Fair Pictures

Here are some pictures from the fair this year. I was planning on getting more later in the week...so this is all we have for 2009. I will post some videos and more pictures later this week.

What a Blessing

Today is the first day I have been allowed by my Nazi nurse(my loving, amazing husband)to have the girls home with me with out help. It is so good to hear their little chatter and giggles through out the day. Yes, even to hear their fights and complaining. I have truly missed them these past few days and have not felt like a mom not being able to take care of my family. God has humbled me once again and showed me that I can't do everything, that I'm not in charge. He has also showed me how quickly I take for granted good health. I love being a wife and a mom. There are days that it is trying and hard, but when I was unable to do it I felt terrible and not complete. God is good and has a reason for everything. This time...a humbling lesson in gratitude maybe...

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Jeremiah 17:7

Grandma Berens

This afternoon the Lord was pleased to take home Grandma Berens. Grandma fell last week and has been hanging in there since. She is one tough cookie. Everyone got a chance to visit with her and tell her they all loved her several times throughout the past week. Memories of Grandma...sewing, sewing, sewing, and more sewing. She loved to sew, quilt, and croquet. She tried to teach me to make a baby blanket a couple of times...but in the end she ended up just doing it cause it was easier :) Grandma would always have some sort of project she was working on and when we would visit she would have to take us through the house and show us ALL of her projects (upstairs and downstairs) and there were lots of them. Every Sunday afternoon the kids would go to Grandma's house around 3:00 for a light lunch and to visit. Everyone would take a side and Grandma would provide the sandwiches. Very thick ham on buns, or spam burnt under the broiler :) We would wash it down with Grandma's "special" juice. We always ate it though! While there on Sunday afternoons, you could hardly keep count of the number of times Grandma would pop out of her chair to get something, that lady couldn't sit! Even as she got older, she would still always be willing to sit on the floor and play with the younger kids. We love you Grandma!
Psalm 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Grandpa Meiste

Last night the Lord was pleased to take home Grandpa Meiste. There are several memories us grand-kids have of Grandpa. A few I have been thinking of lately is how he would threaten to use "the wooden stick" above the stair door if we didn't listen. After eating a meal he would ALWAYS (seriously, every single time) say "many hands make light work". I'm sure we all remember playing the marble game with him. He was a stickler. Towards the end he would forget a rule or make an obvious mistake and say "I was just making sure you were paying attention". The one memory none of us (even those not related to him) will ever forget is the cow moo he would make. He would cup his hands to his mouth and moo like a cow, very loudly. My girls always enjoyed this one. Miya and I were able to visit Grandpa M this past Wednesday evening. He was not very responsive and I'm pretty sure he didn't remember me. But he was happy to see Miya. He smiled at her, played peek-a-boo over the edge of the bed with his toes, and got her an ice-cream snack (with out talking). After working up the strength he even gave her one last Moo, which brought tears to all of our adult eyes. I am so thankful we went to see great-grandpa that night and we were able to make these memories. He is in heaven now with no more pain, suffering, or loneliness. A day he has been looking forward to for a long time. What a blessing! We love you Grandpa (Great-Grandpa)

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4

Update

Yesterday we went back to the Dr. (surprise, surprise) since she was still running a 104+ temperature and was starting to get very crabby. Tylenol would bring the fever down but 5 hours later it was back in full force. And I knew something was hurting her. We saw the CPN since it was Dr. Green's day off. She said her ears look great, which is wonderful but a little frustrating since we just bought the $50 prescription (for .5oz). Externally everything looked great which is good, but also bad because the problem is then internal. She asked me some more questions about her behavior since Saturday. After I told her Jade's urine has been really stinky she said we needed to test it. You might be wondering how you get a urine sample from a 16month old?? Through a catheter. Yup, not a fun time. She actually didn't cry any more than when I change her diapers lately. They did a preliminary test of it in the office before sending it away and found a lot of white blood cells in it....which means a bladder and kidney infection. As if our poor peanut has had enough pain over the past couple of days she had to have two shots of a super-duper antibiotic. Supposedly it's a very painful shot but also very fast working.

Because Jayden has been drinking so much she did not have to be admitted to the hospital for any IV. Way to go Jayden. We will have to go back for another round of shots today since they only last 24 hours. Tomorrow her lab results should be back. Once they diagnose what type of infection it is they'll prescribe an oral antibiotic that's fitting.

In two weeks we will be heading to DeVos for some testing to figure out why her bladder infection backed up into her kidneys. The tests could be done in Holland but Devos has a pediatric team that is great with children. So we will be going there. I think she has endured enough pain for the Month of September.

It is so hard to watch your children when you know something is bothering them but don't know how to make them feel better. We are so thankful the Dr.s are getting to the bottom of this. Last night Jayden felt so much better. She ate supper with us and was playing and even being a little mischievous again. It looks like I better enjoy the cuddling today as much as I can. The housework and cooking can wait till next week :)