~ Update on Jake ~

Thank you all so much for praying for Jake!!!! God is healing him more day by day. The Valium Jake was taking didn't seem to be helping at all. If anything, it was making things much worse. Jake was miserable and in an incredible amount of pain with his neck and the Valium made him completely loopy and unable to sleep for more than just a couple of hours at a time. We had a few very bad days at our house.

By Wednesday, I realized that the swelling on the left side of his neck was getting much worse. At some point it finally occurred to me that the swelling was on the same side as his ear infection and I gradually started to put two and two together. The doctor put him on antibiotics Wednesday for the ear infection and Thursday he seemed a bit better pain wise, but was still unable to move his head to the right. We went back to the doctor on Thursday for more bloodwork and x-rays on his neck to check for an absess. The x-rays were clear and his white blood cell count had gone down a bit which meant that the infection was getting a little better. This was all very good news! The doctor determined that what started out as an ear infection had moved into the lymph nodes which was causing the extreme swelling. She gave him an antibiotic shot to help speed healing of the infection and we were sent home to wait. If the swelling and fever hadn't gone down by the next morning, we were going to do a CAT scan to figure out what the swelling was all about. Friday morning he was still miserable but the swelling seemed to have subsided a bit. We went back to the doctor and she was very happy to report that the lymph nodes were definitely shrinking! She could feel a dramatic difference despite the fact that I couldn't tell it by looking at him. No CAT scan was needed! Praise God!!

Jake hasn't had fever since Thursday and his neck is getting better and better! He has much more mobility now and is in much better spirits. He was laughing and playing today for the first time in a long time. It's wonderful to hear his sweet laugh again!

I can't tell you how worried I've been about him this week. It's a horrible thing to watch your baby in so much pain and not be able to do anything about it. Thankfully all of our prayers worked and God is healing him! Thanks so much to each of you who prayed for Jake and sent words of encouragement. Please continue to pray for him as he continues to heal!! God bless you for being prayer warriors for us!!

Please pray for Jake

Jake has been sick now for 10 days. We initially thought it was the flu because everyone else in Sparkman has it, including a little girl in his class and all the symptoms fit. He started taking Tamiflu last Monday so we expected it to be over within a couple of days. (Mike also had what we assume was the flu but he's all better now.)

Jake was feeling better by the end of last week and we went to his cousin's birthday party on Saturday. He roller skated and had a good time but seemed tired. He woke up Sunday morning with a fever again of 102. By Sunday evening he had a stiff neck and couldn't turn his head to the right and he was in a lot of pain. I looked up stiff neck and fever on the internet and meningitis came up. Needless to say, this Mommy became very very concerned.

We went to see our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Green, in Texarkana yesterday and he fit Jake in early because of the concern of meningitis. His white blood cell count was high, so they ended up having to do a spinal tap. They wouldn't let us be with him during the procedure so I spent those fifteen minutes praying and reading my Bible through tears. They brought my sweet boy back to his room and he said, "It only hurt a little bit." He's so tough. I'm so proud of him. They gave him a shot of Ativan and we waited about 45 minutes for the results. They were NEGATIVE for meningitis!!! This was a wonderful blessing from God! They also swabbed Jake for the flu and he hadn't had it. Dr. Green determined that this was a virus and there was nothing he could take to get rid of it. They called all over Texarkana trying to find a pharmacy that carried liquid Valium and finally located some. So, we're home now and only have Valium for the spasms and Ibuprofen for the fever.

Jake is in a TREMENDOUS amount of pain with the muscle spasms in his neck and of course also feels terrible from running a high fever and being sick. Despite being on Valium, he still has trouble sleeping through the spasms. He is drinking fluids but hasn't eaten much over the last several days and he's incredibly weak. I ask that you pray for complete healing for him. I know God can take this virus away today and I pray that he will. Please pray for comfort for him until God heals him. The Valium makes him very dizzy. It helps with the spasms enough that he sometimes wants to play but he can't because he's so dizzy. He also hates the taste of it so we have to hold him down to give it to him. He is absolutely miserable right now. Jake is the sweetest child in the world and would pray for you endlessly if you needed them and especially if you asked for them. So, we ask that you pray for our sugarbear.

Do I not have the two cutest kids in the whole entire world?!?! You may have noticed Olivia's new short haircut! I think it looks awfully cute, despite the fact that it was in NO way intentional, at least on my part. Miss Olivia decided to cut her lovely locks a couple of weeks ago and she proceeded to do so all by herself. I was a VERY unhappy Mommy. It had just gotten long enough to put into a real ponytail! She also cut it on Wednesday afternoon, so we had to make a mad dash to the salon before church to see if we could do something to fix it. Mike's cousin Mindy did a great job. It's a bit peculiar looking in the back still, but Mindy managed to blend it really well. Olivia cut it right in the middle of the back of her head! UGH!! Needless to say she was in a good bit of trouble, so I don't think she'll be doing it again anytime soon. It's funny that cutting her hair actually made her look older and much taller! She's super cute no matter what her hair looks like! Her brother is also ridiculously handsome if I do say so myself :<)

Buddy the Bear votes for Huckabee!

Buddy the Bear is the current class project at Jake and Olivia's preschool. He goes home with each of the families and we take him on little adventures. We take pictures of Buddy on his excursions and then each family will share their outings with Buddy through photographs and words in a class book. It's a very cute idea I think. We were the first family to have Buddy so we bought him a toothbrush, blanket and a little red suitcase. The last family to have him bought him the cute camo outfit you see in the picture. Although we already had a turn with Buddy, I asked to take him to vote. The elections are an important event taking place in our country after all! So, Buddy joined us on our voting adventure. As it turns out, Buddy is also rooting for Governor Huckabee :<)

Speaking of the election, can I just say how ELATED I am that Mitt Romney has dropped out?!?! Proof that prayer works!! I couldn't have been more surprised yesterday when he announced suspension of his campaign. I am overjoyed!! If you haven't already, PLEASE make a donation to Huckabee's campaign ASAP!!! He needs our help to get to the White House! He can't do it alone. PRAY PRAY PRAY for the primaries tomorrow in Washington, Louisiana, Kansas and next Tuesday District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. If you live in one of these states please prayerfully consider voting for Mike Huckabee and encourage others to do so as well! Then GO VOTE!!!!

VOTE TOMORROW ~ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH!!!!!!

Obviously I'm voting for Mike Huckabee tomorrow! If you wondered why I'm certain he's the right man to be our next President, there are a few reasons below. If you want to know more about Huckabee, please check out his site at www.mikehuckabee.com. If you still aren't sure who to vote for, give me a call or email me! I would LOVE to tell you why Mike Huckabee is the man for the job.

A few of MY personal reasons are that he's 100% pro-life. He's not sort of pro-life most of the time, He's ALWAYS PRO-LIFE - ALL THE TIME! He has more on the job experience as a leader than any other candidate. He is the only candidate who the Gun Owners of America calls a leader who “…has proven himself to be a steadfast friend to gun owners and the Second Amendment.” He's been a member of the NRA for 15 years and is a member of the NWTF and Ducks Unlimited. As Governor of Arkansas, he cut taxes 100 times and left us with an $850 million surplus which he encouraged congress to give back to us in refunds. The question isn't really why Mike Huckabee, it's why not Mike Huckabee! There isn't a better qualified person for the job. I hope that you'll pray about who to vote for tomorrow and by all means - VOTE!!!

MIKE HUCKABEE ON THE ISSUES:

SANCTITY OF LIFE I support and have always supported passage of a constitutional amendment to protect the right to life. My convictions regarding the sanctity of life have always been clear and consistent, without equivocation or wavering. I believe that Roe v.Wade should be over-turned.

MARRIAGE I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My personal belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life.

HEALTH CARE Our health care system is making our businesses non-competitive in the global economy. It is time to recognize that jobs don't need health care, people do, and move from employer-based to consumer-based health care.

TAXES I support the Fair Tax. (Casey's input about Fair Tax: That means the end of the IRS. That means the end of taxes coming directly out of your paycheck. With the Fair Tax, you only pay tax on NEW things at the time of purchase. That way it's not just the hard working tax payers of America paying the government's bills - it's everyone who makes a purchase.)

EDUCATION I have been a strong, consistent supporter of the rights of parents to home school their children, of creating more charter schools, and of public school choice.

EDUCATION We need a clear distinction between federal and state roles in education. While there is value in the"No Child Left Behind" law's effort to set high standards, states must be allowed to develop their own benchmarks.

IMMIGRATION We have to know who is coming into our country, where they are going, and why they are here. We need a fence along our border with Mexico, electronic in some places, and more highly-trained border agents.

WAR ON TERROR I believe that we are currently engaged in a world war. Radical Islamic fascists have declared war on our country and our way of life. They have sworn to annihilate each of us who believe in a free society, all in the name of a perversion of religion and an impersonal god. We go to great extremes to save lives, they go to great extremes to take them. This war is not a conventional war, and these terrorists are not a conventional enemy. Iwill fight the war on terror with the intensity and single-mindedness that it deserves.

2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS The Second Amendment is primarily about tyranny and self-defense, not hunting. The Founding Fathers wanted us to be able to defend ourselves from our own government, if need be,and from all threats to our lives and property.

To learn more about Mike Huckabee, go to www.mikehuckabee.com!