a day for ears

Well, Ryan's ear was still swollen this morning, so first thing I called the doctor. We went in about 10... Apparently ears have a great blood supply and so can swell easily. Because of that great blood supply, they also heal quickly if they've been injured. It seems that somehow Ryan's picked up an infection in the helix or scapha of his ear. (Yep, I learned some new words today!) The good thing is that the great blood supply means it should clear quickly; the bad news is that if it doesn't, that same good blood supply can spread the infection rather rapidly. He's on antibiotics, and if we don't see significant improvement by tomorrow we'll head back to the doctor.

Then after lunch, we headed up to Children's, where we met with the audiologist and made some decisions about Logan's hearing aids. She gave her recommendations, we asked some questions, Logan had impressions made of his ears for the earmolds and picked the colors for his aids (black) and his molds (transparent red), then we headed home. We'll head back next month to get the actual aids...or in this case, a loaner pair for a short time. Hopefully we'll have great success getting them programmed correctly and we'll have the blessing of seeing Logan's speech finally take off. There's so much he knows, and there's so much he misses!! I can't wait until he's not missing so much.

Amid all the running around today (speech therapy and gymnastics today too!), we all missed spending time with Brent. Today's his 20th birthday!! And this mom has decided that it should be against the law to spend birthdays away from your family. Brent, know that you are loved and missed!! Hope you had a wonderful birthday.

???

Tonight was Ladies Night, an occasional night out with friends who have also have children from China. We met before Ryan, Rachel, and Linlee came home, and since then have added Jake and Logan to the mix. Colleen, Anne, Kristine and I try and get together once in a while, but with the schedules it's hard. But tonight was dinner night, and I was so looking forward to it! And it was fun. :) I got to the restaurant early and had the opportunity to run a few errands. Picked up some things for the little guys and a birthday present for Hailey. It was even on sale! Made my night, that's for sure. Then we had a delicious dinner and chat. But, almost immediately after we paid the bill, they asked us to leave so they could have the table! So, we went outside and stood in the parking lot for a bit while we finished visiting. (Last time, we sat for nearly 3 hours visiting after dinner, so this was quite a change.) It was a bit chilly, so one by one we went our seperate ways.

When I got home, the neighbor children were here. They're great kids, so it was no big deal. It seems that their mom had a "disagreement" with a knife while fixing dinner, and the knife won. She needed stitches so off to ER they went, sans children of course. They played Mario Kart with Ryan and Logan for a bit, then Ryan had a massive meltdown. Screaming and crying and kicking angrily, he was carried to his room for his jammies. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, while I was carrying him up the stairs his nose was bleeding. Profusely. Blood all over his bed, the floor, the carpet, my clothes, my shoes, his clothes...it was UGLY. Took about 15 minutes to finally get it stopped. After a long delay and lots of clean-up (thanks, Hailey! You're amazing and awesome!!) we finally got him presentable and sat him down with Daddy for some quiet time and monitoring. Finished cleaning up the bood (white carpet on the stairs), sent the neighbors back home, got Logan ready for bed, tucked both boys in, and caught my breath. Now I have to figure out why Ryan's nose keeps bleeding like that, and why on earth the child has a swollen, weepy ear! Some things....

So much for a peaceful, enjoyable night out. Glad dinner was good!!

special day

Today in Seattle the sun is shining and it's beyond beautiful. And it's all in celebration of a very special day. You see, today is my nephew Nick's 7th birthday. First diagnosed with leukemia at age 4 and now 51 days post bone marrow transplant, he's thriving and doing well. Fifty one days is a huge milestone on a recovery period of 100 days--it's all downhill now! So today's blog is for you, Nick.

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Nicholas
Happy birthday to you!

And MANY more!!!

utterly fantastic

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending a Beth Moore conference with a group of friends from church. We had a BLAST!! The gals who went with me are delightful young moms at church and my life is so much richer because of their friendships. We laughed and talked, learned and prayed, reflected, ate, and shopped. The only thing we didn't do much of is sleep!

I came away refreshed and challenged. And determined to attend another Beth Moore conference soon! There was so much material, so much to process, so much to apply... She's a fanatastic teacher and I can't wait to do it again. If Beth Moore EVER comes your way, GO SEE HER!!! Truly--it's life-changing! Or, take advantage of her August 28/29 simulcast. She'll be speaking live in Green Bay, WI, but the conference will be simulcast all over the world. I know I'm gonna find it somewhere near me and head on over with a group from church. Check out more information on Beth Moore's Living Proof Ministries website. If it's not near enough to commute, find a friend and get a hotel. You'll have a great time, and you'll be glad you did.

ORANGE!!

So today we've gone ORANGE for Stellan. Stellan is a sweet babe having heart surgery in Boston today. His mom has an amazing blog...you can read it HERE. In the meantime, we've joined TEAM ORANGE in prayer for Stellan. See?

just chillin'

I'm hanging out for the next few days with just my little guys. Hailey's enjoying fun in the sun in south Florida with her best friend; Victoria's doin' Disneyland with a friend and her mom; and Em's off to Portland for some Daddy/daughter time. Everyone gets back late tomorrow, but in the meantime it's just me and the boys. I love my boys, but this isn't exactly my idea of a dream time. That's okay. It will be fun...and I get to head out on Friday for a weekend with some friends! We're headed to Portland to hear Beth Moore live. I've been a bit down in the dumps recently (could use a GOOD dose of warm sunshine!) so this weekend is just the thing. Good friends, challenging and inspiring speaker, yummy food, and shopping...what more does a girl need?? Can't wait!!

In the meantime, enjoy some pics of my guys. Ryan's KILLER on the Wii--he's so good I typically won't play with him. He loves loves LOVES Mario Kart racing, and even surprised Brent last week with how good he is. He's got gold medals in nearly every portion of his license. Mama can't compete. But they enjoy it, and Logan loves to watch and cheer. Here they are a few days ago, when Daddy was sick and Mama let them all play to their hearts content.

In time for Easter

Nick will be home tomorrow! NO more hospital stays!! Amazing news...thanks for praying. God is good, and we are so very grateful this Easter for Nick's new life. :)

Ted and his Easter eggs

Nick and his Easter eggs. He's got a new NG (actually, an ND) tube just in case. He's eating some, so the doctor's happy.

great reading

And it's free! Check out Serious. Life Magazine! I've thoroughly enjoyed previous issues. :)

They just published a new issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it. The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has leukemia just like my nephew Nicholas. They also have a great family blog--www.riggsfamilyblog.com. It's amazing to watch them journal Abby's journey on this leukemia trail...it's so different than Nick's. Sweet Abby is struggling much harder than Nick, and their blog keeps me praying for her. And for Nick!

The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

If you like it, you can sign up for a FREE subscription! Now, who doesn't love free?

the best sound in the world...

...has to be all 6 of my children laughing and talking together. Brent's home this weekend, and we're having fun. Ryan especially is in heaven.

Of course, so am I.

cute boys

Sometimes words aren't necessary...