All my little chicks back under wing!

I stole this title from a dear friend who made this comment when I sent a picture of all our children together again. It is true, all six happily together in Texas. Brent and I truly could not be more thankful for how God has directed each step in this path and for how well we have been cared for. This passage has come to mind so much over these last days and weeks. There is much peace in knowing that God cares about us, about my children, so much.

Matthew 6:26-27

26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

We find ourselves completely overwhelmed by the love and care we have and continue to receive. The friends, grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, Great-Aunts and Great Uncles, and cousins who all played such an important roll in making the separation not only bearable but wonderful and sweet. Since they arrived Tuesday night it has been non stop stories about all of the amazing fun they have had while staying with Grandma and Pap Pap. We know it wasn’t without sacrifice and it has certainly not gone unnoticed. Here is another picture of some of their fun!

Brent left TN with Ethan, LaRue, Kyle, Paul, and Boone early Tuesday morning hoping to be here by mid afternoon. Unfortunately they hit stand still traffic before they got to Memphis and were delayed several hours. On Monday Alex and I had spent a lot of time outside playing, going on walks, and doing all the fun things. Tuesday morning the first thing she said when she woke was, “mommy, can we do all the things again today? It makes the day go faster“! It was sweet. All day long she was so ready for them to arrive. The kids texted when they made it to Arkansas and again when they hit the Texas line. Alex helped me blow up balloons, cut streamers to hang around the kitchen and living room, built her magnets into fun decorations and hung flowers she had made. She had it all set up when they arrived.

This is the face as she was sitting outside waiting for them to pull in. The others are Boone seeing her little leg for the first time and Alex throwing the leaf confetti she had picked for the welcome party.

Brent texted when they were minutes away and I got Alex into her wheelchair and we went outside to wait for them. Alex wanted to hide behind a bush so she could jump out as soon as they stopped the car. It was so cute. The cries and squeals of delight all around with loads of hugs and kisses. I am going to attach the video and hopefully it will work. It was precious. Boone was adorable. He was excited to have made it to Texas but as soon as he jumped out of the car he ran to Alex and told her how much he liked her little leg and how nice it is! Lots of happy Mommy tears for sure.

It was already 8:30 but there was no quick to bed. Everyone needed to catch up, see the house, the travel weary kiddos needed to run for a little while and Boone wanted a night time swing. Even though everyone was exhausted it was not easy to get to sleep. Finally we succeeded and everyone except Alex slept soundly. We are still having difficulty with her at night but after speaking with the doctors again today and adjusting her nerve medication we are hopeful she will do better tonight. She has been asleep almost 4 hours so far, which is the longest stretch we have had since leaving the hospital.

Wednesday began bright and full of sunshine. It was a happy day. The weather was perfect and by the end of it we found that we all had sunburn. That is definitely not something I expected but we all felt wonderful. We spent the entire day outdoors. We walked, and ran, and swung, kayaked, fished, played on scooters, with chalk, bubbles, fairy garden, legos, ALL THE THINGS!! It really was a beautiful day together.

Today was much cooler so we spent some of our time outside and some inside but again all had a great time.

Alex for a karaoke microphone and tonight we had a dance party! It was a wonderful family time! As you can see, we don’t have any fun at all! 😄😄

Tonight after putting the youngest two to bed Brent had a movie night with the other boys and LaRue and I had a movie night. More sweet time. We are making the most of every minute.

I will try to update again over the next week and a half while the kids are here but if I don’t just know we are having too much fun to stop long enough to write an update.

Moving forward Mama is planning to come visit next weekend and will take the other kids back to TN. Alex has a sedated cast change and stitch removal on the morning of the 8th along with follow up appointments with several doctors. We plan to head back to TN soon after. Alex will be in her spica cast for another 4-5 weeks when we will once again make the trek to Texas for cast removal and approximately a week of physical therapy. It is this visit where we plan to have measurements done for her first prosthesis. We will head back to TN after this week and return for first prosthesis and more therapy sometime around 5-8 weeks after that. All of these things are tentative as far as exact timing but as we have more firm details we will be sure to share them.

Please pray for this time together to continue to be sweet. Pray for all of us as we go our separate ways again in a week and a half. Although it will be a short separation it will not be a time we are looking forward to.

Pray for her next appointment to go well and for all the travel.

Pray for the doctors as they continue to care for Alex so well and to help us make the best decisions for her.

Pray for all the family and friends who are so invested in our children’s lives, ministering to their minds, hearts, and bodies, during this time.

Many people have asked for suggestions for the other kids. I will add things as I think of them. I have added read along story books to the amazon wish list. These are books and CDs Boone especially enjoys and are very helpful for travel.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3I926UO5WYC20?ref_=wl_share