Marley Anne Taziona Whitfield

We got more pictures of my sweet "niece" today! Elise is like one of my sisters so I feel that is an appropriate description of my relationship to this sweet baby! Of course no disrespect to her true aunts and uncles!! They decided on a name too! Marley Anne! So cute! Pray for Elise, it sounds like she has a spinal headache! We know all to well how miserable that can be from watching Heidi suffer so horribly after Eden was born! I know she would appreciate your prayers! It must be the angle this first picture was taken at, but she looks huge! Remember she is only 5lbs9oz! Actually probably even a little smaller! Elise's milk has come in, so that is a big blessing! She will be growing quickly! The later pictures will show you how small she really is though!! Congratulations my sweet friends! Love and miss you terribly!

Pictures of the new arrival and an update from Luke

Dear Loved Ones We are so excited to share with you that we have been blessed with a little baby girl. We have not decided on a first name but have chosen 'Taziona' (spelling will probably change) this is a Zambian name that means 'we have seen it'--we have seen the Lord's faithfulness. She was born at roughly 6am (CST) 2pm our time, and was a whoping 5lbs 9 oz. and measured around 18in. A tiny baby compared to our first three. Although small she is perfectly healthy and took to breastfeeding like she had a nipple in the womb,hah! Mom and Tazzy are doing fine and Elise is recovering very quickly. For those of you praying for power cuts it worked, praise God!! As we were getting ready to walked into the operating room the power came on, He is so faithful. I have attatched some photo, more will be on the way but it has been a hectic day. Praise God for our new addition and we will keep you posted on the name game. More details and pics to come soon. Love you all and PRESS ON & INTO HIM!! The Whitfield <><

Healthy Baby!

Just got off the phone with Elise's mom in law and we have a healthy baby girl! The c section went well and both mom and baby are doing well! She was really tiny, only 5pounds 10 ounces (Elise's last two were 9+ pounds). The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck several times, but she let out a good hollar upon arriving! They don't have a name yet, they were convinced it was a boy! As soon as I know more and I am sure we will have some pictures soon too, I will post again! Oh and she has a bunch of curly hair! Thank you so much for all your prayers for this dear friend of mine!!

It Is A Wonder They Survive!

Andrew was off of school today because of Presidents Day. I am in the midst of planning a big retreat that is coming up this weeked at our church. I was having a hard time keeping them busy so I could have a little bit of time to work on some of the details. The kids asked if they could work on a "project" that involved painting. I decided that the mess would be worth having them be occupied for a chunk of time by something other than the tv. So I told them that as long as they put their painting shirts on that it was fine with me. So they got everything all put together to do their "project" (still don't know what it was). After about 20 minutes, I was out in the kitchen picking up and they both come in and Kelli is holding a cup of water cloudy with the paint left behind from rinsing brushes. Andrew has a silly grin on his face as Kelli exclaims "Mom, we used my water glass to wash our brushes! And guess what? The water still just tastes like water even with the paint in it! Andrew drank some and so I did too!" =) Gotta love the curiosity! They both were forced to drink 2 large glasses of paint free water!

My LIttle Artist

Kelli has just started drawing people. She came out the other day with this drawing and said, "Mom, isnt this a great picture of me and daddy!" Since these are the very first people that she has drawn, I was pretty impressed! Thought you would get a kick out of it!

Daily Adventures

My kids have all been "blessed" with respiratory, well lets call them weaknesses. They have allergies to animals, but also have coughs that seem to be aggrivated by the slightest change in their environment. Especially in the fall and winter they seem to always be "barking". One of the things that sometimes helps them is a nebulizer treatment of Albuterol. They always look so pathetic when they do this...so weak and frail. I snapped a few pics of Kelli a week or so ago...breaks your heart, doesn't it?!

Andrew is the worst, but thankfully this winter hasn't been too bad with him. He has been managed with just a few runs of steroids. He is also so proud of himself because he graduated from the liquid to pills~ You should have seen me trying to teach him how to do it! Well, actually I failed at teaching him and crushed them and put them in his applesauce. One lesson with Brian and he had it down pat! =) Here he is just snuggled in to bed waiting for Kelli to be done with her treatment. I love it when he snuggles with this bear. My grandma Mutti gave it to him when he was 11 months old. It was the first time she meet him, and sadly it was the last time she saw him. She unexpectedly passed away a few months later. I know Andrew would have loved her!
I introduced Emily to the big bath the other day. She was getting way to active for the infant bathtub. I also let Andrew and Kelli get in with her too! It was quite an adventure! She loved it thought!

Now she has reached sibling overload!!

A few more

Here is another collection of video clips that I found when I was cleaning up the computer! Fun to walk down memory lane! They grow so quickly!

Precious Times

One of my favorite times with the kids is putting them to bed. Once they are done with bottles and don't eat to fall asleep I start a routine with them of singing a couple of songs and praying with them after they are tucked in to bed. I was cleaning up my computer the other day, backing up all my photos and I came across these video clips. Kelli was 2 1/2 and Andrew was almost 5 when I did these. Kelli had loved to sing Jesus Loves Me and she was really dramatic when she got to the chorus. It was impossible not to laugh! That is what I was hoping to catch...Remember to scroll down to the bottom of this page to pause the music on the player! There is no picture on the video, just sound. I didn't want them to know I was taping so I just put the camera on the bed next to us and kept the lights off.

Would You Please Pray

My sweet friend Elise who now lives inLusaka Zambia with her husband Luke and their 3 kids. They will be welcoming baby #4 on Wednesday February 20th at 2pm their time (6am our time). She has a wonderful obgyn and a pediatrician that is also their pastor! They are delivering in a private hospital. So they will have nurses to care for them. At the public hospital your friends and family have to come take care of you. This will be Elise's 4th c-section. Please pray for a safe delivery, a sterile delivery room, a healthy baby, and no complications. Also, there are two anesthesiologists, and only one does epidurals for c-sections. w=Would you pray that she gets this snesthesiologist do she does not have to be put to sleep and "miss" the delivery. Elise's mom sent me a few pics and I thought I would share them with you! I met Elise when I was her nurse when she had Emma, her 2nd baby, on my birthday! I was also able to be her nurse when she had Payton. It has been very hard to not be able to support this precious friend through her pregnancy and now not to be there as she delivers! Thankfully we are able to support her in prayer and I am so grateful that her mother is able to be there to help the family! I am also very thankful that we have means of communication to quickly get all the details shortly after the delivery! I will be sure and keep you posted! And Thank you for all your prayers!

An Update from Marks friend Micah!! God is so good!

Dear Friends, Brothers and Sisters,
It has been amazing to see how many people have been praying for Mark, Sarah and the Hilde family. Today someone walked up to me at Rush Hospital (where I work) and told me that they have been praying forMark... thank you for passing the previous email on to so many people. It is beautiful to see the body of Christ coming together to lift up our precious friends, and it is even greater to see how God has answered those prayers.

I am happy to share with you that yesterday Mark Hilde walked without assistance for the first time... Mark and Sarah walked down the hall and back together...holding hands. What a beautiful image of God's hand on our brother's life. The Hilde's want to thank everyone for their prayers and also share with them, that Mark has continued to progress faster than the doctors have anticipated.He is currently in route as I type this email fromWisconsin to Illinois. He will be in one of the best Rehabilitation centers in the country, that so happens to be located in Wheaton IL. Marianjoy rehabilitation Hospital. The website is: http://www.marianjoy.org/ Mark and Sarah have been so blessed by the emails and phone calls they have received from so many. Sarah told me yesterday that she has already received four different offers of places to stay in Wheaton while Mark is in Rehab. Thank you so much!!The Hilde's have been blessed by everyone's kind words, love and prayers. They have asked if tomorrow could be a day for just family to visit Mark and then he will be ready for visitors on Thursday afternoon.With Marks need for both Rehab and rest it would be best if those who desire to visit could email, call or text Sarah before coming to Marianjoy. Other updates, are that Mark has continued to feel more stable and as mentioned above his balance and ability to walk have greatly improved.Currently he still feels tingly sensations and pins and needles in different parts of his body, and his left arm still has very minimal movement.Please pray for Mark as he is being driven by Sarah and her father Matt Myre back to IL. It is currently snowing, but I spoke with them while they were driving and the roads are clear. Please pray for the staff of Marionjoy that will be working with Mark starting tomorrow and that God would continue to bless Mark with healing and progression of movement and strength.Mark wants everyone to know that he is so grateful for the prayers and support of each of you. Sarah has said that she is amazed at how much energy and peace she has felt during these past days. It is a blessing to see how God is filling both of them with His presence and perspective. Last night after asking how Sarah's heart was feeling she replied, "Mark's optimism and positive spirit keeps me encouraged and looking forward."I don't think... that is the USUAL response from the wife of a man that had severe fractures and damage to his C-4 and C-5 vertebrae three days before.Please pass this info onto other friends and family. God has truly blessed the Hilde family, and these next weeks will be an important and difficult time. We need to continue to keep them in our prayers.