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I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

Happy Valentines Day!

God sent to me an angel,
it had a broken wing.
I bent my head and wondered
“How could God do such a thing?”
When I asked the Father
why He sent this child to me,the answer 
was forthcoming,He said 
“Listen and you’ll see.”
“My children are all precious,
and none is like the rest.
Each one to me is special,
and the least is as the best.
I send each one from Heaven
and I place it in the careof those
 who know my mercy,
those with love to spare.
Sometimes I take them back again.
Sometimes I let them stay.
No matter what may happen
I am never far away.
So if you find an angel
and you don’t know 
what to do,remember,
 I am with you,love is all I ask of you.”
-Paul Damman










Carter's Big Day!!!

We have made it to Cincinnati!   The medical transport went very well.  Carter was excellent during the flight. The only time he had trouble was loading and unloading.  He had to ride in a car seat the entire time.  Since I would be unable to hold him, I thought for sure he would cry the entire time, but he didn't.  The nurse practitioners and respiratory therapist were very sweet and let me stay close to him the entire time.  He passed out about 30 minutes before landing.  Here are a few pictures from Carter's big travel day.

We arrived to the hospital and were greeted by many staff members.  Just as a precaution they decided to take a x-ray of Carter's PICC to make sure it was in the correct spot.  They determined it was in about a centimeter too far.  I pulled the line back a centimeter and they got an x-ray.  It showed that Carter's PICC had migrated to his other arm (it is suppose to be down by his heart).  They wanted me to pull it back again to see if it would migrate itself back down by his heart, this time it went into his neck.  This all occured from midnight to 3 this morning!  It was a mess and resulted in Carter having another PICC line placed today.  Of course, he had to have and IV placed in the meantime.  This was an event in itself.  To say the least, Carter has had an extremely busy day!  All of Carter's healthcare team rounded at the same time this morning.  It was AWESOME to have all of them here at the same time going over everything.  Carter then had a barium study that lasted about 2 hours.  Once we got back to the room it was time for him to have the PICC placed.  Carter has been so good today, especially saying he is running off of less than 5 hours of sleep last night.  The PICC placement went great and we are now using his new PICC line.  We are all running low on energy and hope to have a very restful night!  Thank you all so much for all of your continued prayers.  We are extremely thankful for each and every one of them!

Here are a few pictures from Carter's big day!

A little nervous at takeoff...





A little nap...


A little play...




A few smiles...



Another nap...





A view of the clouds...



About to land...







About to unload the superstar...








In the ambulance on the way to the hospital.


The "plan"...

Carter has done well the past few days, most of our "events" have come from travel issues. I am happy to say now (fingers crossed) that Carter and myself will be leaving UMC Monday morning at 10 am. The UAB AirCare team will be flying us to Cinncinati.  Hesitantly, we booked Brandon a flight the same day and he should arrive Monday night. The so called "plan" is for Brandon to stay with us for the first two weeks and then he will return home to go back to work and my Mom will come stay. Brandon has family that lives in Ohio, about 3 hours away and we are planning for them to come visit as well. We are excited about this, since they have never met Carter.  Little by little Carter's personality is peeking back into our lives.  He is not blowing kisses or waving bye-bye to all of the nurses yet, but he has started mooing like a cow and quacking like a duck.  He loves to put his hands together and bow his head like he is praying and I have to say it's the sweetest thing!  We have yet to figure out how he can hardly talk but let someone come in to try to do something and if I'm not right beside him he says "I want my Mama!"  I have a feeling he can say a lot more than we think.:)


I know most of you reading this will be SHOCKED to read this, but the last two days I left Carter with my Mom for about two hours during his nap time and went to do a few things that I really needed to get done before leaving Mississippi for a month! For all of you that don't know I usually do not leave Carter's side, hence the reason he has a bed instead of a crib when he is admitted into the hospital. I literally sit by him 24/7. I am his comfort and it is the only way he will rest and I wouldn't have it any other way. So whatever works I do. I did mention before that he is a little spoiled, didn't I? So anyways, while out of the hospital, in the real world I seem to think more clearly. Today I started to wonder if both Brandon and myself were in denial. Here we are with our child about to be flown in a jet to another state, because no one in Mississippi knows how to treat him. We are just sitting here! Were not running around freaking out, we are just sitting here! Is this normal? Have we seen Carter sick for so long that we just don't see it anymore? Is there something wrong with us? Now I'm not going to say that we don't worry, but I honestly believe God has spun us into our own little world to protect us.  It's undescribeable and I have to say at times I worry that I am not worried!


Brandon and I both see Carter as Carter.  We do not see a sick little boy who is living with his bladder on the outside of his body, or has severe intestinal issues.  He is just our Carter.  A cute, sweet, very intelligent 17 month old little boy that we love more than words could ever express.  I guess we see Carter as God sees and created him.  PERFECT!  As frustrated as we get with his not so perfect body, it's the one God chose to give him and in time we will figure out all of it's kinks and straighten them.  So I guess if we are in denial about everything that is going on right now, it's ok.  If that's how we are managing right now we will just have to stay in denial.  I hope to never look at Carter and see a sick little boy.  I hope I continue to look at him just the way he is PERFECT!  It's only by His blood and through His mercy that Carter was created this way and it will only be through His blood and through His mercy that Carter will one day be healed!


For the first time in MONTHS Carter wanted to put something in his mouth, he loves salt and put a chip in his mouth.  He would not swallow it, but he put it in his mouth and sucked the salt off of it.  This is a big deal and we were so proud of him!



Go RAVENS!



MOM! You are not suppose to take this apart!

NOT happy about his hair-do!

Crazy!

To say the past few days have been crazy is for sure an understatement. Brandon flew to Baltimore then to Louisville and then drove an hour to Cincinnati, all in an effort to meet me and Carter in Cincinnati. Due to miscommunication and an influx in patients, Carter and I were unable to travel to Cincinnati. After Brandon traveled to all of those places, he had to turn around and travel back home. It has been a stressful mess to say the least! The plan as of right now is for the medical transfer to take place on Monday or Tuesday. This time Brandon will not be leaving the state of Mississippi until Carter and I are in the air. The good news is that we are all safely back together in Mississippi. I want to thank each of you for your continued prayers. They mean so much to us! James 1:2-8

Waiting to be transferred!



Prayers please!!!

This morning we were informed that Cincinnati had an increase in patients over night and Carter would not be able to be transferred today. Brandon is already on a flight traveling there, along with ALL of our luggage (including most of Carter's supplies). They also informed me a winter storm was scheduled to arrive in Cincinnati tonight and they were unsure if the jet would be able to fly. Please pray that a room will open up today and Carter will be able to be transferred. I really do not want him sitting here another week without the proper treatment he needs. Please pray that Brandon arrives safely and we can figure out all of this asap! Thank you all so much for your prayers!

New places and new hope...

Today we found out that Carter will be transferred to Cincinnati Childrens Hospital tomorrow. We are unsure if we will transfer in the morning or afternoon. A medical jet from UAB will be transferring Carter and myself. They only allow one person to ride with the patient, so Brandon will be flying commercial. Please pray that everything will go as smooth as possible and that Carter will tolerate the flight well.
We have no idea of what to expect, but are praying for the best. Please pray for answers and wisdom for the Doctors we are about to meet. We know God can heal and that he has a very special plan for Carter. We are so ready for all of this pain to just be a memory. We know that through the power of prayer and our amazing God it soon will be. Thank you all so much for your faithful prayers, I know God hears each of them!




Cuteness!

Carter has done really good the past few days.  The plan is for a medical transfer (flying in a jet, thank GOD!) on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Just thought I would share a little bit of "cuteness" to brighten up this gloomy day! :)




 A little singing...




 PLEASE put in my Veggie Tales!

 The NOT so happy Birthday boy, but isn't he cute?!



 Mr.ATTITUDE!