Good Weekend in Stuart

Just time for a quick little update.. The kids had a great time this weekend at Nannie and Pops, and seeing their "Gammy"...

Ella is doing better... getting her appetite (quickly) and her energy back too. Its been 4 days since she's had a problem, but she's not in the clear yet since we did have a 4 day stretch a week or so ago. I will say that this time she seems to be perking up a more and has better energy and color than she had during the other stretch. We are hopeful that she may be getting back to her old self.. (and therefore Mom and Dad can get back to their old selves with a little more sleep and a lot less worrying. )

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes ... we are cautiously optimistic, and its been fun seeing our little girl's personality come back.

- Mike

Thanks for all the notes and calls we've had concerning Ella.

Just a quick update to say that she has had a very good day, and so far is sleeping well for the third night in a row... We are not ready to call this a victory yet, but it was awesome to see her talking up a storm and running around this afternoon...

I think we've been waiting for the perfect combo to get her out of her funk... cornbread and her Nannie who has been visiting since Monday... (she adores her Nannie)

Let's all hope and pray she continues to improve...

- Mike

Monday, June 22, 2009

Hello all...

Just a quick update and a few recent pics...


Ella's had her best day since the beginning of this almost 3 week GI dilemma, but she's still got ways to go. We are asking for your prayers as she has really had a go of it... If her stomach isn't hurting, then she is so very sad that she can't have her favorite foods that we know will make her sick. This is the toughest part of being a parent. I thought the hardest part would be when they didn't act right, turns out that its when they don't feel right. She's lost so much weight considering she didn't have an extra pound on her to begin with. Brooke mentioned it to me a week ago, but it never really hit home until I saw her little shorts on with the elastic not even stretched and still falling down. Then I saw this picture from last night... I know that she'll bounce back and thanks for all the kind words and prayers from all of our friends and family.



Eli is growing in more ways than one... besides physically. His personality has really blossomed and this kid is a comedian. He is constantly doing things to make people laugh. Whether he is holding a fork in his mouth sideways, or holding hands on his cheeks yelling for his brother (who is 3 feet away) "Laaaaaddiiiinnn" and then laughing and repeating this process to everyone in the room..getting his laughs every time...it never gets old. The picture of him is from a cookout at our friends house. In front of all of us, he'd throw the bag on the board and go "oooooohhhhhhh!!!" imitating the adults who had just finished playing. This routine was repeated many times always ending with his signature "Big Cheesy Grin"...



Landon is also cracking us up with his ability to make up jokes and act funny. He can make wisecracks that I wasn't smart enough to understand 'til I was 12... He really enjoys playing with friends and running around until his face is rosy red and his hair is all wet. He plays hard and sleeps hard... unlimited energy... We are also very proud of his progress in Taekwando... He's passed every belt test he's taken and is now a Sr. Orange belt. As a Dad I'm most proud of the way he respects his instructor and enthusiastically says "Yes Sir" when a request is made, and then tries his very hardest. (I am glad that I seem care much less about results than I do about effort... I hope for my kids sake it stays that way ...) This pic of him was taken tonight while we were playing around before bed.

Didn't really feel like trying to be cute or funny with this post...just a little bummed and weary of Ella's struggles... with any luck, she's turned the corner today given she's had four pieces of corn bread that Brooke (you're the best Mom!) made for her by special request yesterday... Her stomach only hurt a little bit and only for a brief time today, and she is sleeping well...so far, so good!

Brooke and I are doing well, and we are looking forward to a fun summer full of BBQ's, swimming pools, family, friends, and healthy kids. (and maybe a few rounds of golf..right honey?)

Good Night and God Bless you all...

- Mike

Father's Day

As a dad, I don't feel I should be honored today. Instead I feel honored. What a blessing to be given the responsibility to be a Dad to my kids. They have redefined almost every aspect of my life. Hard to explain, but I'll just say that it is good. No matter how many little heart breaks I have suffered every time they hurt, or the anxiety I have about their future health and happiness.... add it all up and it never even registers as a negative in any way... weird!

I've caught myself many times reflecting on my Dad and how much I still miss him. Time and faith are great healers, but the best I can say about it is that the hurt gives away just enough to allow some of the good memories to creep up beside the void.

Have you ever cried with your eyes, at the same time smiling with your mouth, and doing both with your heart?

These are a few of the things about my Dad that make me smile when I remember them.

- Sitting in church as a kid during the sermon. He would sneak his hand over and we would finger wrestle, until he would catch my finger and bent it down just right so it would hurt like the dickens, but not enough that I would scream out and get us both in trouble.

- Hearing his "tough talk" but seeing his kind heart at the same time...I got better at this as I got older...

- Knowing that no matter what, help was a phone call away.. at any time..for any reason.

- Showing me what a man was. Not the smack you head kinda man, but the kind of man that I knew would fight a bear to protect his family regardless of the outcome to himself.

- Along with Mom... having someone that cared about my happiness and well-being, at times, even more than I did myself.

- Taught and showed me that there are some things in life that are non-negotiable.

- Friends matter - he had a lot of them and he loved them very much

- He taught me how to respect him, ironically, by how he honored his Mom and Dad in life and after their death.

- Laugh! Tell funny stories and laugh at funny stories...

There are more, but that's enough to get the point across ...

Happy Father's Day !

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Happy Birthday Pappy Lee!

Posted pictures of Pappy Lee's visit yesterday so check them out if you haven't seen them. It's hotter than hot here and we had a good day. Ella had a pretty good day with no nap and not much pain. Still not eating much and was a bit disappointed when she couldn't dive into the birthday cake and also eat a ton of M&M's from Pop's pocket. We had a little get together to celebrate Uncle Chuck's 44th birthday as well as Father's Day. I was pretty lucky because with Mike's brothers and especially the sisters-in-law here I was able to tackle a house project. We took down the bunk beds and set up the two twin beds in Landon and Ella's room. This is a step process in which we will eventually move Ella into her own room and Eli will move to a big boy bed and share a room with his brother Landon. Nothing like a get together to get me motivated to rearrange furniture :-)

Hope your Saturday was fun!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Happy Birthday Chuck!

I am long overdue for a post but it has been busy in a not so good sort of way around here. Mike had his shoulder surgery last week and that went really well. It was his first surgery as you may have read but he did great and has no pain whatsoever. He did try to stretch out the sympathy for many days but overall he got back into the swing of things quickly. Ella on the other had has had a rollercoaster of a sickness. We are still trying to figure out exactly what is going on but it seems to have worsened over the last 2 weeks. When it started out it was just here and there with "the runs" and throwing up a time or two. Now every 3 or 4 days she gets really sick and hasn't eaten much in between. She has dropped a lot of weight - for a 4 year old 34 pound girl anyway. Her shorts yesterday wouldn't even stay up so after holding them up for half the day she just took them off. The doctor has tested her for lots of things and luckily (or frustratingly) everything has come back normal. I am very thankful that everything is checking out ok but I am still frustrated that she is so miserable. Her stomach and intestines cramp so bad that she cries in her sleep and she has zero energy. She has been napping for about 3 hours everyday (except today) and then going to bed on time and getting up on time or late. I think today she has eaten 6 saltines and about 10 very small sips of activia yogurt. We are hoping that this is over very soon. She wants to go and do so many things but just can't. Eli and Landon have been very good through all of this and allowed us to stay home and play in the backyard and during rainy days we have played lots of games and read lots of books. Ella felt like going out the other day and we thought she was "on the mend" but as soon as we got there she didn't play at all.

Today marks 2 weeks and 3 days since the first symptoms appeared but 2 weeks since it got bad. Please pray for her to feel better soon. She cries often saying "I will never, ever, ever feel better" which breaks our hearts.

Outside of that, summer is definitely here. In the 90's today and for the next couple of days. We had lots of rain earlier in the week but now that it is so hot we would really like to dive into the pool. The heat and rain has brought the mosquitos out like crazy. Eli must be really sweet as one morning we counted about 15 mosquito bites on him. Since then we have been pretty over the top about putting spray on him.

Some of our fun events since the last post was a visit from Pappy Lee, a trip to visit Damion, Kara, Aiden, and their new baby Abram; we also had a party for some friends who are moving to Georgia. We will miss you guys but you better keep in touch.

Lastly, the charcoal of Ella above was done by our good friend Joel Shelton - I will post the one of Landon as soon as I have that one back from being framed.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Well it has been a crazy time here but I wanted to update you all. Ella got better quickly last week from what we thought was a cold. Mike caught the cold later in the week. Landon had testing at taekwando and his last t-ball game of the season. He has been so excited that he received his first trophy and it is proudly on display as you can see in the picture. Ella came down with a stomach virus on Friday and is still not 100% this evening. She has given us a couple of afternoons and evenings where we thought she was better only to wake up in the middle of the night with more symptoms - the kind that it isn't nice to talk about at the dinner table. Due to this virus she has been weak, tired, unable to eat, and very sad. Please say a prayer that she is over this and sleeps well tonight for all of our sakes. Selfishly I am a bit sleep deprived and know I will need my energy tomorrow to take care of everyone in our house.

Speaking of that, Mike had his shoulder surgery this morning. Outside of being very nervous/anxious about his very first surgery everything went exceptionally well. The doctor said that he fixed the tear we knew was there but found another small tear as well that he was able to fix. He also said that with those exceptions, Mike's shoulder looked really healthy. Good thing the surgery went well as our neighbor was the one who did it and if it had messed up that could have been awkward :-) The surgery didn't take very long and I had the company of one of our Sunday school classmates as well as my sister-in-law, Caroline. Mike was a bit loopy when we got to go back to the recovery area but no real funny stories. He had the nurse entertained and on the romantic (or maybe just sweet side) she said that as soon as he woke up he asked for me. We made it home before lunch and he has been resting as much as he can today considering that there are 3 little ones who adore their Daddy and love to see him as much as they can. Hopefully, he will be able to soon lift the kids like the picture above.

Thanks for checking in and I will keep you updated with how things are going.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Mikey is now stuffy and tired so hopefully he will recover as quickly as Ella. Earlier in the week we were battling the heat with temps in the lower 90s. We didn't have time to make it to the pool in the evenings so we broke out the water bottles. Eli couldn't quite get the hang of how Landon and Ella were squirting everything so he tried and he tried. Later on he figured it out and each time he surprised himself as he squirted himself in the face or neck each time. Being surprised didn't stop him from continuing until he was soaked shirt, shorts, and diaper. Hope you all are staying cool.

LITTLE ONES ... LITTLE BUGS

Brooke and I are learning the hard way that little kids get sick a lot... Random virus here, a headcold there ... It was Eli last week with a fever virus ... This week it was poor little Ella. She's feeling better from a stuffy nose cold fever thing, but Brooke seems to have caught it. So far the rest of us have dry noses and a regular sleep pattern, but Brooke packed it in early (like 7:30)...

I haven't posted in a while so I don't know if I'll get this up on the web... in case I do I'll strike a happy medium over my fear of wasting my time (in case the post doesn't work) and the opportunity to update the blog with a quiet house. I have developed a radical compromise...type a post but use Bullet points ! It's perfect! It's how my mind works anyway... I'm so A-D-D I think in sentence fragments anyway, so here it goes...

• Having shoulder surgery next Tues.. nothing major. jacked up labrum, whatever that is. hurts when I serve or throw overhanded.. been living with it for 20 years.. technology has caught up so they don't have to fillet me to fix... my only fear is being drugged to unconsciousness, since I'm a control freak. If you are really bored you can learn all about it. http://orthopedics.about.com/od/shoulderelbow/a/labrum.htm

• Work is cRaZy with all the bank mergers and wild stock market. can't figure it out. seem to have a lot of company. especially with all those "trained" economists. They don't know jack, but I'll give points for baseless confidence. I'll end it with that...too frustrating to expand on my views. keeping the rest those bullet points in my head.. (not bullets in my head) bullet points... If you knew you'd thank me..trust me. For a good book on the topic... Nassim Taleb wrote a head-scratcher called the "Black Swan". awesome book
• Really seeing why non-christians are turned off by "Christians". A lot of hypocrites (including me, I'm sure). Tim Keller's new book "Reason for God" is a game-changer in terms of perspective. But feeling good about my walk. starting to see the difference between joy and happiness. God is good all the time. Starting to get it how people can rejoice in suffering... selfishly still hoping to delay trying it out through any suffering of my own though.

• Winston Churchill was nothing near a saint, but one of the most amazing men to ever walk ther earth. Amazing story from childhood through WWII and beyond. If you finish researching my shoulder woes. spend some time reading about him.

• I love my wife and children more than my own life... and its not even close... Nothing better than having something you value more than yourself. Now if I could find a way to love my enemies more than myself I'd just float on up... but alas...

• Sidebar expansion of thought - Sorry enemies - BUT it'd be much easier on both of us if you'd just stop doing what you are doing that makes our relationship adversarial (e.g. beheadings, murder, rape, promoting tyranny, not leaving enough coffee in the pot at work to fill an entire cup, etc...) Just promise to think about it ...Ok?

• Ok I just looked back and this thing better post or I'm gonna get ticked

• Finished Mark Levin's new book last week "Liberty and Tyranny". Not suggesting it for my friends who are hopelessly liberal... (you know I love you, and you know who you are) It would just frustrate you with all this nonsense about limited government, the constitution, intended scope and reach of government, etc... Conversely, if you are otherwise something less than hopelessly committed... you'll enjoy understanding at least what the people who wrote the constitution were trying to do. (But that's ancient history...as power concentrates it never"un-concentrates" on its own....sigh... )

• Just reread the post again ... I'm a weirdo... might be better if it doesn't post.

• Watching Indiana Jones Crystal Skull out of the corner (can't spell "peripheral" so I used the word "corner". Uh oh, What if spell check catches "peripheral"? ) of my left eye - Man! is Harrison looking old! Still much better looking than me and he's got Calista Flockhart and millions... (think I'd rather just have the millions... I'm sure I'd rather have Brooke...I'd actually rather have Brooke and his millions... But rather have Brooke than all the millions...wink, wink, honey, unless of course I could have both Brooke and the millons)

If I am successful posting this, you all will be praying fervently for Brooke to return to good health so she'll post next time. See! this was not all for 'naught, unless I can't get it to post and then it would be for 'naught. But you won't even know if I don't get it to post.... so no harm no foul. The real question is did I waste my time, or our time? I guess we'll find out in 3....2....1......

Now just a side from me - Brooke - I am up starting at 11:00 and feeling fine. I think I was just exhausted from the weekend and it caught up with me. Now my night will be totally messed up but it was nice to get to sleep for a while. No runny nose here thank goodness. Plus I caught the last of Harrison Ford and lucky me - I have Mikey!!!