Dad's home!

Cameron has been very, very happy to have his Daddy home again! :) He recognized Murray at the airport straight away and immediately clung to his head, grinning, as he does when he’s very happy to see someone…

All three of us had gastro this week, and Cam has some new teeth coming, so he’s had bad nappy rash – hence the absence of pants and nappy in some of the photos. We were playing in the garden yesterday afternoon and sans nappy was definitely the more comfortable option for Cam.

You can pray for Cam this week: now that he’s nearly 15 months he moves up from the Fish Class into the Bunny Class, at Heavenly Babies. Which means getting used to new teachers and new little friends all over again… But at least his old class is right next door, his teachers have promised to visit him, and Maria will go with him to school again for the first day or two of being in his new class. Also, the sounds and smells are all the same, and his routine and activities won’t change drastically.

Exciting news is that we finally got a pair of silicon hydragel contact lenses from the UK and they seem to fit Cam well. These are the (expensive) lenses that are much more oxygen permeable than normal soft contact lenses, which means he can sleep with them in, during the day, for as long as he likes! No more half hour naps! This morning after church he slept for two hours – what bliss (for him and for us!). Murray ordered this particular pair of lenses on 9 April so it’s been a long wait. Because the material of these lenses is different to that of standard soft contact lenses, he has designed and re-designed these lenses and we’ve been disappointed so far with what has been sent to us from England, but his latest design is quite revolutionary and hopefully now we’re onto something that will work for Cam. Now we just hope he doesn’t lose them…! :)

Besides the risqué garden photo shoot, the other photos are of Granny introducing Cam to the evils of junk food (that’s what grandparents are for), and an outing to the bird sanctuary with Granny and Grandpa and the De Koks.

Good news!

Murray sms’d from the university in London this morning to say that, against all odds, he has passed his exams! This week has been unimaginably nerve-racking for him. Each exam left him thinking the worst and he had no idea how things were going to turn out… In fact, after yesterday’s two exams he thought there was simply no way he would pass. I am so relieved, and so grateful that God granted him favour in the eyes of the examiners.

‘He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.’ – Psalm 18:16-18

Cam has had a few relapses but really seems to be on the mend now. He passed his flu bug on to me so I’ve also been man down (woman down?) the past few days but feeling a lot better now. No other major disasters have befallen our household. Cam lost a contact lens; Lola ate a few plants; that’s about it…

The pics are of Cam, Greg and Graeme helping Grandpa garden and fix the driveway.

While Dad's away...

This week has been quite an adventure…

Murray flew out of OR Tambo on Sunday morning and has been preparing for his optom exams in London for this past week (working at the university clinic and studying) and catching up with some good mates. He starts writing the exams on Monday and finishes on Friday – so do please keep on praying for him; next week is going to be incredibly pressured. He’ll be gone for just over two weeks (arrives back in SA on Monday 22 June). The pics of him and Cam are at the airport Wimpy, which didn’t have a high chair, so things got exciting with Cam smearing his marmite sandwich on the luggage, etc…

Back at home things got even more exciting. Besides the fact that Lola knows the Boss is away and is suddenly snoozing on the couches, Murray’s car broke down, and Cameron went into hospital on Thursday afternoon (vomiting, high temperatures and convulsions –a viral infection).

The past few days haven’t been barrels of fun, but as always there are so many things to be grateful for: like the fact that Cam had the convulsions in the emergency room at LCM, with two doctors and four nurses right there (as opposed to in my car, in the Charles Street traffic), and that I got to stay in hospital with him and didn’t have to sleep sitting up in a plastic chair, and that Cam was so good even though he was feeling lousy, and that my folks could keep me company and bring me clothes and take-aways, and that we got to come home yesterday, and that he is so much better. Today he was his normal, laughing little self (though still a bit pale).

The other photos: playing in the laundry (Cam’s favourite room of the house), enjoying his supper, his bedtime milk and breakfast with some of the boys.

Bunnies and the boarding house

Cam has had a happy week, despite getting a new tooth, which brings the total up to a staggering twelve! We’ve been doing his fine motor and visual therapy – stacking, pushing buttons, picking up tiny things and so on – and he’s doing well. He’s also following instructions, like ‘Pull out the plug’, etc.

Murray flies to England on Sunday; please do keep him in your prayers. Luckily I have Shale just down the road to help me with Cam’s contact lenses in the mornings, while Murray is away. The beautiful pics are of a day spent with Aunty Shale and his cousins, Mark and Nici. And there’s one of Cam fulfilling his duties as the official mascot of Ochse House! He comes with me to the boarding house now and then, and has the time of his life… :)

Here are the lyrics of a song that means a lot to me at the moment:

Jesus, lover of my soul
All consuming fire is in Your gaze
Jesus, I want You to know
I will follow You all my days
No one else in history is like You
and history itself belongs to You
Alpha and Omega, You have loved me
and I will share eternity with You

It's all about You, Jesus and all this is for You
for Your glory and Your fame
It's not about me
As if You should do things my way
You alone are God and I surrender to Your ways