Psalm 139:14

I am... wonderfully made...
Psalm 139:14

Camo Pink

Look at Hadley's cute cast? We got her some special Camouflage Pink tape for this cast since it will be on so long. What a cutie :)

Hiking at the Lion's Den

I just wanted to share some pictures of us hiking at the Lion's Den. We went out last Tuesday evening after Andy got home from work. I packed dinner and we ate out there. We ended up speed walking back since it was getting dark, but it was beautiful! The hike there and down to the beach was just amazing! The sky was perfect! It's just an amazing feeling when you get to be in awe of God's creation with the ones you love the most!

The stairs to the beach




This would have been a perfect picture if Hadley was looking!!!(stinker)

Hadley's 4th Cast

Were back from Chicago as of yesterday and Hadley got her 4th cast put on. I can't believe this is her 4th cast already. The procedure went well as Hadley is getting used to this all. Like last time, the hardest part is when they carry her away to be put to sleep and she looks back with her big teared up puppy eyes. We got through it though. After her "surgery" she took about an hour to recover in the recovery room. It felt like forever! One of the nurses finally carried her back, which I thought was so nice. Usually she comes back in her hospital crib. She was upset of course, but we got her a few Popsicles, some crackers, and some juice which helped! The nurse then team worked with us to get her taped up and soon after that we were on our way. Hadley was doing awesome at that time so we went down to the cafeteria and got her some food! She was starving. Then we left and she was fast asleep!

As Hadley was in the recovery room, the Doctor came out with her updates. He informed us that her back before casted was at 23 degrees! This is AMAZING! We were so happy to hear that. We are making amazing progress. Or actually I say, GOD is making amazing progress! In her new cast, she is 12 degrees, which I wasn't thrilled with since in her last cast, she was down to 0-5 degrees, but with the correction she was at, I couldn't complain! :)

The doctor said that typically once the child is under 20 degrees, they would brace them. But since Hadley started with a severe curve, he will cast her a couple more times in high hopes that her spine will hold. This could possibly mean only 3 or 4 more casts, then a brace. That would be amazing! He said that if her spine did not hold with the brace, we would then look at growing rods after the age of 3 1/2 since typically the casting process does not work after that age. But he also said that normally after casting when the spine is under 20 degrees, the spine tends to stay and then there would be no need for growing rods. So, we pray that Hadley's spine is one of those cases! After Casting and a brace, they will continue to watch Hadley's back very closely to assure that it does not continue to curve again. He said they pay extra close attention around adolescence since that is another time that the curve tends to take off again and then they may just have to brace her again. But hopefully not! Were praying that we have maybe 3 or 4 more casts, a brace, and then this would be out of Hadley's life. All in God's will though! He only knows her future and what he has planned for her.

So, all this to say, were VERY happy with Hadley's correction!!!!!
Adjusting to her new cast has been a little hard, but nothing out of the ordinary. It is always so hard to see Hadley struggle so much not understanding why she can't do the things she could do two days ago without her cast. She tends to be sassier and throw little temper tantrums with the cast on since she gets so frustrated, but I really can't blame her. She is such a different child with the cast and requires a little more patience. But that is ok. She is our special little baby!

Thank you for your prayers! Her follow up apt is December 3rd in Chicago. I was wrong about the Hospital being closed. Only the operation rooms are closed. So, Hadley will not be casted again till the end of January. Lets hope we have as few leaks as possible since that it a long time in a cast! :)

John 1:3

If you watch this video and see more videos coming up of Mianna saying verses, here is the reasonings why....
Every wk Mianna has to learn a verse and recite it to Teacher Kelli and Teacher Bill for AWANA, then they sign her book saying she said it. Well, because Mianna is super shy, she will not recite it for them, even though she knows it. But in order for them to sign her book, they need to know she knows the verse. SO, we have decided to tape her saying her verse each wk since it is more of her comfort level. Then they can see her saying her verse. I tried just e-mailing the videos, but i can't get that to work, so i will just post them on the blog and they can see them on here! :)

October 19, 2008
John 1:3

Hapy 4th Birthday Mianna

Build A Bear

Mianna got a gift certificate to build a bear for her birthday(Thank you Lindsay). So, Friday we took her to do that at Mayfair Mall. She absolutely loved it. It was right up her alley! Here are some pics of Mianna building her new snuggle friend, Blue. (The name is blue, but it is a girl!)

Picking out the bear


Stuffing the bear


Giving Bear a bath


Dressing Bear


And "Blue" goes home with her new mommy

Hadley loves the water!

Hadley got her first bath yesterday after 2 months! Last time she had a bath she was a little bit afraid, so we started slow. We put her in the tub, and she went crazy! She loved the water! She was so excited, she didn't know what to do. She was going wild! It was so cute! We didn't wash her hair yet in there because we don't want to scare her away from playing in the bath tub. Here are some short little videos to give you an idea of how much she likes it!!!

Mia's 1st year at AWANA

Mia is old enough for AWANA this year. For those of you who don't know what it is, the best way to describe it to me is like being in a bible club. They play games, learn verses, read stories, and overall just have an overall great time learning the most important things about life: GOD.
Last week, Mianna got her first patch and had to go up in front of everybody to receive it. I wasn't so sure how she was goign to do being so shy. Bill(one of the teachers) had to nudge her a bit when her name was called off, but then she went up to get her patch. However, after she got it she saw her daddy and ran straight to him rather than returning to her group. She immediately fell into tears she was so embarrassed and shy when everybody clapped for her. It was so sweet, so cute, yet so silly! She is our shy little sensitive sweetie pie :)

Mia's Apt.

Mia had her yearly check to see if she still has her urinary reflux. The bad news is that she does, the good news is that the tech maybe thought it was getting better. I'll know more when I hear from the doctor. The overall procedure was very miserable for Mia, but I'm glad were done for another year. We treated her to some Mcdonalds Ice cream afterwards to make it all better! Unfortanetely, we'll still have to take those yucky meds!

Mia can write her name

I have been doing homeschooling with Mianna since the beginning of the school year! We usually do it twice a wk for 1/2 hour - 40 minutes. That is all I can get her to sit for! At first I was really strict with her and really didn't have any idea how to teach her. I found out though that it was just pushing her interest away from learning. So, instead of "school" I made it play time together and thats just what we do. She still likes to call it school because she feels big! :) We have been doing matching games with letters, puzzles, arts and crafts, and writing some letters! She's not very good at letter recognition, but were getting there! We hit a milestone the other day! Mia learned how to write her name. I still have to guide her a bit by telling her with the M- go up down up down, etc. But she does great! A couple months ago, she couldn't even hold a pencil right. I never thought she'd be able to write her name, but with a little patience and a little practice... She did it! Were so proud of her. More than anything this school time has been a great bonding time for Mianna and I. It is "our" time, which we both love and needed! Now that I'm home with the girls, I should be able to do more bonding with them! :)

A new Direction

As some of you may know, Andy and I have been praying about my job for awhile now. There has been a lot of conflict in the schedule with the girls being a little older now and going their own separate directions. For example: Mya is in school and I am homeschooling Mia(a little bit). That is just one example, there are many I wont list. It has also been hard to drag the girls out of bed early in the morning to go somewhere else and care for another child. I felt as if I were putting my kids second. But that is what being a servant is all about and at the time, it was what God had me doing.

I had an opportunity to watch an infant at my house starting in January. There would be a pay cut, but that was something we were willing to do. This way I could be home with the girls, yet still make income. The decision was not final though.

Well, Last wk things really started getting difficult at work trying to work out scheduling for doctor apts, Mya's schooling, and MOPS, etc. I ended up not working Thursday or Friday(their call), then Friday evening I got an e-mail saying they have decided to go a different direction for Mya since our schedules have been clashing lately. There is only 10 more months until Mya will be in school full time so they are nanny-sharing with their neighbors. Part of me was shocked and devastated(mostly for Mia's sake). We spent almost every day with her for the past 3 1/2 years! Thats Mia's play mate/her "sister"/her friend. It's going to be a hard adjustment for Mia. I still haven't broken the news to her yet. Then the other part of me was relieved. I knew this moment was coming for awhile, it was just a matter of when. I feel now I can just focus on my girls and not have to drag them around anymore.

And the best part... I left out... That morning(last Friday) I prayed and prayed about my job situation as I have been for awhile now. I told God we were willing to make a sacrifice to do his will because he knows best! It was that afternoon I got the call from the possible future job saying they didn't need me. And it was the same evening that I got the e-mail from my current job letting me go. WOW, right? God completely answered my prayer! He just amazes me! Thanks God for answering my prayer! I know God's will for me right now is to be a stay at home mom with my girls! Maybe he has ministry opportunities for me in the future, or maybe he has a job lined up for me in the future. I don't know what the future holds, but all I know is right now, he wants me to be home for my girls! What an awesome feeling it is to know what God wants for me at this point of my life. He couldnt have told me in a more obvious way!

So, Thats that. I'm a stay at home mom! :) I'm not going to lie. We are afraid! This is a big jump down in our finances and its going to be a huge adjustment that I'm really unsure how with all of our bills it's even going to work. How will we live? It all falls back on trust! I am scared, yet, i feel a sense of peace in my heart knowing if this is what God wants for me, then surely he will provide for us. He's not just going to make me a stay at home mom so we can struggle and go hungry. God is not a mean God. Though we will go through a lot of hard times, God will be at our side and they will only make us stronger and more dependent on him! He works in mysterious ways! All I know is I trust him and everything will be ok!

This feeling of peace and trust in God is so amazing! I feel like a thousand pounds have been lifted off my shoulders! God did that! Thanks God! You are truly amazing!

Free Apples! :)

For a COUPLE of years now, I've been wanting to go to an apple orchard. I have this amazing picture in my head of our little family laughing and smiling while picking apples. I know that may be silly, but its true! I've never been to an apple orchard. I wasn't so sure we were going to get to go this year because of our recent changes that have been made that effect finances. But...
My mom told me about a place right up our road that is called Blue Heron Wild Life Sanctuary.

Yesterday they were having a "walk about" which is pretty much just trying to get people to visit and see what it is all about. It is a place that has trails that lead down to a beautiful river and then keep going. When we got there, we saw some bags by the sign up sheet. So when we signed up we asked what they were for... the person said, there were apple trees down the path and we are welcome to pick as many as we want... FOR FREE! I was so excited!!!!! The day has come where my "dream" would come true :) So we went and we picked our apples. It was everything I was hoping for! Hadley picked a couple and then decided to just eat them! Mianna was so excited to pick her very own apples. There were smiles and laughing! It was a wonderful time :) And how awesome that place is to allow free apple picking. There was a pear tree there too, we got a couple! God sure is good to us! This place is right down O in Saukville and I think it open during the day anytime for walk in. If you want apples, Id go there! :)

Hadley's 18 Month Pics

If you look at the post below this, youll see what all the pics of the girls are.... I'm trying to do their 18 month and 4 year portraits and need your vote as to which one is best(if any)....

#1.


#2.

Mia's 4 Year pics

I need your help in deciding on which, (if any) picture to use for Mia's 4 year portrait....
We decided to take them ourselves since #1. Money is and will continue to be tight for awhile(I'll post details in the near future) and 2. We like the pics to be more natural.
So, please help me by putting in your vote OR I am open to any new suggestions of places of where I can do this....

#1.


#2.


#3.

Doctor visits coming up

We will be visiting the doctor a few times these next two wks and I will add the results to the blog next wk.....

-Mianna has her VCUG Friday at Children's Hospital to see if she still urinary reflux. Pray for her that it goes well. She has to get a catheter, which is never fun! Were hoping she doesnt have it so she can discontinue her daily meds!

-Hadley gets her cast off Thursday the 16th! Were getting it done locally!

-Right after Hadley's cast removal she has to have an ultra sound of her kidney's. A year ago they did one when she was diagnosed with infantile scoliosis and it showed one kidney being larger than the other. The doctor said it was nothing to worry about right now, but we should do a follow up to look at them in a year. We attempted to have that done this wk, but the ultra sound tech couldnt get to her kidney's with her cast on!

If you think of us those days, say a prayer that all goes smoothly :)

Mia riding her new big girl bike

Mianna has been super excited about her new bike. On Monday we let her ride it to the park as we coached her along. She did very well! Were so proud of her :)

A birthday Party from Grandma and Grandpa Rorabeck

Last Weekend, Grandpa and Grandma Rorabeck threw Mianna an awesome birthday party. They made it a little early in the month so that her Uncle Timmy could come otherwise he had National Guard training the other wkds.
Grandma got Mianna a princess cake and tons of princess accessories. She decorated like crazy for Mianna. I have to say, Mianna felt super special that day :)
Mianna got a brand new big girl bike as well! She was super surprised! She also got a learning video game player, a barbie computer, a princess tutu with more princess accessories, some shirts, puzzles, and a few more goodies. She's been wanting to stay home all day so she can play with it all!

I just want to say Thank you so much Rorabeck Family for loving our little girl with all your heart and treating her like a little princess!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch

Over the summer, Mianna was in a reading program at the library and after so many books she got read to her, she got a coupon to go to Pleasant Valley Llama Farm. Included in her coupon was a hayride to get her pumpkin, a pumpkin, a ride on a train, a corn maze, and some jumping in the moon walk. And thats just what she did. Last wkd we finally got there and it was a beautiful day! We had a lot of fun doing everything. We got to spend the day with My sister and husband and their daughter, Brianna(Mianna's best friend).

Hadley taste testing the gords


Mianna guarding the pumpkins


Andy getting lots of kisses from the Llama


On the little train

I sqeezed in a little seat with Hadley so she could ride too

Getting ready to get our pumpkins

Mianna found hers

And Hadley got hers!