Butterflies, Berries and Belly Drs.

Butterflies
I finally decided to go ahead and order the caterpillars for a Butterfly garden that we purchased when Nathanael was in Kindergarten! We received five small caterpillars in a jar. Two died, but the other three ate, and ate and ate. We were pretty amazed at how quickly they grew. They turned into a chrysalis with in a week. I transferred them to the garden container and we waited....
Sunday after church Rachael was eager to check on our pets. We were delighted to find three Painted Lady butterflies drying their wings. We have been watering them, and caring for them since then, but we will turn them loose soon. We know that they have mated, and I see some eggs, so maybe we will have more caterpillars soon! Asher loves to look at them.

Berries
A friend let me in on a secret berry picking spot! Thank you!!! Rachael, Jeremiah and I went one afternoon and picked enough black berries for six pints of old fashioned cooked jam (my favorite kind). Then Rachael and I went back on the fourth of July to pick again and we got enough to make a two full batches of freezer jam. Yummy! Rachael was such a trooper. She was pretty careful to only get the ripe ones, didn't cry at the stickers and the hot sun. What a little helper my daughter is. I had the best time with her and am excited to do more of these girly things with her as she grows. So we have been enjoying homemade jam on our toast in the morning. We are looking forward to getting lots of blueberries soon!

Belly Doctor
I took Asher to the Gastroenterologist last Tuesday. It was a bit of a drive, and I was praying that God would hold off this horrible storm that was coming at me, until I arrived. God was so good. As I ran Asher into the medical building, the rain came pouring down, then the lightening and horrible wind. But not till I was inside! I was amazed that God listened to a mommy's prayer about not driving in a hail storm. I shouldn't be, but it just shows me how God cares about every detail of our lives, and He has the power to hold back the storms, for me! Thank you God!
We don't have any concrete answers yet. Asher is diagnosed as Failure to Thrive since his weight is so low. He is anemic and has some other issues going on. The blood test show allergies to milk, egg, peanuts and bananas.
We go for a full allergy appointment at the end of the month.
And we have a surgery appointment set up for him to have endoscopy and a flexible sigmoidoscopy done. This is in August. I am a bit nervous since he will be put under, but Joel and I are feeling that this might be necessary to find out what, if anything, is wrong with our baby. Some days, and nights Asher is so upset and seems to be in pain. He can act very angry, but without anything that I can see to be angry about. It is hard to not know what to do. We are praying a lot. And that is a good thing. God is good to us. We are thankful for the care we are able to get for our boo. And we know that God knows exactly what is going on with Asher's little belly, He made it and he can heal it up. That is what we are praying. Please join us.