Happy Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful day!

I am so thankful to have everything I could

have ever wished for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sometimes....

you just feel like you've been kicked in the gut when you get through dealing with all you have to deal with when your child has expanders.  So much changes with them so quickly, and when they have a bad night or start reacting differently to very normal things, like putting them in the bathtub, you have to wonder if they are just having a bad night, or are they reacting differently because their skin is more sensitive to the water because of the expansion, or are they just being a 3 year old.  Then you top off the night by trying to clip a suture that is getting irritated and festered from skin that is already stretched so tightly on the back of your very upset child, who doesn't understand why you are doing what you are doing even though you are explaining it to them the best you can.  All they know is that it hurts.  Whew, will I be so glad when we have this behind us - when we can have a normal life, without surgeries, expanders, fills, and more surgeries. 
Don't get me wrong.  I am very thankful that we have the option to remove Sophie's nevus, and I am so very thankful that Sophie is otherwise healthy and that this is only temporary.  I realize that we have it so easy compared to what other children and families are having to deal with.  This is what makes me continue to push through this, to be able to do these things week in and week out.  But, I'm not going to lie.  It is hard, but we are so blessed that Sophie is doing so well with this.  She is a trooper.  I, on the other hand, not so much sometimes.  Tonight is one of those times.

On a positive note, we are less than 4 weeks out from Sophie's next surgery. The time is flying by so fast!Below are the latest pictures of her with 400ccs in each back expander and 315 in the one on her tummy.  She thinks the expander on her tummy is so funny.  She laughs and says, "Look at my big ol' tummy, Mama!".  That makes all of this so much easier for all of us. 

Thanks so much for your continued prayers!

Halloween 2011



Halloween 2011 was quite a treat...for all of us!

This year, Sophie had a blast on Halloween.  Since early October,
she would come home singing Halloween songs, some I
remember from a long, long time ago.  I was surprised that they
were still being sung, and that I could still remember the words!

We began talking about what she wanted to be on Halloween. 
She decided that she wanted to be a princess.  We looked
around at different princess costumes, many of which I did not
really like (and she did, of course).  Finally, we decided that she
would be Snow White.  Sophie has Snow White's hair,
so it was perfect!

On Thursday night before Halloween,

Sophie's school held their annual Trunk-or-Treat.  The

weather was perfect, and everyone came out to

enjoy the evening.



We ran into our neighbor, Lauren, there. 

She plays with Sophie a lot on the weekends,

so Sophie was really excited to see her.

Sophie's friend, Lily Kate (aka, Spider Girl), soon

joined us, and they jumped right into the festivities! 

They quickly filled their buckets with LOTS of candy,

so much that Sophie was soon asking me to carry her's

because it was so heavy.

As we were making the last round, Sophie and Lily Kate

ran into their classmate, Cooper (aka, Luigi).  I slowed them

long enough to get a quick photo before they were

off and running again!

The night was great, but we had to hurry on home so that

the sugar high could wear off  we could get a good night's rest

before Sophie's class party the next day.

Here we are, ready to go again! 

When we got to school,

Sophie's teacher, Ms. Cindy, was very surprised to see

Sophie dressed as Snow White.  Apparently,

Sophie had been telling her for two weeks that she was going

to be a bunny!  I'm glad I did not have a rebellion on my

hands while trying to get ready for school!

Here is Sophie's sweet class, all dressed in their costumes.

They are always smiling and laughing!

Birthdays and Ballgames

So far the Fall has been very busy!

Our twin grandchildren, Bailey and Wyatt, who are walking miracles, turned 2.  They celebrated a few weeks ago with a Minnie and Mickey Mouse birthday party.  They are both growing so quickly and

going everywhere!  They had lots of fun playing on the jungle gym outside on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Sophie got to go to her first ever Bama game, where she cheered and shook her shaker

as if she had been to numerous games before. 

She only made it to half-time, but we thought that was

great considering all of the excitement she had

experienced that day!

We also went to see Nick play soccer.

I think we may have a World Cup Soccer player in the family.

He loves to play, but he's really looking forward

to the day he can strap on some pads and play

American football!

 During Nick's game, Anna Kay and Sophie played their

own soccer game.  They had a great time and ran off a lot

of excess energy before crashing for the night.