Thursday, October 30, 2008

Gone

I have been putting off this post, but alas I can run away from it no longer. Joseph is gone. I am not sure when I will hear from him, so it feels very permanent at this moment. He was able to call me when he arrived in Chicago, but unfortunately the call was disconnected 2 minutes into it. It was incredibly unsatisfying. Quite disappointing actually. I had a moment where I just stared at the phone and did the very dramatic NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, just like in the movies. Brooks looked at me like I was crazy. I was only glad that he was too young to understand that we just missed a golden opportunity to talk to dada. At least he doesn't have to hurt through it. So yes I had a mini pitty party, but I quickly recovered. I have two precious boys that remind me of their dada and a God who will and is leading me through this every step.

Conner is doing alright, I only get asked about once an hour where dada is. This is how the conversation usually goes.

C "Dada?"
M "Dada is away right now"
C "away?"
M " Yes Dada is in the Navy"
C "Ok, Dada in the baby"
M "Yes Conner, dada is in the navy"
He then silently says "baby"

Oh how I love him!
So far nights are the hardests for all of us, as Conner knows that typically Joseph is supposed to be home by then, so thats usually when it gets a little rough. Last night he stalled and stalled before going to bed. He kept pulling me close and rubbing my face and asking us to pray for Joseph. It was way to sweet and so hard when I had to tell him after what seemed like the 10th prayer that we were all done with our prayers for the night and had to go to bed. Man that boy can pout!

I will give more of an update later as I have friends walking up to the door as I type. Dinner time!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Baseballs, Birthdays and Pumpkins

Since so much has been going on in our lives in the last couple months, I thought I would add some pictures to show it all off. Just maybe not all in one post ;)


Brooksie, Grammie and Uncle Jt at Grampa's baseball game.

Swing batter batter swing

Grammie and her Brooksie

Grammie was gracious enough to let Conner do the honers of blowing out her birthday candles...okay she helped a little


Let me introduce to you Brooksey and Conner...I mean their pumpkins...

And the artist hard at work

Precious miracles

Update

I added a picture I nabbed from Ken and Trina's website of my beautiful new niece Maia Elizabeth. Isn't she precious?

Also wanted to share an update directly from their blog "The docs confirmed ithe HRHS, but she will be scheduled for the balloon catheterization procedure (valvoplasty) tomorrow. We are very excited about this. This might be the only procedure she needs. We will keep you updated as we know more. But right now she is on prostoglandin to keep the ductus open between the two sides of her heart. Her oxygen levels have been great and she is as pink, as pink can be since her birth this morning. She will be taken off the prostoglandin after the procedure tomorrow and then it is wait and see. If, after the ductus closes, her oxygen levels remain 85 or above, she will get to come home with us in about 2 to 3 weeks! We are so amazed at the Lord's provision for our daugther. We do not deserve such blessings, but God is gracious! If this does not happen however, she will need to go through the 2nd procedure of the BT shunt, but again God is so gracious!"

Original Post

Today two precious babies were born a little after ten in the morning. Both are perfect examples of Gods grace, mercy and love, for they were both diagnosed with heart problems that were supposed to make them incompatible with life. But they are both ALIVE. Please praise the Lord for the life of baby Stellan, who was never supposed to make it past 6 months gestation but who was born today with absolutely nothing wrong with him! To read more about him you can check out his mama's blog here. And then a little closer to my heart is little Maia Elizabeth, the first girl to be born in the Sutherland family in 10 years! She also has a heart condition and is currently in the NICU being observed to be able to determine the extent of it. Please lift her up in prayer and ask the Great Physician to heal two babies hearts today! I am so thankful for her arrival and cannot wait to meet her. You can read more about her from Trina's blog here.

Please continue to lift up both babies in prayer along with their families. Due to the heart conditions both mom's had to have a c-section, so their bodies could sure use some healing prayer.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Acorns

This morning a boxful of these arrived from Grampa and here is the story of what happened upon opening said box.
First we pretended to eat them for breakfast














Than we made an acorn landmine


and gave them a ride in our favorite tractor














and then pushed them in the stroller


and finally we used them as picks for our guitar!




Thank you Grampa for the simple joy of acorns. I am sure if the mail lady knew what you sent me today she would have thought you were nuts.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Going

Joseph leaves tomorrow, and let me tell you that I am a whirlwind of emotions. It is hard to be gracious, loving and just plain nice when you are anticipating the pain you will feel, and it is oh so hard to stop anticipating. One of the many reasons that I married Joseph was because I like to be around him. Alot. As is 24/7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year X more years than I want to number. While we have been fully aware of what joining the Navy would entail, that does not make the leaving any easier, and I imagine that since this is the first, it will be the worst. So today I am working extra hard at being a loving wife, and praying for stregth and grace as we venture into tomorrow.
So instead of moping I thought I would share some pictures of what we will be doing.

We will definitly be eating this awsome monkey bread that our good friend Sarah made for us.














We will be loving our time with friends



And family

Friday, October 24, 2008

Starting Out

Hello to all friends and family who stumble across this blog. With so much transition about to transpire in our household, I decided it was about time that I jumped onto the blogging wagon. So here I am. Please forgive if it is a little rough in the beginning, for I am feeling awkward and shy as I try to sort through everything that I want this blog to be and all that I do not. It is a little intimidating, as I read some pretty awesome blogs!

On Tuesday the 28th, Joseph will leave for 2 months to Chicago for basic training. In our four years of marriage it has always been I who has left for too many weeks to visit family, but this time I am staying home as he leaves me. I have never had ambitions to become a single mom, but it seems that the Lord has given me a pretty good reason to rely more on Him and less on Joseph. I guess sometimes you just need the seat yanked out from under you to realize that He never let go in the first place. So I invite you to come along this journey with me as God stretches me to show his strength in my weakness.