Recent pictures

I am short on time but wanted to post some recent pictures (just for you AJ). The first few, my friend Christy took at her home last weekend. They have a beautiful place to take pictures. Thanks BUNCHES!! The last ones were taken at Mamaw & Papa's this past Sunday. More writing when I have a few minutes.

KayKay and Uncle AJ playing around!

She is flying!! She LOVES her AJ to fly her!!

Touchdown!

Duke

Georgie

Bud

On the countdown... four and a half weeks to go to get rid of these casts!!! Things are really going great. Mikayla has not let those bulky things slow her down one bit!! Mommy on the other hand is ready for them to be gone... sponge bath and washing hair on the kitchen counter, we are over it. It is also harder to change her diaper and her clothes don't quite fit right!! If she is going to be able to stand after all is said and done then all is worth it!! I am so curious to see what is going to be after the casts come off. Can't wait to see her new feet! After this she will have braces on her feet, permanently, until God decides to heal her!! The braces of today are quite different than the ones from the movie "Forest Gump". They will not be metal and bulky. Her braces will look almost like plastic and they will be white. I think she can get them with designs on them... if not we will decorate them ourselves.
Cathing in going ok. I hate it!! I wish she could just be healed of this already!!! I know that God knows what he is doing and it is all in His timing!!! Waiting is sooooooo exhausting though!!!! We just have to keep praising him and thanking him for her COMPLETE healing!!! He is NOT finished with this little girl!! I wonder why God chose Mike and I to be parents of such a miracle!!! What a huge responsibility we have to tell everyone what miracle and work of God she truly is!! I am so blessed and in awe of what He has placed in my hands!!
I have to tell a story about our visit to Kroger the other day. I went to get my flu shot last Friday. Mikayla wants to go in her chair when we go places now. I let her, with the exception of the grocery store... no thanks... not yet! She waves and smiles at EVERY single person we pass or she sees. She creates smiles everywhere... it is contagious!! Well, in Kroger, there was a very grumpy looking man standing at the end of an aisle. Mikayla waved and smiled at him but he did not see her. She made it her mission to get this man's attention. Wheeling a little closer to him( but not too close), she waved, smiled, and yelled "hi"(in the sweetest voice). He looked at her dumbfounded for a second and she repeated the same sequence. He got the biggest grin on his face, waved back, and said hi! She kept waving and smiling until she could not see him anymore. I cannot help but think, maybe only for a couple of minutes, she improved his day! I love moments like that!!
Little miss Mikayla does have her tough moments too. She is so scared of loud noise. Now if she is doing the noise it is fine... having her songs blaring in the car is fine but kids laughing loud terrifies her. Last Saturday, we went to a pumpkin patch here in Portland. In order to get your pumpkin, you had to go on a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Well, Mikayla did not want anything to do with the tractor and trailer hauling to the pumpkin patch. So, even with much begging and pleading from Mommy and Daddy she did NOT go on the hayride... and did not get her pumpkin. I think we might try it again next weekend with some friends... this one you do not have to ride to get your pumpkin!
Mikayla has been out of school this week for fall break. I thought with her being on break she might be bored but we have been running all week. This morning she was a little fussy and told me she wanted to stay home and play... so that is what we have done ALL day today!

Riding on Duke

Playing with Daddy last night

Surgery

Well, surgery is complete. Last Friday we got to Vandy Childrens Hospital a little after 8am. We were a little late due to traffic. They called us back to holding pretty quick. We had some wonderful nurses... one in particular that Mikayla was very fond(Sara). Sara even came to visit with Mikayla after her surgery... which she did not have to do. I was so afraid that Mikayla would start asking for food or drink but to my surprise, she never did. I think all the things going on and people coming in and out kept her occupied. She had a few visitors before surgery... Pastor Bobby, Pastor DJ, Kate, Pepaw, and Mrs. Shannon. They kept her spirits up along with the help of Barney and Dora on DVD. After surgery and during she had visitors also... Mrs. Christy, Aunt Sandy, Aunt Susan, Memaw(great-grandmother), Uncle AJ. She also got lots of goodies... a new baby doll, mini animals, balloons, a stuffed Foofa doll that sings and dances, a stuffed monkey... hope I am not forgetting anything. You would have thought it was her birthday or something. I guess I should talk about surgery itself. Surgery did not last as long as they had first told us. The nurses took her back(which was hard on me) at 10:45ish and she was in recovery around 2pm. Dr. Mencio originally told us 4-5 hours so this was much better. We actually had 2 families (their kids) that we know in the hospital this day as well so going to visit them helped with time going by. We walked into recovery expecting to see her still partial asleep or crying but we were surprised at what we saw. She was awake, drinking Sprite, and was very excited to see us. After we had been back there for a few minutes, she wanted a cracker. She ended up eating 2 whole graham crackers and drinking 2 cups of Sprite. She did not seem to be in any pain at all. We wondered about this since we are not sure how much feeling she has in her feet and legs. I guess in this case it is a blessing that she did not feel much. The staff was very surprised at how well she recovered. Usually you can expected to stay in recovery for 4 hours but we went home after 2. The doctor said that he was pleased with the way surgery went and would see her in 6 weeks. She has 2 pins in her left foot that will be removed when she goes in 6 weeks. Her two casts are bright HOT PINK and will stay on for 6 weeks. She rubbed them a lot at first, saying "they are pretty". Now she does not pay much attention to them. Friday night she was pretty alert, a little sleepy but good. The guys at Mike's work pitched in and bought her a goody basket with LOTS of candy, stickers, coloring book, Tinkerbell movie, and Tinkerbell doll. One of the guys and his wife brought it over to her on Friday night. Saturday morning, I got up early and went to the grocery store. Mike called before I got home to tell me that she was scooting around on the floor. So, less than 24 hour after surgery she was up playing like normal. We were really afraid that the casts would keep her from scooting but they haven't stopped her yet. We stayed in on Saturday. She needed to keep her feet propped up most of the weekend. We alternated her sitting up playing and laying down with her little feet propped up on a pillow, watching a movie. Sunday, we went to church. I think she was glad to see all her friends and get out of the house. I know I was glad to be out of the house. Sunday evening, we had a meeting at church so Mike stayed here with Mikayla and I went to the meeting. Today, has been a good day. Mikayla has been wanting to get her ears pierced. I wanted to wait until after surgery to get them done because she could not wear them into surgery. Well, we decided that today was the day. She did great. She did cry but not much and not for very long. She was such a big girl. Even Puppy got his ears pierced!!
Before surgery, showing off her "bracelet"

Loving on Daddy

First picture after surgery

Puppy got casts too

At home on Friday night watching a movie

Playing with Daddy on Saturday

In the big chair before getting her ears pierced

With her new earrings