Our Little Trooper....

Right now our little Adeline is lying in her crib, a place that is quite foreign to her. I am hoping that she will put herself to sleep. For most of the last three weeks we (Adeline and I) have been sleeping in the water bed in the guest room. With four molars coming in at the same time our sweet baby has been fighting off a cold. Last Friday morning James and I gave each other a high five when we didn't wake up until 9:00 a.m. and Miss Adeline slept the whole night through. This great night led us to believe that she was better and healthy once again.

As some of you may know and have been praying James' cousin came down with a very severe illness and was given ten days to live. James' parents were already planning a trip to Illinois to visit Great Aunt Polly which would allow them to visit Michael in the hospital (God's timing is pretty awesome). Because of this visit to see Michael I felt very compelled to represent our family. A special thank you to my mother who was okay with my cancelling plans with her in order to make this trip.

Of course as soon as we started on this trip Adeline came down with another cold. She was a great traveler despite how horrible she obviously felt. As I mentioned before the main reason for this quick decision to go on this trip was to see Michael but this visit to see Aunt Polly was going to be very special, especially for her. Aunt Polly is Great Grandma Adeline's sister and has never met "our" Adeline. She was very surprised and very happy when we brought Adeline in the door. Adeline took right to Aunt Polly bringing her all of her toys and walking all around her house. It was a good time visiting Aunt Polly and I know that it meant a lot to her.

Grandma and Grandpa Bean were very good to Adeline and I allowing us to stop when needed and putting us up in a hotel for the night. Getting back to Adeline's cold....it just got worse. From 3:00 in the morning until about 10:00 Adeline would only sleep on my chest. At that time I was thankful for a big bed with big pillows. When we finally woke up my shirt as with Adeline's face was covered with mucus, saliva, and sweat. After a warm bath she was in higher spirits. We made another visit to Aunt Polly's and then headed out to see Michael.

Two weeks in the ICU with no food and three surgeries, Michael looked much better than I had expected. After his third surgery the surgeons came and met with the family letting them know that he has a long road ahead of him but they'll just take it a day at time. This sounds so much better than "tens days". He was off of the ventilator and very coherent, able to carry on conversations. He told us about different warning signs and also food. He is definitely looking forward to eating his favorite Mexican food.

Michael had a forth surgery Monday and it looks as though he will be starting his recovery. I definitely learned a lot about the power of prayer. Please continue to pray as he recovers and as we are awaiting some test results that will tell what the cause was. We are praying against cancer.

The trip home was very tough on Adeline and she spent most of the time sleeping on my chest. Yes...out of her car seat which goes against everything I believe in but it was the only thing that worked. And thank the Lord we arrived in Olivet safely at midnight. The next day after another rough night of sleep we drove back home. As soon as we pulled into the garage and turned off the Jeep it started to smoke. My top concern was getting Adeline inside because she really wanted out of the car and needed a nap. I called James and told him about the car and then proceeded to take care of Adeline. My mind was unable to focus on anything else.

When Adeline woke up from her nap she was severely hot and had a fever of 104. James was home on break so he drove us to the ER where she was diagnosed with a double ear infection. (thank you Daniel, Isaac, and Will for picking James up from the hospital and taking him back to work) I feel like I overlooked her symptoms and just thought that she had another cold. She is now on an antibiotic and is slowly coming around. We're still working on the Jeep.

Being sick is no fun. I wish I could take Adeline's place. I miss her smiles and giggles. I am hoping to see them tomorrow morning.