Gloria a Dios

Gracie knows her letters!

2009-11-07T10:10:00.002-05:00

I've been excited to figure out that Gracie knows her letters! She's in kindergarten, will turn 6 in December and she knows her letters pretty consistently (if she's focused enough) - very exciting since being able to read and spell will open a whole new world of communication for her!

Africa books we're reading this month

2009-11-04T22:30:00.000-05:00

Our books this month include:

"Moja means one - Swahili Counting Book" by Muriel Feelings
"African Animals ABC" by Philippa-Alys Browne
"We all went on Safari - a Counting Journey through Tanzania" by Laurie Krebs and Julia Cairns

Ana has started talking about "Uganda" and "Africa." It's very cute although I'm not sure she knows what she's talking about! She does mention Africa anytime I look at a map...

Orphan Sunday

2009-11-04T22:15:00.002-05:00

November is orphan/adoption month. This coming Sunday is "Orphan Sunday" - here are some resources you can access to promote adoption and support of orphans worldwide! http://www.orphansunday.org/

Adoption quote

2009-11-04T15:46:00.000-05:00

A friend (Andrea Bean) wrote this beautiful post on her blog. I still feel that call to adoption so strongly and I'm curious to see what God does in our lives. I would love to adopt many more children and serve as a medical foster home in Uganda... but what I long for above all else is whatever brings Glory to God!

I couldn't put it better, so here is Andrea's writing:

"I read this scripture yesterday: “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” (John 14:18) I remember during the year before the boys came that there was this cry that arose in my heart. It felt something like the feeling in a dream when you’re running slow motion. “Hang on!”, my heart cried, “I’m coming, I’m coming for you. I’m on my way.” So when I read this scripture yesterday, I felt like this was our Heavenly Papa’s cry throughout the earth echoing in my heart (and MANY others’ hearts) for ALL the orphans in the world. “Hang on. We’re coming. We won’t leave you as orphans. There are arms and homes for you!”
The spirit and the bride say, “COME”! Amen."

Field trips!

2009-11-03T13:35:00.000-05:00

Gracie got to have two field trips last week BEFORE she got the flu. The first was with her kindergarten class to the fire station and I got to chaperone. That was so fun! Gracie was VERY into doing what all the other kids were doing and was very curious about the fire trucks. She loved getting up inside the trucks!

Her second "field trip" was an in-school field trip with her resource room class, exploring fall! By then I already had the flu so I didn't go to that field trip, but she apparently had a blast! :)

Sick day photos

2009-10-29T11:32:00.000-04:00

"enjoying" a few days quarantined in our home (in fact, Ana is helping me "type" this as she pain-stakingly slowly finds the next letter that I need to type!)... Gracie is much sicker than Ana, but these photos still represent their "styles" in life!

"Mama make a tent??"

Gracie wants to whine or sleep the day away.

But feels better for a few minutes when she wakes up, takes a sip of juice, and I change her diaper.

Ana helps with laundry.

The flu

2009-10-29T10:15:00.000-04:00

Well, we all got the flu... boohoo!

I got it first - maybe I brought it home from work despite my best efforts to protect my family... It was really awful. I could hardly walk with the pain in my body, the headache, etc.

Then Gracie had a seizure that needed diastat to stop it and my heart sank - she hasn't required diastat in a few months, so I knew that meant she was getting sick. Sure enough, by 2am that night, she had a fever and was miserable, but I was able to get her into the doctor. By the time we got to the doctor, Ana had a fever, although wasn't very sick. So we all got treated together.

Last night Gracie's fever was 104.4 F!!! Wow! BUT, only small seizure activity, nothing dramatic! The Vagal Nerve Stimulator has definitely made a dramatic difference in our lives by suppressing her seizure activity. Now the thing I'm waiting to see is how she reacts to tamiflu which can increase seizure activity. We both slept in the living room so that I could be near her and keep a close eye on her and not bother Josh. She was so miserable that she spent the night alternating between a body pillow on the floor and laying on Mama. Poor baby!

Pray that Josh doesn't get sick! So far so good - I think he may have actually gotten H1N1 in the spring when it first hit, but no way to be sure.

Another Ana Song

2009-10-20T22:12:00.003-04:00

Ana has been singing this song since she turned a year old... now it actually sounds like the song it's supposed to be - the Gospel Song ("Holy God") by Bob Kauflin.

The sound track of our lives

2009-10-20T19:35:00.003-04:00

Our lives are full (to overflowing) with sound, especially the sounds of Ana making or demanding music. I have a 1/4 size violin (much too large for her) that she's been too impatient with in the past, but today she tried it out and didn't want to stop! I asked her today if she would rather play violin or piano and she wanted violin every time that I asked her. Not bad for a 22 month old! Of course, she can't just play, she has to sing while she plays, so... that becomes a little interesting!!

She also enjoys playing Auntie Jessi's piano. Turn the volume down though as you reach the end, because the last note... well, it loses all sense of MUSIC and just becomes baby noise!

Then there's Gracie. She started more closely imitating "ga" and "ah" so we have some dinner time fun! :)

Homemaker

2009-10-13T12:55:00.003-04:00

I've been working on my role as a home-maker. Josh and I got married after my first year of medical school and I just finished residency last year, so this year has really been my first year to REALLY be the wife that I feel brings the most glory to God. My house is still a mess... but better than a year ago!

Now, I progressively clean out our house with three thoughts in mind, "will I use it this year? Will I need it in Uganda? if not - get rid of it!!!" And I'm busy with the kids, especially Gracie. We're trying to get as much done for Gracie this year as possible since she may not have good insurance after a year from now. New wheelchairs, new braces, new specialists... now she's aspirating thin liquids (likely because of the Vagal Nerve Stimulator which is BEAUTIFULLY controlling her seizures) so I'm experimenting with thickening all her liquids and puree-ing all her solid foods. Today I bought a ton of fruit from the day old cart in the store and pureed it all so that she has juice/sauce to get more fruit intake besides her enormous amount of applesauce that she eats daily. (we single-handedly support the Applesauce Industry!)

Then I pureed summer squash so that I have an easy option for improving her veggie options. All the while, I'm pondering... "how will I do this in Uganda? How will I thicken her foods?"

Any ideas? Let me know! And I'll let you know as I discover how to care for Gracie's special needs overseas.

Casts

2009-10-06T19:03:00.002-04:00

Gracie got casts put on her legs now 1.5 weeks after the botox and phenol injections to stretch her achilles tendons. She immediately chose bright pink when I showed her the options! My little 5 year old is getting definite opinions! She doesn't seem to mind the casts at all, in fact she stands VERY well in the casts and we're so excited to see how she does with this botox round. :) independent stander and walker some day???

Fall photos

2009-09-30T15:42:00.002-04:00

Family update

2009-09-29T19:48:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to keep up with all the technologies as well as life as a doctor, mom of two busy kids, wife of a seminary student who is full-time in ministry... Needless to say, I have neglected my blog!

Josh was away at conferences for the last two weeks. The first week, he was able to go with his parents and brother and sister in law to Ocean City Bible Conference - A Legacy of Sovereign Grace: Celebrating 500 Years of John Calvin. Then, last week he was in Seattle for a week meeting with our mission board and attending a conference/consultation on the Pastoral Leadership Development, which is Josh's focus for the mission field. He loved being there in person to connect with everyone (he's a connector!) and now has a huge amount of work that he can start on now in revising the curriculum used to teach pastors all around the world.

But Josh's absence was a stressor as, all in the same week, I was assigned to round in the hospital full time, the van broke down (leaving me with no car), the children needed child-care, Gracie lost her Medicaid (we were able to get it reinstated on Monday - phew!!), Gracie had a few (minor) seizures (change of seasons usually brings more seizures for her), and the list goes on and on... Without Josh's support, it was so difficult to deal with the busy-ness! I thank God for my amazing husband who even sent me flowers at work!

Gracie is doing great after her botox/phenol injections. Her muscles are nice and relaxed, revealing dramatic weaknesses in her other muscle groups. Her physical therapist feels that she will be able to walk someday! But in the meantime, we're starting an evaluation process for a powered wheelchair - with lots of specific needs for using it overseas... we'll see! It would certainly be amazing if our little girl could move herself to where she wants to be!

Our minds are increasingly filled with thoughts of Uganda and we have been repeatedly reminded of how "difficult" a mission field it is. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare.

Botox tomorrow

2009-09-15T17:17:00.001-04:00

Please pray as Gracie goes in for botox and phenol injections tomorrow at Children's in Boston at 8:30am. This is her first round of botox, so the results are unknown. She will be under general anesthesia.

(and Josh is out of town!!!!)

Children's museum

2009-09-02T17:03:00.001-04:00

Gracie enjoys some good noise, Ana enjoys actual music! :)

1 week till school!

2009-08-24T09:31:00.003-04:00

We have had more fun this summer than any summer! The kids got to feed calves their milk at a dairy farm on our "roommate reunion" in Shrewsbury, PA earlier in the summer. We went to family camp for a week. We even got to have a Ceilidh (Scottish dance) for Uncle Isaac's birthday. Needless to say, Gracie didn't go to school very much this summer, but she got to do lots of other things! :)

The summer wraps up

2009-08-16T18:50:00.003-04:00

Well, we have been on the move this summer, visiting churches and friends raising support to head overseas as career missionaries, going to a conference, and just having some fun!

So here are a few photos of our summer, to start with a slip and slide at our roomie reunion (and hopefully I'll be better at updating).

Whale of a Day

2009-07-23T13:58:00.002-04:00

We’re at a camp called “Dream Day on the Cape” on Cape Cod in Nickerson State Park. It’s a free camp for families with children with chronic or life-threatening illness. We stay as a family in a rustic cabin and all the activities and food are provided for us! We got to go whale watching, which was my dream come true, although Gracie didn’t connect with the activity at all. J Ana enjoyed pointing at whales and saying “see whale! Watch whale!” even though when I showed her a plastic whale in the gift shop afterwards she had no idea that it was a whale! So she thinks whales are black lines in the ocean.

Summer has finally arrived!

2009-07-15T18:09:00.004-04:00

We enjoyed a "hike" at a local park with Anna Tsuchiya and her mommy (my college roommate, Brenda). Gracie was on my back the whole time (have I ever mentioned how much I love my Ergo carrier??) so no photos of her! :)

The girls are becoming even better friends and are so cute together! Gracie tolerates Ana's antics and lives vicariously through her a lot too.

Ana and her best buddy, Caleb Murray, on our patio during Bible study.

Ana is learning to dress herself and looks SO stylish! Definitely taking after her aunties!

Ana has (this week) really gotten into watching "Signing Time" and asks for it constantly. I, unfortunately, only have one episode at the moment, but she doesn't mind! This is the girl who had no interest previously in shows (which I was quite happy for anyway)... Gracie's the one that I want to be interested and learn from Signing Time, but I guess if her sister learns signs, then maybe Gracie will too! Gracie DID start signing "eat" which is SO helpful! Gracie now has 3 useful signs! (eat, milk, please/I want)

Preschool "graduation"

2009-06-17T22:31:00.003-04:00

Ana spent the celebration comfortably (and quietly!!) sleeping on Auntie Alicia.

They sang adorable songs as a class.

Gracie's sweet friend - Gracie was so sweet with her taking a picture, really comfortable with her and friendly. They play together all day since they are both in all day preschool. Now they'll be separated! So sad!

Gracie's amazing para - we're also losing her as we have to transition Gracie to another school to meet her needs - so SAD!!! We love Kelly!!!

Finally home... long trip!

2009-06-17T09:47:00.003-04:00

Great-grandbabies all in a row!

Gracie actually watched a few minutes of TV and stayed interested in a program about Africa!

Ana is ready to go - babies in her backpack!

Ana loved the "sleepover" with Gracie who enjoyed it decidely less! ;-P

We finished our long trip with a canceled flight but God graciously provided flights home for us to still get home late Monday night and Gracie got to go to her last day of school and horse therapy yesterday as scheduled.

We had such an encouraging time on our trip, sharing about our heart for missions. We had the privilege of speaking to so many people about missions, God's glory and the gospel, and our specific calling to missions. We are officially raising support to go to northern Uganda now and we are so excited about that! More on that journey later!

After Philly, we headed to Louisville where the kids and I camped out in the extended stay hotel for 5 days while Josh took an excellent course on Baptist History - a course that we thought would be boring and dry but in fact helped Josh a lot with missions! He's so excited about the course. Unfortunately, it came with a semester's load of work which was not finishable by Josh is the time allotted given his slow reading and homework skills so his assignment will be turned in late. :(

We left Louisville in our rental car and drove up to IL just in time for our cousin's wedding for which my sister-in-law and I were doing ALL the music! Despite the stress of last minute preparations, a sore wrist, a sore throat, and not playing my own violin (mine was stolen from church recently), it was a lot of fun to get to play violin all day again, with Jessi, and sing several fun songs for the beautiful wedding! It was especially fun to have all the relatives together from Josh's side of the family!

After we presented in church on Sunday, I spent the next week in bed, struck by strep throat... ugh!

We then got to fly up to MN to visit our dear friends, the Ruhls. What an encouraging visit! We had the privilege of a lunch meeting with the missions' board at their church and were so encouraged by their heart for missions! And time with the Ruhls is always a blessing - there are few people that I feel SO comfortable with - they were my youth leaders in highschool and our friendship has continued for 15+ years! We had a chance to briefly talk to their church as an update on To The Nations (which is paying off my medical school loans to allow us to get overseas as soon as possible).

On one of our airport layovers, we were eating dinner in an airport restaurant and someone annonymously paid for our dinner!! They told the waiter that they were so impressed with how we handled our family!!! wow! that was a unique experience! :)

Our June journey - Stage 1 - Philadelphia

2009-06-02T12:03:00.004-04:00

We are on a journey! In true Rattin fashion, we headed to Philly on Thursday May 28th the second that Gracie got out of school. We then spent 4 wonderful days with our dear friends the Shatneys during which time we got to meet many of their friends and share our heart for ministry with them as prepare for the mission field. We will be ready to head the mission field as early as a year from now so we have a big task ahead of us to raise all of our support for living expenses, all ministry expenses, and set-up expenses (buying a car, a house, a vehicle, etc.)!! Please pray that God will provide us with the partners that we need not only for financial support but also for ministry!

We got to go to the arboretum with the Shatneys and the kids loved being in the great outdoors, learning about trees and plants, learning not to pull the leaves off and eat them (haha!), and playing with their buddies Timmy and Tabby!

Ergo daddies - John with Tabitha and Josh with Gracie. Happy kiddos!

Shatneys and Rattins in a wigwam - looks cozy!

Ana loves the outdoors!
Let's do a little physical therapy in the gardens (with a pose for photos in the middle) - high kneeling Gracie!

Uncle Isaac's Wedding

2009-06-02T11:49:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I haven't posted in a month! Preparations for Josh's brother's wedding in combination with working a lot so that we could go on "vacation"... Anyway - the girls weren't in the wedding but they looked charming none-the-less! Ana was "adopted" by the beautiful flower girl and Gracie looked so beautiful in red. (I was a bridesmaid!)

Playing again!

2009-04-30T09:50:00.003-04:00

Gracie hasn't played on her own in.... months? half a year? between being on too many meds, having too many seizures, and lately just having one cold after another, she's spent a lot of time not feeling well... but of late, she's returning to normal and getting stronger every day! Now she's playing again and not constantly requiring someone to help her play! horray! Praise God!

Oh yes, and Ana is ALL about dirt and being "ou-side!"

spring update

2009-04-27T18:41:00.003-04:00

Ana took "go stand with Gracie" literally and decided to sit on Gracie's lap for a photo. ... Kisses for G'acie!

Matching clothes are fun (for Mama) for now! The photo taking is a little less enjoyable... in fact, nearly impossible!

The girls aren't sure what to make of 80 degree weather all of sudden - going from coats to sandals is a shock for sure!

In keeping with tradition, the change of season, a recent growth spurt, and some sleep disruption (Sunrise service on Easter!) brought two seizures for Gracie, not aborted by swipes of the magnet over her VNS and requiring diastat. Tomorrow, however, we have our post-op appointment with the neurosurgeon, so we're hoping for a voltage increase. Only two seizures (that we know of) in a month - hey! Not bad! That includes the fact that she has basically been sick with one cold after another (including fevers to 104) since the surgery as well!

Ana loves playing outside, although putting flip-flops between her toes is not so fun for her! She likes the "cute shoes" but scrunches her toes away from the strap!

Gracie has been so strong lately - independant sitting is becoming a realistic reality in the near future! She surprises us in PT all the time. She still hates speech therapy and we have returned to doing switches/big macks, picture exchange, and signs instead of using her computer which she was not accessing at all.