Baby Stellan

UPDATE:
*Stellan was moved to step-down ICU and should be moved to the reg. pediatric floor soon!
*After blowing his IV they decided that he did not need another one!
*Stellan is no longer on the anti-biotics
*Stellan no longer needs tons of oxygen, so he is getting much much less!
*Stellan gets to nurse at his next feeding

THANK YOU JESUS FOR ANSWERING OUR PRAYERS AND TURNING THE CORNER FOR BABY STELLAN! PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY!

STELLAN

Stellan is holding in there... they recently turned down his oxygen from 6 to 5 liters per hour. He is still at 50% oxygen. He was able to have 1 oz of Pedialyte, with the possibility of having mama-milk sometime soon. Please continue to keep the whole MckFamily in your prayers... fore more updates go to MckMama's blog www.mycharmingkids.net

STELLAN UPDATE!

Stellan has a very bad case of RSV (Eli was hospitalized for 5 days last year, and we caught it at the very beginning and one of the babies I cared for in Kenya died of it... so although it is a common childhood sickness, it can be quite serious) which stands for respiratory syncytial virus. He continues to be in distress...he is on oxygen and is borderline needing to be sedated and put on a ventilator to get oxygen to his lungs more effectively.

Please keep praying for this MIRACLE BABY!!!

PRAYING FOR BABY STELLAN

Please PRAY 4 BABY STELLAN
he is in the hospital (while on vacation to MckMama's parents house, so away from his doctors) awaiting to hear if Stellan has a really bad cold, rsv, or if it is related to the heart conditions he had while she was pregnant for him (but was born with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM...TOTAL MIRACLE BABY). Stellan's symptoms of coughing, wheezing, having low oxygen sats, choking, and struggling for breath (Signs of a terrible cold that may or may not be RSV...still waiting on that) have now taken a back seat to the fact that Stellan's heart rate is running around 220, way too high.

God has His hand on this precious child and right now I want to pray for him...

Dear Lord, You have already worked miracles in this precious baby's little life. You have allowed so many of us to be a part of this family, due to praying for his very life while he was still being formed in the womb. Right now I just want to come to You and ask that You will do a miracle again. You are the Great Physician an I pray that you will please heal each one of his symptoms (coughing, wheezing, low oxygen, and high heart rate. Please give the Doctors wisdom as they are working along side of his doctors back home. Please give the whole MckFamily (and extended family) peace and comfort during this difficult time of waiting! Thank you for caring and loving for each of your children. I pray that this situation will bring you glory, that is why we choose to praise you in this difficult storm. Amen

Christmas Pictures!

CHRISTMAS CARD PICTURE OF THE FAMILY


CHRIS HAS WANTED TO MAKE HIS NOTICEABLE ENTERANCE WEARING THIS "BEAUTIFUL" GREEN COAT... SO HE WORE IT PROUDLY TO THE CHRISTMAS PARTY AS A JOKE!


IT WAS 77 DEGREES SO ELI WAS JUST WEARING A DIAPER... TALK ABOUT CHRISTMASTIME WEATHER... AS THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IS FREEZING... WE ARE ROASTING!


SO I KNOW I AM A BIT BIAS... BUT I THINK HE IS ONE CUTE KID!


ELI WAS WATCHING THE CHRISTMAS COOKIES BAKE...


ETHAN DECORATED THEM SO NICELY... HE DIDN'T EVEN MIX THE DIFFERENT COLORS OF ICING (HE IS ONLY 5)


OUR SWEET LITTLE PUMPKIN IS GETTING SO BIG!

Not Me! Monday

ok so i am totally not writing my Not Me! Monday on Tuesday night... and of course i would never change the "publish" date so that it says i posted this post on Monday! so join in on all of the fun, and since its been a little hectic with the holidays rolling just around the corner... my Not Me! Monday is coming a little late (but only those of you who actually keep up with my blog will know the truth)!

to follow MckMama and all her friends who also participate in Not Me! Monday's please hop over to her blog and get ready laugh along!

today i most certainly did not tear up at the mere embarrassment of Eli's first true public temper-tantrum! lets just say you could hear him screaming for 10+ minute clear across the room and nothing would distract him or calm him down until this elderly man, who looked like he could have been homeless, came over and started talking to him... that was not us in kroger today!

oh i forgot to post this one a few weeks ago... but i totally did not reach in the back seat to give Eli something just to hit a curb (of course those HUGE ones that jump right out in front of you) right where the drain is located... all to dent my rim so bad that it immediately deflated my tire... oh all on the way to the pediatrician office... that was not me who hit the drain and then drove around on my doughnut for a few days acting like nothing was wrong... oh and i definitely would not have gone to franks car wash with a doughnut on my car!

i am not craving meat so much that i wake up wanting it, dreaming about hamburgers, nor eating a package of turkey bacon within 3 days... nope not me!

i did not just send my Christmas cards out yesterday, i mean today (it being Monday and all), nor did we just take the family picture this past weekend. nope its not me who is behind!

oh and dont let Joanne tell you that i found a thank you card that i wrote her right after Eli was born, but just gave it to her the other day... that was not me!

Not Me! Monday

according to

MckMama

it does a mama good to admit that we are imperfect! if you would like to join in on the fun, and i strongly encourage you to do so, please read the detailed instructions here!

~ i would never neglegect to clean my house, leave the dishes over night, or even leave 4 loads of clean laundry unfolded on the love-seat in our bedroom, because that would be discusting... nope Not Me!

~ i would not put eli down for the night fully clothed without even changing his diaper, just because he fell asleep at the Christmas play we went to see on Sunday night called: This Man Called Jesus (at Lexington Baptist Church... its amazing!)... nope thats Not Me! either

~ while under lock down for 2 hours at Barnes and Noble (yes, LOCK DOWN, because there was an armed gunman robbing a store next door and was on the loose before the cops showed up, so they kept us safe and sound inside the building so they could search high and low for the man... to no avail!) i most certainly did NOT allow eli to pull all these toys and books off the shelves, even after a worker gave me the most annoyed look on her face... hey at least my son was not screaming! (and besides the fact i did put them all away where they belonged)... nope, it is Not Me! who is ok with messes

~ speaking of messes and clanging noises, its Not Me! who is allowing eli to make a mess to my newly cleaned house by spreading all the extra coupons i did not use and all my pots and pans and granola bars all over the floor... nope Not at our house

this is all fictional and would never be depicting the reality of the Steyne household...

I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME!

some of the words might be cut off the screen. click on youtube if you cant see the whole thing or read below to read the uncut version.


"When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. "I am needed here," I think. "They have so little, and I have so much." It's true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in those same people. It's a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day.

The images spilling out of my television showed circumstances that could seemingly only equal misery, and I was fooled. I bought into the lie that circumstance defines happiness. The truth is, in Africa I find hearts full of victory, indomitable spirits. In places where despair should thrive, instead I find adults dancing and singing, and children playing soccer with a ball crafted of tied up trash. Instead of payback, I find grace. Here, weekend getaways are not options to provide relief from the pains of daily life. Relationships and faith provide joy. Love is sovereign.

My new reality… I know now that my joy should have no regard for my circumstances. I'm ashamed by my lack of faith, but at the very same moment I am excited by my new pursuit. I'm forced to redefine the meaning of having much or having little. I'm uneasy with the prospect of change and of letting go, but just the thought of freedom is liberating. I want what I have learned to trickle down from my head into my heart - I no longer want to need the "next thing" to have joy.

I'm not saying that Africa does not need our efforts. It absolutely does need our partnership. But for me, I've come to understand that I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME. Why? Because it is Africa that has taught me that possessions in my hands will never be as valuable as peace in my heart. I've learned that I don't need what I have and that I have what I need. These are just a few of this continent's many lessons. I came here to serve and yet I've found that I have so much to learn, and Africa, with all its need, has much to teach me."
(emphasis mine)

Not Me! Monday

today is the beginning of yet another wonderful winter week, oh so please do NOT tell me because i live in SC, i do not know about real winters! i know, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

even though monday's are most people's least favorite weeks, but for me, a stay at home mom, i actually like them... but that is all due to the fact that i am most certainly NOT addicted to Mckmama's blog! join in on the fun and go read her Not Me! Monday stories

the stories below are most definitely fictional and would NOT be anything that really happened in our house this past week!

i am absolutely NOT hormonal in any way shape or form... so these things did NOT actually happen, they are just a figment of your imagination!

i did NOT cry during the song Christmas shoes, by newsong! NOR did i just bawl my eyes out watching the video on youtube as i write this!

i did NOT cry watching pursuit of happiness last night, while cutting out coupons on the living room floor!

i did NOT get so worried about Chris being late, that when he got home, while i was in the shower, that i jumped out soaking wet, holding Eli and obviously carrying our little pumpkin, just to make my point (in an angry and NOT so loving way) that he needs to call if he is going to be late!


Eli absolutely did NOT urinate on his bedroom floor, after a shower, and say uh-oh!

Eli is always so wonderful and quiet on car rides, so it was NOT him who screamed all the way (1 1/2 hours) home from Charlotte, after a long day of Christmas shopping with all the ladies in the family!

Chris did NOT contemplate building a stand for the Christmas tree, so that its off the ground and Eli nor the dogs would be able to reach it! We would NOT need to do that, because our son does NOT get into EVERYTHING!

Eli has NOT woken me up many nights this week from the 3-5am time frame... no, because he is a fantastic sleeper... or should i say he used to be a fantastic sleeper?

i did NOT nurse Eli, while carrying him in a sling, walking through walmart, hoping that they would come stop me, like they did with another nursing mom and force her to go to a dressing room! she did NOT get so mad that she went to WIS tv station and reported the incident to walmart headquarters, because according to the state of SC a mother is allowed to nurse in public! i was NOT testing out my pregnancy hormones, just waiting for someone to stop me! nope NOT ME!

oh and please do NOT let anyone tell you that i actually edited this post about 5 times! NOR am i pretending that Eli does NOT have his 3rd poopy diaper for the day and that i just want to finish this post!

now its your turn, since i was so brutally honest, to share your stories of what did NOT happen in your house this week!

~water baby~

why part of my heart is in africa

would you even know where the Congo is located, if i asked you?



please take the 12 min to watch this heart-wrenching video. somehow the Congo has escaped our news, even though more people have died there, than Iraq, Afghanistan, and Darfur combined!



i cannot sit still and not help, even if my help may only be prayers, instead of physically be there, i know that the God i serve is the same God that holds the precious Congolese people!


Watch CBS Videos Online

Not Me! Monday

So most of the participants of Not Me! Monday can't wait until midnight when it first turns from Sunday to Monday... well this Mama is up late tonight, with my Sweet little man sleeping next to me, as I am listening to Chris Rice, and as we have kicked Chris out of bed as we will be up every 3 hours tonight for medicine. So here goes my Not Me! Monday... if you want to read the founder of this wonderful therapeutic humor visit MckMama's blog for all the rules to join in or others to read!

I am most certainly not a selfish person who complained about not having any "MY" time today as my excuse to get on the computer to blog...even though I visited with a dear friend from Philly sipping starbucks coffee and enjoying our sweet little men!

I would never let Eli eat 1/2 of a bag of baby carrots in one evening!

We definitely did not lose the tv remote at the mountain house we stayed at last week... and if we did we did not search high and low and in every nook and cranny for well over 2 hours... even searching through all of the nasty thanksgiving trash (you know the oh so nasty turkey parts that some of my family members like to eat)... still to no avail.

I did not set up Eli's pack-n-play in the laundry room of the very large, three story, log cabin, that sleeps 10 comfortably, because that would be crazy (hey it was the only dark room as non of the bedrooms had curtains... you know you are in the boonies when there are no curtains to be found)

This did NOT just happen to me as i wrote my Not Me! Monday...

Eli did not just wake up and want to nurse... then throw up the antibiotic i gave him before bed, along with dinner! i did not gag so much that i had to run to the toilet praying i would not lose my dinner too! i did not see bono gagging as he sat on the edge of my bed as i cleaned up the floor. no this is NOT HOW MY MONDAY OFFICIALLY ENDED... off to bed and praying for an uneventful night!

Not Me! Monday

I am addicted to reading MckMama's blog "My Charming Kids", you know MckMiracle baby Stellan! She has this "therapeutic" way of introducing Mondays into the world by being oh so brutally honest! She calls it Not Me! Monday. It always makes my day to hear her stories and after the Monday I am having today... I decided it was not fair to just enjoy her honesty, but to have some therapeutic blogging time for myself and officially begin my Not Me! Monday

To be honest I have surely I have not allowed Eli to play to his little heart's content with snot running down his face, because I was tired of wiping it for the millionth time today... nor have I wiped it with my shirt sleeve and keep on going like I used a tissue.

I definitely did not allow Eli to carry around a bag of baby carrots in his mouth because the cold carrots felt good on his poor little mouth that is cutting 8 teeth at one time. No that would have been dangerous because he could have bitten into the plastic.

Of course it was not me who allowed Eli to walk around our house buck naked as I cleaned the bathtub for his bath... no because that would not have been smart.

After looking high and low, in all the stack of papers in the office, in the car, on the counter, I did not ask Eli where my drivers license was like he would respond.

I most certainly did not eat chips with french onion dip more than once this week before 9am... even being pregnant that would be disgusting!

Nope absolutely none of these things happened in our house this past week!!!

my growing belly

10 weeks (yes my pants are unbuttoned... at least my shirt covered the evidence)


11 weeks (yes i popped)

wordbank

i figured i would update eli's word-bank for those friends and family that do not live near enough to hear his sweet little voice as often as they would like. it amazes me as he is starting to repeat what we say (which makes us now be really careful of what we say and how we say it... yes dad i still remember your little saying that would annoy me to death growing up)

Falling Leaves

So the week i was in hilton head & tampa was peak week for the vibrant leaves here in south carolina, but here are a few shots i managed to take when i got home. also it went from being in the 80's to 60's so we lost some of the pretty colors to frost shock as our nights have been as low was 26 degrees in october! maybe in for a snow this year. i might as well predict the weather... thats all they do on tv, but i hope i am right, even though the meteorologists rarely are :)

Autum days with Dada

so every kid loves dressing up in their parents clothes... eli loved wearing daddy's boots and cowboy hat!


dada is working on the lake so we took him lunch and enjoyed a little picnic by the water


swinging in our back yard


hanging out with blair in the back of the truck


this is a little older, but eli was helping dada water the grass (notice the "MONK" shirt... hmmm i wonder who he takes after???)

election & relatives

so forgive me... i have not had any way to upload my pictures to my (well its actually chris') apple computer and on top of it we had to battle with apple and get our new computer fixed over the last two weeks... so this is what you get for me not having computer & picture access... LOTS OF POSTS!

so eli was sporting the "i voted" sticker that my mama gave him... i was in hilton head on election day so i was unable to cast my vote for jacoby ellsbury (center-fielder for the boston red sox).


eli and i stopped in hilton head on the way back from tampa to see Great Grandma Pat (my dad's mother). even though eli was sick they enjoyed hanging out together!




of course Meme had to have her turn playing with eli... the fan was a big hit!

PIctures from Tampa

Rachel & Eli

My favorite food in the world is Ethiopian... it was the highlight of the trip!

In house babysitting... the ladies took Eli from the time we sat down and played with him the entire 1 1/2 hours we were there

This Ethiopian lady was Eli's favorite... they all called her Mama!

Rachel & I

Eli was wearing Aaron's "geek" glasses


Chickens walk around Ybor City... total cross-cultural moment for me

This older man made the cigars I bought Chris

LONGEST drive to TAMPA

I will NEVER (i know, "be careful of what you say") choose to EVER go on a road trip with a baby (and a sick one at that) by myself EVER again! Sweet Baby (well he now has to grow up quicker as he is not the baby of the family anymore) Eli was absolutely miserable the ENTIRE drive there and back! Honestly, without exaggeration, he cried, actually screamed for 16 of the 20 travel hours. If you could have been a fly inside my car you would have heard me tell God more than once that I was about to start screaming with Eli. My SweetPea had a legitimate reason for his unhappiness... he was accidentally given two doses of the flu vaccine instead of one flu and one chickenpox/mmr vaccine. Consequently the vaccine gave him the flu... and all the not so lovely side effects... fever (up to 104 a few times), cough, achy body, runny nose, sneezing, and a double ear infection. To top it off he is teething something ferocious in his mouth... 4 teeth are really close and 4 more not too far behind! He sure missed his Dada as he would cry for him. Somehow without getting a good nights sleep or long restful naps, we made the most of being with dear friends. We stayed most of our trip with a girl I met in Kenya and her husband then one night we stayed with some friends I have known for almost 12 years (from the good ol' CIU village days). Speaking of old friends, on our way down to Tampa we stopped in Jacksonville for a nice long "pit stop" so Eli could stretch his legs. During our little adventure we had lunch with one of Christopher's dearest friends from way back when. I have to admit talking on the computer is so very different than meeting face to face, so I was a bit nervous, but Kristen and I didn't miss a beat talking a million miles a minute during our 2 1/2 hour lunch and amazingly Eli did phenomenal, given the circumstances. We then drove to Shands Hospital, where a dear friend/brother of mine, Wyman Bowers fiance was in the ICU after a horrible car accident (more to come on her recovery). It was a joy to be able to give hugs and support to Wyman, Mr Det and Miss Polly, to see Dr. and Mrs Campbell, and to meet Ann Forrest Wilson's immediate family. Eli was a nice distraction to the sad and depressing hospital surroundings.

there is a PUMPKIN in MY oven!

This is a VERY early ultra sound so please dont try to tell me that my baby looks like an alien, dinasour, or some other odd shapped object... look at how cute his/her big brother is... the baby is only the size of a grain of rice in this u/s (6 weeks)

well as we say it around here... im baking a little Pumpkin in my oven. we have chosen to not share this with everyone until i reached a little milestone of 7+ weeks... we are by no means out of the "danger" zone, but when i make it to 8 weeks (wed) is when ill feel out of the woods as that will be past the mark of my previous 3 miscarriages. the reason we are telling you now is partially because i am already showing, but most importantly because we covet your prayers for our tiny baby. i have been on progesterone for a month, to help make this baby "stick" as they call it because a low progesterone level is linked to miscarriages and nursing eli makes my progesterone count a bit lower. so for precaution my dr suggested that i go on it as soon as i got a positive pregnancy test. we have known "officially" since 9-22 (talk about an early birthday present for chris and finding out we were pregnant with eli was my early birthday present) but unofficially i have known since sept 17th. i guess 5 pregnancies in 2 years... im a pretty good judge of my body.

some of you may not know my "history", but i miscarried 12/06, 2/08, 5/08. we have already decided that if this little Pumpkin is not able to be held in our arms, that we will start pursuing the adoption option. if this is news to you... then you dont know me very well because adopting children from around the world has been on my heart since i was a little girl. no matter what, we plan on adopting at some point in time anyways. we are just waiting for His timing... as you know its not the cheapest option.

please keep us ALL in your prayers! we go back to the dr on 11/11 but as of thursday there was a STRONG heartbeat!

National Day of Rememberance

Today is National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death. This hits home to my heart as I have had 3 miscarriages in the last two years. Angie is doing an awesome thing by having all mamas who have lost babies to remember them in her comments and for those who have not lost babies to pray for the other mamas... there are over 880 comments and unfortunately still growing by the minute. if anything its comforting to know that we are not alone. I encourage you to go to her blog
Bring on the Rain: audreycaroline.blogspot.com or click on the little picture on the side of my blog.

Lost In Translation

yesterday Pastor Don shared an amazing example proving that the Bible is reliable. its not like i question the Bible's authenticity, but hearing the historical and archaeological facts resonated in my heart.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (the message)
Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

so here is the illustration he presented.

Plato: classical greek philosopher
was alive 427-347 BC
first copy of written work is from 1200 years after he "said" it
only 7 copies have been recovered

Aristotle: greek philosopher
was alive 384-322 BC
first copy of written work is from 1400 years after he "said" it
only 49 copies have been recovered

Homer: ancient greek epic poet who wrote the illiad
around 900 BC
first copy of written work is from 500 years after he "said" it
only 643 copies have been recovered

New Testament: the inspired word of God
written 40-100 AD
first copy of written work is from 25 years after Jesus walked on earth
19,000 partial copies and 4,000 full copies have been recovered

so what pastor don did to show this analogy...

he used pieces of printer paper...

imagine 699 pieces of paper in one stack and 24,000 pieces in the next stack (for those of you who dont know a ream of paper comes in 500 sheets per package) lets just say that the stack was way taller than any guy on stage! imagine schools make us read the greek philosophers & poets and believe everything in them as "true" yet try to tell us that the Bible is not reliable!

Birthday Boy

i started the family tradition of getting to lick the beater... yes i know it has raw egg in it... but i didnt give him much... we all grew up licking the beater!


when eli woke up we gave him his first tonka truck... partially to keep him distracted as we were cleaning up the house and getting ready for the party.


john deere birthday party... there were 45 people at our house... we are so thankful that it did not rain!


michelle iced the cake for me... i would not have had the patience to do it!


thats our little daddy's boy... he did not want to get dirty (well maybe he gets it from both of us... i wouldnt go in the snow when i was little cause i didnt want to get my white snow boots dirty)


sunny encouraged and bribed eli to get dirty!


looks like she did a good job!


maybe too good of a job, because he ended up throwing cake at her!



all of the little kids helped open the presents...


eli caught on pretty fast and did a great job opening some of them himself


you cant have a birthday without a kiss... i guess they wont make it to sweet 16 and never been kissed!