Thank you, God!!

On Saturday Kyliava suffered a seizure. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to us, I was so afraid that we were going to lose her.

She was in my arms, arched her back very forcefully, shook all over, then went limp in my arms as her eyes rolled back in her head. Mike and Shelby were right there, we all ran in the house to call 911. She was out for about a minute, then Mike took her in his arms because I was on the phone with the 911 operator, she was crying. I have to give Kevin credit, he sat quietly on the couch the whole 3.5 minutes I was on the phone.

The ambulance was on the way, so I took her back from her dad. She was very limp, like a rag doll. She wouldn't respond to anything I said to her, wouldn't do or say anything, she wouldn't even look at me. It was like she couldn't hear me. The ambulance arrived... they had me sit on the stretcher with her in my lap. The EMTs were wonderful with her. I wish I knew their names...

The ride to Baptist was very bumpy. She was pretty unresponsive most of the way. I was so scared that she would be like that the rest of her life from this... I prayed in the ambulance while I held her.

They checked her at the hospital and observed her for a few hours, gave us instructions on what to do at home and what to look for. I'd forgotten Ava's sippy cup and all they had was a styrofoam cup or a bottle. Well, she's still breastfed and won't even try a bottle, but they got her a straw and she drank down almost a full 8oz of ice water... which was amazing because she never drank more than 3oz at a time before in her whole life. She started acting normal again, walking around and playing. She found mini M&Ms that I had in the diaper bag and was quite happy to sit and eat those in the hospital bed.

I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all the Sisters in the church who kept Kyliava and our family in their prayers; even those we haven't met yet were praying for her. We brought her to our family doctor on Monday and he said that she shouldn't have any lasting effects from it. So I titled this post, "Thank you, God" because He answered our prayers and our precious little Blessing is doing well!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!!

Awesome Kevin

Kevin is a natural gymnast. Even without lessons, he can do perfect handstands and cartwheels, and he is *this close* to doing a front flip... it's just the standing back up part that he's working on now. When he was 3 he started doing a cartwheel kick that is worth 2 points in the Karate Tournaments, whereas other kicks are worth 1 point. He wanted me to put this pic on here so everyone could see him.

That's our awesome Kevin!!

Putting Presents Under the Tree!

No, we don't do Santa. Yes, we put the presents under the tree as we buy them and wrap them.

This year Kayla put the tree up all by herself and fluffed out the branches. Kevin helped her put the ornaments on, Kyliava put the candy canes on. After a few minutes, we realized that it wasn't going to work this way. Our Much-Awaited Blessing decided that she just had to touch every gold and silver ornament... babies and glass ornaments don't mix LoL! So the bottom of our tree is now devoid of ornaments... but the lights are permanently attached to the tree, so she can't mess with them!

When Kevin was about 3 we were in the checkout lane, the man in front of us asked Kevin what Santa was bringing him for Christmas. Kevin replied, "There is no Santa, silly!" The cashier gasped and blurted out, "What do you celebrate then??" We told her that we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Every year Kayla will relate that story to anyone who will listen :o)

We all thought it was so funny that the poor girl couldn't imagine what you did if you didn't celebrate Santa. Well, we haven't "done" Santa since Kevin's first Christmas... I think it is much more meaningful for the children now. They know that daddy works hard to pay for their gifts, and mommy puts a lot of time into shopping for them... it's not just a fat man throwing them down the chimney! They love to help wrap the gifts and arrange them under the tree. And we don't have to worry about the dreaded "Santa isn't real" talk.

Would you rather Santa or Jesus be the focus of your December each year?