When Does School Start???

What a busy week! This week is VBS at our church and each day we have had 250+ kids!! This is Lilli's first year to participate and she is having a GREAT time! It helps that her brother is one of her crew leaders ... but she adores the other two as well as you can see below :)

Working on a craft

I am not sure she has walked anywhere this week .... she is transported by her minions...

My handsome son :)

Lilli and her "Aunt" Kristie

What a sweet sight ...

Lilli and her "Uncle" Eddie

Raegan gets to hang out at the nursery all morning ... it's a tough life of playing and animal crackers!

Savanna was sent away on a cruise with my brother and family. She has laid on the beaches of Cozumel while we slaved away at VBS :)

We had some dear friends stop by on their cross country trip. We love you guys!

The three "Marks" .... because we all call Austin and Jett by Mark's name all the time when they are together .... talk about similar personalities!

Somebody loves her brother

My Jettster

My MJ

Watermelon time!

Not in the picture-taking mood today .... can you tell?

Why am I up at 2:30am posting to my blog?

Because this is the only time that I have a peaceful house!

Raegan is doing great! We have been laying low and learning how to live in Mississippi without getting hot this summer. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think opting for the surgery in the winter would have been better!

Here are a few pics from the last week ... and our impromptu trip to Baton Rouge for the 4th.

Raegan emulating the late Michael Jackson :)

Lilli in her best Flamanco pose!

Loved her hair like this !

A dear friend of ours, Henry, stopped by for a visit. He and his family used to be neighbors until Hurricane Katrina caused them to be transferred :(

He had never met the girls and they took an immediate liking to him ....

Maybe it was because he let them do WHATEVER they wanted lol!

Rae and her favorite brother ... love this shot!

Snowballs for the 4th

If it's not one thing, it's another!

If you have followed my tweets on the sidebar for the last 24 hours, you know that we were lucky enough to make another trip to yet another ER with Raegan.

She left Cincy with a supra-pubic catheter in place (goes in between the hip and pubic bone) so that her urethra/bladder could heal completely before it was required to work.  It has to be in until the end of August.  Last night, as I was laying her down to go to bed, the catheter got caught and was ripped out -- stitch and all.

After a round of frantic phone calls and emails, we headed to the nearest Children's hospital.   It was a very traumatic night and I would have never guessed that a Children's hospital would have caused so much distress for all of us.  It took them 5 sticks and 4 nurses to finally get an iv site and then two doses of versad to calm her down.

 This was after the lovely ER doc came in and tried to stick (ok ... shove) the catheter back through the stoma (opening in her skin where the original cath was).  After several minutes of his attempts with Raegan screaming and in pain, we asked him to stop and call the urologist to come in to do it.  

They didn't want to call him because it was 3 in the morning ... oh well!   

The urologist came and was exceptional ... very kind and gentle with her and after she was sedated (never did go to sleep though), he was able to get the catheter back in place.  We returned home sometime around 5 a.m.

Her health issues have been so much more than we expected but God keeps giving us little bits at a time .... I guess He knows I can't handle it all at once!  

She, on the other hand, is back to her self ... happy and playing this afternoon like nothing ever happened.  God is good ..... all the time....

Margie

Dancing Queens & other Pre-Surgery Fun

I didn't get the chance to share the photos from the few days before we left for Cincinnati for Raegan's surgery.  We tried to pack a bunch of fun in a few days because we knew the rest of the summer would be recovery time .  

Savanna at the pool

Lilli enjoying a chip at the pool :)

My breathtakingly beautiful niece :)

My brother trying out the zip line!

The Jettster!

MJ and her Daddy

Raegan trying on her Nana's glasses ... she has an affection for glasses of all kinds!

Dance Recital rehearsal ... sweet sisters :)

Dance Recital was the day before we left for Cincy.  

Here are some shots of that day ... what beautiful little dancers we have :)

On stage for the first number 

Raegan in the second number 

My other beautiful niece and Savanna dressed for the night recital.

Rae with her hair up ... just gorgeous!

Savanna's lyrical number

Tap number

A shot of the princess three days after arriving home from Cincinnati.  She is doing so so well.  She is sporting the newest in catheter attire .... provided by some close friends of ours.  She will have this "purse" for 2 months so we had to make the best of it and had some purses made.  Noone will be the wiser :)  .... 

Off to Cincy again for some follow-up exams.  Please pray for safe travels and a good report.

Margie

Home Sweet Home

We are home. 

 Raegan did very well on the long trip and is very happy to be back with her Austin, her kitty cats, and her "stuff"   We all echo that feeling!

Happy Anniversary today to my husband of 17 years ... I can't imagine my life without you.

Margie

Cheerios Rock!

Today is FOOD DAY! Twelve days after being admitted to the hospital and ten days after her major surgery, Raegan enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of Cheerios and apple juice :) The doctors will watch and see how her little body reacts to the food and if all flows well, we get to head south tomorrow! It has been a LONG trip here in Cincinnati and we are so anxious to get back home to our family, friends, church, etc. We know that we came to the right place ... with the right doctors .... to get the best care for our precious daughter..... though we can't wait to have all six of us together again.

...

Tomorrow is our 17th anniversary. Our gift is the blessing of a beautiful family and our youngest daughter with the gift of a successful surgery and a quick healing. I think back to 17 years ago and know that we had NO idea what twists and turns our life would take together.

We wouldn't have it any other way

...

Enjoy a glimpse of Raegan having her first meal :0)

When Mom's Away

Raegan and Daddy will play!

-- Post From My iPhone