A crazy few weeks

The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. We finished up IGNITE at church and my life just went into crazy land. School begins on Monday!

This past Tuesday my princess turned 5. That is F I V E! I remember when I was having the ultrasound during her pregnancy where we found out she was a she. I had such a flood of emotions. I was scared to have a girl on so many levels. I had two boys and boys and boy things were all we had in our house. I knew how to parent boys. I knew what they liked and I knew what made them tick. Now, we were going to take my blue world and throw in a splash of pink ... threw me for a loop. I remember the next day after I dropped the boys off at pre-school, I walked through carters and actually cried. I know, crazy pregnancy hormones. I didn't even know how to SHOP for a girl. For the boys I could grab things and mix  and match them. Didn't need a different pair of shoes for each outfit. Didn't need accessories and I didn't have to do much when it came to HAIR! Now, I was having to re think my whole parenting world. :)

She had been so worth it! I wouldn't trade a day of the splash of pink in our lives. Kennedy is all girl but she can throw down with the boys while she is all made up in her princess attire. She loves to wear dresses and loves bows in her hair. I don't know what I did to deserve a daughter but man am I a blessed momma! So thankful for the past 5 years with this little lady. I pray that I can continue to be the momma she needs me to be!

Pace is about the same. The eating plan didn't change the way he was feeling or the abdominal distention so he was able to come off of it. The doctor is now looking to see if he has a motility issue. So yesterday we had two tests run. One was a gastric emptying study and one was a contrast enema. He is such a champ! He teaches me so much as I walk through this journey with him. Hopefully, we will know the results today of those tests and can move forward from here. I'm tired of going to GI dr's and tired of going to the hospital. I KNOW that he is too.

School begins on Monday and there is so much to do between now and then. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Going to Brazil

 Last October I had the opportunity to go to São Paulo, Brazil. We partnered with a church in the flavellas (slums) and we just went down to love on the people there. We worked on some physical things around the church one day, went to an orphanage, played with babies, handed out necessities, and participated in a children's festival. It was a trip that changed me in many ways. When I boarded the plane to come home to my family, it was hard. I was leaving a part of me in Brazil. I knew I wanted to return ....

Fast forward to this past may when a team from our church went back ... I wasn't able to be a part of that team - May is a crazy month for our family. I got texts of pictures of kids who asked about me and updates on kids I asked about. I even got a text of a kid from our pastor who said that he could play Jeremy if there was ever a Brazilian movie made about his life :) I just longed to be on that team. However, that trip I was not meant to go on.

I began pestering :) my pastor about the October dates as soon as he returned from the May trip. I knew that there was this longing in me to go. Finally, last month he said it would be October, but no definite dates just around the Children's day like last year. So, I sent out my prayer letter and gave a middle of the month time frame to last years supporters.

As the last month has gone by more and more I have wondered if God really wanted me on this trip in October. We have had medical bills out the nose lately and it seems that one is paid and another comes in. As soon as we have done one test they want to do two more. Do not get me wrong, I want to find out what it wrong with my baby and will do whatever necessary no mater the cost, it just began to make me wonder if this was my time to go to Brazil or not.

I began to pray that God would just show me what he wanted from me. Did he want me in Brazil in October? Were these His desires in me or were they my selfish ones?

Over and over again God has confirmed that Brazil in October is where he wants me. Over and over as I would doubt God would confirm that this was where He wanted me. Yet, I still doubted. Then yesterday, a friend texted to say she had bought some bath and body work lotions and soaps for me to take with me. And then today I got an email from a friend telling me that he will support my trip again. Two back to back confirmations that God used to tell me that this is HIS desire in my heart and that he will pave the way. I am not to worry about the finances, they are in his court. He will take care of my family here at home and he will take care of me. I will not doubt anymore - forgive me Lord for my lack of faith!

I love how He is involved in the intimate details. I love how He confirms a prayer that I've prayed and not shared with anyone else. I love that He chooses to use me and that He speaks in a still small voice. I look forward to going back and seeing the smiling faces of the boys below. One is Gustavo and he holds a piece of many on my teams heart, not just mine! Just something special about that kid and I pray that God will use him to do great things in his flavella!

If you would like to know more about São Paulo, Brazil, if you would like to join my team through prayer or financial giving ... just shoot me an e-mail and I can answer any questions you may have. I'd love to have you join my team!

Looking forward to both the journey to Brazil - (what God does in me before we even leave) and what God does while our team is there!

Making a Come Back

It has been so long since I really blogged that I don't know if anyone really reads this anymore or not. My life has been so crazy lately. I am going to try to get back on the blogging bandwagon ... I miss it. I miss putting some of the kids crazy stories out there for one day me to remember.

For today's update I will start by sharing a prayer request. It's not new to our family. Pace has been struggling for 2 1/2 years with abdominal pain and distension. We have been to 2 pediatric GI Doctors and we are now on our third. The new GI is running some new tests - X-rays of SITZ markers and the last one of those is tomorrow. Then on Tuesday he has to start a carb restricted diet.

Can I just say that he has had the BEST attitude about all of this? Yesterday, I took him to Chick-Fil-A for one last chicken biscuit as he won't be able to have bread or breaded things on his new eating plan - I hate calling it a diet. Anyway, as we were sitting there, I told him how proud I was of him and how he is handling all he is going through. He doesn't complain, though he is in constant pain. He lets us know he is hurting some of the time, when it's really bad. But there are times where I can look at his face and tell he is hurting and he just quietly deals with it. He hasn't complained once about this new eating plan and can I just tell you he is VERY LIMITED on what he can have. His brother has complained but not once has Pace. He told me yesterday that God gives him the faith. WOW! So proud of him!

He taught me something in that moment. Because if I can be honest I'm not excited about this new eating plan. I know it's healthy but if I can just be honest ... It's expensive. We have had a lot of expenses lately and it's all overwhelming to Jeremy and I. But here is my little one who is facing the pain and will be facing losing all of the fun desserts he enjoys sometimes, losing eating what all the other kids eat and having to be the different kid eating different things and he says "God Gives Me The Faith!" ... Faith of a child. In that moment I realized that my own faith for my child was weak. The things we learn from our children.

So if you think about it, please keep us in your prayers. Pray that the DR's will be able to find out what is going on and help him feel better. It is affecting so much of his life and keeping him from school and play.

Thanks ya'll .... Here's to blogging more ... I hope :)

A little sprouts update

Hey there long lost friend! Hope you all are doing great! Life has been busy since lately. I'm trying to do a better job of being present in my kids lives which means less computer time. Let's face it .... in 10 years it's not going to matter to them how many blogs I wrote about them, what will matter is how much time I invested in them. And as naps have just about gone away in our house - my computer time has lessened. I realized the other day that I have been bad about documenting things lately. I was looking over old posts and remembering the crazy things they said and did and think .... I've not blogged lately about anything that they have done. So here is a little catch up while they are each having a few quite minutes and Keegan naps :)

Ryan just finished 1st grade. He will be 8 in December! WOW! Right now he loves to read, I mean LOVES to read. He devours about a book every 2 days if not sooner. He loves football - GO DAWGS! I've trained him well :) He also loves legos and comes up with some very neat creations. For the last 2 to 3 months of school he got into writing stories. He has written about 20 so far that he keeps in a binder. There are a couple that melt my heart - One that he wrote about Keegan and her birth. That binder will definitely be saved!

Pace just finished kindergarten and turned 6 in May. He is amazing us at his wit and humor. He is definitely following suit with a second born/middle child characteristics. He loves to do most of the things his brother does but he still loves playing with Kennedy. There are days when I find him cooking with one hand and building legos or throwing a football with the other :)  He also enjoys writing stories and following in his big brothers steps.

Kennedy - Oh Kennedy - She is our spunky, drama llama :) Just kidding - well sorta :) She definitely keeps us on our toes. She is as sweet as pie but she sure knows how to pull all of our strings. She is probably closest to Pace and they have a fun relationship. Kennedy will be going to pre-k this year and she is so excited to get to go to school. She has been looking forward to this for a while .... it's all we hear about. She will be 4 in August and blows my mind at how advanced she is for her age. Girls just do things faster than boys!

Keegan - just turned 6 months old. She'll get her own post for that .... so I'll save what I'd write here for that!

That's a little catch up for the kids. Jeremy and I are just plugging along trying to be the best parents we can be and lead these 4 little ones to be the ones God created them to be. Life is never boring around here!

If you think about it pray for me ... I will be going to Brazil this fall with our church on a mission trip. I'm so excited about it! We will be working with a church that our church is partnering with for the long term ... this will be our first short term trip. We are going to be going into orphanages, which pulled at my heart strings when I first heard about the trip. God has not let go of my heart - having 4 kids and being adopted myself ... I cannot wait to go love on the least of these that many people forget about! If you want to hear more about my trip or support me financially - let me know!


 

My Triplets?

I once again found this GA sleeper that I put on both Pace and Kennedy. I get so many comments on how Keegan looks so much like them that I thought I would show just how much and how it can change from minute to minute. So obviously the top picture is Keegan in all 3 pics. The bottom picture is Pace on Top and Kennedy on bottom .... They could be triplets at this stage ....

 

2 Months Old!

Keegan is now 2 months old! So hard to believe that my baby is getting so big! I took her in for her two month appointment today and here are her stats ...

Weight: 9 Pounds 14 Ounces
Length: 22 6/8"

Just for fun a comparison with her siblings:

Ryan @ 2 months:

Weight: 13 pounds 11 ounces

Height: 25 inches

Pace @ 2 months:

Weight 13 Pounds 11 ounces

Height: 24 inches

Kennedy @ 2 months :

Weight: 11 Pounds 12 ounces

Height: 24 3/4 inches

She's a bit on the shorter side compared to the other 3. I thought she would be close to Ryan but looking at his 2 month stats ... I guess not :) She's perfect though! We love her so much and can't imagine our lives without her!

Happy 2 months baby girl! You have completed our family and we are so thankful for you!

It's been a while ...

WOW! I can't believe it's been a month since I last blogged! I haven't been spending much time on the computer lately. Life has just been too busy to spend time doing something that won't matter in a few years. :)

Keegan is 8 weeks old. Next week she will be 2 months old. It seems like she should be older than she is. She has definitely been a different baby than the other three. Love her dearly, but she is a handful at night - Or has been. Thankfully, the last 2 nights she has slept through the night and that has been wonderful. Though I still wake, waiting on her to wake up :) I think we are finally turning a corner and the reflux medication seems to be working. It's nice to have a happy baby. It's also nice to not have her in pain!

Ryan, Pace, and Kennedy all 3 swoon over her. Especially, Kennedy. I'm not exactly sure what Keegan thinks of her though. Kennedy is learning to dial it down a notch or three so I think that will help as well. Both of the boys are such big helpers and they just love her to pieces. I cannot wait to see her as she begins to interact with them more.

It is still hard for me to believe that I am old enough to have 4 kids. I was talking to my grandfather on the phone yesterday and he told me that he was turning 90 this year ... that just doesn't seem possible. I still feel like he should be in his 60's allowing me to stand beside him as he drove his red mustang convertible around the neighborhood. My grandmother has alzheimers and is going downhill. I hate that disease as much as I hate cancer. My grandmother has always been so busy and vibrant. These days she is not so much anymore. Yesterday, I saw a different side of my grandfather as I believe he is realizing his wife of 68 years is no longer really there. I have so many memories of my grandparents, it's so hard to see them sick and hurting.

Memories ... I hope we are creating the kinds of memories that our 4 kids will look back on and know that they were loved, cherished, and cared for and a home that they will want to return to. A home that is full of love and fun moments. A home that is a safe haven for them and a place that is a retreat for them in hard times. SO please excuse the blog if it is quiet .... we are busy making memories. I'll get on here and blog about it from time to time ... but the last thing I want my kids to think about when they think of me is a mom who valued her computer time more than she valued time with them!

Have a great day!

Life with 4!

Life has definitely been interesting with 4! I guess it has only been so crazy because we were in and out of the hospital twice. We both felt like we hadn't given the attention that 1, 2, and 3 needed while we had to take care of 4 and make sure she was ok. The first week was hard because of this.

Keegan is home now but we face feeding challenges. She lost a lot of weight in the beginning and so we are trying to get her back up to her birth weight.

In the hospital her liver and thyroid tests came back elevated but the doctor said he wasn't concerned about them. Her body is still trying to adjust to being outside the womb and all those are still regulating. He said they just were not elevated enough to cause him to probe further. That was a relief to us. We were discharged about 32 hours after we were admitted, her jaundice levels had come down dramatically during that time. They wanted them to be under 15 to send us home and she was 10! We are so thankful for all your prayers!

The craziness of the holidays have died down and we are slowly getting into a pattern that works for us. The older 3 just love having a baby in the house and are super helpful with her. We will see how long it takes the newness to wear off :) School starts back this week so we will see how I do getting the boys to school on time :)

It's a crazy life but I wouldn't trade any of it ... It's amazing to see a new life come into the world and the fact that God chose Jeremy and I to parent these 4 continues to amaze me. I am beyond blessed with these little lives and I pray that we do our part to raise them to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and with all their strength!

Happy New Year to you all!

Thankful

There are so many things I am thankful for. I am one blessed girl just because my Jesus gave up his life for me. If that was all I had to cling to, I'd still be blessed but my cup over flows.

I went to the DR last week and had been having (still having) pretty regular contractions. I am 31 weeks today and it is just too early for this little girl to be making her debut into our crazy world. She did a test and thankfully, I am not at risk of going into labor for 2 weeks. Prayerfully, longer than that. We also talked about the gestational diabetes (GD). She questions the test and whether or not I really have it. You see, my numbers have stayed at the low end of "in range" and I had lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks. She seemed more concerned about my weight loss than she did the contractions even before the test results were in. So, she took me off my meal plan and told me to eat normally for the next week. That week ends tomorrow when I go back to check in. My numbers have stayed "in range" with a few that were higher but still not out of range. I suspect that she will tell me to continue this course. She did say that she didn't want to put me through another 3 hour test - thankful for that. So we will never really know whether the test was wrong but it seems like it was.

My 3 kiddos have prayed nightly for mommy to be ok for 2 weeks now. There is just something precious about the prayers of children. Their faith is so huge at that age and they just trust completely without reservation. I could stand to learn a few things from my 3 in that department. Sometimes their prayers bring tears to my eyes and other times they make me laugh out loud, but all the time they are precious and dear to the heart of God. So, I choose to believe that my God answered my childrens prayer and he took away the GD.

I have much to be thankful for .... this month I'm reminded of all those things as we look toward thanksgiving in a few weeks. My cup really does overflow! I can choose to see the negative because let's face it, life isn't always roses and answered prayers (in the way we would like but they are always answered - but that is another post itself)! Or I can choose to see all the things around me that are good and be thankful for my abundant blessings. I choose the latter ....

I choose to be thankful .... how about you?

What's been going on?

So, the blog has been VERY quiet lately. Life has been quite hectic around here. I have been keeping my neighbors newborn last week and this week as well, and that has reminded me of so much to look forward to in a few months :) Kennedy is not quite sure to do when he cries. She wants to take him home. I talked to her that we can't just give a baby back because he cries, but she doesn't care. I asked her what she was going to do when Keegan cries and she said we could take her back too .... though I'm not sure where she would take her :) It has definitely been interesting seeing how she does with a newborn. She has been great with him and loves being a helper. I wonder how things will change when it's Keegan and she stays here all the time instead of 8 hours a day :)

On another note, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and I've been learning how to manage that. So far, so good. The diet isn't really a diet, yet it does cut out a lot of things I like. I was doing pretty good until last night when I really wanted some baked ziti that a bunch of people around me were having .... anyone that knows me, knows how much I LOVE pasta! It's a staple in my diet along with anything casserole and so last night was just the first of many hard "no" moments I'm sue. BUT, each time I feel a kick or a jab, I am reminded of why those "no" moments are necessary. Provides me with a little perspective and also reminds me that I really don't have to do this long. Prayerfully, it will go away after she is born and I can resume some of my pasta loving life :) I think I will keep some of the ways of this "diet" after she is here and limit some of my non healthy choices.

The kids are all doing well. Both boys are doing excellent in school. They both adore their teachers and that makes this momma so happy. I love sending them off to school knowing they are learning and being loved on at the same time. Pace calls his teacher is "girlfriend". He absolutely loves her. We have been so blessed by the teachers in our kids lives so far. God started them off great with their first teacher at the age of 2 and he has not stopped showing us his favor in the teacher department since then. We are very thankful and pray daily for those that will teach our children ... both present and future. And, we also remember those who have been past teachers and are thankful for them and the impact they have made on our children.

Kennedy is growing like a weed. Her vocabulary never ceases to amaze me. She is such a joy to spend time with. She loves to "read". She has books that we have read to her so much that she knows the jist of the story. She spends her morning room time in her room reading those books to her dolls. Many times I will look in on her and she has them all lined up and she is reading to them. Other times she is transforming herself into whatever princess she chooses to be. She loves to do her hair ... one day she had over 6 clips in at one time. I never thought I would have such a girly girl with two very boy, boys :) But I do and I love watching her shine!

That's about all that is new in our world ... Hope you all are doing well! Let me know what's up with you in the comments if you want!

Have a great day!

A great 1st day!

Yesterday, after school we kept up our tradition of going and having a cupcake to talk about their day. Last year, since Pace was in pre-k I got to go with him at 1 and Ryan at 3. This year, I did both at the same time and just asked 1 at a time questions.

They were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. They both had great first days though Ryan said his was "hard". The things he was telling me didn't sound hard. I think it is just the difference from Kindergarten to first grade and there was not much play involved in 1st as in K. I imagine today will be "hard" as well :)

Pace loved his first day so much that he woke up this morning at 5 AM. He loved his teacher and he loved having a friend from his pre-school class last year in this years class. He just wished she was at his table :). The first thing he told me when he got in the car was that he stayed on green ALL day long. The child has never been on another color so I'm not sure why he was so surprised but he was. It was fun to listen to them and hear their excitement.

I hope that today is just as fun for them. I dropped them off at the curb today as Pace didn't want to be walked in. I asked Ryan to make sure that he helped Pace get to the right line. My heart sank a little as I watched both of them walk away together talking and laughing. I love the bond they have and I look forward to watching it grow.

Today, I'm getting Kennedy on a routine and getting her used to playing by herself a little and then we will do "school" together a little. She misses "her boys" and she is not used to playing by herself. So this should be a challenge for both of us ....

Hope you all have a great day!!!

1st Day of School 2011

Today, I have a Kindergartner, a first grader and a 3 year old! Two of my 3 began school today. I thought today was going to be a hard day. Pace came in to tell me good night last night and with tears in his big brown eyes he said he wanted to stay home and do school with me. He then left to brush his teeth and came back for another hug and told me the same thing again. We prayed over him before he went to bed. He had been VERY excited about kindergarten ... until the moment to go to bed. His nerves hit him. He woke up excited and any nerves from the night before were gone ... Thank you Jesus!. We made a big deal out of new shoes, new clothes and even new socks! They picked out their first day of school breakfast and off we went.

As we were pulling into school two of the boys good friends pulled in behind us and parked beside us. So, our 2 got to walk in with their 2 and all was right with the world.

The only tears all morning came from KK. She DID NOT want "her boys" to go to school. When I went into her room this morning to get her up she was balling saying "I don't want MY boys to go to school." She's not quite sure what to do without them. In a few months she will have a sister to help me take care of. However, today, she misses those boys like crazy. We tried to make today special for her. I took her to get her hair cut and Jeremy and I took her out to lunch.

I'm looking forward today to hearing the stories of both first days. I plan on taking them to the same place we went to last year to get cupcakes and learn all about day 1! It will be a bit different this year as both boys will be together as they tell me about their day instead of one on one like last year, but it will be so much fun!

Today, Pace looked really small to me and Ryan looked a lot older than 1st grade. My boys are growing up too fast, and KK as well! I'm going to blink and we are going to be at the last day of High School ..... I'm not going to blink :)

It's a .....

GIRL!! It was so exciting to find out today what we are having! Yesterday was our ultrasound and we asked our tech to call a friend of ours instead of telling us the gender. So for the past 24 hours we have all been wondering what was inside my belly :)

My parents were in town, and Jeremy's parents were here also. We all went to lunch together and after lunch they brought out the cake that my friend had made for us.

The knife went in clean and came out with a touch of pink on it. We all squealed with delight and the kids went nuts. Pace ran around the table, Kennedy screamed and Ryan just smiled really big. Afterward, all they could say is "I can't believe it's a girl, God answered our prayers!"

It was quite surreal ... I'm so glad we didn't find out yesterday and we waited until today. I got choked up and almost cried. It was just such a fun way to find out and have our parents there with us made this last one even more special. I could have never made it to the end not knowing but it would have been a fun surprise if I was the type of person who could wait 4 more months. But, I'm such a planner that I cannot do that. So today was just perfect for our family.

Now the fun of planning a nursery begins ..... what am I going to do with 2 girls???? We are all so excited. We also have to pick a name which is going to be incredibly difficult to do .... Maybe by the birth we will have one picked out :)

Cultivating Giving Hearts

This year at Birthdays we have done something different. We wanted to do something out of the box, to teach our three to give always. In November last year Jeremy and I talked about how Ryan just didn't need a thing for his birthday in the way of presents. We started talking to Ryan about ways he could give and between the 3 of us we decided to take up toiletries for his birthday that we would take to a homeless shelter in our area. So he did ... He turned 6 and instead of gifts for him, his friends brought toiletry items to be given away.

It was incredible as a parent to see my son get excited about this. He is still very much a kid and he still very much desires to get presents for himself. However, he attached on to this idea and he ran with it ... at lightening speed, I might add. After his party, on his actual birthday, we delivered the items - TWO boxes full - to a local shelter. It was an amazing experience for us all. I blogged about it here if you would like to go back and read about it.

That day Pace declared that he wanted to do it for his birthday as well. So once again we took up toiletry items for his birthday and he donated one box to a guy at our church who runs a weekly night to feed the homeless downtown and one box was given to his school who sent items to tornado victims in Alabama. Pace was so excited to give away as well.

This past weekend was Kennedy's birthday and she decided that she wanted to follow the boys and do the same. So she took up school supplies which were combined with some others from people in our church and were delivered to area schools. This week they were able to help so many families get back to school supplies for their students.

Jeremy and I talked about how we really want to cultivate giving hearts in our children. And I think this year they all got a glimpse of how much they have in relation to others who may just be in a hard season of life. I think we will continue to do this on birthdays in the years to come. We will also do it at other times but the best thing is that my kids want to do it. We didn't have to twist arms or beg, plead or bribe them to do it. We put the idea out there and they got excited about it. I truly hope that this is only the beginning of their journey to think of others ahead of themselves. I pray that Jeremy and I will set an example of givers to them and that they will see this as a way of life for them and not just something they do to get a tax write off at the end of a year :)

"For whatever you have done for the least of these ...."

Back to school

Today Pace was tested for Kindergarten ... yes, I said Kindergarten. It doesn't seem like it should be here already. He is more than ready ... momma is not. For the past 5 years he has been with me, minus a few hours a few days a week that he went to pre-school. Now he will be gone all day every day and will learn from other teachers and kids. He will grow and learn. Today he is excited for school - in a few years I may drag him kicking and screaming to school :)

Ryan is going to 1st Grade - WOW. He is in the real grades. He is growing way to fast. In a few months he will be 7 - S.E.V.E.N. How is it even possible that I should have a child that is almost 7. I feel like I am still in my 20's .... and he still loves school too. He is excited. He is ready and he will do great!

I'm praying for both of my boys and for their respective teachers. I pray that they are placed with the teacher that is their best match. That they will continue to have a love of learning and that the teacher they both get will continue to foster that love of learning in both of them. I pray that they will each have their perfect match for teachers and that Pace's first year and Ryan's second year will be incredible. I also pray that my boys will shine the light of God's love to their teachers and to their friends. I pray that they will be a bright light inside their school. I pray that they will be a joy to their teachers and that God will use them to show His love to their teachers as well!

Shine on Boys, Shine on!

A New Pediatric GI Doctor

Yesterday, I took Pace for a second opinion. Pace is still in Pain and nothing we were trying was helping. In fact one of the things was actually making it worse. The next thing our GI Doctor wanted to try just didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to me. Now, I freely admit that I'm not a trained Doctor and I haven't been to med school. However, I am a mom and something inside just told me that we should get a second opinion. I just can't stand seeing my boy in pain and not being able to do anything for him.

So, we made the call to another GI and we got in yesterday. Our other doctor was nice, this doctor was personable. He played games with Pace and made him feel at ease. He actually talked to Pace as well as me and that made him feel included in the process. He took his time with us and he laughed with Pace. Most of all he used words that I can understand and validated my feelings that the route we were about to take with the other Doctor wasn't necessarily the best route to take. I left very thankful for my gut feelings and mothers intuition.

Our next step is that Pace will have a upper GI done next Thursday morning. He will drink some contrast drink and they will take xrays of his intestines. This doctor thinks that his small intestine may be holding on to bacteria and that there may be an overgrowth of bacteria in his intestines. This can cause bloating, abdominal pain, excess gas (Pace's belly is FULL of gas that we could see on the ultrasound), and distension. ALL of the symptoms that Pace has. In the "meantime" he is treating Pace with an antibiotic that is meant to get rid of the overgrowth in his intestine.

So we are hopeful for answers and I finally feel a peace about the direction we are heading with him. I'm praying that this antibiotic will help him find some relief. Thank you for all your prayers for us and our little man! We are very thankful for your care and concern for all of us!

A Beautiful Sunday

This past Sunday Pace was Baptized. It was such a special day. He had been excited for over a week about this. In fact, he is still excited about it :) He could hardly go to sleep on Saturday night because he was so excited. When he woke up Sunday morning it had been raining and was really dark outside still. He cried. We told him that the weather is always changing and prayed with him. He continued to pray and talk about the weather ALL DAY LONG. It was a beautiful afternoon and he was baptized. And he did not stop smiling for hours after .... he still smiles when he talks about it. I love his joy!

There just aren't words to describe how my heart feels. Seeing your children make a profession of faith and seeing them excited and telling everyone ... just melts my heart to mush. They have a lot of days ahead of them and I pray that they always have the excitement and zeal that they have now. I pray that when it is not celebrated to make a stand that they still will. I pray that when it is not cool or popular to stand that they still will. I also pray that Jeremy and I continue to lead and guide them to make good choices and to allow God to lead them down the paths he would have them take. I pray that they always make much of Jesus and that the lives they lead will draw others to Christ.

Such a beautiful afternoon!

Happy 5th Birthday Pace

Today my middle child is 5!! I remember going to the hospital that Wednesday morning. I had fallen again and so my OB had me come in to be checked. It was just one of many falls and my OB decided to induce me. We were checked in and on our way to having our second child. We got to the hospital at 9:30 or so and at 5:30 our little Pace entered the world.

Happy Birthday little man! I love you so much and I am so glad that out of all the moms in the world that I was chosen to be yours!!! I am the lucky one in this relationship! You are a joy to me and I just love the joy you bring to me and those around you. I am thankful for what God is doing in your heart and how you love Him and others around you! Never stop being you! You are precious, fearfully and wonderfully made! I cannot wait to see the wonderful year we have ahead of us. You will be in kindergarten in the fall and that will bring a tear to my eyes! You on the other hand are so very excited about being in school and being with your brother again.

I love the relationship that you have with Ryan and Kennedy! They love you so much as you do them. I pray that you 3 will always have this kind of relationship as you grow older.

I'll Love you forever and I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living my baby you'll be!

Happy Birthday Son! I love you!

Pace GI Update

First of all, THANK YOU all so much for praying for Him and for us!!! We are very grateful and humbled by all of your concern and prayers! They mean so much more than we can put into words!!!!

Pace DOES NOT have celiacs!!!! We are so thankful for this. I about leapt out of my seat when she said this news! It was the best thing my ears heard all day long today. He also does not have a lactose intolerance. She said that he has most likely had the hernia since birth and that right now it's not anything that she thinks needs to be corrected with surgery.

Those are the answers that we do have .... She still is not sure why he is having the gas in his belly that he has or why he is having so much pain. So we are going to try some fiber chewable tablets and continue with the miralax over the next month and see if we can regulate his digestive system a bit. We are going to reduce the amount of dairy he has as well. We will go back in a month and if he is still having pain we will try an acid reducer and see if the hernia is causing reflux and that is the cause of his pain.

This is what we know ... I'm thankful for what we do know and what he does not have ... hoping that he is able to find relief with the measures that she is trying and that we do not have to continue "trying" things with him to make him feel better.

Thank you all for your prayers ... seriously means the world!!

Upper Endoscopy

The upper endoscopy is over. We do not have any results at this time. There were a couple things that she could visibly notice but nothing that was alarming.

Pace has a hiatal hernia. It's pretty obvious in the picture once you know what you are looking at. The hernia could cause reflux and that could be what was causing him pain.

He also had lumps on the lining of his stomach. Which she said could be an indicator for celiacs disease. We will not know anything conclusive until the biopsy results come in. We have a follow up appointment on the 5th where she will go over everything with us.

After she dropped off the pictures of his insides to us there was a code blue that came over the loud speakers right where Pace was. I was scared out of my mind but it was not for Pace. I walked out in the hall, with a panicked look on my face and a nurse calls out our last name a few times. She then motioned to come to her and when we got there, Pace was sleeping soundly in a bed. I just bawled and held my child. I have never felt such relief before!

Thanks to everyone for praying for my little man and for us! We could definitely feel them and even though Pace was scared this morning ... you could see the peace come over him as it got closer to time. So thank you so much!