October - Down syndrome awareness month!!

It seems every month there is a national awareness month - but actually every month there are many valuable causes hoping for greater awareness in their communities and around the country. Well, October is Down syndrome awareness month. I had originally intended this post to be family update and get more pictures posted - but I think I will do that later this weekend. Today I want to share with you our family experience with Down syndrome and some amazing links I hope you will check out.

This December will be three years since we got the call letting us know Peter had DS. But to understand the influence on our lives we much go back to the start. Growing up I culturally would hear the term "The children pay for the sins of the parents" - so you can imagine where my natural reaction to guilt comes from. I didn't know or see people with disabilities. When we travelled and I saw a disabled individual I was uncomfortable - the child in me wanted to look and understand, but the other grown up side would say "don't stare". At 16 I had graduated high school, and went off to a two year boarding school in the UK. As part of the program we were to enroll and support a community service program. One such program supported disabled and troubled youth in the community. Guess what - it didn't even make my consideration. I admired the folks involved in that program but "it wasn't for me". Jump to 1995..... young married couple. We have one beautiful and healthy child. We thought we were done - our world was going to revolve around her and only her. Sitting on the living room floor of our 2 bedroom apartment - John at work and Alexandra had just fallen asleep for a nap. The TV was on in the background and I was pulled in to something playing around the Special Olympics. I just watched. It made no sense - in my heart I felt something familiar, I watched the families cheering on as these awkward kids with big smiles ran around the track. I felt like it was me but it made no sense. I figured maybe one day Alexandra and I would volunteer.... that moment was written in my heart and at times it would pop back up and I would wonder what about that small period of time made such an impression.

Fast forward to December 2006. We knew the odds and were waiting for the results of the amnio. I had taken the day off work after a doctor appointment and decided to run over to the mall. I needed a distraction. That TV program on Special Olympics kept coming back up in my mind - was that truly my fate? Then I see two young adult boys with DS walking and laughing through Old Navy. With them two very attractive blonde teenage girls. Hmmmm.....what??!! My motherly instinct kicked in - surely these girls were talking advantage of these boys somehow - getting them to buy them stuff? That was not going to happen under my watch. So waddling behind at a distance I kept a close watch - let's face it, pregnant women don't exactly make the best candidates for undercover work. I listened - and then I realized these young girls were mentors. These boys were shopping for their families. And together the four of them were having fun and laughing. What a long way from the days I was that age and didn't know a face with DS from any other face of disability.

Then the call - yes, baby is another boy for the Krause family and he has Down syndrome. I told John as we stood in the kitchen. Trying to get our arms around the words and what this meant. We now knew for sure - short of some miracle our fate had been declared. This wasn't something that would change in a week, a month, a year or a few years down the road...... this was our for ever now. This would be a part of our family - change our family. John finally looked at me, eyes moist and said "I used to make fun of people like that when I was a kid - now that is going to be my kid that other people make fun of...." We just stood there. I tried to say all the right things about being in the US, the awareness, the support, etc....but really? Could I believe those words? Would people really understand and support?

The simple and honest answer is No. Reactions were all over the board - from very loving support, to the very often "I'm sorry - how sad", to complete avoidance, to "at least you know early and can have an abortion". Lucky for me the very first person I called was my amazing pediatrician. His reaction? "Alleluiah! Amen Catherine!! I have been praying for your family and this is just the best thing that could happen. It won't always be easy, but I am here and we will get through it together. Your family is truly blessed". WOW!! That was when my little cause of awareness started. I told John - we will set the tone for how the world reacts to Peter - yes, Peter, our son conceived in love. If we loved him, others would learn to love him. If we smile, others will learn to smile. If we encourage and give him opportunities, others will too. We as individuals set the tone for how others will respect (or not) our loved ones every day - but that tone we set is heightened when your child has disabilities - because often we don't know what to say or how to react - and we look to the folks around us to set that tone. That night I wondered - will his heart be healthy enough for him to be an awkward kid with a big smile running around the track as we cheer on? Will we be one of those families, or will I truly just be a volunteer one day. Time will tell.

So I can throw the facts at you on DS - most common chromosome abnormality, happens in 1 of every 800 births, older women are at a higher chance but the average age of a new mom with a baby with DS is in her late 20's, there is a push to screen all babies pre-natally for DS, when there is a pre-natal diagnosis 9 out of 10 pregnancies are "terminated". Children with DS have a much higher chance of leukemia and other medical challenges, 6 out of 10 will have cardiac issues, some will talk - some won't...... but really - how much of that changes the way you look at an individual with DS? These facts give us intellectual awareness. I want us all to also have a "heart awareness". These individuals are as unique as you and I - they have their own interests and desires, they have their own strengths and weaknesses. They laugh and love more than you and I - but they also can feel sad, mad or down right stubborn. The color of their skin, eyes and hair will be like there families - it isn't determined by DS. Their shorter stature, lower muscle tone and almond shaped eyes unites them together. Why? I think it is God's way of showing us who they are so that we can learn and appreciate.

I know I have many, many, many more years ahead of me - and in those years additional challenges and frustrations will come up - as well as opportunities to rejoice and celebrate. Peter has blessed our family for almost three years now with the knowledge of his specialness and I don't pretend to have the knowledge and experiences that come to those with older children or adults. There is much more for us to learn and experience. So here (after a lot of babbling) is what I want to share with you for heart awareness of Down syndrome - this is what I have learned from my little boy and how he has changed our family..... Life isn't fair, but I still need to appreciate what I have...this one is hard!! Life can be hard and painful, but I shouldn't give up.... only imagine recovery from open heart surgery. Things can be hard to learn, but it is ok to ask for help...... we can all reach up our hand and ask for someone to hold it as we learn to walk our journey. When we feel down and want a hug, all we really need to do is open our arms and someone will fill the space.... and going along with that - short of saving a life - nothing is more important than to fill that space when someone is opening themselves up for a hug. When in doubt smile.... isn't it better to have someone smile back than frown back at you? If you try something you may fail, and fail, and fail again..... but true failure comes from never trying. There is no such thing as perfect - only perfectly you. If you truly want to make the world a better place - simplify your life - if we focus on loving, serving and embracing those around us how can we not make it better? Simply put - the world is our mirror - what we see is what we are...... Peter reminds us every day how special it feels to get a smile and a hug. He has taught us that things don't come easy - but we need to keep trying. We have learned that we are all imperfect - some on the outside, some on the inside - but we must continue to strive to be the best we can be.

Here is how our children have been changed - Alexandra wants to pursue physical therapy and work with children with special needs. She wants to marry a special man who will support her in adopting a child (or more) with DS from other countries and give them love and opportunity. Michael understands different and is proud of it. He takes pride in taking Peter out and introducing him to the world - and loves Peter the most because he knows Peter loves him just the way he is.... he too hopes to one day have a child with DS. Jack has learned that being the big brother means helping and encouraging - he has learned that a big smile, a huge hug and a lot of excitement can encourage people to do what they didn't think was possible - he is crazy loud, but full of love. His teacher just told us yesterday how during class sessions with the counselor Jack was the only child that could read people's emotions and needs by looking at their body language - and he responds with compassion. Tommy knows no world without Peter, and therefore sees Peter as anyone else in the family. It is with those eyes that he sees the world - just as the world if full of differently abled people, so is our family - so that is typical. Gretchen Anne will also not know a world without Peter - and I believe she will be blessed with a best friend who will love and encourage her as much as she will him.

I hope you will take the time to check out some of these other links. The first is a song I found by accident that I found truly wonderful. This is a youtube video/song called "God doesn't make mistakes"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfuaNhXI1Ao&NR=1

For those of you football fans out there - you likely remember coach Stallings - mostly from his amazing success as a college coach. His only son (Johnny) had DS. He passed away not long ago. Coach Stallings wrote a book about the fears, challenges and eventual joy that came from his son. The link below is an interview he gave on his son Johnny and the impact on his coaching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uUVez3kNcI

For those of you that are considering expanding your family I want to throw out a non-traditional thought. There are many children around the world with DS that are not as blessed as our Peter. They are left in orphanages and around age four are often moved to institutions where there life is significantly shortened by lack of care. One woman named Andrea has made it her mission to help these children find families. Single handedly she has helped hundreds of children find families to love and care for them. She is truly changing the world one child at a time. Below is a video she put together about her mission. Even if you aren't considering another child in your future, I hope you would consider a Christmas time donation to this organization that financially makes it possible for families to adopt a child with DS.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=9b08ab7214bb71b4b33e33&skin_id=1602&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

I do want to thank you - all of you - who continue to come and read our blog for your support and love and compassion. We are proud of all of our kids - and we obviously are very proud of Peter. I really do hope that traveling this road with us now has also brought you awareness on DS and the blessings we can obtain in life by embracing those that may seem most different from us.

Love,
catherine

Peter doing art on his new easel (thank you craigslist!)


Peter helping assemble the new train set - yes it is for therapy - keeps him on his feet, moving and stretching and coordinating fine motor for train movement. (thank you sale at Toys R Us)

Standing, stretching and putting dice in a cup....Disney Yatzee (thank you Tommy's friend for a fun birthday present)

Therapy on a tablet learning to draw lines (thank you Ms. Katie and fun games put together by the Air Force Academy to help special kids).

Thank you for Peter for sharing the joy you find in your efforts and accomplishments - we all celebrate those with you!

Senate Bill 1810

(To those of you who read my carepage - much of this is similar to what I posted there except I can be more wordy here!)

This post is not specifically about Peter - but about an issue that has me very upset that I need to share. I know this is rhetorical but...after spending the last year or so reading about Peter - how many of you would say he was a mistake? something to be feared? something to be avoided? someone that by the sheer fact of having an extra chromosone lacks dignity? how many of you think Peter is disposable? a burden? something to be eliminated as there are no longer institutions to shove him in? If you have never before encountered a person with Down syndrome - I hope that through this blog you have been exposed to the beauty, wonder and challenge that Peter is - no different than any other child. But let's be honest - many of us didn't grow up with this exposure. We didn't really know what DS is and what it means to a family. Will the child be deformed? will they ever be able to self feed? will they walk? will they always sit in a corner grunting and slobbering? There is very little I could have told you about DS until we found out Peter had an extra chromosone - one little tiny difference in the structure of his body that makes him different. We read, we reached out to other families and we became advocates for our son before he entered this world. Why? Because we firmly believe in the dignity and value of every human life - EVERY HUMAN LIFE! And I am not here trying to debate abortion - but would be glad to if you wish to take that on - I am here to talk about an alarming statistic that speaks to a lack of education, understanding and support to prospective parents.

In the US today 85-95% of parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of DS will abort the baby. In Europe the numbers are higher, and believed that in the UK it is almost 100%. As many of you parents out there know - the comprehensive screening for "birth defects" generally is given after a woman turns 35. However, the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists (ACOG) is pushing to have ALL pregnant women tested - and specifically tested for DS. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read between the lines - the goal being to further reduce the live births of babies with DS. Dr. Brian Skotko (http://www.brianskotko.com/) wrote a letter to the medical journal that published this initiative requesting that if the testing was extended to all pregnant women - that the initiative include training and education of providers on how to deliver the message and provide accurate/updated medical information so that parents can make better informed decisions. His letter was never published....

This year a group of bi-partisan leaders proposed SB1810 - initiated by Senators Kennedy and Brownback. This SB was aimed at providing accurate and comprehensive information to parents who receive a diagnosis of a disability for their child prenatally or after birth. This was not intended to push the abortion issue one way or another - but strictly to provide information to parents so that informed decisions could be made and support services provided. The SB died this week.

From experience I know what it is like to be one of those parents - scared, confused and looking for someone in the medical community to put it all in perspective. My OB didn't know what to tell me after the amnio - her uncomfortableness was palatable - followed by a "what are you going to do?". The doctors at the hospital followed up with a "we can schedule your abortion today". Only my pediatrician - whom if not for me would not have known the diagnosis - talked to me about what it meant, the challenges and the potential. If this was my first pregnancy, had I been younger, less firm in my beliefs and just as scared I can guarantee you there would never have been a carepage (http://www.carepages.com/ page: PeterAlistairKrause) or blogspot to read about Peter. I would have followed the lead of people that lack in education on this subject and ended Peter's life.

I am begging you to take the time to just sit and think about what this means. Please think about what this means to other little Peter's yet to come into this world. And take action! Let's ensure doctors and parents get support - let's get rid of outdated information, let's get accurate information in the hands of these people. Let's ensure OB/GYN's are trained on how to deliver the message of of prenatal diagnosis. Whether you are pro-life or not, I am begging you to get involved and ensure that information is out there - that is all.

Stretch your imagination with me for a second - think of the challenges you might have encountered in your lives - illness, broken bones, allergies, asthma, etc? Now imagine your parent had been told during pregnancy "your child is a boy - he has a 3% chance at austism, a 80% chance of having allergies, a 70% chance of being diabetic and a 35% chance of having cancer in his life, he will have 8 broken bones and will never be smart enough to ace Algebra"....do you think you would be here today? And where do we go from here? look at the advances we have made in medicine in the last 100 years. The advances will be exponential from here forward. So look 100 years into the future - we could be foretelling an individual's health assessment before they were even born. What will we do with that information if we don't understand it?

All I am asking today is that we ensure that as medicine advances so does the understanding of what is being reported. That as we empower our doctors to deliver diagnosis, they also be able to support and inform patients. I expect that from my doctors now - why shouldn't we expect that?!

I thank you for taking the time to read through my random thoughts as I honestly try to put my emotions together on a subject that is near and dear to my heart. As I find out more ways to get involved in advancing education and support services I will let you know. And please, if you already have some of this information, please post it here as a comment so that we can spread the word.

Love!
catherine

Peter - Announcing Baby Bear #2 (1-19-07)

January 2007

Dear Family & Friends!

First of all, thank you to each and every one of you for the love, support and prayer you've sent our way. John and I feel an incredible amount of comfort knowing we have the most important support we need - spiritual! Second, for those of you who have worked with me at any time, you know how much I love technology yet technology does not embrace me back. I have had a series of laptop issues together with loosing both our computers at home. As a result I've been "re-built" multiple times leading me to loose my whole distribution list. I know I am missing more people than I am including as I no longer have their e-mail addresses. So I apologize for those who will get this more than once, but could you please forward this on as we would like to make sure as many people as possible get the update and can keep praying for Baby Bear.

With that said, John and I went in earlier this week for a follow up ultra-sound on Baby Bear. Encouragingly he seems to still be growing at a healthy pace. And, while he will be smaller in size than we are used to, he is still growing. We found out this time that the prior ultra-sound had noted a risk for a cleft palate. The physician felt that it was probably not the case this time around, but it is noted for additional follow up. The discouraging finding was Baby Bear's heart. It has been identified that he has "transposition of the great arteries" or TGA. For those who have known me since my early days in school, biology was not my strong suit! So I keep this at a simple level just because that is how I understand it. All our hearts have 4 chambers. Blood from the body comes in through the top right, drops to the bottom right chamber and is pumped out to the lungs to get oxygenated. The oxygenated blood re-enters the heart through the top left change, drops to the bottom left chamber that pumps it back out to the body - so one blood circulating system. Baby Bear's heart developed differently - he has two separate circulation systems per se. The blood coming in from the body is going right back out to the body. The blood coming in from the lungs is going right back out to the lungs. So two separate systems which prevent oxygen from getting to his brain or other organs. He is safe during the pregnancy but at birth this becomes a fatal condition. Most patients with this condition also have a hole in the heart that allows the oxygenated blood and non-oxygenated to mix - allowing some oxygen to reach other parts of the body. Baby Bear in true Mortimer/Krause form must do things his own way - and has perfectly healthy heart walls with no holes. This would have been the one time we would hope for a hole in heart!

Suffice to say this news was disappointing and alarming due to the severity. It took about a day to calm our fears and re-gain our focus on the future. As many of you have heard me say - at least we know! And for that we are truly thankful to God each and every day!! Now we know, and now we can prepare. We go back in mid February for a follow up ultrasound and to meet with Dr. Brames, a local pediatric cardiologist to determine our prognosis and treatment plan. While we know that Baby Bear will need open heart surgery, we don't know if they have options to keep him stable for a few days or weeks, or if the surgery will be immediate. We are also assuming we will need a c-section so as to have control over his treatment. Working at PacifiCare/UHC is allowing me to tap into resources I would not normally have access to so as to make sure we truly are getting the best treatment - be that in Colorado Springs or elsewhere. I ask that not only do you keep Baby Bear in your prayers, but also the medical staff that will be caring for him. Thank you!

To end on a more positive note, I wanted to share with you how playful Baby Bear is proving to be already! Every time they tried to zoom into his face to check out his upper lip he would bring his hand up to his mouth. When they wanted to see his nose, he would turn his head. When they wanted to check out his internal organs he would start doing flips as if saying "catch me if you can!". He finally moved his hand to show them his face and I could have sworn there was a smile on his face - as if he was having a pretty good laugh about how hard he was making everyone work. To all you mom's out there, you know during pregnancy how you get to know your baby even before they are born. In my heart I can already hear his laughter. No doubt he will be keeping us on our toes each day. We look forward to those days still to come with God's will......the first smile, the first clap, the first steps and the first true belly laugh. We know it will take longer than with our other children, but I so look forward to the day I can take him to the beach and see the expression on his face as he feels the sand squish between his toes. And if for some reason those days are not to come, we know that in his short life he has already touched so many lives and spread such love. He truly has blessed us so much more than we can imagine and for that too we are thankful!!

God bless all of you!!
catherine, john & family

( I am including my original e-mail as I heard in and out of work that not everyone got my original e-mail...sorry about that - I got tons of error messages when I sent it out over the size of my distribution list - so hope it goes through this time since I lost so many addresses)

PS. A mis amigas de San Silvestre - sorry mil veces por no haber respondido a todos los mensajes de amor y apoyo que me mandaron - prometo hacerlo pronto. Entre los dias de vacaciones, Navidad, y la locura del trabajo llego al fin del dia cansadisima. Kitty - thank you!; Sandra - si, si,si mil veces si - ya te mando mis datos y los de mis padres; Lala, Ginny, Patty y las otras profesoras - ya con tiempo estare buscando informacion sobre metodos de ensenansa, etc y si me podrian ayudar seria maravilloso - y Lala, si me puedes poner en contacto con alguien que me pueda ayudar entender las opciones de physical therapy que ofrece el estado de Colorado te lo agradeceria un monton - entiendo que se tiene que coordinar en el school district y mis hijos estan en colegio Catolico y no se nada de los school districts; Karen - thank you por el resumen de la fiesta - senti estar alli con todas ustedes - tanto asi que tuve que sacar mi musica de los 80's - y Ushi - gracias por acordarte de mi esa noche - no te imaginas cuanto me emociono!! Maga - gracias por la llamada. John a mi costado "talk to her in English, I want to hear it all!" y Alexandra con una foto de ti, cargandola de bebe, ensenandole a Michael que ella si te conoce! Gracias por todo chicas, de verdad que se pasaron con el apoyo y el amor y las oraciones - THANK YOU!! Besos...catherine


**************
December 2006
Dear family & friends!
For some of you this may be an update, and for some it may be breaking news. Please know that if this is your first update, it isn't because we didn't want to share, but rather because we needed to care for our family first before sharing the news. John and I are expecting Krause baby #5! Baby #5 - lovingly known as Baby Bear - is due in mid-May shortly before school is out. During what I thought was a routine ultra-sound it was very evident that Baby Bear was not developing "normally". An amniocentesis and several weeks later we have discovered that Baby Bear has Down Syndrome. While this is obviously not what we expected, we are holding on to our faith with as much strength as we can. We shared the news with our children last night during our Advent reflection and now feel that we can share it with our larger circle of friends and family. I want to share with you a bit of our family discussion so that you know our perspective a nd hop e for your support of us and our children through this life changing opportunity.
First, John and I view every life as a gift from God - and not a commodity we can chose to dispose of for any reason. Secondly, although we struggle with this sometimes in our day to day lives, we view each challenge as a gift from God. An invitation from God to take a short cut to get closer to Him. And while these challenges may sometimes feel bigger than we can handle, if we ask God for the graces we need He will shower us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we talked with our children we started off explaining the medical and physical side of Down Syndrome - then accentuated that although there are some differences they will see with Baby Bear, that there are many more things that will be alike to them. We shared how lucky we are to have this news early so that as a family we can prepare the best home and family life for Baby Bear. We talked about making new friends through this. That we will meet many other families with child ren who have DS, and that through them we will continue to learn and grow, and one day we can help other new families. John talked about how some people don't understand what this is, and therefore can be mean or hurtful, that we need to stay strong and that we will make the world better by showing how to be loving instead of mean. We then focused on our faith in this situation. I told the kids that God loves and trusts our family very much to give us Baby Bear. That when He finds a home for His little souls that need extra care He looks for families where He knows there is a lot of love. I explained that while we are all imperfect we are usually imperfect in our hearts and need extra work to make them pure and loving, but that Baby Bear has different challenges, and that is why God gave him a pure and loving heart. So while we will help Baby Bear walk and read one day - he will help us to love unconditionally and enjoy the little things that we forget God gives us ever y day to remind us of His love. Although there is some fear, the kids are excited about what this means to our family, understand that things will change, but are looking forward to having Baby Bear join us. Now we are all praying for his heart and other physical parts that we still need to have checked out in the next ultra sound. Children with DS have a higher chance of health issues - some of which we will be able to tell through the ultra sound, and some that we won't. Regardless of your faith life (or you think we are just religious nuts! :-) ), we ask that you please keep Baby Bear in your thoughts or prayers so that he will continue to grow healthy. We ask that you please keep the rest of us in your thoughts or prayers - we know that while now we can prepare, as we get closer to Baby Bear's arrival there will be an increase in anxiety and fear - and that we will be relying on our friends and family to give us that extra lift when we might feel overwhelmed. I ask too that you keep John in your thoughts and prayers as he discerns God's calling for him - personally and professionally. I ask for your prayers and thoughts so that I too may be open to my calling in this situation and that I may continue to grow as a mother and wife to best care for my family. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and support.
catherine

Peter - Announcing Baby Bear #1 (12-18-06)

12-18-06: we sent this out via e-mail.
Dear family & friends!
For some of you this may be an update, and for some it may be breaking news. Please know that if this is your first update, it isn't because we didn't want to share, but rather because we needed to care for our family first before sharing the news. John and I are expecting Krause baby #5! Baby #5 - lovingly known as Baby Bear - is due in mid-May shortly before school is out. During what I thought was a routine ultra-sound it was very evident that Baby Bear was not developing "normally". An amniocentesis and several weeks later we have discovered that Baby Bear has Down Syndrome. While this is obviously not what we expected, we are holding on to our faith with as much strength as we can. We shared the news with our children last night during our Advent reflection and now feel that we can share it with our larger circle of friends and family. I want to share with you a bit of our family discussion so that you know our perspective and hope for your support of us and our children through this life changing opportunity.

First, John and I view every life as a gift from God - and not a commodity we can chose to dispose of for any reason. Secondly, although we struggle with this sometimes in our day to day lives, we view each challenge as a gift from God. An invitation from God to take a short cut to get closer to Him. And while these challenges may sometimes feel bigger than we can handle, if we ask God for the graces we need He will shower us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we talked with our children we started off explaining the medical and physical side of Down Syndrome - then accentuated that although there are some differences they will see with Baby Bear, that there are many more things that will be alike to them. We shared how lucky we are to have this news early so that as a family we can prepare the best home and family life for Baby Bear. We talked about making new friends through this. That we will meet many other families with children who have DS, and that through them we will continue to learn and grow, and one day we can help other new families. John talked about how some people don't understand what this is, and therefore can be mean or hurtful, that we need to stay strong and that we will make the world better by showing how to be loving instead of mean. We then focused on our faith in this situation. I told the kids that God loves and trusts our family very much to give us Baby Bear. That when He finds a home for His little souls that need extra care He looks for families where He knows there is a lot of love. I explained that while we are all imperfect we are usually imperfect in our hearts and need extra work to make them pure and loving, but that Baby Bear has different challenges, and that is why God gave him a pure and loving heart. So while we will help Baby Bear walk and read one day - he will help us to love unconditionally and enjoy the little things that we forget God gives us every day to remind us of His love. Although there is some fear, the kids are excited about what this means to our family, understand that things will change, but are looking forward to having Baby Bear join us. Now we are all praying for his heart and other physical parts that we still need to have checked out in the next ultra sound. Children with DS have a higher chance of health issues - some of which we will be able to tell through the ultra sound, and some that we won't. Regardless of your faith life (or you think we are just religious nuts! :-) ), we ask that you please keep Baby Bear in your thoughts or prayers so that he will continue to grow healthy. We ask that you please keep the rest of us in your thoughts or prayers - we know that while now we can prepare, as we get closer to Baby Bear's arrival there will be an increase in anxiety and fear - and that we will be relying on our friends and family to give us that extra lift when we might feel overwhelmed. I ask too that you keep John in your thoughts and prayers as he discerns God's calling for him - personally and professionally. I ask for your prayers and thoughts so that I too may be open to my calling in this situation and that I may continue to grow as a mother and wife to best care for my family. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and support.
catherine