The letter "S"

I am a huge fan of the letter "S". It's a fun letter to write and a few of my favorite words begin with this letter. "Sleep"..."Sweet Snacks"... "Slushie" ..."Sun shine"and "Sight Seeing." However, one reference I was NOT a fan of was the description of Molly's scoliosis by her Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon as he looked at her x-rays and stated "Your daughters spine is shaped like an S."

Those words were first spoken to me on Molly's 4th birthday, nearly one week to the day before our sweet ~Emily Hope~ was born. Molly was diagnosed with Scoliosis at a very young age and while we have been following up with Dr Schrader at Akron Childrens Hospital for over seven years now, her scoliosis had seemed to be a relatively insignificant factor in our lives - that was, until June.

Molly's semi-annual checkup was due and it was (quite honestly) a great opportunity for the two of us to spend a peaceful day together and take a little road trip to Akron. I loathe going to Akron... I must mentally prepare myself for the trip, as the drive fills me with a dread you can not imagine. No matter how hard I try, I inevitably recall the painfully long ride home from Akron on the evening of August 30th 2003 *without* my newborn daughter Emily. In spite of that, I take comfort in what I know will be the wonderful words I simply love to hear, when Dr. Schrader always says "Molly looks great - no change. We don't even need X-rays... we'll see you in 6 months!" Those words make the trip worthwhile...THOSE words give me the strength to make the next drive. However, in June, I did not hear those words. Instead I heard "Oh My... Molly, are you standing perfectly straight?... We will need an X-ray right away." They were followed by a very concerned surgeon walking back into our room with an obviously disfigured spine on the x-ray film and saying "I have never seen this in my 26 years of practicing medicine... she went from 17 to a 23 degree curvature of her spine in 6 months." The words that followed were some what jumbled, but I recall hearing him say "back brace...Catastrophic... surgery....." I know there were other phrases spoken after "Catastrophic" and "Surgery" but I couldn't tell you what they were. My heart stopped and I immediately had visions of another one of my precious daughters, strugling to regain quality of life at Akron Childrens Hospital. This was one of my darkest days in several years.

For four months, Molly has faithfully been wearing a back brace for 8-10 hours a day. She mostly wears it at night because she can't really stand or sit with it on. It holds her back at a negative 28 degree angle, so as to straighten out her "S" shaped spine. The best description I can give of this device is that it liike like a midevil torture instrument. Quite honeslty, Molly nearly drags her right arm on the ground if she tries to wear it and walk. I feel just awful for her as I see her struggle with this brace, lugging it around and asking of she REALLY has to wear it during her sleepover in front of her friends. I'm "that mom"... you know, the responsible one who always says "Yes... and your head gear too."

Today, the torture paid off. Molly went to see Dr. Schrader again this morning and received excellent news. Once again, her spine has not changed. While it is still a 23 degree curve, it WILL change with the -28 degree correction. He said he feels that we have accomplished what we need to, to ward off surgery. THAT is the biggest hurdle. Molls will continue to wear her nasty brace every day... adjustments will be made.... she MAY even end up wearing it during the day sometimes; but it appears we have magaged to avoid the part where we have to place a rod in her spine and that is all that matters.

...We are ALL in a profoundly good mood today.

So it's been forever, but...

Life is still wonderful. I purchased a computer today, and so I can now freely access my blog, which has been painfully neglected for over a year.

The girls are wonderful.... so is the husband... the job is going - and I am learning. I finally feel as though I am starting to get the hang of things, and now it will be over in just two short months, and it's back to the drawing board again for employment. *sigh.

we are planning our next Disney vacation in just a few weeks, and as usual, the girls are wildly excited about their princess makeovers. They will each have two this year, as I kind of feel I need to do as many as I can for Molly before she outgrows them. THAT will be a sad day, albeit inevitable. This year, Molly will be Snow White and Belle, and Kat will be Snow White (on a different day) and Tianna, from the princess and the frog movie. Mike has not been to Disney World, only Disney Land in California several years ago, so he has no Idea how much fun he is in for. I can say without hesitation though, he is less enthused about it than we are. I just don't understand why... :)~

So that is the quick update for now. I will upload more photos and update more "stuff" within the enxt few days.

Until then...

A quick and poorly written update

So our vacation went along swimmingly.... I graduated from my tech school and am officially working on a degree in finance and accounting .... The girls are fabulous - as usual.

Disney, although fun, was very different (atmosphere wise) than last year. I can definitely tell the economy has impacted the company, as well as the attitudes of the staff or "cast members" as they like to be called. I have never encountered so many rude and demanding people in my life, and although we had fun, over the next few years we will be visiting other vacation spots (yet to be determined) until the economy improves.

Our vacation is nearly over and this evening, we are heading into New Orleans to check out the sights. They have been getting a tour of the areas I visited in the months following Hurricane Katrina, and are both amazed at the damage. Poor Kate thinks "Katrina is EVIL" and will steal her toys. I have tried to explain that it was a long time ago, but she is not processing this - and is guarding her new Minnie Mouse closely.

I return home to Ohio on Sunday and will begin 2 months of orders at the base in Mansfield. I am hoping and praying this leads into a full time job, but can not be anywhere near certain. If not, I will need to look for a civilian job bargaining in October..... not fun.

I will keep you posted on our progress.....

I still exist.....

As many of you know. I have no excuse for not updating my blog, except for the fact that I have no computer and have limited access to the Internet other than my phone, which does not support blogger updates.

With that said, I am well. Not much has changed, really, since my last update. I am still technically unemployed but currently on active duty with the Air Force in Mississippi right now, so I'm saving money for to live on when I return. As it turns out, this Finance School I am attending will serve me well in the military as well as the civilian world, and I am grateful for this opportunity to be paid to learn. I also appreciate a chance to hit the beach on a regular basis. Last weekend (pictured above) was one of the coolest weekends of my life. I spent the weekend SCUBA diving and sight seeing with friends, and very much enjoyed my stay at Panama City beach.

My girls, who unfortunately I haven't seen in almost 3 months, are also well and greatly anticipating my homecoming. They have been well entertained by my mother and the rest of my family in my absence, for which I am extremely thankful. Most exciting in their little world right now, is the Disney World vacation have planned for the day of my return. We are all counting down the days until this event! The theme for Disney parks this year is "What will you celebrate?" Our trip is going to be a reunion celebration, which is pretty darn exciting! Additionally, I will be extending our vacation by three days and bringing them back to my base in Biloxi, Mississippi for a visit and some time at the beach. I am planning a bonfire on the beach (which the girls don't know about yet) and am also planning to take them into New Orleans to visit the French Quarter, Jackson Square and the Aquarium of the Americas. I will also show them the areas I worked in when I was deployed for Hurricane Katrina and of course, buy them some Mardi Gras beads. It will be a lovely weekend....

Another one bites the dust.....

Just so everyone is aware, I am in the middle of a pity party right now. MedCentral layed me off on Thursday with less than a days notice (actually, about 15 minutes notice) and no severance package. So here I am, another victim of the economy - or at least that's the explanation I was given. I am going on Active Duty in Mississippi for 3 months and am fortunate to be able to go on active duty 3 days per week until I leave, effective tomorrow. My head is still spinning, but in the mean time - I'm just trying to figure out how I will (as an unemployed single Mom) continue to pay my bills and provide for my children. I will be looking at every possible (legal) employment option. (lol) I think it may be time for a career change.....

Wish me luck!!!!!

A girl and her frog.....

I have been thinking of what I can post as updates and really, we are just living day to day and enjoying our lives thoroughly. We have added a new frog to our family. (Are you sick of hearing about our frogs yet?) We came across a Pixie frog at a local pet store, mislabeled as a Pac man frog. What is the difference, you ask? About 20 years life expectancy - about 6 inches and about a pound in weight! Pac man frogs grow to be about 6-8 inches long and live for about 10-15 years. They weigh anywhere from 1/2 to a pound, and get to be a rather large frog. A Pixie (our new frog) is also known as an African bull frog, and is the second largest species of frog in existence. They will live on average 35 years and grow to be 12 inches long and equally as big around. They weigh about 2 lbs. and are often (in infancy) mistaken for a Pac man. We had been debating getting a Pixie for quite some time, but they are typically only available on the internet from breeders. I located one at a pet store in California, but between the cost of the frog and next day shipping, it would have been nearly $100.00 - which was insane. I was very glad to run across one locally and at a reasonable price.

So what can you do with a frog like this? Well in addition to being incredibly cool and HUGE (kind of like Darwin) you can play with it....and apparently, put it in a weebles tree house! These frogs can be quite aggressive in adulthood unless trained to be handled in infancy, so we are getting "Jabba" used to being touched now, so hopefully we can continue to interact with him as he grows. (Molly came up with the name, Jabba because when they're full grown, they look like the star wars character Jabba the hut!)

Finally I must mention - Molly received an A+ on her recent Science test, which was (you guessed it) about FROGS. She was the only child in the class to get every question correct! I spoke to her teacher and she commented on how much this child knows about frogs. She was wildly impressed with how Molly had learned it all hands on, at home. (Yay for MOM!) I told her the funny story about how I had told the girls a few weeks ago that I was taking them to the "all Ohio reptile show" in Columbus, so we could buy some new frogs. She laughed when I revealed that Molly had given me one of the most confused and disgusted looks ever, replying "Mom, that is the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Frogs are amphibians, NOT reptiles!"

*sigh...... In the words of my sweet Molly, I've been schooled.

Yummm... Frogs!

Last weekend, in the depths of my illness, I begged my mother to drive the girls and me to the "All Ohio reptile show" in Columbus, so I could buy some new frogs for Molly and Kate's bog. As insane as it sounds to go out when I was terribly ill, it should be noted this show comes to town only once a month and this was the only month we were available to go between now and August, hence the urgency. After much debate, we purchased two beautiful red eye tree frogs named Cha Cha (Pictured above) and Ting-ting. These frogs are a wonderfully bright green and Kate especially, loves them. She delights in telling them stories and listening to them call eachother. This bog is one of the coolest little investments I have ever made... It's WAY better than an aquarium!

Fast forward one week:

Out of the goodness of her heart, when my mother came to get the girls ready this morning, she brought a bag of bright green shamrock cookies from our local bakery. As Grandma and Molly were sitting at the table, enjoying their last bites of cookie, a groggy Kate entered the room and declared with shock and total dismay "Grandma!!! You are eating one of our new frogs!!!"

I think my favorite part of this whole "parenting gig" would be the completely random things my girls do, and the random comments they make. I can only imagine the horror my poor Kate must have felt in that moment, when she believe her grandma was eating one of her new frogs - but to her credit, she recovered quickly and laughed along with the rest of us. That's the good stuff....