Monday's visit to Spina Bifida Clinic went great. Mikayla was such a good girl... so good that Daddy wanted her to have a trip to Toys-R-Us. She picked out a train and a movie(Yo Gabba Gabba). After watching this movie over and over and over, I don't know which is worse this one or Barney. Pretty close race!! Anyway... back to clinic visit. We got good reports from all the appointments. I was quite surprised when she got a good report from nutrition since she is soooo small. The nutritionist said that according to Mikayla's growth chart she is right on with HER chart... she is still growing. She grew an inch and a half in 6 months. I think that is pretty good for her. Well... she got a thumbs up from Orthopedics but she is going to have surgery on her feet. Both of her feet have issues that need to be corrected. A goal for Mikayla is to be able to use a stander(self explanatory) but with the direction of her feet and some things with one of her ankles a stander is not an option for her. I DO NOT want her to go through surgery but if it means more out of life for her... whatever it takes. After surgery she will be in casts for 4 - 6 weeks. Mommy is not thrilled about this but again, whatever we need to do. I hope that she will be able to scoot on the floor with casts. This could be a small mountain for us so I am asking for prayers for little Mikayla. She may have to spend the night in the hospital but that is not a for sure thing... depends on a lot of things I am sure. The surgery is scheduled for Monday, October 26th at 7:15am... which means we have to be there at 5:15am!!! At least it is early since she will have to go without food or drink.
School seems to be going good!! This week she decided no nap was needed. Tuesday, she and another little girl wanted to talk to each other the WHOLE nap time. Thursday, she wanted to sing the ABC's the entire time. She is rotten! She has made some new friends... but cannot tell me their names. All she tells me about is Barney!! lovely!! She has picked up possessiveness at school. She never really called anything"my" but she does now. Today, I was covering her up with her blanket for nap and she looked at me then said "it is my blanket". Yesterday when I dropped her off I tried to tell her bye after she was in her class, she said bye back to me but did not even look back. What a big girl she is becoming... it makes me sad. Just part of life I guess!!
Daddy and Kaykay playing with playdoh

Kaykay's Kara

Learning to floss her teeth!

Playing with floss and Aj

I just posted a new video of Mikayla racing Daddy in the driveway from last week. She is getting to be such a big girl. She is enjoying school. Much to my surprise, she is taking naps at school on a mat... might be time to look into a big girl bed. We had planned on changing to a big bed before preschool but the night time issues we had after vacation did not allow it. We are going to do her room in Dora the Explorer when we change over... she LOVES some Dora. Not much going on... pretty boring around here. I guess that could be a good thing. We have a super busy weekend though. Mikayla had a haircut yesterday, which went great. No fits at all... I think she is growing up. She even got a sucker afterward. After haircut we had our favorite thing... grocery store!!! Last night, Mike and I had meeting a church so Mamaw came over to stay with Mikayla. Thanks Mamaw!! Last week we had a check up appointment with the ENT and everything looks good with her ears since her tubes went in- Thank God!!! On Monday we have an all day appointment at the Spina Bifida Clinic. Not a fun day... we will probably be there for at least 4 hours... having about 6 appointments. It all starts with an ultrasound to look at her bladder and kidneys to make sure everything is functioning properly. She hates this!!! Will put an update on here to let everyone know how all the appointments go... and our busy weekend. Enjoy the video!! Love to all.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

First day of preschool

Well, we made through the first day of preschool. I say We because I had a little bit of a difficult time this morning. I was fine until I got back to the car and was by myself... then it hit me. I held it in for a few minutes until Mike was out of my site(he drove separate) and then the tears came. The tears did not stop until I got home(about 12 minutes). Hopefully, Thursday will be easier. She had a great first day. When we dropped her off and she realized we were leaving her, she started to cry but by the time we got to a second door(about 5 feet away) she was fine. Isn't that the way it always happens... harder on mommy!!! The only difficulty she had was naptime... imagine that!!! The teachers were not sure how to lay her on the mat so they had to end up calling me to figure things out. She never actually went to sleep so tonight we have a tired little one... it is 7:30 and she is sound asleep for the night!! The teacher sends a paper home with all the details of her day so we can see what she did each day. She came home singing "Jesus loves me", which is one of the songs they sang today. The class had bible time, outside time, science time, math, shapes, colors, etc... lots of good stuff. She wants to go "back, again"... I am pleased with that!!! She does have a bodyguard... a little boy in her class followed her around all day, putting his arm around her and if someone tried to touch Mikayla he pushed them away. The teacher said everyone wanted to touch Mikayla and one little girl wanted to push her around. That will calm down once the kids get used to her chair. I am so excited to see what is to come this year... how she will change. I will keep everyone updated!! Below are pictures from this morning.

I can't believe Mikayla starts school tomorrow. I have been a mixture of emotions, which I am sure will continue in the morning. We had to buy her a mat for naptime and she loves it... she wants to sit on it ALL the time. She is going to miss it when it goes to school to stay tomorrow. She does not want to lay on it, only sit... good luck Ms. Carrie at naptime. Wish I could be a bug on the wall in her classroom. We met with the teachers on Wednesday so they could see how they needed to adapt things to Mikayla and to answer some questions. Mikayla loved it!! She was all over that room getting out all the toys. Then, Thursday night we had open house at school and she did great!! She went right to her classroom, leaving us behind. We had a little social butterfly and a showoff that night. I am very excited about the little person she is going to become!!! I will post pictures and details tomorrow.
Along with open house on Thursday, we went over to the Johnson's house to play. Mikayla and Kate played very well together. There was a pink ball that they both wanted to play with and kept taking it from one another. They never got mad at each other about the ball- it was really kinda cute. Friday, we had a VERY busy day... walmart, doctor appt, publix, parent teacher store, clean out the pantry, play, and many other things around the house. Saturday, Mikayla woke up at 6:30 so we decided to go to the zoo. It was so hot even at 9:00 when we got there. We had a good time... Mikayla enjoyed Daddy going with us. I actually got to run some errands by myself... because Mike went to the race track that night!! lol!! Sunday, we got up and went to church. We had a meeting after church so we had lunch there (pizza). After rushing home and changing clothes, we headed over to Mamaw and Papa's. We had a YUMMY dinner of pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and chocolate cheesecake!!!! It was soooo good... thanks Mamaw!!! Last night we watch the Titans win against the Bills.... yay!!! Our house is very excited about football starting!!!
Thirsty Kate!!

They were so cute imitating each other!!

Mikayla pretending to be asleep.

Not quite sure what they were doing here... funny picture!

Mikayla on her "big girl" mat... she is pointing to her name in this picture. I wrote her name on it while she was napping(in her bed) and when she got up she pointed to her name and said "mikayla". I did not even tell her that was her name. She amazes me!

Kaykay and Daddy at the zoo

Mommy and kaykay at the zoo

She is petting a goat for the very first time... we have been to the zoo tons of times and she has always been afraid of petting ANY of the animals but she did it on this day!!

Many, many things have gone on since my last post... sorry about the time gap. The sleeping situation has gotten MUCH better. She still whines a little when we put her to bed but only for a couple of minutes and that is it. Praise the Lord!!! The mood in the house is much, much, much better!!! Again, praise the Lord!!!! We have our Mikayla back!!
My grandfather lost his battle with Parkinson's Disease and went to join the Lord last Wednesday. His funeral was this past Saturday. So many emotions I have gone through. Sadness... relief (no more suffering)... regret (there were times when I was not around because I could not stand to see him going through all this). My sister, Mikayla, and I were with him the day before he died. That day he opened one of his eyes to look at me and I was able to talk to him... I am glad for that day. We went a few times while he was in Hospice but I am especially glad we went that one day!! He was an incredible man. I was able to speak at the funeral and talk about a few things I will remember and forever love about him. Please keep his wife, Margaret, in your prayers as she starts her time without him.
On to a lighter note... Mikayla starts school next Tuesday(11th). She is getting to be such a big girl!! I cannot wait to see how much she is going to learn. Mike's work gives them 2 hours of time to take kids to school on their first day. I am so fortunate that he will be with me for support! I am just wondering what I will do with myself while she is there??? I am looking forward to a little alone time!
Brushing her teeth like a big girl!!!

Playing with Daddy at Isabella's birthday party a few weeks ago.

She actually let them paint on her face... it is a smiley face.

Heather and Isabella(not looking), Mikayla and Daddy

Playing with her jewelry

She wanted to put on every bracelet she owns!