How cool is this?

First of all, thank you to everyone who is praying for Baby Ike. The surgery he had the other day ended with a tracheotomy. Kari hasn't said yet what exactly this means for him, if it's permanent, if it's a stopgap measure, or what, but it sounds like it's "permanent for now," if that makes sense. He's still struggling, though; his heart rate keeps dropping and they still don't know why. So the prayers are still very much needed.

For those of you in Austin, there are some awesome events being planned to help raise money for the family. Today there was a bake sale that netted over $700!!! But for those of us who aren't in Austin, we have a way now to a) help raise money for the Roy family, and b) get a little somethin'-somethin' for ourselves. Susan Beal is a crafter who does lots of beading stuff, and she has an etsy.com shop where she sells kits for beginners to make their own earrings and bracelets. She's currently donating *all* the proceeds from her etsy shop to this family. The kits are not expensive at all, either! So, think ahead to the rest of the year. What women in your life will be having a birthday, or a baby, or an anniversary, or whatever? How great would it be to be able to give her a gift that you not only made yourself, but that also benefited this family? Head over to Susan's etsy store and stock up!

Tuesday, 2/17, 11AM CST

Ike will be having surgery tomorrow. No details yet, sorry. Please pray!

Just found out...

...there's an online prayer vigil for baby Ike. Time slots are 30 minutes. Please take one, even if you can only pray for a few minutes during that slot. This family needs to be covered in prayer right now.

Pray for Ike-a-saurus

My heart is breaking right now. Baby Issac, affectionately known in the blogosphere as Ike-a-saurus his mama's blog, is one sick little boy. For those of you who've never checked out Kari's blog, Ike was born at 28.5 weeks after a very scary pregnancy and a lot of bedrest, and then continued to have one health issue after another. He recently had croup, but the stridor (whistling breathing that typically indicates a blockage of some kind in the airway) never went away, and yesterday was rushed to the ER with dangerously low O2 saturation levels. You can read the whole story here, but the bottom line is that this family is in serious need of our prays and our help because--oh yeah, forgot to mention--Ike daddy lost his job last month and all they have is COBRA, which we all know doesn't cover a whole lot.

Ike and his family live in Austin, TX, and Kari is part of a fantastic community of moms there who are pulling together to raise money for this family to help offset the medical bills. Yes, money is tight for everyone, but if you can spare *anything*, please donate, because we all know every little bit counts, especially when lots of people give a little bit. And if you live in or near Austin, keep an eye on the update website to see where fundraisers are being held so you can swing by and buy a cake or whatever happens to be for sale. And of course, if you have something you think might fetch a little cash for the family, be sure to talk to the mamas in charge on that site about donating your wares or services.

The internet is a weird thing. I've never met Kari, but I've been reading her blog for a while now, and she and I have talked a bit via Gmail chat and played a few games of Scrabulous. And even though we've never been face to face, I consider her a friend, and honestly, it's killing me that I'm not in Austin and can't *be there* to do something, you know? So I'll do what I can from here, and pray, and maybe someday I'll have the chance to give that sweet baby face a kiss.

Backfire

I introduced Abby to the concept of a sticker chart yesterday. Given she adores stickers, I thought it would be a good plan to help us smooth out some of the rough patches of our day. It worked pretty well with the face washing and tooth brushing. But one of the items is going all day without her paci, and it's such a habit for her that she kept popping them in her mouth. At one point Dan said, "Honey, you've got a paci in your mouth--take it out so you can get your sticker tonight!" She looked at him, thought a moment, then said, "I don't want the sticker."

Ah well. At least the kid's got boundaries.

Teetering on the edge...

...and trying not to fall off the face of the earth. I certainly fell of the face of the blogosphere, though, didn't I! I've been desperately trying to keep all the plates spinning, and this one just didn't make it. My apologies. I have two book deadlines in March, have been sorting and organizing and decluttering in preparation for a relocation that could happen at any time, and two kids who require more mommy-time every day, it seems. I just haven't had the energy to blog on top of it.

My latest newsletter will be releasing on Friday, and if you aren't yet a subscriber, I encourage you to sign up, because I'll be announcing a big contest that you don't want to miss!

Also, if you're a Facebooker (and who isn't these days?) I hope you'll look for my fan page and "become a fan." There is a discussion board there where I've posted a few questions, and I'd love to read your opinions!