8 is enough!!

Friday, April 10, 2009

I can see, I can see, I can see!!

Kehli can see now...YAY!!

(she looks so cute in glasses)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Christopher...what a blessing you have been to me and this entire family! There are so many things that I love about you! I still remember the moment you were born and you were put into my arms! There aren't words to adequately describe how I felt! You were my first little boy! I was so happy (and so was your dad)! You were a very easy baby! You were the cutest little toddler! You were a very active kid! And now...you are an incredible young man!
As I have watched you learn and grow up over the last 13 years, I am just in awe of you! You are such a kind and compassionate person. I can't begin to tell you how many times other parents have come to me and shared how wonderful they think you are. You really try to do what is right. You have faced struggles and challenges that most kids (or even adults for that matter) never have to deal with. I am so proud of how you deal with those things...especially your diabetes! I know it is a daily battle and some days are better than others, but you are doing it!
I love to look up on Sunday and see you in your white shirt and tie passing the sacrament. What a wonderful blessing that is for you (and your Dad and I). What a wonderful example you are to your younger brother. There are so many things I love about you and am so proud of you for!

I love your...

sense of humor
smile
laugh
caring nature
compassion for others
determination
testimony
athletic abilities
musical talents
sense of adventure
silliness
and so much more...

I love that at 13 years old, you will still give me a hug and kiss on the cheek in front of your friends! I am so thankful that Heavenly Father sent you to me! We may not always see eye-to-eye, but I will always love you...no matter what! However, let's make a pact right now that you won't ever try to test that...haha! :)

Most of all, I love that you continually forgive me when I fall short as your mom! I love you so much and want nothing more than for you to feel safe, secure, happy and loved beyond description!

Thank you for being my wonderful "little" boy!!
And yes, you will always be MY "little" boy! :)

I LOVE YOU!!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Spring Break...I think NOT!

I love spring! I love the beautiful flowers, the warmth of the sun, the smell of rain, baby animals, and especially spring break with my kids home!
HOWEVER...I am renaming spring break this year to:

SPRING APPOINTMENTS!

There is NO break!

Monday:
Cheri dentist appointment

Tuesday:
Brittaney dentist appointment (this child has no cavities and never has...yea!!)
Katelyn to the doctor. Diagnosis: strep throat :(
Rich has month-end

Wednesday:
Cheri and Christopher to the foot doctor! (thanks Marci!)
Rich school.
Babysit 2 little boys all day.

Thursday:
Take Kehli for her bloodwork.
Christopher and Kehli (depending on her platelet level) dentist.

Friday:
Kehli to the eye doctor.
Brittaney to the orthodontist for a consult.

I love spring break! I love having my kids home. I wish there weren't so many appointments this week, but at least they won't miss school for them. I am still babysitting full time this week as well! I wanted to take the kids to the children's museum and zoo this week, but that may have to wait for Saturday! We have a fabulous children's museum and zoo here in Indy! The good thing about waiting for Saturday is Rich can come with us too! :)
We are enjoying our spring break so far. We are having fun, being silly, and playing hard ( in between appts., of course)! I hope everyone else has a great spring break this year too!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Kehli Update

Here is our monkey! I have had a lot of questions about how Kehli is doing so I thought I would give an update on here. I have also put a sidebar on here with her platelet level updates so you can check up on her there too. So, here's the story:
In January, I noticed Kehli had a "rash" all over her. A few days later I noticed she was covered in bruises too. She was also having severe migraines and horrible leg pain. I got on the internet (what did we do before the internet?) and found what her rash was. It was petechiae. I called the doctors office and told them what her symptoms were and they got her in right away that day. I was really nervous going to the doctor, but I wound up feeling worse when I left. The doctor was very worried. They were testing Kehli for Leukemia. The doctor ran the tests STAT and so luckily we got the results in about 3 hours. It was NOT leukemia....YEA!! However, I have to confess that those were some of the longest 3 hours of my life....very scary! The bloodwork did show that her blood platelets were 86,000. The normal range is 155,000-400,000. So, they set up an appt. for Kehli with a Dr. down at Riley Hospital for Children with a hematologist/oncologist. We have had to have her blood tested 1-2 times a week since then. Her levels went down to 14,000 at one point.
For anyone who might be wondering, your platelets are what helps your blood clot. So, when your platelets are low you are at an increased risk of bleeding out. Under 20,000 is considered a medical emergency. She can't really do anything when she gets low because if she gets hurt, she can have internal bleeding that we don't see. According to the dr's if she's under 10,000 she is at a much greater risk of spontaneous internal bleeding....not a good thing! :)
Her platelets eventually started going back up and got back up into normal range. However, her last blood test showed her platelets were back down to 59,000. Her next test is tomorrow so we will see what that shows. Hopefully, she is going back up!
They diagnosed her with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). It is an auto-immune blood disorder. We are hoping it is just an accute case and not chronic. The only way they can diagnose it being a chronic case for sure is if she is still having problems after 6 months. I guess only time will tell. There isn't really anything they can do for her unless she actually has bleeding issues. Then the treatments are blood product and/or long-term steroids and they both have serious side affects. Kehli has been having serious bone pain in her legs, so the Dr. said if she needs blood product, they would most likely have to do a bone marrow biopsy first. I pray it never comes to that.
Kehli has been a trooper. She gets very tired when her platelets are down, but she is still our monkey! Thank you to everyone who put her name on the prayer rolls and who have offered prayers on her behalf! They are working, so please don't stop! I keep telling myself it could be so much worse....thankfully she doesn't have leukemia! I feel so blessed that we live here with wonderful hospitals and doctors. Riley is where Christopher was transferred when he was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and was so sick. It is a wonderful hospital. I'm thankful for the internet where I can have information at my fingertips in a matter of seconds. I'm thankful Kehli's teacher has been so kind about the time she has missed from school. She offered to come to our home and help Kehli with anything she missed! How many teachers do that? I'm thankful to know that Heavenly Father is watching over her and knows what is best! :)
One last thing...a funny story. When we took Kehli down to Riley hospital, we had to take her to the hematology, oncology unit. The sad part, was there were very sick kids there. Some were bald, some had a little hair, some were wearing masks and some looked like they were on death's doorstep. There was this litle 2 yr. old girl who played with little Tayler in the waiting area. She had very little hair and was wearing a mask. After we got back into the room with the dr., they ran some mre tests on Kehli and Tayler got restless so I walked around the hall with her. Down at the nurses station was this little girl and her dad. The nurses post butcher paper all along the fron of the desk and have buckets of crayons so the kids can color all over it. So, Tayler and this little girl were coloring. The next thing I know, Tayler is trying to color on this little girl's bald head. I took her hand and told her we don't color on our friends, only on paper. Then this little girl's dad said," That's a good idea....let's color on some hair for her." It was pretty funny and I appreciated the dad making the nice, funny comment! What strength these families have to endure those horrible illnesses and the courage and strength of those little kids....beyond words.
I hope that this helped to update everyone and answer questions.
Please continue to keep Kehli in your prayers! I will continue to update the sidebar with her test results. We love you all!

Mickelsen Family Visit

Rich's family came here to visit last week. Nicki and Addison came on Thursday, March 12, and then his parents came on Tuesday March 17. Unfortunately, they all left Saturday morning (March 21). Nicki, Oma, and Opa stayed up at Marci's (Rich's sister) house. Marci only lives about 10-15 minutes away so that is super nice! Addison stayed down here at our house. It was so good to see them. Brittaney and Christopher had a blast with Addison. They hung out, there was a trip to the mall and the movies, a day at the golf course, watching comediens on youtube (very funny), and of course, the Twilight party the night before they left. They all went to the party with Marci and Nicki and then spent the night at Marci's house. Kehli stayed home with Oma and Opa during the party. She was getting a little tired. How fun for her to have that alone time with Oma and Opa.
The girls did some shopping, the boys played golf, we spent time visiting, and we ate lots of yummy food! Nicki brought some fabulous recipes and made some incredibly yummy food for us. Rich made his yummy roast and also his lemon-herb chicken too! He is a fabulous cook! I felt bad because I had a really easy week with everyone else cooking all of the time! I had to babysit all week, so I wasn't able to do much with everyone unless they were down here visiting. We went up to Marci's one day with the little boy that I babysit. We all spent every evening together, though!
I really wish that they could have stayed longer, but I know they have to get back to their lives. I am so thankful that I married into such a wonderful family!! I love that they care so much about us that they sacrifice to come and visit us so often. When they are here, they are so helpful and they really play with and spend time with the kiddos. I hope they all know how much that means to me/us!! Thank you so much for coming!! We miss you so much already! I love them all so much and feel so blessed to be a part of this wonderful family!