NOTHING PER RECTUM

This is actually me (Dave) posting this. I thought the title of this post was appropriate. Nate's hospital room door has a big sign on it for all those that walk by that says, "NOTHING PER RECTUM". Nice. This is a picture of Nate just before they took him into the OR on Tuesday morning. It was so nice to have him sleep for a minute before they took him back. He was such a good sport. He had nothing to eat for 2 days and constant flushing of his system. No fun at all. He just put up with it and didn't complain too much at all.

The surgery took about 5 hours and they removed about a foot of his lower colon. His surgeon said he won't miss it and that everything went very smooth. They were able to do the procedure laproscopically so he didn't need to have a big abdominal incision. In the picture below you can see where the 3 little incisions were.

He's doing pretty well right now. He still isn't allowed to eat or drink anything (4 days now...poor guy). I think he's just starting to accept the fact that he can't eat and isn't really putting up much of a fuss. We hope that in the next day or so he'll be able to nurse. He stopped getting morphine today and he seems to be doing alright. We're hoping that we can take him home by Sunday. He's pretty mellow right now and likes to cuddle with his mom (and me in small doses).

Thanks everyone for keeping him in your prayers! He's doing great.

1 day down for Nate-o-potato

Poor baby looks like he's behind baby bars. I cried the second I saw this massive crib that has potential barriers on all sides (including the top) to keep the poor kid from escaping. The girls have already started decorating his crib with pictures (in case he turns his head in any direction) so he can be cheered up.

Nate has been such a good sport about it all. Today he got an NG tube put in his nose for the bowel prep that he had done today. He won't drink anything from a cup or bottle, so tonight they will start him on some clear fluids to get him some nutrients. We couldn't be happier with the set-up at MCG. They have a nice, big room for the family to spend time. They have a couch, fold out bed, TV, DVD, shower, bath, and best of all...a fabulous toy room across the hall that has a super nice air-hockey table. Dave and I will have to sneak out on an evening once Nate is asleep and play a game....we LOVE air hockey. I'm sure that whacking that puck will relieve some stress - can't wait!


Nate before the NG tube....checking out his pad. He smiled at every nurse he came in contact with. I wonder if he'll be smiling at them by the end of the week after they have poked and poked.
We went as a family to get Nate settled in. Then the girls and I went to church (not sure that was the best idea...I was emotional, but in control, for the first part of the meeting. Then there was the most beautiful quartet that sang "My Heavenly Father Loves Me". Didn't they know that that is the first song I sang to Nate minutes after he was born? Didn't they know that I sing that song to Nate every day? Didn't they know that singing that song would remind me of Nate and make me burst? Well, I guess they didn't. Every time someone asked me how I was doing, I started to cry.)
After church we brought dinner to Dave and had a nice visit with the boys. Nate is doing pretty well, and did better than we thought with me around him with not being able to nurse. I held him this way (in the picture) and it sort of helped him forget about nursing.

Quotes of the day:

Ash: So after a couple days, then Mom will stay with Nate?
Sadie: Yeah, then Dad can cry.

While saying good-bye to Nate this evening:
Ash (talking to me): Are you going to cry EVERY time we leave?

Thank you, thank you for your many prayers for our little guy!

Cucumbers, Houses and Home-made Operas...

...things that we are excited about.

CUCUMBERS
Cucumbers are about the only real food that Nate can get close to (well, celery too). He will often suck on cucumbers while we are eating dinner. I feel so terrible that he can't eat real food, and he wants it so badly. He gets soooo happy to see a cucumber and will spend quite a while sucking on one. Our friend was over and noticed this cucumber with a heart carved out by Nate. If you ask me, he was just telling us that he loves us.

HOUSES:

Well, I should say that we are excited about one house (in Missouri), and stressed about another house (in Georgia). We finally have a contract on the house in Missouri that we had our eyes on. It's a good compromise of some land (but not 20 acres, like Dave would have picked) and neighbors (but not too close together) for me. 1 big stress off our "Big stress list"...several more to go.

HOME-MADE OPERAS

Today at school the girls and I made an opera. We were reading in our piano magazine about operas and how it is like a play but with singing instead. So we each wrote our own words and music telling about our dream place (like Cosette from Les Miserables). Tonight we will be performing our opera for Daddy. Daddy is in for quite a treat...and I am sure that he will be extra grateful that he has a son tonight.

Fun with Grandma Shelly!

We were all spoiled this week with a fun trip from Grandma Shelly. She was so nice to come so Dave and I could try to find a home in Missouri. We met Grandma in Atlanta where we went to dinner and then she took the girls and our car home while Dave, Nate and I flew out to Missouri.

They had more fun than we did. Grandma did some fun things at school for them! We came home to two fun surprises they wanted to show us. The first was a learning box. They decorated the box, and then on the inside there is a scrolled paper that has questions and answers about mourning doves that Grandma taught them about. You scroll down to find each answer. They quizzed us when we got home and were so excited when we didn't know the answer. Then they made a welcome home bouquet with fruit sticks and luna bars - yum! They made funny face pizzas, went to McDonald's for ice-cream and slides, did grandma's hair in curlers, read lots of stories, snuggled lots and played lots of pretend. Sadie cried and cried as Grandma left while saying "Mom just isn't fun. It's only fun when Grandma is here." We tried to cheer her up, but she said NOTHING will cheer her up except Grandma coming back.

THANK YOU MOM!!!! You are a lifesaver!

Couldn't post without a picture of my cutie. This was back in the day where he got to eat Cheerios...a short-lived hobby.

Don't fall asleep during conference if you are a boy and don't want your nails painted with marker. Hey - at least I didn't let them use REAL nail polish. We did have quite the fun decorating Daddy's feet.

P.S. We had a wild trip to Missouri...3 days packed of travel and house hunting and trying to get a contract on a house we love. We sort of have a contract, but they don't want us to have the house unless they can find a house. So on Wednesday we'll find out if we have a contract or not. Our prayers went from praying that WE could find a home, that we can sell our home, and now we are adding that THEY can find a home so WE can have their home. Yikes, this is an exciting month. Just a wee bit of stress...

Happy Birthday Brie!

A priceless moment...Nate saw Brie's picture, grabbed for it, kissed her lips while saying "buh, buh, buh" with a smile plastered across his face. I think he knows his sister...

It was so wonderful to celebrate Brie's birthday with Nate in our arms. We had to pass him around to keep us smiling. We were watching Brie's movie (the amazing movie from Kristi and Sean) that we absolutely LOVE. Ashlyn was a bit sad but Nate couldn't get a smile off his face during the whole movie. He must know that there is so much to be happy about when we think about Brie. Thanks for the good reminder, Nate.
The girls made cards and presents for Brie. Ashlyn went out in the yard and picked some flowers, and gave her a special crystal. Ashlyn made her a puzzle, too.

To make the day special, we spent time looking through our many pictures of Brie, and looking through her special box of things we saved...one of my favorites being the lock of hair we kept. We noticed Ashlyn holding Brie's lock of hair up to Ashlyn's...to see if the color matched. We made a special dinner...ANGEL hair pasta with chevre, grilled chicken, sun-dried tomato and asparagas...bruschetta with BRIE cheese, and ANGEL cake with berries and a lemon sauce.

We miss our sweet baby Brie and can hardly imagine the joy it will be to see her again! We love you Brie, and think about you every day!

Anne Frank, one of our heroes

Tonight the girls and I finished reading Anne Frank's diary. I was in tears at the end as I thought about this girl who suffered so much while hiding for over 2 years, and then died just 2 months before the war ended.

Sadie's favorite part of the book: Anne and Peter's romance. You should have seen the girls' faces when Anne told that Peter kissed her on the LIPS! They just about died. Sadie's eyes widened and a playful grin came up every time Anne talked about holding hands with Peter or their talks sitting by each other with their shoulders touching.

Ashlyn's favorite part of the book: Hearing the daily life of a 13 year-old girl. Even though Anne was a few years older than Ash, she loved hearing Anne's opinions about life, what she liked and didn't like, and she also enjoyed hearing about Anne's first real boyfriend.

My favorite part of the book: The reminder I had to be grateful that I can walk outside and enjoy nature, that I don't have to eat rotten potatoes for dinner every day, and that I can live my life without fear of being "taken" at any moment . Most of all, this book helped me put my own trials in perspective...life really isn't so bad.

The girls often talked about how happy they are that Anne is happy in heaven and isn't hiding any more. A moving book, indeed!

Emma for a day

Sadie got to be Emma during sharing time today. Her class did the sharing time, and she got to dress up as Emma and teach the kids about her husband, Joseph. Sadie brought lots of pictures and props to tell about Joseph's life. They split the primary into 4 little groups, and then Sadie got to take turns going around to each group to teach about her "favorite prophet" that she picked. She took the assignment so seriously and couldn't wait all week for sharing time. It was so cute to watch her tell about Joseph. Good thing we practiced ahead of time, because during our practice session, she was holding up the picture of Carthage Jail and said "Here, Joseph's daughter fell out of the window and died. Then Joseph fell out and died." I think she was confusing Eric Clapton's story with Joseph's.

Nate had a blast playing in the sink. He's doing alright these days...he puts up with the irrigations but doesn't always like being pinned down for so long. I don't think it hurts him, he just doesn't like the activity (don't blame him). He is MUCH clingier since all of this business has gone on. It's cute much of the time, but if I walk by Nate while he is being held by someone else, he will burst into tears if I keep walking (instead of stopping to hold him).

We got the fun idea from my friend, Jen. We made cells out of playdough . I didn't have any flour left to make playdough, so I scrounged up some rye flour that a friend gave me when she moved. You can see it is grainy playdough, but it still worked. The girls loved calling Daddy at work and asking him how many cells are in the human body?Ha! Daddy guessed wrong and they thought that was SO cool that they knew something he didn't!

The girls put on an outdoor play for me of Belle with fun dresses from Karla - thank you!