Staying busy

Rayme & Bob

Emma's 2nd grade picture

Well, after a couple of months I have now found time to blog again. It has been a busy 2 months for us. Lots of things happening including a lot of sickness. I think we all had our turn at the flu or at least something. Emma is dealing with an infection on her shunt incision after a scab didn't come off for a long time. Finally, when it did come off, there was infection under it so she got on antibiotics & is now feeling better. Thank God it wasn't inside the incision. She brought home her 2nd grade pics yesterday & they look very sweet & grown up. I can't believe her hair has gotten long enough to put in a pony tail. Emma also made the honor roll for the first time. She was so proud, as we are. Congrats Ems. Emma is preparing to get her first Holy Communion in May 2010. We are so happy for her.

Rayme is staying busy too. Though he decided against fall ball this year he is very active in VIDEO GAMES! Yes, he seems to spend ALL of his free time playing XBOX 360 or Runescape on the computer. As long as his grades stay up, we don't mind. His report card comes home today & I am not the least bit concerned that he will once again, make the honor roll. I can't tell you how proud he makes us every day. He is just wonderful. We are truly blessed. Now if we can just get him to clean his room. Yeah right.

We attended the LPA Fall Regional in Perrysburg, OH in October. It was a blast. Though our room had to be changed 3 times, we finally got some sleep the last night. Of course that was the night of the big dance & we were too tired to do much. But it was great getting to see everyone again. Can't wait till next spring. Will be getting a suite this time, if one's available. We are headed for Veedersburg, IN this Saturday for our Lil Hoosiers chapter meeting at our good friends, the Bentleys. Their son, Austin has CHH & is just so adorable!!! I hope it's a great turnout. Then, December 12th is our annual Christmas party for chapter 24. Lots of fun there. Nothing better than spending time with great friends & eating lots of yummy food. Like I said, we are so blessed.

Now, as for me, I am staying as busy as I can. Babysitting on weekdays & keeping my weekends free for all the good things in life like....laundry. LOL. Seriously, I miss my washer & dryer & never knew how much I hated the laundromat. Santa, please bring me a washer & dryer.

I have discovered that changing little things in my life is helping me with bigger things in my life. I find myself missing my family a lot this time of year. I do have to admit that I wish we lived closer to them. I love Logansport but just wish I was closer to my family & my friends back in MO. Yes, for those of you that have asked, I did watch the world series & was happy that since my team (St. Louis Cardinals) didn't make it, the Yankees won! Go Yankees. I have always been a Yanks fan.

What about Bob? Again I find it hard to write much about Bob. He is still working crazy, long hours & is still loving it, tho he won't admit it. I find it hard at times that he is gone so much & we don't see too much of him. I try to tell myself that its something that has to be but it is hard to be alone so much & we miss him dearly when hes gone. I suppose I shouldn't complain too much since at least he's not gone overnight anymore. The kids are struggling with the fact that he works so much & miss their dad. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle, I know this is true. But sometimes I want to ask him for a little more time with Bob. Is that selfish? Okay, enough of that.

Other than the fact that this year had flown by so fast & I'm not too sure I am ready for 2010, I am ready for the holidays to be here & Christmas vacation so I can have some time with my kids. I thank God every day for them. They are my guiding light & everything to me. God bless you all.

Happy Holidays.

Reenea'

Third time is a charm!

Hello everyone. I figured since I all but deleted my blog, that I should start new & fresh with it. So here it goes....

As some of you may know, Emma had surgery on August 24th, 2009 to replace her shunt. It was a huge surprise to us since we had been told that she didn't even need her shunt anymore & that it hadn't been working for a couple of years. We took her to the doctor on the 24th & he diagnosed her as having a sinus infection & put her on antibiotics. Bob & I weren't comfortable with leaving without a CAT scan. We asked the doctor to order one & though he was reluctant at first, he went ahead & ordered it. She had the scan & we went home. A couple of hours after we got home the doctor called & told me that we needed to get Emma to Riley hospital asap. Her shunt was malfunctioned & she needed surgery that night. We made arrangements for Rayme & drove the 2 hour drive to Riley praying the whole way there. Emma was scared & crying. We got there around 6 PM & by 10 minutes till 8, they had her in surgery doing what they said was emergency shunt revision surgery. The surgery took about 3 hours (seemed like 30) & afterwards she was sent to recovery. After a LONG night of no sleep we got to leave a short 16 hours later. Knowing what we know now, it is scary that we could have lost our little girl. Emma is doing great now & is under no restrictions anymore. She turned 8 years old on September 9th & is back to her old, cheerful self. We are so blessed & thank God for taking such good care of our little lady by putting her in the hands of one of the best neurosurgeons on the planet. Dr. Smith is awesome. Emma got her scooter right before school started & uses it at school for the longer trips. Her school is huge & some days she travels all the way across it to specials.

Rayme is doing all the things you would expect a teenage boy to do. He is doing great in school & made the A-B honor roll on his first report card. He is taking 6 honors classes & is holding a 3.8 GPA. He surprises me every day with his knowledge & is getting way too big for his britches. He is going to be attending his 8th grade trip in the summer of 2010 with several of his friends. They are going to Washington DC on a charted bus for 5 days with school teachers & parents too. Sure wish I could go with them but it is way too expensive for me to do that. He will have a great time & learn a lot. Rayme also got a chance to go to Australia next summer for 3 weeks but has decided not to go since he wants to go to DC. Like I said, smart kid. He is already starting to talk about driving & getting a car. He is just 13 1/2! He can't wait till Christmas & baseball season. Priorities!!! Bob has been working like crazy & staying incredibly busy with work. He just loves his job but sure could use a break from a ringing telephone for a change. As for me, well I have started babysitting on weekdays for a local high school teacher. Hayden is 3 & a very sweet little boy who loves Sponge Bob Square Pants & Michael Myers! Yes, he's 3 & LOVES Michael Myers! Yikes. Trying to keep myself as busy as I can & have been doing a fairly good job so far. As a family we have been attending a lot of LPA events & have taken some trips over the summer & even into the fall. We attended the 2009 medical conference at Riley on September 26th & that was a successful event. We are no preparing to attend the 2009 fall regional of district 5 being held in Perrysburg Ohio on October 23rd-25th. Can't wait to see all of our friends again. It should be a great turn out. Well, thats it in a nut shell, at least for now. Will try to do better about keeping this blog going. Before I sign off I would like to ask for your prayers for a little boy named Connor who has achondroplasia & is right now, fighting for his life. We are praying for you Connor & your family. May God bless & keep you. Amen.

Reenea'