Twelve Days and Counting!

Well, I was wondering how long this would take.  And frankly I'm sort of surprised it took until now for him to attempt this and succeed.  We only have TWELVE DAYS till casts come off, hopefully.

Yesterday he was the happiest little "camper".  Playing in the livingroom, watching his favorite TV show "Emergency", and just being all around great!

But, he wanted to go upstairs to his room to play.
No problem.  I was ironing up there anyway so it worked out well.

Then I had to go downstairs.
He wanted to join me--but didn't tell me.

So
The next thing I knew he was down the stairs.

He had wiggled his little butt and held onto the railing and silently slid himself down the stairs.
Maybe I shouldn't be posting this on a public blog for fear the orthopeodic doctors could chase me down and arrest me.  =)

Then Mr. Houdini decided it would be a good idea today to get himself off the toilet by himself.  I didn't even hear a thunk.

Oh and he scooted himself all the way to the front door to let the dog out today.  A helpful getsture, but I'm not quite sure how he openned the door....

TWELVE DAYS AND COUNTING!!!!

Grandma Quotes

Well sweet grandma (my mom) has flown back to Wisconsin after spending a week of playtime with us.

We love her.  She makes us laugh.
So while she was here I logged a few of my favorite grandma quotes...

 (Friday)
She was telling me about a home jewelry party she went to and she could not find much to buy.  But, she did get a very cute pair of earrings for me.  Puzzled by the whole process she said:

"You have to buy something or you feel like a prune head."
Not quite sure what a prunehead feels like, but it paints quite a picture.  =)

the topic of prune heads came up again at dinner.  We were asking her what a prune head really was...laughing she said...
"Remember, I'm a lot older than you so there were a lot of prune heads in my day."
more grandma humor to keep us hoppin'.

then a few days ago, while traveling in ATL traffic...
she said,
"Hold onto your Britches"....

She is full of all sorts of other "wisdom" too, but these were the highlights.  =)

Abandonment

Today, another powerful sermon from Pastor Louie.

I won't do it justice to recap it really.  But, in a few days you should be able to go onto Passion City Church website and find it there.

Briefly, the story of Joseph--the favored son--discarded by his brothers and thrown into the "Pit" more than once in his life.  13 of his most valuable years of his life were spent in terrible Pits and ugly places, being framed and discarded.  Yet, he found reason to believe God and maintain his faith. Abandoned by the people that should have loved him most.  He still found reason to Honor God in and through it.

Today, I wept.

The word "abandonment" resonated like a resounding gong in my head.   There was so much to this sermon.  Lucas was in with the kids so he was not with us, but I wept tears for his sweet soul.  The concept of abandonment is very real for him.  And since we do not have his whole story, it is something that could be a struggle for him (and us) as time goes by.  So far it has not been.
I heard the message loud and clear for him today.  Right now he talks about his "China mommy and daddy" knowing full well that they existed and could not take care of him and he lived with is "friends" for a long time (orphanage).
Louie prayed off the "Spirit of abandonment" over all of us.

On behalf of Lucas, I prayed. And wept.
Louie also prayed that we would know we are "adopted as sons".  More tears from this momma.
Never do we need to feel abandoned.  Nothing anyone can do or say should ever leave us in a Pit of despair and abandonment alone--God is WITH us!  He has always been with us.  He has gone before us.  He will never leave us.  (to quote Kristian Stanfill).  We are His sons and daughters.  (if I lived alone in a stinky prison cell for 2 years, I think I could easily become bitter and feel abandoned--but Joseph did not)
I'm believing God for miraculous healing in this boy--healing of his heart from any issues related to his early days.  I'm not in denial, I'm living in a place of Hope and Healing.  Again reminded of the miracle of adoption---our adoption of Lucas, and our adoption into the family of God.
Lord, may this word and the emotions it carries with it not even be a part of our sweet boy's vocabulary or emotions.  May he always know You are with him and will always be with him no matter the life circumstances he may face or recall.
Thank you Jesus for your Healing Power.  Amen.

"Young Man"

well,
somehow we have unintentionally ingrained a concept into our son.  Apparently calling him "young man" is not very nice.  I think at the beginning of his time here I said things to him like "don't even think about it Young Man" or "stop talking to me like that Young Man", etc.

Now even if we say "you are such a sweet Young Man" he considers it offensive.

But, sometimes it is kind of funny.  Like today....

Grandma was talking about Lucas playing so nicely with his toys and said something like.  "look at how nice that nice Young Man is playing with his toys"

Lucas became a tad irritated...and offended....
and said:

"I call you grandma,
you call me "young man"...
that's not very nice"

Sorry, but that makes me chuckle.  Maybe it was a case of ya' gotta be there.

So head's up to all you sweet and kind people out there---don't ever say Lucas is a 'young man' no matter the context....lol...ya never know what response you're gonna get....

Life with casts on--more contortionism

Lest anyone think that casts are slowing this boy down.......during playtime with grandma yesterday he was being a complete goofball...

I actually caught him at one time yesterday ON HIS KNEES trying to reach for something.  It did not hurt him, but I still was thinking maybe that would not be a good idea.  The strength and flexibility this kid has astound me.  Not much is getting in his way right now other than climbing on furniture or cupboards or running down the street or going up and down stairs.  I've finally convinced him that he needs to put pillows on the floor first if he is going to launch himself off the "shofa" (sofa).  Maybe the prayers now need to be for MY sanity...

1/2 Way there....

Today marks week 3 after surgery.
And
3 more weeks to go in casts.

Yipeeeee!!!!!
We are 1/2 way there.

Well, at least that would be a prayer request.  We won't officially know until our appointment on November 4 if everything has healed the way it should. If it has, then the casts come off on November 9.  Please pray for that.  We really want these buggers gone and to be able to move on with life.

On another note:
Grandma comes from Wisconsin today.  We are excited and getting ready for some fun!

precious Chinese moments

Today, we were listening to music on my ipod while doing school (handwriting =).  When the music was interrupted by some Chinese phrases I still have left from when we went to China.  (I'm lame when it comes to cleaning up my ipod)  They are just some key words and phrases we used to communicate with Lucas in our first days together 6 months ago.

Lucas's ears perked up.

He started speaking and following along with the phrases.  This is the first I've heard him speak (and willingly understand) Chinese in months.  He was listening and then translating for me what was being said.

This was very precious to me because he has refused to speak it, and in some cases has, unfortunately, forgotten the Chinese if I ask him "how do you say this in Chinese".  But, with the phrases being spoken clearly on the ipod he could still translate.  I LOVE this!  I am going to continue to expose him as much as I can and possibly go back to using our Rosetta Stone with him so HE can teach ME some things as part of our homeschool too.  LOVE IT!!!

I can't tell you how cool it was for him to sit and listen, say the phrases and then sweetly explain to me what was being said.  This is what I LOVE about homeschooling--we make and have time to appreciate these sweet things in our day.

Another surprising thing happened regarding school today.  Lucas decided he wanted to do double his work so that when Grandma comes tomorrow, for a week,  he can have a day off.  I didn't even make that an option--he came up with it all on his own.   Took me by surprise but, hey...why not...totally cool with that!

Just a quick update regarding his healing/legs, etc.  Our biggest "enemy" right now is still nighttime itching.  I had to get up at 2 a.m. to stick my fingers down into his casts to just give him a little relief.  I did not scratch, but it must have been soothing.  Eventually, I did have to resort to Benedryl again.  But, I really don't want to drug him for the next 3 weeks.  Looking for any more suggestions people may have to help with itching.
I did notice today as I was massaging the inside of his cast that I got down to an area where he must have tape on his leg.  Yikes....he is all bandaged up with tape, etc. under there in addition to the casts.  It makes sense, but sure seems like it would be very uncomfortable.

Lucas meets Chris and Louie and Shelley

 Today was a special day for Lucas.  Here is the funny part....
We told Lucas several days ago that he was going to get to chat with and see Chris Tomlin.  He loves his music as we've spoken of before, but he totally does not get what "fame" means.  I love that...cuz at first he said he could not do that because he had to go be with "da kids" in Passion Kids.  We assured him there would be time for both and that we would let him stay in Passion Kids until the end and then come to get him.  It took a while to convince him that he would not miss anything.  But, then he got excited.  He LOVES both --- his "Sunday School" (which is really a misnomer--it's much different than that) and Chris T.

We went to get him and brought him to meet Chris and Louie.  Here are a few pics.  We LOVE our church family and felt so covered by prayer as Louie led a prayer over our family with Lucas in the center of it.  He prayed powerfully over all of us and our home.  One thing that stuck out to me was that he prayed a "fog" would cover our home.  I felt power in that.  A fog of the Holy Spirit would just hang over us.  I LOVE THAT!!!!
Louie, Chris and Shelley all talked with us and were so supportive of our circumstance.  We feel loved by our Unusual God!!!!
Here are a few sweet pics.

Thanks Guys for making today special and for lovin' on our boy!!!

Good Friday....in October

On Thursday of last week, as we began school and read our Bible Story for the day, we got to the story of Good Friday.  Lucas has heard about Jesus, he has seen the cross, he has scattered ideas about God and heaven--all hard things to really comprehend for most people that know English or have heard the stories all their lives, let alone someone in his situation.  As we read it he became very puzzled about the "bad guys" and since he is into law enforcement he said he would take care of those bad guys that want to hurt Jesus and he would throw them in jail.  A sweet sentiment to want to protect Jesus....=)  However,  I did try to explain that Jesus had it handled---
being God afterall---
and all that stuff about sitting on the throne ruling over all creation...ya....I think God has it handled.

But, as we read on and we read about him dying, etc.  He was very sad.  It was mostly about this wonderful person, Jesus, being hurt and the bad guys needing to be punished and him taking control of the situation.  Trying to explain that Jesus voluntarily bore the burden is a challenge.

I'm just going to be frank here--- Lucas struggles with accountability and control (don't we all?).  But, his comes with the baggage of his past and not having someone hold him accountable.  When he disobeys, etc. he blames others for it and cannot see that the loss of toys, etc is because "he" made a choice.  In the moment, he just blames me for taking the toy away, removing a privelege, etc.  It's my fault that he cannot play with his toys.  His demeanor changes into something very ugly.  No matter what direction I go at it from and try to explain, he just struggles with taking ownership for sin.  It is extremely frustrating because sometimes there is such a disconnect.  Peter is convinced otherwise.  He thinks he "gets" it and is putting up a front to protect himself from the accountability.   Either way, he is really good at disconnecting.  That is not good and we are working through that.  (and I did work through that for THREE hours on Thursday...argh)

From the parenting perspective this makes discipline very difficult.  (violins please)

But, when I sit back and think about the story of Christ's death on Good Friday.  I wonder how many of us have that same disconnect.  Particularly those of us that are surrounded by the availability of churches, Bible studies, resources unending.  I think about what God must think.

This God of the universe who created it all and sits on His throne in all majesty and glory.
This God that cares about the individual so much to come and enter into our lives on a personal level.
This God that sent His ONLY son to this sinful planet to teach us but also to Die in our place so that we don't have to pay the punishment for our sin.

This God, must look at us sometimes and say
"What are you thinking"?
"How can you really be THAT stubborn?"
"How can you not see what you are doing is hurting Me and it is hurting you?"
"How long will it take till you get it....till you "get" Me?"
"How long will you blame others for what only you need to take ownership of?"

The story in our book stopped with Good Friday, and the next story of course was about the resurrection of Jesus.  Technically, I could have waited for that part, but I could see some confusion in his eyes.  He had that childlike wonder and sadness for why anyone would want to hurt someone like Jesus.  He also had some anger about it.  I was praying as I was reading, that he would hear truth in this story that is so central to our faith.  

I could not leave him spiritually "hanging" until Friday to hear the rest of the story.

So we went on and read about how Jesus's friends came to the tomb 3 days later and found it empty.  The angel appeared and told them "He Is Risen"...
His eyes lit up and he was so happy, although again, hard to understand it all.  I tried to explain that even today Jesus is ALIVE and he is in heaven and we will see him someday too.   But that He also lives with us in our hearts.  I thought it would be a great idea to then remind him about how Jacob lives with Jesus and there is hope in that......

I pointed to a picture of Jacob and my daddy and said "see,  now Jacob and grandpa live with Jesus..isn't that great?".......

Tender tears began to roll down his little cheeks.
He misses Jacob.
He never met Jacob.
But, he knows Jacob would have been another big brother for him to play with.
We've been down this path before.
Our boy is still greiving for the brother he never met....I cannot bear to tell him quite yet that there were 2 more brothers he didn't meet.

I was somewhat regretful that I even brought it up again, but the reality is this is our family.  And if there is one thing I've learned over the past 21 years of grief---it is this---let it flow.  And everyone takes it at their own pace and needs to do what they need to do to get through it.  It just suprises me sometimes that he grieves for someone he never met.  There is a tenderness in his little spirit.

Our Bible Time took a little longer Thursday.
But, we covered Good Friday and Easter Sunday .....in October.
I'm just praising God for the opportunity to minister to this sweet soul.
And for teaching me, through him, about what I must look like to God sometimes.

I'll be on my knees today
confessing
remembering what Christ did
and
believing God for all He has in store.

I have so much to learn.
and fortunately
there is Grace....

Titus 3:7
⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.


Now THAT is good news for all people.  Heirs with Christ in eternal life.  How does it get any better than that? The God of the Universe that must often be frustrated with our behavior, offers Grace through Christ.  ya gotta LOVE that!

a photo shoot (Sept. 24th) prior to surgery-all credit to Andy Brophy

We did a family photo shoot prior to Lucas's surgery.  We wanted to capture some sweetness about his little feet, our family, and our craziness too I guess....

sweet brothers singin' in the sunshine

the sweet baby toes

he posed like this all on his own...goofball!

all credit and rights to these photos belong to Mr. Andy Brophy...

THANK YOU ANDY!!!!!!!

Dolphin Tale--revisited

We finally made it to this movie.

God's timing on Lucas's surgery and the release of this movie is amazing.

If you have not seen it, GO!!!!

I was told there was a flashback/war scene in the movie.  We did not see it.  We did miss a few minutes of the movie at the beginning so maybe it was during that time.

But, otherwise TOTALLY family friendly, totally an awesome movie and a tear jerker for this momma.

Lucas loved it too and giggled at some spots, and had some other commentary along the way as well.  He was very engaged.

I think we are going to be making a trip to Clearwater, Florida sometime in our future.

Lucas "reads" me a story

ok, it technically wasn't "reading", but it is still significant and a tender moment for this momma.

Tonight Lucas was laying in bed and wanted to read to ME instead of the other way around.  He cannot read yet.  But, he took a Berenstien Bears book and page by page he very seriously looked at the pictures and made up a story and "read" it to me.  It was a tad disjointed, but there is such significance in this for several reasons.
1.  He could not stand books when we first brought him home 6 months ago.  It was sad to me.  But, the reality was it was just another reminder to him about what he could not understand in this new world.
We just kept trying and even just stopped trying for a while to give the kid a break.  But, eventually with enough language understanding, we were able to introduce stories to him.
2.  We LOVE reading books to our kids.
3.  He stayed on task from page one all the way to the very last page.
4.  His vocabulary is developing to the point that he could look at the pictures and tell me all about a wide variety of things on the pages.


As I laid next to him, my mind wandered a bit because I was in awe as I watched him look so seriously at this book and "read" it to me in a language he has only grown to know in 6 months.  He really wanted to share this story with me.  I told him how great he was doing and he said that the reason he could do this was because mommy and daddy always read him stories.   There was such encouragement in that for me (which I will also share with Peter).   Sometimes as a parent I get to the end of a day like today and look at all the mistakes I made and can beat myself senseless.  We had some ugly moments as we attempted to do some schoolwork.
Then the Lord just provided....
He provided a tender moment like this to seal the day with a reminder of his mercy and grace.

ya gotta love that!

 

Isaac

I realized that I really haven't been talking about the "big" boy much lately.
This weekend he is gone to Tennesee on a retreat with one of the youth groups that he loves.  I hope he is having a great time.

He's had some tough days over the past week or so, but I can't share the details on that one.  Just lovin' my boy and proud of how he is handling his life.  He really is a great teenager to have in the house.

He's been working at Pac Sun; going on apprentice photo shoots with his buddy Andy; skateboarding with his friends; working hard at his school work; and being a great brother to Lucas.  

The other day I felt like I was in a TV commercial --
we were sitting in the car and Isaac said "I've been thinking about joining the Air Force".
I said, "That's a big decision".  He said, "I know".
He said he wants to fly airplanes.  And that he is really enjoying his Physics and he might consider computer science.
All very noble and cool pursuits.

Then I said the most supportive "mom" thing I could think of...
"You do know you'd have to cut your hair right?"
(I guess that's where I diverge from the very cool commercials on t.v.)
I'm not sure how serious he is about it, but it would be a huge committment and we would be very proud of him.


i just love him...not much else to say about the sweet young man.  I just love him and continue to pray this over him regularly... (2 Thess. 1:11-12)

¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. ¹² We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^[c

Building with Lucas, Stone Mountain, and Passion City Church

Since Lucas LOVES to pound things and assemble things and cannot get himself outside to do so, we brought it all inside.  We bought him a few small projects and he and daddy worked on assembling them (thank you Randy and Barb)....we had a busy building days the past few days.
First, a birdhouse....
Not sure if you can see it well in these pics or not but when Lucas is concentrating really hard, he uses his tongue on the inside of his mouth to aid in the project....lol----the funny thing about that is this little "habit" runs in our family....My dad was notorious for it, I do it, I've seen my siblings do it...yes siblings, if you are reading this....I HAVE seen you do this...

Then there was the Bird Feeder....

We also went to Stone Mountain yesterday for the Rice Festival (and Asian Harvest Festival) with lots of entertainment, etc.  (although no food, which was a bit weird) then we walked through the Pumpkin Festival and took a ride up the side of Stone Mountain.  Lucas LOVED the tram...and enjoyed being "way up high" on the mountain....

Lucas took our picture with my camera upside down....

goofball.

Just a brief update on pain/comfort/mobility...

Lucas has had NO pain meds day or night the past 2 days.  Thank you Jesus!

He is beginning to scoot himself around a bit on the floor and of course we all know he is rolling around all over his bed at night with ease.  

I would say he is "good"!  

Today we went to church and were overwhelmed by friends and prayer warriors from kids to adults, from greeters, to teachers, and others just praying for Lucas.  We are truly blessed to have such an amazing church family.  

Lucas stayed with the kids and did great!  Peter and I got to worship and hear Louie talk about our Unusual God---the God of Daniel---the God who deserves our excellence in all we do. 

 To Him Alone be the Glory!  

The Contortioinist "Sleeps"--

Since Lucas has been home one of us has been sleeping with him or he is sleeping on our floor in our room so we can tend to his needs.

Last night I was with him in his room.  Thankfully, the pain has reduced and that does not seem to wake him up as much anymore from that.  But, he still needs assistance if he needs to use his bed "potty"...
and last night the issue of itching woke him up several times and he was very restless.  I don't know how to help that really when it is at the bottom of the cast and it is bent at the knee.  How annoying for him.

Last night was the first time I saw him rolling around and changing positions on his own.  If you have ever slept with a small child you know what I mean.  They can end up crosswise on the bed with their feet in your ribs.  Well, in Lucas's case....he is rolling around and thrashing about with massive casts on his legs that he flails around like a maniac.  I woke up at one point with him laying sideways across the bed ON HIS TUMMY with one leg sprawled out sideways and the other one sticking straight up in the air.  It looked so uncomfortable but he was sound asleep.  It was like a contortionist move.  I have no idea how he got himself like that or even stayed like that.  But, the interesting part was that he DID!  He was moving his legs and body enough to get into that position.  That means that he must not be hurting as much and feels he CAN.  That is actually good in some ways.

I almost got up to take a picture but I didn't want to disturb him further...
see I do have self control with my camera afterall.

The other thing that I think disturbs his sleep (or at least mine when I'm with him) is the rubbing of the casts together.  It's sort of a scraping sound that seems to disturb sleep.

Now, we need to figure out another sleeping arrangement because I was hanging off the bed and woke up with a neck cramp....
I think we need to get a monitor or something so we can let him sleep alone and can still hear him.  The ever changing saga at our house.

Healing Continues-and Legos on the floor

Hard to believe but week one is done...now just 5 more to go before the casts come off.
Each day is filled with more evidence of God's providence and healing hand in our boy.

He has been lifting his legs----sometimes straight up in the air...which is just funny.  Last night Peter slept with him and found him sleeping with one of his legs just sticking straight up in the air and sound asleep...he said it made him smile.

We had some visitors last night from church who brought cards from the boys in his "tent" at church--(at church there are no classrooms, the kids all have tents instead of classrooms that they meet in)---He was excited to see one of the boys and his leader Mr. Bart and his friend Noah, too.

Yesterday was a serious "Lego attack" at our house.

Lucas sat for hours playing with Legos---since he has been home he has received a few sets and has put them together.  He LOVES to follow the patterns.  But, we have 3 huge boxes of the loose ones from both Jacob and Isaac when they were younger.  He never really new what to do with all of them.  Since he has put a few more sets together recently he realized he can create his own creations from the loose ones.  He still prefers to follow the "plans" of the new sets, but we played a lot yesterday with the loose ones and trying to put new creations together.  We still could use some more "plans" for him to follow (which I have someplace in this house, but I cannot find).  But, it was a great discovery for him and a fun day of Legos...
So for all of you that have known us long enough to have purchased legos even 10 years ago.....they are being well loved once again.
..and yes, those grey boxes are filled with organized legos....I'm psycho I know.  One day when Jacob was sick 8 years ago, Isaac and I went home to take a break and he and I organized all of them by color, size,  etc.---Lucas LOVES this system cuz his personality loves that kind of thing.

 

the yellow structure on his lap is "Passion City Church"...lol

fever and fun at the ballpark

Lucas woke up with a fever this a.m.  Bummer.
I checked with Shriners already and they don't seemed concerned at this point. He has no other symptoms right now so we will see how the day goes.

Last night I did take him to his friend's baseball game and he had a blast.

He sat on the ground and played with one of his other friends and really didn't pay much attention to the game, but I think he was just happy to be outside and he is certain he will be on the team next year at this time.  He was non stop chatter about playing baseball next year.

It was really our first experience out in "public".  Time for heads to turn I guess.  Some people just look at us and smile as they walk by.  The kids are the most "open"....One young boy about age four said "what happened to HIM?"... as we were getting out of the car...I know that is what a lot of people were thinking, but of course they would not ask...lol.  Who would?  I just told him he had surgery.  Then he was off and on his way.

Lucas later started chatting with a lady and her kids sitting next to us and told her everything. I think she was a tad blown away but she handled all the info quite well.  I will let him take the lead on that one.  He is very confident and doesn't seem phased at this point by any of it.  He gets to share whatever he wants at a time like that and I love it!  Sometimes I need to interpret a few gaps in the conversation, but overall, he loves to share.

A few more things trickled in through the mail yesterday and Lucas LOVES it!  He just loves to open packages and cards.  When I read "I'm praying for you" he lights up!

and to top off the night...a baseball cupcake....how much better does life get than that???

continuing to improve...

Aunt Linda leaves today.  That's a little sad for us.  We have loved having her around.  Although I'm sure she misses her hubby, so I suppose we will let her go.

The next few days will be a test of seeing how Lucas and I do "alone" during the day.  For the most part it really isn't a big deal.  He is typically on the floor surrounded by toys and sweet Buddy the dog is right beside him.

As reported yesterday, the only pain meds he had during the day was Tylenol 2x.  We did give him the heavier stuff before bed because that seems to be harder for him for some reason.  And he did wake up several times whining last night about hurting.  Not really upset just annoyed I think.  As long as he has his ice packs he is great.  I'm not sure that they are really doing anything anymore but they are a comfort to him.  He likes one on his knee on the left leg and the other on the bottom of his leg on the right leg.

I keep having a dream about his surgery.  And last night it was even more intense.  I dreamed that we got all the way to the day the casts come off and they remove the casts and we find out they never really removed the feet and it was like he had gone through all of this for nothing and we still would have to do more for him.   ARGH!  Logically, I am not sure why he had so much pain at the beginning if they had done nothing but needless to say, I'm having issues with "something"...  I'm weird I know...I have a lot of bizarre dreams.

Peter and I were talking last night about how well Lucas's demeanor has been during this whole thing.  We really didn't know what to expect since he "can" have issues at times when he is very frustrated with anger, etc.  We tried to figure out "why" and at first I wondered if it was from the sedation from drugs, etc.  -- He is wearing a patch on his arm till tomorrow that actually is for reduction in blood pressure.  He does not have high blood pressure, but the nurse told us they have found that the pain meds actually hit the system faster and work more efficiently with the useage of this patch.  So they monitor them closely at the hospital to make sure the blood pressure doesn't drop too much and send them home with it so they have better results with pain management.  I have no idea if my logic holds, but would that also keep his mood calmer??? (any help from the medical world on that one would be helpful)

After trying to figure this all out from a logical perspective, we once again fall on the amazing power of Prayer.  Truly, if you knew how sweet, loving, calm and full of joy he has been through all of this it is pretty amazing.  The prayers of the faithful are being revealed.  So, here is my request...could you just keep it up for the next 11 years and through his teens????  lol....cuz this is GREAT!

no pain meds today

Lucas has been sitting on the floor playing and watching yet another round of Toy Story 3...
Linda and I are about to venture out with him for a short trip to the store to pick out a superman costume for him.  I had to ask him and convince him to take Tylenol before we left--(just in case)----

This stuns me yet again.

God's healing hand is upon this boy.

4 days post surgery

God's healing hand and all the prayers of the faithful continue to bless Lucas.

Today he was pulling himself up to a sitting position all day long by himself and playing with toys while sitting on pillows on the floor in the living room.  This was HUGE!  He complained very little about pain and when he did we had the solutions we needed and have been pulling back on the narcotics already.  Trying to get him off those as soon as possible.  He also ate more food.  

My sister Linda and I went to Passion City Church today and were overwhelmed by the love and support for Lucas.  I stopped by the Passion kids area and there were kids at a table making cards for Lucas.  Shannon, the leader of PK told me that they showed pics of Lucas to the kids and had them pray for him.   It's a tad overwhelming and humbling to see how God is using this sweet boy to touch hearts.  To God be the Glory! Truly, it is for His Glory to be seen as Lucas "walks" this journey (pun not intended)

One sweet friend gave us a bag full of goodies from some local police officers and firemen she knows--including a cool fireman helmet, a firemen piggie bank, some cool military pins and EMT pin, pencils and coloring books...all very cool stuff to sir Lucas.

Buddy the Fireman Dog

(wearing the helmet from Lucas's Build a Bear fireman)

Gifts from the Local Firemen/Policemen

Lucas sitting by Aunt Linda watching Toy Story 3---ummm I think we have watched this movie 6 times since Wednesday...

In so many ways I feel like a bystander in this whole process.  I'm seeing that Lucas has a story.  It's his story to share with others.  It is a story of God's redemption and restoration.  I will be here to help him carry that torch, but it's his to carry.  humbling so so humbling...