Valentine's Day

Amidst the three-and-a-half weeks of sickness our family has suffered, Hunter and I managed to make some Valentine's Day cards for our families and friends! ( Josh didn't get to help this year because he was called into the Army Reserves.) We did this last year and decided it was a good tradition.
Hunter is currently going through a phase where he does not like his hands to be messy. If there is the tiniest crumb on his finger he will hold out his hand and say, "yuck, yuck" or simply whine until someone takes a wipe and cleans off his hand. It is semi-rediculous. So with the paint, at first he wasn't too sure he wanted his hand covered in slime, but within a few minutes he decided it was really cool that he could leave marks everywhere he touched. He was still sort of hesitant, so that made it a little easier to manage.
I enjoy this tradition with Hunter, and I am happy to say that his handprints turned out slightly better this year!

20 months

(I asked Hunter to smile for me and he made this goofy face and then did a little dance. Wish I would have had the recorder on... it was really cute!)

Hunter is 20 months old today! He is busier than ever and always entertaining us with his clever personality. He loves cars and trains-- he calls them"choo choos"-- right now and those are the most common words out of his mouth. He also enjoys blocks-- he calls them "bocks," his tunnel-- he calls it his "tatoo" (yea that is so funny!), and books. Books about choo choos or cars are priorities.

He loves graham crackers, goldfish, bread, milk, peanut butter, mac n'cheese, honey, and cookies. It is hard to get him to eat anything else! We have been successful with some pasta that has cheese and he usually likes pizza. The doctor told me not to worry-- kids his age need lots of carbs. He is getting carbs, that is for sure! :)

He recovered from his ear tube surgery quite well. He still tests his ears a lot-- like when we are talking to him or he is listening to music he will cover his ears and then uncover them many times. It seems like he is testing how well he can hear. I'm sure it is like a whole new world now that the fluid is gone! As far as sickness, he has been fighting a cold the past week and a half. RSV is going around campus so it may be that. Today his lungs sound awful when he breathes. I am just praying it almost over!


Hunter loves to dance and he has learned how to turn on the CD player in our dining room. He is not supposed to do it, but often when he does he just smiles and says, "dance, dance." He loves to watch Thomas the tank engine and again, he has learned how to operate the DVD player and the TV.

We have started brushing his teeth every night and he actually loves it. He gets really excited when I tell him it is time to brush his teeth. I hope this lasts for a while! He still loves bath time. And he has been showing an interest in the potty the last week or so. One of his new favorite words is "poop." When he says it, we ask, "do you need to go to the bathroom?" Usually he says yes. Then we take him to his potty. He has never actually gone to the bathroom on his potty--yet-- but we think this is at least getting him familiar to it. He is a smart kid. I'm sure it won't be long!

Nana?

Hunter's grandparents came to visit!! Hunter seems to be calling LaVonne something like "nana." We'll see if that sticks!

They made Hunter some wooden blocks that have Thomas all over them. They are a big hit in this house.



Thanks for coming to visit us!

Icephoon 2011

This storm has been much anticipated and it is finally upon us. We are currently under a blizzard warning until noon tomorrow. So far we have seen a lot of ice and it is just starting to transition to snow. Our school closed down yesterday afternoon and everything is cancelled for today.

We slept in until 9--- yes, 9!! Hunter was the first to wake up! Now we are preparing for the worst case scenario-- to be without power. We are cooking a lot this morning, finishing laundry, and we are heating our house a few extra degrees. We don't know if we'll be without power for sure, but we want to be prepared! This afternoon we plan to get together with some friends on campus and play games while we wait out the storm.

Here are some pictures from our apartment this morning. Check out the ice on the tree limbs. It is so beautiful.

This pine tree is right outside our window. The ice hangs on it so gracefully.


We are thankful for Covenant's Snow Plow. He faithfully comes by every half hour or so.

Surgery: Conquered!

Thanks for the prayers, well-wishes, and thoughts for Hunter. His surgery went really well.

We arrived at Children's Hospital just a few minutes after 6 a.m. and found our way to the 6th floor, Same Day Surgery. There were a few people there before us, but it was relatively quiet at this hour. We got Hunter checked in. The front desk had small windows surrounding it that were lit and held a bunch of blocks. Hunter absolutely loved looking at the blocks and was in great spirits.

After we got him checked in, we waited a few minutes in the lobby where there was a large aquarium and several toys that Hunter enjoyed. He kept saying "fishes, fishes, fishes!" It was really cute. At least Hunter wasn't nervous. I was nervous enough for both of us! The hospital gave us a DVD to watch called, "Amanda's surgery adventure" a few days before, and I had talked with Hunter about his procedure and shown him the DVD. I am not sure how much he comprehended, but I am glad I showed it to him. At least he had seen the rooms and the tools that were to be used on him before. It helped me to know what to expect!

Very soon we were called back into room 36 where Hunter's temperature, blood pressure, height and weight were all recorded. We went over his history briefly with the nurse and she was very helpful in answering any questions we had. Then an anesthesiologist nurse came in and went over Hunter's history more in depth. She showed Hunter the mask and then took him for a walk down the hall to see how he would do being separated from us. He was his normal, social, happy-self as he met all the nurses down the hall. Our nurse was pleased to see how well he did and said she wasn't worried about him. After that, Hunter's surgical nurse came in and brought Hunter several stickers and started to get to know him a little. We put a sticker of "Mr. Incredible" from The Incredibles on Hunter's pjs. He really loves stickers.

His surgical nurse and one other nurse then carried Hunter down the hall and into his surgery room. Hunter very happily went with them as Josh & I watched with fear. We were left alone in the room and both of us did not like thinking about Hunter going under the anesthesia. We prayed together and talked and tried to not let our fears get the best of us. In about 15 or 20 minutes, the doctor came in saying everything went really well. He said Hunter had fluid behind both ears that quickly came out after the procedure. He told us to wait for the phone in our room to ring and at that point they would tell us where Hunter's recovery room was. Very quickly after that we were called and we went to room 14 where Hunter was just waking up.

He was limp and angry when I picked him up. I was so happy to see him and hold him! Very shortly he started asking for apple juice again. He drank a full cup and asked for more, then the nurse gave him graham crackers. He was in sugar heaven! :) We only had to wait here for about 30 minutes to make sure Hunter recovered well and then we were able to go home! He was still fussy but loved being cuddled. When we got home, we borrowed the movie The Incredibles from our neighbors and we all cuddled on the couch for a little while. Before the movie was even over Hunter was feeling back to himself.

The process really was amazing. Children's Hospital is so well organized and intentional in how the treated us and Hunter. We are really hopeful that these ear tubes will help him to feel better and not get sick as often!!

The next day, we took Hunter to Bass Pro Shops to look at their giant aquarium. He loved that. When we got home, we were greeted with a beautiful cookie bouquet from Hunter's Great Aunt Pam & Uncle Don and their kids' families. What a fun treat! He LOVES cookies (thanks to his PaPaw Glen!).

Ear Tubes

Please pray for Hunter. He is having a minor surgery tomorrow morning to get ear tubes placed into his ears.

I am absolutely amazed at the size of the tube. It is so much smaller than I expected! It is just wide enough to make a small hole in the ear drum and just long enough to ensure what is behind the eardrum is able to exit the ear. This picture shows the size of the tube relative to a penny. It is tiny, people.
Seeing the tube eased my fears a little as well as made me appreciate the skill of the surgeon who must navigate incredibly small places to do his job. Please pray for our doctor, that he would be able to preform this surgery quickly and that it would be "routine."

We are hopeful this process will help Hunter not only to stop having infections as often, but also that it will help him to hear and understand better which will ultimately contribute to his verbal ability. Hunter is talking a lot and seems to understand us quite well. However, his hearing test on Tuesday showed he has partial hearing loss. We are hopeful that with this procedure his hearing will be restored!

Hope in Tragedy

Where is your hope in tragedy?

I listened to an awesome sermon this morning online, since several events precluded me and Hunter from attending church. Last week, Josh & I were working in the nursery and we missed the sermon. So I listened to last week's sermon entitled, "Unexpected Death and Unimaginable Comfort." Our pastor has been going through a series on death and it has been quite timely for our family.

As most of you know, we suffered a miscarriage on Christmas Day. Our sweet baby came into our lives and left way too soon. It has been rough to say goodbye so quickly to our child. We have decided to name him Patrick-- Josh & I both felt he was a boy, though we don't know that for sure. Josh & I were engaged on St. Patrick's Day in 2007 and we both love the story of St. Patrick.

I find great comfort knowing Patrick is with God and that he has a perfect body in Heaven. This is not how God intended the world to be. We look forward to glory where there will be no more suffering, no more tears, no more death and we will get to be with God for all of eternity. Though I am sad I never met my dear son I am so happy for him to have escaped the pains of this Earth. Now he gets to stand face-to-face with God.

So back to this sermon. Chris outlined the stages of grief and described why it is good to grieve. And then he talked about the hope we have as Christians as we grieve. I want to invite anyone who has suffered a loss of any kind in their lives to listen to this sermon. I found great comfort in hearing that it is normal to grieve and healthy, even. And my heart longs for heaven all the more after hearing the description of glory that is to come.

Here is a link to the sermon.

I know not everyone has the time to listen to a whole sermon, so here are the notes I took:
1. We must dwell on the stunning promise and dramatic implications of immortality
II Corinthians 4:7-12
We have the treasure in jars of clay: a clay pot with diamonds, rubies, emeralds inside the clay pot.
We are mortals. We are prone to cracking, and eventually we will return to the dust from which we came.
We will all contend with death.

2. We must embrace the utter necessity and profound propriety of grief
I Thessalonians 4:13
Grieve-- you have to grieve. You must grieve. It is not an option.
Each person who is grieving in a healthy way is going to pass through all the stages of grief:
1. shock & denial
2. pain & guilt
3. bargaining: often with God
4. loneliness & depression (realization that life is not going to be the same) --> sometimes this takes a while
5. Reconstruction
6. Acceptance and hope --> reaching the "new" normal. It will never be the same, but it is a new normal.

--> process can take days or months or years. Every person deals with it differently.
We need to understand this is a natural process. We need to walk with people through every phase, not jump to the end.
--> we have to let people grieve.
BUT we must not grieve as though we have no hope.
--> HOPE in what? Not just hope that things will be better tomorrow. Not just hope that we will forget. Hope that is placed in someone. Hope that is grounded in a future beyond what we can even see in this life.
--> Even though death is painful and hard and fills us with grief, there is hope of a future glory.

3. We must cling to the awesome promise of eternal glory.
II Corinthians 4:16-18
The things that are unseen are eternal. This world that we live in is not a myth. This world is real, the pain is real.
--> the very struggle we are facing now is preparing us step-by-step to ponder more profoundly the weight of glory that awaits us.
--> The pain is real, but when you get to heaven it will seem like an instant!
--> gaze upon that which is unseen: our soul and the reunion of our soul with our body "eternal weight of glory."
--> what gives us significance?
--> our comfort in spite of our profound loss comes from knowing the faithful love of our savior, Jesus Christ.

Where is your hope in tragedy?
There is reality of sin, the fall, death in this world. This reality is transformed by the promises of eternal life.