In Allen news this week...

JDee had a skin biopsy on Tuesday and we had appointments with an inspector and a home appraiser. On Wednesday, Jonathan developed his first major fever and had some kind of crazy seizure necessitating a break-neck trip to the ER. Jonathan had a follow up visit with the pediatrician on Thursday... the same day the electricity was out half the day and the washer leaked everywhere and went out. What a week!

Help us o great guru of AV organization! Our DVDs are out of control!

So, Jonathan's seizure had us scared out of our wits. We literally thought we might lose our little guy. His breathing became irregular and shallow, he swelled up all over, urinated, shook, became rigid, turned a strange color, his eyes became bloodshot and his lips turned dark blue/ purple. Shortly afterward, he fell asleep... something I was trying hard to keep him from doing as we ran red lights in our flight to the hospital. My friend had burned some songs for me on a CD... the song that started as soon as we backed out of the driveway was "If I Die Young." Me - shaky voice - "Jason, turn that off please!" I managed to hold back the tears all the way to the hospital and beyond, but the next morning... after a long night... sleeping just a few feet away from baby boy and getting up to check on him 'round the clock... I was sorely tempted to sit down in the middle of the baby aisle in Walgreens and give full vent to my emotions. Instead, I picked up his prescriptions, buckled him in the car seat and drove home.

Next week promises more appraisals, inspections, social engagements and doctors appointments... and probably even less sleep than we've been getting lately. I'm tired, Jason's tired and we both feel physically ill from the exhaustion. I mention this only because we each have a good 30 hour car trip in front of us and we're still wondering how we're going to manage it on no sleep and less nerve. With God's help, everything that needs doing will get done before then... but I'm very tempted to feel extraordinarily overwhelmed right now.

Here's our boy "helping" Mom with the laundry.

It hit me that we have a lot to be thankful for on the way home from Walgreens that day. First of all, Jonathan is still with us and, despite a nasty ear infection in his left ear, he's healthy and still our happy, fun-loving little fella. Our drama the night before was a benign episode called a Febrile Seizure that occurs in roughly 1 in 25 children. The ER doctor was amazing and put us at ease very quickly. The walk-in pediatrician we saw was mine and Jonathan's favorite and he had experienced this with one of his children. We're trying to sell a house and move, but at least we have a house. Lots of folks in the Southeastern US can't say that right now. The washer is now fixed and having the electricity off on Thursday forced me to focus completely on spending quality time with our sweet baby boy.

Here are some pictures of the cutie booty in his cloth diapers. We seem to have developed an obsession with the great outdoors...

...and shoes.

Jonathan and I spent the morning playing and snuggling on the bed in front of a Winnie the Pooh movie. This afternoon, Brenda and I went to the Mother/ Daughter Banquet at Salem Church and had a lovely time. Brenda and Buddy have been surrogate parents to us while we've lived out here in Carolina. They are very special people. It was only fitting that Brenda accompany me to the banquet. I'm so glad she did! The food was good, the entertainment great (Josh and Christi sang and shared their testimony.) and the company was excellent! My friend Melissa put a lot of it together and the event definitely had her lovely fingerprints all over it. The centerpieces, place cards and favors were all beautiful and she was a super emcee for the event. This evening, Jason took us into town to the Chocolate House for some yummy ice cream. We stopped in at the Cupcakery for a cupcake and some cookies too. I believe I've maxed out my sugar quotient for this week and next. It's been a wonderful Mother's Day Eve.

We had a great talk with Mandy and Chris the other night. It was just good to hear their voices after all they've been through. We're hoping they'll take a break from re-building and come see us in San Antonio. We'd love the opportunity to pamper them a little after their ordeal and show them around the great state of Texas. They sounded great... upbeat and positive and trusting the Lord to carry them through this. We're still praying for them and hoping to find ways to help where and when we can. We know they've got a rough road ahead of them, but thankful they put their trust a God who is much bigger than the tornado that destroyed their home.

Jonathan is into everything. I actually had to pack away some furniture, pictures and books so that I wouldn't have to spend all day dragging him away from things and saying "No!". He is much more verbal... trying to imitate our words... and pointing at everything. He's also getting very proficient at pushing little buttons and cruising along furniture. Another fun thing... he's developing a STRONG will. He lets us know when he's not happy. Trying to get medicine in him is a major ordeal. I've discovered one sure-fire way to calm him down... we go for a quick walk and look at all the beautiful roses and azaleas bursting out all over our yard this week. I'm going to miss my flowers. They've been so beautiful this year... as if they're putting on an extra special show to say goodbye.

Right now, I'm typing to the sounds of Winnie the Pooh playing in the DVD player, Daddy reading to baby boy and the sweet sound of a freshly repaired washer whirring in the laundry room (thanks to my handy hubby!)... thankful that we didn't run out of bibs for our slobber baby. Things are looking up! Hopefully next week will be eventful... but in a much more positive way.