Overheard

We still have a monitor in the boys' room. Last night, they were talking way past bedtime (which by the way is a huge indication that Micah is doing tons better. We haven't had to go into the boys' room to tell them to go to sleep in months!) We turned up the monitor to hear what they were saying. They both sleep with countless things in their beds, and Owen was talking about one of his "friends."

Owen: "Micah, Sonic got ADEM. He is 100% sick, and he died."

Micah: "I was 100% sick one time, but God has healed me all the way back to 96% healthy!"

Owen: "Micah, I think you were just 99% sick when you had ADEM."

Oh, the musings of my little guys. Praise the Lord for His healing work in Micah! Praise the Lord that Micah knows full well who The Great Physician is! Praise the Lord, for He is good!

Adoption

Adoption. I love adoption. I want to adopt, but now is clearly not the time for our family. It is, however, the time for a family who is very near and dear to our hearts (along with many other families we know and love who are also going on this adventure). The Comptons are selling a T-shirt to help with with some of the funds of the whole process. If you would like to support this wonderful picture of the Lord's mercy on us, help bring home the Compton's newest addition, and/or want a really great new shirt either reply here or email Katie at katiebcompton@gmail.com. Here is the design (they are $20 and come in adult, youth, and toddler sizes and are really more of a charcoal grey-darker than the proof):

Owen, Where Has the Time Gone?

Taken on your 4th birthday eve

At your third birthday party

At your second birthday party

The big 1 year old!

A few weeks old: an absolute angel baby!

Mama's first glimpse

Oh my Owen, looking back on these pictures makes me smile. I cannot, cannot believe you will be four years old by the time anybody reads this. You were such a Godsend to our family. We needed you more than we even knew. You came into the world our smallest baby on an unseasonably cold day and changed us forever. You could quite possibly have been the sweetest baby ever, and we appreciated and loved you so much. You grew into a boy that would be someone's very best friend in the whole world and a child who makes his parent's so proud.

This year has been a busy one for you. You entered into your hardest stage so far as you tried to figure out your place in the world. You have always been content to be in the background but this year, you decided to fight for your right to be heard. We have always had a hunch that you would be a middle child and this year, your little sister made you just that. Knowing your sensitive nature and insecurities, we have always tried to let you know how special you are to us. You have a tender heart. You have a funny sense of humor and make me laugh, and you are such a smart little boy. We have loved watching you play with your little sister when you think no one is watching. We have loved watching you care for your big brother and best friend these past few months. One of my favorite memories will always be watching you hold Micah's hand and walking him down the halls for his physical therapy. You want him to run with you again and pray for that every night.

You talk our ears off these days, especially if it is something you are passionate about. This year you started preschool and, while you love it, you always insist that you would rather stay home than go. You were truly born into an introverted family! It is funny to see how you retreat when you get around crowds and how much you let loose at home with us. You love to help me. I loved our Wednesdays together this year as you walked around with me and helped me with my housework while I listened to you tell me stories. You can write your name, count as high as you want, surprise us with your mental math skills, and get yourself dressed complete with shoes on the wrong feet! You finally moved out of a crib this year into the top bunk of your new shared room. The memories you will make in there are bound to be immeasurable. You have a wonderful imagination and have actually awoken to fears of wasps in bubbles chasing you from your dreams! You are gaining a true sense of wonder at the Lord and all his works. You talk about all the amazing things God could do as you ponder his omnipotence. You are amazed at the promise of Heaven and have commented that "in Heaven, I can eat chicken from Chick-fil-a because I won't even be allergic to eggs!" Hopefully, it won't take that long as the numbers show your allergy to eggs is almost gone.

We love you, Owen more than you can ever know. And we pray that this upcoming year you would grow even more "in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man." Happy Birthday!

We've Come A Long Way

This smile has definitely kept us smiling through the weeks. Recently, we have all had many reasons to smile. Micah is making progress every day. We literally watch him do something new every morning and see him grow stronger before our eyes. We have been told that Micah needs no speech therapy! We have finished the final dose of steroids! Our physical therapist told us that Micah is definitely ready for a full hour of PT and that her notes every week are inches long due to all the progress he makes each time! We are overjoyed at the Lord's healing in our sweet Micah. We are confident that he will continue to gain strength and physical abilities. Lately, he is playing golf outside, going on long walks with us in the evenings, pushing Margot in her swing, swinging himself, and spider crawling up the stairs alone. Last night, he shuffled his feet so quickly across the floor as he "ran" for the first time since late February. Although the past couple of months have been rough, we have been blessed to watch the way the Lord is using this trial to strengthen Micah in his faith. He prays with such passion, he asks boldly and confidently that the Lord will continue to heal him, he trusts like I only wish I did. The Lord is indeed stretching us all as we learn to walk with Him and become more like Jesus.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;

The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

-From "How Firm a Foundation"

Untitled from Ginny Morrison on Vimeo.

Untitled from Ginny Morrison on Vimeo.

Up and Moving

Micah is on the mend and consuming food again. We have kept him on simple starchy things as to not aggravate his belly too much, but I feel like we should be close to resuming his normal diet. His legs got very weak during the stomach sickness, but he is mostly willing to do his exercises to get better. I have had to readjust my parenting style a bit as we move from room to room (we mostly hang out on the floor or couch.) It is much different than it was with my usual rambunctious boys. I now have to come up with fun ways to get them moving instead of coming up with ways to get them to settle down! (The upside is we are playing many educational games and learning some new things-these are great for Micah's fine motor skills). Owen has rarely wanted to leave Micah's side, so we have to implement some fun running around with him too. I will make up obstacle courses for us to run, and then we will get Micah and walk them. Hopefully, the weather will turn nice again soon, and we can do some of this outside. I think a little sunshine on our faces will do us all some good! Micah will finish up his steroid very soon and hopefully, his immune system will get back up and running. This last bug caused a major setback. I don't want to be a crazy "germaphobe", but at the same time I have to try to protect my little boy right now. We went ahead and kept Owen out of school this week since we had so much family helping us, and we have all been hanging out at home. Hopefully, next week we can all stay healthy as we resume normal life, and Micah begins his therapies.

Numb

So... we have suffered a major setback. This "stomach bug" has really kept Micah off his feet. Combine that with some severe muscle wasting from the steroids, and we are back where we were two weeks ago-taking a few steps and climbing a few stairs with help. It is discouraging to see and hard to stay hopeful. Micah says his tummy hurts so bad. His prayer request every night is that God will heal his tummy. It is possible that the steroids are causing an ulcer, or it could just be hurting from whatever is causing all the vomiting and diarrhea. Please pray that we could get over this hump and that his stomach would settle down. I cringe every time he has to take that steroid. I know it is what is keeping us from having rebound inflammation, but it is also what is causing all these horrible side effects.

I called in many reinforcements last week as Matt went back to work. Taking care of Micah with all the tummy issues has proven to be quite a job. Matt's family helped throughout the week, and I called my mom on Thursday to come help. We are so thankful that everyone has been so willing to sacrifice and help us. The hardest part for me is watching everything and being here by myself-my mind starts racing and I am faced with making decisions that I don't know how to make: Is it time to go to the doctor, does he need to be back in the hospital, am I feeding him the right things etc. etc. Having someone here is calming for me and frankly, just necessary.

People say "I don't know how you are doing it." It is by God's grace alone I tell you. I don't know how I am doing it either. I tend to numb myself up before I go care for Micah. If I don't, then I will breakdown and that is not helpful for anyone. I wake up in the morning, ask the Lord for help, and I care for my children-just like I did before all this. It is different in so many ways, but in so many ways it is the same. We get dressed, eat, and play-it just takes a little longer and looks a little different. We are trying to take things one day at a time. Right now, thinking about the future is painful. Scripture tells us "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."-Matthew 6:34.

Even though our souls are troubled, we will praise the Lord and wait on him.

Wait for the Lord;

Be strong, and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27: 14

A Spoonful Of Syrup...

...helps the medicine go down. Poor Micah seems to have been battling a stomach bug the past few days. The main concern has been getting his steroids down. Steroids are funny drugs, and you can't just stop taking them without some serious things happening. We were contemplating injections but didn't want to have to give Micah painful shots on top of everything else he is going through. Thankfully, with the help of prayer and Hershey's syrup, we have kept his doses down (a very helpful pharmacist at Harris Teeter made the suggestion of masking the bitter, gagging flavor of orapred with chocolate!) To say this bug has thrown us for a loop is an understatement. We feel like we keep getting hit on all sides these days. As if adjusting to life wasn't already challenging enough, we have spent most of our time in either in the bathroom or laundry room and scrubbing carpets and sheets. I want to say a special thanks to those bringing us meals, my neighbor for saving the day yesterday with packs of pull-ups, Stanley Steamer for making me feel clean again, Aunt Maggie for helping with the other kiddos while I was helping Micah, Owen for deciding to be a sweet helper again, and Margot for taking a four hour nap this morning. The Lord has been faithful to us. Just when I really start having a pity party, He shows His face in such a tangible way and reminds me of His goodness. The amazing thing is that Micah is staying so positive through yet another trial. He amazes me with how he is handling this. I can't imagine what he must be thinking after being so sick for so long. I, on the other hand, am having a hard time staying positive for him as I watch his body become weaker again with dehydration and malnutrition. It is hard to not see improvements. We postponed our therapies until next week as we feel Micah needs to rest and build back his energy stores before we start pushing him physically. We also found out today that our insurance doesn't cover occupational therapy. It will, thankfully, cover the physical and speech therapies, but we now have to decide what to do about the other. I think I will be doing some research tonight and adding another job description under the title Mom! I really want to be able to do as much as possible for Micah at home anyway. I know it will be easier in some ways to work with Micah myself: I won't be having to drive to and fro, I already know and love him, I know what makes him tick, and I just enjoy playing with him. Time will tell if this will work or if we will explore other options. In the meantime, we will keep loving each other, working hard, and relying on the Lord's grace and strength.

What About Me?

Since I practically lived in a hospital this past month and didn't even get my 5 month post, I told Mama that it was my turn!

I got a new swing, and I love it-especially when my big brother gives me pushes.
Here I am on day two of my rice cereal. I decided not to take any bites at all even though I loved it the day before. See the pretty tulips in the back? They aren't for me, but I love them and talk to them every day.
Here I am practically sitting all by myself. Mama says it should be very soon if I am anything like my brothers. I also like toys now.


This was the first day of my rice cereal. I really liked it and ate a healthy portion. I made Mama a stinky present at 2 am that night. My big brother, Owen, took this picture. He is an aspiring photographer these days.

I was a sweet girl in Atlanta and liked being pushed around in the stroller that Dylan let me borrow.

And this is the famous trick that my Dada does with all the babies. It really freaks people out, but I love showing off!

Free At Last!

These photos were taken last Thursday in Atlanta after we were released from the hospital and before we headed back to Nashville.

We Are Home

We made it home Friday afternoon. Our neighbors made a sign for Micah (and were all playing outside to welcome him home!) and my in-laws had their housekeeper clean our house. We walked in to a wonderful smelling home complete with balloons and tulips from Micah's great grandma! It was a wonderful homecoming. However, we weren't here long before the tears began. Micah has had a hard time being home. I think the realization that he really can't do the things he used to is hitting home, and it is hard for him. He gets frustrated that he has to rest all the time, he is getting discouraged and thinking that he will never be able to do the things he once could do physically. We are trying to encourage him and keep his spirits up, and we are praying for God's peace for him. Also, we were awakened last night to cries coming from him. He began throwing up after midnight and was still unable to keep anything down this morning. He is resting well now, and we are hoping that this is just a product of all the medicine and not another virus for him to fight. I am unsure what we are going to do about getting his medicine down, and at this point are waiting for a call from the doctor. I will continue to update as I am able. You have all been so wonderful and faithful in praying for our family. It is a challenge to raise three small children under normal circumstances, but I am sure you can imagine, this takes it to a whole new level. Computer time is scarce. I also have lots of pictures (some of a little girl who had a big day yesterday-first solids!, and many of our sweet Micah) that I am hoping to get uploaded today.

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! -Psalm 118:24

So Sweet

He loves you too! Hopefully, we can take a trip to visit soon.

(This is Micah's preschool class)

Again!

We have all our children under one roof again! It feels amazing. We are staying the night here in Atlanta and will head home in the morning. Micah is so happy to be back with us, and Owen has the biggest smile on his face. Praying for a safe drive home and a restful weekend with all our babies.

Going Home!

Micah is doing so well that they are ready to release him from the hospital here! There are some final evaluations etc. to do, but we are hoping to go home Friday. You can only imagine how excited we are to take our sweet Micah home. I am very curious how he will respond to being home in a comfortable, familiar environment with his siblings and Mama full time.

My mom has been here for the past few days (so helpful!), which has given Matt a chance to come be with Owen for a little while. Owen has been having a little bit of a hard time. We aren't really sure if it is nerves, but he hasn't been eating much and his tummy is upset. I'm sure he has so many emotions that are hard to process. He has lost his best friend and is generally apathetic about playing much of anything. I'm so excited for him that he will have his brother back soon!

I was able to spend a good deal of time with Micah this morning. I know everyone wants to know how he is. It is hard to explain, and I have so many mixed emotions when I am with him. He is definitely different than he was prior to the ADEM. There is no way to know if it is permanent, a product of his environment, side effects to the steroids etc. Honestly, we haven't seen any negative personality changes-just different. Sometimes I catch myself feeling sad that I may never see the old Micah again, but I also realize that circumstances shape who we are. We believe the Lord uses things in our lives to mold us into the people he wants us to be. We trust that God has a plan for Micah- one to prosper him and not to harm him and that He will work this situation for Micah's good. He looks tons different because of all the swelling. This is temporary and should go down when he stops the medicine, but it is hard to see him looking so puffy. He also is still very limited physically. While he has come leaps and bounds from where he was two weeks ago, he is far from running down the hall and jumping off the ottomans. I asked the therapist today if she thought he would do those things again, and her response was "yes, definitely." She explained that there was still so much healing that needs to happen in all the nerves and that just takes time. Although there are no guarantees, it was good to hear such a positive opinion. No one thought he would be doing this well this quickly and that is also an encouragement. We are really just so thankful and proud of our little boy, so humbled by the prayers, gifts, and help from our friends and family, so grateful for the Lord's mercy.

Look At Me Now!

(On the putting green at the hospital)

Oh great merciful Lord, thank you for your faithfulness in healing our sweet Micah. We continue to pray that he may be restored fully. What a blessing to see our Micah walk, play golf, talk, and joke with us.

I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

Psalm 145:1-7

Day 2

We were just so thrilled to take our little boy away from Vanderbilt-in our own car. He slept most of the way and it really tired him out. I am assuming all the stimuli were overwhelming after all he has been through. The trip was uneventful. I hated dropping my son and husband at the hospital door and driving away, but we had two little ones who would not make it much longer without some milk and a stretch of the legs. We are very close with the family I am staying with. Taylor has been so kind to have food and baby gear here. Owen has a playmate, and Margot is sleeping the days away. I know she is exhausted from all this. However, I feel much farther removed here from Micah and Matt. I don't have much time to communicate with them, and I am a 30 minute drive from the hospital. If you know Atlanta, this could be up to 2 hours if I leave at the wrong time. I feel like I have deserted Micah. I know that is not true, but it is hard for me to not be by his bedside. I also think I was thinking Micah would not be in a "hospital" hospital. He is still getting vitals, blood draws, people poking in all day long, etc. I am glad they are taking good care of him, but just not what I expected. I know we will find a new groove. It just takes time to learn a new system. Everyone who saw Micah today said he looked great. They see children recovering from ADEM here, and they were impressed by how far Micah has come. Praise the Lord for his healing work. Micah is stronger still today. We have a ways to go before he will run, but he is sitting himself up in the bed, crawling in and out of the bed and chairs, eating a ridiculous amount of food, putting on tons of weight (3 pounds in a week-that is the total he gained in the whole last year of his life!) The steroids can cause swelling and hunger, so our little guy may actually catch up to most other 5 year olds out there. His talking is better too. He is still very tired. We are still getting evaluations, so this is low key compared to next week. I am curious to see how he will handle the intense therapy. We will meet with the team Wed. to discuss the exact treatment plan and to get a tentative release date. In the meantime, my mom is headed up to help out. I am looking forward to getting to spend some extra time with Micah this weekend and not having to fight rush hours. I will post as I am able, but we have no computer at the hospital this time. Please pray this will go quickly-we are really needing our family together under one roof.

Here!

Quick note to let you all know that we are here safe and sound. It has been busy getting settled with the little ones here by myself, and Matt said Micah was so tuckered out by the time they got to their room. Tomorrow, Micah will have assessments, and we hear the weekends are low key. This will hopefully give him some time to ease in before the real therapy begins on Monday. I will go visit him tomorrow and let Matt spend some time with Margot and Owen. We are so glad to be together in the same city, but it is really hard for me to not be with Micah all the time. I am, again, so thankful for Matt and the relationship he has with our little boy. The nurses at the hospital said Micah is doing great. We are so proud of our little guy! Several have asked about where we are staying. I obviously don't want to post any information on the blog since it has become so public, but if you want to send me an e-mail, I would be happy to give you our address.

Funny story (well it is now anyway): We had been here less than 10 minutes when I dropped my phone in the toilet. Are you kidding me? I quickly put it in a bowl of rice and a couple of hours later, it is back up and running. Thankfully, I won't be making a trip to get a new phone tomorrow.

Packing the Car

Tonight, Matt and I are both home (for the second night in a row!) Aunt Maggie (Matt's sister who is also a nurse at Vanderbilt Children's) was off this week and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help us care for our son. She is spending the night with Micah while we get the car loaded for our trip. Funny, it is hard for us to be anything but joyful. We are just so thrilled to see our little boy talk, laugh, and walk. I seriously wondered if I would ever hear him talk again last Tuesday. We are excited to see what the next few weeks hold. Micah told me tonight that he was about 50% healed. I asked if anything hurt and he responded "no, but I want to, like, run again!" He requested that the thousand people who were praying for him continue to do so. I have no doubt you all will. I also inquired as to whether Micah was scared. He said yes because of the IV. I had good news for him: no IVs in rehab! I also asked if he knew who would be with him (I was talking about Matt), and he informed me that God and Jesus would be there. Yes, my sweet, sweet, Micah. God and Jesus will be there. I pray every night for Jesus to wrap you up in his arms since I can't. I love you and can't wait to see you run!

A Couple of Videos

First walking (I think this was Sunday)

"Thank you for praying for me."

Micah sat up in a chair last night and ate spaghetti, green beans, and a cupcake!

Qualified!

We are set to leave for Atlanta at 8 AM on Thursday. They are speaking with insurance now, but they are confident it will cover. We may even be able to drive Micah ourselves!

To Clarify

I just wanted to clarify that Micah is not "ill" so to speak any more. We are remaining at the hospital to receive therapy, monitor his food and fluid intake (swallowing and eating have been extremely difficult), and awaiting the removal of his IV and feeding tube. The neurology team told us there is nothing else to help Micah except extensive therapy. We still have no updates on Atlanta and are so thankful that Micah is still inpatient to receive all his therapies.

I actually stayed home this morning. I washed clothes, cleaned and organized, made a healthy lunch, and spent time preparing for our trip. We have wonderful friends in Atlanta, who are going to house us while we are there. Matt will spend the nights with Micah, and I will stay at the Brown's with the other children. We will go visit Micah daily, and I have been told that Micah may even be able to leave the hospital for a couple of hours a day! These are our tentative plans as we don't know this new facility or how things work there.

My brother-in-law and his girlfriend took our car for an oil change and tire rotation today. Owen went to school, and I had a little piece of normal for the first time in two weeks. It is hard not to feel guilty taking time off to recharge when what I really want is for my little boy to be the one able to come home. Alas, I will take this blessing as Margot really needed some time in her own bed. She slept till 9 and went back down for a nap at 10. She is still asleep. Owen begged me to stay home with him for 58 days. I know the others need some time too.

I am hoping to take some pictures today to show you how great Micah is doing. Matt said he was very feisty during his morning therapy session and even threw his toothbrush. I hate that now we have to discern the fine line between defiance and inabilities. It's hard enough to parent when children are healthy, but this is sure to add a difficult dynamic. Pray that we would be encouraging to Micah and that we would be wise in parenting/disciplining him. One of the great benefits of going to an inpatient facility is that we won't also have to be the ones pushing him physically. Also, please pray that we would be able to go to Atlanta-that Micah would be a good fit and that our insurance will approve this therapy.