Surgery Numero Dos

Our second tubes and adenoids surgery, Emily's surgery, did not go as well as planned. Emmy is doing great now, but the day of her surgery was a whirlwind of panic and concern that led to a second unexpected surgery. I really don't have any desire to relive the events of that day by rewriting everything down, but I will say this. It was amazing to see how the Lord went ahead of us that day and provided for us.

Chase's mom had planned to stay an extra night which means the Lord had already gone ahead of us and provided childcare for Evan and Olivia.

Our ENT works in two locations. He was at the location we needed him to be when I started to get concerned about Emily.

The hospital literally right across the street from his office had an immediate opening for surgery.

A doctor passed Emmy and I as we were looking for the surgical tower at the hospital and showed great concern for us. He left his two other companions and personally escorted us to our location.

Chase couldn't get to us immediately, but a friend texted me right in the middle of my concern. I texted her back asking for prayer. Her husband is one of our pastors. She contacted her husband and her husband and another pastor were in that pre-op room waiting with Emily and me until Chase got there.

The surgical nurse who initially took care of Emmy at the hospital just happened to go to my church. I met her at the hospital for the first time and didn't know she attended our church. We only realized it when the pastors from our church showed up. She knew them. I knew them. We made the connection. It really helped when one of the pastors asked her if we could all stop and pray for Emily right there in the hallway before she took her back. She not only agreed. She prayed with us. Yes, the Lord went ahead.

The nurse who took care of me at the ENT's office was comforting. She had gone through something similar with her child. So as I was sitting in the office chair crying, she empathized. He went ahead.

Most of all, Emily is doing GREAT now. The Lord protected her and provided for her, and she is all smiles and giggles and "I love yous" again. She is on an antibiotic right now as a post-surgery precaution. I am very much looking forward to her getting off as she doesn't eat as well or look as well on antibiotics. Only a few more days though.

So this whole ordeal, combined with the fact that I've been studying the life of Jesus in my Bible Study, has really reminded me of Mary.

After Jesus' birth, Luke 2:17-19 says, "When they (the shepherds) had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things in her heart."


And then Luke 2:51 says, after Mary had her own frightening ordeal of losing her son for several days only to find him at the temple, "But His mother treasured up all these things in her heart."


I am strongly encouraged by the Word of God to treasure up the things the Lord has done for me, the things He has done on behalf of my family, in my heart. I need to save them and hold them there and treasure them. These things build great faith in me and great confidence in my Lord. Mary had harder days still ahead of her. She had to let her Son go so He could minister. And then she had to let Him go so He could save the world. The Lord blessed Mary by showing His faithfulness through previously difficult situations so she would know, "God is in control. He is taking care of my son and he is taking care of me." I feel that same way. I am so grateful. I will treasure His provision in my heart--always.

Potty Training

So, I'm in bed tonight because I'm not feeling great. This means my sweet husband has offered to take over the evening duties of parenthood so I can rest.

After resting in bed for a little while, Chase opened the door and said, "I just want to let you know you're doing a good job with the potty training." Well, that was a nice compliment!

Why, you might ask, did he feel the need to stop and offer his quick congratulations?

Because apparently ALL THREE kids decided to take it upon themselves to go on a group visit to the potty. Emmy used the little potty. Evan used the big potty. And Olivia waited in line until one of them was done and then she pottied. Did I mention they did this all by themselves?

ALL of them.

Daddy, of course, was standing back supervising but not interfering. He was the observer and less of the participant I often find myself being. He couldn't believe they were being so independent, so grown up.

Of course, the kids did need help with one thing. They needed their daddy to provide their treat for having gone to the potty.

Wow, they get big fast.

After a long week of spending much time and energy intensively potty training, this made my night!!!!

Surgery Numero Uno

Well, we made it through our first official surgery with one of our children this last week. Our son, Evan, had to have tubes put in his ears, and he had his adenoids removed. Chase's mom graciously helped us with the girls so we could take our little man in. She stayed the night before and she and I both slept very little that night. There is something about pre-surgery anxiety. I told Chase I felt like I did the night before I delivered both times. Chase, myself, and Chase's mom were all up at 5:30 a.m. to start the day and get little man ready to go. We arrived at the surgery center at 6:30 and at 7:45 he was in surgery. We literally sat down for two minutes and the nurse brought us the toy he was allowed to bring back with him and told us he was fast asleep. Crazy how fast that happens. Within fifteen minutes, the ENT was giving us a full disclosure of how he did and what he saw. The hardest part of the entire morning was when we got called to the post-op room and I could hear our little boy crying before I could even see him. I saw a nurse holding him, wrapped up in a blanket, and everything within me wanted to scream, "Give me my baby!" I was a little more composed than that. Not much. But a little more. Evan was pretty out of it still and confused. I rocked him for a little while and he fell asleep. I would have been more than happy to stay in that chair all morning long and just rock that baby, but apparently after he was monitored for a while by the nurse, we had to leave. This meant he had to wake up and cry again. Ugh! Thankfully, Ev got home and curled up in bed and slept for hours. He was fussy on and off most of the day and very, very tired. Guess who else was beyond herself with exhaustion?!? I cannot begin to tell you how fast I fell asleep that night. The next day, Evan seemed tired again. He felt okay, but was just really tired. We decided to keep him home from church today and let him rest one more day before we started up with another week. Overall, the surgery seemed to be a success. We all survived it. Our little boy is doing well, and Lord willing, we will have less sickness this coming year because of it.