Trick or Treat

This year for Halloween the kids dressed up and Charlie Brown and Lucy VanPelt from the Peanuts gang. I decided that I wanted to make their costumes... yes, I am officially crazy!! Josiah's was pretty easy, I just painted a yellow onsie, shorts, and made sure he had some yellow socks... Charity on the other hand, was not so easy. I decided I was going to sew her dress. So, I went to the fabric store and found the material that I wanted and brought it home to get started. The first step, washing, ironing and cutting out the pattern was no big deal... Then I got out the sewing machine... and got really frustrated for a few hours on the scrap material. I can laugh now, at the time I wanted to drop kick the machine out of my house!! Needless to say, I finally got it to work, and it turned out so cute.

Boo At The Zoo

Playing with Pumpkins

We started our Halloween time last weekend when we went to Boo at the Zoo with Olsen's. Charity had fun playing all the fun games they had set up and seeing the pumpkins in animal cages. It was Josiah's first time seeing pumpkins and he thought they were pretty neat!

Lucy Van Pelt (aka Charity)

We had a great time taking Josiah and Charity trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. JT was such a good boy and layed flat in his stroller as we walked around (since he can't sit up right much right now) and Charity enjoyed knocking on the doors saying "sucker treat"! It was so cute! Then we came in and ate pizza and chocolate pie with the Miles' family. It was a great day... and we were especially excited that Josiah was able to wear his costume

Charlie Brown (aka Josiah)

"The Hunt Shunt"

After a LONG Sunday night, Monday morning finally came!! We arrived at the hospital at 6 am and got all checked in with admission. In the waiting room Josiah made a friend... Anderson. He is a six year old with Downs syndrome... he was the sweetest!! We got called back to pre-op to take measurements and talk to all the Docs that would be assisting in the surgery. Josiah had fun playing on the bed and looking around at all of the Halloween decorations ...

Our Doctor was a little late... but when he finally arrived we were off and running... He thought that he would be able to access JT's MRI from Banner Desert, and when he couldn't he decided that he needed to do a quick MRI right then. It was called a "one banger". It took about 3 minutes, and it wasn't JT's favorite 3 minutes, but we made it. Then, of course after all that he was ready for surgery. The dreaded moment to hand him over loomed before us. It was extremely hard. We had to trust God completely to care for our son. We had great family support in the waiting room with us. After about an hour the doctor came out and told Troy (I was in the bathroom, of course the one moment that I leave...) that the surgery went great, he relived a lot of pressure, and the surgery was really necessary. We got to see him a half hour later... he was very out of it, but so glad to see us! His incisions are very small and look really good.

Our nurses were AMAZING and cared for our whole family so great... Josiah was so charming in the hospital that the nurses would come in and visit him as he was laying in the bed playing. He has had a great recovery so far... to God's glory!! Josiah has been so covered in prayer, I know that God has been present all along the way.

Our ride home was a little rough yesterday... we got almost all the way home and Josiah started throwing-up... not a good thing when you have a shunt... so I called the doctor and the nurse told me that it is pretty normal for kids to get sick on the ride home.

So, the fun part... Josiah is already showing some noticeable changes as a result of the relief from all the pressure... he is becoming more verbal, he seems so much happier, and he is trying to crawl!!! The next few weeks we have to keep him on his back a lot more so that his soft spot doesn't sink while his brain learns how to regulate under normal pressure. He remains a "mama's boy" and doesn't really want me out of his sight! But right now, I don't mind!

We continue to have so much to be thankful for! Please keep praying for our family... Josiah's healing and that his shunt is so awesome that it will work for life, for Charity, as she is learning about her brother "illness", and will sometimes have to be extremely patient as we care for JT, and for Troy and I as we hand our kids daily over to the lord for protection and peace.

An Unexpected Blessing

It's funny how in one moment, reality as you know it can change completely. That's how Troy and I felt last Thursday when Josiah was diagnosed with severe Hydrocephalus (water on the brain). There is not a whole lot known about Hydrocephalus, and as a result there is no cure. Fortunately there is a way to treat it... a shunt that will be inserted in his brain and will drain the fluid from his head down into his tummy and intestines to be absorbed by his body. This surgery will be taking place on Monday, October 27 @ 7:30am.



Understanding the science, of course, is hard but fascinating... probably would be more so if it wasn't happening to our baby! But, there is so much that gives us hope and comfort in this hard time. I am so excited to share the many blessings that we have received as a result of this experience so far...

The most comforting thing of all is that we can clearly see God at work in all that has happened. It is a total bummer that we will go through this, but amazing to know that even though our reality changed, God knew it all along!! In my Thursday morning women's bible study at church, I am in a small group with 4 nurses that work at PCH!!! Thanks to them, I know that Josiah will receive the best nursing care!

Our family has gathered around us to pray for us and offer love and support, as well as our church family. I can't even express how many people have offered to help with Charity, meals, and anything else we could possile need. Even my "old" work family and Peralta Trail Elementary have come along side our family to help and pray!! It is so humbling to realize how many people God has placed in our lives to be an encouragement to us!

I know that it can be so hard to understand why tough things happen, but in our case I am excited to say that we are fully depending on God, and in that hope, we will all come out stonger and refined to be a light in the world for His glory.

I am so thankful for all our wonderful family and friends!! Thank you for praying for us (I don't think it is possible to have too much.) Thank you for being a reflection of Jesus as you have come along side to encourage us!