This Week at Our House #40

I am not even sure how to begin to talk about this week. It was definitely a difficult week. On Monday, I found out that there may be a problem with the baby's brain. On Thursday, I was sent an hour and a half drive away to get a level II ultrasound to get some answers on the baby. About an hour into the drive, the engine light came on in the van, and the van began to vibrate. We did make it home and back, but it is clear that our van has some serious problems. Oh, and we found out on the way to this appointment that there was a tropical storm hitting us. That evening, we spent hours without electricity again. Apparently, it was from a hurricane that devestated a small part of the gulf coast of Florida.

1. John is just continuing to apply for jobs as well as work on his games. The current game is starting to look quite nice. I may steal a screen shot from John at some point to put on here, but we are in a desperate situation.
2. Between the baby and van and our desperate financial situation, I experienced a lot of anxiety this week. However, we did see some miracles from the Lord. Between Monday and Thursday when I had the two ultrasounds things seemed to have improved in the baby's brain, and we were informed by the specialist that there is nothing to be concerned about. Additionally, the fact the van made it that far and back home is a miracle. I have no idea how we are going to get it fixed or when. It is our only vehicle.
3. Ruth is experiencing the ups and downs of a mission. Many of her investigators who were planning on being baptized have changed their minds or just dropped off. I am sure she is continuing to work very hard.
4. Kate was sick for a couple of days this week and she surprised me by spending a lot of time playing a video game. In the past, Kate has had a religious conviction against such games. 
5. Johnny is still working on getting all of the Joseph Smith papers for our family. He also fixed a wall for me in my bedroom and did a very good job with that. 
6. Adam is doing quite well with school. He is the best of the kids in Spanish and he is starting to understand his math much more deeply and clearly than he has in the past. The weather cooled way down after the tropical storm, so Adam spent a lot more time outdoors. He also got the back fenced in area mowed much more quickly than he could in the hot weather.
7. Rachel has stepped up and is caring for the family much more than she ever has. She has been willingly washing dishes and doing laundry and trying to be cheerful.
8. Anya has also been doing laundry. I was surprised to come home from grocery shopping and have no more laundry to do. I had two more loads when I left. Anya asked if I could tell her when I do the laundry next, so she can help.
9. Joseph has been very happy to play outside a whole lot more. The mosquitoes have gone back to normal and the weather is cooler and it is nice outside once more.
10. I can get Josh and Arwen to do just about anything for an hour of computer time. I used this to get Josh to do his Friday chores well and with ease, but the older kids did not like me doing this because it took up time they were planning on using the computer.
11. As we were driving past a cotton field, Arwen said, "I love cotton. I think it is nicer than grass."
12. I bought dannon yogurt drinks for the kids, and Susan calls it monkey food because the bottle has a picture of a monkey on it. It's funny to hear her say, "I'm hungry. I want monkey food."
13. Sam calls Kate "A". However, we know that he can say Kate because he calls milkshakes, "Milk-Kates" and asked for "More Kate, more Kate," when he wanted more milkshake.
14. On Monday, we found out that our little boy had dilated ventricles in his brain. That basically means that he has more spinal fluid there than is normal. This was true for 3 parts of his brain. We were sent to the bigger city to get a more serious ultrasound and a diagnosis. We prayed for our son to heal in that time. We were not given the original measurements, but, when we had the detailed ultrasound, we found out that the extra fluid is miniscule. Normal is 10mm. Our son has 10.4mm. 11mm is considered low and not really risky and 15mm is considered severe and comes with risks. The doctor said that it is so small, that there is nothing to be concerned about. However, I have a lot of extra amniotic fluid. That is why I have felt so much bigger this pregnancy. The specialist said that is usually indicative of kidney problems or a blockage in the throat. But they checked for that and everything looks good. The other issue may be gestational diabetes. I have the test for that on Tuesday. The other risk of extra amniotic fluid is preterm labor from my water breaking early from the extra fluid. To me that seems unlikely. I have never had my water burst without assistance, and all of my other baby's had very thick water sacs. Still, we will continue to see the specialist as well as the other doctors. 

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