We are wanting to wish Aunt "Tina" a speedy recovery. She had her gallbladder removed yesterday. We are hoping you are feeling better. Just think of all the yummies you can eat now!

Sherman H. McClain, 92

This was the Trading post guy that I talked about in one of my blogs. Thank you Sherman for all the wonderful Trading Post memories. May you rest in peace.

The Melting Pot.
Well for Lori's birthday we went to the Melting Pot in St. Louis. If you have never been you need to go. Take another couple or a group of girls. It is a little pricey but well worth it! Here are some pictures of what we got.
YUMM-O:




Our Chocolate fondue

All the yummies to dip in the chocolate



opps got a little carried away!

Our meat, we got the Lobster feast and it came with so many meats I forgot what they were.

Our juice for the meat and they give you all the veggies you want to. With the meat and veggies you get different sauces to dip them into.

something called a bomb pop. It was okay. Brandy's raspberry something or ruther tasted a lot better.

One satisfied customer:)



The birthday girl. Happy Birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey and you smell like one to. Just kidding (how RUDE)

Love you long time

A fun family weekend
Well Brad had a banquet in Evansville Saturday night so we decided to take the kids and have a little bit of fun. Payton had a competition in Edwardsville that her dad took her to. She placed 1st on the trampoline and 5 on double mini. In Payton's place was a friend of Parker's.




The Children's Museum. I would not recommend it:(

The Boys got ice cream sandwiches after swimming and they ended up with it all over their face.

What a smile

Patton is looking up to his role model Larry. He is trying to get the perfect crack shot. Practice makes perfect uh Larry:) LOL

Mr. Parker the "middle" Mann. He was a little bit on the cold side.

Here is a website that we created so you can keep up with the most recent updates on Brady. I think that it is going to be really easy to use. You can utilize it to communicate with us or you can continue e-mailing...whatever works for you, but I think that it is going to be really neat. I haven't updated for today but I will later. Just trying to get this out for now.
Jamie Sterchi
You can visit Brady's CaringBridge site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/bradysterchi.

Sunday afternoon,
Well Brad and I just got back from Indy. What a great day! Brady is trying to open his eyes, and move around a little:) Jamie I was so happy to be able to see you guys and see the progress Brady has made! You guys are a very close loving family and that love and support will guide you through all of this. I got to spend a little bit of time with Haylee to, what an amazing little girl. You could tell how much she loves her brother. Brady keep up the good work. Here is Jamie's latest e-mail

Today was great. First thing this AM, the Neurologist came in and read the EEG from the last 24 hours and said that there was no indication of and more seizures (sub clinical or clinical). She finally had a huge smile on her face too! The P-ICU doctors came in next and turned the feeding tube off so they could come back at 1:00 and pull the tubes out because he has been breathing on his own. 1:00 came around and they pulled the vent tubes (still has the feeding tube). Brady began to open his eyes for the rest of the day--just squinting, but it is more than we have seen for 6 days, so to us it was awesome. He's still very tired though and it will be a process. So, needless to say, I finally got to hold Brady today for about 30 minutes. It was amazing. His heart rate went down (was stable--in comparison to when people are poking and prodding him or moving him or whatever the case may be), he was breathing better and he just seemed at pease, like he was finally home. What a great feeling:) Jay and I ask for continued prayers as Brady continues to open his eyes, progress, be diagnosed and then leave with a plan. Day by day. One thing that Riley has taught me is patience, and lots of it. We're still looking at being here for a week or so, so keep up the good work. Thanks again and I look forward to sending more positive updates.

Sunday morning
Neurologist looked at EEG that has been on for the last 24 hours.....no other seizure activity found (since the clinical seizure yesterday at 1215)!!! EEG unhooked!! Breathing on his own!! Pulling the tubes out at 1:00 if all goes well in the next hour!! Still looking for open eyes--but more restless today!! POSITIVE THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!!!! Jamie

Saturday,
Well, today wasn't our day either. We found out today that his MRI from last night showed that he had approx 30 sub clinical seizures (the ones that you can't see). They last about 10 seconds which isn't horrible. Today, he had 3 clinical seizures (ones that you can see) and 1 sub clinical seizures (picked up on the EEG--which he is hooked up to for the 3rd time on day 6). His clinical seizures are lasting longer though, so they are really trying to get them under control--the sooner the better. The neurology team started him on a new anti-seizure medication, so we are up to 3 treating just the seizures--not to mention the other stuff that he is on. I have to tell you, I am so tried at this point that I don't know what to do from one minute to the next. Jay continues to hear the positive (like today in the first 3 hours hooked to the EEG, Brady on had 1 sub clinical seizure which is drastic improvement--after the first 3 hours that is--see there is my negativity). It's just a struggle every day and the mood in the room can change like a drop of a hat. Tonight he has had some movement which means that he is becoming less and less sedated on the seizure meds. The doctors pulled on his eyelids to look at his pupils tonight and he was resisting them and trying to keep them closed which is also a good sign as he is uncomfortable and wants to be left alone which goes back to being less sedated. Maybe tmw will be our day. Once again, we appreciate all the things that people have done for us. I don't think we could fit 1 more balloon in this room!! Brady loves balloons though. His little bed is piled full with stuffed animals too.

Please keep on praying! The Sterchi's need it now more than anything.

Well, here goes. Today was a really rough day for Brady. We (not Brady) woke up with high hopes of seeing his beautiful eyes because of the progress we made yesterday (reaction to stimulus) but around 9:30 he had a couple more seizures. They did a CAT scan and the neurologist said that he has had mini strokes on both sides of the brain in the front and the back (nobody can predict damage at this time though--but more than likely it will affect his motor skills, balance and coordination). He made it through the rest of the day hooked to a EEG machine and everything was looking good until about 6:30 PM when he had 2 more seizures. So, needless to say, they put him even deeper into his medically induced coma with more medications to instantly stop the seizure. With that said, he is being fed though a feeding tube now as we don't really know when he will wake up. Initially, they were kind of holding off in hopes that he would wake up and we could start feeding him normally, but with everything that happened today, this is the route that they chose. The biochemical genetic doctor is sure that there is a metabolic issue here, but not sure which one as he has to run numerous tests. We talked about what that means today and it varies a lot--we just have to wait and see, don't really want to get into as none of it is positive. So, another day goes by and I still haven't seen Brady's beautiful eyes but Jay and I are trying to balance each other out. We struggle daily watching our baby boy and the different things that are happening to his body. Please continue to send positive thought our ways and prayer to God for Brady's recovery. We try to stay strong for each other, for Haylee and especially for Brady but we both find ourselves struggling at times.
Jamie Sterchi

More Patton coming your way! He is just so darn cute and funny. I don't think I am being prejudice:)

Patton would like to wish everyone a Happy Valentines Day!

Patton's Valentines party is tomorrow due to the fact that there is no school on Friday. We made treat bags and cupcakes to take. He is very excited about giving his treat bags. I strive to teach my kids to always give, and this teaches him how exciting it can be to give.

a very happy cupcake maker

Garfield wanting to be part of the fun

he signed all 16 treat bags!

This is a good High School friend of mine. Please pray!

Some of you already know and some of you don't, but Jay and I got home from Hawaii on
Sunday evening and Brady woke up on Monday morning and was very lethargic and had a fever with diahrrea. I took him to the doctor immediately. His temp was 106.3 and he began to have seizures. His blood sugar was 10 (very, very low) He was taken to the ER via ambulance where they somewhat stabilized him and then he was flown via helicopter (I got to go with him) to RIley. He has had many tests ran with no luck of what the cause of all this is. He is in a medically induced coma right now. No response for the most part, although around 5 AM I was talking to him and he started wiggling his feet and his heart rate went up. He is in critical condition. We are keeping the faith right now but would appreciate any prayers you all could send our way. Our cell phones have to be off in the room as we are in PICU, but Jay and I are checking them frequently. While I was writing this e-mail, the doctors called Jay and I out for their staffing. They have hopes that he will respond today and that the seizures have stopped. Please pray.
Jamie Sterchi

Sour powers!

Well if any of you know me I am a junk food junkie!

If you grew up in Olney than chances are you have been to the trading post. Well My brother and I or friends and I were regular customers there. We used to ride our bikes there almost everyday in the summer. We would always stop at the hospital pretend to see my mom and load up on free soda and chipped ice(she worked in the O.B. dept), then ask for money and head to get our junk. Sour Powers were my favorite! I do believe they were 10 cents a piece and the little older gentleman would put them in a neat white bag for you. I still can remember how he would shake the bag to the side to open it up and put in a dollars worth of heaven in it! Well the trading post has shut down and I did notice that there is even a hole in the roof. Oh how I wish my kids could have that same enjoyment that I had as a kid. Well needless to say I was at Dollar General and noticed on the last shelf of the candy aisle a box that said sower power belts on it. I decided I would try just one to see if they were anything like the straws or if it was a hoax. Guess what I know where I am going tomorrow as soon as I get the chance! I think I might buy the whole box. Look out Dollar general and cavities here I come! No I won't share either, okay if you ask nicely!

Move Over Brad cause Mama found a new man!


Parker and Patton getting ready to make the snowman


Parker standing proud by his snowman
We came in the house to find some goods for the snowman. He has a fox racing hat (that Parker wanted to put on sideways but dad said NO)


Mr. Snowman has a spider man scarf. He has two eyes from the lids of Gatorade bottles. His nose is a pampered Chef orange peeler. Refer to two post down on what happened to the carrot nose.

Dad thought he needed to be holding a Pepsi can. I guess a snowman gets thirsty to.

He has three buttons made of milk lids. A stick for a mouth. Yes that is a male snowman you see. Patton decided he needed to be male. Mom quickly told him no extra body parts!

While inside looking for the goods Parker and I came out to a female snow woman. Patton had put two milk lids in the right spot for a girl snow woman. He quickly got shut down on this to. Boys I tell you if they are not thinking of one thing they are thinking of another.

25 okay 26 random things about me



1. I have a killer headache


2. I have been married to Brad for 8 years


3. I had a miscarriage before Parker, it was an unexpected pregnancy, after which we decided to try for Parker



4. I tried to have baby # 3 for a year and a half with the help of fertility. I decided to stop all treatments and stopped trying and ended up prego with Patton


5. Patton was known as the "other baby" in the hospital because Brad and I could not agree on his name. I was not in favor for Patton, but it just fits him now.


6. I had Payton when I was 16. It was very hard and I feel for all the girls that get prego now at such a young age. I would love to just talk to them.(not that they would listen, I was once their age too)


7. I am awful at typing and spelling


8. I am very thankful for all the friends that I have. I have been blessed immensely! Love you all


9. I love to volunteer, it makes me feel like a better person


10. I don't like to see people volunteer just to have their name on a piece of paper. I guess if they are helping do the job so be it.


11. I despise people that pretend to be someone they are not. Is it true happiness to have a perception of something your not.


12. I am happy in my life. There are days when I want more but I quickly come back to reality. That is not what life is all about.


13. I am a big procrastinator.


14. I love my kids more than life itself


15. I enjoy going out a having a few more than I should. The next morning is not the greatest and I always say that I am never going out again.


16. I wish I was closer to my family. We live in the same town and I don't see them or talk to them that often no reason we are all just "to busy"


17. I don't like to fly, but love to go to warm places


18. I enjoy being lazy (refer to #12)


19. Payton is taking drivers ed this fall and I am a nervous Nellie


20. My kids are growing up before my eyes and I have a hard time with that.


21. I miss my old school friends and don't like the fact that we have grown so far apart(Stacey, Jamie and others)


22. I am very vain and didn't realize it until the gray hair and wrinkles came


23. Payton has a different dad than the boys. She sees him about every weekend and I hate that for her it makes her weekends rough sometimes.


24. I wish Payton and I were a little bit closer. People tell me that will happen when she is about 25


25. Hate is a bad word in my house. Isn't there enough hate in this world?


26. I secretly would love to have another baby. I dream about this almost every night. I just would like to have it be a baby for 6 months and then magically turn 5. LOL