What We've Been Up to Lately

First, Mary is still in the hospital. She was feeling better, but is now sick. Another surgery coming sometime soon..but not sure when. Keep her in your prayers and visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/princessbob

The week after Sadie's surgery was my spring break. We took it easy around here the first part of the week. The end of the week, we headed to my parents in north GA. The girls had a blast on that Thurs. riding around in a wagon they had.

I then got up very (VERY) early Friday morning and left the girls' at my parents for the weekend. I headed to a place I love: Camp Sumatanga. I had the wonderful priveledge of being part of the team for a spiritual retreat weekend for young adults (YAC - young adult chrysalis). It was an amazing weekend that I really believe made a difference in the kingdom of God both in the lives of the young adults that participated, as well as in us "older" young adults. It made a difference in me in ways I'm not sure I can quite articulate. It was wonderful to be there and be "away" for the weekend. I dont' want to say I didn't miss the girls, because I did. But, I didn't worry about them (they were, after all, being spoiled rotten by grandparents!) and I was very content to be where I was doing what I was doing..singing songs of praise and being quiet and still, making new friends and reconnecting with some old friends too, laughing, worshipping, sharing, and listening..it was just a great weekend.

I then met my mom to pick up the girls (who yes, had a blast and were loaded up with new clothes and toys..). And while I was completely content and happy to be at camp for the weekend, I was also completely content and happy for the weekend to end and to spend some time with the sweetest two little girls ever!

The next day, we headed back to Atlanta for Sadie's bandages to come off. Her wrist looked good, though still swollen and bruised a bit. The x-rays looked great and her surgeon is very pleased with everything. They set her up with a bright orange cast (her choice) and we headed home. She gets the cast off in 3 more weeks. And I don't know what she plans to be the first thing she does, but I plan for her to soak in the bathtub!! For a while!!

Finally, I had to face reality that spring break was over. I headed back to school for the last quarter of the year. I also finished my portfolio I've been working on all year for my national board certification. I mailed it off yesterday. I thought I'd be so relieved to have it out of my hands, but truthfully, when I got back in the car from the post office, I was simply tired. :-) I still have the assessment test to take at the end of May, and I won't know the results until November. But, it does feel good to have that big portfolio off my list of "things to do". :-)

Please Keep Praying for Sweet Mary

It's been a while since I last posted. I updated you that my sweet little friend Mary was home from the hospital and doing well. Well, I'm sad to say that it didn't last long. She has been back in the hospital for the last week. She's had it really rough. The doctors can't figure out what's going on. They keep saying her shunt appears to be working right, but yet Mary's symptoms say that it's not. She's had another surgery, and is looking at still possibly ANOTHER one in the next few days. My heart just breaks for her and for her sweet sweet family. Mary's mama Jana is TIRED. Tired of being in the hospital, tired of watching her baby girl in pain, tired of doctors not knowing how to fix it, tired of surgeries, tired of not having her family together, you get the picture. Please keep Jana, Mary, and her family in your prayers. They are a very special family and Mary is a very special little girl who lights up every room she walks in. Her life has been truly miraculous. Before she was born, doctors thought she was going to be much more severely affected and have many serious issues. Instead - Mary has proved them wrong and has done amazingly well. She's 9 years old and sweet and spunky. Please just continue to lift her up to Jesus. If you want to keep up with her as you pray, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/princessbob
(You can see cute pictures of this beautiful child there too - I've been trying all evening to get one on here and my computer is not cooperating!!)

Quick Update - Sadie and Mary

***UPDATE***
Mary is home and doing well! :-)

Hi friends,
Sadie is doing well. Her surgery went very well and her surgeon was very pleased with the way her wrist looked. I haven't seen it yet because it is covered with a splint and bandaged up. I won't see it until her post-op appointment next week. But it's good to know he was happy with the results. She was a trooper. I LOVE that the surgery center in Atlanta allows parents to accompany the kids to the OR. I wish Children's in Birmingham did. I know it could make it worse in some situations...and Atlanta does reserve the right to say no. (I guess if you're freaking out they might tell you no..). But for Sadie, it helps so much. I think it would ease things for Hannah too - but her surgeries are all here and it's not an option here. Anyway, I took her to the OR, held her until they were ready, put her on the bed and held her hand and rubbed her head while they put the mask over her face. Quick, painless, and easy for her. She wasn't a bit upset. After she was asleep, I was escorted out and back to a waiting area. She woke up pretty easily too. She cried some, but settled pretty quickly. She drank some juice, I got her dressed, and we were out of there. She slept most of the day and a good bit yesterday too. But she's been eating, and when she's awake she has been playing some. Today, she's been awake all day and pretty spunky and playful. I can tell her arm bothers her some when the pain meds start wearing off..but I can also tell that's better today than yesterday. Overall, she's done great!!
Hannah also did well staying with my friends. She told me "I was brave". She's glad to be home though and she and Sadie have played very well together today. My challenge (again..we faced this in Dec.) is going to be keeping Hannah calm enough to get Sadie all wound up...for a few days at least. But we are all doing well..thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Mary, my sweet little friend from church I posted about, is doing okay I think. She's had it rough though. Since I last posted, she's had two more surgeries. The last I heard, she seemed to be doing better after her last one a couple days ago. Keep praying for her that this is it and she gets to go home soon.

Oh - just a little tidbit I learned..useless information I guess but I found it interesting. For my kids' surgeries (4 total for both of them), they've always been asked what flavor gas they wanted..strawberry, grape, bubble gum, etc. I (naively I guess) really thought they had different flavor gasses to put them to sleep. Why not? The dentist has different flavors of flouride. This was at two hospitals in two different states. Anyway, we get in the OR and as I'm holding Sadie in my lap (they're not quite ready for her yet), I catch one of the anesthesiologist team members holding the mask down where Sadie can't see it and he takes out a LIP SMACKER (you know..scented chapstick) and rubs it all over the inside of her mask. I laughed and asked "is that really how you flavor the gas?" and he winked and said "shh". He said he bet that I thought it was something more technical than that. I had to agree..
Anyway, useless info..but I found it interesting. I guess the moral is if your kid is going to have surgery and has an absolute favorite flavor..buy the lip smacker and slip it to the anesthesiologist! (I did ask him to put some on her lips when they were done because they were chapped! I was half-kidding!)

Another Prayer Request - for Sadie

Hi friends,
Sadie is having her 2nd surgery on her arm this Thursday (3/12/09). We will be heading to Atlanta tomorrow (Wed) evening and will be back Friday. She will have the fixator off her arm (YEAH! She keeps saying "Bye bye bar!") and a procedure called "radialization" that will finish straightening her hand (it involves some technical stuff including some tendon transfers to balance out her hand and that will hopefully prevent it from turning back inwards again). She will come out of surgery with a splint that she will keep for about 10 days until our post-op visit and at that time she will have a cast. I'm not sure yet how long she will have the cast..it kind of depends what all her surgeon has to do once he gets in there. Most likely she will only have it 2-4 weeks.
Please pray for my little Sadie's surgery Thursday morning and her recovery in the days that follow. You can also say a prayer for Hannah, who will be staying with some good friends for a couple of nights...she's come SO far, but it still makes her a bit nervous to spend the night somewhere other than home, especially when she's separated from not just me, but Sadie too.

Please Pray

Hi Friends,


I have a sweet little 9 year old friend from church at Children's Hospital right now that could use your prayers. Mary has hydrocephalus and has had problems with her shunt several times in the past. I think she's had like somewhere around 13 (not sure exactly) brain surgeries in her life. But right now, she is especially having a hard time. I don't know all the details, but she's had about 4 of those surgeries in the last couple weeks. Right now she's in the middle of 7 days of antibiotics and then she will have another surgery. I heard from Mary's mom this afternoon and she's in a lot of pain with horrible headaches and throwing up a lot. Mary is a precious child who has always had a special place in my heart along with the rest of her family. Please, please say a prayer that she will feel better and the doctors can fix whatever needs fixing so her shunt works and doesn't cause her pain! And you can pray for her mom Jana who is I'm sure quite exhausted! Jana also has two boys at home who I'm sure are missing their mom and little sister! Thanks y'all!

SNOW!

Snowball fight!

The girls with our next door neighbor and our snowman

I call this guy the "chicken pox" snowman due to the fruit loops stuck all over him!

When the snow started melting, we had huge mud puddles all over the yard. I think Sadie especially enjoyed splashing in the mud as much as anything!!

Enjoying shaved ice "snow cones"

Enjoying hot chocolate and a movie after changing into dry clothes: