We’re thankful we have not had any emergencies. We were actually thinking that it has been over a year since we’ve had any hospital admissions. Amazing for us to go an entire year! Hopefully, we can continue in this streak. As I had written last time, I wondered if Joyanna was coming down with a virus but thankfully she did not. Ethan recovered quickly enough and we haven’t dealt with any other illnesses since then. Praise the Lord! Joyanna has been able to be in school all the normal days.
We celebrated Thanksgiving here at home with my sister and her family. It was a relaxing day. Earlier in the month, I was able to take a trip with my sister as she spoke at a Ladies Retreat for my sister-in-law in Missouri and Ben was able to take a weekend to do some deer hunting. He didn't see anything to shoot but it was a good time away. We both have been afforded that time this month.
Two Wednesdays ago, Joyanna received an injection of Botox into her calf muscles which helps with muscle flexibility. Then, last Monday, she got the first of 5-6 casts put into place for her serial casting. Again, this will hopefully help her muscles to stretch and move her foot back into a neutral position. We decided to choose colors of casts each week by going through the rainbow. We substituted pink for red last week for her first cast because we couldn’t leave pink out of the spectrum. This week she has orange. They said the first few days of last week she might be sore and it seems she was. Two doses of ibuprofen each day seemed to take care of it and then the rest of the week she was fine. They don’t seem to bother her now. She is not kicking quite as much as normal but is moving her legs around which I feel is the perfect balance. She might even gain some muscle strength by “lifting weights” for 6 weeks. My sister-in-law reminded me mid last week that I could be painting her toenails that are peeking out from her casts so this has been fun. I matched her pink cast last week and then switched colors on Monday when she got her new cast. I know Joyanna doesn’t care but sometimes you just have to make it fun. Next week is yellow! Someone said over the last week that Joy would be bringing the cheerful colors into this time of year. Just like Joy!
Today she is receiving her infusion and has stayed awake the entire time today. That is unusual! She has enjoyed watching some Christmas cartoons and other of her favorites.
We are the people that get all our Christmas stuff out the day after Thanksgiving and we are all decorated. Ethan is thrilled. He loves all the Christmas stuff. We’re listening to Christmas stories and music and reading Christmas books. Our special friend, Mrs. Ruth, has even given us all kinds of presents to open throughout the month. What fun! Joyanna has a favorite Hallmark singing snowman that was given to her on the plane during her Make-A-Wish trip in 2015. She remembered it from last year when we got it out. She is enjoying listening to it as often as we will press the button for her; she sings along with the Fa la la la la, too. Ethan sat in her bed last night for at least 20 minutes and pressed the button every time she said, “Aaaah.” That was so sweet of him! This is a key way that we evaluate her cognitive skills. She seems to be doing exactly what she did last year with this particular toy—maintaining!
We have a special place where we have all of Philip’s past Christmas projects with his pictures. Sweet boy! Ethan even has a little tree in his room that he got to decorate. This was the tree we had in Philip’s room last year so even Ethan knows it is special.
There are so many things to attend this time of year. I enjoy each of them. It does make for a busy time though. We will hopefully make it to Kentucky for Christmas and are looking forward to it.
Thanks for praying for us!