Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Children's Hospital Appointment-TOMORROW

Tomorrow at 2:30, we will be going to Children's for an appointment with Dr. Connonly, Karter's Epileptologist (that's the fancy name for neurologist, she just has more credentials :-)). As you know, we had an appointment book for November 28th, but it was bumped to tomorrow instead. Partially because they may need to alter his medication dosage, as he is growing!!!

I am feeling both peaceful and anxious about tomorrows appointment. As I have said many times before, we never seem to go there for good news. They will be checking on Karter's progress since surgery, his growth, his seizure frequency and will discuss with us the options and treatment for the upcoming months.

As you know, at the last appointment, they had put out the idea of further surgery. Friends, I don't want to go there. I will be honest, I do want the best for Karter, but I would prefer that not to include further surgery. His development is so slow, but we are making progress. Sunday he rolled over twice, unassisted and at different times throughout the day. He has not done it since, but it is obvious that he is capable of doing it.

So I ask that you pray for us as we go through today and tomorrow. Kurtis is sick, so please pray for health for him so that he can accompany me to the appointment. Also, pray that we rest easy and that we have such peace as we sleep tonight and then as we go to the appointment. Pray that the doctors would see, as we have, significant changes in Karter and that for the first time ever we would get GOOD news.

Also, please continue to pray that karter's development picks up. I feel like we are on the verge of a flood gate opening. So please pray for him in that. Pray that he gets well 9has a cold and double ear infection) and that he stays well this Cold Season. His asthma is acting up again and we are aggressively treating that, but we believe that God can heal Karter of that as well.


Thanks so much for your prayers.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Karter's new equipment

The other day, Karter's physiotherapist brought by a "stander" for Karter. This is a piece of equipment used for children who are unable stand on their own or, in Karter's case, need to build the muscles up in their legs so that they can stand on their own.

I have to admit, when Sandy (the Physiotherapist) rolled it through the door, I was a bit shocked. On its own, it looks like a small torture chamber. But after adjusting it to fit Karter, it works wonderfully and he LOVES it!

The other day he spent 40 minutes playing happily in it. I think he likes that he can be at everyone's level and see eye to eye with them. It has a tray on it so he can play while he is in it. I included some pictures so you could see it. It really is a eyesore but it works amazing and hopefully it will help him build up strength in his legs.




Wednesday, October 17, 2007

...Oh yeah I almost forgot...

In August we had asked that you pray that the Lord would bring around the right job for me. I shared with you the challenges I faced with having a job and yet I needed to be able to contribute to our families finances each month. Well as usual God came through once again. This time it was so evident that He heard my specific prayer and answered it to those specifications.

When we returned from Maui I starting talking with a company called PraiseCharts.com. They are an online music chart company. They offer downloadable music to different churches, schools and other organizations. They offer music charts and orchestrations for Prasie bands and orchestras. I work in the Customer Service department. I offer answers to technical issues related with downloading music and other issues with the website, I deal with refunds, invoices and a few other accounting details. Most of the time the questions are through email but there are also some phone calls. I love it, it gives me something to do that uses the organizations and administrative parts of my brain. The greatest part of the whole thing is that I can work from home 10-15 hours per week when it works for me! I usually work while the kids nap in the afternoon and some mornings when Paige is in preschool or at dance.

In addition to this job I also took in a 4 year old girl one day a week. That has been great, it is more like a playdate for Paige than a job. The girls get on so well and have such a great time together that my job is so easy.

In the summer when I started praying about what I could do for work, I shared my heart with the Lord and shared my anxieties and concerns with Him about going back to work. I had to leave it with Him and trust that He would take care of it. I never would have imagined things would have wored out this perfect. I had a revelation the other day when I was thanking God for "bring it all together". I felt like He said "See I hear you and I answer your prayers". This was a real encouragment for me. I have often struggled and feared that God doesn't hear my prayers or that He won't answer them. Again He reminded me "Do you trust me?". It was so amazing to be reminded that He is there, He does hear and He does answer. I continue to ask just as He comands us in Matthew and I know that at some point He will answer. I am also remined that sometimes He answers differently than we ask but in the end, He knows best and His answer is best. "I love the Lord for He heard my cry...long as I live while troubles come I'll hasten to His throne". That is my heart song. I love you Lord!!!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

October update

I realized that we have been home for nearly a month and I have not updated either of our Blog's. It always amazes me how time can get away on you.

Karter is doing about the same as last time. His development is moving forward but it is quite slow. We noticed such a rapid change in him after surgery but it has really slowed down over the past two months.

One thing that we have really noticed with Karter is that he has really stared to communicate well with us. He is starting to verbalize more and communicate with his expressions more each day. We love this! I have shared with many of you that Karter feels like he is a participating member of our family now. He was always a part if the family but was unable to contribute personality to it (that may not make sense, but I know what I mean :-))

He is putting his hands in his mouth and really watches them a lot more these days. He feels so much stronger when holding his head and sitting. He is still rolling from his tummy to his back, but is not rolling from back to tummy yet. He is also not using his hands to grab at anything. We are hoping that these things will come along quickly over the next month or so.

We rejoice in the fact that Karter's seizures are far less frequent than before. He went three weeks between his last two seizures. Last Saturday marked the one year anniversary of our visit to Children's Hospital, at which time he was diagnosed with Epilepsy. It is hard to believe where we have come from and where we are today. Things still feel very up in the air and we continue to rely on God's strength each day and grasp to Him for comfort and the knowledge that He has figured it all out already.

We ask that you join with us and pray specifically for the movement in his hands to pick up and for him to roll over. We know that these things will come at some point, but we feel like they are the pivotal point for Karter's development to move forward. We anticipate that it will be like a flood gate once he realizes the freedom there is when he can move around and do things on his own. We pray for motivation for him to reach these milestones.

Please pray for us as we watch him each day move so slowly forward. It can be so discouraging and overwhelming at times to see how far we have to go and how slow things are progressing. We do our best to be thankful in all things and look at how far we have come, but some days are harder than others. We love our little boy and just want the best for him. We pray for his complete restoration and we anticipate AMAZING things!

I have included some pictures from this month for you to see how he has grown and what he is doing. most of them are from the pumpkin patch last week.