Ankle-foot orthosis

Addy and I went to Springfield this morning to have her evaluated to see if she would benefit from some orthotics for her ankle/legs. Addy has no desire to weight bear on her legs and she proved that during the evaluation. The evaluator decided that it is best to fit Addy with an ankle/foot orthotic to help her out. The AFO is a plastic brace worn on the calves and feet to support the ankles They will hold her feet and ankles in the correct position. They casted Addy's feet and calf, which she thoroughly enjoyed, HA! It was so funny to see how tiny she is! I know she's tiny but when you hold the cast of your daughter's little leg it makes it look really small! We even got to pick out what her AFOs are going to look like. Naturally we picked a princess theme! The bottom part is multi-colored foam. I chose the multi-color because I thought it wouldn't look dirty. Not that they should get dirty, but you never know! We chose purple velcro straps with princesses on the top. Too cute! They are going to be adorable! I'm sure Addy is going to hate them at first, but she will get used to them! She is also starting daycare on Monday. I'm pretty excited about it, she's going to be in the baby room so she will be with peers close to her developmental age. We went for a visit this morning and she loved "talking" to the babies! I think this will be really good for her, it is a blessing!

Surgery is Scheduled!!!

Yes I am very excited to post the fact that we have surgery scheduled and it's not for Addysen!! I am finally going to have my shoulder repaired! Well, they think it will repair it. The bone scan did not show a tumor so whatever the MRI showed in my humerus bone is not active so that is a good thing. My physical exam and the results of all of the tests that have been done don't really add up, so the doctor isn't totally convinced the surgery will completely help but it's worth a try. He's going to be removing some extra fluid and shaving part of my clavicle that is near my AC (acromioclavicular joint) joint, where I'm having the most pain. So on January 14th I will have the procedure, outpatient, and then be in a sling for a little while, then back to PT. I am very prayerful that this will help. At this point I don't think that it could hurt any more than it does now!

Piggies and a new Button

I just had to share the pix of Addy's piggie tails, she's just too cute for words! This morning we went to the hospital to have her g-button replaced. She has been having trouble with her Mic-KEY since June. She's been treated for infection both bacterial and fungal, she has even had it burned with silver nitrate three times and nothing has helped her poor skin heal. So a couple of weeks ago it was decided to try a Bard button and see if it helps her skin. She is most likely allergic to her Mic-KEY. Bummer! I'm a little worried about the Bard leaking, that is what I have found on-line about it. If it doesn't work out we can always change it again, but I hate her poor skin looking so bad. I know it bothers her too because she will be itching it sometimes. You can see in the pictures how red her skin is. It's actually looked much worse at times too! It was fun seeing all her old nurses though! We spent so much time there last year that I felt like I had moved in sometimes. All of the nurses could not get over how big she was and how long her hair was. We also met a darling little cutie with DS too! Her name was Emily and she's going to be two in February. Lucky little thing was getting her button removed! Oh how I can't wait for that day! Her mom had seen our local newspaper article, her dad is from Marshfield. It was nice meeting them, she was adorable!

Just enjoying

Have you ever had one of those days where you just realize that you are really enjoying your life? Today was that day for me. A couple of weeks ago I thought that things were just horrible and happiness as I knew it was all gone. Through a lot of prayer and my family we got through that horrible time. We are so blessed. I am so thankful that I have so many things that I am blessed with. I am blessed with a husband that I love so much. He has been home for the past week and we have really had a good time just being together. We don't get that very much. Both of us work full time and obviously having four kids keeps us very busy. Scott got up around 5 yesterday morning and went and got us a new Christmas tree since ours was destroyed in our flood last spring. He wanted me to go with him but he totally understood that I didn't want to go because Addy is fighting a cold and I was afraid to leave Jarika with her so early in the morning (when I knew she would be totally out of it) by herself. So my wonderful hubby went out in the crazy shopping day and bought me a new tree, just like I wanted! It was only forty bucks too! He also had saved up a ton of free Red Box coupons for free DVD rentals and he went yesterday and brought home like nine DVDs. He knew I really wanted to see Mamma Mia but the Red Box shut down and he wasn't able to get it. No big deal, I watched Wall-E, well I watched most of Wall-E then I dozed off. I never do that, I must have really been tired! This morning he had to go and return the DVDs and he came home with Mamma Mia for me! I was so excited. Jarika and I watched it twice today, we loved it! We had seen the Broadway show and loved it so we knew we would like the movie and we did. Addy LOVED the music! She was so cute "dancing" to the music. She would just rock and rock, it was adorable! Scott worked on the 2009 budget most of the afternoon and that is looking awesome, so that is a huge blessing! I am looking forward to having another week to just be at home and being a wife and mother, January 5th is going to come too soon so I'm going to enjoy it while I can!

Merry Christmas!

This is my whole family with my mom, my brother Kent, my sister-in-law Jill and my two nephews John and Kory and my two nieces Laura and Lizabeth at the huge family Christmas celebration last night! The rest are Christmas morning here. Addy woke up with a cold so her nose is running and her eyes are all watery but she still had fun opening presents! Merry Christmas everyone!

Kuwa Na Krismasi Njema

In Swahili this means We Wish You a Good Christmas. This video is of Cooper's Jr Jays Christmas Concert last week. They do such a great job! It's just two songs but they are Scott and I's favorites. The first is a Deck The Halls song and the second is Kuwa Na Krismasi Njema. So Merry Christmas Everyone! I want to thank God for all of the blessings that we have had this year, especially within the last week! Happy Birthday Jesus!

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A gift for me

Tis the Season to be JOLLY!

I don't know about all you other moms out there, but I NEVER buy things for me. I am always wanting to get things for my kids and always overlook myself. Anyway, while Scott and I were shopping yesterday I found something for me. Well I guess technically it's for the family but in my mind it is for me. We have an ornament from 2005 that has all of our names on it. I wanted to get one last year with Addy's name but in all the craziness last year I never got around to it. This year at the mall there was an ornament kiosk. Shocking I know! Anyway look what I got!!!

Isn't it cute??? I love it, and it looks so pretty on our tree! I am also posting a picture of another ornament that I love this year. It is hanging up pretty close to the ornament of Wallace last year. This is a picture of beautiful Miss Liza. Isn't she gorgeous??? Liza lives in Eastern Europe and has Down syndrome. She is waiting for her forever family in an orphanage :(. I sponsored Liza this year through the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Project. It's too late to get an ornament but it's still not too late to sponsor an orphan so they won't spend next Christmas without the love of a family. Go check out www.reecesrainbow.com and click on their Angel Tree Project to see several precious little angels that want a Forever Family!