Photography

Soapy bought me a new camera!! I will admit, it is way more than I ever expected and way more camera than I actually need to learn on, but.....I am persuing a hobby/obsession with photography and he didn't want to buy one camera now and down the road hear how I "needed" a better camera to produce better product. Plus, there was an AMAZING deal on the one he bought so he jumped in with two feet and the sales person saw him coming a mile away! :)

I am just learning how to use Photoshop Elements and Picasa, along with the editing software that came with my camera. I am trying out all Adobe programs before I commit to purchasing one or another. I feel that is important to ensure I get a program I can use and understand.

Last Saturday we took the kids out to the playground/park here in town. It was the first time I got to play around with my new Nikon D40. Previously I have only had an Olympus P&S and my mom's old film Minolta camera. She doesn't have the instruction manual to it and I could not find one so I was getting very frustrated needless to say trying to learn her camera.

Saturday I did learn a lot about my camera. I am learning about how to adjust the aperture, ISO, white balance and how being closer to your subject really is better. Here are two pictures I took, I have not edited them yet....I did but for some reason it won't upload the edited photos...working on that.

Please Pray for Hailey

A friend of mine that I have met through this wonderful blog world lives in Denver, CO. Her daughter Hailey is 4 and dealing with some very serious conditions. Some of them are seizures and a condition called encephalopathy (I hope I spelled that right). SHe is such an amazingly sweet and giving little girl.

Robin is a wonderful mom. She has three children, one of them is in Heaven. Her husband Jeremy is awaiting medical seperation from the military after coming back from the Middle East. They are having a really rough time with getting the disability benefits he deserves and because of Hailey's condition, their medical care is not able to help after a certain point is reached. They are very tired, worn, frustrated and heart broken.

Three days ago, Hailey went into the hospital with another episode. This is the worst they have ever seen her. Early this mornign the catheter was lost in her arm and now is lost somewhere in her body. THe doctors aren't sure what to do to find it and once they do how to remove it. There is risk of it being in her heart or lungs.

At noon today she crashed hard. She stopped breathing and technically died. The rapid response team was able to stabilize her and she is not intubated and in ICU. She is awaiting a CT Scan, an ultrasound, EEG, EKG, and bloodwork. Please pray for Hailey and for her parents. Please pray for strength and peace. Please pray for the doctors and medical staff that they would be able to figure out her problems and that they would act swiftly and safely to bring Hailey out of this.

For up to date information, Robin's blog is http://www.visbalfamily.blogspot.com/ . She is also on Twitter and Facebook under robinvisbal. She can't update her blog that often but said that she wil be tweeting as often as possible to keep current prayer requests.

Thanks so much.

Results and stuff...

This morning I woke up to hearing words like, "delays" and "closures" on the radio. I layed there in bed thinking, SERIOUSLY??!!? I got up and sure enough the white stuff was coming down hard. In no time we had about 2 inches and then suddenly the sun came out and it stopped...then it started..then it stopped and started...you know.
Caileigh's school was not delayed unfortunately so off to school she went but before I could walk out the door to drive her to school, the phone rang.

It was Dr F, the GI specialist in Denver. He apologized for me getting some incorrect information and the need to worry based on how the initial results were given to me. He said all tests came back...NORMAL!!! Praise God it was not this GI disease we were all worried about, and my mother in law's fear (and in the back of all our minds) of cancer. The bad thing is, he has no idea what to tell me. He can't explain the symptoms or the irritation.

So the decision for now is to do nothing. When Braedon goes back into another episode of this we will pack our bags and go to Denver for 2-3 days so Braedon can be hospitalized. Not really what I want but there is a degree of relief knowing they will test him in house on food and monitor his stats, taking samples of stool and what have you while we are there. I just have to wait for another episode to pop up.

So thank you everyone for praying for the results to come back clear. Please pray he goes into his next episode when Soapy can be home and help me with Caileigh or she will have to miss school (or something, just not sure what that will be yet) and that the doctors can see first hand what is happening and can help us solve this mystery. It gets pretty frustrating watching him in pain and holding him down to change his diaper and put cream on him when he looks like he has 2nd degree burns all over his bottom area.

Other news--Love A Thon results: Angela and Brittany I am so sorry that I have slacked on getting this sorted out, things have just been overwhelming the last few weeks. I have decided to give you BOTH a gift card for Mary Kay!! Please email me and give me your contact information and I will get it to you. I have a website but am having trouble with it right now, it should be up and running soon and then you can order from there. :) Check out these girls sites, they are super cute and have some great ideas in them!

Well, that is all for now! Later I am going to put up some pictures (FINALLY) of Easter and random things the kids have been up to lately. Have a great day y'all!!! :)

Waiting....

We are still waiting. We went to Denver last Thursday, April 1st for Braedon's appointment for his colonoscopy and endoscopy. They did it and he did farely well coming out of it, we were able to go home that day. YAY!
What I didn't like was the consult afterwards. The doctor came and found me in the lobby and went over the pictures. She said the colon did not look good. I asked what could cause what she saw and she said she couldn't tell me, not until after the results come back from the biopsies but that they took several good spots so they should get the information they need. She told me to start calling first thing Monday morning for results so I did. I left message after message only to get a reply that afternoon that the nurse talked to the doctor and he wants to talk to me personally and will call me when he has a moment in between patients. It is Tuesday, still no word, I only know after I called this morning that it can take him 48 hours to call me back.

I am trying very hard not to get frustrated and angry, though I want to be right now. I am trying very hard not to worry and be scared. I am trying very VERY hard to give it to God and let Him do with it as He wills. A woman at Target tonight stopped to say hi to Braedon. She was not able to ever have children but she loves them so much. He was very happy and social. They played peek-a-boo for a bit and then she looked at me and asked if he was healthy. I was somewhat puzzled and told her for the most part but that we were actually waiting for results. She immediately put her hand on him and started praying and all I could do was stand there and hold him and cry. It touched me so much that a perfect stranger felt lead to pray for him.

So tonight I am waiting and praying for peace and comfort. I am waiting on God to show us what miraculous things he has in store for Braedon. I believe He has a great work to do in by son and I am excited to see how it all unfolds.