Good friends and playground fun

We are really fortunate to have a large church family and some great friends around that love to come to the playground with us. I just send out a text and our friends meet us at any one of the local parks. It gets us out of the house and the kids get time around their friends. I have decided however that this particular playground will be off limits for us this year if we have Preston with us, or if we don't have an extra set of hands. This playground has the little tiny stones for a ground covering. Preston actually swallowed one :-( He is fine, but EWWWW!!!! We had fun, and Daddy even got to come with us on this particular day! The kids played catch and Frisbee, and then Matt and our friend Dan chased the kids around the playground. This playground is awesome for older kids, it has all kinds of climbing apparatus and multiple levels of play, but it is not great for Preston. The kids all had a blast, and it was awesome to do something as a family.

All kinds of news.....

First we heard back from Genetics, and the two different syndromes that they tested Preston for have come back negative! I am so thankful, I really didn't believe he had either one, but when the specialists are questioning it, it made me a little nervous. There really isn't anything else they can do as of right now. They said if he acquires any more diagnosis then to call them and let them know as it may trigger them to think of something else to test for. Otherwise we will return in a year, at which time they are hoping they will have more information to do the right type of testing. We also were told a bit back that Preston needed a fecal transplant, or that he would need to have his colon removed and have a permanent colostomy. So needless to say I have been struggling quite a bit with being anxious, even though I KNOW THAT IT WILL BE OK! I do know that it will be ok, I know that God's plans are sovereign and that no matter what the doctors say, that God is completely 100% in charge. But right now, I don't fully know what the answer to this situation is. I don't know what God's answer to my prayer is, I do know that He is encouraging me so much, so many people have reached out to us and have been praying for this sweet little guy of mine. We heard this past week that officially the health insurance has denied the transplant, and therefore the doctor has been talking about the colostomy again, so scary :-( Right now there is an investigational medication that they are using in adults to treat adults with this, so they are thinking about the possibility of trying it on Preston. I also have been doing my own research and have found a couple of doctors who are doing oral immunoglobulin therapy to treat it. So our wonderful pediatrician and our immunologist are researching those options. Please be praying for wisdom and patience for all people involved. And certainly that God's glory will be revealed in whatever the outcome will be :-) a I am now 17 weeks pregnant. Feeling ok, but HUGE! I am not really, and haven't gained back any of the weight I have lost from puking yet. I am officially wearing maternity pants/bottoms, but can still wear my regular shirts. I feel ok, extremely tired most of the time and nauseous a lot. My blood pressures have been good so far. My lab work has been great. I have seen high risk B already as well as the regular OB. I certainly didn't feel good when the high risk OB from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston where they have over 1,000 births a year, said "I think I remember you, you were a very scary patient!" Yeah definitely didn't give me a good feeling :-( I know God is in control of this little miracle baby too, and I am praying fervently for a healthy full term baby with no complications :-)

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year. It was so wonderful to spend it with the family that God has blessed me with. This year I was so thrilled with my Sophia as she was the ONLY one in her whole preschool who knew what Easter was all about, and she shared it proudly with her friends. It saddens me to know that parents aren't teaching their children the true meaning of Easter. But I am beyond thrilled that my little five year old is not afraid to tell the world about her Savior! We were able to go to church as a family, unfortunately I didn't get to hear the service as I was serving in the nursery, but I was so blessed to have a few new families children come in so I know that their parents were getting the chance to hear His Word! After church my family came over to our house for dinner. The food was delicious and the company was wonderful. I was so thankful to have this time with my family. As the days are drawing nearer to summer, I find myself dwelling on the fact that ALL of my family is moving away. It is so hard to imagine how tough things will be when they are gone. My family is very attached and we see each other multiple times a week. Matt's family is very different and we essentially see them at church on sundays and not too often in between. It will be a very tough adjustment for my kids not to see their cousin Darius all the time. Don't get me wrong we have a wonderful Christian family who has totally taken us under their wings and we will be fine, but it will be a hard adjustment and I am certainly not looking forward to it. On Saturday the kids and I went over to my parents to dye the Easter eggs. This has always been kind of a useless thing, because Sam can't eat them, and Sophia didn't like them. But this year Darius was eating them and Sophia decided to try it and she actually enjoyed them. Darius and Preston made a big mess but had a lot of fun! Preston spilled almost the entire cup of dye on himself, the floor and myself! But we had fun :-) This was the FIRST YEAR ever that I have ever hid the Easter eggs outside! Denise and her family moved down to North Carolina last summer, and she was always the one that did the egg hunt :-) I definitely missed watching the cousins running around all together squealing as they found the eggs. It was still pretty chilly and we had some scattered snow on the ground but it was still fun for the kids. I didn't really take a ton of pictures with everyone all dressed up or with my family :-( Sometimes I do a really good job at remember what photos I want and then others I am terrible. Unfortunately this Easter was one of the times where I was terrible :-( But I did get a few pictures. I actually had someone make a dress for Sophia for her birthday and then was able to coordinate the boys clothes with it. It worked out really well. If you are looking for something amazing for a special little girl in your life, you should certainly check out The Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl Boutique

Rejoicing in His Love....

Every year I am just so overcome with the thought of what our Lord and Saviour did for ME! And I don't deserve it, and yet He chose to come to this earth for me, to make a way for me to spend eternity with Him. So often I get caught up in the day to day caretaking of three small children, taking care of a house and working. I get bogged down and overwhelmed. I get frustrated and exhausted. And then God gently, lovingly reminds me that these days are short, that My Redeemer lives, and that He will be returning soon!!! So when the bubble baths.... and shampooing and washing dirty little faces, brushing out tangly hair, and drying off squirmy little bodies gets exhausting... Remember that our days on this earth are limited, and that Jesus through His death on the cross, has bought us, has ransomed us from our sins. And that because of TODAY you have a chance to spend all of eternity with Him! This evening as I brought my children to church, I found myself getting crabby, as I was yet again missing the service because of the kids. But then I reminded myself that these children are gifts from Him, my Creator. My job on this earth is to teach them His love and how to serve Him, serving Him is EVERY DAY, it doesn't matter if it is Good Friday or Easter or the third day in august.... God has called us, God has saved us, and God has sent His son to remind us of His amazing love. Yes I am tired, yes I am overwhelmed, but God has blessed me so abundantly. These days are fleeting, these days are numbered, my days with Him are forever! Praise God Easter Sunday is coming!!! Have a blessed Easter! And enjoy this beautiful song...

Sophia's 5th Birthday

Sophia Grace had origionally said that she wanted a "Dancing Princess Party," which I wasn't sure how I would pull off. She wanted to have all her friends wear twirly dresses and dance. But a few days before the party she decided that she wanted a butterfly theme. It was such a last minute change I had no time to really prepare for it. But I have some wonderful friends who totally came to my rescue and helped get some butterfly themed things. And then of course I made a little butterfly picture on the cake, certainly not the best I have done but I tried. She loved it and that is what is important. We had lots of friends and family here to celebrate our special girl. I still can't believe she is five and that will be starting kindergarden in the fall. She ran around and did lots of dress up and pretend play with her friends. I have some pictures from her party but my amazingly talented friend Shannon took most of them and I don't have them yet. I will post what I have from my camera and then do a whole post of Shannon's pics. We were sad that many of Sophia's aunties couldn't come. Between working, sickness and living far away we certainly missed them. This has been such an adjustment for me. I always had lots of family around when I was little, or at least we visited often. With my brother's and sister down south I feel sorry that my kids are missing out so much. My siblings are wonderful and the kids are very attached to them, but I wish we could see them more often. Thankfully we have lots of Christian family that loves on my kids and we were so thrilled to have our local family here with us. She was so funny about her cake this year. She wanted a "Big Cake not just cupcakes." So I had to do both. Due to Sam's allergies and some allergies that our friends have we made tons of cupcakes and a cake. And when it was time for Sophia to have some she requested a cupcake! Silly girl! Oh well we had enough to share and then some....