A Name Like No Other
Our four-year-old daughter just informed us that she doesn’t “want to be named Kate anymore.” She wants to be called “Velvet, Velvet Gold.” I’m not sure where a name like that will take her but it is hard to imagine. “Paging Dr. Gold, paging Dr. Velvet Gold” or maybe “In Johnson vs. Noland, Chief Justice Velvet Gold wrote the majority opinion stating that… .” With a name like that we will definitely have to steer her clear of a career in the entertainment industry.
Riley’s Walking!
Riley took his first steps the other day. He is so proud of himself. He has been able to do it for quite some time, taking one or two steps and then deciding he would stick to crawling for a little while longer. He would also walk for minutes at a time all over the house using the walls and furniture for support. When he finally decided to try a few more steps he was so excited and started doing it again and again just to please his audience. The video shows him walking about a day or so after his initial steps. He is currently 11 months old and a joy to watch.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM6YmlKufZU
Kate’s Home!
Kate has been home from the hospital for a few days now and we are so happy and relieved to have her back. She is doing well despite some complications caused by her illness and we are trying now to get back to some semblance of “normal” life. We are so thankful to all who prayed, cooked, cleaned, baby-sat, visited and gave gifts. It is wonderful to know how many people genuinely care about our family.
Please Pray for Kate
Update - Oct. 25
Kate is doing much better! She is off of the ventilator and no longer under sedation. She is wide awake and we are ecstatic to have our Kate back. She has moved out of the Pediatric ICU and is now in the general children’s wing. Thank you so much for your prayers. We believe there is power in prayer and know we have experienced that power this week. Please continue to pray that Kate improves so she can be well enough to come home.
Original Post - Oct. 22
As some of you already know, my four-year-old daughter, Kate, is in the Pediatric ICU at UMASS Memorial Hospital. Her condition has improved since she was first admitted Sunday evening. She is heavily sedated and on a ventilator. She’s had a high fever which has diminished and she her pulse has come quite a way down towards normal and her oxygen levels have increased. The doctors have already begun to ween her off of the ventilator in a very slow progression. We are so thankful for the improvements she has already shown.
It started with a cold on Friday afternoon and then at about 1:00 am Sunday morning Kate woke up and was wheezing. She had been given a nebulizer early this spring because of similar symptoms so Kate asked for her “Nebby”. We continued to give her the nebulizer but we didn’t see any change in her condition so Amy called her doctor Sunday afternoon to see if we could have Kate examined. We figured she would be given a stronger prescription the her nebulizer and that they would be home in a little while. That is when Amy called me - as I was home with Riley - and told me that Kate was being flown from our local hospital to UMASS. She was breathing so shallow and fast, pulse was high and her oxygen level was very low that they thought she needed to be intubated, put on a respirator and transported to UMASS where they treat children. Needless to say I was totally shocked. After dropping Riley off with friends I made my way to the hospital in total bewilderment. How could Kate go in for just a quick examination and now need extreme emergency care?
We know a lot of people are praying for Kate as well as our family I just want to ask you to keep praying for her recovery. Also pray that as she comes out of her sedation that she is calm and not in great fear or put up a fight. Knowing Kate the fight scenario is quite real 
(Before sedation she even refused to change into the hospital gown because she didn’t want to take off her special princess nightgown. They ended up cutting it off her after she was out.)
Thank you so much for your continued prayers. I will try to keep this page updated with Kate’s progress when I can get a chance.
The Simplest Things
It is fun to see how the simplest things can entertain a child. Here’s a video of my son, Riley, in his Johnny Jump Up. He is six months old in the video. Notice the growling