I just got this quote from one of my mothers and friends.. Jackie Brady, as we were talking about "special" kids, and I love it.
Faith isn't believing God can do miraculous things to make your life easier. It's believing he will be right there beside you as you walk through it all, the good, the bad and the difficult. Normal is whatever you get. Faithful is knowing God is there and won't give us more than we can handle with our hand in his.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The joy of water
Water.. ahhh. It's so good for drinking and showering and flushing toilets. I use water every day and think so little of it. Can I even imagine what it would be like to live in a place that does not have fresh running water? What if the water I had to give my children were contaminated? If it made them sick, but I didn't have anything else? Water is so basic that we forget about what a blessing it is, and forget that other people don't have it so good.
Why am I thinking about water this morning? We finally got the water turned on at our new house this weekend. There was a pretty good leak under the sink when Randy turned it on, the water heater was old and nasty looking.. also it had a significant leak in it and was missing a knob. Oh, and more leaks in the bathroom when we turned the water on again!
We experienced the wonder of plumbing and the blessings of water. Not just water - we can have hot water!
We also experienced the blessing of family. My parents came up to see our house for the first time. They were going to come a week ago, but my sister had to go and have a baby! My dad came in his overalls and with his tools, ready to work. He helped us get the plumbing in order. Wow! They spent several hours with us. Mom washed the windows and watched the little kids while dad and Randy did plumbing work and even installed a new water heater!
Water and family are just two of the many blessings we experienced this weekend.
Why am I thinking about water this morning? We finally got the water turned on at our new house this weekend. There was a pretty good leak under the sink when Randy turned it on, the water heater was old and nasty looking.. also it had a significant leak in it and was missing a knob. Oh, and more leaks in the bathroom when we turned the water on again!
We experienced the wonder of plumbing and the blessings of water. Not just water - we can have hot water!
We also experienced the blessing of family. My parents came up to see our house for the first time. They were going to come a week ago, but my sister had to go and have a baby! My dad came in his overalls and with his tools, ready to work. He helped us get the plumbing in order. Wow! They spent several hours with us. Mom washed the windows and watched the little kids while dad and Randy did plumbing work and even installed a new water heater!
Water and family are just two of the many blessings we experienced this weekend.
How did you know?
One of the rules in our house that seems kind of dumb from the outside is "no cats in the bathroom with you". Poor Farlow and Boogerhead have enough to deal with without being trapped in the bathroom with people.
Another is "the bathroom is for going to the bathroom and getting dressed - not for playing"
This morning, while one of the boys was getting ready, I got up to get a drink for Manasseh just as the other boy was getting out of the bathroom and I saw both cats were inside. I asked him "why were the cats in the bathroom with you?". (Obviously the child was playing with the cats in the bathroom). Child said "How did you know?"
I did not choose to reveal my sources of information, rather let the child be amazed that I found him out. My oh my...how did you know. I have eyes child, eyes!
Another is "the bathroom is for going to the bathroom and getting dressed - not for playing"
This morning, while one of the boys was getting ready, I got up to get a drink for Manasseh just as the other boy was getting out of the bathroom and I saw both cats were inside. I asked him "why were the cats in the bathroom with you?". (Obviously the child was playing with the cats in the bathroom). Child said "How did you know?"
I did not choose to reveal my sources of information, rather let the child be amazed that I found him out. My oh my...how did you know. I have eyes child, eyes!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Cassius Update
Cassius had his first appointment with the neurologist on Friday. It went pretty well, really it was just a consult to get him set up with this new doctor.
She did an exam and then looked over the disc of his first MRI.
Her concerns were that he does not seem to track movement well with his eyes (he did not follow her at all). He does not smile (developmentally that's about a 4-6 week skill and he's 8 weeks). He snores in his sleep. She initially thought he had low muscle tone, but it turned out he was being stubborn and did not want to use his muscles.
He will see an optomologist next week regarding the tracking. I'm not sure exactly what Dr. Chen wants them to look for, but they're smart and they'll know what's up. He will also have a nap study sometime in the future, regarding the snoring. Dr. Chen ordered some blood and urine tests to try and find out if he had an infection in utero - I'm not entirely sure what finding that out will do to help us, but I'm sure there's a good reason. Those tests were done on Friday before we left the hospital. She wants to follow up with us in 3 months, when he is 5 months old. She may order a new MRI at some point to get a picture of how his brain is developing.
Dr. Chen seemed to think that his brain injury looked fairly severe and was suprised that he is developing rather normally at this point. We don't know what that means as far as what she expects him to be able to do. She will track his progress.
She did an exam and then looked over the disc of his first MRI.
Her concerns were that he does not seem to track movement well with his eyes (he did not follow her at all). He does not smile (developmentally that's about a 4-6 week skill and he's 8 weeks). He snores in his sleep. She initially thought he had low muscle tone, but it turned out he was being stubborn and did not want to use his muscles.
He will see an optomologist next week regarding the tracking. I'm not sure exactly what Dr. Chen wants them to look for, but they're smart and they'll know what's up. He will also have a nap study sometime in the future, regarding the snoring. Dr. Chen ordered some blood and urine tests to try and find out if he had an infection in utero - I'm not entirely sure what finding that out will do to help us, but I'm sure there's a good reason. Those tests were done on Friday before we left the hospital. She wants to follow up with us in 3 months, when he is 5 months old. She may order a new MRI at some point to get a picture of how his brain is developing.
Dr. Chen seemed to think that his brain injury looked fairly severe and was suprised that he is developing rather normally at this point. We don't know what that means as far as what she expects him to be able to do. She will track his progress.
The things kids say
While we were working on the floor at the new house, Ryan stopped and looked at me. He said, "You should call me "Sand Tiger", because I'm so good at pulling up staples."
HUH?!!?!
HUH?!!?!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
miscommunication
This morning as I was getting ready to take one of our children to the doctor's office - I went into my room to change a diaper. After this happened I didn't see the child in question for 40+ minutes. I assumed he was napping or going to the bathroom, or something. When it was time to go I called for him to get ready. He didn't answer. I checked his room and the bathroom.. no child. He got on the school bus - I didn't even know he had gone outside!! Oops. After a quick call to the school I picked him up and got him there. Hoorah
New House
We're moving to Fort Wayne. We hope to wait until school is out, but that may change depending on our circumsances. It'll be a tough few months as we make aggressive payments on the new house so that it can be paid off before school starts - we will also still be paying on the Goshen house until it is sold. We think that the difficulty will be worth it for our family in the long haul.
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