A family outing

So this post is a little out of order, but the weekend before Keyan went back to the hospital, we took the kids to see "Disney on Ice". We had such a good time. As you can see, the kids dressed in their Disney finest and were very excited. Although, when I first told the girls that I had bought tickets and we were going, Sidney and McKenzy both started crying. When I asked them why they were upset, McKenzy said, "but I don't like ice skating!" and Sidney very seriously said, "I am no good at ice skating." So, after I quickly explained that we would just be watching a show, everyone was ready to go! We made it to Grand Rapids, thru the parking garage, walked up the block to the arena, and made it to our seats without losing anybody!!! I was feeling very happy. Jamahl and I went and got snacks for everyone and the show began. The theme of the show was "100 years of Magic" so we saw just about all of the more popular Disney characters and the music and skating were wonderful. At one point, all of the princesses were on the ice, there was Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White, Pocahontas, and Jasmine.....but Aurora!! Aurora is Mckenzy's favorite and it did not take her long to realize that her princess was missing. Just as she was about to melt down crying, Jamahl just said matter of factly that Aurora must have been sick, maybe she had the flu! Abby told her that Aurora must have stayed in Disney World, and Sidney just shrugged her shoulders, and said that Aurora must not be able to skate! McKenzy thought about all of the wisdom of her siblings and said, "OK, maybe next time!" Thank goodness for the intuition of kids! When I was buying the tickets, I was very concerned that Keyan would not be able to see. I was unable to get seats right up front so I knew that we were just going to have to deal with what we could get. We were about 20 rows form the floor, the arena was dark, the spotlights were on the ice and all over in the seats, kids had light-up, spinning things....needless to say, it was a lot for her to take in. As the show started, I noticed that she was curled into the back of her seat, and I thought that she was crying. I picked her up to comfort her and saw that she was grinning ear to ear. She couldn't really see the characters on the ice and the rest of the atmosphere was overwhelming, so she shut her eyes, and enjoyed the show totally with her ears. She clapped her little heart out and sang along with most of the songs. Her smile never left her face. It was amazing!She knew just how to adapt n order to enjoy it the most. It made me realize that I could do all the worry in the world, but she knows how to deal with some of her limitations. It was amazing to watch her overcome her"difference" and still totally get as much as any of us out of the experience. She is such a cool little girl! Needless to say, we had a wonderful time spending time together as a family.

Home again...with another tube!

Our poor Keyan has had such a hard winter. Many of you know that she has been in and out of the hospital since the middle of December, basically spending just about half of the winter in the hospital. She was admitted last week for a severe kidney infection as well as an infection in her lungs. After spending 8 days there, it was determined that she needed a total of 14 days worth of IV antibiotics. So, in order for her to come home the doctors inserted a PICC line which is basically a long IV that is inserted in her arm and threaded thru her chest, into the opening of her heart. This fancy tube lets us give the medicine at home, so she did not have to stay inpatient the entire time. The PICC line will stay in until the end of next week and than our nurses will be able to pull it out!!! We are very excited to have her home, but there is a large concern about her getting another infection in the line. Please pray that this does not happen!!! Here she is showing off her latest "badge of courage".

Keyan was so very happy to be at home and she just keeps playing and playing. Tonight after dinner she decided to have ice cream for dessert. She loved every bit of it, although most of it made it all over her face rather than her tummy! Thanks for the prayers and please keep them coming.