Sorry for the long time between updates.  Not a whole lot has changed...Craig's still on the vent, however they're just now starting to turn it down.  He's also awake and SO WANTS a popsicle, but can't have one because of the extra tubes in his mouth.  The nurses will only allow him to have little sponges of water for his mouth and he just can't get enough of them!!

Hugs with Mom!

I saw him on Sunday and got some cute pictures with him and Mom!  The little guy is really weak and his arms and legs just shake when he tries to move them.  They have Physical Therapy starting with our good friend Miss Jen (Jen Owens, MY PT...what I always called her when we worked together).  She now works at Children's Mercy and we got to visit her a couple of weeks ago...before we thought Craig would ever need PT.  I'm so glad he gets to work with someone who knows and loves him too!! (Jen & I started the Special Needs Ministry at church together...Mephibosheth Mission now called Kovenant Kids!)  Craig is so weak he's having a hard time lifting his head off the pillow with out shaking, so Miss Jen is going to see if the Doc's will okay him sitting in a wheelchair for little bursts throughout the day to help him get stronger. 

Smiling with Baby, Tubbs & Mom!

I know the family has had several visitors this past week which just makes their day!  Thank you to each of you who have taken the time to go see the little guy.

The Shout OUT!!

During my visit I told Craig about all the people ALL OVER THE WORLD praying for him.  His eyes got SO BIG as I was telling him about it.  Craig is homeschoolled and SKIPPED Kindergarten.  I thought it would be a neat idea if everyone who's reading state their first name and where they live by leaving a comment below.  You can forward this post on to others and see just how many people from different countries we can get on here.  Then once Craig gets home, he and Mom can have a real fun way to study geography and different countries...with a personal link to Craig. I think Craig would JUST love it! 

Keep On Praying!

Continue to pray Craig gets healthier and stronger.  The doctors still don't totally understand what all is going on with Craig, so they too need wisdom.  Pray for rest, strength and endurance for Rick & Roxane and that God will continue to meet ALL of their needs during this time.

God bless you all for lifting Craiggers up in prayers!  May each of you be blessed today by doing so! 

Now don't forget to leave a comment for your SHOUT OUT!

If you're not a Xanga blogger, choose the Anonymous Identity below and you can still leave a name, place and comment!  Thanks so much!!

Crunch time yet again!  Just got a call from Rick.  They came back from dinner and spending some time at their room at the Ronald McDonald House to find Craig still asleep.  He was slightly sedated about 4:00 pm this afternoon to get his PIC line (so he won't have to get poked as much) and was asleep when I left at 4:40ish.  Evidently Rick & Roxane went to eat dinner and just relax a bit and came back to find Craig still "sleeping" and went to try to get him up and he was unresponsive.  Rick yelled to see if he could get Craig's attention...and then yelled for the nurse.  Needless to say, his CO2 stats are SKY HIGH which is NOT GOOD at ALL!!!  They are currently rapidly trying breathing treatments to push off the CO2 and keep little Craig off the ventilator.  I'm typing this at 10:15 PM on Tuesday night...if you happen to read this tonight or even tomorrow morning PRAY!!!!  We want to try to keep him off the vent if at all possible and DEFINITELY keep him for where he was 19 days ago!!

UGHHHH!!!  Dumb, dumb Devil!!  Craig is a child of the King of the Most High!  He is HEALED in the Name of Jesus!!  Now leave this little boy and his parents ALONE!  Be GONE!!!

This is what JOY looks like:

Popsicle Heaven!

Ventilator FREE!!!

These pictures represent LIFE!!  I declare health and healing over Craig right now Lord!  Rid his body of the excess CO2 and breathe a fresh breath of living air into his lungs!  Touch and heal every cell that doesn't line up to the way You created Craig to be!! 

We, those who love him, stand in agreement in prayer and fight for healing for this little guy!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll give an update as soon as I hear!!  Thank you folks!!

When I went to visit little Craig earlier this week I was met with smiling eyes!  Roxane and Rick knew I was on my way, so they didn't tell me much...they wanted me to be surprised by how alert and good Craig is doing thus far.  Oh what a blessing it was for him to see me and try to smile despite the tubes in his mouth!

Craig doing his best to smile!

He's now on a IPV ventilator (one they can add his breathing treatments to directly).  And another IV machine was gone off the pole! YEAH! He's now getting fed via a NG tube (goes down through the nose). 

He was able to give me high fives, thumbs up, and blink to answer yes/no questions (or shake his head).  He cried when I told him I had to go...so I stayed a bit longer!! He was also able to tell me how much 2+2 and 2-1 was with his fingers...but then didn't want to do anymore!  I can't blame him!  He also played Candyland with Mom a couples of time...and even beat her once!!

He still has that awful rash on his back.  Turns out it's a mold (the doctor says like you find on bread) called Aspergillus fumigatus, which would be really bad if it was in his lungs, but it's not, thank God!  While I was there he was able to roll from his back to his side so the nurses could wash it and then put some salve on it.

He's still really weak and still has a long way to go...but considering where we were 2 weekends ago...we have SOOOO MUCH to be thankful for!

I asked Craig if he wanted to go out for ice cream or pizza with Miss Libby when he got home from the hospital...over the tubes, he quietly whispered, "Pizza!!"  I told him that I wouldn't eat another piece of pizza until he came home! 

Keep praying Craig will continue to lose more and more tubes, medicines AND especially get rid of that yucky rash!  (It even hurts!)

No, not Ozzie Osbourne!  It's official!!!  Craig's ossicilator has been officially kicked out of his room!  He's now on just a plain ole ventilator.  Mind you, it's still a ventilator, but it's yet another blessed sign that our little guy is getting a little better day by day by day!! 

I got to see Craig and Roxane this afternoon for a brief moment prior to heading to the airport for my flight to Little Rock, which I almost missed...but that's a whole 'nother story!  (I'm here for a continuing education course for work and have a SUITE room with FREE Wifi!!!!  Yippee!!!!)  Anywho...I gowned up to go see my Craiggers and told him Miss Libby was here and that I loved him.  His eyes started to open, as he's just semi-sedated now (not in the medicated coma) and I could tell he knew I was there!  It was like a breath of fresh air seeing him respond to my voice!!  I then told him Pastor Alan, our new children's pastor who Craig just adores, was praying for him and that everybody was praying he would get well real soon.  When I mentioned Pastor Alan, I do believe that if Craig could of gotten up and out of his bed. he would of.  He wiggled and tried to moan...and I quickly tried to calm him down. As you can tell little Craig is much more aware of his surroundings...which at times can be a little scary.  I told him his lion was near by and reminded him to stay brave and strong!

After talking to Craig for a bit, Rox and I went down to the cafeteria for me to grab a bite prior to running to the airport!  Then off to the airport I went and BARELY made it.  I had a connection in St. Louis and then gave a little dance when my suitcase came down the conveyor belt in baggage in Little Rock!!  That was a miracle...especially when I checked it 18 minutes prior to the plane leaving in Kansas City!  Ugh!

Rick called me after I got settled in the hotel to give me the latest about Craig being switched to the vent.  Rick was so excited he was running from Craig's room to the Ronald McDonald house to go get Roxane so she could see it too!! 

I'm praying that Craig will keep on progressing so that maybe just maybe sometime next week, he'll get those tubes out and we can hear that precious little voice and laugh again!!! 

Here's some pictures for today...as to me to blog without having a picture to look at is ALMOST a sin.  Everybody LOVES pictures!  This one is of Craig this past Mother's day getting dedicated.  You see he was so sick as a baby that he never got dedicated.  He got a new suit coat just for the occassion!!  Yeah, he might of been the oldest kiddo getting dedicated this go-round, but it's never too late!  We were all pretty excited about it!!

Can you tell Craig was pretty excited too??  Tee hee hee!

Keep praying folks!

 Craig has continued to be stable since 1 AM Saturday morning so we're about 1 day and 18 hours steady now! PTL!!  It was so good to see people at church and have them stop me and ask how he's doing and see all your comments, etc.  I just feel the love for this precious little guy and his family!  I even got a precious note from on of the youth leaders for PowerHouse saying she was praying before bed last night and then dreamt of Craig running and playing around PowerHouse (children's church!)!  Brought tears to my eyes!  I have that dream too!

Here's a picture of Craig and his Dad, Rick, in the garb you have to wear to currently see the little guy!

The doctors are now trying to slowly decrease some of the meds, such as those supporting his blood pressure, etc.  Thus far Craig is handling those little baby steps and his ossicilator came down some notches too!

Rick & Roxane now have a room at the Ronald McDonald House, so they don't have to lug there stuff with them everywhere (the room they had on the PICU floor they had to check out of every morning!).  So they are just across the street from the hospital and can also get a good night's rest...which they are VERY thankful for, and get meals and snacks!  What a blessing!

Roxane's mom came down from Iowa with one of Rox's brothers.  It was pretty tough on G'ma to see her grandbaby in such a condition!  Needless to say, her next trip she's decided will be when he is home again and healthy!!  They also had another WOLC family drive down to see them too!

So...continue praying!  I will try to update at least every day or every other day or so as this process is probably going to take awhile.  Don't worry...if we need prayer, Xanga will be the FIRST place I hit after making the necessary phone calls so subscribe to my blog so that you can get email updates straight to your inbox.

God bless you all!  Your prayers are like precious treasures to Rick & Roxane and of course me!