Fracture

Good bye stitches, hello cast. That's right, Charlie got his stitches out last week Wednesday and early this morning he got a cast on his arm. Last night he fell from a bunk bed ladder and landed right on his arm. He cried hard, but it wasn't too swollen so we didn't know if he broke it or not.  I actually took him to the emergency room that night to have it checked out, but when I found out the wait to get into a room was over two hours, we decided to wait it out at home a little while longer.

Charlie slept restlessly until about 5am. At six I decided to take him in because there was a little bump by his wrist that I was concerned about.  After x-rays and a little wait, we discovered he has a buckle fracture below his wrist. The doctor put a hard splint around it and we are going to meet with an orthopedic doctor on Wednesday to probably have it casted.

He is sleeping hard this afternoon after a rough night, but thankfully the pain doesn't seem too bad. Poor guy.

Chipped Tooth, Stitches and Vacation

We spent the last five days in Minnesota catching up with Mark's family. I love being with family, especially around the holidays and, as always, it was a blessing to spend time with them.  The kids traveled fairly well and had a great time playing with cousins. 

Although the trip went well, last Friday, I was a little worried we wouldn't have our act together enough to get out of Michigan.  Thursday night Ruby chipped a tooth so Friday morning I had to take her to the dentist, with Tabatha in tow. After the dentist, I picked Charlie up from Mark's office (where he was watching a movie under Mark's desk, waiting for me). We then met some of my family at Crazy Bounce for my neice's birthday. Charlie enjoyed 15 minutes of bouncing around in the ball pit and speeding down slides before he tripped and cracked his head open. He cried harder when he learned he had to leave the birthday party then he did from the cut, but I convinced him that he needed a doctor to get his face fixed.  

Mark left his super productive morning at work (remember Charlie was there most of the morning :) and met me at Crazy Bounce. He brought the girls home, fed them lunch and then handed them off to Emily (our fantastic babysitter) while I spent three hours at Urgent Care, waiting to have Charlie stitched up.  

Charlie was a TROOPER for most of the afternoon. He was tough about the pain and the blood. He never complained about missing lunch. He was polite to the doctor. I was so proud of him.

Then, the doctor taped gauze over his eyes so they could put the stitches in and this is when I watched Charlie turn into a raging incredible hulk. He screamed things like, "I'm so frustrated", "Get off of me", "I can't see", "Don't do this to me". I didn't know whether to laugh or cry; I actually think I did both.

I felt so bad for him. I had to lay on his torso to hold him down while one nurse held his head and another nurse held his feet.  He was a mad man. When the doctor finally got the cut sewn up, Charlie sat up and continued to punch and kick me. He was so mad.  He had to sit on the ground for a few minutes to calm down. I have never seen him like that, poor kid. He even broke blood vessels around his eyes because he was screaming so much. 

So, what did I do? What any good mom would do, I took him to Target to pick out a toy :) I felt so bad for laying on top of him to hold him down, I felt like I had to offer a peace offering.  

One Imaginex garabage truck later, he was a happy camper.  

I didn't start packing until after supper Friday night, but somehow we managed to roll out around 5am on Saturday. What a way to start our Christmas vacation.

More about MN to come...

Knock On Wood..

Still no seizures! It seems the med increase was effective. I was worried the meds would make Ruby feel lethargic and sedated, but actually the opposite seems to be true. Lately she seems even a little more alert and giggly. I love to hear these responses from her! Praise God for a good outcome from a scary couple of days last week.

Dreaded Seizures

Two seizures hit Ruby this past week. We hadn't seen any significant seizures for almost a year, until this past Monday and Tuesday.  I HATE seizures. I feel so incredibly helpless when Ruby seizes.  All I can do is sit there and hold her hand and pray she snaps out of it. It is awful to watch.

I had a few tears about the seizures on Tuesday. Things have been so stable with Ruby lately and seeing the seizures again reminds me of the reality of her seizure diagnoses. A seizure could take her anytime. Not a fun reality to live with. 

After the tears, I called neurology and told them what was going on. They recommended we increase the dose of one of Ruby's meds. I am always hesitant to do this for fear of overmedicating her and causing her to be a zombie. Even so, we followed the neurologists advice.

I am hesitantly thrilled to report that we haven't seen a seizure since Tuesday! I am so thankful the meds seemed to have halted the seizures for now.  I am also reminded that God is in control and I am not.

I surrender to his plan for my life and for Ruby's life. I am blessed by His peace and joy, even when tough stuff happens. I have my moments, but soon after, God reminds me that He holds my hand through all of this.

Ruby's giggles this week blessed my heart....

A Visit from MN

About a month ago we enjoyed a visit from Mark's parents, who live in MN. It is always a blessing to be able to catch up with them. We miss them often and treasure these weekends together. Here are a few photos...

Ruby's early Christmas present-- the massage table for her ABR therapy. 

Ipad fun with Grandpa

Tabatha LOVES her Grandpa, especially when he gives her rides around the house in this tub.

 Mark's Dad is always willing to help us with home projects; Tabby was willing to help too :)  We appreciate him working on his vacation!

Reading with Grandma

More books with Grandpa

Thanks for a great visit Dad and Mom! We look forward to seeing you over Christmas break.

New York City Surprise

Mark woke me up at 3am last week Friday and told me to get ready because we were leaving for the airport in 45 minutes.  I was completely shocked and I asked him 20 questions about what was going on. All he would tell me is that we were flying somewhere and we would be coming back on Monday night. I had no idea where we could be going.  I knew he had earned travel vouchers at work, but I didn't think he had those yet. We had talked about how we would use them, but no decisions had been made (at least that is what I thought :).  He showed me detailed schedules he had typed up for each child and he had me sign medical release forms for the kids to prove that he had everything taken care of.  He also had one of my best friends come the night before when I was out and pack my suitcase.

After I calmed down a little and trusted that he had everything under control, I got ready and when our babysitter came (at 3:45am--sorry Emily!!) we headed to the airport.  Our first flight was from Grand Rapids to Chicago so it wasn't until we were in the Chicago airport catching our next flight that I realized we were going to New York City for the weekend! Wow-- what a surprise. 

By noon on Friday we were walking around NYC, pretty crazy! Mark totally surprised me; we had an incredible time together. This is a trip we will talk about for a long time. Here is a look at our weekend exploring NYC......

A quick stop at a pizza joint for a "snack". We were going out for lunch later but we were so hungry after getting up at 3am so we had a pre-lunch :)

Mark arranged for our great college friends to meet us in the city for a night. 

It was so much fun catching up with you Kyle and Katie!! Thanks for taking the bus from Baltimore!

After lunch together we went to the top of the Empire State Building. It was a beautiful day and the view was crazy good!

After walking around for awhile, we went back to our hotel to get ready to go out for the night. We grabbed a light supper at Au Bon Pain, walked through the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and then headed to the theatre district to see Phantom of the Opera.

The show was incredible! I love the music from this musical.

 After the show we sat at a restaurant and talked with Kyle and Katie until 2am. That was the latest I had been up in a LONG time (at least by choice :), but it was so great to catch up with them.

The next morning we had a good breakfast at The Bread Factory and then we jumped into a taxi and went to lower Manhattan.

Because of the hurricane, the reservation system for the 9/11 memorial was down so we couldn't get into that, but we still saw the freedom tower and some memorials set out by the fire station close by.

We walked around the financial district for a little while. 

It was fairly quiet there because of the hurricane.

We took a look at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island across the water.

Kyle and Katie left for home Saturday afternoon.  Saturday night we ate at Rosa Mexicano--delicious! Then we enjoyed the NY Philharmonic Orchestra. Mark had these tickets and the phantom of the opera tickets purchased ahead of time; he knows I like musical shows!

Sunday we waited in line in Times Square for cheap theater tickets. We scored some for the matinee show for "Newsies". The people and congestion in Times Square was insane; we did a lot of people watching.

We had time to kill before the show, so we decided to grab lunch and eat it in Central Park.  It was a beautiful sunny day and last minute we jumped on a pedicab tour of Central Park so we could see more of the park.  I am so glad we did this! It was perfect way to enjoy the park.

What a surprise! I am very in love with my thoughtful husband. He knows me so well and he was able to plan a perfect weekend.

Thanks a lot to Emily, Mom and Dad and Michael and Jess for watching the kids! We appreciate you all making this work out for us!

Still Here!

It has been a wild two weeks; sorry about the lack of posts! I have a couple posts swirling around in my head that I will get to soon. My choir concert was last night and this past weekend Mark surprised me with a trip to New York City!! We had an amazing time but because of the busy season my blog has suffered.

I am still here; I will post soon :)

Montreal Trip

A few pictures from our days in Montreal last week....

Ruby all ready to go.

 Ruby was a great traveler.

The set up for Ruby's meds and food in the back of the car got a little interesting, but it worked.

Precious little hands

Sound Asleep

Giggling in the back at a rest stop. It feels so good to stretch out!

More giggles in the hotel

Mark pumping away on Ruby's "mouth floor". Each time we go for training we get very specific spots of Ruby's body to work on for the next six months.

Walking around close to the Ronald McDonald house in search of dinner.

 More pumping and rolling, this time on Ruby's clavicles and pectoral muscles.

Ruby got a great report from the trainers. It is always encouraging for us to hear the progress they see on Ruby's body. She continues to get stronger. Here are a few of the objectives Ruby met since we were at training last spring. 

- Improved compressional strength (basically this means her rib cage and abdominal muscles are not as squishy---they are stronger)

- Emerging head control and stability (we continue to see Ruby's head control improve)

-Improved shoulder girdle strength and stability (When her shoulder blades are stable, she will have more arm function)

-Emerging segmentation of the head and neck (critical for proper head control)

ABR is slowly rebuilding Ruby's body.  When we are in the daily trenches with her we don't always see the progress. It is refreshing and energizing to have the ABR trainer's point out the specific changes for us. We know this therapy is the right thing for Ruby!

Noticed

Everywhere we go with Ruby, we are "noticed". It is hard not to look at a beautiful, little, black girl in a hot pink wheel chair being pushed by a white lady.  People look; some stare.

When I am in my own comfortable environment I don't pay attention to this as much. People know our story so when I have her with me at Zeeland Christian (the school I teach at) or at church we don't get looks or stares. People are used to Ruby.

Not the case in Montreal. We have gotten a lot of funny looks yesterday and today.  Some people have even asked us about Ruby and our story.  I don't blame people; they aren't being rude, just curious.  Hey, I would look too if a white couple tube feed a black girl in the grocery store cafe...it's only natural.

Somedays I don't mind it at all.  In fact, somedays I feel proud to be pushing around my beautiful, smiley little girl with the super tight curls. On these days I feel confident and and at peace.

Other days, I hate being looked at. It is awkward and I feel like I have be gracious, even when I don't want to be.  Sometimes I don't have the energy to explain Ruby or smile back at people when their eyes linger on Ruby's chair.

Yet, God choose us. He picked me to be Ruby's Mom. He choose Mark to be Ruby's Dad. I am humbled and honored by that truth. He wants us to take care of her this side of heaven.

So, I pray I will have the grace to tell Ruby's story.  The story of how God scooped Ruby up and placed her in our arms. He trusts us to care for her this side of heaven and it is a privilege.

I will tell people that.

Even though it is not easy, it is a privilege.

God, give me the courage to share. May I ever seek Your words, Your grace and Your peace.

ABR Trip

We are off to ABR training in Montreal tomorrow. Tabatha and Charlie are excited about spending a couple of days with Grandpa and Grandma. I am excited to have quiet time in the car with Mark and Ruby.  Although it is therapy training and twelve hours in the car, it will be nice to be with my husband for a few days.

I always look forward to seeing how Ruby's body has changed since our last ABR training six months ago.  Although the progress is slow, her core is "normalizing" and we pray that this new strength will lead to more function.  ABR is the best therapy for Ruby and we are blessed to have found it a couple of years ago.

An update about our trip to come.....

Books, Books, Books

Books, books, books...we LOVE books.

Books are entertaining, they are calming, they help us bond with our children and they are free (as long as you bring them back in three weeks).  

Charlie won't sit still for most things, but he loves to cuddle during a good story.

Tabatha is exploring the world through pictures in books.

Ruby is calmed by familiar voices when we read to hear.

Mark has read more in the last three years then all the years before that combined :)

Books, books, books...we LOVE books.

First Day of School

Charlie started three school last month and I wanted to share a few photos...

The typical "first day of school" photos...

He LOVES the fireman costume in his classroom

He also likes the "Rescue Heroes"

One of his teachers, Mrs. Den Bleyker, painting his hands for a project. 

His other teacher is Mrs. Walters.

Charlie really enjoy school so far and I am excited to see how this experience shapes and molds him. We LOVE Zeeland Christian and are so glad he will grow in Christ at school.