Nothing 2 Bring

So, what have we been up to you ask? Or not.  Because you have your own life.

Well, just in case... Cause I know you REALLY care and you REALLY pray...

The most recent item of concern is that we are preparing for another trip up to UNC. Shepherd is scheduled for his bronchoschopy (where they will sedate him and take him into the OR, then put a scope with a camera up his nose and down through his airway) where they will evaluate if they think he can de-canulate (get his trach out). From what I understand they will basically take his trach out right there and see how he responds. If he seems to be holding his own then they will keep him at UNC, probably in the PICU for another few days to make sure he does ok respiratory wise before sending us home. As you can see below, Shepherd is praying (albeit with his feet) that everything goes smoothly. 

It's honestly been kind of nerve racking this week, knowing (or not knowing) what is ahead of us. But God continues to remind me that He is with us...in the OR... in the hospital....at RMH.....in the PICU. GOD. IS. WITH.US.  He beautifully reminded me again of the His nearness and his Sovereignty when I sat down with my journal from when Shepherd was born. The same verses continue to encourage me. If you remember from a while back I posted about how God gave me 2 verses the day that I was surprisingly induced with Shepherd. He knew what was ahead and made sure I had these to hold in to.

The first was Psalm 131

 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;

my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

 O Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore. 

The other was Isaiah 31:1,5

 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help

and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!

 Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”

As we face the unknown of this week, we find great comfort in this reminder. So as scared as I am, may this day hold all that God intends, filling it with His glory and beauty. And thank you, Lord, for all that you have done thus far. So much more than we dared to imagine. Lord, help me not waste my energies with fear but to hope in you and expect great things from you, knowing you do ONLY great things. And I don't have to know all the details. I just have to know you. And because of your son Jesus, I do.

So, as we prepare for that, Shepherd continues to hang out with Daddy and the rest of the family. He's growing great and is up to 10 1/2 Lbs.  He's still not on the charts, but hey, we'll take it. 

He has become SO social. He just cracks us up. He's crazy happy and smiles like a goof ball all.. the.. time. He's a great joy and I'm so grateful to meet him anew each day. Our favorite is his laugh. He gets to giggling and you can't hear anything, you just see his chest and shoulders bouncing up and down and his face so bright. He is a gift. 

He loves to sleep with daddy. It seems were all a tad sleepy these days, but not too bad. We did get our nursing hours dropped down to 4 hours a day and 8 hours at night. It has actually turned out to be perfect. God has provided lot's of grace and he knows exactly what we need, apparently. If Shep decanulates this weekend ,we will lose all of our nursing within a couple of weeks. That will be interesting. I'm most concerned about the nights. He will still sleep with his pulse-ox on which has the delightful tendency of going off ALL. the. time. Between that and feeds, it may be slightly challenging to get a good nights sleep. 

So it sounds like an adventure in seeing God's provision. Should be fun!

He continues to make huge advancements each day, physically. His new one is playing with/eating his toes. It is crazy, I have to say, because seriously, my son is basically already a Yogi master, except were not Hindu. But, if we were, Shepherd would be a Yogi master. I have yet to capture a good picture but he literally uses his abs and pulls his feet up past his nose, folding himself completely in half. While he was still in utero, they would try to get cute 3D pics of his face for us every week, and they wouldn't be able to because his feet were covering his face. 

Crazy.

Maybe he'll give me some tips.

He's also getting so much better at holding his head up and having upper body strength. Here he is practicing with one of his favorite nurses.

And when he's not doing physical therapy or sleeping, or eating, he is playing with his bro's. I decided I didn't have room for the picture of  Haddon galloping the horse across Shepherd's head, but you know it happens.

Meanwhile, when the boys aren't riding horses across their youngest brothers head, they do things like this....

And finally, while Mimi was in town, I took the opportunity to try my hand at Once a Month cooking.

At this website, she does all of the menu planning, grocery list, instructions, EVERYTHING new every month, and it's completely free.

I'm usually not much for meal planning and all of that. It just seems to complicate my life. And there's nothing worse than a complicated life. But I must say, so far I have been loving this. You cook for one day, preferably with a friend, and you end up with 15 breakfasts, 10 lunches, and 15 dinners. Basically, you have something frozen for every other day, so you still get to cook some. But you clean a lot less throughout the week, too. With the month we had coming up I figured now was as good a time as any. Check it out and see if you like it.

I got to make great stuff like this  Garden Chowder

And Herb & potato pancakes. 

These were GREAT but next time I'm gonna make them with Sweet potatoes so they are healthier.

Lastly, my precious mommy, sent me and my sis to a spa to get a massage, pedicure, and manicure before we go back to the hospital. It was so refreshing/relaxing/rejuvinating and every other "r" word that means it was great. 

I mean, not to say I don't always go to the spa, like say every week or so. I mean of course I do. Doesn't everybody. Have I mentioned I also drive a mercedes benz? Well that's for a different post entirely.

That's a little from this side of the fence. We really appreciate your prayer throughout this weekend. I will be updating the blog on Thursday to let you know how it goes. May God be glorified.