A Picture Update

I don’t think I have updated our blog this often…well, ever.  :)  For those of you who are annoyed, I’m sorry, for those of you who like it, don’t get used to it. :)

 

On Friday, Kate, Lincoln, and I headed to Greg and Mary’s to help entertain and distract John and Heather’s kids, while John and Nic were in surgery.  Greg, Mary, and I agree that Heather is quite the woman as we were all quite tired at the end of the day.  :)  We had a lot of fun playing in the sprinkler, eating lunch outside, Greg gave cartwheel lessons, and much more that they did after we went home. 

 

After spending Saturday morning working around home, we spent the afternoon swimming at Dad and Mom’s.  Mike taught Kate how to jump in off the side.

Lastly, today we went to a family breakfast and then had planned to get our boat cleaned up for the summer boating season.  The rain slowed us down for awhile, but we eventually got the job done.  Kate wanted to go “boating” so Mike took her for a ride in the shop parking lot, even though it was still raining. :)

The reason we had kids…oh, I mean….they were sweet, they really thought they were being helpful. :)

Update #4

We are excited to post another encouraging update.  John in now home from the hospital and continuing his recovery in the comfort of his own home.  He is doing as well as a guy who had a kidney taken out can be doing.  :)  Nic is also doing well and as of 2pm, when we last saw him, the plan was that he would be released from the hospital to a hotel near the Northwestern Hospital this evening.  I assume that has happened at this point, as I’ve not specifically been told otherwise.  He looked good when we saw him this afternoon.  I know he and Amanda will be glad to be in a room that is quieter than a hospital room.  John assured Nic that he would appreciate the fact that his bed wouldn’t sound like it was lifting off every 30 minutes. :)  Nic will need to stay in Chicago a few more days so he can be more closely monitored and he has a few more small procedures that need done, as well as anti-rejection drugs to start.  We look forward to Nic and Amanda arriving home sometime mid-week.  We sincerely thank each of you for your prayers and the many acts of service and kindness that our individual families have received, as well as the Curt Rassi Family as a whole.  The food, the babysitting, the cards, the gift baskets, all the prayers, we are all truly touched by the generosity showered upon us.  We praise God for encouraging updates and His provision down to the smallest of details.  Happy Memorial Day!

Update #3

As of 9:30-9:45 last night, Amanda was finally able to see Nic.  He is tired and nauseous, but doing well.  Heather and Amanda expected to be up a lot last night as John and Nic would need to be checked often.  So far, John’s kidney is working amazingly well in Nic’s body.  Mike and I hope to head to Chicago at some point Sunday (assuming the night went as well as we hope) to pick up John and Heather and bring them home.  We will try to continue to post updates as we get them.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  We are in awe and so excited that everything has gone so well, and even so much better than expected, with the added bonus of Nic getting his catheter removed.  We feel truly blessed.

Update #2

As of 6pm, this was the update from Amanda:

Well . . . we are still waiting . . .
We are all starting to feel a little weary at this point. John's 2 hour recovery has now turned in to a 5 hour recovery, and Heather is still not able to be with him. Heather and I decided to go on a mission about an hour ago to try and find him. We went up and down and finally found someone who knew where he was. We were able to see him for 5 minutes only. I went back with Heather, and we found a very sleepy and groggy John whose first question was "How's Nic?" It's not that surprising knowing the character of John. He was feeling very tired and nauseous from the pain medications. I let Heather and him talk for a few minutes, but then we had to go. Apparently they are still waiting on a room on the transplant floor for him. After walking back there, though, we could see how busy they are. I would say there were at least 40 post-operative rooms full of patients coming out of surgery.
Nic is actually still in surgery . . . 5 hours and counting. We got a report from the doctor that the kidney was peeing already, so that's AWESOME. That might even mean that they can take his dialysis catheter out :) We came in with high hopes to find them not planning on taking the catheter out (which meant coming up in 4 weeks for another surgery). So, I am very hopeful that they are removing it right now . . . They tell me he should be out of surgery in another 30 minutes or so, but then it will be at least 2 hours until we can see him. And, if it's like the 2 hours we were told with John, it could mean more like 3, or 4, or 5 hours . . .so you can do the math.
I am so thankful to have family here surrounding us. I feel pretty worn out. Seeing John all groggy and uncomfortable made me remember the last times Nic has come out of surgery . . . it just isn't that great . . . so I am prayerful that John will soon feel better and that Nic will at least be comfortable coming out of surgery. It breaks my heart to see them so helpless. They tell me to plan on being up every hour tonight, so if you could please pray for energy and patience on my part, that would be great. I'm not sure if John's night will look similar . . . so pray for Heather, too. I have had 2 cups of coffee in the past hour. My parents are planning on staying up here tonight, and Curt and Kathy and Caleb are talking about it since it's getting so late.
OH - I JUST GOT A PHONE CALL. The surgeons (actually nurses) call from the OR and give us updates every 2 hours. They are closing the big incision and are going to remove the catheter. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to do a happy dance! No more Ern!! So, he should be out in about an hour . . . I'm glad I didn't know he would be in the OR for 6 hours coming into this . . .
OH - and Heather just got a phone call. He's got a room :) Apparently he's in 1128, and Nic will be in 1127 . . . yeah for updates!!!
OH - and the surgeon just came out. He's done with his work :) His words were "we needed a canoe to get out of there," in reference to how much the kidney was peeing. I have never been so excited about pee in my life.
Hopefully the next time I write I will have seen my husband.

Nic Update #1

Just wanted to throw out a quick update.  John is out of surgery and in recovery.  The nurses say he is talking and alert and Heather should get to see him soon, as his two hour recovery period is nearly over.  Nic was taken back to the OR around 1.  His bone marrow portion of the procedure is finished and should be starting on the surgery to insert the kidney soon.  The surgery will last until between 5-6pm and he will then be in two hour recovery.  The Dr. expects John will be able to walk “up” to see Nic this evening, but Nic will be pretty out of it until morning.  All good reports so far.  Thank you much for your prayers and we will post more as we hear more. 

Fun in the Sun!

We have absolutely loved the sunshine the past few days!  We are enjoying very much the chance to play with the neighbor kids again.  We are so blessed to live in a neighborhood of fantastic people some of whom, just so happen to have kids that Kate and Lincoln love to play with.  If you want in on the fun, one of our neighbors does have their house for sale.  Just a warning, you may have to be interviewed by the neighborhood before you are allowed to move in…I’m kidding. :) 

          

Fun in the sprinkler

Pool Fun

 

We also got to spend an hour or so one day recently playing with “The Cousins” as Kate calls them.

 

Just a fun picture.  Please remember our family in your prayers this weekend especially, but over the next few weeks as the kidney transplant that we have so long talked about becomes reality.  Again, I will try to keep our blog current with updates and Amanda is going to try to post updates on theirs as well.  If you have any questions, feel free to call Mike or I, we’d be glad to give you an update or pass on any messages.

Happy Birthday Uncle Brett

Kate wanted to be sure to wish Uncle Brett a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY. There are two videos because I did not realize she wasn't done. :)

Fire Days

We enjoyed a fun morning in Pekin at “Fire Days.”  We had never been before and had it not started raining we would have stayed for the other activities, but despite the rain, the kiddos still enjoyed the fire truck parade, especially Lincoln.  Duane and Alissa and their girls came too.  We warmed up afterward with lunch at Avanti’s. :)

 

Transplant Update

 

As many of you know, Nic, Mike’s brother, found out last summer that he needs a kidney transplant.  Four of the siblings were able to be tested to see if any of them would be able to give Nic one of their kidneys.  Two of the siblings were perfect matches.  We are now to a point where the transplant surgery, that has for a long time seemed for away, is actually now quite close.  The surgery will take place at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago on May 28th.  It is not yet known if the surgery will be in the morning or the afternoon.  They expect John’s surgery to last approximately 2 or 3 hours and then Nic’s surgery to last about 3 or 4 hours.  We tentatively expect John will be able to return home on May 30 or 31 and Nic a few days later.  There is a pre-transplant meeting scheduled for next week and as we learn more details, I will try to update you.  For more detailed information, please step on over to www.normalrassis.blogspot.com.  We will do our best to keep you informed and on behalf of the family we sincerely thank you for your love, concern, care, and prayers.

Mother’s Day Photos

Here are a few pictures Mike took of the kids and I yesterday.  I did not even get the camera out at either Mother’s Day event (sad) but Aunt Ruth was snapping away last night, so hopefully I can snag a few pictures off her blog for our photo album. :)

A Girl After Grandma’s Heart

For weeks, my Mom has been promising Kate she would take her flower shopping in May.  Since Mom was going to help me pick out flowers for my pots, we just took Kate along.  I wish I had taken my video camera along.  We walked into the flower shop and she said, "Oh my! Look at all these beautiful flowers.  It is so lovely.  Let’s get cracking, we have flowers to pick."  She proceeded to pull her little red wagon and look at all the flowers, in absolute awe the whole time.  At one point, I tried to put a peach daisy in her wagon, she looked at me in all seriousness and said, "I don’t really like that one, but if you want it, I suppose you could just carry it."  Most of the flowers she picked are ones that I would have picked myself, so it worked out well in the end.  She did a great job helping me plant them all.  I asked to take her picture by the flowers when we were done and she said, "But Mom, my dress is all dirty, I can’t take a picture like this."  I convinced her that people would just think she had been hard at work and it would be okay.   Thanks Mom for taking us flower shopping!   

Ice Cream Cones and Hungry Frogs

This past week, we had ice cream cones for dessert one evening.  The kids thought it was a fun treat.  After ice cream we played a game of Hungry Frogs, which Lincoln may have loved the most.  He laughed with glee almost the entire time.  (He did get a bath after the game, if you wonder about his dirty face in every picture.)  We also had our first corn on the cob of the "summer" and after every bite Lincoln would say, "Mmmm, dat’s good."   

Just Like Daddy

God is really good at keeping me quite humble, especially when it comes to my opinion of myself as a parent.  We will go several weeks and things will be going well, the kids are obeying, my patience level with them is good, I don’t seem to mind the whining or fighting that sometimes occurs at our house.      THEN I have a bad day and the 342nd time Kate says, “Mom” she gets a “WHAT?” ground out with my teeth clenched and a bit of an edge and the terrible two tantrum that Lincoln throws just gets my goat, rather than simply shrugging and trying to teach him through it…but all in all, it’s good because I continually have to go back to God and say, “I CAN’T do this, I don’t know how.”  Any everyday grace is there and I’m truly thankful. 

 

Kate is so full of life and a lot of fun.  It’s common for her to get up and say, “I dreamed of a beautiful sunny day and now look how lovely it is outside.”  She learned how to write her name and is busy writing it and any other word I will spell for her.  She can swing by herself now and is just growing up.  Almost every day we talk about when August is as in her mind that is a pretty great month, preschool resumes, our baby arrives (Lord Willing) and it’s her birthday month.  Life just doesn’t get any better.  She also recently starting taking showers and we have a shower addict on our hands.  She wants to take multiple showers a day and we’ve had to institute a two minute shower rule or we’ll go broke paying our water bill.  Lincoln is entering the terrible two’s, but he’s still our snuggly little boy.  He is really starting to want to be just like his daddy, he wants to dress like him and be with him.  A few of this weeks pictures are of him mowing with his mower, which he had to have his hat for because Daddy mows with his hat on.  He also got quite upset with me when I wouldn’t let him put gas in his mower like Daddy.  If Mike is going anywhere Lincoln is quick to say “I ready, I go.”  All in all, though we have some frustrating days, our kids have blessed our life so much.  We’re excited to meet #3 (15 more weeks give or take) and below is a picture for my out of town friends of me at 25 weeks.