A Much Better Day!

We have been so thankful that Tirzah has been fever-free for 24 hours now! Praise the Lord! At this point, it doesn't look like I will have to take her in tomorrow...yay! She still had a rough night sleep-wise last night, but today she was more herself; playful, smiling, cooing...I loved it! It was so great to see her acting like she's feeling better! We haven't heard any results of her tests, so we're praying that no news is good news. I think the doctor will go over her ultrasound when we see him next week. We are so thankful for all of your prayers and encouragement! It has really helped!

To lighten the mood a bit...as I've said many times before, we're a bird family. We really enjoy watching them, "feeding" them and researching them. Yesterday evening there was a male and female cardinal (a family favorite!) at one of our feeders. Josiah pointed to the female and said, "Look, there's the daddy cardinal's wife!" Hee, hee!

Our day

After doing a urine culture, they did find bacteria (which means a bladder infection). They gave her another shot of antibiotics today and she got a prescription for some oral antibiotics. The Dr. sent us over to the hospital for an ultra-sound of the bladder and kidneys to check them out. We should have those results in a few days. In another week or two they will do a VCUG (they put some dye in her to check that the bladder and kidneys are functioning properly). Today they also checked her blood again. Her numbers are looking better after her shot of antibiotics, so that is a praise. We still don't have the results of the blood culture, though. If that comes back showing bacteria growing, she will need to be admitted to the hospital to get antibiotics through an IV for a couple of days. Please pray that her blood culture will come back normal! Also, if she is still running a fever by Wednesday, we are supposed to take her back in. She was still running a low-grade fever this afternoon, so that has me a little bit concerned.

I will do my best to keep you posted! Thanks so much for your prayers!!!

Update

Yesterday at Urgent Care they did a throat swab (negative), checked for a UTI (negative), did more blood work (some numbers were high) and a chest x-ray (which was a little cloudy). The Dr. said there's some infection brewing somewhere, and with the fever as high as it's been and for as long as she's had it, it looks like it is a bacterial infection. So possibly pneumonia...but she wasn't absolutely certain. Tirzah got a shot of antibiotics and is going to see her regular Dr. this morning. She woke up with a 102.1 fever, so I'm a little discouraged about that. I'll post another update after our Dr. visit today. Thank you so much for your continued prayers!!!

the fever that won't seem to go away!

For those of you who have been keeping up on our posts, you know that we've been fighting this fever since Tuesday. If I keep up steady doses of Tylenol and Motrin, it stays down. The problem with that is then she doesn't eat well. Yesterday evening I pushed off her dose of Tylenol hoping that she would eat a little better. When I checked her temp. it was going up...101, so I gave her some Tylenol. An hour later her fever shot up to 104.6. I tried to get her cooled down quickly and gave her another dose of Motrin, even though it wasn't quite time for one. I just about took her to the ER last night, but the Urgent Care is open this afternoon, so we are going to do that. Please pray for healing for Tirzah and that if there is something wrong, the doctors will find it so that we can get whatever this is taken care of!

Here is what our sweet little girl has been up to...

"I lift up my eyes to the hills, From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore."

-Psalm 121

Fever Update & A Lost Tooth!

I took Tirzah to the doctor today & he couldn't find anything wrong with her (ears, lungs, blood). It may just be an odd virus. He did say that if she is still running a fever Monday to bring her back & he will do further testing. When she woke up from her nap this evening, her temp. was 103.5. We would appreciate your prayers for her!

On to a completely different subject...

Just 8 days before his 6th birthday, Isaac lost his first tooth! He was a pretty happy camper!

Of course, it had to turn into a photo-shoot for the rest of the crew too!

Fevers and Funnies

Yesterday evening I realized that Tirzah felt warm. I took her temp. and it was 103. I'm a little puzzled because she doesn't have any other symptoms. After talking to two of my sisters who are nurses, I've decided to just watch her for another day or so as long as the Tylenol keeps the fever down. Please help us pray that God will heal her little body of whatever it is she has!

Several years ago I decided to start writing the funny/cute things our kids say in a notebook. So every now and then I'll include one in my blog. Here's one for today:

7/19/06
Today the kids were watching Clifford. At the end of the show Emily Elizabeth said that Clifford was the best. Keziah then said, "No, God is. She said that Clifford was the best, but God is...right mom?" I replied, "That's right, Keziah." Then Keziah said, "Something's not right!"

April showers...

...bring April flowers? Well, that's the way it happened here! We've had several rainy days, but the grass is finally turning green and flowers are beginning to bloom!
We have these small purple flowers all over & I'd love it if someone could tell me what they are!

The older kids are enjoying the sunny day!

We hope you're enjoying your day as well...rain or shine :)

5 Months Old!

Where, oh where does the time go? Our baby is 5 months old today! She has really progressed in her cereal eating...she loves it now! She will grab my hand and "help" me get it to her mouth. She is starting to get excited when she sees me getting it ready for her. It is too cute! Grandma made a new highchair cover for us that Tirzah had to check out...

She really likes it! Thank you grandma!

More Easter Pics

The kids did a great job decorating their eggs. I was quite pleased at some crosses that Isaac and Keziah drew on their eggs! We decorated them Saturday and hunted them indoors on Sunday (it was a cold, rainy day outside).
Then we had to get silly...

the silliness continues...

Saturday the kids also helped make and decorate cupcakes. Josiah really took his time.

YUMMY!

We did so many activities this weekend that I think the kids are getting a little bit bored today!

Easter Weekend

We have had such a great weekend together as a family, celebrating Jesus' resurrection! I don't want to overload our blog, or you, so I will share them in spurts :)

It is a little challenging (to say the least) to get 5 young children to be still long enough...all at the same time...to get a decent picture. This one is about the best we got of all 5...

I'm glad the Lord gave me the idea to take separate pictures of the boys and girls! They sure turned out cute!

The girls; Tirzah & Keziah...

and the boys; (l-r-f) Josiah, Isaac & Titus.

We also had our family picture taken at church...not such a nice background, but oh well!

"But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." --Isaiah 53:5

Wow! Are we so grateful for that! The reason for this whole weekend in the first place!

More to come...

Camping, Scrapbooking and More

This has been such an exhausting week! I'm praying Tirzah will go back to her old schedule of sleeping through the night! Wow, does it make a huge difference!

Thankfully Titus is feeling a little better. He will be done with his "spicy" medicine tomorrow (which we will all be thankful for!) but will still be taking his antibiotics and breathing treatments. The bug has continued to make its round through our family, unfortunately :( In spite of it all...

we set up the tent (yes, indoors!) and the kids have been having a blast!
Keziah has been working on her scrapbook, which is more than I can say about mine! She really enjoys crafting, so this is such a fun project for her.

Here is a rare moment in our house these days...Tirzah sleeping! It's bad enough that she hasn't been sleeping at night, but she hasn't been sleeping during the day either!

And now for some prayers from the tent tonight...

"Dear Jesus, would you help us have a good Easter celebrating you? Amen." --Isaac (5)

"Dear Jesus, would you help me love you more than candy and anything else in the whole wide world? Amen." --Josiah (4)

These are our prayers for you as well!

A Busy Week

Aahh! It feels so good to be able to sit down (even if it is in front of my computer)! We've already had a crazy week. Yesterday I took Titus & Tirzah to the doctor. Both have been miserable since Friday afternoon. Tirzah is fine, but she sure doesn't feel fine! She has a bad cold. Titus, on the other hand, has an ear infection and bronchiolitis. His blood oxygen level was low enough yesterday that the doctor wanted me to bring him back today to have it checked again. Praise God it is better! He's on two kinds of medication plus his breathing treatments he needs every 4 hours (around the clock for the next few days). We are glad to be home after all of our running around!

On our way to Kearney we enjoyed seeing the cranes again! We will sure miss them when they move on!

"Can I pray for you?"

What sweet words; even more-so when they come from a child! Titus spiked a fever this evening and has really been feeling miserable. I got him tucked into bed and Isaac went to tell him good-night too. He said, "I hope you feel better tomorrow! Can I pray for you?" And he knelt down by his little brother's bed and prayed that God would help him to feel better. I stood there with tears in my eyes...so thankful that God put such a precious thought in little Isaac's mind! (Keziah came down later and also prayed for Titus!)

I have thoroughly enjoyed my day! I enjoyed a visit with Deb on the phone this morning...always fun to talk with my sisters (Happy Birthday, Deb!)! This afternoon my good friend Lisa called (with her beautiful English accent). I haven't talked to her since we left Illinois last May, so it was wonderful to visit with her again (miss you bunches, dear friend!)! I also enjoyed hearing Keziah actually reading books to her little brothers and this evening hearing the older three kids enjoying each others company over a root beer float...absolutely precious...and priceless!

Thank you, Lord, for entrusting such precious gifts into my hands. They truly are a blessing!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'!

Tuesday Tirzah finally mastered the art of rolling over! She goes from her back to her tummy with great ease! The only problem now is, she's not sure what to do when she gets to her tummy! It's been a week for other "firsts" as well...

...first time in the johnny jump-up...as you can tell, she thought it was great fun!

...first taste of baby rice...though we're just playing with it now. She's not as interested as I though she would be, so I guess we'll wait a few more weeks.

We are so thankful to God for helping her to accomplish these "firsts"!