Nothing good happens after 2AM...

So the old saying "nothing good happens after 2am" still holds true. Saturday night, Kid-O and Ash come to get the Hubby and I, at 2:11am, because Ash's fingers are stuck together. We were told that her fingers were stuck, because they were gluing. The hubby ask what were you gluing and with what. The bed and super glue.

Then he beings to figure out what happened. The girls were playing on the fold up bed and the end piece broke off. Not too bad, until they tried to fix the problem by themselves. They tried tape first, but that did not work, so they moved on to the super glue. Ash was doing the holding, while Kid-O was doing the taping and gluing. Wow, the genius of any almost 8 year old and 9 year old.

As you can tell, the tape and super glue did not fix the bed. The worst part of the whole story was that the girls used so much super glue, they had gotten two nickel size dollops on Mamaw's new hardwood floor. The Hubby was able to get most of it up, but there is still residue.

By the way, the tape was a joint idea. The super glue was all Kid-O.

YIPPY...

I HAVE INTERNET. PICTURES TOMORROW. YEAH.

Christmas Eve

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve.

This first one, was mini-Me hidding under the stairs, when all the kids were playing hid and seek. Little Man, Kid-O, Ash, and Tywee playing hard.
Mini-me enjoying the pastors punch.
I really liked this picture of Little Man asleep holding his head up. I don't know how long he had been that way. It does not look all that comfortable to me, but he did not seem to mind.

Catching Up...

We took the kids to Santa's Village a few weeks ago, but of course in the craziness of the holidays, the move and Little Man's doctor appointments, I have not taken the time to blog much about the going ons of our life. Here are the pictures of the kids' with Santa Claus.

My three little snowmen.

Mini-me with Santa. He climbed right up into his lap, just like the older two did. The older two thought mini-Me should get a new tricycle, since the youth from the church messed up his old one in a race one day. No crying, Yeah.

Kid-O with Santa Claus. She asked for a tiara, a candy stick like last year and a moped. Maybe we have a couple more years of fun with her.

Little Man eating it up. He asked Santa for a skateboard with his name on it, a new Lightening McQueen car like the one he had to give Mini-Me, and two new wooden chairs.

Christmas Eve

Today, we, the family that is, are in Tennessee for Christmas. The Hubby and I got a lot of unpacking done over the last couple of days in the new house, but there is still lots to be done. I have lots of pictures to upload, but not right now. Lots of blogging to come over the next few weeks, with the new house, Christmas, seeing Santa, doctors appointments etc. Fun, Fun. Still no home phone or internet yet, but hopefully within a day or two of getting back to Alabama, we will be up and running.

Being that it is Christmas eve, I pray that each of you are keeping in mind what Christmas is truly all about. It is not about the gifts, food, or even family. All these things are great; however, Christmas is truly about the greatest gift of all, Christ our Lord and Savior. December 25th is not, that we know of, the exact day that Jesus was born; however, it is the day that we celebrate the His birth. I ask each one to stop the busyness long enough to enjoy what we have truly been blessed with.

On a side not, I can't remember if I posted Little Man's doctors appointment, so here you go. We go to the Pediatric urologist on January 7th, the Pediatric cardiologist on January 22nd, and the back to the neurosurgeon on February 3rd. After that we will know exactly what we are doing and maybe have some dates.

Updating...

I am at the neighbors updating. First, moving is going well. Everything is in boxes and we will be sleeping on the floors the next few nights. Fun, Fun.

The main update. Dr. Oakes office called from UAB, Little Man's urodynamics and ultrasound will be at 8 am on January 7th, and his appointment with the urologist, will immediately follow at 9am. Thank you for all the prayers. Please continue.

Little Man Update...

We have our appointment with the pediatric cardiologist at UAB on January 22nd.

Note: I will be packing up the computer very so; therefore, there will be no post for a week or so. I am sure that one of the first post when I am unpacking will be the new house and Little Man updates. For family, of course, you can call anytime for updates. Love you guys.

Trial and Tribulations...

This morning during my pray time and through a few dear sweet friends, God answered some more prayers for me. You know when you go through those trial and tribulations in life and they seem to be getting the better of you. Well, Satan is getting the better of you. That has been me for the last week and a half or so. About the time you lay something down, it comes back up. I think that God is testing me to see if I have really laid things down.

Well, this morning Mrs. Goofy, I think, it might have been HRH, anyway, brought up the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I went back to read that story to see what God had in it for me. When these men were told to worship other gods, they refused and were then placed in the furnace. That was their trial or test or whatever word you chose to use at the time. Well, while in that fire, four men were seen walking around. Daniel 3:25, says "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, 'Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?' (3:24). "So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego come out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors, and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them." (3:26b-27)

Anyway, here is the point of what God was showing me this morning about my life and what I want my life to be. I want to be in those trials, tribulations, persecution, whatever they maybe called and for people to see not me but God. In the margins of my Bible I wrote: " They were not touched, trust God to bring me through the flames. This is what I want, Father, to be untouched by what is going on." Life has gotten crazy with many, many things. I cling to the promise that God will not give us more than we can handle at one time. I cling to the fact that I have the power dwelling in me to have the endurance and patience to deal with whatever life throws me. I just have to continue to trust God to work through me, and out of me and let his Spirit that dwells in me do the work, because I can not do it myself.

So to my friends, whether you realized it or not, God was using you this morning because he needed me to read the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego again to see what truth He had for me there today.

We love you Karen...

Karen, the amazing Godly woman I posted about last Sunday, is with her Creator. At peace and healed. I have the utmost confidence that her entrance into Heaven was beyond words. Praise God.

I have an awesome picture of her on my phone. As soon as I can figure out how to get it off I will upload it.

Exhausted...

Emotionally,

Spiritually,

Physically,

Mentally,

and any other form of exhaustion.

The Veredict...

As you may remember, today was our visit to the pediatric neurologist at UAB. Here are the results and the following actions that will be taken.

1. Little Man does have a tethered spinal cord. The column is supposed to be between the L1 and L2 portion of the spinal cord and his extends down to L3. Therefore, he will be undergoing the untethering surgery of the spinal cord.

2. We will be going to a pediatric urologist at UAB for a urodynamics test. A tube will be inserted into his bladder, while awake and electrodes hooked to him to determine the electricity in the bladder. This is a diagnostic test to determine the degree of the neurological damage already done due to the tethered cord.

3. We will also be going to another pediatric cardiologist at UAB to determine the exact degree of Little Man's aortic stenosis. (Remember the heart malformation from the womb that was found in this process.)

4. Based on the finds of the pediatric cardiologist, Little Man may have to have his heart valve replaced before we can have the untethering surgery. Due to the stenosis of the heart, putting him to sleep without further knowledge to the degree of stenosis in the heart, would put him at risk for greater complications.

So, worst case Little Man undergoes heart valve surgery, then the untethering surgery. Best case, we only have to have the untethering surgery done for now. The neurologist does not seem optimistic about not having to replace the valve first. So this is what we know for now. Praise God for the answers, and now knowing where we are headed with this, I ask that you all continue to pray for God's hands to direct the hands of the doctors. The heart and spinal are a big deal. Only God can do the work. Thank you for continuing to pray for Little Man and us. If any of this does not make sense, please feel free to ask questions in the comments section. I will be happy to answer them the best I can.

Yesterday...Wow

What a day! I got to have church yesterday with one that I think is the most amazing women I have ever met. I told the hubby, the only way I knew to describe her was as what we are truly called to be, by God, she has attempted to achieve. After spending the last year and half getting to know this woman, I see just how much she has touched the world. I am sure we all know someone like that, who has loved everyone, shared God's love with everyone she has met, lying in the hospital witnessing to doctors.

I had the amazing opportunity yesterday to help care for this women. While she was laying in my arms, I could feel how much pain she is in, but yet she never complained. She smiled and kept telling me how much she loved me. Me, I have been unable to do anything to help, other than pray and encourage. She has done more for me, than I could ever have done for her.

So today, as I was reading my Monday's devotion that I get, this paragraph just really stood out to me, in regards to this women. Here is the paragraph, "And how about us? Are we able to recognize God's Only Son in the most unlikely of people and places? Are we drawn to the Son of God and will we gently hold him in our arms? Are we open to those sacred moments when we are allowed, no, encouraged to touch the face of God? Simeon reminds us that God WILL reveal Himself to us, but we must be ready to see Him. In all your hectic activities this Christmas Season, allow yourself to be surprised by the Presence of The Messiah." Yes, I know that this pastor is talking about Simeon, and his revelation of the seeing of the Messiah before his death. The part that stands out is "will we gently hold him in our arms? Are we open to those sacred moments when we are allowed, no, encouraged to touch the face of God?" That was me yesterday, I got to hold the Spirit of God through this women in my arms. No complaining, no woo is me, no life sucks, no God is so unfair, nothing but praise for God and what he is doing. I know this might not make sense, but that is okay, it does not have to, to anyone reading, it only has to make sense to me. What an encouragement this women is to me and everyone that see touches.

Great Idea....

So reading a friends blog today, her title was "Tagged". As you read through, the instructions were to go to your 'my pictures' folder, then go to the fourth folder in 'my pictures', then go to the fourth picture in that folder. Then you are to tell four things about that picture. So here is the fourth picture in the fourth folder.

1. Only God would have the fourth folder in 'my pictures' folder be the Get Real Conference at our church this year.
2. Shelley Hendrix was an excellent speaker on the topic of getting real about who you were and are in Christ.
3. If we cover up our sins and flaws that we have chosen into our lives; how is God going to use us, because we are not being honest. Shelley's main point.
4. The clay jar was once very precious, so if the jar cracked or got a hole, they did not simply throw it away, they would find a new use, like to hold candles and shine light in the darkness. Picture yourself and your sins as the clay jar and the holes, don't cover them and don't throw them out because then you can show the light of Christ to the world through you.

I love this picture and love that this was the fourth picture in the fourth folder. So you are tagged now. What's in your my pictures?

My Litttle Indian...

Enough said.....
I am pretty sure Little Man had something to do with this.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

As most know, life here is a little crazy right now with the packing to move from one home to another with the closing date being on December 19th. I hated for the kids and myself if I am honest to not have a Christmas tree this year. I love putting up the tree and being able to sit in front of it for as long as I want at night after the children are in bed, and relax in the Spirit of the Christmas season. This year though is different, so I decided that I would put up one of the children's room trees with this years new Hallmark mini ornaments. I thought it turned out cute, but it makes me think of the Charlie Brown Christmas.
God has used the last few years to ever so gently remind me and keep me focused on what the Christmas season is truly about. This year he is using the moving and Jonah's appointment at UAB, to keep me focused, because I don't have the time to focus on presents and trees and lights and parties, etc. I know that all of us Christians, know what Christmas is about, but how many of us actually take the time during the Christmas season to thank God for His Son. Try sitting in front of the Christmas tree, and ponder what God has done and is doing for us every moment of everyday. Think about it for just a moment, Jesus sitting on the throne being honored and praised, gave that up for a dirty diaper and a manager. Are we willing to give up our throne (cushy life) for someone or something else that needs us? When was the last time you actually smiled at someone and meant it; gave someone a helping hand because you wanted to, not because someone was watching to see what you would do? Or better yet when was the last time you stopped long enough to have a conversation with someone that you don't even know? The love of Christ can be and should be expressed each and everyday, and it is very simple to do, if you allow the Holy Spirit to do it through you.

Packing and more packing

Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing, although it rained the entire weekend, so we were not about to get out and ride the four wheeler until Sunday morning. So, today it was back to the packing gridiron. I began the day, working on the home inspection report for our new house. The hubby and the trooper went down Wednesday and did the inspection. Now we have to get the report together and the stuff we want fixed. Then it was off to the attic. I have been packing up the stuff that is to move to the new house and throwing out the stuff that is not moving to the new house. For example, stuff that was never unboxed from the move from Mississippi almost six years ago.

Next on the list, finish the laundry and fix dinner. Ham n' cheese chowder. Hummmm.

Thanksgiving

We are in Mississippi with the in-laws and some other family came up from Louisiana. This is Little Man breaking a geo stone. When you bust these rocks open they have crystals of all kinds on the inside. Maybe later, I will get around to posting some pictures of the stones. Kid-O was trying to break some of the geo rocks as well. Watching her with a hammer is a little comical.
Grandpa and his dog relaxing on the dam while the grandkids fish.
Little man is doing a pretty good job of figuring out how to cast out a reel.
Kid-O fishing. No fish this time and it is supposed to rain all day today, so I don't think we will be fishing today either.I hope everyone has had a blessed thanksgiving.

Out of Here...

We are headed to Mississippi to visit the family for Thanksgiving.

My life right now...

It has been a few days since my last post. Life has gotten really crazy right now, but it is all good because God is in control. So as you know our house sold three weeks after being on the market, well Saturday the hubby and I signed papers on a new house.
So now I am really in full mode to get this house packed up so that we can get out of this one and into the new one. The closing date for both houses is December 19th.
By the way, always compete your mortgage companies. The hubby and I have excellent credit scores, and the company our current mortgage is with is offering a interest rate that is 0.525% higher than another reputable company. That factors out to an increase in the monthly payment of $70.00, and $20,000.00 over the duration of the loan. Crazy, they must think I am not very smart. Anyway, that is my soap box.

Just a little information....

I have been researching the doctor that Little Man will be going to on December 9th. From what I have read, it looks like God gave us a good one. Praise God. One of the papers he co-authored talked about the correlation between neurology and the Bible.

W. Jerry Oakes was born and raised in a small sleepy railroad town, DeSoto, Missouri. His parents, Marvin and Mildred Oakes, owned and operated the town’s variety store. His university education was at the University of Missouri-Columbia, graduating in 1968. He completed his medical school training in 1972 and neurosurgery residency in 1978, both at Duke University. While a student, he came under the influence of Guy Odom and was allowed to see the potential of an academic neurosurgical career. During his residency, he spent a year in Toronto, first in neurology and then in pediatric neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children, coming into contact with its stimulating faculty of Robin Humphreys, Harold Hoffman, and Bruce Hendrick. Following the completion of his residency, he spent the next year in Europe; first at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London and then in Zurich with Professor Gazi Yasargil. Returning to Duke, he spent the next fourteen years, developing the pediatric neurosurgical service. In 1992, he and his family relocated to Birmingham, Alabama and the Children’s Hospital where he is Professor of Pediatrics and Neurosurgery. In the past ten years, this service has grown and now has four full-time pediatric neurosurgeons with a busy clinical practice.

Along the way, he has produced more then 125 peer-reviewed papers and 40 book chapters. He has served as president of the Neurosurgical Society of Alabama and the Southern Neurosurgical Society. In 2002, he became the editor of Pediatric Neurosurgery and president of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons. He is a director and vice chairman of the American Board of Pediatric Neurosurgery.

Pick an Angel

This post is for my mom and the mom-in-law. First off, nice angels, I like them a lot. Okay Mom, here are the three angels you have to pick from. This angel is 14 1/2 inches high and 10 inches at the base, tip to tip. The body of the angel is tall and slim. I don't know what tree this is going on, if it is the slim one, this angel might look good on it. This angel is 12 inches high and 7 inches at the base. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the angel is holding white strands of beads. This one is my favorite.
This one is the smallest one measuring 8 inches high and 3 1/2 inches wide at the base.

Anyway, here are the pictures, you pick and let me know, so I know which ones to return to the mom-in-law.

Note: I have my computer back, YEAH!!!!

The phone just rang. Praise. Praise. Praise. Little Man sees the pediatric neurosurgeon at UAB on December 9. WOW!!!!!

Updating...

I still don't have my computer. I think the neighbor is getting close to being down with it, so I am in the other neighbors house posting right now. Great neighbors, we will miss them.

Anyway, we still have not found a house that we both like. There has been one that we like the best out of the ones that we have looked at, but we still have several more to look through. We are going out again tonight to look at three more or so. With Kid-O and school we are not getting much done right now. I figure this weekend will be very busy looking at houses. AHHHHHH...The DVD in the van, best thing invented to entertain kids while house shopping.

I got the results back for Little Man's spinal MRI from last week. The cervical portion of his spine looks good, nothing wrong there. However, on the lumbar (lower back) portion of his spine, they were unable to rule out tethered cord. In tethered spinal cord syndrome, the lower end of the spinal cord stays attached or tethered to the base of the spine, rather than riding freely up and down the spinal canal. Since the spine grows faster than the spinal cord, this leads to increasing stress on the spinal cord as a child grows and becomes more active. If tethering happens, the cord will become tight and stretched as the child grows, leading to symptoms of nerve damage, such as weakness or numbness in the legs, back pain, and trouble controlling the bladder or bowels. Based on the not being able to rule out tethered cord, the pediatric neurologist here is now sending Little Man on to the pediatric neurosurgeon at UAB. So, we still don't really know anything, other than they could not rule out the last thing left to look for. I am praying that the neurosurgeon at UAB will be able to look at all the current images we have of Little Man up to this point and be able to say one way or the other whether it is tethered cord, without having to put him through more testing. If theydetermine it is tethered cord, then Little Man would most likely undergo surgery to untether the cord.

Thank you again for all your prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for Little Man, as we continue on this quest to find an answer. Also, please pray that they get us into UAB quickly.

Stressed

I still do not have an update on Little Man. I called the neurologist office today, but Doctor Limbo has not reviewed his images yet. The nurse was going to try to get her to review them today. Maybe I will know something tomorrow.

Life is a little busy right now, and not because of the holidays coming upon us quickly. As you all know, three weeks ago, the hubby and I put our house on the market to see if God really did want us to move. We believed that is what he was telling us, but we were not sure. Well, three weeks after being on the market, we accepted an offer on the house. Saturday is when we accepted the offer, so we have been busy looking for a new home to move too. However, we have know real clue where God wants to move us too. He has blessed us in a significant way through the sale of this house, so we will see. Of course I am nervous because the closing date on this house is December 19th and we have no clue where we are moving too. I am excited because we are most likely moving to a larger house. I'll keep you informed about that as well. Please keep us in your prayers over the holidays, since basically we will be homeless. We have family and friends that we will spend the holidays with, but none local. Plus through this process, Kid-O will be changing schools as well. She is excited about that though.

I still don't have my computer back. The hubby brought home a laptop from work for me to use tonight. The neighbor should be done with it is a couple of days.

Updating again...

I still have not heard from the neurologist yet on Little Man's MRI Tuesday. I just am continuing to pray that God gives an answer. Maybe the longer wait is a good sign.

Secondly, we are currently in contract negotiations with a couple on the purchasing of our house. Please pray that we continue to response the way God would have us too. Some of their wants were a little out there (ie they asked for our surround sound system). Please pray for this process for us. I will keep you informed, when I have computer access.