Chatting With Santa

Recently we went to "Milk and Cookies with Santa," hosted by the Rally Foundation (which raises money to fun research for a cure for pediatric cancer).  It was a fabulous event.  I love that it is small enough that the girls got to chat, I mean really chat, with Santa:

 They talked for a LONG time on his lap:

Catherine told me that Santa assured her that she was on the Nice List.  I wondered why I was not consulted about that determination.  But, Catherine did seem quite relieved.

 I love these shots so much more than the posed ones we normally get!

 Catherine's folded arms ... which we see all the time:

 No surprise, but Sabrina was her smily, giggly self:

I think they were chatting about how dirty Sabrina's arm was from the crafts she had been doing:

 Sabrina is so excited!  I have no idea why, but it is great to see the joy on her face:

 Santa brought a special treat ... his dog!

 It was an eight week old Poodle - Labrador mix:

 Sabrina worked up the courage to actually pet the dog:

And then freaked out when the dog stood up:

 Santa's wife, Mrs. Claus, also came.  Catherine had lots of questions for her:

The event had several stations for making crafts.  In addition, there was a wrapping station.  So, the kids made crafts, had them wrapped, and gave them to Santa:

 This was our fourth party of the day, so Catherine decided to lay down in her party dress:

Thank you Rally for a fabulous time!

Sabrina's Cheer Competition

In November Sabrina and her squad competed in their second competition.  It was hosted by our church, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.  She (and they) did a fabulous job.  The cuteness is off the charts!  Before she started, Sabrina saw us sitting there and waved at us:

Moving to her spot:

 A high V with her arms and a big smile:

 Clapping out the cheer:

 Her jumps barely leave the ground:

 Sabrina was the center of the pyramid:

 Exiting the pyramid:

 More cheering:

 The final pose:

Waiting for the results:

 The squad reacting to the news ... they won!

The squad's plaque:

 Admiring her medal:

Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Yesterday we went to Fernbank with some friends.  As usual, the highlight of the trip is the children's section.  The museum has a few great microscopes.  You place an item under the cylindrical tube with the bright light and (voila!) it appears on the big television.  Last time we went to this museum we did not know about these microscopes, so we were stuck looking at the bugs & nature objects stuck in plastic.  This time, the girls planned ahead and brought a bag of their toys.  Here Catherine is looking at the cutie marks on My Little Pony:

Here she is looking at the details of a Barbie dress:

The kids also liked the canoe:

The Marco Polo exhibit (including a yert):

We had a great time at Fernbank .. these are just a few pictures!

Eye Muscle Surgery

For the past year we have been going to an eye specialist for Catherine.  This doctor specializes in eye muscle surgery.  He does extremely thorough exams of Catherine, tried glasses, tried patching her eyes for awhile, tried medicating her eyes for awhile, and ended up actually operating on her eyes on August 14, 2013 to align her eyes.

We visit this doctor every 4-6 weeks.  Catherine, as usual, brings a favorite stuffed animal with her.  She has to cover her eye with white tape so the doctor can test her other eye's vision.  Catherine requested that her puppy have tape over an eye also:

She also wears these funky glasses to check her depth perception:

On the day of her surgery, she colored while we waited:

We wrote her favorite Scripture on her arm before the operation:

Playing with the hospital clowns before her eye muscle surgery:

I don't think we took any pictures of her eyes after the surgery.  For several weeks after the surgery, her right eye was a bloody gunky mess.  Each morning it would be sealed shut with all the discharge.  We had to carefully clean all the discharge out without damaging her healing muscles. 

Now, it has been almost two months since the surgery.  Her eyes are looking much better now and are aligned.  There is a 30% chance that her eyes will deviate from each other again and the surgery will have to be redone.  But, so far so good.

Lunching with American Girls

Perhaps hell has frozen over.  We are notoriously frugal, yet we took the girls to the American Girl Café for Catherine's eighth birthday.  The girls, of course, had a blast.

The Café gives each child a "booster seat" which attaches to the table next to the child.  Each doll gets a small tiara, as well as the birthday girl.

The food was reasonably priced and pretty good.  The store is obscenely priced, but we did buy the girls pet dogs for their dolls.

They do love their dolls and had a fabulous time.  Sabrina wants to go for her birthday in December.

Sub-aortic Membrane

I have learned so much anatomy from parenting Catherine!!  As an infant, she had heart surgery to correct a hole in her heart.  The surgeons installed a tornado coil and we have had no problems since then.  But, for the past five years we have been monitoring her subaortic membrane.  Apparently Catherine has an extra membrane in her heart, where none should exist.

Right now the membrane is thin enough that most of the blood passes through it with no problem.  But, it is getting thicker each year and we have had three cardiologists tell us that we will have to have it removed in the next year or two. 

We take her to the cardiologist every three months to have her heart examined.  Being still a child, she finds this to be play time.  She gives her stuffed animal a cardiac ultrasound:

During a break she and Sabrina played leap frog:

And she attached a heart monitor to her stuffed animal to match her own:

The mere idea of this surgery terrifies me.  In order to cut the membrane out, the surgeons must crack open her chest, re-route all of her blood through a bypass machine, put ice on her heart to stop it from beating, cut her heart open, remove the membrane, sew her heart closed, warm the heart up, and close her chest.  I am slightly comforted by the fact that heart surgeries are somewhat common in children and Egleston has a great cardiac center. 

But, it has taken a few months for me to be able to talk about this surgery without crying.  I pray that the membrane never thicken and she never needs this surgery.  But, every single time we have gone to the cardiologist it has become thicker.  Three separate doctors (well, they actually all work in the same practice so they are not independent of each other) have told us the surgery will someday be needed.

All three of those doctors have also told us that the larger she gets (even if just a few pounds) the safer the surgery will be.  So, we will continue to get her tested every three months.  And, I am certain that her stuffed animal will continue to be tested as well.

Starting Chemo

Catherine's cancer diagnosis and treatment is getting so far in our rear view mirror that I often forget just how little she was when we started.  Here's a picture with her oncologist at one of her first appointments:

 She was so little!!