Good Morning,
Hope everyone is having a blessed day!  Just had to share some good news really quick.  I went to have a checkup with one of my Transplant Doctors last Friday.  She said that I was doing so well from a transplant perspective that I didn't have to come back.  WHAT!!??  We are all thrilled. I will have some tests done once a year or two (probably in Minnesota), but if the Lord continues to bless I will not have to go back to Vanderbilt for transplant issues. Whew!  What a blessing. Just wanted to share with everyone that the Lord has blessed me and my family so very much and we are truly thankful!
We hope that everyone has a blessed Christmas and New Years.  Probably will talk to ya next year :)

Blessings,
Josiah and family

So Much to be Thankful for

Hello to all,
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving this past week. I think we ate all weekend long.

We have had a very busy several days. As my family has been packing and moving, I have been exploring all the new rooms and cabnets that I can.  I have been loving doing school and playing in the new house.  Also, I am so thankful that my new cousin Dylan came to visit for Thanksgiving.  I love babies so much and just begged to hold him whenever I could. I did have to share but was never far away to make sure everyone was taking good care of him.

Shhh.. baby sleeping

Uncle Ben soaking up his 20th Birthday wishes.

We have so many things to be thankful for this year.  We got to move into our new house, We have a new baby cousin, my Uncle Ben (who has Down Syndrome) turned 20 this year and my twin triplet Torie is doing great!  I could go on and on. We are so Thankful to the Lord for keeping us for another year and we look forward to where the Lord takes us in this coming year.

Getting into my favorite cabinet.. the snack pantry! 

I haven't had to many Doctors appointments but have several coming up. I will have my eyes checked soon and my Transplant Dr. update. I will be going back to Minnesota for some annual testing in Feb.... it has almost been 3 years.. woo HOO!  I did go see my hip and ankle Dr. that said my healing is going great and my hips look so good that he wants to post pone my other hip surgery for several years!  Although, when he did look at the x-rays he found that there is a bone that is dislocated in my foot that has been making my feet still turn sideways when I walk.  I will have to have that surgery coming up and will have an update after my foot CT in the middle of December.  Overall I am doing great and so is my family.  We so love that you all check in on me still and we love your prayers.  When I think of all the things that I am thankful for, everyone that has supported and prayed for me is right near the top of the list.

Blessings,

Josiah and the Carman Crew

Summer days and not feeling well..

Lovin Family Pictures in Grandma's Garden!

Good morning,
Hope everyone is staying cool in the heat.  We cooked up some yummy treats this summer while inside.  James made a strawberry shortcake snake (a.k.a.  Strawberry Short"snake"), that was yummy. My favorite is Ice cream though.  I get spoiled every Tuesday night when I go to my Me-ma's house, they give me Chicken nuggets and ICE CREAM!

Enjoying some Ice Cream... Looks like we need to get more!

James creation..Strawberry Short"snake".  Yumm!

Our Garden loved the Rain!  You don't even see the
Onions, spinach, squash, cucumbers, Zucchini, Watermelon,
Cantaloupe or Pumpkins... The Lord has blessed!   

We have stayed busy, as usual. As most of you endured, we had many many weeks of no rain.   Hannah, said that she thought God needed to repaint the grass. :)  Well, He heard our prayer and we have had many days of rain and now our grass in green again. Our garden loved it too. We have a pumpkin almost as big as me. We have picked onions and frozen peppers, canned relish and ate yummy zucchini bread, tomatoes, cucumbers and more. We also caught a skunk (smelly..) and a raccoon eating our corn.


We continue to work on our new house and love it more each day. The Lord has blessed and we got Cabinets in last week (shared a picture at the bottom). Also, my uncle Marc has been working on the tile and making it look so pretty. Many projects to go but things are getting done day by day, so we might get to move in soon.

Iron man Josiah

Some of the fun things we got for our birthday are getting put to good use. I love James' Iron man mask. When I can steel it from him I love playing pretend and saving the world. Boy, do we need saving too, so glad that Jesus came to save us and that gives us all hope.  I also LOVE playing ball! So the basketball hoop that Grandma and Grandpa got us is used everyday. Also, James got a new bike that he rides and .... sometimes shares. So much fun.

James' new ride

Josiah made a basket..YAA!

Mommy was planing on posting that I was going to have some test done, so please pray for my sedation to go well.  We have waited 4 months to get these tests done and I have pretty much stayed healthy... till today.  Cozy in mommy's bed is where I like to stay on days like this. Got a fever, runny nose and bad cough.. no tests today.  Please pray I feel better soon so I can enjoy my days and have my tests soon.

Van Carman Family singers! :)

I also love to play instruments. Leah is learning to play the guitar and I love playing too. James loves to sing (like his grandpa :), so we all play well together. Momma calls us the Van Carman family singers... we just need a little more practice as you will see from James video, but we have so much fun!

This video mommy wanted to share. She is so very proud of me.  I am learning to sight read.  I tend to learn things a little slower so when I came and started to read words on the TV screen they didn't believe it. Mommy got some flash cards out and I would pick it up and read it to her. Now I love it when someone will sit and write words for me to read. I love showing what I know and learning new words.  Of course some of you might not understand the video because I sign most of my words. So when I see a word I know I usually say the beginning sounds as I sign it.  We thank the Lord for the ability to learn and can't wait to see what else I will surprise everyone with!


Hope you all enjoy your summer and stay cool.  May God bless you all. Thank you for stopping and checking on me, I love sharing my days with you.

Josiah

P.s. My first photo at the top is from family photos we had done at Grandma's.  Mommy is putting together cards to send out for all our friends and family. If you don't think mommy has your address (or even if you do :), please e-mail it to   jimandrachael10@yahoo.com   We would love to send you our family picture and you to send me yours... I LOVE pictures!! Thank you!

The Island.. can't wait to use that!

Cabinets CAME!  Still in progress but had to share!

5 Year old Birthday update!

Picture Parade. Fun Activities and a BIG 5 Year old Birthday... with yummy cake :)

                                                                Easter Picture

                                                        Easter egg hunt at Me-ma's

                                             Sunday Best, I had to wear a tie just like grandpa

                                                    Hannah's 9th birthday on March 28th

                                      Wormy mud cake for our birthday, I was signing "Happy Birthday"!

                                             Family portrait for our Big day

                                                     Birthday Boys!

                                                                     Couldn't leave my girls out

                                           Pa-pau and James with our favorite Ronald McDonald

                                                      Aunt Kendra and my sisters.
                                   Aunt Kendra made our Yummy Kit Kat cake ....yummmmm

                                                      Grandma Dee and Bubby James

                                                                 Party, Party, Party!!!

                                   I think this one will be everyone's favorite!  Thank you Aunt Kendra!

Long time since we last talked but life has been so very busy.  I have been doing great!  I am still going to Physical therapy twice a week and working on my speech. My family and I have stayed healthy ( praise the Lord), and have been able to do many fun activities.  Also,as you can see, James and I turned 5 on May 22nd!    We also have big news of a new cousin coming in October.  Uncle Josh and Aunt Lindsey are expecting and we so look forward to a new baby. I love babies!!  Also, my Uncle Ben (who has Down Syndrome) will be graduating on June 16..woo hoo, we are so proud of him.  Lots going on! So instead of boring you with lots of details of my very busy days, we figured we would posts lots of pictures.  Hope you enjoyed them and we will visit again soon.  Hope you all have a fun summer~!

Blessings,
Josiah

A new me

Hello everyone,

I got my cast off yesterday, so I am starting to feel a little more like myself. Mommy posted a before and after picture. The last 4 weeks seems like we have all been on a different planet. I haven't got the strength to walk yet but I am trying. The Dr. said that the bone growth is good and the cast can come off but no Physical therapy for 3-4 weeks. He wants me to see what I can do by myself without people stretching and pushing me to much. Although, I think I might try more than anyone would have me do. :) I have already realized I can scoot on my backside to get places and have started to crawl around a little. I still have to take rests because everything starts aching and I need to sit for awhile. Nothing keeps me down for long. The Dr. said that everything went perfect. No infection, no complications (like pneumonia) and good bone growth. Praise the Lord and thank you for all your prayers!

Our hive continues to buzz with starting our garden, working on our house, making yummy strawberry jam, mowing yards, school and all my appointments. The Lord has continued to bless everyone and we are enjoying all this beautiful weather. We got back to late last night for me to get a bath but I will be a clean new me by tonight. I haven't had a good soaking bath and hair cut for 4 weeks. Boy do I miss playing in the tub. So as I look forward to enjoying the weather and taking a bath, I hope you enjoy the simple moments everyday brings... because you will never have them back. We love you all and thank you for checking in with me. Please continue to pray for strength and bone growth so I can go running with James this summer.

God bless you all,

Josiah and family

P.s. Another update in the last week.. my hearing aids came in. The molds for the pieces were made over a year ago so they don't fit to well but when they work I really enjoy hearing. I will need to get new molds done in the next few weeks and then I will be good to go. Pray that this will help me with my talking and comprehension. :) Thank you!

A little bit of Si

*Update on bottom..*

Good morning to all,

Just another note from mom but we are seeing a little bit of Si coming out all the time! The Lord is good. We have had a long weekend trying to adjust to our new life/schedule. When we were discharged from the hospital (on Saturday) Josiah was given a medicine for pain every 4 hours. We didn't notice till we got home that the Pharmacy changed it to every 6 hours. When I called they said that the Dr. put every 6 hours and we would have to talk to our DR. Being the weekend I didn't feel comfortable giving him it every 4hours till I knew if he might have changed the prescription.

Yet by the 4th hour Josiah seemed in a lot of

pain. We did try to alternate Ibuprofen to help but if still seemed to not cut it. Between that and him trying to have a bowel movement, he seemed to be crying in pain most of the time. Finally, I got ahold of the surgeons nurse Yesterday afternoon and she said it is to be every 4 hours and that is what the Prescription said. She was going to call the pharmacy ( and I had an inclination to do the same but refrained :). Now that he is on the right dose of medicine we seem to have started to control the pain a little more. He only woke up twice for medicine last night and seemed to be more like Si this morning. Actually, it seems to be a pretty calm morning,

considering! We have been so blessed to have so much prayer and people encouraging us. We had some special Aunts and Uncles (Aunt Kathy and Aunt Karen & Uncle Lloyd and Uncle Kenny) deliver us a delicious feast. Look at the picture of James with his plate full! Yumm, Yumm! Plus there was corn and Chocolate Chip cookies for desert.

We do need to be praying for new bone growth. They will x-ray him in 4 weeks (woo hoo 1 week down) and see if there is new bone growth. If so they will leave the casts off and just put braces on and start therapy. If no new bone growth then the casts go back on for 2-4 more weeks.

New news... Please pray!! The Dr. just called and we have to go to Nashville ASAP. Josiah has no sensation in his toes and they are very pale. It didn't alarm us since this has been the case since we left the hospital but yesterday we asked what we should watch for. Evidently this didn't get to the Doctor till today and they need to see him. Please pray that this is all fine and for peace and pain management for Si during the transport. Thank you again for your prayers!

Blessings on your day!

Josiah's mommy and daddy and Family

*UPDATE*Thank you all for your prayers. I know the Lord heard them. Josiah did seem to not be in as much pain considering the 1 1/2 hour trip to Nashville. The Dr. had to split both his casts. We think that his legs were just to swollen and possibly causing some problems. Josiah was crying in pain once we were there and while the man was cutting the cast. When they were almost done Josiah jumped ( I could of swarn they cut his leg) then he said "there." and stopped crying. It was like something released and helped his pain. Praise the Lord. They did do a x-ray to make sure everything was good. Before we left the color and warmth returned and he even wiggled his toes (which he couldn't do before). I can't tell you how amazing this is and how wonderful God is to hear all our prayers and bless us yet again. Thank you again for the encouragement of lifting our Josiah up in Prayer.

Big News!!

Yesterday was so very busy. With the storms and sitting in the hall with all the other patients, to Josiah choking and getting a nurse to have to suck out his throat to pulling out his IV. Yes, yesterday was quit busy. After he pulled out his IV, it made an immediate decision to not give the next IV medicine. We were going to wean him off them anyway but I guess this was God's way of doing things now. We had to get him off the IV meds. anyway to go home and Josiah seems to be doing ok with that. We did have a few time during the night that he didn't feel well and does seem a little more down then he did yesterday.

The BIG news.... we are going home!! The Dr. came in and saw he had been off IV meds and said "The next question is how long do you want to be here?" ... did he really just ask that question! Of course we said, "no longer than needed!" Now we are on our way home, PRAISE THE LORD! Please continue to pray that Josiah makes this transition ok and that the pain doesn't get to bad on the 1 1/2 hour drive home.

We will post more when we get a chance, thank you for all your prayers. The Lord has truly blessed!!

Lots of love,

Josiah's entire family :)

Turning a corner?

THERE IS HIS SMILE!

It has been awhile. I have to share some pictures with you this morning. Josiah's afternoon and early evening was still a little rough. Grandpa came tried to get a smile and just got a pleasant look.. no smile though. Then God sent some special visitors. All visitors are special but look how Josiah smiled! Chris & Christy Helson, Mathew & Besty Carman came to visit last night. As typical Si he heard them knock and said "ommin" (come in..). When they came in they brought some gift baskets and balloons. His eyes lit up! The first big smile came across his face when he saw those balloons. If we had known that, we would of filled this room with balloons. :) He also received some special fun things that has helped distract him and help him have some fun. Such a blessing! Jim and I also received one filled with stuff that made us smile as well (chocolate and fruit.. yumm:)! We are so very thankful to all those who have blessed us in so many different ways. God is so good!

Josiah also had a really good night (so did mommy and daddy.. woo hoo)! Before bed we ended up having to change everything and wash him down (for the 2nd time that day). This was for the best though, he enjoyed sitting with daddy and tried to go to sleep. Once in bed, he has slept all night besides when we had to wake him up for medicine, blood draws or diaper changes. Then he would go right back to sleep. Praise the Lord! Dr. said once we can have pain control with only oral medicine he can go home. He is on regular doses of many medications, some by mouth and IV to help maintain pain control. Please pray that

God gives wisdom on how fast to take him off this and how we can make him comfortable but be able to go home when we can. We also shared his new hips and ankles. The x-rays are hard to see but you can see all his new "hardware" that is going to help him so much. Still watching for infection and need to keep him from germs. Another prayer request... our poor Hannah (Josiah's middle sister) is sick and was most of the day yesterday. Please pray for healing and strength for her and that it doesn't spread to anyone. She is staying with Family (Grandpa and Grandma, plus Aunts,Uncles and at least 3 cousins at any one time :) I know the Lord will bless.

Thank you for checking on Josiah and for all your love, blessings and prayers you have sent for us.

God bless your day,

Josiah's mommy and daddy & even a smile from Josiah today :)

Still updates from mom

Where oh Where has Josiah's smile gone.

Forgive the lack of updates in the last 24 hours. Days are running into each other and sometime we can't tell day from night unless the sun is out. Josiah is still in a lot of pain but the Lord has blessed so very much. The Lord has answered so many prayer and encouraged us so much with family, friends and even strangers. Josiah has had some very caring Doctors, nurses and care takers. Just one exsample is one of the head nurses was trying to contact a medical group that might work with our insurance to get Josiah some kind of wheel chair for home transport. She informed that she will try

to get something before we leave but she has no idea what or when it will arrive. A company took us on and a gentleman brought us a very big treat today. He had heard of Josiah's situation and ordered a special pediatric chair and had it overnighted and put it together this morning to make sure we had it delivered asap. He specifically picked this one out for Josiah because it has so many ways that it will help make him comfortable from laying down flat, to lifting his legs to a comfortable height, to being able to make it through tight spots so we can continue to use it when we get home. We did include a picture for those who would understand such a blessing.

It is so hard to see your child struggle but I know that God has a great purpose in all this even if we don't understand it right now. Even though he is in pain, he has started eating a little and getting his desire to feed himself back. He did receive some visitor last night. Uncle Ben, Grandma Dee and Pa-paw came

to visit. They brought a toy phone that Josiah took to and seemed to be wanting to hold on to it even after they were gone. Josiah was making his sounds like he was calling James or Sara. I think he wants to call them to came bring him home. It was so very kind of them to come visit but Josiah still didn't smile. For those of you who know him well, not much gets this little guy down for very long. He still hasn't smiled and wakes up crying but we know that he won't be down for long. God is working in his little body and we can see small improvement each day (especially when people pray! :). Thank you for your prayers, thoughts and encouragement. It is a blessing in this time of need. May God give us days to be able to pay all this forward one day :).

Love to all,

Josiah's mommy and daddy and family

Continue to pray

Dearest friends,

Please continue to pray for our dear Josiah. Yesterday after the surgery the Dr. gave him a "bolus" shot in his spine. That was to help with pain through the evening but seemed to wear off sooner than later. We were kept in a holding area till 7:00pm and then they wheeled Josiah toward a room. At this point Josiah must of remembered how they wheeled him away before surgery and he went crazy. Screaming and trying his best to get out of that bed. We were transferred to a very nice room on level 7 (they weren't sure if had been cleaned or not... I know God is in control :) where both Jim and I could be with Josiah all night. Unfortunately after this incident Josiah has been in increasing pain and crying ever since. He will have 5-10min at a time that he calms down sometimes falls asleep just to have muscle spasms shake his whole body ( on top of the other pain he is having). During the surgery they had to cut through muscle causing severe muscle spasm (like charlie horses) as they heal. They have given him strong medicine to try to help with this but doesn't seem to be helping. Jim and I, but most importantly Josiah has hardly slept even an hour all night. I know the Lord can take this pain from him and bring peace. Please join in with our prayers and continue to lift our little Josiah before the Lord. Thank you

Update #2

Josiah update as of 3:45pm....

The Lord is hearing our prayers! Josiah is out of surgery and working on waking up. The surgery only took 5 1/2 hours unlike even the new expected time of 7 hours. The Doctor we had was very patient and professional and has been a blessing in our lives. They were not able to fix the hip sockets but the Hip bones and ankle cuts and rotates were a success. He does have a lot of metal in him right now but the Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes. A huge praise is that he only has two ankle casts on and really no limitations besides he can't walk on them. The Lord is good!! He also got to pick the color so for all our James fans out there, we knew Josiah would pick green for his hero brother :). Right now Josiah is awake enough to drink lots out of his sippy cup by himself (something they need him to do..) and holding daddy's hand (which he loves to do). They do have him on a catheter to monitor his output of liquid. That needs to resolve as well, but as much as he is drinking I think the Lord has already answered that one. :)

Prayer request ... he is in a holding room right now with lots of "emergency" type patients (i.e. germs), they don't expect him to have a room for at least 3 more hours and don't know where that will be. The doctor encourages that he be on floor 8 in a clean and sterile room. Also, for him to take deep breaths and maybe even cough a little.

Fluid is already settling in his chest

and that needs to go. One of the main concerns after this surgery is pneumonia setting in. His swelling in his face and throat to go down as well to help with his oxygen levels. ... and of course the pain. Right now they are keeping him on high doses of medicine but they can't do that for long. He seems to be more awake and at himself right now and resting peacefully. Please pray that continues.

My heart is overwhelmed at all the love and prayers bestowed on our family. The Lord is so good and I know we could never of made it through this day without Him working in our lives through all of you. Words can not express how much we have been blessed. Thank you!