Hunter's 2 month birthday

Happy 2 month old Birthday, Hunter!

First time together on the swings!

Flowers from my hubby for our anniversary

Madison got out her "Happy Birthday" book which plays the song aloud in celebration for her Daddy's birthday.Madison blowing out her Daddy's 31st birthday candles...or trying to do so...

The Quinlan's visit

Mark, Tana and Hayden spent a weekend with us at the end of February. I've posted some wonderful pictures she took of Hunter earlier, but here are some more...then I've posted some fun ones of Hayden and Madison...best friends!

My handsome little guy...

Oh, I never want to forget these precious times!!!

Hey big boy!

Oh, my sweet, sweet son...I love you dearly...don't ever forget that.

Classic family portrait...

I love you so much, Madison!

Our two darlings...the only pic we could get of them together!

Best friends! As our PJ's say!

Isn't this the life? Having our daddies do all the work for us? All we have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride!

Look at those big blues!

Playing in our house!

Future cover model...

Tana and Danae...on of my very, very best friends.

Hahaha...let's jump on Mr. Mark!

Who is that good lookin' fella in the mirror I see?

Bath time!!

"Uncle Mark" and Hunter

Aunt Tana gets to hold this guy she's been praying over for so long!

Ok, let me show you how to do this because I'm older! Madison adores Hayden.

Tana has her hands full...

Best buddies!!

Fabulous Neighbors...

Hanging out at Jen, Mike and Charlie's house...this is so much fun!

While the Daddies play Guitar Hero... It was so funny - Madison was dancing all over the place.

Daddies are so cool...

Doing artwork together...thanks for supervising Jamie!

We love Mr. Brian! Emma and Avery on his lap... don't you love our makeshift table of a cardboard box in the driveway holding our chips and dip?

Handsome Mr. Cooper...

Avery's all set! Now...where should I go?

Lots of fun!

Miss Avery's cute hat...

Uh-oh...baby head-down...

Best buds...

Ben Update 3/30

***Update: The pressure in Ben's brain continues to increase. The doctors don't know why. Please pray the ICP pressure decreases. The family is meeting with the trauma team again tomorrow morning. My family members are in crisis mode...each breaking down in tears one at a time, while God gives another sibling/relative the strength to hold them up. Yet we all will continue to rest in the peace that passes all understanding that God will do His will in Ben's life. And we will NEVER give up hope for our Ben.

I have quite a lot I want to say...a lot on my heart about our Ben...about his mom, dad and sister...what I can only imagine they are going through right now...but I want to wait until I have some peace and quiet...if that exists around here?

On a lighter note, I also know that I've a lot to journal about Madison and Hunter. For now, before the babies wake up, I'm going to post pictures of which I know I'm LONG overdue.

Thank you, all, for your powerful prayers for my cousin.




Please pray the pressure in Ben's brain decreases. Last night, despite the craniotomy, the swelling increased and required medication to decrease it. Please pray that the family continues to walk in faith and God will blanket them/us with His love. It's an indescribably difficult time for all. My mom flew out there today to help the family out.

Ben surgery update

From Tara:

Ben's surgery went well! Praise God!
The craniotomy, which removed a section of Ben's skull, will allow for the expansion of the brain. This makes the pressure in Ben's brain much safer. The neurosurgeon said that there was a lot of bruising on the surface of Ben's brain, as was expected, and the injury to the brain stem remains the top priority for prayer and healing. We are essentially waiting for a miracle.
Because the pressure issue has been taken care of, the doctor said we should be able to talk to Ben and hold his hand tomorrow, hopefully. They will also move the feeding tube from his nose directly into his side.
My mom and dad are determined not to give up on Ben and God's blessing for his future, whatever that may hold. Thank you for your continued prayers. The measure of your love and support is indescribable.

Ben update 3/29

Ben is currently in surgery and we need prayer now. The pressure has risen in his brain and medicines have not been able to decrease the rate. Thus, surgery is required.

Here is the latest entry from my Aunt Becky.

This is Ben's mom-
Please pass the word now to any prayer warriors that have been praying for Ben that their prayers are needed now.
He has been taken to surgery for a craniotomy to get his pressure down. The medicines are not having any effect now to help in this area.
He has an experienced doctor who met with us but has spelled out all Ben's possible futures, most of which weren't that positive.
We are still praying for God's will to be done in Ben's life, whatever that may be.
So please, pray now!
Thank you all SO much! We love you and will continue to give Him the glory through this "roller-coaster".

Ben Update 3/25

Please feel free to sign the guestbook on Ben's website - your thoughts are very encouraging to my Aunt Becky, Uncle Tom and cousin Tara. A friend of Becky's got them a journal with Ben's name on it. Inside, Becky is writing the comments, texts and emails that everyone sends. Also, they have it for visitors to sign. So when Ben wakes up and recovers, he can read how much everyone loves him and supported him during this time!

Please pray that the brain stem is not very damaged and that it will heal.

Here are two updates from Tara:

Praise the Lord! From 1:30 a.m. to now, Ben has remained stabilized, keeping between a level 11 -14! The ICU nurse told Grandma Nichols 'we're crusin'' when she went in this morning at 5:30 am. Mom woke up at 1 am to check on Ben and the nurse had drained him four times. She had told Grandma and Mom that she was preparing to call the neurosurgeon if Ben's brain fluid levels stayed above 20 again for more than five minutes. It was had been bordering on this for quite some time. Mom prayed over Ben before she left, then again out in the stairway before coming back up to our room to try for more sleep. She thanked God for letting us have Ben for 19 years and prayed that he would have mercy on us and let us have him longer. We believe that God is going to use him as a living testimony of the miracles that God can do. Thank you all for your prayers, since we are told that these next hours are critical as we head into day three with our sweet Ben.

We just met with the neurosurgeon who updated us on Ben's status. Currently there are two fronts that Ben is working on. The first is trying to keep his intracranial pressure at levels that will not do further damage to his brain. The second is the healing of the brain stem. He told us that Ben will have a CAT scan tomorrow to check on the brain stem. While there is no change in Ben's neurological assessment today, that the first 1-2 weeks after the injury will tell a lot in terms of long term prognosis. The great news that he gave us is that he believes Ben is approaching the peak of brain swelling and that the swelling should start to subside by the end of this evening. He also told us that his belly is waking up and is making some gurgling noises, so they are going to continue attempts with feeding.

Ben Update part 3

For further updates, Tara has created a website for Ben using CaringBridge. This is a fantastic tool for those hospitalized, of which two people I know already use.

Please see here for updates and I'll post more as well.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/benjaminmiller

Update on Ben Part 2

This is the last entry from my cousin Tara's Facebook page:

We weren't allowed to see Ben from 12 - 3 today. When we went in at 3, they told us that they had to drain his brain again around 2. My dad went in to sit with him and started talking to him, causing brain swelling to shoot up. (The number range we are looking at for the brain swelling is between 1 and 25. If the numbers get up and stay up around 17 to 25 for five minutes, they have to drain the brain. Right now it is around 10.) The nurse asked us to not talk to him or touch him right now, because it is too much of a stimulus to him. I asked the nurse if Ben could tell that Dad was talking to him or if he could just tell that he was hearing noise - the nurse couldn't answer that. She said that right now the best way she could describe what Ben was feeling was like a migraine. She said that when someone has a migraine they want all the lights off, don't want to be around anyone, and don't want to hear anything or be touched. While it is hard for us to stare at him through the glass and not be in the room with him anymore, we know that it is best for Ben right now. They have started feeding him through a tube today, so that's good.Things you can pray about right now:-pray that Ben handles the pain that he may be feeling right now.-pray that the doctors continue to see glimpses of hope in his progress.-pray that my family finds time to eat and rest, when it isn't exactly what we want to do.-pray that if Ben ever is enough awake to start understanding what is happening, but can't talk to us or show that he is active, that he will be comforted by God and not be alone and scared.-pray that my family learns to handle not being able to comfort him with our touches and our hands, but to rely fully on God to give him the comfort that he needs.-pray that his brain swelling numbers stay low and they don't have to drain his brain again.Thank you for continuing to pray and believe that God can work miracles in my brother. He has made it 27 hours now. We have been told that the first few days will be the most rough, and the most critical. Please don't stop praying...we believe that he will be rescued by our great and powerful healing God.

Ben Update 3/24

Our hope and trust is in the Lord. He is the ultimate healer and the great physician.

Please pray for a miracle to happen within my cousin's body.

Thankfully, there was no change overnight, meaning his condition did not get any worse. However, it didn't improve, either. He is in ICU and has had family and close friends visiting when allowed. This morning, the trauma team evaluated him. His swelling was stable, so no need to remove part of his skull. They took him off sedatives, inserted a feeding tube, but unfortunately they can not find brain activity. It has been 25 hrs since the accident. They have needed to drain his brain twice in the last hour, unfortunately, due to pressure. The hospital facility and staff have been wonderful, apparently, and have kindly given a suite to my unlce and aunt to use for the duration of Ben's stay in ICU. The next 2-3 days will be imperative.

My family's faith continues to give us great hope and we never cease to trust in God, however it is especially difficult on my Uncle, Aunt, and cousin (sister to Ben) Tara, expectedly. Please pray for strength, comfort and hope and HEALING!