A View From His Crib

 
 
 
Please pray for Bryce, today, as he gets "stuck" again in just a few hours. I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach until it is over. Please pray that the levels will be better. Pray that he will grow to be a leader for God. Pray that these tiny lips will always speak of God's love. Pray that his eyes will only look on others with mercy and on things of honor to God. Pray that these little ears will hear His Word and always follow it. Pray that his heart will always be a servant's humble heart. Pray that as he tucks his tiny arms under himself to sleep, that he will use his hands to serve others for God's glory. Pray that he will walk these tiny feet in a path of God's Will. PRAY!

A New Perspective

 
I made this pic while I am STILL trying to recalibrate my camera and figure out WHAT the heck I am doing with the settings! I LOVE Bryce's new perspective on things. Check out his "boo-boo" on his knee. I know, I know... AWWWWW! I always look for a lesson, from God, in all that he does. He spends alot of time playing like this. I got some more pics of him outside playing upside down that I should post. The lesson that I took from him with this is: Sometimes we don't like the way something looks when God "hands" it to us, but if we just change our perspective a little, we might decide that it ain't so bad. We might even learn something new! Bryce loves to check out the way things are working. He turns his head from side to side and upside down. What a BOY! It is sometimes difficult to ride him in his wagon, cause he want to play with the wheels. I have so many pics that I want to post, but run out of time. This post is a quick one, before he wakes up. Of course, he sleeps in on the day that my mind is racing and won't let me sleep! lol. But, aren't you thankful that you got a post out of it! lol. Well, gotta run for now, I must do a post to tell you about my son's love affair with Tigger. I hear him now....calling me... to start his day...........

The Prodigal Son

 
My prodigal son has returned! Not my baby, my camera! lol (What were you thinking?) Just kidding. My camera came back complete with repairs and a good, well-needed, cleaning. They reset all of the settings and updated the hardware. I think that the top of it is new (by the flashmount). There are lots of new parts according to the work order. I did a good job of blowing it up, I think. So does anyone want to loan me your camera? I will take real good care of it.....tee! hee! No, seriously. I have taught myself a little about it, since the repair. I am learning more with natural light. I hope to get in a class this fall that will help me be better and learn how to use an editor. It drives me nuts! I want to be better so bad! I wish that I could bring myself to delete the "bad" pics. Like, for example, the shutter speed was messed up for days when I first got my camera back, but did I delete the blurry ones? NOOOOOO..... I had to keep most of them, even though, they will NEVER get printed. lol Isn't is silly? I guess it feels too much like I am deleting Bryce. Speaking of the little angel, (I use that term loosely) his blood results were low today, but not "transfusion low" again yet. He got the 1/2 unit last week. The MD said not to expect "normal" levels. He dropped 2 points in one day, last week. He is a little over 6 points from another transfusion. I am preparing myself for the need for one as early as next week. I am waiting to hear from the specialist, who will probably say that we will just check it again in a week. The disheartening part, is that he gets stuck every week, and that his erythrocyte count is now a big fat zero. That means that he is making NOTHING new (no red blood cells). I guess that I didn't fully understand when he was making 0.5 and then 0.1, that, at least, it was doing something, although, not near enough to produce anything. It kinda makes my insides feel like that "drop of the heart" still feeling, that you get when you are watching a movie and you hear that long, wailing beep of the monitor, when they unhook someone for the last time. (I know, morbid, but just keeping it real). My tummy is nervous sometimes, but I am grateful that I have a child. I feel sooooo bad for those who can't. He is my sunshine! How funny are they? Silly every day! What a fresh perspective on life! He knew where we were going, this time, for his arm stick. But, as soon as they were done, he quit crying and smiled! We could learn alot from that kind of forgiveness. I hope that everyone had a great Memorial Day! Tell a Veteran, "Thank you for your service. I told my husband....lol. Well, gotta scoot, while Scooter is napping. I could chat for hours....thanks for being a good listener....lol. O.k. I am really rambling now. Enough is enough.... Bye ya'll!

Playdate...I think?

 

Please click on the pic to view it larger and see the silly details. This mosaic is my first. I can see why most people don't make them. It was hard! I could not eliminate enough pics to get it to do right. I had about 20, but blogger would only let me upload about 4 because of the file size. GAAA! You would think that it was FREE or something! lol These pics are from a playdate the other day with some of our neighborhood gals. I wanted to number them, so that I could explain them a little better. Can I just say that kids are HILARIOUS? There were alot more that were equally funny, but I just couldn't fit them all in. The kiddos were playing and we decided that we needed some pics. I, being the "quick draw" with my camera, ran in the house and grabbed mine and this is what resulted....
1. The first attempt to corral the little wiggle worms. Left is Emma (Bryce's main squeeze). Look at the expressions. She looks worried. lol In the middle is Carli. She is just happy to be there, looking at her mom. And then, there is Bryce with his "I don't know what is going on, so I will just smile" face.
2. Emma is figuring it all out. Carli is plotting her next move. And, well, Bryce is probably passing gas. Seriously!
3. Emma needs to pee. Carli is fed up with men (like most girls). And Bryce has lost all focus (like most men, who are easily distracted).
4. Readjust kiddos and give each one a ball so they are not grabbing and touching and pushing and whining and.....
5. Order of kids has now been changed due to Bryce and Carli continuing to throw and crawl after balls. Carli gives Bryce a "gentle love shove" and laughs. (or bryce still has the gas and is now sharing it with her in his gentle lean.) Carli may have hit him cause she does not appreciate it (like most of us girls with "smelly boys"). Bryce falls over on Emma, who moves like "He is touching me" or maybe she thinks that he has cooties.
6.Emma's mom to the rescue! She sits Bryce back up and Carli stares at him like, "Boys are stupid! Do you want some more of that?"
7. Bryce whining, while Carli is still giving him the look.
8. Emma escapes while Bryce decides that all is O.K., smiles, and cuts the "faucet of whine" off, because his mom is behind the camera and nobody is paying any attention to his fake plea for help. Carli is still looking at him is disbelief.
9. Out come the bubbles to "refocus" all the kids. YAY BUBBLES!
10. Well, sorta refocus.... Look at Emma! Hilarious!

I love you silly kiddos! I hope that ya'll grow up together, love and help one another always, play and share well, and may you never find COOTIES on each other!

Tougher than......

 
Yep! Here he is pre-transfusion in his Sesame Street pjs. We did it! He did great! He was such a good baby today. He just walked around checking things out. There were alot of "No No's" in his reach and he touched none! I could hardly believe it! My sweet mom went with me today, since Bryan was out of town. She was a TON of help. After our 1 1/2 hour trip, we finally arrived. They took us straight back and got ready to do the IV. He cried, but stopped as soon as they stopped poking at him with sharp objects. They took some blood and we waited... A substitute doctor saw us, and was FABULOUS! Me thinky, me gonna be requesting a change. She said that they were doing a test to determine if his blood cell maker was producing any cells at all. I asked her what she was comparing it to. She told me that the other doctor had done one too. (It would have been nice if that doctor had shared the info with me). And then, we waited... She said that if it showed any activity, that she would not transfuse him. And then we waited...The test came back and was a big fat ZILCHO. I was kinda torn though. I wanted him to not need the transfusion, but had accepted it in my heart, so I had some mixed feelings. I had painted a picture in my mind of him with beautiful pink glowing skin and lots of energy. I knew that God had heard my prayer for no transfusion, I just wondered if He was just checking to see if I believed. And then we waited... They came and drew more blood to make sure that my blood and his were compatible. And then we waited... After WAITING, we started the transfusion, which lasted about 2-3 hours. He slept through the whole thing! My mom and I caught up on some HGTV while my little angel, slept on my chest. (I still can't believe that I forgot my camera. I guess that I had some more important things to think about.) He got his IV out and away we went. He will have his level checked Wednesday. I am praying that he will be making his own cells. The transfusion does not stimulate him, it only buys us some time. The MD said that even when he starts to make cells, he will be pale for about 6 more months, so don't adjust your screen contrast, that is his REAL color. The doctor said something as we were getting ready to leave that I had thought about too. She said, "Just think, you got to give LIFE to your child twice!" I felt proud of my Bryce and how well he had behaved and received the blood. What a tough guy! He is tougher than....tougher than....yea! He is tougher than WOODPECKER LIPS! lol

My Tough Guy

 
(Sorry that I don't have more words for now). Today we learned that Bryce was 2 points lower, after two needle sticks. The specialist recommended the transfusion, since he is sleeping a little more than usual. She and I both did not want for Bryce to get into any distress, so tomorrow he will get 4 oz. of my blood. Bryan (my husband) had to go out of town with his job. My mom will be going with us. I dread the sticks (more labwork and the IV) more than the actual transfusion. He is tough though. He did not even cry today with the first stick. The second one, he had big crocodile tears and hardly a whimper. My tough boy.....I love you!

Photo Blurb Book

This photo is for an entry for one of my favorite blog sites called iheartfaces. They are requesting your favorite photo for a book. The pic always has to include a face. Although, I do not consider myself a "professional", I have been paid for my work and have to enter the "professional category". This is one of my many favorites of my "little angel's" face. That SMILE melts me. It is BIGGER than any problem that I can possibly "think" that I have! lol It was my banner photo for a while. It is my desktop photo now. How can I look at it and NOT smile? Please click on it to enjoy the life-size version.

 

Head on over to iheartfaces and checkout all the favorites. Enter one for yourself, I would love to see it!


"I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."