Sunday, November 06, 2005

Hello Everyone!

Bailey is continuing to do very well. She's grown 1/2 inch in just three weeks! No wonder she complains about her clothes and shoes not fitting. She now weighs 75 pounds. If you remember, she was 55 pounds right after her first surgery back in January after losing all that water weight. She shows off her knees now to everyone: "Look! I have knees!" Before, they were just little skinny knobby things - now she says they look like real knees.

Everyday things are back to normal now -- running Josie to basketball practices, homework, dinner, baths, messy rooms, messy house -- it's all good! There are, however, some lingering effects from the events of this year. Bailey has major separation anxiety from me. Besides school, she has a hard time going anywhere without me. It can bother her a great deal if she lets her guard down. She doesn't know why she feels the way she does - we just try to calm her down and tell her to relax and take her time with everything. It took a 6-month hospital stay to build up that anxiety - it could easily take another 6 months to undo it.

The girls are getting along well. Like all siblings, they have their moments - in fact, they're having one right now! After we got home from the hospital, you could really see how tight Josie and Marissa had grown together. They would often begin playing together and kind of forget about Bailey being there. It was really interesting to see the different dynamics that our family had taken on. Nothing really bad or too difficult to work through - but things definitely had shifted. But now we're back to Bailey trying to be the little mother to Josie and Marissa; Marissa getting mad at Bailey for trying to be the little mother; and Josie going with the flow.

We're off to another Keith Urban concert tonight! I'm going to try to enjoy myself by blocking out all concerns about how stupid it was for me to purchase tickets to a Keith Urban concert in Fort Wayne on a Sunday night. So, all concerns set aside - it will be so much fun! Bailey and I are going with my sister Cindy and her daughter Cortney. I could say that we've waited anxiously 2 months for this night to come, but that would be a lie . . . ok, it's not a lie. I think Cindy and Cortney have become as big of fans as us! Tonight isn't backstage passes or front row seats - we're just plain ol' fans tonight! I'm taking binoculars!

So, the holiday rush is about to begin. I'm not going to approach it differently this year, because I've never been one, yet, to get so caught up in the hype that it steals all the fun out of it. However, it is going to be even more enjoyable than it has in the past several years. I'm deeply grateful for so many more things. As difficult as this past year has been, great things have come out of it. It will not only NOT be forgotten, but it will continue to make us stronger and more grateful to God every day. I am truly grateful for each and every moment of every day. I will not take another day for granted.

Bailey is scheduled for a cath December 1. I hope I'm not crazy nervous when the time comes, but I have a feeling . . . Bailey is just doing so well right now. A cath just makes me nervous. But, like this whole last year has been, we'll just have to wait and see what God thinks.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone! We will!

Love, Angie

(P.S. They're still working on the documentary - hope to be done by the end of the year. Will keep you posted!)