Thankful

Between the end of August marking my father's passing, my Aunt fighting for her life in the hospital, and a never ending parade of little pink sticks that always tell me no, I've been having some tough days lately. On my worst days I give into my silly self-pitty parties. On my best days, I trust in the Lord and rely on the Holy Spirit to strengthen me and get me through. But no matter what day it is, I am thankful. I realize how blessed I am and I am thankful.

I am thankful for this man. I am thankful for this little girl who donned this outfit all by herself. I am thankful foror crisp late summer air and perfect blue skies with white puffy clouds.

I am thankful that I live in a place where this sweet little hike and beautiful views are just around the corner from my "dooryaad". I am thankful for the simple pleasure of rocking in my hammock like a baby.

I am thankful for really great friends.

I am thankful that my Aunt Karen is a fighter.

I am thankful that as they lift the sedation she has been responding to her loved ones with opening her eyes and squeezing their hands.

I am thankful that she has moved her arm and leg on her right side and thankful that she's even moved her leg on the left side (the side that would is most affected by anurism in the right side of her brain).

I am thankful that her pnemonia is not worse, but still praying that it gets better.

I am thankful that baby Jude made it to his two week birthday, but continue to pray that his bleeding and kidneys and lung to improve so that he can have the heart surger he so desperately needs.

I am thankful.

Happy Two Week Birthday Jude

Today is baby Jude's 2 week birthday. I must remind you that this is the same baby that Dr.'s offered his parent 4 times in his first few days to just take him off life support.

I'm convinced God has bigger plans for this little guy and his family!

• He is opening his eyes! You MUST CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF IT! The most beautiful thing I've ever seen!


• His MRI is looking better. There is still bleeding but the brain tissue is looking more normal! Keep praying for that healing of his brain! The neurologist is hopeful and encouraged his parents (Brandon and Mandy) to be as well!!!


• They are going to do the surgery on his two heart defects (which at many points, they were not even sure the surgeon would agree to operate on him)! That is probably coming at the end of the week. Pray for that!

I have been praying LOTS lately between Jude and my Aunt Karen and other things going on in my life. I hope you are praying with me! It's been a rough week for me, and this good news about Jude is just what I needed. Praising God for that!

Aunt Karen Update

Please continue to pray for my Aunt Karen who had a brain anurism last Wednesday.

Praise God that scans continue to show no further signs of stroke or damage since the anurism and surgery.

She has developed pnemonia. Please pray that this can be treated and cleared quickly.

She has also developed a condition, not unexpected in patients who have experienced SAH, that decreases the blood flow to the brain. The doctors are treating this, please pray for this.

Please pray that God would heal the damage that was sustained from the anurism. Continue to pray that she would make a full and miraculous recovery.

Please pray for the day to come quickly that her husband, children, grandchildren, mother, siblings, and friends can once again see her beautiful eyes, hear her infectious laugh, and listen to her wonderful voice.

Needing Your Prayers Once Again

This is my grandma Fraunhofer (my dad's mom) and my Aunt Karen (my dad's sister) on a visit to Maine two falls ago.

It seems like just yesterday.

My Aunt Karen is a woman of faith, a wife, a mom, a grandma, a nurse and so much more! She is an early riser and a hard, hard worker. She is a woman who is alway busy, always doing, always caring for others and nothing ever seemed to slow her down.

But Wednesday morning she was slowed down by a brain anurism.

I first of all praise God that he orchestrated the following circumstances. She was visiting her daughter in the Twin Cities, near big hospitals. I second of all praise God that my grandma found her. I third of all praise God that her son-in-law Jeremi had decided to go into work late and so was there to respond quickly and call 911. I praise God that she made it to the hospital still conscious and coherent. I praise God that they found the bleed and performed a successful surgery. I praise God that she made it through the surgery.

But there is a long road ahead, one that is uncertain. So please pray.
She is in the ICU and heavily sedated. Pray that there are no further anurisms, that she does not experience stroke, and that she makes a full and miraculous recovery.

The Poop Jar

While Ella has been pee potty trained for quite some time, she's still not pooped in the potty. Oh sure she did it a few times in the beginning but they weren't really successes, because they really just made her more scared. So we backed off because I was afraid she'd hold it in with the veracity that she held her pee in, and we'd have a real medical issue on our hands.

But when your child knows she needs to poop and afterwards says, "Mom, I pooped. You need to change my bum." And while changing her she reminds you to "Make sure you don't get any poop on your hands mom." You know it's time. And although this might be completely unrelated...when your toddler tells you she's "building a cantilever" and she actually is...she can probably go poop in the potty.

Now, just so you don't think we're totally being played...she does have some sensory processing issues that make change and new sensations very anxiety provoking. But we're working with someone from CDS and we've learned so much about small little things to do and changes to make that have made a WORLD of difference in just a few months time. But I'm still bound and determined to have her FULLY trained befor three.

So, in light of all that, we decided to wait until after all of our summer traveling was done...which was A LOT. We made a social story about it and read it a lot. We prepped her for it, telling her after we get back from camping, Pull-Ups are gone and she'd be pooping in the potty. We returned from camping and she participated in getting rid of the Pull-Ups. Then we went over the system with her and introduced the Poop Jar (thanks Kristie for the great idea!).

Once she fills the Poop Jar up with pom-poms she gets to take a trip to York's Wild Animal Kingdom. We scoped it out online and she's super excited. She said the kangaroo was her favorite animal so a picture of him made it on the jar.

So she gets to put one pom-pom in for every time she sits a while and tries. (This is difficult for her because up until now, she's run around for a good 1/2 hour to work out her poo.) And she gets to put 5 pom-poms in if she actually goes. She also gets a swedish fish and m&m's for an immediate reward when she goes.

I thought I was in for another long battle...but it's not been so bad. We implimented this on Sunday when we returned from camping and she resisted that day and most of the next, holding it in and clearly becoming uncomfortable. But then, on Monday, she did it! It still scares her, but she did it again today! I think this will prove to be much less of a struggle than I thought! Yay!

Wiggin'

So I was buying some pregnancy tests yesterday, (Now don't anyone go getting all excited...I buy pregnancy tests all the time. In fact, I think they've been a staple on my grocery list for the past 6 years except for the 9 months I was pregnant with Ella. That's not the point of this story. I know I was kind of evil with the picture over there :) loading my groceries into my cart and tending to Ella when I heard the cashier say, "Are you Wicken?"

To which I wanted to turn around and say, "Dear Lord, please tell me what about my appearance, speech, mannerisms or grocery items makes you think I'm Wicken and I will go home and immediately change all of those things!" But instead I politely stated, "I'm sorry, come again?"

At which point the woman held up my pregnancy tests and restated her original question, "Are you Wiggin'?"

"Oh, no not at all," I replied, " We're hoping."

"Oh, oh my gosh. That's so great," she responded as her face lit up, "I'll say a prayer for you. It's so nice to hear someone wanting a baby!"

It was an interesting and ultimately nice little exchange. But I felt my heart heavy as I wheeled my cart to the car and drove home. Don't get me wrong. I know there are still plenty of people who want children and plan and hope for them. But what a sad statement it is about our society when those people... those planning, wanting, hoping for, happy to have a baby people are exceptions to the norm.

How have we reached a point where it is commonplace, for people to be so reckless in their actions. To think only of themselves and their wants and not consider what the consequences might be...pregnancy, birth, the creation of another human life that had no say whether or not to come into this world. And how it breaks my heart to know that the typical and expectel response to being pregnant is to be "wiggin'".

Call me old fashioned here...but we ALL know how babies are made. If you don't want one...DON'T MAKE ONE. AND, if you can't take care of one, DON'T MAKE ONE. I long for a world where babies are made only when they are wanted. Where they are brought into the world only when they will be given the utmost love, attention, financial wellbeing and stability in life. I know...I'm a dreamer. But I like to keep dreaming.

(Stepping off soapbox) That's all for now.

How Our Garden Grows

I'd say our first year gardening has been a success. Here is a salad I made the other night solely from our garden alone! Lettuce, cherry tomato, pea pods, cucumber and carrots. Yummm! I've pickled 6 quarts of cucumber and eaten many fresh. I've used our onions in recipes, and sliced some beautiful big tomatoes as well. We've got squash and pumpkins coming in too! AND I've also canned 22 pints of dilly beans, frozen several pounds of beans more, eaten near a ton of beans and there are still some growing and blossoming! They're the bean plants that never end!

I got to thinking about our meager little plot and I was overwhelmed with gratitude. How blessed we are to have a home, a beautiful home. How fortunate we are to have land that we own. How prosporous we are to be able to buy seed and supplies. And how favored we are to have MORE than enough food to eat every day...from our own garden none the less.

Take a moment to think about the world as a whole. There is a HUGE percentage of the world's population that does not have these things. Think about why it is that you were born where you were born, and live where you live and have the things you have. If you live in America you are fortunate and you are rich. Don't keep it all to yourself. Spread the love.