October, 2009

Our sweet Jailyn turned 10 years old on October 7th. Unfortunately, Jonathan, Justin and I ended up at the ER at Kosair Children's Hospital where Jonathan spent several days. Jailyn and Jaclyn got to go to some of our favorite people's house where they celebrated in a huge way. Jailyn loaded up on pizza, ice cream, and giggles. A BIG "thank you" to the precious Melber family for making an otherwise sad day a very memorable one for our girl.

I am amazed at how the Lord continues to teach our family through the circumstances surrounding Jonathan's life. As I was rapidly preparing to leave for the hospital on Jailyn's birthday, I was also apologizing profusely to Jailyn. Here simple yet heartfelt response was, "Oh, don't worry about me, Mom. I just want Jonathan to be okay." Jailyn absolutely adores her brother, and the feeling is mutual. Jailyn constantly looks for ways to serve each of us - especially when it comes to Jonathan. She is his biggest cheerleader, always standing by to celebrate his newest accomplishment. The picture below is one of my favorites. This is a little glimpse into a typical day in our home....Jailyn "teaching" Jonathan while Jonathan "teaches" us...

I have known for a long time that something was wrong with Jonathan's tummy, but all the doctors we saw just couldn't find anything conclusive in their testing. On October 7th, though, the ER doctor ruled that Jonathan had a bowel obstruction which led to a rectal biopsy and subsequent hospital visits over the course of the next few weeks. The conclusion was: Hirschsprung's disease. This can only be repaired with surgery to remove part of the colon. We learned how to do bowel irrigations (yuck) and sought a second opinion at Cincinnati Children's Hospital's Colorectal Center. One of the surgeons there pioneered the "pull through procedure" that Jonathan needed. It is very rare to find Hirschsprung's at the age of two. Most children are repaired within one month of life. After seeing the doctors in Cincinnati, we decided to schedule surgery there for December 28th.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, we went to the Kentucky/Florida game with our two oldest kids. We are HUGE Tebow fans - and pretty big Gator fans. A professional photographer took this picture from the field before the game.

Justin had a 13th birthday coming up in early November, so Lange and Justin hiked the Appalachian Trail in early October with some great men of God and their sons. They spent time each night sharing about God's work in their lives. In addition, Lange worked it out for Justin and he to fly to Gainesville for Florida's Homecoming game. Justin's best friend lives there, and his family knows the Tebow family well. As a result, Justin and Lange spent a few hours with Tim Tebow at the Carr's house on the Sunday afternoon after the Homecoming game. It was a dream trip for any boy - and Justin was TOTALLY surprised.

Our church hosts a Fall Festival each year in October. Jailyn had the bright idea after finding some costumes at a consignment sale for her to be Tigger, Jonathan - Pooh, and Jaclyn - Piglet. The costumes were precious, but I didn't get very good pictures because it got dark so quickly.