There is power in the name of Jesus

Daniel 4:² It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.³ How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.

 

 

 

 

 

And its December again. The last 2 Christmas holidays have been some of the most difficult in our lives. This one is different. The Christmas songs, the Christmas smells, the Christmas colors, the Christmas cheer , the Christmas spirit and the smiles are real.

It's been a year full of great  things and many answered prayers. Then there were the  crazy things like Jonathan ending up in the hospital with pneumonia and Marcos needing dental surgery.
There are daily struggles to deal with ,but in good times and in bad we choose to rest in the strength of the Lord.

 

Last Dr. visit went well. The Noah keeps doing great when it comes to his kidney. The biggest concern right now is his size. Even though we keep trying to add on the calories with special formulas and special weight gain powders, in the last 4 months he's gained a little over a pound. ARGH! It's soo frustrating to see the results during weigh ins, but the fact that our monkey continues running around, beating on anything, jumping off everything, and showing how adorable and smart he is is the greatest reminder of how God continues to work in his life.

 

There's a special something about Little Mr. Noah. Then there's Marcos with his quiet and bashful personality. He's timid but so loving. I know God has great things planned for both these boys. They  are my blessings and gifts from heaven. I couldn't ask for more.

 

We continue resting in the strength of the Lord and believing for miracles and answered prayer in the name of Jesus! 

2 Yrs!

Noah turned 2! We were happy to celebrate the Harris way which isn't very elaborate but doesn't take away any of the fun or special moments. Time seems to be flying!
We are loving this stage!

Noah turned two and keeps going strong. We took the boys to the zoo since they hadn't visited it before. The gorillas were super cool! The boys really enjoyed it.







Check ups are coming up. He hasn't had any labs done in three months which is awesome and is the longest he's gone without blood work. We're expecting good news( i.e., everything is stable and nothing out of the ordinary).

 Prayers requested for a great 2 yr check up!

Summer Cold

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Yeah, Noah is fighting a summer cold. Sadly, a simple cold is not very simple in the case of our Noah. Again, he is unable to tolerate his night feeds and he simply doesn't care to eat AT ALL during the day.

When tube feeding him, I have to be on high alert since he will more than likely vomit most if not all of what was tube fed. The bolus feeds, every three hours ,are a must and making sure to keep him hydrated while the bug passes is the number one challenge.

The Dr. visit went well, except  when having to restrain him for the nose and throat swabs. That's always a mess!!!! Thank God, all was well and its nothing more than a cold which will disrupt our "normal" routine for the next, at least, a week.

THen the bolus feed in the waiting area. I never know exactly how to handle those. It's like breast feeding. You don't want the stares. You try to cover it up and not attract attention. I need extra hands to help with all of it and its done quickly to avoid Noah from wiggling too much. You can always tell other people are curious and at times they don't know if too look or not to look. Most of them will glance a couple of times and go on pretending as of its something very common. I can still take notice of their curious thinking. Of course, if I saw a baby being fed through his stomach I'd have many questions too. My biggest concern is protecting my child from negative reactions which I'm happy to announce has never happened.

I asked a simple question today.

Seeing how Noah's weight is still an issue and our little monster has become extremely active, I asked if I should avoid all the running around outside during play time to stop the calorie burn from happening.

I NEED TO FATTEN UP THIS BOY!

Dr. so vibrantly replied, "No, let him run around".

It's so nice to hear that our child is beating some odds. As of now, according to the Dr. and the numerous labs that have been done on him, he shouldn't be so mobile. He is a miracle!

He went on to praise my child for shocking the team of Drs.

I was happy to hear that.

I was disheartened to hear the next part.

"You never know until when he'll be doing this and then your concerns will not be about how active he is".

It's hard to take that like  grain  a salt. Reality is, our reality is hard to take in.

In my home, our day to day is as ordinary as the next. It's out of this walls that reality hits.



He's small; he has a g tube; he has a disease. His kidney is failing. He will need a new one someday and we rebuke that in the name of Jesus!

As of now, I rest in the strength of Lord and pray for my child's well being. I ask you to do the same.

Isaiah 12 : 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense^[a]; he has become my salvation.” 5. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.

Great news! Although the VCUG was extremely unpleasant, the results were awesome..!!!  It turns out the re implantation of the ureter performed 6 months ago was a success!!!!  Noah no longer has reflux. Lord, in you we rest.
          As of now, the urological issues Noah has battled since day one are cleared . The ureter has been re implanted in the bladder, the urine is flowing to the bladder, and the bladder is expanding. On top of that, two medications have been discontinued. Greater news is the  torturous VCUGs and urodynamic studies are no longer necessary, as long as things continue going well.

Summer has turned out to be awesome!!! Our summer egg hunt was a blast!

Our monkeys are doing great and Noah is approaching his terrible two's. The kidney disease is stabilized and we're waiting to see more progress.
His appetite is still very poor and still depends on g tube for most of his feeds,  last weigh in he made it to 5% percentile on the growth chart, and his kidney is working at 65 %.

We continue resting in the strength of the Lord and trusting him in all things.

Continued prayers requested for our amazing Noah.

Happy Father's Day!

Psalms 92: 12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

 

 

 

 

Our beautiful Noah was seen by the nephrologist last week. At 22 months, our son is weighing 22 lbs 8 oz and is 31 inches tall! He's finally at the 5 %  on the growth chart. This is a huge milestone for our Noah since he's been below 0 since he was four months old. YIPPE! Thank you Jesus! No growth hormones are needed which is awesome since I'm terrified of having to inject him daily .

Dr. stated his kidney function is at 60-65% and reassured me those are great odds. I'll take her word for it and praise Jesus for our Noah Zeke being the energetic, smart, and strong monkey he is. She predicts he will need a kidney transplant around puberty. And , of course, we pray against that in the name of Jesus and enjoy the sight of our lil boy being as normal as any other "normal" child.

On the 20th, we shall return to Corpus and have the VCUG redone. We're hoping for a less traumatic experience, peace and traveling mercies. We're expecting great news. We're expecting the reflux to be less than a grade 5 and that in itself would be amazing. 

 

We continue requesting healing prayers for our beautiful boy and believing all this is for the glory of our Lord Jesus!




                                             Jonathan doing what he does best, being a father.

On this beautiful father's day, I wish my husband the best of everything. May God grant you favor and blessing after blessing. You are a wonderful husband and daddy. Like you, there is no other. Happy fathers day.

Sweet Rest

Matthew 11: ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

 

A little over a year ago, depression was my biggest opponent. Having a child with needs isn't easy and the fear and anxiety that comes along with it left me not being able to smile. At times , even now, I have my bout with it. It tries to creep in,but I know that my Jesus supplies all I need to rest in him. I'm back to smiling , at least most days.



 

                                                                                 When it comes to Noah, it is more than obvious now that he's our miracle baby. Couple days ago was his 18 month check up, 2 months too late(oopsie :/ ).

His pediatrician stated Noah is a miracle child. He mentioned God has been working on Noah and left us dumb founded when saying Noah shouldn't even be walking according to the Xrays and the kidney tests.  Noah doesn't only walk but he runs, jumps, climbs, and gallops like a horsie. He walks up and down steps and dances around.

At the end of the month, we shall return to Corpus and revisit the urologist for another VCUG. This test is a horrible one! We are hopeful and expecting great results after all its done and over.                                                       

 

       

Its just like God to show up when its pouring.
I've understood so many things this last year. Life is tough and out of my control. And, I don't have to understand it all I just have to rely on the one who does. 


We continue asking for prayers for Noah. We are believing for great miracles in his body, in the name of Jesus!                      

 

 

 

 

 

Song of Solomon 3:4  ....I found the one my heart loves....

 

So....so much has happened and most has been great! Like, Jonathan and I having our nine year anniversary. Thinking back our journey hasn't been easy. In all reality, there have been so many crazy moments, like the way we met. I was 22, sad and needing a ton of God. I prayed for Christian friends and I'd go online looking for them. God not only gave me a Christian friend but a Christian husband and partner.  I know our union can only be because of God. It's the only thing that makes sense to both of us. Although, there was so much against our relationship, we've made it to year nine. And that's the story of our life. Against all opposition, there is God and because of  him we are victorious.

 

Then a week ago, we moved into a house!!!! It was a three month struggle but it came to be. What we learned from this experience is how God really has something better in store for us. The last three years we almost settled for 3 different homes. They were homes we really didn't like and in places we weren't very happy about but some reason or another it didn't happen. This time around we immediately knew we wanted this house as our home. We prayed and God said Yes! Our boys are loving it. We celebrated our first Easter in the house.

 

Then our lil Noah and all he's been through. This last week was a mess!

Monday-
Around 5:30 a.m., Noah tossed and turned in his sleep and woke me up. I immediately
knew something was up. I felt his tummy to make sure his tube was in place and I couldn't
feel it. The g tube popped out in the middle of the night so we rushed to the ER to get it   replaced. It was nothing serious, but we had to make sure his hole didn't close . It was a first time that tube popped out. Were praying this doesn't happen again. Luckily, the waiting area was empty. We were in and out in less than 2 hours. That's a first!

Wednesday-
He had an ultrasound done and a VCUG was scheduled but they weren't able to do it. During a VCUG, they place a catheter in his penis, fill up his bladder and observe as it empties out. They do this to see where the urine is flowing. In his case, the urine has been going up to his kidney and they want to see how severe this is. Noah wasn't able to relax enough to have the catheter inserted properly. He squirmed, yelled, wiggled until they gave up. I hate these exams and I'm pretty sure every parent having to put their child through something like this hates this as well. There was a stranger in the waiting area. She was compelled to leave a 50.00 gift card to Target and requested he got toys as a present. God has a way of lifting my spirits up when things are going extra rough. I know he uses earthly angels to spread some cheer and she was one of those assigned to be there at that moment in time to spread his love and compassion :).

Friday-
Urologist visit went great! We were so excited to hear the Dr. state Noah's kidney was smaller than previous ultrasounds showed. His inflammation is decreasing. This is awesome news!!!!!!! BUT, the VCUG is still needed to check if the reflux is better as well.

So he was scheduled for another VCUG in two months to see how things are flowing.


Saturday-
Family visited us. Our first BBQ took place and our home was filled with family. We love our moments we share with loved ones and the moments our children get to love up on their cousins. Laughter and cheer filled our home. We are loving this stage in life right now.

We continue Resting In the Strength of the Lord and request continued prayers for Noah's complete restoration in the name of Jesus.

Prayer Request

Psalm 62:5    Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.

Noah is 18 months and doing great! On March 6  he will be having a stent removed and cystoscopy done. So far, no sign of anything to worry about has come up. Noah has been a regular monkey butt getting into all sorts of crazy antics along with his older brother, our beloved Marcos. 

Tomorrow we head out to Corpus for an overnight stay at the Ronald Mcdonald house(RMHC) and follow with a super duper early morning wake up for Noah's appointment at 5:30.  Yuck!  The procedure is an outpatient procedure and if all goes as planned, Noah will be out that same afternoon. We will be sure to deliver the soda can tabs that were so generously collected for us to the RMHC. We are prepared to meet other families and share some joy with anyone we possibly can.  Most importantly, we expect great news from the Dr. !!!!!

We continue resting in the strength of the Lord and ask for your prayers throughout all of this.
Ill be sure to keep ya'll posted.

 

Thanks! Mucho <3

A time to mourn

Ecclesiastes 2.A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;



The last couple of months, have been a time for mourning in my family. In late December, my father in law passed away.:(  I will always remember his super human strength. He was intimidating at first glance but such a nice respectful man when you sat down and spoke to him. Fred was his name. Fred and his wife fostered over 300 kids. My husband was one of the fortunate ones that was adopted .  Their legacy will be tough to match but their kindness and love lives on in the love and care they raised their children with (both adoptive and biological).
Mr. Harris you are missed.

 

On February 12, 2013 my grandmother passed away..:( She was blessed with 92 yrs. She raised more kids than she gave birth to. Her grandkids called her mom. She could smile and giggle all day long. She always had a story to tell you and knew how to cheer you up. A person like her is hard to find in this place. Cheerful giver describes her perfectly. Her house lacked so many things but her heart carried an abundace of love, laughter, and kindness. Her home was never quiet and visitors were always welcomed.  Coffee and tortillas were always in stock to pass around. Grandma, save me a seat in heaven.  Love you.

 We rest in the strength of the lord and pray for peace and comfort for everyone affected by the loss of these two wonderful people.

And he will deliver us again

2 Corinthians1: 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

I'm happy to inform all who care to read this blog, that Marcos' results from biopsy were GREAT! The lump on his neck was nothing to worry about and we thank all of you who kept him in your prayers. Marcos surprised me. I expected major tantrums in the hospital especially since we were there a long time. Surgery was rather quick but the pre-op procedure and the waiting for Dr. Mr. surgeon took  a long time. My monkey was a real trooper and came out of anesthesia wanting to come home and rest. He has a small scar on his neck but other than that, he is doing great.

We are so glad this scare was nothing but a bump on the road. We continue resting in the strength of the lord waiting for great things to happen to our family. We continue asking for prayers so we can continue standing firm and not being discouraged when things get rocky.

As for Noah, he continues doing well. His kidney is stable. Last nephrologist visit, Dr. stated "he is doing great". Something in her tone of voice makes it seem as if she were amazed with Noah. She was certain that at a year of age he would be on dialysis waiting for a kidney transplant. As of last visit and labs, his creatinine is .5 which is soo close to being perfect. His energy and good mood in infectious and we continue praying against growth hormones. Noah is still teenie for his size and his weight is  below the 0 percentile on the growth chart. He is considered mal-nourished. We continue using the g-tube for over night feedings and bolus feeding througout the day.

On March 6, we will be headed back to Corpus to have stent removed from Noah's kidney. This was left there during last surgery to prevent edema and other complications as he heals from reimplantation of the ureter.As of today, Noah has done and healed wonderfully. All glory to God!!!  We will always hate hospital visits, but somehow they are not as terrifying as before. We plan to encounter more wonderful people at the Ronald Mcdonald house and hope we provide some comfort like people have provided us with comfort in the past. My husband has decided to make a ministry out of our situation. We shall rest in the strength of the lord and invite others to the same.

We continue asking for prayers for Noah and our entire family.

Home Sweet Home

 Phillipians 4: ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.



Christmas came and went. The year ended and a new year begins. We were excited to spend both Christmas and New Years day at home. It was Noah's first time at home for both holidays.

Craziness continues at our home. This week alone is hectic but throughout it, there is God.

Monday- Labs for Noah
Tuesday- Registration for surgery and labs for Marcos
Wednesday-Nephrologist visit for Noah
Thursday- Outpatient surgery for Marcos
Friday-Urologist visit for Noah

Marcos will be going in to have the lump removed from his neck. The lump we spotted a couple of months ago,is still there and needs to be removed and made sure is benign. I am unusually calm. Even today when blood was taken from Noah's vein, I felt at ease. It's an unusual feeling, but Im just thankful Jesus is my Lord and he carries us through all of this.Im enjoying this peace.

                                                  Prayers for Marcos and Noah please.