Moving to a different blog address

I know I don't get on this too often (I'm resolving to do better), but I wanted to let you all know that I'm moving the blog to a new address.

asparkstale.blogspot.com

It may be dumb, but I was tired of just having some generic blog address. All new posts will be at the new address.

Why I shouldn't blog

Reason #1- I'm no good at it.

Again, it has been a while since I last posted anything. I see others updating their blogs frequently and they're very cute, yet mine hasn't been touched since August and I did something funky to my layout and I can't get it to do what I want it to. Oh well. Here is my not very creative, not very regular update.

Todd's job has been keeping him busy. He's gone to Colorado, Iraq and he's currently in Las Vegas. He's preparing for his Major's board. BUT the Air Force has realized that it has about 2,500 officers too many, so they are planning on cutting that many. Some of those cut will be JAGs and some will be from Todd's year group. We should know this summer if he is one of the people who will be cut.

I started school back in September. It has been a little crazy, but I enjoy it. I was going to school for Dental Hygeine, but I've decided to switch to Business Administration and transfer to a four year program for Accounting. I believe that I will enjoy that more since I love math and budgeting. My ideal goal is to become a Financial Planner so I can help teach people how to budget, get out of debt and save for retirement and such.

We really like our new area. We're hoping to stay here 3 or 4 years. (I know, crazy idea, huh?)

We've been looking at selling our house, but that's a little scary. We'll probably try to continue renting for another year or so, but being a long-distance landlord is no fun.

Well, there you have it folks. I will TRY to update more regularly. I've seen a couple of things from friends blogs that I think I could do that would help motivate me to update things more regularly. ... Maybe I'll give them a try. :)

Catching up

My last post was in March . . .it's time to catch up a little.
Todd was home about 2 months when we were told that we would be moving this summer in stead of next summer like we thought. So with 2 months notice, we got things ready to move. Todd's mom had already decided to stay in Rome, so she moved out in May.
We were told that Todd would be working in Roslyn (sp?) in the DC area, but that eventually he'd be moving to Andrews AFB. Then we found out that, although the main headquarters is in Roslyn and he'd have to go there sometimes, he would actually be working at Bolling AFB. Needless to say, we were a little stumped as to where to look for housing. Todd asked some people from the base and they told us to look in the Waldorf area of Maryland. We looked on militarybyowner.com to check out houses. I found a couple that looked good. When Todd came home, I started showing him the houses. I showed Todd the first place that I had up on the screen still. It looked nice, had at least the 4 bedrooms that we needed, and it was in a good school district. After showing Todd the house, I went to show him the next one and he said no. This was the house he wanted. The house was available exactly when we needed it to be, and with a short notice move, that was a blessing. It turned out that they were an LDS family and some people in their ward had joked with them saying that they could only rent to an LDS family.
Our move was not the smoothest move we've had. We almost didn't get our shipment of stuff, they messed up the leg on my piano, they dropped some of our stuff while loading and unloading, etc. Before we left, we gave Jenny our bookshelves and desk planning on making new ones once we moved. So while we were unpacking, we also had to start making bookshelves. (The bookshelves are not finished, so we still have boxes of books out in the garage, but their almost done.)
Todd took leave for the first two weeks we were here, which was nice. But with his current job, he'll be gone a lot. He is part of an Accident Investigation Board (AIB) so anytime there is an accident, he has to leave to investigate it. He left in the beginning of August and is still gone. He's estimating that he'll be home the beginning of September.
After moving here, we got the kids started up with piano lessons again. Abigail and Andrew were already taking lessons, but we were also able to get Nathaniel into lessons as well. Nathaniel will still be playing the clarinet this year in band, and William will be picking an instrument on Tuesday to start playing. Abigail wants to play the viola since I already have one here, and we're hoping that we can get her into some lessons for that soon. There is a Mormon Orchestra here in the area that I was planning on auditioning for (although I was fairly nervous since it's been 14 years since I've played the viola), but I don't think I'm going to try for that anymore. (I may still do the Stake Orchestra, but I'll have to wait and see.)
The biggest change, besides Todd's schedule, is that I've decided to go back to school this semester. SCARY!! I've been wanting to go back to school for awhile now, but it's never been the right time. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I started looking into it again. The more I looked into it, the more it just felt right to start. I'm kind of surprised that I'm supposed to start now, because with Todd's schedule, I can't rely on him to watch the kids regularly, because he'll be gone for weeks at a time. I know that I'm supposed to do this now, although my head says that being home by myself with 7 children doesn't seem like the right time. But I'm going to make this work. I'm trying to find the best schedule I can. A combination of an evening class (so I can hopefully just find a babysitter for the weeks Todd's gone) and a day class where I can hopefully swap babysitting. My plan is to take 2 courses/semester.
So, our time here in Maryland will be kind of crazy, but hopefully we'll have good things and many blessings come out of our time here.

Todd's home!

Well, OK, he's been home for a couple of weeks now, but this is when I'm writing about it. The first night home, Todd and I were able to stay at the Turning Stone Casino. It was nice to just have some alone time and to be able to have time walking around looking at things. The next day we came home. The kids were very excited to see him, as you can imagine. Originally he was going to come in on a Saturday, but he got in on a Thursday instead, which made it nicer so the following morning wasn't rush-rush to get kids ready for church. The only problem was that school was cancelled on that Thursday and Friday because of the weather, so there was still a bit of rush-rush to find babysitting, but it all worked out.
The following week, we took the kids to an indoor water park for about 4 days. It was nice to have that time as a family to just have fun and not have to worry about kids not doing chores or homework or having to do various activities. It was wonderful! We've visited family before, but we've only done a 'real' vacation maybe once before. I can now see why people try to do vacations every year. :)

One week left!

Only 7 days until I get to see Todd again. It's so close, but still doesn't feel any closer. Our schedule will still be the same up until I leave to pick Todd up. Next Saturday I'll head to choir practice and then leave from there to pick him up. Of course, there are still things I want to do around the house before he comes home, but that's all my regular daily stuff anyway. (ie, laundry, dishes, clean out the cars, more laundry . . .) I don't think it's really hit the kids yet either. They know he's coming back next week, but it's still just life as usual.
Todd had his going away dinner today and was given his various medals and awards that he earned while there. He was able to earn an award that usually only higher up officers earn, so of course I'm as proud as a mama bear, because I know he's brilliant and it's nice to see others recognize it too. :o)
HE'S COMING HOME IN 7 DAYS!!

Lillian's 1st Birthday!

Yesterday Lillian turned one! The kids were all very excited. Especially Sophie. She thinks it's cool that she can now say Lillian is one instead of zero. :o) We started the festivities as soon as all of the kids were home from school so that we would still have time for dinner and to get to Boy Scouts. Unfortunately, Todd missed her first birthday, but I sent him lots of pictures. We did presents with her (she refused to open any, so we pretty much just opened them and gave them to her), sang 'Happy Birthday' (which she absolutely loved!), and had the first-and-only-time-they-get-to-make-as-big-of-a-mess-as-they'd-like-to cake. She loved all of it. Even the bath at the end.

New blog

For any who are interested, I've started a new blog. This is going to focus on bettering myself. It will include any different area. Weight loss/health/spiritual/whatever I feel like writing about.

http://abetterme-priceless.blogspot.com/

Motivated

Since Todd has been gone, I had a goal to lose all of my baby weight and get down to my ideal weight. Well, my schedule has been crazy, it's been uber cold or snowy, and my treadmill was in my freezing garage. Needless to say, not a lot was accomplished, and I actually put on another 3 lbs. after the holidays and such. That was the middle of January. I decided that I just needed to buckle down and get things done. So, I started really sticking to my diet (which I was doing fine with before for the most part), and decided to ask my home teacher to help me move my treadmill into my front room. There's not a whole lot of room, and I have to move my couch everytime I use it and then move everything back afterwards, but it's been worth it. In the last 3 1/2 weeks, I've lost 7 1/2 lbs. I could have easily reached my ultimate goal before Todd came home, but because of my late start, I've had to set a new goal. It's only about 7 lbs. off, but still. It is a little discouraging to not be where I hoped I would be, but I'm very happy with where I will be when he's home. Then once he's home, I plan to lose the last 7 lbs. before my birthday in May, which is completely doable.
I've been very focused, but it hasn't been easy. There are days that I just want to EAT! Like today. It was Fast Sunday, so I was excited because I should have automatically not used as many calories today. But I came home, and over the course of the last couple of hours, still ate the meals I would have regularly eaten. I've noticed that Sundays are hard for me. They're hard because I'm just home most of the day and I'm home with Jenny. I don't know why that matters, but it does. I'm not the kind of person who is an emotional eater, or a person who eats to deal with problems . . .until her. And I still don't do it for that reason, but when I don't want to be around her, I usually want to get out for a while. Well, what can I do out of the house, that can get me away for awhile . . .usually going out to eat. So now I just find my self hungry anytime she does something that starts bugging me. It reminds me of Pavlov's dogs. I've trained myself to be hungry when she's around. So, even though today should have been a good day for calories, I've wolfed down 3 meals since 2 pm. Now, I'm still being good and not going over, but I should have been way under for today. And I'm still VERY hungry. (It's been a rough day.)
But the weekdays will come, and my schedule will get back to normal. Yet I know, the weekends are still coming, and there's also a holiday where there will be no work, so I still have a couple of bumps along my road before I cross my finish line. But I am still motivated. I have 11 1/2 lbs. to go to reach my ideal. I'd have 21 1/2 to go to reach my pre-any-baby weight, but I don't think that would be a healthy weight for me, so I'm sticking with what the experts say should be my weight.
And, just so you don't think that weight is all I think about, I know that that's not the most important thing. I'm just looking for healthy and fit, but I know from experience where my body is at it's best, and that happens to coincide with a #. I just feel good when I'm eating healthier and exercising regularly. I really miss my runs if something in my schedule makes a run not possible.
**(Disclaimer-- I'm getting on a soapbox here.) I have people that are always telling me that I don't need to lose weight. And I know that it's not a bad thing, and that it's meant as a compliment, and I in no way take it the wrong way, but I just want people to understand my side of things. I may be smaller than other people, but that doesn't mean that I can't be the size that my body is meant to be. If a woman who's a size 10 puts and keeps on 30 lbs. from having children and another is a size 4 and keeps on 30 lbs. from having children, shouldn't the smaller woman have just as much of a right to lose the weight as the first one? It's not the smaller one having an unrealistic view of her body. She just wants her body back.
Anyway, I guess that's my ramble for the day.

Almost there

We are now down to 20 days until Todd comes home!! It almost doesn't seem real. It just seems like my life will continue as it is-- just following our regular routine and talking to Todd. It will seem weird to actually have him here. He should be leaving Kabul in about 2 weeks, and then he'll be in Manas (not sure of the spelling) for a couple days before flying out. He'll retrace his steps, flying from Manas to Turkey to Germany to Baltimore. There he'll spend the night, since he'll be getting in around 10:30 pm. The next morning he'll fly on to Syracuse (not sure if it will be a straight flight or not), where I'll get to pick him up at the airport. We'll have to drive straight back to Rome so he can return his weapon, but then he's all mine. :o) We're going to head to the Casino/Hotel thing that's here in New York for the evening and then I'll bring him home the next morning. The down side is that he's coming home on a Saturday, which means that it will be a Sunday morning when we get back. So he'll get to see the kids for a little bit, but we'll still have to be getting them ready for church. Then they'll get to sit with him for an hour, and then not see him for another 2 hrs. after that. But regardless, it will be nice.
Then he will have to go to Boston for 2 days the following week to turn in gear and such. (I think it would make more sense for them to just fly him into Boston, let him turn all of his stuff in, and then just send him home so he can stay home, but it is what it is.) He's planning on taking Nathaniel and William with him, though, to spend a little time with them, and also since they're old enough to get military IDs now. So that will be nice for the boys.
It's been a long almost 6 months, and these next 3 weeks will probably seem the longest, but the end is in sight. I know that Todd has missed the family, but he's also glad that he went. He's been able to make some real contributions to the war in Afghanistan because of his position over there. He's always tried to look for opportunities to make a difference over there, where a lot of time, people just do only what they have to and that's it. So, even though it's been a sacrifice for us, it's made, or will make, life better for many of the Afghani people. So that's something he can be very proud of and we are proud of him as well.
HE'S COMING HHHHHHOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Invisalign

Today I went to the Orthodontist and got the Invisalign braces on. I've wanted to straighten my teeth for many years, and I finally just decided to do it. It helped that Nathaniel was already going to the Orthodontist for his appointments. So one day after his appointment, I just asked them if they could give me an evaluation. I had the option of doing normal braces or the Invisalign, and I guess I'm just vain enough that I was willing to pay the extra money for the Invisalign. :-)
So right now, my teeth are a little sore, but only when I first take them off (one of the other benefits of getting this kind--I get to take them off to eat and brush my teeth) or put them on.
I tried to take some pictures, but you really can't tell I have anything on in any of the pictures, so I won't post any. Sorry. :-)
But I'm very excited. It's nice to do something just for me that will also make me feel better. I have to do 20 aligners for 3 weeks each. So that's 60 weeks of wearing these and it takes me to the middle of March 2011.

Changes

Things haven't been too bad since Todd's been gone. It's not always easy to be by myself with 7 children, but when that's how it is, you just do it. The hardest part has been having my mother-in-law living with us. As most could imagine, even with a like able or compatible personality, it could be difficult. Well, there have been some recent events that have necessitated some changes. When we move in a year and a half, Jenny will either be staying here or moving somewhere else on her own. We're hoping that she'll stay here for her job, but she's not sure. Another reason I'm hoping she'll stay is that, if she's staying, we could also maybe work on her moving out before the summer of 2011 which would make the next year and a half a little easier as well.

Andrew's glasses

I forgot that I never posted pictures of Andrew with his glasses. There was a little snaffoo with the first pair, so we took him back and exchanged them. He only needs them for reading.

This is the Before picture (they weren't that purple when I picked them out, hence the exchanging them part of the story)

This is the After picture. (Just a nice metal color.) I like the shape better on the first pair, but this was as close as we could get. He doesn't have a problem with having to wear glasses, so that's nice. I still have to remind him to use them, but that will come with time.

Seeing Todd

Tonight I was able to Skype with Todd for the first time. It was so nice, especially for the kids, to seem him. Of course, it got a little hard to hear since they all wanted to talk to him at the same time. We have a big picture of Todd as my background on the computer so Lillian can see him. We've been trying to teach her that his is the face she needs to associate 'Dada' with. She's done really well. Everytime we say 'Dada' she looks at the computer to see his face and smiles. So when she finally got to see him, it was a little different for her, but she started smiling at him right away. I know it will probably still be a big change for her when she sees/meets him in person, but for right now she doesn't seem to be having a problem.
It ended up being a fairly short conversation since it was 4 am for him and he hadn't gone to bed yet, but had to be up in another 3 hrs. But we've been trying to do the webcam thing for at least the last 2 months, but he hasn't been able to for various reasons. Now we should be able to do it fairly regularly.
I love Todd so much. I'm very grateful for the service he is doing for our country. I know he is working hard and doing some important things to help in the war effort. And, eventually, he may even be able to tell me what that is. ;o) (He's keeping a list of all of the classified things that he's working on so he can check when they're made public so he can finally tell me some stuff he's done over there.) He's a great example to the children. I'm just so grateful for the technology that allows me to see him when he's 1/2 a world away. We definitely live in a bless time.

Guilty

I've noticed that when I feel down, I feel guilty. Right or wrong, I tend to think, 'I'm one of the strong ones, and people shouldn't have to worry about me when there are other people that need attention.' It always seems that it's the same few families/people that do everything, and I feel like if I, being one of those people, need help, than it's just making more work for the others. Of course, I have no problem helping someone else out, but I'd rather just wait out the bad times instead of having to bother someone else with my problems. I don't think it's fair, but nonetheless, it's the way it is. I think the strong ones need to be easier on theirselves, although, I doubt we will. Maybe we can try.

Grateful

With Thanksgiving upon us, I've been trying to focus more on the things that I am thankful for. I realize that, even though I have things that are tough to deal with sometimes, my problems are trivial compared to things others deal with. In just the last month, I've had friends who have had major financial struggles due to job loss, have had miscarriages, aren't able to have anymore or any children, had a loved one seriously injured, one who's friend is dying of cancer and another who's had a child die. What are my problems compared to those?
I have so much that I'm grateful for. Sometimes it's easy to just focus on the bad. So I want to share some of the things I'm grateful for. I'm grateful that:

-I have a husband who is truly my best friend; who loves me probably better then I deserve. :o)
-I've been able to have my 7 children and they are all, basically, healthy.
-We have a house to live in.
-We have enough food.
-We have vehicles to get where we need to go.
-Todd's job is fairly close to home, so we get to see him more frequently when he's here.
-We have family that love us.
-I have technology that allows me to easily stay connected with family and friends.
-I don't get stressed out easily, which is perfect for a military wife with 7 children. :o)
-We have some really good friends.
-Although Todd is gone, he is currently safe and is doing a lot of good work to help keep our country safe.
-I'm able to talk to or email Todd almost everyday.
-Todd has already finished 40% of his deployment.
-He has a good job that provides for us.
-We've been able to help those that need help.
-I have the luxury of being able to stay home with my children.
-I have modern conveinences that help me take care of my family.
-I have a husband who supports me in whatever I want to do.
-I have a husband who is worthy of the Priesthood which he holds and who is able to exercise that Priesthood to bless our family.
-I have access to the scriptures.
-Joseph Smith followed the Spirit's prompting, and prayed to God.
-That we have a modern Prophet who leads and guides the world.
-That I get to attend the temple.
-My family is sealed for Eternity.

I am very grateful that I have the trials I have because I know that they could be more difficult. I try to remember all that I have, and all that I've been blessed not to have, and I try to just be grateful. That doesn't always make my trials easy, but sometimes it makes them just a little less hard. I love all of you. I hope you, too, will take time to count your blessing, even amongst some of your hardest trials.

Good news!

I'll try to remember everything that went on today and in order so hopefully I won't forget anything. I got to Lillian's appointment, at the Spina Bifida clinic, at 1pm. When they took us in, the nurse checked her first (weight, height, etc.) and asked some questions and such. Then the Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist came in to see her. They put a mat on the floor so we could have her moving around and such to see how she was doing physically. They checked her sitting, reflexes, that she moved/flexed her toes, lifted her head off the ground when on her stomach, grabbed for things, visually tracked, put pressure on legs when standing, if she could keep her balance/keep herself from falling over when they pushed her a little while in a sitting position. She wouldn't roll over though or rotate on her stomach. She wasn't too happy about most of it. For one of the happiest babies there is, I think she's already figuring out that she doesn't like Dr.s offices. She didn't smile for either of them, and cried a bit; especially when they were trying to push her off balance and on her stomach. But she's right where she's supposed to be physically. She has no delays. Which we already figured, but it's nice to hear. Then I met Dr. Dosa; she's really nice. She's one of the first Dr.s to really just sit down and answer questions and really explain stuff. She asked about family history, pregnancy, etc. She mentioned that, if we were to try and get pregnant again, I'd need to start on 10x the recommended daily allowance of folic acid for at least a month to 3 months before trying to get pregnant and continue up through at least the first month of the pregnancy to help reduce the chance of another baby with Spina Bifida. (Also, and this I'm just getting from the Spina Bifida magazine I was reading before going into the office, Lillian would have to do the same before trying to get pregnant. Anyone who's had a child with Spina Bifida, or someone who has it themselves are supposed to take the 10x the recommend amount. And that includes if the guy has Spina Bifida; the wife should still take the 10x the amount before trying to get pregnant to help lower the risk.) Anyway, back to Lillian. Dr. Dosa said that, again, nothing is connected to the Spinal Column. If she had surgery, it would be cosmetic to remove the fat somewhere down the line. She actually showed me the MRI, since I asked her how the bones were different then they were supposed to be, although, she couldn't get the CT scan for some reason, which would have shown the bones better. But the MRI showed, clearly, how nothing was connected to the spine. The problem is that the bones are a little deformed, so she wanted me to take her to see an Orthopedic surgeon. She said that since nothing is connected to the Spinal Column, we wouldn't have to worry about most of what usually goes along with Spina Bifida. She shouldn't have any problem with muscle control or incontinence. But she did order an ultrasound for her kidneys just to make sure, but she's expecting it to come back completely normal. She also checked Lillian's rectum to make sure that, when touched, it had the correct reflex, which shows she has control. And she was fine. The appointment lasted 2 hrs. So, I'll take her to Rome Hospital tomorrow to have the ultrasound done. The only thing she said that might be an issue, is that people with Spina Bifida are at a greater risk for Scoliosis. So, she called over to the Orthopedic surgeon's office to see if they had an appointment available. So after I left her office, I went to the Orthopedic. office down the road. When I got there, they weighed and measured her again, and then she saw the surgeon. She went over the MRI results and said that she looked good. But she couldn't get the CT either; she only had a report of the CT. But she asked more questions, checked her out, and agrees that she looks great. She also agreed that it didn't look like there would be any need for surgery. Even though the vertebrae isn't fully connected, it's such a small break, that there's really nothing to worry about. I asked her about the Scoliosis thing, and she said, with how she looks now, there's no reason to believe that she would have it down the road; her risk level wouldn't be much higher then average. She's as close to 'normal' as she could get with this. So by the time I finished the appointments, we'd been ther for over 3 hrs. So it was a long day.
But, Lillian will still be monitored by ALL of the Dr.s. So now, I have to call the Neurosurgeon and see when her next appointment is supposed to be, since the other Dr.s are willing to work with me and try to get all of my appointments on the same day to help condense my trips to Syracuse, but that will make for one long day. If I can't get them on the same day, I should at least be able to get the Spina Bifida clinic and Orthopedic appointments on the same day, because I know they see patients on the same days. So that will help a little. So in 6 months, give or take, she'll see the Neurosurgeon again and do another MRI, then she'll go to the Spina Bifida clinic and probably be checked by the Physical therapist and such, and then to the Orthopedic Surgeon where she will probably have an x-ray taken of her hips and such.
So, still more appointments, but I'm just happy to know that she's OK. In the blessings Todd gave her, he said that she'd be OK, but it's still nice to get confirmation.

Big day

Well, today was a big day. Todd and I woke up around 3 a.m. this morning so I could take him to the base. He still had to pick up the pistol he'd been issued and meet the guy who was going to drive him to the airport for his 6 a.m. flight. Yes, you saw that right, they had him on the airplane by 6 a.m.! He flew through Chicago to Cheyenne, Wyoming. From there he had to get a rental car and drive for another 3 hours. He'll be in Wyoming until the 27th. Then he'll drive the rental back to Cheyenne and fly out from there to Afghanistan. (Obviously it won't be a direct flight, but I'm just not sure of all the stops in between.) He'll be in Afghanistan until somewhere around the end of Feb. or beginning of Mar. We won't know for a while when his actual scheduled day to come home will be.

Later, I took Lillian to Syracuse for her MRI. We were supposed to be there by 10 a.m. for an 11 a.m. appointment. That way they'd have time to sedate her, do paperwork, vitals, etc. Well, they were running late so they didn't even get around to sedating her for the MRI until after we'd already been there almost 2 hours. Normally it wouldn't be a big problem except for the fact that she wasn't supposed to eat after 7 a.m, so she was getting pretty hungry. (But really, she still was amazing. They're just lucky they didn't have a really cranky baby on their hands.) They put the mask on her face to sedate her, then had to give her an IV and then had to put a tube down her mouth. About an hour and a half later she woke up and they came and got me so I could feed her. Everything went well except for at the end. They said she 'Bhronco spasmed' (not sure of spelling). Basically her throat started closing up as she was trying to wake up. So they ended up giving her a shot (basically) that someone with allergies would take. So now anytime she needs sedation, I have to inform people that she's had this problem before. Although they said that it wasn't an allergic reaction to the medicine, otherwise it would have happened at the beginning instead of the end. It's just something that happens sometimes. (That's comforting.)

Then on my way home, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing (I know it was bad, but I was on the phone with a friend; but I had the speaker phone on at least), and I completely missed my exit and continued driving to Utica. Although, I didn't mind that part, it was a nice conversation, but it did put me getting home even later. :o)

But, the kids went swimming a little, some of the house got clean, we had a nice dinner, and I even got to talk to Todd a little. Now, if only my house would cool down . . .

Schedule

We've finally had our schedule finalized.

Tomorrow Lillian has her check up that she needs before getting her MRI. After Todd gets off work, we leave for vacation/family reunion. (He may get off by noon, we'll cross our fingers and see.) We'll be in Iowa from the 1st to the 3rd. Then we take off to Utah. We'll be there the 5th- 9th. We're leaving to head back to New York by noonish on the 9th since Todd has to be back for training. We'll get home on the 12th, he leaves on the 13th for Massachusetts until the 15th. He'll be home on the 16th, maybe 17th, and then leaves for Wyoming. (He'll spend about 2 weeks in training and then leave for Afghanistan from there.) Also on the 17th, I'll take Lillian to Syracuse for her MRI. Then later that month I have to go back to Syracuse for Andrew's x-rays for his back (hopefully he'll be cleared to do gym/recess next year). Then back to Syracuse in September (twice in the same week because neither Dr. will see patients on the same day the other does) for her cardiology appointment and then to see the neurosurgeons.

Todd will be gone for 6 months. So we're planning on him being back around the the beginning of March.

But on the bright side, starting in September, I'll have 5 of the kids in school all day, Sophie at school 1/2 day, and just Lillian at home. So it will give me a little more freedom to make Dr. appointments and such.

Lillian

We've been waiting for Lillian's next appointment. She had seen the Pediatric Surgeon and had a CT scan, but they wanted to refer her to a Neurosurgeon since they think she has Spina Bifida. We finally got a call on Wednesday that before we could have an appointment with the Neurosurgeon they wanted her to have an MRI. So Thursday we went to the clinic to have the MRI done. Well, if any of you know about MRIs, you know that you have to lay still in order for it to work. You also know that it makes a VERY loud noise. So as you can imagine, Lillian didn't even come close to not moving. She was doing regular happy baby moves until it started, and then freaked out screaming once it actually started making noise. (You'd think the Drs would have been able to foresee this since she's only 5 months old.) So now we're waiting for them to call us back on Monday or Tuesday to set up another MRI, this time with her sedated. Most likely they will need to do surgery, which will probably happen after Todd is deployed. But we'll wait to hear from the Dr.s to see exactly what they want to do. Hopefully we'll know soon. I feel bad because it seems like she's the one who's ended up with all of the medical problems. (She also has a heart murmur from a bi-cuspid valve --the same thing I have; but all of the other kids seem fine.)
Todd has given her blessings and feels that she will be ok, but still, it's not a fun position to be in.
She's such a cutie and is so happy and loving. All of her siblings absolutely adore her. We're so grateful that she's part of our family. We ask that your prayers be with her.

Deployment

Well, Todd got notice today that he will be deploying the end of August. There are a couple of things that are different then we previously thought. He will be deploying to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. Even though it's in Afghanistan, it will be a safer deployment than the one we first were expecting since he will be on the staff of the ranking General there. Not many JAGs get that opportunity, so it will also be nice for his career.
The timing completely throws off the schedule we had for going to my family reunion in August, but that's something I'll need to work out now. If I still go, it will be me and 7 children driving all the way to Utah. That would be hard enough without having to take 7 children to the bathroom everytime 1 person needs to go and having to stop everytime I need to feed Lillian. Plus the added money of needing to stop at more hotels now since I can't drive as far. Otherwise, I have to try and find someone who can drive out with me.
Of course, I've also thought about just not going, but all of the kids are excited and planning on seeing their cousins that they haven't seen for awhile. Grrr.