Ryan and Djembe lessons!

I'm so proud of him! -Renee

Good News on Joshua's Diabetes

I forgot to mention that along with seeing the doctor for Joshua's ITP yesterday Joel and Joshua also saw the endocrinologist (diabetes doc). Joshua's A1C (His blood sugar test- an average of the last three months) was at 7.2!!!! This is absolutely fantastic. The docs are happy with anything below 8. Joshua's A1C when he was diagnosed with Diabetes in November was above 11.

So Thank you Jesus!

Another Update on Joshua

Yesterday Joshua had a doctor's appointment concerning the ITP. His platelet levels are now 329,000. A week ago they were 149,000. And two weeks ago they were 2,000. May praise be to Jesus!
Doctor's orders this time are: No Activity Restrictions. (yea!) And no more pokes until his appointment in April: In five weeks Josh will have another platelet check and if those numbers are good then we are in the clear. !!!

Recently I read a book with the sub title: Motherhood in the trenches.


Perfect book for where I am at in my parenting endeavor. The actual title of the book is "Loving the Little Years" by Rachel Jankovic.


Here's what she wrote to summarize her book:

"I didn’t write this book because mothering little ones is easy for me. I wrote it because it isn’t. I know that this is a hard job, because I am right here in the middle of it. I know you need encouragement because I do too.

This is not a tender reminiscence from someone who had children so long ago that she only remembers the sweet parts. At the time of writing this, I have three children in diapers, and I can recognize the sound of hundreds of toothpicks being dumped out in the hall.

This is a small collection of thoughts on mothering young children for when you are motivated, for when you are discouraged, for the times when discipline seems fruitless, and for when you are just plain old tired.

The opportunities for growth abound here but you have to be willing. You have to open your heart to the tumble. As you deal with your children, deal with yourself always and first. This is what it looks like, and feels like, to walk as a mother with God."

This book was encouraging to me. The chapters were very short (about 2-3 pages); perfect for a busy parent. And she has a sense of humor, which I appreciated. There's a lot of wisdom and teaching, both practical and deeper stuff to chew on. 

Bruises from the ITP

This spot on his lower back looks alot better than it did when it first appeared. The first time I saw this bruise, it was the darkest, bluest, purplest, blackest bruise I've ever seen. 

Notice bruises on both arms.

The day we went into the ER (Feb. 11th), Joshua had a bloody lip, blood crusted nose, and he was bleeding from his gums. These pictures are from after we came home from the hospital, so the purple spots look better. He also had/has petechiae (red dots) which aren't visible in these pictures.
Giving insulin shots was hard, because the giver of the shot (Joel or I) could see exactly all the other spots where we had previously given shots. Just red and purple spots all over those areas.

Another Update

Just wanted to let you know a little update on Joshua. He had his blood drawn and tested on Friday for a platelet count. And his numbers came back to nearly normal: 146,000. (Normal is 150,000-450,000) This is very good, but Acute ITP is more of a waiting game than we (Joel and I) anticipated. The hemotologist (Blood doc) wants to see Josh's platelet count steady over a period of time. The treatment he received at the hospital will wear off at about six weeks. So it is very important for Joshua's numbers to be consistent at about this time period and of course afterwards.

We are looking at about 2-3 months of going to the lab and getting Josh tested. If you can put yourself into a six (almost seven) year old boy's shoes, you may have a better idea on how to pray for him: He's sick and tired of being poked. He wants to run in the house again and he wants to ride his scooter on these warm sunny days (but he can't-due to his current condition).

Joel and I are doing pretty well. We are tired. I'm overwhelmed. My faith is strong, but my body and emotions are exhausted.

Rachel, Madelynn and Hudson are doing just fine. They've caught up on rest now so life is pretty "normal" now.

Thank you to all who've been praying. I don't know where we'd be without Christ and His Church.

Come Lord Jesus, Come quickly...

HOME!

We are home now! Hurrah! A big thank you to all for your prayers and support and encouragement. Joshua is doing well, no bleeding at all today. When we arrived Sunday at 1 am J's platelet #'s were at 2,000. The docs wanted him above 10,000. Today he was 16,000! (A normal person is between 150,000-450,000) The docs say he should be back to normal within six months. For all those curious I finally have the correct name of the condition. Ready? here it goes: Ideopathic (no one knows why) Thrombocytopenic (low platelets) Purpura (purple spots) or ITP. So for Joshua's homework: two feet on the ground until further notice.


You can read more about ITP Here if interested.

update on Joshua (edited)

We spent the night in the hospital due to a few bloody noses. Because of his low blood platelets, bleeding is a warning sign for Joshua's health. The nurses put a mister/vaporizer in his room, and Joshua has not bled from his mouth nose since! :) We are waiting for Joshua's platelet numbers to come back from the lab and this will determine when we get to go home. Hopefully today. Thank you for praying. Joel and I are doing well.

Prayer for Joshua

Please pray for our son Joshua who has been admitted to the hosptial. He has an auto immune condition called Acute ITP. THe doctors don't know why he has it, but they have given him a blood clotting medicine to help with the bleeding. And he is receiving antibodies to distract his body from attacking his blood platelets. He is doing well, but we want his blood platelet count to be back to normal. This condition is short term and treatable (most of the time).  We are hoping to go home either tonight (sunday) or tomorrow. Pray for Joshua as he is not enjoying all the pokes. :)
-Renee

Wint-rospect

Madelynn and Daddy

Don't worry. It's just marshmallows.

Rachel spells her name on the rink.

Madelynn "talking" on the phone to Nana.

Taking down the Christmas tree.

Our Christmas tree. After Christmas thankfully. Note to self: No more spruce trees.

I told Rachel to sit on her chair and this is what she did. (No she didn't fall over.)

 Our New Year's Eve party: we had our own countdown at about 10 minutes to 8:00pm. Lots of noise, some candles in leftover Christmas cake, one balloon, some sparkly Canada Day headbands and a worried Hudson::

Don't worry. He was ok. 

We were all in bed before 10pm!

Windstorm

It was a "little" windy here in January. This the playground:

The yellow slide merely fell over. But the main playground's slide broke off (far left) as well as the swing part.

That's our old Christmas tree on the right hiding under the apple tree and stuck in the playground:

The kids were a little disappointed, but I'm sure we'll get creative and figure something out. I'm actually getting a little excited thinking about the possibilities!

Hudson's First Birthday!

Our whole family just adores this little guy. He brings much joy and laughter to our house. Hudson's first birthday was a few weeks ago, but here's a couple photos to enjoy:

We made french toast and because Hudson's favorite color is blue (according to me and the kids), we tried making the french toast blue. Well, we had a homeschool moment and learned that yellow and blue together make green...

But Hudson didn't mind. :)

happy one year buddy!! We love you!