Our trip to Baltimore went well, and resulted in NO surgery!!! It was the first time we have gone out there and not had a surgery since Gracie was 16 months old! It really was good for her to see everyone and enjoy the playroom at the HP House without having surgery to accompany it. Dr. Standard is very pleased with how Gracie looks over all. While we didn't need surgery in December, we do have an upcoming surgery sometime this year that will be pretty extensive. When her 8-plates are ready to go back in, we will do a big combo surgery. At this time they will put in the plates, remove the screw in her foot, do an osteotomy of the ankle and correctly position and wire it, do something similar in her foot to correctly position and wire it, shave off some of her ankle graft as its poking out quite a bit, clean up some scar tissue and cast her. (So by nature this will end up being two surgeries as she will need to go under again to have the wires removed). Despite a pretty big surgery looming on us, we have enjoyed all of our surgery free time like you would not believe!!!! We are officially at 15 months surgery free and it's our longest time ever!!!!
School is going well for both of the kids, although I can't believe I'm about to have a kindergartner and third grader....they are growing so fast!! Gracie is giving me a good look at her feisty side, but she is really learning so much socially and emotionally that she never had the time to process having always needed to recover from surgeries. It's been a big year for her. She learned to swim, had her first cast free summer and is just doing so well over all. She has been struggling with balance and confidence in the strength of her body, (something that is always a struggle), but she's overcoming some fears slowly but surely. (I attached a video of her doing just that on a bounce house obstacle course)!!!!! AMAZING!!! It may seem like such a little thing to be so excited about her climbing up a bounce house unassisted, but when you have a child who has literally had to re-learn to walk, 9 different times, with a foot and leg in different positions and covered in fixators, braces, and casts...this truly is a blessing!!!
We recently had Gracie's IEP meeting to get her ready for kindergarten and it went exceptionally well! We got what we were hoping to get/what we really thought was in her best interest, and I'm just so blessed by how smoothly it went. Landry is finishing up his 2nd basketball season, dominating the court...of course, lol! Robert is ready for school to be over. The high school kids are beyond ready, which makes for an exhausting last few weeks. I am LOVING my job! I am learning and working on new stuff that is challenging me and I just truly am so excited! That could be a blog post on its own...so I just leave it at that. LOL!
We still haven't been able to find a new rental, although our landlord has been very accommodating with us....but we really are praying and hoping to get something we can afford that is closer to both of our jobs, with a bigger kitchen so I can finish unpacking, and grass in the back. (Just so you know what to pray for, lol)! Right now, I drive 45 minutes each way and Robert drives 60 minutes each way...so something closer would be very nice!
We decided to go with the health insurance thru my work, which was a big increase in what we were paying, but allows Gracie to live in AZ, and still get care in MD. It's a sacrifice, but it's one we feel is worth it to keep with her surgeon.
Thank you so much for all your prayers for Gracie and our family! I promise to keep you posted when I hear more about her upcoming surgery date. For now, if you could continue to pray for the following things, we would be grateful!!!!!
*That we would be able to find a rental before school starts in August that is where God wants us...
*That Gracie would continue to gain confidence in her physical abilities...
*That her aches and pain levels would be minimal and not slow her down (she is not walking very far right now without asking to be carried and her knee is hyper extending a lot. She's pretty off balance and feeling the aches from that as well).
There have been so many posts and really just times in our lives in the last 4 years where we truly had to dive in to the word of God, and our relationship with God. Where nothing made sense and everything was overwhelmingly difficult. Honestly, it has been hard to trust God the last 4 years....but the harder it was, the deeper we dove. We have so desperately clung to God, holding on to his hope and his promises, trusting when we didn't want to....it has been such a challenging season. While I don't think its completely over, I can tell you, there are blessings and JOY in putting your trust in the Lord. Huge blessings that might seem small at other times but are game changers in the middle of chaos. If you are having a hard time trusting in God, in his word and his promises....please get a hold of me. I will share our testimony in this area and would love to pray for you. In the meantime, we pray blessings, peace and joy over you. We consider you all an extension of our family. Prayer warriors and well wishers alike!!! Thank you for sticking with us for so long....we have a long way yet to go!
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| Family Easter Pic |
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| I LOVE when they get along, LOL! |
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| Someone lost her FIRST tooth! |
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| From our Spring Break trip! Gracie on the bounce house obstacle course |
