Kid Update :)

God is so very kind to us.  He has given us 4 beautiful kids, and it is such a blessing to be a family.  It is such a privilege to have the amazing responsibility to love, teach and pray for these kids.  So many have stood with us in prayers, especially with regard to our Matthew's health.  And it is with joy that I realize  that it has been a while since i have updated and begged for prayer for him!  God has been faithful in caring for him... loving in His care for our whole family!  Here's the update on our sweeties!

William.  He will be 7 in October, and he is starting  2nd grade on the 7th of September.  He is a smart, competitive boy.  He loves reading and math.  He works hard and works fast and loves school and being with his friends.  He is reading through the Narnia series right now.He has been diligent in completing chores this summer,  and he helped Uncle Johnny build a new tree house this summer.  They all love helping, playing outside.  William loves games of all types, and is really good at them.  They also love building Lego models.  It's neat to see the big boy William is growing up to be.

Joshua is our sweet 5 year old.  He is absolutely, completely excited about starting Kindergarten next week!  He has watched William go to school for 2 years now and is MORE than ready :)  He has a love for learning too, and has learned to read, and his writing is good too.  I had been working with him on little school books, and doing journals, and showing him how to sound out letters that you hear when writing, and one day I decided to test him to see how much he knew.  I showed him page after page and he read it all. So very cool :)  He still adores his dinosaurs, and can identify so many of them by their appropriate names... He also helped with the tree house, loves being outside, is great at puzzles and lego models.  It's great to see Joshua grow and learn and be such an individual, even though he does a lot of what William does, he is completely his own person :)

And this is our Kathryn.  She is such a girl in the midst of her brothers! She loves wearing dresses and jewelery, she loves Princesses and pink and purple.  She loves it when people tell her she looks pretty... But she also loves being outside and doing things the boys do.  I think she maintains a good balance!  She is learning to write her letters, knows the alphabet and numbers to 20 (at least).   She loves singing and talking... her kitty... playing with Ellen.  She's also a great big sister to Matthew.  She can be very sweet to him and will spend time chasing and playing with him (when he doesn't steal her things, of course! ) It is so funny how different she is than the boys... but I love it, and love being able to do girl things with her :)

And our Matthew.  What a joy it is to see how good this boy is doing.  Take a look at him... can you imagine anything health-wise was ever wrong with him???? Man.  Well, life without the large intestine is turning out to be... just fine.  After the last visit in the hospital (the week spent because of dehydration), I remember saying to Wes,  "Did we do the right thing to have this surgery?? It's been just so hard!".  And now... wow, I am so thankful.  He had an ostomy bag for a year.   Now, it's just him... I can see that cute little tummy! He fills his diaper a lot, but it is significantly less than it was right after surgery.  He is  gaining the weight back that he lost, and is a big, happy boy The rash comes and goes.... but I have the products needed to keep it under control.  I'm a bit more cautious with him, he drinks Pedialyte regularly on these hot days.  He's on a low residue fiber diet, so there are some things we don't give him, or just give in very small portions.  We'll adjust as we need. And for  Matthew... he won't know any different so this will be his normal.  How grateful I am to the Lord for His mercy and healing shown to our boy. 

Lets see.. he's saying a couple of "words".  Lots of noises! He loves growling and making animal noises. He is a little rascal sometimes and will hit the kids for their attention.  He climbs like you can't believe too, onto the tables, furniture (despite our pleas for him not to, he's really fast!).. all over us, (especially when I'm trying to do sit ups or just anyone laying on the floor where we are oh-so-accessible.)  He's also a sweetie and will hug and kiss, pat and give fives.  He tries to sing with us and will sway back and forth to the music.  He loves animals, dinosaurs, his brothers and sister, getting into everything. 


How come we are so very blessed???

Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.! 1 Chronicles 29:13