Sunday, January 23, 2011

For Your Information...

As most of you, I'm sure, have guessed, I have been guessing as to how to make a blog, so please excuse some of the dopey things I've done. One of those was to remove the option for you to follow this blog! I re-attached that option and would LOVE if any of you wanted to be follow Flame of Faith!
Thanks!
In XC,
Cady

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Quote of the Day

From one of my role models, Abigail Adams:
"Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation."
She was such a classy woman!  Her letters have gone down in history, she was argumentative, stubborn, sprightly, romantic, and determined.  All mixed together made something amazing.
In XC,
Cady

Today's Terinda News

Wednesdays are Terinda's physical therapy days, so she moves around a lot on these days.  Today was great-Mrs. Chamberlain (the therapist) brought this tight-fitting vest that Terinda did not like when it was first put on her.  But with it on, she walked more than she's ever walked before! Even better, it helps her stabilize herself when she falls (she falls back, right on her head, so we're trying to prevent that).  Here's the video we took!
She is a living miracle.
In XC,
Cady

March for Life: Reviewing the Day

Ah, it's so nice to be posting again! On this post, I'd like to share with you what our day was like on Tuesday. We had a fantabulous time down in Olympia @ the March, but it was certainly a busy, busy day!  That would be why I didn't post immediately. :P  I made sure and took lots of pictures too.  There seemed to be a great turn-out...I hope many of you come next year! It's a great way to show your pro-life position.
I'm going to do this in the form of a timeline-it'll be easier and much more fun to read (and write, for that matter:).

5:00 AM: Mommy and I wake up. We did our regular morning routine, but made sure to really hurry up, as we needed to be out the door by 6:00! We agreed to pick up a good friend of ours, Julia Fogassy, and her son and grandson, and meet them halfway at Seattle. 
6:00 AM: Everybody is in the car and we are on our way to Seattle and then on to Olympia! It was pitch-dark at that point, so we listened to Praise 106.5 and I chatted with Benjamin. 
7:00-9:00 AM: Driving, driving, driving.  It's a good thing our van is sooooo comfortable and has so much leg room!  I (Benjamin too, I think) was doing some schoolwork, mainly reading, on the way down.
9:15 AM: Arrived at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Olympia to attend Mass with the Archbishop. That was exciting for all of us.  We purposely got there 45 minutes early so that we could actually get a seat!!
10:00-11:00 AM: We attended Mass.  That was such a cool Mass-there were probably 18priests there and Archbishop Sartain!  His homily was very interesting...he's a very learned man.  I got to recieve Communion from him, too (all of us did).
11:00 AM: We exited the church and began the lengthy walk to the Capital.  It was sort of raining, but not really.  It was actually pretty enjoyable walking down, although my legs got tired. :)
12:00 PM: We arrived at the Capital. Standing there, among hundreds of people showing their pro-life support is always so amazing. I walked around and took a couple of pictures while listening to the Senators/Representatives' talks about their pro-life stance. 
1:15 PM: We began to walk back. It really started drizzling then, so it wasn't as  fun, but it was OK.  At least it wasn't pouring down rain! At one point Terinda became tired of riding the stroller and started whining like a puppy, which is always heart-wrenching. Mommy put her on her shoulders, and Terinda decided that making Mommy's hair as flat as posible was the entertainment of the hour. ;)
2:30 PM: Began the long drive back home!
3:30-:6:00 PM: Seeing that we were hitting the afternoon-evening Seattle traffic, Mommy gave Daddy a call and let him know that he'd need to drive down to Marysville and switch cars, since I have speech club every Tuesday night.  We had dinner at McDonald's, switched vehicles and went to our separate destinations! Mommy and I had to drive back to Lynnwood, so that took us about a half an hour.
6:00-9:00 PM: I had a good speech club.  I didn't bring my speech stuff, so I did a speech that I thought I had memorized, but when you don't open a document for 6 weeks, your mind does funny things to you! :P
It was probably the worst speech I've ever given since I started speaking in public, but I actually got some really good feedback about how to cut it!  So club ended well.
9:00-10:00 PM: Driving back home...finally!
10:30 PM: Got to bed and went to sleep!!!!
                                                        Archbishop Peter Sartain at Mass
                     This is probably the wost picture of me ever, but... here it is. My smile's really weird.
                                                      This is a great picture of Terinda!
                                                      Sooooo many people were there.....
             That isn't even to close to all of them.  There were more pouring into the streets/sidewalks!
                         And here's how many pro-abortion there were.  Pretty pathetic numbers. All we can do is pray that they'll become pro-life too.
                                             Took this picture for you, Carly!!  Amen!!!
                                                            I love this sign, so true. :)
                                            I'd never seen this one before.  It's so touching.
                                     Sometimes the homemade ones are the best and the truest.
                                   Could you imagine a truck like this on your average highway?
 All of us!!!  (Terinda was not to happy at this point & Mary was trying to make herself seen. She leaned the wrong way.) 
Thanks for reading this....hope you enjoyed it and come next year!!!
In XC,
Cady

Sunday, January 16, 2011

This is a video taken at the hospital Friday night, Novemer 12 2010.  Her surgery was that morning.  So...this was the same day as her surgery!  Pretty amazing how she bounces right back.  This was certainly one of the bet surgery experiences we have ever had.  To see the rest of Terinda's story, scroll down to the post "Our Little Miracle"
In XC,
Cady

Movie Review: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Since I like reading reviews on other people's blogs, I thought that I might write one of my own on here. :)
So I decided to choose a movie that is still in theaters...the most recent Chronicles of Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
I saw this with a couple of girlfriends and enjoyed it so much!  It exceeded my wildest expectations and thus pleased me immensely.
Let me give you a little piece of advice-if you are looking for a Narnia movie that follows the book really well, VoDT will not be your pick.  It definitely strays from the book, but it has other redeeming values that save it.  The first movie certainly is the best at following the book. 
So why do I like this movie so much?  First off, the children have grown so much-it's really quite stunning. I talked to some other friends and they recognized the same thing.  Lucy in particular has grown so much since the first movie!  It's pretty great to see glimpses of her and think "Aw, it's little Lucy!" (or Georgie, as the case may be.)  And then there's Reepicheep.  He is certainly the most adorable mouse ever seen on screen.  You will be constantly amused by his playful jabs at Eustace and love him for his kindness to the same character, although Eustace is (understandably) a jerk.
Next, the cinematography is amazing.  The ship is absolutely beautiful.  Although some may argue that it looks as if it was just pulled out of a parade, that's what makes it so great.  You see the Dawn Treader in all her glory. 
The character of Eustace is just perfect.  Will Poulter succeeds in making himself the jerkiest person he can possibly be, as Eustace should be.  However, he's so rotten that when Eustace finally changes into a genuinely kind person, you are immediately entranced.  I can't wait to see him in The Silver Chair.
And finally, the ending was played out so well.  Although I would have liked to see some of the Baptismal significance that was in the book and some of the obvious things pulled out of the Bible that were in the book...directors' must be given some grace. At least they kept in the part where Aslan says, "I have another name in your world. You must learn to know me by that name."  That has some obvious religious significance and it's great that they kept it in there. Bravo!
Although some parts are a little...well...interesting, such as the fact that Reepicheep's coracle is right there, like someone had actually purposely set it there (such as the person who set the scene?),the ending is the perfect finale.  Lucy, Eustace, and Edmund all cry and they are such real tears!  I cried with them...after all, in the book, Lucy is about my age when she leaves.  It's really quite heart-wrenching to see anyone leave that beautiful land forever. When I told one of my friends that I cried, he quickly responded, "They...grew...up!  Whoop-de-doo!  It's not something to cry about." Well, the way it is done...it really is.  It certainly pulls at your heart strings. 
As you can tell, I give The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a five-star.  It was my favorite Narnia. What about you?
In XC,
Cady

Our Little Miracle

Before I get too far into this post, I would like to thank all of you for your prayers. We have such an amazing community of family and friends behind us, cheering us on and praying for us.  You boost our family up so much! In this post, I wanted to update all of you on the condition of my little sister, Terinda. I'm sorry if this is a review of information for most of you....for others, welcome to the info! =)
As many of you know, my mom learned she was pregnant again in January-February of 2008.  We were all so excited and prepared to welcome this new blessing home.  However, in the summer of '08, we learned that the baby had a rare brain malformation called Dandy Walker Syndrome. This meant that she was missing 80% of her cerebellum, which controls speech, movement, and a host of other important things. We later learned that her skull did not close correctly, resulting in a condition called a hydrochepalus in the back of her head. This is when the cerebral spinal fluid flows into a sac at the back of the head.
Although many people would abort babies like my little sister, our family feels that life is a privilege that everyone has a right to enjoy, so my mom continued the pregnancy.
Terinda Payton Crosby (named for my mom's older sister) was born by C-section on September 8, 2008-Our Lady's birthday. Thus began a long string of surgeries and medical trauma for this brave little girl.
Her first surgery removed the encephacele at the back of her head, in late October '08. By this time, it was the size of an avacado.
Her second surgery was to put in a shunt, which drains out extra spinal fluid from her head into her stomach.  Her third surgery was a shunt replacement, as the first shunt had failed.  This is usual-often shunts will have to be replaced. This surgery occurred in early 2009.  Her fourth surgery was to repair her eyes, which were crossing because of the shunt failure.  This surgery was very successful-no more crossing of Terinda's eyes!
                                              Night before 1st surgery. See the encephacele?
                                                Right after the surgery. Poor baby. :(
                                                      Lucy holding her at the hospital
                                       Back at home.  She has hair in this picture!! See the eyes?
                                                  Post eye surgery. Nice shades, huh?
                       After one of the surgeries....she got that bear from the ambulance driver & still has it.
                                   When this picture was taken, she had just started crawling.
                                                                           Cutie pie!

 Night before her last surgery.  We spent that night with just hanging with her and preparing for the next day.
             Just before the surgery-she is in the waiting room! Terinda is so cheerful...it's pretty amazing.
                         Right after the last surgery.  Terinda is watching VeggieTales @ the hospital.

Terinda dealt with several emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to seizures but now we know she is prone to febrile seizures and the last one she had was Good Friday 2010 (which Mommy and Daddy decided to handle on their own and keep her home). 
Then she had a shunt "revision" to add a secondary catheter to draw fluid from the back of her head more effectively.repaired the shunt once again, in the middle of 2010.
Her sixth and most recent surgery repaired the hole in the back of her head.  With the help of computer 3D imaging they created a patch and secured it with Titanium brackets.  The back of her head is now solid. This surgery was an amazing success! She only stayed at the hospital for two days, which was not at all expected.  The surgery occurred in November 2010.

So, where are we now? Terinda is now 2 years old, and progressing wonderfully!  Although not walking by herself yet, she can definitely get around, be it by crawling, walking with someone holding her hand, or on someone's hip!  She talks like a regular toddler, getting her point across in the needed ways, whether that be by politely asking one of her siblings for a toy or more often, screaming to get the toy.

Terinda has weekly physical therapy to work on her hypotonia (low core muscle tone) and she really enjoys this. 

Terinda's heart has a right side aortic arch and she has a strong heart murmor and a vascular ring.  Nothing is scheduled right now but her cardiologist thinks surgery may be in the future to repair the vascular ring so we will keep you posted on that. 

God's amazing grace to our family is clearly shown to us in the gift of this little girl.  We are constantly amazed at the amazing creation of the human body and brain and how God can use his creation in amazing ways that draw us to him. 

No one knows what Terinda's future holds. Because of the rarity of her condition and associated issues, no one can really give a description of what will happen next so stay with us on the journey and pray for us through the good times and the difficult ones please.
Again, thank you all for your prayers. They are so appreciated!
In XC,
Cady

One of the most recent.  This is after all six surgeries.  We are constantly humbled by this blessing in our lives!  Every day, we thank Him for giving Terinda to us.  Soli Deo Gloria-Glory to God Alone!

Pope Benedict XVI to Beatify JP2!

I am super excited to learn about this.  After Pope John Paul the II's funeral, the crowd outside the Vatican shouted, "Santo Subio! Santo Subio!" (Saint Now!  Saint Now!) Their request is finally getting granted. The Vatican recently announced that after thorough investigation, they recognized the healing of a French nun who prayed to JP2 as the first miracle for this amazing pope. 
Pope Benedict XVI will beatify Pope John Paul the Second on May 1, 2011! Soli Deo Gloria!
In XC,
Cady

March 4 Life

Everyone,
Just wanted to throw this out there...there is a March for Life coming up on January 18th, down in Olympia.
It'll be down at the Capitol building.  This would be a fantastic way to show your pro-life support! Hope to see you there!
In XC,
Cady

Hey, everybody!

Hello all! 
Welcome to Flame of Faith, the Crosby Family's new blog. This is where we'll post about our personal faith adventures and day-to-day life. 
Stay posted!
In XC (Jesus Christ),
Cady
(Great picture, huh? Jesus as the Good Shepherd.)