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Can You Hear Me Now???

For some reason, writing on my whiteboard is not working with Rowe. He never follows the directions I put on there. I wonder why!

A Quiet Update from Me

I am so behind on updating my blog, so I am going to slowly try to get back to updating.

Well, as many of you know I am fighting vocal nodules on my vocal cords and losing. The ENT prescribed medication, speech therapy, and voice rest. Can you guess which is the most difficult for me??? I stink at the voice rest!!! Please pray I close my mouth and quit talking and get well so I don't have to have surgery. Surgery is not even always effective, so I really don't want to do that. Honestly, surgery scares me to death after what I went through when Rowe was born.

Update on Lee:
Lee and I had plans for a fun night out of town with friends on Tuesday night. Lee was really excited about it, and talked about it for days. Tuesday afternoon, Lee called and said he was not feeling well and did not think he could make it to the gathering. I knew something had to really be wrong because he was never sick nor did he want to miss this event. When he walked in the door, I was speechless. His coloring was terrible, his eyes looked sunken in and crossed, and he was hardly able to stand up straight. He was cramping from head to toe, and wincing in pain. His voice was hoarse, and he began throwing up.

I immediately took him to the emergency room. They gave him to liters of fluids, and did blood work. His blood work results were terrible and showed he was suffering from extreme dehydration. After the second bag of fluids, Lee looked much better, and his cramps were gone. We were only there about two hours, and then headed home. Lee was told to rest for 24 to 48 hours, but his stubborn self went back to work 24 hours later. He is feeling much better, and hopefully taking much better care of himself. Please pray he will do better taking care of himself.

Update on Rowe:
He is wonderful, talking up a storm, always giving kisses, and asking for hugs. I am going to cry, cry, cry when school starts back!!!

A Burdened Heart

As some of you know, Lee and I sponsor a child in Guatemala through World Help. His name is Melvin, and he is about six months older than Rowe. We have been sponsoring Melvin and sending him monthly gifts for almost two years. In fact, many of you made generous clothing donations to him and his family.

Unfortunately, a little over a month ago, tropical storm Agatha devastated Guatemala and some of its surrounding areas. It killed over 150 people, many are missing, and it caused a giant sinkhole in Guatemala City. We have been praying for Melvin, his family, and his community since we heard, but sadly we still have not received any answers about Melvin and his family's safety. We pray they are alive and well, but my heart has been so heavy over this. The last we heard from him, was a homemade Easter card with his hand prints drawn on it from him in April. Of course it hangs on the refrigerator as a constant reminder to pray.

I encourage you to google tropical storm Agatha and Guatemala to learn more. There is so much flooding our media right now such as the terrible oil spill and the ruins and recovery of Haiti. I believe we should also be praying and doing what we can to help with the recovery of these disasters also. Unfortunately there was little coverage of tropical storm Agatha.

I am asking that all of you take the time to pray and consider helping these communities affected by tropical storm Agatha. There are several different ways you can help these families and those who are working to restore Guatemala. You can make a one time donation towards the recovery effort, you can sponsor a child there for about $30 a month, you can pray, and you can spread the word.

Click here to learn more about helping the communities of Guatemala during this great time of need.

If you make a donation or decide to sponsor a child, please leave me a comment. In two weeks I will use a random number generator to randomly select a winner of a $50 gift certificate for any of my personalized Stationery Fairy products. This includes anything from wedding invitations to luggage tags, and more!!! You can visit my site at www.thestationeryfairy.net for ideas on how to spend your gift certificate.

Rowe's Test Results!

Praise the Lord; we received great news today while we were in Jackson at Rowe's pediatric neurologist appointment. He said that Rowe is having motor tics and night terrors. This what we were praying it would turn out to be if it were something. Thank you God, and thank you to our prayer warriors out there.

Rowe's doctor was fabulous, and super child friendly. Rowe loved playing ball with him in the room. He asked questions and listened very well to our questions and informing him in what has been going on with Rowe. We took with us the c.d of Rowe's CT Scan, EEG, and videos of Rowe's episodes. He was super impressed with our video footage and wants to use our c.d. in teaching med students about tics. He told us that it the night terrors are Lee's fault, since they are in the same family as sleep walking/talking, and Lee has been known to catch a pass, drive a boat, give lessons on Bodock trees, and run from a snake in his sleep. (Side Note: It is not a good idea to wake someone while they are having a conversation in their sleep. It is an even worse idea to laugh at them. They get really angry and fuss at you. Then you will wake up with your feelings hurt while the other person (LEE) has no recollection of why you are upset or the previous night's events. I'm just saying.) The tics were passed down from his ADHD mommy. Rowe does not necessarily have ADHD, but it is in the same family as tics and obsessive compulsive disorder, so he may only experience the tics and nothing else.

I will post lots of pictures from our eventful day tomorrow. Rowe is calling me at the moment. I just love his sweet voice saying, "Coming mama, in here. Come in here mama." Once again, thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. It is unbelievable the peace that we have experienced throughout this whole ordeal thanks to your prayers.

Rowe Bug

We did not have the strep test run this week, because I decided to wait until we go to Jackson to do it. The tests will be more detailed and accurate there, so I felt this was best. Plus, (big praise here) Rowe has not had any symptoms this week except a few outbursts at night. No blinking episodes in the last few days!!! If strep is the cause of all of this, then he would only experience symptoms when the strep is present. Therefore, the strep test will come back positive only when he is having his blinking episodes. I am praying that everything will show in the tests that needs to in order to get a proper diagnosis. Strep may not be the cause of any of this, but I don't want him checked. There was a condensed version of the article that I previously posted from the Clarion Ledger in the Commercial Dispatch on Wednesday of this week.

Rowe's appointment in Columbus for tests is Tuesday, and in Jackson on Wednesday for our first consultation with the neurologist. We are planning to take Rowe to the zoo after his appointment Wednesday morning. He loves animals and has never been to a zoo before, so I think he will absolutely be in awe of it all!!! The only thing that may disappoint him is that there will not be any dinosaur exhibits. Poor kid doesn't know they are extinct, and I don't have the heart to tell him or the patience to explain the word extinct to a two year old.

Potty Training

We are about to start the joyous fun of potty training. He likes to sit on his potty, but that is about it thus far. I had planned on waiting until we had moved into our new house to start the training, but I decided to do it now since I finished school today, and he has been asking about the potty a lot lately.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. I know a lot about the potty training in three days strategy, but I'm not sure if that is what we'll try yet or not.

No Diabetes

Rowe's diabetes test came back negative. Getting him to cooperate with the test was quite the experience. They needed a urine sample, and he was determined not to give one. 12 hours later, success. Praise the Lord the test was negative!!! Thank you again for your prayers.

Please continue to pray that we get some answers very soon. I am going to have him tested for Strep tomorrow. He has had Strep three times in the last year, and after reading a recent article, I think we need to test him again. You should be able to go to http://www.clarionledger.com/ and search for the article "Strep Children" by Shanderia K. Posey to read it. It was very interesting. I'll post Rowe's Strep test results tomorrow.

Latest Update

I took Rowe today to his pediatrician's office for a Diabetes test, but Rowe didn't cooperate very well with the test, so we won't know the results until tomorrow. On a much more positive note, a different doctor in the same office watched one of Rowe's videos and said that he felt that it was a tic and not seizures. Once again, I know that the more people I show his videos to, the more differing opinions I will receive, but hearing him say it was reassuring. I will update tomorrow with the results of the Diabetes test. The only reason I asked to have this test done is because he is thirsty so often, and is waking up much more wet than ever before. Diabetes can be a cause of seizures, so we wanted to go ahead and rule this out if possible. Check back tomorrow for hopefully good news.

Keep up the praying. It is definitely helping. Rowe was back to normal with his sleeping habits this weekend. Praise the Lord!!! Rowe had a blast at a birthday party and then shoe shopping. When he was trying on a pair of shoes, he looked at me and said "Happy!" Too sweet. He loves to go shopping, just like his mommy and daddy.

God bless all. I'll post pics soon.

Mother's Day Weekend

Here are a few pictures from Mother's Day. Lee and Rowe gave me a homemade card and a stylish apron for when I am baking my breads. I will post pics from Market Street Festival later.

We Now Have an Appointment

HOORAY!!! We now have an appointment with the pediatric neurologist in less than two weeks. Praise God! He will have his initial tests run here in Columbus, then take the results with us as a starting point for the neurologist.

Here are a few random pics for you to enjoy.

No Appointment Yet

I have a couple of loaves of bread cooking in the oven, so I have a few minutes to kill before they are ready. I wanted to fill you all in on what has been happening the last couple of days with Rowe.

Rowe went a few days this week without any blinking episodes followed by good nights. Yesterday afternoon around 3:00, he began blinking off and on throughout the night. He started getting really uncomfortable and hard to console around 8:30 last night, so Lee rocked him until about 1:00 a.m. Lee brought him into our room, and put him in the bed with me, then he went and got into the bed in Rowe's room. At 2:15 a.m. it started all over again. Rowe was confused, fussing, and kicking. He would ask for something, and then get mad when I tried to give it to him. I tried rocking him, walking him, singing to him, everything with no luck. Lee woke up and Rowe immediately tried to get to him. Lee began rocking him again for another hour or longer. He brought him back to bed with me, and he slept until about 4:30. I was able to calm him down within 30 minutes this time without waking Lee. Rowe slept then until almost 8:00 this morning. What scares me is that the blinking episodes and his bad nights coexist. They must be related like the doctor believes, but honestly I don't want to believe he is right about these being seizures.

The nurse called me today and said that the specialist in Birmingham can not see him until OCTOBER! Those all caps are me yelling in my head. This is ridiculous. The Jackson specialist can't see him until August. I just hurt for the families who have children waiting to see these doctors with much worse health problems than Rowe. I can't imagine how much harder it is for them. As of right now, we are still keeping our June 1 appointment here in Columbus for his tests to be run. I just hate to have to do them again when we get to the specialist. That means Rowe will have to be sedated twice. Please pray that when the nurse calls me tomorrow about our appointment in Memphis, that it will be very soon. I am learning that the less control I have over all of this, means the more time I will be spending relying on God and prayer.

We both were so tired at work today, but I worry about Lee. He has such a physical job that can be dangerous at times. After work, he went to do a side job. He was running on adrenaline all day. Thankfully, I am giving exams this week and not trying to lecture or teach a new skill. Rowe was napping when I came home from school which meant NAP TIME FOR ME!!! When I woke up, Rowe was with Nana and Pops in the backyard, naked running round and jumping into his little pool. Only Rowe was naked, not Nana or Pops. Our backyard is not fenced in.

Rowe had a good day today, with less blinking. I spent most of the night baking for the week. I baked homemade biscuits, cinnamon rolls, banana nut muffins, and a couple loaves of bread. At this moment, Lee is sound asleep in Rowe's bed while Rowe is lying next to him playing.

The bread is ready now, and it is far past my preferred bed time, so I am about to go to bed relying on the Lord for rest. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!

Still Waiting

Rowe had the best night's sleep last night in as long as I can remember. Of course, I am still sleeping with him in case he has anymore episodes. We are all so grateful for the rest. Rowe is doing so much better. He only "blinked" twice last night and it did not last long at all. I still have not given him the medicine his pediatrician prescribed for seizures to take at night. I did not like what all I learned when I researched it. I think we need a diagnosis before I start medicating him. I have spoken with another doctor and nurse about this before making this decision.

The sweet nurse called yesterday to tell us that the specialist in Jackson can not see him until August! Not good news!!!!!!!!!! However, she is trying to get him into Le Bonheur ASAP for his tests. I will post any more updates as they happen.

It was a really stressful day on Thursday while trying to get his appointments set up, and I kept allowing it all overwhelm me. It took me a while that morning to pull myself together and get to work, but I made it through just fine. We have been working everyday, and carrying on with our lives as normal, except depending even more heavily on the Lord and the prayers for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Please continue the prayers! Have a good day! We are about to go eat a huge breakfast and watch Rowe stuff his face! YUMMO. I should post pictures soon. He is as cute as ever!

Rowe Update

I had just begun typing my post when I received a call that another doctor would take a look at Rowe's videos.

We called and bugged the nurse yesterday until we had an appointment set up for Rowe's CT Scan and EEG tests here in Columbus. Unfortunately, they could not run the tests until June 1st. Three weeks is a long time to wait!!! The doctor also prescribed Rowe a seizure medicine to start tonight, but the more research I have done, I am afraid to give it to him. I am going to wait until we have a diagnosis before I medicate him with anything that strong. I know some may disagree, but this is the decision we believe is best for our Rowe Bug.

I nervously loaded Rowe Bug into the car and headed to the doctor's house who agreed to see him tonight. He thought that Rowe was having tics and a sleep disorder. He also said that he could get us in to see the specialist in Memphis pretty quickly to have Rowe's tests run sooner than June 1st.

Of course, I loved hearing him say it didn't look like Rowe was having seizures, and that it looked like a tic, but I knew that each person I probably saw would have a different opinion. So far Rowe's pediatrician and our favorite, most trusted nurse in the world also feels it is a strong possibility that he is having petit mal seizures, and then there is one doctor who thinks it is a tic. There is no way for us to know for sure until the tests are run. I am so thankful for the possibility of Rowe being tested at a sooner date.

I can not dwell on the "what ifs" or I will go nutso(er). I choose to trust that God knows His plans for Rowe, and I will take this time to pray for Rowe and his doctors. I also choose to be thankful that we caught this very early, our favorite nurse gave us the push we needed to take him to see the doctor in the first place, that all his possible problems are manageable, and that we have such supportive and wonderful family and friends. God has given me a peace that passes all understanding, which is not normal for me. I typically worry and am anxious more than I would like to admit, but I am trusting in His sovereign plan. Don't get me wrong, I am not happy go lucky about this. I had my meltdown today in the arms of a precious hug of a friend that has walked through most all of my struggles with me. I am sure there will be more, especially with very little rest.

Please continue to pray for our baby and our family. Many of you helped pray our little dude here, and I know you will continue to pray for him. Thank you again for your prayers.

Prayers for Rowe Please

Normally, I would not post what I am about to share until after we had all of our test results in and we knew exactly what we are dealing with, but I am learning that transparency and prayers are better than living a private life.

Quick Synopsis: We took Rowe to the pediatrician yesterday because he has been having blinking episodes very often, and it effects his whole body. We showed the doctor the videos that Lee had taken of him during some of these episodes, and his first response to us was, "He's having seizures." Well, we feared hearing those words, but I didn't realize how it deep it would hurt to hear them. His nurse is setting up a CT Scan and EEG for Rowe this week. We should have the results within a few days if all goes as planned. We will wait until the results come back to know what we will do next. If he is right, and it is seizures, then we will go to a specialist either in Birmingham, Jackson, or Memphis.
We are so grateful that every possible scenario that the doctor gave us is manageable with medication. We are also glad that Rowe is completely oblivious to these episodes when they happen. He does not even notice them, so that is such a relief to us. The only part of all this that has affected him is he no longer sleeps well. He has screaming, jerking, and crying fits every night that are anywhere from off and on all night to hours at a time straight.

We are praying for specifically for three things, and we ask you to do the same:
1. We pray that these are not seizures, and that it is only a tic. Children usually grow out of tics within months. We are praying for clear test results and wisdom for the doctors. Hopefully the nurse will call us today with his appointments.
2. We are also praying that he will be able to sleep comfortably again. It is tough watching him scream and kick while we try to wake and console him.
3. Please also pray for Lee and I plus the rest of our family as we try to climb our way over this hill. Pray we have the strength, grace, and wisdom to give God the glory no matter what we face.

I will continue to update our blog as we learn more. Just keep checking back here instead of calling us right now with questions. We are still trying to process all of this, and really are not quite up to talking yet. We are broken hearted, but hopeful that our Rowe Bug is perfectly healthy. Thank you for your much needed prayers!

Letter to Mrs. Lucy

Below is a copy of the letter that "Rowe has written" to his Mother's Day Out teacher who he loves and adores. We have not given it to her yet, so don't tell her about it. He will give it to her on the last day of school which is next Thursday. Enjoy.

Dear Mrs. Sucy,

When school initially started, my vocabulary was extremely limited. Your unlimited patience and love has helped me, the baby of the class, grow into the 2 year old I am today. You have guided me so graciously when I would sink my teeth into new things or even my classmates. Your notes each Tuesday and Thursday were the highlight of my mom’s afternoons. She always called before she got home from school just to hear what was written on my note. She has saved every one of them for me to see when I learn to read later this year. I pray for you and my classmates every night with my parents. In my prayer time, God has revealed to me that you should move up to teach the two year old classroom. In fact, my parents are willing to monetarily thank you for your obedience to God. I love you and think you are beautiful, Rowe Bug Gillis

If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Galatians 5:15

A New Taste of Life

I have a new hobby thanks to the help of our talented and beautiful cousin Rachael. I am now making my own flour, baking our own bread, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and more! Here is a little taste of what I've been cooking up.

These are my cinnamon rolls rising. Unfortunately, I left them too close to edge of the counter.

.

It's unbelievable how good this all tastes! I just wish they were zero carbs

I Think I Need a Longer Yardstick

I have read Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." about 1,524,671 times, give or take a few. But like God does at times, He revealed something new to me this week once hidden in his Word. God gives the only true measuring stick we are suppose to use when comparing ourselves to anyone. God is the only one we should be comparing ourselves to. (Sorry about ending that sentence with a preposition.)

I catch myself comparing myself to the super holy older, wiser woman at church, or the friend that seems to always have it together, or the wife who cooks every night for er family, or the girls on the cover of just about any magazine, except maybe Senior Living. God makes it clear that He is the only one we should compare ourselves to, not these others we seem to think are "perfect."

I had a dream last night that I want to share with you. You know that state of sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night, and slowly drift off to sleep. I dreamed that all of those perfect people I previously mentioned, were standing in a beautiful field, with a blanket of stars overhead in the night sky. One woman was holding her worn Bible filled with verses that she knew by heart. Another person was thumbing through her perfectly organized day planner displaying her perfect time management skills. A smiling woman standing nearby was wearing a SuperMom shirt holding ten reading awards her preschooler had recently won. Next to her was a beautiful wife wearing a perfectly clean apron holding a fresh baked, homemade, organic dessert that left a sweet aroma in the air. Lastly I saw a stunning friend holding a measuring tape that would fit around only the tiniest of wastes in her hand.

Then all of a sudden, the night sky began to make way for a glorious sunrise. As it rose, each of the perfect people in the field began to bring me their "gifts." Soon, I was wearing a SuperMom shirt, holding a yummy dessert dish, reading awards, and all my dreams were finally falling into place. As I was relishing this realization, the beautiful sunrise completely mesmerized me. I was in awe of God's breathtaking display before my eyes. All I wanted to do was praise Him. I began to lift my hands to the sky, but my arms were too full. They were too heavy with what I had acquired on my own to raise. I knew I had a decision to make. I could continue to hold on to "my" new gifts and accomplishments, or I could lay them all down before God and praise Him with all of my heart and all of my imperfections. Just Celeste.

God showed me through this, that He made me the way I am, and to stop the comparisons. His glory is more important!

It Broken Mama! It Broken!

When Rowe got up this morning, something terrible had happened! All of his pacis were broken. He was very upset about this, repeating loudly, "It broken Mama! Paci broken!" He was confused then mad, then he forgot all about it. Then he found them again and his confusion and anger started all over. This went on throughout the day. Nap time was a challenge, and I am afraid tonight will not be any easier, but hopefully he will do okay. The next time he starts clinging to his daddy and wanting nothing to do with me, I am going to sweetly and softly whisper into his ear, "Rowe, your daddy broke your pacis." Then we'll see who he loves.

Right Now

Books I am currently reading (not simultaneously):

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (I recently read "The Last Song" and I think it was my favorite book he has written. Yep, even better than "A Walk to Remember" and "The Notebook" I think. Still debating on that one. I can't want to see the movie! Plus I am a huge Miley Cyrus fan.) I bet you didn't know that last part about me, but it's true. Lee and I both like her acting.

Night Light by Terri Blackstock: This is the second book in her Restoration series. This is my favorite series I have read that she has written. It's no secret that I love this author. I emailed her recently via her website, and actually got a personal response back. Of course it was like one sentence, but I loved it regardless.

Laughing in the Dark by Chonda Pierce

This woman is a hilarious, Christian comedian. This book is about her journey through depression. I actually just finished it, and found it to be very insightful and interesting. All women and husbands should read this book!

Movies I am currently watching (not literally):

New Moon (again) - enough said

The Blind Side - I plan to watch it this weekend. I think I'm going to buy this movie because I know I'm going to love it!

Songs I am currently listening too (not all at the same time):

I am not a big country music fan, but Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean, and Taylor swift plus a few kiddo C.D.s are in my disk changer in my car. I wish a greatest hits c.d. by Toby Keith was in there. I have always wanted to go to one of his cornets.

Everything by Taylor Swift

I am a HUGE Taylor Swift fan. I love everything she writes and sings. Lee and I think she is the cutest, most talented little singer out there (other than Moriah Mozingo). I think we both have a crush on her.

I listen to KLove 104.5 tons. I love the music they play.