Crafts Have Corrupted My Kids

Natalie and I were hanging out having a snack eating chips and salsa this afternoon while Amy was sleeping.  I had recently painted her toe nails and she was waiting for them to dry.  She was stemming the chairs, sort of spread across both of them, arms on one chair, feet on the other.

I said, "Natalie, if the chairs move you might fall and break your arm.  It hurts really bad if you break your arm, so be careful."

She said, "But daddy, my arms are taped on really good."

I was not quite sure what I could say in response.  I could not argue, God is very good at crafts.

Telling My Kids about Jesus

This week I was reading a Kid’s Bible to Natalie.  We were sitting on my chair in the living room and I was reading to her.  I had read her several stories already, she kept asking me to keep reading about Jesus.  So I did.  We had a very precious, emotional moment…

I read up to the story about Jesus being arrested in the Garden, then about the need for Christ to die for sinners.  We got to the page where Jesus was on the hanging on the cross.  She was asking why Jesus had to die, "He didn’t do anything wrong.", "Did he hurt someone, Daddy?"

I tried to share with Natalie why Jesus had to die.  He chose to die for sinners like me (Daddy) and Mommy.  He died for people who do wrong things, people who disobey, people who hurt others, people who get angry and yell, or steal things from others.  For several minutes I was completely overwhelmed with sharing the gospel to Natalie.  I was crying and shaking, she said, "What’s wrong, Daddy?  Why are you crying?"

I said, "Jesus loves me and you very much, Natalie.  It makes me happy and sad, and that makes Daddy cry."

We turned the page to the picture of Jesus’ friends taking him off the cross and putting him in the tomb.  We talked a little more about Jesus on the cross before going to bed.  I was wowed by her attention to the story of the gospel.

The next morning she drew a cross on a piece of paper.  Grammy was over here to watch the kids, and she asked her to draw Jesus on the cross… what a joy that my little girls can learn about Jesus, that they can know him, talk about him, pray to him, without fear, and without shame, singing up and down the aisle at Aldi, "His Name, is great, I’m not afraid to say it!…"

Tonight we read from The Big Picture Story Bible by Dave Helm, both Amy and Natalie kept asking me to read story after story.  We read for 15 minutes.  Amy lay there very still: listening, pointing and asking questions.  What a joy. 

Natalie’s birthday party

Yesterday was Natalie’s 4th birthday party. She has lots of fun! We had and Ariel (from Little Mermaid) themed party. We played lots of games…Musical Fish, Freeze Dance, Fish Fish Shark (like Duck Duck Goose), Hot Potato (with Ariel), Crab Walk, and a Treasure Hunt! There were 18 kids there, so it was kind of crazy, but they all seemed to have a great time. I have to say I was totally wiped out that night, but I was so happy to do it all for my Natalie. Pictures posted.

Natalie is 4!

Today is Natalie’s 4th birthday! She is such a big girl…so grown up. She had a fun day today. She was able to celebrate her birthday at school and then we went out to dinner with Grammy, Dana, and Walter to celebrate Papa was teaching a grad class). This is the first year that she really made a big deal about feeling special on her "big day." I was happy to oblige as today was very special for me (Kara) as well…my first baby. Tomorrow is Natalie’s birthday party and she is having an Ariel (from Little Mermaid) themed party. We’re calling it "Under the Sea" to add appeal to all the boys who will be in attendance.  I’ll write about the party and add more pictures tomorrow.

On another note…today was another big day for Natalie because she gave up her pacifier and bed rail. We have been trying to break her of the pacifier for the past 3 years. I know, I know…it is shocking that she still uses it. She only uses it when she sleeps and I tried to get rid of it before Amy was born, but it was so traumatizing to her that I couldn’t do it. We have been talking for months that when she turned four she would get rid of it (and take down her bed rail…she doesn’t need it anymore). Well, tonight as she was going to bed I reminded her that she was 4 and couldn’t use the pacifier. She said to me, "Mommy, you should probably throw it away." I was shocked…I expected begging and tears, but she was very cooperative. I was gone this evening, so I’m assuming she fell asleep okay. That was a big hurdle for Natalie!

Amy’s Recent Update

Thanks for the calls, emails and posts, here are the details about Amy:

Morgenstein was comfortable with the most recent scan, the thyroid uptake scan.  Essentially Amy has an ectopic thyroid (a functioning thyroid in the wrong spot), which we need to watch over the coming years.  We need to watch to make sure that her thyroid is producing the correct amounts of thyroid hormones: T3 and T4.  If she is not, we’ll have to supplement with hormone therapy.  Right now, her bloodwork is normal, so that is good.

Baseline: Amy is completely normal except her thyroid is in the wrong place, and for some other "concerns" that we have about her periodic, mad-gorilla psychosis! ;)  So, we are hearing good news, we just need to do some follow up to make sure she is doing well developmentally.  Thanks again for all your prayer.

In other news, the pictures from our recent changes to the home are posted at left.

Home Life

We got a ton of stuff done this weekend, I was so excited! Keith and I finished the cove molding on the stairs leading to the basement, finally painted and put the hardware on the closet doors, painted the closet wall (paint cans are finally closed for a long time!).  Gail came over and we painted the living room cobalt blue, we are hanging drapes soon too.  What a weekend, it felt so good to get stuff done!

Consultation

We go to Morgenstein’s office on Monday, January 15 at 3:45 pm for a consultation with Dr. Morgenstein.  I assume we’ll talk about the results of the three scans (ultrasound, CT, and Uptake) that have been done on Amy and what the next step is for us as a family. 

Kara and I were talking last night about how our hearts just feel heavy for Amy and regarding this entire situation.  We pray and we wait, and we are grateful for those who have asked, read the blogs and emails, listened to us speak and prayed for us.

We Freaked Out a Little

We freaked out a little this afternoon.  We had the scan with Amy starting at 1:30, of course, she received the sedation meds at 2 pm, and fought us until 3 pm, again with the double dosage to try to put her down.  She screamed and cried then all of a sudden passed out (in a good way) in mom’s arms.  She’s a fighter for sure!

We had the scan, it was about 40 minutes, Amy woke up in the middle of it, quite disoriented and tired, but in a much better mood than last time.  She got a decent nap this time. 

We were on the way home when we got a call from Sue, the nuclear tech there at Edward.  "You need to come back tonight for another scan.  The nuclear radiologist wants you to come in before the tracer is passed."  Of course we freaked out.  Kara refused to go back and have her sedated again, and was of course worried about Amy, I was struggling and yelled at her that we were going back for the exam because I was worried…we were going to have to hold her down while another scan was made.

I felt so bad, we are on the same team and here we are angry with one another and yelling, crying, worried… it is hard to get a call like that.  The repeat scan under restraint was for the NR to look at the bump on Amy’s neck and make sure it coincided with the white blob on the radiation scan.  So, we’re okay, but an hour ago we were very much worked up and had freaked out a little.

We should hear something from the NR and the ENT tomorrow or Friday, we will post at that time.  Thanks again.

Two-a-Days

Amy took the radioactive tracer this morning at about 8:45 am, after 45 minutes of sitting around at Edward, it took all but 3.5 minutes to get her to drink something.  I guess she spilled on her shirt, so we need to give her a new one and ruin the cute outfit she had laid out for her big day!  The tracer in her shirt would show up all over the scan and confuse the doctors!

We go back at 1:30 pm to attempt sedation of the monster, recall last time we were in for 1.5 hours trying to wrestle the little drunk to the ground and get her to sleep, then the doctor tickled her and woke her up after the ten minute scan.  That of course ruined Kara’s day… we are wondering what today might bring! :)

Thanks for your prayers and emails…

Amy’s Test Next Wednesday

We have set up another scan for Amy next Wednesday, January 10.  The scan is two parts, she takes a radioactive tracer at 8:30 am, then heads back to the hospital to be sedated (again) and traced using an X-ray.  The scan is called a Thyroid Uptake Scan and is done in the nuclear medicine department.

Basically the radioactive trace is designed to be absorbed by thyroid tissue only.  When scanned, the tissue that has absorbed the trace will be visible.  The scan is used to confirm that what we are seeing is in fact thyroid tissue and that it is working properly and to eliminate the possibility of other complications.  Amy is exposed to radiation, but not to a level that compromises her health and development. 

After the scan we’ll set up a time to meet with Dr. Morgenstein to talk about what the next step is.  He was courteous enough to field a call from a concerned parent, "what are you doing to my kid?", "what does this mean for her future?", etc.  He stated in the conversation that the key to health is follow-up for Amy, keeping track of the size and functionality of the thyroid.  Surgery is not expected any time soon, but perhaps later as a cosmetic treatment as the thyroid grows in proportion to Amy’s neck.

I asked about his concerns for Amy’s thyroid being exposed as it is, if she is playing sports, etc.  He was not concerned.  He said that if surgery were to happen that it would likely be just a cosmetic surgery to reduce the size of the thyroid.  I don’t know if this means that she’ll have thyroid supplements or what.

It does concern us to sedate Amy again, and with any exam, the use of radiology equipment poses a risk; just like going to the dentist.  We believe that knowing the right information will enable us to help and care for Amy appropriately and will give us some comfort.  It is hard to deal with these concerns especially in relation to someone so small.  We love her and want to help her.  We covet your prayer for her safety, her scan and her future development.  Thank you for praying.