Update in Pictures

Just wanted to share some pictures from life lately.  Stephen is one happy little boy and always wears a smile on his face =0)  

He is seriously adorable =0)  

6 Months!

I can't believe that Stephen turned 6 months today!!!  We are so grateful for his precious life and God's faithfulness.  We have had our ups and downs but God faithfulness has remained the same.  

Stephen is loving life!  He is sitting up on his own, eating baby food like crazy and is about to get his upper teeth any day now.  He has the most kissable cheeks, an incredible smile and daily melts my heart  with his charm.   In the midst of a chaotic day, the kind where you want to just scream, I laid on the floor, sat him on my belly and ended up laughing as he smiled down on me and blew bubbles.  It was just what I needed.  A reminder of how insanely blessed I am.   

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.  Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the LORD is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations".

Psalm 100

HAPPY 6 MONTHS Stephen Joseph!  We love with all of our hearts!!!

Shamu and You Family Walk

Our family had such a great time on Saturday at the Shamu and You Family Walk to support Rady Children's Hospital.  Team Heart Hero has raised $12,653.00 so far!  It turns out you can still raise money until October 31st so if you were still wanting to contribute to an amazing cause just click on the link below.  All donations are tax deductible and will benefit the cardiology department to help other heart heros like Stephen.
http://shamuandyouwalk.org/stephenrussell

A few highlights from the walk...

#1 The Heart Heros

I believe there were 15 heart heros there!  It was great to see some of these amazing families again!
They each have incredible stories and strong little kiddos.

Even Heros need to sleep =0)

#2 We got to get up close to some fun animals along the way!  My personal favorite was Penny Penguin...I wish we could have pet her!

#3  Best Friends

It was adorable watching them all morning long.  I love that they held hands as they walked...warmed my heart.

#4 Making God Proud

I think this touched me the most.  I loved that as a family we got to raise money to support a place that is extremely dear to us.   I cannot state enough what an amazing place Rady Children's Hospital is.  What they do for our community is incredible.  50% of kids in San Diego are uninsured and they wouldn't turn a single one away.  The staff are incredible and you can always tell that they love kids and what they do.  On our way home Michael said "I think God is proud that we raised money for kids"  I beamed!  He gets it.  Yes...God is proud that they were a part of this.  God calls us to help others and to look outside of ourselves.  He calls us to give... whether it is time or money.  He calls us to care and to love.   I will feel like a successful parent if my children love God with all their heart, mind and strength and love others.  The walk was such a simple and easy way for our children to get involved in something great.  I love that they came down to the Ronald McDonald House to serve when we brought the High School group, that they helped bake for the NICU, they walked to raise money for Heart Heros and they daily pray for a child from Rady's who is battling Leukemia and for the four children we have sponsored in other countries.  I love it because they are actively doing the will of God in their lives.  I have been so inspired by some families in our church who have done a great job teaching their children to be servants.  Joe and I look up to those families and I want to continue to find ways for our family to serve together, pray together and grow together.  Needless to say we will be doing this again next year!

I also want to again thank you all for your faithful prayers for our son.  We are grateful for you.  I wish I could give each and every one of you a hug!  And Thank You to those who joined team Heart Hero on Saturday or made a donation in honor of Stephen.  We feel very blessed to be supported by so many people.

Stephen is doing great.  We had a follow-up appointment with his pediatrician in Fallbrook today.  The plan right now is to finish the 14 days of antibiotics and then go in for another urine test to make sure the infection is gone.  She will in the meantime be consulting a urologist to decide if further testing will be needed to determine the reason for the UTI.  My prayer is no...but I want what is best for the little guy.  Please continue to pray for sleep.  We don;t get much of it.  The night before the walk he literally woke up once every hour...yes...every hour.  11, 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 when we finally had to get up and get ready.  It can be rough.  Last night I think he went 2-2 hour stretches and 1-3 hour stretch which was amazing.  By the grace of God we are able to function on a daily basis without caffeine...impressive I know.  I decided that I will be Wonder Woman the day I actually get a straight 6 hours of sleep.  I can only imagine what I may be able to accomplish then =0)

Until then I am learning to go to bed early...so Good Night All!!!

Much Love

Kim

Thank you for all your prayers.  We just left the hospital and checked into the hotel!  God is soooo good!  I can't wait to post pictures from the walk!!!!

Stephen is doing well.  He is happily eating his huge arm cast that protects his IV as I type.  The doctors first said they were going to hold him one more night to watch the urine cultures a little longer.  But after showing them his cute Heart Hero Cape and mentioning the walk they are willing to let us go home if his ultra sound of the kidneys comes back normal.   The urine cultures would just tell if they would need to change the antibiotic so they will keep it to be read tomorrow and if any changes need to be made they can just contact us and our pharmacy.  I am really praying that he will get cleared and be able to go home tonight.  He will most likely need further testing in a few weeks once the infection is completely clear.
Please pray for no major kidney issues!
I don't have my camera here but have been taking pictures with Photo Booth...hence the mirrored image and backwards Stephen

Today is the last day to donate to team Heart Hero!!!  We are so grateful for this hospital and all they have done for our family.  Rady's Children's Hospital always provides us great care and we would love your help in supporting their efforts.  THANKS!!!

http://shamuandyouwalk.org/stephenrussell

Much Love

The Russells

Last night actually went really well.  Stephen's fever has gone done to only 99 so it seems that the antibiotics are working.  He has not been given any tylenol since the 103.5 episode, so that is encouraging, and I was even able to get some sleep!  They just did some more blood work to make sure his counts are going down and will be doing a kidney ultrasound sometime today and then we will most likely be coming back in a few weeks for some other tests were they inject dye of some sort into his bladder?  I can't remember.  It was 12:30am when the doctor was explaining the tests so I will make sure to ask again today =0)  They are still waiting on the urine cultures to come back so they can narrow down the antibiotics that he will be on.   If they come back as they expect, and his lab work form today looks good, will we hopefully be able to go home late in the afternoon.

This morning Stephen and I were able to Skype Joe and the kids...he loved it!  He has been a pretty happy kid today.  He is back to flirting with the nurses and playing with his toes.  =0)

Please continue to pray that the antibiotics will take care of the infection and that the fever will not come back...and that we can go home today of course =0)
THANK YOU!

Little update... since getting the tylenol his fever is gone and he is doing well.  He is sleeping and I would like to too but we are in a shared room with people who think it is okay to blare the Jersey shore at midnight...lame.  Just wanted to clarify that when Stephen was shaking it wasn't a seizure.  It was more like crazy chills from his fever.  He sure is a trooper though!  I love this kid to pieces =0)
Good night all...I wil update tomorrow when I hear anything.