Thursday, September 29, 2011

least fun place on earth...

Elliott is done for now with treatments,and is settled in watching Toy Story 3.Have no fear...we have already watched the first and second installment. Yep,a Toy Story Marathon. Where are we? Oh,just the least fun place on earth. Elliott was admitted into the hospital yesterday.

A friend said to me today "So,sorry,hospitals are no fun." I corrected him and said "being in a private room is waaaaaay better than spending the day in the ER"...."THAT stunk!"....he said "Um,it's "That Sucked". I replied..."Yea,that too".

I gotta say, it's a very emotional thing to see your child sick. My heart aches for him. I brought his favorite bible along with us. A dear friend is letting us borrow it. Ironically, we read the story of Abraham and Issac the night before we came to the hospital. While reading it, I was struck with Abraham's obediance...and Issac's too. He did not fight, he just laid down on the alter. At first, I thought of myself as a parent. To be that obedient to God,to lay your precious boy before God as a sacrifice. The thought leaves me gasping for air, and tears well up in my eyes. Abraham could have called out "Not MY boy!"....or a simple "NO God!". But he didn't. He obeyed. and then Issac. He climbed onto the rocks, fully trusting his fathers heart. I could hardly read the best part of the story because I was so choked up....it reads...
STOP!" God Said "Don't hurt the boy. I want him to live and not die. I know now that you love me because you would have given me your only son."...later in the story it reads..."And as they sat there on the mountain top, watching the embers of the fire die in the cool night air, the stars above them sparking in the velvet sky, God helped Abraham and Issac to understand something. God wanted His people to live, not die. God wanted to rescue His people, not punish them. But, they must trust Him"......."Many years later, another Son would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. Like Issac, He would trust His Father, and do what His Father asked. He wouldn't struggle or run away. Who was He? God's Son, His Only Son.~The Son he loved. The Lamb of God."

I clearly remember praying later that night, confessing to God the
thought in my mind that my kids are...well. Mine.

But,they aren't. They are God's. Elliott is God's. To watch my son sick and struggle is the hardest thing I've ever had to see. But, if going through this has taught me anything...it's to praise my Heavenly Father...for giving his only perfect precious Son for me,and for my son Elliott.

Elliott's name means "The Lord is My God"....That is our main prayer request. That Everyone we know would know...The Lord as Their God.

Elliott has pneumonia in both lungs now. He is on oxygen,and a heart monitor (medications can make their heart race) and an IV with antibiotics and fluids. We do have a praise Elliott had a blood draw at 4pm and cultures...everything came back great! HUGE answer to prayer! That means we are only dealing with one thing...not multiple things! We are going every three hours for breathing treatment's overnight...going to see how he does. Just this afternoon he was getting them every hour! Tomorrow morning he has another chest x-ray. After that we will get a better idea of how things are looking.

Our little guy is not out of the woods yet. We have to make it through the night,and that seems to be the worse time for him.

*Pray he can go every 3hrs with no complications in his breathing.
*Pray his IV stays put. It's been giving us some issues.
*Pray Elliott would eat/drink(he's a very little guy,and can't afford to not eat).
*Pray Elliott would sleep.
*Pray the X-Ray comes back clear.

A HUGE thank you to our McCoy Church Family. The visits, balloons, meals, watching our other kids, and most importantly prayers mean so very much to us. We feel so loved.

Well that only took me a few hours to post...ha! We are now done with Toy Story 3. Moving on to Land Before Time Marathon...there's more of those! Hope you all have a blessed evening.

"We wait in Hope for the Lord: He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His Holy name. May Your unfailing love rest upon us O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." Psalm 33:20-22

Monday, September 19, 2011

New...

Why hello there. Yes,I know. Been a long time.First I just have to say...Don't you just LOVE the new design!?! Thank you to Melanie for putting together a great header for me! To see more of her work,just click on her button here on my blog. :)

 Thought I'd try to catch everyone up on the latest happenings around our house. Never been to our house? Well, here is our dining room. Like the new chandelier in our dining room? It's new! Well, to us. It's actually really, really old. A friend was taking it down out of her house (Hi Carolyn!), and GAVE it to me! Talk about awesome! Especially considering that our old light fixture only held one light bulb, and it was a 25watt. Yea, pathetic. I kept trying to just tell everyone it's more romantic to eat in the dark. Being that there's mostly boys in our house, that did not go over so well. I gotta say, it sure is nice to be able to see our food. Well, some nights. So, I'm not the worlds greatest cook. At least we have a pretty chandelier to eat under.

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Last week was my sweetheart's birthday. He turned 28. I love him so much! We have started a 21 day cleanse. Man,it's been great. The first three days were rough. But it's been smooth sailing since. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend. He's a pretty awesome Daddy too. It's not been an easy year, but God does not promise us ease. He's been so faithful to us, and provided for every need.It sure has been a memorable year, and it's been so exciting to see God's hand in so many area's of our lives. I heard someone say today, "God did not design marriage to make us happy, but to make us Holy". I think one could say that about life in general. Happy Birthday Love...I am SO happy to be your wife!
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We started school two weeks ago. It's going great! I'll post pictures soon of our school room/playroom. It's been so much fun to watch our children learn, grow and explore this summer.I am so excited to see what this fall/winter holds.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Sweet {R}



I've been taking pictures of this cutie since the day he was born. Literally. I just love to see him grow and change before my lens. He is quite the little guy, always chatting it up,and running everywhere! Thank-you to his mom,and my dear friend,for giving me the opportunity to take pictures of her precious boy. To see more,you can visit my facebook page. Bethany Hartman Photography