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.

Surgery #2

1 Peter 1 :6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Surgery scheduled for 9:00 am. On December 19th at 7:45 in the morning, we waited for Noah to be admitted. Reimplantation of the right ureter was necessary to correct the severe reflux ( urine going back into the kidney). The surgery would last 3-4 hours. At 15 months of age, my baby boy is one brave little warrior and has a couple scars to prove it.

 

 

 It was hard not to let the nerves get the best of us, but through all of it we knew God was with us. It got worse when surgery was rescheduled for a later time. Noah didn't seem to mind.

 

 

 At 12:00,  Noah finally gets a sedative to help with separation anxiety. As they pulled him away, I couldn't hold back the tears. My baby was taken in to be sliced open and I couldn't hold him through it. Buddy (his tubie friend) was there all along.

 

 

We found some comfort in the lobby where other nervous parents waited. We heard other parents' stories and the tough situations they were in. I came across a woman. I recognized the fear in her face. That fear and sadness that no mother is ever ready to face. Her struggles were tough. Her 5 week old baby girl had already had open heart surgery in her short life. This time around she was getting a g-tube placed in her tummy since she wasn't able to eat. I offered some words of encouragement, like the ones that were offered to me when I needed them most. I managed to get a smile out of her as her eyes seemed glazed over with heaviness.

Then Santa came to spread some joy. I was the first to jump and request a picture. Tension was broken and in the hours that followed there was no more silence. We swapped stories and the experiences  that seem so odd to an "ordinary family" were so easily exchanged with  complete strangers who we could totally relate to.

Surgery ended!

Doctor stated there was a 90 % percent chance the reflux would no longer be an issue .YAY! those are great odds.

A JP tube would remain attached to him to observe the blood output and a chatheter from his penis to check on the amount of blood coming out for the next couple of days.Tubes were everywhere!

A catheter would be left inside his bladder to help against edema and other threats of damage to his kidney. Noah will have to return a second time to have the cathether removed. As of now, we will focus on a day at a time to get him back to his normal routine.

 

 

 

                    

And an awesome clown paid us a visit. Noah slept through it, but we were glad to have such a joyful visitor.

We love you Driscoll Clowns!

The first day and night were very rough. Noah was in pain and cried every time I put him down.

 

 

 

He finally stopped crying.

                                                          

                                            And we went for a ride.                                              

                                                            

Noah felt better and this time we were out in time to spend Christmas at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As promised, we delivered the soda can tabs to the Ronald Mcdonald House Charities. Thanks for all of you who helped out.

 

 

I continue asking for prayers for Noah.

Joyful moments

Psalm 66: 1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

Joyful moments...

 

Last year, around this time, my son was being admitted to the hospital at the young age of 4 months. Little did we know that we'd spend both Christmas and New Year's in the hospital.

 

We didn't celebrate Christmas last year ,and the gifts remained unwrapped until mid-january and then the second trip to hospital came. Joy was hard to find back then and in all reality the pit of despair we seemed to be falling into consumed us and sucked the tiniest bit of positive emotion out of us.

 

This year, even though a second surgery(reimplantation of the ureter) is scheduled on 12/19/12, we've realized how joyful life can be if you care to appreciate its beauty. Like when my boys hug and kiss each other goodnight after bouncing on the bed, I call that joy. My husband reminding me that he loves me on a daily basis, brings me joy.  Being able to have both my parents alive and kicking and enjoying their home visits, brings joy to my heart. And, the lady who rings the bell in her super red lipstick as she collects coins for the salvation army. Her super white teeth glow right at me as she smiles. Smiling back isnt difficult, she spreads some joy. Then there are those beautiful people who intentionally give out of their hearts desire to make someone happy.

 

This South TX College Biology Club was kind enough to greet us at the Dr.'s office with a gift.


We've tried to make the most out of the holidays and hoping that we are out of the hospital before Christmas. We really want to be home. Anxiety will try to creep in soon, this I know. At the moment, I find peace in my heavenly father, who has lifted us up from the worst time of ours lives and brought us to this time of year again. My father who has come to our rescue time and time again.

 

 

Having fun at the festival of lights.

We continue asking for prayers for Noah.

Gobble Gobble

 

Psalms 69:30 I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

I praise your name for all you do, all you've done, and all you will do for us. I am learning to trust in you even though ,at times, it is tough. Give me the wisdom, understanding and faith to keep my eyes on you. Surround me with your presence and guide my every step. Father," your presence is all I need, its all I want, and all I seek and without it, without it there's no meaning". I joyfully serenade you with this song.

 

We spent Thanksgiving with my awesome sister, Gladys, and her family up in San Antonio. We had a blast!

 

                                                                         

A year ago, my sister had double mastectomy. She is a cancer survivor. Thank you Lord. You've kept her alive and safe. You've kept my sister as happy , upbeat,  and beautiful as she's always been. Her loving girls bring joy to her home.

 

My mom went with us. Thank you father that my mommy is strong. Please keep giving her the strength and courage to deal with everything that life throws at her. I ask that you surround her with your love and peace.

 

Our kids did well on the 5 hour ride over there, except when Noah was throwing his tantrums. He seemed to enjoy the ride when he had something to beat me with. My Tiny Terror is becoming a meany weany. Thank you father. Last year our Noah seemed so frail and weak. He gets stronger and more energized as the year comes to an end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite moments, besides stuffing my face with all the green beans and stuffing of  course, was the quiet walk my husband and I took after dinner. We walked hand in hand and reminisced over our last 8 years as husband and wife. We spoke of our good moments, our bad moments and our worse moments. We've grown so much as individuals, husband and wife, and parents. Thank you Lord, you've given me the perfect mate. You heard my prayers when I asked for a Christian friend and gave me a Christian husband that I love dearly. I can't imagine my life without Jonathan. Thank you Lord.

 

 

Faith and I doing are part to help out the Ronald Mcdonald House


*Tomorrow we have a Dr. appointment with the urologist. Prayers for Noah please.