Journal

No, once again I have not fallen off the face of the earth...I've run all over it, sometimes, but I'm still alive and well.

The triple move is complete, thank God and all are settled into their new homes. Kylie's birthday party was an incredible gas. It will take 1 SUV and 2 autos to get all the toys up to U of M and the plan is  to do it Friday, Nov. 27. I am doing a brief update and plan on uploading pix and video  either tomorrow or Sat. Kylie was absolutely adorable. There were a few minor hiccups (to quote our good friend Kendra). Aubrey's mom threw a hissy fit and my car caught fire, but is still drivable...It wasn't a big fire, just the floor board, so now I am driving an 10 year old uncool car that has a hole in the floor board of the back seat. Just need to find a slice of metal and have a friend weld it in. Right now it is fixed with a cookie tin and duct tape... I'm serious... it's funny.

Next week I have to find a big fat freaky turkey and cook it. We are celebrating Thanksgiving on Sunday, when all of us have the day off. It sounds like a good time. Aubrey's mom demands to come on Thanksgiving, and there are about five of us that would like to kill her... That wouldn't be festive...Especially since Al is a warden at Wood County Jail and that's where we would all be hauled off to...Sunday will be fun. Al, Leslie, Leo and the Stowers clan will be together.

Tomorrow is the second court appearance this week with dear sweet Dr. O... I'm working like a maniac...And I could never have imagined that life could be this good a year ago. I may be 54, but I'm still out there living and learning.

Love and blessings, Diane

Once again, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Just working 6 to 7 nights a week. But I got good news... either tonight or tomorrow I train the new relief nurse! So... I hope to go back to my 40 hours a week schedule. I actually have a 3 day weekend this weekend, and a 4 day one on the 13th and 14th of November! But I will still be busy.

This weekend is the big triple move! Ron, Aubrey and Kylie are moving into their own place! Bless Al for opening up his home to them over the past year but they all are moving out of the house he was renting. Al is moving in with his girlfriend (move #2) and his girlfriend is moving in with Al (move number 3). So All and Leslie are moving into another place and somehow between Sat and Tuesday we have to get all of them moved. It is going to be...interesting, to say the least. So, starting Sat 10 AM sharp, the great move begins! I hate moving! We do have lots of people coming to help us!

The following weekend, November 8, I am going to Kylie's for a sleep over. Ron and Aubrey are going to a wedding and I am babysitting over night at their place!! Just like a normal Grandma!!! It sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Then the following weekend, we have the big birthday bash for Kylie. November 14th 2 - 6 pm.

There is going to be a lot of people there and we hope to get a lot of stuff for the Child and Family Life Center up at Motts. It is more of a benefit for the hospital than a traditional birthday party, however, if anyone cares to give a gift to Kylie...I'm sure they wouldn't turn it down. So, Friday the 13th is the epic, marathon, bake in. Lot's and lots of cupcakes will be made by me, Aubrey and Beth. Then go decorate the church on Saturday and then...PARTYTIME!!!

It is so hard to believe that Kylie is almost a year old. Her birthday is Thanksgiving Day, November 26 but we wanted to celebrate a bit early to avoid the holiday. I don't know how many times we almost despaired of ever reaching this day.  The child has been under God's protection since the moment of her conception. Wonderfully Made, my book is now 250 pages long. Reading and editing all of the journals brings it all back in focus. Wow, what a long hard time that was. Yet, if you look at Kylie today, you would never know that she almost died all of those times. She is pink, and plump, and very playful. We had to turn her around and sit her down in church Sunday. She was standing on the pew, dancing and waving to all of her adoring fans during the sermon. She has a smile that lights up a room. We all feel truly thankful and very very blessed

Still working hard with Christian, just trying to get back to where he was before he got sick. These little breather kids have a hard time when the weather changes and it's hard to keep his lungs clear. Also his father, the amazing Dr. O, decided last week that the protection order doesn't apply to him any more and started a campaign of harassment, that climaxed in him making a false charge of negligence against Missy. What a JERK! The police are looking out for us, a lot of people have been very supportive. If everybody that wanted a piece of this jerk took one, all there would be left would be a pool of blood and a few tufts of hair! At least, with the Child protective services eval, we have a great tool to use against him during the custody hearing next month.

Do you remember Mei Ni? She ran into some problems this fall too, she has a clot in the wall of her heart. They are giving her Lovenox to try and dissolve it but... we won't know if it works until after the birthday party. I think they are coming up from Kentucky for the Birthday party weekend.

Brittney is doing great. She is very active, actually ran one mile in fifteen minutes! Better than I could do and I didn't have a heart transplant! She and her family probably are coming down for the birthday party. So are the Bonnings and Jessica and a whole lot of people. It will be a PICU heart family reunion. We don't know how many will be there, probably over 100! Wow.

I spent so much time trying to return to regularly scheduled life. The last day of my regularly scheduled life was July 30, 2004, the day before my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was a good life, that life before my mom's death, Ron's cancer, my stupid tumor, auto accidents and all of the rest of the catastrophes. Just recently I realized that I couldn't go back, I have changed too much, and I started moving forward. I know, it took me a while! But once I let go and followed the path that I believed God wanted me to follow, I found... Normalcy. It's not the life I left behind, in many ways it is better. It is a much simpler life, I am a lot more grateful and at peace now. Yeah, there are some scary things out there, what will happen to Kylie and Ron, The trial and my testimony, but I am actually joyous now. Just enjoying what each day brings.

It is much better than my old life... And I think if I ever get some spare time, the only thing missing is volunteering at the therapeutic riding center.

After all, I promised Kylie I would teach her to ride. :D

Love and Blessings, Diane

No, I did not fall off the face of the earth! I have been pretty busy lately and am getting ready to do some running, so hear is the short version

Christian: relapsed a little and is now getting better. My fellow night nurse is now Officially on maternity leave so I see a whole lot of Mr. C. Like nightly!

Kylie: If we ever doubted that Kylie was a miracle baby, she has added another few to her list.  1) She finally decided to start gaining weight so that the feeding tube is off the table! Yeah!!!

2) According to her cardiologist,, she is now "adjusted" to the surgery they did in April. Her oxygen sats are great, her cardiac function is good, and NOW, for the first time in her life, she is pink!

3) Went to the Cleveland Clinic, yes her nearsighted/farsighted visison is kind of weird and the one retina is scarred. BUT... that doesn't matter because the scarring does not affect the area of the retina where the vision focuses, so it shouldn't have that much effect on her vision.

 4) Princess K, and her parents are moving on the weekend of the Nov 1, so everybody is in full pack up gear. Then we wll all be in full unpack mode, then birthday party prep mode. We are celebrating Kylie's first birthday on November 14.

Me: I have a sinus infection that I am getting over and am too busy to really be too worried. Antibiotics are wonderful! Thank you Dr. Fleming, et. al. for coming up with antibiotics.

Back into my slightly mad world

Love and blessings, Diane