Weaning

No, not weaning Ethan. Weaning myself from the computer for awhile.

I will be around here and there, but I am trying to concentrate on the important things. In particular, one thing. "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:42

I am re-ordering my priorities. Putting "that which will not be taken away" at the top of my list and putting everything else under that.
1. God
2. Hubby
3. Kids
4. House
5. Church
6. everything else.

I caught up with all my blog reading tonight and my commenting. I am very behind on all my email. I will work on it a bit more, but please forgive me if I haven't answered you.

We have doctors appointments everyday this week and we are getting Brittany ready for her mission trip which starts next week. We only have nursing on and off right now because, besides not having a nurse for one night anyway, one of our nurses is dealing with a family member dying, so she is not able to always come. Michael has a "bigwig" coming this week, so he needs his sleep. We threw a mattress on Kaedy's floor and Ethan and I will be staying there.

I am working on a lot of stuff for school right now. If you are interested, you can check out my other blog and see what's going on. I need to spend some time planning and scheduling next year.

With all this going on, I need to tear myself away from the computer and get working on the important stuff. It's a real challenge for me because I love the internet, always have, but it is even more appealing now that I have been introduced to the world of blogging. :-)

As I said, I will still be around, just not as much, at least until Britty goes on her mission trip. Then I'll either have more free time or NO free time because I will be chasing all the little ones myself! LOL

Kaedra's IV update

Good news!!! Today when we called to make sure we were getting more penicillin delivered, the delivery company said they had found a better pump for her. WOOHOO!! They did a great job!

Here is the old pump system and the purse she had to wear or drag around all the time:


Here is the new system. We can put it in a little mesh bag they brought, too, and clip it to her clothes. (although if she does end up staying on this, I will probably crochet her a little bag)


Check out the difference:


I am so happy for her!! This is SO much easier!

We go to the Infectious Disease Doc tomorrow and we are still praying that he will say that the penicillin is not needed. Unfortunately, Kaedy is having some tummy problem with the penicillin and is not digesting her food. If he does want to keep us on the penicillin, she will have to go on another med to help her digest the food. For now we are feeding her pediasure 24 hours a day again. With no nurse tonight, you now know why I am staying up late. Might as well get another feed in before I head to bed floor.

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it...

I TOTALLY revamped what I had planned on doing for next year. I am SO excited about it. It has been bouncing around in my head for the last few weeks and I have been praying about it and I got a WONDERFUL CONFIRMATION of it yesterday. I can't wait to tell you all........


But I can't do it now. ROFL!!

You'll have to wait. heehee.

Next verse, same as the first

Okay, just redoing everything from 6/9/07 post. I did good on that one until we ended up in KC on that Wednesday and stayed there for 3 days. I didn't jump back on the bandwagon, but I am ready to jump now.

Here is my repost:

I have not been feeling as "peppy" lately so I am going to work on doing things to make myself feel (physically) better. I am going to add a few habits this week, instead of just one, because I need to see results quickly. They are all on my mind quite a bit, so I think it shouldn't be too hard. It is all just one BIG habit of "taking care of myself." Here are the parts:
1. no soda, just water all day and more of it
2. take vitamins and iron everyday
3. walk everyday
4. fruit with breakfast
5. veggie with lunch
6. no junk food (we have a bunch of junk food from the trip, I am going to throw that all away tomorrow night)

Okay, those are my goals for this week.

I can do this! In fact, I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.(Phil 4:13)


Here is a recap of my goals:
wk 1: praying and bible reading yes
wk 2: referring to planner everyday no
wk 3: get off computer at 9am and off for rest of day well I did really good on this since I didn't have easy access to a computer for most of last week! LOL
wk 4: new laundry schedule and laundry put away every day mostly
wk 5: stopped caffeine --started again yesterday
wk 6: added fruit to breakfast --no
wk 7: added veggie to lunch --no
wk 8: portion sizes --no
wk 9: writing down what I eat every day --on hold
wk 10: walking every day only one day
wk 11: re-working on everything
wk 12: getting Kaedy bug fed on time didn't have to worry about it while she was in hospital!
wk 12: making a schedule and sticking to it on hold
wk 13: no TV during day for kids I think that's all they did while I was gone! They are grounded from it right now, so it should be easy. :-)


If you are interested in seeing more people's SHS check out Lazy Organizer's site. Feel free to jump in and join us at any point!

Because their little armpits get so sweaty...

Brittany was getting ready for church camp this weekend and checking her list to make sure she got all her stuff. She came downstairs and, as she passed by, said "I need some bug deoderant."


After I picked myself up off the ground from laughing, I gave her a hard time for the rest of the day!


"Are they stinky or just sweaty?"


"How are you going to lift up their little arms?"


"Do they know they need deoderant, or do you just think they smell?"


When I dropped her off for camp, I MADE SURE to tell her counselor. I wanted Britty to feel right at home, so her counselor promised to give her a hard time for the duration of the trip. Isn't it good to know she won't be homesick. ;-)

Show and Tell Friday

I am really excited about Show and Tell Friday today! When my parents came a few weeks ago, my mom brought me a suitcase full of things of my grandmother's. My grandma died about a year ago and my mom has been trying to weed through all of the stuff and decide what to keep, what to give to me and what to toss. I come from a long legacy of pack rats. LOL But this suitcase is special. My mom told me to wait until I had some time to open it, and since I have a little time, I decided to open it this morning.

Here is the suitcase in my living room, where it has been since my parents left.

Here is what it looked like right after opening. I didn't know what the cloth was, but the books were yearbooks (or annuals, as my grandma would have called them).

okay, the cloth is a pillow case. (not very exciting)



Here are two of the annuals. One is the 1926 yearbook for East Orange High School in New Jersey. The other is the Epitome, 1931 Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. These are my grandfather's annuals. (In the High School one it says "Yale will be honored to get this gentleman" under my grandfather's picture. However he went to Lehigh. I will see if my mom knows that story)


I easily found my grandfather's picture upon opening The Epitome. He was in wrestling. You can see him here third from the left, in the back row. I haven't found the other pictures of him yet. The annuals back then didn't have indexes in the back so I will have to go through page by page to find all the pics of him. I know he was involved in a lot of sports. There are lots of other annuals, too. Maybe a total of 8 or so.


This is amazing!! It is a travel journal that my grandmother kept from 1948-1953. It has a few pictures in it, some calling cards, newspaper articles, luggage tags and lots of other neat things! Just by looking at it quickly, it seems that she went on a cruise or two, went to Norway, England, France, Brussels and Stockholm.




It came in a little box, here is what was on the front.


I tore myself away from the other stuff and found this doily.




There are lots of pictures in here. Here are some of my grandfather. These were on my grandmother's wall as long as I can remember. (He died before I was born)


There are also some Christmas ornaments in here.

Here are some of her passports and her immunization record.



There are LOTS of photo pages. I can't wait to go through them all.

Here is a picture of my mom at her wedding.

And somehow I managed to get this whole thing done without showing one closeup of my grandma!! Here is one of her dancing with my grandfather.

I can't wait to go through this suitcase more thoroughly. My mom was right. This needs LOTS of time. I can see that my grandma was starting to write down her life story for me on the backs of bank deposit slips! Someday I will get this all together and make a journal type thing.

Thanks for looking at it with me!

If you'd like to see other people's show and tell Friday, check out Kelli's page.

The Stars and Stripes forever

20 little finger and 20 little toes

Make sure you click on the pictures to enlarge them and see the details!

Saw this in Family Fun magazine and we had to try it! It came out so cute. Just wish I could do it to my own nails.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful we are back from KC and we get to stay here awhile. On that same subject, I am so thankful the ID specialist in Tulsa took Kaedy's case.

I am thankful for having such wonderful kids who made a surprise stay in KC enjoyable. My children are truly a delight to me. And I am so proud of them.

I am thankful for fireflies. They are a fascinating surprise from God.

I am thankful that I have a good friend who is a nurse and she truly understands some things that no one else can. I am thankful that she is a good listener, too, and let me voice my fears without judging me.

Speaking of fears, I am thankful for the answer Dr. Carey gave me today. While in KC this last month, I heard someone refer to Kaedra as a 'terminal' case. We have never thought of her that way and haven't heard anyone say that in years. When I asked Dr. Carey about it today, he gave me the best answer I can think of: she should have a normal life span and be able to live a full life. Of course he also said 'barring any complications; infections or such' but we DO bar all that.....in the Mighty Name of Jesus. It was just good to hear him say it. We had heard the same thing in San Antonio almost two years ago, but I let fear slip in this last few weeks and I had disregarded that. I am thankful that God doesn't give up on me. ;-)

I am also thankful that Dr. Carey thinks it's okay (and good) for Kaedy to go to church, even with the picc line and machine! We haven't figured out how we're going to do it yet, but I am thankful he is wanting us to go.

I am thankful that Tuesday when Kaedra was bleeding out of her picc line, that it was fixable and did not require an ER or any other kind of hospital trip.

I am thankful for the help we have with Kaedy: our overnight nurses, our RT, our speech therapist, our picc line nurses, our doctors, TEFRA. I am thankful for the handicap parking pass we finally got - especially this week with her back on the oxygen and needing her other equipment more as well. I am thankful we got approved by TEFRA for 16 hrs a day of nursing. Now we just need to find some more nurses. ;-)

I am thankful for a Pastor that teaches The Word and how to apply it.

I am thankful for all the people who have given me curriculum suggestions (or let me look at theirs) in the past few days.

And I could keep going on and on but I need to get off the computer this morning.

To see other Thankful Thursdays, click here

The very raisin-ness of Ethan

There! did you catch that?

Hmmmm, let's try again:

Did you catch it this time? No?

Well let me explain.....

There is something very raisiny about Ethan. No, he isn't purple or wrinkled and he doesn't dance around to "Heard if through the grapevine" with sunglasses on. (although that would be really cute!)

He SMELLS like raisins! SMELLS LIKE THEM!

(I bet you forgot to scratch and sniff your screen above.
Go on back up, I'll wait.....


....

....


....

oh, do you not have that feature?? Well I promise, he SMELLS EXACTLY like a box of just opened raisins. Or maybe it is more like a pudgy, child hand grasping them on a hot summer day. Something in between those two)

And, no, I don't eat a lot of raisins. Or even grapes. And I don't drink wine.
It is a true mystery! This raisin-ness is all his own.

(and this will now go into the archive entitled "things to embarrass Ethan with later" surely to be pulled out when he has met his special someone.)

(unless he still smells like raisins, and then that could be a problem)

(unless he finds a special someone who LOVES raisins)

Amazing video and update on Kaedy

Got this from Ty's Triumph. It moved me to tears twice this morning. Thanks Ty! (and Corrie) ;-)



They can't change Kaedy's equipment or the amount of time she is on it. So we are just believing they will get her off of it sooner. We did get the infectious disease doctor in Tulsa to accept us as a patient! YAH! So we are praying that he will disagree with the docs up in KC and he will get rid of her picc line asap. We see him on the 26th.

Yesterday I had 53 people come to my page and 3 comments. What's up? Do I smell funny? You could at least let me know. ;-)

catching up

We got home Friday night about 7:30. After being in KC 13 days out of the last 30, I think Kaedra is happy to be home and hoping she'll stay here! I am surprised she doesn't scream everytime we get in the car. I want to! LOL. I guess I will take three days worth of clothes and all of our toiletries every time we leave the house. (just kidding....sort of.)

Here are the things we need prayers for right now:
1. The Infectious Disease docs are keeping the picc line in for 4-6 months.

2. Not only will she have the picc line in that long, they have her on 24 hour a day penicillin.

3. Okay, those two are bad enough, but the pump is fairly large! (at least for a two year old) It would be a small sized pump for an adult, but it very large for her. She can't wear it, it would be far too heavy for her back or shoulders and so she has to drag it with her everywhere. She forgets sometimes and when we remind her, she sometimes gets mad about it. She has about 5 feet of tubing from the pump to her arm, which is great at home. However, at this point we can't take her to church with this thing. If the other little kids in her class pulled on the tubing, tripped on it or anything like that, it could pull the picc line out of the correct place in her body. Also, the pump has far too many cool buttons to play with. It is hard enough to keep her from playing with it, much less 7 other kiddos. The nurse that came and trained us on Friday night completely agreed. She said this was NOT made for a 2 1/2 year old! (The fanny pack they gave us to put it in is longer than Kaedy's whole body!) We are going to try to see what else they can do for her. We have a lot of calls to make tomorrow. We are praying that either the docs increase the rate and let her just be on it part of the day (like overnight)or, if it has to be 24 hours, they will figure out a different delivery system. I don't want to keep her from church for 6 months and starting in August we have our homeschool co-op and had planned on being in that, which would mean she would be in the preschool. And then we can't go to parks...ugh. We need her off of this thing.

4. Furthermore, the ID docs could not get the ID doc here in Tulsa to call them back so they say I have to go back in two weeks. BACK TO KANSAS CITY!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! So please, please, please join us in believing that we can get ahold of the Tulsa doc and get him to take our case so we can stay down here. (until Kaedy's next expansion in November.)


Last night when we got ready to change the bag of penicillin, the pump beeped and I said to the nurse, "okay it's done." Kaedra started clapping and yelling "YAH!! YAH!!" That caused Michael and I to cry because she thought that she was done with the machine. It was so sad. Today I dropped the girls off at church (Michael has to be there an hour early because he helps with sound) and Kaedy was crying "church, church, church." ARGH Please join us in agreeing to get rid of this thing -- the whole thing: picc line, meds, pump, everything. Thank you!!!

Home Again, Home Again!

We are home. I will be posting more later!!!

Thanks Brandi, for the updates!

Today's Happenings

Brandi here...

Kahri asked me to update you all once more since she is not able to access a computer at this time.

After a long day of waiting and wondering when they could go home, it looks like Kaedra will be released from the hospital tomorrow!! Praise the LORD!! They are still waiting on a test result but so far everything is coming back negative (just like we all KNEW it would!). They are all hanging in there and believing they will be able to go home tomorrow. Thank you for the prayers!

An Update on Kahri

This is Brandi. I just got off the phone with Kahri and she asked me to update her blog.

She is still in KC with the kids. Kaedra has a high fever and the doctors want to be sure it isn't an infection around her pic line. They took some blood and have to wait for the cultures to grow and all that "fun" stuff, for answers. We are all under the belief that Kaedy has a cold, just like her little brother Ethan seems to have. However the doctors want more than that.

Best case scenario, they will be in KC for about 24 hours but they were told not to count on that. It looks like it may be another 48 hours or so. The Ronald McDonald house was full but they were able to find a motel room, although it is not local to the hospital and they will need to pick up some supplies on the way there. The extended stay was not expected.

They appreciate all who have joined them in prayer. We pray that tomorrow, the doctors will walk into the hospital room to find that Kaedra has been healed and they can all go home. We also pray that in the meantime, everything will go smoothly. That all of the kids will be able to cope with the changes and limits on what they can do right now, as well as the staff to be understanding and loving towards their presence in the room. We ask for Kaedra's comfort during these medical procedures as well as Kahri's peace of mind while she is trying to juggle so much right now. We also ask for prayer for Michael as he holds down the "fort" even though his heart and mind are in KC with his family. What a stressful time for them all. We also want to rejoice and thank the Lord for Kaedra, for all that He has done so far, all He is doing right now, and all He is going to do. He is soooo Good!!!

Very quick

They are admitting Kaedra into the hospital in KC. AAAAAGH!!! She has a fever and they want to make sure that it is not from her picc line. I will write more later, hopefully we will be home tomorrow. Please pray for us to be out of here quickly, especially since it's all the kids and me with Michael still in KC.

Thanks!

The bingos are all printed and the car is mostly packed

And I am awake FAR too early.

I have been up since 2 this morning. That is the time that Kaedra started coughing so much that we had to put her back on oxygen. :-( Looks like she is fighting some kind of bug. I have been debating all morning (all 4 hours of it, so far) whether to go to KC or not. However, the Infectious Disease people were really adamant about seeing her in a week, and I want to get that PICC line out, so I guess we are still going. Her: hacking and coughing, Mommy: on little sleep. Praying that we don't have to suction too much. Good thing I realized that our portable suction machine was not working yesterday. And that we have a super-cool RT that takes care of those things in a blink of an eye. Looks like we will definitely be trying to stay up there.

See you in a few days.

KC Here we come, right back where we started from

We are headed up to KC again in the morning. Our first appointment is at 11:30 am so we are leaving about 7am. All the kids are going up with me. We were hoping Eeyore Emily would be able to stay here in Tulsa, but there was no one to watch her. Michael isn't coming up this time. We may stay overnight depending on whether I am sleepy or not. I am not good at driving long distances. I tend to fall asleep. Blessedly, I have Brittany with me with the sole intent of keeping Mommy awake. :-) We may have a room at the Ronald McDonald House, I have to call in the afternoon to see. That will also help my decision about whether to stay or not. Also, how long the appointments take.

Sorry this is so discombobulated, Ethan is fussing and I am trying to get this done quickly and without thinking! LOL

ps I posted a new post on my school blog.

The "Worst of Times"

As I have mentioned, we are studying Oklahoma History right now. We have about 3 weeks left and it is going great. I love all that we have learned. Not being from Oklahoma, this has been lots of fun for me. I am not having to re-hash history I have already learned (however poorly) but am able to read this all with a fresh eye and mind.

Yesterday we learned about some of the seedier sides of Oklahoma history. First, we learned about the Tulsa Race Riot. Although learning about the race riot was extremely interesting it was more interesting to hear Michael's comment when he got home. As a bit of background, Brittany and I had heard that the Tulsa Race Riot was hidden for years. In fact, one of the most important, if not THE most important, cause of it, a newspaper article, was destroyed in the 1930s to keep people from learning about it. I asked Michael if he was taught about it during school and he said that he was. Then he said "it's a shame that all those black people burned down their own neighborhood." WHAT?!?!? (for those of you who don't know about the Tulsa Race Riot, Brittany will be writing a paper today and I will post it. It will explain more. However, the black people did not burn down their own neighborhood, the whites burned it down!!) Talk about Revisionist History!! It was horrible learning about all the destruction the whites caused and then to hear that it was propagated into the 1970s and 1980s with mis-teaching is incredible to me. At least it is all out in the open now. There was a commission formed in 1997 to research the Tulsa Race Riot. That was right about the time I got to Oklahoma and I remember hearing about it, but I wasn't much interested in it at the time. It has now been discovered that the Tulsa Race Riot was the worst Race Riot in the History of the United States. And another thing that is amazing to me, is that most of the damage was done in less than 24 hours. Here is a quote from Wikipedia about it: "During the 16 hours of rioting, over 800 people were admitted to local hospitals with injuries, an estimated 10,000 were left homeless, 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire, and $1.8 million (nearly $17 million after adjustment for inflation) in property damage." There are also estimates of in anywhere in between 35-500 deaths. The best reports seem to think there were a little over 300.

The second "seedy" thing we learned about yesterday was both Oklahoma history and our own family history. We have an outlaw in our family named "Wiley Lynn." Although he was a Federal Prohibition Agent, he was very corrupt and most likely, worse than most of the people he arrested. He is famous for two things, killing the famous Oklahoma lawman, Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill Tilghman and for the "last great shoot-out in Oklahoma" where he, himself, was shot at a drugstore and then walked across the street to pick out his own coffin. I originally heard about the latter story from Michael's dad when we were at a family reunion in Madill, Oklahoma, the very place of that last great shoot-out. Later, the shooting of Tilghman was made into a movie called "You know my name." We rented the movie from Blockbuster and watched it last night. At one point in the movie, they mention Michael's great grandmother, "Granny," whose name was Hazel Lynn. They also talk about some of Wiley's uncles, who would be Michael's great uncles. Wiley Lynn was a horrible person with many bad habits including beating on his wife, liquor and drugs.

It is easy to think we are in the "worst of times." Michael and I frequently shake our heads and wonder how things can get worse. The interesting thing about history is you learn that other times have been very bad as well.

The Tulsa Race Riot looked like hell on earth.
Any person, white or black, that was living during those 16 hours and the days afterward had to have thought it was the "worst of times."

The old west was no picnic either. Our area was ruled by outlaws and law men who acted worse than the outlaws. There were drugs running rampant and houses of ill repute. I am sure the law-abiding, Christian folks thought that the end must be near.

Learning about history has taught me that bad times have always been here. (Think Noah and Lot...) It is still, and always will be, (until Jesus comes,) our attitude about the bad times that determines what kind of life we live. We can choose to keep our eyes on Jesus and off of the world and live the life of abundance that He has promised us. Yes, we are awaiting His return. And yes, we should always be ready. But we should not be so caught up in the world that we despair.

Jesus is Coming!

Whether today, tomorrow or in 100 years, Jesus is Coming!

Hallelujah!

My new anthem

I heard this song this morning on GMC (Gospel Music Channel on Cable) and I am adopting it as my anthem. :-)

NO MATTER WHAT WOMAN


Verse 1


I’m the kind of woman that can go through hell.

Stay the night in the lion’s den and live to tell the tale.

I’m the kind of woman who can look death right in the eye

Stand on the word and declare that I will live and not die.


Chorus


‘Cause I’m a no matter what, no matter what, no matter what woman.

I’m filled with the Holy Ghost.

I’m full of the word of God.

Greater is He who lives in me.

I just can’t be stopped.

‘Cause I’m a no, no, no matter what, no matter what woman!


Verse 2


I’m the kind of woman, when my closest friend walks out

I know that the joy of the Lord is my strength,

I’ll lift my hands and shout.

I’m the kind of woman who can take the devils best hit.

Pick myself up off the floor and simply refuse to quit!


You might see me down, but you’ll never see me knocked out!

You might see me fall, but I’ll get back up and shout!

You might see me weary, but you’ll never see me stopped!

You might see me at the bottom, but I’ll be headed for the top!

Verse 3

I’m the kind of woman if I fall I’ll rise again!

I know that I’m more than a conqueror and I’m destined to win!

I’m the kind of woman when I’ve done everything I can do,

I refuse to worry, ’cause I know he’ll bring me through.

(repeat chorus)

You can hear the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gofOWQOTgY

I didn't post that video because it is rather particular for those people. But you can hear the song there. :-)

Pics of Kaedra in hospital

SMART Habit Saturday 6/9/07

Well I have had about 2 weeks of HORRIBLE goal keeping. HORRIBLE. H O R R I B L E. Did I mention I didn't do very well?

The only goal I have kept is reading my bible and praying every day. I started again on Friday with no soda, so I am on day two with that. Everything else is pretty much gone.

I have not been feeling as "peppy" lately so I am going to work on doing things to make myself feel (physically) better. I am going to add a few habits this week, instead of just one, because I need to see results quickly. They are all on my mind quite a bit, so I think it shouldn't be too hard. It is all just one BIG habit of "taking care of myself." Here are the parts:
1. no soda, just water all day and more of it
2. take vitamins and iron everyday
3. walk everyday
4. fruit with breakfast
5. veggie with lunch
6. no junk food (we have a bunch of junk food from the trip, I am going to throw that all away tomorrow night)

Okay, those are my goals for this week.

I can do this! In fact, I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.(Phil 4:13)


Here is a recap of my goals:
wk 1: praying and bible reading yes
wk 2: referring to planner everyday no
wk 3: get off computer at 9am and off for rest of day well I did really good on this since I didn't have easy access to a computer for most of last week! LOL
wk 4: new laundry schedule and laundry put away every day mostly
wk 5: stopped caffeine --started again yesterday
wk 6: added fruit to breakfast --no
wk 7: added veggie to lunch --no
wk 8: portion sizes --no
wk 9: writing down what I eat every day --on hold
wk 10: walking every day only one day
wk 11: re-working on everything
wk 12: getting Kaedy bug fed on time didn't have to worry about it while she was in hospital!
wk 12: making a schedule and sticking to it on hold
wk 13: no TV during day for kids I think that's all they did while I was gone! They are grounded from it right now, so it should be easy. :-)


If you are interested in seeing more people's SHS check out Lazy Organizer's site. Feel free to jump in and join us at any point!

Thankful Thursday

I didn't plan on being so late in getting this out. I have so much to be thankful for and didn't want to wait until next week to write it all.

We have had a whirlwind week. Although it has not been fun, God's hand was evident in it throughout. I want to try to share it all with you. Some of it will be a repeat for those who have read all my updates, but I will try not to repeat too much.

Last week on Thursday, I noticed Kaedra had a sore on her back. I called our doctor but he did not call back. I was able to get an appointment with him, but not until the next afternoon. I was very concerned about it and didn't know if we should head to the hospital or not. People who do not believe in God would say the next part was "luck" or "a fluke." Jill from the Kansas City hospital called to see how Kaedra was doing post op. When I mentioned the sore on her back, she wanted her to come in right away. I am so thankful for her call and that she could get Kaedy in so soon. If we had waited any longer, Kaedra's hardware might have become infected and had to have been removed.

I am thankful that Michael's brother was able to, once again, head up to Kansas City with him so that I could stay home with the other kiddos. When they got there, they put Kaedy into ICU right away. She was only in ICU because she was on a vent. By the next morning, the pulmonologists and ICU docs said she did not need her vent. I am so thankful that we were able to get her off of the vent and she has been off of it for 6 days now. This is an incredible blessing when originally we couldn't even get her ON this vent because she had so many problems breathing.

I am thankful that Sherria offered to drive up to Kansas City with me on Sunday night so I didn't have to be alone. I am not very good at driving long distances, I tend to fall asleep. I was a little fearful of driving for 4 hours with just Ethan and me and she right away jumped in and said she would drive up with me. We had a great drive up there, too, filled with lots of laughing, lots of praising and lots of heart-filled talks about God. Ethan slept 3 hours of the trip and was such a good little boy!

I am thankful for my mother in law who came at the spur of the moment to take care of the girls for us for 4 days. She was supposed to have gone out of town the week before and didn't go because of a storm. She decided to postpone the trip when Kaedra went up to KC and she was ready and available when I called her a day earlier than she had previously thought. It was wonderful not having to worry about the girls, animals and house.

I am thankful for Michael's brother who paid for our hotel room for us and bought food for us so we didn't have to eat out all the time. I am thankful for the good nurses we had who tried to make our visit easier. I am thankful that when the doctor went in, he didn't have to take out much skin and did not have to take out her titanium rod. After the surgery, they took her to ICU, much to our disappointment. We had been told we could not take Ethan into ICU, so I was going to go in and visit Kaedra quickly and then head back to the hotel. When I went to sign in to ICU, they asked where Michael was. I said that he was with the baby. They said "The nurse said to tell you it's okay if you sneak your baby in." HALLELUJAH! We were ALL able to go into ICU for the 24 hours she was there. What a huge blessing to us.

On Tuesday, I had a horrible headache and Ethan started to fuss a little. There is nowhere to lay down in the ICU or waiting room (that is quiet during the day). The Ronald McDonald House has a wonderful waiting room in the hospital that they allow people to use when they have kids that are inpatient. They also have 7 beds that people can stay in overnight or use for naps during the day. I went down there and took a wonderful nap in one of their rooms for about 40 minutes. Ethan and I felt so much better after that. I am so thankful for their wonderful facility. They were also so very nice and sweet. They kept oohing and aahing over Ethan and how cute he was. They were so sweet about what a good baby he is. (And he really is! He was SO good while we were gone. He was happy and sweet and absolutely wonderful. Another huge thing to be thankful for.)

After she went back onto the regular floor, we got a wonderful nurse from Oklahoma. She contacted the social worker right away to try to get us into the Ronald McDonald House. She was the only person who had gotten any results for us! We had been told we would get out of the hospital on Wednesday and all of a sudden the floor doc told us that pulmonology wanted to see us on Thursday. We went into action and did two things. First we prayed, second we called our pulmonologist in Tulsa and got him to sign off on Kaedy coming home so that we could just tell them that we didn't need to stay. The other problem we were having was the Infectious Disease doctors wanted us to keep making trips up to KC for the next 4-6 months. We prayed about that and talked to our local pulmonologist about an ID specialist here. He said he had one and even better, the guy here has dealt with titanium rods before. Hallelujah!

On Wednesday morning, we packed our bags and loaded our car as if we were coming home. We had prayed the night before that we would be let go and we had friends praying for us as well. We decided we were going to Believe God and act upon it. We got to the hospital very early because we did not want to miss any of the docs. Thankfully, once they started rolling in, things went very quickly and very well. The surgeon said we were good to go home as soon as Kaedy got a PICC line. The ID docs said that after our initial visit next week, they will allow us to see a local doctor. (okay, that one didn't go compeletely smoothly, but I prayed as Michael talked and they "saw the light" HALLELUJAH!) Believe it or not, Pulmonology was NEVER mentioned that day at all. We kept expecting someone to call and say oops, Pulmonology still wants to see you tomorrow. I think we expected it all the way until we got in our car and drove away.

I know I am missing several things but this post is already very long. If you made it this far, thank you. :-) God is so good. So so good. We had many occassions to witness to our surgeon and I am praying for him to realize that Kaedra is not "lucky," as he likes to say. God also used Ethan as an opening in many a talk about His goodness.

We are so incredibly Thankful for so many things. I wish I could explain it all better but I hope I gave you enough of a (long) glimpse of how His hand was with us all week. I am so thankful for all of you that prayed with us. I mentioned you all more than once as being our prayer warriors and result-getters. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

To see other Thankful Thursdays, click here

How We Learn

Check out this post by Corrie at Tyler's Triumph.

Brandi's Birthday

Brandi,
I had planned a big write up about how wonderful you are and how you have been my longest and best and longest-distance best friend. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to do it, but I think you know how I feel about you! Hope you had a wonderful day.

We love you!!!

Home

Yup, we are home.

All is well. We have to go back in 1 week. UGH. But things are looking up after that.

I will write more later and fill y'all in on the details. For now, I am outta here.


To catch up with what's going on, click here and scroll to May 31

Tuesday 6/5/07 Kaedra update

Everything is going well. Kaedra is doing great. No problems at all. She is out of ICU and is on a regular floor now. She has no problems except being absolutely stir crazy in her confined area (she is MRSA positive so they won't let her play in the playroom or even leave her room). She is also getting extremely agitated when doctors or nurses approach her. I feel so bad for her. When we came in here everyone was commenting on how "good" she was and how she let them do their exams very easily. Well, after being stuck numerous times, operated on twice in two weeks and being attached to every machine in sight, she is d-o-n-e. She screams when they get near her. Flails around, kicks her feet. The whole nine yards. It doesn't even matter if they are just trying to give her a new gown!

We are still not in the Ronald McDonald house. Apparently someone dropped the ball on that one and we could have been in it this whole time. Looks like Satan owes us quite a bit of money. Have no fear, I will be calling that in. We cannot go there tonight because it is too late to cancel our hotel room. Hopefully we will be in there tomorrow night.

Yup, I said tomorrow night. Looks like we are here for a few more days. Nothing is wrong at all. Just trying to coordinate her getting a pic line (don't know how to spell that?) which they are going to do under sedation in radiology tomorrow sometime and then Pulmonology wants to see her again on Thursday to see how she is doing off of the vent. UGH. We are trying to fight that one and tell them we will just see our pulmonologist in Tulsa. If we can't get that done, we may not be out of here until Friday, depending on what time Pulmonology sees us on Thursday.

Everything is going very well. However, I am struggling to keep my joy. I guess the biggest prayer we need now is for me to keep my faith in The Word rather than what I hear. I am tired of trying to keep Kaedra, Michael, and Ethan happy. Prayers for getting out of here sooner, rather than later, would be great too. We still REALLY want to leave tomorrow. I am also frustrated with the fact that the infectious disease people want to see us up here quite frequently for the next 6 months. I know that they know we are 4 hours away, but they say they really need to see her and they will stretch it out as long between visits as possible. We are praying that they will let us see someone in Tulsa but so far, no go.

Once more, I want to say that I Praise God for how well everything is going. It really is. Satan keeps trying to throw us zingers but I know who my faith is in. They even let us take Ethan into ICU!! Thank you all for your prayers concerning that!

Thank you all!

Monday 6/4/07 post op update

Kaedra is out of surgery!

The doctor said it was "the best possible outcome he could have imagined." There was very little bad skin that he had to take out, the rod had no infection and he was able to just give her stitches. He said "I guess maybe your prayers worked." Maybe? Maybe??

Anyway, they are, unfortunately, putting her back into ICU. (which means no Ethan) we are praying she gets out of there VERY QUICKLY!! We also need prayers for good/quick healing so they will let us go home on Wednesday. (we do have to come back in a week for follow up -- ugh)

Gotta go, Ethan is fussing. Thank you all for your prayers!!

Monday 6/4/07 Kaedra update

Ethan and I got here last night. Michael, Ethan and I are staying at a hotel right now because the Ronald McDonald house is full. We are waiting to see if it will open up.

Kaedra is doing really well. I am sure she is stir crazy. Her IV came out today and they tried sticking her 5 times and never got a good stick. They gave up and decided to try again when she is under. We were very relieved, it was heartbreaking to hear her crying while they tried to find a good vein.

One of our surgeon's operations got cancelled today so they are on their way to get Kaedra right now. The operation he has planned will be in between 1 - 1 1/2 hours. If he has to take the rib out, it will be an extra hour. We are still believing he will see the skin and not want to do the surgery at all. If he does decide to do the surgery we believe he will not have to take the rib out! If the rib does come out, we believe that no harm will come to Kaedy-bug at all and she will not need ventilation and her "rib cage" will be stable and not collapse. We also believe that (no matter what the doctor does) she will not have to be on ventilation and will come back to the regular floor.

A praise report is that she has been off of her vent since Saturday morning at 7am! That is the longest she has ever gone. HALLELUJAH!

Apparently my email program is up at home and also my yahoo messenger. I need to get a hold of Brittany to log them off for me. I can't get any of my mail here (in between last night and now), it has all been downloaded to the home computer and I can't sign onto yahoo. Hopefully I will get that taken care of soon and be able to communicate a little more effectively.

Okay, they are here to get her. I am off and will update when I can.

Sunday 6/3/07 Kaedra update

********************************************************
Ethan and I are heading up to Kansas City in about 2 hours. (5pm Sunday evening) I don't know if I can update while I am up there. If I have a problem, I will ask Sherria or Brandi to update you.

The doctor is still planning on doing the surgery. If so, it will be tomorrow evening probably around 6pm. We are still believing the skin will be so healed tomorrow that he will not want to do any surgery. If you are praying, please agree with us for that. Thank you!!
********************************************************

Kaedra did really well yesterday. Here are the updates:
1. The doctor said it looked like the open area reduced in size. He told Michael that we were "lucky." Michael set him straight. ;-)
2. The ICU doctor wanted her to try a night off of the vent. He had four reasons.
a. he doesn't think she needs it and he can do a test on her while there to make sure he is right
b. he doesn't want her in ICU with an open wound that could get bad germs while there, she can go on the regular floor if she is not on the vent
c. he doesn't want her in ICU being so healthy where she could get RSV or the other things that are there.
d. She is REALLY much too healthy to be in ICU. Although the nurses find it fun to have her, she needs a lot more work and time since she wants to play and get into everything.
3. They tried her off the vent last night and she did great. YEAH!! We have been praying for that! So they are moving her to the regular floor today. WOOHOO! That means I can also take Ethan up there with me, although they are saying I can't spend the night there with Ethan. We are praying to have favor in that area. (I could spend the night at the hotel or Ronald McDonald House, if it opens up, but I'd feel better being right there in case she woke up. The nurses aren't so close by on the regular floor.
4. The surgeon is planning on operating tomorrow, instead of today. That will give the antibiotics a little more time. He wants to go in and cut out the bad skin and see if it will stretch over the titanium rib when he stitches it. If he thinks it will not stretch, he will remove the titanium rib.

We are praying that he will look at the wound tomorrow and say that it looks so good that he doesn't want to operate. Please join us in believing for that. If that happens, I will not go up there. If the doctor doesn't notice how great it looks before surgery, tomorrow, I will be heading up there tomorrow afternoon. The girls will stay here with Michael's mom. Michael can stay a few more days up there, so we would see what they are saying then.

Thank you all for your prayers. The Word is working!

I just want to share one other thing. I think I know why we are being attacked in this area. The last few weeks I have had many occasions to tell Kaedra's story. We have been getting nursing back and had to be re certified for that as well meeting the new nurse and telling her Kaedy's story. Something I have repeatedly said is: "We are so blessed that she has not had to go back into the hospital for any complications. She has been so healthy. We haven't had any hospital visits except for the operations. God is so good." (most other children with similar issues as Kaedra are quite sickly and hospitalized quite a bit) I believe that Satan is attacking us in this area because he is tired of me proclaiming God's goodness! I won't stop, though!! God IS good! ALL THE TIME! And HE will be glorified, even through this opportunity that Satan is trying to create. I will NOT stop singing His praises!!

And I will praise You in everything
And I will thank You for what You have done,
And I will fight the good fight
Til faith turns to sight
And I will run til the race is run. (David Ingles)

Have a blessed day!

To catch up with what's going on, click here and scroll to May 31

Homeschooling at the Speed of Life

I got a new book yesterday at Mardel's. It's called Homeschooling at the Speed of Life and it is by Marilyn Rockett. I have to admit, the first thing that got my attention was the cover...check it out!

I wish THAT was my blogger background! (but I just can't ignore those pesky little things like copyright and trademarks)

I was blindsided by the book because I usually know about ALL the homeschooling books as soon as they come out. (don't I sound like I am in the know? ROFL) I saw this on the shelf and picked it up, leafed through it and put it down. Then I went back to it, picked it up, leafed through it and put it down. Then I went back again. I kept rationalizing with myself that I have a TON of homeschool books, that I don't need ANY more books, that I usually check a book out or borrow it before buying it, on and on my excuses went. But I couldn't put it down.

The funny thing is, right before we left the house yesterday I got a check in the mail from an old life insurance policy that I had just cancelled. The check was only for $20, I assume it was for the last month I paid and I probably cancelled at the right time to get a refund. Anyway, I had this knowledge of 20 bucks burning a hole in my pocket. And I had a new book in my hand that I couldn't walk away from. It was a marriage made in heaven. :-)

I looked over the book last night and it looks FANTASTIC! I have only gotten to chapter 2, but I have already found a ton that I want to go back and underline. This is my favorite thing so far, her definition of organization:

Organization is making your life work for you
by bringing the dailiness of life under control
through yielding of the Holy Spirit
concerning the wise use of your time.

I will post more as I read the book. (oh, and as a bonus, it comes with a CD with lots of cool forms. Well, I assume they are cool. I haven't looked at them yet. But I know there are lots.)

Saturday 6/2 Kaedra update

No new updates yet. She slept through the night and had a good sleep. It took her a long time to get to sleep because a little boy passed away in the room next to her and there was a lot going on because of that. Please keep his parents and family in your prayers as well.

Here is what is going on: The surgeon is concerned that the skin over the titanium rib is a. infected and b. very damaged. He is going to do exploratory surgery sometime tomorrow to see if his concerns are warranted. (He is waiting until tomorrow so that she will have antibiotics for 36-48 hours before surgery.) If either is true he is going to take out that titanium rib on Monday. We are still unsure about the ramifications of taking the rib out. Her doctor here is worried that she will not have enough support from just one titanium rib and that her chest wall will sag or collapse. He is also worried that without the rib to hold her lungs in, her lungs will pooch out the side again (like her first 10 months of life, before the ribs) and that will cause the paradoxical chest movement, or flail chest, that kept her on the vent full time as well as in critical condition. Furthermore, her organs (and heart) would not be protected, which is always a concern. If they do take the rib out, the surgeon said it would be several months before they would be able to replace it. They would have to wait for the skin to be completely healed and healthy again. If they don't take the rib out, they will just be cutting the bad skin out and trying to stitch it up over the rib. She doesn't have any muscle or fat over that area, though, so we still need prayer covering in that area. Michael has a list of questions to ask today and hopefully we will get some more answers. However, we will not know how she will react to the rib being taken out until they do that.

One other concern: we are unsure if they would let me in the ICU with Ethan at all. We have heard that they might not let any babies in the ICU. We don't know how long Kaedy will be up there and of course Michael can't stay up there indefinitely. (someone has to make the money around here ;-) We are trying to find out if they could possibly move her to the regular floor so I could go up there with Ethan. If not, I will have to wean him and find someone who can watch a baby while Michael is at work everyday. Michael's mom is just not able to do it and we are stretching her abilities by just watching the older two. Please keep that in prayer as well. I would much rather take him with me for many reasons.

The older girls are taking this pretty hard and are very worried. It's hard to see that anything is wrong when they last saw Kaedy running around and playing and hard to imagine all that can change in a blink of an eye.

Fruit of the Spirit Friday - Joy

I need something else to concentrate on, other than Kaedra, and I had been planning on doing this since last week so I am just going to jump in now.



What fruit are you focusing on this fruit this week?
I chose Joy for my first Fruit of the Spirit Friday because that is the word that best defines me in the body of Christ. It is the fruit I cultivate the most dearly and it is where my strength comes from. (The Joy of the Lord is my strength Neh 8:10)

How does the Bible define this fruit?
wow I didn't realize this one would be so hard. There are so many references to joy in the bible. In a strict definition sense, the Greek word "chara" is defined as joy, gladness, delight and to rejoice.

How does God reveal this fruit to us?
I believe that God reveals this fruit to us through the joy of some of the biblical figures, most notably and importantly Jesus.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. John 14:11

But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. John 17:13

Jesus speaks of HIS joy. That is how God has revealed joy to us, through His son. And not only revealed to us, but given to us.



What is the evidence of this fruit in one’s life?

Strength
The joy of the Lord is my strength Neh 8:10

Shouting
He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and
shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. (Job 33:26 and many others)

Singing
I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O
Most High. (Psalm 9:2 and too many others to mention!)

Sorrow disappearing
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 35:10, 51:11 (also John 16:20, 22, Psalm 30:5)

Hope
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 (also Romans 15:13

Being filled with the Spirit
1 Thess 1:6, Eph 5:18, Romans 14:17


Share an example of the presence of this fruit in someone’s life.
Unfortunately I see the absence of Joy in many people's lives. So many people are dragged down by their circumstances, living from problem to problem, not realizing that JOY is within their reach. To me joy is not a giddy, loud, riotous personality, but a calm, shining light that permeates your character and encapsulates many of the other fruits of the spirit. When you have joy the problems don't cease to exist, but they cease to rule your life and thoughts. Instead you can concentrate on God and on his goodness and love. When someone does have joy, I am drawn to them like a magnet and I feel an immediate kinship with them.

How does fruit or lack of it in our life affect others? (spouse, children, friends) Wow. In my life this is huge. When I am not rejoicing in the Lord, the whole family reacts. I can truly feel the joy seep out of everyone else. When I exhibit the joy of the Lord the reaction is equally as stunning. Our house brims over with joy and praising and praying and shouting and singing and all is well. I can definitely say that my family looks to me for the joy.

What can you do to express more of this fruit in your character?
I need to keep my eyes on Jesus. I am not just trying to use a cliche, I mean I truly need to focus on Him and ignore all else. I need to make my words and actions line up with THE TRUTH and follow Him. I need to not look at the circumstances, no matter what they might be, but look to His Word and His Truth and remember that my joy in Him is my strength. Sometimes it seems as if it would be easier to crumble and cry and feel sorry for myself. Sometimes I revert back to my old ways and want others to feel sorry for me. However, when I do that, my family falls apart and I don't feel any better anyway. If I don't let Satan steal my joy, I can keep my family pointed toward Jesus and I can rejoice in my sorrows disappearing. When I keep my joy, I have the strength that I need to get through anything.

To see other people's Fruit of the Spirit memes, check out the Heart of Wisdom Blog.

update on the update

Just a really quick update, I'll write more later. They are going to do surgery on Kaedra on Sunday. They are trying to figure out how much skin is over the titanium rib. They think there is not much skin. If so, they are going to take out that titanium rib. We do not know what all this means/entails yet. Michael is very frazzled and overwhelmed with all the information and how fast everything is coming at him. Please keep him in your prayers as well.

Update on Kaedra

They admitted Kaedra into the hospital up in Kansas City. We are not positive how long she will be in the hospital but it is looking like it will probably be at least the weekend. We have heard everything from a few weeks to 24 hours. Of course we are believing for 24 hours. :-)

Here are more facts about what is going on:
She fell in February and got a bruise and small opening over one of her titanium ribs. We were seeing the doctor for a few weeks about it and it improved so we got off of antibiotics and stopped seeing him weekly. The bruise did not disappear, however. When she went up there for her surgery last week they did not extend the rib that has the bruise on it because they were worried about how the skin looked. Yesterday I went to put some meds on her back and when I looked at the place that had the bruise it was a large (1" round) opening into her back that was very infected and angry looking. (it had been fine 24 hours earlier) I freaked out and called our doctor here in Tulsa. They said they could get us in today at 3:15. I asked them to have the doctor call me back immediately because I didn't know if I should take her to the hospital right away or how I should treat it at home. While waiting for him to call, the nurse from Kansas City just happened to call to check on Kaedra post-op. I told her about the area and she freaked out along with me. She asked that we take Kaedra up to KC right away. I asked if we could wait until this morning because I needed to find someone to watch my kids. Michael ended up calling his brother, Kevin, and they went up there again instead of me taking Ethan into the ICU with so much RSV still going around. This way we didn't need help with the kids either. Soooo those are the facts.

Here is the truth: (and the truth doesn't change)
Kaedra is the Body of Christ. She is redeemed from the curse, because Jesus bore her sicknesses and carried her diseases in His own body. By His stripes she is healed. We forbid any sickness or disease to operate in her body. Every organ, every tissue, every bone functions and is formed in the perfection in which God created it to function.

A few more tidbits: Kaedy bug is feeling great. I was on the phone with Michael and instead of talking to me, he was saying "Kaedra get over here, Kaedra get off of that, Kaedy come here, Kaedra PUT THAT DOWN," etc, etc. I know she will keep the nurses VERY busy in PICU. The surgeon hasn't seen her back yet so we haven't heard his input. Also, they did a culture on her back to see if it has MRSA and that will take 3 days to grow. It is looking likely that she will stay there until they get those results back. What we are REALLY praying against is a long hospital stay. For those that weren't readers of my blog almost 2 years ago, when she originally had her ribs implanted she had some skin breakdown and I had to stay with her in San Antonio for 28 days. I can't imagine that kind of stay again at all, much less with a 4 month old. We will, of course, do what has to be done. But right now that is pray and believe.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your prayers.


Here is a video that my friend Melanie made for Kaedra last year. I like to watch it to see what God has already accomplished in her life. (if you look real close you can see Mickey and Susan in it too!)