Thankful

Our family has so many things to be thankful for.  Most of all, that God has blessed us beyond anything we ever deserved.  Today, I am very thankful for a husband who realizes when I've reached my breaking point and plans a quick trip to my favorite place....the beach!!  Trent called Friday afternoon to let me know that we were leaving late that night for a quick trip. 

We made it to the condo late Friday night ready for a great weekend!  Mary Ashtyn already had plans for the weekend, so we let her stay with my parents.  VERY thankful for grandparents who will drop everything to take care of her for the weekend.  She loved getting ALL their attention.  It didn't feel right without her, but we did have a wonderful weekend.

Sweet Girl

"Cooking"

How cute is he?!!?

Braving the FREEZING water!

Lily's first time in the ocean...she loved it!

She was a little worried about fish biting and the "fast water"/waves.

Holding on tight to Daddy.

Lily wanted a "big princess house"...we'll need to take more sand castle molds next trip :)

She always has the Bamberg boys at her beck and call :)

Watching Reece swinging at the waves.

Lily Joy

Time to bury Reece in the sand!

Here comes a big, cold wave!

Once he couldn't move, Lily thew sand in his face...love his look in this one!  Little sisters can be annoying!!! 

Daddy's Turn!

Waiting to ride the huge Ferris Wheel at the Wharf

The Girls, missing Mary Ashtyn

The Boys

Lily loved the Ferris Wheel!

Love the excitement on her face...so precious.

Love this little hand in mine!

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gifts!

2 Corinthians 9:15

BamFam5 Update

 Our life can be summed up in three words:  BUSY but BLESSED.  Wow!  These kids keep us moving.  Reece keeps us on the go during the spring with baseball.  The girls love to go cheer for GuGu.  Trent is an assistant coach, so Lily gets to yell for her Daddy too...which she does very loudly every time she sees him!  Reece made us so proud tonight with a big team win and an awesome game on the mound.  This one Mama did get a little too excited and loud, but her sweet, little bossy daughter was sure to get her quiet.  "MaMa you are too loud, you no loud tonight!"  Yes,mam...Lily :)

  

So proud of our Reece Man!!

Mary Ashtyn stays busy with majorette practice and just being a teenager.  She has the sweetest group of Christian friends and we love to see her hanging out with them.  As she is growing up, I'm so proud of who she is becoming. 

Awards Day, then on to see the Hunger Games!

Spring Testing Pep Rally

Love my girl!!

Then, there is Silly Lily...never a dull moment :)  Life after the hard pants is getting better every day.  Her legs are still sore and she isn't completely back to her old self, but she is doing great.  She is sitting by herself really well now and her legs are never still.   She is even able to lift her head and raise herself up in her stroller...which she NEVER did before her surgery.  Before her surgery, her head would roll back when I brushed her hair.  As I was brushing her hair the other day, she tells me to look at her head.  I didn't even think about it, but she was holding it up as I brushed!!   God is so very good!!

I'm a little teapot?? 

This girl really needs to get to Disney World!!!

 

 

 

Lately, Lily's language is exploding.  She talks ALL THE TIME.  She sometimes gets her words confused and it's just too cute to correct!!  Just for a little while, I'll let her "toop" instead of toot and change the channel with the "mope".  She told me tonight that her legs are working again, so now they are Chinese!  HA  Then, she looks at her surgery scars and is sure to let me know that they are NOT Chinese.  "They are surgery, no Chinese".

Loving every minute of our busy, blessed life. 

Hard Pants are History!!!

 Wow...what a day!  For the past 6 weeks, I really wondered if this day would ever get here.  I'm not sure who was most excited, me or Lily.

  

All smiles waiting for x-ray results. I did get nervous because it took a little longer than usual to hear anything.  We couldn't take one more second of these hard pants...really!!!  I was fully prepared to use the saw myself if it came down to it...probably could have persuaded my very reasonable husband to help!  What a relief to hear the nurse ask if we were ready for them to come OFF!

 Still smiling but making sure the nurse was not going to cut her legs off...poor baby!  Once he showed her the saw, held it to his hand, and then let her touch it to see that it would not cut her, she was ready.   Silly Lily giggled and talked the entire time!!  Notice Mickey above her head waiting for his turn to get his hard pants off.

One down, one to go!

So excited to see the crack in the hard pants...it's really coming off :)

 Checking out the scissors to be sure they wouldn't cut her.

Our bossy girl is always in charge.

 This sweet girl is my hero!

 Love these little bird legs...yes, I cried when I saw them:)

 Last look at the Hard Pants

The pictures stopped here.  Once we got Lily cleaned up and got baby oil on her legs, it was time for another x-ray.  Guess what everyone in the building got to hear?  Yep, the rarely heard China howl.  It is the most pitiful scream/cry that I've ever heard.  Her legs were extremely sore and sensitive and she was having muscle spasms.  I think she was also scared because she couldn't move her legs.  It was a rough afternoon, but....

Silly Lily is back!!!

Our biggest fear has been that Lily's muscles would atrophy so badly while in the body cast that she wouldn't get her strength back in her legs or be able to sit up.  I was so relieved when she started kicking one of her legs as we pulled into our driveway.  After she was settled on the couch (insert pitiful scream/cry here), she started moving both of her legs.  The look on her face when she realized how much straighter her legs were was so sweet.  Trent and I are amazed by the difference!  

By 10:00 tonight, I was worried about her sitting up.  She refused to even try.  We finally got her in warm water to soak and try to relax her legs a little more.  Trent held her as she played, but she screamed if we even tried to make her sit.  After her bath, I slowly sat her up while I put on her Minnie Mouse gown.  She was so proud of her new pajamas, she didn't realize what I was doing.  As I let go of her hands, she leaned to one side and almost fell.  Then, our strong, determined little fighter shifted her weight and SAT by herself.  I scooped her up and she wrapped those little arms around my neck as I sobbed.  Best feeling in the world to finally get my arms around her and not those hard pants. 

As we tucked her in, she told us she was so happy.  We got lots of kisses and I love you's.  As I started typing this post in the dark, I heard her sleepy little voice beside me, "thank you for taking care of me, Mama".   I promised her that I always would...it's what mothers do.

 

D-O-N-E

 When we wake up in the morning, Lily and I will be shouting, "TODAY IS THE LAST FULL DAY OF HARD PANTS"!!!!  It seemed impossible in the days leading up to Lily's surgery.  I could not imagine how we would make it. The entire six weeks was difficult, but now we can say that it is DONE :)

March 5, 2012, just out of recovery...so glad to see my baby!

Mei Mei &Mickey with matching hard pants.

Daddy's Girl

So happy to be able to feed herself!

On her side, watching TV...she liked to sleep like this, too :)

Zebra Nails!!!

Staying Cool

Build a Bear

Wishing

Sewing

Posing with Minnie

Barbies at the beach

All clean!

Happy to be at church!!

Easter Eggs

Pop and Lily at Reece's baseball game

Proud of our girl!

Happy Girl

Strolling by the river, enjoying her orange.

Things I will NOT miss about the hard pants:
~Hugging a cast!!  I am so ready to snuggle with Lily!!!!!
~Struggling to pick up my baby, this cast is HEAVY.  My back will never be the same :)  Seriously!
~Banging poor Lily's feet into everything...bless her, I just never got the hang of carrying her without running her feet into something!
~Scratching and bruising my legs, arms, and fingers on the cast
~Not being able to brush Lily's teeth by myself...it took both of us, Trent held her up to the sink, while I brushed.
~Back spasms as I held Lily backwards on the toilet...NOT FUN!!
~Not getting to put on her cute outfits, very thankful for the cute pillowcase dresses that were made for her...that was all that she could wear!!
~Being stuck at home...it was just too hard to get her out much by myself.
~"Baths" on the kitchen counter, washing all that hair with her head hanging in the sink
~Sleepless nights

This list could go on forever, but you get the idea :)



Things I will miss about the hard pants:



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA......NOTHING!!!  Not. one. single. thing.



I can't wait to see her little bird legs!!  I pray that she will be able to use them like she did before the surgery.  I'm begging God to let her sit up like she was before this body cast.  On March 5th, we had no idea that she had MDC1A.  We got her diagnosis three weeks into the cast, we might have done things differently if we had known.  We didn't...God did.  He gave us the peace we needed to follow through with the surgery.  

Please pray that Lily will come out of these hard pants able to sit up and use her legs.  We know it may take a while, please pray with us that it happens quickly.