We Are Still Here!

Wow, it's been a while, but we are still here.  Life has been going 90 miles an hour, and we are hanging on tight.  I realized that I never posted any updates from Sophie's last round of expansion. This was a round like no other, and we hope we never have one like it again!

Things started out pretty normal, and we went through our usual routine of drain removal and then the fill process.  The fill process.  Well, this time the fills were much different.  In the past, Bo and I have done them at home with the help of EMLA cream.  Now that Sophie is older and very aware of all that we are doing, she was having no part of us doing the fills at home.  Thankfully, we met Dr. Beals and his group at USA Children's and Women's hospital after Sophie's last surgery, so they assisted us with the fills.  It was pretty intense during that 30 minutes of fills, but as soon as we were done, we would go do something fun, like play at the Splash Pad.  This was a great distraction for Sophie and the moving around really helped Sophie get comfortable quickly. 

 

A few weeks into our fills, Sophie started complaining that her side was hurting.  We watched closely, shared pictures with Dr. Bauer, stayed in contact with the pediatrician in case we needed to make a mad dash to the doctors office.  Well, we soon found ourselves in the ER of USA Children's and Women's hospital with a case of cellulitis on the left expander and port.  It doesn't look too bad in the pictures, but there was a lot of swelling and fever, and it was very painful for Sophie.

 

 

Thankfully, they were able to get Sophie on IV antibiotics right away, and we were able to save the expander.  Our hospital stay lasted around 4 days, but being in the hospital that my sister works in made the stay a whole lot easier as did the visits from family!

Fast forward to the July, and we are ready for the expanders to be removed.  We had an uneventful trip to Chicago.  My sister, Brenda, went with us this time.  We did some sightseeing in the city, and rode the train.  The weather was great! 

 

Sophie's surgery went well, and Dr. Bauer was able to remove a good portion of the nevus.  Below is a collage of the before and after photos of Sophie's back and a single picture of the front.  I don't have a good before pic of the front, but trust me, a lot of progress was made.

 

After we got home, Sophie developed an infection in the incision.  With the help of Dr. Bauer and Dr. Beals and his group, we were able to get it under control pretty quickly.  Whew!  This was a tough round, and we are very thankful that we made the decision early on that we would not do more surgeries this year.  We all needed a good break!

Ding Ding! Round 3!!

Yesterday, Sophie had surgery inserting her 3rd round of expanders.

We originally thought she was going to get 4 expanders this time,

but much to our surprise, Dr. Bauer opted for 3 instead. 

We are so thankful!

 Sophie was such a brave, big girl during pre-op.

She colored and played with the walkie-talkies that the great

nursing staff at Highland Park Hospital gave to her.

We also played a few computer games and took some silly

pictures with Daddy's iPad.

After Sophie received her dose of Happy Juice,

we headed to the holding area to wait to talk to

Dr. Bauer before Sophie and her babies headed off to surgery.

(Sophie's babies got some expanders too!)



Seeing smiles like this before each surgery is so reassuring.



Everyone had to wear the Smiley Face hat

including Daddy.  He's so silly!

After a couple of hours, the surgery was done, and

the great Dr. Bauer came out tell us how well Sophie

had done. Soon after, we were able to go

sit with her in post-op until she was awake and

ready to go to a room.

This is what we found we went to see her!  She was

sleeping so peacefully with her babies along side her.

We made it back to the hotel around 6:30 and quickly got settled

back in for the night.  Sophie was in good spirits and even

gave us a few smiles, which was very encouraging considering she

had just come out of surgery.  She ate a couple of bites of noodles

(one of her  faves), had some juice and quickly retired to the

bed to catch some cartoons before going to sleep.  We had an okay

night, but that is to be expected.  We anticipate much improvement

in the next few days.

She is one tough cookie and such a blessing to us!

Thank you all for your many prayers!



Hoppy Easter!

Easter 2012 was a blast!

We were able to participate in so much

more now that Sophie is 3!

We had an Easter egg hunt at church,

dyed Easter eggs with LouLou (a.k.a. Emily) and Amy,

and hunted Easter eggs that the Easter Bunny left

all over our house.  The weather was perfect, so we

were able to blow bubbles and play outside

the WHOLE afternoon!

There probably was WAY too much candy

consumption in one day, but hey, your only 3

once, right?  We made the most of it!

And it was a ton of fun for all of us!

The Greatest Show on Earth

As part of Sophie's Gotcha Day celebration, we

bought tickets to the Barnum & Bailey Circus.  We

had a great time, and the kids were AMAZED!
I even think Mack liked it a little too!

Guess Who Can Count to 100!

Our big girl can!  Yea, Sophie!!



Happy Gotcha Day, Sophie!

On March 29, we celebrated our 2 year Gotcha Day

anniversary with Sophie.  I don't know where the time has

gone, but in two very short years,

Sophie has gone from this very quiet and confused

little girl whose world was turned upside down

to this vibrant, smart, beautiful, big girl who is

so full of personality and imagination.

She is a ray of sunshine in our lives, and we can't

imagine our lives without her.

Happy Gotcha Day, Sophie!  We love you sooooo much!

Easter Parade

We have had such a great time this Easter! 

We made an Easter bonnet for the K-3 Easter Parade,

and then got to watch as each precious one parade around the classroom

Sophie had such a good time waving to all of the K-4 students

and friends and family, as she and the others made their way to their seats.

The class then sang several traditional Easter songs for us.

We heard "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", "Little Bunny Foo Foo",

"3 Little Ducks", and "Baby Bumblebee".

I charged my video camera (or so I thought), but when I got ready to use it,

it would work.  Figures, right?  Well, thanks to the old handy dandy iPhone,

we were able to record it anyway.  The sound drops out in one place, but if you have time

and want to listen to the whole thing, be patient, the sound does come back before the end.

We hope everyone has a very Happy Easter!

P.S.  Sophie made the front page of the Monroe Journal in her Easter bonnet,

along with friends Molly and John Hunter!

Chinese New Year 2012

For the first time, we were able to participate in the Chinese New Year parade in Fairhope.  We have attended the parade several times and dreamed of what it would feel like to be able to walk down the street with all of the other adoptive families.  That day finally arrived for us, and we had a great time!  Sophie loved throwing the candy and yelling "Happy New Year" to all of the parade goers.  Our dream has once again come true!

A Portrait of Mama

A couple of weeks ago, Sophie came home from school with a picture of a shamrock that she had colored.  On the side she had drawn a stick figure of sorts (she has been drawing more smiley faces and things lately).  I asked what it was, and she exclaimed, "That's you, Mama!".  How precious is that!  I am SO proud of it!

A Gingerbread House

On Christmas Eve, Emily (Sophie and Amy call her Lou Lou), Amy, and Sophie assembled and decorated a gingerbread house.  Lou Lou and Amy were very patient with Sophie and let her do most of the decorating.  It was so sweet to watch, and if I haven't told y'all, Sophie LOVES to help me cook, so this was right up her alley! 

The gingerbread house stayed at Nana and Pawpaw's house until just recently.  Pawpaw said that he slowly disassembled the house by eating the candy treats from it.  He finally through it out, only to find it buried all over the yard by Speck, their dalmation.  He is very protective of his food and tends to bury it very quickly before the other dogs, Dixie and Chucky, have a chance at it.  Sort of reminds me of this Traveler's insurance commercial.  Pawpaw said that Speck woke him from a peaceful night's sleep to go check on his buried treasure, only to find that his nightmare had come true.  Dixie and Chucky must have been watching!

Christmas 2011 - Fun with the Rigbys

The first get together we had at Christmas was with Lee, Regina, and family in Millbrook.  There house is alive with activity these days, and it is so much fun to see two little miracles running about.  They are all precious, indeed!  We never did get one picture with everyone in it, but there is always next year!   

The second get together of the season was with Michael, Jessica, and Merrill.  We opted for a mid-morning visit, which worked out great!  Everyone was refreshed from a good night's sleep, and Merrill and Sophie had lots of energy to play dress-up while we all visited.  As a matter of fact,  we were so busy talking that I forgot to take many pictures.  I'm a bit embarrassed, but given the happenings of the weeks before, I should be glad I have any at all!  I will try to do better next Christmas!

Calendars were so full, as is not unusual in December, we celebrated the holiday with Tim, Michele, and family on the Monday after Christmas.  Things were winding down and a bit more relaxed by this time, so my memory and camera were beginning to work better.  Sophie and Anna Kay both loved their Baby Alives, and Nick quickly went to work on the Lego boat and truck that we gave him.  He had it almost completely done by the time we left that afternoon.  He is one smart little guy!  Again, I have to apologize that I have no pictures of Mack, the newest addition of the Rigby family, and little brother to Nick and Anna Kay.  I'm sure he could care less, but I am disappointed that I do not have picture from his First Christmas.  I guess I will have to scan the picture from their Christmas card and post it here. 

Mack, Bebe is not always this scatterbrained!

Christmas 2011 - Fairhope Christmas Parade

Christmas was a total blur this past year, but I will try to piece it together as best as I can. To kick off the 2011 Christmas season, we decided to go to the Fairhope Christmas Parade. Downtown Fairhope is beautiful on a daily basis, but it is especially pretty during the holidays. We met Tim, Michele, and the kids, as well as Michael, Jessica, Merrill, and Brenda. The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time catching candy, beads, and toys and watching the bands and floats pass.

Having fun!

Throw me some candy!

Surgery #4 Update

On December 12, Sophie had her 4th surgery with Dr. Bauer, removing her second set of expanders.  She did great again, and we are so blessed.  Dr. Bauer was able to remove a significant amount of nevus.  Sophie had 4 drains, 2 on the front and 2 on the back.  She has healed remarkably well again, and we are scheduled for suture removal on Tuesday.  For the last surgeries, we were able to remove the sutures ourselves, but Sophie is more aware of what is going on now and is having no part of our removing anything.  That is fine with me because it takes a lot of stress off of me! 

Our next surgery is scheduled for April 23, so we get a much welcome break from all things nevus removal related.  We are very thankful for that!

Below is a photo that shows what Sophie's back looked like when we started (top left), after her first nevus removal surgery (bottom left), and after her last nevus removal surgery (right).  It's remarkable, isn't it?  We are so blessed!!

Thankful

Yes, I know that I have already done a Thanksgiving post, and yes, I know that it is mid-January, but I have to say that I am so thankful on so many levels. 

My sweet Mama won her battle with renal cell carcinoma and went to be with our Heavenly Father on December 10, 2011.  This was so unexpected, and the most difficult thing that I have ever experienced in my entire life, but I am thankful.  Thankful?  You wonder how I can be thankful when I just lost my mother? 

My mother was one of the sweetest, toughest, most precious women that I have ever known, and I am thankful that she is my mother.  I am thankful that Sophie got to know her Nana and spend so much time with her in the short year and 9 months that they had together.  I am thankful that God allowed us to have 6 years with our Mama after she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  I am thankful that Mama used that time to glorify Him and was such a strong example for all of us, even when she was so sick.  I am thankful that we took advantage of the time we were given with our mama to make special memories that can never be erased. 

I am thankful to be part of a family that is so close and supportive of each other, even during the toughest of times.  I am thankful that when difficult decisions had to be made, we all knew what needed to be done, and we all wanted the same things.  I am thankful to have a family that can pick up and move forward during the most difficult times, even when all of us cannot be there to carry our weight.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I am thankful that I will see my mama again one day in heaven.  That, people, is a comfort that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Thank you so much for your many prayers for us during this difficult time.  We have felt each and every one. 

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.