Tomorrow morning I'm going in to Edward Hospital at 5:30 am to have surgery on my right foot. None of us are looking forward to it, but we ARE looking forward to being done with foot surgeries! Fingers crossed that the 3rd time's the charm! We've been doing a lot to set up life at home for the next 5 weeks, as I'll be unable to walk without crutches, drive, or carry Ella.  Our night nurse has changed her shift from 10 pm - 6 am to 11 pm - 7 am so that she can get Ella up and dressed in the mornings. Our incredible school (and school district) is allowing Ella, Ava and Henry to ride the bus to and from school every day until I'm able to walk them! This was pretty amazing, since we're "walkers" so they would not normally allow Ava and Henry to join Ella (Ella DOES qualify for the bus because of her SMA, but since we live so close and are walking anyway, we've always had her walk with us). But this will relieve A LOT of stress about having the...

In the past year I have had two surgeries to correct pain I was having as a result of an old gymnastics injury. The injury was at the ball of my right foot, so I was referred to a podiatrist. During the exam, he said he could easily fix that joint by shaving down that part of bone that had grown over when my injury healed years ago. But I was also told that the main bone in my foot, leading to that joint, was too high and needed to be lowered. It involved cutting the bone, lowering it, inserting synthetic bone as a bone graft, and finally placing a small plate with screws to hold it all together. My initial X-ray taken "BEFORE" the first surgery last fall. I was told I would be "good as new" in three to four months. The recovery was a bit tough...I had to miss two weeks of work and I was in a boot cast for quite a while. We had to pay our babysitter to stay with our kids until Michael got home from school, since I was unable to lift Ella for those fir...

Many of you know this already from Facebook or word of mouth, but for those of you who haven't heard, we had to say goodbye to our beloved Sasa on August 24th. We knew she had a heart condition. We knew the end would be coming within 6 to 12 months (or possibly sooner). It was sooner. But luckily it was fast and she didn't suffer for very long. She was fine until she stopped eating. A couple days later she couldn't keep water down and became extremely lethargic. The vet had told us back in June that these were the signs that would indicate that it might be "time." We told the kids that afternoon that if she wasn't better in the morning, I would take her to the vet and we had to prepare ourselves that this might be the end for her. Sasa didn't end up making it through that night. A little after midnight, she lost control of her bowels and had a hard time getting in a comfortable position due to her weakness. And then she started crying. No...

As a teacher I've often heard and said that kids "grow up" so much over the summer.  And they do. Summer provides a open forum for play, which as we all know, is the best way to learn.  It also allows for physical activity which strengthens the body.  Skills that require coordination can be practiced if not mastered over the summer.  Not to mention time for relaxing; those lazy summer days really do serve a purpose--to relax and recharge. Kids also complain.  While there is a plethora of things they complain about there's one complaint that all kids end up engaging in...growing pains.  They often come at night, when the body is seemingly in rest but deep inside it's hard at work. Hard at work growing.  Hard at work taking all the days' activities and sorting through...finding value in one aspect and no value in another.  Muscles regenerate from the stress of play.  They strain and grow leaving their owner in a deep seated, dull, achy p...

We all know that life "has its bumps".  For Ella, that is a reality she lives with every single day.  We are so fortunate that so many people and several organizations have stepped forward to help our family.  We honestly wouldn't be where we are had it not been for the care, dedication, and pure kindness that has surrounded us.  Ella is six years old.  She LOVES to play with her brother and sister, with her friends, and with her neighbors.  Of course, kids being kids, they run and jump and play all over the yard and the neighborhood. Ella does everything she can to keep up with them...and does a great job of it! We have noticed that as she cruises around the front and back yard areas she is pretty good at changing her pathways, thereby not wearing muddy paths in either of those places . While this has always been the case, it is not so for the pathway she has forged allowing her to g o ba ck and forth between  the front and back yards ; t h e la...

They say, "Kids grow so quickly."  And that's true. They say, "Time flies." And it does. They say, "Life's not fair." And so be it. They say, "Kids are resilient." And they do live up to that. "Kids grow so quickly."   Ella turned 6 years old today (June 10, 2016).  We celebrated early in the morning since she couldn't stand to wait anymore.  The five of us (and Sasa) sat around the kitchen table and helped Ella open her presents from Ava, Henry, and Mommy/Daddy.  Her eyes lit up with each present while her faced beamed with delight.  Following the "opening of the presents" the "playing with the presents" ensued.  Voices of three children playing filled the house (literally).  A perfect start to Ella's birthday. "Time flies."   Six years ago today Ella came into the world.  She was a VBAC2 baby (Ava & Henry were both C-sections...Ella was natural). After a long labor a...

Most of you who know us, know that our dog, Sasa (a Vizsla ), is a very important member of our family. I bought her from a breeder when I lived downtown Chicago with my sister, Anne. Sasa will always be my first "baby"...she was with me when I dated Michael and then married him; she was with us through the births of our three incredible children; and she was with us when Ella was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. She's still with us now. She's been with us through the ups and downs of life, and has remained the most amazingly loyal, loving and playful dog that I ever could have imagined owning. We always knew that we wanted to get another Vizsla puppy before Sasa's time with us ended. We wanted to have "overlap" time between the two dogs (and we've been told by many people, including Sasa's vet, that this would be beneficial not only for us, but also for Sasa and the new puppy). So o ur plan was to get a male Vizsla puppy...