the forgotten one...

I know it seems like I have forgotten about poor Emily the past several posts, LOL. Believe me I have not. We talk on the phone, text and chat via FB regularly. It's just that she hasn't had anything quite as "nerve-wracking" going on as David's ears. She was here the last two weekends helping me since my back was messed up and spending time with our closet friends - the Holliday family!

School is going well for Emily though she does complain often of being bored. Her grades are good though. Should be A's and B's at the end of this first 9-week-period. I think the complaints are part of that - hello parents, welcome to the beginning of teenage angst. Boys are a definite part of life now and the terminology they use just makes me shudder. Even though at 13 they of course don't date, don't drive, etc. Barely talk to the boy at school and on text messages - they say they are "going out" or "hooking up". I hate those phrases, but alas teenagers today. As the relationships begin with boys I hope she always remembers that she's God's child and the values we've taught her. The thing that I find funny is once she does start actually dating (years away) there will be 2 dad's to grill the poor sob that comes to pick her up.

Emily's dance team has been performing at the football games on Tuesday and Thursday nights for her school. It's fun to watch them. Today they are doing something really special - they were invited to perform with the Auburn band at halftime of tonight's game vs. Ball State. They will practice with the dancers this morning and then the band this afternoon all in preparation for tonight. She's really excited - even though she's a BAMA fan (yuck). I'm really really really bummed that Dan and I won't be there. We had tickets and then let them go back because David was supposed to have surgery yesterday and be recovering today. I knew he would need/want me and not a sitter after surgery. Of course the surgery didn't happen, but we had already let our tickets go :( Her mom is going to take pics and video it for us though. I'll share them as soon as I get them.

Our Hospital Veteran

David is such a trooper through all his doctor visits and surgery trips. He never complains, whines or anything. He just goes with the flow and makes everyone he encounters smile and laugh a little. Here are a couple of shots in his pre-op room today while we were waiting. Even though doc wasn't able to do the surgery he still poked and prodded around in there and subsequently irritated the tumor so it bled some while we were there and then again some when we got home. It finally eased off until he and Dan started playing "chasing monsters"... So I think he needs to take it a little easy tomorrow. Blood filled ear is not something you like to see in a four-year-old. With that in mind he isn't going to play soccer in the morning. I don't want him out there running around and his ear starts up again. Thankfully being four he doesn't really understand that he's missing a game tomorrow.

Update on the Adventures of David's Ear

We made it to Children's Outpatient facility on Acton Road this morning and everything progressed as expected. They had been back with David about 10 minutes when the doctor came out to talk to us. Once he had David asleep and could look more closely in the ear he found more than he expected. There is a tumor about the size of a large grape. It appears to be a combination of a bony tumor, granular tumor and fleshy tumor... He said very very unusual/rare not ever seen one quite like it. A bit of a surprise coming from a veteran Ped Ent Specialist. He said they could not remove it at the outpatient facility. It will require the full hospital OR, his entire team and an overnight stay. He will have to cut and drill and some other things... And rather than go in through the ear canal they will have to go in behind the ear and kind of "pull the ear back"... He is sure it is benign and no way related to cancer, but they will send it to pathology to be sure.

So they woke David up and we brought him home. The surgery is scheduled for this coming Wednesday at Children's downtown in Birmingham. If things go as planned David will be out of school only Wed - Fri and back on the following Monday.

Please keep him in your prayers and I will let you know more as it happens.

David's 1st Pep Rally

Today was spirit day at David's school. The new cheerleader's were introduced along with the soccer players. David was thrilled to wear his soccer jersey today. And he was fascinated that our friend Hayden is a "cheetahleader". Here are some pics from the day:

David at School

Here are several different photos of David at school over the past few weeks.

The first couple of pictures are from the Spanish Fiesta. They are learning about Mexico's culture, language, history, etc. During the Fiesta they decorated cupcakes in the color's of Mexico's flag.

This next shot was taken during a watermelon break on Red day. They did several things with the color red that week, but watermelon was by far the most fun! Not sure about David's expression though LOL.

The kids have a great playground for their free play time each day. They also have actual PE with a coach 3 days a week.

Last week was the anniversary of the school and one of the celebrations held was releasing "Blessings" to the community. All the children at school did blessings and attached them to the balloons and then after a special blessing of the blessings by the Priests the balloons were released.

Last week they had a visit at the school by David Sargent, Jr. - a children's book writer. He brought his dogs (whom the books are about) and they put on a little show for the kid. David came home with two books signed by the author and the dogs!! They are great books and David especially loves it since he got to meet the dogs.

So I Don't Like Obama - It Doesn't Mean I Am a Rascist!!

I have bronchitis - YUCK. A cold, turned sinus infection, turned bronchitis. Pri-med yesterday for a breathing treatment, shot, x-ray, blood-work and 4 prescriptions. UGH... Taking it easy today while the boy is at school.

So anyway - since I feel so yucky I don't have it in me to put together anything for the blog today. But I was reading a blog of a friend of mine and he was discussing an issue that I feel very strongly about and I agree with what he's written, as I do most things he writes LOL. Great minds do think alike after all. So anyway - this topic addresses the face that some on the left like to pull out the race card against us on the right when we disagree with Obama... If you'd like to read his post click here.

Ear Update :)

Just talked to the nurse at Children's from the ENT Clinic... After reviewing the CT results doc has decided not a cholesteatoma after all. It is an aural polyp over the ear tube. This can be removed via outpatient surgery. The surgery will be next Friday. There is a small possibility that a few scarier conditions could show up once the polyp is excised and biopsied, but not likely.

This is great news!!!!