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. :-)