The Wedding – October 16, 2010

I can hardly believe that my little sister who is 13 years younger than me got married his past weekend!!  She was always the baby (which she’s always hated, but has always managed to use to her advantage) and it seems hard to believe how grown up she is now.

I thought today I would just share some photos from the wedding.

(On a side note – today Troy and I celebrated 14 years of marriage – WOW!)

     Just Pronounced Man and Wife!

Troy gave her away.  They’ve been like brother and sister for 14 years, and fought like it too, but you know Troy would do anything for her!!  (And he did give Brett “the speech”.  The same one my father delivered to him, the day he married me!

Cassandra is holding a photo of my dad!  He was there is spirit!

   Daniel was sure to dance with the Bride!           

We were doing the Mocarena and Daniel charged up and down the line checking us all out.  He had everyone in stitches!

For fun – here is one of me on my wedding day, October 19, 1996, with my little sister as the flower girl – my how things have changed!

Medical Update

Yesterday we had some follow ups for Daniel's ongoing medical condition. The news is pretty much status quo. Perfect right kidney, swollen left kidney, and over-sized bladder. I'm coming to the realization that that is what they expect to see and that is about as good as it will get. Since his left kidney can never actually take a few days, weeks or months off to heal, like a sick person could, it won't actually have the chance to heal completely.

Personally I thought it looked a tad better than before and the doctor agreed that it might be a smidge better. As for Daniel's bladder, basically we're in the "he just needs to grow" stage. Daniel needs to grow bigger and older and have an understanding of a bladder and the fact that he just can't speed pee to get back to his toys.

I can hear the choruses of "Good luck with that one" now!! Believe me, I know!!

They have one more large sedated test to do, which they have mentioned several times. The doctor finally agreed that we should schedule it in the New Year or early spring "for completeness" in his words. If they don't find anything unusual, which they don't expect to, then we might actually be DONE, as in released from the urologist!!

Are we done with the issue entirely? No way.

We will have to be diligent in continuing to potty train and getting Daniel to understand his issues. He still leaks in between potty breaks (unless highly motivated) and we are trying to curtail that without so much bribery now. We will have to watch him for urinary tract infections and teach him to recognize the signs as he begins to want privacy from us (which we see starting already). Daniel will have to have regular blood pressure check ups and we'll have to monitor his kidney on some level, maybe once a year.

Thanks for all the prayers and support!! I'll update about the next test when we get dates.

Busy Two Weeks

I would like to ask for prayers for our family as we embark on a very, very busy two weeks. First of all, next week is Daniel's medical appointment. While it is just a follow up and what I call an "easy appointment" being an ultrasound and visit with the doctor, it is still stressful as it changes my work schedule, Daniel's school schedule and I still worry every time we go.

This weekend is very busy because my best friend and her husband are coming for the weekend for her high school reunion and at the same time I have a thousand things to do Friday for my little sister's wedding next week. Saturday she'll be with me most of the day as we do a mini bachelorette party at my house (just hanging out).

Then the following weekend is the BIG DAY! On the 16th, my little sister will marry the man of her dreams and Brett will become part of our family. We're ALL in the wedding. I'm a bridesmaid, Daniel the ring bearer, and Troy gets to give her away! My dad will be sorely missed on this occasion. This has been a tough month for all of us as we just passed his birthday about a week ago, and this month he will have been gone 3 years.

However, Troy is prepared to give Brett the same speech my father gave him. It goes something like this:

"All sales are final. No returns or exchanges allowed."

That was so my dad!!

That weekend proves to be crazy busy. I have several out of town guests at the house. Friday is rehearsal, decorating the church, etc. and Saturday the big day. I'm leaving Daniel entrusted to the care of my best friend and his grandparents to get him ready and to the church on time so I can spend some time with my little and big sisters before the wedding.

Thank you for your prayers.