Monday, December 10, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
A New Start
Alright here is a big update on everything. I will start with some non Haleigh just family things.
First Jason and I are making Haleigh a big sister by May! We are very excited to be expecting our 6th child. Haleigh is equally excited.
We are taking a family vacation next week to Disney World. It's been a long time coming and Haleigh can not wait to meet Mickey Mouse. We are all very excited. We have not taken a vacation since Haleigh was born 4 years ago.
Speaking of 4 years ago Haleigh just had her 4th birthday party. She was so happy that it was finally her turn. She's been waiting a long time. Her cake was Tangled but everything else was Hello Kitty. She loved all her gifts and by the time everyone left she was ready to pass out.
The last week of October we took Haleigh for her check up. She is 3foot 4inches tall and 34 pounds. Growing and developing normally.
On to the medical stuff.
About a month ago I decided we should look into seeing a different plastic surgeon. While we really liked the other one the fact is that he is 6-7 hours away, we are having scheduling difficulties, and we can now provide the finances and insurance we could not provide a few years ago. So I scheduled an appointment with a PS in town. I went with high hopes and while he is not the surgeon we need he was very open and honest about his abilities and experience and gave us the number to a PS in Birmingham. Now you may be saying "you took her to Birmingham before" and Yes we did. So the difference was this time I knew so much more and this time I was not scared.
On Tuesday November 13th, my sister Heather and I took Haleigh to Birmingham to see Dr. Grant a facial pediatric surgeon at Children's South. The first thing I said to him was "I'm scared to do expanders" he quickly excused himself and I really didn't know what he was doing. He came back a few mins later with another mom who's son had a Facial/scalp nevus who he had worked on with expanders. There is nothing like meeting another mom who's been exactly where you are sitting. Something until then I had never done before. After a long talk with her and a long talk with Dr Grant we decided to proceed with the expander surgery. It's set for January 14th 2013. She will need a 1 night stay in the hospital. Then we will return home. We will fill the expander with water for 3 months then have it taken out the nevus removed and the skin we expanded will cover the now nevus area. So 2 surgeries. Dr Grant is about 90% sure he can get all of the nevus in one round. That's really great news.
We are ready for this Haleigh is ready for this. She wants it. She's asked for it. I know she is only 4 and doesn't understand surgery or pain or recovery , but she does understand that she has a birthmark and that she wants it off. She ask most everyday to "just take it off ". If only it were that simple.
First Jason and I are making Haleigh a big sister by May! We are very excited to be expecting our 6th child. Haleigh is equally excited.
We are taking a family vacation next week to Disney World. It's been a long time coming and Haleigh can not wait to meet Mickey Mouse. We are all very excited. We have not taken a vacation since Haleigh was born 4 years ago.
Speaking of 4 years ago Haleigh just had her 4th birthday party. She was so happy that it was finally her turn. She's been waiting a long time. Her cake was Tangled but everything else was Hello Kitty. She loved all her gifts and by the time everyone left she was ready to pass out.
The last week of October we took Haleigh for her check up. She is 3foot 4inches tall and 34 pounds. Growing and developing normally.
On to the medical stuff.
About a month ago I decided we should look into seeing a different plastic surgeon. While we really liked the other one the fact is that he is 6-7 hours away, we are having scheduling difficulties, and we can now provide the finances and insurance we could not provide a few years ago. So I scheduled an appointment with a PS in town. I went with high hopes and while he is not the surgeon we need he was very open and honest about his abilities and experience and gave us the number to a PS in Birmingham. Now you may be saying "you took her to Birmingham before" and Yes we did. So the difference was this time I knew so much more and this time I was not scared.
On Tuesday November 13th, my sister Heather and I took Haleigh to Birmingham to see Dr. Grant a facial pediatric surgeon at Children's South. The first thing I said to him was "I'm scared to do expanders" he quickly excused himself and I really didn't know what he was doing. He came back a few mins later with another mom who's son had a Facial/scalp nevus who he had worked on with expanders. There is nothing like meeting another mom who's been exactly where you are sitting. Something until then I had never done before. After a long talk with her and a long talk with Dr Grant we decided to proceed with the expander surgery. It's set for January 14th 2013. She will need a 1 night stay in the hospital. Then we will return home. We will fill the expander with water for 3 months then have it taken out the nevus removed and the skin we expanded will cover the now nevus area. So 2 surgeries. Dr Grant is about 90% sure he can get all of the nevus in one round. That's really great news.
We are ready for this Haleigh is ready for this. She wants it. She's asked for it. I know she is only 4 and doesn't understand surgery or pain or recovery , but she does understand that she has a birthmark and that she wants it off. She ask most everyday to "just take it off ". If only it were that simple.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
What it taking so long ?
I wanted to let everyone know that we have not forgotten about Haleigh's blog. We have hit a few snags on our journey, but are pleased to announce that we have resolved them all and are back on track. I will be updating soon with a lot of new and exciting details so stay tuned.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Fall Update
Haleigh is playing Fall Ball and she is having a blast! Madalyn is playing again this year and Aden is playing little league football. Collin started middle school and is in band. And Landon is being the hand full that he is. We are so proud of all of our children.
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| That hair! :) |
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| Ok so she didn't have blast the entire game. She cried a little. |
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| Madalyn helping her in the dug out after she ran off the field during the game because she wanted a pickle pop. lol |
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| Third Base |
Saturday, September 1, 2012
JUST LOVE COFFEE FUNDRAISER
We have started a "Just Love Coffee" shop online
as a fundraiser for travel funds.
Please click here to visit Haleigh's Cup storefront.
Happy Shopping!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Little Bits of Fluff
Hi, I wanted to update everyone on Haleigh. She is still doing amazing no problems so the Nevus, her yearly derm appointment is going up soon as we shall see what they have to say.
Haleigh has been signed up for softball and is excited, she did very well at tryouts. We are so excited to get her into something with other children her age all the kids are between 3-6 years old. She is not enrolled in a preschool, we are doing a home school with her and she is doing really well with that. We started Aug 20th, but this past week we were out due to TS Isaac. All we got from that was a bunch of rain but the older kids were out so we didnt do school with Haleigh either. So in the 1 week of school Haleigh has learned the letter A, the number 1, the shape square, the Bible verse Acts 17:24, God made the world and everything in it" and the Nursery Rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle". Week 2 is going to be just as busy!! We are planning on home schooling through at least 1st grade and then we will go from there.
Haleigh loves to cook and helps me in some way at every meal. Some of them will be in her cookbook look for it soon!
We are also looking forward to her 4th birthday.... Thats right Haleigh will soon be 4.
Look for lots of pictures and new surgery info all coming soon!!!!
Haleigh loves to cook and helps me in some way at every meal. Some of them will be in her cookbook look for it soon!
We are also looking forward to her 4th birthday.... Thats right Haleigh will soon be 4.
Look for lots of pictures and new surgery info all coming soon!!!!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Summer
Haleigh has been having a wonderful sunmer, as has the rest of the family. She loves being outside with her friends and brothers and sister. We of course have been very careful to apply sunscreen on all the kids. We have spent most of the summer at the ball park watching my oldest daughter Madalyn play softball. Haleigh loves cheering for her big sister. Haleigh is excited to start playing for West Mobile park soon we a tually sign her up next month, i cant wait to see her out there running bases.Haleigh will be 4 soon and we have thought alot about her schooling, so far we have decided i will home school her through K5. after that we will see where we are with surgeries and where we are living ( ya never know). Then deside where to go with that so we have a good 3 years before we make the choice between continued homeschooling and choosing another christian school for her. we do homever knoww she will not go to public school. We dont feel Haleigh would thrive in public school.
The lastest news on her next surgery, is its soon im not sure exactly when but vwe have chosen to go the slow route and Haleigh has done amazing with it. i will update on that when i have more information myself.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Oh Spring Time
Spring is in full swing here in Alabama. We didn't have much of a Winter meaning it didn't take much to heat things up in the deep south. It's fine with us. We live spring and summer.
The kids had spring break 2 weeks ago and we took them to the Gulf and went camping. My older children have been camping many times but this was a first for Haleigh. She absolutely loved it. She was a little scared when it got dark and we were still outside. But once I explained we were sleeping in the tent she was ready to sleep, she had no problems sleeping out side, and that's great because we plan on doing that a lot. The best part of the beach according to Haleigh is the sand, she loves building and squashing the sand castles we made.
Spring also means end of the school year. This year my children's last day is May 31st, it seems so late, but they had extra days at Thanksgiving and MardiGras this year. I'm very excited to see this school year end. I have not had the best experience this year. We are hoping since they will be in new schools next year things will be better, Collin is headed to middle school with Madalyn. And since our move Aden and Landon will be in a different school, hopefully Aden will be challenged to a point he's no longer board, and Landon will start to like going. Haleigh is still too young to go, but I know she's so smart. I don't want her to loose any thing she's learning now.
None of my other children had a want to learn the way that Haleigh does, so I've decided to start a homeschooling program with her in the Fall. She will still be considered 3k because her birthday is in November. The program I like best right now is ABC Jesus Loves Me. It's a Christian based preschool program for kids 2-4. I'm excited to start it in the Fall with her. I'm not sure how long I will home school Haleigh for, I know in July she will start dance at Turning Point dance studio, and in Feb 2013 she will start T-ball at west mobile county park.
That's always been our goal for Haleigh to have all the choices in life our other children have regardless of her Nevus or surgeries. Haleigh is a normal child and will have a normal childhood.
The kids had spring break 2 weeks ago and we took them to the Gulf and went camping. My older children have been camping many times but this was a first for Haleigh. She absolutely loved it. She was a little scared when it got dark and we were still outside. But once I explained we were sleeping in the tent she was ready to sleep, she had no problems sleeping out side, and that's great because we plan on doing that a lot. The best part of the beach according to Haleigh is the sand, she loves building and squashing the sand castles we made.
Spring also means end of the school year. This year my children's last day is May 31st, it seems so late, but they had extra days at Thanksgiving and MardiGras this year. I'm very excited to see this school year end. I have not had the best experience this year. We are hoping since they will be in new schools next year things will be better, Collin is headed to middle school with Madalyn. And since our move Aden and Landon will be in a different school, hopefully Aden will be challenged to a point he's no longer board, and Landon will start to like going. Haleigh is still too young to go, but I know she's so smart. I don't want her to loose any thing she's learning now.
None of my other children had a want to learn the way that Haleigh does, so I've decided to start a homeschooling program with her in the Fall. She will still be considered 3k because her birthday is in November. The program I like best right now is ABC Jesus Loves Me. It's a Christian based preschool program for kids 2-4. I'm excited to start it in the Fall with her. I'm not sure how long I will home school Haleigh for, I know in July she will start dance at Turning Point dance studio, and in Feb 2013 she will start T-ball at west mobile county park.
That's always been our goal for Haleigh to have all the choices in life our other children have regardless of her Nevus or surgeries. Haleigh is a normal child and will have a normal childhood.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Painting for Haleigh Fundraiser
THANK YOU ALL THAT CAME OUT OR HELPED WITH OUR
2ND ANNUAL PAINTING FOR HALEIGH FUNDRAISER
Haleigh Being 3
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| Haleigh being sassy |
A little about Haleigh at 3.
She is very smart, she used new big words all of the time words I am not sure I've said around her. Last week she used the words, intolerable, appropriate, delightful, beautiful, and manageable. She sounds grown.
Another example of her being exceptionally smart... both Madalyn and Collin have been learning the skeletal system and proper bone names, she has remembered the names for her finger/toes, head, jaw, knees, and elbows. And that's just from hearing me quiz the older kids.. I'm not sure how in going to keep up with her but I'm getting some homeschooling preschool book this week.
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| Haleigh & her Aunt Heather |
Haleigh can tell you about her nevus if you ask her, but she never brings it up. But if you ask her she will tell you its her birthmark, that she was born with it. You have to ask but she will tell you it doesn't hurt, but sometimes is itchy, and that we put cream on before we go outside and we rub it at night. The cream is sunscreen the rub is vitamin E oil.
I look at Haleigh and can't believe how much she has grown she's such a big girl.
I hope everyone is having a blessed spring and I will update soon with travel and summer surgery plans.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Looking Good
Haleigh is looking good, the swelling from surgery is gone, the stitches, tape and glue have been removed and she is looking like Haleigh again. That's one of the hardest things for me post surgery, just the fact that she doesn't look like herself for a while. It's at that time that I second guess myself. Am I doing what's right? I sit and look at her and wonder. Then I talk with my nevus family and realize every parent that has chosen removal feels this way after surgery. And I also find that the parents that chose to not remove also have these thoughts. And the truth is we as patents have to make hard choices, for our children. From the moment they are born. We make the best choices we can with the information that we have.
Haleighs next surgery will be bigger, instead of advancing the nevus we will do a skin graft on her top lip. This requires a hospital stay of 3 days and an Atlanta stay of 7-10 days. This also means she will be less herself for longer. So its going to be hard. We just pray that God will give us the means to handle what coming. The strength to hold our daughter up when she needs us. And the Grace to do it without falling apart.
Haleighs next surgery will be bigger, instead of advancing the nevus we will do a skin graft on her top lip. This requires a hospital stay of 3 days and an Atlanta stay of 7-10 days. This also means she will be less herself for longer. So its going to be hard. We just pray that God will give us the means to handle what coming. The strength to hold our daughter up when she needs us. And the Grace to do it without falling apart.
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Monday, January 9, 2012
just a note
Haleigh is doing very well. She has not had any problems from her second surgery. Her next surgery will be the first part of June, that surgery will be different and s bit bigger. More on that soon...
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