Pneumonia

We had an evental few days since Sat. night. Maira was hospitalized on Sunday, January 14 at 2am with pneumonia. Michael’s party had been Sat. afternoon and Maira was battling high fevers since Thurs. night. I took her to the doctor on Friday morning, but it looked like it was just a virus. After everyone went home on Sat. after the party, I decided that Maira needed to be looked at again. Her fevers (104 degrees) were not coming down well with motrin and she was suddenly crying about pain in her back. I called the doctor and she had me meet her at the emergency room. Even after the doctor looked Maira over again, she was still quite sure it was a virus. She said she was ordering an x-ray and blood-work just to be sure and to give her a direction as to her treatment. Well, the x-ray showed that she had serious pneumonia in one lung and sinositis. She was immediately hospitalized and given an antibiotic interviniously. She complained of pain and had a fever again at 6am on Sunday. She was hospitalized until Tuesday night at 8pm. The doctor released her because her overall status was very good (no fever, no pain, normal energy, normal breathing), but an x-ray on Tues morning showed little change in the lung. I picked up her x-rays today at the hospital and I will be taking her to a specialist today or tomorrow. She continues to appear well, besides some heavy coughing at times, but I want to double-check things. When I picked up the x-ray today, the technician remembered me and asked me how Maira was doing. I told him she was happy to be home. Well, he couldn’t believe that she had been released from the hospital! That is not very comforting to a mommy! However, we are very grateful for the details that God worked out that showes us His special care. A friend from church was working the night I took Maira in and it was so nice to have a familiar face and someone to help get us situated in the hospital. Maira asked for a banana at 3am on Sunday and I hadn’t brought any from home….but when they brought breakfast at 8am there was a banana for her! Little things like a banana helped me explain to Maira how God was taking care of her! I had told her that she and mommy would be staying at the hospital and that it would be like a hotel, just for us girls! We would have a bed to share, our own bathroom, a little sofa, and a closet! She accepted staying at the hospital just fine and the next day wanted to know where the pool was! Michael was a great big brother and brought her one of his favorite little beany babies to keep her company. He was so upset the first night though when I took Maira to the hospital…he was afraid she was dieing. I don’t know if Maira heard Michael saying this, but she turned to me that first night (after it took 3 attempts to get the IV in) and told me that her yellow bear was afraid she would die. I quickly took yellow bear in my arms and explained to him that we go to the hospital to get better, so he didn’t need to worry about Maira getting more sick or dieing. The few days I spent with Maira in the hospital made me think a lot about families who spend months with infants and children in hospitals who have little hope of recovery. We are so blessed with healthy children!

Pneumonia

Here's my amazingly good-natured little girl! "My First Leapster", crayons, and coloring books are wonderful inventions!

7 Years Old!

Yep! Michael turned 7 on January 7, 2007! We had a hamburger cookout for his party and it was a big success! The kids made really cool paper airplanes from a book I have that teaches all about making paper airplanes and spent most of the afternoon doing test flights with them! Michael got a pilot jumpsuit for his Birthday that I had made for him. He LOVED it! (Brazil is full of wonderful things...such as seamstresses that have amazing talent and who are wonderfully cheap!) I had a picture of one of the planes from the "Esquadrilha de Fumaça" (Brazilian version of the Blue Angels) printed on rice paper and put that on the cake. They each had name tags that told their name, rank, flight hours, type of pilot, and flight position in the "Esquadrilha". They thought that was really neat and lined themselves up in their positions...except for Maira who wanted to be beside her big brother for the picture!

Farm Fun

When we first moved to Brazil 8 years ago, we moved into a kind of doublex, only one house was on top of the other instead of being side-by-side. The couple that owned the dublex lived in the house on the first level and we rented the upstairs house. It was a wonderful arrangement since the couple was retired and around all day long. I had lots of opportunities to practice speaking Portuguese with them and I learned so much about the culture and how to cook Brazilian food! Their 2 sons became like brothers to us and they have loved and cared for our kids as if they were their own grandchildren. We moved out when Michael was just 1 1/2 years old (partly because this Brazilian grandmother wanted to spoil him rotten!), but we have maintained our relationship with them. They now live on a "chácara"...something like a small farm. They have chickens and cows and they plant corn, sugar cane, and various vegetables. They also have lots of mango trees, lemon trees, and guava trees! The kids love to visit them and always want to spend at least one night with them to soak up all of the spoiling rotten that "vovó" and "vovô" (grandma and grandpa) have to offer them! We went out for a visit last week and here are some pictures of the kids giving a bottle to a week old calf. We are always reminded of how God has given us friends that are like family here in Brazil! My cousin, Michelle, is in the process of making the decision to minister in another country. She will be leaving family and friends. Her 2 kids will not see their Grandmas and Grandpa as often. But to her and to others who have this calling, I want to assure you that God will provide a new family for you that will not replace the one at "home", but that will ease the pain of the separation!