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We are thankful for the safe and smooth arrival of Eden Hope, born Friday at 5:10pm weighing 6 lbs, 5 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. Here are some pictures.
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Need to be quick as my bag has yet to be packed and last minute details to be thought through. Yesterday I received news that my amniotic fluid has dropped significantly and is measuring via ultrsound about half as much as it should be. The theory is that my placenta is deteriorating early or their is some obstruction in the cord preventing adequate blood flow to the baby and thus declining baby output (which is what most amniotic fluid is made of at this point). Because I was 37 weeks Wednesday and the baby looked great on ultrasound, my midwife thought induction to get this baby into our world would be a healthier option than letting her reamain in utero any longer. I already forgot once tonight that I am going to the hospital tomorrow to have a baby!! I put this list of famous men's thoughts about their mothers together a while ago and will offer it as encouragement to mothers out there or those who love their mothers! What an unparalleled and honorable role we serve!! My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children. The God to whom little boys say their prayers has a face very like their mother's. The future destiny of a child is always the work of the mother. Men are what their mothers made them. Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.
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. This is so different than going into labor naturally which has been my experience three times. I feel reassured after talking with my midwife today and several friends who've been through the induction experience. It's just such a different midset for me and I'm still not "all the way there" in realizing what's actually happening. It's quite surreal, but any childbirth experience has that element to some degree I guess. God willing, we'll have some wonderful news for you on my next post! |
While I was forbidden to post pictures of everyone's blue tongues, I have to tell you about the most unusual cake we've ever eaten. We celebrated Greg's 35th bday while his parents were visiting and his cake choice was a store bought ice cream cake. Not being part of the purchasing committee, I set my eyes on the bluest cake known to man that when touched, eaten or probably even looked at, turned you all shades of blue. It reminded me of something from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The children quickly dubbed it the "blue tongue cake". Here is a more sane picture from our birthday celebration.
Other highlights from a week with grandparents were a day of skiing at Snowbasin and eagle watching at a nearby frozen bay of the great Salt Lake. Being bird enthusiasts, Greg and his parents were thrilled to see dozens of eagles perched on the icy bay.
Now the next set of pictures shows what two kids will do with an extra day with rental skis, a tiny mound of snow in the front yard and no parental supervision! Actually, we were sitting in the front room watching this unfold ready to intervene if needed. It was quite entertaining though. Andrew was trying to give Esther her first "ski lesson", imitatiing all the moves Greg taught him while wearing boots and skis 4 sizes too big for her. Not surprisingly she nailed it and thought she was hot stuff. And I'd say she fits the description considering he once decided she was ready for a starter push even before getting the second boot clipped into the ski. What a pair!?!?! We even cracked the front door open so we could get audio and well as the visual. They had no idea we were watching.
Now it's Andrew's turn to show her how it's done! And yes, he's wearing short sleeves in 35 degree weather - what can we say? He is really hot-natured!
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Three generations of skiiers! 
Andrew receiving instruction from Greg going down the hill. He can't wait to go back.
What the girls did all afternoon while the guys skiied. We did enjoy a ride up the gondola for a nice view from the top and some hot chocolate in the lodge. Don't get me wrong, Esther was begging to get out there but we ran out of instructors. Next time, Essie.
Greg, his mom and the kids at Farmington Bay looking for eagles.
Ahhhhhhhhhh - spotted one! 
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We are SOOOOOOO excited to say that after many months of hoping and praying, Phoebe started to crawl last week. The week started off with a few wobbly attempts and ended yesterday with her almost falling down the stairs because we had NO idea that she could get to them as fast as she did and far away as they were. Greg saw her and caught her before she went over the edge and now our home with 4 levels with soon be fitted with gates everywhere! You may wonder why I am am so excited about crawling rather than wanting her to walk. We have read and heard that cross-pattern crawling is a HUGE step in brain development and critical for higher level brain "organization". For a child like her, it's probably more critical for her overall development (visual, auditory, gross motor, fine motor and sensory) to achieve the crawling milestone than walking. We have also seen the past month many advancements in other areas which we were told would happen by her neurodevelopmentalist when she learned to cross-pattern crawl. No pictures or video yet but I wanted to report the wonderful news! Thank you all for your prayers!!!!! This has been a huge example of prayer working and God's timing being perfect. We have been specifically praying for about 7 months now that Phoebe would become mobile before the baby comes. Well, it's 6 weeks away from the due date, and He saw fit to answer this prayer now. It has been getting harder for me to lift and carry her lately, and I wondered how I would manage carrying a newborn and a 2 1/2 year old around everywhere. How reassuring to remember that God will not give us more than we can handle. Another specific request we've been praying for daily is for her brain to be healed from seizures. She's been seizure-free on her current medication for about 14 months now. If you feel led, please join me in praying this for her. Her neurologist will consder weaning off meds after she's been seizure-free on meds for at least 2 years. I hope this encourages you to remember God's faithfulness to His children in whatever weighs heavy on your heart today. |
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Legos and lasertag....that's how you could sum up Andrew's 7th birthday earlier this month. I'm in shock that he is SEVEN - that age always seemed to me like the dividing line between little and big boy. Thanks to his chocolate sweet tooth, I got to make my new favorite recipe - chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We celebrated at home with cake and presents after Greg took him out for a special birthday lunch. Then we joined together with family friends for a joint party for Andrew and their 2 sons at a local family fun center for laser tag, roller skating, bouncy houses, a pirates cove and more chocolate - cupcakes this time! A bit chaotic with 20 kids and 7 parents but the kids had so much fun!! Here's a sampling from our celebrating:
A little glimpse from our history lesson last week......how do you teach a child about Stonehenge? Have him build it!!
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All's well here. The snow is melting in this "tropical heat wave" we're having in UT. It looks so strange to see rain falling instead of snow in January. Baby C is 32 weeks and counting. Everything is looking and sounding good inside. She's been getting hic-cups almost every night and squirming around a lot inside. We need to start getting ready for her arrival at home. The nesting phase has kicked into overdrive. I think I'm driving dh crazy with my talk of rearranging and buying new furniture. My blog title refers to an episode that happened last night. Probably funnier in person than I can relate over the web but I'll tell the story anyway. We try to spend some quality Andrew time each night after the girls go to bed since he is at the age where he has withdrawn a bit from the attention demanding antics of a younger lad. We play a game, make something in the kitchen or, our usual, read. Last night, I read from Pilgrim's Progress and then a book about Daniel and the Babylonians. In all I spent about an hour reading and discussing his thoughts on the books. I had to go upstairs for about 10 minutes and told him he could read from his book during that time, The Chimney Sweep's Ransom, a cute story about John and Charles Wesley. When I came downstairs I found Greg lying on the sofa with him listening to him read from his book. It was probably 5-10 minutes that this was happening. Well, when I tucked him in, I asked him if he had a good time with Mommy and Daddy tonight. He said "Yeah, mostly with Daddy." I had to chuckle and just smiled and said "Daddy is a lot of fun, isn't he?" After telling Greg the story and him getting a kick out of it also, we were reminded of a few interesting things about kids. 1. Isn't it funny how with kids, quantity doesn't always equal quality? I can spend countless hours playing, reading, teaching, and talking to our children, but 5 minutes of Daddy time can be far superior to their little hearts. 2. While a mother can seem invisible in her presence and influence in her children's lives, she has to remember a childhood of her steady love, training and nurturing shape those children more than they'll ever realize. 3. There is nothing that can compare to the influence a father has in his children's lives. The impact Greg has on our kids is beyond anything else in their lives. With such little time and creativity, Greg can light up our kid's lives, make them feel so loved and special, and give them experiences they won't forget. Sometimes I guess we need to think more like a child to understand our children. |
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We are so grateful for snow plows out here in snowy Utah!! The white stuff's been coming down a lot lately, but gave us a break today to let us see the sun sparkling on all the white powder. We cancelled a hearing test (ABR) for Phoebe last month because of a mild cold and terrible road conditions only to trade the appt date with yesterday, probably a worse weather day. Since rescheduling again would probably mean a 2-3 month wait (they managed to get us in to a cancelled spot yesterday), I prayed for traveling mercy and drove down to SLC for her test. There is bad news/good news to report. The test itself was her 3rd and by far the hardest yet!! She fought the sedation for an hour and then when she did fall asleep, she woke up half way through the test. We couldn't get her back to sleep and the test could not be completed without her sedated. That was the bad news part - we only got one ear fully tested. The GREAT, WONDEFUL, AWESOME news was that her left ear tested for the first time NORMALLY!!! Fifteen months ago there was a moderate hearing loss, nine months ago there was a mild loss and now it's normal. We are going to asusme for now that her hearing is the same in both ears since it has been in the past tests. We could be wrong, but at least we know with one normally hearing ear we don't have to put hearing aides back in and her speech development doesn't have the hearing piece complicating matters. We may test the right ear in 6-9 months again but will try to assess her hearing other ways until then. Can we scratch one specialty off the list?!?!?!??!?!? That would be so nice!! It's a crazy place in which to exist - living with a child with an undiagnosed neurological condition which seems to be improving but you just never know what will happen tomorrow?? She has had a lot of good days lately where she seems to be more interested in her siblings, toys and doggie. She is growing great, cute as a button, and been very healthy overall. So many things to be excited about. Yet we live with these mysterious aspects of her condition that are hard to even describe. She's not just developmentally-delayed with hopes she will just "catch up" in time as many have said. We're discovering that her "sensory issues" (to use an OT term) cause her more challenges than we probably realize. She is extremely orally defensive, sensitive to certain noises and movements, occupies herself when she's bored with staring at her wiggling fingers or poking her eye, and a poor sense of balance to name a few. While we are treating all these issues with therapy, they have become a part of who she is to us. As a patient to all her specialists she could really fall through the cracks - none of her challeges warrant serious medical intervention or are deemed life threatening. She does have definite problems though, and we get frustrated hearing "She'll be fine - you should see some of the other patients we treat". We've had our eyes opened to the world of children's special needs and there are so many parents that are real-life superheros for the love and care they provide to these kids. So little attention is given to this group of heros. If you know any, take the time to give them a hug and love on them. It's a blessing just knowing people like that. I've been so blessed by many parents facing much graver challenges than ours. On a lighter note, here's our little "snow plower" who thinks it's a treat to get to shovel the deck. She couldn't even wait until she got dressed - snow boots and a nightgown are enough! |
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A and E unwrapping baby Jesus and taking Mary and Joseph on the final leg of their journey to Bethlehem. What I mean by my title is, how do you wrap up and give the greatest gift of all, Jesus, to others? All month, you hear people (including myself) talking about their Christmas parties, Christmas baking, Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping, and even having lots of "Christmases" with different families on different days (aka present & food overload But what I'm wondering is what are we really doing all this for? Our family really scaled back this year in all of the above, mainly because of time constraints. And I realized something wonderful - Christmas will come even if the cards aren't sent, the baking's not all done, the decorations aren't all up and you've missed half the parties. Let me tell you, I do enjoy the above-mentioned pleasures and the joy it brings to everyone around you. I realize now (took me 34 years!) that less is more and Jesus is enough! As I was searching for some wisdom from my dh about what traditions we want to maintain around Christmas, as I was holding on to the idea that our children "need" these hooks to hang their memories on, he looked me squarely in the eyes (as he does so well) and simply asked "Why?" (another thing he does so well There's no doubt Jesus has gotten "squeezed out" of mainstream America's Christmas celebrations. "O Come Let Us Adore Him" is not a sentiment that you can "turn on" from Thanksgiving until New Year's. I'm convinced that our hearts will naturally overflow the adoration and joy that we sing about in carols if our lives are characterized by them all year. I certainly felt convicted of the "turning it on" this year. I guess the gift that I cherish most this year is knowing that to "wrap up" and "give away" Jesus, the greatest gift you can give, He first needs to be MY greatest gift. On a lighter note, some other Christmas related questions we got this year from our 4 and 6 year olds were "What is a virgin?", "What does "...in excelsis Deo mean?" and "Why does our gingerbread house look like the old run-down Tin Woodman's cottage from The Wizard of Oz?" And you should hear our 4 y.o. songbird's rendition of "Silent Night"! They're always giving you plenty of reasons to smile and keep you on your toes!!
What concentration!?!?!
A not-so-happy Phoebe on Christmas morning!
A little egg nog and a few candy canes.......all better now!!
All you Lego-givers out there made one boy very happy!!!
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........my new adaptive "wheelchair" stroller! Phoebe really must've been a good girl this year because she takes the top prize in scoring over $6000 of new toys! Here she is trying out her new Christmas presents:
This is her new adaptive stroller which is pretty neat. She can ride in style while being supported from head to toe (do I sound like a salesman?) Now if I can just fit an infant carrier on the back??!?!? Don't think I haven't asked Greg to see if he can engineer something for me!
We love Shriner's Hospital!! They gave her these cute custom-fit leg/ankle braces and cute sneakers to give her more support when learning to stand and walk. After only using them a few days she already balanced alone for a few seconds. She seems to feel more secure and stable wearing them.
Her stander is a big improvement from the loaner we had last Spring. This little contraption allows her to stand supported while strengthening her legs and promoting good hip development. We have quite the collection of colorful Phoebe toys on wheels now although right now the stroller has been the home to about 8 of Esther's dolls while it's too yucky to take it outside! She's rather play with it than anything else right now?? Hope all your Christmas wishes come true too! |
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This year I had some great help in the annual buckeye making!
Rolling the balls and making her long-armed snowman! A custom Esther creation!
Andrew got in on the rolling for a little while but he much prefers eating them to making them!
After dipping the peanut butter balls, taking the toothpicks out if the final step. This is when I foolishly burnt my hand on the stove after taking off a pot of melted chocolate.
Package 'em up and time to enjoy! Phew - it's a 2-3 days process to make 700 of those little guys but the end result sure is worth it!
Here's a day in the life of our homeschoolin' bunch:
We've been getting this face a lot lately. It's not as bad as it looks - she's just searching for our reaction. It's pretty cute actually.
Doing some of our seatwork - writing I think. Andrew's copying a verse from a hymn and Esther's working on her letters. Phoebe is working on her standing looking like such a little lady.
Enough to melt a momma's heart!
We finished up a prolonged study of Ancient Egypt with our own reenactment of Ramesus II (Andrew), his wife (Essie) and a Hebrew slave (me)! We had fun making the Egyptian collars and dressing up.
To supplement our learning about ponds, we are raising some tadpoles. We've had them about 4 weeks now and no legs yet but we keep feeding them and they haven't croaked yet?!!?
Can you see them? There's Luke Skywalker and Abigail Sarah! :)
A minor accomplishment to most kids, but to our Phoebe learning to hold a cup, pick it up herself and drink from it are a big milestone. We're so happy for her! |
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So much has happened in the past few weeks since I posted!! I am teetering between "over-the-edge overwhelmed" and "take-a-deep-breath and relax". We've been taking it one day at a time here with new developments and challenges that would've made me zany a few years ago before adjusting to my life of unexpected twists and turns. In it all, we have clearly seen the Lord's grace & mercy in a big way. Since Thanksgiving, Greg and I sadly have both lost grandparents. Thankfully, we were both able to join close family and friends for their funerals back on the East Coast. What a reminder of the sovereignty of God as one who gives and takes away. My family was blessed to have our Nana for 90 years and is continuing to be blessed by her legacy. Imagine what the world and your family will be like if you live to be 90? For me that's in 55+ years! In some ways, I hope I can live that long to see our chlildren, grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up & enjoy a long loving marriage with my sweetheart. I realize though that the joys and splendor of this life are but a flicker compared to the flame of glory that will be waiting for me in heaven, and for that, I do long. After reading Mary Chapman's (Steven Curtis Chapman's wife) Christmas letter on her blog, it reminds me that all we have, the joys and sufferings, are from our gracious Father in heaven. While we mourn our losses, we give thanks we had them to love & cherish. We have seen healing (physical) in a remarkable way in the past few weeks for me. I am usually very healthy and injury-free, but just before Greg was traveling for a week I burnt the palm of my hand badly on the stove. You don't realize how much you use this body part until you can't use it! Even washing that hand was out-of-the-question for about a week. It healed beautifully and quickly with no infection or troubles and came at a time that everyone could pitch in a little more to offset my slack. Another example of God's goodness is that I came home from a week of traveling to the Mayo Clinic and my grandmother's funeral with a head cold that hit me like a freight train. Again, the timing was perfect (if there can be a good time to be sick) & after staying in bed all weekend with Mr. SuperHusband continuing to carry the load from when I was away, I felt 100% better by Monday (which was a good thing for dh has left again for 3 days for work). I have never gotten over a bad cold in 2 days & can explain it no other way than to thank God's healing powers. Boy it's neat to see prayers answered and the Lord working in your life! OK - to the big event of our month so far - the trip to the Mayo Clinic. The trip was worthwhile but a little disappointing. I think I put "all my eggs in one basket", so to speak, in hoping this doctor could "figure it all out for us". While he was typically busy, rushed and had not given even a look at the medical records we sent ahead of time, he seemed to be a very skilled physician and was eager to take on her case. He agreed with the findings of our other eye doctors and ruled out a prenatal stroke or brain injury as causes for her challenges. He leans towards investigating genetic metabolic causes. We have already had lots of bloodwork to test for metabolic causes and so far everything has come back normal. Amazingly, her vision is GOOD and does not need correction, patching or surgery. We heard this from our doctors here but coudln't rest in doing nothing, thinking her vision in her left eye was deteriorating. We don't understand how her vision continues to be good? This isn't the first finding though that was unexplainable (in a good way) to her doctors. THE LORD IS WORKING in little Phoebe, and I think she will lead folks who want to explain everything by science to question another power at work! As we see that unfold, we GIVE THANKS for the opportunity to show others Christ in such a unique way. The neuro-ophthamologist wants us to come back in a couple months and see a neurologist and geneticist at the Mayo Clinic, but we probably won't be able to. We would rather have him and anyone he can pull together out there review and interpret what's already been done from her records and determine if they can do something out there that we cannot have done here. The logistics of getting there were tougher than we expected, partly due to the terribly, horribly fussy travel day Phoebe had, the 4-5 inches of snow that fell on our 2 hour drive to Rochester on top of the already slippery roads there, the temperatures in the teens, and getting our other kids, dog and tadpoles off to friends' houses at the last minute when my mom had to cancel her trip due to a bad case of shingles. Whew - again, despite the last minute setbacks and challenges we are thankful the Lord protected all of us, provided this opportunity free-of-charge to see a world-class physician, has healed my mom, and brought us closer as a family and to the Lord in depending on HIm. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". Jeremiah 29:10-12 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:8-10 |
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Howdy! It's been a whirlwind few weeks without much time to blog. So this post will probably be choppy and full of many different updates. Our trip to the Mayo Clinic is still on but had to be postponed until December 9 to give time to get all the insurance approvals and travel arrangements made. After my dear mother graciously agreed to come stay with A and E, Greg and I were both free to take Phoebe on our 4 day trip to Rochester, Minnesota to see the neuro-opthomologist. After spending the day visiting her neurologist and gathering her medical records at the Children's Hospital yesterday, we are ready to go (well, not quite, but making great progress). She also saw an pediatric orthopedist this week at Shriner's Hospital who agreed that her back does curve quite a bit but her spine and hips are still within normal limits. She did get fitted for leg braces to help her learn to walk which we hope she will be ready for soon. She has shown greater interest in and ability to crawl lately also. We are waiting for her stander and adaptive stroller to arrive soon. Schooling has been going well in the midst of the hectic schedules lately. Here are some of the highlights of our times together. I cherish the closeness and fun times we have.
Andrew just finished his first novel, Naya Nuki. Phoebe seems interested in the story also! His ability to focus and retain information amazes us and is quickly exceeding me in knowledge from all the books he reads and Jonathan Park & Our Story Hour CD's. I knew it would happen some day but didn't quite expect it to happen with our 6 year old! This week turned out to be birthday celebration WEEK for Esther. She turned 4 on Tuesday and we began the festivities with cupcakes at her Bible study class (the kids and I attend Community Bible Study weekly). Afterwards she and Greg went to lunch together, and we concluded the day with some gifts and bowling on base. Today she had a tea party with a few friends. The doll cake and painting were her highlights. I was glad to see lots of smiling faces as tired as I was afterwards!
I am 24 weeks along now and feeling Baby C move all day. We discovered we're having a GIRL and its taken all month to become real. I never imagined having 3 girls - it seems like a daunting task but since Greg just went out and bought a shotgun for any future suitors I think we'll be fine! |
He had an exciting 2nd place finish in his AWANA Grand Prix this year with his Black Widow Spider racecar. He is loving his 4th year in AWANA and leaves me scratching my head with his Bible memorization. I feel I don't often blog about him so I had to brag on him a little this time! 
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This was the question our 3 1/2 year old asked the other day when she dressed herself and did her own hair. Unusual for many little girls, our daughter does not battle us over what she wears and actually prefers me to pick out her clothes. I find her compliance in this area mind boggling since she is so opinionated in every other area of life! I am learning it can be very easy to raise a vain and self-absorbed daughter. There are opportunites in every area of life. How we dress our girls, do their hair, talk to them, treat them, what we allow them to watch and what toys we allow them to play with are some of the ways we can impart our views of beauty to our daughters. Without making a conscious effort, I can often find myself extolling more her appearance than her attitude and character. And how many people's first comment to a little girl when they see her at church or a party is "Oh how pretty you look!" or "That is such a cute dress!"? Not because this is a Biblical mandate, but I do believe that girls should dress like little girls instead of miniature women and play with babies instead of sexy, made-up dolls. I think it makes a difference in their attitude, the way they are viewed and thus relate to other kids and adults. As a side note, I really appreciate the girl clothes my mom and sister find at thrift stores (believe or not) because they are one of few places where modest, little girl clothes can still be found instead of the latest adult fashions found at most popular children's clothing stores. So what was the answer to her question? I'm not claiming it was the perfect answer, for I don't think I've scored any of those yet, but it was something like , "Darling, you made a wonderful choice in your outfit, but you know that your sweet and loving heart make you prettier than anything else." And I usually end comments like this reminding her that she is my treasure. It seems near impossible to combat today's explosion of media & thought directed towards little girls that robs them of their innocence and purity. But this is a task we are up for because it is important for her, her brother, her future husband, and any future children she has. Way too important for us to throw our hands up and admit retreat, don't you think? I am so thankful for the two precious daughters we've been blessed to love and raise. No detail of appearance or behavior goes unnoticed by our little E. I don't want that to change - she will always love painted toe nails, curled hair and a dress she can twirl. She is and probably always will be a very feminine and girly girl. We even talk about it being good for girls to dress and act differently than boys. I just want her to see that beauty comes from much deeper - a "gentle and quiet spirit" 1 Peter 3:4. It's hard to imagine E as ever being "quiet", but I see this verse characterizing meekness, humility, and cheerful submission to the Lord's commands and will. Little girls are a mother's treasure and despite my past and present failures as a mother, I pray that my daughters fully understand by God's grace the priceless jewels they are to us and in His crown. |
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We so enjoyed our recent time with my parents visiting! There are so many traditions they've established with the children, and even though they live so far away, they have such a great bond. I've loved seeing their relationship grow and deepen over time. And not to mention the complete vacation they gave me from the kitchen where my mom whipped up all our suppers, deserts, frozen meals and my dad took over the clean-up crew! Not that we didn't have any fun - we hiked around a beautiful lake near Logan, UT called Tony Grove and visited the local aquarium. They even helped the kids with their schoolwork one day which they thought was great! Here are some memories we made: We experienced the first cooooooolllllldddddd day at Tony Grove. It was in the 30's at the top - which was around 8500 ft elevation. Time to dig out the winter wear and hot cocoa!
The kids thought the fallen tree was the best place to explore and it's all we could do to keep little E from venturing out to the end of it which stuck way out into the lake.
No rock was left unclimbed! We were hoping to see some moose, elk or maybe even some mountain goats but all we caught a glimpse of were some free range COWS. Oh well! My quest for seeing wildlife in the wild continues! With all the noise we made hiking around the lake, any animal would've scattered long before we caught sight anyway!
On to the AQUARIUM! We just wrapped up studying coral reefs so this was a great field trip! That's a sting ray in the pool.
It's way fun to touch all the prickly and slimy sea cucumbers and starfish!
Esther couldn't wait to show DD her gymnastics moves! Not to be outdone, DD proved she can still keep up with a 3 year old!
More proof that you'd do anything for your grandchild. Esther loves "doing hair" and DD was her newest customer.
Warm wishes from snowy Utah! Kathy |
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Well, we've had an eventful couple days and wanted to share what's been going on medically with Phoebe. Yesterday we visited her opthomologist where he agreed with me that her strabismus and head turning have worsened. Oddly, he believes a pronounced head turn indicates improving vision. I thought the opposite. Nothing can be said for sure though since at her age and ability she cannot tell us how well she can see and there's no definitive test. Unfortunately he and his senior partner have run out of ideas for causes and treatment. He doesn't think patching, surgery or glasses would be effecive treatments anymore. This momma isn't satisfied with doing nothing and watching my child's vision deteriorate, just like my momma wasn't 30 years ago when she heard the same news about me from my opthomologist - there's nothing we can do to help your daughter see better - she's too old and it's too late. She found an expert 2+ hours away who did treat me and save the vision in one of my eyes. How ironic that I am now in the same shoes! Thanks for the inspiration mom! So we're on our way (hopefully) to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to see a neuro-opthomologist who specializes in eye problems caused by abnormal brain activity. It's been a busy morning trying to get the ball rolling in this direction. She has an appointment date for 11/10 so now we just have to secure travel arangements and insurance coverage. The insurance coverage piece will probably be the most complicated but how thankful we are to have the costs covered! It looks like Phoebe and I will travel to Minneapolis on 11/9 and stay there a couple nights. I've never traveled this far for a doctor's appointment so am a little apprehensive for all to go smoothly, but it helps to know people travel from around the world to be seen at the Mayo Clinic, so they are very accustomed to patients coming from long distances. Please pray for this trip! Pray that the travel arrangements & insurance piece will go smoothly, pray for Dr. Brodsky at the Mayo Clinic to have some insight into Phoebe's eye problems and a clear plan of treatment to save/improve her vision and for the rest of the family to be supportive and taken care of. On a different note, Phoebe also had a wheelchair evaluation yesterday. It was the consensus among the PT, OT, seating specialist and me that she didn't need a full-fledged wheelchair yet but instead something called an adaptive stroller that has a separate adjustable stand with a tray that the stroller seat can be put on and raised to different levels for home use. It's called a Snug Seat Serval. Her biggest need is not so much mobility at this point but proper posturing for functional hand use and development of her spine and hips. Also we're requesting a stander for her that is much more appropriate for her size and needs. Besides focuusing on functional hand use, we're also really trying to work on her leg strength so we can get her into a gait trainer and begin teaching her to walk. The stander is called a Gecko and also made by Snug Seat if you want to take a peek.
Phoebe's in her new chair customized by Papere. There's more family news and stories to share but I'll save them for the next post. I think this one had enough information to digest. Thanks for your prayers! :) Kathy |
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We're having so much fun with our science habitats! The past 2 weeks we studied ponds and visited one with some friends as our grand finale. Like the cave, there was not as much wildlife as we would have liked, but we'll keep visiting our pond year-round to check out what inhabitants we can find. The children enjoyed the ducks diving underwater for food and the graceful long-necked swans gliding across the water. Most of all they enjoyed splashing, digging in the mud and running through the creeks and shallow areas. We probably picked up 101 aviary diseases but no one's quacking like a duck yet so I guess we're OK!
A walk to the end of a pier a the pond with our friends, K and M, who we love to share field trips with!
Looking for turtles, fish and algae.
Digging for snails and crayfish.
Aren't friends great! Whoever argues that homeschooled kids don't get enough opportunities to socialize don't realize what positive forms of socialization really are! Is being in a classroom all day with 30 of their peers the best and only form of socialization there is? Or is being with people of all different ages and abilities on a regular basis with parental supervision and monitoring what our growing kids actually benefit from more? Not trying to step on any toes here, but I've just heard this criticism far too often and find it totally unsubstantiated. Moving right along........our little gal has gotten dance fever! We found a precious little dance class with a Christian teacher who does a devotion and prays at the beginning of class and treats those children like little jewels. Esther asks every day if she is going to dance class and loves every minute of it! I am so glad she has something to call her own that she enjoys. It's easy for the middle child to be stuck following around the older ones or helping mom with the younger ones. I really hope we can foster Esther's passions and encourage her dreams because she has enough energy and drive to move a mountain!
If you've stuck with me this long, here's your prize - our big news!
Can you read the numbers by each of my darlin's? There is one at the end for the one that is in my tummy - or my womb as my kids love to call it since I explained that the baby is not actually swimming around with the waffle I had for breakfast! Kathy |
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This is about a month late, but life has taken over lately and not left much room for blogging. I hope to post more frequently in the future. We had a great time returning to CO with our friends, the T's, from Charlotte, NC. Greg and Mr. T were supposed to run the Pikes Peak Ascent - a half marathon up to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. The weather changed their plans when the morning of the race the temperature was in the 30's at the race start, and rain was pouring down by the buckets. Of the brave (well probably more foolish than brave) souls who deceided to press on towards the peak over 100 racers were treated for hypothermia. Even though Greg trained dillegently and was so excited to do the race with his friend, I was releaved they wisely chose to forgo it. Maybe next year! After the soggy couple days in Colorado Springs, we drove the scenic route to Frisco, CO. Frisco is a beautiful mountain town near many of the popular ski resorts off of I-70 (Vail, Copper) that is filled with meadows, streams, bike trails, and gorgeous mountain views. The peaks around us got snow which was a pretty sight. Our August weather was in the 50's and 60's while we were there, a bit unusual but it was a nice break from hot dry Utah summer. Our friends showed us many of their favorite spots in and around Frisco. Here at the top of a nearby peak, we took a short hike and fed the chipmunks.
Another day we drove to Copper Mountain and rode the chair lift to the top to hike and have a picnic lunch. Here we are at the top of the chair lift. We ate at the base of the boulder field behind us then the men hiked up to the top of what you can see and beyond. Leaving us moms with 7 kids, we ventured out onto the boulders (except Phoebe who stayed in her backpack). A bit nerveracking but good memories!
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Our homeschool has officially begun this week and with one week under our belts, I am releaved that this year seems to be much more doable than I imagined trying to make adequate time for schooling with all of Phoebe's medical needs, activities and regular homemaker and mother responsibilities! I laid out my curriculum this year basing a ot of our structure on The Well-Trained Mind and using resources from various curriculums. I would not really involve Esther more than she wanted until she turns four, but she is so eager to do "school" like big brother. So we ordered her a Building Thinking Skills workbook from the Critical Thinking company and she doesn't want to put it down when we work on it. Here are some pictures from week one of school: We learned about Digging Up History and how we learn about things from long ago. Here the kids are taking turns excavating a dinosaur skeleton from a plaster mold.
For science we are learning about a habitat every couple weeks using primarily the One Small Square book series. They are fantastic! The habitat of caves was our first subject. We are fortunate enough to live near a cave here so we had to explore the real thing after studying about them all week. Isn't this what homeschooling is all about? At the base of the trail: This is the only time I could brave stopping and getting someone to take our picture. When you see the canyon below, know that we started at that level and hiked to the level where we are standing. I think we are only about half way up where we're standing.
An amazing 13 feet column where a stalagmite and stalatite grew together.
Almost connected.......
This was called the Chimes Chambers where there were tons of helictites and other interesting roack formations. If you look carefully behind Andrew, there is a "mouse hanging from his tail" to the left of Andrew's head and a "chicken hanging from its tail" hanging to the right of Andrew's head.
This is cave bacon!
Andrew saying the pledge to become a National Park Junior Ranger after he took the tour, picked up trash, completed some activites and had an interview with a park ranger. He was quite proud of his new badge and certificate.
More Phoebe and family news to come! Have a great labor Day weekend! K
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Today marked Phoebe's 2nd birthday! I'm one to love lots of planning, people and cake decorating for birthdays, but we kept it very low key this year (for a few reasons). First is we're leaving tomorrow for a week in Colorado and have, as usual, left all the packing and car/house work until the bitter end. Secondly, I've had to realize that for Phoebe all that doesn't matter. She's just happy to have the attention and smiles of her brother, sister, mom and dad. So we celebrated with root beer floats and a few presents. It has been so endearing & sweet to retell the story of the day she came into the world. Truly, a day doesn't pass where we don't thank the Lord for her and praise Him for her precious sweet spirit. He has been so good to us and we love Him so much for giving her to us. When I asked her brother and sister what they loved most about Phoebe today, Andrew(6) answered "Her soft skin and she's so cute" and Esther(3) added "She's so cute" (Esther's in the parrot phase right now!
Esther's homemade card for Phoebe. It was her first attempt drawing a stick figure which was supposed to be Phoebe!
Esther showing a new book to Phoebe.
Our little birthday girl showing her style! We have really enjoyed listening to a new CD we bought for school this year. It's title is "Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart" and it's one of a series by Joni Eareckson Tada and Bobbie Wolgemuth. It's our second one, and I'm very excited about digging into the devotionals, hymn writer histories and hymns themselves. We've been playing the CD the past week to get the songs familiar. It's amazing how just hearing something over and over just cements it in your mind whether or not you are "trying" to learn it. One hymn that has been especially meaningful is "What Can Wash Away My Sin?". The lyrics remind me of such an important truth. The song goes "What can make me white as snow, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus..." I realize the hymnwriter probably was referring to "whole" in a spiritual sense, but I think of Phoebe and her unexplained neurological challenges that make her less that whole in a worldly sense. I think of all of us who are no more whole than she is in the eyes and kingdom of Jesus in a spiritual sense. I think of our Redeemer and Saviour who by His shed blood made us whole again. I think of the day when God's chosen bride, including Phoebe, will be able to leap and sing and dance and praise Jesus at His feet when we will all be whole. No other truth gives me more hope, more comfort, and more joy! |
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Back from vacation to New England that we couldn't breathe a word about beforehand because it was a surprise for my father! Now that we're home we can share all the fun pictures and stories about the newest traveling circus, oh I mean adventure, that we just added to the Cameron family recordbooks! Off we set at 5AM with the help of a wonderful friend who arose from his sweet slumber to taxi us to the airport so we wouldn't have to leave a car there. Of course the last minute loose ends didn't get tied up until the wee hours leaving dh and I with about 3-4 hours of sleep. Not what we planned, but oh well. Thankfully the anticipation of the vacation kept adrenaline fueling our weary bodies all day. After two flights and 7 hours on the plane, we landed in Boston and headed to our destination in Salisbury, MA where Greg's aunt, uncle and many cousins live. We ate supper at their delicious restaurant and were escorted to "the camp", the family's home on Half Moon Pond, where we spent a relaxing and fun-filled 2 days. Fully stocked with all the vacation fun you could possibly imagine, the camp had it all! We kayaked, fished, swam, took outdoor showers, grilled out, looked for turtles and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the serene setting. The kids all slept in until 10am because of the time change and we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves all morning. Here are some photos from the family and fun time had at the camp:
Relaxing on our floats in the water. The one thing we didn't do while there is stay out after dark - the bugs were relentless. They got poor Phoebe one night before we went in with at least 10 bites! That's one thing I forgot about back East!
Greg with his Aunt Barbara who graciously let us stay at her home! Thank you!
With a Phoebe-sized life jacket she was ready for some water action too!
We couldn't drag this fish out of the water for at least 8-9 hours each day. Forget meals - who needs food when there's water to play in all day!?
A favorite Cameron pastime at the camp being passed on to the next generation!
Greg and I with Phoebe and his cousins Laurie and Michelle with her daughter.
Greg with our kids and his cousins Peter and Donna.
Playing in cousin Peter's pool for the afternoon. That seems like enough adventure for one vacation, but it goes on! We spent a few precious hours with our dear Ohio friends, the Batchelors, as we were both en route from NH to RI. It's been a year since seeing them, but as with old friends, you pick up where you left off.
The next morning the BIG SURPRISE took place when my father arrived from SC at the home of one of his friends in Newport, RI for what he thought was a loy-key friends weekend. The 4 Hennessy kids and 6 grandchildren surprised him by crashing this quiet, middle-aged weekend! We spent a WONDERFUL 5 days at their beautiful beach home getting to enjoy family and friends, the beach, the cousins, amazing meals, scooter rides, ocean kayaking, the aquarium, late night card playing, smores by the fire, surfing and a fun birthday celebration!
My parents arriving and reacting to seeing us congregated on the deck! I told A and E to run and give Poppa a big hug when you see him, but they nearly ran him down they were so excited!
We're all so happy to see him and amazed that the 10 month surprise could be pulled off!
Greeting my brother's adorable son.
The fearless foursome together at last - my sister and two brothers who flew in from FL, IN and SC!
The kids loved playing with "Uncle Bubba" on the beach and waking him up every morning. Esther holding a spider crab at the "Save the Bay" kid's aquarium on the beach. All week the words "Esther" and "daredevil" kept popping up together in everyone's conversation!
One of many Carousel rides at the beach! Of course her horse had to be PINK!
Family shot on the beach!
One of Greg and Esther's favorite activities - riding the scooters. Greg took me for an hour ride one evening around the mansions and Ocean Drive - it was breathtaking and a fun way to see it all.
Esther and her cousin creating sand treats!
Phoebe and her cousin getting in on the sand and shell action!
My father with his two chldhood buddies who've kept in touch for 50+ years and are all celebrating the big 6-0 this year. Thank you Naspo's for a memorable and special time at your beautiful house! To top it all off we spent a few hours in Boston before heading back West. What a historically rich city! I could've spent a week there but all good things must end!
We didn't know where to park in downtown Boston & stumbled on the Coast Guard yard. Being in the military helps out in ways you never imagined!
Standing in front of Paul Revere's house - the oldest home in Boston!
After touring the USS Constitution we wanted to capture our last look of the Boston skyline. With a smooth ride home and children tucked in their beds it's no wonder I slept 12 hours that night - having so much fun is quite tiring when it all comes to an end! Until next year! |
