Feeling better

It would be embarrassing to admit how long I was in bed today.  It suffices to say that I felt well rested when I arose from my nap.  It seems like my cold is heading in the right direction but it looks like Isaac may be starting a cold.  

Sadly, I missed out on seeing some aunts today who were planning to visit.  It would have been lovely to have them here but I cancelled due to my cold.  Isaac also missed his library program. 

We're submitting our income tax forms online tonight.  Graham actually worked on them weeks ago but we just received a letter we needed about Josiah yesterday.  

Isaac's cousins came over before school this morning to present Josiah with a gift.  He now has a swing that we will set up outside.  We'll take some photos when we put it up.  I hope he likes swinging in the breeze.

We're setting up a telephone call with Josiah's cardiologist.  It sounds like they are open to doing a full reassessment of Josiah to see what is happening with his veins. 

"Here is the church, here is the steeple ..."

This may involve an echo, cardiac catheterization, and other imaging under anaesthesia.  We have a few questions for the doctor before we decide if we want Josiah to go through this.  Please continue to pray that we would have the wisdom to make the right decision.  If we decide to have the reassessment and that goes smoothly, the information obtained would determine whether or not he is eligible for the research study and would help us decide if we want him to participate.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

1 Peter 1:3-9
³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Resting

I still don't feel well so this will be short.  I was able to rest some this morning as my sister-in-law and parents came by and helped with Isaac.

The dietitian came first thing this morning.  Once again Josiah gained more than she wanted, around 25 grams per day.  He now weighs 9.46 kg which is 20.86 pounds.  We have thus reduced the concentration of his formula slightly.  She thought his face looked a little puffier and Graham said the same thing later in the day. 

Josiah slept from 10:30 until 1:30 today which is very unusual for him.  He was also acting differently in the bathtub.  He kept pulling forward as if his head or back was bothering him.  He still enjoyed his cuddle with Grandpa in the afternoon.  Isaac also enjoyed his trip to the park in the wagon.

We had a delicious stew for dinner.  It will be great when we can start to give Josiah some of the food we're eating.

Graham told me that yesterday when he was driving in the car with Isaac, Isaac saw sheep and told Graham that they were "white like that Kleenex."

Thanks for your prayers!  We're praying the boys don't catch this cold.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Sunday

I am sick with a cold so we weren't able to go to church today.  Graham stayed home to minimize the time I had to spend with Josiah.  We're praying he doesn't catch this bug.  Isaac said he didn't feel well right when he woke up but he seemed quite good the rest of the day. 

Graham and Isaac went to our uncle's visitation late this afternoon and met with family for dinner.  Isaac was able to meet some relatives for the first time.  I wore a mask with Josiah.

Josiah seemed a little extra whiny today.  It wears on me.  That sounds so unkind, knowing what he's going through.

I've watched a movie the last couple of nights in the hope that it would make me cry.  I was able to cry tonight.  Oh, how we will miss him if we don't get to keep him.

I'm ready for bed so I'll be putting the lights out after I give the drugs at 11:00.  

Thank you very much for your prayers!  We are blessed to have such supportive family and friends in our life.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Psalm 27:14
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Thanks for Hootie!

Thank goodness for Hootie the Owl (and for the lovely family who gave it to us)!  The last two mornings Isaac has woken up after 6:00 AM and has called out, "Mommy" instead of crying.  He's always excited that Hootie is glowing green and needs to take it to Daddy to show him.

Grandma and Grandpa L. took Isaac to the park today and then he napped and had fun at their home.  He has a tricycle there so Grandpa took him out riding while Grandma made us all supper.  We are spoiled!

Josiah and I had a walk to the store with the stroller.  He fell asleep on the way back so I read outside with him until he woke up.  It was such a beautiful day! 

Josiah loves it when you hold onto his blanket and throw it into the air and let it fall on him.  That's why he's smiling in the photo above.  I realize that his tapes look horrible but we wait until he's falling asleep to change them as he copes with it better then.  We changed the tapes tonight.

We were saddened to learn this week that one of Graham's uncle's passed away.  We are glad that he is out of pain and has peace.  We know we will see him again one day.  I've always been very fond of him since I first met him.  I liked his laugh and smile.  We will miss him and our prayers go out to our aunt and her family. 

Graham and I may have some difficult decisions to make.  Then again, there are many hurdles that may prevent us from even having to make a decision.  Josiah may be eligible to participate in a research study looking at the effect of a medication on PVS (pulmonary vein stenosis).  It's certainly not as simple as starting to take a new drug.  In order to find out if he is even eligible there would need to be some procedures and then there might need to be an invasive procedure before starting the drug.  I don't want to go into all the details but I do want to request your prayers that God would make it clear to us what we should do and open and close the right doors.  We need God's wisdom.  Thankfully God's Word says that we can ask and be given His wisdom.  We are asking.

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

James 1:5-6

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Phenomenal

We had a great day today!  The OT and Speech and Language Pathologist came this morning and they said how great Josiah looked.  Josiah was showing off his eating and drinking skills.  We moved from feeding him liquid with a spoon to feeding him liquid with a small medicine cup.  He has now graduated to trying Puffs and baby cereal bars.  They think he may just be bored and not interested in the purees any more so we'll focus on what he wants to eat.  Thankfully I now have better alternatives to Cheesies, though they may remain his favourite (I won't be buying them again any time soon.)

I was speaking with a researcher from a hospital today.  I gave her the basics on Josiah and I think her exact words were, "It's phenomenal he's still alive."  She is working with a research study on Pulmonary Vein Stenosis so she should know what she's talking about.

I think Josiah is officially starting to wave.  I've been wondering if this is what he's been trying to do the last couple of days but today it seemed more obvious.  We'll keep practicing this new skill. 

Thank you for your prayers!  God has done great things for us and we are very thankful! 

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Psalm 116:1-2
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

Funny weather

 Josiah exudes pure joy when I first see him in the morning.   I go into his dark room to prepare his medications and I check his monitor.  Usually it's in the mid 60s which tells me that he is likely awake.  I often hear a rustling now in the crib and I take my iPod with its flashlight over to look at Josiah.  I am greeted with smiles that say, "You found me!"  It's almost as if he's playing a trick on me by being quiet until I come and find him.

Josiah enjoyed his walk in the stroller this morning and then ate a good lunch.  Isaac and I went over to my parent's home for a little visit.  Isaac had a good time with his volunteer this afternoon.  

At dinner time we heard very loud hail or ice pellets coming down.  It covered our lawn but it didn't last too long.

One of our nurse practitioners at SickKids emailed me to say that she'll check the MRI on Tuesday to see how many pulmonary veins Josiah has. 

I don't have good photos from today so these are ones from last week when the sun was shining. I heard it's supposed to be a great weekend weatherwise.

I'm tired so I'll say goodnight.  Thanks for all your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (NIV)  

Extra vein?

It actually takes work at this time of night to remember what happened during the day.  Oh yes, it was rainy most of the day so this was an inside day.  I also saw snow late this afternoon but thankfully it didn't stick around. 

Josiah's days are becoming more predictable and uneventful.  This is good.  There are always times during the day when I hear his loud cries but thankfully there is a lot less crying than there used to be. 

Isaac is full of beans - dancing beans.  He also loves stories.  Someone had recommended the book, "Blueberries for Sal" so we picked it up from the library yesterday and read it today.  The library had an audio kit and Isaac enjoyed the novelty of listening to the story on cd and turning the page when he heard the chime. 

At bedtime I usually ask Isaac what song he would like me to sing to him.  The other night he requested, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."  This is a song that I remember my mother singing to me when I was little and I knew I wanted to sing it to my child so it was nice that he asked for it. 

Isaac built a sort of leaning tower out of blocks today and told me that it was a tower built on the sand (in reference to the song and verse about the wise and foolish men).  While Isaac is often Mr. Serious in public he is Mr. Drama at home and needs to act things out.  He showed me with his body how the tower fell down.  He always replays his stories with the biggest eyes. 

Josiah ate a good supper tonight.  It was so nice to see him open his mouth wide for the food I was giving him. 

I was doing some paperwork tonight and reading Josiah's first discharge summary from when he was one week old.  I never remember reading or hearing the following:  "There are three pulmonary veins from the left lung and two from the right lung connected to a confluence ..."  If you Google pulmonary veins you'll read that humans usually have four of these, two from each lung.  I remember Josiah's cardiologist telling me that only a trickle of blood was getting through his lower left pulmonary vein to the heart due to the stenosis.  I'm not sure if the extra vein was a typo but if you're going to have pulmonary vein stenosis it sounds like a pretty good idea to have an extra vein for blood to flow through!  I'll have to ask his doctor about this.  It's similar to how nice it is to have two superior vena cava if one of them is going to become occluded with a clot!  Gifts.  Thank you Lord!

Thank you for your prayers! 

Blessings,

Elizabeth

James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Rock to sleep

Our life right now has a certain rhythm and Tuesday's rhythm includes the library.  Isaac and I had a nice walk to the library in the sunshine and then we listened to stories and sang songs about bugs (we learned about the letter B today).

After lunch, Isaac and I were dancing to a Pete the Cat song: I Love my White Shoes.  Good times. 

Josiah enjoyed his morning walk in the stroller as well.  He had a pretty good day.  I haven't been able to figure out how he decides when to eat and not eat.  The last two evenings he has not eaten dinner and he won't stay at the table (he just cries).  Lunch is usually his best meal now.

Right before I gave him his 9:00 PM feed his sats were at 78.  It's been quite a while since I've seen them that high.  We assume they are only ever that high when he is sleeping soundly though we only keep the monitor on at night.  They usually go down when he gets his formula.

The last little while Josiah has needed me to rock him for a couple of minutes to help him fall asleep.  We used to be able to just leave him in the crib to fall asleep.  It made bedtime a little more challenging tonight as I was putting both boys to bed alone.  We usually work together but Graham had a meeting tonight.  Josiah was not going to wait for me to put Isaac down but Isaac was not going to be quiet in Josiah's room (at least not quiet enough for me) so I finally put Isaac in his bed with books and returned to pray and sing with him after I had rocked Josiah to sleep.  Thankfully, Isaac doesn't usually have a problem entertaining himself with books.  

Isaac came to me in the kitchen when I was preparing dinner.  He was very excited and wanted to show me something in the living room.  He had managed to fit seven animals into the wagon for a wagon ride!  They had just had a big party in the barn so they needed some fresh air.  The daddy goat was driving the tractor.  It's great to see one's child excited.  Unfortunately the photo was delayed so I didn't capture his excitement.

Thank you so much for your prayers!  It's time for bed.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

1 Corinthians 1:30
God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself.  Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.  

Sunny day

I can't wait to see him drink from a cup!

Josiah went for a nice long walk in the stroller with his nurse this morning.  It was beautiful and sunny though still a little cool then.  He enjoyed it and was very alert when he returned.

This past weekend Josiah started pulling his head forward when he is in his chair that leans back a little.  It's so nice to see him use those muscles.  He was doing it in the stroller as well today.  Tonight I took his hands when he was lying in his crib and pulled him up to a seating position and he was able to keep his head forward while I pulled him up.  He's much more active when sitting now.  That's progress.  Thank You Lord! 

Josiah enjoyed his cuddle time with Grandpa this afternoon.  Grandpa took Isaac in the wagon to the park down the street earlier in the afternoon so he was ready to put his feet up and sing to Josiah. 

Both boys have woken up crying a few times tonight so I've been in and out of their rooms.  Josiah had pulled his nasal prongs out one of those times.  I'm not sure what's going on with Isaac.

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Isaiah 55:12
For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

A low key day

It was great to be at church this morning.  We were actually able to stay in the service with Josiah until it was time to leave.  He fell asleep in Daddy's arms.

It was a low key day.  At one point we were all napping - a definite highlight when that can happen.  The boys hung out together in Josiah's crib for a little while watching part of a DVD.  I made some soup for dinner.

Isaac was doing some awesome dance moves in the hallway before bed.  This is the first time I've seen him dance side to side, which he pointed out.  I asked him where he learned to dance like that and he said, "Grandma."  Apparently one of our mothers has been holding out on us in the dancing department.  Isaac had some sweet moves. 

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Spring in Ontario

Grandma and Grandpa F. were here today.  This allowed me to go and visit a friend of mine.  It was so good to be able to see her.

Josiah did well today.  I think he's missing his walks outside.  It was a cold day with snow in the air and some on the ground.  It was 26 degrees a couple days ago.  Unlike my sister-in-law in BC, we were not working in the garden today.  This is southern Ontario living in the spring! 

We welcomed a new baby into the extended family.  One of Graham's cousins gave birth yesterday to a healthy and beautiful baby girl.  We look forward to meeting her.

Friends from church dropped off meals for us today.  Thank you!

Isaac was full of beans today like usual.  He had fun in a Rubbermaid bin in the morning and was testing Grandpa's hearing aids in the afternoon. 

We're looking forward to church in the morning.  My parents pick up Isaac to take him to the first service.  We go to the second service as Josiah has a 9:00 AM feed.  We take Isaac home with us when we leave the second service early.  We try to get home so that Josiah's noon meds and feed are into him by 12:30 at the latest.

It's nice to be able to give Josiah more than just pureed food, even if Cheesies are not a great option.  I also tried out some fruit melts that a friend gave to me and he likes those too so I'm happy about that.  It would be wonderful if he would also learn to take a sippy cup.  The dietitian thought that it would be too much work for him. 

Thank you for your prayers!  I may have already written this but I emailed SickKids this week to ask if we have any options for getting imaging of Josiah's veins and heart.  We'll let you know when we hear back.  It dawned on me last week sometime to wonder at what stage he would outgrow his shunt.  We praise the Lord that they gave him a large, 5mm shunt.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Psalm 84:11
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Perfect peace

Isaac likes working on the puzzles in this book.

We had visitors this morning: three pretty girls and their lovely mom came to see us.  It was nice for Isaac to have some playmates and it was another opportunity to practice sharing and not taking toys from others.

The physiotherapist also came this morning.  Once again she was very pleased with Josiah's progress.  She gave us new exercises to start to put more weight through Josiah's arms.

Isaac didn't want to go for a walk this afternoon but he was interested when I said he could go in the carrier.  We just went around the block but it didn't take long to get quite cold.  It was very windy.

This photo was just for fun.  He eats tiny pieces of Cheesies.

At lunch for the first time Isaac initiated telling me a secret.  He told me he had a secret to tell me so I put my ear to his mouth and he said, "I love you Mommy."  I then said that I had a secret for him.  I whispered, "I love you with all my heart."  Isaac had another secret for me: "Mommy makes Daddy coffee."  Yes, that's true.

Thank you for your prayers!  In my denomination's tradition we sometimes speak about unspoken prayer requests.  I have an unspoken prayer request that I would like you to pray about.  It's not for me.  Thank you.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Isaiah 26:3
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Fun outside

It was such a beautiful day today.  Isaac had lots of fun outside with Grandpa F.  Grandma F. thought he needed his own rake so she went out and found one along with a shovel and hoe his size.  Last week someone sent him some gardening gloves so he's all set to help in the garden.  Grandpa let him taste a lilac bud.  Apparently these are not delicious in case you were wondering. 

When Josiah woke up from his nap I hooked him up to the small oxygen tank and put it on my back to carry him outside.  It was so nice to just carry him out without wheeling or carrying the large tank.  It almost felt like I was just carrying my baby in my arms.

Josiah received so many lovely cards and letters for his birthday.  Many of the letters spoke of awesome things God has done for people.  I'm planning to put them all together into a book or binder for Josiah.  This will be his Glory to God book.  The children at our church wrote many lovely letters to Josiah.  He also received a poster with notes and verses from children at a church in Toronto.  People have been so kind.

My dad was talking to my aunt in Northern Ireland and he learned that Josiah's birthday was mentioned on a radio station there

when they prayed for him.  It really is amazing all the prayers being said for him.  Thank you!

It's time to get ready for bed.  I think I may be recovered from the busy weekend.  It helped to be able to nap today and relax.  It was lovely to spend more time outside.  In the photo to the left you'll see the oxygen sign in our front window that we need to display.  I was told that it's so that firemen know that there is oxygen on the premises. 

For the last little while, the verses I have typed at the end of my posts were ones that I was given last year.  When I moved to Toronto to await labour pains, one of my sisters-in-law sent me with verses to open each day I was there.  It just so happened that the day Josiah was born was the day with verses from Psalm 139, including verse 15 that we chose for Josiah while I was pregnant. 

This is the other song I was considering for the photo PowerPoint presentation at Josiah's party.  In particular I liked the words, "Your battered heart will soar / Your wounds turned into wings" and "May you see redemption on this side of heaven."  However, it didn't seem celebratory enough and I thought people could take the song in a way I didn't mean it to be taken.  I like the song though so here it is - JJ Heller's Someday:

Thanks for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Deuteronomy 6:5
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Change

I learned today that our amazing CCAC case manager has resigned.  Her last day was today.  She brought a team with her to SickKids to meet us before we came home.  We wish her all the best and we will miss her. 

In addition to being sad that we won't interact with her, I'm also sad about change.  I don't deal well with change right now.  Are there actually people who love change and thrive on it?  It's not that I'm worried that anything negative will happen because we have a new case manager, it's simply something new and unexpected that needs to be processed in my brain and my brain doesn't want more to process.   

Isaac's volunteer took him for a walk this afternoon.  It was another beautiful day though I'm now hearing thunder and rain from my room.  I like the sound of rain.  Isaac was excited about the stone he picked up and the duck he saw that was shaking its feathers. 

Isaac and Josiah were given an amazing book of 100 devotions, each of which has a song on an accompanying cd.  For each day there is a song, a reading, a verse, and a prayer.  We have been enjoying it.

Josiah was making some new sounds today that were very cute.  I was kissing his chest and tummy before bedtime tonight and he was laughing and making cute sounds, clearly enjoying the attention. 

I'm falling asleep so I'll say goodnight.  Thanks so much for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Daddy Ducks

I was tired today.  Isaac started crying last night just as I was finishing the blog post so I quickly hit "send" and then I went to him.  I ended up falling asleep and then waking up close to 12:30.  I napped for part of Isaac's nap this afternoon.

I remember being utterly exhausted a year ago this week while we were in the hospital.  It was a hard week and I would definitely do things differently but I didn't know all my options back then.  

We did make it to the library program this morning and we also found some ducks on our walk this afternoon.  Isaac was telling Daddy about his walk at dinner time (with my encouragement).  Graham asked him if he'd seen mommy ducks or daddy ducks.  Isaac told him that he'd seen a drake (male duck).  Thank you Grandpa F. for teaching Isaac vocabulary!  Isaac also picked up some catkins on our walk.

The visiting nurse came by and thought Josiah looked great.  His oral feeds are hit and miss but overall he's a lot happier.

My living room is still a big mess from the party preparations so I'll end now so that I can tidy it up.  First, I'll draw up the 9:00 meds and get the formula ready and then fill the bags with syringes.

Here's the music that we used for the PowerPoint presentation on Sunday.  The song is called When I'm With You by JJ Heller.

 

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

A lovely day

Today was a lovely day in so many ways.  The weather was sunny.  Josiah's nurse took him for a long walk and Isaac had fun with his grandparents at the park.  We dropped him off at nap time so that Graham and I could go out for lunch together. 

Isaac and I put together a "5-in-1 Adjustable Gym" that Josiah received from an aunt and uncle for his birthday.  I taught Isaac through example that it's a really good idea to read the instructions before putting something together.  Let's just say it took longer to put it together than necessary.  Graham actually picked out this gym and it's perfect.

We first put it in front of Josiah when he was in his Bumbo chair and he started interacting with it right away.  Later, I also put it over top of him in his crib and he was happy to play with it there as well.  It's lovely to have something new for him to do when he needs to be lying in his crib.  I'm definitely excited about this.

I wish we could have spoken to everyone at the celebration yesterday at length.  I looked at the photos from the event and realized there were people whom I didn't even see let alone speak with.  
Thanks so much for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Thank You!!!

Wow!  We were so blessed today to have so many people at Josiah's celebration.  We were also blessed with many letters telling of God's faithfulness along with words of encouragement for us and Josiah.  It was wonderful to see friends and family and meet new people who are praying for Josiah.  It meant a great deal to us that people would take the time to come and celebrate with us. 

Sadly, we neglected to acknowledge and thank all of the people that helped out today and those who made today possible by helping out in advance.  A huge thank you goes to my sister-in-law.  Today could not and would not have happened without a lot of work from her.  We love you!

Josiah had a really good day.  Actually, on the way home around 6:00PM he seemed to be laughing to himself in his car seat.  He usually needs encouragement to smile and laugh.

It's been a long couple of days so I'm going to say goodnight.  I plan to give a longer update tomorrow.  Tomorrow will be low key day.  Graham is off work again - yeay!!!

Thanks for praying and loving us in so many ways!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Psalm 139:5
You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.


 

Happy 1st Birthday Josiah!!!

Thank you Lord that Josiah is one year old today!!!

It's been a great day!  All the local family was here for dinner and birthday cake.  Isaac helped me mix the ingredients for the cake and he and his cousins helped decorate it with Smarties.  In addition to his dinner, Josiah ate and enjoyed small pieces of Cheesies and I managed to get a crumb from his cake in his mouth and I think he liked that as well.  He also burst into tears with the cake but I think it was a little late and overwhelming.

Yesterday Isaac was thankful for numbers.  I read a similar idea in a book: I let Isaac know that I need to tell him a secret and then I whisper in his ear something like, "Mommy loves you."  He then usually repeats it with a smile.  Yesterday for the first time after I did this to him, he had a secret for Mommy.  He whispered, "Isaac loves Mommy" into my ear.  

I'm always so proud of him when he does this!

I woke up to my 6:00AM alarm this morning and Isaac did not wake up until 6:06AM.  Praise the Lord!  I told Isaac that we were having two parties this weekend and I asked him who they were for.  He answered, "One for Baby and one for Isaac." 

Josiah just woke up crying so I went to see him.  I think he needed to burp but when I picked him up I realized that I had buttoned up his sleeper with one of his rattles inside!  He should be more comfortable now.

We still have things to do for tomorrow so I'll say goodnight!  Thanks for your prayers!  We look forward to the celebration tomorrow.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

P.S. We hope you can come to Josiah's celebration!  Celebration details found below.

Josiah's Celebration Details: 

Who: Everyone is invited; please come and go as you please
What: Josiah's Celebration Open House
When: Sunday, April 14 between 4:00 - 5:00 (singing Happy Birthday at 4:30)
Where: Fellowship Hall at Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly
Why: To celebrate all that God has done in Josiah Faulkner's life.
Refreshments: Birthday cake, punch, coffee, and tea

Gifts: In place of giving birthday gifts, we would rather this just be a time of celebrating God’s faithfulness in Josiah’s life.  Josiah would love it if you would write him a letter telling him about something good God has done for you.  If that is not something you are comfortable with, please feel free to write him an encouraging letter.  These letters will be posted at the party (unless otherwise noted) and then put into a book to celebrate and honour God’s love and faithfulness.  We hope to see you there!

You are more than welcome to come, even if you haven't RSVP'd.

Psalm 139:13-18

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

An icy day

I'm having fun printing off letters for Josiah so I'll need to make this brief.

There was a lot of ice around today.  All of the trees were covered.  My brother's family and my in-laws (and many others) had their power off for many hours but thankfully ours did not go out.  We would go through a lot of oxygen in that amount of time.  

Actually, our power went out for a couple of minutes one day this week.  Due to the recent experience when it seemed like everyone else's power went out around us, I was ready and prepared.  I immediately went to the stroller in my room and grabbed the oxygen tank and went to Josiah's room.  The nurse already had the oxygen tube unplugged from the concentrator and we plugged it in to the tank right away.  This would not have happened so smoothly had the previous experience not happened so I thank the Lord for preparing us.

We realized today that Josiah is too long for his infant car seat.  We're borrowing a large car seat starting tomorrow.  I guess this is another milestone reached.

Graham took today and Monday off of work so it was nice to be together today.  My parents watched Isaac for a little while this afternoon so the two of us could do a little shopping.  We may have also had enough time to visit Starbucks.  Actually, there were no seats available so we had our drinks in the car.  It has just dawned on me now to wonder why a Starbucks would be completely full at 3:00PM on a Friday.

The nurse played peek-a-boo with Josiah by hiding and coming out from behind the crib.  Josiah just loved it and couldn't get enough of it.  He was laughing so much.  He was quite a happy boy today although he also threw up once which is quite odd for him.

I think I may have discovered something interesting (to me) about Josiah's birth.  I'll check my sources and then let you know. 

Thanks so much for all your prayers for Josiah and our family!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Romans 8:26-27
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.


P.S. We hope you can come to Josiah's celebration!  Please RSVP to the email address prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Celebration details found below.

Josiah's Celebration Details: 

Who: Everyone is invited; please come and go as you please
What: Josiah's Celebration Open House
When: Sunday, April 14 between 4:00 - 5:00 (singing Happy Birthday at 4:30)
Where: Fellowship Hall at Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly
Why: To celebrate all that God has done in Josiah Faulkner's life.
Refreshments: Birthday cake, punch, coffee, and tea

Please RSVP to the email address prayforjosiah@gmail.com.

Gifts: In place of giving birthday gifts, we would rather this just be a time of celebrating God’s faithfulness in Josiah’s life.  Josiah would love it if you would write him a letter telling him about something good God has done for you.  If that is not something you are comfortable with, please feel free to write him an encouraging letter.  Please send the letters to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Children and adults are encouraged to participate though please do not feel obliged to do so.  These letters will be posted at the party (unless otherwise noted) and then put into a book to celebrate and honour God’s love and faithfulness.  We hope to see you there!

Cauliflower steak

 I spent some time with both boys last night so I was a little sluggish today.  Josiah had a great day.  He was weighed and measured by the dietitian.  He grew two and a half centimetres and gained about 25 grams a day.  She only wants him to gain about 8 grams a day so we've reduced the concentration of his feeds slightly.  Hopefully that will help him eat more food orally.  He's in the 50th percentile for both height and weight so she thinks that's perfect.  Praise God for good news!

Josiah was quite smiley today.  He seems to give smiles more freely.  The nurse said that he was full of energy when he put him in his Bumbo.  He ate a good amount of supper for me tonight.

My sister-in-law won two cooking classes so she treated me tonight.  We learned some yummy vegetarian dishes.  I had my first cauliflower steak!  I also enjoyed lotus root chips, green radish and jicama with dip made from miso all for the first time.  My parents helped out at our home while I was out.  It was a lovely treat.  

Thank you to everyone who has RSVP'd for the celebration on Sunday.  If you realize on Sunday that you are now able to attend, please just show up.  If you're reading this on Friday and are planning to attend, please let us know if you can so we can make sure we have the right amount of supplies.  It's been encouraging to read the lovely letters that have been sent to Josiah.

Josiah's actual birthday is on the 13th, this Saturday so we'll have some special family time with him then as well.  It will be a weekend of celebration.  Last year, the 12th was a Thursday and that's when I went to the hospital so I've been thinking about that today as well.  I should say, that's when I told my amazing host and hostess in Toronto that I needed to go to the hospital.  My hostess had warned me earlier in the day that rush hour in Toronto is not an ideal time to need to go to the hospital.  We left the house around 5:30PM.  Graham actually made it to the hospital before I was seen by anyone.  I spoke with the couple beside me in the waiting area and told them that we had named our baby Josiah.  This couple had a small son named Josiah and they were thinking of naming their new son Isaac.  God is so good.  He knows what a gift looks like to each of us.

It's time to say goodnight.  Thanks for your prayers!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Psalm 145:17
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.


P.S. We hope you can come to Josiah's celebration!  Please RSVP to the email address prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Celebration details found below.

Josiah's Celebration Details: 

Who: Everyone is invited; please come and go as you please
What: Josiah's Celebration Open House
When: Sunday, April 14 between 4:00 - 5:00 (singing Happy Birthday at 4:30)
Where: Fellowship Hall at Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly
Why: To celebrate all that God has done in Josiah Faulkner's life.
Refreshments: Birthday cake, punch, coffee, and tea

Please RSVP to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.

Gifts: In place of giving birthday gifts, we would rather this just be a time of celebrating God’s faithfulness in Josiah’s life.  Josiah would love it if you would write him a letter telling him about something good God has done for you.  If that is not something you are comfortable with, please feel free to write him an encouraging letter.  Please send the letters to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Children and adults are encouraged to participate though please do not feel obliged to do so.  These letters will be posted at the party (unless otherwise noted) and then put into a book to celebrate and honour God’s love and faithfulness.  We hope to see you there!

Rice Krispies

The occupational therapist was here today.  I put half a piece of Rice Krispies cereal on Josiah's gums.  This was our first attempt at non-pureed food.  He didn't want my fingers in his mouth at all but he seemed quite intrigued by what was in his mouth.  He had less resistance for the second attempt and no resistance for the third attempt.  However, he was finished after the third attempt.  I'm hoping he'll progress.

I'm not sure if I should admit to this but the OT's other suggestion was to try a piece of a Cheesie.  I am considering buying Cheesies for my almost one year old!  They are the same texture that dissolves easily in the mouth and they have a very strong flavour.  She said she finds that kids who are fed by an NG tube are not hungry and they like strong flavours.  The dietitian comes tomorrow.  I wonder what her reaction will be to the Cheesies suggestion.

We talked a little about the fact that Josiah isn't eating as much.  It seems to correspond to the switch to the all formula feed as well as his increased feeds.  He's now getting 100 millilitres of formula each feed. 

The volunteer was here with Isaac this afternoon.  He had fun reading and playing with her.  Josiah had a good day.  The boys were both in the crib this evening so Isaac decided to listen to Josiah with the stethoscope.

Grandma received some nice smiles from Josiah this evening.  Thanks for your prayers.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Lamentations 3:21-23
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.


P.S. We hope you can come to Josiah's celebration!  Please RSVP to the email address prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Celebration details found below.

Josiah's Celebration Details: 


Who: Everyone is invited; please come and go as you please
What: Josiah's Celebration Open House
When: Sunday, April 14 between 4:00 - 5:00 (singing Happy Birthday at 4:30)
Where: Fellowship Hall at Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly
Why: To celebrate all that God has done in Josiah Faulkner's life.
Refreshments: Birthday cake, punch, coffee, and tea

Please RSVP to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.

Gifts: In place of giving birthday gifts, we would rather this just be a time of celebrating God’s faithfulness in Josiah’s life.  Josiah would love it if you would write him a letter telling him about something good God has done for you.  If that is not something you are comfortable with, please feel free to write him an encouraging letter.  Please send the letters to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Children and adults are encouraged to participate.  These letters will be posted at the party (unless otherwise noted) and then put into a book to celebrate and honour God’s love and faithfulness.  We hope to see you there!

Out in the sun and the rain

Isaac and I enjoyed our time at the library this morning.  He's Mr. Serious in groups but he's my funny bunny at home.  

Josiah ate some food today but not as much as he used to eat.  He enjoyed his outing in the stroller with the nurse.  They went for a walk outside while Isaac was sleeping so I stayed at home. 

I went out with Isaac after he woke up.  We were able to see a dog and some ducks so it was a successful outing.  We were caught in a light rain on the way home so we grabbed Isaac's umbrella so he could try it out.  It works.  I assume the rain washed away all the snow but I heard that more may be coming. 

I asked Isaac what we should thank God for today.  He listed a number of people and then said, "broweyes."  He pointed to them and then we thanked God for eyebrows.

Isaac is quite Mommy-oriented right now, especially at bedtime or when he awakes.  It's a little extra tiring.

Someone asked me about potty training.  The nights and naps and BMs are all great.  The last few days he has been having little accidents at home even though he had been doing great.  I'm not sure what that's about but I don't mind doing laundry.

Thanks for your prayers!  We're looking forward to the celebration this weekend.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

P.S. We hope you can come to Josiah's celebration!  Please RSVP to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Celebration details found below.

Josiah's Celebration Details: 

Who: Everyone is invited; please come and go as you please
What: Josiah's Celebration Open House
When: Sunday, April 14 between 4:00 - 5:00 (singing Happy Birthday at 4:30)
Where: Fellowship Hall at Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly
Why: To celebrate all that God has done in Josiah Faulkner's life.
Refreshments: Birthday cake, punch, coffee, and tea

Please RSVP to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.

Gifts: In place of giving birthday gifts, we would rather this just be a time of celebrating God’s faithfulness in Josiah’s life.  Josiah would love it if you would write him a letter telling him about something good God has done for you.  If that is not something you are comfortable with, please feel free to write him an encouraging letter.  Please send the letters to prayforjosiah@gmail.com.  Children and adults are encouraged to participate.  These letters will be posted at the party (unless otherwise noted) and then put into a book to celebrate and honour God’s love and faithfulness.  We hope to see you there!