the old city

well, we are officially a family. we just got home from our first real vacation with a child. :)


we visited st. augustine for the long weekend, and we had such a great time! jonathan & tammy & the kiddos joined us for a couple of days, and we wish they could've stayed longer to explore more of the town with us. we witnessed a cannon being shot off the top of an old spanish fort, where we were 2 minutes short of absolutely baking in the sun!







we toured the old st. augustine village, a block of historic houses connected by cobblestone walkways and beautiful trees and gardens. of course, we took a ton of pictures of this place! it was shady and quaint and wonderful. my favorite part of the city, by far! they even have weddings there... now THAT is romantic!











next, we visited flagler college, a small college that was originally a ritzy hotel.





we also enjoyed just exploring the city, though we couldn't last too long in the heat...







the pool at our hotel was so refreshing. i have never seen a pool like this... the shallow end doesn't have steps- it's like a beach, where the water gets gradually deeper. this was really nice for ethan to be able to sit in the water and play!







we will most definitely be returning to this beautiful city, maybe during a cooler season. i think i can still smell the sweet aroma of waffle cones baking on st. george street...

though we had a great time, we're glad to be home. so now it's back to reality and laundry..... ah, home sweet home.

welcome home, lorelei!

sweet baby lorelei is finally home from the hospital! praise God!

she is continuing to keep fluids down and is making progress. that is such good news to share... thank you for your prayers. i'll keep you updated as i hear how she's doing.

philippians 4:19-20... and my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. to our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. amen.

a good day for lorelei

great news on baby lorelei... i don't know details about her surgery, but apparently it was successful. she was able to take in 3-4 oz. of a bottle without throwing it up, which really is excellent progress. she has had a great day yesterday and last night. please pray that this recovery continues. the word is that she needs 3 days in a row like this to be out of the woods.

today is her one month birthday. happy birthday, baby girl!

thank you for your prayers.

another surgery for lorelei

it's been awhile since i'd heard any updates on lorelei... i got word today that she is in surgery this afternoon to place a shunt in her brain. apparently, she'd been showing some improvements since the last surgery, but pressure built up on the brain again. this little girl's body has gone through so much in her short little life... she will be one month old on may 22. please continue to pray for lorelei, as well as for her parents, josh & kim.

thanks for your prayers. God is faithful.

mother's day flowers

just wanted to share the sweet tulips that brian had delivered for mother's day. i'm thankful that they arrived on thursday so that they could brighten my day through taking care of my sick boys this past weekend. :) thank you, honey, for honoring me with these beautiful flowers and with your love every day!

oh please pass me by...

i'm happy to say that ethan recovered quickly from his little virus-y thing. saturday, he was still pretty puny, but i didn't mind his low-keyness... it was kind of a nice change for a day. :) ha. saturday night, though, my poor husband came down with an awful headache, lack of appetite, and sudden sprints to the men's room... so i knew we had not escaped unscathed. sunday, mother's day... (you know, that day where the mom is supposed to be queen for a day??) i spent the day tending to my sick husband and trying to keep little man quiet so daddy could sleep. but brian did tell me (in his cute little helpless sick voice) that he loved me over and over that day... so at least he remembered it was mother's day in his sickness. :)

so brian stayed home today and rested, rested, rested. he is doing much better now, and i'm just praying i'm not next. all the towels, sheets, pillows, and toys are washed, so i really don't want to have to do ALL that again in one weekend. i'm thankful that ethan and brian didn't get sicker than they did.. it was pretty mild altogether.

and i did forget to say that mother's day did have its high point...mom and i enjoyed 2 free mexican dinners on mother's day!!! our bill at one restaurant was a negative 87 cents! ha! that must be the start to being treated like a queen. :)

i knew we couldn't go forever.....

ethan threw up this morning for the first time. i mean the first time to really count as throwing up... not spitting up or gagging on a piece of food... i mean vomiting all over the kitchen floor. yep, today was the first time. and the second, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth... since he's gone 10 months without throwing up, i guess he decided to just make up for lost time all in one day. i knew we couldn't go forever without getting the lovely bug that continues to be passed around in kiddie circles.... but i wasn't exactly looking forward to it. it's been 5 hours since his last episode, so i'm praying that this was just a lil' 8 hr. thing. he was fine this morning when he got up, but woah, it's been a long day since daddy left for work! i called brian at 2:30 and said, "ethan just threw up all in my hair (sidenote- yes, i now know to have my hair pulled back when fighting the big bad stomach virus) and i can't take a shower until you get home." can't really argue with that... especially coming from a pregnant woman whose hypersensitive smell is even more hyper when carrying a child. so daddy came home to the rescue, but hark, ethan only wanted mommy. and mommy only wanted a shower and a nap. now, i know i really have no room to complain, but i do feel quite initiated into the "you're really a mom now" club. this time next year, i'm sure i'll be going through this with TWO sick kids... so i'm thankful to at least ease into the whole "sick kid" experience. we have no big plans this weekend, so at least we can just lay low and let ethan get better without having to cancel anything. and my sweet husband surprised me with tulips for mother's day... on thursday! he had them delivered from a company that sends them straight from the fields, apparently. they're so beautiful, and i looked at them every time i went to grab another clean towel to wipe up throw up today. :) haha. i will take pictures of them soon with our NEW CAMERA!!! yes! we are so excited about our canon powershot s3! it is really a great camera! and i was planning on posting about that soon.... but i've got towels to wash and toys to clean... so stay tuned for pictures from our new camera and hopefully an update about a little boy feeling much better. have a great weekend.

talked to kim today...

i was able to talk to kim, lorelei's mom, for about 30 minutes today. she stayed at the hospital last night by herself so her husband josh could go home and get some rest (he hadn't been home since sunday), and she was pretty tired. you don't get much sleep with nurses coming in and monitors beeping... she said lorelei seemed more agitated and in pain today (probably from the surgery and the tube in her head to drain the fluid). it sounds like it will take a few days after the surgery to see some improvements, but the doctor is really positive about everything. they are planning on doing more surgery next week sometime to put the shunt in her brain. that will be permanent, and it will allow fluid to drain to her stomach. (sorry if that's too much info!!)

it was really good to talk to her and to hear that though they're extremely tired and emotionally worn out, they feel like lorelei is going to be ok. they are just doing a lot of waiting these days, which makes the days feel even longer. this weekend will be 2 weeks in the hospital, and kim said after they leave the pediatric ICU, they'll still have to step down to a regular room in the hospital before going home. lorelei's neurologist is very good and reassuring... they feel like they can really trust his decisions and recommendations, and as i said earlier, he is very positive about lorelei's prognosis. so that's a blessing.

toward the end of our conversation, kim said that she knows God will use this for His glory somehow...and she is thankful that there's so many people praying for them... she asked that we just keep praying.

here are some specific ways you can pray:
- for lorelei's continued healing and recovery
- that josh and kim will be able to get some rest
- for their almost 2 yr old son, paxton, who is wondering where his routine has gone!

matthew 21:22-"and whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

thanks for your prayers!!!

successful surgery!!!!!!!!

i just got word that lorelei's surgery went really well and that her color looks good. praise God for this great report!! thanks to all of you who got down on your knees on behalf of sweet baby lorelei. please don't stop praying for this family, though. pray for continued recovery for lorelei, as well as rest for her parents, josh & kim. it's quite an understatement to say that this has been a tough week for them.


1 peter 1:3-9
praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! in His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. these have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

keep praying... surgery this morning

due to another patient being more critical, lorelei's surgery was moved to this morning. i have not heard anything more than that at this point. thank you for your prayers. keep praying.

lorelei's surgery

please, please, please continue to pray for baby lorelei. her condition has not improved in the past week. she is now in the ICU at the scottish rite children's hospital in atlanta. they have been hoping that surgery would not be necessary, but this week has not been a good one for her. they are planning brain surgery today-- not just a shunt, but actually going into the brain. she is in very critical condition. kim & josh have not given up hope, for they know that God is in control of their newborn daughter's life. they appreciate your prayers. i'll keep you posted.

2 cor. 1:3-5, 10-11
praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. for just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows...on Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

He maketh no mistake

i found this poem in college, and it never ceases to encourage me. i thought of it today when writing lorelei's mom an email...

by A.M. Overton

My Father's way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I'm glad to know,
He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But I'll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.

Tho' night be dark, and it may seem
That day will never break,
I'll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake.

There's so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight's far too dim;
But come what may, I'll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift
And plain it all He'll make,
Through all the way, tho' dark to me
He made not one mistake.

please pray for lorelei

one of my college roommates and dear friends just gave birth to a beautiful, healthy little girl on saturday, april 22. all was well with lorelei and family until she began bleeding in her brain this past weekend. i don't know very many details, but i know that she is still in the hospital at this point. she had a good day yesterday, and they were hoping to bring her back home today, but she began vomiting last night. this could be a sign that there is compression on the brain. i ask for your fervent, fervent prayers for my friends kim and josh and their precious baby girl. they have faith in our mighty God Who has the power to heal this sweet child... i pray that God will grant them peace as they watch and wait with so many questions and that He will be glorified through the events of this week and beyond. i know they appreciate your prayers.

eph. 3:20- now to Him who is able to do immeasureably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever. amen.