December 2, 2008

After spending 3 weeks in Miami with a friend who has a new baby, we returned home the week before Thanksgiving.  The kids all caught "the crud" that's going around...the cough, congestion, sinus issues, croupy sounding breathing and cough, you know, "the crud".  Kids are all better now, and of course, mom gets it next!  I've spent today doing as little as possible, trying to rest and kick this bug.  I've also been taking zinc and echinacea, as well as my good multivitamin.

In other news, we have heard from the Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome clinic physicians in Cincinnati, and we will be heading up there in January.  I have spoken on the phone with the nurse coordinator there, and she was very encouraging that we will be seeing whatever specialists it will take to get to the bottom of Sara's issues...and, ideally, come up with a treatment plan!

I have plans to take Kenzie to see the Nutcracker ballet sometime this month.  She is enthralled watching ballet, and I remember watching the Nutcracker as a child, and I loved it.  I hope this will be a fun mother/daughter event for us!

Welcome to our life!

I am a mom of 4 beautiful girls.  We are a homeschooling, Torah-observant, natural living, Christian household that does our best to seek God first in all things, even when it's hard.  We believe God is in the little decisions as well as the big decisions, and many times in our life we have been led, by God, against the cultural norm.  As always when following God, this has worked out wonderfully as a testimony to Him, drawing others to Him, but not without creating difficulty in our own lives.  Nowhere in the Bible, however, does He say this life will be easy and carefree!

Our 4 daughters are headed up by Kenzie, currently age 6, who is a feisty, strong-willed, brilliant, sensitive little girl.  She is currently taking gymnastics, but she has asked to take ballet next year, and we have agreed to that.  She was born by cesarean after she developed a heart arrhythmia which, thankfully, has been outgrown.  She also struggles with hypoglycemia, particularly when she refuses to eat.

Katie is a bright, energetic, fiery, gentle 4 year old.  She loves her gymnastics class and she is nearly reading.  She was born at home, peacefully, 4.5 years ago.  Aside from some outgrown dairy sensitivity issues, Katie has been healthy!

Sara is my nearly 3 y/o peanut!  She's a tiny girl, but she has a big heart.  She's loving, friendly, and very intelligent.  She loves her gymnastics class, but she sometimes lacks the endurance to keep at it through the entire 45 minutes. She has some medical issues that will be part of this blog as we go through the diagnostic journey.  She was also born at home in a flash, in our bathtub.  She would have been born at home whether we were planning it or not!  She will be 3 in February.

Kara has a new onesie for the winter that says, "I love to smile and be HAPPY!" and it sure fits her!  She is 16.5months old now, and she is the happiest baby I've seen in a long time.  She is strong as an ox, and that is coming in quite handy as she takes gymnastics alongside the big girls.

I'll share pictures and videos of our lives as we go along.  Here's us, in a nutshell!