To God be the Glory, Great things HE has done....

Are you singing? We all need to be! Read this from Uncle Allen's blog as of 8:00 tonight! There is a neat post just before this one too if you want to read it, click on his blog on the right. One of the neat things (possibly prophetic) that he said was, "I need a miracle by Tuesday and I'll be out of here by Friday." Or something very close to that...it is in the post before this one! Read this and praise the Lord with us!! But don't stop praying!!!

We have had an AWESOME afternoon! Dad is waking up!!!! He's asleep now but when I got here he was awake and talking to his sister and was basically back!!!! He was telling me about how scary it was and how he is much much better now! It's incredible!!!

He is still a bit confused but for the most part, he is here! He keeps saying he is tired of being in the bed after being in it 6 days and I have to tell him it has been 26 days! You should have seen the look on his face when I told him it was August 31!! He knew it was August 6 when he was admitted. You could just see the gears in his head locking up as he processed the fact that the whole month had passed him by!!!

He is going crazy to get out of the bed. He just can't get comfortable any longer. His body is just aching from being in the bed for so long. I promised him we would get him out as soon as we could tomorrow. He is the same sweet man -- he said "OK, that would be great." Then he offered to move over some so I could have a better view of the tv!His speech is clear and his mind is mostly clear! It is giving all signs of a miraculous healing !!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!

My girls...

These are some of my 10th grade girls from our Life Group (aka Sunday School). They are so much fun and a lot of them I feel like I'm really getting to know. Our goup is fairly close and I feel like it is going to be a great year. I generally have around 10 girls, depending on the Sunday. Ryan has around 15 depending on the Sunday. His group is huge! They are working on getting another teacher and splitting them. We'll see. We have both really enjoyed our groups and look forward to a great year!

Words of Wisdome from Lindsey

When Lindsey asks why Daddy has to go to work, I tell her to make money so we can buy things. The conversation generally ends there. Well, yesterday we were in Fort Smith and we stopped at Cintas to see Ryan. When we were leaving Lindsey said to me, "Daddy should just go to the bank to get money so he doesn't have to go to work." Trying so hard not to bust out laughing I just said, "Well, that would be an idea." So logical these children are...

A Courtney funny: Last night we were sitting down to eat supper and Ryan was up getting a napkin. Courtney is just talking saying whatever, not really talking to anyone. All of the sudden she says, "Are you kidding me, Mom?" We were not having a conversation or anything. She was just talking to herself. Ryan looked at me and before he said anything I just nodded to let him know...yes, she said what you thought she said.

I wish I would think more often to post these for myself to remember them down the road.

Bathroom Update

If you didn't see the "before" bathroom or in progress pictures that I posted, click here. I took some "after" pictures today. I wanted to wait until things were totally decorated and stuff, but decided to go ahead and post pictures. I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new bathroom(s)!! They are so pretty. Ryan did a great job and it makes me happy to see it so beautiful!

Where? Really?

These pictures are from Doha, Qatar. Where? Really? The Middle East? Yes! This is where my cousin is moving! Yes, my cousin Wendi who is currently in Houston, TX is moving there! Her husband works for Conoco-Phillips and he got a job offere there. They just got the offer last Thursday, accepted it on Tuesday and leave in 2 weeks to go look at houses. They are there for 2-5 years. Crazy! I'm so happy for them. It is a great move for Nick's career, but it is so hard to think about them being so far away. We are very close. We don't see eachother often, but talk very often.

She has 2 little boys...Brooks and Barrett. They are almost 3 and 1. Please pray for them. God has gone before them and worked out all the details. There is so much paperwork and so many things to get done here before they even get there. I just can't imagine. She kept telling me that I "had been through this" but NO...doesn't even compare to moving half way around the world!

I wanted to share my exciting news!

Check Ups!

Today I took the girls for their 2 and 4 year check ups. Here are their stats:

Lindsey: 41 1/2 inches tall (83rd percentile); 37 pounds (66th percentile)

Courtney: 34 1/4 inches tall (67th percentile); 31 pounds (90th percentile)

I don't get caught up in that, but I thought it was pretty funny (and obvious!) how different they were in each one. They are both very healthy and great.

If you've been around Courtney at all, especially lately you know how she talks incessently (however you spell that) these days. The doctor said, "She seems to be talking a lot. Does she?" OH.MY.GOSH! I know I am supposed to be thankful she's talking but sometimes I wish it wasn't so loud and so repetitive! Ha! She's a talker for sure.

One of the sweet things she did/said today:

L: (fussing about her arm hurting from shots)
C: What wrong Linds?
L: My arm hurts.
C: It otay Linds, I sorry. It otay.

How precious is that?! So sweet! I'm thankful for my healthy girls!

PS--I was going to take a picture of her arm, but my camera is in the boat, in the storage unit locked up. Then it made me sad that I won't have a picture of my baby girl going to "school" (aka MDO) tomorrow morning. So we will have a 2nd day of school picture I guess next week!

Happy Birthday Courtney Ann!!!

Here is my DARK haired baby!! I can't believe how dark it really was to see how blonde it is now! This was her, 2 years ago this morning! Not too long from now. It was POURING rain and some roads were flooded and my doctor was late to my c-section! The hospital was over crowded and I didn't have a room after my c-section recovery! It was crazy! But she was precious and I can't believe this baby I'm looking at with tears forming in my eyes is 2! Here is what we thought was BIG sister Lindsey at the time, but now realize what a "baby" she still was! I look at Courtney today and can not believe how little she seems and how big Lindsey seemed on this day! She is such a good big sister to Courtney!

My precious baby! She is such a joy! She has so much personality it is hilarious. She keeps me on my toes for sure! She loves to talk...and talk...and talk! Where does she get that? Ha! She loves to read books to us, her favorite thing is watch is Dora, and she loves to dress up with Lindsey. She adores her big sister and tries to do everything she does. She has an adorable giggle when you tickle her and loves for you to chase her! She has a short stride so to watch her run is very entertaining! This morning she woke up way too early, so I just put her in our bed to keep her quiet and Lindsey in her bed. As she laid there for a while more quiet than I ever expected her to, she cuddled and wanted me to scratch her belly. Not her back, her belly! Then she started singing...twinkle little star, Jesus loves me, He's got the whole world in His hands, but in her Courtney way and it was so precious as I sat and just listented.

Happy Birthday Courtney!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Uncle Allen's CJD test came back negative....he does NOT have CJD! PRAISE THE LORD!!

If you have not been reading Uncle Allen's updates on their blog...here is a short update!

He has made tremendous progress over the past few days. Up out of bed some, much less tremmors, more "normal" conversations, etc. So my cousins have been typing that they weren't even real concerned with the test results anymore because of the progress that God had been showing them!

What an awesome day! Thank you Jesus for working in Uncle Allen's life (and ours)!

First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Lindsey's first day of preschool! She was so excited. She wanted pancakes for breakfast! We picked out some of her new school clothes the night before, since we have had issues with picking out clothes and deciding what to wear! This is my big girl!
Finally...my favorite part of back to school! NEW BRIGHT WHITE SHOES! I love them!I can remember growing up and buying my shoes (saddle oxfords!--however you spell/write that) before school would start and having to wait for the first day of school to wear them! It was so fun to put on those bright white shoes! I guess it was ingrained in me to love shoes...or I learned it very easily! I hadn't really realized how much I loved new school shoes until I saw these bright white shoes on Lindsey! I just had to take a picture!

She is going to preschool Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Typically she'll just go over from MDO, so I won't walk her in each day. But I do have to sit in a car line to pick her up! So weird! I felt so funny and so "old" in a way yesterday as I sat in the line of cars to get her. Of course there were only like 8 cars in the line, but still...it was very school like! Her teacher is Mrs. Baker. Mrs. Baker is very known in Greenwood. She's been teaching for literally like 30 years or something. My friends that live here, some of them went to Mrs. Baker's preschool. She is very old fashioned, very sweet and Lindsey LOVED her first day of Mrs. Baker's class! I'm so excited for her! She is going to have so much fun!

BIG Day for Uncle Allen

Today is the day that we've been waiting for. The test results are supposed to be here from the CJD test. CJD is the non treatable, non curable disease. If you haven't clicked on Uncle Allen's blog on the right, you should! My cousins are amazing at thier faith and the verses God has led them to. Please pray today for the results and for their family as they get them.

Sweet Lindsey

Lindsey was playing the other day, going shopping or something...so I had to take her picture! :) This was one of the days she dressed herself. It is so hard to learn the concept of "matching" but not being monochromatic (is that how you spell that?). She wants to truly "match" so we are working on it. She LOVES to dress herself, so if we aren't going places or if it isn't too bad, I let it go. Today I had to draw the line and she didn't like it. She had on a colorful striped tank top (pink, orange, purple, blue, etc.--BRIGHT) and pink and brown plaid shorts! WOW! She would have been the talk of wherever we were. Since we were going to gymnastics and then the mall, I had to get her to change one or the other. She didn't like it at first, but I gave her several options and let her pick from those and she got ok since she got to pick from those I guess! So big! Then she told me at TJMaxx when I was shopping for a purse that she couldn't wait until she was 16 when she could have a big purse like that! What??!!?! She wants to grow up so fast! This morning as I told her that we were needing to leave, she said, "Ok, I'm putting my make up on!" Wow! Here we go...

Courtney...enough said!

This is Courtney and her friend Scotty! She is the only one that calls him that! They are good buddies! Sunday when Ryan dropped Courtney off at Sunday School, Scotty came running to the door when Courtney got there! So cute! She loves Scotty! This is Courtney for you! She came out of Lindsey's room like this. Lindsey brought me the ribbon to put on Courtney. I guess she won best dressed! :) Ha! Notice the pose!! Mercy!


If you want detailed updates on Uncle Allen, there is a link to the blog my cousin is updating hopefully daily on the right under Uncle Allen Updates. Thanks for your prayers!

Uncle Allen

Just a quick update. There isn't anything to report on his health. He is back in Little Rock and doing steriod treatments at the hospital there. Those will continue through Monday (I think) and I'm not sure what happens then. They said that there wouldn't be an immediate difference if they were going to work, so it is hard to know at this point whether they are going to work. That is what we are praying for.

Everyone seems to be handling this so well...my aunt and cousins that is. They continue to trust the Lord and pray for HIS will! Wow!

At this point we just keep praying for healing. Thank you!

What a Roller Coaster Ride!

Again...from Richard. Wow, when God says to trust HIM...He means it! :) Please continue to pray for my uncle, their family and the doctors who will be with them.

We've had a change. Dad and I are coming home tomorrow morning. This will play out one way or the other in a few days.

The new doctor said we are at a fork in the road. To the left is CJD. There is no treatment; only make Dad as comfortable as we can until God calls him home. To the right is the brain inflammation. The treatment is 5 days of steroid IV. We did day 1 today and will do day 2 before we leave. Since that is all there is to do, he can receive days 3-5 at Baptist. They assured me there is nothing else for them to do here so we might as well be in AR close to family and friends.

They have done all the tests they can do. None of the results clear his condition up any more than what I have told you. His brain continues to look good on studies; they only have what they see clinically to go on. There are 2 results that are not in yet. One is the CJD test and Mayo would have to send their sample to the same lab Baptist sent theirs to. Those results are not in yet. It is the most definitive test we have for CJD. The other test is for this other possible -- and treatable -- condition. The doctor flatly told me he doesn't care what that result is because he is not waiting on it. Thus, the steroid treatment has been initiated. It works or it doesn't. It's that simple. He would do nothing different were it his father and he would take him back home for the steroids.

The treatable condition was explained to me this way: it is as if Dad has a cancer and the body is attacking it. The cells in his brain have similar characteristics to the would-be cancer cells, so the body is attacking them. Essentially he is attacking himself. The steroids will put a stop to this. If he has this latter condition, the steroids generally work very well and he should have a good recovery.

Basically, we are at an all-or-nothing position now and should know which it is in a few days.

Dad and I are flying out tomorrow morning. The doctors here have spoken with his doctors at Baptist. There is a bed waiting for him in ICU South, the same place we were Tuesday when we left. The Mayo doctors will stay in touch and will follow his progress. If there is any change, they will take him back immediately.

Clinically, they say it presents like either but at this point more like CJD.

I am reminded of the battle where God had the army get a drink and sent home everyone but the ones who kept their eyes up as they cupped water in their hand to drink. I have been taught God likes to do things that make it clear it was Him and not anyone else at work so only he gets the glory. We are at that place.

It is time to double up on our already massive and intense prayer work. The prayer is very specific and the stakes are extremely high. Let's be faithful and persistent in prayer and watching for a miraculous showing from God.

Dad is where Dad has always been -- in His hands.

Keep on keeping on...praying!

This is the latest report from my cousin who is at the hospital with my uncle. I seriously can not thank those of you praying enough! OH.MY.GOSH! He is not out of the woods by far, but as you read this it is such an encouragement and a small answer to prayer. Maybe we (they!) are finding an answer to all of this! What a miracle! Praise the Lord! I have chills and tears, but this time tears of joy! Thank you Jesus! Awesome!

Got a good report! All tests from yesterday were good. Brain MRI, blood work, spinal tap. There was nothing to show infection and most importantly, nothing to show progression of or confirmation of diagnosis of CJD!!!!

CJD is still in the mix, but to use his words, we are going to "set it aside for now" and work on the other leading contender. We have started steroids via IV for a very rare inflammation of the brain. It is something that Bapt didn't even consider bc it is so rare. CJD is still out there but since he can't treat it and can't confirm that is what this is, we are moving on. If it is CJD, the steroids won't hurt any; if it's not CJD, hopefully he will respond positively to them and we might have a diagnosis.

Also, if he responds well, we might get to come home soon and treat at Baptist!

These are all obviously wonderful. He was very cautious in his report but is moving on. We are still waiting on the results from the first spinal tap that was sent by Bapt to where ever. They don't do that test here and would have to send their sample off to the same place. He was going to check with that lab. That is a more definitive test.

There is new hope today! Take a break and PRAISE GOD!!!!!! and then get back to praying. We have to get CJD off the board. Then we can move forward and possibly be home soon.

As for Dad, he is largely the same today although he is a bit less jerky. He still fidgets and is always up to something. He is a bit more responsive to me but mostly is in his own world. Based on what he says he does a lot of golfing! "I'm going to stand here while you hit."

We have new hope today. Now we need to pray it on home.

From my cousin at Mayo...

This is the update from my cousin who is at the hospital with my uncle:

The MRI was OK but he was a bit jumpy. They have not heard if it was a good study technically or if they will need to do it again. Obviously we have no results as to the content of the study yet.

They are preparing for the spinal tap now..

CJD remains on everyone's mind and is part of many of the discussions. They have given me reading material on it. None of it is good. It is a huge black cloud that is very ominous. I get the feeling they are expecting it to be the culprit. There is no treatment for CJD. We desperately need CJD ruled out so we can all get it off our minds and they can move on to other possible causes of Dad's symptoms.

As for Dad, he is resting comfortably most of the time. He still fidgets regularly. Sometimes I can get him to tell me what he is doing; other times I cannot. If I can get him to answer me, I can usually get him to relax and let me handle it. His periods of awakening and being truly with me are more rare. I do not know how much of that is due to continued deterioration and how much is due to the medication.

Uncle Update

Depending on how long an air vac ambulance ride is from Little Rock to Minneapolis (how do you spell that?) my uncle is on his way...or there. He will be at Mayo clinic there. My cousins are "taking turns" being there with him, there are 3 of them. My aunt is going to stay with whoever isn't with my uncle so she isn't alone. So, no big news other than MAYBE they can find something out at Mayo. There have just been so many "normal" tests that we are hoping that the specialist there can go further and do more.

Praying for the new doctors and future tests!

Fun Times

We've been at home a lot lately! I'm such a "go go go" mom, but when it is 105 outside it isn't fun to go places. Not even the swimming pool! Then yesterday and today it has been raining...we can't seem to catch a break. I'm so looking forward to fall. However, here are a few things we've been doing.

Lindsey got this for her birthday from one of her friends. It is a really neat thing. The "papers" are under this clear board so they can copy over and over and over! She was practicing writing her letters. She is VERY into that sort of thing! She can probably not tell you what the words are, but she can copy the letters. One of the things that she is going to work on in preschool (the letter said) was writing lower case letters. She's very excited! This is a video called "Bella Dancerella" or at least that is what the song says! :) Uncle Taylor and Amber gave this to Lindsey for her birthday. It is like a video where they show Lindsey dances and she does it like them. She has a blast doing it and of course Courtney thinks she's doing it, but she just goes in circles. Lindsey is actually very good at it. She follows along and does the dances! Very good gift!
So the other day when the pool was too hot, but it had cooled down to 98 degrees outside...ha ha...I decided it was time to get the crunchy, dead flowers out of the landscaping. It was driving me nuts. I don't think any amount of water would have brought them back to life. So, I decided to hook up the sprinkler and let the girls play. Then I played and we had fun!

In so many ways my girls are very very different. However, there are times that I don't hear Courtney and I wonder what in the world she has gotten into! So as I was cooking supper the other night I realized I hadn't heard her. Here is what I found. Precious! She had a baby in her lap and was reading books to the baby. At one point she had the baby's hand feeling the book on her "touch and feel" farm book. So cute!
Even as I have struggled this week with my uncle, as I look at these pictures and watch/listen to my girls play I realize all the blessings that God has given to us! I'm very ready for school to start and for us to get back to our schedule. It can be busy and overwhelming at times, but at the same time I think it works for the girls and I to have stuff to do. Lindsey started gymnastics yesterday and LOVED LOVED LOVED it! I have some picutres, but they didn't turn out great. Weird lighting that my camera always has a hard time with. Then Lindsey will go to Mother's Day Out on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. After lunch there, her preschool teacher, Mrs. Baker will get her and she will have preschool on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Wednesday mornings we will have MOPS at church. Courtney will go to MDO on Tuesday all day, but stay home with me on Thursdays while Lindsey goes to MDO/preschool. Fridays...nothing! :) It sounds so busy, but isn't much different from our schedule last year.

Update

My uncle had another test done today. It was on something (I'm so not medical, so I don't want to say the wrong thing) about the arteries in his brain. The result was "normal" and they were told his arteries in his brain were "like those of a young man" and anyone who knew how to read the results would say the same thing. I guess that is good news. However, when you are wanting an answer to WHY he is the way he is, "normal" test results are not what you want. At least that doesn't seem like what you want so that you can have an answer? You know? Like you don't ever want your child to be sick, but when they aren't acting right and acting sick, you hope something is wrong so that you can "fix" whatever it is. That is how I know I feel about all of these "normal" test results...why are they normal if something needs to be "fixed" with his brain.

I'm am trying so hard to learn to pray with faith through this. I'm pretty much an open book...so my raw feelings will be here. But, I just don't know how to pray with anymore faith than I already have. How do I do that? I KNOW that God is bigger than all of these tests, all of the doctors and all of us. However, it is hard for me to pray KNOWING that God will "fix" my uncle. I feel like I am praying with a lot of hope, but how much faith do I pray with? I don't know!?!? I hope I'm praying with as much faith as I possibly can. If not, I pray that God would show me how to pray with more faith.

Today was a better day according to my cousin. He said that my uncle talked more, stood and moved around a little bit for around 5 min. (This weekend it was only about a min. or 2) and that was a lot of work. As he was finished with his therapy today he said "That made me tired. I need to sit back down." But I'm sure it was in his funny way, not in a grouchy way! I can just hear him...He has been accepted to Mayo clinic. It sounded like the final decision had not been made, but that they would likely go there. They are being encouraged to wait on one last test result before they go. Plus working out all of the logistics of getting there.

So, as I go to bed confused and not sure how to pray, I pray that God would give the doctors wisdom, my family peace and my uncle rest.

Prayer Request

Please pray for my uncle and his family. My dad's brother has been in ICU since Friday. He all of the sudden started having slurred speech, collapsed (but not blacking out) just trying to stand up, had hallucinations, etc. on Wed. He took a "turn for the worse" on Friday so they moved him to ICU. The frustrating thing about it all is that they can't seem to find anything. But, it is obvious something is wrong. They have ruled out many things--stroke, blood pressure, blood sugar--but there is a VERY VERY rare brain disease (1 in a million, literally!) that they have not ruled out. It is a non-curable, non-treatable disease. So sad. Basically his brain is deteriorating (if that is what this is).

He was set to retire at the beginning of September and truly live a dream. It is so sad from every angle. I have 3 cousins that are there dealing with this as well. My aunt is "in pieces" as they all are understandably. My mom and dad went to see them this weekend. Mom said it was so hard to watch them go through it. I just can't imagine. It was so sudden. Wednesday at lunch he and my aunt walked as they have been doing around the track at their church, had lunch, he went back to work and this happened that afternoon...my how life can change. We all know that God is in control. We are just praying for answers and a miracle!

Another bathroom picture...

This is the shower curtain I found at Wal-Mart last night! I love it! It matches our room perfectly! It makes me so excited to have a pretty bathroom!! It has been so BLAH for 2 years! I can't wait! The "swirls" on it are a light khaki, but photographed sort of sliver looking. I guess they are light, but not silver.

Bathroom!

The shower is TOTALLY finished! I am going to Wal-Mart when naptime is over to get a liner and rod. I'm on the search for a curtain (NO DOORS!!!) as well. We'll see. I told Ryan last night that I wanted to decorate our bathroom now. He just laughed at me. I have done NOTHING to it. Above the tub there is a BIG wall...something has to go there. Then above the towels it needs something. There is one more wall space I'd like to put something as well. With our red and gold colors in our room, I'm going to carry that into our bathroom. So, that is what I'll be looking for. Any good ideas out there...please share! I haven't really "decorated" a bathroom before (other than towels)

BEFORE AFTER
Well, it is done! The cabinets are going to be this color (with polyurathane--however you spell that) now! I'm so excited. They are a little darker than I imagined, but it is my fault wanting to badly for them to not be that other color. I like it...it is just very drastic! There are only 2 cabinets out of the 6 that I feel like are a lot lighter (one of them is in the picture) than the other doors. But, because of the variation in color all over, you can't really tell. So we'll hang it back up and see how it looks before I try to "fix" it and mess it up. :)

I am ready to now do the other bathroom. It won't be quite the project that ours has been though. It is just going to be redoing the cabinets like these, changing the counter, light fixture and towel rods. Nothing to the tub/shower. I picked out the granite yesterday and Ryan is checking to see if we can get a 2nd piece of the same one for the guest bath.

Then we will just have the kitchen to re-do! It will be a MAJOR project....so I'm guessing we'll wait. I don't know. Ryan may get bored and need a project. In the kitehn it will just be doing the cabinets (like I just did in the bathroom), new counters, new backsplash, new stove and new fixture (I hope). The kitchen has a very out of date "box light" thing. I HATE it....but not sure what the best option is in changing it. We'll cross that bridge later! I'll enjoy my beautiful new bathroom for the time being!

Sneek Peek

BEFORE AFTER

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!! More pictures to come as they get finished!

In case you wondered...

There is an "airplane port" in Fort Smith. Lindsey informed us all of this as we were driving by earlier. She probably said it about 4 times within 10 seconds. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing!

It is finished...

Those are Jesus' words, but they fit! The tile is finished. On to the next step! Grout!

So far...

Precious Moment

This is what I found today after I put Courtney down for a nap. Lindsey had asked me if she could "watch Daddy." So, she got her a chair on her own and put it in there.