God works at Astros games

My family went to the Astros game again last night. Despite a horrible 9th inning loss, we had fun. We all ate at Bells and Whistles beforehand. If you have not found this new little cafe, we highly recommend it. It's on Texas avenue right across from Vic and Anthony's, you'll see all the bells outside. We made our presence there, as we always do at any restaurant. We were thankful they had a back room where we sat. There was another family in there, but they didn't stay long....hmmmm. After dinner was done we headed to the game. Cade was SO excited. I kinda felt sorry for the people behind us because there was quite a bit of getting up, moving, and crying kids but once I realized they were Pirate fans I didn't feel too bad. This is the second game that TJ has gone to and he did awesome. Really, the kids did pretty good too considering the expected.
When we were leaving after that disappointing 9th inning I happened to get behind a gentleman with a small ear. I tapped on his shoulder and asked him if he had microtia. He didn't quite hear me right and looked confused. I said your ear, I noticed it was smaller. I then pointed to Cade and showed him his ear. The man was very nice and said he had always wanted to meet someone with a little ear like his. He was from Europe so he joked that he had to come all the way to America to meet someone. You see, the night before had been really rough for me. I haven't had one of those nights where I lay in bed unable to fall asleep for hours in a long time, but I did that night. For some reason all I could think about was bad thoughts and one of those was Cade's ear. I don't know, it just kind of hit me. Really ever since Cade's testing last week at Texas Children's it's been on my mind. While I was in the waiting room a lady leaned over to me and asked, "Can he hear out of that ear?" This is only the second person in public to ever mention anything about the ear. The first was a photographer at JC Penney's. I told her he had some hearing and her remark was, "I noticed he turns his head to listen to you"....uughhh. I had been told to watch for that, but hadn't noticed it myself. How do you respond? I just forced a smile and a fake, "yeah". So that night in bed I just kept replaying that and thinking about the future. What will it be like when Cade goes to school and people start saying things to him? Will he be accepted the same? What about his speech? Will he have a hard time dating? What about his safety while he is outside playing? What about driving? Then my thinking turned to surgery. Should we fix the ear? Would it really help? Is that going to make it look worse? Will that help him hear better? I just wanted to go to sleep and here I am tossing and turning feeling worse and worse. Fast forward not even 24 hours later and here I am meeting someone with a little ear. I had never physically met anyone who had a little ear like Cade's. Now, this gentleman's ear wasn't quite as bad as Cade's. When he was born there was an opening and they had tried to construct more of an ear on the outside and did something else to help with hearing. He said he couldn't hear out of it. His wife chimed in and told me how talented he was musically. She said he has great pitch! You could tell she was so proud of him. I wish I could have sat there and talked to him for so much longer. I wish I could have known how his childhood was and what challenges he faces daily. I just am thankful that I was able to meet him. God knew that I needed that. I was left wanting more....more comfort....more guidance. That is just where I have to lean on God. He is my provider.


the cousins
Cade 2 yrs, Madison 8yrs, Zach 1 yr (on Saturday!!!) and Reid 5 months (today!!)
Mom and Dad
Tosha and Madison in their matching shirts
Cade heard the train whistle!

Madison is so pretty. She is also a great helper and big cousin. Cade loves hanging out with her! Here they are sitting together watching the game.


Mom, Dad and TJ. Zach gave up his squirmy fight and fell asleep with Mimi.