Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sunday best...

We took off for church today and miss Abby was in her Sunday best. Me & Joey... well, we just went comfy but nice! I really enjoyed today because I got to hear a whole sermon AT CHURCH! I think that is the first time in 3 years! I was in shock! Mr. Joey is starting to really take to class. Just over night! SO, I'm thrilled! Thanks to all who put their time into the promise land and discovery land rooms! My kids LOVE IT!!! ~Mindy

Back from the ER...

We were home last evening from the ER about 7ish... Abby is apparently having some muscle issues in the leg. We are waiting word from genetics about they think or want to see happen.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Going to the ER...

Abby is having leg pain and her left knee keeps giving out. We are taking her to the ER. I will update when we are home. ~mindy

Friday, May 29, 2009

What if...

What if God moved powerfully in your life? What if He changed your heart and lives ALL AROUND you were impacted for Christ? What if healing flowed from your life into others and you found yourself being constantly used to bring glory to God's kingdom every where you are... My plea right now is for that passion and power in my life. I have found myself in a place of withdrawing from every thing! Pulling out and examining... I'm hungry for change and I'm hungry to see God move in me and around me... My hold back? My relationship with God. My life has been so full and busy that I haven't had that intimacy with him that I need to hear Him clearly, to know His will. I have also lead myself to believing that I have to go some where or do something HUGE to be used... but those are lies... My kids are a ministry, my neighbors are a ministry, grocery shopping can be a ministry... but the truth is... it comes to finding intimacy with God so that I can hear Him clearly and know right where He is working and how He is at work. So, what if you let yourself get close and God moved powerfully in your life?? I sure hope He does in mine!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Ready... set... go!!!

Today has just been a whirlwind of chaos on all sides!

I got to start my morning out making phone calls to Cincinnati. We now have a sleep test schedule, a CT Scan, a recheck with the pulmonary doc, but we still need to schedule genetics, an MRI and umm... well the list goes on!

Next, we finished up the Jamaica fund raiser. It was an awesome blessing to get to be part in that!

Then, off to therapy! Joey pulled a double header today! He has speech first followed up by occupational. He did a great job! I really was nervous he'd be grouchy, but he pulled it off! Way to go little man!

Home we came! Jeff had supper in the oven! So wonderful! Thank you honey!

Then we did school work! Yep, you betcha! School work AFTER dinner! :) Oh so wonderful to have that flexibilty. Abby is starting to read three letter words already! Joey WROTE the letter A!! Yep, couldn't believe that one! Way to go little man!

Then we closed the day with some play time outside and now it is time to crash!!! Night all!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

trip to Cinci today...

We are home from Cinci. We had a good trip. Jeff and I had to switch driving off and on! both of us are exhausted already so we'd sleep some then drive some! Got us there and back alive so I suppose it will do!

We met Joey's new pulmonary doctor today. The visit went really well. I like this doctor a lot! She is very agressive. She doesn't just treat to treat, she wants a reason. So, she gave us an action plan for Joey's asthma. First time EVER that has been done! SO excited to now have that in place!!!! She is scheduling him for a CT scan of the chest. This is one that he will have to be sadated (Sp?) for. They want to look at the lungs to see if there is any scarring or damage. If there is, it may be that causing these issues and not neccessarily his asthma. So, that would change our treatment plan. For now, we stay on what we are until that is done. She said if it is scar tissue or damage, our treatment plan at home would be much different and VERY time consuming for awhile.

Also, they are going to do a sleep study. He still snores a lot so they want to make sure we aren't having any obstructions or central apnea going on. That test will be interesting as he has a lot of issues with sticky on his body! Ug! For those who don't know about a sleep study, you have little patches stuck all of you, little buttons basically glued to your head, many things taped to your face... NOT pleasant. He goes totally crazy about that stuff so I'm PRAYING hard starting NOW that he'll surprise us and do VERY well!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Fun at the park...


Sunday, on our way to a cook out at my sisters house, we stopped at the Winchester park. It

was a lot of fun! The kids enjoyed climbing on EVERY THING! A few things near gave me a heart attack! Joey's favorite was obviously the blue dino and Abby loved the big pink turtle! Even daddy got in on the fun! Good times!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Random fun times with the Pfohl family...

The kids got bored waiting on us to get done with potty breaks... they toured the mall cars! Ha!
Mr. man Loves his cowboy hat!

Round two on a ponie for cow boy Joe!

Gitty up frog! Why don't this thing move?!!?

It's a whole in one! Chalk one up for Bean a roonie!!!!


Number one fan of bubbles! They make the boy happy!


Look out! It's the flower monster!!!

Starting my own little herb growing excursion! Basil and Marjoram here.

Joey aboslutely enjoying the time in the sun shine!

Helping daddy plant his Cherry Matoes! (Bubby's favorite)

Helping daddy with the new garden.

Chillin in his swing... this is all out relaxation!

Can't wait!!!

We are excited! Indiana beach is hosting a home school week! June 4th, we are headed there! $10 a person for us to get in! Can't beat that!!! :) Yippy!!!!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I can't believe it! Today, we went to church and Joey not only did fine, he stayed in class the whole time!!!! He I am just thrilled. I'm starting to wonder about issues with him. They are telling us he has a lot of sensory issues.... but I honestly wonder if it as much sensory as he just doesn't know how to relate to the world around him. 22 admissions, home bound for near 2 years, never having anything normal about life during that time... I'd be a bit stand offish to face life to. I think with time, he's going to come out of all this! I'm just so stinking excited!!!! :)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Just more good news!!!

Joey had speech today. They said that he's all the sudden taking off and doing awesome! They dont' think it will be long that he'll even need speech! Yippy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Lost a day...

Well, I lost a day... I realized the hard way that when you have a bum gall bladder... you do NOT take a vacation from your healthy way of eating. Yep! I lost a day to being in bed VERY sick. Lost some wait to. Ug! Never fun!

Today, we are just spending time working on projects. Jeff is showing some if over on his blog. www.jeffpfohl.blogspot.com Hope all are having a great week! ~Mindy

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

More pics from day #2

Checking out the petting area. Was not a hit for either kiddo! note, abby running away in the back ground!
Joey thought it was hilarious this goat was climbing Jeff. Oh, and eating Jeff's shirt! Ha!

Sisters turn on the pony ride! She was so excited she didn't know what to do with herself!


Checking out the gerbil! So much fun.

Dad, look at all thsoe monkeys!! Are they going to keep me?

Monday, May 18, 2009

Day # 2 of vacation...



The kids are having a great time and so are we!!! Abby & Joey were excited to go swimming tonight. The pool must have had Ice cubes in it though! wow!!

Joey had his first pony ride today. He just giggled to beat all! It was great!!


Like father....



Like daughter... Only my husband and daughter would find it in themselves to hid inside of eggs!




My family that i am so proud of it! It's been great getting away even though it is just for a day or two! So much fun!!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Day #1 of vacation

Picked up some new shades for our trip to the zoo tomorrow. Aren't we cute???



Union City MeDonalds still has their indoor play area. So, we went there today to let the kids spend some energy! They had a blast. daddy and I enjoyed it to. Kind of nice to sit and chat while they played to their hearts content!








Saturday, May 16, 2009

Jeff's on vacation!!!!!!!!!

Yippy! Today officially started Jeff's vacation! We are excited! We have some stuff planned! I'll share the fun as we go. Staying close to home though. Today, we didn't get much done. We did do some yard sale shopping this morning. Abby and Joey were EXTATIC!!! Joey LOVES stuffed animals. I think he found one for a quarter at EVERY STOP! LOL! Silly boy. Sissy got some great deals on dolls and a new purse! It was so fun watching them. They are too sweet!

Anyways, here's too looking forward to a GREAT week! ~Mindy

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

another good report!

Hi! Joey had his swallow test today. We got fabulous news from it! Joey does NOT have a swallow problem any more! 100% normal and cleared up! So, we were very thankful. They did wonderfully with him today so Joey's cooperation level was way up! Just great! We are so excited at this GREAT news!

They did Notate that Joey has a lot of oral resistance to texture. So, that will be a strong focus in his therapy for awhile. they feel Joey's weight gain will increase once he gets that oral oversion taken care of.

Miss abby is doing really good. she's moving ahead just great in her school work. Her health has been very good here as of late! So we are thankful for this up swing as it started to feel we were just going backwards.

Please pray for them both though. we have had a lot more hospital visits and it has both of them a bit off emotionally. I can so understand. They feel our stress but they have their own memories to cope with. So, pray that God will be their complete comfort and peace.

~mindy~

No!!!!


4 A.m. cam awfully early this morning. I feel like sleeping in my breakfast much like this cat! Wow!!!! Tired! Did some one say LONG nap time this after noon?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Testing...

We leave at 5 a.m. tomorrow for cincinnati. Joey is having a swallow test done. This takes about an hour. Please pray for Joey. He has a lot of anxiety about testing and test rooms. He usually doesn't do well participating in these so they don't always get a clear view of what he needs or how he is doing. Also, please pray he passes the test with flying colors! He's doing so well I can't imagine that he's not doing well with eating either. Thanks all! Night!

~Mindy

Monday, May 11, 2009

God did it again!

I took Joey to an evaluation for Physcial therapy today. I was so nervous about going because we have gotten a lot of "hard" news lately as far as things looking may be worse than we thought. HOwever, I got to sing absolute praises all the way home! So exciting!

So, the therapist working with Joey was absolutely amazed at Joey's physical ability. With the possible diagnosis on Joey's charts of different things he has wrong with him, he said that Joey should be SEVERLY delayed. Joey is nearing turning three. Yep, our baby is growing up. As for his physical eval., had he not had the Diagnosis written there, they would have discharged him today on the spot. They said he is doing phenominal! Some of things he can do physcialy are more than your typical 3 year old. PRAISE GOD!!!

They are going to go ahead an put into the insurance to care for Joey though. they notated that because of the history of his health and what he's been through, he still needs a bit of help with endurance. He does still have the low tone, but not like he once had. Also, they said that his left side is considerably weaker than his right. So... they are going to continue working with him. Charting where he has been and where he is now though, they are thinking with 3-4 months, he should be great from a PT stand point!

Thank you so much for your prayers. A year ago, Joey was more than elidgble for therapy several times a week so today was just so wonderful to walk through!!!! ~Mindy

Sleepy days...

Well, my kids took my mothers day out with a bang! Abby couldn't sleep and came out to the living room about 1230 a.m. Joey did the same! Around 2, Joey started having asthma issues. I gave him his puffer because it was just starting. That usually catches it. However, within an hour and a half, He was having a full blown asthma attack. gave him a neb tx and he was fine then. Whew! I'm SLEEPY now!

Oh, I do have a request... if you have had experience with sensory problems in children, could you check out my post @ www.caringbridge.org/visit/pfohlfamily and give me some input! Thanks!!! :) ~Mindy

Friday, May 8, 2009

Brought me to tears...

I have a few shows left to finish. I came home from my show tonight and my ears were ringing after hearing the excited shouts of "mommy" out of both of my children's mouth. They had gone mothers day shopping with daddy and just couldn't wait to give me their presents. They were leaping to bless me and couldn't wait to see how happy it made me. Joey showed me his gift THREE times to make sure I knew it was from him for me! :) It feels good to know my babies love me! :)

Oh, and yes! I got to open my presents tonight. Jeff couldn't get bubby to stop telling what he got me! LOL!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Totally amazing...




In our Growth group, we are doing the Experiencing God study. It's amazing. One of the things that we are talking about right now is knowing God through our experiences. Knowing God through where we see Him working and acting on what He is doing. I've been so distracted and struggling. The extent of what we could be looking at with medical stuff again is terrifying. They are back to the big time of searching for answers. Yet, the kids keep defying the odds. I keep watching and waiting... yet holding my breath pleading that we won't get bad news again. Agonizing over what they "could" find... then I stop and look. Joey is hyper active now... he used to be lethargic and so exhausted all the time. Abby is non stop running, chasing friends, climbing play ground equipment, RIDING her bike with out our help... she used to cry from leg pain and beg us to carry her. I struggle with fear that we are going backwards but every day GOD takes us forward. This lesson has so hit home with me and helped me ot see the God that we serve! He is working in their lives. He's working in my life. He's teaching me to trust in the worst of times. He's touching the lives of people around us. I know one thing... my spot in life is to stand behind my kiddos and cheer them on! They have come so far and I believe they have one powerful calling on their lives! Don't know what it's going to look like, but I know it has already begun! We do serve an amazing God! ~Mindy

Yippy!!!!!!!!!!!

I get my van back today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

I wanna be a farmer!!!!

OK, the title of my blog... "I wanna be a farmer" is a quote from my daughter. We went to my brothers house yesterday to drop off some things and he had baby chicks!!! Their son is Joey's age. Well, he is now a chicken farmer! Daddy helped him get it all set up. So we got to see the baby chicks yesterday. They are going to be egg laying chickens. Abby is so excited and has decided that she wants to be a farmer one day too! Little stinker! We got to see baby kitties, we got to experience their new horn on the 4 wheeler AND we got to play with them in the yard... so all this equals "I'm going to be a farmer just like Logan!" Ha! she has did get some of the "city girl" out of her to make that work! She's all Diva!!! :)

Monday, May 4, 2009

Fun on Sunday...

We walked into church on Sunday morning to see beach balls flying every where! It was great! Umm... my kids sure loved it! LOL!




Sunday, May 3, 2009

Been three weeks...


Well, I am kind of excited this morning! We are going to get to actually go to church! It has been three weeks now since we have been because of sickness and medical stuff. So, it's relieving that we are all healthy and can go! If you can't make it... join us live at 10:45 on www.farmlandfriends.org have a great day every one! ~Mindy

Saturday, May 2, 2009

busy day...

Joey got to try out his new big boy booster seat! Can you see the Joy?
We got our little landscaping done. Abby loves birds so we made a little area with houses and feeder in the front yard.

Miss Abby enjoyed blowing the dandilions. :)



Friday, May 1, 2009

Howdy world!

I have been stuck in my house today and STIR crazy! I didn't realize how bad it stinks to have one vehicle down and KNOW you can't go any where! Whew! kids have been crazy hyper today to... I think I'm shaking! LOL! Can't wait to go to sleep tonight!

Cinci trip

Well, We made it to Cincinnati finally! I will start with our VERY good news. Our van is repairable! It was going to be $614 to fix it. HOwever, Jeff remembered that we had an extended warranty on the van and it is STILL good! Thank you God!!! So, we only pay $100 for all the work they are going to be doing! We told them to go over it with a fine tooth comb to be sure that's all that needs repaired while it is there!

Now onto medical. Our trip brought mixed feelings for us. We have a direction we are going now, but not sure that it's as we would like to go! Apparently it appears Joey is storing fat in his muscles. Now this is all taken from labs and testing done at Riley. So, our confidence in these thoughts are NOT really high as we are finding a lot of what we were told there is NOT correct. THey are going to have all the labs and tests sent there and go over them with a fine tooth comb and re-exam many of the slides and what not of the tissue samples that they took. They are thinking he may have something called Lipid Storage Myopathy. There is a couple of MAJOR blood tests that Riley never did that they will be doing that will give us answers in this direction as to whether this is possible. From their, they are also thinking an MRI/MRS of his complete body. Head to toe. This will show them too what's going on with the muscle and may mean we'd avoid another muscle biopsy being done. They really DON'T want to do that to him. We don't have a lot of understanding of what this all means, but we do know it is a direction to go. Please pray for wisdom. The doctor that we saw yesterday is going to consult with Dr. Degraw and Dr. Wong. These doctors specialize in this kind of stuff.

They were VERY encouraged with Joey's energy though. One of the down sides to the disease that we are talking about is that they have major energy depletion. In this case, he felt that Joey was hyper active. Umm... he was seeing Joey at MILD activity! Ha! Joey really does NOT have energy crashes so, that's positive at this point! There is something still going on in his little body, so we do have to push forward, but we have more confidence that it isn't as severe as it once was. So, this is good and encouraging! God has worked in His little body and we are waiting to see the complete work! :)

Miss Abby did AWESOME yesterday at the doctor. we were so proud of her! Thanks for all your prayers. Our next trip to Cinci is May 13th. This will be for a video swallow study. ~Mindy