The MRI is here...

Tomorrow will be a long day for our little Smiles... beginning, really, sometime after midnight with strict fasting (no formula or breastmilk in preparation for general anesthetic); culminating with 2+ hours in the MRI machine; and wrapping up sometime in the early afternoon when I can visit him in the recovery room, feed him, and finally bring him home. He returns the following day to meet his neurosurgeon & receive a prognosis. We will keep everyone updated and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers and support thus far...



I invite you to join me in the following prayer for Alex ~

O Lord Jesus Christ, Divine Healer and Good Shepherd,
You gently gather the lambs in Your arms
and carry them in Your bosom.

We commend to Your loving care
this child, Alexander.

Relieve any pain he may be suffering,
protect him from all dangers,
and raise him up to a life of service to You.

We ask this through Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

One of those days...

Amy is having one of those days. Well, really a whole string of them. Her molars are coming in, you see.

We have found that a few minutes of watching "Milo & Otis" do wonders in distracting her from the pain, though. Here she is snuggled on my lap, having a little "Milo & Otis" pick-me-up:For the record, I highly recommend the movie "Milo & Otis" -- beautiful photography of an astounding number of domestic and wild animals, along with a cute story-line. I would enjoy it even if I didn't have Amy's molars as an excuse to watch!

Too Cozy

Apparently we at the Cozy Holt cozied up with some poison ivy recently. All of us have it -- yes, even Amy! Doesn't this picture just break your heart?!

Fortunately, we discovered a special soap that draws the irritating oils right out of the skin (yes, it works!) so we're all on the mend!

In Sickness and In Health... already.

It'll be no new news to those who know me well that, yes, I am sick again.  Oh, it's just a cold.  But it's been around for weeks now, and -- I must admit -- I'm wishing it would go away already.  What's more, Eric seems to be catching it, too.  

When the man who "never gets sick" told me he felt a headache coming on, I decided it was time to get proactive about this bug.  So, I started taking the tylenol, swallowing the Omega 3's, and eating fruits with lots of vitamin C.  All to no avail.  This one will just have to run it's course, I suppose.

But in a bit of a wild moment, I searched out an old Russian concoction against sore throats and decided it couldn't make me feel any worse.  Admittedly, it sounded rather disgusting -- afterall, it was a drink that called for a generous scoop of butter!  But after tweaking the recipe a bit, I was pleasantly surprised not only by the taste but also by the results.  For about a full hour, my throat was pain-free.  Not that it's permanently helped, of course.  But the next time I find myself with an acute sore throat, I will probably try this again.

* 2 c. hot milk

* 1 Tablespoon honey 

(completely dissolved in the milk)

* 1/4 tsp butter

blend thoroughly and drink