Baptism

It's been a little crazy around here this week. Ben is doing great. He is such a champion that the difficult thing these days is keeping this guy relaxed and in bed. He wants to do everything; ride his bike, swim and play sports. He can't yet but will be able to soon enough. June 20th we go back to remove the catheter he has in place and check the stoma. The other boys are all fine as well. Eric Daniel is doing well. He had his last baseball game last Saturday and today started piano lessons back up. He enjoys piano and voice but nothing like baseball, I on the other hand, enjoy the 45 minute lessons compared to the 2 1/2 hour ball games.

Anyhow, since my last blog was dedicated to Ben I realized that I skipped over Eric's birthday/baptism. Here he is with Dan in the morning. Life is so crazy with these 4 guys. We have suits hanging in their closet but since I usually buy 4 of exactly the same thing it's sometimes hard to figure out whose is who's. Well that happened that day when I look over at Eric and notice that he did not gel his hair and then notice that he is wearing Peter's suit! I of course reminded myself to stay calm- I had some mousse in the van and maybe no one would notice his short sleeves and the slight floods. The important thing was to stay focused and remember the reason for the celebration. Well, it ended up being a very beautiful and spirit filled day and I even forgot about his hair. The party half of the day went well, despite the fact that the day was balmy and gray at 56 degrees. I had reserved the pavilion outside and had lots of water games planned since it had been about 85 most of the week. Oh well, everyone who came came with a great attitude so we had a fun time despite the weather.




Daniel , Eric and Obispo Emmet. These guys changed so quickly that I didn't even get a picture of them in their baptismal clothes!

A very nice unexpected surprise was that my cousin Rosaura was baptized the same day as Eric! That definitely added to our happiness!

Eric Daniel preparing for the big day!

My little mouse turned 8 yesterday! We celebrated the day by taking his class cupcakes and juice. Not just any cupcakes btw, delicious itty bitty gourmet cupcakes in 3 varieties: boston creme, black forest and German chocolate. Needless to say, Mommy chose those because if she's going to pig out on leftovers, it's got to be good stuff.

Later in the day we picked up some crickets for Jim Carey. Jim Carey is the leopard gecko Eric recieved as a gift from my mom for his 7th bday. After that, we picked up Papa Murphy's for dinner, his choice.

I decided to post these pictures because these were some of the ones I chose for his baptism invitation. I think he looks like such a big boy. He's so handsome! He had his interview with Obispo Emmett tonight. He is so ready for Saturday!

We're still here...

I haven't blogged in a while because we have barely had time to breathe. Okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration but you get the picture. ; )

Seriously, we are going through end of the year activities for the kids, with Open House next week and finals for both me and Dan. The end of the school year isn't coming soon enough for us this year!

On top of all the studying and work we are doing, we are also preparing for two important events. Saturday May 24 Eric will be baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ as Latter Day Saints by Dan. For those interested, here is the official website of our church: www.lds.org . I am grateful for this great blessing in our lives. There has never been a time in my life that I haven't known that I am a daughter of a kind and loving God who wants to bless us more than we can imagine. This truth has blessed my life immensely and anything good or positive about me is owed to it. I am so grateful to raise my children in the same knowledge.
In our church we baptize children at the age of 8 because that is what we believe to be the age of accountability. To quote the 2nd Article of Faith "We believe that all men shall be judged for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression." Before the age of 8 children are innocent and pure, unable to choose between right and wrong. Once they reach the age of accountability however, they are able to understand that they can and will be held accountable for their actions. Just a brief history in case anyone was wondering :)

The second major event in our lives lately will happen on May 29th. Our beautiful and perfect child Benjamin James Brogger will undergo a major surgery. Ben was born with a neural tube defect called Spina Bifida and was given a pretty rotten prognosis. Doctors told us he probably wouldn't walk and that he might have mental delays. I never believed it. After all, my God is the same God who parted the Red Sea, delivered Daniel from the Lion's Den and fed multitudes with only a handful. Surely this miracle of our Ben was within his power right? Absolutely! Ben continues to defy his medical team at every visit to Shriners. He walks, runs, jumps and I know I am 100% biased here, but he is unequivocally the most brilliant 4 year old on the planet. ;)
Well at any rate, it's time for us to go back in to Shriners and this time we'll be there for a week as Ben will have what is called the ACE procedure. The following explanation of an ACE procedure is taken from a father of a child with SB, Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss in an article in a SB newsletter:

"What is brilliant about this procedure is that Dr. Joseph
uses only the body’s parts. No hardware or plastic.
Not even a skin flap. So here’s how it works – Dr
Joseph takes the appendix, attaches it to the abdomen
wall at a predetermined spot and then re-enforces the
other end of the appendix into the secum (the top of
the colon). What this does is make it possible to place
a catheter into the appendix through which you insert
water, which thus causes the entire colon to flush. We
use a bag for the water, connect the tube at the end of the bag into the
wide end of the catheter and let the water flow.
At this point, you have to ask yourself how many people
with no bowel paralysis spend at least a half an
hour a day on the toilet. Probably more than you care
to think about."

And so it is a major surgery and we would appreciate any prayers that you might send up on our Ben's behalf. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare and recover from this event. Okay, I think I've written enough tonight... here are some pictures of Ben though, just so you can see for yourself how lovely he is.