my new do.....

so I have been feeling like I am in the middle of a mid-life crisis.... not really a crisis just a slump! You know the feeling...old, dated, overweight, tired looking...the whole "don't want to look in the mirror feeling"! So I decided to go for it...cut off the long locks, do some waxing, wear all black....

Here are the results of a few hours and allot of professional help! I really do like it. It so strange as never in my life have I had short hair!

my sweet angel....

Sweet Maddie Grace.... Thank you all so much for your prayers and concern for our precious girl these last few weeks. She is doing well. I am really trying to be positive and remember just how far she has come. I was looking back in the older post from the blog and was so emotional as I look at just what this girl has been through. We are still moving forward day by day. Trying to adjust meds to get where we need to be. We had an xray today and everything looked good... probably means that we can hold at the dosages we are at and then recheck in a week.

Some days are better then others. Madison is back in pull ups as we are just not having much success with no accidents. She is trying .... I can tell that she is frustrated. Hopefully with the adjustments that we will be making in adding pectin back in tomorrow she will have better control and feeling.

When we went to get xrays today the technician asked why we were there... when I responded "she had a colon resection in July" he looked surprised ....the severity of what she has been through really hit me for the first time... My sweet girl has been through more then I could have ever imagined. So really in the grand skeem of things a little medicine, and occasional enema and some cute pull-ups are really not all that bad. We have come a LONG way in the last 6 months. I believe with all of my heart that we will get the "home run" yet.

Thanks for praying. This little girl is going to do great things in her life... I wonder what the Lord is preparing her for? Whatever it is, it is going to be amazing.

sisters......

Kori...Lauren...Danielle....Heidi...Nikki

so thankful for all of my sisters. How fun to all be together at Thanksgiving! It is so weird how fast time flies... 5 boys (aka husbands!), 7 kids, 1 baby in the oven....so much love. So blessed.

thanksgiving....

madison...aka pilgrim!
Madison's school program


miss Teagan

Emily Mauch

Olivia and Maddie

Ted Robert

Aunt Lauren and Olivia

Cousins....Kelli, Olivia, Maddie & Andrew

Miss Eden

Grandpa Cronk

Madison and Teagan





Thanksgiving was GREAT! Here are some pics to recap all the fun with the family!

an interior design moms clothing nightmare....

really.... could the outfits be any better!! I was about ready to die when the kids came down dressed and ready to head to the store. I am trying to say no less but this just could not be left for the public to see. Olivia thought that it was funny...Madison was less then happy with my decision to make her change! Gotta love a kids choice!

still no success...

still no results from the enema or the meds. Dr. Levitt upped the meds as of last night. We will see what happens..... Probably need an enema today if no results this morning. Xray tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers,
Nikki

bummed out....

so, not a good day yesterday for poor Maddie. We have been noticing that her stooling is getting less frequent these last few weeks. have been keeping a close tab on it and trying to do what we can to keep things "normal". Last week we had 2 different stretches when she went 3 days with no poo...not a good thing at all for her colon that is supposed to be faster then normal since the surgery. Talked with Dr. Levitt on Monday and he was concerned and asked to see an xray of her belly. After he saw the xray he confirmed that our worst fears were right and that she was accumulating stool in her colon. So here begins the cycle that we had so hoped we were moving away from. Madison had to have a 300 cc enema last night and now we will start again on the ex-lax daily. We will repeat the xray on Friday and see if she is all clean. if so we will continue daily on the meds. If not we will re administer an enema and up the dosages of ex-lax. UUGGHHH...

Last night Jed was getting all of the stuff together for the enema. I had not told Maddie what was going on as it just causes unnecessary anxiety for her. I took her in the room and she was asking what I was doing... when Jed came in the bathroom and she say the enema bag in his hands she looked at me with the most heartbreaking look, with eyes that cried out "help me mom". She just looked at me crying waiting for an explanation. It was all I could do to talk without falling apart. I explained to her what was going on and why it was so important to stay empty to avoid even bigger problems.

She continues to amaze me with her strength. After the bad part was done we were all sitting in the bathroom with her on my lap waiting the awful 15 minutes for the enema to take effect. She looked at me with a red, tear stained face and said "mom it didn't even hurt that bad, it just scares me". How could it not scare her? I hate that we have to hold her with all of our might to even administer the dang thing...she is physically so strong. After all of these years she knows how to fight off the ones that are coming for her with any medical equipment!

So please continue to pray for this sweet little girl. Pray that we do not get back in a bad pattern with her, that meds can stay at a very low dose and that she will start to really get full bowel recognition.

We appreciate all of your prayers for her!