Hotdog, hotdog, hot diggity dog!

Kelsie now loves Mickey's Clubhouse and especially the Hotdog song! She gets so excited when she hears it. Its the first time I have really seen her try to dance to music! :) And she definitely knows when its about to come on too. She started laughing and getting ready for it as soon as Mickey said "hotdog" knowing the song was about to start. Too funny....

13 months

Kelsie is now 13 months old which isn't very significant in terms of a milestone but still, its yet another month gone by of this precious babyhood. In fact, I guess this past month really has been her 1st month in toddlerhood, so thats exciting, huh!? She is definitely acting like quite the toddler too! Full of personality, dramatic, with her "I want my way" attitude, but still very sweet and cuddly and affectionate and yes, even obedient at times. She is playing with her sounds and showing off just how loud and high her voice can go! Especially when she is done eating, or wants out of the car seat, we hear a loud "Up" which turns into an "Uuuuuuup" and then and "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup" getting louder each time. Its definitely the first word she has used with meaning (besides mama/dada) and boy does she like to use it! It also lets her express her wants by using a word so I absolutely love to hear her ask to get up, its another one of those proud moments every time I hear her say it.  She also repeats sounds or actions that we make and just thinks her mommy and daddy are the funniest people in the world. She loves her daddy to chase her around the house and play monsters and for mommy to flip her upside down and "shake the sillies out". She loves likes me to pick her up, lay her on her side, and gnaw on "Kelsie on the cob" and, as we found out yesterday, she also LOVES to eat corn on the cob!  She thinks its hilarious to tickle mommy's toes and knows exactly what to do when dad wants to "honk" her little nose. Her laughter is the sweetest sound I have heard and we do some pretty silly things around just to be able to hear it one more time! She gives the sweetest open mouth kisses and our hearts just burst at the seams every time shes leans in to give a kiss or wraps those little arms tightly around our necks for a hug. She loves to discover and I love to help her learn. I like to give her the space to explore and use her imagination but also be near and teach her new adventures. We like to sit and read books together and get down on the floor and act silly. We love to sit outside and take walks around the neighborhood. I love to take her out shopping and have lunch together. Even if she's only 1, she's still a super fun lunch date, not to mention cute as can be!Not a day goes by that I don't think how blessed I am to have her as my daughter.

She went to town, I tell you! And would cry if we took it away!

Mom, why are you putting me in my swimsuit, in this pool, in MARCH? 

Because its 80 degrees baby, why not!? 

We also put our sweet Kelsie in the middle of our rivalry. Nathan insisted she wear this State dress he bought for her. And since it was the 1st time they have made it to the Sweet Sixteen, in like, forever, I figured I would let her wear it. But no worries, she was back sporting her Tarheel dress in no time! :) Daddy enjoyed pulling her around in the wagon at his parents house.

And she even rode the horsey that he rode when he was a kid. 

We bought her this new "Cozy Coupe" car as a late birthday present and she is absolutely crazy about it! Has a fit to ride in it anytime she sees it and will climb out but if you close the door she quickly lets you know that she wants back in!! 

Remembering Haiti

This week marks 2 years since my mission trip to Haiti. And I can feel the emotions all over again. I felt God's call as soon as I heard about the earthquake and prayed for God to present a way for me to go if that is indeed what He was calling me to do. Well He did just that. And just a few weeks later, I received a fateful email inviting anyone with a medical background to join a team with the NC Baptist Men to go to Haiti. I was ecstatic, knowing full-well that God was sending me to do His work amongst a people devastated by poverty, destruction, and hopelessness. I really had no idea what I was getting into but I was prepared for anything. Having just had surgery on my femur only a few months before, and just finishing up rehab, I really didn't know how my legs would hold up for the "24 hour shifts" we were told to expect, but really, I didn't care. I knew God was sending me so I knew He would be my strength. And because I had no doubt I was doing exactly what He wanted me to do, I knew I would be ok. He would make it ok.  And just as I expected, I had no pain at all! God's provision was amazing.

 I was only there for 7 days but came back with a heart forever changed by what I had experienced during my short time there. I could never describe the magnitude of what I witnessed on this trip.  There was devastation and poverty beyond belief, but there was also a nation of people with resilience and determination unlike anything I had ever seen. It was surreal driving through Port au Prince imagining what the streets must have looked like that afternoon when the earthquake hit causing buildings full of people to collapse in a matter of seconds. Everyone we met had a story of loss, heartache, or traumatic recollection from the event. That part of it made the trip quite emotional just trying to fathom what these people must be going through. To have already had so little to begin with and then to lose it all within a matter of seconds was just hard to even wrap my mind around. Many of them went from having a small concrete, dirt floor structure above their heads to having nothing but a sheet to spread across 4 sticks staked in the ground. And some of them didn't even have that.

I really could go on forever describing my experience in Haiti but could still never fully explain what we witnessed or the work God did through our team. I long to go back and see the people again and see what has changed/stayed the same since we left. We worked with a wonderful group of Haitian people who are committed to the Lord, believe in His Word, and serve Him by serving their community. I know God is using them and the other missionaries from NC Baptist Men to demonstrate His love and bring more people to a knowledge of Him. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to work in that country!



The picture below is the clinic I worked at the 1st day. I was assigned to this clinic as the only licensed provider with 2 other nurses working with me. When I received this assignment the night before, I was so overwhelmed and prayed for God to just work through me because I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. And God made His presence known early one. The next morning when we arrived at the clinic, we had a short time of prayer and devotion for the people waiting in line for the clinic and after an invitation, 4 men walked up,  fell on their knees in the mud, and accepted the Lord. It was an experience I will never forget.

The clinic - notice the homes made of sticks and sheets

People waiting to be seen

This was one of the orphanages we visited. We checked each child for health problems and just spent time playing with them. Each one of them had some sort of health issue ranging from ringworm to malaria. 

The girls were so mesmerized by us white people and would just stare at and rub my arm.

They loved looking at the pictures we took of them on our camera. There were no mirrors so we don't think they ever see their own image. 

PRECIOUS children!! All girls, except for 1 little boy!

Saying grace before their meal.

They were singing to us. Such a sweet sound even if you can't understand the language.

 Church service - it was an amazing 2 1/2 hours of praise and worship! God was definitely among us!

 One of the tent cities where people retreated for shelter after the earthquake. The area in the middle is one of the clinics NC Baptist Men had set up to provide medical care. This was one of our first stops after leaving the airport on our way to the the mission house.

This is me working to re-organize meds with Merline, one of the Haitian doctors. 

One of the clinics I worked at - we were assigned to a different one every day. The guy on the left is my interpreter, Mike and the guys on the left were patients.

Here I am working at one of the private hospitals. I saw all the pediatric patients there that day. There was another doctor who was seeing all the adults. I was so overwhelmed by this task but it went better than I expected. There wasn't resources to diagnose and treat these people like we needed but we did the best we could and had to get creative in ways to treat them. This hospital had structural damage from the earthquake so was not able to house the patients - you can see their makeshift hospital rooms in the background of this picture. This is where the inpatients received their care - for example, amputees who had just had limbs removed slept on wooden palates on the ground, for months!  And even worse, when they became well enough to leave, many of them didn't have a home to go to or even family members alive to care for them.  I could not imagine!

Some of the earthquake damage. 

The Palace - equivalent to our White House

Just pictures

Here she is sleeping with the brace. She has learned to roll over but gets stuck up against the side of the crib. She doesn't see to mind though. Looks so uncomfortable to me! And she is ending up in our bed every night lately, which is fine with me. As long as she goes to bed in her room, I'm ok with her ending up with us if it means we both sleep better (which we do). She does take up alot of the bed though! Nathan and I have both grabbed the camera capturing her sleeping all over the bed, or with her foot up against Nathan's head as you can see. Haha.

And these are some shots of my cutie just sitting out in the sun soaking up some Vitamin D. :)

We love these pretty spring days!

PFTs

Kelsie had another pulmonary function test yesterday. This is just a routine test to measure her lung function and ensure she doesn't have any silent lung disease going on. I was anxious about it as expected because of the sedation, her being NPO, and everything else involved but it actually all went pretty well. The results looked good, although the measurements were a bit lower than the first time - maybe worse isn't the best way to describe it, just not as good as before. The doctor wasn't worried though because the numbers still all looked above normal. And since they are still fairly new at finding CF in infants, the results are as accurate as they are when they get a little older.

Kelsie will have this test again in 6 months and routinely for the rest of her life. But she will only have to be sedated during this infant/toddler period. Eventually she will be old enough to understand and follow the forced breathing instructions.

She did much better with the sedation this time. The last time, she didn't get in a deep enough sleep so they gave her more of the medicine. Then she slept all evening and was like a little rag doll. This time she went right off to sleep (she was also 2hrs past naptime at that point too), only needed one dose of medicine, and the test was over in about 30-40 minutes. They took her to a recovery room afterwards and she slept...and slept...and slept. She got the medicine around 11:30am and we finally had to wake her up around 2:15. She did good the rest of the day but was quite wobbly on her feet and drunk acting after we got home.

Rainbows in the skies

The skies were very intriguing to me today! I saw a rainbow on my way to work this morning and thought, what a wonderful start to the day! There is something about a rainbow that is just so magical and powerful. It's as if God is just handing down a slice if beauty.

 

Then on my way home from work there was an ominous appearance to the sky. It was pretty and sunny where I was but that large, puffy, and dark cloud was just ahead.

 

And then as I got closer to home, I saw yet another rainbow! So cool, I thought. Rare to see a rainbow anyway, but 2 in one day was pretty neat! Whether clear and blue, dark and ominous, or colored with rainbows, I believe the sky is surely a testament to God's amazing power!

Blue on one side, gray on the other, a rainbow in the middle and a little peephole into heaven up above.