Please Pray

John's sister Lauren is pregnant with quadruplets.  Baby A's sac ruptured a few days ago.  Everyone is stable but we are asking for prayers for Lauren and Josh and Babies ABCD.  She is on permanent hospital bedrest until delivery, which we are praying doesn't happen for a least 2 months.  A link to her blog is in the sidebar.

Thanks

Date Night

Last night we had some awesome friends offer to watch our brood while we headed out for a date night.  Since John was plunking down some change for a nice night out I got gussied up including makeup and curling my hair!  He took me to Fogo de Chao.  It was fabulous!  We should have skipped the salad bar.  The gauchos just kept bringing meat and more meat and more meat!  The service was impeccable  and we had a wonderful time. Plus they serve a wonderful creme brulee, y favorite.  We were home around 8 and scooped the kids up and came home.

He is READING officially

reading signs in Shenendoah National Park

Mean Mom and a new routine

My two oldest girls have a semi standing playdate every Wednesday with another homeschooler.  I call it semi standing because my girls have fallen into the category of expecting recreation without putting in school time.  In the past I have caved so as not to disappoint the friend.  Not so anymore I cancelled it today.  I think just maybe my girls got it.  You see they worked very diligently today.  However they had not the past two days so there was some ground to be made up.  I didn't budge.  Work wasn't done by 4 no playdate.  Now before you go saying I am wrecking my children's social outlet they had kids here tonight for a weekly gathering (otherwise known as babysitting).

I am hoping this is a turning point for the kids to see that I was serious and actually followed through.

Our new evening routine is working out well.  After spending 4 weeks leading up to Christmas reading Jotham's Journey every night before bed (kids called it Jammies for Jotham), John and I decided to keep it up.  We are currently reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond, a read-aloud that we fell behind on in Ian's American History Core.  The girls have heard it before and the littles could care less but it is family time.  The kids willingly get jammies on.  Tonight they sorted socks while I read :)  For us it is good ole fashioned family time.  All 7 of us in one room for about 20 minutes with the only technology being the light bulbs.  Our next book will be another American History favorite Johnny Tremain.  I love that they love to listen and want to still be read to.  We even get the occasional good natured fighting over who gets to sit next to mom or dad.

6 more months

I forgot I hadn't updated here on blogger about Avery's orthopedic appointment.  She had x-rays taken of her right leg (two different shots) and then a standing x-ray from the hips down.  All x-rays showed no significant change in tumor size, limb length discrepency, or leg angulation.  All of this is great news.  And all it really means is we will go back in 6 months for another knee x-ray.  The standing x-ray will be done once a year or as needed.  Avery of course charmed the x-ray tech out of 2 stickers which she put on the back of her MHE journal I made, she also finagled a sucker on her way out.  She then acted like an only child with both John and I's complete attention as we walked over to Starbucks.  She then proudly ordered a tall vanilla cream (after her daddy tried to explain economics to her, with your $5 gift card you could either get 4 hot cocoas or 2 vanilla creams) and used her gift card.  She earned a free tall drink on her receipt by just having her mom fill out an online survery.  So she managed to get 3 vanilla creams out of that card as opposed to 4 hot cocoas!  She wouldn't share with either of us.

So in 6 months we will return.  Until then we forget and live life :)

Another 6 months have slipped by

Every six months my youngest daughter is seen by her pediatric orthopedic doctor to evaluate her bone tumors.  14 months ago my then 3 year old had just broken her arm.  One day in the car I turned around and noticed a large bump with no bruise on her inner right knee.  A quick call to the pediatrician got us an appointment later that afternoon.  We saw a sub ped and her first reaction was "wow I have no idea what that is wow".  So reassuring to a mom who is thinking a cancerous lump has grown overnight on her baby's knee.  She orders blood work and an x ray.  So we are off to radiology and then lab.  At 5pm that night we get "the call".  I must admit that until the doctor called I think I was holding my breath.  Her first words were that she was 99% sure they knew what we were dealing with.  Her diagnosis was osteo chondroma.  A benign bone tumor.  She referred us out to a pediatric orthopedic, the same one treating her broken arm.  Turns out it wasn't just an osteo chondroma but multiple osteo chondroma or Multiple Hereditary Exostosis (although the hereditary part mystifies us).  Over her bones my little girl has about 16 of these tumors.  Our biggest concern is over the original one found in her knee, after a MRI it was found to be attached to the growth plate making surgical removal too risky.  There are 6 tumors in her right knee.  The original and biggest is causing her hamstring to "twang" over it every time she moves her knee.  At her last appointment in July I had noticed she was pronating her right foot.  Upon examination it was found that she was indeed pronating, probably to ease the discomfort of the bothered hamstring.   But we are ordering additional x rays of her hips to rule out those tumors causing the pronation.  So here we are 14 months post diagnosis.  She has visited the ortho every 6 months, undergone numerous x rays including a full body set of x rays, and a sedated mri of the right knee.  We shall see if the tumor has slid off the growth plate.  X rays will determine that as well as whether or not the hip tumors are causing rotation of the leg.  Update on Tuesday.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Presents are unwrapped, coffee consumed, cinnamon rolls made and eaten.  Joy everywhere.  I wish you and yours a merry christmas and a happy new year.  

Happy Birthday Jesus