Happily Ever After...

My son is planning to go on a trip to East Asia in a few weeks to *help* in orphanages and *take college classes* to get to know college students- You know those kind of trips, right? His inspiration for this type of trip resides in our home :) Anyhoo, his dad and I pledged an amount to help him,and so many others have generously given, but he is still too short and is leaving in 3 weeks. I was praying about it one day, and because I am a homemaker now, I was praying specifically for a way that I could help him reach his goal... The thought came to me that I could give him my grocery $$ for a month. I have become a great coupon shopper and I have created quite a stock pile of things I have paid next to nothing for.. ( My BEST trip was last week when I spent $64 for $244 worth of groceries!! That is a 84% savings- WOOT!) But could it last us for a month? So the plan is, that I will get $25 a week for milk, eggs and a few fresh fruits and veges. I think we can do it. To match my pledge, ...

He's adorable, he's squishy-sweet and HE'S ALLLLL MINE!!!  Ahem, I mean he's perfect for the girls- yeah, the girls :) We meet him on Saturday, and if all goes well, this little spunky boy is coming home to begin therapy/service training. Aria and Gianna have no idea so this will be such a special weekend!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!! (So how's that for taking our time?!?)

We spent the weekend enjoying Buddy the dog, and cruising through each and every neighborhood multiple times each day.  No signs. By Sunday, Greg said he thought we could officially consider Buddy ours to the squeals of delight to Aria.(I mean, who loses their dog on Thursday, and doesn't look for him?) She took to him like I have never seen her do before to any animal. She wrote him letters, she made him cards for his crate. She giggled and ran around with him ALL. DAY. LONG. We were thrilled to see her so readily attach to something... That is not normal for her. Sunday night we went out and spotted an orange sign. Sigh... We were sad. We were bummed. We knew Aria would be devastated. I felt sick. Greg called the owners and set up a meeting before Aria woke up. Saying goodbye is NOT her strong suit. The sad part is, the owner really didn't seem to care that A) his dog was running next to the highway and could have been killed, and B) that they didn't bother to put signs o...

Yesterday afternoon we were running errands, and on a VERY busy road, I saw a little dog running down the road very close to being killed. Greg stopped the car and I ran after him, so terrified he would dart into the traffic and be killed right before my eyes. I called, "Come here lil buddy." And THANKFULLY he turned around and ran right to me. "Buddy" as we are calling him is the sweetest lil guy. He was obviously was loved and well cared for, but the area where we found him is a big road with many, many subdivisions all around. We drove down the closest one to where we found him, and a man outside said he'd never seen him in the neighborhood before. SO, what's a girl to do, but take him home???? We are going to look through all the channels to find his owner, but I am conflicted to say, I kinda hope we can keep him. And just saying that makes me feel terrible, because I would be devastated if it was one of my pooches, so I really hope we find his owners......

Well, after a brief break for a barfathon , I am back in the groove and hoping and praying NO ONE else gets sick. I am armed with lysol and bleach and am determined to eradicate those horrible barf germs from any where I might possibly have touched. I haven't been that sick in a very long time. YUCK! On to happier news, my sister brought her new baby girl home from Vietnam on Saturday! She is an adorable little pistol!!! "Hi, my name is Ava and my new Auntie just fed me cake.  I think she and I are going to be great friends!" Gianna and Ava are starting off right- Gianna brings her things and Ava eats them.  What a team! The four little cousins minus their five grown siblings.  Also thanks to those who emailed asking about Gianna's results. After  waiting to see if she had a bone infection ( which is 3 weeks in the hospital with IV antibiotics) we got all tests back clear.  Thank you Lord! The best we can figure is that she is having muscle spasms, which is easily t...

Good News: I just spoke to our Doctor at Shriners,( did I mention we LOVE him??) and although we are having some issues with her brace, her xrays look great and he is thrilled with her progress thus far! Yippee and THANK YOU LORD! We are taking her to the Ped this morning to check other sources for her back pain. I am expecting a morning full of lab tests and blood draws. She is still complaining and waking at night, so there is SOMETHING going on.... We just have to figure out what it is. No News: Greg STILL has not heard back on the offer for that job. His time is running out on his job, and we are a bit discouraged. The hiring VP did call last week and say that they are still preparing the offer and getting signatures, but  COME ON!!! Two and a half weeks?!? For signatures???  And I will leave you with my very favorite photo of my kids. I love them all SO MUCH!  They make my heart sing! 

Yesterday we had to take Gianna for xrays. It was our very first fire drill. She started complaining that her back hurt, totally out of the blue on the way to Easter service. She complained of and on, all day and then was in bed crying and up all night. We called Shriners and our wonderful doctor called us back at 3:30pm. He said it was highly unusual for her to start complaining, so we needed xrays ASAP.  We jumped into the car, and headed for the pediatrician's office so they could transpose the xray order onto the right paperwork. We rushed to Children's Urgent Care to get xrays right before they closed, and then found a Fedex location to overnight them just before their final pickup of the day.... Whew! We played beat the clock- AND WON! We will know more today, but here is a look at the amazing devices that have changed her life: Notice the hook on her spine. This is what is holding the device in place.  Can you see why they don't want her bending forward and stressing...

We are so thankful that He DIED for our sins... that He ROSE and defeated the grave. May our lives daily reflect this LOVE.....

My sweet, sweet husband always gets me an Easter basket.. Every year, it is full of my favorite things. This year, I got stress relief bath salts (why on earth would I need those ?!? LOL) Peanut butter M&Ms, and a little black box that was hidden behind the M&Ms... AN I-PHONE!!!! I got an I-PHONE for EASTER!!! He said that he is celebrating my 40th birthday all year long at random times. He is amazing... and I am BLESSED to be his wife! This makes turning 40 WAAAYYY more exciting :)

Playing "Doctor Samdani." Ever since Curious George had his back fixed with Gianna, he has needed on going medical care. Gianna is happy to be on the other side of these medical exams :) Aria really likes giving shots! Time to check the ol' ticker Another shot... should I be concerned? Time for an arm hug. Cinderella getting her  stepmother vaccine. Hopefully with this shot and the Prince, she will now be immune to her wicked step mother. "Here are your x-rays George. You look great!" Apparently, Gianna needs DOUBLE shots. She screamed, "YUCKY!!!" She knows... They are constantly talking about their animals needing pain medicine, want to give them arm hugs, and checking their backs.  I am glad they can role play our real life....

Feeding the ducks with Daddy... Decorating Easter Eggs with RyRy and Laura... And blowing lots of bubbles off the deck.... We are thankful for the beautiful spring weather that made it's return after a freak snow shower.  We are getting back to normal here, and normal would include picking up germs :( The girls and I have started to not feel well. UGH! Hopefully we will recover quickly but today I think we will have a Jammie/Movie day and listen to the thunderstorms from the comfort of my bed..

We had a great visit with Greg's parents who are leaving for two years to live overseas.  Gianna has to drink 2 Pedisures daily- and she HATES them. Grandpa became her entertainment while she was slowly slurping down her stuff.  Since blowing bubbles is great respiratory therapy, Grandma helped encourage Gianna to blow as many bubbles as she could. Everything is more fun with Grandma helping! Now at day 16, she is sitting up more and more, she can walk around pretty quickly (with supervision ofcourse) and she only needs meds once or twice every 24 hours. We are thankful every day for the progress we have seen. We are also so thankful that she shows no signs of infection. The Dr. said we won't be totally out of the woods for a chance of infection until about a month post-op. We are continuing to pray that she heals well.. And I'll leave you with a cameo blog appearance from Laura. She is my sons "friend". We LOVE Laura. Alot. Aria Loves Laura. Gianna adores her.......