Glimpses

Caleb's smiles are a glimpse of his shining spirit!

A glimpse of Matthew loving his buddy.

My precious boy

My favorite pal

My Daddy is my favorite pal
And he helps me every day
It's plain to see I want to be
Like him in every way...

Dear Daddy
Thank you for being my hero. You have given me your heart, and that is the greatest gift of all. I love you. Happy Father's day
Love,
Caleb.

Hope

A few days ago
after a heavy storm
I opened Caleb's window so he could smell the rain.
I thought I'd try turning his oxygen off.
I wasn't sure how his body would respond
He has needed oxygen for over a year.
I stepped outside
to take a deep breath
and was greated by a rainbow!
I returned to Caleb's room.
His machines were still and quiet.
I unhooked his feeding and held him
without any tubing attached
for the first time
in a long time.
I cried.
I waited for his alarms to sound.
they never did.
He remained off oxygen
for the rest of the day.
Storms pass.
Hope arrives.
And the smell of rain
lingers to remind us
there are miracles in the air.


We hope in Jesus the Christ, in the goodness of God, in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, in the knowledge that prayers are heard and answered. Because God has been faithful and kept His promises in the past, we can hope with confidence that God will keep His promises to us in the present and in the future. In times of distress, we can hold tightly to the hope that things will "work together for [our] good" as we follow the counsel of God’s prophets. This type of hope in God, His goodness, and His power refreshes us with courage during difficult challenges and gives strength to those who feel threatened by enclosing walls of fear, doubt, and despair (Uctdorf, Ensign, November 2008).

Tummy trouble

Last week Caleb caught the stomach flu. My other boys had been sick, and I was crossing my fingers that Caleb would avoid it- but he didn't want to be left out. Now, because Caleb had the nissin surgery, he can't throw up. So my poor little boy was so sad and uncomfortable.
During this illness, he had a lot of seizure breakthrough. He would hold his body so rigid, that his arms and legs would turn blue! He would kick his legs and become so upset that he would turn bright red and just drip with perspiration. His seizure threshold seemed to be really out of balance.
Though his sweet little body was quite challenging to manage for those few days, Caleb really touched my heart in a sweet way. He would be so stiff and agitated that I could hardly change his diaper. But when I would put him on my lap to snuggle, he would nuzzle his head into the crook of my arm and relax.
I just loved that he needed his mom to feel better. I loved that he knew it was me and that he was comforted by my touch. I loved how Caleb showed me in such a physical way that he knows .

Proud moments: Caleb's g tube got clogged, so I took it out for the first time and put a new one in. I figured if I could put a trach in, I could put a new g tube in with out going to the doctor! I was glad I did because it came out the next week along with every bit of stomach contents that Caleb's tummy wanted to throw-up! Since I had already done it once-- getting it in the second time was a piece of cake(just a bit messier!)