That Purple Dinosaur

I am NOT a lover of Barney the purple dinosaur, but my 2 year old is. So sometimes I let her watch it and tolerate it. I have to share that I was a little bit disturbed today when we watched it because Barney's voice isn't the same. They must have switched guys. Well, that was just a side note. At least the show brought my girls together today in a cute way. They enjoyed watching it while sitting in the chair.

Obedience

I think it is so awesome to see God bless obedience in our lives. I have witnessed this lately and it just amazes me. I felt led to stop babysitting and clear my schedule so I did that with much hesitation. But I listened. Then an opportunity came up at the local pregnancy center. I felt led to start group parenting classes so I obeyed and contacted the executive director about that. Two wonderful women have entered into the picture and are helping me plan for the classes. God orchestrated all of that in an amazing way. Then I went to our MOPS meeting this month and felt led to accept the position as coordinator for the group. I listened with much hesitation, but obeyed. God has given me confidence and a peace about serving in this capacity. It is a large role to take on, but I am going to trust that God will help me learn this job and do it to the best of my ability. I have a peace that surpasses all understanding in my life and I believe that it is due to obedience. That doesn't mean that these jobs are going to be easy, as they are both challenging. But I have an extra strength that did not just come from me. My faith is what leads me to obedience, which leads me to understanding that my identity is only in Christ.

My Little Cowgirl

Back to Normal

Well, as normal as we can be. What is "normal" anyway? I guess for us it means not having any surgeries or anything medical going on.

Dan is healing extremely well and I am on the upswing from my surgery. I did develop a hematoma where I had the hernia repaired, but I am told that isn't a big deal. I was able to stop the Lovenox injections today so I was happy about that. Although, I will be the first to tell you that if you say you can't do something, you just might still be able to do it. I had a meltdown when I was told that I had to give myself shots three years ago. So Dan gave me shots for nine months (during Sara's pregnancy). I couldn't even watch. And with this surgery I was miraculously able to give myself the shots. It was actually better doing that because I could decide if the spot hurt and if I needed to try injecting the needle in another location. I liked having the ability to do that. So the moral of that story is, "never say never." Anyway, the shots are done and I see the surgeon on Thursday for a follow-up. I am expecting everything to check out okay. Aside from that, we really are back to normal.

The girls got a new sandbox today from their great-aunt. We had to test it out in between rain storms. Boy were they a mess when we were done. But if they had fun, then that is all that matters. Right?

Fun in the Sun

My wonderful friend Jaimi and her daughter Emma spent the day with us today. She was at the house to help me get through the day since I can't lift anything over 10 pounds. It was awesome to have her do things for me around the house. In the late morning we took the girls out for a little swim in our little pool. It was cute!

Woo Hoo

I am home from the hernia repair surgery and everything went great! I don't remember a thing about it and I am happy about that. I was only in recovery for about an hour and home by 10:00 this morning. Woo hoo!

Humbled

Well, I feel truly humbled as I write this blog (and a little like a failure). I wasn't able to drink the laxative that the doctor wanted me to drink to prepare for the colonoscopy. I tried and tried, but I couldn't drink without throwing it up. It was so frustrating. I have a bad gag reflex to begin with so that didn't help things. I tried pinching my nose, taking a sip of apple juice right after, gulping it, and sipping it, but nothing worked. I just simply feel humbled. I pray that the doctor might come up with another solution so I can have the colonoscopy sometime soon.

This Week

Please pray for me as I begin taking the wonderful drink that the doctor gave me to prepare for the colonoscopy tomorrow. I'm sure it will all go smoothly, but I am not looking forward to the prep work. This time tomorrow it will all be over.....and then I get to prepare for the hernia surgery on Wednesday. Yipee!

But some good news has come at last......we just found out that we get to go on a vacation to Myrtle Beach at the end of August. We are going with Dan's brother and his family. We have been invited to stay in a condo that belongs to someone at church so the cost is EXTREMELY low. Basically we just need to get ourselves down there. I am so excited I can't contain myself. It has been a couple years since we have been on a vacation. If you remember in a previous post I talked about how God has worked in our lives and I mentioned that we couldn't take a vacation because of the $5,000 tooth that we are still paying for. But nothing is too small for God! He found a way for us to still take a trip on a small budget. Yeah God!

Sneak Peak

We had our family pictures taken last night and below are some of the photos from that session. She took tons of them so there are more to come! We had the pictures taken at AU and it was an evening session. The kids were crazy, but somehow she managed to get some great pictures. If you like what you see, I highly recommend Stephanie McFrederick at http://www.mcfrederickphotography.com/.

Discernment

My surgery date is quickly approaching and I am incredibly peaceful. Now that is a miracle for me! Yesterday at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) we took a personality test and I scored high in the "steady" range. Steady people don't like change. So anything new like a surgery can really throw me off guard because I feel like I don't have control over everything. The medication scares me because I have never had surgery before. But.....bottom line is that I can't control everything and God is in charge. And He has given me a "peace that surpasses all understanding." A miracle for me!

Dan is doing great from having his surgery. One week after his surgery he was back to running again. He still has to wait a couple more weeks before he can lift heavy weights and do abdominal exercises. But as of right now running is keeping him occupied and happy.

I recently wrote an article for the MOPS newsletter about how God has allowed me to be able to discern what He is instructing me to do in my life. Basically I am learning how to be more obedient and I am seeing the fruits of obeying. So yesterday at the MOPS meeting I had to hold to that truth and obey even when I didn't want to. I felt God nudging me to pursue the position of coordinator for MOPS next year. This is definately a big commitment and will be a lot of work, but I can't deny that God has laid it on my heart to move forward with this job. I am continuing to pray about it so I make sure that I am hearing Him correctly.

Below is a very random picture, but I had to add it to my blog entry. I took pictures of my living room for a friend to show the purple color that I painted when I was 9 months pregnant. Anyway, after I took the picture and passed it on I realized that in the bottom right hand corner is Sara. You have to look closely, but it is so cute. She loves the camera!

Great News!

I just heard from the doctor that my MRI results are back and everything looks perfectly normal. Praise God!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! On Saturday we took the kids to pick out a tree to plant in our yard. Then we came home and I supervised while he planted it. He did a good job=)

Today we went to church, had lunch, and took the kids to Malabar Farm for the afternoon. Then we went to dinner in Strongsville. Here are some pictures of our fun afternoon.

Under Attack

I do believe that we are under attack in our house, but God is good. It's not coincidence that we are struggling with so many health issues in our family. Satan is trying to work on us, but guess what? We are only stronger as a couple and as parents because of what we are dealing with. If anything, it has made our faith stronger. Last week I spent a couple days living in fear of all of the medical tests that I will be facing within the next couple weeks. I was literally monopolized by the fear and then I realized that I have nothing to fear. God is in complete control and there is no reason to fear on earth. He has a plan and all I need to do is trust in that plan. That doesn't mean that our life will turn out perfect. It is quite the opposite. We will have trials and tribulation in this life. In James it says, "Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds....." I am choosing to see the joy in our situation. There is a lot to celebrate. Here area few things:

• Last Fall my tooth cracked and $5,000 later I have a fake tooth....but God allowed us to continue to tithe and make ends meet just fine.
• Dan's appendix ruptured and it was a long couple of months of recovery.....but God healed him and allowed him to remain strong and humbled.
• I have a hernia, abdominal pain and a questionable spot on my liver.....but my faith has been tested and I have seen how compassionate my husband is with me.
• We probably won't be able to take a vacation this summer due to finances.....but we can take mini trips with our kids and enjoy doing free things around town.

See, there is so much to be thankful for. God is good and does allow bad things to happen to us, but He always works during those times. I am so grateful!

Getting Bigger

She can't walk yet, but she can sure climb all by herself!

One More Thing

The surgeon's office called me this morning to tell me that I need an MRI done. They reviewed the CAT scan results from the weekend and found a spot on my liver. Argh! Next Monday will be the MRI, the 18th will be the colonoscopy, and the 20th will be hernia surgery.

Recommended Surgery

I had a consult with a surgeon today about my hernia. He thinks that the umbilical hernia and the abdominal pain are two separate issues. So....I will need to have the hernia surgery and a colonoscopy. The colonoscopy will help him determine what is causing the abdominal pain. I could give you my explanation as to what might be causing the abdominal pain, but I guarantee it won't be accurate. I will just wait to give you a more detailed update once he knows what is causing the pain. Sometime in the next week or so I will be having these procedures done. The colonoscopy will be done on a Monday and the hernia surgery will be done on a Wednesday (the same week). I understand that these are elective surgeries, but I am having difficulty liftng the kids and am tired of feeling this dull pain that doesn't go away. It will be nice to know what is going on in my body. I don't worry about the procedures being done, but I do worry about my reaction to the medication that they give me. I watched Dan have reactions after his abscess was drained and after his appendix was taken out. I have never had any surgeries so this is new territory for me.

"Because the bible tells me so......"

"I Can Not Believe It!"..........

For those of you who watch the Disney cartoon Little Einsteins, you will understand when I say that you need to read the title of this blog with gusto. There is a character who makes this remark on each show. Anyway, this is what I was saying last night when we went to the ER because I was having abdominal pain.

Dan and I were certain that I was having apendicitis. How crazy is that? We went to the ER at midnight because I was having abdominal pain and we were sent home at 5:30 this morning. It was a long night. I had a CT scan done and it was confirmed that I have an umbilical hernia, brought on by Sara's pregnancy. I have to meet with a surgeon tomorrow so I should know more information then. I guess I spoke too soon on my previous blog when I commented that our life wasn't very exciting right now. Oops!

The funny thing is that ever since I delivered Sara I have told Dan about a slight pain when I would push on my belly button. I think he thought I was making it up. But I guess that was the start of a hernia. Last Thursday evening I left to go running with my mom's running group and could not run very far. I had lower back pain that suddenly came on and it was painful to run. We thought that was a little odd. Then by Saturday I was having right abdominal pain. So now we know what was really going on. I'll update more after I see a surgeon tomorrow.

Our Girls

I decided that since not much exciting is going on in our lives since the whole appendix rupturing incident that I would post more pictures of our adorable girls. I just think they are so darn cute. I had to share the latest pictures that I took of them. If you look closely in the second picture, Sara has a dried blueberry stuck on her top gum. She must have found it under the couch because I certainly didn't give it to her.

Preschool Party

Today we had our "last day of preschool" party. My mom and I took the five kids to Pizza Hut for lunch. They shared a personal pizza, wore party hats, blew party horns (I'm sure the other customers liked that), and opened presents. It was a very fun morning full of excitement and noise. Actually, the kids were extremely well behaved in the restaurant. Here are some pictures from our great adventure today. You'll notice that the group picture was taken during a break from all the rain we are having. The sun came out as soon as we got outside and aparently was in everyone's eyes. Oh well!