thank God for "mothers intuition"-(God's promptings that there was a problem)- and the skilled hands of a Dr. Donahue the surgeon.

Here are just a few of the faces we caught on camera. At one point, we actually got kicked out of the waiting room, because there were so many people. I kept feeling sad for the people sitting in the waiting area with us. They were so distraught! As they kept asking us why we were there, it soon became evident that their extreme anxiety was over tubes going into their children's ears. We were a little puzzling to them when they found out why we were there. You should have seen the looks on their faces when I said "brain surgery." I guess we were in there for about 6 hours. The day passed quickly and peacefully thanks to a joy that only can be explained as "a God thing."

When the surgeon finally came out it was the greatest feeling in the world. He sat down and we were able to share some food with him. It was such a great time. Our family has been so blessed by the whole experience. I could go on forever the ways that God has blessed our lives and worked out his perfect plan to bring healing to our family, but I can't type that fast. The sunset was just after we brought Blake home. I think that God is a God of details and he sends us signs of his love and mercy all the time. We just have to open our eyes and not pass it by. I think all to often, we miss the blessing just by not taking time to reflect on what God has done for us, through the good times and the bad times. 

Spring break fun. Kite flying, flower planting, and getting lots of exercise. . .Blake has decided to do 100 pushups a day just in case a girl ever challanges him to a feat of strength. Look out ladies!

When Bryan was out of town, we had popcorn, cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for dinner, and teeth really did fall out! The kids enjoyed playing hide and seek under Bailey's bed and Michael spent one day playing with underwear on his head. (clean of course!) Good times. . .Thanks for the tips on Picassa Paige!

Cinderella or Pinocchio

I have been reading Captivating, for Tuesday night bible study, a book recommended by Jenni Biz. It is a great book that talks about how every women desires at heart to be pursued romantically and swept away by a hero who is passionately in love with her. It gives lots of fairy tale examples like Cinderella, and Snow White.

I feel more like Pinocchio though. You know the part that you don't remember seeing until you sit down with your kids to watch it and the boys are all swept off to Jackass island for fun and revelry? Yikes, how uncomfortable. Or the part in The Patriot when Mel Gibson says I have long feared my sins would come back to visit and I can hardly bear it.

Funny how Satan is always there to bring up our failings at the most inopportune times. I am tired of being robbed of my Cinderella story! God has given me a husband who loves me, and two beautiful children, even a baby that I didn't have to give birth to that I get paid for and get to give back occasionally. How can I allow Satan to rob me of the blessings of God's gifts to me!!?

Please pray that I will be able to extinguish fully the guilt and shame of past failures so that I can embrace my presence with love, joy, passion, peace, and energy again.

The bird likes me too.

Look mom, the birds like me!

Mom, what do cows eat?

Bailey was on the news for the first time with these flamingos.

All the blogs I have read lately about trips to the zoo made me miss those days. I can re-live it with photos. Here are my babies at the zoo. Bailey and Blake, July 27, 2004. How time flies! We need to visit next break. WE LOVE the zoo!

A Reason To Rejoice!

There is nothing better than spending ALL DAY waiting with two kids in Dr's office waiting areas. YUCK! Blake is sick and has been home from school all week, and I am extremely anxious, and depressed. That is why we spent beautiful yesterday inside.

Blake should be fine in a few days, he has had a fever and athsma, and I came to learn that the medication that is keeping me from getting migraines every day is also making me psychotic. Nice! Good news is, when I step down the dosage, long story short, I should return to "normal" very quickly.

I have been suffering side effects in increasing number over 4 months as I increased my dosage in 4 steps to try to eliminate my migraines. Weight loss I can take, better sleep, tingling fingers and toes, searching for words, I can do, I am a little stupid now, I can handle that too. That was the first month's dose.

Evidentally the first dose would have worked just as good as the 4th, thus the drastic and rare side effects. Fortunately what took four months to come to fruition should only take a week to undo, and, I should still be able to use the medication which was giving me a lot of relief from my migraines, just at a much lower dose!

Please pray that all the undesirable side effects will go away with the lower dose, so that I can be a mentally healthy person and not have to seek other equally offensive treatment options for my migraines. Thank you God for another beautiful day! I will rejoice and be glad in it.