Prayer Request

On Sunday, 9/30, my brother-in-law Lenier suffered from cardiac arrest before going into the pulpit as a guest pastor at a church in Rockingham, NC. I received a phone call from my sister, Denise, while I was sitting in church service at our church here in Wilmington.  When I stepped out to take the call, all I could understand was her screaming "Dani, he's not breathing, he has no pulse, he's blue" over and over again and "Stop the church service, stop them, everybody needs to pray right now" over and over.  It was the worst phone call I've ever gotten in my life. 

Although Lenier is technically my brother in law, he is more like a Dad to me.  I have known him since I was 16 years old.  He was the pastor of the church that I began attending after my dad committed suicide, the pastor that helped me cope with that terrible loss and the anger that I had towards God for "allowing" that to happen.  This man holds a huge part of my heart.  Not to mention he's the best husband to my sister and a wonderful father to his 3 grown children and my beautiful nephew, Jackson. This man is special to a lot of people, and we weren't ready to let him go. 

Over the past week, God has shown up, and he has given us our miracle.  As of this morning, Lenier is doing great!  He is talking and eating on his own.  He's ready to come home.  He wants to see Jackson (I brought Jackson home with me and he's been staying with us since 10/1).  They are running more tests and will likely do surgery the end of this week or the first of the next; we are still waiting to hear what that surgery will include (pacemaker and/or defibrillator). 

Please continue to keep him in your prayers as the Dr's determine their course of action.  Please continue to pray for my sister, as she is staying up there with him, away from her beloved baby (whom she has never before been away from).  Pray for strength for the entire family as there are some who have still not been able to get home (Lenier's oldest son, Justin, was serving our country in Afghanistan when this happened, they are trying to get him home, hopefully by tomorrow, 10/5).  And pray that God continues to bless Lenier with great test results and the strength to come home. 

A collage that one of the youth in our church made for Lenier's hospital room :)

I'm Really Pitiful at This

There really is no denying it, there is NO WAY that I could be one of those really serious, blog-every-day type people.  I mean, seriously, it's been over 8 months since I updated this thing! HA!

So, let's just do the run down.  Jensen is 20 months 2 weeks old.  Less than 4 full months before he's 2!!! OMG, time is seriously flying away!  He pretty much runs all the time, walking isn't fast enough for this one.  He is my rowdy one...always on the go, always loud, always the highest end of the spectrum, if that makes any sense. haha.  I love it, but he wears me out.  I can honestly say I don't know how someone stays home all day with their kids...KUDOS TO YOU!  Jensen has a mouth full of teeth and he still will eat most anything you put in front of him, and then he'll move on to what's in front of you. HA!  The last time we had him at the doctor, I think he was 27 lbs and I can't remember how long.  He's still somewhat small for his age, but only like the 25th percentile, so not too small.  His little body doesn't have a chance at gaining wait with the way he is constantly on the go.  I'm just destined to have wiry boys, I guess. 

Ryan is 8 years old!  I really can't believe that!  He's in the third grade now, still at the same school as 2nd grade.  Our first year (last year) was great at that school, and I hope that continues on with 3rd grade.  We'll have to see if he is going to end up requiring any special circumstances for testing since this will be his first year of end of grade testing and timed testing (Ryan has been clinically diagnosed with ADHD but seems to be getting a handle on it, sometimes).  I'm planning to talk with his teacher about that soon.  I am still struggling with understanding and coping with ADHD; I've always been one of those that thought it was an easy out for parents and I know there are others with that same frame of mind (some in my family, still), but I have learned that there really are some that do need help in controlling themselves, and my child is one of those.  I love him dearly, and we are doing the minimal amounts on medications so that he doesn't end up that "zombie-like" kid, but I feel like the medication played a huge role in success in 2nd grade.  We'll see how 3rd grade goes! :)

A few pics of my sweet boys to top it off :)

Why do they always sleep so much better when they are in my bed?

A little driving around the huntin' camp :)

He is very serious about his plant watering :)

I mean, seriously, can he look any older in this?!?

He was trying to stomp out the bumps :)