September 25, 2009 Late Night with the Blackerbys

Last night was the fund raising dinner for Options Pregnancy Center at Chateau on the Lake. It was a beautiful night, an amazing meal and lots of good feelings to spread around. Blaze, of course, could not come to this event. He got to spend the evening with Joe, Summer and Taylor Blackerby. "Uncle" Joe and "Aunt" Summer had been wanting to watch Blaze. Taylor, their daughter, was just dying to hold him. We weren't sure how the evening was going to go, Blaze doesn't normally spend the evening with other people, and rarely that late in the evening. He hasn't spent much time at all with the Blackerbys so Mom and Dad were curious to see what would happen. We got there and Blaze was so excited to see they had dogs. He merely waved good-bye to us when we left. Typically he goes to sleep around 7 p.m., last night he stayed up until 9:50 p.m. and we got there at 10. Thankfully, he was a little prince last night. He was sweet and played and he even let Taylor hold him for awhile. We were thrilled he was so good! Not that he's not normally an excellent child, it's just nice when you're not sure how he'll act and he is super good.

He mostly slept through us putting him into the car, then into bed. He woke up at 2 this morning, I think he was just confused how he could be in his own bed and wanted reassurance we were there. Melissa reports that he's very sleepy and slightly on the grumpy side this morning. He's taking a long nap, so hopefully he'll get himself readjusted. It's hard when your parents make you party all night!

Please pray for Craig Hendrickson. Craig is in his late twenties and has the same cancer that Tim recovered from. Unfortunately, Craig has been fighting this cancer on and off for several years now. He is currently at Barnes and we believe he is currently on a ventilator. He is having complications breathing and things look really grim right now. For those of you who don't know Craig, Craig is Carla's brother. Carla is married to Josh (Tim's brother.) I think it's just amazing that Josh and Carla both have brothers who have had this cancer. So, long story short we share a niece with Craig and his wife, Gwen. Please pray for his whole family, they've been in this battle a long time and could use some encouragement.

Thank you for your continued prayers, I am constantly amazed by how blessed we are.

September 24, 2009 Blaze, Blaze Everywhere

We have a runner. He's not just jogging, he's full-fledged out and out running through the house now. Often behind the dog or after one of us saying "Get ya, get ya get ya". It's so much fun. We have a very active little boy on our hands. It's hard to believe how much change a person goes through in a year.

Blaze has his teeth that are in the "canine" spot coming in. They finally broke through earlier in the week. I think he is close to having a complete set of baby teeth now. He's getting heavy, too. If you leave him on one arm for a brief period of time, he'll wear it out! I don't know if he's hit a growth spurt or what the deal is, but recently he's gotten heavier. It's terrific, though. We'd like to see him go up a bit higher on the weight chart. I haven't checked the scale, but I sure feel it!

I got to go to my first MOPS meeting this week. I highly recommend any mom of preschoolers to find a group and go. Two hours to yourself while your child can learn something in a safe environment. It's a great idea and very helpful.

We continue to be so grateful for all our blessings!

September18, 2009

Blaze is finally feeling better. He's had a rotten cold this week, plus some medication issues, but he is full of happiness and energy today. Daddy went in and got him this morning when he woke up. It was so sweet. Tim brought Blaze into our room, and they looked and smiled at each other, almost mirroring the expression. They were both obviously happy to see each other this morning. Blaze mimicks Tim's expressions a lot now. It's so fun.

I don't have much to say this week. We didn't take him out after his big weekend. He walks around the neighborhood, but he hasn't been anywhere to socialize. We're nervous about the flu, and praying for wisdom with the situation. We're doing what's called "social distancing." I didn't realize there was a term for this, but I went to the flu websites yesterday and there it was! We haven't been told to do this, we're just being careful, especially with him getting colds so easily lately. Poor fella!

We do have a praise. Jake Lawson is cancer free! Hooray!! He still has a long way to go with some other issues, but this is HUGE!!! Praise God!!! We are celebrating that good news today

Blaze "Homecoming" Sept.13, 2009

Blaze went with me to Milo Baptist Church's annual homecoming. Milo is the church that my dad was pastor of from the time I was born until I was 13 years old. So many of the sweet ladies are still there. The dinner even brought back memories, I had Miss Ruby's spanish rice and Miss Berniece's chocolate meruinge pie. Blaze is no dummy. He LOVED the chocolate pie. He was pretty onery during the preaching and got taken out during both services. But, I have to say he was a charmer all weekend. He attempted to climb up my grandma's television set, he dragged a cooler around her house and explored everything he could at her house. He tried singing with the congregational hymns and special music. He was so LOUD as he hummed along. Finally he started strumming a finger across his lips to make a funnier noise. My mother, grandmother and niece laughed and laughed. I was ready to crawl under the nearest pew. It was really funny, though.

We stayed with my mom Saturday night, then came home on Sunday. We did have a nice time. My younger brother was home for the weekend from grad school. It was nice to see him. Blaze sure did his best to charm Uncle John. I think he was successful at it.

Blaze got a late birthday present. It's a cute shirt and an Elmo video. We had yet to introduce Blaze to Elmo or Sesame Street. After watching his reaction to this video, we are having him watch Sesame Street now. He absolutely LOVED it. I can't wait to return the favor when the giver has children someday. Ha!

Blaze is feeling great and doing really well. Thank you for continuing to pray for him. I do have a request for you. Jake Lawson, "Baby Jake" from our first hospital visit, is having some other difficulties right now. It's hard to explain, but it seems like his heart transplant has lead to an infection, and this infection is a sign of cancer. They have caught this fairly early. The poor fellow has spent both of his birthdays in the hospital. He'll have some rather extensive tests later this week. Please keep them in your prayers. Also, I had asked you to pray for Andrew and Rebecca who were expecting Drew this past spring. I learned last week that Drew had passed away. They had 7 and a half weeks with him, his lungs just weren't strong enough for him to have the surgery he needed. Thankfully both of these families are strong believers. Rebecca has peace through all this. They have a 2 year old daughter named Tori and she has been a blessing throughout this rough time. Please just keep them in your prayers, I know somedays are rougher than others. There's also the Ives family that can use your prayers. Unless a miracle happens, they will lose their daughter soon. Their lives have been put on hold for over a year now, in a horrible state of limbo. The mom, Tasha, has been so strong throughout this, but things are getting to her now. Please just pray for strength and peace. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. You mean more to us than you'll ever know.

September 11, 2009 Blaze--Baby no more

Our Blaze isn't a baby anymore, he's a little boy now! He's refusing bottles, cuddling on special occasions only, climbing on anything he possible can and communicating with a few words and sign language. It's amazing to see the difference one month can bring. Recently he started sleeping in until 6:30 during the week and 7:30 on weekends! He previously would wake up anywhere from 5:45 -6:15 a.m. and that was Mommy/Blaze cuddle time! I would get him up, give him a bottle and we'd snuggle until Melissa took over at 6:30. There would be tears and shrieking (his, not mine) when I would leave him to go downstairs and get ready for the day. Not anymore!! In the morning now he wakes up rarin' to go. He explores his room until Melissa comes in, then he goes upstairs to let Maggie out. No tears, no struggles, he's ready to go up and play. He is growing taller, getting stronger, gaining weight and getting braver. No fear whatsoever. And he's STRONG. He can do a chin-up off the side of our table. By holding onto the side, he can pull himself up high enough that his chin is above the table and his feet are off the floor. It's jaw-dropping the first time you see it. We are so blessed. We know of so many families whose children we follow from their websites who are struggling right now. It's almost overwhelming at times. We don't understand why God allows our son to thrive and do so well, while other children with similar conditions struggle so much...but we are so thankful and give God the glory. Once again, we're going to have to be a bit cautious as the flu has hit our area. Several elementary aged school kids have been hit with the swine flu. Because this flu could literally kill him and we're just not going to take the risk. He is still getting to go to stores--we wipe down the carts and put his seat cover on them, which helps a lot. He rarely goes to a restaurant but when he does we, once again, wipe everything down. Our biggest concession to the swine flu has been pulling him from the church nursery. I hate that. It saddens and frustrates me, but we just can't risk it right now. They are fabulous in how they clean and provide a safe environment, but any time a bunch of little ones are together, things get shared. The last couple of times he's gone, he's brought a cold home...the last one he shared with all of us, it was awful. We are so grateful for such a wonderful and loving church family and the beautiful facility they provide for Blaze to go to...but we need to wait awhile before he can go back. Thank you for your understanding support. We look forward to the day where we don't have to be quite so cautious. Thank you for your continued prayers. We're so blessed to have you in our lives.