A Little Princess

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Recently we purchased a double dvd for really cheap that had the newer versions of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. I liked these movies when I was growing up (although the newer versions didn't come out until I was in high school--but I liked then then too), so I was really happy that my kids liked them too. They especially like "A Little Princess"--it is full of imaginative stories and they eat those up!

One of my favorite quotes from the movie is:

I am a princess! All girls are. Even if they live in tiny, old attics; even if they dress in rags; even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses. All of us! Didn't your father ever tell you that? Didn't he?

Isn't that sweet?

Anyway, I still think of Honor as my "baby girl" and forget that she is growing up and understanding things more. The end of this movie always makes me cry, but I didn't think the kids would understand what was going on...they did.

I was in the kitchen when Sara finds her father and he doesn't recognize her. Honor came running in, bawling her head off. "Mommy, I don't like this movie! It's too sad!" Behind her, I could see Ariana sobbing on the couch. Break my heart, why don't you! I quickly cuddled my girls and explained that the Daddy recognizes her in just a minute and before I could get the words out, he did. That mullified them and they still like the movie, but I'm going to be leary of any movies that make me cry--apparently my girls are just as sensitive as I am!

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Word World

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Word World finally added new episodes to their repertoire...and they changed Sheep's and Duck's voice. Bet they didn't think I would notice, but I did....
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Acting Lessons

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My children are currently watching the best movie of all time, "The Princess Bride"...and acting it out. Isn't that funny? Ariana is quite good at pretending to choke on quicksand...

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A Chicken is a Chicken

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Honor: I like this pork!

Mommy: No, Honor. It is chicken.

Honor: It's chicken?

Mommy: Yes.

Honor: I like this chicken, it turned into pork!

Mommy: No, honey. A chicken is a chicken and a pig is a pig. God made animals after their own kind. A chicken can only make chickens and a pig can only make pigs.

Connor: Yes. Chickens only turn into nuggets!

mmmhmmm....

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Samuel's New Favorite Phrase

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Samuel likes to put on a stern look, pooch out his lower lip, and announce "d' y' und'STAND me?" which loosely translated means, "Do you understand me?"

....hmmm....I wonder where he picked that up?

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Medicine

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I am so thankful that they make medicine for small children taste like candy. It is so wonderful that all of my children swarm around it like it is the best thing in the world and pretend play that they are taking their medicine as if it were some kind of treat. They actually pretend to be sick on the off chance that I might actually just dispense the heaven in liquid form randomly. It makes it really easy to explain to them that if they were to drink the whole bottle of Children's Motrin like they greatly desire, that they would DIE--and causes me to get up in the middle of the night to make sure all of the bottles of medicine are properly stored away.

Yes, THANK YOU pharmaceutical companies for that intelligent decision...

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Love/Hate Relationship

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We don't go out to eat very often as a family. If the kids eat out, usually it is with me and Aunt Steph/Grandma. Rarely will Daddy agree to take the kids out. It is not that my kids are poorly behaved, it just stresses him out. He thinks he needs to squash all sorts of "kid behavior" before they have an opportunity to disturb any of the other patrons. Anyway, they don't run around or scream or fight or even talk too loud so I don't see what the big deal is.

I actually enjoy taking my kids out. There is rarely a time when we are out to eat that we don't receive a compliment on how well-behaved our children are. BIG ego boost for me!

And in general, I don't get embarrassed by my kids--I think they are funny and assume most people agree with me. But, today...Honor embarrassed me...

I went up to order our food and then tag teamed Daddy to go get the food while I sat with the kids. When Daddy left, there was suddenly a clear view to the table behind him. There were three elderly ladies and a younger couple. The younger lady was wearing a low-backed halter top and had some sort of tattoo on her lower back that just barely peeked up over the top--but she also had a big, quarter-sized mole in the middle of her back. Honor noticed.

"MOMMY! LOOK AT THAT! WHAT IS THAT ON HER BACK????"

"shhh...Honor! It is fine. Don't worry about it."

"NO, MOMMY! LOOK! DON'T YOU SEE THE BIG THING ON HER BACK??????"

"It's fine, Honor! Be quiet!"

"LOOK AT IT MOMMY! WHAT IS THAT????"

"It is some sort of tattoo...don't worry about it. You don't need to talk about it. Shhhhhh."

"NO, IT'S NOT A TATTOO. LOOK! WHAT IS IT, MOMMY????"

"SSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Eventually she did stop loudly discussing the poor woman's mole, but I was too embarrassed to look in her direction to see if she actually heard it or not.

Surprisingly enough, when the people at that table got up to leave, the three elderly women made a special trip over to our table to lavish praise on how adorable and well-behaved our children are. Daddy and I smiled and said thank you and heaved a huge sigh of relief that they weren't horribly offended.

Since Daddy wasn't there for the "incident", he felt the trip was a success. I think he might actually agree to eating out again soon...maybe.

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Update

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So Saturday Samuel had his febrile seizure then went back to acting 100% normal...with a slight fever that we kept carefully under control both Saturday and Sunday. Actually Sunday he woke up with the slight fever and then had nothing the rest of the day.

In enters Monday...

I woke up this morning and dutifully called our pediatrician. I left a message with the triage nurse saying that Samuel had a febrile seizure on Saturday and we were advised to call our pediatrician on Monday to see if we needed to be seen. I told them that when the exact same thing happened to Honor 2 years ago, our pediatrician did not need to see us, but I wanted to call to be sure.

Then I got Samuel up...

He did not have a fever...but his eye was swollen like he had a black eye! I called the doctor back and scheduled an appointment. By the time we got there, nearly 2 hours later, the swollen eye was barely even noticeable, but we figured since we were there, we might as well be seen.

We waited outside so at least he wasn't exposed to any more germs than absolutely necessary. Then the doctor told me that we did EXACTLY the right thing on Saturday...YEAH ME!!! He said that since Samuel was stabilized before the medics left, there wasn't really anything the ER could have done for the seizure, they would simply want to know what caused the fever and they may or may not have been able to figure it out. He agreed that with Samuel's recent history, it was a good idea not to expose him to any excess hospital germs. He said that febrile seizures are actually fairly common and although they are scary, there isn't much you can do for them. They can happen at 99* or at 103*--some kids are just more prone to them than others--and most kids outgrow them by the age of five. (Honor only had the one--that we know of anyway!)

He checked his ears and found out that Samuel has a slight ear infection in the left ear. He said that on Saturday it probably wouldn't even have showed up since it hadn't progressed very far, but because of the seizure and because of his recent history, he wanted to go ahead and treat it with antibiotics just to be on the safe side.

He looked at the eye and said that since there was no discharge and it was not red, it probably was related to the ear infection, however, he wrote us a prescription for eye-drops just-in-case and advised us to fill it if his eye turns red.

Then he said that if Samuel still had a fever in 48 hours or if his symptoms worsen, we were to come back in.

And hopefully that is all we will have to hear about Samuel getting sick...EVER AGAIN!

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After Nap

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Honor took a nap with Daddy today. After her nap, she came downstairs and gave me a report.

Honor, looking me directly in the eye...she had very important information: "Mommy, when Daddy sleeps, he goes like this, 'gggghhhhggghaaa'."

Daddy: "Honor, you snore too!"



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See What I Have To Put Up With...

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Mooommm...I need to wash my hands.

No you don't...you're fine.

No, I was playing outside today!

You have washed your hands since then. Have you gone potty yet?

No.

Go Potty!

Silence.

Bang. OW!

Honor! Get out of the bathroom!

I'm fine Mom. I just need the step stool so I can wash my hands. I didn't hurt myself. I only landed on my bottom. I just need to wash my hands.

HONOR!!!

Grrrrr...FINE. I'll go play with my toys then...

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Fireboy...

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Connor looked so cute in his fireman's helmet, I wanted to bring him to the store with me to "show him off." He was proud of his hat.

Mommy: "You're a cool fireman!"

Connor: "No. Fire BOY."

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As I pulled out into traffic after leaving the store, Connor had this dialogue with me/himself:

"We have to watch out for cars. It's okay if a car hits us because we have a Fireboy in the car. If a car hits us, they will get out and see my hat and say 'Whoa! Cool fireboy hat!'."

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If It's Not One Thing, It's Another...

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So...the kids got plastic Jr. Fireman helmets today...

Here's how:

10:30 am. - All the kids and Mommy go outside to play with our parachute.

11:00 am. - Mommy is frustrated by the parachute and the heat, so she brings the kids back inside.

11:30 am. - Samuel walks over to Mommy. He is all sweaty and feels hot. Mommy asks Daddy if he thinks he as a fever. Daddy suggests wiping him down with a cool wash cloth to see if it is a fever or if he was just playing too hard. Mommy wipes him off amidst massive protest and sends him off to play.

11:45 am. - Mommy puts Samuel in his high chair for lunch.

12:00 pm - Mommy sets food in front of Samuel. Samuel stares at it and doesn't move. Mommy gives the other kids their food.

12:01 pm - Mommy notices drool coming out of Samuel's mouth.

12:02 pm - Mommy takes Samuel out of his high chair and sits with him on the couch. Samuel does not move. He is still drooling. Mommy cannot get his attention. Daddy comes over and Samuel doesn't move. What is wrong with him??? Mommy and Daddy lie Samuel on the ground and take his diaper off to take his temperature. He has a fever of 102*. While Mommy is taking his temperature, Daddy is taking his pulse. Daddy lost count. Samuel has not responded to any of this and Mommy remembers that Honor had a febrile seizure at this age. Could he be having a seizure? Daddy agrees and rushes him to the bathtub. Mommy calls the doctor. The doctor tells her to call 911.

12:04 pm - Mommy calls 911. They send out the local medic.

12:05 pm - Samuel starts to respond.

12:07 pm - The medic from the fire department arrives with a police escort. The medics assess the situation, take down the medical history and ask us if we would like them to transport him to the ER. His vitals are normal. Daddy had a febrile seizure at that age. Honor had a febrile seizure at that age. Both had absolutely nothing wrong with them at the time and were completely normal by the next day. With Samuel being sick recently, Mommy worried about him picking up extra germs in the ER. From their experience and everything we have read, febrile seizures are harmless. Mommy and Daddy decline the ride.

12:20 pm - The medic called the ER and informed them that Samuel was acting normal, that his vitals were okay, his lungs were clear, and the parents were declining transport. The ER doctor advised transport, but did not overrule the decision. We kept Samuel home AMA (Against Medical Advice). The medic agreed with our decision. We were given instructions to alternate motrin and tylenol every 4 hours to keep the fever down and call our pediatrician on Monday.

12:23 pm - Everything returned to normal, except the kids were running around pretending to be firefighters

12:40 pm - Mommy and Connor went to the store to get extra medicine for Samuel.

1:30 pm - Samuel was walking, talking and smiling. Mommy put him down for his nap.

1:40 pm - Mommy prays that she made the right decision...


...But at least the kids are happy...

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Noises

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From the living room, I hear banging in the bathroom.

"Honor, what are you doing?"

"NOTHING."

"You are doing something, I hear banging..."

A high pitched scream answers my supposition. I walk to the bathroom.

"Why did you scream?"

"Because you frightened me to death."

Oh.

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You're the Best

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Honor: "Who's the best Mommy on the planet?"

Mommy grinning: "I am! Who's the best Honor in the whole wide world?"

Honor: "I AM!"

Connor--in his superhero voice: "Who's the coolest Connor on the planet?"

Honor, very enthusiastically: "YOU are!"

Connor--continuing in his superhero voice: "And I am strong!"

Mommy: "Yes you are!"

Connor: "I am strong enough to help you!"

Mommy: "Yes you are!"

Connor: "Mommy, now we have to go and get a backpack with two holes in it and fire can come out of it and I can fly into outer space...."

He's pretty imaginative, isn't he?"

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Nicknames

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My kids have nicknames that I use around the house.

Honor: Angel Face

Ariana: Baby Girl

Connor: Sunshine

Samuel: Handsome

Of course these are interchangeable.

The purpose of these nicknames is two-fold:

1. They are terms of endearment that make the kids feel special (even when I interchange them!)
2. I have four kids...do you know how frustrating it is to go through an entire list of names (often including the dog and my husband) before landing on the right one???
   

Mommy!

"Yes, Sa...Ho...Ar...Connor!"
or
"Yes, Sunshine!"

(See what I mean???)

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Assistant

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I sat down on the floor to change Samuel's diaper. Ariana sat across from me and asked if she could help. She began handing me wet wipes and unfolded the new diaper. Then she leaned over him and announced excitedly...

"Look, a snake!"


Think about it...

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Connor Has an ANNOYING High-Pitched Siren Cry...

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...that he does when one of his siblings has affronted him in some way.

Samuel is now mimicking that cry perfectly when he is playing because he thinks it is funny...

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Counting with Connor

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Often when my kids hurt themselves in a minor way--for example, biting their finger at dinner--and whine at me that they are hurt, I jokingly say, "Okay, I'll bite it off. That'll make it feel better." They laugh and tell me not to eat their finger, and all is forgotten.

This evening I was cooking dinner when Honor bumped into Connor accidentally.

Connor: "Moooom...Honor bumped into me!"

Mommy, with a wink: "Okay. Do you want me to eat her up? Would that make you feel better? I'm sure she tastes like vanilla!"

Connor, in a very serious voice: "Yeah. Then you will only have three kids."

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Honor's Prayer

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Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you much for this day.

Thank you for my sleeping bag.

Thank you that we ate hot dogs and sweet potatoes and chips and a cookie for dinner.

Thank you that my Mommy loves me.

Thank you that everyone loves me.

Thank you that everyone in the whole world loves me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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No Protector = Little Sleep

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My husband is gone for the week (on a mission trip building a church in Mexico), and my dog is on full-alert. This equals very little sleep for Mommy. I still don't know what she felt she needed to bark at and chase out of my room at 3 a.m....

On a side note, I obviously felt the need to check on all of my kids and found Connor buck naked in a pool of urine, having ripped off his overnight diapers sometime in the 3 hours since I last checked on him at midnight (when his diaper was on and dry). I woke him up, put his pull-ups back on him, got a towel from the bathroom, laid it over the wet spot and told him to go back to bed because that's the kind of mom I am...
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Something You Don't Notice Until You Have Kids...

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How many curse words are in all your favorite Disney movies...Pinocchio is HORRIBLE!

... and by "horrible" I mean "we're still going to watch it and I will just cringe through all the 'donkey' references..."


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Party!

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My mom and niece have been here for almost a week. While they were getting ready to leave this morning, Connor asked me a question.

Connor: Are Grandma and Abi leaving for Iowa today?

Mommy: mmmhmmm

Connor: So we are going to have a big party?

Mommy smiles. Honor felt the need to explain to Abi what he was talking about.

Honor: When Connor and Ariana become [last name]s, we are going to have a big birthday party!

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Drive Through

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While playing at a park, I ordered some pizza from Pizza Hut. Because I had all the kids with me, we went through the drive through to pick up our order.

Mommy to the cashier: "I have an order for [my real full name]."

Connor to Mommy: "That's not your name. Your name is Mommy [last name]."

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Bedtime Thoughts

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God gives us children so that we can have an infinitesimal example of true unconditional love.
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Doggy Maintenance

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The kids and I decided to dote on Jasmine today. We spent over an hour just taking care of her. Honor wanted to brush her (which we don't do nearly often enough--that's why we usually just get her buzzed) and then we gave her some treats. The favorite treat trick is the nose trick, which (if you haven't seen it done) is where you make the poor animal balance a bone on her nose for an indeterminate amount of time until you say, "okay" and then she gets to throw it into the air and catch it in her mouth. It is actually a great ice breaker for kids who are scared of dogs because she really sits very still while the treat is on her nose (because if she drops it, she has to start all over again) and the child feels like they are in control.

Anyway...Honor doesn't like to actually touch Jasmine's muzzle to put the treat on her nose so she makes me do it.

"Hold Jasmine's breath, Mommy, so I can put the green bone on her nose!"

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The Seed

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I fed the kids some mandarin oranges for dinner tonight that grandpa had bought for them when he was here. I didn't realize they had seeds.

Honor: "Moooommmm! Ariana took that from me! It was in my mouth!"

Ariana triumphantly holds up a seed.

Mommy: "You don't eat seeds, they're icky."

Honor: "I know. I need to put it in my garden tomorrow."

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Our Little Soldier

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Connor likes to pretend to be a soldier. He turns everything into a some sort of gun (which drives me nuts!) Of course, I won't allow him to even pretend shoot people, he can only pretend to shoot aliens and monsters...and I am constantly reminding him that guns are tools not toys...but he is a boy, what can I say?

Anyway, his newest soldier game made me laugh. He took some legos and built them into a "C" shape which would normally be used as a phone. But Connor was very insistent that this was no phone. It was his "Charlie - 1 - Charlie" as in "Roger, Charlie-1-Charlie Team, over and out!"

Captain Connor reporting for duty...

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She Takes After Me

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Honor often quotes me, or rather, tries to quote me...and always with grown up inflection. "Connor, don't put the legos in your mouth!" "No, no, Samuel, don't touch." "Ariana, come here baby girl."

Today we were outside playing and I took Connor and Honor around to show them how the lizards were sunning themselves on top of our wall. I explained to them that lizards use the heat from the wall to warm up their bodies. They thought that was fascinating.

Later I caught Honor and Connor playing in the dirt with sticks and overheard Honor "teaching" Connor in her best "mock Mommy" voice. "The soil comes from the sand, and the sand comes from the soil, so it makes sand. See?" And Connor answered, his voice very serious like she had just taught him a profound truth about the world, "Oh, yes. I see."

A budding naturalist in training....

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In The Mail...YEAH!!!!

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I went to the mailbox today, Sunday, because we forgot to get the mail yesterday, Saturday. What were we thinking??? We missed out on a whole day's worth of praise! Here is the letter we received (slightly edited):


A Petition for Adoption of the above-named child (Ariana and Connor) having been filed by Daddy and Mommy, a married couple,

Notice is HEREBY GIVEN that the Petition for Adoption is set for hearing on April 15th, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. at the [County Juvenile Courthouse] before Judge Pro Tem/Commissioner Owens. (There is a little bit about if those who don't think should happen should speak now or forever hold their peace, but no need to put that on here... )

Um...YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I have a date for scheduling a HUGE Adoption party...details to follow :-D. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come to the courthouse to witness the signing of the paperwork--it is a simple ordeal that only takes about 10 minutes, but the more the merrier! :-D E-mail if you want to know the location and I will be happy to let you know!

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Alphabet Art

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Hey everyone! I just wanted to show you some cool artwork my friend Sarah is doing. REALLY neat! I am surrounded by exceptionally crafty friends if I do say so myself!

http://marriedamissionary.blogspot.com/2009/03/alphabet-art-exposed.html

and the cool words she can make:

http://marriedamissionary.blogspot.com/2009/03/alphabet-art-example.html

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I Love You...

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"I love you!" I yell out to no one in particular.

My little shadow, Ariana, perks right up and comes running into the kitchen. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, baby." I say as I put the pizza on the counter and start searching for the pizza cutter. Opening the dishwasher, I see Ariana's little head peering over the counter, her face dangerously close to the yummy pizza.

"Get away from the pizza Angelface." I gently scold.

She whines back as she walks away, "But I LOVE you...."

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I Want Sugar!

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We went to the doctor's office yesterday for Samuel's post-hospital stay check up. He's doing very well although he's not gaining back weight. He has lost over 4 pounds since this all started which is a lot for a toddler. My normally chubby, football player toddler is now all skin and bones. The doctor said this is normal and since all signs point to getting better we simply need to fatten him up to get the job done. He recommended giving him a high calorie diet--all the stuff we're not supposed to eat. "Load on the butter!" he says. Um...okay...but that goes against all of my mommy instincts. But doc knows best.

So I gave him bread and butter for dinner...LOTS of butter...and he liked it. Of course I fed him other food, but all he ate was the bread and butter. Breakfast he ate toast....with lots of butter. For lunch he refused the french toast I made him, but ate about half a can of peaches. I gave him a brownie...wouldn't touch it. I've been loading his plate up with foods he normally likes to no avail--he won't drink pediasure and if I put carnation instant breakfast in his mik he won't drink it... I wanted to make sure he ate something for dinner so I made a store run.

I bought pizza--he ate that in the hopsital when he wouldn't eat anything else. I bought the highest calorie yogurt I could find. I went down the canned fruit aisle and found the most syruppy can of fruit there was. Off to the frozen breakfast aisle...he loves the frozen blueberry pancakes.

The doctor gave me straws with probiotics in them (to balance out the antibiotics) so I needed something REALLY tempting to get him to drink out of a straw. Juice...all kids like juice, right? REALLY syruppy juice. Super high in calories. There has to be something with 500 calories in it, right???? Right???? Well, if there is, I couldn't find it. Everything was "all natural" and "no sugar added" and "low calorie"....you would think they wanted kids to be healthy or something! Finally I found some V-8 fruit juices that looked promising...at least there was more than 100 calories in them. Off to the cookie aisle. EVERY kid likes oatmeal cream pies...right????

Wrong.

Pizza--good. Pancakes--good. Yogurt--okay. Syruppy fruit--HIT. Juice--okay...we're still learning how to drink out of a straw... Cookie..........one bite and it was on the floor. What is wrong with my son?????? Have I ruined him for sweets permanently???

Looks like he will be gaining his weight back with syruppy fruit...at least that's something!


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Walmart Abortion Lady Praise...

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I went to Wal-Mart today and saw one of the girls that asked my opinion about abortion back in December...and she was noticeably pregnant. Yeah!

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Thumb Wars

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Tucking in Connor this evening, I introduced him to the concept of "thumb wars" and played a few rounds with him. He LOVED it.

Mommy: 1,2,3,4, I declare a thumb war! .... I win!

Connor: I win too!

After we prayed, Connor complimented my pointer fingers.

Connor: You have nice pointers, Mommy.

Mommy: Thanks son, you too.

Connor: Let's have a pointer fight!

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Hospital Observations

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Okay...hopefully this will be my last hospital post. Here are some thoughts I had about our hospital stay...

• Surprisingly enough, solicitors call hospital room phones at least once a day...I ended up unplugging our overly loud phone: "This is your final notice that your warranty on your vehicle is about to expire..."
• 3 a.m. antibiotics are not conducive to a good nights sleep.
• There are nurses who are completely oblivious of a mom's warnings of a sleeping child; they ignore the finger to the lips, the "shhh"'s and the whispering and speak loudly directly over a child's head about the fact they are about to take his rectal temperature...sounds smart to me...
• I am more mechanically inclined than a majority of the nurses at the hospital. I had to teach them how to lower the crib rails...in their defense, it was a new crib...
• There is not enough warning between a doctor's knock and a door opening to do more than hide under a blanket...and possibly not enough time to do that...
• Most male doctor's that saw my son were young and would fit in well on a hospital tv drama...and didn't knock loud enough...
• Hospital high chair trays are very heavy...
• Surprisingly enough the nurses station does not have a stash of ice packs handy in case a child gets hit in the head with a hospital high chair tray.
• ...they also do not keep nail clippers on hand--that truly surprised me.
• It is never a good sign when a nurse asks a mom, "Is this what they normally do with the antibiotics?"
• The Infectious Disease doctor was much more optimistic than the hospital Pediatric doctor and I found myself with two different opinions 1/2 the time. The ID doctor was correct, but I was thankful for an overly cautious pediatric doctor--better to be safe then sorry. However, I found myself dreading the afternoon visits from the peds doctor...
• It is never a good sign when the PICU doctor looks at the before/after pictures and says "Wow! That WAS bad!"
• "Informed Consent" is another way for hospitals to petrify mothers...
• Hearing the PA-C tell you that your son is "worse than he seems despite small bursts of energy" pre-operation is not very comforting.
• Hearing several different doctors tell you that your son had been hit exceptionally hard after the fact makes you think their calm up front was a ruse and they are great actors...
• Doctors really don't need to tell their patient's mother that the particular bacteria that caused her son's pneumonia is also called the "flesh eating bacteria."
• Some doctors can't tell the difference between a toy dolphin and a toy whale...
• Head lamps are the greatest invention ever!

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Blessings, Blessings and More Blessings!

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Oooh...if you thought my last post was long, wait 'til you see this one!

Although Samuel getting sick was a horrible, heartbreaking event in my life, from the very beginning, I was able to see God's hand guiding the situation. Sometimes it felt like I could stand back and say, "Okay God, how many more ways can You show me to praise You today?" So...I made a list (I'm sure you can appreciate that, photoqueen :-D). There were soooo many blessings throughout this process that I am sure I am missing a ton, but here are some of the highlights, broken down into subcategories...

Big Things That Saved Samuel's Life

• Because my father was in town, Samuel was sleeping in our room which allowed me to hear him choking and recognize that his symptoms had gotten MUCH worse REAL FAST.
  
• The only doctor appointment that my doctor had opened for that Thursday morning was for the exact time needed to get Samuel dressed and get to the office.
• A rash showed up on his cheeks and his lips blistered--these conveniently disappeared before we got to the doctor's office, but we otherwise would have thought he was "normal" because we were told it would take a week or two to show improvement.
• There was no waiting at all to get the second X-Ray and when they said "STAT", they meant X-Ray done and results in to the doctor within 1 hour despite having to drive to another place to have the X-Ray done.
  
• Our pediatrician called ahead to the hospital so we were able to bypass a waiting line and got right in to a room in the ER for immediate treatment...despite an overflowing pediatric ER
• Doctors were able to get most of the junk out of his pleural cavity

Family, Family, Family....FAMILY!!!!

• My dad hasn't been out to visit us in over a year. He called back in December and asked if he could come out and stay in February for 2 weeks. My kids are generally VERY healthy so I had anticipated a fun, relaxed time hanging out with my daddy. God knew that I would need him to watch the kids and take care of the house--and he came through as only a man from the military could! He was able to patiently watch all 3 of the other kids and basically keep the house in order--cooked, cleaned and did laundry. He even took the kids to the park! He definitely stepped up to the plate and made me feel like the kids were in good hands so I could concentrate on Samuel.
  
• My dad was also able to be there with me when Samuel was moved back from the new hospital to the old hospital and was able to comfort me when I heard about what the surgery entailed.
• Since my dad was able to be at home with the kids, my husband, my mother and father-in-law, my pastor and another member from our church were able to be at the hospital during the surgery. It was a huge blessing to be able to study God's Word and have fellowship with other believers during the most stressful time of the whole 2 weeks.
  
• My sister-in-law, Steph, hijacked my blog and my facebook page to get more people praying. I was blessed by the comments and I know that God worked through the many prayers--I was told at one point Samuel was on over 30 prayer chains!!! What a blessing!!!!!!!!!
• After my dad left, my mother-in-law and Steph took over to help Daddy with the kids. My MIL was an extra special blessing. She stayed over night several nights so she could be there when Daddy left for work. She also took the kids to the park, did ALL the laundry and cleaned and tried her best to maintain the house how she thought I would...in addition to trying to get work done for her job!
  
• My MIL hired a cleaning crew to come and deep clean my house to get out any germs two days before we came home from the hospital. (jealous??? ;-P)
• With only a few exceptions we had at least one visitor every day during our stay. Steph was especially fun to have since she thought it extremely important to bring me fast food, toys for Samuel and reading material (The Host by Stephanie Meyer is VERY good... :-D).
• My church family has been an abundant blessing as well. They provided meals while I was away which really eased the stress on those "left behind" at home. We had a few visitors from church--one in particular thought it was important for me to have a good supply Hershey's kisses...mmmmmmmmmmmmm!
• The hospital had a few outdoor play areas so that my kids could come and visit me a few times without being exposed to a lot of hospital germs. It about broke my heart every time I had to leave them, but it was such a blessing to be able to see them even for an hour!
  

The Little Things That Add Up...

• My tennis shoes broke the Thursday before Samuel got sick. This may not seem like a blessing, however, it allowed me to have time to get new shoes on Sunday afternoon before he got really sick. On Monday I had to carry my 30 pound little boy everywhere--he wouldn't let me put him down!--that would have been really hard on my bad knees, but with my new shoes I was fine.
• Because Samuel did well enough on Monday and Tuesday (before he got REALLY bad) we were able to go home. That gave me the opportunity of finishing up my foster care license renewal obligations--a few online classes, an Article 9 class, and a physical. I would have been unable to complete my license renewal on time if I hadn't gotten it done on Wednesday.
• Because of the physical, I found out that I had strep throat (my throat had been hurting for several days, but I just assumed it was post-nasal drip due to a lack of sleep!). I was put on the exact same antibiotics that Samuel was on so I could continue to hold him. It also gave me some protection for when we had to go to the hospital. Also because of the antibiotics I felt well enough on Thursday to have the energy to deal with all the stress of being admitted into the hospital.
• A GREAT Pediatrician - On Tuesday, Dr. Jones told me he was praying for Samuel. What a blessing to know that my children's doctor prays for his patients. Then to top it off, he called the hospital room on Saturday just because he was concerned about Samuel. He told me he couldn't get my horror-stricken face out of his mind when I left his office on Thursday and just had to see how we were doing. Apparently no one had updated him on all the changes and he wasn't even aware that Samuel was having surgery. He called simply to find out how Samuel was doing. He told me again that he was praying for us, gave me his personal cell phone number and told me to call if we had any questions or if we didn't think we were getting the care we needed and he would make sure we did. He also asked us to call with updates and informed us that the particular surgeons/doctors working on Samuel are the ones he would have hand-picked if he could. This was on his DAY OFF!!!
• In the rush to get off to surgery, I accidentally left Dr. Jones' cell phone number in the pediatric room. I had been told that they would go ahead and move our stuff, but I also knew that they were VERY short on rooms and would clean it as soon as possible. I didn't realize I had left the number on the table until almost an hour later and thought for sure our room would be empty--not so.
  
• Because of a lack of beds in the children's hospital, we were sent to a newer hospital for the first night and were able to get Samuel cared for in a quiet, comfortable room so he was well rested for his surgery.
• Also because of the move to the newer hospital, we got the CT scan done in brand new facilities so we didn't have to sedate him to get the scan done--which would have been really hard on his already weakened lungs...
• Paul packed my bag and thought of special "extras" that I didn't ask for such as my book and my Soduko game.
• The first room we were given at the children's hospital was very utilitarian--all white walls, a big glass door covering all of one wall with a curtain for privacy, a big iron crib with a hood to keep kids from climbing out of it (a mini jail cell!)--there wasn't even a chair with an arm rest so I could hold him comfortably. I was already pretty scared because of the surgeon's report and, after leaving the comforts of the newer facilities, this room just made me feel hopeless. Without being asked, a nurse recognized my fear and went to find a comfortable armchair. This immediately comforted me!
• My husband came to the hospital early enough to allow me to run and get breakfast before the surgery. While outside eating breakfast, my father-in-law came so I was able to help him get into pediatrics (a locked down unit). We arrived in pediatrics just as they came to take Samuel to surgery--perfect timing.
• My husband accidentally left his billfold in the restroom in the surgery waiting room. It was found and returned to him 45 minutes later--he hadn't even realized it was missing!
• The Pediatric ICU was very comfortable with very attentive nurses and I was actually able to get caught up on my sleep--since Samuel was sleeping so soundly!
• The hospital gave me a valentine. Then Sunday my mother-in-law brought me valentines from my kids that my dad had made with them and they had made in Sunday school. They brightened up the room considerably! Then my husband gave me a card and candy and brought me a valentine from my secret sister--complete with a handmade heart with memory verses handwritten on several cards so I could hide God's Word in my heart "that I might not sin against Thee." Psalm 119:11. I was touched by all the work she put into that! She also blessed me with another card while we were in the hospital.
  
• I thought it was wonderful that they were able to give me a before and after picture of Samuel's lungs.
• The third day in PICU the cleaning lady asked me if I was going to have more kids and I thought she asked if I was Mormon (common question here if you have a lot of kids :-D). I answered "wrong" by saying "no, I am a Christian". This opened the door for her to tell me that she was also a Christian and she went on to share her testimony of how she was miraculously healed of a brain tumor that should have left her blind and how she recently led a friend to Christ who was to be baptized that Sunday. What a blessing!
• Careful doctors who kept us in the hospital just to be on the safe side.
• A comfortable room to spend most of our stay in the hospital--and a "normal" crib instead of the jail crib!
• There was a fan in our room for white noise which was not in the general pediatric rooms--Samuel was able to sleep well.
  
• Great nurses who valued my input.
• The headlamp Daddy brought me so I could read and keep the room dark for Samuel...VERY nice!
  

Just a Closer Walk With Thee

It amazes me how God uses the difficult times in your life to bring you closer to Him. I found myself comparing myself to Job a lot during my stay. I find it VERY easy to thank God for all of the blessings in my life--I have a wonderful life! But there were times when I wondered if I would truly continue to thank God and praise Him if things weren't so "perfect". During this whole ordeal, I felt closer to God then I had in a long time. A lot of that was due to the prayers of friends, family and even strangers. THANK YOU!!! But I also had wonderful heart-to-hearts with God...especially Saturday morning before the surgery. God woke me up an hour before they were to come in to draw pre-operation blood from Samuel. It was fairly quiet for once in the area we were in and Samuel was sleeping soundly so I prayed. I poured out my heart to Him. I told Him that I honestly didn't know how to pray about this so I would pretend it was another family and prayed that God would comfort me, and that if it was His Will, that He would heal Samuel. Which made me truly look at my heart. What would I do if it wasn't His Will to heal Samuel? It was at that moment that I made the choice--I was going to praise God no matter the outcome. Why? Because God is Good ALL THE TIME. If He had chosen to take Samuel home early, I would have praised Him because He would have taken Samuel away from all of the horrors that are here on earth. At the same time I BEGGED Him not to take him because I wasn't ready to give Samuel up. But we had dedicated Samuel to God--we have given Samuel to Him, however God wants to use him, and if that meant with his death, I was ready to accept that. And when I made that conscious choice (and I was very serious), THAT was when I finally felt comforted and felt peace. And it was immediate. I had placed Samuel's life completely in God's VERY capable hands and I no longer worried about the outcome. Of course I am thankful that the outcome was "good", but the point was, no matter what the outcome, it would have been good. Because God is Good ALL THE TIME. What a wonderful blessing to be able to place my trust solely on the only one worthy of that trust!

And Finally...

Samuel of course! Although we are still working through his pneumonia and some vomiting, I was extremely blessed to be able to spend 2 weeks concentrating on him and now to be home with our family. Samuel is a tremendous blessing...always has been, always will be!

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