Things We Take For Granted...

...our good health.

My family has always been very healthy. We have had our fair share of the occasional cold, cough, ear infection, stomach bug, etc, but, overall we have been a pretty healthy crew. This Fall Blake has been sick pretty much since Maci started kindergarten. His colds all turned to wheezing coughs and ear infections. In fact we spent 40 of the last 60 days with him on back to back antibiotics for 4 consecutive ear infections and also have been put on a daily medicine to keep him from coughing and wheezing. SERIOUSLY!! His ears were finally clear for the first time this week since October. Poor baby boy. We were incredibly relieved to hear that we won't have to do tubes for him, at least not immediately. What an answered prayer.

Well, in the middle of all of that, we took Payton to the doctor for her 4 year well check. This was her first dr's appointment since her 3 year well-check, and we had changed doctors earlier in the year. Well, when this new doctor was evaluating her charts, he was not happy with the difference between her height percentile last year and her percentile this year. He was concerned about a possible thyroid issue because of her apparent lack of growth and decided to do bloodwork and a urinalysis. When I got home, I looked at Payton's stats in my books and discovered that the other doctor actually just plotted Payton's height incorrectly on the growth chart, so I was no longer worried about a thyroid problem because it was just a mix-up that alarmed our new doctor. I decided I would let him know when he called with our results. After a few days, the doctor called himself. He said that all her levels were pretty normal, but that he was very surprised to have found a UTI. He was surprised because she has NO symptoms of a UTI at all. NONE. Anyway, he put her on an antibiotic to clear it up and had us schedule a re-check for it.
At her re-check 2 weeks later, he found that not only did her infection not clear up, but it got a whole lot worse. She still had no symptoms to speak of. This alarmed our doctor. He had us make an appointment at Texas Children's to have a procedure called a VCUG and an ultrasound done to see what was going on inside our Payton. Her appointment was Dec. 30th and it was horrible. Poor little girl was a bit traumatized. While we were there, we were able to hear from a doctor that she has VUR, which is a reflux of the kidneys. Her grade of reflux, when we spoke with our doctor on our way home, was a grade 2 out of 5 on one side, and a grade 4 out of 5 on the other. He informed us that because of the level 4, she would be having surgery to correct the problem. Unreal. Two weeks ago, we had never even heard of this, and now our seemingly perfectly healthy baby girl will have to have a pretty intense surgery to correct a pretty serious problem. She has no idea there is anything even wrong with her. It pretty much breaks my heart.
It also looks like we will have to test the other two kiddos for this because there is a chance they could have it too. WOW!!!

I have always prayed daily for my children. I pray for their salvation, I pray for their protection from all sorts of evils, I pray for their future mates, I pray for their relationships, I pray for their talents and temperaments, I pray for their future, I pray for their safety. I daily pray for my children. I will tell you that their health is something I have always taken for granted. Why would you just assume your children will be healthy, how silly. Why did I over-look that one??? Not saying I think that I could have done anything to change what is going on in our sweet family right now. I do not think any of this is happening because I overlooked it. I'm not that big. I just took it for granted that we'd always be healthy. I will tell you this, the little things like the health of my family, will be in my prayers too from now on.

We will meet with Payton's urologist in a few weeks and find out more about her VUR and the surgery to correct it. We are praying that it is easily fixed and that she will be completely free of it once the surgery is complete. We are also praying that Maci and Blake do not have it as well. We are praying that Blake's little ears stay clear and that his immune system will protect him from getting so many colds. We are praying that our children are healed from all that ails them. We are praying that our children have good health from here on out.

We are praying that we don't take God's blessings and His protection for granted.

December at a Glance (in no particular order)

Christmas Date 2010 with my sweet family of five!!
One of our favorite gifts Blake got were thses awesome shoes from his Aunt Sherry and Uncle Monte. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! Ignore the quote, its from a b-ball player and Alan and I thought it was funny!Christmas morning while the girls were opening presents, Blake decided that hiding under the tree was more fun.

Payton's favorite gift...a real Cinderella wedding dress

Maci loved her skateboard from Santa.

Before Christmas the kids and I went to Austin for a few days. Ice Skating was a highlight of our trip.

Handsome baby boy Christmas morning at Papa and Grandma's

My beautiful children!!!

Grandma and her sweeties!

"Twas the Night Before Christmas" with daddy Christmas Eve night. So Sweet!

Blake learned to army crawl at the beginning of this month!

All dolled up for Alan's company Christmas Party!

Payton's favorite ornament

Maci's favorite ornament

Baby's first Christmas!!!

Mom and Dad's Christmas card picture this year.

Thanksgiving in Austin. (oops, I said this was December at a glance...guess I was more behind than I thought.)

My Baby Is 4!!!

Ok, I know that Blake is technically the baby of our family, but in my head, I don't know if there will ever be a day where Payton is not the baby. That said, this birthday is a little hard for me to take! I cannot believe my baby is 4! That seems so old. It is all happening way too fast. My mind's eye looks at her and only sees an 18 month old toddling around with fuzzy little hair sticking straight up off her little (not so little) head. Sometimes I look over at her not really sure who that big beautiful girl looking back at me is. How is it that these little people grow up so darn fast. Old people always say things like that. I am getting old too. Boo!!! Anyway, our little princess had her 4th birthday on the 7th. She loved her special day from the beginning till the end. This child LOVES days that are all about her! She was a blessing the whole day, too. She continuously thanked us and told us how wonderful we made her day. Her party was at Cypress Academy of Gymnastics. Wow, did she enjoy that! I think my favorite part was listening to her open and talk about all the special gifts from her friends and family. She spent a good amount of time checking out and gushing over each and every item. Even when the party was over, she would ask who something was from and then talk about how wonderful it was of them to get her just the perfect gift. Our little princess is an enormous blessing to our family. And like she told me on her birthday, she'll always be my baby!

Posing with daddy at the end of a wonderful birthday! Listening to the coach's directions, excited to get started!Ready for some cake!Making a wish and blowing out her candle!Payton told me that, "A party is not a party without a cake." So I made a last minute cake just for her.The ballerina cupcakes.Just some extra pictures I added.

More pics of my boyfriend!

Alan got a skateboard for his birthday, but Blake looks way cuter on it!

Having Fun With Our Cameras!!

Well, I have a really bad track record when it comes to Christmas cards. I do not do well getting them sent out. There have been years that I have even gotten as far as addressing the stuffed and sealed envelopes only to never put them in the mail. I really want to send one out this Christmas, but who knows if they'll make it to the mail box. In an effort to increase the odds of getting them out, I had a friend come with me and snap a couple of pictures of the family. They turned out pretty awesome, I think. I took some of just the kiddos, too. If for some reason the cards don't make it out, I at least have the pictures on my wall for my viewing pleasure. These 4 people are the greatest things that have ever happened to me and I adore each one of them! Enjoy a peek at the final product!

Following in Believer's Baptism

The last weekend in October was a very special one for our family. It was Maci's last soccer game, but more importantly, it was the weekend that Maci was baptized. I cannot express the pride that fills a mom's heart when one of her babies makes the decision to ask Jesus into their heart. On June 3rd 2010, Maci asked Jesus into her heart. Since that moment, she will tell anyone who will listen. We never pushed baptism, only explained it to her. Maci is so sensitive about being in front of people that I was sure she would have a hard time with this part. I was wrong. Alan and I explained to Maci that after you become a Christian, Jesus wants you to be baptized as an outward sign of the decision you made in your heart. She was very excited about telling the world that she loves Jesus by being baptized. She stayed on me until I got her signed up. She told everyone that would listen about her upcoming baptism and was extremely excited about it. When the day came, she was still excited, and only got a little nervous right before it started. Holding her hand through this very important day was one of my greatest privileges. I was so amazed at how she took such ownership over her new relationship with Jesus. At such a young age, you half expect it to all come from the parents. Not with Maci. She loves Jesus, and that is all her own. How neat to get to stand beside her and watch as she begins to grow into the little lady God wants her to become. I am bursting with love and pride.

This is Maci with Pastor Sal right before the baptism. Alan and his baby girl!
Totally Cool Big Girl!Alan's grandparents came in from Pampa for the last soccer game and Baptism. This is 4 generations of Meers Men!

Labor Day Fun

We spent Labor Day in Austin since it was going to be our last soccer free weekend until the middle of November. It was a really fun weekend. The girls (and Blake) did a lot of shopping, the guys (minus Blake) did some golfing, we had a cookout and some fun backyard games led by the girls. It was a great weekend!Payton is leading Simon Says Me and my girl!Blakie tried cereal for the first time. Clearly NOT his thing!