A Mom's life

    It's ten. I'm tired. I should just be sleeping. Instead I think it would be a great time to do a little web surfing. Go to pinterest be inspired or depressed. Go read about what other amazing Mom's are doing in the blogging world refinishing furniture and doing crafts with their smartly dressed children and then posting pictures of their fresh from the garden dinner they ate. I settle on a mindless show on netflix, only to realize I can do none of this stuff because my internet service is just not good enough to be doing any of these things.
     I have my dear little three year old sleeping at the foot of my bed in his pack n play while the kid's room is getting remodeled . He is carrying on conversations with whatever is in his bed with him. Tonight it is a puppy and a monkey and a paper towel that he is planning on turning into a model airplane in the morning. I wonder why I am looking for entertainment on my computer. I have my very own little bit of it right in my room. The things he says and the expressions he uses never fail to amaze me. Every now and then the conversation will cease while he breaks out in song. Some recognizable some totally and completely made up. I love this little guy. These amazing little boys that God has given us. At times they make me want to scream, they exasperate beyond belief. They fill my life with so much joy and love. I am undeserving of these blessings. I just need to remind myself from time to time that it's ok if our life is a little crazy. A little messy. Sometimes completely out of control. We forget to water the garden, we might eat toast and peanut butter for supper. The only craft of the summer might be me sending them outside with duct tape and gorilla glue. Some days I might let them watch movies and eat junk food all they want just so I can finish my book.
     I hope to be inspired by other Mom's who do a wonderful job being a Mom, but most of all I want to remember the most important task I have is raising up men of God. Guys that are not afraid to stand up for truth. Who will always speak the truth. Who love and put Christ first in their lives, and live lives of integrity. I'm actually not sure how to do that. I just need to give them to God and hope he can work through my mistakes. Thanking God tonight for the wonderful Grace of Jesus. Allowing me the privilege of raising these little boys and working in their hearts because I cannot do it on my own.

8-26-2009

I caught this little guy while fishing for surf perch last weekend on the Washington coast. It made me think twice about my toes after that since I just had sandals on and was wading pretty far out.

Update On Christopher 7-27-2009

Jo and I and the kids spent Thursday night at her Mom and Dad's place. Friday morning started like pretty much every morning in our household. Christopher was awake before anyone else and scurrying around the house looking for something to eat. He came crawling into our bed and said "It's morning time. The sun is up, the sky is blue and the clouds are 'wipe' Get up Mom and Dad. Hurry!. The rest of the day I wouldn't mind forgetting, but it happened so I'll try to give you all an update. Jo and I were upstairs getting ready to leave to go back to our house in Newport. Timothy and Christopher were being crazy as usual. running up and down steps and in and out every door they could find, laughing and screaming. I remember saying why can't these kids just go outside, but neither of us had the energy to actually make that happen. Then we heard this wierd cry coming from downstairs. I had never heard Christopher make a sound like that in his life. Timothy came running up the stairs yelling "Dad I can't get him out!" Jo and I ran down and found Christopher with the sharp corner of a little table jammed in his left ear and with a treadmill that had been folded up laying on top of his head. I remember lifting the treadmill and thinking there's no way this can be happening to us. it was so heavy for such a little head and there was bright red blood coming out of his ear. Jo and I looked at each other and began a mad scramble for the van somehow picking up Christopher, Timothy, and Adam along the way. I think our dog Otis even jumped in just because everyone else was. I held Christopher while Jo drove to the hospital in Bonners Ferry. I kept him talking the whole way, but he got more and more sleepy. In the ER the doctor took a quick look and sent him to CT. A quick 30 second scan of his head confirmed what I had been in denial about the whole time. He had a skull fracture and an epidural hematoma. An artery was bleeding and compressing his brain tissue. This was my worst nightmare come true. I'd spent years as an EMT in Bonners Ferry and I know firsthand how hard it is to get someone with a severe injury to the trauma center in Spokane. We call it the "Golden Hour". Any trauma patient has ideally one hour to be in surgery from the time of the accident to have the best chance of survival. In small towns like Bonners that hour can stretch to 3, 4, or 5 depending on the weather and the availability of a helicopter. I had seen this kind of dilemma before, but just never imagined it happening to one of my own kids. The next few hours without a doubt were some of the most difficult that Jo or I had ever faced. A lot of things happened in sequence that I can't explain or even pretend to understand, so I just have to be thankful and chalk it up to the goodness of God. It turns out that a helicopter was already in the air flying to Bonners Ferry for someone else. Although this person's injury was just as serious, Christopher's case was bumped to the front because of his age. We didn't meet the other family, but I don't even have the words in my vocabulary to express how grateful I am that Christopher could take their helicopter. There was no room for an extra person so neither one of us could go along for the ride. I felt very helpless and humbled. Here I am supposed to be this big, bad nurse and I can't even do anything to help my own son. We left him with the crew and started driving to Spokane with Doug and Deb. We weren't even in Sandpoint when they flew overhead. I remember telling God how helpless I felt and just letting him know there was nothing I could do about it anymore. The pediatric neurosurgeon in Spokane called and told me a repeat CT showed the bleed had tripled in size and they needed to take him to surgery immediately because the pressures in his head were dangerously high and close to compressing his brain stem. I said please do it. He was in surgery before we got there. I found out later that Christopher's right side was not working very well by the time he arrived. Dr. Ling performed an emergency craniotomy, taking a piece out of his skull, removing the blood that had accumulated, shutting off the artery that was bleeding, and inserting a drain to keep pressure from building up later. He came out of surgery with no neuro deficits, which means he could move both sides equally well and knew where and who he was. We just brought him home this morning and I'm amazed at how much he acts like the little boy that woke us up Friday morning. I can't say thank you enough to God for saving his life and for Dr. Ling and the whole health care team at Sacred Heart that helped him recover. Thank you to all of you who were praying for us. I also especially want to thank Marylane, MeLisa, Jeremy, Janice, and my friend Brian who made it to the ER in Spokane to be with him when we couldn't be there. Also a big thanks to everyone else who came and visited us and helped us through his hospital stay. We will always be grateful.

Marcus Byler Wow, that's scarry. Praise the Lord it worked out so well. We were praying for you. I can only imagine how frightening it must have been. Date: 07-30-2009 08:07:49 Delete | Edit

Christopher's Been Doing Great 7-30-2009

This is just a quick update to let everyone know that Christopher has been doing really well at home. He seems to have his same cheerful personality back, and right now our biggest challenge seems to be keeping him "calm and quiet" like the doctor ordered. It's tempting to just duct tape a big wad of pillows around him, because he doesn't always remember that he just had a major head surgery. He talks every day about how soon he will be able to run, jump, and climb. He gets his stitches removed on Tuesday, and he actually told me he wants to go back and see all the "cool stuff" in the children's hospital. We feel very blessed to have him still be with us. Once again I can't thank everyone enough for the prayers and support that have been shown to us each day.

Happy Birthday Christopher 9-15-2009

We celebrated Christopher's birthday last Sunday. It felt so very good to be able to celebrate another birthday with this little guy. Words cannot express how grateful I am to God for showing us so much mercy. He performed a miracle and healed Christopher. I am so overwhelmed with gratitude and humbled when I think of all the amazing friends and family we have who dropped what they were doing on that busy day and cried out to God to save Christopher. I like to believe that Jon and Danny pleaded as well. I always wanted to think that I am able to protect my children from harm and have a lot of control over our lives. Truth is I don't. God is in control of every little detail. That in some ways is a little frightening to realize I am not in control, but more than that is is wonderful to know that this awesome God is directing each step all we have to do is trust him. Who could keep my family better? Most definately not I. We went to see Dr. Ling on Tuesday. (Dr. Ling is my new Superman) he said Christopher is doing great. He told Hans we are very lucky. We were given the green light to let this little guy run wild and free. Praise the Lord. I cannot get my pictures uploaded so I will do that a little later.

Jon and Danny 9-11-2009

Thinking of Jon and Danny. Today is the 10 year anniversary of the accident. Hard to believe it has been that long. I have so many great memories of my big brothers. I miss them so much. Bob Oxley Thanks for sharing Jo - I enjoyed the pictures as well. Me too on the ten years... Date: 09-11-2009 09:09:13 Delete | Edit Rachel Oxley

Our Trip To Minnesota 7-5-2009

We got in the van at about 9:00 on Sunday night. Hans had just finished working 3 twelve hour shifts, and I had just been to the church campout with three kids and a dog. Nevertheless we were excited to be going on a little family vacation. We were well armed with strong coffee, and John Grishams latest novel on cd. The novelty of it wore off in about three hours. I was sleeping before John Grisham was done describing in great detail his latest law student. We finally got to Jerry and Trenda's place at 4:00 tuesday morning. tt They live right on a lake. Which was just great after having the kids cooped up in a car for so long. We sat in the shade and watched the kids go crazy. Christopher loved to jump off the dock. The sad part of it is the water only came up to his knees at this spot. He would not venture out to the end of the dock. Ever the cautious parents we still kept his trusty life jacket on. Timothy caught tons and tons of fish. He was in his glory. Jerry and Trenda our gracious host and hostess. Uncle John with Brook and Adam Hans feeling quite smug that he doesn't have to return to work for another week. Now this is a lively couple of guys. Full of words these two. Reading stories with Grandma. Wish I would have some more interesting pictures, but I tend to not want to do anything when I don't have Adam in my arms so I didn't get a ton of pictures. I put some more up of our trip home, but my baby needs me desperatly right now.

Bob Oxley ndvufIeRSryOzv MAQrjH mgwtsmysidvz, [url=http://uubdgdgtevwz.com/]uubdgdgtevwz[/url], [link=http://bgkoouhpfxrv.com/]bgkoouhpfxrv[/link], http://dijfkvgpcmnz.com/ Date: 07-09-2009 07:07:56 Delete | Edit