Snow Day!!!

Well, the big boys woke up to their wish this morning…SNOW DAY!!!  I don’t know how this happens, but every year since we’ve lived here, Wayland has managed to be out of town when we are bombarded with a substantial downfall of snow.  (I’m sure it’s just to get out of the shoveling ) All morning long, I looked out the window and kept thinking to myself, “you really need to take the kids sledding.”  I finally worked up the nerve this afternoon, and after shoveling ourselves out of our driveway, we headed up to our church (the highest point in Hamilton County) for some snowboarding, sledding, and snowball fights.  We got a good 9 – 10  inches of new snow last night, and there were quite a few people out taking advantage of it.  Luke had to be coaxed into getting on the sled again (I think he had forgotten how much he enjoyed it last year) but once he started, he didn’t want to stop.  Anna E.  approached the snow like she does most everything – full of passion and vigor.  She was having an absolute blast the entire time and then, in an instant, she was balling and squalling – sure that her toes were about to fall off.  (It was in the 20’s with lots of sunshine, but the wind was making it REALLY cold!)  I don’t think the big boys were quite ready to leave, but we all took that as our cue.  After a quick stop by Starbucks for some much needed hot chocolate and coffee, we headed for home and the comfort of warm baths and p.j.’s.  Our plans for the rest of the evening include reading, watching a movie, and snuggling under blankets.  I absolutely adore days like this – hope you all are enjoying yours as well.

 

Catch up post…

Philip

We celebrated Philip’s birthday today at Off the Wall sports – an indoor soccer facility here in Carmel.  Philip had 11 of his closest buddies with him as they picked up right where they left off during football season.  The action heated up when they put the time remaining up on the big scoreboard.  Bodies were flying into walls, kids were dripping with sweat , and what started out as a “touch” football game started to look more like the Steelers/Ravens game from last night.  I was in hog heaven playing all-time QB - I set all sorts of new passing records.  Philip did something very special and asked that instead of gifts, his friends make a donation towards the Walk for a Cure that Philip will take part in this summer.  His friends did something even more special by donating a total of $275 for their buddy.  One friend’s family donated $20 to the “Walk” and when the dad explained why they were doing this instead of a gift – the friend went and got some of his Christmas money to give to Philip that was “in addition” to the donation so that Philip could spend some on himself.  We have some great friends in Carmel, IN.  With a few very generous gifts from his grandparents and friends, it looks like Philip will have surpassed his goal of $1,000 just 3 weeks after his diagnosis and 1 week since he joined the “Walk”.  We are so proud of Philip’s selflessness – and so thankful that so many people care about him and the thousands of other people affected by Juvenile Diabetes. 

I have included some pictures from today - including Philip’s cake with ”The Afflictionator” written across it (see a few posts back).

The Crew

They were so tired they could barely eat

Phil had to beg Mom to put this on his cake

Happy Birthday Felipe

 

Luke

Luke had his birthday last Sunday – and I get great satisfaction seeing him play so well with all of his toys.  There are times that he goes into the play room and if we did not go to check on him, I think he would be perfectly content playing all by his lonesome for hours.  He received a “Cars” race set from Granny and Granddad – he is quite smitten with it.  It uses a couple of rubber wheels to propel some nice (heavy) die cast cars around a track that is about 5-6 feet long.  He has figured out that if you put the cars through the spinning wheels upside down, they will shoot into the air past the track.  I have narrowly escaped sudden death several times – and have found cars all over my office.  Here is a picture of Luke right after he opened the Cars race track.

I think he likes it

 

Anna

Well, what can I say about Anna?  Or rather, what can I fit into a short paragraph?  Our little artist has covered up all of  our sliding glass doors with artwork – and every time I walk through our house now, I find a different picture that she has taped to the wall somewhere.  She just keeps churning out masterpieces – we have a Pay Pal account if anyone is interested in purchasing one.  Today, Kaleesha braided Anna’s hair into two pigtails.  When she took them out tonight, Anna’s hair was very full and had a “crimped” look to it.  I commented several times about how much I liked it that way.  Anna sang me a song she made up tonight – it went something like this:

“Everyone in the world is beautiful,

Everyone is beautiful,

but…   just look at me”

This girl is definitely not lacking for confidence. 

 

"Dolphin Jumping"

 

Nate

Nate has just finished this year’s Super Bowl Gazette.  I will send it out via email to some of you in the next few days.  This has become a yearly ritual for Nate – and it is neat to see how it has improved each year.  Not only does the writing get better, but he adds in new graphics and pictures each year as well.  I am convinced that if the professional football player gig does not work out, he will have a bright future as a sportswriter or broadcaster. 

 

 Kaleesha

My beautiful wife is my hero.  She has done an awesome job of keeping things as normal as possible in our home lately.  Nate made the comment tonight that it really feels like things are back to normal – he does not even notice that she is counting carbs and planning everything out anymore.  I am sure that Kaleesha would say that things are still very stressful – but it is a testament to her that she is working so hard to bring normalcy to everyone else’s lives. 

I was thinking the other night what I love most about my family.  I have talked about this in past posts, but its worth mentioning again.  A day does not go by that there is not laughter eminating from every room in the house.  I was fortunate to grow up in a house where laughter was the norm ( my dad is THE FUNNIEST person I know) – and that tradition of laughter has continued on into this generation.  We laugh all the time – even the day we received Philip’s diagnosis, we found reasons to laugh.  Thank you Lord for reasons to laugh – it truly is the best medicine.

 

Uncle Milt

Kaleesha’s Great Uncle Milt swung through on his way back to Oklahoma from Michigan on Saturday night.  He is one of my favorite people – there is only one Milton Fritz.  He has done more living since retiring than most people do their whole life.  He just got through snowmobiling in sub-zero temperatures across frozen lakes in Michigan – and will be off on another great vacation adventure in the next few months.  The highlight of his visit was looking at the slide show of pictures from his last few trips – skiing in New Mexico, hiking in the Austrian Alps, riding camels in Egypt, chopping down trees in Germany, cruising all over the globe, and so on and so forth.  It was fun seeing the boy’s eyes light up at the mention of his travels, his stories of growing up, and war stories.   Its always a blast having Milt stop by.

Uncle Milt

Good Times

Aunt Rachel, Uncle Scott, Reece and Rynn sent Luke a new game for his birthday.  It was destined to be a favorite.  Thomas the Tank Engine Bingo, I mean you just can’t go wrong with that.  The first time we played it, Luke lost interest about halfway through.  (He decided it was more fun to play by his own rules)  Well, tonight Luke asked if “all-one” (aka – everyone) could play before he and Anna E. had to go to bed.  If I had only had a video camera rolling…

To play the game, each player is given a “bingo” card and chips.  Each player takes a turn rolling three dice (we only play with two) and you can place your token if you have a space that matches the same character, color and border that are on the dice.  (I know, you are all on the edge of your seats right now, aren’t you???)  There are nine spaces on the card, and Luke was the first to get three in a row.  “You won, Luke!!!  Good job!!!”  we all yelled.  He wasn’t done though.  He wanted to fill all nine spaces.  It was going to take a bit longer, but that was okay because we were all having a blast.  Luke quickly filled eight spaces on his board, and began to anticipate placing that little blue token on his last space – Harold the Helicopter with a blue background.  For at least eight or nine rounds, Luke watched those dice like a hawk.  No one could roll both a Harold and a blue.  It was brutal.  When it was Luke’s turn to roll, he would see blue and start to get all excited, and then he’d notice the other dice was the wrong character.  Several times he tried to cheat and change the dice to benefit himself.  We were all over that.  As the game started to drag on, Luke began to get a little upset.  “It’s taking forever!”  he whined several times.  On his last roll, he stood up and said, “watch this guys…”  He took the dice (one in each hand), raised them above his head, shook with all his might, and threw them toward the floor.  What I need you to do now, is recall every image of sheer elation you have ever witnessed.  Publisher’s Clearing House winners, Super Bowl Champions – really they have nothing on Luke.  His eyes immediately focused on the Harold and the blue…he dropped to his knees…he began to laugh and cry at the same time.   He stood up, put both hands on top of his head.  He couldn’t focus.  He was laughing, but his eyes were full of tears.  “Luke, you got it!!!  You got it!!!” – we’re all yelling like fools at the top of our lungs.   ”I got it?  I got it!  I GOT IT!!!”

Birthday Boys

I feel a tad bit guilty that my little Luker didn’t get a Birthday Blog, but considering he is just three and couldn’t have read it anyway, I am dealing with it.   I have decided there really is something to “Spring Fever,” because in our family, there are a plethora of birthdays to celebrate in January.  Two sons, one dad, two brother-in-laws, one nephew, one uncle, one aunt, and three great friends (insane – I know!!!).  I have yet to get any of these dear people cards, but some have received a phone call or email to let them know we have not forgotten about them.  I am so glad my birthday is not in January.  I mean really, how many of these people get a true birthday celebration when everyone is still reeling from the chaos, calories, and expense of Christmas?  Oh well – it builds character! 

Like I mentioned earlier, Luke turned three on Sunday.  He’s precious.  Really, I can’t help but say it;  he just is.  His personality is so different from the other kids.  He is a little comedian already.  Last night at about 1o:30pm he came downstairs (he evidently had not yet fallen asleep) and said, “So guys, wanna watch Nacho Libre?”  He then proceeded to start singing “Encarnacion” (the big boys’ favorite song from said movie).  Wayland and I thought it was so cute, we let him stay up a bit longer so he could keep the laughter flowing.  Even when he isn’t feeling good, he’s such a happy guy.  Unfortunately, what I thought had just been a nagging cough for a couple of days, took a turn for the worse on Sunday night and we ended up back in the doctor’s office yesterday.  He has another ear infection and a chest infection.  We are on a double dose of antibiotics, a steroid to open up his airways, and continuing with our lovely breathing treatments.  We have had to pull out the nebulizer quite a few times for Luke lately, and I am beginning to wonder if he might be struggling with asthma like Philip does.  (Yuck!)  Luke had been accumulating birthday cards for several days, and I finally remembered to give them to him last night (oops – a day late).  Poor baby – he has no clue what he is missing.  I used to be quite neurotic about birthday parties for my kiddos.  Wayland always made fun of me running around in stress mode trying to create the perfect party for a child who (more than likely) wasn’t going to remember a darn thing about the entire day.  We moved here right before Anna E.’s second birthday, and although I thought it might kill me – I actually survived going to Chuck E. Cheese’s for lunch (with just the five of us) carrying a small store bought cake that we picked up on the way.  We all had a great time – and there was no stress!  Perfect.  Looking back, that seems extravagant compared to what Luke got this year.  I did actually make a pan of brownies on Saturday night before Granny left and we lit some candles and sang.  Seemed to please Luke - I guess that’s all that matters.  I have said it several times before, but I’ll say it again.  Luke was the missing piece to our family puzzle, and we are all head over heels in love with him.  I can’t wait to see the changes “being three” makes in Luke’s little life.

Speaking of birthdays, I better go ahead and tackle the next one in case I find myself in an altered state of mind in a few days.  Philip will turn one decade old next week.  Where does the time go?  So much has been said about our second son lately, I’ll keep this short and sweet.  You know, his first major struggle with health came when he was only one month old.  He was hospitalized for a little over two weeks with a very scary bacterial infection (some of that time spent in ICU) and after being released he spent almost his entire first year of life on antibiotics treating ear infections and bronchitis.  I felt like we spent the first three years of his life in and out of the doctor’s office and hospitals.  In fact, Philip celebrated his third birthday in the hospital with pneumonia (remember dropping the birthday cake on the floor, guys?)  When he was four, he fell off his bunk bed.  He cracked his skull, had a small brain bleed and concussion, and ended up back in CCU.  I say all this to illustrate the struggle Philip has been through, and the resolve he has gained through it all.  God’s mercies in Philip’s life are countless and we continue to thank Him for blessing our family with such a special young man (I can call him that now that he is ten).  Happy Birthday, my little “Philipino Bambino.”  I hope it’s a great one!

Catch Up Post…..

Update #2:  Nate has joined the club.  Check out his blog if you get a chance.  We are so proud of these kiddos.

http://notouch.wordpress.com/

Update:  Philip’s blog is up and running.  Just thought you might want to check it out.  There is a link on our blogroll, or you can click on the address below:

http://philip9.wordpress.com/

What a couple of weeks we have had.  The best news:  God is still on the throne and He hears our cries.  As Kaleesha so eloquently wrote in the previous blog, our “new normal” is settling in.  We even had a basketball game yesterday – and got through it without a low (blood sugar reading).  We had put a plan in place with our nurse practitioner that involved cutting his lunch-time insulin dosage in half and letting him sip Gator-aid during the course of his game, in an effort to keep his blood sugar up.  This is needed because physical activity can help move the sugar from the blood into your cells.  Without insulin to balance the whole process out, your levels get too low and can result in some dangerous repercussions. 

I am proud to report that not only did his levels remain high (a little too high in fact), but Philip also led his team in scoring and helped them almost come back from a 7 point deficit with about 4 minutes left in the game.  He scored 4 points and had a couple of steals in the 4th period. 

We were a little worried about how the game was going to go - at practice on Friday night, he had a low and we ended up having to leave early.  Philip was pretty angry as a result of his inability to do something as a result of his diabetes.  This will become an all too familiar cycle according to most of the people we have talked to.  I am having some issues coming to grips with this as well.  We have always raised our children to believe that nothing is impossible to achieve if they commit to their goals pour their hearts into it.  Now, I don’t know if that is true.  Does Philip’s diagnosis mean that he can’t join the military if he wants to – I don’t know.  Does it mean that he can’t be a pilot if he wants to – I don’t know.   There are so many things I just don’t know.  What I do know, however, is that Philip will take this on the same way he takes on any other challenge.  With quiet determination, he will get better and better.   Without complaining, he will work hard to gain understanding and then figure out a way to be a help to others.  Tonight I looked up a post from December 7 that I had written about Philip’s first basketball game.  He had led his team to a comeback, culminating in a basket with a few seconds left to take the lead.  I have included a paragraph from that blog below:

“When recounting the game to my dad after over the phone later, Philip would be his usual embarrassed self, answering all my dad’s questions in monotone, one-word answers.  Philip relishes the responsibility late in a game – but does not like being the focal point – he is our “reluctant hero” and we love that quality in him.  Caught up in the excitement of the moment, Philip allowed himself a couple of fist-pumps and jumped into dear-old-dad’s arms – a moment that will definitely be on my short-list forever.”

Our family’s life was divided into 2 distinct seasons two weeks ago- “pre-diagnosis” and “post-diagnosis”.  Little did I know 3 weeks ago that the term ”reluctant hero” would be forever cemented in our minds.  Philip sent out invitations for his birthday party today – instead of presents, he is asking for donations to help find a cure for the disease that will take away much of his carefree lifestyle and will force him to think about things that most 9 year olds don’t even know exist.  He is our reluctant hero.  He is setting up a blog to share his victories and struggles in hopes that he can help others.  He is our reluctant hero.  He has not complained one time about getting his finger pricked 6 times a day and insulin shots 4 times a day.  He is our reluctant hero. 

On a more humorous note, we were thinking up names for Philip’s diabetes last week – something we could call it around the house that sounded less clinical.  For those of you that know me well, you know that my coping method has always been humor.  I have new understanding about what it means “to laugh so you don’t cry”.  Well, I quite cleverly came up with name – “THE AFFLICTION”.  I thought is was pretty funny - Kaleesha did not.  The boys picked up this quickly and the new term was adopted.  Kaleesha, to her credit, has even joined in the fun.  Last night, while playing Wahoo with Granny, Philip was about to be knocked out by her marble.  He put on a sad face and said, “Please don’t Granny, you know I have THE AFFLICTION”.  We were also discussing Philip’s birthday cake and he said he wanted me to draw with icing a finger with blood dripping off and a blood sugar monitor.  He said I could write THE AFFLICTION above the pictures in big letters.  He is our reluctant hero.

Speaking of heros, I need to express our overwhelming thankfulness that we have a mother/grandmother who is action oriented.  Within a couple of hours of receiving the news about Philip last week, she was on a plane heading to Indiana.  She even spent a night in the Dallas airport to get here sooner.  Without her, I don’t know what we would have done in the first week and a half of this journey.  She was quickly giving insulin shots and helping us keep life as close to normal for the kids as possible.  I joked today that we would be able to see her leave when we saw her sitting in midair without a plane around her ( a cheesy reference to Wonder Woman and her invisible jet).  We love you mom.

By the way, we do have other children.  On Saturday morning, I took Nate to the St. Vincent Sports Performance Center.  Since he decided not to wrestle, we thought he might like to get beat up on Saturday mornings during the winter in preparation for next football season.  This morning, he was walking like he had been riding a horse for 2 months.  He is doing great in school and will soon be raising money for our church youth group’s summer mission trip to Memphis.  Anna is as sweet as ever – she is blossoming into quite the artist.  She can be found most days sitting or standing at her new easel filling requests for original artwork.  I am grieving the fact that my little girl is turning into a young lady right before our eyes.  If Philip is our reluctant hero – then Luke is our “Sweet Comedian”.  This morning, Kaleesha and I awoke to someone moving the gate at the top of the stairway.  I jumped up and directed Luke to our bed – we did not have to get up for another 45 minutes or so.  In walks Luke with big bed head, one eye squinted closed, and a huge  smile - missing tooth and all.  Kaleesha pulled him up into bed with her and said “Happy Birthday Luker”.  He responded ever so sweetly, “Happy Birthday Momma”. 

My cup runneth over…

Random 1 A.M. Post

I don’t know what I am doing.  It’s almost 1 am and I should be sleeping, but that is really hard to do lately.  I figured I might as well do a quick post to fill the time until I do Philip’s 2 am blood sugar test.  First of all, I really want to convey to all of you how extremely thankful we are for your prayers and words of encouragement.  We feel abundantly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. 

Philip went back to school today and it was smooth sailing.  He told me this morning that it was “going to be a great day.”  I agreed, and he added – “it’s the first day you aren’t going to be taking care of me all day.”  (Ouch! – I did still end up spending about an hour and a half with him at school over his lunch to make sure he got the right amount of insulin and such.) I think he is really ready to get back to the routine he feels is “normal.”  (Whatever “normal” means?!?)  It is becoming more and more clear to Philip that his “carefree kid” lifestyle has changed, and that more thought and planning has to be put into almost every decision he makes.   I keep telling him that he is my hero – he has handled this with more maturity, grace, and strength than I thought possible.  Even so, there are moments when emotions run high – where the fear, the anger, and the questioning seem to overwhelm him, and I wish more than anything in the world I could trade places with him so he didn’t have to go through one more day of this.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand that things could be so much worse.  I really do.  There is far greater suffering all around us and I don’t take that lightly.  It’s just that this is our reality for now.  It is sobering and completely life changing for us in this moment – but every day it is becoming more routine.  When I find myself starting to waver, I just start thanking God for His abundant blessings.  Thanking Him for great doctors, hospitals, scientists, and medical researchers.  For medicine, pharmacists and all wonderful advancements that have been made in treating this disease.  Thanking Him for a strong family and for all of you who have said a prayer for us.  Thanking Him that He has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and if this is part of it – there is a reason.  And He will be glorified through it. 

 Okay, enough of that.  I mean to tell you…God must have some pretty big bottles in heaven if He is bottling all my tears.  (Ps 56:8)  On a lighter note, I have another BIG thing to be thankful for today.  Luke used the potty.  And by used I mean, went #1 AND # 2 in it!!!  Huge!  Really, this is huge!  We celebrated at Chick-Fil-A tonight.  It was Kid’s Night – you know, free kid’s meals with the purchase of a regular meal?  We are talking PACKED!!!  Kids running all over.  Seven foot tall cow in pajamas constantly at our table giving Luke high fives.  Balloons bursting.  In all that chaos, it seemed perfectly “normal” to do a quick blood sugar test, feed Philip, and then have him pull up his sleeve and give him his insulin right at the table.  I mean really, is that any more strange than a cow walking on two legs? 

One more thing…on the Beth Moore blog (there’s a link below if you’re not familiar with it), she is doing a scripture memory challenge for 2009.  You can choose whatever scripture you want, but she happened to share the one she was working on for the first of January.  It has been like marrow to my bones:  “He is your constant source of stability; He abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; He gives all this to those who fear Him.” Isaiah 33:6 NET

Yikes!!!  I need to go make Philip’s lunch for tomorrow.  (It takes a bit longer to get all those carbs calculated correctly so that he can get the right amount of insulin)  Thanks again for all your love…we are feeling it!

First Day Home

This is going to be short, but I just wanted to give a quick update on Philip and the whirlwind that took us by storm on Monday.  We were released from the hospital yesterday, came home, and although Wayland will tell you it all went well “considering,”  I felt that we entered complete chaos.  Although I longed to be home with the rest of my children, I actually liked the feeling of security the hospital provided.  Our stay there was more for education and beginning treatment of the diabetes, than for taking care of a “sick” patient.  Several times Philip has looked at me and said, “Don’t worry, mom – I feel fine.”  I’m so thankful for that.  Although the diabetes started approximately two or three months back, he did not begin to ”go downhill” until about a week or two ago.  Looking back over the past couple of months, I can now clearly see all the symptoms that were leading us to our new normal.  I told Wayland that I had done a search on Web MD in October for “insatiable hunger,” now I know that was yet another symptom starting to reveal itself to us.  We had also noticed Philip drinking and urinating more frequently, but he was on a new medication for his asthma and that seemed to explain it.  The biggest changes we began to see started about two weeks ago.  His appetite went from ravenous to almost non-existent.  Drinking and urination were off the charts.  I was worried and told him I needed to get him in to a doctor to make sure everything was okay.  On Christmas Eve Philip looked at me and said, “Mom, can you take me to the doctor?  I’m always thirsty and I have to go to the bathroom all the time.”  I called first thing Monday morning (the first day they were back in the office after the holidays) and I knew that I knew we were in for a life changing diagnosis.  Even so, hearing those words come out of a doctor’s mouth seemed to knock the wind out of me.  Since then, I have had a barrage of questions attacking my mind, as well as a wealth of information inundating it.  Wayland and I have had a crash course in understanding this autoimmune disease called Juvenile or Type 1 Diabetes (a completely different disease than the much more common Type 2 – often brought on by obesity or poor nutrition).  We have learned to check blood sugar levels, calculate insulin doses, give injections, and  to look for signs of hypoglycemia and treat them accordingly.  We have a long way to go, but considering we are only three days in – I guess we have come a long way already.  At times I am confident that I can handle this, and then other times (like last night) everything seems to go very wrong (low blood sugar, glucose meter messing up, pharmacy frustrations, forgetting to pinch the skin before injecting the needle) and I am sure that I won’t ever get it all right.  Please keep praying for us as we learn this very different way of life.  Pray that the the Lord would give me confidence as I get ready to send Philip back to school next week, well the list could go on and on…I guess just pray that Philip responds well to his treatments, that Wayland and I are able to provide that treatment effectively, and probably the greatest need – that we would trust God through all of this.  Thank you all for your kind words and your prayers.  We are humbled and blessed by your love and concern.