Going to Help in Haiti

I am leaving on Sunday, January 24 to go to Haiti to help earthquake victims. If you would like to donate toward this cause, please click on my PayPal link in the right sidebar. Our team has already purchased a $2000 water purifier to leave with the Haitian citizens, and I will be taking a suitcase of clothes and whatever money I receive directly to Port-au-Prince. This is a great avenue to not just provide for immediate supplies, but to give emotional support and hands-on help to those in need.

I hope to be able to write a bit about what happens when we are there, though I don’t know if I’ll be able to contact the outside world until I return. If so, I’ll post something, but if not, I’ll do it when I return. Please keep Amy and the kids in your prayers as well during my time away. It won’t be easy, but it will be good.

Thank you ahead of time.

Olivia’s Tenth Day

Olivia is napping at the moment. Over the past few days we have had many conversations about which labs to draw, if any, and when and how to draw them. The options of a mid line or a PICC line have been discussed at length, but we have found other options that did not involve poking her again, so we have chosen those. Her one and only IV, which is in the left side of her neck, has held up so far. I did notice today that is has come out about one-quarter inch, but it is not leaking so I hope it will still hold for however long we need it. The options are not fun.

Amy has come out every day and played with Olivia a lot. Yesterday they got out of the room and spent the day meandering the hospital. There are lots of lights and colors, a toy train that rides on an overhead track, and large Seuss-ish plastic creatures that hang from the ceiling and slowly turn. These seem to keep her attention pretty well and take her focus off how she feels at the moment. Olivia loved being carted around so much yesterday that she was quite unhappy to be put back into her bed that evening.

Design thought for a children’s hospital: putting fun things just out of reach is a great way to get kids up on their feet and working their bodies in a way they haven’t done for a little while. It’s just enough motivation to encourage movement, which helps the healing process. Good job, Children’s Mercy!

In just a bit, Amy will be arriving here at the hospital with Kayla and Maddie. I’ll have the three girls in the hospital for a few hours. We’re gonna play a few games, have a small meal, and allow them to be around each other for a bit.

I spent time at home with the other kids yesterday; first time in nine days. While Amy was with Olivia at the hospital, I came home at nap time and stayed until all the kids were asleep. The kids were having emotional meltdowns so we thought it would help for Amy and me to switch spots for a few hours. However, it seems that they now know exactly what they were missing, whereas before it was only a generalized frustration without knowing what was missing. It’s very hard to know what the right strategy is in this situation. Should Amy and I switch places every few hours or every few days, or is it better for us to stay in our separate locations until it’s all over? There is not a definitive answer in this situation.

The schedule is going to get real crazy starting today: I still have school, Amy needs to work, I need to work, the kids need attention from both of us, one of us has to stay with Olivia at all times, the lawn and housework needs doing, etc. Many, many people have already pitched in and we are exceedingly grateful to all who have helped already in what ever way they could. Thank you so much!

On Bypass

10:30am: Olivia is on full bypass, all the old scar tissue has been cut away, and the surgeon is about to start sewing in the Dacron tube into the inferior vena cava.

Good morning to ya!

I haven't posted here in over six months, mostly due to schooling and staying busy with the family. But today, Wednesday the 8th, we took Olivia (3 years old) in for her pre-op processing. She'll be having another heart surgery on Thursday, July 9th, which should be when you are reading this post.

Pray for her during this time. It'll be quite a big deal. More details on that later.

Here's a few pictures for before the surgery. I'll be posting throughout and some after shots as well. Click them for the mural-sized view.




On this one above, notice the blue webbing pattern that sits just below the skin. This is quite pronounced in person, but still noticeable here. I wonder how much this will go away once she has completely recovered. She also has a dusky gray/blue color on her skin called cyanosis.





Stay tuned for more updates throughout the surgery and the subsequent month of recovery. And thanks for praying for her.

Patting Myself on the Back

I have mowed the front lawn, but not the back. Instead, I pulled up the three- and four-foot trees by the roots that had planted themselves there. It took two days to rip them all out, but it needed to be done.

I scraped paint off some kitchen windows. Difficult to do with a dull blade.

The laundry is done, as usual.

I have held the hair of my puking daughter, and cleaned up the couch after we figured out she wasn't feeling so well. Three words: pro jec tile.

I have put together an oak table and chairs. This is the first time in almost seven years of marriage and family that we have all been able to sit down together for a meal.

I have taped off Samuel and Olivia’s room so I can paint it.

I have gotten shots and shot records for school, faxed several copies of things to the Nursing Division, completed a background check (not on any federal psycho lists. Yay!), and switched my classes around a few times.

I have been to visit the financial aid offices at school several times already. We need all the help we can get. We’re behind, I believe, by about a few hundred dollars per month, even with all the help from my military benefits. That’s why Amy and I are both working part-time. But even with that, we’re still not breaking even.

I have completed several exciting projects for the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, and am now assisting the Creative Director in revamping our choices of typography for the IHOP–KC brand. Right now, our main fonts are Perpetua, Gill Sans and Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold. We’re looking at getting two serif and two sans fonts (a loose and tightly kerned of each, giving us 4 total) that all work well together, and can translate easily to any media (Web, TV, print, postcards, etc.). It is a tough goal to hit, but I think we can do it.

Life is crazy right now. And my semester hasn’t even begun. This is gonna be nuts.

Lists

I’m supposed to be making lists of all the chores to get done over my two-week break from school.

Just wanted to give my summer school grades: C in Algebra and B in US History.

And Sam just had his first birthday. Here’s a before and after.

Definition

Split-second: n

The time it takes Olivia to eat two hot dogs = the time it takes me to put a single piece of bread in the toaster. 

. . . In A Handbasket

Breakfast: leftover chocolate chip pancakes.

Lunch: handful of marshmallows.

Dinner: unknown, but probably the leftover Orange Chicken concoction (which I love).

Yes, my amazing wife is out of town.

Yes, it is Finals week.

Yes, I have all four children.

Sure, we’re doing great. Pay no attention to that fire.

Madeline’s Birthday

Our wonderful Madeline turns three on Wednesday. In the past few months she has turned a corner to become one of the most voluntarily loving kids that we have. She regularly kisses everyone within arm’s reach—even if they are too busy to be stopped in their tracks. She’s a great girl.

Happy Birthday, Maddie.

The “guess what I’m thinking” look

The “about to lick the zoo glass” look

The classic look

Can They Sue Us?

Is it considered slander if a child equates their latest “porcelain deposit” to Thomas the Train?

See the mugshot of the accused below. See how she tries to blend into the background. Obviously guilty.

Samuel’s Fauxcut

Samuel was born with a natural fauxhawk. It has grown to the point where it won’t stick straight up, so it ends up being his first comb-over. Now, at about six months old, we decided to give him his first haircut. It’s kinda funny when you notice for the first time that a third of his cranial height was due to hair.

Hair to spare:



Post-cut:

Books

“Those books weren't made for walking!”
—Said to Kayla as she walked across books she had piled on the floor

And 1

By the way, we had a baby boy on July 19th. The score is now 3 to 1 in the final quarter. No overtime is expected.

Named him Samuel Michael. For his nickname, we’re going to call him “quits”. [Think about it for a minute.]

Yep, I’m almost a month late in posting this . . . many apologies. If I listed out our month you would call me a liar. A friend quipped that we need our own personal intercessors for the family; she wasn’t kidding.

Back to Samuel. He’s been awake every night from about 11PM to 5AM. I think it’s called colic. It sure ain’t called “a good night's rest”. Amy and I have switched every few hours so we get at least a little sleep. It’s my shift right now.

You see this in sitcoms: ugly baby and nobody wants to break the news to the happy parents. Can I just say we’re not like that. We had two cute babies and two “precious” babies (that’s code for “take it back now, I just can't stand to look”).

Samuel didn’t start out so well, but he’s working out his issues. One thing in his favor is that he has had a full head of ultra-soft hair since day one; we’re talking jealous silkworms and stuff. And he eats like a champ, thus the colic-ish-iness.

The still-life slideshow starts below.

A Thousand Pardons

My most desperate apologies go out to the few readers left who still sneak a peek at this blog. Obviously I haven’t kept up with it, even though I had good enough intentions.

I could go through the reasons, but that would be boring.

I could make up a fantastical story, but that would take a lot of time. And I’m short on that at the moment.

So how about a peace offering of sorts ... a thought I had the other day ... something to ponder.

I told one of my girls that I love them and they said, “Love you, Daddy.” After a minute of gushing, I had a strange thought: what would a two or three year old know about love? While it doesn’t diminish the way I feel as their father when they say it to me, they certainly do not know the depth of emotion or lengths I would go to when I say “love”. In a way, it almost seems silly to hear young children say “love”, but as their parents, it moves our hearts even though we recognize that they do not know the extent of what it means to love.

And so it is with God.

He says He loves us—with a depth of emotion incomprehensible, and the lengths of eternity He would go to is unimaginable—and we say we love Him back. Our intentions are true, but they are still short of His reality. He knows what He means (and what we mean), but we don’t know the depth of what He means ... sometimes we don’t even know what we mean. Really, now, how much could we possibly comprehend compared with the God whose name actually is Love?

Yet, even with knowing all of that, God’s heart is still moved to the point of gushing whenever we glance His direction ... whenever “love” crosses our lips.

He is moved by our love.

It's A Boy!

Yes, one and all, we are having a boy! The sonogram was conclusive. Thanks for playing "Guess the gender".