Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch

We did NOT go to a party tonight- well, some of us didn't. Cobe and I stayed home tonight due to his extended emergency room visit this morning. He woke up around 5:15 with severe stomach pain. He was writhing in pain, doubled over. Not like him at all. He continued to suffer and could not ever get in a comfortable position. The pain moved from all over to the right lower side of his stomach. I called his regular doctor, and he said to take him to emergency. Right away they did blood work, and the white blood cell count came back higher than normal. Normal is under 10,000 and his was 15,000- indicating infection. So they prepped him for a CT scan- he had to drink 2 tall cups of liquid stuff that would show up in the scan. He got half of the first cup down and started throwing up. Nice! Poor guy- he was so nauseous. So they put anti-nausea medicine in his IV and he slept for awhile while that kicked in. He woke up, drank the 2nd cup of the nasty stuff, then we had to wait an hour before he could have the scan so the liquid would show up. During the scan, they injected dye into his IV so that would show up as well. Are you getting all this? My petrified-of-doctors, petrified-of-shots, petrified-of-pain, petrified-really of anything out of the ordinary-son is having to endure all of this. I was super proud of him! He was nervous, but handled everything MUCH, MUCH better than I ever thought he was capable of.

So after the scan, we waited some more! The Dr. read the results which were basically inconclusive. They showed that there was inflammation and thickening around his appendix, but he couldn't tell what it was from. Sooooo....we waited some more for a surgeon to come from home to see what he thought. After hours, the surgeon came, and examined Cobe as well, and thought he was okay to go home to "wait and see" what developed in the next 48 hours. He thought he was either in the early stages of appendicitis, or just suffering from a viral infection.
Cobe was a real trooper- we got to the hospital around 9:00 this morning, and we got back home after 3:00. He has felt whipped since getting home, but hasn't seemed to be in nearly the pain he was this morning. The surgeon wants us to follow up with him on Monday.

So, Ryan took Brooks and Sadie to the fun party we were all supposed to go to, and Cobe and I stayed home and relaxed. His sweet personality has really shown through today- he has constantly thanked me for being with him, thanked me for taking him to the hospital, apologized for this happening to him (like he could help it!). He doesn't realize that I wish I could have taken all that pain for him. I love that little guy more than life itself! I am so thankful that he is better and that we serve a healing God.

Ryan leaves tomorrow for a 3 day golf outing with some cop friends of his. I pray that Cobe stays well, so that he can actually go. He needs a break and to get away.

Well...off to check on Cobe and to get him in bed. Even with a long afternoon nap, he can use the sleep!

Cobe's Debut at Catching

Cobe has been wanting to catch all season. We have 2 catchers- Zach and Drew- who do such a great job, and Cobe had never had full gear in which to practice. So about 2-3 weeks ago, Ryan took him to get catcher's gear, and he has been practicing ever since. His team was up 15-2 or somewhere around there in the 5th inning, so Steve put Cobe in as catcher. He was proud as punch! He almost caught a foul ball, but just missed it! He made a few good catches, but the pitcher was on fire tonight (Eli), so he struck out the other team pretty quickly and the inning was a short one. The Mets went on to win 17-2 after their best-played game of the season! Cobe made a double out play and also caught a fly ball for an out, plus he had a triple and a good line drive.

We left the game and went to Braelyn's party. Amanda had done an ice cream theme- super cute! They got to hit a pinata, ride quads, eat ice cream cupcakes in cones, play baseball, and play with their cousins. Fun party Amanda- thanks for having us!!!!!

Tomorrow we have nothing until 4:00- unheard of for quite some time! At 4:00, we'll be heading to a buddy of Ryan's to a family party. He has rented a bounce house and has set up other games for the kids/families. I'm sure we will have another fun evening. Summer has officially begun! YAY!

Sadie's Shiner

My precious baby girl got a black eye tonight! She was pitching to Brooks, and he hit the ball right back at her- she was much too close! I felt just as bad, if not worse, for Brooks. He has been a wreck all night. He feels so badly and has cried, cried and cried some more. As you can see from the picture, she wasn't too upset about it after awhile. We are blessed to have an eye doctor across the street from us- he came over and checked her out. He does want to see her in his office tomorrow because the ball scratched her eye as well, so he wants to check on that with his equipment. She's a real trooper!

Sadie and Lila

Sadie got to spend some time with Lila Bell this past week, and enjoyed every minute of it! I so wish we could have another baby- not only for Sadie's sake, but also for Brooks and Cobe's. They all three long for another sibling. Sort of pulls on your heartstrings..... I think God knew what He was doing :-) when he put Ryan in my path. If he had put a man who wanted lots of kids...who knows how many I'd have!!!!!

She thought she was some kind of special to get to hold Lila all by herself. Thanks Lynette for sharing!

I AM SO EXCITED....

so I can't imagine how Cobe feels! Cobe hit a clean home run today at his game against the Cubs!!!!!! Unfortunately, no one was on base, so it only scored his team 1 run, but it was AWESOME! I was so proud of him! He went from not hitting all season, to hitting a double and a single last game, to a HOME RUN and a double today. Sweet! He had a great game in the field as well.

Okay- guess I know how he feels now. He just came walking in the room with his hands in the air singing, "I made a home run! I made a home run!" :-)

Shoot!

****See previous posts****

Not the pictures at all that I most wanted to upload...but after 5, I had already taken up all my memory again. Definitely time for an external hard drive or a new computer!!!!

Here is the girl part of the band today. The boys (Josh and Brooks) had on cowboy hats and guitars. You'll have to take my word for it that they were adorable.

Grant, Cobe and Chase at the Walk-a-thon Celebration at the high school stadium. Cobe won the prize for 3rd grade boys- most miles. He won a $5 Target gift card and a water bottle. He also raised enough money to go on a limo ride next week- his principal is taking the kids in a Hummer limo to Captain Sundae- not the close one, but the one in Holland.

Josh, Connor, Cobe and Michael at the celebration (and yes, Michael is Cobe's age- look at the size difference!)

Cobe's buddy Connor and silly Cobe with a blue tongue!

Random picture of Sadie...from I don't know when. Notice though- the "bunny" pjs are still being worn and still the fav!

Ryan's new ride

2006 Mercury Milan Premier- navy blue...Ryan's has black leather interior

Broke the Streak!!!!!

Concentrating...
He throws and it's a strike! (maybe! :-) )

My baby- she looks so sweet and innocent. I'll have to keep this picture nearby to remind me that she can be sweet!

Yay! Posting that last post must have helped Cobe out! His luck took a turn for the better! He was able to get 2 hits Tuesday night- a double then a single. He also pitched the majority of the game and did a wonderful job...for the most part! :-) He can throw some "balls", but fortunately, he was able to throw those strikes when it mattered most. He was on cloud 9- he was awarded the MVP award for the game and was presented with the game ball. I am sure he will treasure it forever. He has another game Saturday against his buddy Chase...AGAIN! Chase struck him out several times last game they played, but he won't be pitching on Saturday, so I am hoping Cobe can get some more hits to keep his confidence up.

Brooks has a game tomorrow night- 2nd t-ball game of the season. He is pumped! But, he'll be missing his cousin Jakey's birthday party because of the game. Don't really know how well that is going to go over. We will have to go drop Cobe off at the party, then leave for Brooks' game. Hmm......Chuck E Cheese or t-ball? I can about imagine which one he'd rather go to. He has pictures before tomorrow's game or else he could have at least stayed for 45 minutes or so- now he can really only walk in long enough to say Happy Birthday. I hope he'll leave when time! Poor little Jakey got hit in the mouth today at school and it knocked 3 of his teeth loose. He was pretty brave though! He may be eating soup for his birthday instead of pizza!

We had a blast today with the younger cousins here. Josh, Braelyn and Selah spent the day with us and Brooks and Sadie had so much fun with them. I am trying my best to upload some pictures of the "band." They are quite the motley crew! They have so much fun together! The boys play football, basketball, air hockey, dress up in costumes, play intruments, etc. The girls...well, the girls...must find it enjoyable to bicker and fight a lot! I finally decided to stop interfering and let them fend for themselves, and it actually worked out a lot better. Sadly to say, my daughter is the instigator, the punisher, the "boss," the sassy one, etc. so she may soon find out the hard way that kids don't like to play with her when she acts this way. Once I put her in a long time out, she shaped up and was much better. Braelyn asked me, "Aunt Sarah, why is Sadie so crabby today?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that it wasn't just today- that is just Sadie. UGH! She can turn on the charm in an instant though and be sweet as pie for awhile too- so at least B got to see that side of her later on.

We went tonight to a car place and bought a car! Weren't really planning on getting anything tonight, but we decided to. We went to look at Ford Fusions. We went last week and Ryan saw a Ford Fusion he really wanted. We knew the price, options, etc. But when we got there tonight, there was a 2006 Mercury Milan that we hadn't seen last time, and it seemed like a much better deal. Also Ryan drove both of them several times and thought the Milan drove a lot better than the Fusion. So we are now the proud owners of a navy blue Mercury Milan! It is a nice car- the interior is really nice-looking black leather. They were taking it to GR tomorrow to have the windows tinted and are delivering it to us Friday night. Jim- you can finally have your truck to yourself!!!!!! Ryan's parents have been a Godsend to let us borrow a car for as long as they have. We are so appreciative!!!!!!!

Well, I am going to try one more time to upload the cute pictures from today. If there is a new post, it worked. If not, you get the picture.

The Mets

Whoo Hoo! Cobe's team pulled an upset tonight! They beat the 2nd ranked Pirates 11-3!!!! They were on fire! Here's hoping for another win tomorrow night against Landon, Justin and Dimitri's team! :-) Poor Cobe has to pitch tomorrow night though. Zach pitched most of tonight and was throwing strikes. Cobe is pretty down even after the win. He struck out all 3 times at bat. He can't get a hit to save his life. I feel so badly for him. :-( He is VERY discouraged! I so hope he can turn it around soon...he is ready to quit. So unlike him, but he was about the only kid who didn't get a hit tonight, so I feel his pain. Ugh! Being a mom is harder than I ever thought! I can't stand watching my little boy's heart break.

Wisdom

My faith is tested many times every day, and more times than I'd like to confess, I'm unable to keep the banner of faith aloft. If a promise is broken, or a secret betrayed, or if I experience long-lasting pain, I begin to doubt God and God's love. I fall so miserably into the chasm of disbelief that I cry out in pain. Then the Spirit lifts me up again, and once more I am secured in faith. I don't know how that happens, save when I cry out earnestly I am answered immediately and am returned to faithfulness. I am once again filled with Spirit and firmly planted on solid ground. -Maya Angelou

Tulip Time is Here

And yes Jeff and Michele- you are missing it! :-)

This has been the least stressful Tulip Time to date- because I finally gave up on the idea that I needed to haul my brood downtown to take pictures in Dutch costumes! It is a good feeling to NOT have to do that! I sold off the costumes last year, so there is no going back. Cobe would have been old enough to refuse anyway, and with everyone not feeling the greatest, it is nice to not have to drag them down there. We aren't big Tulip Time people over here- Ryan can't stand the week, I could take it or leave it, and the kids enjoy the parades, but that is about it. I do like getting out of work/school though, so I won't complain about that! I don't have to work at all tomorrow- yippee! We'll head down to tomorrow's parade if the rain holds off. We have had a beautiful start to the week, so I am hoping for the economy's sake, that the weather has helped the tourists stimulate our local economy. We don't get into eating all that food down there either- thank goodness, none of it appeals to us. I do like seeing my students march by in the parades. We'll hit tomorrow's, and that is probably it. Our weekend is already packed full, so we won't be going to Saturday's most likely. Friday night we are going to a Whitecaps game with Cobe's school. He earned 2 tickets in the reading program so we bought 3 more so we could all go. Saturday- he has an early morning game, then Sadie and I will head over to Aliyah and Maya's dance recital. Sat. evening, we are getting together with friends we haven't seen in awhile, so hopefully everyone will stay well so we can do all that!

I finally am getting my hair highlighted on Thursday- much needed! My roots are pitch black and my hair is quite frumpy these days.

Today we spent the beautiful day outside all day. After picking up Sadie from school, we headed to Helder Park with some friends. The kids all had fun running around. Sadie got worn out quickly since she still isn't 100%, so when we left, we headed to Sam's Club, then back home for me to let her nap. She had other ideas and some of the neighborhood girls were out, so she ended up playing outside a lot longer. I gave her a bath and pjs, because I knew she'd be out soon, and she was and has been since 4:30 or so. She may just stay that way until morning. :-)

We had a delicious dinner tonight- Rachel Mitchell made us a taco bake and corn bread. Yum, yum! It was sooooooooooo good!

Going to get some homework started. Can't wait to watch Biggest Loser and American Idol tonight! GO ADAM!!!!!!

Blog Reprieve

Wow! Over a month without a post! At first I stopped blogging to "hide" from the media, inquisitive minds, etc., but then I just never had the desire to do it. I am one who likes to stay upbeat most of the time, and I couldn't think of many upbeat things to post about, so I chose not to post at all. Now that there are other things in our lives, namely baseball, that I can blog about- I'll give it another whirl! :-)

Cobe has started his second season of Williamsport baseball. Last year on the Pirates, his team won the regular season and the Kaat tournament as well. It was a great start to his little league career. Well... this season is quite different. He is on the Mets this year, and Ryan is the assistant coach, so they are both having a blast with that. Cobe is a much more confident player this year and has pitched in 2 out of the 3 games he has had so far. Unfortunately, they are NOT having a winning season so far. They won their first game 16-5, and Cobe pitched a great game. They lost their second game 12-1, and their third game 13-5 in which Cobe also pitched. Ryan is still working with him on his hitting- he had a great hit in the first game, and then has either been walked or struck out since.

Brooks started t-ball this year. He has had several practices so far and has his first game Thursday night. He is a little ball player. LOVES the sport and does a great job at it! He is in the yard as much as possible with Ryan and Cobe batting, throwing and pitching. I hope he doesn't get too nervous at his first game.... I still have some fear that he will shut down if he gets nervous.

Sadie hasn't changed a bit since my last post- still all sass. She can entertain herself easily with her imaginary friends and situations, but really enjoys being around her friends. She only has 5 more days of class until 3-school is over. It's on to preschool for her next year.

We had a quiet weekend due to sickness at our house. I have had a cold since Thursday of last week and have felt rotten off and on since then. Brooks started throwing up on Saturday, and Sadie threw up during the night Sat. night. Yuck! So all weekend plans were put on hold. Cobe stayed home from school today because he has a headache/stuffy nose/cold symptoms, etc. but seems to feel okay. I think he played his dad a little this morning to get him to let him stay home. He will be back at school tomorrow for sure!!!!

At work, lots of teachers are changing teaching assignments for next year. 3 of our teachers are moving to the high school, 2 teachers from Lincoln are moving to our school, and several more of us are changing grade levels. I am changing to 6th grade. I have read all of the new novels, and LOVE the curriculum, so I am getting pretty excited about the change. I will be teaming with 2 teachers who I think a lot of, so that part will great too. I will be moving my classroom upstairs, which I don't like that much- right now I am downstairs in the "hub" of the school, so I feel like I will be more out of the way upstairs. My hours are changing to 10-noon as well, which will allow me to get the kids off to school, Sadie to preschool, etc. so it should be fine.

We have been very blessed these past few weeks with so many friends and family supporting us in so many ways. We now await the next step in this process which will be the preliminary hearing. Have no idea when that will be yet. We are living by Colossians 4:2-6 right now:

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Paul asked them to pray for his work, not for him personally- which is interesting when you think that Paul was in prison, that he was about to go on trial, that his life was a tempest at that point in time...but Paul asked them to pray, in spite of the seeming dark clouds around him, for the opportunities that were coming in the near future and that he would be faithful to proclaim God's message. A commentary in the Bible on these verses says, "When we pray for ourselves and for others, we should not ask release from any task, but rather strength to complete the task which has been given us to do. Prayer should always be for power and seldom for release."

This struck me b/c we had been praying that we would be released from this "mess." In actuality, God wants to give us power and strength to face it. We know that He has not given us anything we can't handle, just as He has promised us. "Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go. " Joshua 1:9

And with that, we are comforted.