Life's Storms

I was just upstairs packing the girls for the coming weeks. I am home alone and was jamming to my ipod and was struck dead in my tracks as I really LISTENED to a song that I just recently added. A little over a month ago when the Chapman's youngest daughter was killed by an SUV in their driveway this was one of the songs that was played at her funeral. I had downloaded it so that each time I heard it I could pray for that dear family. Never thinking that it would really minister to me.

When I came down stairs I saw this picture of me on Jed's desk and could see that my hair was blowing.... I remember having these pictures taken last August and seeing the storm rolling in over the golf course. It looked like it was going to be a whooper... a little like how I feel right now. The wind has been swirling in the Smith home for the last few months and the storm is on the horizon. The waters have been rising, the flood right around the bend.

I truly believe that there will be a calm after these final storms pass through in July.... here is the words to the song. I hope that it can help you "find rest" as well!

Still - by Hillsong

you can hear the whole song at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObjYBF05mts&feature=related

Hide me now, Under Your wings.

Cover me, within Your mighty hands.

When the oceans rise and thunders roar,

I will soar with you above the storm.

Father, You are king over the flood.

I will be still, know You are God,

Find rest my soul, In Christ alone.

Know His power in quietness and trust

Beautiful Blondie!!!

Olivia, Olivia, Olivia! What can I say??? She is a handful.... she is mouthy yet sensitive, stubborn yet cuddly, strong willed yet thoughtful....but always so darn cute.... it actually gets her out of allot of trouble!! Tonight at the soccer game she was recruiting people to play duck,duck, goose. She only sweet talked her grandpas into it! The Oreo face is thanks to Aunt Sara who always comes to the games loaded with goodies! I think Olivia had a cookie in her hand before we even had or chairs set up! What a sweet little squirt!

Last Soccer Game of the Season.

Madison's cousin Elliott

Had a great night tonight! Madison's last soccer game of the season. It was so great to see how far she has come since her first game earlier this year. We celebrated at Culver's with all of the family! She is sooooo proud of her trophy and already has it displayed (right next to her daddy's high school soccer trophy that she found in his bedroom at Grandmas house!). After dessert Grandma and Grandpa Cronk came over to pray with all of us. They will leave tomorrow for vacation and will not see Madison again until after her surgery. It is emotional for all of us as we know how serious the surgery is and how miserable it is going to be for the sweetie! Tonight was a great night though!!!

Never A Dull Moment

Madison once again is keeping us busy! Thursday night she had a date with Jed and then went with him to pick up Olivia at Grandma and Grandpa Smiths house. A few minutes with an exercise band....a game of tug of war..... Olivia decided to let go.... Maddie is rushed to the Er! 4 stitches later we were on our way!

Should be a cheap visit as I am sure her deductible is met for the year!

Never a dull moment! We will have them removed tomorrow!

It's Scheduled

Before surgery....

139.5 ex-lax squares a month, 1,674 squares a year

5 boxes of ex-lax a month, 60 boxes of ex-lax a year!

After surgery.... 0 !!!

So we will be saying goodbye to our third child, "mega-sigmoid", on the 10th of July. We just received word that the surgery is on the books for a July 8th admission and a surgery day of July 10th.

Jed and I both kinda panicked when we saw that as it is only 4 weeks away. We had been anticipating having a fall date as we were warned that mid-summer is not an easy time to get in, especially this late.

We have had a GREAT week this last week with only 2 accidents. X-ray confirmed today that she is staying totally cleaned out!!! I think that having such a great stretch has made us apprehensive about the surgery..is it necessary? So we decide to email the Dr. with some of our concerns. I just laid out for him that we were doing great and that we wanted to make sure that overtime her body would not heal itself or that she could go way down in dosages or best case she would "just figure it out". I sent that email and about 2 minutes later got a response. he wanted to see if he could call real quick so that we could discuss our concerns. A minute later he called....where else do you get that kind of attention??

The first thing that he said was " I could sense concern, anxiety and fear in your email...so i knew we needed to talk'! I told him that I was afraid and excited all at once. He was great and very simply told us that the surgery is not mandatory but necessary for Madison to have a good quality of life. He is THRILLED with the results that Madison is having. He assured us that she will absolutely ALWAYS have to be on this amount of laxative and in the near future a much higher dose. He said that we can continue doing that if we are not comfortable with the surgery. Not really something that we are ok with as there are no studies that show the effects of such high dosages of ex-lax over time. He also shared that most families that opt out of surgery usually come back within the year and have complications or want the surgery.

He also assured us that he colon will never go back to anything close to normal. He was very positive about the size of her upper colon as it is "in great shape". Dr. Levitt said that the first time that he saw her films weeks ago he felt like the only way she would get a good result for life is with surgery.

sooooo....we have decided that this is the way that we will go! we have prayed that if we were supposed to move forward that a date would open this summer that would allow enough time for her to be back "on her feet" before school. This date will do that. Dr. Levitt said that there must have been a cancellation as he was shocked that we got in this soon. He said that he was very excited for Madison that she can get this done soon!

We will start to make arrangements and get all our ducks in a row. There is allot to figure out. Danielle and Ted had offered to take Olivia again so that is great! We are thinking that we will travel to Akron and spend the 4th of July weekend with the Lawver Family. That way we can make sure that Madison has allot of fun and then is rested before being admitted on the 8th. Jed has a call into his boss to make sure that everything is ok for him to be out of the office and working "mobily" for 2 weeks. Our biggest obstacle to overcome right now is lodging. please pray that we can get into the Ronald McDonald house those 2 weeks or so! It is the only thing that is close to the hospital and we both really want to be close as someone will be staying over and the other heading back. The hospital is in the ghetto of Cincinnati and there are no hotels in close proximity. The RMH is on the hospital grounds! You can not get your name on the list until 24 hours before your admission. It is a first come first serve basis..... so please pray, pray, pray!!

We will keep you all posted! Lots of love to all of you and your families!


Nikki

May 30th

Hello everyone! Allot has happened since we last blooged!
First and foremost.... Madison scored her first goal in soccer last night!! She was so excited! She was skipping around the field and missed the next several plays because she was looking at me giving me the thumbs up and saying “ that one was mine mom!” It was so great to see her so happy!
On a funny note - Wed afternoon I look out our kitchen window and see a turtle making its way towards the house.... not a small turtle either.... turns out it is a snapper. Jed shovels it into a bucket as the snapper is “snapping”. The girls both have nightmares and I am awake all night! The turtle stayed over night in a bucket outside waiting for the conservation police. We still have no idea how that thing got here. No real habitat for a snapper on Lacresta Dr???
I have developed an abscess under my left arm that is so painful. I am on antibiotics and hope that it will all clear up otherwise as my dr said “ I will have to take a scalpel to it” So as you can imagine I am praying for the obvious!
Jed turned 31! we had a very romantic dinner at Culvers as he was running out of town at 8:30 pm on his birthday! He had a busy two days in Chicago! He traveled with one of the “big wigs” and got RAVE reviews.... no surprise there! I am so proud of what he has accomplished at this job. He had his review last week and was ranked in the top 2% of the entire company!!!! GO JED! In order to celebrate tomorrow he is pulling the roof of of the garage!!!!! Poor guy never gets any down time!
Jed and I had a long conference call with the surgeon in Ohio on Wed. . We have decided after allot of talking that we need to move forward with the colon resection surgery. Dr. Levitt was of a little different opinion than Dr. Pena as far as the need to “prove” that she has bowel control before being a candid for the surgery. Dr. Levitt believes that she will not get bowel control until after the surgery because her colon and rectum are simply to large. We talked in length about the surgery and what it will in tale. Lots to take in and an unbelievable amount of fear to think about what is ahead for Maddie.... The verse “be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer, and petition, with thanksgiving present your request to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” keeps coming to mind. So much easier to say then to live. I believe that the Lord will provide the peace that passes all understanding for us in the days ahead. We should know by Monday the available dates for surgery. We are praying that possibly July as that would give Madison enough time to recover for school late august. Dr. Levitt was afraid that they may be booked through the summer so we will see. Again, we trust that the day that is open is the day that the Lord has planned for us. I am not to concerned about it being after school starts as I feel capable of teaching kindergarten for a month or so ! (I think that is the only grade I could do!)
We will keep you all posted as we get more info from Cincinnati. We will have another x-ray on Monday to verify that she is staying clean.
Please pray for Jed and I as we have allot on our plates in making these super critical decisions for Madison. We are begging the Lord to make His plan for Madison so clear for us. We are trusting that He will open and close the doors as He sees fit.
We love you all and can not thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers for our family.
Xoxo,
nikki

GREAT NEWS!!!

Here is what a clean colon looks like!!!???

Dr. Levitt just emailed us back after viewing today's x-ray and said that she is completely clean. He said that it is highly unusual to be able to do that with such a large colon!!! Yeah! We will be having a phone conference with him to discuss what is ahead. Another big deal... Madison told me earlier that she had to go potty and she did! She said that she could fill something "different" and decided to try! What a great day, with some very encouraging news!!!! Keep praying!