Surgery Update

Just a quick update to say that Jamie's surgery went very well.  She came home yesterday afternoon, and will be taking it easy for a while.  The OR nurse said she had never seen a gallbladder with so many stones, and the surgeon also said that it was so full that he had a little trouble getting it out.  I know that rocks are gluten free, but I think I may need to talk with Jamie about finding something else to eat for awhile!   :^)

Thanks for your prayers.

Surgery

I will be going in for surgery tomorrow morning.  I appreciate your prayers.

Prayer

Well, after all the recent busyness I was really excited as I looked forward to a period of normal routine.  I was going to make curtains to cover Lana's closet, start planting an herb garden in little pots in the kitchen, try out some fun projects with the kids, have more sweet times of reading and snuggling with the children.  My 'normal routine' is being put on hold again because of health issues that have recently escalated.  After years of unexplained pain and nights of vomiting we finally discovered that I have been passing gallstones.  An ultrasound on Tuesday showed my gallbladder inflamed and full of stones.  Because their is now a risk of infection and I am hardly eating because of the pain/sickness, we are planning on going in to have my gallbladder removed as early as next week.  We are rejoicing that we may have found the reason for some of my long term health problems and are trusting that God chose this as the perfect time to bring everything to a head.  Having said that, my recovery will involve a weight restriction that will keep me from lifting my three older children, laundry, slide, trampoline, and all other items in the house over 20 pounds for 4-6 weeks.  I am praying that God would give grace for the pain until the surgery and grace for our entire family while I recover.  Thank you for your prayers!

Love that baby!

Wow, what a precious gift!   

More Chris and Kellie wedding pictures

Thank you Aunt Chris, Mark/Nika, and Dad for these pictures!  Over the entire weekend I did not take a single picture!

Chris and Kellie wedding pictures

I will post more pictures of Chris and Kellie's wedding soon and some of Mark's wedding when I get them.

Blake is growing so fast!

Shower for Kellie

 

Christmas morning

Kayla just looked too adorable in her new accessories!

Merry Christmas!

'Look at Blakey, he is so cute'

Lana just came out with this and begged to hold him.  I am taking advantage of the moment to put a few Blake pictures up.

Thankfulness

I have been feeling grateful to the Lord for so much this holiday season, I thought I would put down a few of the things I truly appreciated this last week.

Here is what I am thankful for -

1) That whichever child dropped my toothbrush in the toilet had the good sense to place it behind the toilet (for Gary to find), rather than putting it back on the counter.  THANK YOU!!

2) That my children are so very honest 'Mommy, I hit my sister with the toy on purpose', wow, that makes my life easy!

3) That one of my children always has a calm approach to disaster that causes them to run screaming in my room (while Blake is sound asleep and I am in the bathroom) to let me know that there is a tiny bug downstairs.

4) That doctor visits are always such a pleasant outing. The fact that three of my children have the opportunity to peacefully share two chairs in a small room.  That while I am talking with the doctor about Blake's health the other three can yell and pretend that monsters are hiding underneath their seats.

5) That my eldest son is so wise and practical.  Last week while watching Gary work on the car for a while Bryant decided to give him some helpful advice.  'Daddy, I have been thinking, you should just buy a new car'.

6) That our home is filled with laughter and joy! That I have four children who love to snuggle and delight in all the colors, lights, stories that this season brings. That God has so abundantly blessed us!

Lana's birthday

We had a family celebration the night before Lana's 4th birthday.  Strawberry cup cakes with strawberry icing, yum! 

That girl is such a natural! 

Christmas dresses

Our beautiful baby

He is such a sweet little package, I am so in love! 

Giving Thanks

On Wednesday I took Blake to see the Hematologist.  We were actually admitted to a children's hospital to have this appointment which took me a little by surprise.  Apparently, Blake has abnormalities in his blood and that is part of why the doctor in Utah was concerned.  The Hematologist confirmed the abnormalities after taking blood from Blake and looking at it under a microscope.  They needed a lot of blood, for other tests, so they took it from a vein instead of from the foot.  This was rather traumatic for both Blake and I.  Once that was done, Lana needed to go to the bathroom so I found the restroom and we waited for our turn to use it.  As we stood outside the bathroom I started talking with a father I had seen earlier, who had a baby the same age as Blake.  He was sympathising with me about Blake having blood drawn when I asked him where his baby girl was.  It was then that he told me that she was in a room down the hall getting her chemo treatment.  I was shocked to think of such a tiny baby needing chemo and what this poor father must be experiencing.  At that moment the bathroom door opened and out came a little girl about Bryant's age.  The girl was bald, had a stint in her chest, and was attached to an IV.  She smiled as she passed and tried to give Lana high five.  I had us quickly use the bathroom and head back to our room, feeling the urge to leave a place with so much sorrow.  The doctor came in a few minutes later and explained that he believed Blake's blood issues would be very minor and would very possibly completely resolve in another month (he said this is not uncommon in African American children).  The doctor also said that if Blake has G6PD, it should not interfere with his living a normal life.  He described it as a very minor blood disorder.  Shortly after this we were able to leave the hospital and head home.  I fought tears as I drove thinking of the wonderful holiday season ahead for us with our four healthy children and the anguish and pain of the families we were leaving at the hospital.  Those families were not worrying about whether their turkey would be fully defrosted in time or whether the pies would be made.  Those families were just trying to make the most of the days they still had with their children.  Tears come to my eyes as I write and I am reminded of just how incredibly God has blessed our family.  It is with a very grateful heart that I can say 'thank you Lord for our beautiful, healthy children'!

Quick medical update

Tomorrow I will be taking Blake to see the hemetologist to have further testing done.  After doing more research on the G6PD it sounds like we would have another child with huge eating restictions but with possibly more serious side effects if there were ever slip ups.  Also a number of common medications would be dangerous for him as well.  We do not know for sure that Blake will have any serious or long term issues at this point.  The doctor should be able to tell us more during the appointment tomorrow.

The kids love their little brother!

Little Blake

Early this morning as I was feeding Blake I was overwhelmed with God's precious gift to us!  Blake is such a blessing to our whole family!  God gave us what I would call an 'easy' baby.  Blake has started to string together 3 hour sleep stretches at night and he is an amazing eater.  The kids can sit and hold him and he appears to love any and all the affection he recieves.  We love our little teddy bear and praise God for such a sweet gift! 

(Kristen, thank you for the adorable snuggle outfit!)

Home

What a joy to have our family all together again!  Today we have been rushing around cleaning and unpacking. 

Picking up with our adoption adventure, Gary drove home last Friday to be with the girls since we had no idea when we would be allowed to bring Blake home.  On Monday I talked with our social worker in CO and she said she thought the paper work would be processed Tuesday or Wednesday and then we could go home.  Based on that information Gary drove back to Utah with the girls on Tuesday.  We stayed the night with our friends and then left for the border of Utah and Colorado.  Our plan was to stay in a hotel if the paperwork did not go through.  We drove for a several hours and it was mid afternoon when we realized we had to make a decision about whether to book a hotel.  I called our social worker in Utah one last time and they got the word (while I was on the phone with them) that we could go home.  God has been so gracious to us in this process.  We are rejoicing to finally have our son and be home.  Again, thank you for all your prayers, we feel very blessed!