Photo Shoot

Awhile back I mentioned that our friend Jenny Connell took some professional photos of Benjamin. Well, she came by our place on Thursday and took some more so I thought I'd share a few with you. Ben cried and fussed through most of the photo shoot, but amazingly Jenny was able to get some cry-free shots of him. Enjoy.

Outlaws

Hide the women, children, small furry animals, and household electronics. The outlaws are coming. They'll be sweeping down from the frozen tundra of the North and descending upon Tulsa in two weeks. But this time around they'll be staying for good. Benjamin is going to be living the good life with his ouma and oupa living in the same town. What will happen to the rest of us? I have no idea.

Some of you might have noticed that you can now leave comments on the site without registering. When I first made this blog, I didn't require registration, and within 3 minutes of posting my first entry I already had someone leave an advertisement in the comments. Well, I'm going to give it one more shot so comment all you want, but if I catch you posting ads telling me how much money I can save by refinancing my mortgage, I will be forced to turn you over to the outlaws, and I know you don't want that.

I had the pleasure of eating lunch on Thursday with some of my former coworkers from ChoicePay. When I showed up at the restaurant, they surprised me with a cake made entirely out of diapers. I've always preferred the kind with white cake and chocolate icing, but I have to say that this one was pretty impressive if a little less tasty. Big thanks to Sandee and Elspeth for their incredible cake-making talents and thanks to all my friends at ChoicePay for thinking of us.


You'll be happy to know that I'm over the shingles for the most part, which means I can hold Benjamin without wearing gloves and three layers of clothes. It also means I get to see many of you at Memorial Drive in the morning. Hopefully, if Ben keeps doing well, we can bring him with us next weekend. I know Ben wants to meet some of the people that have praying for him over the last two months.

See you soon,
Whit, Adrienne, and Benjamin

Baby 2.0

Note: Management does not take responsibility for any of the following comments written while Whit was under the influence of pain medication prescribed to help him in his battle against the dreaded shingles. Please proceed at your own risk. One other thing, if he asks you to scratch his back, just say no.

It's been a while since we last talked. If you wouldn't mind too much, could you scratch my back for a second? No? Adrienne wouldn't either. What is it with you people?

On Thursday, Benjamin went in for his first post-hospital upgrade. He is now the proud owner of a mickey button. Why it's called a mickey button, I do not know, but it's basically a gas cap for Ben's tummy. Previously, he had a foot-long tube coming out of his stomach that was always getting caught on things and was generally a nuisance. Now we just pop the cap, hook up a tube, poor in the milk, and pop the cap back on. These things should be standard-issue equipment for kids - very cool. I like to think God gave us a kid with the options package included: bonus air-intake mechanism, bonus fuel-intake mechanism, and he threw the bonus hair in free of charge.

With everything we've gone through over the past month or two, I'm embarrassed that I haven't bragged on how awesome my employer has been this whole time. I'm the IT guy for a ministry called World Compassion that brings the gospel to countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, China, and Myanmar that are generally hostile to Christianity. We do this by providing humanitarian aid, distributing Bibles and Christian literature, and supporting house churches. If you ever get down about what's going on in Iraq, stop by the site some time and see how you can help get the good news to people whose lives are shaken by the bad news we see every day. Anyway, my boss has been so flexible with my schedule, and we are still eating off of the restaurant gift card the ministry gave to us. I want to thank John and Dara for carrying the load for me while I've been gone. You two are great.

May God turn all our weaknesses into upgrades,
Whit, Adrienne, and Benjamin

They're Not Just For Roofs Anymore

So I'm almost certain that I've come down with shingles. It doesn't seem like the name 'shingles' adequately describes the infection that I've got, and I'm thinking about petitioning the American Medical Association to change the name to "Half Of My Body Is On Fire". Maybe one of you out there who knows more Greek than I do could translate that into an impressive-sounding medical term.

I've been reading about what causes shingles, and the only cause that fits me is stress. Other than hunting through my food for assorted toxins (no thanks to you Shawn Mayes) and waiting impatiently for the new Lost episodes, I can't quite put my finger on what has been stressing me out over the last month. I don't want to compare my life to Job's, but if a barbarian horde comes along and carries off my cat and my television, I think the comparisons will be justified.

All kidding aside, the next few weeks will be tough because I'm supposed to avoid contact with infants, which is not conducive to me being a helpful spouse. On top of that, my friend Kari Lockwood's father, Karl King passed away on Thursday. I have great memories of playing late-night Risk with him while we chowed down on Allsup's burritos. Karl had many health problems and persevered through years of pain with a Christ-like attitude and a great sense of humor. Kari and her husband Ira are preparing to move to Vienna as missionaries, and if you want to leave a message of encouragement for them, you can do so at their team website.

Uncle Chris and Auntie Michelle sent a few pictures that I really like so I'll leave you with these:

Front Row: Auntie Michelle, Mr. Shingles, Adrienne, Ben, and Uncle Les
Back Row: Grandpa Kent, Grandma Merle, Uncle Chris, Ouma Kay, and Oupa Noel

Of course, we get the whole family smiling together in the same picture, and Ben pulls a face.

May your only shingles be on your house,
Whit, Adrienne, and Benjamin

Who Nose

You know your life is never going to be the same when the hospital sends you home with a bag full of noses - not just one or two noses but hundreds and hundreds of them. Benjamin's nose for the next six months is a little plastic cap with a moist sponge inside that goes on the end of his trach tube. Let's just say I can play a most excellent version of the "Got Your Nose" game.

Some of you know that we have two children in the house. Our oldest is still figuring out how to deal with all of the changes that have taken place over the last week. The following picture pretty much sums up the current situation. Maybe I can get this photo on the cat scripture website that Shane Coffman has mentioned in his blog. I think the verse to go with it would be John 3:30, "He must become greater; I must become less."


I'd like to take a minute to thank some special kids who have been praying for Benjamin during the past month. The kids at Memorial Drive have done some great drawings for us. You parents out there should be proud that your child has already exceeded the drawing abilities of Ben's surgeon and myself. We also received tons of creative cards from students at Wichita Christian School in Wichita Falls, Texas. I have never met any of them, but they now have a special place in our hearts. I wish I could post all of the cards and drawings, but here are a few samples of what we have received.

We are so impressed with how many people have told us their children are praying for Benjamin. There's nothing more important than teaching your kids how to have a deep and true relationship with God.

Keep it up,
Whit, Adrienne, and Benjamin

Movie Debut