Philip's 1st Birthday Party

Philip's birthday is actually tomorrow, January 22, however since we originally thought my grandparents would be driving home tomorrow, his party was planned for this afternoon. It was a doubly special day as Mom came home from the hospital this morning so we were finally all together at their house. Mom is doing very well, and loves her new recliner. My Grandma's sister Pearl gave her and Grandpa a good bit of money to help with their traveling expenses. My grandparents felt like they shouldn't accept it, but her sister said they could do with it as they pleased. Grandma asked if buying Mom a recliner would be alright and Great Aunt Pearl said yes, that would be fine. Last Friday (as we thought Mom would be out on Monday), Grandma, Grandpa, Philip and I went furniture shopping. Mom was thrilled to see it when she got back to the house as we had all kept it a surprise. She said sitting in it today was the most comfortable she has been in two weeks. Mom loved having everyone (Dad, her parents, me, Matthew, Philip, my brother Mike, his wife Andrea and my mother-in-law Ruth Ann) with her this evening, however laughing at Philip made her stomach hurt. Here's a little overview.


I made cupcakes for all of us. Andrea and I decorated them. She put icing "P"'s on them for Philip and I added the sprinkles.






Philip with his Uncle Mike and Aunt Andrea.




Philip with Mom's parents, Great Grandma & Grandpa Diemer (he really does love them!)





I made Philip a cake all of his own. He had a slow start, but soon it was going...





going...




gone! He ate the WHOLE thing. I was scared he might get sick later that night, but thankfully he never did.


The boy even had room to fit in a few bites from Grandma's slice of pizza. We'll see if his pediatrician still says he's small for his age at his 12 months check-up next week!


After the birthday cake and pizza, Philip needed to walk off a few calories! He's a boy on the go these days. Still can't walk without holding on to something, but as long as there are walls, tables or his push toys around, you better watch out!


It was a great party especially for Mom who was thrilled to be in her own home. Laughter is good medicine, but her stomach did hurt a little from it. I think she would say watching Philip enjoy his birthday party was worth it. I love you Mom and am so glad you are getting better.

She's Getting Out!

Mom is finally being released from the hospital tomorrow. Thank the Lord! Today she added mashed potatoes and gravy to her menu. She's going to ask her doctor if she can eat ice cream and maybe a little cake tomorrow as we celebrate Philip's 1st birthday before my grandparents leave. I'm so glad she's coming home as I know she desperately needs a change of scenery. Please continue to pray harder than ever as now we will be farther from medical help so we don't need any more complications. Also, she will have the catheter for two more weeks. Her surgeon said that because her surgery was so low in her abdomen and so much of it was done behind her bladder itself, her bladder may need more time to recuperate. He obviously doesn't want it to overfill like it did last week. I assume she has a check-up in two weeks so that's why it is staying in so long. This means Mom won't be leaving the house, but she needs LOT of rest still anyway. Our next plan includes Dad getting back to work, and I go over to their house all week to be with Mom. I pray it will be a good mother/daughter bonding time plus it will give me a chance (maybe!) to catch up on my scrapbooking. However, let's not forget I have a one-year-old to watch over also. We'll see how it goes.
(P.S. It was great seeing all of you at ScanSource today! A little part of me wishes I was still there what with the excitement of the corporate world. However, the grass is always greener as they say and I wouldn't trade what I have for anything.)

New Developments

I've got one for Mom and one for Philip. We'll start with Mom -- her NG tube is out! Thank you, Lord! The nurse took it out this morning around 7:30am and she's feeling MUCH better. She is still very homesick, but in better spirits. Thank you for your prayers. She has again begun drinking liquids and eating jello. Hopefully, the catheter will come out tomorrow without a hitch and she'll be going home Saturday or Sunday. We're in the homestretch!

Now for Philip. I'm excited about my baby growing up, but this development might prove to be a struggle. He finally has learned to pull up to his feet in his crib. I was overjoyed to find him standing after his morning nap on Tuesday. Wednesday morning and today were also fun to see him beaming at how proud he was of himself. The difficulty came this afternoon when I tried to lay him down for a much overdue nap (that was probably half the problem). Up he shot right away to begin his laps around the crib. I told Mom while visiting her this afternoon that she and Philip are both excited to be walking laps these days (her's are around the hospital nurses' station to gain strength). I thought I would let him burn off some energy, but after a few minutes he began to get whiny. I laid him down, but he popped back up. This time he was full-force crying. After 10 minutes, I went in and laid him down again. Guess he was done with laps for the time being as he settled down with Lamby and blanket. We'll see what tomorrow brings... such is the life of a mother.

This crib toy is sound-activated to soothe a crying baby or touch activated (music starts when the pink musical note is pressed) and is usually Philip's first target when he gets to his feet. Not sure if it should go or not. Guess it will signal he's up if we hear music playing in the middle of the night!

Visit with Mom

Dad called me this morning and said that Mom had been really depressed last night and this morning. He thought a visit from me and Philip might cheer her up. I was glad he wanted us to come but a little hesitant too as I wasn't sure what to expect. We got there at 10:15am and Dad had said just to wait in the room as she was having a second CAT scan this morning. Philip and I played with his trucks, looked out the windows and explored Mom's hospital room. They got back a little after 11:00am. Mom, Philip and I all did really well without any crying. I did hold Philip close to Mom and he was quite curious about her tube and orange tape on her nose. We had a nice visit, trying to tell Mom and Dad what we'd been doing out in the world and not letting Mom talk much as it makes her throat extra dry with that tube in it. I brought her an index card on which I wrote: "This too shall pass" or "These tubes shall pass". Dad puttied it to the rail of her bed. The surgeon told them that her intestine is still paritally blocked. Please pray that the intestine will naturally clear itself out, that the NG tube can be removed tomorrow (it is not being used at all right now; correction -- it's not a feeding tube; she was to be given nutrients via IV), and that the Lord will bless Mom with a better outlook as she has gotten very depressed. We pray that the tube will come out tomorrow, the catheter on Friday, her bladder works properly, and she comes home on Saturday. That evening Philip gets a cupcake all of his own to celebrate his 1st birthday. His birthday is Sunday, but we wanted to have a mini-celebration while my grandparents are here. Remember them in your prayers also as they are quite worn out driving back and forth to the hospital each day and are anticipating their 7 hour drive home on Sunday.

Results of CAT scan

Last night I talked to Dad and he said Dr. Dunn had come by to give them the latest details of what is going on in Mom's body. From the CAT scan, it looked like her drain tube was laying across her small intestine causing the flow to be decreased. This could have been caused when her bladder swelled so much on Saturday (the size of a football!). Dr. Dunn removed the drain tube which was uncomfortable for Mom. Dad said her ileostomy bag filled up twice as fast as it had before so, thank the Lord, it seems like that was the cause for the blockage. Mom was very upset when told the NG tube in her throat would need to stay in through Thursday. Please pray for Mom to be at peace about this and for Dad to continue to have strength to encourage her. Our outlook includes removing the NG tube and catheter on Thursday and hopefully going home on Friday. These days Mom is having some sensation of needing to use the bathroom even though the catheter is still there; hopefullyl that means she won't have the same problem as when they took it out before. Continue to pray for God to heal Mom without another complication. They are both homesick as are my grandparents for Georgia. It would be very nice to have the weekend at my parents' house together before my grandparents leave on Sunday.

Great News!

No surgery! Mom's surgeon Dr. Dunn (wonderful Christian man) was happy to see fluid and paste building up in her bag today. That tells him the blockage is considerably less than it was yesterday. Her nurse, Daniela, was putting this white dye into her stomach via the tube. It should circulate through her body within 45 minutes meaning they should see it in the bag. Also, Mom will be having a CAT scan this afternoon which will give them a 3-D view of her intestines so Dr. Dunn can make an education decision as to what comes next. Thank you Jesus for answering my prayers and those of our family and friends!! Dad also thought it best for me not to come visit today as Mom said she would probably get emotional if I were there. He doesn't want her to cry with the tube. I'm going over to their house now to spend time with my grandparents before they go to the hospital this afternoon.

Update on Mom

Well, things are looking a little better and worse at the same time. Mom is still dealing with the tube in her nose and throat. She says it doesn't hurt but is just very uncomfortable. She also is worried about me coming to visit her today because she doesn't want to scare me by how she looks. Please pray for me to have strength when I go and to be an encouragement to her. The good news is that there is fluid flowing to her ileostomy bag meaning her intestines are not entirely closed off as they thought yesterday. Walking and using this feeding tube seem to be helping. I ask that you pray God will be merciful in not allowing any other side effects to surface. This past Sunday night, our pastor Hank preached about God's will and there being no more secure place to be than in the middle of it. It's just scary when God's will for you is to pass through such a dark place in life. I pray His will includes Mom's getting better very soon and coming home. She was having an x-ray this morning which will tell us for sure whether or not she will need surgery today for the intestine fold.

Nana's Little P.T.

My mom nicknamed Philip her little P.T. for Priceless Treasure. It became a joke because Dad said that when he began cruising (walking around while holding on to things), he would be P.T. Cruiser. I praise God that she enjoyed his birth and first 7 months without knowing she was sick and that he has been a joy to her during the sickness. He has definitely been my light these last few days. He's had major milestones recently. During our visit with uncle Jonathan, aunt Lori and cousin Hannah, I was inspired how Hannah's menu included all sorts of things. Well, Philip was still eating only foods from the B.B.F.F. or store-bought jars. That changed when we attended Matthew's friend Paul's wedding (see Lori's blog for photos). I had brought a jar of food but couldn't find a microwave at the reception. Philip wanted nothing to do with that jar and I couldn't blame him. From there, we tried the reception food. He nibbled on pieces of fruit, cheese and even enjoyed mini-quiche!! That decided it... Philip would start eating what we ate! The second big hurdle was whole milk. My goal was to breastfeed him for a year, and that year has come and almost gone. With his birthday on January 22, it was the time to try switching him to cow milk. I had heard stories of other kids refusing to drink whole milk and was not sure what to expect from Philip. However, he LOVES it! Or at least didn't think twice about there being a difference. I began giving it to him in a bottle which he thinks is a big treat as it doesn't drip as bad as his sippy cups (less choking!), but he will take it from a sippy cuy as well. Praise the Lord and good riddens, pump (nursing moms know what I mean!).






Philip enjoys a meal of green beans and yams.












Philip drinking whole milk and watching a DVD while mounted on his faithful steed.

Just Talked to Dad...

I was planning to call Dad to find out how things went with the tube, but honestly I'm now scared to call because the last two times it hasn't been good. He called me instead. He said Mom was really strong while the tube was inserted in her nose and down to her stomach. Unfortunately, it will stay in until tomorrow so she doesn't want any visitors other than Dad. I plan to spend tomorrow with my grandparents at my parents' house. Also, the doctor has found that Mom's intestine has a fold in it. This sometimes happens after surgeries in which the organs are moved around. We pray that the intestine will untangle itself however if it doesn't, Mom will have to have another surgery so the doctor can move it himself. Please pray for the Lord, our GREAT PHYSICIAN, to untangle her intestine. The nurses could be miraculously surprised to see her bag begin filling with waste from the feeding tube. I haven't seen Mom or Dad since Friday afternoon (Saturday, Mike and Andrea visited with them and Sunday, I wasn't feeling good). I pray to see them tomorrow once the tube is removed.

Another Bad Day

"I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day." 2 Timothy 1:12b

Today, I ask for your prayers again because an air bubble has formed in Mom's small intestine which is blocking waste from getting released to the bag. It is painful and she has already gone through so much I just pray that Jesus would protect her from anything more. The nurse has told her to remove the air they will insert a tube down her throat (not sure if it goes through her mouth or nose) into her stomach or small intestine (not sure) and suction everything including the air out. The doctor will be meeting with my parents at noon and giving her that tube shortly after. I thank you so much for your prayers. I am scared for my mom who has to go through it and for my dad who will be there supporting her. As I am typing this it is now 1:27 pm, and I pray this procedure is over. I will be calling my Dad in a few hours.

Complication and Setback

We were hoping that Mom would come home from the hospital today however there has been a set back. Her bladder catheter was removed on Friday afternoon. Dad said she did urinate twice that afternoon. On Saturday, they were told she might be going home today (Sunday). Yesterday she was feeling great during the day, but then during the evening and throughout last night, she began to have pain. The doctor realized from her chart that she was not urinating enough and that bladder pressure was what was causing her the pain. She was given a catheter to drain her bladder; Dad said they were told normally a bladder has about 100 cubic centimeters of urine in it, and Mom's was up to 1400 cubic cm. I have always heard of others being in the hospital and usually there are complications involved. It's just a lot harder to take when it's your own Mommy. Please pray for my Dad also as this is stretching him emotionally. I told him that once Mom is at home, he is welcome to come to my house and sleep for 12 hours straight while my grandparents and I tend to Mom's needs. God will see us through this. Mom keeps asking us to remind her that "This too shall pass" and I benefit in hearing that just as much as she does.

Better Every Day

Mom had another good day yesterday. The nurse took out her epidural catheter allowing her to move around in the bed a little easier. She is not moving comfortably by any means as her stomach is still incredibly tender with the ileostomy bag on one side, the incision in the middle and a bag to drain excess fluids on the other side. She misses hugging Philip, but I always bring his close so she can kiss the top of his head when we visit. Today the nurse removed the catheter to her bladder because feeling is returning to her body so she can go to the bathroom on her own now. As her body would still be in much pain, she is taking Percocet and Tylox on a rotating basis (both are forms of oxycodone - highly addictive), but I think I've heard that your body heals faster when it is free from pain. However they make her very groggy since she is not eating that much now. Her menu has been increased from juices to now include jello, pudding, broth and grits. Slowly but surely everything will get back to normal. Keep praying as she will likely be released tomorrow. That will be a whole new ballgame as we will become her team of nurses.

Our Day

Mom has gotten used to the hospital and said she's actually not ready to leave by any means as she feels safer there knowing nurses are just a button away. I think she and Dad had a pretty good day. The stoma nurse showed them how to change the bag. It wasn't too bad after getting it unstuck from her side (I understand that because I hate the band-aid you get after a shot more than the shot!). My grandparents kept Philip for me as today was the first day of my BSF Bible Study class since our Christmas break. They had a ball with him and said at one moment he was laughing so hard they thought he might throw up! I'm so glad my little Minister of Happiness is able to bring joy to them during this tough time. My grandparents and Aunt Liz visited with Mom and Dad for much of the afternoon; Matthew, Philip and I saw them after dinner tonight.

I pray Mom will have a restful night nothing like last night. She told me she was in a deep sleep until at 4:00am, a nurse came to prick her finger for blood (her blood sugar had been a little high so they were monitoring it). When she woke up, she was in excrushiating pain. The nurses had overlooked her epidural and let it wear off!! She is to get a "refill" on the epidural every 12 hours and it had been 20 hours since the last dosage. Mom said she felt as if someone had taken a chairsaw to her midsection several times. How awful. It was just an oversight, but I wanted to find whomever was responsible and react in a VERY non-Christian way! She endured that pain for 45 minutes until the anesthetologist could be found and then it still took 20 minutes for the medicine to kick in. Before Matthew and I left, he prayed for her to have a very peaceful night's sleep tonight. I pray everything will be much better over the next several days.

On another subject, I have yet another prayer request. My dear friend Kim was bitten by a brown recluse spider a few days ago. She is taking antibiotics and applies some cream to the bite on her forearm each day. This spider is so poisonous and I've always thought the worst as to what happens from this kind of bite. God is all powerful and I pray He will heal her body with the most minimal damage. Thanks for remembering her.

Skipping back to the holidays...

To get the full story of our last week with Lori and Hannah, you can check Lori's blog in my links list. However, Matthew, Philip, Ruth Ann and I did get together with some of Matthew's family on New Year's Day. Each Christmas we have a mini-reunion at Matthew's Great Aunt Amy and Great Uncle Melvin's house. They live in the house Amy was born in meaning it is a fabulous old farmhouse out in the country surrounded by acres of land on which they have hundreds of head of cattle. I love going there because it's a glimpse back to when life was slower and more relaxing. I hope to take my mom there in a month or so.


Here's Philip with his Great Great Aunt Amy and Uncle Melvin.


Cousin Paul feeds Philip in his old-fashioned high chair: a chair and a belt.


Philip plays with cousins Marie and Tyler.


Grandma introduces Philip to farm living. Time to start working!

Visiting Mom

Last night was kind of hard seeing my Mom after her surgery. She was very groggy coming out of the anesthesia and because her mouth was so dry, she was having trouble pronouncing words. Thankfully, she said she was in little pain due to the epidural which will remain in through tomorrow. It's not the same type as during childbirth because she can walk around which she did today. I went up to see her at 3:00 this afternoon. My Dad, grandparents and three aunts had been with her since the morning. She looked a lot better but still just very tired. The nurses say everything looks good. Tomorrow morning the stoma nurse will show Mom and Dad how to change the ileostomy bag. Mom is very strong, but then I guess the emotions just steamroll over her. As we were all getting ready to leave (except Dad), she began crying while talking with her parents. She wasn't in pain but just overwhelmed. I remember being connected to IV's and monitors while in the labor with Philip and did feel very trapped. I can only imagine that feeling without the excitement of it being for a baby.

Here are a few photos from her hospital room.

Dad next to Mom resting in bed with her bear Jeremiah (named for Jeremiah 30:17) and her favorite baby, Philip.


Philip with Great Grandpa.


Philip with Great Grandma.

Praise God for a wonderful surgery!

Mom's surgery went very well according to her doctor. We all arrived at the hospital at 8:00am. I brought Philip up to see Mom as I thought it might brighten her day, but she was already in pretty good spirits and had a good night's rest. When I returned from taking Philip to a friend's house where he would stay for the day, my dad said he, my grandma and grandpa, and my three aunts walked along while Mom was rolled down to surgery around 10:30am. I got back around 11:00am and Dad had not heard anything yet. After we all had lunch, we were told that Mom's surgery hadn't actually started until 11:30am. At 1:30pm, we were told that things were going very well. A little after 3:00pm, the surgical nurse called to say the surgeon was closing Mom up. About 3:30pm, the surgeon came out to meet with all of us. He said the surgery was successful. He was able to remove the tumor and a section of her colon (large intestine). He then reattached the colon to her anus, taking out most of her rectum. This means she will just have to use the bathroom more often than the rest of us (something which she should be able to adjust to). He also made an opening for the ileostomy bag and took her appendix out as well. She's now in recovery and will be moved to a room soon. My brother Mike, his wife Andrea and I are going up to the hospital in just a few minutes to see Mom. Thank you so much for the prayers as Jesus answered them ALL in such amazing ways!!! Praise be to God.

Request for Prayers

I would like to ask anyone reading this to please be in prayer for two things.

1. My mom, Patty. She is having surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from her colon/rectum next Tuesday, Jan. 10. Needless to say, she is terrified about the surgery and especially about the recovery. Due to the location of the tumor, her intestines will be redirected to an ileostomy bag outside her body for the eight week recovery time. Thank the Lord, her surgeon feels sure that this procedure can be reversed after her body heals from this initial surgery. Please pray that she will be able to endure the physical pain of the surgery and the emotional pain of adjusting to having this bag. She and my dad met with the stoma nurse (stoma is the hole in the side of your body where the bag is attached) today. The details of caring for the stoma and cleaning of the bag were very overwhelming to Mom. Please pray that she will be able to genuinely give all her worry to God and not try to take this on herself.

2. Many of you know about my friend Lisa whose little son James has leukemia. Well, her beautiful new 2-week-old baby Amber was in the hospital over the weekend with RSV. Please pray for Amber to get well very soon and for Lisa to have renewed strength minute by minute. James is doing better as well. His bone marrow again showed no sign of leukemia so he has been declared as being in remission. Praise Jesus! He will continue to be on different medicines including chemo treatments over the next three years. Again, if you want to check out how things are going with their family, click here for James' website.

More of our week...

Wednesday, we ate lunch at a local Mexican restaurant called Nacho's. Lori and Jonathan always like to hit one Mexican place while here because they say the Mexican food down in Clewiston is just NOT the same!

As we are still feeding Philip baby food, it has been fun watching Hannah eat real food. She enjoyed a cheese quesadilla at Nacho's.

Philip ate the food which we brought for him, but then also enjoyed the lemon from his daddy's tea.


Thursday, we headed out to the mall here in Spartanburg. For being on the go so much, Hannah and Philip had a great day. They were rewarded by going on the mall rides. This plane was built for one, but Philip didn't mind sitting on the floor. He was actually the one to grab the controls and make the plane go up in the air.

Here's Philip at the controls again. After being on the floor of the plane, guess he wasn't in the mood to sit down anymore. Thursday night, Jonathan, Lori, Matthew and I went on a double date. Ruth Ann kept Hannah and my parents kept Philip. We ate a great meal at Chandi's Bistro and saw "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". GREAT MOVIE!! It was a lot of fun just chatting about things other than our kids. Too bad we can't do that more often.

Friday afternoon, they all came over to our house to watch the Carolina game as Ruth Ann doesn't have cable. It was fun although the Gamecocks lost. We had dinner, put the babies to bed, and played Phase 10 Dice. Great evening together as Jonathan would begin his long haul back to Florida the next morning.

Our Eventful Week

Philip and Hannah are now fast buddies! They've had lots of fun this past week so let me try to catch you up.



Sunday afternoon was filled with playing with new Christmas toys and enjoying our visit together. Hannah is helping Philip learn to walk behind his new fire engine as she enjoys the ride.


Later that evening, the kids had a bath together. Hannah thought of Philip as her baby so she felt it was her job to wash his back. Philip didn't know what to think about someone else being in the tub with him. They didn't splash as much as I had hoped but it seemed like a pretty fun time nevertheless.

Tuesday, we all headed to Greenville for pictures at the JC Penney Portrait Studio. As always when little ones are involved, things didn't go perfectly according to plan. We did come away with a sweet one of Hannah and Philip in their Sunday best with precious half smiles. Here's Philip as Daddy gets him dressed and ready for his photo shoot! Philip is a pro as I get his photo taken at Walmart each month. Mom and Dad bought us a great frame which shows Philip month by month throughout his first year. Hard to believe it's almost completely full!



After the pictures, we headed to Kohl's for some after-Christmas sale hunting. This cart fit our munchkins perfectly. Ruth Ann was pushing them and someone asked if they were twins! They were both troopers throughout the day!



Back home after a long day of shopping. The kids kicked back in their little chairs for some quality baby video watching. These chairs were actually Matthew's and Jonathan's (his brother) when they were young. Time flies.

It's Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning arrived and us adults were obviously more excited FOR our kids than they were as it was just another day for them. However when they came down the hall something was different... new toys!! Jonathan and Lori gave Hannah a cool climbing fort with slide. We gave Philip a play wall with lights and sounds. They both were overwhelmed at first, but over the next few days, Hannah became a sliding master!




Hannah and Philip in the fort.




The kids at the play wall.
After a good bit of playing and a short nap for Mr. Philip, we attended a wonderful Christmas service at church. The babies wore precious red velvet matching outfits and stole the show! It is wonderful to worship all together as a family.

Backtracking... Dec. 24

This day might as well have been Christmas as I woke up so excited that today we would see Hannah, Lori and Jonathan. They arrived late Friday night after driving from Jacksonville, FL (and from way down south FL the day before!). I was excited to see how Philip and Hannah would react to each other. Hannah being three months older is fully-mobile and would walk up to Philip who was standing beside Grandma's couch and give him a hug. Philip wasn't sure what to think that first day.



After a day of playing and napping, Hannah and Philip are dressed and ready to attend the Christmas Eve Service.

After the service, Matthew, Philip and I went to my parents' house to exchange Christmas presents. Philip was so excited to see his horse from Nana and Papa. I later found out Papa had secretly let Philip have a test-ride the week before! Maybe his little memory had forgotten about it.

My brother Mike and sister-in-law Andrea spent the weekend with my parents. Philip loves his aunt and uncle and especially their dog, Sam! Since Mike had been a retail manager for the last several years, he always was working Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. Changing to insurance sales made his and Andrea's holidays MUCH more enjoyable this year. We were glad to spend the time together.

Backtracking... Dec. 23

I said in a previous post that the holidays had crept up on me as I hadn't gotten the Christmas spirit until just recently. Well, starting last Friday, the holidays had definitely arrived. Philip and I had lunch with Melanie, a great friend of mine, whom we hadn't seen in months. Kind of sad that sometimes friends even in the same town can lose touch just because circumstances change. It was a great time to catch-up and make plans to get together with our families in the future (i.e. 24!!). She was so sweet to bring us presents! Philip loves his new boombox from his buddy Mr. Ron.

Philip tells Melanie how much fun it was to have lunch together.

Philip's Cousin is Here!

I've taken 92 photos since Saturday! Thank the Lord for digital cameras. Anyway, here is a short recap of our weekend with Uncle Jonathan, Aunt Lori and Cousin Hannah. I'll add additional posts but only had a few minutes right now.

"My cousin Hannah is here!" said Philip. They have had a ball playing together. Hannah is a beautiful little girl. Uncle Matthew and Aunt Kim love you soooo much, Hannah.

The Brooks men! Philip received this cool police car as an early birthday present from Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Lori. Thanks! Looks like he loves it already.

We spent the night at Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun to wake up Christmas morning and be with Grandma and Cousin Hannah.

We also spent some time with Nana, Papa, Uncle Mike and Aunt Andrea. Philip was so excited to receive his new rocking horse from Nana and Papa. Giddy Up!

Christmas, Christmastime is Here!

Even though Philip will not remember his first Christmas, I wanted it to be extra special just for him! Christmas is only four days away. It seemed to come extra fast this year. I suppose going with Mom to treatments through mid-November and the day-to-day routines of a stay-at-home mom kept me from getting an early dose of Christmas spirit. No worry! I have plenty of Christmas spirit now as I'm always checking the holiday TV schedule for any specials and listen to the "All Christmas music through Christmas day" radio station! Matthew even said ok to us watching "It's A Wonderful Life" while we wrapped our presents last Saturday night. Not to overlook Jesus during this busy time, Mom, Dad, Matthew, Philip and I visited Bethlehem last Friday night. A local church puts together a drive-though nativity village. Philip got a wave from one of Herod's guards, saw a camel, and saw baby Jesus and his parents in the stable. It was really nicely done.

We finally have our house decorations complete as of Saturday afternoon. I don't mind doing them late as they will stay up through mid-January when my grandparents will be in town for Mom's operation. Hopefully our live tree won't be shedding all its needles by then.

Here's the outside of our house. We have "gutter guards" so I improvise every year as how to hang the icicle lights!

Philip is held by so many people that he didn't mind Santa at all! He didn't have a clue, but I was so excited.

Here is Philip sitting under my parents' tree. More pictures to come of this little outfit as I bought a matching one for his cousin Hannah. They will be so precious together. She and her parents will be here in two days!! Yippee!

Winter Wonderland

Our first winter storm of the season arrived today -- ICE!! It's really pretty but makes the roads so dangerous. At least with snow it's still pretty but people can still get around a little. The worst thing is that the ice makes the trees so heavy they snap, pull down power lines and leave people without electricity. Somehow God planted us in a neighborhood that rarely loses its power - Thank You Lord! My parents and my mother-in-law both have been without power today and are now sleeping in the cold. Both were offered warm beds here (I even made a sign, "Welcome Ice Storm Refugees!"), but both turned us down for the comfort of their own homes. Not sure if the offer stands tomorrow as I'm scheduled to have another sleepover for my 9th Grade Sunday School girls! No room at the inn!

Little Piano Man

I took piano lessons in middle school and my parents were great enough to buy a piano for me. Neither of them play, but the piano is currently in their home as we don't have room in our house. Mom says when Matthew and I move to another house, we can have it if there's room, but "I'll be sad to see it go because it's a nice decorative piece of furniture," she says. If we do have it in our home one day maybe Philip can take lessons and follow in his Grandpa Bill's footsteps (he was a Minister of Music and accomplished pianist). Matthew and I each play a little but are about as rusty as the Tin Man at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz!



Looks like Philip has what it takes!




Mommy said I could sit up here!

Big boy carseat has arrived!

Philip's new Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1 carseat arrived last Monday. I was making myself crazy checking and cross-checking different reviews about carseats on several different websites and finally decided on this one. Regardless of being a brand name, it was actually the cheapest one I found which had all the features I was looking for. It will fit him until he's 100 pounds -- about 8 years old! The box says it can seat a newborn coming home from the hospital but Philip looks small enough in it! Gone are the days of caring him into the house asleep in his infant carrier.




All straped in and ready to roll.




Wait! It's cold here. Got to bundle up first.




I don't care about the carseat. Just let me keep the box!

Prayer for Mom

Please keep my mom in your prayers. Her upcoming surgery is overtaking her thoughts especially at night. She is a very spiritually-strong woman and knows that God is in control of all things (as hard as it is to give up control herself). Her emotional side is not so strong and all the worries and what if's keep creeping up on her again and again. Please pray for her to have "peace that surpasses all understanding" especially during these next few holiday weeks. Thank you.