Not so humerus.

I will get straight to the point. If you haven't heard by now, our sweet Korben has his first broken bone. He has a fracture in his humerus. I know you are wondering how in the world that could happen.

Let me set the scene for you.

We had just spent an incredible weekend with Mopsy and Poppy in Heber Springs. Car was loaded, keys in the ignition. We're saying the final good byes in the driveway. Giving the final kisses. Poppy was holding Korben and had been jogging around with him which was making Korben giggle. Aaron and Julie both told Poppy not to run with Korben because he might trip and fall. Poppy walks off of the driveway into the yard to show Korben a tree. As they were walking back, I said "Run with him"...the famous words that keep rining in my ear. Why did I say this? Aaron AND Julie had both told Don not to do this, but I knew how much Korben liked it and I just wanted to see him smile again. I never DREAMED that Poppy would trip, but he did. He tripped right where the grass meets the pavement and they crashed on to the concrete. I hate thinking about that moment even to type this. It was so scary. Praise the LORD that Don's arm protected Korben's head. Korben's tongue was bleeding, his arm was was scraped badly, and his right arm appeared to be limp. After taking him by Dr. Bivins house, he advised us to go get an x-ray at the ER. We did. His right humerus had an impact/ed fracture and we were advised to go to Children's hopsital. My mom beat us there, and Don and Julie were just a little bit behind us because they waited to get the x-rays from the ER in Heber. I can't remember all of the exact times, but I know we got to Children's at 10:00 p.m, and we didn't get back to my mom's house until 4:00 a.m. It was a long night for all of us, but Korben was such a trooper. He slept in my arms the entire time in the waiting room. I was so thankful he was able to rest. I was also so thankful our families were there with us.

The doctor said it was a bad break, but his age is on his side. Because he is growing constantly right now, the break should heal quickly. We are seeing an orthopedic specialist at Children's hospital on Tuesday at 2:45, and I should know a lot more details then. I'm trying to take this one day at a time and not worry about what is to come. He was just starting to walk a whole lot better, and as you know, this baby loves to crawl and get in to everything. Now, he is pretty much attached to me 24/7. He is napping in his crib while I type this, but I'm sure he will wake up in discomfort soon. Please pray for him. He is very uncomfortable, and so frustrated that he can not do anything. We've been doing a lot of strolling arund the driveway and watching Baby Einstein movies.

Here are some pictures from the weekend...before and after the fall.
DISCLAIMER: The last two pictures are ridiculously sad.


Korben playing with his friend Karen at Julie's office.


























On our way to "Spring Fest" at the park in Heber Springs.



























Swinging in the park.

























Loving (almost a little too much) on the Kitty from the humane society booth.























Playing "golf" in the back yard with the Daddy and Poppy.


























Walking with Mopsy and Poppy























Having his shirt cut off at Children's hospital. I warned you about this picture. Definitely the saddest picture of Korben ever taken.





























Getting his ace bandage sling.


























Thanks for reading. I will update when I can. Please keep our little guy in your prayers as well as Korben's Poppy. Fortunately, Don walked away with only bad scrapes and sore muscles, but his heart is very sad. This is no one's fault, and reminds us ALL that accidents can happen with any of us.

Climbing

Korben is still not walking a whole lot on his own. He will take 4-5 steps (like you saw on the video) when he really wants something, but for now he is satisfied with crawling and pulling up. His interest in walking grows a little more every day, but he seems to be really interested in climbing!

I had to take his little rocking chair out of his room because he would climb up in it, and then try to climb into the window seat. Sooo dangerous! He would also like to climb to the top of his chest of drawers in his room if I would let him. Sometimes I wonder if I were to leave him alone, what all he would really try to do. Of course, I'm never going to let this experiment play out...it is just an interesting thought.

Last week, Aaron had a game night with the youth. He brought the games home and laid them down in front of the armoire (yes, I just had to look up how to spell that!). The next morning, Korben thought "Perfect, step stools." He climbed right up on top of the games and starting pushing the buttons on the x-box, and cable box.



























Yesterday, he figured out that he could climb on top of his activity table. I would pull him down, and he would pop right back up on top. He reminded me of an elephant at the circus, balanced on one of those tiny platforms.












































Moms that are reading this...did/does your 13 month old climb? I'm nervous when he is going to learn he can climb out of his crib. It seems impossible because his bed is as low as it can go, but you never know!

More Easter Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the weekend!

1. Silly Korben and Mommy:























2. The two loves of my life (and handsomest boys in the world, I might add!):



















3. Mommy and Baby (Big Baby!)
























4. First Rodgers Family Easter Photo:

Easter Weekend

This has been an amazing weekend. By Friday, I would say Korben was 100% back to his normal self! I was so thankful to see that energetic little boy again! I'm so grateful that he didn't suffer any longer with that virus. From what I heard, most people have it for much, much longer. Thank you for your prayers for my little one.

My mom came in on Friday afternoon. She brought Korben an awesome Easter basket (way better than the one with saltines and gatorade!), and a really cute Fisher Price piggy bank that counts the play money you put in it. He loves it all!




















































































Aaron and I were able to go on a date (without Korben) for the first time in FOUR months! It was soooo nice. We went to Shogun in Fayetteville and had the BEST sushi. We also did a little shopping, and I got my hair cut at the mall on a whim! So, back to the sushi! We split 4 different kinds of rolls. Sushi is the most fun food to eat because it is beautiful and delicious! It also takes a while to eat(maybe that is just because I'm terrible with chopsticks?), so you can enjoy it longer! The picture below is not our sushi, it is just a random picture from the internet. I put it on here so some of can see what it looks like. I'm afraid that some of my frends think I'm just picking up a fish off of a plate and eating it whole. Not the case at all!

























Dr. Beene recommended that I wait a week until I got Korben out and about. She said that would give him time for his immune system to bulk back up. I really wanted to take him to our church's Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, but we just couldn't chance it. Mom and I took him on a Saturday morning drive around some gorgeous neighborhoods in Fort Smith. It was the most beautiful day, and he seemed to enjoy the drive, considering he gets to face forward in the car now.



























On Saturday afternoon, My best friend Emily and her husband Drew came over. It was so great to see them! However, there was an added perk to the visit! Drew is establishing his photography business, and he spent the afternoon taking pictures of Korben in the yard. Drew has only sent me two, but I will be posting more soon. I absolutely love them!!!























































Korben spent Easter Sunday with his CC, while Aaron and I went to church. We appreciated that sooooo much! It was so nice to go to church together! We felt lost without Korben though. I know parents always say this, but I really can't remember my life without him. Like, could I really just "get ready" for church with ease, and just "take a nap" when I wanted? Really? Because, I don't remember. All I can say is, life is so much better now!

It was so much fun to worship with the Body this morning. Jeff did an amazing sermon that highlighted the disciples, and how they bailed on Jesus by denying him right before he died. He pointed out that once Jesus resurrected and appeared to them, all but one of them ended up becoming martyrs for the cause of Christ. They were once people who denied him, but they became people that would endure anything because of their belief in him. Why would they do that? Why would they be boiled in oil, skinned alive, or be-headed for just a "nice guy?" The wouldn't. They were convinced that he was the ONE AND ONLY, TRUE MESSIAH! Jesus told Thomas, "You believe because you have seen me, Blessed are those who believe without seeing me(John 20:29)."

I have never seen Jesus, but I want to have the kind of faith that would withstand any test. I am so proud to know that I worship the TRUE, RISEN SAVIOR...and "no power of hell, or scheme of man, could ever pluck me from his hand."

I hope that wherever you were on this Easter Sunday, you were able to reflect on the gift of Salvation we have been given.

Thank you for reading!!


P.S. Stay tuned for some Rodgers Family Easter pictures! Even though Korben didn't go to church with us, he did get dressed up and take family pictures with us. I will post them soon. My mom has them on her camera.

Jello Face Video

Progress and Prayer

Around 1:30 today, I think I saw some life back in Korben. He had half of a container of applesauce and half of a container of jello. He also ate two crackers. May not sound like much to you, but it sounded like a whole lot to me. I think the food gave him instant energy, because I kept saying "I'm so proud of you...Yay Korben!" and he would just clap for himself. I got a cute video of that, but for some reason my blog isn't cooperating, so a picture will have to do for now.



























I just feel compelled to say that I fully realize some stomach viruses and lactose intolerance issues are truly NOTHING in comparison to what some families have to deal with on a daily basis. I vent on my blog because: 1. It is true life, and this blog is my baby book and 2. Because I'm a mom, and I worry. BUT, I fully recognize that there are many families who would give everything they have for their baby to just have the rotavirus or tummy issues. I read blogs everyday of friends and strangers who are fighting to save their children's lives on a daily basis. I do not take a single day for granted with Korben. I thank the Lord daily for allowing me to be able to stay at home with him. (The Lord must have known Korben would be sick a lot, and I would have already been fired from my job from taking so many sick days!)

I want to ask a favor of you. Some of you who read my blog are members at Grand, and are already prayer warriors on the Marsh's behalf. This is for those of you who read my blog who don't know about this situation, and would be willing to pray.

Collin Marsh is a precious little boy that will turn one year old on April 23rd. If he was able to be at church right now, he would be in Korben's class. He was diagnosed with Leukeima in November and has practically been at Children's Hospital ever since while undergoing many rounds of chemotherapy, and many other trials. It is in the works for him to get a bone marrow transplant in the upcoming month, but has recently caught RSV which is currently holding up the process. He was considered in remission a few weeks ago, but now it is sounding like that is questionable. PLEASE pray that sweet Collin will be in remission and he will be able to be healthy enough to get this bone marrow transplant.

Here is a photo of Collin taken in February with his mom and dad, Emily and Phillip.

Easter Bunny

I'm sure you've often wondered what the Easter Bunny brings to little boys with the Rotavirus...

















Now you know!




P.S. The big bunny in the middle of the basket is bubbles! They are probably just as important as anything else the doctor ordered because they sure have brought him a lot of smiles today!

Rotavirus it is.

Just found out by calling the ER that he did test positive for Rotavirus.

They said they tried to call me. Really?

Will it ever end?

We ended up having to take our boy to the ER last night. He was the sickest he has been thus far with the worst diarrhea he had ever had. I spoke with his nurse all throughout the day, and she told me to do my best to thicken up his diet with solids (BRAT diet) and his soy milk. I thought he was tolerating it all pretty well, until around 4:30 EVERYTHING came back up. This was the first time he had vomited since he had gotten this virus, and it really worried me. By that point, the nurse had to tell me to go to the ER.

Aaron and I showed up around 5. Korben was appearing to be the most "well" child that ever lived...waving Hi and Bye Bye to everyone that walked by, and dancing to stranger's ringtones. He was really making a liar out of us, at first. I told the nurses that when he is sick next time, I'm just going to bring him to the ER waiting room since it seemed to cure him (well, not really!).

They did blood work which ruled out a lot of really bad things, and they only found that he was mildly dehydrated. They gave him a pill for nausea and told us to give him some jello 30 minutes later. He scarfed down the first half of the jello, and then he started crying, pushing it away. Five minutes later, the diarrhea came...and came...and came. I probably changed 6 diapers just while we were at the ER. They tested his stool, and we haven't found out anything from that yet.

We came home, and by then he already had another bad diaper. He also woke two times in the night screaming his head off. He trembled when I tried to change his diaper, so I know this mess is burning him!

He drank some soy milk, and had some banana and crackers this morning. After that he was exhausted, and just fell asleep in my arms. I transferred him to his crib, and he is still asleep now. I'm praying that he can keep his food down today, and that he starts to get better immediately.

This poor little boy has been through so much tummy trouble. He has had 3 stomach viruses in 3 months (the last two within one month), as well as lactose intolerant (probable) issues. His tummy has not been right for a long time. I'm so glad we were able to rule out anything terrible at the ER, because weird thoughts had started to plague me.

I will hopefully be able to update with some good news tonight. Thanks for your prayers!

WALKING!!!

By the grace of God, you guys, I caught Korben's first official steps on video this morning! Now, he had taken a couple steps in between Aaron and me, but this was the first time I really felt like he "walked!" I was sitting in the floor of his room, and happened to notice that my camera was in my diaper bag. I pulled it out of the bag, and started to shoot a video of Korben standing at his changing table...all of a sudden he just came to me (because he wanted the camera)! I freaked out, and I'm still on a high! I just didn't think it would happen like that. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to capture that on video "accidentally."








He is obviously feeling well enough to play and start walking today, but I'm still worried about him. He still has diarrhea and NO appetite. I can only hope this is a virus, and hopefully he is almost over it!

This Time Last Year

Today is the one year anniversary of Korben and me moving to Fort Smith. I didn't include Aaron in that statement because he was already here, "preparing a place for us (I told you he was godly)." He picked us up from my mom's house in Jacksonville on Saturday, April 5th, and we headed to Fort Smith. I can not tell you how shocking it was to see our home. I felt like I was on Extreme Makeover Home Edition! I had seen it back in February when we decided to buy it, but I had not seen it since so many talented people had helped to renovate it. I will forever be grateful for Aaron, Don, Julie, Don Lehman, Cheryl Lehman, and MANY others who helped make our house a beautiful home in such a short amount of time.

It was an incredible blessing to me, at such a stressful adjustment time, to not have to worry about anything regarding our home. All I had to do was "arrive" and I thank you all of the gift of "peace of mind" you all gave me. God works in so many ways to help people through tragedies, and one of the ways he blessed me was through all of you taking care of those things that would have pushed my stress level over the top at that time.

On this Sunday, one year ago, I attended my new church for the first time. As a new mother, having lived in Fort Smith less than 24 hours, I was a little nervous about everything that day. I was especially nervous about leaving him in the nursery for the first time, considering he was just one day shy of 4 weeks old. God blessed me so much through Linda Cain. Even though I heard she'd worked with the babies for 17+ years, she still made me feel like Korben and his individual needs were of utmost importance to her. Her love for Korben quickly made me feel so loved, and she immediately became my "comfort zone" in my new church home. Thank you, Linda for reaching out to me, through loving my baby.


I'd like to introduce you to a new segment of my blog called "Korben: This Time Last Year." These pictures of Korben were taken just a few, short days before I left my mom's house. And as you can see, Geoffrey the Giraffe has been watching over him since the beginning! The bottom two pictures don't possibly look like they were taken on the same day, but they were! He always looked like a completely different baby when he was sleeping than he did when he was awake. Oh, and the tan...his jaundice lingered until he was almost two months old!

April 1st:

Babies are like a box of chocolates...

Babies are definitely like a box of chocolates, because you never know what you are going to get. You put them to bed, they're happy and healthy. They wake up sick and cranky. How does this happen? Especially, how does this happen when they just got over a stomach virus two weeks ago? Shouldn't there at least be a 4 week grace period for moms after a stomach virus? I've got to read the fine print on this.

Korben woke up Saturday with very very bad diarrhea. He had a low fever, so I knew that he had probably caught another virus. I had taken him to Mother's Day Out on Friday, and his nursery workers told me that he'd had two bad diapers. However, he seemed so happy on Friday afternoon that I didn't think anything could possibly be wrong.

Let me tell you how pitiful this baby was yesterday. Immediately after I got him out of his crib, I put him in the bath tub(reasons mentioned above). He normally prefers to stand in the bath tub, but this time he just sat there with his head down. He drank a little bit of pedialyte after that and a few bites of banana and toast. Then he just lethargically laid in my lap and sucked his thumb. He had only been awake for about an hour, but I took his cue and laid him in his bed. He slept for 2.5 hours. He woke up for another hour or so, drank a little bit more, then he slept for over 4 hours. I eventually had to just wake him up because it was past 4 o' clock at this point! He ate some toast and some more banana, and couldn't wait to go to bed at 5:30. And would you believe the poor baby slept until 7:40 this morning?? The sweet little thing was not even awake longer than 3 hours ALL DAY yesterday! Have you ever been that sick? I know I have. I am so grateful he was able to sleep so well yesterday, considering there is nothing I could do to make him feel any better.

I think he is a little bit better today, but he is definitely not over it. I feel so sorry for him. He has had so many tummy troubles in his short little life.


Let me leave you with 3 random facts:

On a happy note, Korben took two steps today! For about a month now, every now and then, he has been letting go of things and taking a step (falling immediately after). Well, today he took TWO successful steps toward his daddy from the coffee table. We were all so thrilled! I know he has had the capability to walk for months now. He has pushed his walker toys around the house for several months. He has just not been quite ready to let go yet. We know he will walk when he is ready, but it seems like it may be getting close!


On a funny note, Korben has discovered the toilet. He is wondering where this thing has been his whole life? No, he is not quite using it, but he would sure love to get in it if he could! I have to keep bathroom doors closed at all time, because if he gets one glimpse of the toilet we are all in trouble. Just last week I was sitting in the floor of his room looking at a big sack of hand-me-down clothes that a friend just gave me (thank you so much, Bekah Coursey!!). I promise you, he was right next to me, opening and closing the door. Well, just a SECOND later, I heard "WOOSH" (the sound of a toilet flushing, in case you didn't know!), I ran into the guest bathroom and Korben was so thrilled that he had figured out how to flush the toilet. He is FAST people, I tell you! What is it with boys and toilet humor?

On an interesting note, I just found out about something I really should have invented myself. http://www.Smartmomjewelry.com This company, Smart Mom Jewelry, makes jewelry for moms specifically that their baby can chew on. I know what you are picturing...something that looks like a farm scene designed by Fisher Price himself. NO...It is actually even cute! To those of you who aren't mothers, you may think, that is disgusting. Why would you even need that? Well, every time I've ever tried to wear jewelry, Korben can't think about anything else other than how badly he wants to teethe on my necklace or bracelet. In moments of desperation (the best example I can think of would be a crowded post office line), you give in, and just let them chew on it. This could be detrimental to your jewelry or hazardous to your baby's health if the jewelry were to break. I can't tell you how many times I have worn specific jewelry that I knew wouldn't break, because I knew Korben would want to chew on it. So yeah, smart mom jewelry! What will they think of (before me) next?

Twitter Pictures

My husband has recently become a big fan of Twitter. He updates what he is doing via Twitter.com multiple times a day. He follows other student pastors all around the nation, as well as students in youth group. He believes it builds community all throughout the day with other believers. I'm so glad he is enjoying it, but I haven't "quite" caught on.

He has posted two pictures on twitter this week that I thought needed to be on my blog.

Aaron took Korben to Walgreen's pick up a prescription the other day, and while he was in the drive-through he turned around, snapped this shot, and posted it to twitter. We are loving him being forward-facing in the car now!

























We took Korben to the park today for the very first time! He loved going down the slide! Aaron also posted this picture to Twitter. Had to share!

Old pictures on my camera

I just realized that I had some old pictures on my camera that I haven't posted.

Here are some pictures we took of Korben on his birthday in his car. I love this first picture so much because you can tell he is smiling, even though you can't see his smile.










































This was one of the lovely days that we were all sick. I was about to give Korben a bath so I sat him next to Aaron while I left to get the bath water running. When I came back, I found Korben holding the video game controller looking like he knew exactly what he was doing. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this future video gamer!