prayers for william

an update on our little nephew Will:

he's really having his share of ups and downs. and unfortunately the downs seem to be one after another. he has been really struggling with his lungs (either collapsing, hyperinflating, or a combination therein). and he is also suffering from a form of emphysema. the docs have had to choose between raising his oxygen to dangerous brain/eye damaging levels, and increasing the pressure on the ventilator which may damage the weak and fragile lungs. today he is showing signs of blockage, or possibly deadening of part of his intestine, perhaps a side effect from the steroids being administered to strengthen his lungs. poor little guy!!! and poor mom and dad! our hearts really go out to them... and our prayers are continually rising to the same Heavenly Father who sustained and strengthened OUR little miracle boy just a few short months ago. we know that His plan is different for everyone, but we can't help but plead for the life and health of our sweet little nephew, that he would be healed and relieved of these constant setbacks. Please, Lord, have mercy on your beloved once again!

Actually, the name William means "resolute" or "determined". So we pray for those characteristics to be formed in his little self even now. And may his parents trust you as they are determined to hope, even in the midst of fluctuating circumstances.

destined friends

Allison and I met in my mom's preschool class at Good Samaritan Day School when we were 2 1/2 years old. We shared not only the name Allison, but apparently a lot more, since we managed to remain good friends all through elementary, middle and high school... keep in touch through college, and have continued to be able to 'pick up where we left off' through these past 10 years of getting married and starting our families. Even though we don't get to see each other that often, it feels like nothing's changed whenever we get together. I know I can be myself with her, and there is a comfort in the fact that there is a lifetime of memories between us.
You can imagine the sheer delight when we both found out we were expecting babies (her 3rd, my 2nd) not only in the same month, but on the same due date! We marveled at the thought of them being born on the same day, at the same hospital, in the same town where we spent our childhood years. But when Kyren David arrived on Sept. 20th instead of January 14th-- we realized we'd never know whether or not that would have been the case. Carter David, however, came right on time-- well, 6 hours overdue. Yesterday they met for the first time... and though they couldn't look more different from each other, we know one thing's for sure... These two have a lot in common, and are obviously destined to be buds!

walkie talkie talk

dave thought it'd be funny to teach Christian the 'big' words for things like bruise, scratch, and picture (photograph). gramsy thought it'd be fun to teach him how to play hide and seek with the walkie talkies. she'd hide with one walkie talkie, and talk to him through it til he found her. that game went on forever. it was adorable. the next day, he decided to call Jessup (my parents' dog) on the walkie talkie -- completely his idea. and aside from my coaching on 'the big word for scratch' , the rest of this moment was priceless, as he "shows" Jessup his abbrasion, through the walkie talkie.

pachysandra

i see that smile... come on...!

a day in the blife

i've been thinking of things during the day that i want to blog about. but somehow i just don't get around to it. the same way i don't get around to putting the laundry away, or getting the dishwasher completely emptied before someone wakes up, or finishes eating, or needs a new diaper. . .

i am truly thankful that most nights K is sleeping from 7:30 or 8pm til 5 or 6am. but this week he's been getting up at 4:45ish and is hungry all day long. i guess it's that 3 month growth spurt. (i just made that up, but it sounds about right). i am all FOR growth spurts. I am very thankful that he is growing. i just don't have the energy i need to give him all the extra calories he's craving PLUS get through the day without a nap myself. Ahhh, the woes of housewifery. i am just making myself more thankful as i write this-- as i could be writing about a LOT more trying times. i'll take the growth spurts! Thank you, Lord!

so i don't take as many pictures as i used to -- and i don't write about the silly little things i used to... like the lady who walked up to me in the parking lot of the grocery store and offered me an open bag of apple-cinnamon rice cakes, saying she just opened them and didn't care for them, and wondered if i'd like them, cuz she saw that i had carseats in my car, and assumed i had kids. . . hmm. to take and eat or NOT to take and eat? that is the question i would have spent a whole blog post on. but now i just think, "huh. this is a dilemma. i should blog about it." and then never do. i just hem and haw over whether or not it's ethical to feed the rice cakes to my child til i finally throw the bag away, realizing the risk of even getting another cold isn't worth it... let alone poisoning him for the sake of not wasting a bunch of cinnamon-puffed air.

which brings me to another milestone i didn't have a ton of time to blog about, but would have previously...in my former blife... (blogging life): Christian and Kyren share their first Colds. last week C started coughing, and next thing we know he has a full blown cold. totally not a big, horrible ordeal... unless you're almost 2 yrs old and have never had a cold before. Yes, again, i'm very thankful for this fact! but the poor little guy was adorably miserable for several days. he woke up crying the first night - so upset we thought he was having a night terror. later i realized he was just super-mad that he couldn't breathe and suck his pacifier at the same time. at one point in the night he said with great annoyance and drama, "mommmmy! i have a sick. take it out!" referring to his plugged nose. i finally got him to go to sleep by putting him on the couch to watch a movie...but before i even turned the computer on, he was asleep. so precious. i guess i could have used those moments to blog. but somehow that didn't occur to me. it was 2am.

we prayed and hoped that Kyren would not get the cold... and that if he did, it would not go to his lungs. i've never seen anything like it, but not only did he not get any lung issues, he only had a MILDly runny nose and a tiny bit of congestion-- not even enough to disrupt his eating or sleeping. God is good! Dave and i both got sore throats, but they cleared up in a day or two. So all in all the boys' first Colds were an only partially blog-worthy event. but it was the first thing they've "shared"-- so i guess that makes it special!

well, it's taken me a good 15 minutes to write all this, and unbelievably they are both still asleep... definitely too rare of a precious moment to waste -- the laundry is calling my name. ahh, but so is my own bed...

oh wait... so is Christian.

running commentary

christian's constant commentary on life is always amusing. This morning, however, he has made me laugh every few minutes with his original sayings and adorable thoughts on life. and it's only 7:30 a.m.!

it never comes across as cute in writing... but i have to record some of it, for the family history books.

as dave was preparing to leave for work about an hour ago, christian pointed to him and declared, "You go to work!" and then he added "Worship Jesus!" (this is what we've been saying when dave would get ready to go to church on sunday mornings without us this winter... he'd go to first service and i would go to second). We laughed and dave said, "yes, i can worship Jesus at work too. And YOU can worship Jesus by obeying Mommy today, at home." (good application, dad!)

As dave walked out the door, C said enthusiastically, "Bye, Dad!!!" i added enthusiastically, "have a good day!!" then Christian finished it off with an exuberant, "Don't let the bed bugs bite!"

Sometimes when he's having trouble in the diaper department, i offer to help him by holding his hands while he 'works things out'. This morning he asked to hold my hands. Then he requested, "Mommy, hold your left hand and your right hand!" --just in case i wasn't clear on which hands to offer him.

Just now he picked up a little stuffed animal reindeer and introduced him to his Bob the Builder tool belt (which has a little box attached to it with Bob's face on it and a little button that makes Bob talk). The introduction went like this: "Reindeer, this is Bob. He talks. He says, 'Bobbbb the Builderrrr'."

And currently, as i type, he is watching a little video, and pressing the button on his toolbelt, getting the best of both worlds (Caillou and Bob) at the same time.

and one more random one: lately he's been saying, "Shoo-way Bug" whenever he sees an insect. Love it!

thankful for these mundane, dramaless days!! and the little sparkle of sunshine this running commentary brings!

Kyren CHOPs it up

On friday i took Kyren to a Preemie Pediatric Specialist, who happens to have an office just a few miles away, though her central office is down at CHOP. She was recommended to us by a parent who had a baby in the NICU.

Even though he'd already had his 3 month follow up with the OT, speech therapist and neonatologist at Bryn Mawr, we wanted to make sure all of our bases were covered. And i am SO glad we did! As i sat in the waiting room with my little bundle of chub, i watched many other children come and go. Some were wheelchair bound, some were wearing hearing aids or glasses, and some had visible birth defects. It took me by surprise a little bit, and made me thankful once again for how blessed we were to be sitting there for just a check-up. i watched all of the parents, and thought about how much i love my own kids-- and how for each of them, this is just part of what they do to love their kids. None of them looked sorry for themselves. To each of us, what we're doing is just part of life now. . . . although some appeared to be tired. ha, who isn't? One lady had 6 kids with her of varying ages. at least 3 of them appeared to have hearing problems. while i was definitely overwhelmed at the thought of having more than one child with some issues, it reminded me that we are each given the grace to carry the load we're given. It also made me REALLY thankful for the gift of modern medicine and the access to the finest doctors around. CHOP is no little operation!

Dr. Birnbaum and her team were enthusiastic, thourough and very professional. they made us feel welcome, important, and cared for. After our 6 month well-visit with our regular pediatrician a couple of weeks ago, i wanted some clarification on Kyren's development goals. Dr. Birnbaum confirmed that he is in fact, right where he should be! 11 lbs 5 oz, 22 1/4 in. -- he is in the 20 and 25th percentile for his adjusted age. No, we should not be adding anything other than breastmilk to his diet, and no he does not need to be on a normal growth chart by the end of this year. Thank you!! In fact, she even said that he doesn't need to be on the PolyViSol w/iron (vitamins) anymore. We can switch to just plain Vitamin D drops. he will be so glad to not have to swallow that stuff anymore! it's disgusting.

Her only concerns were his mild head tilt-- he prefers to tilt his head to the left slightly. . . and the extra-deep dimple at the base of his spine. She may have us go for an MRI to be sure his spine is completely normal. She said it's probably nothing to worry about, but the sooner you catch things like that, the easier they are to correct.

So we'll return in a couple of weeks to have a PT look at his head tilt. And we'll do some stretching exercises in the mean time.

All in all, a pretty fabulous visit. The saddest part was having his blood drawn for a CBC count. But he recovered pretty quickly and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

When i think about all of the things we could have been in there for, my heart wells up with gratitude. And yet i know that if any of those things were to become our 'lot', there would be just as much grace and love to get through it as there has been for our journey thus far.

This morning we sang a song in church (how NICE to finally be able to go as a family again-- our first time back was on Easter last sunday!) with the line, "if all beneath me falls away, i know that you are God." In other words: You're in charge. You're bigger than my circumstances. You ordain each one of them. And you supply what i need out of your own Character. There really is never anything to fear. . . . and yet in my humanness, i silently prayed, "Lord let that truly be my heart's cry should ALL beneath me literally fall away."

It goes back to what i was feeling before Kyren came along... fearing trial, etc... only to find that when God brings it, He also brings Himself-- full of mercies and even blessings. How quickly i can return to a place of fearing the unknown (or the potential for trial). . . and forget the beauty that God always brings from ashes.
He is truly Good. and His Love endures forever! (psalm 118)
one of my favorite verses has always been:
I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. (psalm 34:4-5)

1st tubby together

Our boys' first tubby time together . . .

it went fairly well. though christian has a little trouble sharing 'his' tubby with k.

in case you can't understand him at the end, he says,

"move, move, move! i'm comin' through you."

2 types of entertainment

There's live entertainment:


riveting...

exciting...

and super fun...!

And then there's, "Mommy really needs to make dinner" Entertainment:

or what we like to call "Zombie Computer Face"

cousin power

Little cousin William is doing very well this week. He's been through some tough times in his first days of life-- but he's taken a turn for the better, and we're so thankful for the familiar sigh of relief that answered prayer brings!

Today Will is wearing one of Kyren's hats that we sent down to him. It brought tears to my eyes to see this picture -- evoked a lot of memories, and inspired hope for what is to come for this little one! He's a fighter-- just like K. They are going to have a lot of stories to share of how they overcame the odds!

It's a mysterious plan, but we know it is a purposeful one-- to have 2 little boys in the same family go through such a similar start... it's the mystery that makes us pause and reflect, once again... on God's goodness and faithfulness to each of us.

easter portrait, take 4

we had a little easter dessert time with the Janes' family on easter evening.... and it was suggested that we try to get a photo of all of the cousins... after a few tries we decided to call it a night. and perhaps...a tradition...


ready guys? ...(apparently no one was)

ready?
...(apparently the Janes Kids were...but the Brown boys were not)

ok, here we go... 1...2....3... not bad...

one last try for Kooey... ok... maybe next year...

Happy Easter!