Uncle John Part II

Well, I thought I'd give you a quick update on John. His surgery went just as planned last Thursday and he was able to come home on Friday. He's been in a little bit of pain, so hasn't moved off the couch much (but wait, how is that any different than normal? Just kidding, John!)

It was a little strange visiting him at Children's Mercy downtown (This was John's last surgery at Mercy as he will turn 19 this summer. He's definitely gotten to know the place well in his 18 years of life, though.) It was the first time we'd been there since we were discharged back in January (all of Oliver's follow-up appointments and his outpatient surgery were at the South campus). As soon as we walked through the front doors, it was a little like deja-vu and I got a pit in my stomach. It got even more familiar because John's room was in the same wing of the hospital as the NICU and even on the same floor as the PICU. Even though I was carrying my healthy baby with me, I couldn't help but feel sad--I am just so thankful that all of that is behind us now! I took Oliver to the NICU to visit one of our favorite nurses; she couldn't believe how big and healthy he looked. I'm sure those nurses see enough sad outcomes in their careers, I thought it would be nice for her to see one of the "success stories."

So today John thought it would be fun for he and Oliver to put on their matching shirts for a little photo shoot. Can you believe they make these shirts big enough to fit my 200+ pound "little" brother?? Who has the bigger smile in this picture? I think Oliver gives John a run for his money.

Oliver has decided that he'd rather not think about hospital stays anymore and he would like to take the shirt off please!

Uncle John

My kids love their Uncle John! John is on my mind for 2 reasons today. . .

#1--John will be having surgery tomorrow (Thursday, June 26) to replace his baclofen pump (an implanted pump that delivers medication continuously to help reduce spasticity in his muscles). This is the 5th surgery he's had for the pump in the past 11 years. Please pray that surgery goes well and he's able to come home on Friday as planned.

#2--I'm not sure if you've heard of the "Big Mac Chant-Off" or not, but this is a contest McDonald's is running to see who can do the Big Mac Chant the best. Anyway, John has entered into the contest, and we need everyone to vote for him! For those of you who don't know, John has a "gift of rhyme" and loves to compose/perform Christian rap. Check out his myspace page if you're interested in listening to any of his songs http://www.myspace.com/whytelyte (his stage name is "WhyteLyte"). I think he's got some serious talent. And if you have a myspace account, please vote for his Big Mac Chant!

7 Months Old!

Our happy baby is 7 months old today! Look at how far he's come!

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

Swim Party

Sydney & Jackson had a swim party at the Baldwin pool to celebrate their birthdays with their friends. It was a gorgeous evening, and all of the kids had a blast.

Oliver and grandpa enjoying the water.

Sydney getting ready to jump off the super-high dive. . .
Look at those moves!
Now it's Jackson's turn. . .

This one ended rather painfully--but it didn't keep him from going again!

The slide that I thought Calvin would like going down. . .

The slide Russ thought Calvin would like going down. . .Okay, so Russ' slide was more fun.

Tyler got in on the action, too.

Grandma Cheryl re-created her famous Jayhawk cake for the occasion.
And all the kids should have slept really well that night!

Our Budding Photographer

I gave Calvin my old digital camera when we got our new one. He loves taking pictures and then looking through the old pictures stored in the camera. After he was done playing this evening, Russ and I actually looked through the pictures he had taken, and we got a kick out of some of them, so thought we would share them with you.

His favorite subject is definitely Oliver.

Sometimes he likes to photograph still life, like this soccer ball.
Sometimes he gets a little abstract, such as Oliver's leg here.
And here is an "ultra close up" of Oliver's head--he's quite creative, we think.
He must have asked Oliver for a serious, "deep in thought" pose for this one.
Then he decided to incorporate his favorite still life subject with his favorite human subject.

Although Oliver is most fun to photograph, he branched out a bit to get me in a picture.

And then he got mommy & daddy to pose for one (If you saw how he holds the camera to take these pictures, you'd agree it's a small miracle that he ever gets anything of substance in the shot).

These were a couple I found on the camera from a few weeks ago that actually turned out pretty cute; of course, Oliver makes it very easy to take a cute picture!

If you're interested in having "Photos by Calvin", we'd be happy to hire him out!

VBS

Calvin had so much fun at his first Vacation Bible School. The theme was "Friendship Trek" and the kids learned all about how Jesus is their "Forever Friend."

Calvin was with the 3-4 year olds (even though he isn't 3 yet), and they were so cute listening to the Bible stories each evening.

Calvin helped with the puppet show one night.

After story time, his group went to music. They are getting pretty jazzed to sing, as you can tell.
Now they are up and rockin'!

After music time, they got to make some really cool crafts.

Then on to snacks!
These snacks looked just like a campfire with pretzels and candycorns--too cute!
The s'mores were a favorite of most kids, but not Calvin--a little too messy for his liking.

Then Calvin's favorite part--games outside! He's always happiest playing outside.


Oliver was well taken care of by Kathy & Darlene, a couple of his "church grandmas" while Russ & I helped with Calvin.

Calvin sure had a fun week of learning and playing!
The final evening after the rain, this beautiful rainbow could be seen over campus.