brown paper packages

tied up with string. These are a few of my favorite things. Really, who doesn’t love getting a package. I know we do. We have a mail drop at our house, so when we first moved in the kids checked the mail, oh, somewhere around 12 times a day. They checked it even after it had already come. We would also check the porch a couple of times a day. Now don’t think we have a package come every day because that is certainly not the case, but between Mark’s school books and gifts/fabric I buy online (because loading up 3 kids to go shopping is really just impossible) and the packages Nonna sends we do receive a fair amount. Well, now that it’s Christmas time we are receiving a lot more as I’m sure you all are too. But not all of them have been for Christmas which is nice because it’s not as fun to get a package but not be able to open it.

One of the non-Christmas packages was from my sweet friend Becca. We met just a couple of weeks before I had Karston. She was a sister-in-law to a friend I had already met in Waco. We ended up living beside each other at TSTC, and laughed at the lack of insulation in our homes or the shingles falling off every time the wind blew. Well maybe we didn’t laugh at the time. But we can now. We would walk to each other’s house or go on walks around the track together. Her and her husband watched Karston while Mark and I went on a date.  Then Mark and I ran around the campus trying to find her husband while she was riding in an ambulance with her sweet baby boy who had quit breathing while she was nursing him (he is okay now). We have so many memories. And I miss her so. She is so crafty! And I do wish we had created more together while we lived so close. However, I am still reaping the benefits of this creative friend even if we are separated by a few states. She sent us a package with an adorable bib and burp cloth for Kanon and some PRECIOUS leg warmers for Kyrie. And Kyrie loves them. So I wanted to show you just how cute they are. Thank you Becca!

milestones

Since we haven’t received any definite answers as to whether or not Kanon has anything wrong, we just watch to make sure he hits all his developmental milestones. So far so good. In the last 2 weeks he has started playing with his toys on his bouncy seat, grasping his hands together, chewing on his hands, and sucking his thumb. Looks like I’m going to have another little boy who sucks his left thumb. I love it. 

I know I’ve said this before, but he is such a smiley baby. He smiles and laughs and it is the cutest thing ever! I don’t think I could ever tire of hearing a baby laugh. He is such a joy to us.

my view

This is what I saw this morning.

I wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I read a few books and dozed off while they played. I think my body’s been fighting sickness for a couple of days now. I feel much better now. I gazed at our popsicle stick snowflakes we made on Monday using this tutorial. I have to admit I didn’t read the tutorial. I saw a picture of a protractor and decided to not try and make it perfect. This worked well. The 3 and 2 year old stacked and counted sticks for me. Perfect for that age. I really like how they turned out. Karston and Kyrie have been playing in their tent and feeding their alligator uncooked lasagna noodles. I now need to spend the afternoon catching up. Have got to figure out Christmas cards since there is not time to do what I wanted. Maybe next year. Off to explore Louisville!

Creation Museum

We have wanted to go to the Creation Museum, well, since before it opened. And then it opened and we just never made that drive from Texas to Kentucky. And then we knew we were moving to Kentucky so we waited. Then we moved to Kentucky, but Mark was doing school and we were still settling in. So last week we decided to go. Our family really needed some time together away from what our life has consisted of the past few months. Karston has really been interested in dinosaurs ever since he started playing with the neighbor boy who know EVERYTHING about dinosaurs. We thought it would be a great time to go. It was awesome. Now let me just say right now that we did not read any of the information. Are you kidding me? With a two and three year old we were obviously there just to SEE. Which is fine for us. At some point it would be nice to go back and be able to read the information however our purpose for going was not to be convinced of the falsehood of evolution and the truth of the Bible. That being said, figures and models were absolutely stunning. 

There were many Biblical figures and scenes from the Bible. Here’s Isaiah and Moses.

And David

And here’s the kids in the Garden of Eden

And there were several figures of Adam and Eve in various times/circumstances (eating the fruit)

And Satan disguised as a serpent

Here is Adam with Cain and Abel working the land where life outside the garden is hard. (A pregnant Eve was off to the side, but I didn’t get a picture of her- too bad, she was a cute pregnant woman.)

And then here is what we came for….the dinosaurs

And this is the one that scared Karston

He was pretty scary. I’m sure it especially was for a 3 year old. Several of them moved, including this one. Now, I think you should all plan a trip to the Creation Museum. Because it’s that good. Really just because if you do plan a trip that means you better at least stop for a visit if not come and stay with us! So get your calendars out and plan a trip. We miss all our Texas friends!

the outcome

Sorry for the blog absence last week. Mark’s dad flew in for a couple of days and took us Christmas shopping. We really tried to focus on things we needed or things to organize the things we already have. I think we did a pretty good job. The kids got very few toys. Then we took a quick trip to the Creation Museum which was awesome, and I’ll post pics from that later. Then, we spent the rest of the week cleaning out the basement and going through boxes that were still packed since the move. And the result is this

There is still a little more to do, but it feels oh so good to be finished with most of it. And you know we’ve been here too long when it is 60 degrees out and we think it is warm! We are loving today and staying outside as much as possible.

results

Well, we received the test results from the MRI, but we still don’t really have any answers. The MRI confirmed that there are “changes in the deep white matter” of the brain that showed up on the CT scan. This could be nothing. It could be something caused by an infection I had while I was pregnant (not a particular infection- just anything really). Or it could be something serious. I wasn’t told what the serious possibilities were. My pediatrician is very much of the belief that we shouldn’t worry about something until we need to. I am right there with her. So we are being sent to a pediatric neurologist to further investigate this. His office is booked until August of 2010! But the awesome front desk lady from the pediatrician’s office worked some magic and got us an appointment on Feb 16. That still feels so far away, and makes me sad that 2 1/2 months from now we will still be on the phone with doctors, going to doctors, and searching for answers. In the meantime, I had the report from the MRI sent to one of my uncles who is a neurosurgeon to see if he can explain to me a little better just what it is that they’re seeing. I also picked up CD’s of the CT scan and MRI to mail to my father-in-law (who is a radiologist) to look at and get another set of eyes seeing those films. It is not that I do not trust the hospitals or doctors we are seeing, I just want to get as much information as possible and understand as much as possible. We love our Kanon so very much. It is very hard to imagine that there might be something very wrong on the inside of his body- he looks so perfect from the outside! We pray that it is nothing. However, if there is something we want to know what it is so we can do whatever is needed to care for him. 

So sorry for all these hard posts. I should have some more fun posts coming up!

survived

We survived the MRI yesterday. Although while we were being walked to our room the first image I saw was of a sedated boy probably around 5 years old being transferred from the transport bed to the bed in his room, he was so limp, and it looked so wrong- not where a 5 year old should be- and at that point I didn’t know if I would make it. Then while waiting in our room I overheard a nurse going to sedate the girl across the hall, “Oh, no I’ve got it (referring to needing help). I’ve sedated her over a 100 times.” Oh to be that mom; the girl was probably only 3-4 years old. But alas we made it through. And really we should be very thankful to have such a great children’s hospital so close to our home. The staff is excellent. We should have the results in a few days, and I’ll let you know when we get them.

me and kanon

I was inspired by this post of Ashley’s. Out of the thousands of pictures our family has, I am in a very small percentage. Mainly this is because I am usually the one taking them and Mark is at work/school, or because I don’t take the time to set the self timer, and a few instances where I have preferred not to be photographed because I have no make-up on and haven’t showered in 3 days (okay so maybe that was the case more than a few times). But I have totally gotten over that. Looking back at the pictures we have that I allowed to be taken even though I really didn’t want them aren’t half as bad as I thought they were at the time. And really, that’s how my kids know me. Everyday, no make-up me. 

I was really inspired to take pictures of just me and Kanon. We’ve gotten to spend a lot of time together just me and him. Not in the way that I would prefer (hospital stays and doctor appts), but more than I would get alone with him being the third baby and all. And today is another one of those days. On his CT scan they saw some white spots all over his skull. I am not sure (I’m not sure the doctors are either) what it is. So we have an MRI to get a closer look at it. He will have to be sedated. I have definitely been given a peace that surpasses all understanding about this. I still don’t like it, but I know He is good. It will not be a fun day- I can’t feed him past 9:30 am, we have to be at the hospital at 1:30 pm, and the test is at 3:00 pm. So any prayers for us would be much appreciated and cherished- we really love them more than you’ll ever know. Because really how cute is this little boy?

home

what a wonderful place to be. And what a joy to be doing laundry and cooking and cleaning, even if there is so much of it that I don’t know where to begin. We are so very glad to be home. Being unexpectedly gone for a week did put us a little behind in holiday matters. I have yet to buy any food for Thanksgiving, and we had the intention of inviting some people over to celebrate with but that hasn’t happened. Maybe we can still find some people who are as out of sorts as we are.

still in OK

Definitely didn’t think we would be here this long. My grandfather passed away during the night Tuesday night. I am glad he is no longer suffering. I’m also glad my children are here to provide some distraction and joy even though they are even fussier and more disobedient than normal after being holed up in a motel room. We are very excited to be heading home tomorrow.