doofus

I've definitely had an interesting week. As some people out there already know, I've been without a phone for almost a week. And let me tell you...I feel like I've been living in the dark ages. SERIOUSLY! I'm know I'm over reacting, but still.

Last Friday, as we were leaving to go get Lucy's brace, my mind was in a million different places. I realized as we were walking out the door, that I had left my phone on our "mini-bar." I reached over the sink to get it and proceeded to drop it in a pan that was soaking in nice hot water. I immediately took it out of the water (with cat like reflexes I might add), took it apart, and threw it into a bag of rice. It didn't help. My phone was a dead. No longer my life line. What was I going to do? We couldn't afford a new one. I felt like a doofus.

A friend came through in my time of need and offered me his for as long as I needed it. Turns out, it wasn't going to be as easy to activate as we had thought, so I bought a refurbished one offline and it came today! Now I just have to work on getting all my contact numbers in. Yikes! Big job!

I did think about a lot over the last week about time spent with my phone and a few things I'm taking away from this experience are:

1. Don't drop your phone in water, or leave it in a place close to water
2. I rely waayy too much on my phone.
3. I check facebook way too often with my phone
4. I need to be ok with not having a phone from time to time.

I waste too much time just fiddling with my phone, folks and I'm going to try and be better about that.

brace day

Today was THE DAY. Today was brace day. Today we picked up Lu's brace. Not gonna lie. It's a little more intimidating that what I had pictured in my head. It's a total leg brace from the knee down.

And no real surprise here, but she does not particularly like to wear it.

We got a quick lesson in properly putting it on, cleaning it and kinds of shoes she is supposed to be wearing with it. We're going to have to invest in some new shoes, but trust me - she'll still be stylish! It's not too complicated, but it's definitely going to be a chore building up to having her keep it on all day.

She finally did warm up to it and quit complaining about it once we got to Starbucks and bought her a blended chocolate milk (which she did not drink) and an apple juice (which we kind of had to buy because she practically opened it before we knew it).

She is kind of shy about having it on. We saw the Haynes family this afternoon while she was wearing it and she kept her face in my shoulder and would hardly walk in it, but this afternoon she's sllloooowwwllyy warming up to it.

She kept it on for a straight hour.

PS - She isn't supposed to wear any kind of sandals with it, but flip-flops is all we had with us, but I think she looks darn cute!

camera ready

Yesterday, Scott and I actually saw Lucy and Elly cat fighting. One of those where the arms are swinging and smacking each other! And they were yelling, too. It was crazy. I've never actually seen someone do that in real life. I still don't know what they were fighting over. I kind of wish I had it on a video.

On a lighter note...we bought the girls a small pool for the backyard. This morning, Elly decided to streak outside and jump in. It's going to be a great summer!

Once again, I really should have my camera ready.

holiday weekend

No matter how many times I have to do it, it really is never easy saying good-bye to my family. You'd think I'd be used to it by now...I haven't lived in the same town as them since my freshman year of college, but it still makes me sad and tear up a little.

My parents came briefly for the holiday weekend. They were here less than 72 hours, but woooow! We had a full couple days. Our activities included Donut Wheel, shopping at Target and the mall, lunch at Beyond Bread, napping, Tangled, Ramona and Beezus, Tucson Padres game, the Splash Pad, a tour of the NICU, church and In N Out Burger. Oh, and Chick-fil-a on our way to the airport.

With all the activities of the weekend, one would have thought to take his/her camera to document said activities. I however, forgot. The only time I remembered to take pictures was at the Padres game. So I guess that's all the memories I have of the weekend for now. But I did get a picture with my dad...and my dad doesn't take pictures. Here are a few of our fun, BUT my mom isn't in ANY of them. I'm not sure how that happened!

Maybe next time I'll remember my camera...and actually remember to take pictures with it!

LU: a pest

I was trying to get everyone ready to go this morning so I could take Lucy to her Dr.'s appointment. After Elly asked me for the 6th time (or so) why we were taking Lucy to the doctor I reminded her again about the bump on Lucy's leg that the doctors wanted to look at. To which she replied, "mom, that bump is a pest, huh?" Perfect description, Elly. Perfect description.

Lucy actually went to see an oncologist today for the second opinion at the request of the orthopedic surgeon we had already seen. I don't want to bore everyone with details, details, details, mostly because I can't remember them all. I am awesome with remembering details...except in situations like this. However, I do want to give everyone the basic run down of what was discussed.

Lucy has a benign mass growing on her right tibia, which confirms what we already knew. The physician we saw today wants to manage her case by taking x-rays of her leg every few months. She will have to see the ortho guy at least yearly until her teens and she will have to wear the leg brace as much as she'll tolerate it for awhile (once we get it), but I'm still not sure how long that will continue. The word biopsy was thrown around today and has been thrown around at previous appointments, but I think we'll be able to hold off on that for now.

Here's a picture of Lucy's leg. I wanted to put this on here, just so everyone can see how the bump is causing her right leg to bow out.



Our family is continuing to believe in Lucy's healing. That even if the bump is there for awhile, it won't be a problem for her...that it won't turn into anything else...that she can adjust well with the changes that are about to take place for her aka "The Brace".

I feel since this whole ordeal started different verses from the Bible or lines from worship songs have resonated with me weekly. "Forever Reign" is the song I keep singing over and over this week. There's a line that says

You are here, You are here
In your presence I'm made whole
You are God You are God
Of all else I'm letting go.

I've found myself clinging to that and really proclaiming it in my life - that I would continue to let go and that God would continue to show me how He is here and He is in control.

just a phase

I'm definitely a rule follower. The thought of being in trouble while growing up would seriously make me sick to my stomach. I'm not sure if this is a personality trait or a learned behavior, but I know one thing for sure, at this point, Elly does not care about following rules.

On the way to her last ballet class of the session this morning, Elly tells me that she doesn't want to go. I gave her all the reasons why it would be good to go: her friends would be there, mommy would be in the class today watching, it was the last class for awhile...etc, etc.

I should have know that because she didn't want to be there I was asking for it. Let's just say I wouldn't let her have a sticker at the end of class and I made her apologize to the teacher for being disrespectful. I'm really glad I thought to take Miss K a "thank you" card, because I'm pretty sure her patience was wearing down.

I really hope this is just a phase.

At least I got a semi cool picture of her feet at one point.

LU: questions

Lucy Update (or LU if you will)

I went into Lucy's ortho appointment today excited to finally ask a few questions, get a few answers and most importantly - a diagnosis. However, I left with more questions and less answers.

Bottom line, there is still no definite diagnosis for the growths on Lucy's leg, yet. Because they don't want to proceed with a treatment without knowing exactly what is going on, we've been referred to get a second opinion with a physician who works in Phoenix. I'm currently in the process of getting an appointment for Lucy with him.

The biggest area of concern while we're waiting is the way the growth on Lu's leg is impacting it. There's no doubt (visible on the original x-ray and even looking at her leg) the growth is causing her bone to bow. For this reason, Lucy will soon be sporting a custom made brace on her leg as a preventative measure to help support her leg (basically so she doesn't experience any fractures).

An x-ray of Lucy's left leg was done today to make sure nothing was growing on that leg as well. I'm elated to say her left leg is perfectly healthy and normal at this time.

It's frustrating not knowing what's next. I'm continually taking deep breaths praying for God's peace to fill me. My thought processes have gone on a hundred paths today already but one thing for sure, as difficult as this is, I'm learning to take my hand out of the pot of control and trust God to take care of my little girl for me.

Lamentations 3:22-24

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."