Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Harkins!

We celebrate the birth of our Saviour, Christ the Lord!

smiles to warm up your heart!

It may be cold outside, but we have a little boy at our house who brings us joy! Here are a few pictures for you of Elijah enjoying a new activity: "jumping" on the big exercise ball. You can see how much he enjoys it!

It doesn't happen all the time, but occasionally something 'clicks' for Elijah, and he starts to jump for real (i.e. kicking up his own legs). This is where he gets so excited that he wiggles his whole body to the point that it's hard to hold onto him! We have even heard him SQUEAL!!

Here Elijah is supervising the cookie-baking process. Notice he is also guarding the chocolate chips. Todd and Elijah did a good job, because the cookies turned out great! (Don't I have a fabulous husband?)

Christmas cheer

I have to confess that since we moved to Idaho, I haven't done much "interior design". Our house is tiny, and on top of that we are renting. Originally we only planned to be in this place six months, and I didn't want to spend very much on furniture or decor if we were moving in half a year. (We owned a bed and one chair when we moved here! We did break down enough to buy a couch.)

Well, we've been here eight months now...and when I started putting little Christmas touches here and there, I realized that it is just the small things that make a place feel like home. It doesn't need to take a huge chunk of cash to make it cute. It also doesn't have to look like "Pottery Barn".

Some kind friends from church let us cut some evergreens from their property, and with all of that fabulous stuff to work with, I got creative...


This is in the corner of my kitchen. I don't know what the red berries are, but I risked life and limb to get them last Saturday when we were driving in the mountains. Just ask my husband...

You are looking at about half of our living room! I love the way the greenery looks on the windowsills. See the snow falling peacefully outside? The bow-on-the-pillow idea I got from my my friend Shilo's post.

This is Elijah, all cozy on the couch, and all smiles because he just got out of bed.

Here's a picture from last weekend's drive in the back country (home of the red berries).

This is what happens when a small boy decides to skip his nap. Some things just can't be avoided...

P.S. Todd is not nearly as grumpy as he looks!

trekkin' it to the hospital

Today Elijah had his second and hopefully final SPECT scan. This is so we can compare the blood-flow and activity in his brain before and after hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We'll let you know in a few weeks about the results.

Happily, we both kept noticing today that things didn't seem as stressful as they had three months ago for the first scan. (Thank you, Lord!) Elijah was very happy on the way to the hospital even with an empty stomach. Then he responded almost immediately to the oral medication they sedated him with. Last time, he cried and fought sleep for probably 30 minutes. Today he was asleep within 5 -- and SOUND asleep. We were laughing at how fast he went!

The other thing that has a big impact on how much stress we feel is our attitude - whether we keep a sense of humor especially! I am thankful that God helped us in so many ways today just to relax. We even had an awesome conversation with the recovery nurse about the Lord.


Praising you, Jesus, for all your blessings...for giving us a great day in a place we would rather not be. All for Your glory!

done, done, done!!

Elijah and I are finally home after our two-month odyssey. No more traveling, no more living out of a suitcase, no more being separated from my husband! Elijah's 40 hyperbaric oxygen treatments are DONE! It was a terrific feeling to step out of the chamber the last time and think "I don't have to come back here tomorrow".

We're so thankful for the opportunity we had to do this therapy, and we continue to see new (good) things changing for Elijah. I am really happy that his muscles seem to be less tight, and that makes standing and stretching more comfortable. For example, before HBOT, Elijah seemed to equate being in his stander (a device that holds him in an upright position) with torture! Today he spent 15-20 minutes standing without any fussing at all.

I am also so, so excited that Elijah's drooling has nearly stopped! He literally owns a small drawerful of bibs, and before HBOT I probably changed his his soaking-wet bib 5-8 times a day. He hasn't worn a bib for days now (although he drools a tiny bit here and there still). I would really like to take all of those bibs from the drawer, cut them into small pieces and then throw them in the trash with a celebratory whoop, but I convinced myself to wait. I might need them while Elijah learns to handle food.

Another great thing we're noticing is that Elijah's vision seems to be improving; at the very least, he is making more of an attempt to locate us, and seems to be focusing more. Praise the Lord for all of these wonderful improvements!

Yesterday was the last treatment, so today I spent cleaning and unpacking. I am so glad to be...home.