It is about time I posted a little tidbit about the sewing side of this blog. If you have watched SewingASeed on facebook, you know that I was selling monogrammed Easter baskets. They are these really cute canvas market totes, completely collapsable, mesh pockets on the inside, 9 color options. Just awesome! I love them! I actually sold quite a few of them, in a very short amount of time.
And here is the story, behind the story...

My husband and I have taking Financial Peace University, Dave Ramsey class. It has been great for us- realizing our debt to savings ratio and realizing we have a lot of work to do. We had to put our budget on paper to see where every $ is going, it became shockingly clear that we were not tithing correctly. So, for April, I wrote the tithe check and tried not to worry about what bill we couldn't pay that month. I do believe that God does pour out blessings to those who tithe. And don't we all want to be blessed?!

Malachi 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for the such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."

About a week after I wrote that check a friend of mine asked me if I could make some monogrammed easter baskets that she saw elsewhere. I found the wholesale site, and ordered some. I then posted the monogrammed Easter baskets at various places. I hoped to sell 40 in order to bring in some extra $. I sold over 125! Only a fool would not give God the glory.
And just in case you didn't get your basket yet, they are still for sale. They have a million uses- here are just a few.

*Baby gift- get the baby's name monogrammed on the tote, and fill it will diapers, wipes, and all that good baby stuff.

*Wedding gift- embroider with the happy couples new last name, and fill with some items for a picnic

*Graduation gift- have the graduate's name using the school colors on the basket and fill with monogrammmed towels.

*Teacher Appreciation- embroider the teacher's name and fill with fun school supplies

Can you hear me now...Good.

Matthew's last appointment at the Children's Hospital was a check up with audiology and the ear/nose/throat doctor. With just one ear, we want to do everything we can to protect his hearing. He got a tube in his ear last April 2010 and a few months later had a hearing test at audiology. They concluded that he has slight hearing loss. I refuse to accept that, but believe it is rather his reactions to the way hearing is tested. Trust me- this boy knows his mama's voice!

And so this past Jan. his hearing is tested again. We go into this tiny storm shelter type of room. He is sitting on my lap and facing a nurse who is using toys and books to capture his attention. Meanwhile there is another nurse behind a 2 way mirror who will speak or make noises that will come through speakers in the room, either on his right or his left. They are watching for his reaction to her noises. Maybe with Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, it may take longer for his brain to process information. So even if he can hear, does that mean he will show a reaction to this lady's voice?

An interesting thing happened. As she would make noises, he would show little or no reaction. Keep in mind, there is someone if front of him trying to keep his attention on her. But when she would say his name, "Matthew" he would look for her voice. Kind of makes you wonder if he is really smarter than we are, and knows it is not worth his time to react to every noise if he doesn't think it is directed towards him.

But also made me think about all the times I desparately want to hear a word from God, and expect to audibly hear Him saying my name, all the while missing all of those "noises" that He is using to speak to me. As a wise man often says to me- "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the WORD OF GOD" (Romans 10:17) Want to hear God's voice? Read the Bible.

They concluded that he can hear, and would test it again in about 6 months. So we had a few hours until his ENT apt, and went to the hospital cafeteria. Pretty good food and has large windows that overlook the state capital. As we were eating, Matthew's twin sister sat down at the table next to us. This sweet little girl about his age, with white blond hair, also missing one ear.

We spent some time outside and you can see Matthew enjoying the waterfall.

Finally time to see the ENT doctor. Our big concern being that he has had an ear infection pretty much everyday since October. The tube he got in April was obviously gone, and he needs a new one.

Daddy and Matthew are ready for the doctor

Still waiting for the doctor

And the doctor did come. He sees hundreds, maybe thousands of kids- but he remembered Matthew. He said "this is the baby that would only eat while he was sleeping". And more than once he commented on how much Matthew has progressed, how good he is doing. Still brings a little tear to my eye. Of course it would be perfect if he was developing at the same rate as his peers, but really he has come so far, and made huge strides. He inspires me.

Matthew will be getting a tube in his ear on Tuesday, also removing his adnoids, and doing a CT scan to understand if he has an inner ear on his right side. Right before he wakes up, his feeding button will be removed and a new one put in (hopefully one that doesn't leak!) As any mama would be- I am a little anxious. Please pray for the doctors and anathesiologist and of course Matthew.

Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3

Patience

I have a quiet, relaxed personality. I don't get over excited about much of anything. A friend of mine once told me that I have the Patience of Job. I can't say that I have ever experienced anything near what Job did. But I have a couple of boys that could test anyone's patience! (just kidding- they are angels.)

I don't think I understood patience until Matthew was born. We knew Matthew may have delayed development, but we were not sure what that meant. As a mother, you watch for every milestone that your newborn meets and you proudly announce to the world that your child is more advanced than 90% of the babies his age.

When Matthew didn't cry until he was 1 month old, I guess I should have figured that all other milestones would be delayed. I kept watching for him to smile at me. I knew that would usually come around 5 weeks. But that day came and went. I think he was nearly 3 months old before I saw a slight smile. During that time, we dind't know what to expect. If he isn't meeting milestones, then what will his future be? There was a part of me that wasn't ready to accept his delay. If I accepted the fact that he is delayed, then I would have to come to terms with the fact he wouldn't fit into society's understanding of "normal". But now I ask, what really is normal?

Over time, we realized that Matthew is meeting milestones, but he is on his own schedule. Knowing this, we have no reason to believe he will not meet a milestone, but we just do not know when. We must have patience.

Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. James 1:3

I do believe that most of his delays are related to his low muscle tone. You take for granted how much muscle it takes to just hold up your head. The muscles around his eyes were also weak, and he didn't focus or make eye contact with me until he was about 3 1/2 months old. I think he was about 6 months old when he was able to roll over. It was 13 months before he coudl sit up.

Swallowing was extremely difficult for Matthew due to the muscle in his esophagus. He may not have completely mastered swallowing, but he is doing much better. You can't survive without swallowing, and he had so much trouble with the bottle, that he did eventually get a button for tube feeding. We know it is temporary and he will eat by mouth, we just don't know when.

Friends of mine have babies who are younger than Matthew, and they have been walking for a while. I have to remind myself that Matthew is so unique and he is not going to follow the same schedule as his peers. He mastered army crawling when he was nearly 10 months old, but wasn't quite strong enough to lift up his body and crawl with his knees. Unfortunately, with his belly on the ground, his button would pop open, and he would leave a trail of milk behind him.

Every milestone is a huge celebration. He did start crawling a month ago. I will never forget the feeling when I saw it for the first time. Amazing!

(It took me forever to post this because I was trying to up load a video of him crawling, but can't figure out the video, so you will just have to look at these still photos and imagine him crawling)

I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1

Every creature of God is good

The other day, Matthew and I were at the fabric store. If you ever need to find me, you may want to try a fabric store. All of a sudden, this woman came out of nowhere and said, "what happened to his ear?" I could feel my face getting red. I was angry. Why was she asking this? Was it really important to her to understand why he doesn't have an ear? Does she ask questions of every handicapped person that she sees? She then said that she is a nurse. I have no idea what being a nurse has to do with being nosey of a child's handicap. What if I asked her what happened to her waistline, and I needed to know because I used to be a runner...



I have had this question by little kids, and it makes sense, because they are taught that people have 2 eyes, 2 ears, a mouth and a nose. When I simply explain that God made him this way, they find that acceptable and move on.



We have been to the Children's Hospital in Little Rock a lot in the past 18 months. Every time I go there I am humbled. Some children are dealing with some very serious stuff. None of us should take for granted what we have. When we are at the Children's Hospital, people don't stare. They don't act strange when Matthew gets excited and his head bobbles. They smile. They have a look of understanding in their eyes and they smile.



Something to think about the next time you see a handicapped person. They are just like you and me. Everyone of us has issues, some are just more visibly obvious than others. We are all children of God and special in His eyes. No person chooses to be handicapped, and no parent prays to God that they will have a child with special needs, continuous doctor appointments, expensive therapies, and physical and social challenges.

Every creature of God is good. 1 Timothy 4:4

I know some of you are curious about Matthew's progress. All you have to say is, "do you mind if I ask you about Matthew?" And I would be happy to tell you about all of the great things he is doing.

Christmas Stockings

The countdown is on! Only 55 more days until Christmas, my most favorite holiday. I usually start decorating the day after Halloween, so we have time to really enjoy it. I am so excited about my personalized Christmas Stockings. They come in two styles: a traditional shape, and a high heeled boot. I can make them in whatever colors you want, but the most common color combinations are shown below. Most have a velvet and suede fabric combination with beautiful beaded trim. And they are so special- because they are presonalized, with your name. No one else will have a stocking quite like yours!

I think the boot turned out amazing! Of course it can also be done in many other color combinations. I am also working on a leopard print boot.

If you are in the Northwest Arkansas area, please stop by Signed, Sealed, and Delivered next Sunday, Nov.7th for their Christmas open house. I will be there, taking orders for personalized Christmas Stockings and a few other great items. See you there!

(If you aren't in the area, and want your own stocking, just contact me directly.)

One of a Kind

When Matthew was born, one of the many tests that he had, was a chromosome test. He was about 2 weeks old when we received the phone call saying that Matthew has an extra chromosome, and we would meet with the geneticist in about 3 months. They didn't give us a lot of details, except that the extra chromosome has a piece of 7 and 8 on it. The most well known extra chromosome is down syndrome, or trisomy 21, meaning that the extra chromosome has attached to pair 21. As a parent, I wanted to know what Matthew might be dealing with so I googled "trisomy 7" and found out that there are no live cases of trisomy 7, all would miscarry. Not always a good idea to search the internet for answers.

We finally met with the geneticist. He asked what questions we had. We wanted to know what Matthew's syndrome was called, what other kids like him dealt with, and what his mental capacity would be. The doctor explained that the extra chromosome had a piece of 7, 8, and 22 that had fromed 1 chromosome, but it was not attached to a pair, just hanging out by itself. Then he explained that there is a data bank holding the information for all chromosome disorders in the entire world. There is not a single match to Matthew. In the entire world! So the doctor could not answer any of our questions, but we actually found that to be good news. We can't compare him to anyone else, so he has no limitations.

Before Matthew was born, I heard someone say that "all children belong to God. We just get to take care of them." Matthew may not be like anyone else, but he is a child of God. Even though we don't really know what lies ahead, I am honored that God gave him to us.

Sometimes it doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't God make all children perfect and healthy. Why would a child ever have to suffer? And why would a baby's life on earth end too soon, while her family and hundreds of people were praying for her? My cousin's sweet 7 week old baby girl went to heaven last Friday, due to complications with heart surgery. At her funeral this morning, the pastor read this verse:

Psalm 139: 13-16. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

God knows what Matthew is going through- He made Matthew. And God knew all about sweet Hadley. We may never comprehend God's plan in times like this, but we must trust that He has a plan. In Hadley's short 7 weeks on this earth she has had an impact on more people than most of us do in our entire lives.

Hadley's life is shared at hdstones.blogspot.com. Please pray for her parents and family to find strength and comfort.

Silence

Matthew was born 6/22/09. It was a scheduled C section. By the time this day came, I was fairly confident that God had worked a miracle and Matthew would be perfect in every way. Wouldn't that be the perfect story of the power of prayer. What a great testimony I could share with everyone. In a C section, you can not see anything that is going on, but you can hear everything. I can still remember the most beautiful sound in the world when Reece was born by C Section- I couldn't see that he was born, but I heard him cry! Amazing! It is hard for words to describe. As Matthew's C Section began I was ready, waiting for that cry. waiting. And then I knew he was out.

Silence... I strained to hear anything, just silence...

Then the silence was broken by the doctor "where is the pediatrician! this baby has issues!" I saw the nurses take him over to the warm table to clean him up, and I heard a tiny little moan. That was it. Just a moan. As the doctor fixed me up, I asked JD if Matthew looked ok. He said yes. As my doctor was finishing me, he said rather matter of factly that the baby was missing an ear and that is not something that you would ever see on a sonogram. Isn't it crazy that a sonogram can pick up the slightest piece of a brain that does not exist, but can not see the absense of an ear.

When the pediatrician saw Matthew in the nursery, he was taken to the NICU, where he would spend the next 7 days. They ran numerous tests on him in his first 2 days, he had wires everywhere; oxygen, IV fluid, heart rate monitors. At one point they tested him for seizures and placed wires underneath the skin around his head, for 24 hours. They checked all of his internal organs, eye sight, hearing. It breaks any mother's heart to see her baby connected to that many wires. He had an MRI done on his brain. They even took blood to check for any chromosonal abnormalities.

After a few days, my hosptial stay was up, I could go home. But how can a mom go home and leave her baby? I couldn't make logical sense of it. He had to stay. He was not eating well, not gaining weight. I later realized that it was his difficulty to swallow which caused feeding to be such a struggle. Feeding never did get easier, but eventually he did gain enough weight to be sent home. My mom and I thought that once the IV fluid was removed, he would experience hunger and cry. He didn't. In fact he didn't really cry until he was a month old. Silence is an interesting thing. Sometimes God uses silence to get our attention. Once everything is completely quiet we finally listen to Him.

I like this verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1,7- To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...A time to tear, And a time to SEW, A time to keep SILENCE, And a time to speak.

God definately had my attention. He has the power to do anything. Nothing is impossible, so why didn't he heal Matthew? Maybe my testimony isn't quite complete yet. Maybe God wants more from me. I don't know God's plan for Matthew, but I do still believe in miraculous healing. God didn't heal Matthew (at least not yet!)