Mom with her youngest two

PICTURES!

All right.....it's been a while so here we go. Lovin' the brothers.

Too Funny! Can you Say YES?

So, I've been trying to teach Mia how to nod "YES" to replace this whining grunt she's currently using. Yesterday, I gently took her head between my hands and moved it up and down while saying "yes." Today, when I remind her to say "yes" instead of grunt, she takes her head in her hands and moves it up and down to assent. LOL! Well, I laughed each time until she did it with hands covered with banana....

J. =Supermom

J. really is super-mom. I'm still in awe. She's got to be absolutely flat out beat. But she's doing so well. I know it's all wearing on her, but she'll make it. She can sneak out now during naps without catastrophic results--a huge relief. That means she can get at least SOME alone time during the weak. We'll just play with schedules when it gets really urgent. :-)

When I saw all five of them show up at worship today... wow. HOW did she get herself and FOUR kids ready and out the door?

Worship!

J. finally (FINALLY!) made it back to worship today. whew. That was a long time away. M. did GREAT! She was beautiful and made it through the whole service. AMAZING! J. said that was only possible because her brothers were wonderfully helpful. They were right there whenever mom needed a hand, or M. needed someone to distract her. I'm telling you...these guys have been incredible. They sooooo love their new sister and do not seem to tire (yet anyway :-)) of spending time with her. It is wonderfully special to see. Some of my absolute favorite moments are watching the boys and M. just giggle together. M. only called to Bobba at one time during the service--when they were up at the rail for communion. How sweet. I got a little teary.

Medical E-val

Friday was a LONG day. We took our younger two sons out of school and went to Boston for blood tests, a consultation and a transfusion. It was a REALLY long day. Poor M. The wonderful technicians tried so hard (and in five different places!) to get a needle in to draw the seven viles or so for her tests. Apparently, she's got a lot of scarring in her veins. The poor women tried so hard and felt so badly watching M. howl and howl....and howl....and howl. When a new person walked in the room....more howling. She just NEW what was up. Ah, well. They finally put a line in her ankle, got the blood they needed, and taped it up for the transfusion later.

M. Cheered up in time for lunch, slept through our consultation, and handled the two hour transfusion admirably. But have I mentioned it was a long day? :-) whew. We were all beat when we got home around 9PM. Thank GOD she slept through that night.

We will now set up a plan for monthly transfusions closer to home, and then for her chelation therapy all under the direction of the great folks at BC. We'll probably go up there at least once a year for a thorough e-val. When we look at M. and live with M., it's hard to believe she has a serious blood disorder.

Through The Night!

Well, it would seem we've finally crossed the time zone barrier. Thursday, Friday and Saturday night= M. slept through each night. (And, therefore, so did Mom! whew. She's relieved.)

AND--BIG news with Thursday's bed-time: DAD put her to bed! Yup. J took M. with her to worship team, and then I put her to bed. WOW! She went easily. She fussed about an hour later and I went in to successfully comfort her.

Now that felt amazing. It's pretty wild. Every single day from the night we landed in CT on, I've been able to hold her. Now, she still prefers mom under stress, and will cry for her, but she will let me hold her in lots of situations.