Prayers for Jack

As so many of you who read our blog have been and are still praying for Samantha Grace, I ask that you lift prayers for our good friends that Davidsons. Their 2nd son, Jack, born on April 1, 2009 was admitted to the hospital today.

I don't know all the details except that he had stopped breathing for some time. I will try to post updates as they come available. Below is a picture of precious Jack and his big brother Jay just after Jack's birth.

We want to Pump You Up

So I know it has been quite some time since I have posted, almost a week, I think, to be exact. After our trip to Ohio (Daddy and I led worship for an international conference), life returned back to "normal" with a few added excitements added to the mix.

I have to brag but since we left and since our return home, Samantha Grace has been viral, bacterial, you-name-it infection FREE! This has been a huge praise for she is able to breathe comfortable, play without inhibitants and most of all not take any extra meds that play with her blood sugar levels. Since the discontinuation of her steroids from Croupe, her blood sugars have stabilized themselves into a more normal routine for the past few days! The Lord IS good!

We have been enjoying our week of "normal" by playing with friends who are visiting from South Korea. It has been a joy watching SG interact with older "siblings" and just to the shear addition of multiple warm bodies in one house! She absolutely loves the additional baby dolls that the girls brought! (Thanks Mary G for sharing your dolly with SG!) I have enjoyed catching up with our friend Jenny and exchanging favors despite a 13 hour time difference once they depart us!

We enjoyed a short overnight visit, as well, by SG's Auntie Ray-Ray (Rachel) and Uncle Justin. They were passing through on their way to the beach.
Daddy, Samantha Grace and I are excited to be returning to Birmingham later this week. Daddy and I will be attending a class on insulin pumps. I know this probably doesn't sound too exciting to the common man, but this will, hopefully, produce less tears throughout the day. If you are curious as to what this

We will continue our trip north up to Nashville to celebrate Josh's grandparents'
60th wedding anniversary. And, of course, for SG to be spoiled rotten by her grandparents.

As we look froward to soon embarking on another road trip, we pray that SG maintains good blood sugar levels. A lot of times just the minimal amount of stress of sitting in her carseat for long periods of time can cause her sugar levels to do crazy things. We also pray that we don't "pick-up" any new bugs in TN. Daddy and I are surely enjoying a "bug" free little girl.

As for now, here are some pictures from our trip to Columbus, Ohio.


Above: The COSI or to all of us...the Science Museum. It was pretty cool! It had a unicycle suspended mid-air through the middle of the museum that you could ride. SG thought that was great fun to watch!


Above: The Columbus City Scape. It was a pretty city full of lots of hills. We had great walks each day! One of the big things I love about large cities...walking EVERYWHERE!

Below: A Greek restaurant in town. AWESOME! There was also a HUGE Greek church that was an entire city block long and deep! It made some of the large churches in Montgomery look like peanuts!


The picture above is of William McKinley (25th President) who is one of my distant cousins. This picture is for you Ama.

Samantha Grace had so much fun in Columbus that she slept the entire plane ride back in our laps. The way she was laying did not allow us to use our tray tables, hence the peanuts on her dress.

Thanks again for all of your prayers! We continue to be healthy and living the life a true 1-year-old!

So I started writing last saturday but I got a little overwhelmed packing for a week of travel and never finished. I bring all good news thus far for the start of this week.

Daddy and I decided to keep SG out of the nursery this week since she was still getting over her sickness and knowing that we would be going out of town for an entire week. For those of you that are parents know that it is NOT fun traveling with a sick baby. I bring a report that our strategy worked! We not only have ridded ourselves of all our stuffy nose, but we have remained well thus far into our trip.

We had a very smooth plane ride to Columbus, Ohio. Samantha Grace was a gold star passenger sleeping the entire flight to Ohio. Upon our arrival we discovered that SG's coveted lovie took a bath in grape juice. So she was beginnng to smell like an addition to the communion elements! Thanks to the nice people in our hotel we were able to give Bunny a Woolite bath last night.

This morning we ALL enjoyed sleeping in way past our usual wakeup times. We then took advantage of Starbucks free pastries for breakfast and discovered Ohio 's version of the Curb Market in Montgomery. Except here it is called the pearl market, like a hidden gem in Columbus. We enjoyed sampling some scrumptious fruis and veggies and found some sweet trays that we will be bringing back home for our sweet tooth friends. There was even one bakery that was featured on Bobb Flay's Throw Down challenges there too!

SG's blood sugars have been leveling out since our arrival. From getting over the steroids that were in here system, the antibiotics and just the fact of being sick has sent her numbers all over the place. But I have to say she has beena trooper through all of it.

Please continue to pray that Samantha Grace will continue to stay well even after our return home. Also pray that we will continue to have somewhat of a leveling of her blood sugar numbers for a few days.

Bumpy Ride

As many of you know one of Samantha Grace's favorite activities is riding in her luxurious Radio Flyer wagon. As we have found, the ride is not always the smoothest depending on what type of terrain we would be traveling. Much like Samantha Grace's wagon rides, so has been her health.

We are once again experiencing one of those bumps in the road. After a day and a half of fabulous blood sugar levels, Daddy and I noticed that SG's levels began to creep up into the 300's and would not budge, even despite SG's slowly decreasing appetite. We also noticed that she was beginning to have difficulty breathing. She was sounding like a sea lion at the zoo when she would breathe-in.

Therefore, our weekly call-in to Dr.M was made. We came to the conclusion that SG had croup. So she was immediately put on steroids and an antibiotic to help prevent sinus infections/ear infections and to battle the starting of pink eye (we think). Unfortunately, before she was started on any of these medications she was still struggling with 300+ blood sugar levels.

I made the executive decision to call back to Birmingham (I called them just the day before) to see if they would finally increase her insulin to bring some internal comfort to her. (She has been very irritable, and always is, when she is high.) They decided to increase all of her insulin levels, which we started last night. On a down side, the steroids that she is on cause the blood sugar levels to naturally run higher.

So last night we had some mild scares with blood sugars at 549 and 541 in 2 consecutive readings. Thankfully around midnight her body decided to "take" the injection and her levels started to go down into the upper 200's. This also allowed Samantha Grace to rest easier in the night.

The positive things are that once the insulin does take affect, about 10 minutes post injection, Samantha Grace does not even seem sick (other than her stuffy nose and seal breathing). This has allowed her to play and enjoy herself throughout the day. She also has only ran mild fevers throughout the entire ordeal! (Huge Praise!)

Our prayers for the next few days include:
1) Rapid recovery with minimal pain/discomfort
2) Minimal amounts of extra injections (she received a total of 10 injections yesterday compared to a normal of 5 in one day)
3) The ability for her body to stay well for a longer period of time in order to build up the immune system.
4) Leveling of blood sugars to a safer range.

We ask that you join us in these prayers. We would like to take the "wagon ride" back onto smoother terrain very soon. For Daddy and I have found that there is supreme power in the power of prayer!

Bed of Roses

Wednesday, before the day came to an end around midnight upon our arrival to Atlanta, I realized that we were marking the 2 month mark of Samantha Grace's diagnosis. I have to say, as I have mentioned many times, this has been a roller coaster ride. We never truly know what is around the next corner.

However, I have to say that Thursday night I witnessed a glimmer of hope into the future. Upon my mom's request, we watched the ABC (yes, our family finally ventured away from Fox News) Nightly News. They did an amazing feature story on the possibility and trial of an artificial pancreas. Much to my own amazement, it DOES NOT require an actual transplant but rather an external "machine" of sorts. For the opportunity to see something of this nature actually in working motion of a young lady was a true miracle to me and Josh. (Click Here or on "artificial pancreas" for story.)

Samantha Grace has had some rough days this week while dealing with the symptoms brought on by Roseola. Today has been our first day to see her back to "normal". We have been thoroughly enjoying our time with Ama and Papa. She has been a constant ball of energy. (I honestly think it has been building up inside of her all week but she just didn't have the energy to release it all.)

We all enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Paula Deen's cousins restaurant. (Cecile you would have died to have had her cookies and cakes!)We then ventured to the "ritzy" Alpharetta to visit a coveted little girl store...American Girl. Yes, I have already brought SG into the American Girl Doll madness. We actually started her collection at Christmas last year upon the notification of the retirement of the Samantha Doll(Thanks to a "secret Santa") but she will not be receiving her for quite some time. Instead, today she got her first Bitty Baby doll. She had a melt down in the store after we showed her the baby but told her we had to pay for it before we could take it out of the box.

Thankfully, we had already made most of our decisions, so the melt down lasted only a little while. She loves her new baby! (Pictures will come soon.) Ama and Papa bought baby a new outfit as well! It screams Samantha Grace!



ABOVE: She got a kick out of riding on the bellboy carts at the hotel.

SG and I enjoyed a Friday of rest and relaxation while Daddy finished up his conference. Around lunch time, Daddy decided that he had had enough of choir promo-packs and needed to be released into the world of true reality before breaking down. (Chip, can we get an Amen?!) So after lunch, we piled back into the car to head home.

As we all know, it is nice to get away for a little R-and-R, but it truly is nice returning home. We are looking forward to somewhat of a "low-key" week before traveling up north for another conference where Mommy and Daddy will be playing for worship.

Our biggest request for the next few weeks is minimal sickness, for as we all know it is not fun traveling with a sick baby, Mommy or Daddy. But especially pray for SG's health. She has really been through the works for the past 2 months with various viral infections, colds, fevers, rashes, etc. Thanks again to our wonderful prayer warriors and support team!

These are the People in Your Neighborhood

There is a song from Sesame Street that talks about the different people that live in your neighborhood. When I was thinking about a title for today's post, this song kept ringing in my head. It could be the never ending "Kiddie Songs" that ring through our house at various times of the day or it might be...stand back...the creative juices in my head at work again.
(WARNING: With my brain in full operation dangerous things are bound to occur! Just kidding!)

Last night, we had the pleasure of meeting some new friends while getting together with some "old" friends here in our own neighborhood. (Hence the title.) Our new friends were from Columbia, Tennessee, so Josh and I already had an instant connection. One member of this family, Mark, had attended medical school with Dr. M and his wife, Tina, was an avid runner like myself. They had brought a lot of entertainment with them to Dr. M's house...5 children! Samantha Grace was in hog-heaven, especially with little Emery and Liam. (Sorry Tina if I misspelled their names.)

We all then enjoyed a scrumptious dinner and some fun pool time. SG had never seen children jump off the diving board like the kids were doing. It was so nice to sit around the pool edge, chit-chat with Dr.M and Tina while the Daddies played with, to borrow a phrase, the Many Small Children.

I enjoyed a morning run with Tina this morning. We battled what felt like 99% humidity for about a 6 mile run. Did I mention that Tina is about 20 weeks pregnant? (She is definitely a woman after my own heart!) We discussed possibly getting together the next time we head "up north" to Franklin for at least dinner with the families.

I have to say a special thanks to Dr. M for having us over for dinner and for having such awesome friends! We all had a blast! Now I must return to my Dr. Mommy roll for it seems as though we are battling a nasty little fever again...

Happy Tuesday to all!

Not Me! Monday: Singin' in the Rain

Okay, so it has been awhile since I have done one of these...almost 2 months to be exact. But after today's events and some of the events of this past week I just couldn't resist.

So to start off, after not having rain for almost a month in Montgomery, I so did not strip my little precious package down to her diaper and let her play in the rain or even the mud in the garden. I most definitely did not catch it on tape too! (Yes, the video has commentary because I was so not talking to her Daddy on the phone at the same time.)



After noticing the tendencies of the heavy traffic through the kitchen, I so did not mop the kitchen floor 3 times in one day. No one can be that OCD about a kitchen floor. Plus Daddy did not tell Mommy to just sweep it and let it go. That's what 2 type-A, first-born personalities will do for you.

Following a very long and exhausting morning with SG, I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT go to a friends pool, by myself and read a "People" magazine cover-to-cover before returning home. I wouldn't want to fill my mind with that meaningless business. Mommy should be reading books by Piper, Dobson, etc. Right?!

I so did not turn the stereo up really loud and listen to some of my "old school" favorites every time I was in the car by myself. How could someone call that therapy? Such childish behavior...

Finally, this past weekend I unplug the television to prevent little hands from repeatedly turning it on & off. And then forget to tell Daddy what I had done and come home to find the bag of batteries gone through and the entertainment center pulled from the wall. (Daddy did agree that I had done the smart thing though.)

Lazy Dayz

I would love to write and tell you about this wonderful firework show, gigantic barbeque full of all the 4th of July favorites, and magnificent parades that we participated in during this past weekend...but the true case is none of this happened. We decided the best thing for us would be to just spend some quality family time together. So here is a quick synopsis of our weekend adventures... The Montgomery Summer Sun proved itself to be true with a quick warming on Friday while we ventured through the zoo. We found most of the animals hiding in the shade tyring to sequenture every ounce of cool air that they could, or we would find them doing something like this... Friday afternoon looked like a lazy Sunday afternoon. By 2:30 everyone was "down for the count" in some way shape or form...Daddy and Samantha Grace enjoyed the man-made comfort of the A/C, while Mommy chose for a sauna-laidened 3 mile run followed by some sun bathing time in the peaceful serenity of a close friend's pool! (It has become somewhat of an escape oasis for Mommy.) After our re-charge, we enjoyed our Friday tradition of homemade pizza and a movie along with a visit from Mary Austin and Cecile. Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were exhausted after chasing a very energized Samantha Grace. (See video below.)



The 4th of July greeted us with much energy after a long night with SG. (Blood sugars are still going crazy at times in the middle of the night.) Mommy joined friends for a early, long Saturday morning run and a trip to the farmer's market. The family then went for a short wagon ride/walk through the neighborhood to visit the ducks at the pond. We then journeyed to Home Depot to think of any home improvement projects that we could get done while we had the time. Samantha Grace enjoyed all the boxes that made different noises right on her level. (She wasn't having much of the stroller.)

After enjoying the afternoon at the pool with our friend Kaki and thoroughly enjoying the Deer Creek Splash Park, we brought home a tuckered out Samantha Grace and called it a day! Happy Birthday America! Sunday.. We enjoyed a fabulous time of worship. We are finding it harder to take Samantha Grace to the nursery because she is in love with music so much. As soon as she hears the piano at church, she starts to make a b-line into the sanctuary. She was not a happy camper when Mommy scooped her up and told her she had to go to the nursery, but I know she had a blast with all her friends.

Lazy Dayz theme continued on during Sunday...SG decided to romp around the house in nothing but a diaper and her tutu. She also loved throwing herself into our comforter that had been brought down off the bed for cleaning. SG, though, gave Daddy and Mommy the best gift ever during the afternoon...a 3 hour nap! Yes, since we are trying to drop the morning nap our afternoon naps have become quite longer. This was much welcomed since Daddy had mowed the lawn and Mommy had just burned every muscle fiber in her body thanks to her friend Kaki's sweet invitation to a sculpt/cardio class.

Mommy and Daddy ended the day with a relaxing dinner out, while Samantha Grace enjoyed some playtime! Needless to say we were all exhausted by the weekend's end and "hit the sack" with much delight!

I'm a Big Girl Now!!

Okay your remember this picture from a week ago...


Well, I regret writing that we weren't quite ready for the "big girl" potty. We have been trying every night before her bath to get her to "try" and to much effort (singing ABC's, reading books, etc.) nothing. That is until tonight...She made Mommy and Daddy so proud! She went potty in her potty. We cheered and jumped up and down! She proceeded to stand up, cheer and run to the bath tub.

This is only our first steps to being potty trained but I must say that I am a very proud Mommy. It is music to my ears to have a child potty trained before 2 years of age! (Budget friendly too!)

Happy 4th to all!

All in a Days Work

Well, I tried very hard to get Samantha Grace to write today's posting, but she quickly told me that she needed to take care of all her babies instead of writing today. At least now she knows what Mommy goes through every day!

Samantha Grace and I have enjoyed a very relaxing, catch-up on house work Wednesday. (I was even able to catch a few afternoon ZZZ's since Josh and I had a long night with SG last night...darn teeth.)After some nap time, SG decided that she, her new baby (still taking name suggestions) and her other baby doll needed to have a "window seat" in the kitchen. Following Samantha Grace's strategic placement of her dolls on the window, she promptly started pulling on my pant leg and pointing to the ledge.

I carefully place her with her dolls on the ledge and this is what resulted...


Yesterday, Samantha Grace and I needed to get some outside yard work done while Daddy was at work (aka, pulling weeds and any heat belabored plants). Well, Samantha Grace had some other agendas while we were outside, which included an incident that I think every kids goes through at some point or another...eating dirt. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, SG ingested a large handful of dirt and was eagerly going for a second before I stopped her. She also enjoyed a stroll (with shoes on) in the grass but was not a big fan of sitting in the grass. The texture is still a little strange to her, but I can't say as I blame her.

Daddy and I also thank our special friends for some quality couple time yesterday afternoon. It was much needed and very much appreciated. Unfortunately, SG decided not to nap yesterday afternoon; however, it did result in sleeping in until 9:00 AM!

Today, trying to beat the crowds and the heat, we are heading to one of SG's favorite sites in Montgomery...the Zoo. Happy early 4th to everyone!