David Update

This past Thursday, David had his follow up appointment with the surgeon. They ran a CAT Scan and did an X-Ray, and David's still waiting on those results.

Apparantly, David has some little blister-like things inside his lungs. He called them "blebs". What happened with the lung collapse, is that one of these blebs burst, creating a small hole in his lung. The oxygen escaped into the area just outside his lung, which eventually created more pressure outside his lung than inside, causing his lung to collapse. We don't know how many of these blebs he has, nor whether or not he has them in both lungs, and we won't know that until the test results come back. The surgeon told David that he has the option to have a procedure done that would prevent this sort of thing from happening again. What they would do, is somehow make three small incisions on each side of his body, going in to staple each of these blebs. It's an optional surgery, but if he doesn't have it done, there's a 30% chance this could happen again.

David wants to take his chances.

After I spoke with David, I thought about his options. What if he does have these blebs in both lungs? What if one burst in each lung at the same time? 30%? That's a high chance that this could re-occur. I called my parents to let them know what David had said. I asked them to try to convince him to have the surgery. My dad also told me that this isn't the first time David had had these chest pains. Just a few weeks prior, while on a trip to Utah with his youth group, David had opted to stay the day in his hotel room due to similar chest pains.

Please pray for David as he faces this decision.

David

Yesterday, my parents brought my 18 year old brother David to college to begin what will be his junior year. They attended a welcome barbeque, got David settled, and left for home. Some time after they left, David began texting them about some chest pains he was having. Mom told David to go and see the campus nurse. David went to the campus med. services only to find no one there. Since my other brother Paul and his wife Amy live near campus, my mom tried to reach them to take David to the hospital, but both were working. David had to wait until they were done working to get him to the ER, where they discovered that he had a collapsed lung.

My mom dropped my Dad off at home, and headed 2 1/2 hours back to David. As far as I know now, David's been discharged, and Mom and Brittany crashed at Paul and Amy's to wait for the pharmacy to open.

Please pray for David. I know God allowed this to happen for a reason, but your prayers are coveted for a quick and total recovery.

I've Been Tagged!

My good friend Jeannie, whom I love and who's always got good child-rearing advice for me, has tagged me for some random info.

Here are the tagging rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

Here goes:

1. I bit my nails from the time I cut my first tooth (not literally) until 4th grade, when I realized that if I didn't bite them, I could drum my long nails on the desk and it sounded cool.

2. My parents were originally going to name me Helene Clarice. (Blech!) Helene after my dad's maternal grandmother, and Clarice after my mom's mother. But, fortunately my dad came up with my given name before I was born. Rachel is just a name they liked, and since my dad's middle name is Louis (after his paternal grandfather), he just decided to give me a more feminine version of that: hence, Rachel Louise.

3. I HATE scary movies. Hate.

4. I have a stupid human trick. I can lick my chin. My tongue is freakishly long. But for some reason, I can't lick my nose. The talent is picky.

5. I took eight years of piano lessons, from four different teachers, but I'm still extremely nervous to play in front of people without a band or something to take the attention away from the piano.

6. I put my tongue in front of my top teeth, under my upper lip when I'm concentrating. I think it's hideous, but Seth thinks it's cute.

You're it:
Amy- There's still a lot I don't know about you
Jackie Sue- I've read your "101 things about me" post and think you can probably dig up some of those for your post. You're very interesting and very entertaining ;D
Becca R.- Is there anything I don't know about you?
Teresa- I miss you!
Anne W. and Alison W.- I know Jeannie tagged you, but I'm really not sure there are many more people who read my blog!

The Journey

Next Sunday, as the whole of both of our Worship Services, we all will be taken on The Journey.
This is a musical interpretation of the journey one would take traveling through the Tabernacle in the Wilderness into the Holy of Holies, as the Priests would have done. Our Music Pastor has arranged several familiar musical pieces to depict the experience through each "Station" of the Tabernacle.

These include: The Outer Court, The Bronze Altar, The Bronze Laver, The Inner Court, The Lapstand and Shrewbread, The Altar of Incense, The Veil and finally The Holy of Holies. Pastor Mark will have MultiMedia to explain each of these stations.

I'm excited. I think this will be an awesome experience, not only for me, but for my children as well. We may have to whip out some Exodus a couple of times this week to get them prepared!

"Get Out Of Cleaning Free"

Between preparing for our upcoming garage sale this past Saturday, spending three days in the Cities, and the garage sale itself this weekend, Seth and I, as parents of students attending our local Christian School, were supposedly required to clean the school last night. But upon arriving, (rather bitterly on the part of one of us, I won't say who,) we were told we needn't be there as our oldest wasn't going to be a full time student yet this year. It was our one-time-only "get out of cleaning free" card and this was our only chance to use it!

Hmm, what to do with our "free" time... oh wait, there's still plenty to do... how about those garage sale signs?

A Day at the Beach

Yesterday, my friend Alison invited us to spend the day with them at the campsite that they're staying at this week and next. We had a grand time splashing in the water, and of course, doing what we do: chatting the day away!

Mathias getting a feel for the water

Madison: Look Mommy, a fish!

Malachi, bravely going neck deep!

Mommy, watch me jump!

Time to shower off...

Peek-a-Boo!
Great friends!

Thanks Alison, Ethan and Emri for a great day!

Blogging Slacker

HI! Remember me?

Since it's been nearly a MONTH since my last post, here's a quick recap:

Probably the most eventful thing that's occured in the past month is that we've just been voted in as members of our church. This is pretty exciting! We took the membership class this past February and on June 29, we (along with about 30 others) were unanimously voted upon. Seth and I are excited to be a part of our church in this important way.

Madison just finished her gymnastics course for the summer. To be honest, I'm glad to be done running around, but the boys and I enjoyed watching while it lasted :D.

Malachi turned 4 on June 17! (Okay, so the new member thing wasn't the ONLY eventful thing to happen in the past month!) At the last minute, we decided to have a Spiderman party for him, and have a handful of his friends over for a wet slip 'n' slide party. It was fun, but I'm glad each child only gets one birthday a year...and I think you know what I mean.

Mathias is growing by leaps and bounds! He's now 10 months and is crawling all over the place. He's even experimenting with climbing the steps! He eats almost everything we eat, and it's fun to watch his expressions everytime we give him something new to try.

Seth and I will be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary this Sunday! It's hard to believe that it's been that long, but I'm excited to have been married to such a great man for all this time. God has blessed us beyond what either one of us could have ever imagined.

So there you have it: nothing too exciting, but worth mentioning nonetheless.

So Big!

This morning, as I was driving to the Doctor's office for Mathias' 9 month check-up, I came to the realization that he really isn't a baby anymore. At least he doesn't seem like one to me. He has a very vivid personality, which makes him seem older than he is. I sometimes feel like he really understands what we're trying to communicate to him, and he's really good at communicating back with us. Physically he's making huge strides as well. He learned to crawl in one day! At least, that's what it felt like.


It happened on May 31st, when I wasn't watching. You see, that was the day Chelsea got married, and I was with her all day, while Malachi and Mathias were at my parents'. The previous day was like any other day. Mathias would lie on his belly and pull his knees up underneath himself. He would sit there for several minutes and just rock back and forth. Then, when he felt comfortable with that, he would scoot his knees forward, ever. So. Slightly, alternating knees until he fell flat onto his tummy again, exhausted from all of the effort.


Naively, I thought that things would go on like this for at least a few days, and maybe, if I was lucky, a few weeks...? Well I think Mathias knew what I was thinking, because remember, he can understand what we're communicating to him, even the non-verbals. So on that 31st day of May, 2008, Mathias decided he'd show me! He practiced all day long, unbeknownst to those around him, nor to his parents and sister, who had so selfishly left him for the day. And lo and behold, come Sunday morning, he was not only all-out-crawling, but even scooting back into a seated position when he needed to rest!

I'll tell ya, this Momma is in dire need of some baby-proofing...GOTTA GO!

Whirlwind Weekend Part I- The Rehearsal!

Well, they say a picture's like a thousand words, so here are a few thousand for you:

Whirlwind Weekend Part II- The Wedding!

Whirlwind Weekend Part III- The Reception!

Whirlwind Weekend Part IV- David Graduates!

My brother David graduated from high school on Sunday. Here are a few thousand more words:

Busy, Busy

To excuse my blogging laziness, I'll give you a rundown of what's been going on, and what's about to go on in our lives of late:

On June 7th, we're having my brother's High School/Junior College graduation party AT OUR HOUSE! In electing to do so, we've had to come to the realization that there are several PROJECTS that need to get done between now and then. We've already completed a couple, including painting our sunroom, which has been a boring beige since we moved in. (I'll have pictures posted soon, I promise.) We've also cleaned every window in the entire house, started organizing the garage, and "relocated" every single toy to the basement...in a very organized fashion, I might add...

On the docket for the next couple of weeks: We need to paint the front porch, as it is looking a little weather-worn, finish organizing the garage, and paint the picnic table...those are the projects. Seth, Madison and I are also in a wedding on the 31st, and we have friends coming to stay with us a couple of nights in the week before...starting this Sunday! (We're pretty excited about that part.) Add to that all of the laundry and dishes and school and work and life, and you've got a recipe for busyness.

So forgive me for the sudden burst of posts to make up for the recent lack, but we'll update you in a few!

Mothers

This Mother's Day, my Dad's parents drove all the way to Minnesota from North Carolina. My brother and cousin are graduating from High School this year so they came to say "Congrats" to the Grads.

It was a fun Mother's Day. We went to church with my sister, since she was singing, then drove the two hours to my Aunt and Uncle's. We ate nummy food-some venison my Uncle and Dad brought home from a recent hunting trip, caught up with family members, and played a couple of rousing games of Apples to Apples. I always love it when my Grandparents can see my children, also.

Here's a picture of four generations of women in our family:

Left to Right: Madison, Mom, Grandma, Me

We hope to see you again soon, Grandma and Grandpa!

Misty will be Missed

My parents recently had to put down their dog, Misty. Misty was a dog my folks found at an animal shelter about 9 years ago. They suspected that she had been with an abusive owner prior to my parents adopting her. She was an excellent dog, I never had to worry about leaving my babies with her. On May 3rd, my parents noticed that she was walking very unsteadily and having trouble sitting down. She would circle several times like she wanted to, she just couldn't figure out how. We all suspected that she had had a stroke. My mom told me that if I wanted my children to be able to say goodbye, that I should do it then, because they were taking Misty to be put down the next day.

I took Madison and Malachi over to my mom's and explained to them that Misty was really sick, and that tomorrow Grandma was going to take her to the vet. The vet would then give Misty some medicine to help her sleep forever, and that now was the time to say "goodbye". Malachi seemed pretty unphased by the whole ordeal. He said "goodbye" to Misty then took off to play. Madison, however, had a pretty tough time with everything. She's always been a big animal lover anyway, so to lose an animal that she was close to was hard for her. We had brought our camera with us to Grandma's, so she wanted to take some pictures of Misty (which was hard, since Misty could hardly stand, she was so off-balance). Madison then just sat with Misty for awhile and laid her head on her back. Over the course of the next few days, I would notice that Madison was much more subdued than normal, (okay, I guess "subdued" and "normal" don't exactly belong in the same sentance when we're talking about Madison) and occasionally, I would notice her crying. At these times, I just tried to hold her and stroke her hair, not wanting to say much, just let her grieve. During one of these sadder moments, Madison asked me, "Mommy, when Misty is "Sleeping Forever" can she breathe?" "No, honey." I said. That's when I think she really knew that Misty was not coming back and that she had died. This was Madison's first real experience with death. I think she handled it really well. We miss you Misty!

On Every Mother's iPod...

This Mother's Day, Seth and the kids bought me a Zune. So while I'm still figuring out how to use it, (as technically challenged as I am, I was surprised to find it's really rather easy to use...so far.) give me a list of songs that you think EVERY mother should have on her MP3 player.

Ready?

GO!

EW!

Tuesday morning, the kids and I tried a new cereal: Wild Harvest Natural Blueberry Flax Granola. It was delicious~so I convinced Seth to try it.

The next morning, Seth woke me up to find this "blueberry" floating in his cereal:

Yeah, here's a closeup:

Grossed out? Yeah, me too...and I ate the stuff!

AND, Malachi, um, "tossed his cookies" in the van Tuesday night.

Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

Photo Shoot

This one's the Poster:

And here's the CD cover:

Home Is Where The Mom Is

I get a weekly e-mail newsletter from the MOPS Organization (Mothers Of Preschoolers). The newsletter this week reminded me how important our job is as protector and safe haven to our children. This is a job that I don't take lightly, and also, as other mommies know, it's a very warm and rewarding job:


"Stranded"
By Barb Vogelgesang, Area Coordinator

I was traveling recently and found myself stranded at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. This unexpected curve allowed me to spend some time people watching. The waiting area at the gate was crowded with stranded passengers. I noticed a young mom with two children pushing a carriage while she struggled to pull along their carry-on bag. She stopped and scoped out the available spaces and moved to two chairs near the ticket agent counter. It was interesting to watch her set up camp.
She blocked off the two chairs with the bag and the carriage creating a safe play area for her toddler. A blanket was put down with some toys and the little guy sat down happily at his mom’s feet. Every once in awhile he would stand up to check on his baby brother sleeping in the carriage and pat his mom’s leg. His mom’s desire and ability to create a temporary home for him made him content. When the ticket agent announced that our flight was canceled the mom left the safe corral to get on line. She built her “home” close enough to the ticket counter that she was able to keep one hand on the carriage at all times. As long as her little guy could see mom’s hand he was just fine.
It’s amazing how as moms we can establish a cozy dwelling place and the security this gives our children. A carriage, a suitcase, two chairs, and a blanket in a crowded airport and a little two year old played happily while his infant brother slept, all because mom was near. I’ve heard the saying home is where the heart is, but the reality for a young child is home is wherever mom is.

Golden Nuggets

I've been catching my kids lately saying the "darndest things"...

I overheard a scuffle between Madison and Malachi, and although I don't know what happened, they seemed to resolve it on their own:

Madison: "Say 'Sorry', for goodness sakes!"

Malachi: (With emphasis) "Sorry, for goodness aches!"

On Easter Sunday morning, our neighbor brought over a basket of goodies for the kids and left it on our back patio. The kids enjoyed going through it and finding delicious treasures while Seth and I enjoyed watching the kids dive in. We had to laugh as we watched as Malachi picked up sparkly plastic egg and exclaimed,

"What's this 'Doo-(h)ickey'?"

Yesterday, I changed Mathias' diaper in the dining room, then, in order to get him redressed without grabbing the soggy dud, wrapped it up and threw it in the direction of the kitchen garbage...Now, even if I was Michael Jordan, I wouldn't have been able to make it in the can, but Malachi noticed the flaw and said,

"Mom, you whiffed it!"

Enjoy, we sure did!