Communication is the name of the game

Landon had orthopedic surgery on his leg yesterday.  The surgeon was able to break his tibia, fibula, and rotate the leg.  Then, he "tweeked" (his term, not mine :-) the bones in his foot.  When the surgeon came out, he said, "Now, I don't know how much pain he will be in because I don't know how much sensation he has.  So, I just gave orders for Tylenol."  "Hm,"we thought, that seems like it isn't going to touch the pain of a surgery this big.  But, our mistake, we didn't say anything...just trusted the expertise of the doctor.

Sure enough, by about 9:30p.m., Mike calls me (I was at home with the other kiddos).  Landon was screaming in the background...Mike says, "Pray.  He is in a horrible amount of pain."  It took lots of doing, but he finally was given Lortab and Morphine.  (the photos are after Lortab :-)  The surgeon also said that from what he can tell, Ch*na attempted the same surgery on his foot.  Bless this little guys' heart - he has been through so many surgeries and so much pain.  

So, for now, our prayer is that he will heal well, strong, and correctly.  He will have another re-casting done under general anesthesia in a couple of weeks.  Bless his heart...all I can do is pray that he knows that we are just trying to do what is best for him - especially since he has only been home for 7 months.

CJ does so well in hospitals...especially when he isn't the patient.

I think that perhaps...

...now I have heard it all.  On Sunday, I took just Emily and CJ to the grocery store.  When I went to the deli to get our lunchmeat, I was talking to the lady behind the counter about my great dinner idea :-) I told her, "You know, it is a great, inexpensive way to feed 7 kids."

She says, "You got seven kids?  Ain't you got the sense to know when to kuh-wit?" (in case you need translation...I believe that she meant "quit")

I stood there.  Dumb-founded...honestly, trying to figure out what she meant.  I figured it out.  Then,  every bit of my flesh wanted to say, "Sense???  are you seriously going to try to talk to me about sense??  I believe that 80% of the educated population would not have understood what you just asked me."  However, I refrained.

I prayed.  

Then, I spoke.  

I am learning.

I proceeded to tell her about our adoptions and taking our 4 biological kiddos with us to China, and what a wonderful, God-given gift it has been.  And you know what?  That little lady behind the deli counter opened up and poured out her life to me in about 2 minutes, and by the time we left the deli counter...she said, "Well, you sure are blessed."  And, she is right.

I will take blessings over "sense" any day.

Daniel Cason Saturday

Every year around Thanksgiving, the kids get the opportunity through a discipleship group that they are involved in to go and volunteer at the Daniel Cason Ministry...an amazing ministry that feeds thousands of homeless and less-fortunate people in the inner-city at Thanksgiving.  This year, Maggie was old enough to join Daddy and the 3 big kids...she was thrilled.  They had the privilege of joining Daniel's choir as it practiced their Christmas songs...they had a GREAT time!

A typical conversation during my day...

*A disclaimer...My older children are fabulous about helping...so, please don't think that I am raising lazy kiddos...

Me - "Maggie, do you think you could help me empty the dishwasher?" (Now, I KNOW better than to ask...I am supposed to delegate)
Maggie - "Hm...no, ma'm."
Me - "Please, Maggie."
Maggie - "Oh.  Please, No Ma'm."

She ended up emptying the dishwasher.

Back in the saddle again

Recently, I told a few good friends of mine, "I feel like I closed my eyes on the morning of August 27 when they wheeled CJ into the operating room, and I opened my eyes, and it was the middle of October."  After the boys' surgeries, recovery, and then dealing with Landon's "mystery illness" that lasted for basically 5 weeks, we have begun to find our new "normal" again.  Focusing on schoolwork, cleaning, enjoying the unbelievably beautiful fall days...it has really, really been nice.  It has been great to not see the inside of Children's ER (even though the staff there is amazing).  It has been wonderful to go through a whole WEEK and not have Landon spike a fever of 103, have headaches, vomit, and/or get disoriented.

We were blessed to be able to be released from the hospital on October 10th (a happy 37th birthday to me :-)...I couldn't have asked for anything more than to have gotten to bring Landon home after 5 days of intensity in the hospital of teams of specialists not being able to discover what was ailing his little body.  We still don't have any "diagnosis", but we are just so thankful that he is returning to his normal, sweet self.  During our stay in the hospital, I was reminded to be thankful for each and everyday that we have...each healthy day that my kids are at home, playing, learning, and even fighting.  So, so many kids that we saw up on our 10th floor "home" were not going to be going home anytime soon.  I could see and sympathize with the weariness on the parents' faces.  I wondered if they felt as torn as I felt between kids at home and the one in the hospital...I wondered if they missed getting to spend time with their spouse like I did - other than the 15 minute "shift change".  All that to say, it left me/us with a new appreciation and sympathy for parents of children with serious conditions.  It left us with an all new gratitude to the Lord for times of struggle and testing because we truly learned that the "testing of our faith produces endurance..." and we desperately want "endurance to have its perfect result, that we would be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  Those days were so, so painfully hard, but so, so desperately rich in His love, mercy, goodness, and faithfulness.  He never places us in a fire that He doesn't walk through with us, and (as a dear, amazing sister in Christ says) "that is a good place to be."

 Notice...my HUGE ice-coffe sitting in front of Maggie.  I am not ashamed to say...

"Thank the Lord for Iced Vias."

This little guy heads back into Children's on November 27th for orthopedic surgery on his leg.  Please keep him in your prayers. :-)