Aunt Carolyn's visit and more...

Whew.  I am realizing how far behind I have gotten on the postings.  So much excitement lately.

First off, Patrick's Aunt Carolyn came to visit us a few weekends ago.  We always enjoy her company and the kids think of her as another special Grandma!  

She came bearing gifts too!  Amazing little Christmas outfits for both kids that she lovingly made herself!  They are beautiful!!  Such a touching gift.

Thanks Carolyn!

She gave me a starter course in smocking which was fun.  I can see how time consuming it would be...  but the results are so cute.

Then we took the kids to see Veggie Tales Live!! 

 These creatures have become some of Josiah's favorites.  We listen to the cd in the van and watch the different stories at home too.  He has memorized many of the songs and will be glad to sing them for anyone who asks!  I have to say that I love hearing him singing in the van, especially when he belts out "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to Abby and me."  Talk about melting my heart!

So we thought he would enjoy seeing them in real life.  The show itself was visually a little over stimulating I think, and some of the music we didn't recognize.  But when they sang some of his favorites, I could see his eyes light up and a surprised smile creep across his face!

Abby wasn't too interested.  The music was very loud and the talking was too.  She fell asleep.  It had been a busy day already so she was pretty tired.

I probably enjoyed it most of all.

Back to the ER...

Yesterday started out as one of the most stressful we've had in a while.  Abby had a fever of 103.4 and was acting strange, and somehow I knew it would only get worse.  I dosed her up with some Motrin and got her into a comfy position on the couch where she fell promptly asleep.

After grabbing a quick shower, I ran to check on Abby to see if she was still sleeping.  Instead I found her seizing on the couch.  I really only glanced at her before running to get her emergency medicine.  I gave it and then ran around trying to get ready to head to the hospital.  Poor Josiah just sat and watched me, probably thinking I had really lost it this time.

As the minutes melted away (8 of them) I realized I hadn't called her neurologist.  I told the nurse what was happening and I could hear slight panic in her voice as she instructed me to give Abby a 2nd dose of Diastat and to call 911.  At hearing this my stomach dropped and I don't really remember the next several minutes as I waited for the ambulance to arrive.  

Until yesterday we've managed to avoid using an ambulance to get Abby to the ER for seizures.  I think the Lord arranged it so that Patrick was usually close by or friends were near to help with Josiah.  Because her seizure was only getting worse, even after 2 doses of Diastat, I have to admit that I was a tiny bit relieved to see the trucks driving up.

They gave her oxygen and more Diastat in the ambulance as we sped through traffic and red lights.  I couldn't help but feel very overwhelmed remembering the other times Abby and I have been passengers together in an ambulance.

Once we arrived at the ER it was nice to be rushed to a room where a large team of people were standing ready.  They got her IV on the first stick and gave her more meds.  She seized for a total of 1 hour.  One terrible hour.

The rest of the day was spent getting lab results, a chest x-ray, urinalysis and CT scan of her brain.  All checked out ok except for a questionable chest x-ray.  Her chest films are rarely clear and typically are found to have some spots of "something".  The radiologist couldn't say for sure what he was looking at, but noted it could be a pneumonia developing or maybe spots of atelectasis (collapsed air sacs) from not breathing well during the seizure.  Just to be safe the doctor gave her antibiotics through her IV and some for home too.

Thankfully, the doctor was amazed to find her blood gases to be ok, considering the length of her seizure.  She kept her o2 sats high even after removing the oxygen mask.  The main problem was her high fever, which crept up to 104.2.  She remained agitated until we brought her home where she could get some real rest.

Today she is mostly out of it, but coughing and restless when she is awake.  I can tell in her eyes that she feels pretty lousy and her temp is around 102.  We are just glad to be at home.

After 7 weeks of illness and too many seizures to want to mention, we have prayerfully decided that she will NOT be returning to school.  Although we feel that it has been good for Abby to have the interaction with other children; to hear them talking, singing and laughing around her; it is clear that her health must be our #1 priority. The therapy has been great too as it has allowed our family be together at home more.

Fortunately we will be meeting to change her IEP soon to arrange for homebound services again.  We are hopeful she will receive some therapy each week at home, along with meetings with the teacher for the deaf.  This is the part we really need help with.  Communication with Abby is our biggest, most discouraging challenge.  We want to connect with our little girl and give her a way to express her heart and mind with us.  

Our hope remains in the promise that our Lord created Abby and has given her as a gift to us.  His purposes for her life are far reaching and beyond our comprehension at times.  But we are certain that He will provide all that she needs, and sustain our family through difficult days.  The daily trusting is my personal challenge.  

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths;

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 

Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old."

Psalm 25:4-6

A Special Visitor

My parents have lived in China for over 20 years now!  It's hard to believe until I break it down into all of my sub-memories of growing up, and then it seems like a life time ago that I was riding my bike to Chinese school with my red bandana on (only some of you will understand this part!).

Mom and Dad make trips back to the US periodically, some for business some for family time.  We had a special treat before my birthday when Dad extended a business trip long enough to visit with his girls!!

It was so fun to get to catch up on life in person, face to face.  The kids enjoyed seeing "Pipai" again too.

Happy Birthday Patty, my wife and best friend!

Today is Patty's Birthday! First let me be very clear, I know her password and she does not know of this escapade to post about her birthday.

Happy Birthday Paba and here goes!

Last night as we were visiting with her dad, (he stopped by on his way back to China) he reminisced that the day Patty was born was one of the best days of his life. He did say that attaching a pink bow to his daughters head on her soft spot was not very comfortable and promptly removed upon exiting the Portland, OR. hosp many years ago.

25 things about Patty you may not know...

1 - She is an extremly hard worker, we have painted houses, built decks, rebuilt carburetors (2 months after Josiah was born), rebuilt an engine

2 - Excellent at rapelling and belaying climbers

3 - Althetic: Fierce at soccer (maybe to impress me, any thoughts from her teammates?), good swimmer, can snow ski well though she has only done it once, goes off rope swings...

4 - Creative: she has made baby blankets, scrapbooks, woodburning verses as gifts

5 - Talented wood worker: furniture

6 - She can put up crown moulding

7 - Patient: worked for years as a nurse while I finished school, married to me, has a 2-year old and a deafblind child.

8 - She loves Chick-Fil-A cookies and cream milkshakes

9 - Excellent cook: we had chinese food 4-5 nights a week during the early years of our marriage. I could not cook and she mainly knew chinese dishes.

10 - She is fluent in chinese

11 - She is a loving, protective and committed mom: When Abby was born she quit her job and spent 6 months in the NICU. She has a special way with Abby.

12 - Smart: she has a bachelors degree in nursing and remembers every date for Abby's surgeries (13 total) and procedures as well as all the medicine she has ever taken.

13 - She chose me and our kids over her career as a nurse

14 - She gets embarassed when I call her my trophy wife, which she is.

15 - She is very,very beautiful - obviously.

16 - She gave me a journal - Seriously, the entire year we were engaged she wrote me a letter every day in 4 volumes.

17 - She recently competed in the swimming leg of a triathlon

18 - She encourages me to buy motorcycles and other guy toys.

19 - She is my biggest cheerleader and best friend

20 - She can and has completly exchanged the furniture in two bedrooms all alone.

21 - She loves Thai and Vietnamese food

22 - She is passionate about saving the life of babies

23 - I am still her best friend after nearly 8 years of marriage and 3 dating - we have never broken up

24 - Loves to watch movies with me

25 - She misses Hummer every day

This is only the beginning of a list of who Patty is and why I love her so much. She has made me a very rich man indeed!

"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." - Proverbs 31:10

Stomach bug

Abby is sick again with the nasty stomach bug.

Last night Patrick and I went to see the movie Fireproof on our date, thanks to some dear friends who gave us free tickets! About 30 minutes into the movie we got a call from our respite worker... never a good sign.

She told us Abby was vomiting and having terrible diarrhea. We left the movie and rushed home. Poor little girl was pale and limp as a dish rag as she continued to vomit. After some time of almost constant vomiting and wretching we got some Zofran called in for her.

Eventually she stopped throwing up and sat with me in the rocker. Just as we were thinking about putting her to bed, I saw her little hand start twitching. Before we knew it her whole body was convulsing.

We gave her rescue med (Diastat) within 3 minutes of the first twitch and called her neurologist. Fortunately the seizure stopped after about 5 minutes of full seizure activity!! Her breathing was a bit abnormal for a few minutes but thankfully she calmed down and fell asleep.

The BIG thing is that we Did Not have to go to the ER!!!

Abby slept like a rock all night long with no vomiting and no more seizures. Praise the Lord!

This morning she has a fever and still looks pasty, but awake and mostly content. Now we are praying the rest of us can dodge this one!

Born Alive Truth

There has been much debate over many issues weighing heavy on the hearts of the American people during this political season.  One such issue involves the termination of unborn human lives.   

I saw these videos this morning.  There's nothing quite like a personal testimony to destroy all the political jargon and squabbling, and lay the true issues out on the table.

The "Born Alive Infant Protection Act defines the "born-alive  infant"  to  include  every  infant  member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development." 

 It "Defines "born alive" to mean the complete expulsion or extraction from the mother of an infant, at any stage of development, who after that expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless  of whether the umbilical cord has been cut and regardless of whether the expulsion  or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion."

 SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1. "Provides that a live child born as a result of an abortion shall  be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate  protection under the law."

Illinois General Assembly -http://www.ilga.gov

These videos speak for themselves and are worth looking at.  Although I do not want to use our family blog as a political platform, I do firmly believe in the right to life for ALL babies.  

For those who aren't familiar with Gianna Jessen and her amazing testimony, check our her site.

Born Alive Truth

My Boys

I love to watch my boys.  They both love the water!  Patrick is a wonderful swimmer and seeing him in the water is like watching a graceful dolphin.  

This summer we tried to focus on getting the kids in the water as much as possible.  At first Josiah didn't like getting his face wet, but by the end of our Florida vacation at the beach he was doing this...

This past weekend Patrick finished his 2nd Triathlon, The Frantic Frog!  He started out swimming 400 meters in open water, biked 15 miles and finished the race after a 3 mile run.  The kids and I had a great spot by the water where we could watch him swim and cross the finish line!  

He came in 10th for the swim out of 400+ people participating!!  I think he will only get faster on his bike and run.  He hopes to do more Triathlons next summer... especially collecting the fun T-shirts!  

We are very proud! 

A quick visit before the race

All the swimmers lining up on the dock

Almost finished!