Surgery Day!

Do you want to meet the most resilient child on the planet?? She lives in our house! Today we had our tonsils and adenoids out. This kid is such a trooper!! It's late in the day and other than coming out of the anesthesia (nothing but yuck to say about that!!) she hasn't cried once. She's a silent sufferer which is a good and a bad thing. Good because you never have to deal with too much "drama", and not so good because you keep checking her to make sure she's ok. We had this surgery because she's had a blockage in her sinuses that is causing her discomfort/and enhances her breathing issues we deal with on an ongoing basis. Hopefully as soon as she heals this will alleviate much of the problem. Here is our Princess headed into the OR this morning before the sunrise:)

We thank you for your prayers as we continue to "peel the layers" from the mysteries surrounding this child:) and we give all the glory to our heavenly Father for caring for his children!!

Oh...and a giant thank you to my DIL Mel. The only reason this post got done is because Leni is currently under the effects of meds:) and the other two are at Mel's house spending the night. I had forgotten what silence was like.

Our Newest Project

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving and trust everyone reading did too! Grandma brought the P.C. a new project to occupy the Science side of things for a while. These necklaces actually hold a Painted Lady caterpillar....all the food necessary until they spin a chrysalis and even have a magnifying glass on top. Our trusty caterpillars survived being carted, poked, and shaken and are currently hibernating in their cocoons. In another week or so we will have beautiful butterflies to introduce to their new habitat.

Thanks Grandma for the awesome contribution to the Princess Home school!!

Leni has surgery tomorrow VERY EARLY in the morning to remove her tonsils and adenoids. Hopefully this will correct her apnea and improve her ability to breathe:) If you think of us, please pray for safety during surgery and a speedy recovery for this sweet girl!!

This is what I look like as Thanksgiving Prep is officially underway!! Wish I had this many hands!!

A Love Hate Thing....and a Little Trip

I am experiencing a love, hate thing with I-Photo. Mostly hate...but mostly because I don't know how to work it correctly and am very, very impatient with anything electronic. My newest photos won't import so we bring you our recent hiking trip to a state park. Mostly it's too hot in Florida to do much romping in the woods...so when the weather changes we LOVE to take the girls to our fav clear springs and let them run and be pretend injuns. This time my brother went along ...again a greatly needed helping hand to pull girlies out of freezing water. We can't resist getting wet no matter how cold that water gets:) He wanted to give the girls a glimpse of the wildlife that inhabits these woods...deer, bunnies, bear, raccoons, etc....but he soon learned that wild indians scream and squeal at the least little crackling of leaves. The wildlife mysteriously never materialized. Go figure:)

Leni is officially scheduled for surgery on Nov. 30th at 6:30 am. Hopefully this mom can be hyper organized about the holidays this year. Right now it seems overwhelming but we go step by step....one day at a time....being guided by the one who knows every step before and behind us!! More than likely there will be no snail mail cards... e-cards will have to do:) I"m adjusting my expectations and replacing it with gratefulness that this little lady is getting the help she needs!

Now...back to fighting with my computer.....

Do I Hear A WHOOT??!!

We now have I-photo downloaded and life can resume full speed ahead!! Kung-Fu Panda here is ready for action!!

Please keep us in your prayers as this week and next we continue with surgical consults on Miss Leni! She's doing well but we certainly want her surgery done ASAP. I'm happy to be able to blog more normally now...cuz the ladies and little gent are so very full of life and are doing wonderfully! Lots is happening.....so we don't want to miss a thing!

Hello Again...

Lots has been happening on the home front:) We have a new computer which is awesome, wonderful news. (CAN YOU SAY HULU THREE TIMES FAST???? We double heart HULU!!) We arent' set up to download photos yet but will be hopefully in a couple of days then everything will be back to normal.??!! Leni is doing great. Her asthma is under control with her new meds and is sleeping the best we've seen her in a while. She does have obstructive apnea which is under evaluation as well. She needs her tonsils and adenoids removed but the complicating factor is that she has a partially collapsed trachea which complicates having anesthesia. We aren't worried but the surgeon is. We're seeking a second opinion. We think the risk of her trachea is minor compared to the relief she'll experience having the surgery. The third and largest find is that she has been diagnosed with Narcolepsy. We've been doing our research because in children this neurological disorder is pretty rare. It has to do with a lack of Hypocretin in the Hypothalmus in the brain. It causes severe disruptions in the sleep cycle so her body never experiences recovery sleep so critical to every human. What's interesting is that it causes cognitive, neuromuscular issues, and cataplexy among other symptoms. She has pretty near every symptom associated with Narcolepsy. There is no known cure so for now she'll be on meds until they find one:) Basically we're trying to replace the hypocretin (Using naturally compounded perscriptions) so she'll begin normal sleep cycles. We're excited to finally be getting somewhere and can already see improvement after being on meds only a week. Thank you God!! We're not done yet....as we're set to see more specialists in the coming days. Keep praying!

Here's a quote that has spoken to me in these days comes from my close friend Amy Carmichael.


SOLDIERS
It matters a good deal that your book-food should be about strong meat. We are what we think about. Think about trivial things of weak things and somehow one loses fibre and becomes flabby in spirit. Soldiers need to be strong.
Soldiers have not time for everything. "I have no time for anything outside my profession," a young officer said once, and in measure that is true. WE can't be entangled in the affair of this life if we are to be real soldiers. By its affairs I mean its chatter and its ways of thinking and deciding questions, its whole aspect and trend.

As we go about our week, may we not lose our 'soldier' mentality and labor with diligence for the Audience of One... the one who upholds our every breath and heartbeat. I pray that I would not lose my focus or be distracted by the cares of this life that would continually shout at me to listen to them louder than I believe the promises of scripture. How do we do this?? By being a soldier that memorizes scripture and hides it in our hearts....just like we love our children to do. Very simple actually:) Have a wonderful week!!