Happy Birthday, Charlotte! (and me too!)

Happy 2nd Birthday, my beautiful little birthday present!!

May all your birthdays be filled with as much cake and icing as you can get on your face!

It can all go south really quickly!

I'm in the house cleaning mode today, and thought it would be a great idea to get the kids finger-painting while I worked.

Look how cute!

And then this happened! (Don't judge me on the dirty seats!)

The culprit:

To his credit, it was an accident...he was just trying to get down carefully!

Bear Ye One Another's Burdens!

Surreal

The appointment at Vanderbilt itself went pretty well. We were very calm, Garrett was very quiet and still, and the neurologist was very kind and as down-to-earth as neurologists can be! There was so much information to take in, that we took a recorder and recorded the audio of the whole session. Some information we already knew and some really blind-sided us!

We will know more specifically in about 3 weeks about the DNA issues. The doc said that 999 times out of 1000 boys that present like Garrett do in fact have Duchenne's. If a diagnosis is confirmed, Charlotte and I have to be tested to see if we are carriers. If so, then there is a 50/50 chance she and I could develop serious heart issues. If Charlotte is a carrier, that also means her children would have a 50/50 chance of also having the disease (if they are boys) and be carriers (if they are girls)! Also, if we had more children, there would be a 50/50 chance of them having it as well. The fun never stops around this place! A disease that affects generation after generation is sickening to me!

All this was hard to hear, as I'm sure you can imagine. Its hard as a mother not to feel completely responsible for passing this along to them; that's one of the hardest parts for me right now. I keep thinking that we are going to wake up and none of this will be real. We still are praying that he will be that 1/1000 that do not have it, but are also realistic.

We will be in the process shortly of ordering Garrett a type of hard ankle brace for him to sleep in at night in order to help maintain his feet in a good position for walking.

How you can pray with us:

• Obviously, we still pray for a miracle! That Garrett will be healed and no evidence of disease will be found in the labs
• If my CK blood test is positive, pray that Charlotte's will be negative.
• Pray for the research that is currently going on with this disease. They have a pretty good handle on what is physiologically wrong in the DNA and have developed meds to treat various parts of it. The problem is the mechanism of delivery: they cannot find a means to get the meds where they need it to go in the body.

I'm not exactly where Paul was in his journey yet, but:

"And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."
II Corinthians 12:9-10

Psalms 34

I asked God for a Word of comfort and peace today, knowing what we have in store for tomorrow and this is what He said:


Psalms 34

I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice.

O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.

I sought the LORD, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.

O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.

Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Ode to the Night Gown

This is Charlotte's first night gown.




I wore these when I was a kid. Mine had Pound Puppies on it with a matching one for my Pound Puppy!

People don't wear these anymore. I don't know why. It just makes sense on so many levels.


Plus she looks super cute!