Praises to God!

Mama had her first follow-up appointment with Dr. Ogan yesterday morning since being released from Emory last Tuesday. He was AMAZED at how well she is doing and how strong she is!!!! We, on the other hand, aren't surprised at all... we know that the Lord is moving in her and is continuing to heal her! We are still waiting on lab results to determine how well her kidneys are working on their own (no dialysis in over a week).... she seems to be producing urine perfectly, but there is concern that the kidneys may not be "cleansing" the blood the way they should and that her body may not be producing as many red blood cells as she needs (she had to recieve 2 more units of blood before leaving the hospital last week)... but, regardless of how the tests turn out... she is HERE, she is HEALING, and she is our MIRACLE!

Christmas Morning

Santa was so good to us this year! (Our living room is a disaster to prove it!) We had so much fun watching Lucas play with his gifts. He was really excited! David and I also got some really great presents, but the best one of all of it was knowing that Mama is home and healing!

Christmas Eve Party with the Brays'

We look forward to this party all year long! I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures during the annual bingo, but I did manage to get a few of Mama and the kiddos.. enjoy!

Christmas Eve

I didn't touch the tree, mommy.... promise!

Lucas was anxiously awaiting a visit from Santa!

Christmas with the Fitchs'

We enjoyed our day with the Fitchs' today so much. With everything that we have been through in the last 3 weeks, we needed some time together as a family. Lucas was blessed with way too many toys, as usual.. he is one spoiled boy!

Christmas Party at Mrs. Penny's

We had lots of fun at Mrs. Penny's Christmas Party on Saturday! Lucas just loves his friends there. It was fun to get to stay and watch them all interact. Santa even stopped by!

Update on Mama

Thank you everyone for the continued prayers... keep them coming! I am happy to report that Mama is doing much better. God has blessed us with a true Christmas miracle this year.

Mama is breathing much better now. Her lungs still have a lot of fluid, but they are clearing more each day. She only needs a small amount of oxygen to support her own breathing now. Her blood pressure is still on the high side, but is looking more stable each day. We continue to be dependent on dialysis to cleanse her body of toxins and waste, but her kidneys seem to be hopefully beginning to wake up. We may even get to move out of ICU tonight or tomorrow! Yay!

Please continue to pray and thank God for saving my Mama. These are some of our specific prayers...
1. Her kidneys to become fully functional and have no further need for dialysis.
2. Her physical strength to return to her so that we do not have to spend any more time in the hospital than we have to, or a rehabilitation facility.
3. Continued positive attitude! She is so motivated to get up and at 'em!

Mama

Thank you so much for the prayers.. it means the world to us to know that so many people love and care for us and Mama... they and our complete faith in the Lord are the only reasons we have gotten through the last 2 hardest weeks of our lives.

For those of you who may not know... Mama's surgery went fine... the tumor (it was malignant) was removed from her right kidney and Dr. Ogan was even able to save 2/3 of her kidney. It was after that.. on last Friday to be exact that things took an ugly turn. Mama was moved to the ICU on Saturday afternoon for breathing trouble and the beginnings of pneumonia. That was only the awful beginning. By that night she was totally unable to breathe on her own and put on a ventilator. The next day, we had to make gut-wrenching decisions... we found out she was septic (blood infection all over her body), she had to have multiple (I'm talking seriously at least 10) IVs, a central line put in the left side of her neck, a dialysis port in the right side of her neck, a drainage tube put in her nose down into her stomach, an arterial line to constantly monitor blood pressure and heartrate (plus some other stuff that is way over my head)... and that is all in addition to the 6-8 inch incision on her right side and drainage tube/bag from it. Her kidneys failed on Sunday. Her heart was out of rhythm on Monday morning, causing doctors to have to "shock" her with paddles 2 times over the course of only 3 hours. She ended up having 3 more episodes with her heart that day, but thankfully the others were controlled with a new medication... that the nurse had to adjust almost constantly for about 12 hours... Mama's heartrate/ blood pressure would shoot sky high and then just plummet the next second.

As I sent here now, on Friday afternoon, I am looking through the window at my sweet mother... tubes everywhere, her blood circulating through a machine and then back to her body, her chest pumping up and down as the ventilator pushes air into her... it is excruciating. My heart has already broken. Daddy's heart has broken. David's heart has broken. But, we have hope. We haven't gotten really bad news now in over 36 hours. Mama opened her eyes and looked at me for a few seconds today. She will shake her head or wiggle her toes to answer questions at times... but she grimaces in pain and fear... you can see the confusion and fear in her expression and it hurts so bad that all I can do is hold her swollen hand and stroke her hair... little comfort for her I know.

She is fighting hard... so hard. We can only hope that she is now on the right track.. the long road to recovery. I want my best friend back.

Prayers

Well, I have put this post off as long as I can... it is not easy to talk/blog about...

My mama is having serious surgery in the morning. Doctors found a suspicious tumor on her right kidney a few months ago. She will most likely need to have her entire kidney removed due to the large size of the tumor. This will be a lengthy procedure (4-6 hours) and will require her surgeon to reposition and work around other organs that the tumor is near. I know that God will see her and us through this... but please pray.

Among the things we will be praying for are... mama's health, comfort, and protection both during surgery and recovery; for God to guide Dr. Ogan's hand and decisions during the operation; mama's strength and emotional well being throughout the whole process; strength and patience for my daddy as he cares for her and supports her each day. We have already received such an outpouring of love from our family, friends, and church family. We are truly grateful for each and every kind word, hug, and prayer.

Please also add my little man to your prayer list. He is having some issues with the tube in his left ear. We battled a rough ear infection last week (the tubes were supposed to make them stop). His ENT saw him this morning. It was a painful visit for Lucas. He had to be put under a microscope and Dr. Novelly had to go in his ear with a long needle type pick to investigate the infection and position of the tube itself. He believes that it is a soft tissue infection around the tube and another round of antibiotic drops should clear it up. I sure hope so! It has been a long (birthday and holiday) week of pain, crying, and little sleep. I just wish there were something I could do to ease his pain especially at night (Tylenol only helps so much). Pray that this round of drops can heal his ear without putting him at risk for any possible/further hearing damage. At this point, I haven't seen anything that alarms me as far as his hearing or speech development, but it is a constant worry until we know he is all clear. We will return to Dr. Novelly's office just before Christmas for a recheck.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to our good friends Kelli and Shannon Smith on the arrival of their daughter, Morgan Campbell Smith, born yesterday at 2:45p.m. weighing 7 lbs. 3 oz. (exactly what Lucas weighed when he was born almost a year ago to the day). Sweet little Morgan joins twin siblings, big sister Maddy and big brother Thomas. What a Thanksgiving blessing! We can't wait to meet the newest angel!

Good News!

We found our new church home! We joined Hillcrest Baptist Church this past Sunday. We couldn't love it more! The people are so warm and welcoming and our pastor Chris Wilkie has been a dear friend for years. We are excited about what God has in store for us there!

Birthday Party!

Choo Choo!

Some of our new church family that came to lend (more than) a helping hand... "Conductor" Brent and "Balloon Making Machine" Chase.

Lucas' birthday party was just perfect. Everything came together in the end and it was a magical day! I had been looking forward to that day since we first found out we were expecting our little man. God sheilded us from the rain that had been forcasted all week and gave us a day of sunshine to enjoy with our closest friends and family. We hated that some could not attend, but given the time of year... we had a great turnout!

I loved watching the children enjoy the fun we had prepared for them... riding the train (THANK YOU CONDUCTOR BRENT), eating homemade cotton candy, and watching Chase make them their very own balloon creations (THANK YOU CHASE)! Also, a big THANK YOU TO MELISSA, for making such adorable cakes.. you are amazing! And last but certainly not least, A GREAT BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO MY MAMA AND DADDY... without their help none of it would have been possible! It was so far beyond what I ever dreamed!

Community Reader's Day

My father-in-law was sweet enough to come and read not one, but three stories to my Kindergarten class last week. Mrs. Brenda joined us too, bringing goodies for all the kiddos!

Busy, busy!

Fall is such a busy time of year, but also a fun and exciting time too! We have had our hands full preparing for the little guy's birthday party coming up this Saturday. We are hoping for a good turnout even though I know that it will be impossible for everyone to come because of the upcoming holiday. I have been watching the weather everyday... and getting a little more worried everyday. Right now, there is a 40% chance of rain... that would not be good for the outdoor activities that I have planned! But, hey.. that's what umbrellas are for, right? And, there will be a lot going on inside too! Just pray for no downpours!

It is so unbelievable to me that L is about to be a whole year old. It makes me so emotional to even think about it. I have been retracing those days leading up to his birth in my mind this week.. all the worry, all the excitement....

He is growing so much. It seems that he can do or say something new each day. He is still doing his 3 legged crawl ALL OVER the house, pulling up to his feet and walking around furniture, standing on his own for a second or two, and saying "hey" "dada" "mama" and "nana." He says dada and nana much more than mama right now.. but before long, I'm sure that will change and I'll be wishing he would call on his daddy sometimes! :o) Oh, these are the most precious days. We are so blessed to live this life! I am LOVING every second of it!

Trick or Treat!

Boo! We hope Lucas' spider costume didn't scare you! :o) He had fun trick or treating tonight (and playing with the umbrella in the rain.. yuck).... thanks Nana and Pawpaw and Mom and Papa for the candy! David and I... oops... I mean Lucas.. will really enjoy it. haha Happy Halloween Everybody!

Big's Birthday and The Pumpkin Patch

We had such a great time yesterday with Nana and Big. It was Big's birthday and we celebrated all day with lots of fun adventures!

We started our day at Jack-o-lantern Lane in LaFayette. Lucas chose his first pumpkin and had a ball looking at all the animals, going on a hayride, and shelling his first ear of corn (he wouldn't turn loose of his corn cob for the entire day). It was great family fun! I highly recommend it to everyone!

After the pumpkin patch we headed to Loachapoka, AL for our first visit to the Syrup Soppin' Festival. We all wished that we had alotted more time to spend there.... tons of arts & crafts, food and syrup makin'! We can't wait to make a day of it next year.

Finally, we traveled up to Newnan where we were joined by Mom and Papa at Big's pick, Red Lobster, for a birthday feast.

We had such a wonderful day. I just love this time of year and all of the fun activities it brings!