Climbing

Matthew has taken to climbing a lot lately. Climbing on the couch to sit with us. Climbing up in his chair at the dining room table. Climbing in and out of the van on his own. He's always been a good climber, but he was never tall enough to really pull himself up completely on these things. When we moved in to the new place, he tried to climb the step ladder we had out while we were trying to hang pictures and other things. Since he mastered that he figured he would move on to the ladder on Bubba's bunk bed. At first, he would just slide through the bottom rung. Then he moved on to standing on the bottom rung and crying to get down. Then he moved up to the next step and did the same thing. Lately he's been getting braver and climbing to the next step and even up to the fourth step. Usually he doesn't get further than that before Logan sounds the alarm or Matthew starts yelling, "I stuck, I stuck." Well, today he changed all that. This is what I found earlier this afternoon when Logan started yelling about Matthew being on his ladder.


The sad thing was he didn't want to get down after this. I guess I will have to start really watching him when he goes into Logan's room.

20 months and 20 pounds

At last, Matthew has broken the 20 pound mark. We have been waiting for months for this to happen. We went for a weight check today, and he weighs 20 lbs. 4 oz. Lately he's been actually eating. We think it's because we finally hit on an allergy medicine that stops the draining and allows his throat not to hurt and his stomach not to fill with yucky stuff. All that means he's actually hungry and eats. Now we just have to find food that he will eat continuously. Unlike most toddlers, he doesn't like to eat the same everything day. He prefers a little change in his diet almost every day. Sometimes we can get away with the same thing two or three times in one week but not usually day after day. I guess he gets bored with food a little too easily.

The nurses all cheered when we said that he had broken the 20 lb. mark. Our doctor is on maternity leave already. She went a week early, so she didn't get to celebrate with us. One of the other doctors in the office took a look at his chart and said that as long as he continues to eat and seems to be doing good, then we don't need to bring him back in for a couple of months. He didn't say anything about the GI specialist although he may not have known anything about it. I think though, we are going to hold off going up to Ft. Worth until August when our doctor is actually due back in the office. Hopefully, by then, he will have gained a lot more weight. We will continue to pray that way anyway.

Celebration

The most wonderful thing happened in our household last night. Logan prayed to accept Jesus into his heart all by himself. There was no prompting on our part, just a childlike belief and acceptance on his part. Every night one of us tucks him in and listens to his prayers and says a prayer over him. He has horrible nightmares we can't explain, but when we pray over him before he sleeps, he tends to sleep better. Lately his prayers have become almost flippant with almost an apathetic attitude. He would start with "God bless and protect..." and go down a long list that started with the dog and himself and ended with his friends and their families. Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad he was praying and including his friends, but I was getting a sense that he was just saying the words and they meant nothing in his heart.

So a few nights ago, I had had enough, and I told him so. I talked to him about talking to God and how important a conversation it was. We talked about how we pray and how we should be respectful when we pray. I talked to him about how Jesus taught the disciples to pray in private and bring their praises and their needs before God. We went over the Lord's prayer one section at a time, and then we talked about how he needed to change the way he prayed and how Daddy and I would help him. Something we talked about must have gotten through because last night he did very well when he said his prayers with Daddy. After Dennis had prayed over him, he asked Daddy if he could have a minute just to talk to Jesus. During that prayer, he asked Jesus to come and live in his heart and help him to do the right thing and not do bad things. As his parents all we could do was cry and thank God for him. We are so proud of him and this decision. He has fulfilled my greatest wish and dream for him. I know God is watching over him and the angels are rejoicing in Heaven. Please pray for this little boy and his future. Whatever God has planned for him is something amazing and wonderful.

Memorial Day

Well, the day is over, and the sun has set on another day we honor those who have given their lives in the fight for freedom. We thank them and we pray for those who are currently serving and fighting for the freedoms of others. I never lost any one in the wars, but I've had many family members serve in the Armed Forces. My grandfather and Dennis' grandfather served in the Pacific theater in WWII. My great uncle served as well in WWII. His grandson, my cousin, served in Afghanistan, and I have two other cousins currently in the Navy. We are proud of these men and their service. We are glad they came home alive, but we know there are many who will not return to their families. We pray for them and thank them for their sacrifice. May God bless and protect them and their families and friends.

Please Pray

Please pray for the family of Steven Curtis Chapman. Also make sure you hug your babies tight today and tell them how much you love them.

Doctors' Visits

Well, I don't have any pictures this week, but I thought I could at least update everyone on Matthew and Meagan's current progress. Matthew is still struggling with his weight and eating, but we are working on figuring out what's going on. Three weeks ago he started losing weight 2 ounces at a time every week for three weeks. This caused the doctor to request that we do a sweat chloride test to test for CF. The test came back normal, so we are headed to various specialists from here. The first stop is the gastroenterologist (sp?). They have agreed that we can see a different physician from the last time. We will be scheduling that some time after VBS and Dennis' trip to Vegas for a conference in June. We are hoping that in the mean time, Mattie will start gaining some weight as he recently started eating a bit more. He goes for a weight check on Friday, and then our pediatrician goes on maternity leave for the summer. She has said that after the GI specialist we'll wait till she comes back to decide our next course of action. Hopefully the GI specialist will have the answers.

Meagan seems to be doing much better. She had her six month check-up on Monday and passed with flying colors so to speak. She is right on track for everything. She even decided to sit up with help something she has refused to do at home lately. She always wants to stand straight up to her feet. She was in the 25th percentile for everything which is great in our book. She weighs 14 lbs. 15 oz. and is 25 inches long. I don't remember her head circumference, but I do remember it had grown a good bit. It had even jumped up in the percentile rankings from the 19th percentile. Needless to say she is a great eater. She even has thunder thighs, something we never saw on Matthew. She was a real trooper and took her shots well. As soon as I picked her up, the tears were gone, and she even smiled at the nurse before we left.

We love our nurses, and they love the kids. Thank you to Julie, Ashley, and especially Tamara. We are blessed to have them as our nurses. God has truly gifted these ladies as well as our doctor, and he has blessed us by bringing them into our lives. If you know a nurse, tell him/her thank you the next time you see them. They do and know more than we realize. They have a true gift and a special calling. Okay, I'm off my soapbox and headed for bed since all my little ones are finally sleeping peacefully. Good-night and God bless.

Meagan's Butterflies

We decided when we found out that Meagan was a girl that we wanted to decorate with butterflies. Or as my best friend in seminary taught me, chou chou. (Japanese for butterfly) Okay, I decided. :-) Anyway, it's taken awhile and moving to our new place to decorate with her butterflies. Thanks to Tiffany who threw us a great baby shower last October, we had butterflies with which to decorate. We've been working on it since we moved in, and we finally got it finished tonight. This is her side of the room that she shares with her brother Matthew. Eventually, once Daddy gets them built there will be shelves to the left of the quilt hanging on her wall. I know it's hard to see, but there are butterflies hanging from the ceiling over her bed as well. I think she will like to lay in her bed and look at them as they swing overhead. When the air comes on, they start flying a little bit too. Here's a better look at them from below. Meagan did spend a little bit of time this evening watching them as they flew above her, and we turned on her aquarium for some music to go along with it. She really seemed to enjoy staring at them. Here's more the way she sees them, sort of. At least they're up, and now she has her special colorful butterflies. Like her grandpapa, I think she really likes them and likes watching them. We can't wait til she grows up and can notice and enjoy the real thing.

Look Mom, I'm Driving

Well, Matthew has had quite a week. Last week we went for his follow up to the doctor concerning his ear infection and everything was well except for the usual allergies. Unfortunately, he had dropped two more ounces off his weight, but the doctor wasn't overly worried since he wasn't eating because of his ears. After that he developed a nasty cough and a nastier nose. We came to the conclusion that his allergies were getting worse, and his medicine wasn't working as expected. He did actually manage not to run into anything or bruise or cut anything on his body this week.

However, we did have to take him back to the doctor today because of his cough and nose. He has a cold and allergies, so we changed his allergy medication again. Hopefully, this one will work. He also lost another two ounces from last week, so now we are headed for more tests. This time we're doing a sweat test that will determine whether or not he has cystic fibrosis. This is a little scary, but we are trusting God to take care of him. As I am a carrier of CF and Dennis is not, the probability is low, but the possibility is still there. We have the test scheduled for Tuesday, so we'll see what happens.

We spent last night out in the garage working on a few things with the vans. Dennis was putting the portable DVD player in the Odyssey for the long trips. Logan likes to watch movies when we're in the van for too long. Matthew and Logan decided they wanted to help Daddy. I convinced Logan to go ride his bike, but Matthew wasn't so easily swayed. He wanted to help and be near Daddy. This is where he ended up. He decided he was big enough to sit in the driver's seat. When I tried to get him down, he refused and pitched a fit. Five minutes later, he was back up in the driver's seat. Who knows, maybe he'll be a great race car driver one day. Just kidding, grandparents.