Why We Do What We Do

This morning at church, Rivers made this little card that says "GOD." It is so simple, but it clearly states so many things and has caused me to think all day about this little green card with the macaroni spelling out "GOD."

Rivers' new favorite "why?" question: "Why are we going to...Sunday school, church, Cubbies, your Bible study, children's choir, mission friends?" Rivers is very curious as to what we'll be up to each day. She loves to go to church and always asks to go there. We're usually there at least 3 days out of the week. Even though she enjoys going, she has turned going to one of her favorite places into her latest "why?" question. I have been explaining to her that we go because we love God and we want to learn more about Him and about His Son, Jesus. This is usually followed by another "why?" Tomorrow morning, I will simply state "GOD." We'll see what she says. I want to explain things to her, but I am getting exhausted. Maybe God is working to teach me to look at the root of why we do what we do. Ultimately, is it about Him?

Splish Splash!

Rivers and Jackson love playing in the tub together! First, I put Jackson in. We sit on the side of the tub while the water is running and he just looks at me and smiles. He knows what's coming! He loves the water: feeling it as it comes out of the faucet, laying on his tummy and putting his face in it, and then flipping over on his back to kick so hard that Rivers and I both get splashed! Rivers loves the water, too. She likes to have a bit of her own space in the tub while Jackson is happy to love all over her and share toys and kiss wet skin! Rivers loves being the big sister and helping me get Jackson's hair wet. He doesn't mind...right now!

Feeding the Giraffe

Yesterday, Rivers, Jackson, and I met Nanny (Mrs. Crowson) at Riverbanks Zoo. It was a beautiful fall morning, and Rivers had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. We started at the aquarium and saw all of the HUGE snakes, HUGE fish, and HUGE turtles (technical terms of course.) Rivers was not impressed. She had 2 kinds of animals that she wanted to see: penguins and giraffes. We watched the penguins swimming, the sea lions doing tricks, then went to feed the giraffes. The giraffes have seriously long tongues, so Mrs. C helped Rivers feed the giraffe lettuce. Thankfully, he put his lips out instead of his ridiculously long tongue. God does have a sense of humor! Jackson was pleasant as can be and just enjoyed being out and about. He fell asleep while we ate lunch.

We are all enjoying this beautiful fall weather and we're trying to "Make the days count!" as a card that I was given last week said. It's a good reminder for all of us no matter the situation!

Gotta Love These Buggies!

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!" Whoever designed these buggies (shopping carts) has made my life SO MUCH easier! We had a very pleasant trip to Target this morning thanks to this awesome buggy! Last Friday, however, we went out to the Irmo Target, and I didn't spot any 2-child buggies, so it turned out to be a frazzled-mom kind of trip. Rivers loves to sit in the back of the regular buggies, but she stays seated all of 2 seconds. Every time we stop, she feels that it is her chance to stand up and help. Thanks, but no thanks! Publix is the only other place I know of that has this incredible invention. If you know of any other places, please let me know because I will be shopping there! And yes, I do have a double stroller, but when you're shopping for larger items, it just doesn't work. Other than Rivers' hitting Jackson in the face twice, it was a lovely trip! Jackson, I'm working on the hitting! Hang in there, Buddy!

Jackson Helping With Housework

Jackson was completely fascinated by the vacuum cleaner on Friday! I guess I typically vacuum while the kids are napping, but Jackson woke up from his morning nap, and I hadn't finished, so he got to help! It was hilarious watching him follow the light on the front of the vacuum cleaner on his hands and knees. To top it all off, he was in a Carolina football jersee (thanks Hodges!); it looked like he was doing defensive drills! Maybe I should e-mail Coach Spurrier to give him this idea? Surely Jackson's future wife will appreciate learning to vacuum at such an early age!

Both Surgeries Now Scheduled

I am happy to say that both Rivers' and Jackson's surgeries are now scheduled! Praise God! Rivers will be having her surgery on Tuesday, October 28th. We'll fly up Sunday and stay until the following Sunday. We've got to get the flights and hotel room scheduled. Outside of putting the little pieces together, we're going to do our best not to dwell on what's to come. We have a lot to be thankful for and a lot of fun stuff to do with our kids between now and then. If everyone could help us to try and stay positive, it would be a big help.

I have been spending some time reading various Psalms after all of the "yuck" surrounding my kids really got me down last week. Psalm 62 verses 5-8 say: "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge." How AWESOME! God is my hope and He hears my cries!

Guitar Time!

Daniel pulled out his guitar to sing with the kids tonight per Rivers' request. She loves to play the guitar and dance with Daddy! We had no idea, though, how much Jackson would enjoy it! He crawled right over to Daniel, pulled up, and started sucking on the strings. He stood for about 10 minutes and just smiled and listened. He was so happy! And Rivers, well she danced her little heart out in her Minnie Mouse pajamas and then pulled out a stool to do some special tricks. I love it when it's just the four of us playing together! Thank God for the laughter of children!

Scheduling Surgeries

Jackson's surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19th, at 10:00 in Charlotte at Carolinas Medical Center. He will be having "craniosynostosis" surgery. If you Google this, you can find out more than you'd ever want to know about the procedure. About 1 in 2,000 children have to have this surgery performed to correct the way the plates in the skull fuse together too quickly, so it's not necessarily uncommon.

Now that Jackson's surgery is scheduled, we are waiting to hear back from Boston Children's Hospital as to when Rivers' surgery will be. It is complicated because Dr. Kim is going to perform the hip and the knee surgery, but Dr. Kasser, the Chief of Orthopaedics, wants to be available in case he needs to come in on the knee surgery. After a rather heated discussion with their scheduler today, we are looking at possibly Tuesday, October 28th. We hope to find out tomorrow what the actual surgery date is, and then make travel arrangements. Please pray for us as we continue to cut through all of the scheduling red tape with Boston and all of the insurance red tape for Jackson's surgery. We are still trying to get a waiver from our insurance company for Jackson. And please pray for my nerves...they are shot!

Happy Birthday Cake Pop-Pop!

My dear, young Dad turned 56 yesterday! My how time flies! He's still the same wonderful Dad I've always known, but with a lot of "Pop-Pop" added in! It's been so neat to see him develop a relationship with Rivers and Jackson and to see how much Rivers enjoys spending time with him. They love to swing outside, watch "Barney" together, and go upstairs in my parents' house. Rivers likes to have Pop-Pop all to herself! She will be shocked when Jackson starts demanding a little more attention! Rivers made a special card for Pop-Pop and asked me to write "Happy Birthday Cake Pop-Pop" on the card. I thought it was adorable! She glued some paper shapes and flowers on the front and drew pictures of two of her favorite things: a penguin and a moon. We all love you Daddy! I'm so glad that you're such a good Pop-Pop to my children!

Peek-A-Boo!

Yesterday, Rivers and Jackson were playing in Jackson's room while I cleaned up the kitchen. Things seemed to get a little quiet except for some laughs and whispers, so I peaked in to see what they were doing. They were hiding behind Jackson's curtains! I called both of their names, but neither of them moved. After about 15 seconds, Jackson peeked around the curtain. I finally had to pull the curtain back to "find" Rivers and saw one of the reasons she wouldn't come out: GiraffE! GiraffE is supposed to stay in her bed, but she gets him out at least once a day so that she can soothe herself. Needless to say, it was a fun game, but in the end, GiraffE was put back to sleep. I'm pretty impressed that Rivers was able to coerce Jackson to stay behind the curtain!

Grandmama and FaFa Come For a Visit

Grandmama and FaFa (my grandparents on my mother's side) came for a visit on September 1st, Labor Day. Rivers was very excited to spend time with her great-grandparents! Rivers showed them "my pink room" and spent time painting in the playroom with Grandmama. FaFa and Rivers read stories on the stairs at Mimi and Pop-Pop's house that evening. Everyone watched Jackson crawling all around. Grandmama and Mama made a delicious peach cobbler for desert! We all had a wonderful time together!

Jackson's Consultation

I am physically and emotionally exhausted as I write this, so I'm going to try to keep this brief. Today we met Dr. LeFaivre in Charlotte for the consultation concerning Jackson's need for craniofacial and eyelid surgery. I thought that we would leave today with an appointment for surgery scheduled, but we have to meet with a neurosurgeon before we can schedule it. I hope to find out tomorrow when the neuro consult will be and then when we can schedule for the surgery so that we can have some idea when to schedule Rivers' surgery in Boston. As of now, it looks like Rivers may be having her surgery before Jackson's.

Anyway, Dr. LeFaivre agreed that Jackson needs craniofacial surgery and explained the procedure to us. It is my understanding that the plates in Jackson's skull fused together too quickly, and this has created the problem with his head beginning to take a triangular shape. During the surgery, Dr. LeFaivre would open Jackson's head, then the neurosurgeon would remove the plates. Dr. LeFaivre would put the plates together outside of Jackson's head fusing them with some sort of synthetic material that, along with the screws and sutures, would dissolve over time. Then, I believe, the neurosurgeon would put it all back together, and Dr. LeFaivre would close. The surgery is expected to take about 5-6 hours, and Jackson will more than likely require a blood transfusion. It is expected that he will be in the hospital for five days recovering. The eyelid surgery will be referred to a doctor here in Columbia, but Dr. LeFaivre wants to wait until all of the craniofacial surgery is finished.

It all sounds pretty awful to say the least, and I just hate that he's going to have to go through this. Please pray for my sweet boy! I hate to wish time by because I love this time in life with my kids, but I just want this all to be over with! I know in my heart that this is all a part of God's plan, but this certainly isn't the part that I enjoy. Thank you for caring about our family and for your prayers! God has been so incredibly faithful, I have no doubt that His faithfulness will continue and that He will be our joy through all of this.

The End of Summer

Labor Day weekend always signifies the end of summer for our family, so we headed to Nanny's and Grandaddy's "Popkins" for one more dip in the pool. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and the kids enjoyed splashing and playing in the water. We thought at the beginning of the summer that we would spend a lot of time at our neighborhood pool, but after our week at the beach with my family, we felt a bit overwhelmed with two children who needed a lot of help in and out of the water. Rivers' left leg has gotten a lot stronger since the beginning of the summer. It was great to see her navigating the pool deck out of her brace just holding my finger. Jackson has gotten a lot stronger, too, since the end of June and our trip to Hilton Head. He actually stood up for the first time by pulling up on the side of the dishwasher this morning! Yeah Jackson!

We had a wonderful weekend together bidding the summer farewell! With lots to look forward to on the calendar this fall and cooler weather to come, we're ready for the next season in our life as a family!