The Norman Nest

Little One, You are loved and you were wanted .  Let’s start there.  Your dad and I talked about you for quite a long time, actually.  After the first year/year and a half of your brother’s life and the intensity of fighting for both his life and quality of life it took more time, more conversations, more prayer to be sure that we were ready for a third child in our family.  Then, in ways that are more easily felt than articulated we both sensed a confident assurance that yes indeed, we were ready.  And so when a little plastic stick told us of your existence, we were ecstatic! The first time we saw you on a little screen we marveled and our vision blurred with rejoicing as we saw your little, tiny heart beating fast.  We knew how deeply we love your big sister and brother and instantly our hearts expanded as they filled with that same love for you.  Telling your 3 year old sister you were coming was pure joy!  She was so excited!  In fact, she would tell everyone (cashiers, stra

We are so thankful to let you all know that Nathan made his escape from the hospital Friday afternoon.  He is doing really well and as you can imagine got the best night of sleep last night that he has had all week.  We are thankful for the hospital staff and appreciative of all that they do to get our boy back to health but there is no place like home :) Jonny's parents being here was a tremendous help to us and we are so grateful that since they were already planning on watching our kids they were willing to relocate and pitch in here.  Thank you for your continued prayers and care for our family.

2 Days Ago Thank you all for your prayers and concern for Nathan.  He has continued to slowly and steadily improve since his admission to the ICU on Sunday night.  As of this morning (Thursday) he is still receiving a small amount of oxygen support but that has decreased drastically the past 24 hours and we are hopeful he might be completely off of any additional oxygen at some point in the next 12-24 hours.  He is much improved over all.  At this point besides weaning him from the oxygen, the goal is really to see his digestive track calm down and stabilize.  he always has a hard time adjusting to a change in diet but we need to make sure he can eat, keep and move his food along as we start to think about the possibility of bringing him home at the end of the week.  (Yikes!  I just said it out loud!) 2 Weeks Ago *This little guy loves his dad!* A social media group I was in posed the following question earlier this month:  If you could write a letter to the disabi

.7 inches in diameter and .05 inches thick....  That's the size of a dime and about how fast things changed for us yesterday.   Saturday we were packing our van for a trip to drop the kids off with Jonny's parents in Maryland while the two of us headed to Colorado for a free, all inclusive trip designed to minister to pastors and their wives.  And then Nathan threw up... twice.  And then Saturday night his temp was up and his breathing became more and more labored... Sunday, his PCP sent us to the ER for X-rays and labs and by 10pm last night we we were in the PICU, two doors down from where we spent the month of February last year.   He tested positive to RSV and is currently on pressurized oxygen and getting some aggressive breathing treatments every hour along with steriods.  He has been getting shots throughout the cold and flu season to prevent getting RSV....  here's to hoping they at least help lessen the intensity and length of the virus. Our biggest hope and the th

Dear Diary, It’s been a while!  In fact, you might not even recognize me anymore!  Since my entry last April during my massive digestive system overhaul, a LOT has changed!  I had a couple more stays at the hospital through June.  Then in July and October I had all my fingers and toes released (which by the way makes this whole typing in a diary thing a million times easier) and then my skull got reshaped in December.  I look pretty different.  In fact, my 5 year old buddy down the street thought my “head got switched!”  :)  From what I can tell, they did a pretty good job.  My forehead seems bigger now and the shape is different but they say it will help my brain be healthy while I grow.  Why I can’t just take a Flinstone Vitamin like Madison to be healthy I don’t know...    I’m just glad the swelling is all gone now so I can stop wearing those preppy button down shirts all the time. We had a pretty busy December.  My surgery was on the 1st, then after we got home we had a funer