Hadley's 5th cast removal

Hadley got her 5th cast off last Friday(march 27th). She as usual screamed through the whole thing. I probably would too if a saw was that close to me! But as soon as it was done, she was back to her normal happy self. As the nurse was pulling off her cast and cleaning her up, she saw something in her back... she pulled it out and it was a thick piece of glass wedged into Hadley's back! We have no idea how it got in her cast and where it came from. It's not a normal piece of glass, it looks like glass from a windshield from a car or something! So, we are baffled to where this piece of glass came from, but it gave Hadley a very bad owie! I couldn't imagine having a piece of glass wedged into my skin rubbing on me at all times! How uncomfortable! We thought maybe it got in there when they put the cast on, but it just cut her skin open and was wedged in there a little. It didn't really look like it had been in there too long... thank God! Thankfully her back is healing wonderfully and fast!!! She has a lot of raw spots on her sides, but that is to be expected. The normal amt of bruising as well...

Hadley sure has been loving her freedom. She's been very wiggly and she is super fast! There are things she is finding out she can do that she can not do with her cast on.
She has been loving bath time and asks for one all the time. How could we say no?! So, she's spent most of her time in the tub already :)
We've been doing some messy painting, eating messy spaghetti dinners, and letting Hadley get messy with any food she eats.... because we can just throw her in the tub and wash her up :)

It sure is nice to enjoy this time snuggling with our sweet little squishy baby again! (We've been taking turns rocking and snuggling her to bed!) :)

Hadley's 6th Cast will be put on April 6th, which is also when she will get an Xray to see what progress she made.

Please pray for some correction. Looking at Hadley's back you can still really see the curve, which scares me because I thought in her last cast her back looked straighter when she got out. As Hadley gets older, she is less flexible and casting is not effective. Please just keep her in your prayers! Our Father can work miracles and we have faith he will... whatever it be!

Talking to Mianna about Jesus

We've told Mianna the Gospel many times now. She understands it(from what we can tell). She can even tell it to somebody else. Whether she has put her trust in Jesus as her savior, I don't know. I still think she is rather young to tell.

Today I was talking to the girls about Easter and I questioned Mianna with it all because she already knows it. But I wanted to her to tell Hadley.

Me: Mianna, what is Easter about?

Mianna: Jesus died on the cross for our sins

Me: Why did he do that?

Mianna: Because he loves us.

Me: But what happens because Jesus died on the cross for us?

Mianna: We get to go to heaven and live with him

That is when we bunny trailed about Heaven. I was telling her how wonderful Heaven will be and there will be no owies, no sadness, no disobeying!

Mianna was so excited and she says, "And I get to sleep over with Jesus."

Then she goes, "Mom, I have to remember to pack my underware when I go and my sleeping bag and I can't forget my birthday bear."

I couldnt help to get tears in my eyes at that point. Something about hearing my little 4 year old so excited to meet Jesus someday and loving him as much as she loves him just melted my heart. If only we could have the attitude of a 4 year old; excited about Jesus dying on the cross for us so that we someday will live with him in paradise! And ALL becuase he loves us! I'm so thankful for Mia's heart for God! Hearing her talk about Jesus, praying for her family and friends, wanting to learn more and more about him every day, and being so excited to serve him and tell others about him makes me so happy!

A side note:
I admit, at times I'm concerned about Mianna and her "smarts." She's not the brightest kid in the world and has always been a little behind in doing things. But when I hear how much she knows about Jesus and the bible, I am reassured and reminded that being smart is not nearly as important as knowing and loving Jesus. I'd rather Mianna be Jesus smart, than world smart! :)

Please support The Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program

I am selling bracelets for the Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program. They are $5 each if anybody wants to support this program. I want to do what I can do to help this program because without this, we would not have found out about Mehta Casting and Hadley would have already have numerous surgeries and more than likely lung damage. We are just so thankful that God directed where he did and with all the progress Mehta casting and God have brought us.

The bracelets are not "cool" by any means, but they could make a great children's toy. But more than anything they go to a great cause. The money goes to training Doctor's for this training so more and more children can be saved. It also goes to raising awareness about Infantile Scoliosis, which is important because time is essential with scoliosis.

If you would like to support this program, please send $5 to our and I will send you a bracelet.

Or if you live close by, please let me know if you want to contribute and I will bring you a bracelet.

My goal is to sell 15 bracelets and I only have till April 13th.

Thanks everybody :)

Hadley updates

Hadley gets her cast off March 30th and her 6th cast will be put on April 6th. I can't wait to get this cast off, it is getting small on her and I'm ready to have my baby back! Since she is being casted on a Monday, we are going to Chicago early Sunday and spending the whole day down there. We'll try and find all the free things we can do. So far we plan on doing the zoo and millennium park. I have to figure out transportation and all the tiny details yet. We also plan on visiting a church down there that Scott Litke(my mentor's son) goes to. Andy's parents will be coming with us, which is nice so we get to bring Mianna. Otherwise it would have been too difficult to bring her and drag her out of bed that early and have her around when Hadley's proceduce was being done. I will keep you updated on the progress we made!

11 wk check up

I am now 13 wks pregnant and starting the 2nd trimester. I don't have too many complaints, but this pregnancy sure has been different than the girls'. It's hard not knowing what to expect with this one, but it's doable. Not too much sickness, some tiredness, and a lot of lack of motivation. We had a bit of a scare last wk with some spotting, but it lasted less than a day and for reassurance I did go to the doctor and heard the baby's heart beat. Apparently it can be quite common though I did not think so because I did not ever experience that before. My last apt was about 2 wks ago and baby's heart beat was strong as ever. Such an amazing sound! So weird to know theres something living in me, but such a miracle! My next apt is in a couple wks when I am 15 wks. I can hardly wait for the ultra sound, which will be in May.

Hiking, Hiking, Hiking

Since the weather has been a bit nicer, we've been enjoying out times outside. When Andy gets off work, we usually head down the road to a park and do a lot of hiking. And if were not hiking, then were taking a walk. Its been so nice just to get outside finally.

Hadley's in a big girl bed

Hadley finally moved into a toddler bed a little while ago. She loves it. She still sleeps really good and stays in her bed till I come get her. She did however figure out she can slide through a hole on the end to get out if she wanted to, but she only has done that once or twice when she wakes up. I can't believe our baby is in a big girl bed!

Shriner's Circus

Almost a month ago, we took the girls to the Shriner Circus. What better way could we spend our money than to support the people who support us! Shriners by the way still pays for our gas, hotel, and all hospital costs. The circus was great! The best part though was being able to meet the Individual Shriner that takes care of Hadley's case. I call him every time we head to Chicago and he sets everything up for us. If we needed a ride, he'd be the one to drive us. He really was an amazing guy. Just loved the girls! It really was a privelage for finally personally meet him. I just wanted to give him a great big hug and say thank you over and over and over again! I dont know what we'd do without Shriners!

Ps. As you see, Mia has tears in her eyes, it is not because of him.... right before this she was so excited to jump in the jumpy thing, but once we got her in there, she was so scared because there were way too many kids jumping, so she came right out.