She only got to wear this once. She’s so tall I barely got it zipped up but I just had to put her in it. It’s a flower and hilarious. I’ve had this outfit since Zoe (although Zoe barely fit in it too).
Today and tomorrow only get 10% off holiday styles AND free shipping on orders over $40. What a great time to stock up on Christmas gifts!
The rest of the pictures were taken by the kids. This is just a slight sampling of what they got pictures of.
Thankfully, this was of the front of the elephant. So, our story goes like this: The lorakeets pooped in one of our groups hair (I’ll just leave it like that. Wasn’t me but it still was not fun). Then the kids want to see the elephants…we got to them. They were not only pooping but his, ahem, was facing us and we got a front row view. This happened a couple of times. We kept saying, “Everybody does it. Let’s not make a big deal about it.” Fast forward to a month later. Malachi still talks about it. “And ‘den da elephants pooped.” “I want to go see da elephants poop.” Actually, you could fast forward to now…two months later and he is still talking about the elephants pooping. He wants his birthday cake to look like an elephant because they poop. Oy! My life with boys and one who is quite narrative and has a very good memory.
That’s right. I biked seven little people to the historic district of Jekyll Island and some of the way back (Mark and I rotated).
Emmie got her own ride. To be fair, Zoe and Ace helped peddle some or we would have been stuck in one place for a loooong time. The sweet part was that the kids waving at complete strangers made several people break out in huge grins. They were pretty cute riding in the surrey. Yes. It had fringe on top.
Malachi begged Zoe to go to a playground area after supper the first night. She willingly obliged and they had fun going down the slide.
We arrived back in town in time for supper and stopped at a Tex Mex restaurant. The kids thought this seat was pretty cool. It was a saddle seat and apparently the best seat in the house.
I got in the water until something swam by my legs. I love to look at the ocean. Just not feel its inhabitants without seeing them.
I think we all cleaned up nice. Sometimes I look at photos of us and think, “Wow, we sure are a small lot.” Then other times, “My goodness! That’s a lot of kids.” This picture looks like a lot of kids.
After supper, we took a little walk in the park next to the hotel. Aside from a disappearing beach, Jekyll also boasts tons of wooded areas. The low lying trees are sturdy enough and low enough fro some fun climbing.
On the road! I wasn’t the only one excited. The kids were super excited that Malachi was going to see the ocean for the first time. His first beach trip was when he was six weeks old.
We went to Jekyll Island. If you live in Georgia, you should know who Sidney Lanier is. If you don’t, stop now and look him up. Then look up his wonderful poem, “Ye Marshes of Glynn.” I had my mom for 11th grade English. She made us memorize two stanzas from that poem. My goal was to have the kids memorize those two stanzas but we only managed one before our trip. Either way, it’s a great poem inspired by the marshes around Jekyll.
The boardwalk from the hotel to the beach included this lovely forest area. Where Bryant promptly threw a frisbee.
The lovely forest area was covered with spiders. Giant “banana” spiders. Large webs.
Checking out the ocean the first day. High tide was coming in so there was very little beach. Parts of the beach completely disappear at high tide.
A dead horseshoe crab washed up provided lots of interesting observation by the kids.
All the other babies we have had would lift their feet up. Emmie just kept them firmly planted.
Mark and I traveled with Emmie to Emory to meet her neurosurgeon Dr. C on October 17th. Her appointment was in the afternoon, so instead of loading up and staying overnight at Ge & Granddaddy’s house, we were able to arrange childcare (through an awesome babysitter, M, and friend, Kristina) and drive there and back. Emmie did awesome for being in the car that long! She has learned to be a great car rider with all our trips.
Driving down we laughed and chatted and enjoyed spending time together while Emmie slept. But when we got there we both clammed up and tensed up. We honestly had no idea what Dr. C would want to do at this point. We now had a better view of her plexiform than the first MRI. We knew he had seen it in their joint conference and in his office.
Dr. C was very kind and basically told us that this was an opportunity for us to meet should we ever need his services. Because the plexiform is not causing her pain or hindering her development at this time, he did not want to remove it. He showed us where the plexiform is with the MRI images and showed us what part he would remove which would prevent a lot of nerve damage. We discussed the different types of plexiforms. He willingly, and patiently, answered our questions. The gist is, she won’t have to have surgery unless it is causing her problems. The plexiform is attached to the nerve that goes to her right arm. As long as she continues to not have problems with that arm, then surgery is not needed. He also told us that her case was brought up in joint conference (with all the “neuro” people) because the plexiform is rather large and a more “difficult” case. He perfectly agreed with Dr. W’s protocol of following up in six months.
Dr. C said that of all the NF patients that are seen there, he operates on a plexiform about once ever two years or so. He said it’s very seldom that his services are required for NF kids.
I think Mark and I both grew two inches when we left that office. It really felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of me as we left. My baby was going to be okay and no need to worry about surgery right now. We enjoyed the rest of the day with a trip to the farmers’ market and a nice quick meal out before rescuing Kristina!
Thank you to everyone for the prayers! We have felt them so much. We are so blessed to have family and friends who willingly and lovingly are walking this journey with us.
I know I have a way to go before I can fully rest in the Lord. I know He is in control of our precious Emmie but it’s tough letting go and trusting Him it always is.
