I was going to wait to post an update about my doctor's appointments until I was all finished with them, but it might be awhile. So in my previous post about it all I was going to be getting the results of my latest bloodwork. I got those results back and everything was completely normal. I'm not even the slightest bit anemic, which surprised me because I have always been anemic and especially since we rarely eat red meat anymore. I guess I get plenty of nutrients from everything else I eat. So basically they are stumped as to what has been causing my major fatigue along with other symptoms. The doctor told me that it's possible that I just have chronic fatigue and that they don't know anything about it really, but found that when those patients were put on Prozac they got better. So for now, that's the plan...take Prozac and vitamins. By the way, in case you have never taken Prozac, one of the major side effects is drowsiness. Hmmm...I'm supposed to be getting help for fatigue so they give me drugs to knock me out. Supposedly the side effects get better over time...we'll see. I will say that I don't get stressed out with the kids as quickly as I used to. So that's nice, but it's probably because I'm so drowsy I simply can't respond. Haha! Oh well.

As for the growth in my neck, I had an ultrasound done and now I'm being scheduled for a biopsy hopefully in the near future. If I haven't heard from them this week I'm supposed to call them. Hopefully I hear something Monday or Tuesday though.

I'm not too worried about all this though. I had it biopsied 8 years ago and it was fine so I don't expect this time to come back any different. Besides that, I serve a big God who's got my back. :)

Sent from my iPhone

Easter Pictures

Easter weekend came and went fast! Josh's show went very well although I didn't make it. I wanted to be there so bad, but I just wasn't feeling up to going. I'm feeling a little better today thankfully. I might even exercise...for...10 minutes...that's my goal! haha! We are going to Branson this weekend for a ministry trip/family trip/Dakotah & Kaiden's bdays. Tim is an avid bike rider and he's been promising to take me next time we went down. So it looks like I'm going to be putting my body through a crazy bike ride this weekend, so I better do some exercising this week to prepare for it.

Okay back to Easter weekend. I didn't get to take a whole lot of pictures, but I did manage to get some of the kids doing to annual Easter Egg Hunt after church Sunday.

And here are a couple pictures of Kaiden after thoroughly enjoying a chocolate bunny. Unfortunately the pictures just don't fully capture the mess. 

Prayers Appreciated :)

I'd appreciate some prayers for myself if you could spare a few moments. Over the last few months I've been having various symptoms that led me to think that maybe I was having thyroid issues. Mom had major thyroid problems and so I figured I did too. A couple weeks ago I went to a free clinic to get checked out. They did some blood work and I went back this past Tuesday to get the results. My thyroid levels were excellent. The normal range is .40 to 4.50 and mine was 1.07...so perfect! They ordered more bloodwork as they think that maybe I'm anemic and have other deficiencies as well. (I go back to get the results from this blood work later today.) I also have had a growth in my neck...I think it's considered on my thyroid, but not sure. It first was found in 2003 and in 2004 it was biopsied and came back fine, but in the last 8 years it has grown tremendously. I also had this checked out at that first appointment a couple weeks ago. They ordered an ultrasound for it to start out with, which should have taken many weeks to get scheduled, since it's a free clinic, but thankfully it got scheduled for tomorrow. So if you could spare a few minutes to keep me in your prayers that through all this everything comes back fine and that whatever is going on with me will be easily corrected.

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks so much!! :)

Love

I thought I would share with you all what I've been meditating on in the Bible lately. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but the body of Christ can be so judgmental sometimes....okay a lot of times. Christians are supposed to be the love of God on the earth. The Bible says that we are born of God and that God is love so aren't we supposed to be love too? Recently I have felt judged by others,whom I love dearly, about many different things. It has made me take a hard look at myself and whether I'm the same way. Do I judge others unfairly? Am I casting the first stone? Well a few weeks ago Pat Harrison taught about love and it changed my life. 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the "love chapter" and most of us could probably recite some or all of it, but have we really taken the time to meditate on it and realize what it really means? Probably not. I could go into all the things that Mrs. Harrison taught about it, but I just wanted to share the one thing that hit me the most. If  you take verses 4-11 and replace the word "love" with the word "Jesus" and then replace it with your name I guarantee you that it will hit you differently. I love to confess these scriptures and believe them about myself. It can make such a different in how you view yourself and your life.

Here's the NKJV version:

"Cari" suffers long and is king; "Cari" does not envy; "Cari" does not parade herself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek her own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. "Cari" never fails."

Here's the Message version (I love this one.):

"Cari" never gives up. "Cari" cares more for others than for self. "Cari" doesn't want what she doesn't have. "Cari" doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force herself on others, isn't always "me first", doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others, doesn't revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trust God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end. "Cari" never dies."

This has been such an encouragement to me as I hope it will be to you too! :)

Cardiology Visit And Easter Weekend!

I have great news! This past Thursday I took Pax for his 3 month cardiology visit and it went so well! The pressures that his doctor has been watching so closely hasn't changed, which is great! Everything looks about the same so no intervention is needed like she thought. He also FINALLY gained some weight too. He had been holding steady at 20 pounds since the end of last year. He kept getting sick and then we've been having trouble getting him to eat, but he gained 3 pounds since February! I was ecstatically happy about this! He doesn't go back until the end of June for another check up. 

I was going through pictures on my phone and there are a bunch on there from his first few months and it's just so crazy to look back and see how far he's come. I was watching him eat the other day and he was making googly eyes at me and I just had a "moment" where it hit me how amazing he is and how amazing God is. Pax is such a gift from God to me. (Of course all my children are.) Whew! I better change the subject before I get too mushy and gooey. ha! 

I'm excited about this weekend even though it's going to be busy. I love having things to do though. Tonight we are attending a surprise birthday party for my sister-in-law, who has been such a gift from God to me in the last few months. Tomorrow I get to take Dakotah to his last "run" for the year. He's part of the running club at his school and they take part in different "run's" that happen in the city. Unfortunately I'm not looking forward to the very very early hour that I have to get up to take him. I'm thinking coffee is going to be a MUST in the morning! Then tomorrow night Josh's band, Manifest Destiny, is having their EP release party. I'm so so so proud of him and all that he has accomplished. For sooo many years I've heard him tell me over and over about his dream to minister through his music and he's finally been able to do it this last year. His band recorded their first EP a few months ago and after a LOT of work they are finally releasing it. One of their singles might even be played on radio stations soon! (Still working out the details on this.) And then, of course, Sunday is Easter, which will be a super fun day for the kids. Lots eggs filled with sugary, fattening candy that I will secretly be throwing away, but don't tell them that. ha!

Here are a few pictures we took of the kids recently. Enjoy! And Happy Easter! :)

I. Am. Exhausted! But in a good way. We went home to Branson this weekend just for the fun of it and to spend time with family. Paxy was getting over a cold and teething so he didn't sleep the best, which meant Mama didn't sleep the best. But we got some major shopping done, which was fun and got to have some great laughs with the fam as always. I absolutely LOVE my family!!! They are the best! I wish I could see them more often though.

Going home is always fun, but it always brings a lot of memories back too. It makes me think about my Mom a lot, which of course makes me miss her even more. For some reason a certain memory stuck out to me more than normal. When we go down to Branson we always drive by Skaggs hospital multiple times. (Mom passed away at Skaggs.) When we drove into Branson Friday night and drove by the hospital, as we passed I looked down the road and could see the exact spot where my Dad met my brother, sister and I to give us the news that she was gone. On that very early morning in May 2001 when Dad gave us the news my 1st reaction was to drop to my knees, lift my hands and start worshiping God through my tears of sorrow. My 1st reaction. I so distinctly remember doing this and how I was feeling at the time. I had always lived a life dedicated to God and had always wanted to serve Him, but in the days leading up to Mom's passing God brought me even closer to Him...probably in preparation for what was to come. So on that morning, I think in that moment I was surrendering everything to Him and choosing to praise Him no matter what life would bring. All of this came flooding back to me this past Friday night as we drove by, as well as every other time we drove by this weekend. I remember being so close to God and I had to ask myself if I was still in that same spot with God or if I had pulled away. The answer is no, I'm nowhere near as dedicated as I was then, but how I long to have that close relationship with Him again...and I've been working on it. There's nothing like it in the world. No earthly relationship could ever even come close to being as awesome as a close relationship with God.

It's hard sometimes to make time for your Maker when the kids are screaming, the house needs cleaned, breakfast, lunch and dinner need to be made and not to mention the enormous pile of laundry that needs washed, folded and put away. However, I KNOW that as I make time for HIM that somehow there will be more time in the day to accomplish all the Mom/Wife stuff. I just have to learn to put Him 1st and let Him be my 1st reaction again...in any situation.

Matthew 6:33 NKJV "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Ps. 69:32 NKJV "The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live."

As you probably already know February is congenital heart disease awareness month. There's so much that needs to be done to raise awareness that I don't even know where to start. CHD's are something that I never knew anything about, but is the #1 birth defect. 1 in 100 babies born are born with a CHD and CHD's are the leading cause in infant death. How crazy is that!? I have no idea how I could not have known that before or why it's not more publicized than it is. In the US twice as many children die from CHD's each year than all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is 5 times higher than funding for CHD.

There's a whole lot more statistics that I could mention, but I'll move on. Recently I did an interview for Stephanie's blog where I got to tell Pax's story. If you'd like to read it click here.
She is doing a series of interviews with heart Mom's for CHD awareness month. You should go over and read some of them. They are so inspirational! Be sure to have some tissue ready though because you'll probably let a few tears drop.

Oh and I almost forgot...Dakotah is taking part in a fund raiser at school called Hoops For Heart for the American Heart Association. His goal is to raise $250, by Thursday. (He has to turn everything in on Friday.) He only needs $150 more to reach his goal. Here's his website that he has set up for it. You can read more information about it here.

Have a lovely Tuesday!