Roasting marshmallows...creatively!

I had forgotten that I took this picture two weekends ago -- we had our first fire of the season and David begged to roast marshmallows. We had to get a little creative, but we found a meat fork and mini marshmallows -- and we had a blast! David had his CT scan (CI prep) this morning and was a champ -- did great and with no sedation. We are looking forward to our Christmas houseful arriving tomorrow (my parents, Matthew, Caleb, and their dog and two cats!). David told everyone he saw today, "Only ONE MORE big sleep!"

Christmas weather?!

We are having an unusually warm bout of weather down here -- I think this is the first time in my life that I have had my Christmas decorations up and my windows open for the fresh air at the same time! My outdoor thermometer currently reads 80 degrees...

We have a surgery date

David's tonsillectomy will be Thursday, Dec. 28th. I finally have some strength back today and have managed to reclaim the main living areas of the house -- phew. It is much better for me mentally when I'm not surrounded by clutter! David was a pretty good helper -- he even vacuumed for me -- I appreciated the effort very much, even if Bruce will need to re-vacuum tonight after David is asleep! Bruce will scold me for doing too much in one day...but I will spend the rest of the day on the couch, so maybe that will help! :-) Now if I can just convince Abigail that she needs a nap so that I can get one...

The fun just keeps coming...!

We had David’s CI consult and both kids’ hearing checks today. Good news -- neither kid had a major loss over the last 1 ½ weeks. David had a small amount of loss in his left (“good”) ear that will require a HA adjustment, but nothing across the board. He even had one ten decibel improvement in his “bad” ear (these ‘improvements’ never last long, but it’s much better than a loss!). As soon as David has his CT scan on Thursday, we are ready to start insurance approval – the very last step of preparation for his CI. Otherwise, we are ready to go. The tentative date is late Jan.-early Feb., as we expected. Interesting news -- David’s tonsils have continued to worsen, and on the surgeon’s scale of 1-4 (good-terrible), David’s are at a 4. The complication comes because people with a CI can not have electro-cauterization (which is the standard for an adenoidectomy/tonsillectomy, greatly reducing the danger of bleeding), because that procedure would “fry” the implant. All that to say that they need to take David’s tonsils out BEFORE the CI…and he needs one month of recovery between the two. The doctor doesn’t want anything to delay the CI surgery, so…next week David will be getting a tonsillectomy! Can you even believe it?! Have we ever mentioned that it’s never boring around the McKee household?! Please be praying that David will stay healthy between now and then so that his surgery is not delayed…

It's never boring around here...

I just lost the whole post that I was getting ready to publish, and I am tired and ready to lie back down, so this will now be a very short and to-the-point post. I went to the ER yesterday morning at 4 with a severe gall bladder attack. They admitted me and I just got home midday today. They are talking surgery to remove the gall bladder at some point, but not right now. I am home, still in pain and queasy, but at manageable levels now, and utterly exhausted. I am planning on a couple of days of taking it easy...and hopefully no more attacks for a long time! Much thanks to everyone for giving and offering help...it would have been a real mess without you! No pictures to post with this...you would not enjoy them, even if I had them. :-)

Christmas picture 2006 out-takes!

David 'shooting' me b/c he wanted to be done!

Aren't you done YET?!

Christmas cuties

...The best presents we've ever gotten!

Out-takes from this photo shoot in our photo gallery!

A tradition passes on to the next generation

A picture of Bruce and David watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" -- this is the first time we've let David stay up to watch it. We remember getting to stay up for it as kids and it's amazing that we're doing the same with our son now!

Recap of this week's appointments

We are finally at the end of a grueling week of appointments...we are all wiped out but glad to have tomorrow to (Lord willing!) stay home, relax a bit, and (for me) catch up on this week's housework! Forgive the less-than-pretty style of the updates (below), but I am too tired for anything else...! David -- *Speech evaluation (CI prep) went very well, tested out at an age-appropriate level, albeit on the low end of normal. HUGE improvement since his first eval early this year. *Hearing check - had some more loss, not a huge one, but did have an across-the-board drop in his left (better) ear, which we were hoping to not see until his CI is in (the right ear) and he is rehabbed. It is a small loss relatively speaking, so we are hoping that it was just one of those things and not another 'beginning-of-the-end' thing! Great news - his FM system came in and we got it up and running today. He is really excited about it and he hasn't even yet had the chance to see what it will really do for him! Abigail -- *PT (last session of the year) -- her PT was blown away by her improvement since last month. One of the last goals they had for her was to start introducing her to jumping, but Abigail has already learned how and was even jumping independently on the trampoline at PT. Her PT told me that they hope for 6 months of progress in one year's time for their CP patients, but that Abigail has had one year's progress in only six months! Great news. Official PT eval will be in late January. *Hearing check - more loss. After the HA adjustment today, I am already seeing improvement in her hearing and speaking ability. Our next hearing check, as well as David's first official hearing eval for the CI, will be a week from today (the 14th). Thanks for your continued prayers for us!

Sibling fun

This is blackmail material, Caleb...and I have more...! :-) ILY!

Uncle visits

This is one of my favorites...

...though this one ranks right up there, too...

...oh, forget it. I just love pictures of my little brothers with my kids!

Happy birthday, Uncle Caleb! ...a day late

Happy birthday wishes to my youngest brother, Caleb, who turned twenty yesterday. All four of us get to be in the same decade for exactly five months...before big sister gets to sound 'old' again. :-) Anyway, I meant to get this up yesterday but just didn't get to it. Happy birthday, Caleb! Thanks for being a great brother and such a fun uncle to my kids! ...for some more "Uncle Caleb" pictures, check out our photo gallery site (link is in the left-hand column).

Superdog and his body guards

Just thought you would all like to see Superdog and the two "bad guy soldiers who are nice" (David's description). Everybody is really happy to have Bruce home (from his two-day conference in D.C.) and we're enjoying a relaxing Saturday morning.

(Just for the record, the boxes are from all of my Christmas stuff that I am putting out -- please excuse them!)

A few moments of reflection...

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?" Psalm 8:3,4

I just wanted to share this moment with you all, though the pictures don't ever do nature justice and it is hard to convey all of the thought and emotion with words, but I will try anyway!

The weather is incredible this morning...when I went outside with the dog, it was one of those moments that instantly made me think of the verses above. It is 65 and balmy, but a major cold front is rolling in, and the clouds are just flying across the sky -- big, huge clouds -- and the breeze is getting chillier and stronger by the minute. The sound of the trees moving in the wind is so loud that it drowns everything else out -- I literally could hardly hear myself calling the dog. The sky is a beautiful pearly gray with the tiniest hint of blue, and the sun is rising and just starting to touch the tips of the upper level of clouds with a golden rosey-lavender.

On a morning when I was already racing far into the day mentally, my Creator displayed His immeasurable power and recalled me to the here and now. It was a wonderful moment of humbling myself before Him and I am grateful for the focus-shift before I start the day...and then I had the joy of taking David outside and seeing his awe and wonder, and being able to talk with him about how strong our God is to be able to blow those huge clouds across the sky so quickly.

What more can I say? I am so grateful that God reveals His power to us in this tangible way. How incredible that God thinks of us and cares for us.