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!!!