Potty Training

So… we’re potty training. The other day Karter was sitting on the toilet. This is not a quick process, so I went and was doing something else while I waited for him to finish. I came back to check on him, and this is how I found him (I promise this is not staged)…

I Am Officially THAT Mom

I never wanted to be the mom that called the dr at the first sign of her child’s cough. I never wanted to be a Mom that took her child to the ER because he has the flu. Well, it’s official. I am THAT Mom. Every since Brent was diagnosed with Leukemia, I find myself taking the boys to the dr much quicker than I would have earlier. I just can’t help but think about the “what-ifs” now. When I start thinking that I’m crazy for taking the boys to the dr, I find myself thinking “Well, what if Brent wouldn’t have gone to the dr when he did?!?” Maybe that’s dumb, but that’s what I’ve been doing.

Any suggestions on how to get over this?

Praises and Prayers and Random Thoughts

First things first. This Wednesday Brent went to the Cancer Center in Sioux City for his 3 month check-up. PRAISE GOD!!! All of his counts are exactly where they’re supposed to be. It’s just always good to hear those words. I felt so at peace with this appointment that I didn’t even go along. That being said, I couldn’t help but wonder while he was up there “What if he gets bad news and he’s there by himself?” But God proved once again that I just need to trust with all my heart. Thank you, Jesus.

Last night we went to Harp & Bowl. For those of you who don’t know what that is… it’s a prayer and praise type service. There’s amazing Praise & Worship music, along with wonderful prayer and reflection time. There’s scripture read, sometimes testimonies given, but last night… just lots of prayer. Once a month they focus on specific churches in the area and pray specifically for the church and their leadership. Last night our focus was on praying for First Reformed in Sioux Center and Carmel Church. It was an amazing night, and I’m so glad that it worked for us to be there.

Prayer Requests:

1

Brent will be working the YATEC being held in Sioux Center. He’ll be there from Thursday, Feb 11 until Sunday, Feb 14. He will actually be giving talk #6 (Growing in Christ), and I’m so proud of him for doing it. The team meetings are tonight and tomorrow morning. He’ll be giving his practice talk at some point this weekend. Please pray that his talk goes well and that he can put into words what he is feeling in his heart. Please also pray for safe travel as the entire team heads to Sioux Center.

2

Please pray for those that are considering going through YATEC as candidates. There is still room available. Please consider this for yourself. It doesn’t matter what church you go to, or if you go to church at all. It doesn’t matter where you are in your walk with God, or even if it feels like you don’t even have one. And, to answer some peoples’ questions, it doesn’t matter if you went through TEC as a candidate. Please strongly consider going through. If you would like any information at all, please contact me.

3

Please pray for my aunt, Marilyn Kruid (my Dad’s sister). She is in the hospital in Sioux Falls, and has recently been diagnosed with cancer (again). Please pray for complete healing. (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/marilynkruid) Please also pray for Frank (her husband) who is just plain stressed out and tired.

4

I can’t quit watching the news about Haiti. It amazes me that people have been buried this whole time and that they’re still finding some that are alive. I just ask that you get on your knees in prayer for these people. You know, you watch the news and of course there are those that are looting (is that the right word?) and there’s crime in the streets… but then the cameras scroll to big groups of people. I’m serious when I say big groups. I am a terrible judge at numbers, but I would guess there were hundreds of people.. singing hymns, praising God and praying together. Can you believe that? Their world is shattered and yet they praise God. It makes me wonder what the cameras would record if something like this earthquake were to happen in the US? Would I be looting or praising God?

5… Last but not least…

Please pray for Karter’s ears. We went to his follow-up appt with Dr Korver. It’s only been two weeks since he had tubes put in, and one tube was already plugged. Please pray that the drops are enough to fix this, and that he just feels good.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Kelli

Cute in a Gown

Karter has had a lot of big stuff going on lately, and they all have one thing in common… GIFTS. It started out with Christmas, then his Birthday, and now a hospital visit. On Friday, January 16th, Karter had tubes put in his ears (again) and had his tonsils and adenoids removed. Let me tell you, he was a trooper. I also have to admit, although I never want to see it again, he looked so adorable in his little Mickey Mouse hospital gown. Here… let me prove it.

OK, so you can’t really see the gown, but he’s still pretty cute, right? The cherry juice hit him really hard, and he couldn’t even barely keep his mouth from hanging open.

 

Karter did really well during surgery. He had a bit of a cough going into the surgery, so he had a bit of a rough time coming out of the anesthesia. They came in and gave him a breathing treatment, and that really seemed to help. Before they did that he sounded like a percolator coffee pot. The thing that bothered him the most was the IV in his hand. Jill, the nurse, ended up wrapping his arm in hopes that it wouldn’t bother him if he couldn’t see it. It did help some.

After a some wrestling with him (to keep him from pulling out his IV) and a little bit of resting (and I only mean like 10 minutes) he was ready to try a popsicle. It was quite cute to watch him try find his mouth. He was still pretty out of it, but he kept saying, “My do it all myself, Daddy.”

Although the pictures are cute, I thank God that the only reason I have ever had to see him in a hospital gown/bed was for tubes, tonsils and adenoids. But at least this picture makes him look little. That just doesn’t happen very often anymore.

Here he is trying to smile for the camera. The blue lips just aren’t helping the situation, are they?

This was one of our nurses, Jill. I didn’t get a picture of Karter with our other nurse, Angela. The nurses were awesome! They made us feel right at home. I know that this is something that these doctors do on a daily basis, but this isn’t something I really like to send my precious babies into. So I greatly appreciated the doctors and nurses. They were kind and compassionate, and they did a great job!

Karter was so very proud to ride to the car in this wheelchair just his size.

Karter has been doing well since his surgery. He got a few gifts, and he thought that was pretty cool. He got a little beanie puppy from Pastor Mark, and that is his new best friend, Joey. Jim the Pig has officially been replaced.

Special Thanks to Warren and Pastor Mark for taking the time to stop by the hospital to pray with us. We greatly appreciated it!

Also, a special thanks to my mom for taking Brody over night that night. We just weren’t sure how Karter would handle everything, so we wanted to be able to give him 100% of our attention. Although at one point Karter said to me, “Mom, you tell my Dad to go get my brother, please?” We all missed  having our little monster around the house.

Karter’s 3rd Birthday

On Saturday, January 9th, Karter turned 3 years old. I could hardly believe that our little Karter Henry was turning 3. I mean, really? It had been three years already? That could hardly be. I mean, he’s just my little baby, right? He still needs me for everything he does, right? Hardly! Here are some fun facts about Karter:

1 – He is quite a Daddy’s boy, except when he’s sick. (Hey, I’ll take what I can get.)

2 – He refers to Grandpa and Grandma Hooyer as “Grandpa with the Sheep and Grandma with the Sheep”.

3 – He refers to Grandpa and Grandma Langstraat as “Grandpa with the Barn and Grandma with the barn”

4 – He asks lots of questions about where Grandpa with the Barn is and why he is with God.

5 – His new favorite phrase is, “I do that all myself, mommy.”

6 – He weighs 43 lbs, and I think he’s right at 40” tall.

7 – He loves days that he gets to start by watching cartoons with Daddy.

8 – He adores his little brother and even lets him play with his tractors occasionally.

9 – He loves puzzles and singing the ABC’s

10 – He can count to about 16, but he always forgets number ten. (I didn’t even plan that this one would be #10 in the list.)

Here are some pictures from his birthday party:

I have to tell you… he was SO excited about his birthday cake. He had to show everyone that came to his party. It turned out so perfect. Not only was it absolutely adorable, it was also so very delicious (even though I didn’t really want to cut into it). Holly Dibbet made the cake. You can see more of her wonderful work at: http://hollyscreativecreations.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Holly for making this for Karter. It made the day even more special!

Brent and I picked out a new bike for Karter. I couldn’t believe I was buying a big boy bike for my little boy. He just seems too little. Doesn’t look like his is, huh?

Here is Karter with his Handy Manny Tools (that sing really loudly, thanks Sheryl :-) and his new friend, Logan. Logan is so adorable, and I hope they get to be good buds! (Plus, he’s a Bears fan.)

Here’s what he got from Grandma with the Barn.

Don’t you love the look with no pants on?

It was a great day! We are so blessed with such wonderful family and friends. Karter got so many nice gifts, and he had such a great time! I just love that little boy (yes, he’s still my little boy) so very much! (Even if he is starting to say that he’s a Vikings fan. It’s not too late for me and my Bears.)

Christmas Memories

Christmas of 2009 was certainly one to be remembered. With what seemed like millions of inches of snow, bad roads and postponed Christmas parties, this was in no way a normal Christmas. To be honest with you, I really enjoyed it.

There was no rushing from one party to another while trying to make sure the kids have time for a nap. I didn’t have to spend a ton of time making food ahead of time for a few days’ worth of parties. Nope. We stayed home, opened presents, played with the kids and their new toys/games, and just really enjoyed our time together.

Karter got a new scoop, so he was so excited to help Brent scoop snow.

I was a bit of a scrooge up until a few days before Christmas. I kept thinking that we weren’t going to put up a Christmas tree. Who puts up a Christmas tree when you have a one and a two year old? Then I started to regret that I didn’t do it, because where were we supposed to put our gifts? Well, luckily Brent had more of the Christmas spirit than I did. He went and picked up a pre-lit Christmas tree. PERFECT! Karter was so excited, and Brody really could have cared less. We got it all put together and turned the lights on. I couldn’t decide if we should put ornaments on it or not, so Karter decorated the tree for us.

What’s that? You don’t see many decorations? That’s because there’s only one… look closely…

Look closer yet…

That’s right… a chip clip was our only decoration, and Karter was so proud that he put it on there. Now I don’t have to dread taking all the decorations off the tree.

Here’s just a few pictures for you all to enjoy…

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.

Love,

The Hooyers

Focusing on the Good News

Hey everyone. I just wanted to update everyone on what’s going on with Brent. November 5th marked the one year anniversary of the day that Brent was diagnosed with Leukemia. I will never forget that day. I will never forget how calm we were as Dr Van Es spoke those words, “I think it could be Leukemia. I’m waiting for a call back from Dr Wender”. There we sat. Feeling slightly… numb.

I am happy to say that after one year and many blood tests, dr’s appts, bone marrow tests, tears and smiles… Brent is CANCER FREE! Amazing, right? God has always been and continues to be SO GOOD! Who ever thought we would be saying these words after only one year? I must admit… I didn’t think it.

We got this great news at Brent’s appt with Dr Wender, which was Wednesday, November 4th. We got there, they did the normal blood work, nurse consult, etc. Then it was time to meet with Dr Wender. He came in, sat on the chair all weird like he always does and told us that Brent’s counts from the bone marrow test he had on 10/30 all looked great. There was still no evidence of the Philadelphia chromosome (in other words, there was no Leukemia). At this point, I was feeling good. So, I started asking questions. I asked what the game plan was from here on out. What was he watching for? What would tell him when it was OK to take Brent off the pills? That is when we got some shocking news, and I suddenly remembered all to well the way you can go from good to numb in the matter of a few words.

“Brent will be on these pills for life.”

What? Excuse me? From this point on, I’m pretty sure I mumbled like an idiot. This was all of a sudden becoming very real to me. So the questions continued. Listed below are the questions we asked and the answers we received.

 

THE STUDY BRENT IS ON IS AN 8 YEAR STUDY… DO WE PAY FOR EVERYTHING AFTER THAT 8 YEARS.

Yes. (This may seem like an unimportant question, but the pills alone are about $1500/month (before insurance – Sorry Interstates).

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF BRENT GOES OFF THE PILLS?

The odds are not good. 1 in 4 people will relapse.

 

WE WERE TOLD THAT WE SHOULDN’T HAVE CHILDREN WHILE BRENT IS ON THESE PILLS. IS THAT CORRECT?

Yes, that is correct. There is no research to say that the pills wouldn’t affect the fetus (or baby, as I like to call it). If you really wanted to have another child, Brent could go off the pills for a while and then go back on.

(That would be a nice option, but once Brent stops taking the pills he would be off the study. We would then have to pay for the pills when he went back on them. Even more than that, I’m not willing to compromise Brent’s health! I would then end up with a sick husband and 3 children. Nope, I’ll keep the healthy husband and two kids.)

 

This was a lot of information to take in. To be very honest, I’m still struggling with it. I know what many of you are thinking. “At least you have two healthy children.” And that is so very true! But you are talking to someone that LOVES being pregnant. I love everything about it (OK, maybe not EVERYTHING, but you know what I mean). I love the bond that is built between a mother and child. I love that Brent is the best husband ever and would take such good care of me. I loved feeling the boys kick and hiccup. I loved hearing the heartbeat.

Who knows what God has in plan for us. There are obviously other options. Maybe God will lead us to adopt. Or maybe He wants us to be content with the two children we have. I thank God every day for my 3 boys (Brent, Karter and Brody), and I’m not about to stop. This was just news that takes some time to process and accept. I’m still a little numb.

I want to leave you all with a verse that I found today. It is on my my daily calendar, and it showed up on a blog that I follow, too. Enjoy…

 

I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you, as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep and how high His love really is… And so at last you will be filled up with God Himself.

Ephesians 3:17-19