HI FRIENDS!
Wow, Where have I BEEN!? Let's see... gymnastics, the dentist, swim lessons, preschool, playdate, my gparents, swim lessons again, preschool again, dog training school, foster parent training, gymnastics again, soccer, baby shower, church, a few more soccer games, and I'm SPENT! (:
Evie had a hearing test last week, and the results were about as uncertain as any behavioral test is with an 18 month old. Yes, she can hear. Conversational level sounds at least... which is great. They started with a test where they put a little ear plug into her ear and four tones go in, and should come back out. Only one of her four consistently came back. What does that mean? No clue! Then we did an ear drum test where a little peak shaped line is supposed to bounce back and her line was flat. That usually means fluid behind the ear, but Eve didn't have any fluid, and had been on antibiotics 7 days prior. What does that mean? Possible structural problems, but nothing certain. Then we sat in a little room, and the operator guy behind the window spoke through different speakers. He would say "Evie, ba ba ba ba ba" and instead of looking at the speaker she would look at him in the window (: She turned for all of the conversational level sounds, but none of the high/low pitches, or soft sounds.
SO we see an ENT in 3 weeks so he can look at the structure of her ear. There are little bones in you middle ear, and since we are pumping her full of bone-making enzyme we need to check out if this is affecting her hearing. Sometime during Evie's first year I compartmentalized my thinking into "life threatening" and "not life threatening" files and as this falls into the "not" I really am not worried about it. She can hear me, I can hear her, we are happy for now.
We had a BIG visitor this past weekend! (yes, in the middle of that list of business we had going on - never a dull moment!) Her name is Sara, and she is writing the magazine story for Evie. If you've been following us for a while you will have seen Brian Lehmann's photos, and Sara will be writing the story to accompany the photos! The plan is for it to be published in a magazine this September with over 3 million copies circulated!!! Evie will be the cover girl (: Anyway, Sara was wonderful and the weekend was great. We watched videos of the weekend of Evie's birth, flipped through scrapbooks, photos, and answered lots of questions. She met our fam, one of Evie's favorite doctors, and got to experience preschool soccer. I'll be honest, I felt like I got hit by a bus on Tuesday morning! To mentally browse through the past 18 months in one weekend took a lot of emotion and thought. Evie has been so healthy the past few months it was hard to even look at her and see the little girl who was so sick for a while there.
I was flipping through my Bible on Sunday night, and found a passage I specifically marked 8-8-09... about a month before Evie was born. It reads:
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasureably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
What a beautiful promise. "the joys to come will last forever." Amen Friends! Love you (:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Mother's Day (:
Hi Friends!
I had a few people ask me yesterday what our big news was from Wednesday, so I figured I need to get this post written... and what better day than Mother's Day!
Evie update first: She's doing great! Had a little fever a few days ago, but I'm pretty sure she's just teething... and growing like a weed!
Okay, our big family news. On Wednesday John and I attended a luncheon to learn about Foster Care. It was put on by an organization called Christian Heritage, who place kids in Christian foster homes. We have prayed about adoption, fostering, and the prospect of additional kids for a while now, and thought we might go gather some info. Lunch was good, we both enjoyed it, and met some neat people who work for Christian Heritage.
Thursday afternoon I called to see if we could start training this summer, and training had started the week before. Bummer. So I chatted with the guy, thinking we would start training in the fall (we weren't really in a hurry) and by the end of the conversation he invited us to come that night, and just start a week behind everyone else. SO we officially started Foster Parent Training on Thursday night! It was the 2nd of 10 weeks of training, that will be followed by a home study, so I'm thinking we may not be licensed for 3-5 months, we are still new to learning how it all works. And Evie successfully stayed with a non-familial babysitter for the first time - and loved it! Huge relief for us.
We are hoping to ease our way into fostering, so our initial plan is to do "respite fostering" this fall. By doing respite we would take kids who are in foster homes already for a weekend or a week to give the families a break. This gives us time to get our feet wet, experience what foster parenting is like, and see how it affects our kids. Then we will pray about the right timing in doing long term foster care, and possibly adopting.
So we're excited that God has opened this door for us, and we're feeling really blessed that we have already saved money with the intent of adoption... because we're going to need a bigger car! My Honda Element has two seats in the back claimed by Lyla and Eve, so I'm seeing a minivan in our future. Luckily we have a few months before we will be licensed to figure out how more people are going to fit in our house and our car, but it will all be fulfilled with God's blessing in his time.
Lastly, we added a new member to our family yesterday (why not do everything at once right!?). We have been scoping out Harry Monster Elsaesser for a few weeks and made it official yesterday. He is Lyla's 4th birthday present from my wonderful grandparents, but we picked him up a few days early since we wouldn't have been able to get him any other time (: In her words "Is he a boy?" ("yes") "I never had a brother before!" She is thrilled, and he's only had one accident so far. We start "official" puppy training tomorrow (:
Love you friends! Keep us in your prayers as we embark on our new adventure(s) (:
I had a few people ask me yesterday what our big news was from Wednesday, so I figured I need to get this post written... and what better day than Mother's Day!
Evie update first: She's doing great! Had a little fever a few days ago, but I'm pretty sure she's just teething... and growing like a weed!
Okay, our big family news. On Wednesday John and I attended a luncheon to learn about Foster Care. It was put on by an organization called Christian Heritage, who place kids in Christian foster homes. We have prayed about adoption, fostering, and the prospect of additional kids for a while now, and thought we might go gather some info. Lunch was good, we both enjoyed it, and met some neat people who work for Christian Heritage.
Thursday afternoon I called to see if we could start training this summer, and training had started the week before. Bummer. So I chatted with the guy, thinking we would start training in the fall (we weren't really in a hurry) and by the end of the conversation he invited us to come that night, and just start a week behind everyone else. SO we officially started Foster Parent Training on Thursday night! It was the 2nd of 10 weeks of training, that will be followed by a home study, so I'm thinking we may not be licensed for 3-5 months, we are still new to learning how it all works. And Evie successfully stayed with a non-familial babysitter for the first time - and loved it! Huge relief for us.
We are hoping to ease our way into fostering, so our initial plan is to do "respite fostering" this fall. By doing respite we would take kids who are in foster homes already for a weekend or a week to give the families a break. This gives us time to get our feet wet, experience what foster parenting is like, and see how it affects our kids. Then we will pray about the right timing in doing long term foster care, and possibly adopting.
So we're excited that God has opened this door for us, and we're feeling really blessed that we have already saved money with the intent of adoption... because we're going to need a bigger car! My Honda Element has two seats in the back claimed by Lyla and Eve, so I'm seeing a minivan in our future. Luckily we have a few months before we will be licensed to figure out how more people are going to fit in our house and our car, but it will all be fulfilled with God's blessing in his time.
Lastly, we added a new member to our family yesterday (why not do everything at once right!?). We have been scoping out Harry Monster Elsaesser for a few weeks and made it official yesterday. He is Lyla's 4th birthday present from my wonderful grandparents, but we picked him up a few days early since we wouldn't have been able to get him any other time (: In her words "Is he a boy?" ("yes") "I never had a brother before!" She is thrilled, and he's only had one accident so far. We start "official" puppy training tomorrow (:
Love you friends! Keep us in your prayers as we embark on our new adventure(s) (:
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
I can...
stand all by myself!!!
finally loving these braces (:
happiest kids at the hospital (: you can't see Evie's hands because she's clapping
Hey Friends (:
Our crazy busy week was great, although I can't wait to go to BED tonight!!
A few highlights: Evie showed her physical therapist, bone doctor, and geneticist her new milestone... standing!!! Her xrays and kidney ultrasound and most of her blood numbers were normal or nearly normal, and her developmental scale test went fantastic. The lady testing her was shocked at how well she's doing compared to last time... horray!
Thanks for caring about us, loving us, and all of your encouraging notes.
Love you!
Monday, April 25, 2011
April Showers...
bring crazy schedules???
Hi Friends (:
Last week I decided to sign Lyla up for swim lessons to get her ready for the summer, and with that one addition it looks like a bomb went off on my calendar! So I put the kids down early to sit down and take a little break (:
Happy Easter! He is Risen! I have put a lot of thought into how to post about Easter this year. I barely got through the weekend without shedding a few tears whenever a song would come on about our risen Lord. Aria had a scare last week, and I was reminded of how it feels to surrender our children to God. Evie has "coded" twice in her short little life, and both times I felt so out of control and helpless. The first time I guess I was pretty helpful since I had to pump the ambu-bag to keep her breathing, but the second time a rush of hospital staff came in to save her while we stood nearby and tried our best to explain her disease and beg them not to break her ribs with CPR.
When I was pregnant with Evie I told my mom I could handle anything, except if they told me she wasn't going to survive. Obviously that news was devastating. What do you do as a mother? I had another child to take care of, I couldn't cry ALL the time nor did I want to. So I decided Eve's life had already begun, and was continuing on inside of me until it was time to go. I remember spending one night, sitting on the computer just as I'm doing now, looking at headstones because I didn't think I would be able to pull myself together enough to do it once she was gone and I wanted hers to be beautiful.
I read on another mom's blog about visiting her daughter's "doorway to heaven," her place of rest. I read the story of her dying in her mother's arms, as it was thought Eve would do. The only way I survived those few months was knowing that Jesus was waiting to take her home, and she would feel much more love in Heaven than she ever would here on Earth. God loved us so much, that he watched his very own perfect Son die to pay the penalty for MY sin, so that I could spend eternity with my daughter. To prepare a place for us to live, laugh, and spend time together forever.
So I spent a lot of time this weekend sheilding Lyla from the Easter Bunny and focusing her eyes on Jesus. It would be devastating for me if she misses the point. Yep, I'm turning out to be "that mom." (: I know we have a lot of years until she will fully understand the story, but I figure I can't erase what I fill her mind with in these formative years. Hopefully she wasn't the only kid who got a note from the ol' Bunny that said "He Is Risen! Love the Easter Bunny." I told her he is so happy that Jesus is Risen that he hides eggs in everyone's yards to celebrate, to which she replied, "that's weird!" (:
Adding to our crazy schedule, this is Eve's 3 month week of blood draws, urine samples, xrays, a kidney ultrasound, PT eval, and a doctor visit... so we will be at the Med Center every day (: After a weekend of celebrating I'm going to cherish the time we get to spend together, even if it's at the hospital for a few hours.
Love you friends! Thanks for checking in with us, you guys are the best.
PS - I am in the process of uploading pics from our camera... coming soon!!!
Hi Friends (:
Last week I decided to sign Lyla up for swim lessons to get her ready for the summer, and with that one addition it looks like a bomb went off on my calendar! So I put the kids down early to sit down and take a little break (:
Happy Easter! He is Risen! I have put a lot of thought into how to post about Easter this year. I barely got through the weekend without shedding a few tears whenever a song would come on about our risen Lord. Aria had a scare last week, and I was reminded of how it feels to surrender our children to God. Evie has "coded" twice in her short little life, and both times I felt so out of control and helpless. The first time I guess I was pretty helpful since I had to pump the ambu-bag to keep her breathing, but the second time a rush of hospital staff came in to save her while we stood nearby and tried our best to explain her disease and beg them not to break her ribs with CPR.
When I was pregnant with Evie I told my mom I could handle anything, except if they told me she wasn't going to survive. Obviously that news was devastating. What do you do as a mother? I had another child to take care of, I couldn't cry ALL the time nor did I want to. So I decided Eve's life had already begun, and was continuing on inside of me until it was time to go. I remember spending one night, sitting on the computer just as I'm doing now, looking at headstones because I didn't think I would be able to pull myself together enough to do it once she was gone and I wanted hers to be beautiful.
I read on another mom's blog about visiting her daughter's "doorway to heaven," her place of rest. I read the story of her dying in her mother's arms, as it was thought Eve would do. The only way I survived those few months was knowing that Jesus was waiting to take her home, and she would feel much more love in Heaven than she ever would here on Earth. God loved us so much, that he watched his very own perfect Son die to pay the penalty for MY sin, so that I could spend eternity with my daughter. To prepare a place for us to live, laugh, and spend time together forever.
So I spent a lot of time this weekend sheilding Lyla from the Easter Bunny and focusing her eyes on Jesus. It would be devastating for me if she misses the point. Yep, I'm turning out to be "that mom." (: I know we have a lot of years until she will fully understand the story, but I figure I can't erase what I fill her mind with in these formative years. Hopefully she wasn't the only kid who got a note from the ol' Bunny that said "He Is Risen! Love the Easter Bunny." I told her he is so happy that Jesus is Risen that he hides eggs in everyone's yards to celebrate, to which she replied, "that's weird!" (:
Adding to our crazy schedule, this is Eve's 3 month week of blood draws, urine samples, xrays, a kidney ultrasound, PT eval, and a doctor visit... so we will be at the Med Center every day (: After a weekend of celebrating I'm going to cherish the time we get to spend together, even if it's at the hospital for a few hours.
Love you friends! Thanks for checking in with us, you guys are the best.
PS - I am in the process of uploading pics from our camera... coming soon!!!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
what to say...
Hi Friends!
I'm still here (: Actually I've been to paradise and back in the past week... my older sis earned a trip through work to go to Orlando for a few days, so we left Wednesday morning, spent nearly three whole days laying in the sun or riding bikes, and sleeping all night. It was amazing, refreshing, rejuvenating. And how many women get a few days away with their best friends!? Not many. I'm a lucky gal.
Today I went back to the hospital to see Aria and Anita. I got a text on Friday, that she does indeed have cancer. For details I will let you check out her website so I don't misinterpret any information http://aria.org.nz/ . I am convinced that there are many instances in which I won't understand why things happen on Earth, but that doesn't make them any less heartbreaking. Keep their family in your prayers as they start treatment and wait to go home. and that I can know how to support them. In such hard situations it's hard to know how to help.
Evie is doing well. Her braces are still on despite her many attempts to take them off and throw them away (: We have resorted to covering the Velcro with work-out bands, so she can't get to them.
I heard the song Blessings by Laura Story the other day on the radio, and it is just so relevant. I found a youtube video if you'd like to hear it. http://youtu.be/1CSVqHcdhXQ I've had it stuck in my head for the past few days, not by coincidence. So relevant to suffering, heartache and God's mercies.
Love you friends, I'll get some new pics of these cute girls up soon (:
I'm still here (: Actually I've been to paradise and back in the past week... my older sis earned a trip through work to go to Orlando for a few days, so we left Wednesday morning, spent nearly three whole days laying in the sun or riding bikes, and sleeping all night. It was amazing, refreshing, rejuvenating. And how many women get a few days away with their best friends!? Not many. I'm a lucky gal.
Today I went back to the hospital to see Aria and Anita. I got a text on Friday, that she does indeed have cancer. For details I will let you check out her website so I don't misinterpret any information http://aria.org.nz/ . I am convinced that there are many instances in which I won't understand why things happen on Earth, but that doesn't make them any less heartbreaking. Keep their family in your prayers as they start treatment and wait to go home. and that I can know how to support them. In such hard situations it's hard to know how to help.
Evie is doing well. Her braces are still on despite her many attempts to take them off and throw them away (: We have resorted to covering the Velcro with work-out bands, so she can't get to them.
I heard the song Blessings by Laura Story the other day on the radio, and it is just so relevant. I found a youtube video if you'd like to hear it. http://youtu.be/1CSVqHcdhXQ I've had it stuck in my head for the past few days, not by coincidence. So relevant to suffering, heartache and God's mercies.
Love you friends, I'll get some new pics of these cute girls up soon (:
Friday, April 8, 2011
THIS far...
Hi Friends (:
Experiencing miracles is a tricky business. I have been blessed by the miracle of Eve's life so much every day, and in the meantime have met families who are experiencing miracles right along with us. Miracles are awesome. Amazing. Wonderful. Awe-inspiring. Sometimes once-in-a-lifetime. The down-side to miracles, is we usually have to experience heartache first. Big deep painful heartache. Then comes deliverance. Miracles.
Today I got a text from Aria's mom that said "It's a miracle ! Likely neither cancer or graft v host. Going home today" I couldn't help but cry, it doesn't get much better than those three words 'it's a miracle,' not to mention the other three 'going home today.' Hospitalized families long to hear those words. On Monday Aria went to the OR to have her biopsies and tests with an 85% chance of cancer. Answers coming Tuesday. Tuesday there were no answers, but the docs thought Aria might have graft vs. host... meaning her transplanted organs were attacking her body. And today she is home, waiting for final confirmation that she has neither. Cry out to God friends, he HEARS, and he ANSWERS. and some days just SING his praises.
When Aria's mom texted me, I immediately thought of a passage we have been studying in my women's study in 2 Samuel 7, where God makes a promise to David, and David responds by saying "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" Honestly friends, I could pray this prayer every morning. Every evening. Two years ago we were in mourning, and God has brought us SO far. Who am I Lord, that you have brought EVIE this far. That you have brought ME this far. That you have brought JOHN and LYLA this far. That you have brought our FRIENDS this far. I am so thankful that God inspired David to write those words, as a written reminder of his faithfulness and how much he LOVES us. I couldn't feel more loved. Thank you Lord.
Thank you for joining me in prayer for Evie and Aria. I just finished reading the book "Heaven is for Real" about a little boy who takes a trip to heaven during an operation in which he nearly died. When he came back he slowly told his parents about his experience, but noted frequently 'Jesus loves the children. Jesus really loves the children. Don't forget, Jesus loves the children.' Thanks for loving my kids Jesus. I need that comfort (:
and I love you friends (: You are dearly loved.
Experiencing miracles is a tricky business. I have been blessed by the miracle of Eve's life so much every day, and in the meantime have met families who are experiencing miracles right along with us. Miracles are awesome. Amazing. Wonderful. Awe-inspiring. Sometimes once-in-a-lifetime. The down-side to miracles, is we usually have to experience heartache first. Big deep painful heartache. Then comes deliverance. Miracles.
Today I got a text from Aria's mom that said "It's a miracle ! Likely neither cancer or graft v host. Going home today" I couldn't help but cry, it doesn't get much better than those three words 'it's a miracle,' not to mention the other three 'going home today.' Hospitalized families long to hear those words. On Monday Aria went to the OR to have her biopsies and tests with an 85% chance of cancer. Answers coming Tuesday. Tuesday there were no answers, but the docs thought Aria might have graft vs. host... meaning her transplanted organs were attacking her body. And today she is home, waiting for final confirmation that she has neither. Cry out to God friends, he HEARS, and he ANSWERS. and some days just SING his praises.
When Aria's mom texted me, I immediately thought of a passage we have been studying in my women's study in 2 Samuel 7, where God makes a promise to David, and David responds by saying "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" Honestly friends, I could pray this prayer every morning. Every evening. Two years ago we were in mourning, and God has brought us SO far. Who am I Lord, that you have brought EVIE this far. That you have brought ME this far. That you have brought JOHN and LYLA this far. That you have brought our FRIENDS this far. I am so thankful that God inspired David to write those words, as a written reminder of his faithfulness and how much he LOVES us. I couldn't feel more loved. Thank you Lord.
Thank you for joining me in prayer for Evie and Aria. I just finished reading the book "Heaven is for Real" about a little boy who takes a trip to heaven during an operation in which he nearly died. When he came back he slowly told his parents about his experience, but noted frequently 'Jesus loves the children. Jesus really loves the children. Don't forget, Jesus loves the children.' Thanks for loving my kids Jesus. I need that comfort (:
and I love you friends (: You are dearly loved.
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