“Aw, Hi! It’s me, Norns! Deez are some pictures and tings from before my birfday. Mommy wanted to dedicate the last post to just my birfday, so she left deez off. But I can share dem now.”

“Dis ting is someting Mommy created for me to play wif in da baff. It was fun for one day until Mommy realized the chains will rust in the waters. Mommy rigged up some new tings for me. Enen I play wif da chains NOT in da waters.”

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:7 NIV)

“I’m just hanging out in my nest wif my afghan watching Matlock!”

“Eenen I like to hang out on my Mommy.”

Give us each day our daily bread.
(Luke 11:3 NIV)

“Um, can I just please have some daily milks?”

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
(2 John 1:6 NIV)

“I like to go for walks in love!”

“So do my brudder and my mudder!”

“You can’t even begin to imagines how sweet my skin smells! My brudder can’t get enough sniffs!”

“Me n’ my sister!”

“SHHHHHH!!!! I go night nights!”

“Deez are pictures from spring break when my brudder n sister had no schools. Dey went wif Mommy to watch the airplanes over at the airport.”

“Mommy loves me like crazy.”

“My brudder helps me drink my milks. Dat’s da only ting I like to eat.”

“Dis is my wash cloth. See it?”

“Mommy n Daddy took brudder n sister bowling one afternoon during spring break. We can’t travel so much because of some tings, so Mommy n Daddy tried to get out and do fun things locally wif doze big kids.”

“Mommy is an amazing bowler.”

“Daddy an my brudder are straight up playaz!!!” (in Claire’s)

“I don’t got time for none of dat. I’ll be napping in my NEST, straight up.”

“I’d like to buy a vowel, please?”

‘Mommy makes homemade apple pie. I hear it’s delicious, but I still just prefer the milks.”

“Dis is Greta wif Mommy and Gavin at IKEA waiting in line for Swedish meatballs with her fancy glasses she got the other day from Claire’s. I tink she’s real pretty.”

“Ennen when dey get home dey go down into da creek to play and hunt for treasures.”

“Will someone please pass the milks?”

“I’ll just be standing over here waiting….”

“Mkay. I’m in da baff. No more pickshers please!!”

“I had to go visit Dr. E so he could check on my sweet ears. Miss Kate came along wif us so she could keep an eye on me in da back seat while Mommy drived — you know, incase I needed spankinz. My ears looked fine, but I tink I must’ve misplaced one of my tubes. Dr. E dinnint see it anywhere in my little elf ear. Hmmm….”

“Aaah! It sure is good to be home!!”

“Mommy and Daddy out on a date.”
(We seek out quaint little restaurants in quaint little towns — preferrably river towns so we can do a scenic drive along the river. Here we are at The Courtyard in Rising Sun, Indiana. We will definitely go back to this one!)

LOVE.

“Me n’ Mommy sit out on the back deck sometimes when it’s real nice out. I need a big sun umbrella.”

“I get real tired sometimes when I go for walks!”

“I’m well rested so I can play wif my sister!”

“Mommy n Daddy went on a hike to see if they could find the source of the creek that runs past our house.

“It was all fun and games till Mommy got her pigtails pulled by Nature.” #whiplash

Love is sweet!

Love holds us together!

Love is our rock!

“Two kids on Mommy’s shoulders.”

“Mommy is in Gavin’s hair!!!”

LOVE.

LOVE.

LOVE!

“I like da waters too, but I’d rather be in baff waters.”

“Ooooooooh. Here I am at the eye doctor. Doze people put stinkin drops in my eyes eenen everyting is way too bright and I don’t like dat.”

“Would you look at dis?I?I? Dis is what happened in APRIL a couple days before my birfday. You’re doing it WRONG, Spring!!!!!”

“Mommy sees lots of hearts in the sugars!”

“Here’s a blue jay riding around on a squirrel’s back.” #cameratricks

“The snow has melted and the trees are budding.”

“An I’m budding into a big giant baby girl dat my sister can hardly hold anymore!”

“We had our friends over to dye Easter eggs on Friday night. Dey had quite da production going!”

“Brudder.”

“An I got to dye an eggy too!!!!!”

“Eenen Mommy drewed my name on my eggy!”

Masterpieces!

“Deez are pictures AFTER my birfday. I tink I’ve got dis “Being 2-Years-Old Ting” figured out. And maybe Mommy could get her phone camera figured out so we can get rid of these stupid spots that keep showing up on all of my pictures!!”

“I got so many cards and moneys and pretty new clothes and night gowns and pajamas and toys for my birthday! Tank you so much! I feel so very loved! Look what a big girl I am in my pretty dress (above) and my princess night gown (below)! “

“I don’t typically watch a lot of TV, but I got dis new television set and I DVRed a couple of programs. One is a show about the London Bridge. It fell down or someting? And da other show is about gentle boat rowing. I kinda like watching deez shows over and over and over again.” 

“My Mommy an my Oma went out to lunch on a pretty spring afternoon an they got to sit outsides! If I was wif dem I would have just ordered da milks. Dat stuff’s delicious.”

“Dere’s a new movie out. You might not have heard of it before. It’s called Frozens or someting? It’s about sisters! So of course I like to watch dis show wif MY sister. My sister loves me an protects ME too! I like to listen to my sister sing da songs. She knows ALL da words!”

“Last Sunday I stayed home wif my Kelly while everyone went to my little cousin Parker’s baptism. Me n my Kelly like some girl time, so dat’s cool!”

“Yes, Mommy shamelessly stole dis picture from Aunt Sarah’s Facebook page, but since Mommy took the picture with Aunt Sarah’s camera, is dat really stealing?”

“Happy baptism, Parker cousin!”

“Daddy an Gavin out in Uncle Bill’s old paddle boat. We sure miss Uncle Bill.”

Cousinly love!

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
(Song of Solomon 2:12 NIV)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28 NIV)

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
(Jeremiah 31:3 NIV)

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
(Hebrews 13:1 NIV)

Nora had her two-year appointment with Dr. B on the 29th of April. She is doing very well but for the fact that she’s had an increase in oxygen needs over the previous weeks. She may have some allergy congestion (which would be easiest to explain since no one else in the house is sick!). But even when she’s had a cold in the past she’s never needed to be on this much oxygen apart from the pneumonia episode. She’s eating great, she’s gaining weight, she has had no fevers and for the most part is a happy little girl! Her home nurses have not noted any abnormal sounds on her lungs that would indicate pneumonia either, which is a relief. Our best guess is that Nora’s Lasix dosing may need to be adjusted. She’s still on the same amount as when she was tiny. Her cardiologist has also been alerted to these changes, but since she has no other serious symptoms, he is okay waiting until the next scheduled appointment to assess her on May 15.

Daddy got some extra lovings and cuddles in before this poor girl got 3 routine vaccination shots in her little leggies. She didn’t like that.

Nora in her stander during a physical therapy session ~

Mommy & Daddy’s little cutie ~

Mommy & Daddy’s big cuties ~

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
(John 15:4 NIV)

Real busy with some things ~

Real sleepy with Mommy ~

It’s Greta’s turn to cuddle with her little sister ~

“Afore long, I can have some piggytails! My hairs get long!”

Meanwhile, bubbled wigs are all the rage!

Water drop heart on Nornor’s arm ~

Norns went for a long walk in circles around the house in her stander. She tolerated it for about 45 minutes which is a new record!

“You see all my chins? I’m chinny.”

On Sunday morning, Nora’s oxygen needs drastically increased. She was needing almost 2 Liters to keep her oxygen saturations in the low 90s while she was awake. I had the car packed and we were 2 seconds away from bringing her in to the ER. (Of course this stuff ALWAYS happens on a weekend.) While we were waiting for a call back from our pediatrician I got out my little green bottle of holy water that my Grandma brought back from a trip to Lourdes in 1992 – as her handwriting indicates on its label. I rubbed it on Nora’s chest, over her lungs and prayed over her. Scenes from our 2 week stay up at Children’s replayed in my mind and I wanted to run screaming off the edge of the earth. It’s during these times that I feel like we are driving around with an atomic bomb in the trunk. Any little bump in the road threatens to blow everything up into smithereens, snuffing out Life As We Know It. When I finally take a deep breath, pull over and “look in the trunk” there is no bomb. Instead of heading back to the driver’s seat, I slink over to the passenger’s side and sit down in the place I’ve needed to be all along.

He whispers,
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
(Isaiah 41:10 NIV)

After speaking with Dr. B, he was okay with us staying home. He prescribed Cefdinir (antibiotic) to see if that would alleviate any of her congestion on the chance that this was not allergy related. This was an antibiotic that Nora responded well to in the past. True to form, she took it again without any issues. By that evening she was on 3/4 of a Liter which is the lowest she’s been on in weeks. There is no way the antibiotic could have taken effect that quickly which only points toward the incredible, supernatural healing power of prayer.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
(Ephesians 2:8, 9 NIV)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
(Matthew 7:7-8)

Unfortunately Nora’s medical concerns coincided with the Flying Pig marathon. Nora is an honorary member of Team Mitch which was established in memory of Mitch McLaughlin who passed away very suddenly in 2006 at 30-years-old. This extraordinary group of family and friends come together each year to commemorate Mitch through their mutual love of running. We are blessed and honored to cheer them on. Last year, Nora partook in the 5K with Kate R. (one of Nora’s long time caregivers, and Mitch’s sister-in-law) and her husband John and friend Courtney. We had planned on joining up with everyone at the Team Mitch after-party, but weren’t able to do so. We were all wearing our Team Mitch shirts and cheering everyone on from our living room. We hope and pray we can be there next year!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
(Hebrews 12:1 NIV)