Blood Work In and I'm Exhausted

Based on the blood work, everything looks good. Little Man was dehydrated, but other than that, the blood work shows nothing. Good, but I am still baffled. Just pray for an answer also pray that if it is something to be picked up on the EEG that he have his bugs and pain during the testing. His EEG is schedule for August 11th, his appointment with the neurologist has been rescheduled for the 11th immediately following the EEG.

On a side note, I am exhausted. The singer and Skippy stayed over last night. It was 4am when we went to bed, then I got up at 5:30am when the hubby came back over to the house to get ready for work. He slept at the neighbors house since the girls were here.

I am going to go make some coffee and the children and I are headed into town to get dinner with the Hubby and return some clothes I bought for Kid-O today.

Little Man Update...

The results from the MRI are in; Little Man's brain has formed properly, so there is no Arnold-Chiari Malformation. However, we still have no answer. The neurologist is waiting on the results from the blood work and we are moving on to an EEG. The EEG will tell us if he is having some wierd brain seizures, along with many other things. He is scheduled for his EEG on August 11th. Just keep praying for an answer for us. Not knowing right now is the hardest part of this whole process.

Bored

You're a Part Time Brainiac

No doubt about it, you have the potential for big brain power. But potential doesn't get you to genius. It's going to take some work. Like most smart people, you enjoy a good intellectual challenge every now and then. But you do tend to shy away from anything difficult, frustrating, or complex. Push yourself to think, learn, and explore more... even when it feels bad. You have the capacity to solve amazingly difficult problems. You just need to let yourself do it.

Are You a Brainiac?

You Are a Turkey Sandwich

Conservative and a bit shy, you tend to stick with what you know and trust. You are very introverted, and you prefer to blend in whenever possible. Though you may be hard to know well, anyone who does know you considers you a true friend. Your best friend: The Ham Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Tuna Fish Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Worn Out

As most of you know, today was Little Man's MRI of his brain and his blood work. First, let me say what a trooper this young child is, he and God never cease to amaze me.
So here is how the day went:
5am: Mommy up
5:45am: Daddy up and getting read to go
6:15am: Kid-O up and getting ready to go
6:30am: Mini-Me up and dressed
6:35am: Little Man up and trying to get ready to go
6:40am: Mommy leaving the house with Little Man and Mini-Me, Daddy leaving with Kid-O
6:45am: Kid-O dropped off at a friends house
7:05am: Mini-Me dropped off with a friend of mine
7:30am: Little Man I arrived at the hospital
8:00am: Admitted and on our way to radiology
8:15am: Nurse applies cream to Little Man's arm for his IV
9:00am: Little Man and I are in a room getting his IV, Little Man's appointment time was for 10am; however, the 9am left, because they could not get the IV in, the 11am arrived before us, but got upset because it was taking so long to get back so they left. Pray for that young child, I believe he has Teret's syndrome. Little Man laid there to get his IV like a champ, when they stuck him he said "ouch", no crying, kicking, screaming, nothing.
9:30am: Little Man was in the MRI machine and strapped down
10:05am: The nurse carried him back into me, he woke up immediately, saying, "I'm hungry, Mommy, can we go to McDonald's?" I told him yes, that we would when we left there.
10:30am: We were leaving the hospital. As we were going out, I told Little Man, "Okay, we are going to get lunch, then get your blood then to the train store." He thought about it for a few seconds then said, "no, we go get my blood first then McDonald's and the train store." Yet again, God is making this easy on me, by making us walk through this with Little Man. What a blessing to be found in what seems like to be no blessings.
10:45am: We arrive at Quest to draw blood, I told them we have a 1:30pm appointment, but that he would like to get this over with, he just left the hospital could they work him in. The phobotomist said yes, give us fifteen minutes.
10:55am: We were preparing to draw blood. I hold Little Man, she sticks him and he says, "Ouch, that hurt", no crying, no kicking, no scream. Yet again, God comforting me and Little Man through this.
11:00am: We are on our way to McDonald's. We ate a nice McDonald's lunch, then off to the train store. At the train store, Little Man had a hard time deciding what train he wanted, but he ended up with Colorful James, and Busy as a bee James.
12:30pm: We are on our way to get Mini-Me and Kid-O
1:30pm: We arrive home.
2:00pm: Little Man and Mommy take a nap.
I wanted to share an email I received today from a friend. Yet again it goes to show just how wonderfully God answers our prayers. "Just wanted to let you know that you and your family are in my prayers today. May God let His presence be felt and his compassion wrap around you like a warm comforter!"
Thank you Gracie Lucy

So this was our day, I'll let you know when we get results. We go back to the neurologist on August 7th. Thank you for your prayers.

Here is where we are going...

I received Little Man's blood test orders today. They will be testing the below things to see if they can rule anything out or get an answer.

Complete Blood Count with differential
CMP (Comprehensive Metabolic Panel): Includes alkaline phosphatase (serum), AST, BUN calcium, Chloride, Globulin, Potassium, Sodium, Albumin, ALT, Bilirubin, Carbon Dioxide Creatinine, Glucose, Protein total, and Creatine Kinase
ANA (Antinuclear Antibody) Test: Used to find or in the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases such as Lupus, and systemic sclerosis
Creatine Phosphokinase Test: A CPK is a blood test that measures creatine phosphokinase (CPK), an enzyme found mainly in the heart, brain, and skeletal muscle. When the total CPK level is very high, it usually means there has been injury or stress to the heart, the brain, or muscle tissue. For example, when a muscle is damaged, CPK leaks into the bloodstream. Determining which specific form of CPK is high helps doctor's determine which exact tissue has been damaged. This test may be used to: Diagnose heart attack, evaluate cause of chest pain, determine how badly a muscle is damaged, detect early dermatomyositis and polymyositis, tell the difference between malignant hyperthermia and postoperative infection and reveal who carries muscular dystrophy (Duchenne)
Rheumatoid factor: The rheumatoid factor (RF) test is primarily used to help diagnose rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to distinguish it from other forms of arthritis and other conditions that cause similar symptoms of joint pain, inflammation, and stiffness. It may be ordered along with other autoimmune-related tests, such as an ANA (antinuclear antibody), along with other markers of inflammation, such as a CRP (C-reactive protein) and ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate), and along with a CBC (Complete Blood Count) to evaluate the body’s blood cells. A CCP (Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibody) test, a relatively new test that can help detect early RA, may be ordered if the RF is negative. The RF test may also be ordered, along with tests such as anti-SS-A and anti-SS-B to help diagnose Sjögren’s syndrome.
TSH: Thyroid function tests are blood tests used to evaluate how effectively the thyroid gland is working.

Also, please don't forget to pray for the MRI of his brain on Monday the 28th. They will be looking for Arnold-Chiari Malformation. The hubby and I just want an answer at this point, we know God will take care of it.

Kid-O donates her Hair

So about a year ago, Kid-O told me that she wanted to donate her hair to someone who does not have any because they have gotten sick. I told her okay, but that we had to keep it really healthy.

So one year later, we have nine inches, and enough to donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

Here is the end result after the ponytail was cut off. I think it is really cute. She likes it too. I really like it because it is easier to maintain.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths is where we are sending Kid-O's hair too. Not many people know about them, so they don't get as many donations as Locks for Love. Which is a good thing, because Lock for Love has to throw out a lot of the donations they get because they just can't use it all. Plus Locks for Love requires 10 inches whereas Pantene on requires 8 inches and Locks for Love only makes kid wigs from what I understand, whereas Pantene will make kid and adult wigs.

July Challenge

Once a month, I go scrapbooking at a friends house with other friends. Whitsdom provides us with a challenge to do at home and then show her to be added into a drawing for a little scrapbooking gift.

I am not going this month because I will be attending a fellowship with some ladies from church. I will still get to scrapbook though.

Anyway, I was posting my challenge for Whitsdom to come look at so that she could put my name in the hat. Hope everyone else enjoys looks at it.

This is everything from Kid-O's 1st grade year that I felt was worthy of keeping: class picture of course, her all year A honor certificate, highest AR average certificate, and her art certificate, report card, along with something from the first day of school and something from the last couple of weeks, and finally a letter she wrote her teacher about wanting to be a teacher one day. The way I put it all together, she will be able to flip through the pages to look at them one day, if she wants.

Playing

My secret pal gave me this watercolor set a couple of weeks ago. I have not taken the time to play with it. I thought I would sit down and play today. What do you think?

The red flower is my favorite.

I am not sure what kind of flower the orange one is, do you know?

Good Bye

When the Hubby and I bought his new car, it was with the understanding that the Camaro had to go. Two people do not need four cars, four tags, four sets of insurance, etc. Well, we thought we had someone who wanted it but he never brought us the money, so we placed an ad in the newspaper. A man came and drove it Saturday and wants it. He is supposed to be bringing us the money this afternoon. We hope, we are ready to get rid of it; however, it is a little sad. The hubby has had that car for sixteen years, so of course we started dating in that car thirteen years ago.

On a side note, the man we bought the Honda from is such a picture of Christ. He called Saturday night while we were out. So the Hubby called him yesterday to see what was up. He proceeds to tell the hubby that when the payment was made on the Honda it was over paid by $31.50; therefore, he wanted to bring the money over to us, because that was the only fair thing to do. Of course the hubby told him that was not necessary, but he wanted to do it anyway. This man gave us and unbelievable deal on this car, so good he paid an additional $3200.00 out of his own pocket to pay the car off. I think he should have kept the money. I had the thought though, what if we were all so willing to give money to people like that. Just another wonderful picture of Christ to me. I imagine through his love and amazing heart people see Christ daily through him.

Getting to know you...

1. What time did you get up this morning? 8:00 am
2. Diamonds or pearls? Both!
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Pirate of the Carribean 3
4. What is your favorite TV show? Scrubs
5. What is your middle name? Jean no longer use, I use my maiden name
6. What food do you dislike? cooked spinach
7. What is your favorite CD at the moment? SantucReal
8. What kind of car do you drive? Nissan Quest
9. Favorite sandwich? Rueben
10. What characteristic do you despise? those believing they are better
11. Favorite item of clothing? Victoria Secret PJ's
12. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Tough, Russia
13. Favorite brand of clothing? comfortable
14. Where would you retire to? Somewhere beautiful
15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? The one where my parents told the hubby and I how I was conceived.
16. Favorite sport to watch? college basketball and golf
17. Your shoe size? 8 maybe
18. When is your birthday? January 24
19. Are you a morning person or a night person? neither
20. Pets? 1 dog, that lives with the neighbor
21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Nope
22. What did you want to be when you were little? A jet pilot
23. How are you today? Good
24. What is your favorite candy? Pure sugar
25. What is your favorite flower? carnations
26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Aug 7th
27. What is your full name? BYR
28. What are you listening to right now? The computer fan
29. What was the last thing you ate? Scrabble and a Sierra Mist
30. Do you wish on stars? No
31. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red
32. How is the weather right now? Warm and hazy
33. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Shawna, the think
34. Favorite Soft drink? Sierra Mist
35. What is your favorite restaurant? Don't really have one
36. Hair color? Strawberry blonde
37. What was your favorite toy as a child? Strawberry shortcake
38. Summer or winter? Late Fall, Winter, Early Spring
39. Hugs or kisses? Hugs
40. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate
41. Coffee or tea? coffee
42. When was the last time you cried? Monday
43. What is under your bed? dust bunnies and some of The Hubby's guitars
44. What did you do last night? Talked with a friend, then played the Wii
45. What are you afraid of? snakes
46. Salty or sweet? Both
47. How many keys on your key ring? 4
48. How many years at your current job? 5 1/2 years
49. Favorite day of the week? Thursday
50. How many towns have you lived in? 6: Hollywood,FL, Crossville,TN, Starkville,MS, Cleveland,MS, Ruleville,MS, Starkville,MS, New Market,AL
51. Do you make friends easily? Don't know, ask my friends

Meaningless! Meaningless!

So, yesterday was an interesting day. Not much was going on around my house, I read, did my Bible study, watched the kids play outside in the sprinklers, and started reading Ecclesiastes in my walk through the Bible. Well, about Chapter 9 I believe, my life got really interesting. Little Man comes running and screaming, the bugs won't get off. I thought he was talking about the bugs in his head, but he was not. He was wet and grass was stuck to him, but upon the second look, I noticed ants all over his feet and legs. I got him over to the sprinkler and started to rinse the fire ants off. While looking for the ant hill that he had gotten into, I noticed that his leg was turning red. I thought I need to watch that, a couple minutes later, I noticed large pale white bumps were the ants bite him. Went to the neighbor to get some gas to pour on the ants, told him what happened quickly, got back home. Maybe three minutes later, I return to Little Man with hives all over his back. The neighbor and A/C repair man looked at him and told me to get him to the urgent care. By this point, maybe ten minutes, but definitely no more fifteen his face was swelling and we were in the van headed to the urgent care, then on to Publix for apples and medicine. Stick with me here, I am getting to the meaningless, meaningless.

When I get home, I go back to reading Ecclesiastes. When I finished, I wrapped it up in my head with, the way it starts Meaningless, Meaningless what is the point. Ecclesiastes is all about not knowing, we do not know the future, we are not wise enough to know the future, we toil and labor for things, meaningless things that we can't take with us, we are called to "Go eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint you head with oil. Enjoy life with you wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-all our meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your tiolsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might..."

So many times in life, I ask God well what was the point of that, like the ants. Well, the point is that it is not for me to know. Gods word says "As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, Maker of all things." Which then in turn brought me to the conclusion that it is not for me to know and Little Man getting in that ant bed seems meaningless; however, it is not, because ultimately it was part of God's plan. So we had to be where we were, the urgent care, when we were, to work out some other part of God's great and masterful plan for life. So what seems meaningless to us is not because it is from God for his purpose.

As you can tell from the pictures, his foot and hand are still swollen, not nearly as bad as they were though. On a side note, it is difficult to not see God in Little Man, his personalitiy is not self-centered. Example, when we got to Publix to get the apples and his medicine, we pass by the push pop lollipops. He asked if he could have the red one and we'd get the pink one for Kid-O. In pain, swollen, and suffering yet he still thought of some else. So I hope you find the humor in our little story, because we do.

Max update...

Our ten year old Beagle

So remember awhile back, I told you that our neighbor had come and gotten our dog and never really brought him home. Well, six weeks or so later, Max is still living with the neighbor and we pick him up in the evenings to take him for a walk. Well, he started having seizures and the neighbor took him to the vet. I told the hubby, we can never ask for our dog back now. Anyway, the funny part of this story is, last night on the way back from our walk; Little Man asks Daddy, do we have to take Max home now and Max then proceeds to turn into his new driveway. Sad because I love my dog, but good for Max and the older neighbor man, Max is a good, friendly, lap dog.

Learning the Hard Way Again...

Ephesians 4:2 "Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in Love." What is Love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."

I have failed miserably these past couple of weeks or so at "bearing with one another in love." You know when you have those people in your life that you don't always agree with, but you just get over it because we are human and of course we are not always going to agree. Well, I have had that lately, which would normally be fairly easy for me to look over, but this time those disagreements have been about God and my walk, being told I am not doing things right. I get a little upset with being told my walk is not where it is supposed to be. How dare someone judge my walk with the Lord. They do not know my heart. Therefore, the "bearing with one another in Love" has been much more difficult. Being beaten down by two or three can really hurt. Quack, Quack.

Through my studies though, God has shown me that I am not bearing with one another. I have allowed my emotions to govern my life, instead of Christ. Christ did not care that people did not agree with him. Of course they did not agree with him, all He truly asked of people was to love, the greatest commandment.

We as humans seems to truly struggle with the concept of loving one another. So much is and can be healed through love: marriage, friendships, churches, lost souls, the list could go on and on, but you get the point. So God is showing me, I must love these people no matter what they think of me, my walk, or what I choose to do or not do. When God leads I follow, sometimes kicking and scream, but I follow. He is BIG enough and strong enough to let me know if I am doing or not doing something that is worthy of my calling as his child.

This is a prime example of why we need Christ as our Savior, we are all sinners, we all sin all the time and to think that we don't sin is a sin.

Bathroom Update

Well, our bathroom is basically finished now. We still have to run the electrical to replace the one light with the two lights we purchased, but that is all that is left.


I still have to buy the wall plates to put around the pipes to make them look a like better. I just have not been to my favorite home store yet.

My adopted children

I told my readers awhile back that I would post a picture of my new children. Well, me and my absent-mindedness kept forgetting to take a picture of them together. God just so happened to work that out this week at VBS. All of the kids were sitting together and I had my camera in hand, so there you go the picture was taken. So from left to right you have, BB and the Singer, Skippy and Mac Daddy.
Mac Daddy likes analogies so I have one from him. Some of you may understand this but most may not, if you do take it to heart. So here goes: there was a little boy one day walking along the beach. He was walking and picking up starfish and throwing them back into the ocean. There was a man watching him down the way. As he got closer to that man, the man said there are thousands of starfish washed up, you will never be able to save them all. The little boy responded saying, "I know, but I made a difference to that ONE." Mac Daddy I don't know if that helps, but it is something to consider. I love you guys.

Little Man Update

Little Man's appointment with the neurologist was yesterday. I feel much better after meeting with her. Here is why: Instead of being dismissed she said, "He is only three, he is not making this stuff up." Wow, what a blessing, to be listened too, and believed. Then I called back this morning because I forgot to give the doctor one more piece to the puzzle. I told them I was sorry to bother them, but I had forgotten to tell the Doc about the lower back pain as well. I was told, "nothing is insignificant." Wow, God again. They are listening, and Little Man will be fine through God. Oh, and Little Man had many of his symptoms yesterday morning while we were there, so the Doc got to see many of the things I was telling her about. God again.

So on to the appointment. We got there and they got us back on time, Wow. Then the nurse came in and got the initial information. See left us with a box of crayons to color all over the table paper. Little Man liked that alot. When the doctor came in, she immediately started talking to Little Man to get as much information from him as possible. Love that as well, listening to a child, what a novel concept. So we talked for better than 30 minutes, Wow, God again. That never happens in a doctors office.

So the bug crawling sensation that Little Man has is an actually medical term; formacation. No this is not a misspelling, this is the actual word. She was concerned about his difficulty to swallow well. He requires lots of liquid to eat a meal and about the formacation on his head and face, and the apparent stiffness in the right leg. The right leg is much stiffer than the left.


So here is the course of action right now. Little Man is scheduled for an MRI of his brain on July 28th. The Doc wants to make sure that the brain has formed properly. She said there is the possiblity that the cerebral cortex has been sucked into the spinal canal, there by causing the pain and bugs. She of course does not know, she just wants to be able to rule that out or confirm it. Then we are also doing a full blood work up: rhuemtoid arthritis, lupus, thyroid, anmenia, diabetes, and anything else that she and her collegues think they should run. Wow, she is going to consult with other nuerologist, God again. Then we will go back to the Doc on Aug 7 to get the results of all these tests. Hopefully with an answer.

That is were we stand for now. Still not knowing anything but believing that God has got Little Man and this Doc and that he will reveal what the problem is through her then fix it. All this for God to get all the glory. Pray that I continue to walk through this with only God's grace and the Little Man be healed.

Decorating

This years theme for VBS is Outrigger Island. I was doing decorations. One day I was talking to Mrs. Going Goofy and she said what about a waterfall. So she and I get a general idea going. Then I told the Hubby, he said well why not use the baptismal. So he thought of doing it from the side. I liked from the front on look better. So in our backyard, we get the general idea of how we are going to get this thing to work.
So, here is the finished product, one ladder, one tarp, three milk crates, some rock and bamboo from our yard, and we have a flowing waterfall. Looks and sounds pretty cool. Thought you all might enjoy looking at it.

That is about right...

You Act Like You Are 29 Years Old

You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel like an adult, and you're optimistic about life. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. You're still figuring out your place in the world and how you want your life to shape up. The world is full of possibilities, and you can't wait to explore many of them.

What Age Do You Act?

July 4th in Pictures

So, this year was not really any different than any other year, except for the fact that it rained. We (being the family) could not think of the last time that it actually rained on us. As you can tell from the pictures, that did not stop us from eating, playing whifle ball, and fireworks. I could upload many pictures, these were just some of my favorites. Enjoy.

Hubby and Little Man

The whole gang, minus the doctor and children. The doctor was in this weekend.

Hubby, Soccer dad, the builder (cousins)

Fireworks by Uncle Buck

Uncle Bucks wife and daugther

TBI PoPo (brother in law) and Mini-Me

Little Man and Redneck golf

SC Boy and TX girl

Pint size neice

Kid-O

The Runner (a cousin)
Ty-wee (nephew)
Dad and the little trouble in the making (more cousins)
The lawyer (cousin and favorite grandchild), girlfriend, and builders middle daughter
Uncle Buck (cousin)