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Memory Photo Book of Bethany Grace Houck
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Just make it past today
It's day four of being in the hospital with Bethany for her cranial facial surgery. She is doing good so far with recovering. Her eyes are still swollen shut, but should be opening soon. I went to breakfast this morning by myself because Chad stayed at the hotel last night and I stayed in the room with Bethany.
As I was sitting there looking around at the different tables I noticed an older man by himself and thought, "I wonder if his wife is in the hospital for something." He looked rather sad and had been trying to feed himself a piece of toast with his shaking right hand. I noticed that he used his left hand to try to stabilize the right from shaking so much. As I took the last bite of my waffle, I thought I should have maybe sat by him. It was a little to late to eat with him, so I got up and asked him how is day was. He looked up at me with his eyes that went in different directions under his glasses. He smiled at me as if I was the first person that had talked to him in days. He asked me if I had been visiting my mom in the hospital, to which I replied,"No, my 8 month old daughter just had cranial surgery on her skull."
I asked the man if his wife was in the hospital and he said, "Yes, my daughter is with her so I can have a rest." I almost cried thinking what it would be like to be old and have my husband in the hospital. I thought "what if it was his last days here with me?" After those thoughts flashed through my mind, I told the man I would be praying for him and his wife. He kindly said,"Thank you! It seems like we just make it past today lately." I told him to have nice day and as I walked on in the direction to the elevator of children's wing where Bethany was resting, I began to cry.
It is so amazing how many people come to a hospital and feel alone. I know first hand what that feels like now. I understand what that kind man meant when he said, "It seems like we just make it past today lately." Each day we gain more ground then the previous one and know new challenges may come, but the good thing is you make it though them each day at a time.
I am so thankful for God surrounding my family with so many helpful, caring people during this time with Bethany. I hope somehow that man had a better day today by someone caring for him. I can not begin to know what he was going through. I only know what's in front of me, the peace of God, and a little girl that gets to go home today! Thank you all for your prayers, we are so very grateful!!
Moved out of ICU!
Bethany is past one night in ICU and now on the regular Pediatric Floor of Medical City Childrens Hospital in Dallas. She had some tubes and bandages removed this morning. It seems so amazing that one night with a semi-normal face can lead to a super puffy almost alien like head. Currently all of Bethany's vitals are normal, and we are on the road to a good recovery! Thank you for continued prayers for her and our family. Emily and Dillon especially could use some prayers since they had to go back home to Sulphur Springs with their grandparents. They will return to their normal of school day tomorrow and hopefully get their mind off their little sister's pain and "large melon", as Emily called it. We will continue to update when we can! More photos of Bethany's Cranial Surgery on Flicker.
Bethany's Surgery has Arrived
The date has arrived and Bethany our 8 1/2 old daughter is going in for her pre-operative appointment today. She is scheduled for Cranial Facial Surgery at 10am on Tuesday the 2nd at Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas. Some of you may know that we were expecting to do this surgery at some point to correct her skull sutures that fused together prematurely. Bethany will have reconstructive surgery on her skull to allow her brain to grow normally and to correct her forehead from being asymmetrical. What she has is called Plagiocephaly a type of craniosynostosis.
Somehow God connected us with wonderful doctors to do the surgery, which gives me peace knowing she is in good hands. Although a bit scary for me having not gone through something like this before, it's noting God cannot handle! Would you still be praying for Bethany and our family as we venture through our sweet baby having surgery this week and for her recovery time to be quick and painless?
We are so blessed to have great support here in Sulphur Springs, TX and also my mom and dad are here to help us out with Emily and Dillon when we are in Dallas. I will be updating my Twitter and Facebook page as we hear how she is doing. Until then I must get some sleep, as it will be a long week!
Bethany Released From Childrens Medical Ctr- Dallas
It has been a week since we went to Childrens Medical Center in Dallas for Bethany's two unexpected and sudden seizures. The first seizure early on Father's Day lasted 15 minutes and then another that night started at 8:45pm, lasting until we arrived in Dallas at 11:30pm. She was taken right away into the ER and had around 10 people in the room stabilizing her. I wanted to stand there and cry, but I manged to stay calm knowing that she was in great hands.
From that point on we had no idea how long we would be at the hospital, or what tests they would need to do to figure out what triggered the seizures. They began with a CAT scan and a spinal tap in the ER. She was moved to the neurology floor at 5am. The following day started with blood work and an EEG (Electroencephalogram) that was 45 mins long, and then the doctors decided to monitor her for a 24hr period with both video and an EEG. Day 3 included a MRI and multiple blood draws, as well as another spinal tap. Finally, on Thursday, she endured a few more needle pokes and was released following a clear EEG, her third of the week!
We are now in Sulphur Springs, TX where it looks like we will be parking the RV for the next foreseeable future. More updates to come soon. Know that Bethany and all are doing well. Thank you for your prayers!!
Amy
weighing baby
Bethany at 3 1/2 months weighing in at a local Walmart in Tempe, AZ. Can you say "cheese" or "apples"? I didn't think she would stay in that position once Chad let go of her, but she did. She was very calm when he set her on the scale. Maybe next time we'll try the post office scale, it's probably closer to being accurate!
Help our friends in Nashville!
The scope and size of the flood in Nashville is so unbelievably bad. Most people in this area did not carry flood insurance which leaves a very long road ahead of them. Not only do they need to start assessing the total damage done to their home, they also have to try to figure out how to begin the clean up process. Thankfully our friends at Cross Point Church in Nashville are working as hard as they can to help the victims of the flood clean up. I wish a could be there to help myself!
Please make sure you check out this video of Pastor Pete as he heads by boat though an area destroyed by the flood right near their Bellevue campus.
NASHVILLE FLOOD: Boating through the streets of Bellevue from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.
Cross Point has set up a Flood Relief Fund on their website to help the flood victims from this disaster. Any little bit can help with the efforts that Cross Point is undertaking. I know that they really need help financially and will be faithful with the donations they receive. Thank you!!
Blessings fall in the shape of Mouse Ears!
We had a huge blessings of taking our kids to Disneyland on Sunday for $20! We had volunteered for, "A day of Service" in February by making Linus Blankets for children in hospitals and received two passes to Disneyland for Chad and I. The kids where to young to qualify for the passes, so we were going to pay for them to go. So how did we mange to get into the park for $20(parking the RV)?
We were invited to The Rock Church in Anaheim, CA after meeting Pastors Todd and Erin Funk at Catalyst West last week. So we thought that we would go to church on Saturday night and wait to go to Disneyland on Sunday, giving ourselves a day to rest. Pastor Todd and I where having a conversation about how expensive it is for a family to go to Disneyland after church. I told him how great it was that Chad and I had passes and that we just had to pay for the kids. He mentioned that they have people in their church that could possibly get passes for the kids.
We had enough money to pay for the kids and parking, but beyond that we couldn't do anything else while at Disney. So I thought, Wow! What an answer to prayer!
Pastor Todd couldn't get a hold of anyone on Saturday night, but he was going to keep trying find someone who might be able to get passes. Well, Sunday morning rolls around and he had a church member the works at Disney ready to meet us at the gate with passed for the kids! How amazing is that! We got into Disneyland by only paying for parking, and had enough money to get the kids Mickey Mouse Ice cream sandwiches, dinner, and two Disney autograph books for Emily and Dillon to have all the characters sign.
We had a blast and spent well over a full day enjoying the "Happiest Place on Earth!" Thank you to the Rock Church in Anaheim,CA and to Disneyland for giving out "A Day of Service" tickets!! Check out the photos at http://bit.ly/96B3lg
Meet Bethany Grace Houck
We are officially a family of 5 now! On February 17th 2010 Bethany Grace Houck was born into our family. She measured 21 1/4" long, weighs 8lbs 14oz, and has the biggest head of all the Houck kids to date. We are so happy to have another blessing from God. There are more photos of Bethany on our flicker page http://www.flickr.com/photos/share5/sets/72157623464411724/
Chad's first twitpic!
Yes, Chad now has an iphone. We went to the AT&T store to see if it was the battery that kept crashing his current phone, and walked out with a better deal. It was conveniently time for a free upgrade! The iphone was only $50 more than the battery replacement on his old phone. The thing we couldn't check out was if his old phone just had a battery problem, so we opted for the new phone that could do so much more! So look for more twit pics to come.
Made it Through H1N1 Without Drugs
We decided not to give Dillon Tamiflu after testing positive for H1N1. He had one dose in the ER by the doctor and a half hour later was throwing up. He had not been throwing up prior to taking the drug. He is recovering fine by taking a cough medicine and Tylenol to keep his fever down. He had a very bad barking seal cough and trouble breathing which was helped by a breathing treatment (inhaler) only used maybe three times.
I recommend that you do your own research before taking the drug and before getting the flu vaccine. There seems to be little research that has been done on it here in the US. That is a risk I am not willing to expose our family to. Really the symptoms are not that bad and treating with a normal course of rest and lots of fluids has done us all well. Being pregnant is a high risk place to be, but I have gone through it and come out just fine with no drugs.
Research Key Words: SWINE FLU, TAMIFLU, FLU VACCINES and see the different side effects for your self. Don't let anyone tell you that you HAVE to take the medicine or get the vaccine to get through this Swine Flu season.
TOMS meet Tiny Toms-Emily and Dillon
Emily and Dillon got to meet Blake Mycoskie today at Catalyst West Coast! As we travel around from place to place our kids love to share the story of TOMS! They got to help set up the TOMS booth yesterday. Today they met the founder himself, who I think came up with one great idea - Buy a pair of shoes and TOMS will give another pair to a needy child without shoes. It's called ONE for ONE.
To get your own pair of TOMS or a pair for your Tiny Toms go to our website and not only will TOMS give another pair to a child, but they also give $8 to help us fund micro-finance loans for the working poor.
Help put shoes on the feet of children in need!
Today I have walked around without shoes. You ask why? It was to bring awareness to the fact that children around the world walk daily without shoes on their feet.
Here are some facts from TOMS Shoes:
* Fact #1: In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help.
* Fact #2: Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
* Fact #3: Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
* Fact #4: In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
* Fact #5: Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by wearing shoes.
Help us tell the story of TOMS Shoes! To get your own pair of TOMS and provide a pair for a child without, go to our website http://share5.org/TOMS.aspx
Why go through our website? Share5 will get $8 when you purchase a pair of TOMS through our site. We then combine those funds together to provide micro-finance loans for third world entrepreneurs to start or expand their businesses.
When we team up together to make a difference in people's lives, our lives are changed as well.
Please "Share Well With Others" by joining with TOMS and Share5 today!
A week away from 90 days on the road!
It is almost time to say we have made it three months on the road in our RV. The Share5 Tour has taken our family of 4 many places in the last months. I put together a map of all our stops along the way for those of you that are following us. We will continue to travel around some more as we work on the "Share Well With Others" book. To stay updated on all of our adventures please follow our Share5 Blog!
End of year recap
Wow! It's hard to believe that 2008 is almost over and we have been full-time on the road for over two months. I have to say that time seems to go by faster that I think it has. It seems like a month ago we were hurrying to pack the RV to make our trip to Phoenix for the start of the Keep Breathing Tour. It has been over a month since the tour ended and we have been to Mexico, back to AZ, through parts of southern California, and just recently spent Christmas at Chad's sisters near San Jose.
We have served in an orphanage in Mexico and at the Bread of Life Rescue Mission in Oceanside, CA. At the Junky Car Club Rally, I was able to give haircuts to a homeless mother and her 8-month old son who live in their car in Costa Mesa, CA. We have met wonderful people along the way and continue to enjoy every moment we have together as a family.
It is very surprising to see people's reactions when we tell them that we live full time in a 34' RV with our children. We explain that we travel around serving people in need as well as sharing with individuals about the concepts of Share5. We tell them it is a way for individuals to be begin to see the needs of others around them, and that in doing so they have a transformation of their heart. An underlying goal of Share5 is to get people back to the place where we once cared for each other despite our daily schedules and lifestyles, to be aware of those around us that are in need, and to be leaders in their circles of influence by encouraging others to do the same.
With all that said, we are going to try to take some time off the road for the next couple months, (that is not driving every other day) to sit down are write out a book/curriculum on Share5 . I hope to update more (if not here on our share5 blog). If you would like to consider the Share5 challenges to see how you could change someone's life or maybe gain a new passion in your life please go to Share5 to learn more!
May your 2009 be filled with new adventures and stories to share. I am looking forward to what is to come!
The Keep Breathing Tour
Well we're half way through our tour with A Current Affair, The Wedding, and Wavorly! We stared in Phoenix, AZ and had three stops in Nevada, three in Idaho and just finished last nights concert in Chico, CA. We have been having a great time getting to know all the guys in the different bands. If you want to follow what's going on visit our tour blog at Share5
Below are the next stops on the tour. Arizona stops are not added yet on this map except the final location of Phoenix.
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