All 90 Years of Humor

That's Vienna photographed above.
And below is Vienna and Clay with their Great Grandmother Ruth Sager.
We drive to western Pennsylvania last weekend (before the surgery) for her 90th birthday bash.


We really like this one below. After lunch, she disappeared and comes back rather dressed up. This is one of the many glorious facets of Ruth Annette Rankin Sager. She's still getting (and giving) a kick out of life at 90 years old.

Thanking God

Here's three pictures from right before the surgery. Clay is in a baby-size johnny. It was stinking cute. Stephen went to the OR with him to see him put under.

Amazingly, he fell asleep. He hadn't eaten in quite a while from food restrictions for surgery so we were glad when he choose sleep over whaling.
After he was in surgery, he was sent over to the building next door: MGH's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

We had to wait most of the day to see him again.


He had an AMAZING amount of tubes, nodes, lights, and IVs attached to him. The PICU had about six doctors and then many more nurses on the floor constantly. They monitored him very closely. He was sedated and put on morphine for a full 24 hours so that he would not pull the tubes out.
This was his room/area. The back section is where parents can sleep.





We knew that this surgery was potentially saving his life, so it was a GREAT day. It was hard to see him like that, but the gratefulness we felt for the surgery over-road our concern.

Above is what he looked like the first day. Below is the following morning after they took out the breathing tube and had inserted a feeding tube and put on an oxygen tube.


Once he was stable, they moved him back over to Mass Eye & Ear. We spent the night again.



He smiled when he woke up the second day and that's when I knew Clay was back in town.

The view was fabulous. We could see most of Boston.


Thank you to all of you for asking God to protect Clay. He owes us nothing, but has chosen to be gracious.

Proverbs 3:25a and 26a
Have no fear of sudden disaster . . . . for the LORD will be your confidence.

Surgery

Hi again computer land.
We just spoke with the hospital a few minutes ago. Clay's surgery is tomorrow (Tuesday). We are still fuzzy on the time of the surgery and should know later this morning.

We had a great weekend celebrating Grandma Ruth Sager's 90th Birthday and I have some hilarious pictures to share with you after the craziness of the surgery. Dad mentioned over the weekend that the death rate with kids with the type of rare cyst that Clay has is rather high (40 % !). I was reading abstracts and medical journals last night and sure enough almost 1 in 2 babies with them die because it can very quickly obstruct the airway. I am just amazed and so so so very grateful that the cyst was found last week. The thought of something happening to Clay is frightening.

Again, we are grateful to God for caring enough about all the little sheep with broken legs to go after little Clay. I don't know the formula for these things and I know that some of you do not believe that God really cares, saves, or is alive and well. Clearly the cysts aren't found on many children. I simply don't know his will, but I do take comfort in that God didn't make our world like this from the start.

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Ps. 145:7&8

We'll post after the surgery but likely not before. Tonight we'll have a lot of organizing to do. We need to find a place for Sim to hang out and pack, etc.
Thank you for praying and thanking God,
Abby and the fam

Clay Update

Hi family and friends,
We are busy packing to go to Pennsylvania tomorrow, but we wanted to post about Clay. He is a happy baby and doing rather well and I sure didn't expect to have this news after our appointment today.

I took him to Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital today to see the specialist again and this time he saw a cyst in Clay's throat when he looked with the endoscope. I saw it clear as day too and it sure wasn't there the last time we took at peek at his larynx. It is called a Vallecular cyst and it is just behind his epiglottis (just above his vocal chords).

It looks as though Clay will be having surgery next week. He will be "put under" with anesthetic and will stay over night in the hospital (Mass Eye and Ear in Boston). The cyst cannot be removed because of it's location so they will be draining it and then checking up on it in a month or so to see if it is filling up again.

He will be getting a CT Scan as well as a whole bunch of "scopies" that I don't fully understand but are more intense than what he has been getting so far.

He also got X-Rays today and the final word is that he has mild tracheomalacia and also mild laryngomalacia. Both will heal with time and need no further treatment. He has been eating very well and it really hasn't been a stresser lately for any of us.

Praise God that the cyst was found! It would have obstructed his airway if it continued to grow.
Clay (and our family) are fortunate to have medical care and we are very grateful to God for providing it.

Love,
Abby and all the boys.

Clay and my Train

Batters Up in our home made batting cage

Down on the Farm

Mom, Clay and I wandered to a local farm in Hamilton that is an organic one. We didn't manage to buy anything, but we did like their chickens! Included is a picture of Clay enjoying the chickens and a special bonus picture of me remarking how the grate in the floor looks like train tracks. Trains on the brain. . .

Good 'ole Dad

chases me in this...

my first Sugar cookies

My final product for the first cookies I ever helped mix, then roll, then cut out, then place on the pan, and then eat!

Does Redners sell Plantains?

Now that our move is getting closer, I have been pondering the little benefits of the city that we will miss like walking to the library regularly or being able to pick up fresh bread at a bakery a few blocks away (you probably think I'm leaving out the word "pastries" in that statement if you know me well, but actually we've tried most all their pastries and they just aren't something to blog about).

But what really got me thinking today about this is my new plantain fix. For those of you from Pottstown- can I get plantains in Pottstown? I assume I can get avocados at least. Are there any small Central/South American food shops in Pottstown?

Hmmm....................

But of course, our stay with my parents for a bit will certainly have perks that this city does not. Like grass for instance.
We'll just enjoy each place as it comes.

-abby

Unprompted

Mom was surprised (thinking that I was playing Thomas or FisherPrice activities online) to find me watching draft pick videos on NFL.com.

Topping the Charts

Clay's head in comparison to a coconut, jam-filled muffin and a medium-sized banana.



Sorry for the few posts lately- we're all busy here watching Clay's head grow.
Marli at church asked mum what she was feeding him. Steaks aside, it's just breastmilk and wow, he's pulling his weight for the family.

He's healthy, doing well, and rolled over this past week.

Other big news: This is basically the last week of Dad's seminary! He has one small class left this summer but that will be it. There just ain't a thing shameful about getting a three-year degree in four years while embarking on the adventure of two kids! If I owned a hat, it would be off to you dad. We're all rather excited to get to see dad more after this week is done. His joyful humor is certainly not easily replaced.

We hope you all are having a great beginning to your week and that you enjoy your days.
-Sim

Nahant Beach

Our newest top ten lists

simeon's top ten at 2 years, 7 months:
1. trains - all sorts. Today I even made a paper envelope into a train in my mind.
2. toddler Pig-Latin (I like to add "-ay" onto words) Mom suggested I add it onto phrases for a Canadian twist.
3. dogs and most animals are still making it high on the list.
4. believe it or not, yes, milk is still (after all these many months of life) nearing the top of the charts for me
5. wrestling with Dad
6. playing pinochle with the boys
8. fixing stuff and helping my parents
9. "ready, set, go!" with Aimee
10. watching myself pee

clay's top ten at 4 months:
1. smiling
2. eating my left hand
3. MILK!
4. being happier than I was two months ago
5. my parents being happier than they were two months ago
6. watching the Cosby show online when my parents think I'm napping. Theo is so cool.
7. drooling and regurgitation
8. watching Simeon
9. napping
10. that elephant toy

we hope you all had a great Easter!

Nick roasted a leg of lamb! That was quite a treat and sparked great conversation remembering Passover.

Can you name this dead animal?

We found it in a pine-tree grove on the beach.