Angels among us...

The past few weeks have been very busy with preparing to go to Chicago and preparing for me to be laid up after having my knee replaced. So many people have stepped in and helped at times I least expected it, but appreciate it beyond words!

A distant relative sent money to help us with travel costs, since I had arranged my own travel before knowing that Shriner's would do that for me as well. I had booked a roomette on the train, since I knew that my knee would never make the airplane ride in tight quarters. I am so immensely grateful for her help! Our travel was very much more comfortable for me and even somewhat enjoyable and I think the kids really enjoyed it as an "adventure" :-)

Aubri was super helpful at the Shriner's apt. She would let them examine her and then Sera would agree to allow them to examine her. Without Aubri, she would have never willingly participated. She wanted nothing to do with sitting in any medical type chair, let alone have someone touch her :-) Shriner's was amazing! They managed to very completely evaluate her in one morning! Standardized educational testing additional to medical exams too! We discovered that additional to the facial clefting, she also has a submucosal cleft palate, which will also need surgery. We have to get a CT scan of that and then surgery will be scheduled. Sadly, Shriner's is having their ORs redone and there are no surgeries going to be done in November or December. We are really hoping that she will have surgery in September or at the latest October. Evidently she should have been having speech services all along and if school will not provide them until her lip is repaired, I will have to have it done privately. It really explains why she is not able to make so many sounds which the closure of her lips have nothing to do with. Poor baby! She really tries though! She talks up a storm all of the time!

Three days after we came home from Chicago, I went in to have my knee replaced. Since I do not have a knee cap, and have lots of scar tissue which caused a nerve to be stretched and I fell on Saturday, I am not progressing as fast as I had hoped. For some reason I had dreamed that I would be walking better after the surgery than I did before.... Dumb, dumb, dumb...... Oh well, at least my kids are really pulling together and Aubri is old enough to be a real help to me. I hate having to ask her to help, but I know in the long run it will be good for her to have learned this kind of responsibility. I am also paying her (our visit to the American Girl place and money to use to spend on things she wanted while there), so she doesn't feel totally put upon and can enjoy the benefits of her hard work. Both girls enjoyed the American Girl Place and I was so proud of both of them for not asking for everything they saw! Aubri just got her doll's hair done and an outfit and she actually insisted that I get Sera a Bitty Twin, rather than spend more on her. I know it is hard for her to give up being waited on and have to do the care taking. She has done it with a smile most of the time, though, and I am so very proud of her! I know I am predjudiced, but I am so happy to know that she is growing up into such an amazing, caring and responsible young girl!

I will not be going back to work tomorrow, so that I can ice and bend this nasty thing pictured above. I am really hoping that it will eventually work better than my kneecap free arthritic knee, did. It still doesn't have a kneecap, so lifting it is a pain... literally :-) Please hope for me that I will be able to heal quickly and return to being abe to chase after my little ones and baby and wait on my bigger one a few more years :-)