I did not anticipate needing to cut my infant’s hair at only 5 months old, but with the bald spots and mullet she had going I decided it was time. The ring of crazy hair around the sides of her head reminded me of Crusty the Clown. Once the bald spots fill in and catch up with the rest of her hair, we’ll let it grow longer! Abby started crying and flopping around in the seat so I never did get an after picture.
Sam has a special blanket that he is completely attached to. “Puppy” as he is affectionately called has endured many illnesses and hardships with Sam, including the 8 day hospitalization and he even went into the endoscopy. It is a sad hygiene situation when you only have one lone Puppy-the hour it takes for the washer and dryer to finish Puppy’s bath feel like an eternity when you are having a bad day and you are only 2 years old. We finally got wise to the security object situation and purchased “A pair and a spare” pink version of Puppy for Abby- identical triplets, so there is always a backup available in crisis. Sam was delighted to bestow these precious items on his sister. “JUST LIKE MINE!!!!” he declared with triumph.
Surprisingly, pink Puppy seems to be just as comforting as original Puppy. So pink Puppy is loved on by Sam and then handed over to Abby occasionally throughout the day. I wonder how long Abby will tolerate this kind of “sharing.”
We finally took Sam to his long anticipated appointments with the doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He underwent an extensive evaluation to see if they could determine the cause of his poor weight gain and problems with food intolerances. It was a hard week for us and him to endure these procedures, but we are thankful to have the opportunity to get this level of care.
The main finding was an abnormally high number of eosinophils in Sam’s colon, which sometimes causes chronic abdominal pain. The cause may be foods or may be an abnormal immune response to his normal intestinal flora. We will keep him on his restricted diet and try a new medicine that helps reduce colon inflammation. The doctor said often kids will eventually outgrow this condition. We are still do not have a definitive diagnosis, but this is “a target to shoot at” as the doctor put it. Sam’s symptoms go in cycles, so if he goes into a sick cycle again we can come back to this new GI doctor for another evaluation while he is having problems.
Sam about to rock his upper GI series.
It ended up taking 3 people to hold him down for an hour to get all the images needed.
We were so blessed to stay with Jason’s family in Cincinnati. The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins.
We are relieved the week is over and pray that Sam will do well with his new medicine. I always remind myself that God did not make mistakes when he made Sam, and he will use this to His glory. Sam, like all of our children, belongs to the Lord!
Our big trip is finally here. We are taking Sam to the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. This opportunity is a huge blessing for Sam and we are hopeful they will be able to secure a diagnosis for us and help manage his problems better. Here is a summary of our week-
Sunday- clear liquids only all day, laxatives and 3 enemas before bed
Monday- meet with GI doctor at 8:30, undergo upper and lower endoscopy under anesthesia at 12:30. After that he can eat!
Tuesday- meet with allergist, undergo prick testing and have food patches placed on his back
Wednesday- no medical appointments
Thursday- Follow up with GI doctor to review pathology results
Friday- Follow up with allergist and nutritionist on patch test results
This is a huge undertaking for us to bring our whole family on this trip. Thankfully Jason’s brother has very graciously invited us to stay with them- I hope they won’t regret it as we are quite the family circus. Please pray for Sam’s safety to undergo the procedure and that he will be consolable through all of this testing. Please pray that the doctors will have wisdom to help Sam be able to eat and grow and be a happy, healthy little boy!
Jake’s 5th birthday party was at Bounce U, or “The Jump-Jump-Slide” as Jake and Ben have coined it. We had the best time.
Now for the big visit to the pediatrician tomorrow, where two of my children will receive a grand total of 10 vaccinations. Just a small downer on an otherwise fabulous turning 5 celebration. Lord help us.
It has been 2 weeks since the flood. God’s grace and goodness to spare our home is overwhelming. We are surrounded by constant reminders of the monstrous murky brown waters that rose so quickly to overtake our community. They have left devastation that will never be fully repaired. The reality of what has happened is sinking in in new ways for us- it is surreal to be inside your house where everything is the same, but all around us our peaceful street and our world has changed. Looking out the front door, going to the grocery store… there is debris piled everywhere. Physical signs of homes and businesses destroyed. Each day there are five or six search and rescue vehicles parked in front of my house from dawn till dark. Dump trucks and excavators working on the once quiet riverside trail. Boats and cadaver dogs. All signs of life lost, one body not yet recovered. Red cross relief vans. Helicopters circling overhead. Police cars patrolling up and down the street. Today a couple drove by and said some things had just been stolen from their house.
The kids are different too. We could pretend we weren’t scared while the rain kept coming and the water was rising, we told them we are having a rainy day party, with lots of friends over, and Mommy is just organizing some things to pack in the car! But in the aftermath we cannot pretend that people aren’t hurting, homes aren’t wrecked. They see it everywhere we go. And they ask so many questions that are hard to answer without getting into some pretty heavy theology. Their play is different- lots of narrative about natural disasters, a lot of rescues. I pray for wisdom that we will make the most of every opportunity to teach them through this experience. Every night Ben prays, “And thank you God for protecting our house.”
I am not complaining- we are not suffering. But we are hurting for the many people whose lives have been turned upside down by this flood. We are trying to help where we can. None of us will ever be the same.
For all my friends who live other places!
Our house was not damaged, but many homes in our neighborhood were destroyed. There is so much need it is overwhelming. I have a few pictures of my own I may post later, but this is a great summary….
Sam has been so sick lately. He is not eating. When one child suffers, the whole family suffers. I have cried my eyes out over this child a hundred times.
One new conviction today was, if I would really behold and believe how big God is, and recognize even a fraction of His glorious power, this issue with Sam would seem so small. It is a problem of unbelief, a problem of being unable to release him to God. My vision of God is far too small, my vision of earth far too big. How can I rest if I do not trust? I can only believe with the faith that He gives, and so I ask, please Lord, give me more faith, help my unbelief.
I certainly love comfort more than Jesus, and suffering will definitely help remedy that! And that is a blessing! Thank you Lord for not leaving me cold and lifeless in my comfort, and my small vision of You.
My prayer must change from “ take away this pain!” to, “MORE of You Jesus, give me more of Yourself.”
Not feeling so great.
We even made it to church on time. The spit up all over Abby and I dried before we got there. It was a beautiful service and a beautiful day. I am so thankful that we have LIFE and I pray that God will draw these children unto Himself by His grace and awaken them to saving faith one day soon.
No more scrubbing to get the sand and dirt out of their scalp, no more bed head, no more crying while mommy combs the tangles out of your mop. Ben saw Jake’s new do and said, “I want a buzz, Mommy.”
Now I have to look twice to see who is who. A bit scary isn’t it?
So after the sad outcome of our little seedlings starts, we did a different kind of gardening project. This was no-fail and really fun!
I love to look at seed catalogs. Then I realized how fun it would be for the boys to look at them too, and incorporate a scissors and glue activity along with it. The boys had a great time planting their own gardens (after adding brown crayon garden soil of course) . Not sure what’s happening in the center of Jake’s plot.
The boys enjoyed popping seeds into this starting tray in anticipation of our spring garden. Tomatoes, broccoli, and some summer flowering annuals were started. Everything was sprouting and looking great. I put the trays out one afternoon to harden off the little seedlings. Then I forgot them outside overnight and they all wilted. Then I forgot them again during a hard rain, and one tray fell off its perch and the pods were scattered and soaked. Whoops! The lesson here is, this spring I have too many babies to be caring for baby plants too. Hopefully the seeds we put directly in the ground will fare better than this!
This morning while I was making lunch I handed Sam a piece of dried mango. He took it and went back over to the couch. A minute later, he brought it back- a common Sam practice. “Here, Mommy.” He hands me this squishy brown blob. Its a little too squishy. I pause and look over at Sam, who is now walking funny and has a wet spot on his jeans. Yes, it was a piece of poop that had fallen out of his pants, not a piece of dried mango. Nice.
This is not my best poop story however. No, the best one was about a year ago when I was trying to potty train Ben, and 3 or 4 of us were in the bathroom as a group (as we so often are!) and I was putting him on the potty, and suddenly Sam starts crying. I look over and he is standing there with a log of poop in his hand that had apparently fallen out of Ben’s pants in the potty transfer process. And he had taken a bite out of it.
I just figured out how to use Windows Live Writer to create blog posts. The things you can accomplish when you get up at 5 am! This is going to inject new life into this neglected blog I think. The old blogger posting interface was too frustrating for me to use, so this is going to make it easier and a lot more fun!
The pediatrician asked if I was reading to Abby. The answer is yes, yes. She’s following right along in our Sonlight Curriculum. Thanks doc.
I thought they could play outside while I cleaned the house inside. This is often how it goes with the three boys. The treadmill effect is still happening- work really hard, but you get nowhere. I’m happy they had fun though. Charlotte Mason would be proud I suppose.
