The Top Ten

We have been majorly MIA regarding our blog - I don't quite have an excuse except for one thing.  Once we got Lizzie stable and things were okay for awhile, I majorly 100% shut down, went into depression, got sick and just felt all around terrible.  I think I had been running on fumes for so long that it all hit and this summer was when it was the worst.  But, things are looking up - life is rosy again and I have figured out how to take care of myself and Lizzie and everything else without damaging my health and well being.
Since I could never post about all that has happened, I will do a top ten list of the highlights of the last few months...but be forewarned, it still promises to be a HUGE, LONG post!

10.  This should actually be number one, but Ben and I got away in May and went to Europe...London and Paris to be exact.  It was a wonderful trip and I fell in love with London and can't wait to get back.  I thought Paris was likewise amazing, but didn't love it as much as London.  We spent 3 days in each city and that wasn't near enough time for me.  Highlights included:  Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre, Mont Marte in Paris (we had a celeb sighting...Uma Thurman), all the museums...I could have spent days in each one, the palace at Versailles and just spending time with my best friend and husband! 

Us riding the "London Eye" In the background are some of the main tourist areas of London

 The Eiffel Tower is so beautiful at night...the lighting was amazing

Ben trying to figure out just which one to buy in MontMarte...the artist was amazing!

 P.S.  The best part about London was that Colin Firth was at our hotel there and I was sorely tempted to douse his white tuxedo shirt with water to relive the Pride and Prejudice scene!! 

9.  Lizzie's Dance Recital - Lizzie is in this darling special needs dance class at Inspire Dance Academy and there is no pressure about it and they get to perform and have costumes just as other children do.  She loves it and did so great in her recital!

8.  Edward Jones Summer Retreat - We love Ben's company and they do the funnest retreat each summer for all the families...we have made some really good friends through his company and we had a great time up at Deer Valley Resort.  With each outing and new thing we do, Lizzie seems to improve and she is slowly overcoming her fears that came with the stroke.

7.  During the last few months we lost two sweet friends to brain tumors/brain cancer.  Our previous post mentioned Dylan Shaw and a fundraiser we were involved in for him.  He lost his courageous battle with a brain tumor a couple months ago.  Our hearts broke for the Shaw family...Dylan was such a special boy who touched so many people's lives.

Cute Dylan with Lizzie - we miss you Dylan!

We lost another friend last month - Daniel Allen lost his battle with brain cancer.  He was our HopeKids friend...last year his family and ours tied for raising the most money for Hope Kids and it was a fun little competition.  We had such hope that he would win this fight.  In the words of Daniel, "Cancer Sucks!"  He was such a special little guy and we will sorely miss seeing him at HopeKids events.

6.  Ireland - Ben can win two trips per year with his job and the second one he chose this year was Ireland!  Although, I didn't go with him on this trip because it is really hard on Lizzie when she is out of her routine and when I'm gone.  Ben went with his parents and they had such a great time and loved every minute of it. 

5.  Summer - the kids had a good summer and we spent lots of time at a park we LOVE up in Huntsville along with swimming, movies, playing outside all day and everything else that kids love about summer!

Our fam at our favorite place in the world...well, one of them - Sundance Resort!  And no comments about my chipmunk cheeks...I definitely gained weight during those months of depression but I've lost 17 and still going strong!

4.  Hope Kids - we still do a lot of activities through Hope Kids - it is such a great organization and really makes Lizzie feel special that she is our "Hope Kid" and the only reason we get to do these special things is because of her.  We did some fun things with Hope Kids this summer such as an Antelope Island picnic, movie days, and getting to go see Mary Poppins on broadway!

3.  Spencer - a quick update about our little man.  He is still the hero to his sisters, the helper to his mom, the playmate to his dad, a good little athlete and just a great kid.  We have noticed that he has been struggling with anger issues once in awhile and not just little anger...red hot explosive kind.  We have noticed this has come about since Lizzie's surgeries so we are making a game plan to get him some help to express his emotions. 

Once in awhile, he'll break down and cry about things.  This week he told me he was excited to get his Eagle Scout award...he can't even start working on that until he's 12, but he's still excited.  He was giving me ideas of what he might do for a project and he mentioned Primary Children's Hospital...I asked him what project he thought would be good and he said to start a babysitting service at the hospital so the parents could spend more time at home with their other kids that aren't sick.  Ugh, stick a knife in my heart - I felt so sad that he still feels traumatized from all the time we spent away from him.

2.  Lizzie - she is really doing well.  She finally is able to take growth hormone and she is growing!  We are thrilled with her progress.  She is growing, her weight gain is slowing down and we found a medication that helps her not feel that incessant, horrible hunger all the time.  We have really enjoyed a period of stability and she makes progress every day! 

We have noticed that her learning is delayed and we really have to work with her on reading, math and basic things that she already knew before her surgeries.  Her memory is sometimes really good and then other times, we notice that it's really not so good.  She is doing really well in first grade though and seems to be very accepted and loved in her classroom.  Her teacher is wonderful and Lizzie has been able to share with the class about her health issues and surgeries so they will understand and have compassion towards her.  She does have another surgery scheduled...boooooo! 

In two weeks she will have her tonsils out and while that may sound routine, it's anything but routine for us because she doesn't make cortisol and pain management & hormone balance will be a challenge.  We will probably be inpatient for a few days while they figure things out and get her stabilized.  We feel good about the surgery and think it will help her with her recurrent strep throat problems and sleep issues.


1.  Calli - she is a still a spitfire and is as crazy as ever.  Her best friends are boys and this week we were in the store and I saw her leaning over the cart and something fall out of her mouth.  I asked her if she just spit on the ground and she said, "yes, Riley does it all the time."  Riley is her best friend and he has informed her that pink is a horrible color and that girl toys are "boring." 

So now Calli plays with Spencer's legos and wants nothing to do with pink!  She is so funny, but she is a full time job for sure!  She just started preschool again and is doing well.  Calli is our snuggle-bug and loves to be as close to us as possible...although she has finally started staying in her own bed at night...it has been a LONG four years of getting up in the night with her. 

Life is good - it seems like with each trial comes great blessings as well and we have been blessed to be able to handle things a lot better.  This week Lizzie's hormones were all over the place and they wanted to hospitalize her to get her stable, but we made the decision to treat her at home and it was so nice to have the knowledge and confidence that we could take care of her and get her back to feeling good again. 

I promise to be a better blogger...I kind of use this as our family journal and there is a huge gap there!  We hope all of our friends are doing well - Happy Fall!