Prayers for Levi--Updated

I just saw Brandy and sweet Levi. Levi is perfect. And she believes fully that it is truly a miracle. What she can figure is that he may have choked on some vomit. He has severe reflux and also had a snotty nose at the time. Luckily she heard him cry and went to him immediately. They got him to the hospital and did a CT scan and he was still mostly unresponsive. When they had him propped up for the X-Ray, he started babbling and smiling. He just came home last night, so they are tired from the hospital stay, but otherwise are great. Brandy greatly thanks you for prayers and knows it is because of prayer that Levi is home and healthy.

Praise God!!!!
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Please say a prayer for our little neighbor Levi. He's about 5 months old. His mom, Brandi went in to get him from his crib and he was choking and blue. She was able to revive him, but he still was not normal. Firetrucks and ambulances were called and we heard them leave with their sirens on, so I don't think it's good. Please keep Brandi and Levi and their whole family in your prayers!

Quick Update

I wanted to give a very quick update about all that is going on. Mike and I went last week to Philly to meet movers and get our stuff all packed up. We closed on our house in Allen on Monday and spent all day Tuesday painting! The paint is not complete, but it's much better than it was on Monday. Hardwood floors are being installed today. Carpet is being put down tomorrow and our movers are coming as well. It should make for a very busy and interesting day on Thursday! I'm not quite sure yet how it is all going to work out, but we'll figure it out. Most of our stuff will just go into the garage until the flooring is completed. Then, we'll pull it out as we need to. Maybe this will allow me to do some organizing and clean out some stuff we no longer need.

I cannot wait to be moved in completely! And I cannot wait to see the house once everything is done. It already feels so good to have walls painted and everything looking fresh and neat. We're really ready to be out of the apartment and get settled into our new home.

I have realized how much I missed Philly in just the one month that we had been gone. Granted, there are a lot of things I won't miss, but Philly is such a unique city and it was such a neat opportunity for us to live there for 19 months. I'm working on my list of "Things I love and/or will miss about Philly". Look for that to be posted soon!

We're Back . . .

We’ve been back in Texas for two weeks. The new job is going well and the house hunting adventure might be coming to a close. We had found a home in McKinney that we really liked but it was a pre-foreclosure and the bank was not in any hurry to make a decision on our offer. So this weekend we hit the streets again and found a home in Allen that we like. It is close to our previous home and the neighborhood is great. We also have several friends in and around the neighborhood. If everything goes well we will close in three weeks. We haven’t scheduled the official move from Philadelphia but it will be coming soon.

Zane and Eli are having a blast spending time with family. They are adjusting well. Zane keeps asking why we have to get in the car and drive so far to everything. They are enjoying that we are in an apartment with a pool. Today we went to church and were able to visit with friends and Eli successfully stayed in the nursery for the first time. We were a little worried because he really hasn’t been away from Leslie. Our little boy is growing up.

The New H3 Debuting Feb 2008

That's right, we're expecting a little bundle of joy that will be arriving early next year. We went this week for the big workup and first sonogram. This is such a wiggly child. We didn't really even get a decent picture because he/she would not be still! But we were able to clearly see him/her and a sweet little heartbeat.


The boys are excited and Zane waivers back and forth on whether he wants a baby brother or sister, but mostly says brother. And he's ready for it now. He keeps asking why it's taking so long for his baby brother to come out. Hmmm...maybe we should have waited a teensy bit longer to tell him. This could be a very long 7 more months for us. Eli just says "baby" here and there, so I don't really think he gets it much. Our families are excited as well.

We are excited as can be and can't wait to welcome another to the family. I'm feeling really crummy these days. Not sure that it's exactly the same as with the boys, but bad none the less. Thanks to a couple of prescriptions I got , I hope I'll be feeling better soon and eating some full meals and keeping them all down!

Defending my faith

I find it very interesting that a person’s character, beliefs, and faith are questioned by simply being on the opposite side of a political spectrum. We’ve encountered friends and family who can’t fathom not supporting a conservative candidate with a conservative agenda. From the shock and awe facial expressions, to the spam email chains and the doom and gloom speeches, we have seen and heard it all. If you haven’t guessed, Leslie and I both support Barack Obama for President. This wasn’t blind support of a candidate or let’s hop on the bandwagon support. Leslie and I both are pro-life and believe that marriage is ordained by God between a man and a woman so how could we support a candidate that is pro-choice and supports civil unions.

It is actually a simple thought process based on Jesus teachings. “Love one another as I have loved you.” We live in a society with poverty, prejudice, hatred, sickness, apathy, crime, violence, illiteracy, global warming, war, religious intolerance, and broken homes. There are many issues facing our cities, country, and our world. Yes there are some moral issues that face us but we should not shoulder our support in the political process for a few moral issues because there are many life issues that are just as important. My faith is not defined by a moral issue it is defined by believing in Jesus as the Son of God and his life, death, and resurrection as atonement for my sins.

I believe in the authority and holiness of the Bible and found the following post interesting: James Dobson Doesn’t Speak for Me

• What does speak for me is David's psalm celebrating how good and pleasant it is when we come together in unity;
• Micah speaks for me in reminding us that the Lord requires us to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him;
• The prophet Isaiah speaks for me in his call for all to come and reason together and also to seek justice, encourage the oppressed and to defend the cause of the vulnerable;
• The book of Nehemiah speaks for me in its example to work with our neighbors, not against them, to restore what was broken in our communities
• The book of Matthew speaks for me in saying to bless those that curse you and pray for those who persecute you;
• The words of the apostle Paul speak for me in saying that words spoken and deeds done without love amount to nothing.
• The apostle John speaks for me in reminding us of Jesus' command to love one another. The world will know His disciples by that love.

This is just my two cents. I will gladly respect view points that differ from mine.

Texas, Our Texas

We’re heading back to the Lone Star State. And no, it’s not just for a visit. We are moving home. We could not be more excited. We’ve enjoyed our time in Philadelphia, but this chapter of our life will soon come to a close. We do consider the time we’ve been here an adventure. Zane has enjoyed living the city-life and will have many great memories. Philadelphia is all little Eli has ever even known. We don’t know if he will truly remember anything from his time here, but we will have lots of pictures to share with him when he’s older.

Mike has been given a great opportunity to work for a major retailer in the metroplex. So far, they have been gracious and welcoming to him and our entire family. He is excited about making the transition into his new role. And we are all excited to be back among our family and many dear friends. We can’t wait to reconnect with you all!!!

Edited to add: While we won't exactly be on the 75 corridor, we'll be close. We plan on looking for houses in the McKinney/Frisco area.