Wonderful Accomplishments :)

Congratulations Whitney on your Confirmation :) We are so Proud of you. Reach for the stars girl...YOU can accomplish anything and everything! We LOVE YOU!Happy Nurses Day ~ To our WONDERFUL Nurses Aleana & Gail! They are our FAMILY :)

Happy Mother's Day ~ My 5 Generation picture! (Taken 5-1-11)

The Whole Crew! I'm very thankful for my family and that I've been able to share so many memories with them. I'm one Lucky Lady to have them in my life for so long :)Danny chatting it up with his Great Great Grandma NaGreen. She is SO FOND of Danny! (Sophia NaGreeen 98)
************************************************************************************
Look what I can DO! My Mom NEVER gives up on me, Pushes me to my limits, and gives me opportunities that I was told I couldn't do :) SMILE!

Not only did I give him strawberries that day, but he licked a Dill Pickle potato chip (ewww), and had some applesauce (YUM). Can you say MAJOR taste overload? But he did GREAT with it. Vanilla Ice Cream is one of his favorites :)

Yesterday Danny was back UP in his stander. After a surgery, where in the beginning, I was told Danny would never be able to go back in. Well............................... Take THAT!

He is more reclined then he used to be, but he's UP and tolerating it :) Have I told you how PROUD OF YOU I AM, DANNY!

Danny's post op appts on Tuesday went very well. We don't have to see Ortho now until he is ready for another rod lengthening. They think it will be right around the beginning of Sept. BUT we'll see what his xrays look like. I will bring him in for xrays the end of the summer. If his curve is stable then I will put off the surgery until HE is ready for it. There is NO sense in growing him out if HE isn't ready for it. Danny is growing up so fast on his own, he doesn't need someone else to do it for him :) The ENT had to pull out another blood clot out of his right ear again, but now that it's out his ear should be good. Just another week of ear drops and to watch the ear tubes and make sure he doesn't have an allergy to these ones.

Avrianna is gearing up for the Summer. She can't wait! We have a few things planned this year: a Drama class, going up North for the 4th, having her cousin stay with us for almost a month, going to St Louis to Jellystone Park and doing some fun activities there, and she has a week long Girl Scout camp. She is going to busy....does that surprise you? NOT ~ LOL! Avrianna is doing really well with her glasses that she got about a month ago. I guess she really needed them ...darn kid should have told me sooner she was having problems. I'm glad we got it taken care of now and she is going great. Her braces haven't been bothering her, only when she gets them tightened does she have some discomfort for a few days. I can't believe how much/ fast she is growing up :( This week I did a bunch of cleaning out and the Barbie's went away, the dolls, the small bike too all went away....makes me sad. My Lil girl is becoming a young lady!

I was able to have my first MS treatment in Milwaukee the same day as Danny's Post op appts on Tuesday. I was so nice to have Gail and Danny there with me. Danny of course was the center of attention :) Everything went great! It's refreshing to say I'm doing good and in minimal daily pain. I didn't think I would EVER feel like this again.....EVER! So I'm grateful for the extra time I have :)

Dan is deligently attempting to get his race car ready. Good thing the weather has been darn right CRAPPY this last month and most of the racing days have been canceled. When he's done with it is should be a whole in car under the hood and electronically (not one of Dan's favorite things to do). I'm sure once the weather gets more like spring/summer around here he will be more busy with Fire Calls too but for now he has been busy with his Fire School and Training.

Mr Gunner got himself a "new" home. Yes the kennel is back! I think he has anxiety when we leave and lately he has been eating shoes when we are gone. Grrrrr! So instead of replacing tons of shoes and a possible vet bill, I went out and got a kennel so he will behave and be safe when we are gone. He is SO NOT impressed with it, but as Dan put it Game OVER and you lost. LOL!

I can into contact with an amazing BLOG the other day. This mother is AMAZING and inspirational. She knows exactly how to say how we all feel. I just LOVE reading her blog. I HIGHLY recommend taking a look at her Blog The Bird on the Street. If anything please read this post she wrote ALL I ASK it is a MUST read for my blog friends and family with and without children with Special Needs. Please Read it! I was going to repost it her on my blog for you all to read but I can not. And this post The Problem with Raising a Special Needs Child. Heck I could many more on here just stop in on her blog you won't be disappointed!

Thanks for checking in on us! Please let us know you stopped by as we love to here from you too.

Slow and Steady

Not too much to report over here. I guess that is a good thing :) February was here and gone, wow time flies.

Avrianna is finished with swim for the season. She has decided to not swim in the spring/summer season BUT she will start up again in the Fall/Winter which goes from September to February. There is alil break between now and when spring/summer starts so maybe she'll change her mind....we'll see. She finished doing VERY WELL. Her ribbon board received more ribbons from the last meet she had in Fond du lac. What a wonderful facility that was to swim at. Unfortunately another BIG snow storm hit as we were getting there on Sunday so once we were ready to leave the roads were AWFUL. Fond du lac had already but a towing ban on so IF we were in need of help we'd have to wait it out till after the storm had passed. Thankfully we made it home safe with no issues. Slow n steady :) Avrianna is pretty excited to have some time off. Swim is a BIG commitment with practice 3 times a week and then a meet that takes up one weekend a month so for her to be able to just veg around after school is a blessing for her. Right now Avrianna just has piano on Monday nites so the rest of the week she is "bored" ~ LOL, never a dull moment with that girl. She needs to be busy ALL the time. This weekend I am going along with her Girl Scout troop for a sleepover at the Children's Museum...welcome a late nite with a stiff back in the morning :) Avrianna is EXTRA excited as next Monday her expander is coming off. 6 months of having all that hardware in her mouth. I have to say I'm very proud of her as she really didn't complain about it at all. I know I wouldn't have been such a good trooper about it. I'm not sure how it all works with getting it off and going to the phase 2 which is braces, if the braces will be going on right away on Monday too or not. Of course this too will be something new so she can't wait to get them on....we'll see how excited she is a couple days after the braces are on, heehee. Avrianna is doing AWESOME in school...I'm so proud of her. She placed higher then the ADVANCED bracket for her Math and Reading state testing. WOW, that was a surprise to me for the reading as I had just got a letter in the mail stating she was struggling alil with it.....I think Avrianna does better with the written tests then she does with the oral ones. Yay! And Math well she is a WIZ I don't need to worry about that subject with her. Maybe she needs to be in a class that needs to be challenge her more, I mean higher then Advanced ~ WONDERFUL ~ Way to GO Avrianna! Unfortunately she had to deal with some school bus bullying but for the most part she handled VERY WELL and did what she needed to do and got help with it. She's a tough cookie but boy can kids be mean....it's SO SAD that kids have to deal with this at such an early age. I just breaks my heart :( But I'm glad she was smart enough to get help :) And cudos to the school for stepping up and helping her/us to defuse the problems.

Danny continues to be healthy :), I hope I don't screw myself by saying that. Unfortunately he still has ALOT of discomfort in his lower back hip area. I'm hoping that with growing the rods out and having the steriod injection in his hip area it will help with relieving his pain. It's just awful knowing that when I pick him up, change his diaper, or just reposition him that he'll cry. Pulling at the heart strings here :( We are going to have his pre-op done here by his Pediatrician so we don't have to run back down to Milwaukee. We might have to go down the afternoon before surgery to have his PICC line placed. I'm hoping if we do then they can admit him right afterwards so we are in house for the surgery first thing the next morning. It will be less stressful and less traveling for us if it can be done this way. I'm waiting for the Ortho dept to call us back with the details of what's all going to happen. We'll be talking with Danny's Neurologist this month about his "non-seizures" episodes and what is the best way to treat it.

I will be going in to see my Osteopathic doctor this week not only to crack every bone in my back in neck, LOL....but to have injections of steroids and numbing meds in the base of my head. The hope is to get rid of this headache!!! I'm alil nervous about needles going in my head/neck but I'm to the point that I will try anything. Next week I go in for my second dose of the new MS med Tysarbi. I'm so glad I had no reactions to the first treatment, but I still feel uneasy as I know it can have serious side effects down the road :( I have a follow up with my Neurologist in the middle of this month my stuff.

We have planned to go down to Florida for spring break. I am really looking forward to sun, pool time, and getting together with my friends down there. I really miss not being able to go down there for months at a time anymore. This trip is going to be alittle different for us....I'm so excited that Danny's nurses are coming down too. One of them is driving down with us and then flying home.....while the other will fly in and then drive home with us. It's going to be GREAT time!

Well so much for not having too much to report, LOL. Thanks for checking in on us! As always I'll keep you posted :)

Welcome Home Madness

We made it home safely Saturday at 2am, so we ended up sleeping in the RV in our driveway so I didn't have to wake up the kids. Once we got up we intended to let the unpacking begin. BUT as I walked out of the RV in my scrubby clothes, wild hair, and the oh not so fresh smell up drove 4 cars in my driveway. WHAT!!! Well the builder had some people that wanted to look at our house and we had a miscommunication thing going so unfortunately they got to see me at my "finest". It wasn't too bad, they were wonderful people and I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers out of it :) You're forgiven Mike, LOL.
I started my IV treatment for my most recent MS relapse on Monday and today was my last day, thank goodness. The nurse was able to get an IV in my left arm, of course right in the bend (I'm left handed) which they wanted to keep in for the three days as I, once again, was a hard stick. Now I know where Danny got his veins from, sorry Lil Man! Unfortunately the IV blew this morning and they had to start a new one up for today, the last day. After 3 attempts the nurse was able to get on in my right knuckle in between my pinky n ring finger, OMG did that one hurt. But it's done and I'm hoping I don't have to do that again for awhile.
Avrianna is back to the grind in school and she can't wait to get back in her swim suit and go in the pool. I have started to look into signing her up for some summer programs, so she can't say she's "bored" over the summer. But I'm sure once school is out and the pool is up n running we'll be a very busy house.
Yesterday Danny had his follow up for GI and ****GOLD STARS**** across the board. He is finally in a "good" place as GI is concerned, but I did make the doc aware of the up coming surgery to fuse n rod his spine next month which might throw a few bumps in road with GI. As Danny tends to go over board and throw things out of proportion which tends to start with GI shut down when his body goes isn't a dysautomonia fit. I'm crossing my fingers that isn't the case this time. I don't want to spend 70 days of this summer in the hospital like we did last summer. Danny goes in for his Trache/vent clinic and a new patient dental clinic next Tuesday in Milwaukee and then the next week we have pre op with the ortho surgeon and anesthesiologist. Surgery is scheduled for May 14th with a 5-7 day stay, cross you fingers it's not too much longer then that.
Since we've been home the weather has been wonderful so I've been trying to get all my outside weeding and pruning done. It's a month early around here, but I'll take it! Warm sunshine can stay, keep the snow away! It's suppose to rain tomorrow so I'm hoping to get the last two bags unpacked from our vacation and then I can be all caught up. We are having family coming over for the weekend and I have a WildTree Party here at the house on Friday night with family n friends so I'd like to have everything put away.
The MS Walk is on April 25th, boy did that come up fast. If you are still interested in pledging a dontation to support the walk and me please click on the link at the top left of the blog and that will get you to my personal page. Thanks for your support!

VRE Positive

This morning was Spa day for Danny. I gave Danny a sponge bath, washed his hair, and did his trache cares. What a clean boy!! Then we changed the bedding for both our beds. He is having an AWESOME day....all smiles and no pain meds on board. It's been a great day UNTIL........... lab called and Danny has test positive for VRE . UGH!! So much for me taking Danny out of the room on a road trip, as we are now in isolation once again. I should have gone out earlier with lil man, heehee. I've been doing really good with changing the dressing on his trache and suctioning :) WAY TO GO MOM!Today Avrianna called to talk with Danny and once I put the phone to his ear...a HUGE smile came across his face. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch it on camera but the picture is still cute. Avrianna decided to stay up with Papa Dan & Nana Claudia (yea going on 2 weeks up there) so can we say SPOILED ROTTEN!!! It's all good , I'm so glad they are able to spend time together and make wonderful memories together. I remember the times at grandmas and Dan reminisces about his time with his....it's unfortunate the circumstances of why she is there, but I can rest a sure that she is having a blast up there. Thanks for taking care of my lil girl Papa Dan & Nana Claudia.......I LOVE YOU GUYS.

One Year Ago! ~ 2nd post of the day

You reach for the stars ~ Girl! Anything is possible and you're proof of that!!

Today marks the one year Anniversary of Avrianna's scare, her Aplastic Anemic Crisis. One of the scariest events for her short life. One year ago today her blood counts were 4.9 and dropping, she spiked a high temp, required 2 blood transfusions, her bone marrow stopped producing new cells, and the words meningitis were coming out of the doctors mouths. I've never been so scared for her life....I thought I was loosing her. I happened all so fast! Within 30minutes of my phone call to Dan he had hoped on an airplane to come down to Florida and be with us. Boy ~ what memories, yikes! She was never back to her old self after that episode. Thankfully she did escape meningitis and any real serious side effects for her crisis. With her getting her spleen and gall bladder removed this last December she is a totally different girl with in a year. I'm so proud of you Avrianna, with all the you've endured in your lil life and your still smiling! You are my HERO!! I love you

Wind Chill??

Well I can't seem to stray too far from the cold temps for long. Tonight it is suppose to get down to the low 40's here in Florida and with the wind chill (yeap you heard me WIND CHILL) it could get into the 30's inland. To me that is "normal" but around here in Florida.....we it's just freezing for them!!!! The jet stream is coming from the north which is pushing the Wisconsin temps down to me...oh wonderful. Tomorrow the high is suppose to be mid 60's and then it is looking like the next days will start warming up to "normal" around here. Avrianna can't wait to get back into the swimming pool!

Danny must be upset wearing pants for the second day in a row as he was less then corporative in PT today. Everytime Ms Becky tried to do something with him he would shut down and fall asleep. She even brought out cool toys for him to play with and NOPE....NOTHING! He had attitude today! What a lil stinker, literally. When we got home he filled his pants twice. I think it was too much work for him to do PT and his duty all at once so....shut down during PT (sorry Ms Becky) and then give me the "gifts" when at home. LOL! After that he was all smiles and even vocalized a bit. Tomorrow I hope he will be better in therapy...but with PT even during sleep he can be stretched, heehee. I took Avrianna with us and I think she had more fun there then he did. There were alot of toys and Ms Becky let her play with whatever she wanted to (except the paint,lol). She can't wait to go back tomorrow too :)!

During our recharge movie day this weekend my lil girl gave me one of those AHHA moments. We were watching Racing Stripes and she couldn't understand why the horses were picking on the zebra for being different. She said she would help to teach him things. Then she was going on and on how she wouldn't pick on him and what she would do to try make friends with him because "it's ok to be different". Avrianna is becoming a beautiful, considerate, compassionate lil girl and I am so proud of her. The bond that my two children have ~ NO OTHER will be able to replace. It just warms my heart! :)
On that note we are still completing our homestudy and it should be done by Jan-Feb. I have started looking at photolistings again of children, but I know I can't get me heart set on one( or two) yet. Just looking, :) Breaks my heart to see all of these kiddos needing a forever family. They are just waiting for someone to say you are mine lets go home! Talk about the ultimate gift to be able to give someone ~ A FAMILY! The waiting game is the hardest part of the adoption process that is for sure. I am hoping that because we are not looking for an infant that maybe the placement process won't be as long but I also know it could take awhile. What a journey and adventure, I'm so excited!

I think Avrianna might be wishing for 3 front teeth for Christmas. Her one top front tooth has been loose for a few weeks now and today the other one started wiggling. Both her bottom front teeth are "big" teeth but one right by those also has been loose for a few weeks so it's just a matter of time when they come out. She can't wait till they fall out and I keep telling her the tooth fairy is going to go broke if she looses them all!!!! HEEHEE

My back is sore today....must have pulled something in my lower back, can't figure out why, lol. It hurts and when I walk I get this pain that shoots into my rear......Avrianna keeps laughing at me and saying I'm a pain in the butt. Got to love her!! I guess lifting lil (husky) man everyday is starting to get to me. I know, I know but he's MY lil boy and I just can't see having a lift carry him for me, he's only 4. Mom is suppose to do that? I am so scared that he is going to get too big I won't be able to hold/carry him any more. That's all I got is to hold my boy, let him know I love him, and I'm there for him. What am I suppose to do when I can't anymore? My heart just breaks ~ I wish I could hold him tight and close to me FOREVER!

Take care! Please keep Danny's friend Ryan and his family in your thoughts as he has pnuemonia now too. ARGHHHHHHH Griffin is doing better, YAY! It's way too early in the season for these kiddos to be getting sick already. Praying that this isn't the path for this very long season.

Night Out!

I got to get out of the house tonight for 5 hours with NO kids. WOW! It was great and now refreshed to take it all on again. I went out to the monthly support group in my local area called Parent 4 Parent hosted thru the Easter Seals program. I have been going there for the last 3yrs. It was great! Alot of moms had shown up this time and even a new mom. It is great getting together with them.......some of us even got together alittle earlier and met for a taco bar and happy hour before the meeting. It was so nice to get out and not have all the worries and attention when the kids are with... to just sit back and RELAX for awhile. Avrianna went with my mom (Nanny's)for the night. They are going to hang out tomorrow for a girls day! Dan and Danny were chilln out listening to music and watching tv tonight. Danny even managed to give his Daddy a present while I was gone......a stinky one, heehee! I didn't even have to plan it, LOL!
Avrianna's labs and ultrasound came out ok. So she must be fighting something off and so far her body is doing what it's suppose to. I don't have one of the test results back yet, to see how well her body is reproducing new blood cells, but I should have it by tomorrow.
Tomorrow I am going to get started on Christmas wrapping, yes this too goes with me "OCD", LOL, and I have most of the shopping done I just have to wrap it and sort them out. I should get a good start to it with Avrianna gone for the day tomorrow. Then I can get a good feel of what I need to get yet. One Question for all of you Wii players out there. I am thinking about getting this for our BIG family gift and I have no clue what's what with video games...any advise?
This weekend we plan on going up North with my Aunt and Uncle to show them "the Shack" that Dan talks so highly about. He really loves it up there....God's country!
Hope you are going well. Take care!

Color is off ?!?

All day today Ms Avrianna's color has gotten more pale. I took her to the fall fest this morning at a local park where she was able to play with some friends, paint a pumpkin, and draw some pictures. After that we went to the store to pick out a birthday present for one of her friends. I noticed her pale skin and a blister starting on her lip when we got out of the van to go shopping. We came home after shopping to eat some lunch and she ate really well and had energy still so I let her go next door to the birthday party for alittle while. She had fun but I did notice she was still getting pale and now she was an emotional thing so I knew she was getting tired. We took a ride down to the new house site to see how that was going and take some more pictures....the basement is being poured. Yay! Dan and I decided to take the kids to go see the movie Wall E as Avrianna has been asking forever. This was Danny second show at the theaters and he enjoyed it... smiling and even was chatting it up a lil bit (I had to have a talk with him and let him know he can't talk in there as others were trying to watch the movie too, LOL). Avrianna liked the movie too but about half way through she said her tummy was starting to hurt, ugh. She fell asleep on the way home from the movies....about 8pm which is totally NOT her, sigh. So I've emailed Dr K to get his opinion and we'll see how she is in the morning. I will try to post in the morning to let you guys know how she is. Probably bought herself at the very least a blood count tomorrow at the hospital.

So Mature!

Well Avrianna is SOOOOO excited that her glasses came in early. I can only hope that she keeps up the enthusiasm with wanting to wear them when she has too. She looks go good in them and so grown up. Why can't they stay small?? My glasses didn't come in yet, but should be in tomorrow or the next. Well here she is in all her glory.


Today the reporter contacted me and the article is due to run in the Post Crescent some time mid week (next week). I am hoping she will give me a heads up so I can get a couple extras to save for a scrap book. I will let you know when I know.
Avrianna and I made four loaves of bread today 2 pumpkin and 2 cookies and cream. I can't wait to try them. She just loves to make things, maybe she'll be a baker. She is at Pioneer's right now (kind of a girl scouts) so there is some "quiet" time around here that Danny and I are truly enjoying. Avrianna is always on the go and busy busy (wonder where she gets that from) so it nice to just have some Danny and mommy time.
This morning Danny and I went to PT and he did very well. Aaryn put in new foam into the bottom of his AFO's in hopes that he will not clench his toes as much when in them. So we will see how that goes. Just a note that just FRIES me...I was parked in the van access Handicap parking in the hospital parking lot. Not a sole by where I parked so when I got out a car has not only parked next to me but in the yellow lines for the lift to drop onto. That just pisses me off, not only are there do not park lines on the ground but I have a plain as day sign on the side of the van that states
So I had to pull the van out into the lane, turn the van off, unload the lift, put Danny in, load the lift back up, turn the van back on and go. I know petty but come on!! I really don't like having to block the parking lot up and load him in the middle of it. READ PEOPLE READ! ARGH!!
Tomorrow Danny and I are on our way back to Milwaukee, sigh, for a follow-up with Pulmnology. Hoping that will be a nice and quick visit but after the last visit with Ms Avrianna I am not assuming anything.
Here is the picture of the race car that was taken in Michigan.

Dan in all his glory!!

Just Another Day

*****SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR BLUE ROSES!!******

First - please stop in at Matt's site (our CB friend - link to the left) as he awoke this morning very sick and needed to be admitted to the PICU. The parents could use some comforting words right now.

Well today started so so...I had seen a post on another site that makes total sense to me today. Live life in the present, as the past and future both can be sad and frightening. I so understand that! Today I tried to reflect on my life and found myself in tears seeing the what if's and could haves when all I needed to do is look at what's right in front of me....the best kids/miracles a mother could have! They are what makes my life "worth" it. I was one that dreamed of a family from when I can start to remember and now I have TWO. How wonderful and I got to spend the day with them, I couldn't have asked for more. I wouldn't be the person I am today without them in my life! They are my EVERYTHING! Dan called and was so apologetic that the day wasn't "special", but any day that I can spend with my kids is special for me.
Today we went to the mall to get my mom's ring (it was being repaired), to get some aromatherapy stuff for the house, and we ate at Subway for lunch. Then we went to go get Avrianna and my eyes checked out. Danny had a blast, I think he was enjoying the idea he was there just for the ride and didn't have to have stuff done to him. Both Avrianna and I had the full treatment with eye dilation and all. My eyes did indeed change for the worse so I'm hoping after getting my new specks my headaches will subside. Avrianna is also entrying the world of GLASSES. She right now is totally excited about them but I'm sure after having to wear them and care for them they are not going to be so neat anymore. I can only wonder if her major medical crisis this spring helped in her need for glasses. In Jan of '08 I took her in for her first exam and she was ok and now she is in need of glasses due to "weak" focus muscles. The doctor mentioned that if she should have another episode she needs to come in earlier but every year should be just fine. So I'm concerned that her blood disorder or the trama her body deals with having it is causing her eyes to become weaker. Her eyes are always yellow do to the jaundice and anemia that her body has on a daily basis so maybe? Of course I didn't wonder this till after we left the office so I will be asking the Pediatrician if their is issues with eye sight and having HS. She picked out pink ones so I will post a picture of her when they come in. She also has two loose teeth! My little girl is growing up, sigh.
After the eye appt we came home and Danny had OT. Today I put him in his stander for his therapy and he was having a good time. Ms Kristi had him paint apples on a tree with an apple stamp. He was smiling and even vocalized for her, WOW, so I think Danny will do better for her in his stander during OT time. After OT the kids and I went to Walmart to do alittle shopping and to just browse around. Avrianna picked out one of those lil cakes for my birthday cake so we went home, put a cande in it, and ate it with just us three....yeap had to give lil man some frosting. Last night I gave him about 7 (of his spoon fulls) of banana pudding and some pumkin ice cream and he did GREAT with that too.
Hope all is well! Live life for today as you can't change yesterday and you never know what tomorrow will bring. I love Blue Roses, they are my favorite flower and happened to come across this so I would like to share.

************************* BLUE ROSES ******************************

Why do I always have to be the one that starts to do laundry and there's no detergent? Well, I guess it was time for me to do my store run, which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags and Clorox. So off I go.

I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies, and headed for the checkout counter only to be blocked in the narrow aisle by a young man that appeared to be about sixteen-years-old. I wasn't in a hurry, so I patiently waited for the boy to realize that I was there. This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud voice, "Mommy, I'm over here."

It was obvious now, he was mentally challenged, and also startled as he turned and saw me standing so close to him, waiting to squeeze by. His eyes widened and surprise exploded on his face as I said, "Hey Buddy, what's your name?"

"My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother," he responded proudly.

"Wow," I said, "that's a cool name; I wish my name was Denny, but my name is Hal."

"Hal, like Halloween?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered. "How old are you Denny?"

"How old am I now, Mommy?" he asked his mother as she slowly came over from the next aisle. "You're fifteen-years-old Denny; now be a good boy and let the man pass by."

I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school. I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone's attention. He then abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section.

Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking the time to talk with her son. She told me that most people wouldn't even look at him, much less talk to him. I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said something I have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in God's garden, however, "Blue Roses" are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness. You see, Denny is a "Blue Rose" and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from God.

She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she asked, "Who are you?"

Without thinking I said, "Oh, I'm probably just a dandelion but I sure love living in God's garden."

Please the next time you see a BLUE ROSE don't turn your head and walk off, take the time to smile and say Hello. Because by the grace of GOD this mother could be you. This could be your child, grandchild, niece, nephew. What a difference a moment can mean to that person or their family.

From another old dandelion.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

Leave the rest to God.

~Author Unknown~

Avrianna's 1st grade pictures

Here's my baby's first grade picture we took this morning. What a ham????? I am so proud of her....she has become a smart, compassionate, little girl. I can't wait to see what she's going to be when she grows up....a great attorney as she sticks to her guns or an actress as she tends to be somewhat of a drama queen, that's what I'm invisioning for her. I can't decide which one I like the best so here a few of my favorites.

Avrianna Lee

Avrianna's pregnancy was our second attempt to start a family. Unfortunately we had complications early in my 1st pregnancy which resulted in a miscarriage.
Avrianna was to be due around Christmas time 2002. I had gestational diabetes that I wasn't able to control with my diet so I needed to give myself shots 3 times a day to help regulate my sugars. Avrianna wanted to bless us with her presents early as on October 24, 8 weeks early, my water broke getting ready for work. After many tests that were performed to make sure she was "ready" they allowed me to continue labor and deliver her 8 weeks premature. Avrianna was born 5lbs 6oz, 19" long, and she was a pistol from second one. Her lungs were formed and working but she still needed a pick me up for a couple days on the oxygen hood in an incubator. She didn't have the suck, swallow, breathe thing down pat so we had to teach her how to eat. While we were doing that she was fed mostly by a tube that routed into her nose and down into her tummy. The feeding issue became the most challenging thing for us to get her go home. Avrianna was born with a blood disorder called Hereditary Spherocytosis. This is means her blood is shaped differently then you and I (sphere shaped instead of donut shaped), which has a tendency to back up in her spleen, and is also known to have homiletic anemia. It has alot of the same symptoms as of Sickle Cell. She will always have the disorder but will probably need a complete spleenectomy later in life to help manage it. She spent alot of hours/days under a bili light as she was VERY yellow with jaundice. She escaped having a blood transfusion in the NICU but later in life wasn't so lucky to dodge that bullet. After spending 6 weeks in the intensive care unit learning to eat and us learning how to raise a little girl with a blood disorder, they sent her home. With giving us the mind set that with her being premature she could be "behind". I can remember taking her home and laying her on the couch looking at her wondering, NOW WHAT? I have been in the shadows of nurses and doctors with this little girl and we're all by ourselves now. I was scared out of my mind. We were referred to a special needs pediatrician that has helped us tremendously with caring for her. We started with having blood draws done once and week and worked our way to having them done once every year at the ripe old age of 5, unless she was sick we would do them more regularly. Avrianna can not fight off bugs and viruses like most people can so she tends to hang onto it longer and will get real yellow from the jaundice, pale, lethargic, and her spleen will back up causing it to enlarge. Avrianna has always held her own without the need for any blood transfusions until in Florida spring 2008 on our family get away she some how got the parvo virus that caused her system to shut down, she was diagnosed with a Aplastic Anemic Crisis. Her spleen enlarged to a dangerous size, she was so tired, her blood count was low, and her bone marrow stop producing ALL new blood cells. Avrianna averages on her own her hemoglobin around 10 and her retic (making new blood cells) is always in good range for her. At the time of her first blood transfusion her count was at 4.9 (normal transfusion is around 6) and her bone marrow still wasn't making new cells. She had a miserable time with the transfusion as her little veins didn't like the rate they needed to run the drip in. She had a high fever and started to go delusional I was so scared with knowing this could take her life! After 5 days in the hospital she was able to go home, but her body took 6 weeks to get back to her "normal". Avrianna had her spleen and gall bladder removed at age 6 in December '08 at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee (along with her brother getting his hip surgery done at the same time). The surgery was done laproscopically so she only had 5 lil incision in her belly. Her spleen was very enlarged when it was removed, I was told it was the size of a grown man's hand. She is doing wonderful after surgery and she is even more excited to be able to do more active sports again. Our main concern with her is if she should go septic, as without the spleen her system can't fight off certain bugs n virus' and she will tend to hold on to an illness alil longer then normal. With her being at such a high risk of compromised health our family chose to Home school her till 2nd grade. She did doing wonderful and went smoother then I has ever anticipated it to go. Way to go! Guess we showed them that she definately isn't "behind" in any aspect of her life. She in now in the public schools in the Neenah School District and she is loving it :) Avrianna loves to swim, dance, do artsy fartsy projects, and is into all the girly girly stuff. She is always on the go and always needs to be busy. She was approved for a Make A Wish and in Feb '09 our family went on a Disney Cruise for 7 days. She is a wonderful big sister to her little brother who is only 14 months younger then her.
Avrianna is currently in 6th grade at Horace Mann Middle school.  She has exceeded all of the Dr's expectations as she is already a year in school ahead with her age and she still has tested out to a grade ahead of that in some subjects.  She just had her 11th birthday and to celebrate we went on a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas.  She has a gift to excel at everything and anything she does, I'm so proud of the lil lady she has become.  She has been playing the piano since 2nd grade, plays bells n church, is apart of the Boys n Girls Brigade, and Dives with the Fox Valley Dive Team.  Avrianna goes by the name Av now by her teachers and friends and is growing up faster then I can believe.  She will be something/someone special when she gets older, just you wait and see.

I am so proud to be her mother! Look how much she's grown :)

Taken 10-13

Taken 8-11

Pic taken July 2010
Pic 9-09


Pic taken 9-08
Pic taken 2-07

Pic 11-06


Pic 12-03

Pic 11-02
Pic 10-02