Life as a Leach

One of the surprises of Abby's Wish Day was having a photo shoot after her transformation!  The photographer was fantastic and Abby was SO cooperative!  If you know Abs, you know she's a bit  stubborn.  Since we couldn't prepare her for the photo shoot, we had no idea how she would do.  But she was such a little ham and totally loved the camera! When we were packing for the trip, I had to convince Matt that Abby needed her fancy silver sparkly shoes.  He felt like they were unnecessary and she could just walk around in tennis shoes.  I reminded him that she was going to BE Elsa and that Elsa needed fabulous shoes!  However reluctantly, he was able to fit the silver shoes in our bulging suitcase.  But seriously, how perfect are they?!?!  They were worth the extra stress on the zipper! The Memory Maker editing software allows you to include signatures of the various characters.  So here's Elsa! Elsa's bo...

I was going to do all of these posts in order from the start of our trip to the finish, but once I got all of the pictures from Memory Maker, I just want to share them!!  So...we're going to jump to the main event of Abby's Wish Day! On the morning of Abby's Wish Day, we headed to Bippiti Boppiti Boutique where Abby got a complete Elsa makeover! This is in the dressing room, right after she put the dress on...before the transformation! First, her Fairy Godmother pulled her hair back and put in about 2 gallons of hair spray. She got her nails painted and her makeup done--a first for her! Then, her hair stylist put in a blond hair piece and her crown!  There were lots of bobby pins in that little head of hers! Love that sassy face! Of course, she needed a little bit of Pixie Dust! And so did her Make a Wish pin! The finished product!! She had been facing away from the mirror the whole time. This was...

We are home and Abby is heading the right direction. The first night was rough, but last night was better.  She needed some meds yesterday during the day, but is doing well so far today.   She is playing more and starting to eat a little more.  She drank about 2 oz yesterday and has already had more than that today.  So everything is pointing toward things getting better. I'm not sure when she will go back to school, but hopefully sometime this week.  Her teacher has been SO sweet with having the kids make cards, dress in purple, and sign a get well poster!  Abby has loved hearing from her friends, and she sent a video message back the other day.  :) Thanks again for all of the love!  This surgery was tougher than I thought, but at least I know what to expect in the future.

Happy 9th birthday to my Star Wars loving, light saber carrying, book reading, Mind Craft obsessed little guy! We love you so much and are proud of the boy you are becoming.  Thanks for making me a mom.  May the force be with you! Love, Momma

We rode the Shamu Express, and Abby held her hands up the entire time!  We were nervous leading up to our trip that her trunk control (or lack thereof) would keep her from riding many of the rides, but that wasn't the case at all!  She rode anything she was tall enough for and loved every second! Caleb took this picture.  It only took him about 15 tries and a lot of cut-off heads.  Ha!  My budding photographer!

The kids were terrified to go into the shark exhibit!  It took a lot of encouraging, but we finally dragged them in convinced them to go in.  Of course, once we got in, they loved it! We were on a big conveyor belt to keep everyone moving.  The tank was an arch all the way over top of us, and there were sharks and fish everywhere! "Make a scared face!"  

I'm not gonna lie--today was rough.  Abby is feeling rotten, and just doesn't want to do much of anything.  Her sleep is fitful and usually is full of moaning and tossing.  She doesn't want to do anything at the playroom and just cries in pain.  She's (obviously) very whiny, which I totally get....but that doesn't mean it isn't taxing!  My poor, sweet girl isn't feeling well at all, and it's got me asking what the coming years will bring.   These are supposed to be the "easy" surgeries where the kids are back to their usual selves the same afternoon of surgery.  A lot of these kids go home the same day!   But Abby is still moaning in her sleep, her oxygen levels dipping to the mid 80s and staying at the low 90s.  We are trying to hold out on oxygen, but if she needs it, she needs it.  Doing these expansions every 4-6 months until her chest wall is done growing is going to be rough if this is what each one will be like.  I've been to...