I LOVE being near family! They have been a huge help these many months during and following my pregnancy. But now, they want to continue to help even on days we aren't at the doctor/hospital. Yesterday we took up an offer from Ian's aunt to watch both boys while we enjoyed an entire day to ourselves. I felt guilty for about 5 minutes and never looked back afterwards. We so needed this!
Ian left the house to drop the boys at 9:30am and I showered and "prettied" myself up (I actually wore a skirt - gasp!). We headed out the door for the thirty minute drive to Calhoun (about 45 minutes south of Chattanooga TN on I-75). We ate at the Eastern Chinese Restaurant...as sit down, not buffet restaurant that EVERYTHING tasted wonderfully. My dad had eaten there a couple of weeks earlier and recommended it. We wanted to try it, but didn't want to take two kids on a 30 minute journey if we didn't like the place. Let's just say we will be returning with the family!
The we headed across the street to the outlets. * Note to Liz - outlets were great, but not as big as the ones in Dawsonville...now you know. :) They were having great deals with the Labor day weekend too. I got lots of clothes. :) Shirts, jeans, casual pants and stuff for my babies too! Most items were anywhere between 50%-75% off of normal retail. Love that. I got birthday presents for both my niece and nephew too. With it just being a thirty minute drive, I definitely know where I'll be Christmas shopping!
We then made it back to the house for some "quality time". Eventually we made our way into our garden tub with candles...and we both fell asleep for a good 20 minutes when the cooling water woke me up! After getting re-dressed in comfy clothes, we called Ian's aunt and told her we were on our way. She said take your time and go out to dinner...OK! We just headed up to Stevie B's pizza place for a quick, inexpensive bite...since we had spent quite a bit for the day!
We then headed over to pick up the kiddos. We spent a nice relaxing hour chatting with Ian's aunt and grandmother as they recounted their day with the boys...laughter ensued at the antics! We bundled them up and they headed for bed when we walked in the door. Thank goodness we brought their pj's over when Ian dropped them off. Mommy and daddy cuddled on the couch and then turned in ourselves.
Today we are off to my parents' house to spend the night. Me and my mother are going to the movies tonight when the boys turn in, and me and Ian are sleeping in tomorrow while my parents make breakfast cooked to order for the whole family (Downey included). We'll then head out to Red Lobster for a late lunch after William is up, and afterwards split ways.
This Labor day weekend has been wonderfully labor free! Can we do this every weekend??
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Snapshot Sunday
This is the continuation for the last "snapshot" back in July. I filled in the blank you could say. :)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Prayer heals all wounds...
The term "faith healing" is sometimes used in reference to the belief of some Christians who hold that God heals people through the power of the Holy Spirit, sometimes, but not always involving the "laying on of hands". Of course, we should all turn to God on bended knee in both good and bad times. Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Eph 6:18 But that is easier said than done. When things are going right in the world, most never think to offer a simple thank YOU to God...we just take happiness and health for granted. But the minute we fall on hard times: sickess, financial issues, marital problems or even just before taking an important exam, we suddenly remember God is there for us. He is there all the time! But actually, I'm getting away from myself (typical). I want to talk about the power of "true" prayer and how God answers.
To heal either mentally, emotionally or physically through prayer and meditation is still somewhat questioned and I guess will always be. Some don't know God and therefore are not aware of what He is capable of doing. Some refuse God and that is there choice, but I pray that something opens there heart and eyes to Him someday. Others just have to question everything anyway...it's their human nature and they need facts and proof documented to believe anything other than the fact that water is wet!
I am a firm believer in God healing those that have faith in Him through their prayers and the prayers of others. Exodus 15:26, Luke 4:40. My mother has been raised an extremely devout Catholic and my father a twice a year Baptist...what a combo huh? ;) I just consider myself a devout Christian with a Catholic upbringing. But if anyone out there is familar with the Catholic Church then you should be familiar with the life of St Bernadette in Lourdes, Frances.
Among the best-known accounts by Catholics of faith healings are those attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary at the grotto of Lourdes, and the remissions of life-threatening disease claimed by those who have applied for aid to Saint Jude, who is known as the "patron saint of lost causes". (just for the record, the Catholic Church sees this as a personal/private experience and not a public experience - if a Catholic does not believe the "story" that doesn't make them any more or any less Catholic) The Catholic Church has given official recognition to 67 miracles and 7,000 otherwise-inexplicable medical cures since Mother Mary first appeared in Lourdes in February 1858. These cures are subjected to intense medical scrutiny and are only recognized as authentic spiritual cures after a commission of doctors and scientists, called the Lourdes Medical Bureau, has ruled out any physical mechanism for the patient's recovery.
But again with my mother being devout, she is a firm believer in several Mary appearances through out the world and Our Mother's work in turning people back to the Son and Father, where their praise and prayer belong. Last Wednesday I met with my son's urologist and nephrologist and we scheduled surgery for my 10 week old baby boy for the following day. My mother came up to sit with me during the surgery since it was Ian's first week of work with the students in school and he has no time saved up yet to ask off. When I was bathing my little precious bundle and getting him dressed from his clothing to the hospital gown they gave us, my mother brought out a vial of water (in the form of a prescription medicine holder actually). My grandmother went on MANY trips in her retirement all over the world: Nova Scotia, Alaska, Mexico, Jerusalem and even Lourdes) When she was there she gathered a bit of the water from the spring and put it in one of her arthritis pill containers since she didn't have anything else. She asked if I would mind if she made the sign of the cross on Matthew's back (where his kidney's are) with the Lourde's water. I said no. I don't believe in magic, healing water coming out of the ground in France...but like I said, I am a firm believer in faithful prayer and it's healing power. God chooses whom He wants cured, and whom He does not, and by what means. Bernadette said, "One must have faith and pray; the water will have no virtue without faith."
I will post later on in the week about Matthew's condition (if you haven't been following along on his caringbridge site). I also wanted to say with deepest gratitude, thank you to Liz for her special prayer for Matthew at St Peters! It truly touched my heart (and made my mother cry) :) Thanks again!!
To heal either mentally, emotionally or physically through prayer and meditation is still somewhat questioned and I guess will always be. Some don't know God and therefore are not aware of what He is capable of doing. Some refuse God and that is there choice, but I pray that something opens there heart and eyes to Him someday. Others just have to question everything anyway...it's their human nature and they need facts and proof documented to believe anything other than the fact that water is wet!
I am a firm believer in God healing those that have faith in Him through their prayers and the prayers of others. Exodus 15:26, Luke 4:40. My mother has been raised an extremely devout Catholic and my father a twice a year Baptist...what a combo huh? ;) I just consider myself a devout Christian with a Catholic upbringing. But if anyone out there is familar with the Catholic Church then you should be familiar with the life of St Bernadette in Lourdes, Frances.
Among the best-known accounts by Catholics of faith healings are those attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary at the grotto of Lourdes, and the remissions of life-threatening disease claimed by those who have applied for aid to Saint Jude, who is known as the "patron saint of lost causes". (just for the record, the Catholic Church sees this as a personal/private experience and not a public experience - if a Catholic does not believe the "story" that doesn't make them any more or any less Catholic) The Catholic Church has given official recognition to 67 miracles and 7,000 otherwise-inexplicable medical cures since Mother Mary first appeared in Lourdes in February 1858. These cures are subjected to intense medical scrutiny and are only recognized as authentic spiritual cures after a commission of doctors and scientists, called the Lourdes Medical Bureau, has ruled out any physical mechanism for the patient's recovery.
But again with my mother being devout, she is a firm believer in several Mary appearances through out the world and Our Mother's work in turning people back to the Son and Father, where their praise and prayer belong. Last Wednesday I met with my son's urologist and nephrologist and we scheduled surgery for my 10 week old baby boy for the following day. My mother came up to sit with me during the surgery since it was Ian's first week of work with the students in school and he has no time saved up yet to ask off. When I was bathing my little precious bundle and getting him dressed from his clothing to the hospital gown they gave us, my mother brought out a vial of water (in the form of a prescription medicine holder actually). My grandmother went on MANY trips in her retirement all over the world: Nova Scotia, Alaska, Mexico, Jerusalem and even Lourdes) When she was there she gathered a bit of the water from the spring and put it in one of her arthritis pill containers since she didn't have anything else. She asked if I would mind if she made the sign of the cross on Matthew's back (where his kidney's are) with the Lourde's water. I said no. I don't believe in magic, healing water coming out of the ground in France...but like I said, I am a firm believer in faithful prayer and it's healing power. God chooses whom He wants cured, and whom He does not, and by what means. Bernadette said, "One must have faith and pray; the water will have no virtue without faith."
I will post later on in the week about Matthew's condition (if you haven't been following along on his caringbridge site). I also wanted to say with deepest gratitude, thank you to Liz for her special prayer for Matthew at St Peters! It truly touched my heart (and made my mother cry) :) Thanks again!!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Can't help myself
We just came home from another week long hospital stay with critical levels of high potassium that eventually led to us moving up Matthew's surgery from Oct 1st to this past Thrusday. He did really well, but was in quite a bit of pain the following day. We came home yesterday afternoon...and now he is back up at the hospital.
He has a low grade fever, splotchiness, labored breathing and cries unconsoleably. It just breaks my heart. I had to get my husband to take him because I just couldn't bare hearing him scream in pain anymore. I know...bad mommy. :(
I just can't stand how much he has had to endure and how helpless I feel about it all. I'm in pain everytime he is in pain and my heart just can't take it right now. And that makes me feel even worse. Look at all he has been through, and I'm the one that sitting on the couch crying her eyes out. I just want to take it all away from him. I never thought I would say this, but I want to speed up time...go through his babyhood in a blur just to get to our transplant surgery. I know there will be more surgeries to follow on the heels of transplant, but he'll be older and stronger. It's just too much for him! He will be 10 weeks old on Thursday and he has only been home for 8 days of that. He has endured two surgeries, peritoneal dialysis, IV therapy, a premature birth, a strep infection and over 100 needle sticks in the form of shots, iv's and blood draws.
Is it not too much to ask that he can have ONE day of rest?? Doesn't he deserve a "normal" infancy like everyone else? Please God...I beg You!
He has a low grade fever, splotchiness, labored breathing and cries unconsoleably. It just breaks my heart. I had to get my husband to take him because I just couldn't bare hearing him scream in pain anymore. I know...bad mommy. :(
I just can't stand how much he has had to endure and how helpless I feel about it all. I'm in pain everytime he is in pain and my heart just can't take it right now. And that makes me feel even worse. Look at all he has been through, and I'm the one that sitting on the couch crying her eyes out. I just want to take it all away from him. I never thought I would say this, but I want to speed up time...go through his babyhood in a blur just to get to our transplant surgery. I know there will be more surgeries to follow on the heels of transplant, but he'll be older and stronger. It's just too much for him! He will be 10 weeks old on Thursday and he has only been home for 8 days of that. He has endured two surgeries, peritoneal dialysis, IV therapy, a premature birth, a strep infection and over 100 needle sticks in the form of shots, iv's and blood draws.
Is it not too much to ask that he can have ONE day of rest?? Doesn't he deserve a "normal" infancy like everyone else? Please God...I beg You!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
these two guys...
OK, so one calls me mom and the other just burps in my face...but I'm completely taken by him. Isn't mommy love AWESOME?!?
Happy Birthday
U. S. Coast Guard Facts
Did you know…
Each day, the men and women of the 35,000 plus active duty Coast Guard, 8,000 Reservists, and 32,000 Auxiliarists provide services over 3.4 million square miles of Exclusive Economic Zones.
On an average day, the Coast Guard:
Conducts 109 Search and Rescue Cases.
Saves 10 lives
Assists 192 people in distress.
Protects $2,791,841 in property.
Seizes 169 pounds of marijuana and 306 pounds of cocaine worth $9,589,000.00.
Processes 238 Seaman licenses and documents.
Investigates 6 vessel casualties involving collisions, allisions, or groundings.
What else happens during an average day?
Small boats are underway for 396 sorties/missions.
Aircraft fly 164 missions, logging 324 hours, of which 19 hours are flown off patrolling cutters.
Law enforcement teams board 144 vessels.
Cutter and small boat crews interdict and rescue 14 illegal immigrants.
Marine Safety personnel open 8 new cases for marine violation of federal statutes.
Marine Inspectors board 100 large vessels for port safety checks.
Vessel examiners conduct 20 commercial fishing vessel safety exams and issue 11 fishing vessel compliance decals.
Pollution investigators respond to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 gallons.
Buoy tenders and Aids to Navigational Teams service 135 aids to navigation.
Vessel Traffic Service controllers assist 2,509 commercial ships entering & leaving U.S. ports.
Auxiliarists conduct 377 vessel safety checks and teach boating safety courses to 550 boaters.
Still want more...
The U.S. Coast Guard seizes 18 drug smuggling vessels every five days.
Icebreakers and buoy tenders assist 196,938 tons of shipping daily during the Great Lakes ice season.
International Ice Patrol sorties provide ice safety information to facilitate the 163,238 tons of shipping during the North Atlantic ice season.
And they accomplish all of this with member numbers smaller than the New York City Police Department.
Happy 218th to all the Coasties out there. They may be the often overlooked stepchild of the military, but they certainly pull their weight!
Did you know…
Each day, the men and women of the 35,000 plus active duty Coast Guard, 8,000 Reservists, and 32,000 Auxiliarists provide services over 3.4 million square miles of Exclusive Economic Zones.
On an average day, the Coast Guard:
Conducts 109 Search and Rescue Cases.
Saves 10 lives
Assists 192 people in distress.
Protects $2,791,841 in property.
Seizes 169 pounds of marijuana and 306 pounds of cocaine worth $9,589,000.00.
Processes 238 Seaman licenses and documents.
Investigates 6 vessel casualties involving collisions, allisions, or groundings.
What else happens during an average day?
Small boats are underway for 396 sorties/missions.
Aircraft fly 164 missions, logging 324 hours, of which 19 hours are flown off patrolling cutters.
Law enforcement teams board 144 vessels.
Cutter and small boat crews interdict and rescue 14 illegal immigrants.
Marine Safety personnel open 8 new cases for marine violation of federal statutes.
Marine Inspectors board 100 large vessels for port safety checks.
Vessel examiners conduct 20 commercial fishing vessel safety exams and issue 11 fishing vessel compliance decals.
Pollution investigators respond to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 gallons.
Buoy tenders and Aids to Navigational Teams service 135 aids to navigation.
Vessel Traffic Service controllers assist 2,509 commercial ships entering & leaving U.S. ports.
Auxiliarists conduct 377 vessel safety checks and teach boating safety courses to 550 boaters.
Still want more...
The U.S. Coast Guard seizes 18 drug smuggling vessels every five days.
Icebreakers and buoy tenders assist 196,938 tons of shipping daily during the Great Lakes ice season.
International Ice Patrol sorties provide ice safety information to facilitate the 163,238 tons of shipping during the North Atlantic ice season.
And they accomplish all of this with member numbers smaller than the New York City Police Department.
Happy 218th to all the Coasties out there. They may be the often overlooked stepchild of the military, but they certainly pull their weight!
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