surgery

is scheduled for 730 am tomorrow. Fingers crossed and praying that everything goes smoothly. The surgeon is hopeful that it will go well. He'll be off his feet for quite some time. Thanks for your prayers.

Please continue to forward our mail. . .

. . . to Clarkson Hospital. Briefly, my dad was involved in a farming accident yesterday and ended up with a badly broken leg. We're awaiting the plan for surgery. It could have been much, much worse. Please join us in prayerful thanksgiving that he was protected through all of this. We're grateful for his "stubborn bohemian" blood and his sheer strength, both of which helped him avoid further injury. We'll keep you posted.
Love to you!
Dale Michelle & Logan (and grandpa!)

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

(I borrowed this photo from Becki, who does a better job capturing smiles)

Happy Thanksgiving week. Admittedly, I had planned to send out Thanksgiving cards/letter this year because it seemed appropriate. Unfortunately, this holiday is upon us and I haven't yet accomplished that task. I did sit down to write it a few times, and kept getting hung up. Wow. Where to you start giving thanks when you've been showered with blessings? Thank you. Thank you. We want to take a moment to thank each of you for the very important role you played in our lives this year. What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time we found out we were going to have a new niece/nephew. . . now we have one of each and a Logan!

I'm grateful for. . .

-my faith, which allowed me to experience the events of the last year in a very meaningful way

-our family who stepped in and loved us unconditionally when we felt like that's all we had to lean on

-our friends who have provided immeasurable support

-a husband who has more patience than anyone I've ever met and sifts so quickly through my occasional ugly words and actions and brings me back to the heart of what matters--faith, hope, and love

-each and every day with Logan and the privilege of watching him grow and change so quickly

-the gift of the Holy Spirit to calm my fears which allows me to experience true joy

-my job and patients who challenge me daily

-hugs at just the right moment

-tears, laughter, and smiles, which serve as an outlet for my emotions

Words can't express our sincere gratitude for you, friends and family. I hope you take a moment to reflect on the blessings in your life as well. Have a wonderful week, squeeze your loved ones a little harder this year, and please please travel safely.

Love to you!

Michelle

a traveling man

Logan is a great little traveler! Thank goodness, because we've been all over this place. This weekend marked his longest car trip as we drove to Bettendorf, IA on Friday night to visit Dale's sister and her family. We didn't get out of Omaha as quickly as we'd have liked on Friday evening, so our biggest delay was getting across the bridge to Council Bluffs! We woke him briefly in Des Moines to eat, and other than that we didn't hear a peep out of him until two blocks from Becki's house. He couldn't contain his excitement by then and let out a tiny little squawk. We had such a great time with great food (thanks, Becki!) and lots to time to relax. We shopped in Des Moines today with friends, and were happy to return home this evening. I haven't uploaded photos for a while, so I need to go through them and will hopefully have a few to share soon.
Other monumental moments since our last post:
-attended our first basketball game--go dogs!
-realized that he can kick and splash in the bath (I'm sure the cuteness factor will wear off one day, but for now we love it.)
-hit 12 lbs on the day I took him to get his rsv shot last week (thursday?)
-learned to smile and show off all 3 dimples!
-smiled at his reflection in the mirror
-learned that screaming at the top of his lungs summons his parents in a fraction of the time

I'm off to bed with the little nugget. Will post more soon. Have a good week!

Can you even believe it?

Logan is four months old already! I took him in for his four month check today and he got two thumbs up! He weighed 11 lb 3 oz, and is 23 inches long. He continues to plot at about 50% for preemies his age. You'll notice he's starting to fill out in his face. He seems to be finding more and more smiles daily as well. He continues to do so well. We finally have his reflux under control (fingers crossed) and he's worn the same clothes all day the past couple of days.

We've been busy traveling the countryside in our free time. Last weekend we stopped by the house in Central City to get some things done. Thereafter we journeyed to Arcadia for a family function. Logan got to meet many of his cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. It was so nice to go back (the last time I was in town, I went into labor. . . whoops). This trip was much more enjoyable and less anxiety provoking!!

We've been plenty busy, but don't have much new to report (this is a good thing!). Work is going well for both Dale and me. Logan does well at daycare and its clear that the teachers in his room love the heck out of babies. We've been enjoying the unseasonably warm weather; hope you have, too!

I just work here

This weekend, I was humbled in the face of medicine. . . again. One of the most powerful, uncomfortable, gratifying, scary things I do is guide a patient and/or family through the dying experience. Certainly, I don't claim to be a good counselor in this regard. After acknowledging some ominous signs in a patient whose care I'd assumed on Friday afternoon, it seemed that the elderly gentleman, whom I was sure had lived his many years to the fullest, was going to die. I waited for his sister to arrive, met her for the first time, and began to share my assessment and prognosis. She was reasonable. That always helps. We had a good chat. I promised to keep him comfortable. She thanked me for my time. I went about my various other tasks. I checked on him a couple of times thereafter. He seemed comfortable, as I promised we'd keep him. I didn't hear anything about him from the nurses for the remainder of the evening.
Saturday morning, as I was making rounds in the hospital, I knocked on the door to his room and washed my hands, per my usual routine. I called him by name as I approached the bed, per my usual routine. I was greeted with, "hey doc!" from a elderly man sitting in the bed. My jaw dropped and I stepped out to check the room number and patient name, which is usually not a necessary part of the routine. After confirming his identity, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry or freak out. After checking him over, I humbly phoned his sister to update her on his condition. "Well ma'am, this is just another humble reminder that someone much more powerful than me is in control. Clearly, I'm not in charge. I just work here."

sweet pea

Logan was not a pea in a pod for Halloween. : ) This photo was taken weeks ago. Aunt Jenn bought the costume for him, and when we tried it on him, his feet were trying to bust out the bottom already. Naturally, we took a couple of photos and returned the costume to the store. He spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Choutka (turns out they only had 3 trick-or-treaters) so Logan didn't dress up. We wore matching costumes briefly on Friday. If there are any good pieces of photographic evidence, I'll post.