"...But My Soul and Spirit Are Well."

So, I've never really used this blog for posting my thoughts. I (rarely) post pictures and stories for out-of-town family and friends to see. But I'm needing to write about some thoughts today.
Ten months ago, my dad was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma. For his two children, this seemed so frightening and worrysome. But he and my mom handled the diagnosis and coming treatments with ease and comfort. They displayed little concern, and I worried that they were either putting on a brave face for us, or just not really understanding the gravity of the diagnosis.
I was glad he was pursuing some great treatment options, as well as dealing with all of this in a way that honors God. John Piper's Don't Waste Your Cancer was helpful to us.
His treatment is progressing well, but we really have no idea what the future holds. He did several rounds of chemo over the summer and that went pretty smoothly. The month of December 2009 was spent at UCLA Medical Center where he underwent an autologous bone marrow transplant and INTENSE chemotherapy. He left the hospital on Dec 28, to stay at Tiverton House, a nearby convalescent-type facility. Yesteray, January 4, he was given the go-ahead to return home and resume his normal activities. He'll leave tomorrow (1/6) to do that. What a praise that all has gone so well! He was very sick for a couple of weeks, but He has kept faith that God is in control of it all. Even spending Christmas Day in the hospital, feeling nauseated, couldn't dampen their spirits.
And now, the good check-up meant that yesterday was a day that should have been filled with joy. However, it was also the day my mom received the results of her biopsy done last week. After 2 abnormal mammograms, the biopsy was ordered, and her cancer was detected.
I can't help but cry out to the Lord. This isn't how it was supposed to go. One cancer at a time, God! And yet, I know that I must trust! My mom told me the news this morning. I missed her call last night, so I called her on her way to work this morning. She said, "My body may be falling apart, but my soul and spirit are well."
I am stunned by my lack of faith. I may think that I trust God for the details of life, but how quickly I doubt His plan. I am focused on the temporal and not on the eternal. I worry over not being there to help my parents, but they are living daily with The Helper inside of them. We are not left alone by our Savior, and in that I take comfort today - for myself and for my two cancer-stricken parents.

Our Little Schoolgirl!

Alison couldn't have been more anxious to start school! So, it's just a 2-day a week Pre-K class, but for Ali, it's the much-anticipated SCHOOL!
She posed for me with her princess backpack and new dress, courtesy of Grandma T! Then Luke and I dropped her off, where she eagerly sat down next to her good friend, Kendall, and got right to work on her peg board.

An interesting note - she began creating a pattern with her pegs. That was so Caleb-like - it surprised me. I would have expected her to be random (I mean artistic)!

She had a good first day, but took a spill during Movement Class (PE), and hurt her knee. On the way home, I asked her if she liked Preschool. She said, "Not very much." HA! She spent the afternoon telling me everything about it that she liked.

By the way, she recently told me she can't wait to be a teenager because "you can do whatever you want." *sigh*

Faith Like a Child

So, I needed to record this conversation before I forgot it, and I thought it was worth sharing. Tonight, Caleb got a scrape on his arm that was bothering him. At dinner, he asked, "Why does God have us get hurt and have pain? I mean, I know we won't be hurt in heaven. But, why do we have to have pain?" Okay, my typical answer would be "Hmm... I don't know, sweetie. Maybe we can ask God about that." (You know, in the partially distracted-this question is too big for the moment sort of way.)

But, God's grace prevailed upon me and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to ponder with my child about God's role in our lives. I started talking about how we can't really understand all of God's purposes in sin and pain, but that if we didn't experience pain and sadness, we wouldn't truly be able to experience God's joy and pleasure. (I was thinking this is probably too much for my 6 1/2 year old, but it was worth the attempt.) He listened intently and then jumped in, "Yeah, and if there wasn't pain and cuts, Jesus couldn't have died on the cross for us." I agreed and then we went on to talk about how when we experience pain, it can remind us of the pain that Jesus suffered on our behalf.

So - the next time I stub my toe, it ought to remind me of the most precious gift God has granted to me. Hope it does the same for you!

Father's Day

We were so glad to celebrate this special day with Dad!

Caleb says:
I love my dad because... he helps me, he plays with me.
My dad teaches me... how to play video games.
What my dad likes to do with me: play exbox and play games.
Silly things about my dad: he makes silly faces.

Alison says:
I love my dad because... he takes me to dance.
My dad teaches me... to obey God.
What my dad likes to do with me: go to the pool with me.
Silly things about my dad: nothing. :)

We Love You, Daddy!

Caleb's FIRST M&Ms

Caleb experienced another food ingestion challenge last week. (We've already challenged his body with eggs and been completely successful! So eggs are now fully acceptable in his diet.)
This challenge was for peanuts! When the nurse brought in this whopping spoonful of peanut butter, I almost panicked. But then she dipped in the tongue depressor and pulled out a tiny bite, and I felt much better.















We did small bites like this every 10-20 minutes for almost an hour and a 1/2. The team closely monitored Caleb's responses. Within a couple of minutes of eating each bite, Caleb said his tongue was itchy and his throat felt funny, like it was tight. Not an extreme reaction, and they weren't too worried. We still don't want to have him eat peanut products, but we found out that he would be totally fine eating items that "may contain traces..." or that are "processed in a plant that also processes peanuts..."
SO MANY MORE FOOD OPTIONS! Yay!
And we'll repeat the test in a few weeks to see if peanut butter might even be okay.















As you can see, the process didn't seem to bother Caleb. He brought a book and was so engrossed, it was hard to interrupt him long enough to see how he felt every few minutes.















The result of a great test was a small bag of mini M&Ms for an after-dinner treat! Can you believe that's his first bag of M&Ms? What a deprived child!

I even love how he carefully sorted them before enjoying every last little bite!

Caleb, we're glad to know that so many more foods are now safe for you! We're proud of how you've handled having to say "no" to many foods over the past 5 years, and pray that God will use that experience to remind you to be grateful for all that you are given, and to have compassion toward others in challenging circumstances.

Lorikeets, and Elephants, and Lions, Oh My!

The fact that we went to the zoo isn't really that exciting. We are FOTZ members, so we go pretty often. But, this time, we went with Grandma Z, Aunt Sarah, and cousins Andrew & Kadi. We got some sweet pics of the kids together. Sadly, I only got blurry pictures of Grandma & the kids feeding the lorikeets. That was hilarious! Grandma wasn't holding any of the nectar (or whatever is in the little cup), but the birds LOVED her anyway! At one point, she had 3 of them on her shoulders and neck. The kids did not like the birds landing on them and all spilled their nectar, then made a quick exit. Oh well. We'll chalk that up to "a good experience."

We got to see the elephants up close. And right when we got there, we got to watch one of the elephants paint a picture. The zookeeper is holding up her creation.

Caleb was so helpful pushing Kadi's stroller at the end of the day. And earlier, walking with Andrew - aren't the boys adorable? Caleb tried to help keep Andrew from jumping in the puddles. :) Andrew loved the lion. He kept showing his mom and giving his sweet little "roar."

And here's a priceless moment between Luke & Ali. This picture alone made me want to post some pictures of our fun day.

Summertime = Baseball Games

Our Saturdays are busy with watching Caleb & the Bombers play ball! He's getting pretty good - and starting to really love it! The only problem is that the fields are up on a hill and it always seems to be cold and windy. Luke cuddled up with Grandpa to try to stay warm. Can you spot him in there?

She's Gone Country

We headed out to "the country" last weekend for Tony's cousin, Daniel's, high school graduation party. The kids thought it was so cool to be going out where Grandpa grew up, and kept asking if we were "in the country" yet.

So, when you take the city kids out to the country, they love to swing from ropes. Little monkeys!

American Idol Season #20 Preview

Thank you, BSF!

These Feet are Made for Walking

Seriously, is there anything you'd rather watch?

They Say It's Your Birthday!

So, we didn't really go all out for the shindig. I know, you only turn ONE once, but we didn't need it to be BIG to enjoy Luke's special day.

Here's our laid-back Jungle Party:

Breakfast: Monkey Bread (per our birthday tradition). Caleb helped make it this year and Luke kept an eye on it in the oven. :)

Party hats: What better way to annoy a 1-year-old at his own party?

Chocolate Cake: Yes, he's smiling in this picture, but I'm pretty sure that happened by accident. He was not a fan of the singing, candles, cake or 11 pairs of eyes all on him.

Presents: Tolerated; no excitement.

Best Moment of the Day: Luke took his first steps into Aunt Meghan's waiting arms! Perfect!

Ali-isms

I just adore this girl and the funny way she talks!
My Favorite Words:
"Eemana"
"Bemorrow"
"Boosbush"
"Poi paper"

banana
tomorrow
toothbrush
toilet paper

And she has such the imagination. When she and I were playing house yesterday, she was the mom and I was her 8 year old daughter. She named me Hannah. I asked what my little brother's name was. "Oh, Jorge!" she told me matter-of-factly. Got it? Don't know where she heard the name.

Our 4-year-old Princess

Our little Ali-Cat, AKA Tornado Ali, provides more fun and laughs than we ever would have thought possible! Life with her is a blast! Her princess party was so fitting for her!

Crawling

Luke started crawling 2 weeks before this video was taken. He's a pro now, but Grandma & Grandpa T. have never seen him at work.

Food for Luke!

Uh-uh...













No way...




Hooray! Luke ate his sweet potatoes today! Some of you know how hard we've been working to try to get him on solids. Finally! No spitting, screaming, or pushing the spoon away. Just this happy face.

Brothers

Seriously, can you tell they are brothers?!? This is one of our all-time favorite pictures of Caleb. He had just dropped his ice cream cone. I truly don't know why Luke was making this face.

One Tooth, Two Teeth...Why aren't booths called "beeth?"

Grandma T - this one's for you! Do you think Luke looks like Eric in the picture of him in the stroller?

Luke's smile is becoming quite toothy these days! His 2 bottom teeth popped through at the beginning of September.

The Long Story

So, for my own record and for anyone really dying to know, here's the more complete story. As with the birth of most babies, timing is everything. My due date was April 16, 2008. So, Grandma T was flying in from California to stay for one week. We had to plan so that she wouldn't go home without meeting her new grandbaby. (Wow! I had almost forgotten already that we didn't even know if we were having a boy or a girl. Good thing I didn't wait any longer to write this all down.)
Anyway, we decided she would come April 12-19 with Due Date right in the middle. When April 16 came and went, I was getting anxious. My doctor was willing to schedule an induction for April 17, but I just didn't really want to do it. So, we came to grips with the reality that Grandma might not get to meet our little Zeiklet #3. We went to bed Thursday night (4/17) pretty discouraged. And then...
I woke up to go potty around 1:40 and felt a contraction. Nothing new. But before falling back to sleep, I felt another, and then another. So, I decided to get my stuff all together in case it was real. I got in the tub to relax. I think that was my mistake. After about 10 minutes, I realized they were getting stronger and I needed to wake Tony. I woke him at 2:15 and he got dressed, then went downstairs to do his out-of-office message. He told my mom we were leaving and we took off. I was really uncomfortable on the drive to the hospital (read: in much pain). He dropped me at the ER door and I got the wheelchair in at 3:00.
Why is it that L&D nurses always seem to act like they are talking with an elderly patient complaining of hip pain? Seriously, do they have to ask, "So, do you think you're in labor?" But, I politely answer, "Yes." She has me dress in gown and pee in a cup. I don't remember ever having to do that before. Whatever! She finally checks me around 3:20 and says calmly, "Oh, it's a good thing you came when you did."
Me: So, how far along am I?
Nurse: Hmm, about a 5-6. Do you want an epidural?
Me: Yes, please!
N: Well, we probably should get your bloodwork and IV going then.
Me: OK, can we sense the urgency, now?
They get me to my room and have another nurse come do the bloodwork and IV. I think every IV I've gotten has involved spillage of blood. She leaves and it's just Tony & me in the room. I check the clock (it's a little after 3:30) and think, "OK, I just need to make it until 4:00 and then I'll have the epidural by then. I can do it." But the contractions are coming so strong and back to back. I tell Tony, "I can't do this." I don't think I told him that with either of the other deliveries. And Caleb came with no drugs, no epidural. This time, it just seemed so much more painful. I think now that it's because it was all happening so fast, so intense.
Oh, here's Tony's favorite part: I was squeezing his hand so hard, I cut him with my fingernails. (He actually showed me later that day and had the gall to complain...)
He asked me to squeeze the railing instead. That's about the same time I realized that in coping with the pain, I was actually tensing my body and even pushing. I told Tony, "I'm pushing, I'm pushing. I feel like I need to push." Since there was no one else in the room, he asked, "Should I go get the nurse?" Never wanting to be an inconvenience, I hesitated, but decided "Yes, I think so." He hurriedly brought her in and she said, "Ok, let's just check you." Almost immediately after that she scurried to the doorway and desperately called, "Help! Help!" I think, to no one in particular.
She came back and put her hand back to the delivery region (I think to try to make it stop), and my water burst, and I mean BURST, all over her. Oops, sorry! Oh, the pain was so intense and I kept thinking, "Push slowly so you don't tear." But I just couldn't! That baby needed to get out of my body. I realized the nurse was keeping that from happening with her hand and I told her (not so politely now) to move her hand. She told me that she was trying to keep me from tearing, which might be partially true, but I think she was trying to keep from delivering the baby herself. Well, too bad! One other nurse made it into the room before Luke made his appearance at 3:42 am. But my dear, sweet nurse was the "catcher." (Poor woman was drenched with amniotic fluid and sweat by the time she was done.)
As with Caleb, Tony got to be the one to announce the "It'sa moment." And again, we weren't really surprised. My boy pregnancies were so much the same!
My midwife showed up about 20 minutes after birth. The anesthesiologist was actually pretty quick - he showed up within a couple of minutes of birth, looked at me, and said, "Oh, sorry." No problem; I thought I was going to be in painful labor until about 4:00 when I would have an epidural, but I got it over with before that!
I couldn't have been more happy to finally meet Luke. It was just a bit more excitement-filled than planned. We then had to deal with my blood-pressure being too high for the next couple of days, but all is well now. Praise God for a healthy little boy!

Welcome, Baby Luke

So, I don't think there's anywhere else to start getting back on track. Before his birth, I was too wrapped up in getting ready and enjoying every last moment with the kids to want to post. Then, after birth, well..., duh!, too busy enjoying our newly revised family! So, let me show you the start of Luke's life...

8 lbs, 5 oz - Our biggest baby! That's what you get when they stay in there past due date!





















It's a miracle that sweet face isn't more battered. His entrance into the world was rather abrupt! Let's just say that labor is meant to last at least 2 hours, and shouldn't involve a nurse yelling, "Help! Help!"



Don't we look so happy?!?

It's because we are!

Dilemma

So, after a long hiatus from the blogging world, how does one return...?
(As my dear SIL mentioned to me, anyone reading our blog would think we have 2 children, and not the 3 we actually have. Yes, he's 3 months old already and I am long-overdue in writing about it.)
So, do I pretend there is nothing strange about leaving no posts in several months?
Do I post-date all new posts and pretend they were posted in a timely fashion? (I do like this option.)
Or, can I just move on?
Well, maybe a combination. See, I don't want to feel guilty for not keeping it up. I mean, it's not a big deal. But, since I'm not a dutiful scrapbooker, this is one way for me to keep small reminders of what is going on in our lives. So, better to re-create a bit of that now.
Like a long-neglected diary, my blog will accept whatever tokens I'm about to toss at it. And maybe some beloved family and friends will enjoy some new (new-ish) info and pics too!