Rattins living Coram Deo

Gracie has been doing amazing things lately. We pretend that it's because she turned the big SIX years old... ;) She didn't cry when I did her hair (just 6 little rubberbands along the front of her hair to pull it back from her face). She didn't throw an arching full force tantrum when she was starving after church on Sunday. She's standing with very little support at times. AND she's trialing a power wheelchair - she's doing really well with the trial. She gets it conceptually. Doesn't get the quick reaction time required for stopping and the whole turning thing... but so far we're really encouraged by how she's doing with it. She seems to really like being able to get herself from point A to point B! I'll post a video at some point when I get it off the camera. We haven't given up on her walking someday, but not soon enough or quickly enough to let her keep up with her intellectual and social development.

It has been way too long since I posted. Life has felt like a run-away train lately. We were SO blessed to spend a whirlwind week in PA over Thanksgiving with a chance to meet up with so many people, some people I haven't seen in years from highschool, some new friends, and several churches. We are excited to see our support pick up as we prepare for the mission field! It took us a week to recover from that trip (and get the kids back into shape, although they did fantastic with sleeping in different homes and playing with lots of new people!) and then DECEMBER hit fast and furious! We are leading our LAST Christmas Eve choir and service in the USA for the foreseeable future! We love putting together a God-centered Christmas Eve service every year and we are amazed every year by the faithful people who step forward to dedicate so much time to practice to produce beautiful music! I'll share more about our Christmas Eve service in a later post. We were also thrilled that FOUR d...

Gracie got her casts off - after two rounds of casting after botox injections in mid-September. 5 weeks in casts! Now she has new AFO's (Ankle Foot Orthotics) and finally a "Benik" brace for her right hand. The effect is amazing with her right hand! Now that she doesn't have to fight the wrist, she is able to use her fingers a lot more! I'll post a better video of Gracie and her letters. Many people complained that she didn't really perform up to par in the video that I posted... It was a little complicated managing Ana in the background, videotaping, keeping Gracie engaged, AND presenting the letters... oh well! She really does better than that video shows. For now, a little photo shoot of my girls today...

I've been excited to figure out that Gracie knows her letters! She's in kindergarten, will turn 6 in December and she knows her letters pretty consistently (if she's focused enough) - very exciting since being able to read and spell will open a whole new world of communication for her!

Our books this month include: "Moja means one - Swahili Counting Book" by Muriel Feelings "African Animals ABC" by Philippa-Alys Browne "We all went on Safari - a Counting Journey through Tanzania" by Laurie Krebs and Julia Cairns Ana has started talking about "Uganda" and "Africa." It's very cute although I'm not sure she knows what she's talking about! She does mention Africa anytime I look at a map...

November is orphan/adoption month.  This coming Sunday is "Orphan Sunday" - here are some resources you can access to promote adoption and support of orphans worldwide! http://www.orphansunday.org/

A friend (Andrea Bean) wrote this beautiful post on her blog.  I still feel that call to adoption so strongly and I'm curious to see what God does in our lives.  I would love to adopt many more children and serve as a medical foster home in Uganda... but what I long for above all else is whatever brings Glory to God! I couldn't put it better, so here is Andrea's writing: "I read this scripture yesterday: “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” (John 14:18)  I remember during the year before the boys came that there was this cry that arose in my heart. It felt something like the feeling in a dream when you’re running slow motion. “Hang on!”, my heart cried, “I’m coming, I’m coming for you. I’m on my way.” So when I read this scripture yesterday, I felt like this was our Heavenly Papa’s cry throughout the earth echoing in my heart (and MANY others’ hearts) for ALL the orphans in the world. “Hang on. We’re coming. We won’t leave you as orphans. There ...

Gracie got to have two field trips last week BEFORE she got the flu.  The first was with her kindergarten class to the fire station and I got to chaperone.  That was so fun! Gracie was VERY into doing what all the other kids were doing and was very curious about the fire trucks.  She loved getting up inside the trucks! Her second "field trip" was an in-school field trip with her resource room class, exploring fall! By then I already had the flu so I didn't go to that field trip, but she apparently had a blast! :)

"enjoying" a few days quarantined in our home (in fact, Ana is helping me "type" this as she pain-stakingly slowly finds the next letter that I need to type!)... Gracie is much sicker than Ana, but these photos still represent their "styles" in life! "Mama make a tent??" Gracie wants to whine or sleep the day away. But feels better for a few minutes when she wakes up, takes a sip of juice, and I change her diaper.   Ana helps with laundry.

Well, we all got the flu... boohoo! I got it first - maybe I brought it home from work despite my best efforts to protect my family... It was really awful.  I could hardly walk with the pain in my body, the headache, etc.  Then Gracie had a seizure that needed diastat to stop it and my heart sank - she hasn't required diastat in a few months, so I knew that meant she was getting sick.  Sure enough, by 2am that night, she had a fever and was miserable, but I was able to get her into the doctor.  By the time we got to the doctor, Ana had a fever, although wasn't very sick.  So we all got treated together.  Last night Gracie's fever was 104.4 F!!! Wow! BUT, only small seizure activity, nothing dramatic! The Vagal Nerve Stimulator has definitely made a dramatic difference in our lives by suppressing her seizure activity.  Now the thing I'm waiting to see is how she reacts to tamiflu which can increase seizure activity.  We both slept in the livi...

Ana has been singing this song since she turned a year old... now it actually sounds like the song it's supposed to be - the Gospel Song ("Holy God") by Bob Kauflin.

Our lives are full (to overflowing) with sound, especially the sounds of Ana making or demanding music. I have a 1/4 size violin (much too large for her) that she's been too impatient with in the past, but today she tried it out and didn't want to stop! I asked her today if she would rather play violin or piano and she wanted violin every time that I asked her. Not bad for a 22 month old! Of course, she can't just play, she has to sing while she plays, so... that becomes a little interesting!! She also enjoys playing Auntie Jessi's piano. Turn the volume down though as you reach the end, because the last note... well, it loses all sense of MUSIC and just becomes baby noise! Then there's Gracie. She started more closely imitating "ga" and "ah" so we have some dinner time fun! :)

I've been working on my role as a home-maker. Josh and I got married after my first year of medical school and I just finished residency last year, so this year has really been my first year to REALLY be the wife that I feel brings the most glory to God. My house is still a mess... but better than a year ago! Now, I progressively clean out our house with three thoughts in mind, "will I use it this year? Will I need it in Uganda? if not - get rid of it!!!" And I'm busy with the kids, especially Gracie. We're trying to get as much done for Gracie this year as possible since she may not have good insurance after a year from now. New wheelchairs, new braces, new specialists... now she's aspirating thin liquids (likely because of the Vagal Nerve Stimulator which is BEAUTIFULLY controlling her seizures) so I'm experimenting with thickening all her liquids and puree-ing all her solid foods. Today I bought a ton of fruit from the day old cart in the store and ...

Gracie got casts put on her legs now 1.5 weeks after the botox and phenol injections to stretch her achilles tendons. She immediately chose bright pink when I showed her the options! My little 5 year old is getting definite opinions! She doesn't seem to mind the casts at all, in fact she stands VERY well in the casts and we're so excited to see how she does with this botox round. :) independent stander and walker some day???

I'm trying to keep up with all the technologies as well as life as a doctor, mom of two busy kids, wife of a seminary student who is full-time in ministry... Needless to say, I have neglected my blog! Josh was away at conferences for the last two weeks. The first week, he was able to go with his parents and brother and sister in law to Ocean City Bible Conference - A Legacy of Sovereign Grace: Celebrating 500 Years of John Calvin. Then, last week he was in Seattle for a week meeting with our mission board and attending a conference/consultation on the Pastoral Leadership Development, which is Josh's focus for the mission field. He loved being there in person to connect with everyone (he's a connector!) and now has a huge amount of work that he can start on now in revising the curriculum used to teach pastors all around the world. But Josh's absence was a stressor as, all in the same week, I was assigned to round in the hospital full time, the van broke down (leaving...

Please pray as Gracie goes in for botox and phenol injections tomorrow at Children's in Boston at 8:30am. This is her first round of botox, so the results are unknown. She will be under general anesthesia. (and Josh is out of town!!!!)

Gracie enjoys some good noise, Ana enjoys actual music! :)

We have had more fun this summer than any summer! The kids got to feed calves their milk at a dairy farm on our "roommate reunion" in Shrewsbury, PA earlier in the summer. We went to family camp for a week. We even got to have a Ceilidh (Scottish dance) for Uncle Isaac's birthday. Needless to say, Gracie didn't go to school very much this summer, but she got to do lots of other things! :)

Well, we have been on the move this summer, visiting churches and friends raising support to head overseas as career missionaries, going to a conference, and just having some fun! So here are a few photos of our summer, to start with a slip and slide at our roomie reunion (and hopefully I'll be better at updating).

We’re at a camp called “Dream Day on the Cape” on Cape Cod in Nickerson State Park. It’s a free camp for families with children with chronic or life-threatening illness. We stay as a family in a rustic cabin and all the activities and food are provided for us! We got to go whale watching, which was my dream come true, although Gracie didn’t connect with the activity at all. J Ana enjoyed pointing at whales and saying “see whale! Watch whale!” even though when I showed her a plastic whale in the gift shop afterwards she had no idea that it was a whale! So she thinks whales are black lines in the ocean.

We enjoyed a "hike" at a local park with Anna Tsuchiya and her mommy (my college roommate, Brenda). Gracie was on my back the whole time (have I ever mentioned how much I love my Ergo carrier??) so no photos of her! :) The girls are becoming even better friends and are so cute together! Gracie tolerates Ana's antics and lives vicariously through her a lot too. Ana and her best buddy, Caleb Murray, on our patio during Bible study. Ana is learning to dress herself and looks SO stylish! Definitely taking after her aunties! Ana has (this week) really gotten into watching "Signing Time" and asks for it constantly. I, unfortunately, only have one episode at the moment, but she doesn't mind! This is the girl who had no interest previously in shows (which I was quite happy for anyway)... Gracie's the one that I want to be interested and learn from Signing Time, but I guess if her sister learns signs, then maybe Gracie will too! Gracie DID start signing "e...

Ana spent the celebration comfortably (and quietly!!) sleeping on Auntie Alicia. They sang adorable songs as a class. Gracie's sweet friend - Gracie was so sweet with her taking a picture, really comfortable with her and friendly. They play together all day since they are both in all day preschool. Now they'll be separated! So sad! Gracie's amazing para - we're also losing her as we have to transition Gracie to another school to meet her needs - so SAD!!! We love Kelly!!!

Great-grandbabies all in a row! Gracie actually watched a few minutes of TV and stayed interested in a program about Africa! Ana is ready to go - babies in her backpack! Ana loved the "sleepover" with Gracie who enjoyed it decidely less! ;-P We finished our long trip with a canceled flight but God graciously provided flights home for us to still get home late Monday night and Gracie got to go to her last day of school and horse therapy yesterday as scheduled. We had such an encouraging time on our trip, sharing about our heart for missions. We had the privilege of speaking to so many people about missions, God's glory and the gospel, and our specific calling to missions. We are officially raising support to go to northern Uganda now and we are so excited about that! More on that journey later! After Philly, we headed to Louisville where the kids and I camped out in the extended stay hotel for 5 days while Josh took an excellent course on Baptist History - a course that ...

We are on a journey! In true Rattin fashion, we headed to Philly on Thursday May 28th the second that Gracie got out of school. We then spent 4 wonderful days with our dear friends the Shatneys during which time we got to meet many of their friends and share our heart for ministry with them as prepare for the mission field. We will be ready to head the mission field as early as a year from now so we have a big task ahead of us to raise all of our support for living expenses, all ministry expenses, and set-up expenses (buying a car, a house, a vehicle, etc.)!! Please pray that God will provide us with the partners that we need not only for financial support but also for ministry! We got to go to the arboretum with the Shatneys and the kids loved being in the great outdoors, learning about trees and plants, learning not to pull the leaves off and eat them (haha!), and playing with their buddies Timmy and Tabby! Ergo daddies - John with Tabitha and Josh with Gracie. Happy kiddos! Shatn...

I can't believe I haven't posted in a month! Preparations for Josh's brother's wedding in combination with working a lot so that we could go on "vacation"... Anyway - the girls weren't in the wedding but they looked charming none-the-less! Ana was "adopted" by the beautiful flower girl and Gracie looked so beautiful in red. (I was a bridesmaid!)

Gracie hasn't played on her own in.... months? half a year? between being on too many meds, having too many seizures, and lately just having one cold after another, she's spent a lot of time not feeling well... but of late, she's returning to normal and getting stronger every day! Now she's playing again and not constantly requiring someone to help her play! horray! Praise God! Oh yes, and Ana is ALL about dirt and being "ou-side!"