Friday, January 30, 2009

Les Parfait épouse

Yes, yes, this is me...Les Parfait epouse...or, the Perfect Wife in French!






Oh, who am I kidding, I am so far from it but I just thought I would give you a good laugh!

But in all seriousness, is it bad to make a deal with your husband to make him do what you want him to?????

Allow me to elaborate! B is horrible about just throwing his dirty clothes in the floor, or on the bench at the edge of the bed...anywhere but in the dirty clothes where they belong. We have had several conversations about the issue, which do not seem to phase him the least because his clothes have remained "thrown around."

So finally, Wednesday night I was picking up the room, including all the clothes "thrown around" and ended up with a pile of clothes so high that it would have been enough for two loads worth of laundry! So I decided to... manipulate, sway things my way, trick....ASSIST my dear husband in learning with a small game of "Let's Make a Deal." The rules started as being: each time B (hubs) did not put his dirty clothes in the dirty clothes hamper, A (myself) got to purchase a new clothing item...B did not agree stating we would then go "broke"! So after many options, the following was agreed upon...Each time B does not put his dirty clothes in the dirty clothes hamper, then B must scratch A's back until she falls asleep every night for a week!!!! Now, some of you may not enjoy this, but I LOVE having my back scratched!!!

So since we were playing this little game, I asked B if there was anything I did that got on his nerves that he wanted to play "Let's Make a Deal" with, and he said "NO", I truly am Les Parfait Epouse!"




Ok, so he did actually come up with something, but he did have to think about it! He said that he hates it when I do the laundry, and hang the clothes up in the laundry room and never put them in our closet! Yes, I leave half our wardrobe in the laundry room! So from now on, I have until the end of the weekend (because I only do laundry on the weekend) to hang the clothes up in the closet...and if I don't, then I have to change Kai's (our cat) litter box...which is something I despise!!!

So, all of that to ask the question...is it bad to play "Let's Make a Deal" with your hubs just get him to do what you want?

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Congratulations!

Have you seen this yet? A mom in California gave birth to OCTUPLETS last night...only the second set of octuplets that are living in the U.S! All eight babies, 6 boys and 2 girls, are all breathing on their own and all are expected to survive.

BELLFLOWER, Calif. – The octuplets born to a mother in Southern California are doing "very, very well" and breathing on their own, one of their doctors said Tuesday.

Dr. Mandhir Gupta, a neonatologist at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center, told ABC's "Good Morning America" the eight babies were in stable condition.

Two of the newborns — the second live octuplets born in U.S. history — were initially put on ventilators, but their breathing tubes have been removed.

"Only three babies need some sort of oxygen through the nose right now but they are breathing on their own," Gupta said. "The babies are doing actually very, very well."

The mother, who was not identified, gave birth Monday to the six boys and two girls weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces, and 3 pounds, 4 ounces. The eighth baby was a surprise to the parents and doctors who had been expecting only seven children.

"It is quite easy to miss a baby when you're anticipating seven," said Dr. Harold Henry, chief of maternal and fetal medicine and one of 46 doctors, nurses and assistants who delivered the children by Caesarean section.

Just five minutes after the first birth, the unexpected eighth baby came out at 10:48 a.m. "My eyes were wide," said Dr. Karen Maples, chief of the department of obstetrics and gynecology.

Maples said the mother was "very comfortable now. She is currently stable and we're observing her. She's also very excited about the health of her babies and she's extremely happy."

Doctors said they repeatedly conducted practice sessions in anticipation of the deliveries and were well prepared. Maples credited that with the ability to handle the unexpected eighth baby. "It was wonderful just knowing that our teamwork paid off," she said.

The babies — dubbed with the letters A-through-H — will probably remain in the hospital for at least two months and the mother should be released in a week, said Maples. The most encouraging news was that the smallest — Baby E, a boy weighing just 1 pound, 8 ounces — no longer needed a ventilator. Gupta described him as "very feisty" on Tuesday.

The doctors cautioned that there is still the possibility that one or more of the octuplets may need a breathing tube again, and more dangers await when they begin feeding.

The mother checked into the hospital in her 23rd week of pregnancy and gave birth to the premature babies seven weeks later. Gupta said the woman was given spinal anesthesia and could hear the babies as they came out.

The world's first live octuplets were born in March 1967 in Mexico City, but all died within 14 hours, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

The United States' first live octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, three months premature. The tiniest died a week after the birth. The surviving siblings turned 10 in December.

Their parents, Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi, told The Associated Press that they were delighted to hear another mother managed the same feat.

"It's a blessing, truly a blessing," Chukwu said. "We'll keep praying for them."

Dr. Richard Paulson, director of the fertility program at the University of Southern California, said the latest births likely resulted from the use of fertility drugs. Hospital officials would not say whether the mother had used such aids.

Paulson said the children could face serious health risks, including breathing problems and neurological damage. The mother also has an increased risk of hemorrhage, Paulson said.

"It's a risky decision to try to have all eight babies," said Paulson, who had no role in the delivery. "I would not recommend it under any circumstances, but I respect a parent's decision."

The Bellflower medical center, located about 17 miles southeast of Los Angeles, has an advanced neonatal unit. The most infants previously delivered at the hospital was five, the Los Angeles Times said.

The birth took a lot out of more than just the mother. Maples, who helped deliver the brood, said that when she got home: "I was humbled, I was exhausted and I took a nap."

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Update on Kristi Walker

First - let up PRAISE THE LORD that little Harper is doing so well!!! If you haven't seen the latest update, you can read about it here.


Second, here is the latest update received this morning about Kristi Walker:

Good Saturday to each of you,

I talked to Chuck in the late afternoon yesterday; he was in the hospital room with Kristi and her dad when we talked. Kristi’s pneumonia has cleared a little; the coughing isn’t as deep or as painful. The fluid that was building up, which was actually not in her lungs but between the lining of her lung and her ribs, has cleared up some as well. Both of those are reports worthy of thanksgiving. The coughing episodes were intense and not allowing Kristi to rest very much.
These past few days Kristi has been disoriented and confused; perhaps that it is a side effect of all the chemo, but there is also some concern about the cancer in the lining of her brain having progressed. Today Kristi is having an MRI on her head to check the activity of cancer/tumors in the brain area. This is another one of those “big days” for them. Kristi told Chuck while I was on the phone to pray for her peace and a calm heart as she doesn’t like the MRI process. There is a possibility of results tonight from the MRI or it could be the first part of next week before those are returned. I will email you once I speak directly to Chuck about the results.

Kristi was only able to do a small portion of her chemo this week because of her weakness and pneumonia. Her platelet counts have gone in the wrong direction, they were at 24,000 yesterday. Over 150,000 is normal and under 20,000 can be life-threatening.

We’ve come to that significant weekend again as friends that we are called on to intercede on behalf of Chuck and Kristi – praying for strength, the peace of Christ and the power and healing hand of God. Don’t forget to pray for Chuck as well today...I know that he is tired, overwhelmed with all the strains of fatherhood and provision and of course the all the possible outcomes of cancer.

Thanks for your love for the Walkers – we all know what important people they are to all of our lives.

John Durham
www.fbcirving.org

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Vanity...

...is annoying!

Well, maybe I shouldn't say that; however, I am beginning to see vanity in a whole new light. Allow me a few moments to explain. Where I work, I sit in a row of four desks....large, spacious desks and I love, but I am surrounded by other women. One (we'll call her Momma, in her 40's) has been at the company for awhile and is the most calm of all 4 of us. Then there is myself (27), Debbie Downer (30) and Za-Za (24-25ish). With my time here at the firm, listening to DD and ZaZa talk has brought one word to mind...vanity.

Maybe its is because these are both city girls - single girls who live in city lofts and have prancey little dogs and wear designer heels (no, I have nothing against designer heels), but all I hear about is stuff. There have been days (very recently) when we have all said we were swamped with work, yet I overhear their conversations about what Juicy stuff is on sale, and how expensive their new handbags were. Lately, DD talks about how she wants a $1000 handbag and she is made because her boyfriend won't buy it for her!!! WHAT?!??! I am listening right now to ZaZa talk about the new Juicy dog collar she is getting for her pooch and its on sale for only $100! Through all of this 'talk', I have to tell you that I find myself thankful.

I am thankful that I do not judge my relationship with my husband by the gifts that he gives me; I am thankful that I don't worry about having enough to pay my rent because I spend $250 on hair and eyelash extensions; I am thankful I don't consider my worth by what stores I shop at.

The more and more I sit at my desk, this verse come to mind from Ecclesiastes 2:

10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.

11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.


Now please don't misunderstand me, I love a nice pair of jeans just as much as the next women, and yes, I love expensive handbags, but my worth does not come from them, but from Him. There is not object on their earth that can make me "worth" more than I am to the Father - to Him, I am priceless - so priceless, that He would give His own life for ME!

I pray that if you are reading this that you know His love for you - that you know He doesn't love you because of how long your eyelashes are, or because of how much money you spend on new clothes - He loves you with an unmeasurable love just for who you are.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Donations for Harper

I have learned that the Stamps family is in need of a few things, and a great fellow blogger, Angela, emailed me yesterday in hopes of somehow providing for the family. So, we have set up a way for ANYONE to donate ANY amount on Harpers Prayer Blog in order to meet some needs of the family.

9 Million Affected!


Apparently, there is a new computer virus going around called Downandup or Conflicker. It is happening when the Auto Play/Auto Run feature runs from an infected USB drive. Check out the link here to learn more about it. Maybe its a good thing that my laptop is still at "hospital".

Monday, January 19, 2009

Harper's Prayer Blog

So my sister called me last night with the idea to make a prayer blog for Harper, a way for family and friends to voice their prayers for Harper, as well as encourage Scott and Kelly.

To post, simply go to www.blogger.com, and log in with the id: prayforharper@yahoo.com, and with the password: harperbrown. Once in the dashboard, you can create a post for the Stamps family.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Urgent Prayers for Kelly and Harper



Please go by Kelly's blog and pray for Baby Harper. Kelly was induced into labor this morning, but soon after delivering Harper around 7 this evening, Harper began to have trouble breathing and is now being rushed to AR Children's Hospital. Pray, Pray, Pray for this precious family.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Another update from the Walkers

From Care Pages:

Kristi is still in the hospital this evening. Today they determined that her white blood cell and other blood counts are still low. They are going to start Kristi on an injection to help with the white blood cell count and gave her 2 units of blood today to help with the others. The blood transfusion can affect her blood sugar so they also gave her some insulin. One big praise that came from these tests is that Kristi's platelet count was up higher than it has been in more than a month. This is great news.

They've been able to confirm that Kristi's current bout of sickness is due to pneumonia. She had a fever again this morning but she was better through the rest of today. Her fever seems to come back mostly at night so please pray that it will stay clear and that she can get some good rest this evening.

The doctors think that the pneumonia is due to the abdominal fluid draining into Kristi’s right lung. This is a possible side-affect of her fluid retention and, although not common, it is not a surprise either. Tomorrow the doctors are going to drain the abdominal fluid as normal and then they will do a second procedure to drain the fluid from her right lung. Please pray that these procedures go well and there are no complications.

If things do go well and Kristi continues to progress, then they may also choose to do the scheduled chemo and bone treatments tomorrow. They are currently hoping to go home either Thursday or Friday.

Also, please continue to pray for the kids sickness at home. Mason especially could use some prayer as he could have walking pneumonia. The hope is that the kids get over their colds before Kristi comes home from the hospital.



Monday, January 12, 2009

Oh Those Boys are Much too Much

I got this from Tricia, but I can't seem to get enought of it. (be sure and pause the music at the bottom of the blog to hear it.)




Saturday, January 10, 2009

Update on Kristi Walker

...from an email I received from our dear pastor, John Durham.

It was great catching up with Chuck last night, it had been over a week since we spoke – and there was a lot to talk about, we spent about 40 minutes on the phone. Last week was filled with some strong victories – cancer counts in the blood went from 420 to 6 and then to 0 by Monday of this week. That count represents the number of cancerous cells in her bloodstream that would be harmfully distributed through the entire body. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t have cancer (there are still tumors and cancerous places) but it does mean that the cancer is not being circulated all over her body as it had been doing just weeks ago. There was also some good news in the liver function, some of the counts there have shown some improvement – one count going from 4.5 to 1.3, where normal in most people is 1.2. We need to all thank God for the good things and the victories.

However, Kristi went back to the hospital this week. She continues to be very weak and at times a little disoriented, she can only walk on a cane right now and needs to be assisted when she tries to walk. Her red blood cell count and hemoglobin counts began to really be off this week and it put her back in the hospital for 2 ½ days. The other disheartening thing was learning that Kristi needs to go to the doctor 4 times a week now to get all of the fluid drained that is being built up in her. Much like dialysis, she will be going Mon, Wed, Fri, and once on the weekend to get all the potentially infectious fluid drained from her abdomen.

Kristi had chemo treatments on Wednesday while she was in the hospital this week, which means today and tomorrow are really tough days physically for her. She has lost her hair and is bed most of the day – Chuck told me that Cade really enjoys crawling up in bed with her and rubbing her bald head. Kristi said one time it felt good, so now Cade feels it is his duty to be mom’s daily head massager. I couldn’t decide if that story wanted to make me laugh or cry when he told me that last night, my personal philosophy is to choose laughter when there is an option.

Chuck and Kristi are at that point now where they realize they need to move forward, and not be so overwhelmed with the all the heaviness of the past months. Whether it be thinking through the plans for the 3 boys in the years ahead, maybe writing a book for those who journey through the surprises of cancer, perhaps a fund to fight breast cancer...I think there are a lot of things on the table – but they just want to follow through on God’s purpose in all of this. One of the things Chuck and I talked about last night was God’s ability to redeem all things and that actually His redemption of things we call bad is better than physical healing.

They are really pleased with their new doctor, Dr. Graham. He wants to continue to fight this cancer very aggressively and has given them something they have not heard in this entire ordeal, and that is hope. Of course our ultimate hope is with God in Christ, but it sure is nice to hear a doctor articulate it as well every now and then! Let’s continue to build our hope on what God is able to do.


Thursday, January 8, 2009

Let us pray...

I received this in an email today, got a great laugh out of it and just had to share!!!

One day, maybe this will be my child, and DAX!!!