Life Lately

Last week the girls had Movie Night at school.  They wore their PJs and watched the Polar Express.  A took them so I could finish watching Brantley win the State Championship!  He is good like that and I appreciate it!  He wanted to watch too and had a funeral and then offered to take the girls to this so I could watch the rest of the game so he was only able to see about 15 min of the game. 

These are terrible quality pics but here they are.  It is neat to watch Millie with Lizzie’s friends.  Of course they are only a yr apart but they all love Millie (I think everyone loves Millie!).  I think they love that she is so tiny and they seem to be protective of her.  Lizzie does not seem to mind at all that they love Millie and is sweet to Mill even when her friends are around.  It is sweet!  Sallie got to hang out with Hannah so all was good in her world!As I was uploading the pics above I saw these pics.  No idea but this is real life at the Hall House…Yep…Last week flip flops, this week snow flurries!  This is all we got, a slight dusting.  However in town which is only 9 miles they got enough to play in.  School was delayed until 10 because of the roads.  We could not figure out why school would be delayed based on what we were seeing at our house but turns out there was more and the roads were cold so it made them a mess.  Apparently there were some wrecks.  Sallie got this sweatshirt from Nonnie for her bday and I had put it away for Christmas/Winter.  She went and got it out when she saw the dusting!  She is so funny! 

Funny Millie story:  Wednesday when I picked her up from school she says, “I invited Irene to church tonight and I told her the name of our church.”  I said, “Millie, you are so sweet to invite people to church”  which she and Lizzie both do frequently.  She said, “What?  I want a pixie stick tonight!”  Honesty!  They get a giant pixie stick at AWANA if they bring a friend.  The incentive works apparently! 

Had our post op/pre op with Dr. Bauer yesterday.  All was good from last surgery and we are good to go for implant.  He was very apologetic about the mix up with getting the process started and apparently the responsible party is no longer employed by him.  Not that she was let go over this particular instance just wasn’t working out he said.  He said he would clean out the other ear again which we totally expected.  Of course this will make the equilibrium issue worse because he will be doing something to both ears.  He said everything else should be basically the same as last implant surgery except he will have to make an additional incision this time.  Last time there were incisions for the implant as well as to take muscle to place inside the ear to place the electrodes.  This time he is also going to make another incision behind the ear to pull some fat to put in that ear.  The reason for this is that the area he built to implant in the other ear has shrunk more than it needed to so he is going to add fat in there to hopefully prevent some of that shrinking.  Yes it is another incision but that is nothing compared to what could happen if those electrodes are not covered well so we will take the extra incision.  We see our cochlear audiologist on Monday. So 6 more hours in the car with a Dr’s appt in the middle.  As much as I miss the metroplex I was reminded yesterday that I do not miss the traffic, especially during the holidays!  It was terrible!  Thank you for the continued prayers!  

NYC!!!

Elleigh had an amazing trip to New York! They packed a lot in a few days. What an experience for a 15 yr old!

A Date

We have a date for Sallie's surgery to implant the second device. It will be January 7th. I discussed the delay in my last post. Well things all of a sudden moved really quickly yesterday. It would not be my preference to do this so quickly after the holidays. I just don't want to be consumed by this during the holidays and be so rushed trying to prepare that we do not enjoy Christmas. But for various reasons this was the day so it is what it is! I have been asked some about the differences this surgery, concerns, etc. We are also often asked about specific prayer concerns so here it all is:

Same risks as before. Having 1 implant already does not change that. No more, no less.

This will be the left ear. The right ear was chosen first because of the history of the tumors in the left ear. Yes she has had them in both ears but historically the left ear has always been worse. Dr Bauer does feel better about that left ear since doing some reconstruction in there to try and prevent this. However, though the risk of surgery itself is not any greater, there is the possibility that implanting this particular ear is more risky for the future.

We will now have 2 implanted devices which further complicates the MRI issue if needed in the future as well as all the risks associated with having a foreign object placed in your body.

We ask that you pray specifically for the balance and nausea issues following surgery. This was our biggest challenge last time. After we were over that hurdle she recovered really well and we pray that is the case this time as well.

I hope this does not sound selfish but please pray we have the help we need to take care of her as well as the other girls and their needs. This will be complicated by the fact that it is during the school year. Sometimes after you have already been through something once people think you can just handle it. We need help!!!

The week of surgery also is stock show week so not only will Elleigh be busy getting ready the events will start that Thurs through that weekend. The other girls often take the backseat when it comes to Sallie. They do it very well but they are important too.

We think that Sallie will receive some home bound school instruction while recovering so pray that once she feels up to that we will be able to work that out until she is able to return to school.

Pray for all of us to be healthy before surgery and during recovery. Pray for our stamina.

We ask that you pray for this to be a success. With the 1st implant there were so many praying knowing this was her only hope to hear. Please do the same this time! Deciding to implant this 2nd ear was not a black and white issue at all. Sure it helped that she has had so much success from the 1st implant but there are still pros and cons but we do feel this is the right decision.

We have an activation day of January 31st. Pray that she responds well and does not have major issues adjusting to the second device.

We know God has used Sallie over and over to display His power. Pray that this will be just another piece of the story to glorify Him!

Thank You!

Our week

Millie improved greatly on Monday! She was able to go back to school on Tuesday!

Discovered on Monday that the process toward Sallie's second implant had NOT been started... Uh yeah.... We had gotten a bill from our ENT saying insurance did not cover something they have covered many times before so I called the office about that. I just decided while I had them on the phone to ask to make sure they had not heard from insurance and I had not. Well it turns out that somehow it fell through the cracks and was never submitted over a month ago when we called to get it started. This is the first time anything like this has happened and it is frustrating but these things do happen. Hopefully insurance will have a quick turnaround and we get get the surgery on the books.

Lizzie came home from school Monday sick. She had this really bad rash all over her face which has moved down her body. She just felt bad and ran fever. The rash was really itchy. She has been fever free today so if she stays that way she will go back to school tomorrow! It will be the first time in 17 days that someone hasn't been sick! I know not to speak too early but I do hope we are about to get a break from sickness!

Maggie Moo escaped yesterday but never fear she is back! Ell missed all the excitement and work of finding her and getting her back in. She was headed to Sarah's for their big trip. They arrived today and are having a blast. These are a few of the pics she has sent so far:

An unusual holiday

Back up to A's sickness. It was indeed the flu. He ran fever through Monday of last week. He is still getting over it.... Monday night Millie came down with it and today she is still running fever. It has been the lowest today so hoping we are headed in the right direction. No one else has gotten in yet. Hoping it stays that way! So we had an unusual thanksgiving. As far as I remember we have never spent Thanksgiving alone. We have never gone home because there is just not enough time but we normally spend it with friends or a's parents come. This year it was just us. Easter it is often just us and we have learned to adjust and enjoy it. I have to say this was the hardest Thanksgiving ever for me. I am extremely homesick right now and it being a holiday did not help but we survived. I guess it was all for the best since Millie was sick. Ell and I did get out of the house Fri afternoon to get her a few things she needed for NYC! We had a fun time and it was great to get out after 2 weeks of taking care of sick folks! We watched a few movies and a lot of football. Roll Tide!!!! This Sat will be a tough game! Despite the unusual holiday we did have a good time with our family and as Millie reminded us a million times she was thankful for everything! I thought that pretty good for a 5 year old with the flu! Now we count down the days until we visit AL for Christmas!

Sick and 11!

First I can not believe this is my 4th post this week! I think it has been my therapy! A has been sick since Tues night with what now appears to be the flu. If not it is very similar. His fever got up to nearly 104 last night. It scared me and I was about to head for the hospital. Meds were not bringing it down but ice packs finally did. We thought yesterday morning he was better but then he got much worse last night. He does feel some better this morning and has only a low grade fever so we are hoping the high fever doesn't come back as the day progresses. Please pray none of us get it either. He was at a convention Mon and Tues in San Antonio and both he and the other man from our church that went with him came home sick so viral for sure. A says he has never been so sick! It has been a crazy busy week! Sometimes I actually think it will be nice for Ell to be driving! I made 4 trips to town yesterday running her around (and all of them to and from school) for a grand total of 80 miles plus running her around to deliver stuff she sold for FFA ( over $1000 worth) and the fruit is not even in! I have made 2 trips to town this morning already because I am crazy and mixed up Sallie's cochlear batteries and put a dead one in. So as we were pulling up to school she told me there was a problem. So I dropped them off and headed back home to replace battery and back to school. I attempt to always appreciate A but when he is sick and I am doing this solo I REALLY appreciate him!

Enough on the sick! Sallie turned11 last week! Her bday has always been emotional for me. The memories of that day overwhelmed me so much for many of her first birthdays. I still remember and I still reflect but mostly I am just thankful. Thankful for God giving her to us just as He did! Thankful for her sweet spirit! Thankful for her strong will(did I say that?)! Thankful for all He has taught us through her! Thankful for progress! And just thankful for every day of Sallie Kate Hall! We went to Chili's for her bday and took her shopping which is her favorite thing to do! We decided to get dessert at Chili's after dinner instead of bday cake. She always wants dessert when we eat out and we never get it so we thought that would be a fun treat. Lizzie and Millie said it was the best treat ever!

Country Girl meets Professional Girl meets City Girl!

I never thought Ell would be interested in FFA. It is a huge deal here because we live in a mainly farming/ranching area. I never knew the many different aspects of FFA. We had someone tell us it was the best in developing leadership and I have to agree. Elleigh will still be doing meat judging in the spring. Last spring she got into the speaking contests through FFA and did really well and loved it. More on that later in this post. She has certain goals to meet which are based on involvement/achievement. All of that to say that she wanted to show something in the livestock show this coming January. We had no idea what or if she would even do this. A couple in our church heard that she was interested in showing. They are really into this kinda thing so one day back in the summer they called and told us they were about to buy some heifers and if Elleigh wanted to she could take care of one of them and show it and they would provide the hay and food. Of course it is still theirs but this was very generous! Let me say we had NO idea how much work this is! A went this past weekend to a workshop to learn more about it. Ell was away in FW at a weekend-long birthday party. A said one of the things that was said at the workshop was that if you do not get too caught up in winning it is a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time together and so far I have to agree. This has been a family effort for sure! The little girls love going to see about her. Sallie not so much but she is getting better!

We now present Miss Maggie Moo! Yes, that document is her name! Maggie Moo is an ice cream chain in this area and it is Ell’s favorite so she had to name her Maggie Moo! (No one probably cares about all these cow pics except maybe my Daddy but this does document our life)

These were all taken a couple of weeks ago on 2 different days. Her mama is still with here which should have happened earlier but it didn’t. So Maggie Moo is now alone and being fed very well!

This was actually the first day in the pen with her. She (Maggie Moo) is still not totally comfortable but hopefully getting there.I think this a pretty picture which really portrays the area we live in. This is just down the road from our house.

The little girl in the middle is a friend of the Lizzie and Millie’s and her mom is one of Ell’s FFA advisors (they have a male and a female). She comes home with us every Wednesday and goes to AWANA with us.Note: No Ell does not always dress like this to take care of Maggie Moo! Although she could! This was between school and Wed. nt church.

Back to speaking… Last week Ell competed in Job Interview. They choose a certain job to apply for. They have to create a resume and have 3 reference letters in addition to learning about that particular job in order to answer questions. On the day of competition they have to fill out an application, do a phone interview and an in person interview with a panel. She won 2nd place in District! Her advisor was told that she would have placed 1st but there was an issue with her paperwork. The issue was that one of the papers was stapled twice instead of once! SO, this Saturday she competes in Area Competition. We are very proud of her! This afternoon she interviews with the President of the Bank for practice and tonight she speaks at the School Board Meeting!

I may be in trouble for putting this pic on the blog but it is the only pic I have of her from the day of competition and I think it is a great pic of her. I wish she was in her official dress which is what she had to wear during the interview. She is going to have to get better at this picture taking or allow me to follow her around with a camera! NO, this is NOT her boyfriend! This is her friend and the male advisor’s son.

From country girl to professional girl to city girl: About 6 weeks ago Ell’s best friend from FW mom called and said that they wanted to surprise Sarah for her 16th Birthday with a trip to NYC with Elleigh. Well, hello of course she wants to go to NYC!!! We have kept it a secret and yesterday was finally Sarah’s 16th Birthday so she and Ell skyped last night and her parents came in and gave her a gift while they were skyping which was a jacket and inside were tickets to Elf on Broadway. We listened to the whole thing and it was great! So, in 2 weeks they head to NYC for a few days! I am SO excited for them! Jealous, but excited!

1 more post and I think I will be caught up for now! Not promising it will happen today but soon!

When we are away, the girls play!

The girls stayed busy with lots of playing while A and I were out of town.  I did not know or think about them having all this extra going on when we planned to both be gone but thankfully Melbie got them where they needed to be AND took pics for us!

Lizzie and Millie’s Dance Class danced at the Nursing Home in their costumes.The next day was Halloween and the Elementary School has a Costume Parade.  All the kids and teachers parade down the halls in their costumes.  Lizzie and Millie’s Princess Dresses were given to them by a sweet lady in our church who made them and gave them to them for their birthdays.  So cute!  The pics do not do them justice!  Sallie was a hippie!  Oh, and Millie prefers her hair to not be “fixed” and apparently everyone other than me grants all Millie’s wishes!  Seriously, I am not complaining! 

Doesn’t Lizzie look thrilled?!?  Parading is NOT her thing!  Well in public at least!  She does a lot of parading at home!I think it is hilarious that Millie is doing the same thing as Lizzie with the folded arms!  She too is not into parading in public!And here comes Sallie who DOES LOVE to parade!

Elleigh was busy doing other things!  Next post will be all about what she has been up to!