Hers and His

HersnHis

Blueberry and peach, respectively.

🙂

(This story is the truth…at 8:45 this morning, I let the dog out and looked at the thermometer that had been in the direct morning sunlight since the sun had come up, and it read 102*!!!  Granted, it did fall after the sun was further up in the sky, but still…whew!!!  That is just TOO hot!)

So, while you're thinking about how hot it is in Florida, and looking at those yummy frosty smoothies, please pray for our church's teen camp this week.  Even in the middle of the Florida jungle, it can get pretty hot!  Pray for overcast skies, safety for campers and counselors, and most importantly, that God would do a mighty work in all who are there.

Thanks…

and stay cool!!!

Alesha

Twenty-two Years

Our God is an awesome God!

Today is mine and Doug's twenty-second wedding anniversary.

I told him yesterday that I felt like it had been twenty-two years of wedded bliss. 

No lie! 

We have lived through many things, but have always been happy together!

I think that our Heavenly Father gave me the greatest earthly gift ever when He brought us together.

I love you, Doug!

You are my favorite!

Alesha

Fifteen Minutes

I'm being featured on a blog today, and I just wanted to share:

Christian Artists Street Team on Etsy Blog

The CAST team is a group of Christians who have shops on Etsy.  They have a blog that features the products of their members and also has wonderful devotional posts as well.

🙂

One…two…three…four…

…counting my many blessing today.  I thought I'd share my day with you.  I think you will see why I am feeling so blessed today.  Ready, set, here we go!

  • Got up at 6:45 to change Isaac.  Repositioned him in the bed.
  • Drank barley.
  • Read Bible, the book of Exodus, the story of the Red Sea crossing.  Remembered I had an unread email about the subject, and watched the powerpoint presentation which was very interesting.
  • Checked all email accounts, checked Etsy orders, read blog comments, checked Google Analytics and StatCounter for web sites, and check in to Xanga blogs that I follow.
  • Prepared Isaac's feed, juice and meds.  Fed him very quietly because he had fallen asleep (had been up since 4:30 a.m.  I did not get up with him – Doug did!)  Washed up all syringes, tubes and jars.
  • Let Newton out to go potty.

Newton in the sun
 (Newton catchin' some Florida rays)

  • Drank first glass of veggie juice.
  • Rinsed black eyed peas, and put in Crockpot with onion, shallot, salt and Better Than Bouillon.
  • Rinsed chick peas and put in to cook on stove.
  • Checked Facebook, accepted gifts and played games.
  • Rinsed chickpeas, put in fresh water, put back on to finish cooking.
  • Made my way through most of the blogs that I follow – everybody seems to have a lot to say this week. 🙂
  • Made hummus for lunch –  our favorite recipe!
  • Stirred the black eyes peas.
  • Changed Ike who decided to wake up, put in a video, then spent some time talking with my boy whose eyes seem clearer today than they have in some time.
  • Talked to Mama on the phone.  She is feeling better today.  We are still waiting on the results of one more test.  Found out my aunt (my mom's sister) was taken to the hospital on Sunday morning, and tests showed she was having multiple mini strokes.  She is still in the hospital and will probably be released to a nursing home/rehab facility to learn to walk with a walker before she goes back home with my uncle.
  • Took all my vitamins.
  • Chopped up veggies to eat with our hummus.
  • Answered the front door to receive some of Ike's medical supplies.
  • Drank second glass of juice for the day.
  • Prepared Ike's meds, juice and feed.  Fed Isaac.  Changed him, put in a new video.  Washed up.
  • Had lunch with Doug.  Sent veggies and juice with him for an afternoon snack.
  • Gathered veggies and fruit for juicing:  kale, carrots, celery and apples.  Everything was already prepared in baggies, except for the apples.
  • Spent about 30 minutes juicing and cleaning up the mess that it makes. 🙂
  • Stirred the black eyed peas.
  • Checked in with Isaac who needed new toys and some lovin' and repositioning.  We are not able to get him up in his wheelchair yet, because of the shunt.  He still had some stomach issues yesterday due to the pressure, so they said to keep him reclined.  Since I can't get him in and out of the recliner, his bed is the best place to do that.
  • Made afternoon snack:  banana-peach and parsley smoothie.

Green smoothie
 (yes, it's green, and yes, it's very yummy!)

  • Peeled all the bananas and broke them up into a freezer bag for smoothies for the rest of the week.
  • Turned on the radio for Isaac, switched his toys again.  It's exciting to me when he gets bored.
  • Downloaded some pics for this blog post, and figured out how to use a new program to edit them.

I have to tell you, my faithful blog readers, I believe I am finally on the mend!  I seem to be getting stronger and my back has not "gone out" since we got the new mattress.  Thank the Lord for that.  

I can't remember the last time I had the energy to go through a day like this!!!  It is very exciting to me!

Also, considering that I kept this pace the entire week that Doug was gone, then spent 48 hours at the hospital with my mom over the weekend, I am thrilled to be able to do all that I did today.

I know that so many of you pray for me on a daily basis, and I am so thankful for that.  Don't stop praying yet! ;o)  But now you can add a little praise in there that I am doing so well right now.

It's my plan to get ready and go to church tonight.  Afterwards, we will have choir practice and then I will practice for a duet on Sunday with my friend, Mrs. Sandy.  I should be good and tired by the time this day is over.

I pray your day has been productive, and that you can lay down tonight and count your many blessings.

I know I certainly will!

Happy ike2
(a little blurry because he is in constant motion…) 

All pics were added for Dani – my photo-graphical inspiration! 🙂

Alesha

Continuing to Trust His Heart

The weekend has been incredibly busy for us, and it was not because we were celebrating the birthday of this great country of ours, unfortunately.

On Saturday, we realized that Isaac's shunt need to be re-adjusted.  He started trying to vomit after sitting upright in his chair for just a little while.  We made an appointment for him to be seen on Sunday at the children's hospital by the neurosurgeon.

They did x-rays and a CAT scan just to check everything out.  The shunt is fine, as is the tubing leading from it.  However, the shunt had been pulling so much fluid from his brain that his ventricles had completely collapsed!  His test, however, looked ok.

I've done some research this morning on over drainage, and it can apparently lead to a subdermal hematoma, so we are really grateful that did not happen.  

I asked him this morning if his head felt better, and he smiled for me.  That was really good to see!

Also, on Saturday, my mom gave us quite a scare.  She was fixing lunch, and suddenly felt the room going dark, and her jaws began to hurt.  She managed to call out to my dad, and sit on a stool in the kitchen.  He was able to hold her up there, but she was completely unresponsive for a little while.  He called us for Doug to come over, then they called 911.

By the time the EMTs got there, she had come to, but was obviously a little confused and very upset.  The EKG they did at the house showed no problems, but of course she went to the hospital.

They did every test known to man, I think.  Several EKGs, echocardiagram, CAT scan on brain, chest x-ray, ultrasound of neck, MRI of brain, tons of blood work and blood pressure checks – laying, sitting and standing.

They found nothing wrong.

Incredible, yes?

They "suspect" she had a TIA or mini-stroke, which they said was completely self-healing, which is why they feel they could find no evidence of it.  She will follow up with her doctor later, because, of course, he was out of town for the holidays.

So, I headed home last night, and she came home this afternoon.  She is feeling much better today, although she is still having problems with vertigo.  She has been having issues with that for several weeks, and had already been to her doctor where they had done extensive blood work the week before last.

Of course, this rattled us all pretty thoroughly – my dad especially.  Although she is feeling better, I know we are all wondering if everything is really ok.  We'll see what her doctor says.

Also on Saturday, Doug's mom had to call 911 for his grandma.  She was feeling very poorly. (Remember she just came home last Monday after having open heart surgery.)  They felt she was ok, and did not feel the need to take her to the hospital.  She was feeling better when Doug talked to her yesterday.

I am so thankful for those who were praying for us…I was able to get a status up on Facebook, but only had my phone, so could not manage to blog.  If the Lord lays our family on your heart, we would really appreciate continued prayer for her recovery, for Doug's grandma's complete recovery and that Isaac's shunt would do it's job properly so that he is feeling much better soon.

It's really been a time around here…maybe we can all get a little rest this afternoon.  I am SO SO thankful that Doug was home before all of this happened.  Even the timing of the "bad" things is in the hand of the Lord, and we continue to trust Him.

Blessings,

Alesha

I Won Something!

Doug has come back home, and I slept ALL night last night, and finally, all is well once again. 🙂

Isaac was so excited to have his Daddy home again, and to show it in the finest way possible, slept from 9 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., then went back to sleep by 9 a.m. and slept until noon today!

I told Doug that his being out of town just wore Isaac out! 

Doug's grandma is doing really well, and the trouble now will be keeping her from overdoing it every day.  She likes to stay busy, and has been halted with her heart issues for a long time.  I know she will be out in her gardens again just as soon as she gets the ok from her surgeons.  Go Grandma!!!

I have just recently discovered an entirely new set of blogs to read.  They are all about jewelry making!  It is so fun to me to see others' creations, and to read about their process to the final piece.  They also offer the nicest giveaways.  

Today I found out I won a fabulous book, Metalworking 101 for Beaders: Create Custom Findings, Pendants & Projects (Lark Jewelry Book)

Metalworking 101
 

The generous giver of the book is Cyndi at Beading Arts.  She has wonderful site, with lots of links with so much information for jewelry makers.  I am still going through her links, enjoying and learning as I go.

I just wanted to share my fun "win" with you! 🙂

Alesha

From the Land of Nod

I feel I could write an entire post about the lack of sleep, but I fear that at some point I would lull my readers into the state that I am so earnestly craving!

Oh, yes, Isaac did sleep last night — from 9 pm to 11 pm.  <sigh…>

(My hat is permanently tipped to every single special needs mom out there in bloggy land!)

You would think that the dose of Diastat (that would render a small elephant senseless, I think) would have worked to not only control the seizures that have been increasing in number all week, but would have also helped him sleep for longer than 2 hours.

But, alas, it did not.

He has been happily playing with his ribbons, while alternately listening to music and watching Gaither videos for the past 9 hours.

I'm glad he's Happy…just wish he would pick a different Dwarf to imitate – particularly, the one with the "Zzzzzzzzzzzs" above his head. :o/

Sleepy

I did nap occasionally throughout the night, out of sheer exhaustion; but between the soggy diapers, the medication administration schedule, and my overactive mommy-radar, I never slept for more than an hour and a half at a time.

It's those darn ribbons, I tell you.  He won't settle down and sleep because he is compulsively chewing them, and I can't sleep because I'm afraid he will choke on them. 

I don't dare take them away, because then I would be compelled to listen to his whine-moan of "Uhhhh…uhhhh…uhhhh" with every breath.  It's the Isaac equivalent of "Mommy…mommy…mama…mommmmm." 😉

Well, I guess I'll wrap this up now.  I leave you with this final thought:

I feel my aggravation growing and my intelligence slipping with each sleep-deprived hour that passes.

If I start posting gobbledy-gook at some point, you'll know why. 

Alesha

P.S.  For the humor-challenged folk out there in the blogosphere, I need to assure you that this post was written wholly tongue-in-cheek.  While I am indeed sleep-deprived, my ability to care for Isaac is in no way diminished.

Yet.

(sorry, I just couldn't resist one more!!!) ;o)