Specific request again...

Isaac's birthday went very well for him. He had been looking forward to this particular day for a long time due to his illness. He was most concerned with what he would eat. He ate very well yesterday and liked it all but it doesn't seem to have agreed with him. He was up much of the night in the bathroom and there was some blood. It amazes me to have him do so well for so long and then see that again. I had a hard night trying not to be discouraged and trying not to fret about what I will feed him now. He finally gets filled up with what he has been eating. If I taper back until he is back to "normal" he will be so hungry all the time. Please pray for wisdom as I try to figure out this next step. In my much neglected Bible Study today I read The Bible is God's cleansing agent in our lives. If we take part in it everyday, we'll soon find the thoughts of God purifying our minds and changing our hearts. But if we neglect it , we are facing a battle of temptation without a weapon. I am afraid that as things were going well for Isaac I found myself caught up once more in the busyness of my household and put off time with the Lord until evening when I was a bit too tired to meditate on it. I haven't liked the person I have been during that time; impatient, easily flustered and anxious.

The picture is Isaac receiving a new shirt and tie. This was the most excited he looked all night even though he also got a BB gun. He loves to dress up and look like a gentleman. He got a snazzy green tie with a white shirt. I knew when I saw it that he would light up like a beacon. I am happy with the reward of this picture. I like to find just that gift that says "I really know you and what you are about." Isaac was extremely appreciative that both sets of Grandparents could be there and my brother's family. It made it more festive.

Please pray for Isaac's body to continue the healing we have seen. Pray for this set-back to be minor and part of the process. Pray for wisdom concerning his food. Pray for him as he didn't grow this last year and it really upset him. He is worried his younger brother will be taller than him. He went to bed discouraged and defeated. This illness does stunt your growth and stops you from growing actually as your body starves itself. Pray for him to feel God's hand upon him. Thank you for checking this and thinking and praying for Isaac.

Happy Birthday to Isaac!

Isaac turns 11 today. He is very excited. He is especially excited for cake, ice cream and pizza. I have made a soaked grain carrot cake (smells delicious), Rice Milk ice cream, a soaked grain crust for his pizza. He'll have goat's milk cheese on the top. It should taste very normal. He will think it is great. He is loving food right now since we have been adding so may things. It seems we may have added a little too fast. The last three days he has had some pains with his BM's and they had mostly gone away. We think it is from some spicy food and some oil he had. His digestive system doesn't seem ready for those things yet. He continues to amaze us with is spunk and energy. He is like our "old" Isaac, fun, witty and smiling lots more. He has his own room now. He originally roomed with his brothers in the basement but with his illness he had to be upstairs near a bathroom and he actually couldn't do the stairs anymore. We moved him in with baby Lena. Now that we let her cry to sleep in the middle of the night we figured he was ready to move out. We turned our library slash sewing room slash Emily's school room slash music room slash Emily's closet room, you get the picture. We did some "renovating" and now he has a nice room all to himself, well it is still the music, library, closet for Emily and school room for Emily but it's much less cluttered.

Another first...

I've had a lot of firsts this last few months; today I had another. I contacted the Better Business Bureau and reported a business for not sending the product I ordered. Some may remember I used to have a link to a probioyogurt that was very spendy but it was supposed to be easy to digest especially for people like my Isaac. Well, two months of calling and leaving messages, emails and writing a letter has turned up no response and no product. Since we have a source for goat's milk yogurt now we don't need it. When I went online to Texas and searched this company they have had 48 such complaints and it looks like only three were resolved. I sure hope we are one of them that gets resolved. That $193 would sure come in handy right now. I did not realize how easy it is to check out a company if you know their name. I think I'll do that if I'm ordering from a company I haven't ordered from before.

Let me off the merry-go-round...

I know you all have had those times in your life where you wanted to jump off the merry-go-round. The merry-go-round at the elementary school where I attended was on pavement. The bell would ring at noon recess for us younger kids to go in but the big kids had a few more minutes. They would not stop it for us to get off but it was the best fun during recess because it would be pushed so fast. So, when you had to go in you had to jump onto the pavement. Of course, this couldn't be done without a scrape or two. I feel like that right now. Maybe if I jumped off I'd get scraped worse than staying on?!?

Last night I made a bad judgment call and it could have been costly. The box of Almond milk I bought for Isaac leaked in the bag and I poured the rest of it in a cup. The bottom of the box was a bit black and yucky looking (from being wet I thought). Isaac drank the cup of milk and at the bottom was moldy milk. He reacted fairly soon to it; coughing, itchy tongue, tight chest. I reacted too but, I'm not too proud of it. I "freaked" a little. I just didn't know what to do. I called the doctor and he helped walked me through it. One of the supplements Isaac is taking is for mold and it did the trick. Within a few minutes he was breathing fine and within an hour was perfectly normal. This was hard. Could we win a million dollars soon and Kevin could quit his job and stay home all the time so I don't have to deal with these things alone again?!?! I know I wasn't alone. I prayed to the Lord for calmness more than a dozen times. I sure do like it when Kevin is here though. He calms me and is so unmoved through each trial we have gone through.
We are thankful for the outcome.

Maybe I jumped the gun a little...

Maybe the big van won't be ours. I thought it was a done deal. Oh, well. Not to worry. It'll work itself out somehow. We are running to the chiropractor now every couple days. Jordan, Em and I had neck, shoulder and back problems after the roll-over. Nothing major but we need to adjust those places so we can feel well. Isaac continues to amaze me. He got up this morning and after his school was done he made a batch of pancakes and two loaves of banana bread. A friend watched 5 of the kids while I ran to the chiropractor. Thanks so much. The kids had so much fun and got to ride on sleds behind a snowmobile.

Anybody have a yogurt starter they use for cow's milk and that doesn't need a yogurt maker. I'm looking for ideas of where to search. I did an internet search and it didn't produce as many results as I'd like.

Wait on the Lord...

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord. As I reflect on the last 7 days and see how the Lord has brought many things together I am strengthened and humbled and honored. We had both of our vehicles wiped out in 5 days time. Tonight I sit in my house with a mini-van (on loan, can possibly purchase) outside on my driveway and another 15 passenger van coming another day. The 15 passenger van is ours for free!!! Yes!! God is so good. The van needed some work and some awesome God loving family fixed it and it will be ours soon. God was such a rock during this week as I did not ever fear what we would do about a van. I had no worries about it and that is just not me. I flip out when a kid misplaces game pieces and when they wreck something that isn't theirs. This was not the normal me this week and I'm so glad. The normal me would have been trying to figure it all out myself. I just knew in my heart that I didn't have any say in any of it and now look where we are. Blessed again! God needed us to stay calm and wait upon Him so that He could work a great work in our family.

For those who want to hear about Isaac. He is doing so very well. He is happy!!!! He was cracking jokes yesterday and I haven't heard that from him in a long time. My mom came and drove me to my chiropractor appointment and Isaac was chatting up a storm with her. I commented to her about it and she said he usually just sits there not saying a word. That's the Isaac in the past who was in a brain fog most of the time and lacked energy to do much more than get dressed for the day. My heart is lifted and feeling light when I look upon him. We have a ways to go. I continue to pray for healing of his intestinal problems and for him to start gaining weight and for God to continue showing me how to feed him next. Thanks for checking in and praying for him and us.

We serve an Awesome God!

I write tonight to Praise the Lord for His continued goodness to our family! You know we totaled our mini-van on Tuesday. Well, now our other van is totaled too, at least I believe it is. We were driving on our way to music lessons and in my impatience to get there I moved over to the passing lane to pass someone I felt was going too slow. Well, it was icy and that is why they were driving slower. I had not noticed this the few miles I was on the interstate so was extremely taken by surprise when we started to fishtail, we hit the side of the road and the van rolled over and landed on its wheels. I had 6 of the kids along and no-one was hurt!!! I started praising the Lord when I saw they were all OK! As soon as I knew we were going to roll I was scared I was going to lose a child today, maybe more than one. I still am in shock that we are all doing so well. There were some mixed reactions to the accident from the children. Moriah says she had angels around her. Gideon thought he was going to die. Rebekah said she didn't want to drive anywhere again until Spring. Jordan was shaken and Emily was scared and in a bit of shock. Good friends came and got us and we spent the rest of the day at their house, making sure none of us would need to go to the doctor for some injury. I am happy to be home. I am praying for God to use this to further His kingdom.

quick answer

You know I said I decided to pray for God to help us be a blessing to someone, well, he sent that someone already. There is a family who moved to this frozen tundra from a warm place with not much. We have stuff in abundance here so we are going to put together some gently used or not so used toys for the six kids and some other things that might make moving to this cold clime more appealing.

Isaac woke up with more energy than he's had since before he was sick. He is still going strong. He mashed the potatoes for supper and he made his own juice this morning, got all of his school done and helped dry dishes. He's been exempt from chores since he usually doesn't have the strength to lift anything heavier than a water bottle and he doesn't do that very well usually. I think I have him up to 3 water bottles a day from 1 - 2. That alone must have helped boost him. We have been adding some solid foods this week. We were still putting everything through the blender except well-cooked broccoli. Adding foods has put a lot of smiles on his face. His body seems to be accepting the food well. Praise the Lord. Please pray for continued healing for his body and that the supplements he is taking continue the healing process. Life has been a little easier around here. I can take smashed vans, high electricity bills, broken dishes, and much more but having a sick child has been about the worst thing I've been through.

When life gets too hard to stand...kneel

I take this saying from a wooden sign in our dining room. My sister-in-law gave it to me. I'll be getting on my knees tonight, hopefully with my hubby by my side, praising God for the good things in life and asking for him to keep guiding us in this crazy roller coaster life he has us on. We went to Valley City today to see a doctor who is going to help me with my prolapse. He is a chiropractor who also works with acupuncture, lymph cleansing, and other things. My lymphatic system is messed up and I'm quite toxic actually. It didn't surprise me at all. I was having trouble with my thyroid during my pregnancy and I am so tired all the time. I always thought it was because all we are going through but that wasn't quite true. Well, I wasn't exactly writing about that.

On the way home Kev is driving our mini-van (gets better gas mileage than the 15 passenger so we take it anywhere we are going when there isn't many of us going along) and bam a deer wipes out the entire front end. The van is totaled!!! We were fine and able to get it home. The radiator is bent up and leaking. Driver's door won't open. It would not pay to fix a thing on it since it has nearly 200,000 miles, no rear heat anyway and other problems. Kevin said "Guess we can save the money on an oil change. (it was due for one)" We both just started laughing. What can you do when things just keep on happening? Why would this happen just now when we are at one of the lowest times in our life? Who can say? We know we aren't the first people to go through challenging times and we won't be the last. I prayed recently that God would show us how to be a blessing to someone else. I think I'll keep praying that to take my mind off my own troubles. God Bless and if you are feeling like life is too hard give me a call, I may be able to give you a pep talk or we could share stories.

Baby talk

Here is Lena trying to talk. It is the sweetest thing when she spits and sputters trying to get out a sound. She is such a joy for our family. I think I may have said it before but she does help lift me up when I am down during these last months of trial that we are going through. God knew I needed her when he gave her to us.

Pray for Isaac for continued healing. He had 6 BM's with no blood and then last night and today he had 2 with some blood. We think he might not be getting enough water drank. He increased the amount today so hoping that is the answer. He's been doing so well we don't want to see him go back a few steps at this point. We've been adding foods and so far that was going well. We'll have to take it slower until he heals up again.

Pray for my appointment tomorrow. I hope we can make it with all the snow. I pray this doctor will be able to help me with my prolapse and do it naturally. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. God Bless.

More of the birthday

Sweet sixteen!

It worked!! It worked! I try to post a picture every time I am on here and it worked! Here is my oldest turning 16. She has really grown into a daughter we can be proud of. She loves the Lord and His Word. She is an incredible help to me especially during this period of our life. We were able to celebrate with a few friends over and it was nice to here girls' laughter and silliness. We've been so home bound with illness since November, especially Jordan since she is old enough to watch kids while I run here or there with Isaac. Praise the Lord for this child and for His leading her to a desire to be a Godly woman.

Please Pray!

This time I am asking you to please pray for me. I am going on I don't know how many nights of not much sleep and I can hardly lie down or sit anymore. I am having some problems now with other parts of my body and it has really got me down. I am seeing a doctor on Tuesday who sounds like he can help me with the prolapse and other problems but Tuesday is so far away. I am just so uncomfortable at night that I can't sleep and that sure is affecting the rest of my day. I am a person who cries so easily when I am tired. I am taking Jordan to town tomorrow for some errands and it is her 16th birthday!!! I so want to be able to do things for her but here she'll probably make supper and do it all for herself. This has really got me down. I am trying to stay focused and draw strength from the Lord but the sleeping thing makes it difficult to think straight. Anyway, I'm rambling now. Please pray for relief from the discomfort and for God to straighten it out and heal me so I can be a mom again. It is so frustrating not to be able to do normal everyday things for my family. I look forward to the day when I am not posting on our illnesses and problems.

We continue to praise the Lord for Isaac's good days. He was extremely tired today but active enough to do school and eat normally, normally for him anyway. We continue to wait for news of his appointment at the Mayo clinic. He packed his bag yesterday in anticipation.

Another good day

Today was wonderful. I didn't have to pep talk Isaac once. He had lentil soup in the blender and really liked it. We are going to make some more tomorrow. He is hungry most of the time. We are still seeing no stomach (colon) pains or cramping!! Praise the Lord. He was able to do school today and go up and down the stairs a few times. These are milestones and things we take for granted until you have a child who can't do it. God has given me a new sense. One that will be able to sympathize and empathize with others who are struggling through a difficulty.

We had a good "Christmas" celebration yesterday. It is always hard though for others to see Isaac in this shape and unable to eat meals with us. It is hard to see him upset because his food is blender food and he so wants to eat some real food. I can only say that if they lived what we have been living through they would have seen yesterday as a very encouraging and good day. Isaac actually took his blended cauliflower and yogurt and sat at the kids table and ate with them and their ham, potatoes, corn and blueberry dessert. He smiled and joked and didn't complain. This is not normal! We prayed the night before for God to give him extra strength to endure the meal and God came through for him. Isaac commented that God gave him the strength during the day but that it starts to lessen into the night. I am pleased to say he went to bed with all his strength tonight.

Thanks again for the prayers. We are waiting for the call for the Mayo Clinic. We almost don't think he needs it now but will go and get his hemoglobin up anyway. We keep praying for complete healing before we get there.

Thankful prayers

We are offering thanks to the Lord today for Isaac's continued progress. He had a normal BM with no blood. He came to me and said it looked just like all the other kid's (no-one flushes around here) and there was no blood. He was pretty excited. He also came to me immediately after instead of having to lie down with the cramps. I am much encouraged. We are still having some challenges keeping up his spirit about his diet but when he feels so good he can see that the juicing and soft foods have helped get him to this point.

My dad from Wisconsin arrived yesterday so that has helped keep him excited. We celebrate Christmas tomorrow with Grandpa, Aunt Lois, Uncle Wayne, my brother and family and my cousin and family.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. It feels so much like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Happy New Year!

Hi, we have just celebrated three birthdays in three days. Gideon turned 6 Dec. 30 and Em is 12 and Bekah is 7 today. We are having a nice family day here at home. We went to friend's last night for New Year's Eve and had a good time and got home much later than we planned so we laid low today. We usually have a big day with friends over and Chinese food but I wasn't up to the food thing and Isaac doesn't react well when we serve food he loves. We did make a cake for the birthdays today and he can't have that quite yet.

I believe now that he has ulcerative colitis. It has many origins, his probably being the candida overgrowth. It explains all of his symptoms. We are treating it with diet and see so much improvement each day. Yesterday we had his hemoglobin checked and it is down a little from the 9.0 it was two weeks ago to 8.6. We have asked our doctor in Fargo to refer us to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. We want a definite diagnosis of what is wrong and we want his hemoglobin up to a healthy level. He will feel so much better. We have heard so many good things about that place so now we wait for the call as to when we can take him. I'll actually stay home and Kevin is going to take him and stay there. I would love nothing more than for him to heal before he goes so we will keep doing what we are doing until we go.

Please pray for continued healing and especially for Isaac and his spirit. He is so down. This illness is taking it's toll on him emotionally and he is having a really hard time. It breaks my heart and Kevin's. We would love nothing more than to take this from him. We are doing what we can with his diet and keeping his mind from it but it is challenging (and tiring).