Doing Great!!!

It's Sunday, only 5 days after surgery, and here's our Emma squealing (literally) with delight while playing with a toy in the playroom at Cincinnati Children's Hospital! God is good! And he has certainly answered our prayers and the prayers of so many friends and family members... Thank You! And keep them coming!


Emma's surgery officially began at 8:25am on Tuesday morning -- we anticipated a five hour procedure and were thrilled when they called us only four hours later to say they were finishing up and all went great. We met with Dr. Levitt shortly after and he said it went even smoother than expected and that she was in recovery and we could head back shortly. It was the longest 30 minutes I've experienced -- I couldn't wait to hold her in my arms! Emma was out of it most of the day on Tuesday, but by Wednesday was sitting up and talking. Thursday, she walked two laps around the floor and by Friday was heading up two floors to the hospital playroom! She has amazed us all!

She cannot have anything by mouth for 10 days, which means Tony and I take turns leaving the room for lunch and dinner. BTW... hospital food stinks! :) Surprisingly she hasn't asked except for once when we passed a water fountain in the hallway... Thinking quickly, I replied, "I'm sorry, Tootie, it's broke." Now everytime we walk down the hall she points to it and repeats, "It broke, ma!"

While I was out of the room today (eating Ramen noodles and peanut butter & crackers... yum!), Dr. Levitt came to visit and told Tony if she keeps doing this well, she may be able to eat on Thursday... yay!

We have a post-op appointment scheduled for Friday morning at 9:30am with Dr. Levitt. My assumption is Emma will either be discharged by then or he will discharge her during that visit. Then we start our journey home.

Off to Cincy

We left this morning for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where Emma will be having surgery next week. She’ll be admitted on Monday with surgery following on Tuesday, August 25th. We expect to be at the hospital for 7-10 days, coming home on Friday, September 4th after her post-op visit.

Emma was born with some GI issues – she had surgery in China as an infant; however, requires an additional surgery. We are thrilled to be in the care of the doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital – they are the best in the world in this field of medicine and we are fortunate enough to be able to go there for her care.

We KNOW she will do great – God’s got it covered! We appreciate your prayers and praise to Him for His blessings on Emma and our family especially over the next two weeks.

The hospital information is:

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
3333 Burnet Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45229
800-344-2462 or 513-636-4200
www.cincinnatichildrens.org

To send ecards to Emma which the hospital will print and deliver to her room – go here:

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/ecard.htm?WT.svl=r

Meet the Titans!

Lakeshore High Titans that is... The press was there as their uniforms were revealed for the first time -- the players didn't even get to see them until this morning as they got dressed at school for the big day.

Titan Turf

LHS is the only stadium around with artificial turf! We have 9 games this season and 7 of them are home -- everyone wants to check out the new field. Nice to have home field advantage -- especially when you are a new and very young team.

After pictures were taken, the players ran through a large sign while the cheerleaders and dance team cheered them on...

Each player was introduced to the crowd...

Offensive Lineman.... #52... Zach Lechleiter!


Okay, the crowd applauded after every kid, BUT my mom was there with me, and I guaranty no one was louder than us... You could hear "Go Big Z" from the visitor's stands! We're a little obnoxious, but hey, that's what football is about, right?

See, his cheeks are still a little red... :)

Proud Mom -- enough said.

From Kindergarten to High School

It's 6:00am in the morning and this is my son all dressed in a suit heading off to his first day of high school... yes, HIGH SCHOOL! How did that happen?


He's taller than me, obviously stronger than me... and according to him, smarter than me too. :)

In early August, Zach started 9th grade at Lakeshore High. It's brand new for all of us -- even the school is new! The facility is beautiful, the faculty great, and the kids are all excited about starting new traditions. With only 9th and 10th graders at LHS this year, there's only 452 students, but each year it will grow... Zach will be the second gradutating class at LHS -- but will be the first class to have attended LHS all four years.

Why the suit? The football coach requires the players to 'dress' on the first day of school and on game days -- Go, Coach!

Four days later, Mia started Kindergarten! More familiarity here, at least for Mom and Dad -- we've been Woodlake Elementary parents before... and Mia had several visits to the school to check things out and meet her teacher, Ms. Neville, prior to the big day.

Here's my sassy girl about to head out the door...

I think she was most excited about riding the bus and seeing Sara and Chloe at school... She climbed on that bus without a care in the world... pony tail just a swinging!

Can't you just see the delight in her eyes?

I couldn't wait for her to get home to find out how much fun she had... She was so proud of herself!

A special day deserves a special treat... she was SOOO excited to see this balloon waiting for her as she got off the bus. It didn't hurt that everyone else saw it too! Best $10 I ever spent...

Super Girl!

The Silver Stars -- Lakeshore High's dance team -- held a fundraiser right before school... It was a one day dance camp for kiddos between the ages of 5 and 12. Mia was excited because her friend Katie was going... Mom was a little worried about how she would do being dropped off at the gym. Mom was also a little worried about how they would get in touch with me if Mia needed me... Yes, we filled out a form, but one can never be too careful! Need Mom?

But the dance team girls did a great job greeting the kids, registering them and taking them by the hand as they arrived. In fact, Mia was greeted with a big hug from Beth -- a friend of Zach's who he has known since Kindergarten!

There was a parent show off that afternoon at 2:30pm where the girls, well showed off, what they learned that day at camp. Mia's group did a routine to "Super Girl" -- no, I have no idea who sings that song or any of the words, but apparently it's cool. They even made their own props and costumes during the day.

Tony noticed that the older girls must have had better instructors as they knew their routines better... he's soooo corny!