on the eye

just a little update on the very tiny piece of tissue called graham's cornea. the cultures grew out bacteria and fungus. there was initial improvement with the antibiotic drops as the bacteria was treated, but fungus is slower-growing and slower to die also. we had one night where the doc thought we could space out the drops at night (hurray!) and then they found the fungus, so we are back on the hourly regimen with 4 different kinds of drops. after 24 hours on this treatment, the doctor was amazed at the progress. how very encouraging for us! we are not out of the woods as there are deep gouges in this very delicate and important part of the body. these have to be watched carefully probably for weeks to come, but we are doing well.
 here are some things we are so grateful for:
-graham's cooperative nature...he whistles at the doctor's office, gives hugs after his drops, tells you honestly if the drop made it in or not. he has to stop playing to get drops and he wears sunglasses all the time, but he really is not limited physically. i'm so grateful for his response

-the prayers of his siblings for him that challenge our hearts...for healing, but if God chooses not to fully restore his eye, for contentment with that lot

-the incredible kindness of our friends and church family. within a few hours of the news spreading to friends about the eye, we had meals for arranged for a week. i feel a little guilty about that since we are doing ok really, but we are so grateful and humbled. the kids have noticed this kindness too with notes and little gifts from friends. how sweet for them to recognize and appreciate Christ-like community.

-my husband is precise! he has carefully organized the drops into a schedule.

-adam knows how to work the night shift! he stays up all night (sometimes there is a mental battle when he is alone to keep his mind from the worst case scenarios) and sleeps in the day

-the cornea specialist we have to see is wonderful and she works at the hospital where we have to go with our residency insurance, so we do not have to worry about bills. grace.

eyes are important

we've had another injury in our house. it isn't life-threatening or terribly painful, but my is it an opportunity for us to all grow in patience. the kids have been playing a lot in leaves and the wooded part of our yard...mountain lion dens i think. graham woke up with a very red eye and we wondered if it was conjunctivitis or something. a closer look by my handy er doc revealed something on the cornea. adam called a friend and took him to the weekend eye clinic at work. it turns out there is an ulcer on the cornea, meaning something deeply scratched his eye without him even realizing it. apparently the cornea can get badly infected and the eye can be threatened because it does not benefit from the body's immune system like the rest of us. we are so grateful that the stick or branch missed the visual axis, so as long as we can keep infection at bay, graham should not lose vision. the treatment? two sets of drops every hour, ten minutes apart and daily visits to the eye doctor. this is a simple treatment, except for the nighttime ones. owen has been sick and coughing himself awake a lot too, so tiredness is just our new normal (isn't that parenthood?). adam just started an elective, so he is able to help more, but he will have to head to work at some point. and our Christmas travel plans may have to be cancelled if it is not much improved. we have promised not to be irritable with each other, to allow God to use the little inconveniences of life to work on our hearts. i'm reminded of something i heard kathy keller say about a time in her life when she was limited by illness...something about how God is glorified by the little responses of our hearts to suffering small and great. pray with us that our hearts would be teachable. i wonder why my most patient child is given this little trial, but i do not know how God will use it in his life one day.

owen likes the shades g has been wearing, as the meds make him super light-sensitive

love my laughing boy

o has his first fever, but mar is so helpful with him!

boys reading field guides....yawn

my view while folding laundry...so grateful

ready for evensong!

“The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson - from this wonderful article so much of life is ordinary.

 i've been noticing lately how little the kids play with their toys...they really would rather be outside (or in on cold/wet days) making up imaginary worlds. we have plenty of toys and stuff in general, but i like how this guy describes how little kids really need, especially as we approach the deluge of toy-giving. maybe living in a rental house with the awareness that we will move again in the future (not too near don't worry) makes me want to keep things simple too. in the pictures, our beautiful camellia tree is a favorite fort, a super great owl field trip, and the "well" the kids made out of the kiddie pool.

books

owen (or nugget/nuggie/ohwie) is a chubster. he might be our fattest yet, and the only solid food he likes is sweet potatoes. someone asked me what i was feeding him the other day and i responded half-joking..."oh you know, paper on the floor, the kids' crafts, whatever he can get his hands on." because, he wants to EAT ALL THE BOOKS. all the time. he also just loves to speed army crawl to the shelf and just make a huge mess. he can't seem to get that tummy off the ground in a real crawl for more than 1 second. he is such a sweetie pie though so who cares?

festivities

we love advent season around here. sometimes it can feel frantic, but not this year and i'm grateful for that. we won't travel til later and kids are older and enjoying traditions and festivities and connecting the significance of things. we decorated our tree and now it is constantly being redecorated by our well-meaning 4 yr old. we've been enjoying our Jesse trees and Voskamp's new book. we went to a wonderful live nativity. we surprised marit with a Christmas outfit and nutcracker daddy-date, while the boys and i had hot chocolate and a seasonal movie. and today we decorated an outdoor tree with bird treats at a local park. it truly is a wonderful time of year as we rejoice in the birth of our Savior!

been a long work-week for my man

just an ordinary walk

baby's got chins

but where is his neck?

grateful

it was a low-key Thanksgiving for us. since adam was working all week, our parents came to us. adam and i really missed our siblings, but we are grateful for the lives they are leading near and far and we thank God for our parents and how they love us and our children. since we hosted, the kids enjoyed helping in the preparation. this is the first year for that kind of helpful participation and it truly was a joy.  

from earlier in the week.  no shirt because he pulled my soup into my lap all over us.

pie helpers

bma came with stories and songs to share

grandpa came with carving and gravy-making expertise

my 25 lb turkey.  adam's brother and fam could not come at the last minute (we missed them!) so we had way too much food!

place-cards made with love

i did not communicate well about pie and so we ended up having about 7 pies for 9 people

teaching graham the slapping game

my sweet man loves windex and cleaning the kitchen.  that is a gift.

playing some Christmas songs they are working on

marit caught us a little blurry

papa wins again with his fixing skills...the zipper on my boots works again!

a little chilly exercise