Camp Showbiz!

Cameron spent the last two weeks at Magik Theatre Camp with her friend Morgan.  They were there every weekday from 9 - 3 and learned all about costumes and backdrops and learning to say your lines.  (Mostly she would just tell us if she liked the snack for the day and how they played outside....)  This was Cam's first camp experience and we had a feeling that she would enjoy getting to dress up and be loud in front of an audience.  I was sad to have to miss seeing her play today since I was still in the hospital, but she had a bunch of family and friends to cheer her on!

She had to get all gussied up to play Jasmine in their "Llama Llama" play.  Makeup done by Aunt Rachael!

The Mowrey Crew and their superstar Morgan

Cameron with her proud Daddy and Brother

Morgan and Cameron

 

We are so thankful that she got to be with Morgan for this experience!  They have many more years of fun ahead of them. 

The Day Before Beckett

Since we knew Beckett would be arriving on Thursday, we spent Wednesday evening at home just enjoying being our little foursome for the last time.  Aunt Rachael was gracious to take pictures for us and help us remember how blessed we were to be adding our sweet Little Bear to our family.

I had spent the morning at the hospital having some blood work done so that everything would be ready in case Beckett needed any special transfusions later.  I was relieved when the doctor said that we would be delivering at the same hospital that both Cam and Rhys were born at.  They have a much higher level of NICU and would be better equipped to take care of his potential needs.  And it also helped that my doctor was about to leave on a family vacation the same day as the delivery, so we had to be sure to take care of him in our allotted window of time.

All our months of praying were coming to a conclusion.  We prayed for his lungs to be strong, his body to be healthy, for his blood to continue to fight off the antibodies.  We thanked God for giving us this blessing even though we didn't understand it at first.  We prayed for wisdom for his doctors and for protection for Mama in surgery.

And then we tried in vain to sleep our last night at home.  But we just dreamed of our newest little boy about to arrive.

A Love Letter for Beckett

Little Bear,
Today my doctor told me that you are still hanging in there but your blood levels are approaching what she would consider to be a problem number.  It gets more difficult to trust the ultrasound to give her all the information she needs to know that you are still okay but of course she doesn't want to do invasive tests all the time either.  Fortunately, you have grown and gotten stronger (now you are about 33 and 1/2 weeks along) so we are leaning more toward an early delivery than anything else.  So for now, we are going to get Mommy two steroid shots this week to help your lungs speed up their development and then we are going to see how you are doing next week.

Her exact words were "You are not going to make it to 37 weeks," which was the finish line that we had set up even if everything was still going perfectly.

Honestly, I think I took the news well because this is exactly what I thought would happen.  I am glad to at least have a week to try and get things situated at my office and prepare a bit more around the house for you.  There are a few things that I didn't even think about until today!  Your daddy is trying to cross a bunch of things off his list too, and I am actually a little bit glad that you won't be waiting for your arrival to perfectly coincide with the beginning of football season.  :)

But here is what I really want you to know.  Someday if you look back and wonder why I didn't write you more blogs or seem like I was thinking about you more, I want you to understand that I did think about you every single day.  I will honestly say that it took both your Daddy and I some time to come to the place of excitement and joy over your arrival that we are at now.  The shock over you and the sudden change of all the plans we thought would happen this year was a bit much!  But now we pray for your safe arrival, for your health and development, for the blessing that you will be to our family.

I am still a bit nervous over how your brother and sister will react to the changes.  Cameron will be starting kindergarten soon so I think she will be thrilled that you're here and then blissfully distracted.  Rhys may take a bit more time to understand why our time is stretched a bit thinner, but I want you know that we are going to do our very best to love and spend individual time with each of you.  I have already begun to imagine the different personalities you will all have, the different gifts that God will give to each of you.  I know that our family will be blessed in unique ways by the three of you and I can't wait to see what's in store.

I want you to know how happy you have made me, to feel your wiggles and see your sweet profile each visit to the doctor's office.  I love that you already know the songs that I sing at bedtime and that you still let me get a decent night's sleep.  I have great hopes that you will be a flexible guy, ready to roll with the schedule, and I love that you will be my little snuggle buddy since you will most likely be the smallest baby of our family.  As I washed your tiny jammies this week, I was astounded at how small you will start out.  But I know big things often come in small packages.

For now, we will spend the next week trying to be patient and not worry over your arrival.  I am very blessed to have doctors that are concerned for you and want to be cautious.  I know that whenever you are welcomed into the world, it will be the right time and we will deal with whatever that scenario presents.  We already adore you and can't believe you will be here before we know it.

All my love,
Mama

Today the angels threw a party!

Cameron,
You are a smart girl that can retain a LOT of information.  You have learned dozens of bible verses, songs, stories and concepts from the Bible.  You are the one that always wants to speak up and answer questions (and I can attest from teaching your Sunday School class on occasion).  We have had discussions together before about how to ask Jesus into your heart and you already seemed to understand it all.

Your daddy and I wanted to be sure that you weren't just repeating back what you had heard your teachers say.  You are still a little girl in our eyes and we never want to make you feel pressured to do or say something just because you think we want it.  So each time we would approach the subject, we would back off as soon as you seemed distracted or you wanted to move onto something else.

But we had the discussion with you again tonight.  Our church will be hosting a baptism party in early August and we knew that you would be very excited to participate.  We wanted to make sure that you understand that baptism was not what made you a Christian and that it is only a symbol of the change Jesus made in your heart when you asked him to forgive your sins and be the Lord of your life.

Our church had given us some cards a long time ago to walk through the different topics and bible verses that explain salvation.  We asked you questions and had you put things into your own words.  You blew us away with how much you were honest and clearly understood.  Then the three of us, all sitting together on your bed, prayed together and you asked Jesus into your heart.

And Mommy told you that the Bible says that the angels threw a party for you today.  We told you how proud we were of you and that we knew Jesus loves you so much.  Even though we will all still make mistakes, we know that he will always be with us and forgive us when we ask Him to.  What a gift it was for both Daddy and I to be there with you and be part of that conversation.  Now we can look forward with great joy to the baptism ceremony in just a few weeks!

All my love,
Mama

Luke 15:10 "In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels

when even one sinner repents."

Announcing our littlest man....

Today was the day we officially shared the news that our baby boy will be named....

Beckett Caleb Kilpatrick

In a funny car ride, your big sister actually suggested the name to us.  It is a character on a cartoon that she watches called "Henry Hugglemonster."  But as soon as we heard it, both your daddy and I agreed that we liked it and wanted to know more about what it meant.

I think it is really special that you will share the same initials as your daddy too.   And I love the middle name Caleb because of the real meaning of the name in Hebrew.  It's NOT dog as a lot of websites incorrectly tell, but with the correct spelling it translates to "whole hearted."  And I love that Caleb was one of the two Israelites that was allowed to enter the promised land after scouting it out.  He was truly one in a million!

We are so grateful that you are already 31 weeks along and are still growing and getting stronger.  The doctor told me that every week you stay in Mommy's tummy makes a big difference.  Each week I will admit that I am a little nervous to see if you have had changes to your blood levels, but each week the doctors are astounded to see that you are still doing great.  We know that lots of people are praying that you stay healthy and I truly believe that it is a miracle that you have made it this far with no signs of the problems that we were told were inevitable.

Each week it becomes more and more apparent that you will be arriving soon and changing our future forever.  Our family didn't even realize we were incomplete, but once you are here we will see how special God's plan was for us.  We can't wait to hold you in our arms.

But there's no need to hurry!  Keep cooking, my little turkey.

Love, Mama

Future Big Brother

Rhys Man,
I can't believe how big you are getting.  Suddenly, I turn around and you have an entire mouth of teeth and you are running away from me when I ask to put on your jammies.  You are saying tons of words - even short sentences now.  You are learning colors, already know tons of animals and what they say, and you love to tell me all the things you see when we drive in the car.  You especially like to say "big truck!"

This week you actually told Daddy as he was leaving for school, "Love you Daddy."  Even though I am terribly jealous because you haven't said that to me..... I was so amazed that you sounded so grown up.  While you still have grumpy mornings every once in a while, you generally are a very happy boy at school and are still loved by your teachers.  You once again got bumped up to the next class and are one of the smallest kids, but you are adapting and learning so quickly.  You very much like to do things without help now (like eating, climbing up on things and even playing on the swing set).  Sometimes you even have to be coerced into letting us help you with a quick guarantee that you will get back whatever thing we are temporarily holding and it pretty much can't leave your sight!

I have been thinking a lot lately that you are soon going to become a big brother - something I never imagined you would be.  I hope that you will be able to get used to him quickly when he comes home and that you don't experience a long period of jealousy.  You are still used to be carried around and loved on, so I worry that you will not be a fan of someone taking up all of Mommy's attention.  I pray that you two will become best buds since you are probably going to be sharing a lot of things.  I can already see that you will be a great person for him to learn from and look up to.  And I imagine that it will be more fun to get into trouble together than it would be all on your own...

Daddy is going to be very lucky to have two strong boys to help him with all his chores, and someday the three of you can take Uncle Chad to play golf and be a perfect foursome.  That means Cameron and I can go have a girls' day out every once in a while too!  Even though our family is going to be bigger than we originally thought, I know that God has important reasons for giving you a little brother and you will love him very much.  Besides, you will always be the first one to enjoy all the new clothes and toys before they get passed down to him.  It is pretty cool that you will get to be both a little brother and a big brother at the same time!

Love you,
Mama

Your First Royal Ball

Cameron,
Have we told you lately how proud of you we are?  You are such a wonderful big sister and helper to us.  You take responsibility for your own things and are generally quick to complete tasks when we ask.  You are on your best behavior at school and all your teachers say what a good leader you are.

So Mommy and Daddy wanted to do something extra special just for you to do.  A friend told me about Reece's Royal Ball, an annual fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald house put on every year by a family here in San Antonio whose daughter had cancer.  You thought the chance to wear a princess dress and go on a special date with Daddy sounded just perfect.

Mommy got to take you to get a haircut and a fancy undo.  You especially loved that the hairdresser sprinkled glitter all over your beautiful braids!  We had a quick lunch date and then I helped you get ready in your new princess dress, which we ordered just for the occasion.  It was time to get you a Merida dress (the girl from the movie Brave who also has fiery red hair) because you outgrew the last one.  You were so excited to even wear a tiny bit of makeup since it was such a fancy  date!

Here you are with your special date, Daddy!  Just remember that the first man to get all dressed up and take you out to make you feel like a princess was your Daddy.  You will always be his little girl.

Love always,
Mama

While We Can Still Call You Ours

Today we had the great joy of dedicating our sweet boy Rhys to the Lord today at church.  We also did the same with Cameron when she was a little girl.  It is not anything we do to impact your salvation, but rather a time when we commit ourselves as your parents to honor the Bible's instructions for us and to try and teach you how to become a man of God.  We hope that as you grow and get old enough to make those choices for yourself that you will see the beauty and adventure that is free as a gift through the love of Jesus.

I did really appreciate that we were asked to listen to some CD sessions that discussed the meaning behind what we were doing as well as think ahead to your future.  We know that being a parent doesn't mean that you are guaranteed happiness or health.  We are entrusted to be your protectors and guides while we can still call you ours.  No one knows the amount of time they will be given.  So we hope that we show you every day that we love you and are so glad that God chose us for you.  You were the perfect addition to our family, so sweet and full of joy.

We were specifically asked to "imagine the end" and think of the characteristics that we hope you possess when you turn 18 and the world sees you as an adult.  Your dad and I came up with this list, although we hope you will have many more admirable traits!  Knowing how we hope you turn out should impact how we teach and discipline you in these early years, as well as how we will make things a priority in our household.  Here is what he hope for you…

1.  That you will be confident and never ashamed to share your faith.
2.  That you will stand up to help others and stop injustices when you see them.
3.  That you will be a leader among your friends and teammates.
4.  That you will humbly accept both praise and criticism.  You won't be entitled or always demanding recognition over others.
5.  That you will balance your adventurous heart with kindness and compassion for others.
6.  That you will know how to love and respect women.
7.  That you will share your laughter and encouragement through life's ups and downs.
8.  That you will not be self-centered but rather honoring God in all you choose to do.

We had a great time of prayer with you and our church family and we were so proud to dedicate you to the Lord.  Here we are with our Pastor Ken.  We sure do love you, Rhys Man!

Hugs and Kisses,

Mama

Sometimes Life Just Happens

Let me give you a little back story…..

We had just had such a wonderful Christmas, and then Cameron got hit with a stomach bug that seemed to be going around everywhere.  We survived and made the trip home from Abilene, but for quite a while afterward I was feeling a little off.  So I finally made an appointment to see a general family doctor close to my office.  I was very concerned that I might have a lingering virus or stomach ulcer or something that was brought on by stress.  The doctor told me he needed to run a whole bunch of tests to rule out things, so I left all the samples and headed home.  Then as I was getting on the highway, my doctor called me and asked if I could turn around and come back.  He said he meant to talk with me before I had left.  I was a little alarmed but I headed right back there.  He immediately told me that one of my test results was already in and he didn't want to give me the news over the phone while I was driving.

I had a positive pregnancy test.

And I immediately said, "That's not possible, my husband had a vasectomy in March!"

He assured me that it was possible, but that he would do another blood test and give me the results the following Monday.  Well, thanks for the setting me up for a horribly worrisome weekend Doc!  Because not only did I have to freak out about the possibility but I had to go home and tell my husband…

And you can imagine why that conversation was not possibly going to go well.  Let's just say that Bo went back to his doctor five days later to have a test run that confirmed that his vasectomy GREW BACK TOGETHER.  He had a test 6 weeks after the initial procedure that confirmed it had worked, and just 6 months later, it had miraculously reversed itself.  The doctor told Bo that he was the 4th patient that this had happened to in the last 26 years.  So as much as we were not thrilled that Bo has such miraculous super genes, at least I could say that there was no doubt that this was a miracle that God had to ordain for our family.

But here is the problem.  After Rhys was born with so many problems, our doctor made a strong recommendation that we not have any more children.  So we took that as a clear sign that our family was finished with babies and we were perfectly happy to cherish our two.  We had a garage sale last October and cleared out all the baby toys and little tiny clothes, and I happily gave away or sold every scrap of maternity clothing that I owned.  We mentally closed that chapter of our lives and were making lots of plans for 2014.

Cameron would start Kindergarten and our daycare bill would be gloriously cut in half.  We were going to take a fabulous summer trip for our 10 year anniversary.  Rhys would hopefully be out of diapers by the end of this year and we would be rid of them forever!  And now we are starting all over…

Selfishly, Bo and I both thought of all the reasons why we didn't want God to change all our plans.  This is going to change a lot of things financially and logistically for us.  (I can't drive my Toyota Camry with three car seats in the back!)  And I will admit that I didn't know if I could handle the emotional roller coaster of another baby born with a myriad of health issues caused by my own blood. For an explanation of why my antibodies are a problem for this baby, this is a really good site that explains the condition.  But God is softening our hearts and showing us that trusting his plan for our family can't have self-imposed limits.  We cannot be afraid to open our hearts and love a baby that may be sick for the first few months of its life, or may be at risk to not even survive past delivery.

I have already been seeing my regular OB that delivered both Rhys and Cameron, as well as a maternal fetal medicine specialist who are regularly monitoring my blood levels (which are already increasing in levels related to those antibodies).  For now we are praying for as uneventful of a pregnancy as possible, and my doctors say the magic number is try and make it to 35 weeks so we can do a C-section.  We are sharing the news so that we can ask for your prayers for our family and this sweet little miracle.

Here he or she was the day before Valentine's Day…

We are now fourteen weeks along and are slowly getting over the shock.  We are so touched by the joy and support that our family and friends have shown us.  We are very blessed to have a network of love and prayers working on our behalf already to petition the Lord for this baby.

This is the scripture that is written on our bathroom mirror as a reminder to be thankful in all circumstances for this blessing:

Psalm 127: 3-5 "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.  Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warriors hands.  How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!"

Party of Two

Cameron & Rhys,

I am so proud of the way that you two are becoming such good friends.  You love to laugh at one another being silly, you are kind and share things, and you seem to understand each other so well.  Cameron is still memorizing lots of books rather than really reading the words, but that doesn't stop her from sitting down and "reading" them to Rhys.  I absolutely love when he brings a little board book to me and backs himself right up and sits in my lap.  He will happily let you read 4 or 5 books in a row before bed every night if you let him.  His continual favorites are Busy Chickens, Little Blue Truck, and Chugga-Chugga Choo Choo. (Apparently he and Grammy have the same taste in books since she bought them all for him!)

Bathtime is occasionally a rushed thing, but it brings my heart joy when these two sweethearts manage to fit together in our little tub and play together.  Rhys loves his submarine and turtle bath toys, and Cameron is actually pretty good and washing his hair for him, so it's a win-win!  It is quite a challenge to get Rhys to actually get out when he is done… I make the mistake of asking him if he wants to get "up" (since he calls everything up rather than down or out) and he always sweetly replies no.

Cameron thinks she is also Rhys' personal speech therapist.  She practices words with him all the time!  He has gotten pretty good at saying "Sissy" but Cameron is too hard.  He has his own little sounds for a  lot of things like pizza, cheerios, and even dinosaur.  I guess we are in the phase where we can interpret things and explain them to everybody else.  :)

I am so grateful for both of you and your sweet spirits.  Thank you for filling our home with laughter and joy.  In the words of the beautiful Psalms, "My cup runneth over."

Love,
Mama