January

I can't believe today is the last day of January.  It's been a busy month.  I think I need a vacation...when is it spring break?

Mia is still having seizures.  At times it is super discouraging to me because we had a week without seizures in December.  I hate them.  I hate what they do to her and I hate how much they control our life.  Yet, I keep thinking about the verse in Philippians 4:8.  "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."  It redirects my thoughts and I can only think of Jesus and God and the amazing things that have been done for Mia.  These seizures stink, but God is sovereign.  And when I get discouraged, I have to look to God.  I can't help but be encouraged when I look at how far He has taken her.  Do I want her to have seizures and struggle in life?  Absolutely not.  Do I trust God and His plan?  Absolutely.  I may not get it or understand it, but I trust it. 

Mia and Calvin are both participating in Fun Sports, a 6 week sports program for different ages.  The program runs a few different sports throughout the year and the point is for all kids to get to play, which is what makes it fun.  Calvin threw a fit when we signed him up because he didn't want to do something new.  He displays a lot of the introverted tendencies his mom and dad have.  But he has been having so much fun.  They practice one night a week and then play one game a week.  They are doing basketball right now and I asked him if he wanted to try the next sport and he was hesitant, but then said he would like to try baseball and maybe soccer.  I'm proud of how far he has come.

Mia is also playing basketball and we are realizing how much of a challenge this is on many levels for her.  Mostly, we are concerned about her having a seizure on the court.  It happened once at a game and once at practice.  Because of this, either Brad or myself are with her at all times on the court during practice and games.  Her coach does a great job of including her, but the reality of a team sport is that you don't always get the ball equally.  Since the game play is so quick, she really struggles with that and she's gotten bonked a few times in the face with the ball because she just couldn't keep up.  But she loves it and has loved it from the beginning.  She is quite the opposite of Calvin and is definitely not introverted.  

Asher, of course, was hugely disappointed that he's not old enough to do Fun Sports.  (You have to be at least 4 for basketball.)  The joys of being the littlest, you don't always to get to participate.  :)

Pray for us as we continue to look for answers to help Mia be seizure free.  We meet with her neurologist next week.

New Year...when did that happen?

I'm sorry for not blogging more over the holidays.  I wanted to.  But then I didn't want to.  And of course I didn't! 

We had so much fun with our family over the holidays.  The cousins were inseparable.  It was nice to have a few weeks to just enjoy each other.  Then of course, it was January.  We started getting back in the swing of school and we got a surprise visit from Laura, Brad's sister.  So, of course, that was fun and we got some more family time! 

We got a dog and now we don't have a dog.  Tim & Rachel found a stray in our neighborhood right after the new year and we housed him for awhile.  We contemplated keeping him, but realized after a week or so that he wasn't a great fit for us because he loved to eat the kids toys.  We had talked awhile about getting a pet for the kids, but this was not the pet for us.  Thankfully, Tim & Rachel found him a new home with another dog and he is doing fabulous there.  A happy ending for Marley.  

Now, it's almost the end of January, and life just keeps plugging along.  An update on Mia...after she had been seizure free for a week, I tried decreasing one of her meds and within a week, the seizures came back.  We waited a few days just to be sure and we were sure, and then re-upped that medicine again.  Sadly, I chose the medicine that takes 3 weeks to stabalize (because I really thought it wasn't contributing that much and clearly I was wrong) and so now we are almost at the 3 week mark and hoping in the next few days she will be seizure free again.  We have a visit with her neurologist on Thursday and will just discuss the plan for her, but if we can get her seizure free again, I don't want to change anything.  I want to give her a break from the seizures and I think we will just stay where we are medicine wise. 

The kids are doing well in school.  I'm trying to think out of the box for Mia and some of her struggles.  We are caught in the I want and I don't want stage.  Asher so desperately "wants" to do school and everything that the big kids are doing.  Calvin so desperately "doesn't want" to do school and would gladly let Asher take his spot in everything.  The grass is always greener, I suppose. 

Thank you for praying for Mia, please keep praying for her.  We are so grateful for all you faithful prayer warriors!