downtown

luke & jp take on downtown g'ville

I do not have all of the pictures downloaded onto my laptop yet...I will post the rest sometime today (hopefully!). I hope everyone is having a super summer so far!!!! We sure are! We are also headed to the BEACH next Saturday (9th) WOO-HOO!!!!! I love summer!

sweetness

happy birthday, gaga & papaw

Today is Scott's dad's (Papaw) birthday. His mother's (Gaga) birthday is Wednesday. We went to Amy's house tonight for a little party. It was a lot of fun! The kids really enjoy playing together...which is good since we are spending a WHOLE WEEK together at the beach in July!

The birthday cookie from the Chocolate Shoppe! Yum-E!

Cutie pie!

Coleman serving up the ice...

Opening up the birthday cards..

JP carrying on a conversation with the dog through the door.

Our cook!

Beautiful Kenzie.

Sweet kids! (Most of the time...) Lol

bathing beauties

We (mom, Laurie & I ) thought it would be a GREAT idea to give the boys a bath together. NOT! It lasted all of, MAYBE, five minutes! The first issue was Nanny put WAY TOO much water in Preston's tub, so his ears were immersed in the water. The second issue was, it was 9:30 at night and JP's level of energy SKYROCKETS around 8pm....so, it was a disaster! We did manage to snap a few pics! The boys LOVED it! I guess that's all that matters....Preston watches JP like a movie. It's really sweet.

So, in THREE MONTHS, when we decide to give them their second bath together, Preston will have to sit in the actual tub with JP and it will have to be at three o'clock in the afternoon!! ;) JP "washing" Preston

JP did not understand why I asked him to "cover up his pee-pee" for this picture! Ha!

After a short, but overstimulating bath with his big cousin!!

my family

Laurie is FINALLY on the road to full recovery! We PRAISE GOD FOR THAT!!!! My blog does not hold the capacity for me to write down all of the ways God has moved in our lives through Laurie's trial. Just believe me when I say it is AMAZING!

I am sitting in my living room. Alone. It is so nice...JP has gone with his daddy to cut MiMi's yard. It is a nice time for JP to spend some alone time with Scott's grandmother. I was about to jump in a hot bath when I felt led to put in writing how important my family is to me. I am not sure where this "feeling" is coming from. I guess because when I think of all my sister has gone through to bring our little Preston into the world, it really makes me thankful for life. And family. Understand me when I say that our family is FAR FROM PERFECT!! (My mom is laughing right now..) I mean, for the most part we are a total mess! We often joke that we are the "Griswold's from Cornblade! And we truly are. But, we also TRULY love one another. A LOT!

So, while I am not sure the Ultimate purpose for this post, I will end it with a prayer from a thankful heart...

Dear God,

The moment I wrote 'Dear God' my eyes began to fill with tears. My heart is now beating a little faster. Maybe this post is for no one other than myself. You are a dear God to me. I will never be able to thank You enough for my sister, my family and our new little addition. I thank You for showing Your face to Laurie. We have talked about it together and if this trial is what had to take place to bring her to Your Throne, then so be it. It has been worth it. Please continue to heal her and allow her to be the parent that You want her to be. May Preston grow up to do great things for You. Now, I do not know what You might have in store for my home...sometimes I get discouraged thinking of the medical obstacles Scott has to jump through. It is, at times, exhausting. But, I trust You Lord. You are always faithful!

I say all of this to say, THANK YOU FOR MY FAMILY, MY HOME, MY FRIENDS, MY LIFE! You are too good to those of us who do not deserve even an ounce of Your grace.

Thank You. Amen.

best buddies

happy anniversary!

Today is my 9 year wedding anniversary!!! Wow, how time flies! In some ways I feel like we were just married. And yet at times it feels like FOREVER!!! LOL!

I love you, Scott. It's been a CRAZY "ride," but I would not want to share it with anyone else!

paging dr. andrea & dr. faye

My mom and I have DEFINITELY missed our calling in life. Both of us have spent countless years in the field of Education, when CLEARLY we were meant to be doctors. Our closest friends (who read this blog) will most certainly agree! You must be wondering what has prompted this post. I am glad you asked. We are currently on the road to solving yet another medical mystery.

His name is Scott.


My faithful followers in blog world are all too familiar with the bumpy medical journey Scott and I have been on over the past, well, forever! We have been excited because Scott has enjoyed almost a solid YEAR of good health. I am afraid that has, ONCE AGAIN, come to an end. At least for now. It has been two weeks since his knee surgery. With the help of physical therapy he has recovered well from the actual procedure. Today, however, he came home and is having difficulty walking. Again. He is in a good bit of pain and his knee is beginning to swell. His orthopedic doctor has referred him to a rheumatologist. The doctor says it is a definite auto-immune issue. Not a "knee" problem. He does not know what is causing it. So, while we are waiting to hear from the rheumatologist, my mom and I have put our heads together.

Dangerous...I know!

Here is the bulleted version of what we have come up with:

• We return home from Guatemala in 2007 and Scott immediately spends over a week in the hospital. We were told he had lymphoma and he had, what we were told to be a tumor, removed in his neck. He was followed throughout the week by Infectious Disease. They ended up sending him home saying that there was nothing wrong other than a weird virus.


• Over the next year or so, his Jpouch begins breaking down. We were in and out of doctor's offices trying to prevent the inevitable.


• 2009 He goes into the hospital to have his Jpouch reversed and came out with an ileostomy bag.


• From that surgery he contracted MRSA and a few other infections were found. The rectal wound never healed. The doctors could not explain this.


• 2009/10 he had five different surgeries.


• March of 2010 he had his final surgery and FINALLY healed up last summer.


• During the surgeries Scott's knee has been giving him problems. We always just passed it off as being arthritis. With all of his other issues, we did not give it much thought. While on IV antibiotics, his knee was perfectly fine. Coincidence, right?


• Once the antibiotics ended, the inflammation in the knee began to show itself again. We went to our family doctor once or twice, but no one seemed to be concerned with our theories. So, he has just dealt with the dull pain.


• Over the past two months, the swelling has become more severe as well as the pain. Two weeks ago, he was unable to walk.


• The orthopedic surgeon (who we loved) operated to drain fluid and biopsy some of the inflammed tissue. He, along with the PT's, are in agreement that there is not a problem with his knee, but it is an auto immune problem.

Now, here is what Dr. Beam and Dr. Cothran believe. ALL OF IT IS RELATED!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is something going on in Scott's body that his immune system is fighting that is causing all sorts of issues. I truly do not believe that each incidence is unrelated. Now, we just have to find a doctor who will listen to us. Not easy. We will begin with the rheumatologist, I suppose. I realize that I have probably just wasted so much of your precious time with my ramblings. I am happy I wrote all of this down if for no other reason than to have a record of it.

I will ask for your continued prayer support. We always do our best to remain positive in spirit, however, it does get really discouraging to take two steps forward only to fall backwards. Living with Chronic illness is not easy. For anyone. Thank you for your support! :)

life is good....God is GREAT!

jp loves his bubba & nata-leah