I thought about rocking this post pirate style, but I only got as far as the "argh!". It seemed to sum it up enough... the fact that I do such a poor job of keeping you all updated. I'd apologize again, but that would just be redundant and I don't know how likely to improve in such matters I am.
Onto the update then?
Summer break has ended and summer is coming to a close. Here in St. Louis, it hasn't felt much like summer since the beginning of July, so we have not had nearly as much pool time as we had anticipated. It's all right though; with two mortgages, we are especially glad to have lower utility bills. :) Summer for us came with a light break followed by four weeks of summer school. I then got a series of injections in my neck, upper and lower back, elbows, knees and hips, totalling 129. The next six weeks were spent primarily with our new dear friend Kelly helping around the house. I like to refer to her as my Hoss Hauler or Moose Mover. (The boy is up to 60 pounds! He is growing all the time.) She has been a tremendous blessing for our family and we thank God that we have been able to bless her and her family as well. She began seminary school last week to get a theology degree. She does prison ministry, hanging out at the Max 5 men's prison and has been led to become a full time prison chaplin. We look forward to years more of friendship and symbiotic encouragement. :) She will also be providing care for our precious little ones while Marc and I go away for our first overnight since Lucas was born. (He wants to go away for a week for our 10 year anniversary next year. I am filled with trepidation at the thought of it. This is the first step in building up to a big trip.)
We had visits this summer from Marc's sister and brother-in-law and their adorable daughter, Michele, Dave and Darla. They were here just in time for the last of the pool weather. We also got to visit with our close friend Desiree. We always long for more of our favorite people, but will take and savor all that we can get. :) We also got a contract on our old house. We are set to close on Marc's birthday, September 24th, but it is possible that the closing will be moved up. The family who is buying the house has already moved in to the house and are renting from us for a month. They seem really great and we look forward to maintaining relationship with them. We are grateful to have the house all but sold and to have folks in it who seem to love it. It was a great house for us.
As for the gait trainer for Lucas... That is still up in the air a bit. The company that I had hoped to use to get it had some issues getting set up, I guess. I was informed of this after over a month of waiting. We then got in touch with the company who makes the equipment (Mulholland) and they referred us to a dealer we could use in the St. Louis area. Unfortunately, the company is huge and takes next to forever to make progress. Some really great people work there, but the process is, well, let's use the word frustrating and then let your imagination run wild as you think of waiting months and months for something to help your child that you know shouldn't have to be that way. (Perhaps you can hear the screaming I do inside my mind.) It has been about a month and we have yet to get the paperwork from the pediatrician that begins the official ordering process by proving the equipment is necessary. It took almost three weeks just to "generate the paperwork". With a smaller company, we could have had it to the doc and back in less than a week, easy. I have since been back in touch with Mulholland and they are quickly moving up the list of favorite people in my life! I am desperately hoping to get things sorted today to get a smaller company set up that we can use and get this equipment already!! Not being able to lift Lucas all summer and not having the gait trainer, I feel especially frustrated that he has not been getting the exercise he needs through most of the summer. By next update (which will be who knows when?) I am looking forward to sharing the joy of having Lucas wander about the house on his own. :)
We saw Dr. Austin a couple weeks ago and scheduled his fifth and final penis surgery! (Thanks, Mom for continuing to talk about embarrassing things!) He said that there will be no catheter and that he won't likely miss more than 1-2 days of school, including surgery day. His dentist, Dr. Sedighi, wants to come in to do x-rays while he's under. Dr. Sedighi wants to cap all Lucas' molars to save them from his grinding. He doesn't think that the teeth will last until he's 10-14 years old when the baby molars get replaced by adult teeth. If Lucas grinds them down too much, it could be pretty bad. In some cases, Dr. Sedighi says, children stop grinding after their molars are capped. We would be delighted if this was the case with Lucas. We'll see. After the x-rays, we will schedule the capping procedure. It will be about a 3 1/2 hour long deal while under anesthesia. So, that's going to be three times we'll put Lucas under this year. Next year, and for as many years as we can after, we're going for Nil! The surgery is scheduled for October first. It will, hopefully, be first thing in the morning because that is what works best for Dr. Sedighi to come in before going to his regular office. We like this better because it is less time we have to keep Lucas off food and drink. :)
We also increased Lucas' seizure meds a bit. I think that actually happened before my last post, I just forgot to include it. He is still having about 20-30 seizures most days, but we are pretty consistent. He is also maintaining a pretty regular sleep schedule which is good for everyone. Since I got the Prolotherapy (shots in my ligaments), Lucas has been riding the bus to school. When Kelly was around, she would help me get him to/home from school most of the time, but now he is riding the bus every morning and my friend Heidi who lives up the street and is a senior in high school (and is fabulous!) has been helping in the afternoons with pick up. I realize that I could let him ride the bus both ways, but I like to be with him and be a part of his day. I also don't like having him sit on the bus for an hour especially knowing it is Not his favorite. Clingy, over protective, whatever you may want to call me, I don't care. I love my boy and have no intentions of stopping. Once I can lift him myself a bit more, I will likely only have him ride the bus 2 days a week when I have to get Eliana to school by 8:30.
It seems that there is more to be said, with me there almost always is, but Eliana is looking at pictures and asking me to tell her about each one. A bit distracting and I am losing my concentration. I do, however, have some long promised pictures for you. Marc put them together, so I am not even sure what's in there, but it's been quite a while, so we hope you enjoy! Perhaps next batch of photos will include Eliana's first day of preschool (which she LOVES! - "what's your favorite part?" "My friends.") and Lucas' new smile as he has now lost two teeth (the second just this morning. I think he swallowed it. I guess it's a goner!).
I hope you all had a great weekend and some great summer moments. God is good and faithful and loving. There is much pain and struggle and injustice in this life, but God is eternal and nothing, bad or good, wrong or right will go without His judgment, eventually. I pray that you all choose to see and celebrate the good, the greens that turn our wasted breath to life for us again, the sun which warms our skin and lights our days, the smiles and laughter of children and friends, the comforting touch we so often need. I pray that you also lift unto God all that we do not know how to grasp, the violence and anger and deceit which abound, and I pray that we would not be drawn into it ourselves. I still don't understand how the morning of 9/11/01 as I stood three blocks north of the Twin Towers, all the people around me except my dear friend Hector seemed unable to do anything but scream curses and vulgarities. Even before the second plane hit. I heard no voices aside from mine and Hector's crying out to God, just anger and violence. Things are booming and warring all over the world, but perhaps we should take a little more time to remember ideas like MLK Jr had and inspired, beginning in our own hearts and lives by praying for our communities, our country and the world with the same attitude of love and peace. Let us be determined to love, and leave the vengeance to God. I pray you all know peace in spite of any and every storm and that you trust the One who can cause and calm it all. Blessings dear friends.
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