Update on Baby Katlyn

I can not thank you all enough for your prayers and concern for Katlyn and her family. I can not wait to tell her one day about all the people that have prayed for her that she will probably never meet until she gets to heaven.
The doctors met with Mark, her daddy today (since I last blogged, Dina, her mom got sick so they had to send her home until she is well. Pray for her healing as well.) The docs told him that Katlyn is doing well but she has a long road ahead of her and to be prepared for some ups and downs in her condition.
Things to praise God for... She took a few breaths on her own today. Her fever has gone down. YEA!!

Docs are going to start trying to wean her off the oxygen very slowly so please pray that goes well.

Please continue to pray for her healing. I will continue to update! Thanks again friends and family for your prayers. It is so encouraging to Mark and Dina to know that so many are praying for them!

Please Pray!

Please continue to pray for Katlyn, my niece. She is fighting for her life right now. Here is the run down of the last few days.She was born at 7:45 Friday night. The doctors were very grim all day about their chances. There were a team of about 10 specialists that were surrounding the birth and took Katlyn the second she was born. They did not want her to even attempt to breath on her own. They immediately put 2 tubesdown her throat and put an IV in her umbilical cord. She was rushed to Texas Children's Hospital which was right next door to St. Lukes's where shewas born. Mark, her daddy went with her. The doctors came in about an hourlater to tell us the status of Katlyn: her heart is on the right side of her body, her stomach is up in the left part of her chest, along with some of her intestines, one lung is squished up against the stomach making it notfunctionable and the other lung is by the heart and has some working ability. The doctors did determine some good news that we had been praying for: She does not have heart failure and her oxygen level has been taken down to 25 %.She is a beautiful baby. She has a head full of dark black hair. She has beautiful dark skin. I got to go in and see her several times over the weekend. She is on a high dose of morphine to keep her from fighting on allthe tubes and of course to keep her out of pain. Every once and a while shewill open her eyes and would look right into mine. She knows her mommy's and daddy's voice. I got to go in once with just Dina (katlyn's mom) and myself. As soon as Dina started talking, her heart rate went up and she started trying to move around. I fell in love with her the minute I saw her. We were able to pray and sing over her. My heart will never be the same...Katlyn will have surgery in the morning to put all of her organs back into place. It will not fix what damage has already been done but the surgery isnecessary. After the surgery, the fight continues.PLEASE pray for her and her family. Mark (dad), Dina (mom), Alyssa (sister,10), Mark (brother, 6), Annette (sister, 4). As of last night they are staying in a Ronald Mc Donald suite just one hall away from the NICU unit.Pray for their strength. Especially Mark and Dina. They are exhausted in every way imaginable. And pray for their sadness.Thanks so much friends and I apologize for all the details. Please just prayfor them...

Happy Birthday, Jonathan

After such a sad weekend we got to have dinner last night with my brother on his birthday!
23 years ago today I was one proud big sister. I still remember the day he was born. I immediately felt my big sister instincts. As a toddler, he had the biggest, bluest eyes you have ever seen. He had beautiful long blond eyelashes that everyone loved. Even at 2 and 3 years old he was the socialite of our church. He would walk up and down the aisles greeting the elderly people and shaking their hands. I prided myself in being his protector. But there were times when he got the brunt of being the little brother. Josh and I skyrocketed him through the air once on a mattress and he landed on his dresser. That was fun. And then there were the many times that I dressed him up like a doll. One time a friend of mine and I decided Jonathan had chicken pox and we put lipstick dots ALL over his body. Mom was not too happy and we had to scrub the hundreds of dots off.
As with Josh, I was always very protective when it came to girls. If they did not meet "my standards" life was not going to be fun for him or the girl. The only times in my life I have yelled or spoken hatefully to people is to my brother's girlfriends. I didn't mind telling them their shorts were too short or their tops were too low. :)

I loved watching Jonathan play sports. I was one of his biggest fans. I loved watching him in the school play of Grease. I loved when Jonathan began to develop a love for music. I loved watching him worship and pray and be a strong leader in his youth group.

It was one of the greatest joys of my life to get to record music with him. He is my favorite person to sit by in church when we are all together. He is a great worship leader. I love that Jonathan has no problem telling people the truth and being blunt and honest. He is genuine and humble. I have watched him shed tears over his sin and rise up again stronger and more dependent on the Lord. He is an amazing example of Jesus to me, David, and Malaya.

I love watching him be an "unkie". He loves teasing Malaya. I think he is getting me back for some of the teasing and stuff we did to him as a kid. We love to wrestle. Just a few weeks ago in the presence of his new son, I pinned him down. :)

And now, he is a husband with a wonderful, beautiful wife and a daddy to our precious miracle, Jed! He is a great daddy. Jed has his gorgeous blue eyes.

Jonathan, Happy Birthday and may God bless your next year of life. I love being your big sis!

This blog is done by Malaya!!
Thirteen things I like about MY new cousin, Jed.
1) He sucks his thumb. I want to add this - I can't believe that he sleeps on Grampy's lap just like I did when I was a baby.
2)He's cute.
3) He's adorable.
4) He cries a lot!
5) He's cuter than anything that I know of.
6) He will probably like to ride horses.
7) I like to ASSIST in changing his diaper.
8) I like to hold him.
9) I like to kiss him.
10) He's cuter than anything :)
11) I can't wait for him to play with the toys I gave him.
12) I love him.
13) I LOVE him to wear his cute Cousin shirt that Mrs. Kelli made him. My mommy will post pictures when we get back.

Baby Jed Has Arrived!!

My brother is a daddy!! Jedidiah David Ross was born at 1:24 a.m. on June 6th. He weighed 6"11 and is 18 1/2 inches long!!
We can not wait to go see them!! Malaya is very excited (finally).

Jennifer delivered in the emergency room triage. She didn't make it to a room. 2 e.r. nurses delivered him. Very fun story for a first baby:)

I am so excited to have a precious nephew. May his heart already belong to the Lord!! I pray he is a bold, committed man of God!!

Can't wait to see you Jonathan, Jennifer and Jed!!

Thirteen things I love about summer!

I DID it (with lot's of help!!) Thanks friends!

Thirteen Things I love about summer:
1)Of course going to the pool.
2)Eating Watermelon
3) Sleeping late.
4) Staying up late
5) Going on trips to visit friends and family
6) Eating Snow Cones
7) Now that Malaya is in school I have learned this past week to appreciate summer more than ever. I loved her being in school but I also love the break!
8) Celebrating my anniversary with the man I love!! 8 years we will chime in this year. I can not believe it!! Did I mention that I think he is SO hot!! ;) When we are 80 I will be the one in the nursing home saying, "Have you met my hot husband? Yeah, he's the one in the nursing home gym with a dumbbell in one hand and drinking his protein shake in the other." I love him! :)
9) Celebrating lots of family b-days. The summer festivities begin tonight!
10) Going to the zoo, park, and other outside fun.
11) Going to Celebrate Freedom. ( Though our Cel. Freedom buddies have moved, we might brave it out this year. Wiggies, would you like to join us? :)
12) Most summers I would be saying going to the beach but we did the mountains instead over Spring Break. But now my bros live close to Galveston so maybe we can still catch a day of the ocean.
13) Fourth of July!! I love watching Fireworks!

Hope you all have a great summer and it brings a season of change and draws you even nearer to God. Makes me think of a Nichole Nordeman song. I'll share later...