Some our recent photos

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Jacob is definitely feeling better

Yesterday Jacob tried to stand up and asked, "Where are my crutches?" we had to quickly remind him that he still isn't allowed to stand up yet. But the fact that he thought he could is a good sign that he is healing well. We may even venture an outing to our church Halloween party.

Jacob Update

Well, it has been just over week and I have to say that things have gone much easier than expected. Jacob has hardly complained at all. He has a hospital bed on our main floor and he likes to move it up and down. He spends most of his time in his reclining wheelchair (like a lazy boy with wheels), listening to music and watching recoded episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos.

For the first couple of days he was pretty drugged up but now he is on very little medication and seems to be doing fine. We even ventured a trip to the McDonald's drive-thru for some french fries and he did great.

His brothers have been very kind and helpful. Brigham brought all of Jacob's stuffed animals down for him and Caleb likes to come talk to him. Mark has been the trouble maker, always trying to climb up on Jacob's wheelchair. We have had to build up barricades to protect him.

Ward members have been so helpful as well. We get wonderful dinners brought in every other night which is all our refrigerator can handle. That has been so helpful as Jacob still needs a lot of help doing things and it isn't so easy to just stop and make dinner. His primary class all made him nice cards and others have come by with little treats for Jacob as well.

We really are amazed at how well this is all going. I don't know what we envisioned but it was certainly something with a lot more tears, sadness and frustration. Since the first day or two we really haven't seen any of that. Jacob is in good spirits and anxious to get his casts off so he can take a bath. He loves talking to people on the phone and especially likes video chatting with family. He loves to sing to people who come to visit as well. 

Thanks for all of your prayers on Jacob's behalf. They are certainly being answered.

Jacob's Upcoming Surgery

Jacobs first few weeks of life were spent on a ventilator. Tubes were placed in his mouth that went down into his lungs to help him breathe. After he was a few weeks old the doctors tried removing the tubes to see if he could breathe on his own. Three times they tried and three times they had to re-intubate him. The problem was that his throat kept collapsing and closing his airway. They decided that they needed to perform a tracheostomy where they would cut a hole in this throat to let him breathe.

Obviously the thought of our little boy having to go through such an ordeal was very distressing. Literally people around the world began fasting and praying for him that he would somehow not need the surgery.

The day before the surgery we came to hospital and Jacob was breathing with no tubes! The nurse told us how during the night Jacob's little hands (he was probably still under 3 lbs.) had grabbed the tubes that were attached to his face with tape and literally pulled them out of his mouth and throat. The nurses were shocked but decided to wait and see what he would do. He just started breathing and never had to have the tracheostomy.

Years later when Jacob was eight and still not walking we were told by one of his physical therapists that he would probably never walk. Studies showed that if a child didn't walk by the time he was eight then he probably never would. After many prayers and much fasting by many people Jacob all of the sudden began to walk. He now walks everywhere, usually with the assistance of crutches, but around the house he just walks on his own.

That brings us to now. Even though Jacob is walking very well he still has a lot of tightness in his muscles due to his cerebral palsy. This tightness is causing problems as he grows and is walking more. His feet don't quite function correctly either which results with him basically walking almost completely on the insides of his feet, not the bottoms.

To fix this we have surgery scheduled for October 14th where his tendons will be lengthened and several bones will be rotated. Sound painful? From all accounts it is. It will involve a very lengthy and painful recovery period as well. We know that barring some miracle this is what Jacob needs to have done. But we also know that Jacob has seen miracles before in his life, oftentimes at what seems to be the eleventh hour.

I am assuming that if you are reading this, you are a friend of Jacob. We would just ask you to keep him in your prayers and your fasting in the upcoming weeks. Please pray that, if possible, he can avoid having to have this surgery, and if not so that he will be calmed, comforted and strengthened in his recovery.

Thank you so much,
Greg & Holly

Rivers of Cafe Rio

I have to write this one down while the smell is still wafting through the air. I had just gone to sleep and was somewhere between that state of sort of asleep and really asleep. Holly was still awake feeding Mark. I remember sensing that there was another child in the room. There was a conversation going on but I couldn't make out what was being said until I heard, "Run to the toilet!"

This brought me a little closer to conciousness but not enough that I could open my eyes yet. Then I heard a sound of waves of liquid, like buckets of water, splashing against a tile floor. Over and over and over again. Then I heard, "Brigham, you missed the toilet."

I was now fully awake. I ran down the hall to where Holly was standing only to jump back in revulsion as the bathroom came into full view and smell. I have never seen anything like that. Shredded pork and black beans plastered every inch of the bathroom - except for the inside of the toilet. The floor, the outside of the toilet, the sink, the garbage can, the bath toys, the heating vent, the potty seat, the walls. But the inside of the toilet was completely clean.

After 4 boys you think you have seen it all. Then you learn you never have. I was fortunate enough to get assigned to "clean up the kid and wash the towels" duty while Holly soaked up towel after towel of vomit. After a quick shower and his first experience with mouth wash Brigham was feeling fine, rejoicing in the fact that he was now sick and would not have to go to school tomorrow. Yeah, right.

Greg DeVore
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This is one of my favorite memories of Jacob. Two years ago we were in the gym a...

This is one of my favorite memories of Jacob. Two years ago we were in the gym after pack meeting. Jacob was watching the other kids playing football and having a great time. He was laughing and laughing. All of the sudden he turned to me and said, "I want to play football."

Jacob can walk a little, but he certainly can't run. I wasn't sure what to do. We walked over to where the other boys were at the end of the gym and I asked them if Jacob could be quaterback for a single down. They all agreed and got ready to hike him the ball. They all knew that he couldn't run so as they handed him the ball they weren't exactly sure what to do.

As soon as the ball got into Jacob's hands I scooped him up and started sprinting down the sidelines. The boys, who had been expecting Jacob to be stumbling along were in momentary shock. But after a moment's pause they figured out what was going on and took off in hot pursuit. Jacob and I were running across the gym with a bunch 9 and 10 year olds yelling "Get 'em! Get 'em!" Jacob was laughing all the way. It was the best football game I ever played.

Greg DeVore
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Posted via email from DeVore Family Stuff

Parenting Tip: Getting Your Kids To Work

If your six year old is being belligerent and refusing to empty anything but the bottom rack of the dishwasher do the following:

1. Agree to his terms
2. While he isn't looking, move almost everything from the top rack to the bottom rack.
3. Make sure he finishes ahead of you so that he wins "the race."

Everybody ends up happy.

Posted via email from DeVore Family Stuff