O Jamesy Tree O Jamesy Tree, I Really Love Your Branches

Somethin' Changed!

Meet Dr. James R. Snowden II

This is a picture of James in his new wheelchair/stroller. He really likes it! Grandpa John is making a whole bunch of changes to it--I guess you could say that he is pimping James' wheel chair (is that an ok thing to say on this blog?).

Rhyming: The Work of the Devil?

One of the things James has really grown to like in recent days is books. Unfortunately he is not all that interested in my books. I guess biblical backgrounds, hermeneutics, and Greek are not yet his "cup of tea." I guess there is always next year. Although he doesn't like my books, he is all over books like "Touch and Feel Farm Animals," "The Ox Cart Man," and his favorite is "Boats!"

The stupid thing about most children's books is that they rhyme. Because I am something of an annoying person (no commenting on this statement please), when I read to James I make it my goal to undo all the rhyming done in his books. I know what you are thinking, "What? You undo all the rhyming? Aren't you concerned about your son enjoying the book? After all, is it not the rhyming that makes such books fun for children?"

First of all, the theory which says that rhyming is what makes reading fun for kids has become highly suspect in recent scholarship. Ok, so maybe it hasn't, but I can say that James likes my unconventional reading style.

Here is how it goes--I will give you some lines:

"High boat; Low Boat; Fast Boat; Slow.
Boat by itself; Boats in a LINE."

Obviously, it was supposed to read, "Boats in a ROW." How stupid! Who writes these books anyway?

Want another? OK!

"Then all the birds began to sing
to tell the bears, 'Wake up, it's not winter any more.'"

This quote came from the book, "It's Spring." The Line was supposed to be read like this: "To tell the bears, 'Wake up, it's Spring.'" Need I say more? Do you now see why I am playing the role of a redactor?

My fellow fathers, I hope this adds some spice to your time with your children. The goal is to see how fast you can read the book while trading the rhyming words with other words that do not rhyme but are similar in meaning. Your child will love it if you yell the supplied word like moron.

Ok, so maybe i need to get a life or something.

No Fun Allowed!!

Exit Ivory Tower

Well, I finished my two classes last Friday. As I mentioned two posts ago, my missions class rendered me useless in every area of life. So, what have I been doing since last Friday? Actually I have only been doing three things: Sleeping, eating, and catching up on lost time with my bride and son. Simply put, I have done a lot of nothing and I'm not apologizing for it. After completing my courses I vowed to do no reading, writing, or thinking for one full week. As you can see, I am breaking my vow right now, but "Hey, ya can't win em all."

Anyway, I have had an excellent time with my family. My vacation lasts until Monday. Pray that my classes next semester are a bit more reasonable. Also, for those of you out there looking for a class on missions: make sure that the class you take doesn't expect so much out of you that you have no time left for... ummm.... what was it again... oh yeah... MISSIONS! Anyway, I am thankful that I am now freed up to do the most important things--minister to my family, my local church, and the lost in my community.

For those of you who don't know: The helmet James is wearing in the picture is to reshape his head. Because of his inability to hold up his head, and because of all the time he spent at the hospital James got a wicked (New Hampshire word) bad flat spot on the back of his head. The helmet helps reshape the head--he will have to wear it for a couple more months. It smells like a mixture between sweat, vinegar, and cheese. Not all the alcohol swabs in the world can take away the smell--oh well.

Where's All the Snow? It's In New England!

Oh, the joys of living in New England!

An Update on Ol' Poopy Pants

For those of you who are still waiting for another update on James: He is now out of the hospital. We left at 8:00 pm Wednesday night. James is doing really well. His congestion is much better and he is back to his smiley self. The only thing in need of prayer at this point is his eating. For a while there, he wasn't able to eat anything without throwing it up. Right now he is eating a little over half of what he was eating before he was sick. We are increasing his feeds little by little everyday, but we have to go slow with it because he struggles with holding it down. Pray that he would continue to increase to where he was before he was sick. Also, pray for him tomorrow: Kristal is going to start trying to feed him orally again tomorrow. He absolutely refused to eat orally while he was sick (we fed him solely through his g-tube). Pray that he learns to enjoy eating orally again.

The Lord has been so good to us. The Lord clearly did a miracle on Tuesday night. When Kristal and I went to bed he was in desperate need of oxygen and an IV. Well, when we woke up he was breathing 5 percentages better without the oxygen than he was the night before with the aid of oxygen. Thank you so much for your prayers. Both Kristal and I have learned so much through our trials with James. We had a couple lengthy conversations about what the Lord has been teaching us through our struggles. Both of us are encouraged more than ever. We serve a faithful God.

DJ Jazzy James

The Lord has been good. Last night when we went to bed we lamented the fact that we would probably not be leaving the hospital for a while. Well, this morning when we woke up the nurse came in and told us that they took James off his oxygen early this morning. They still have the tubes in his nose just in case, but his breathing is much better.

About 15 minutes after posting yesterday, the doctor decided it was time to put an IV in. They did not want him to get more dehydrated and thus go further backwards. Well, the IV is still in, BUT James has been holding his food down really well. He hasn't thrown up since last night around 8 pm (and his 8pm barf fiasco was on the smaller side of things). The doctor just (as I am typing this) came in and informed us that they are going to start trying to feed James 3 oz (about 1/4 of a can of soda) every 3 hours. She said if he can keep 3 oz down without throwing any up until this evening, we might be able to go home.

Since we have been to the hospital James has not cracked one smile (which is unlike him). Well, this morning he has been smiling all over the place. He is much more awake and energetic.

Things seem to be looking up for DJ Jazzy James. We are not sure when we will be leaving, but we are hopeful that it will be sooner than later. Please continue to pray that James would continue to fight through this nasty RSV.

Also, they took another x-ray of his chest and his lungs were Kristal clear (haha)--no more pneumonia.

Heck, what do you know, God does answer prayer. I guess it is not a waste of time getting on your knees praying to the invisible God. Hmmm... I guess his promises are true.

Well folks, continue to pray. Continue to sick God on James--He seems to know how to deal with that "untreatable" monster, RSV.

James Update 2/05/08

Well, as of Sunday, James' pneumonia and RSV was not getting any better, so they decided to admit him to the hospital. It is Tuesday and there is no end to our hospital visit in sight. Here are some things you can be praying for:

-James is on oxygen right now, because the RSV is making his breathing labored. When he falls asleep and relaxes, his oxygen saturation goes down too low. If his oxygen saturation numbers do not rise we cannot go home.

-James is not able to hold anything down. As soon as we put something in his belly, he throws it up. His diapers are starting to be noticeably drier and drier. Pray that he does not get dehydrated to the point of needing an IV.

-James is extremely hungry and so is crying every moment that he is awake.

-Pray for Kristal and I (especially Kristal--she never gets a break from him) that we get some sleep. James has been up in the night because of hunger.

-Pray for me as I continue to try and get all my school work done. I was thankful that I met my reading goal yesterday (Yes, I make school work goals every morning when I get up--yep, I'm a geek). But I think things are going to be much more difficult today, because James is not sleeping as much as he did yesterday.

-Pray that the Lord would open opportunities for us to share the gospel with the nurses and doctors.

-Continue to pray for my parents in their moving and job situation.


Thanks for persisting with us in prayer. Kristal and I are both extremely exhausted. I think the both us are starting to get somewhat tired of hospitals. Pray that we would embrace the work the Lord has for us. Apparently we haven't been busy enough about mixing among the people of our community letting our light shine in the darkness--God has a way of getting us where He wants us. We are thankful for whatever reason the Lord has us here. But, we are also ready to go home. This hospital visit has been extra difficult, because it is the first visit where I have had to continue my schooling while we are here. This effects both Kristal and I. It effects Kristal because I cannot be a helping hand. It effects me because it is hard to not be a helping hand. I am thankful for my mother-in-law (Kelly). She has come up to the hospital to help out. Anyway, keep praying. The Lord is mighty to heal.

Oh, do you like the picture. Those are his new ear muffs. He gets overstimulated by loud sounds easily. Actually, they are to muffle the loud ramblings of our pastor--Moe. Haha.

Baby James Prayer Update--1/18/07

It has been a few weeks since I have done an update on James. You can see the hose part of James' g-tube in the picture. If you can't tell, he was being fed when the picture was taken--hence the syringe full of formula.

1. Praise the Lord! James' EEG test results came back and there was absolutely no seizure activity. This was a huge answer to prayer.

2. Praise the Lord! James had a vision test and everything is normal.

3. Praise the Lord! James is growing now that we can feed him through his g-tube.

4. Continue to pray for James' motor development--he is still way behind. He is making little, yet noticeable progress every week (except in the area of eating orally). James' therapist and doctors fit him to an adaptive chair to specifically help his motor development. Be praying that it comes in faster than it usually does. They told us 3-6 months.

5. James is really starting to come out of his shell. He is such a joy to have around. He always laughs. He is much smarter than I thought--he thinks I am the funniest of all. He takes after his father--good discernment.

6. We are looking into getting him a helmet to fix his flat head. Pray that the Lord would give us discernment on this.

7. Praise the Lord! James is FINALLY letting Kristal and I sleep through the night.

8. James' neurologist wants to do another MRI of James' brain. He also wants to do another spinal tap, blood work, and urine sample to continue to make sure that they haven't missed something. They also want to do a hearing test. We do not know when this will happen. Be praying because they will have to sedate him to do all these things.

9. Pray for my parents. My dad is having a lot of health issues (kidney stones, numbness throughout his body, sleep apnia, etc.). Also, my dad is looking at getting a new job. The economy in NV is so poor that the fencing industry has almost stopped. They are looking at jobs in both the Seattle, WA and the Phoenix, AZ areas. Pray that the Lord would grant him a job that both pays well and is easy on his body. Pray for them financially as it is expensive to move. Also, pray for my mom as she is taking care of my 15 year old cousin.

God has been so good to us. Thanks for your persistent prayers.

Rockin Into 2008

Here is a picture of James on his new Rocking Moose.

Stellar Ornaments!!

Here is a picture of James in front of our HUGE Christmas tree. Last year (Our first Christmas as a married family), Kristal and I started an ornament exchange tradition. It has been a lot of cheap fun. I have posted pictures of all of the ornaments that are presently on our Christmas tree. The tree is sorta bare right now, and will be until we are married long enough to collect adequate ornaments.
I hope you like the ornaments. I am sure that you will not want Kristal or I to pick ornaments for your tree after you see them all--we value humor over asthetic appeal!

WOW! Kristal got this fine specimen for me this year. It takes up about 3/4 of our tree. My wife knows a good ornament when she sees one.

I stumbled upon this beaut in the crafts department in Wal-Mart. It was not made to be an ornament, if you can't tell. Do you like the ornament string--it is gaudily twisted scotch tape. I am confident that Hallmark will soon be calling asking me for future ornament creation advice.

I gave this one to Kristal last year. Actually, I got it for her because I thought it was cool. Every single one of his limbs have been broken at one time or another. Super glue has saved this prince's life.

Kristal got this for me last year--It definitely enhanced the romantic essence of the Christmas season.

This is James' first Christmas ornament from Kristal and I. This also was not created to be an ornament--it is a simple Christmas rubber duckie. I have an eye for ornament potential. I thought Kristal was going to hate it when I brought it home. She didn't! Rather than hating it, she simply poked some holes in it's head and ran a ribbon through to hold it on the tree. This ornament is evidence that we could conquer the world together if we really wanted to.

John and Kelly (the in-laws) gave this to us as a family ornament. Moose are our favorite animal.





Mommy Kristal got this ornament for James. I could never in a billion years buy something this cute. If I got him an ornament, it probably would have been a miniature basketball, hatchet, Greek New Testament ,or soemthing along these lines. Oh well.

And there you have it! Our 2007 Christmas ornament collection. Next year I will add our new ones.

Winter Wonder Land

This is a picture of our back yard taken this morning. We will definitely be having a white Christmas this year.

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Fun in the Sun

Baby James is getting quite larger these days. He still wears the title "Cranky Pants." I haven't updated about his status for quite a while. He is g-tubeless and doing well.

He's Photogenic

A Few Pics From The Car

A Little Upset

Studly!

A Little Side Profile Action