Carlson Crew Kyle Lindsey Madeline Collin

Jude Report 6

2009-03-23T09:26:00.002-05:00

Jude is home!

The events of the past two days have pushed blogging down on my list of priorities, so I apologize for the tardiness of this update. After our really bad day on Friday, Saturday was a day of making things right. We had a terrific nurse who listened to our story, and within a couple hours had all the pieces in place that allowed Jude to be released on Saturday evening. We transported him to our home in the mini-van around dinner time on Saturday, to much rejoicing by all involved.

He's had no further difficulty regarding his body temperature, and seems to be a perfectly healthy and happy baby. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

To God be the glory.

Jude Report 5

2009-03-20T21:41:00.003-05:00

As I write this at 9:45 on Friday night, Lindsey and I are waiting to feed Jude one more time at 11:30 p.m., after which time we'll head home (without Jude).

Today has been a day of not very much information and a fair amount of frustration. The Labor & Delivery unit of the hopsital was super busy today with 12 deliveries and a life-flight to another hospital. In all the chaos, I think Jude simply took a back seat in terms of priority. We have been unsure of the next step for our boy, or for us.

Thankfully, things quieted down a bit late in the evening, and the night nurse in the special care unit is very helpful, and optimistic about Jude's ability to maintain his body temperature. At 8:00, she moved him from the incubator to an open-air crib, where she'll monitor him to be sure his temperature is remaining in an acceptable range. This seems like a step forward.

Lindsey and I will miss one feeding at 3:00 a.m., and return to the hospital at 6:00 a.m. (and every subsequent 3 hours until his release) to feed him again. The neo-natal doctor will be making rounds around 7:00 a.m., so we hope to have some clearer picture at that time as to Jude's progress and the liklihood of his returning home with us.

Please pray with us tonight that he will be able to maintain his body temperature in the open-air crib, and that we'll be beyond this challenge in the Lord's time (which we hope is quickly!).

God is merciful. Thank you for your prayers.

Jude Report 4

2009-03-19T16:46:00.009-05:00

Here are some pics for your enjoyment:

If you haven't yet, please read the post before this one, Jude Report 3 to know how you can be praying for us.

Jude Report 3

2009-03-19T15:52:00.002-05:00

We've had a fun time hanging out with Jude in the hospital room last night and today. We've also enjoyed a few very thoughtful visits from friends, and Madeline and Collin got to come up this morning and meet their new brother. It was an exciting time.

Jude is apparently having difficulty maintaining his body temperature, which is giving the docs some cause for concern. They've put him on a warmer in the nursery about three times and let him hang out in our room for about an hour to see if he holds his temperature, but when they check him he's dropped about a degree each time.

The nurse is calling our pediatrician, and the suspicion is that they'll place Jude in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for a while to pinpoint what's causing the problem (they think it might be an infection that hasn't manifested itself in other ways yet) and get it taken care of.

We're grateful for doctors and ICU's who can immediately provide this sort of care. It is a little disconcerting and disappointing to think that we might be going home tomorrow morning without Jude, but we trust that they'll take the necessary steps to get him past whatever is causing this issue. And, in any case, we live about eight minutes away from the hospital.

Please pray that whatever's causing his body temperature to drop will be quickly and effectively eliminated, and that he'll be able to join his family at home very soon.

Thanks.

Jude Report 2

2009-03-18T20:49:00.003-05:00

He's here!

The day began later than we planned, and the process unfolded more slowly than we anticipated, but at 6:27 p.m., Jude Gray Carlson saw the light of a hospital room filled with doctors and nurses, and was greeted by his parents and his Daisy (his maternal grandmother).

He weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz, and measured 18 3/4 inches.

He's healthy, Mom's happy, and God is good. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll get some pictures up.

Jude Report 1

2009-03-18T12:46:00.002-05:00

We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 5:30, but were delayed because there weren't any free Labor & Delivery rooms. We arrived and got settled into a room at 8:00 this morning.

Getting an IV set up was, as usual, the most difficult part of the process thus far. Lindsey's veins are notoriously difficult to tap, and after blowing one in her left hand, they managed to get one in her right hand to cooperate.

She's been on pitocin (the medicine that causes contractions to increase) since 10:00 am, and at noon she received an epidural (so the increased contractions aren't excruciating). They just broke her water, and her contractions are getting pretty strong and happening about every 1 to 2 minutes. In terms of the "stats" of baby preparedness, she's a little more than half-way there. It shouldn't be long.

I'll update this blog later in the afternoon, and certainly once Jude has arrived. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

God bring Jude!

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times...

2008-11-05T14:02:00.000-06:00

I'm torn.

You see, on one hand, last night was a gloomy night for America. Senator (soon-to-be President) Obama's radical position on issues related to abortion (most notably his oft-stated commitment to the Freedom of Choice Act and his opposition to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act) frighten me for the future of life in our country. With one signature, Obama may wipe away three decades' worth of Pro-Life policies designed to protect the rights of the most helpless, voiceless class of Americans - the unborn. This is morally reprehensible and personally heartbreaking. So on behalf of millions of unborn Americans, I am saddened and frustrated.

On the other hand, last night was a terrific night for America. 150 years ago, American society didn't consider black men and women fully human, much less American citizens. Last night, we elected an African-American man the leader of our nation. I can't overstate the magnitude of this occasion. I rejoice with the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesus of Nazareth at this enormous step toward racial harmony. Racism is an evil paralleled by few others, and last night marked a huge victory for the United States of America in the war against it.

Senator McCain's concession speech was a model of humility and grace in the midst of fervent contest. It was classy and elegant and right. Senator Obama's acceptance speech was solemn, grateful, powerful - in a word, inspiring.

So you see, in many ways November 4, 2008 was a great day for the United States of America, with many glorious victories. And yet, these victories are tainted by the ominous reality of the future of millions of unborn Americans. It falls to Christians across the nation to humbly and wholeheartedly support our President, and at the same time to pray fervently for God to change his heart (and his mind) toward the unborn.

America - I give you my deepest sympathies.

And many congratulations.

2008-08-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling better lately. After a week of non-stop vomitting and a three-pound weightloss, my doctor put me on daily medications so I could hold down some food. Ever since, I've been great! The other night I had a craving for some good 'ol M&Ms (which if you know me, I never crave chocolate.) that Kyle picked up from the store for me. I'd expected him to get the single pack, not the 1 pound bag. I had stashed the gigantic bag in a very secret location, the kitchen drawer. This afternoon, for the first time in a week, I started feeling yucky. While in the bathroom throwing up, Collin found the drawer. Madeline ran in to tattle. This is when I found the entire pound (minus the few I'd eaten) of M&Ms all over the den and kitchen floors. You'll notice at the bottom he started helping me by eating some and then putting a few on the counter.

I am a moron. Please enjoy my stupidity.

2008-08-22T08:51:00.003-05:00

A few days ago I paid all of our bills. Yesterday, while looking at online banking I realized that our auto insurance payment had gone through twice. That would explain why the number on online banking was lower than my number in Quicken. Ponder...ponder. Then it clicks. I signed up for automatic draft payments, and I paid the bill myself. That would be why it paid twice. This is not a good thing because that extra payment is a good part of our grocery money. Determined to get the money back, I looked up Allstate's 1-800 number. I pressed many buttons through many prompts. Finally, I was connected to a representative. She asks me for my account number. As I proudly reference my paperwork that I'd prepared, I rattle off the number. "No, it's going to be a six digit number," she says. "Ok, I think. Maybe it's this other number...the policy number, not my ID number." I still had not actually counted the amount of numbers I was repeating. "Nope, that's not it either. It will only be six numbers...but let's just try using your phone number." I rattle off my cell phone number. Not it. I try my old home phone number that I canceled about six months ago. Not it either. Then I look at my paperwork in complete exhaustion. I wonder if I'm in the twilight zone. Then I look at the top of my paperwork and a light bulb comes on. The logo at the top of the paperwork says "Nationwide." I am on the phone with an Allstate representative. She would have a very hard time accessing my Nationwide account. I quickly blurted out my mistake which was followed by reserved chuckles. Then I ended the call by giving her permission to repeat this story to all of her co-workers to laugh at in the break room.

2008-08-18T19:21:00.004-05:00

The "morning sickness" has set in. I would love for someone to tell me why it's only called "morning sickness" and not "all-day-long and even wakes you up in the middle of the night sickness." I think that would be much more accurate. Today I went to a playdate and thanked my hostess by throwing up twice while at her home. Then, I welcomed my precious husband home from a long day of work by throwing up every ounce of stomach acid in my body. I think I forgot how hard the first trimester is. I told Kyle the other day that we're definitely done having kids. He claims I say that every time and then change my mind. We'll see...Here's to puking till you can't puke no more...and then you puke stomach acid.

NEW LOGO!!!!

2008-08-14T23:04:00.003-05:00

Hooray for my amazing photog friend that came over and rescued me tonight. Thanks JILLIAN. You rock. Not only did she help me out with my photoshop need, but she made me a new and fitting logo. I'm so psyched about it! It's funny because the font looks just like my handwriting. When I showed it to Kyle, he thought she'd somehow scanned in my signature. So fun. What do you think???

This is a pic of my friend Julie and her little boy Nathan.

It's an honor just to be nominated!!

2008-08-12T16:46:00.003-05:00

The year our church did Lifeway's Outrigger Island for VBS. I was the photographer for the week. I just got an email from our Children's director telling me that she'd submitted some of my photos to Lifeway's VBS photo contest. Each week, they choose ten entries for people to vote on and then at the end of the month all four week's winners will go head to head. My picture got picked as one of this week's ten! Crazy!! Fun, because I didn't even know it had been submitted. Out of all the Outrigger Island's all over the country...my picture made the cut. NUTS! So, here's my shameless plug to have some fun. So, go vote! I'm number 18. Here's the picture...not one I would have picked as "my best" but that's what she submitted!

http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/mainpage/0%2C1701%2CM%3D201324%2C00.html

The proverbial cat is out of the bag.

2008-08-07T10:23:00.002-05:00

It's true, the Carlson family is expecting a new baby! We just found out about a week ago. I think I'm about six weeks along. The baby should be due in early April, which as far as my pregnancies go will probably mean late March. So far I think it's been my healthiest pregnancy to date! Every now and then I get a little wave of sickness, but mostly I've been great! Praise God for his many blessings and grace in our lives. We look forward to becoming a family of 5!

A new Day

2008-08-05T12:01:00.003-05:00

Last week we went out of town to a conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was called Worship God Live '08. It was AMAZING. The conference was led by Bob Kauflin who has such an amazingly humble heart. The conference was aimed at worship leaders and people related to the worship ministry. Spending time worshiping with 1700 worship leaders (who were all musical) was extremely intense. The sound and the feeling was so rich. I was able to really reconnect with the Lord and the Holy Spirit really did a lot of work in me. I came home feeling very challenged and refreshed. I have a renewed passion to serve my family in joy. I have a fresh outlook on the pitfalls of over committing. God has really renewed my joy - a prayer I've been praying for several months. Praise God!

Amidst all of the new feelings of recommitment, I've started a new plan in order to be more productive and purposeful around the house. I've been getting up at five and working out, having time with the Lord, and then cleaning and doing laundry. It's amazing how much better I feel! I looked around at noon and found clean laundry folded and put away, a spotless kitchen, and happy children. It feels good.

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." -Psalm 9:1

Outrigger Island: Day 1

2008-07-21T20:51:00.006-05:00

Today was the first day of VBS at BridgePoint Bible Church. I think it went well! I am the photographer, so I'm not getting the same kind of one-on-one time with the kids that our great teachers are. It's fun taking pictures. I'm posting some pics of my kiddos during their VBS experience. Madeline was pretending to be a shark....

This is Collin playing house with his little friend, Ava. I guess that's what happens when you have a sister to play with!

My Favorite VBS Memory To Date:
Last night Kyle was looking at his VBS shirt and noticed that the slogan/verse on the back had somewhat of a misprint. Instead of Lifeway's "Living God's Unshakable Truth" slogan, it said something almost blasphemous. "Living God's Unspeakable Truth." Yes, we at BridgePoint Bible Church are teaching our kids that God's word is to be on the DL. Do not speak about it. Forget all the verses about sharing the truth, we hold fast to the "hiding God's word in our heart" verse. Kyle and I got so tickled wondering if anyone else had noticed. Kyle didn't want to point it out and make anyone feel bad so we kept quiet. I overheard one of the girls-in-charge noticing it this morning. She was mortified. It was so sad! Apparently, they'd noticed when the T-shirt guy wrote "BridgePoint Baptist" instead of "Bible" but they hadn't noticed that mistake. They quickly spoke with the T-shirt rep and he said he'd copied the art work from the past eight shirt designs that he's done for churches all over Houston. There are now churches all over Houston with shirts advertising that we're "living God's unspeakable truth." Nice. Thank goodness, they agreed to reprint our 250+ shirts with the correct saying and in the process he also realized that they'd misspelled "Psalms." Ha! The kids went home with a letter today saying that they should bring their typo shirts in for an exchange.

Weekend In Review

2008-07-20T21:08:00.002-05:00

This weekend has been busy but full of blessings. Friday night my mom unexpectedly decided to come for a visit. That was fun. Saturday I had a photography gig in East Houston, which is about an hour from my house. It turned out great and they ended up upgrading their package - more money for me! Today Kyle and I got to sing in church together, which I always enjoy. After church I co-hosted a baby shower for a close friend. Her words of appreciation made it worth the work. We had a great time.

Now for a Madeline tale:

Madeline has gotten into this silly bedtime routine where she likes to have the last word on the "goodnight" words. She uses this to drag out the process. She used to wait until the door was closed and then yell "GOODNIGHT" really loud until we opened the door and responded, even thought we'd said it before shutting the door. Kyle laid down the law and told her that after shutting the door it would not be re-opened for more conversation. She has manipulated that rule by waiting until he is in mid-shut of the door and she quickly shoves in her "Goodnight" as the door is closing. Then, because we do not respond, she starts crying "gooooodniiiiiiight" over and over in desperation. Then if we don't respond it becomes a panicky "I said goodnight...I SAID goodnight....I said GOODNIGHT" all through gasps and tears. Finally Kyle gives in and goes back in to explain that he heard her and that we are in fact not responding because we already said "goodnight" before closing the door. Tonight she pulled it again. Kyle looks at me and asks what to do since he's explained it more than twenty times. I told him to let her scream and cry all she wants and not to go in there. That lasted all of three minutes. Then the sobs got closer and closer to the closed hallway door. Then she started clawing / hitting the door through her yelps. Then she opened the door. Oopsie. That didn't work either. I picked her up, said "We've already said goodnight to each other. Go to bed." and put her back in her bed. She stopped crying because I technically said "goodnight" again. I lose. She wins. We're back to square one. Sheesh.

Four Kids

2008-07-17T08:48:00.002-05:00

Today I helped out a friend who needed a babysitter at the last minute. I watched two very sweet little girls, right around my kids ages. The day went great and I realized that with more kids, they entertain each other! So, maybe we should have ten kids and then they'll clean the house too! Just kidding. We had a fun day. These are my two favorite quotes from the day:

Grace in response to her little sister's elbow scrape: "Look Faithy, you have a little boobie."
_______________________

Madeline: "Do you know what time it is? It's thirty-four. It's time to be careful."

Family Reunion

2008-07-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

This week we had a Carlson family reunion. Kyle's parents, who live in Colorado, came to Texas. Kyle's brother Topher (Christopher Junior) and his family live in Arlington. My parents live in Fort Worth, so we came and stayed at my parent's house while they're out of town so that we could all spend time together. It's been crazy and fun. Madeline had fun playing with cousins. Kyle and Topher had fun acting like goofy boys again. Kyle's parents enjoyed the nostalgia. I enjoyed having Kyle home from work, spending time as a family, and reconnecting. Good times. Tomorrow we head back to Katy!

4th of July

2008-07-05T17:19:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we spent the majority of the day at our church. We had inflatable games, a butterfly release, the "4th of Julympics", a special program, and apple pie. It was a fun day.

Madeline holds a butterfly after they were released. This butterfly was one of the lucky ones that wasn't mobbed by children, meeting an untimely demise. Is releasing captive critters into swarming children really a good idea???

Now that Uncle David has moved to Houston, he gets to join us for family fun! While Daddy was doing work setting things up, Mommy was on "Church Photographer" duty, Collin hung around on Uncle Dayday. What a great Uncle!!!

Collin hasn't figured out the praying thing yet. When everyone else closes their eyes to pray, Collin becomes confused and starts hollering. When someone tells him to "shhhh" he responds by "shhhhhh"ing everyone else, only much louder. This is a picture of him laughing after Daddy told him to "shhh". (To be fare, I was taking his picture while everyone was praying. I'm probably not helping him understand reverence.)

2008-07-02T19:43:00.010-05:00

Welcome to the Carlson Coloring Craziness. We go all out when we color. It's serious business. Notice, there are crayons and scissors, and no paper is excluded. While Madeline was cutting, she informed me that she had to be very careful no to "sharp herself."

Here you will find that Madeline has written her name. She's learned to spell it all by herself too! It's hard when Mommy gives you a name with 8 letters. Underneath, she's drawn a horse. After drawing the body, head, four legs, and tail, she asked me, "Do you want me to draw skin on it?"

The last picture is mine. I picked one of the few pictures that had been scribble-free and decided to neatly color in everything. I love it. It's stress-relieving. When I finished, I looked over my masterpiece to find small words on top. "Find and circle the eggs Curious George will gather." I was so interested in making things look pretty, I ignored the things I was supposed to do completely. Hmmmm....is there a lesson to be learned from coloring???

Things are always out of place when you have children.

2008-07-02T19:26:00.003-05:00

2008-06-30T17:13:00.008-05:00

Feeling stressed by the rising gas prices, Collin decides to use alternative means of transportation to get to work.

Madeline selects an alternative fuel source. She went the good 'ol stick-in-the-gas-tank route.
Check out my amazing kiddos. They rock.

To pay, or not to pay?

2008-06-29T22:39:00.003-05:00

Last summer the kids and I really enjoyed going to the library once a week to check out books. It got us out of the house and gave us some variety in our daily book reading. All good things must come to an end and in true Gray fashion (my maiden name), I began turning books in late and became delinquent on our account. Solution? No, not paying it. Go to a different library! In Katy, there's the Harris County library system and the Fort Bend Library system. So, we just got a card at the other system. Then in TRUE Gray fashion, I become severely delinquent there as well. This time I sort of had a good excuse. The 20+ books and 3 movies that I rented were all due during the time I ended up having unexpected stomach pain followed by even more unexpected surgery. Library books took a backseat on my to-do list. Now I think we owe the second library system around $40 that is simply not in my budget. It is now the middle of a hot Houston summer and the cool library is sounding really nice. New book choices are sounding equally as alluring. My post was titled, "To pay, or not to pay?" but I suppose the answer is simple. I must find a new county's library system to open an account in.

Sick Day

2008-06-29T10:45:00.002-05:00

Just about every time I am scheduled to sing on Praise Team at church, Collin gets sick. It has happened at least the last three Sundays I've been scheduled. I can't ever really afford to back out at the last minute because I'm usually leading a song or doing a solo, so I usually end up taking Collin in a stroller and just keeping him with me. Kyle always asks if we have any friends that don't go to church that could be our "on-call" babysitters, but we just don't! This week I was not scheduled to be on Praise Team so I was anticipating a nice day at church. I was wrong. This time, Madeline through me a curve ball and started running fever yesterday afternoon. Totally symptom-free, out of nowhere, running 102. What is UP with THAT?!?!? Why does this only happen on weekends? Kyle left us at home this morning while he went to lead worship. Upon waking up I discovered Madeline now has no fever. No fever but still not at church (because she hasn't been fever free for 24 hours) tends to be the worst because I feel like it's unjustified absence. I miss the worship and fellowship so much! Now it will be a whole week until I get another opportunity. Let's just hope no one's sick next week. Here's to a healthy family.

Orange Cookies

2008-06-28T08:43:00.011-05:00

Last night we decided to do something fun with the kids. Kyle had a hankerin' for Sweeties, a special sugar cookie that I make. These cookies were a favorite at a local restaurant where we used to live. They're special because they have a hint of almond extract and a sweet icing glaze. They are also a pretty pink swirly color. (Yes, my husband's favorite cookies are pink with icing.) We set out to make the cookies last night as a family. They were looking great and smelling great. The time came to add the red food coloring. This is where I took a serious wrong turn. I accidentally grabbed the "Golden Yellow" food coloring (that in the cup, looked pretty dang red to me...) and colored up that batter. Oopsie. Now instead of fresh, dainty, pink swirl cookies, we have nasty dark orange, pumpkin looking cookies. This perplexes me because they are very much orange and not yellow. Either way, G-ross. On a positive note, I will be consuming fewer cookies due to this misstep. Kyle doesn't seem to get why they're so unappetizing to me.
Go figure.

A Fresh Start

2008-06-28T08:38:00.002-05:00

For several years I blogged on Xanga. It seems times have changed and all good things must come to an end. Xanga has seemed to fall by the wayside and I fell with it. In an effort to revamp my family's presence in the blog world, we've switched to a new Internet home. Welcome to our housewarming. Give us a shout on the comments so we know you stopped by. We'd love to add anyone else's blog site to start making friends with our new neighbors!!

*Carlson Crew* Kyle Lindsey Madeline Collin