Forgive Me!!!

I am so sorry that I have not posted in about 6 weeks. I will catch you all up on our Key family happenings over the past weeks. As many of you know, my dear Papa passed away and is reunited with the love of his life in heaven. That is what I choose to believe. More than 75 people have donated money to Major's transplant fund as a memorial to Papa. What a blessing!!! So I have been busy writing thank you notes to everyone while also taking Major to 15 appointments in the past 4 weeks. He has also been sick with fever for at least 14 days over the past month. We are also doing testing on his bladder to check pressures and bladder capacity. I hope we are getting closer to transplant. Sometimes waiting on a doctor to call with results and a plan is like watching the grass grow in winter. I am still watching and waiting. I also had a crazy notion to host the UT Nurse Practitioner party for the FNP and PNP faculty, students, and families last night. We had about 60 people come over for food, fun, and drinks. Karroll was a dear and climbed onto our roof and put up Christmas lights in time for the party. The house looks very festive. We had a great time but I am physically and mentally exhausated. Kari, my lovely sister, has been strongly encouraging me to write an updated note. So my update is complete and I hope you all can understand why I have not written a note lately. I will try to do better. I love you all!!!

8 Random Things

This is hard to think of 8 random things about myself since my sister tagged me to do so. Here goes:
1. I love mornings by myself with a cup of coffee and the newspaper on my back deck. Now this does not happen very often in my Party of Five life!!

2. I absolutely love Mexican food-morning, noon, and night. I know that is why I can't lose this baby weight after 21 months.

3. I am a football addict just like my husband but I do prefer college over the pros. Go Horns!!!!

4. Twelve years ago, I was one of the first trained pediatric dialysis nurses in Austin and I disliked doing dialysis because I saw the stress and burden it had on the children and their families. Now I love dialysis because it has given my Major a chance for life.

5. My favorite ice cream is Blue Bell's Tin Roof. I first tried Tin Roof at my Aunt Holly and Uncle Larry's house when I was a young girl.

6. One of my most favorite memories was when Papa taught me how to drive the pick-up truck at the farm.

7. I totally hate to see dirty dishes in the sink. Karroll has learned over the past ten years to do the dishes at least!!!

Last but not least and probably not a surprise to my sister......

8. I am not an easy person to live with!!!! I can be somwhat demanding and bossy. Hee Hee

Major's Surgery

Major had his reconstructive surgery on Friday and all went well. We went home late Sunday afternoon and Major was so happy to be in his bed again. Dr. Cortez was pleased with the surgery itself and now we have to let Major heal before we start testing how well his bladder functions. These are the "hoops" that he must "jump through" before his transplant. He did have a small problem with the combination of anesthesia and morphine for pain. He forgot how to breathe twice and turned BLUE for a few seconds. No more morphine for Major!!!!! He did that one time when he was first in the hospital after receiving anesthesia and morphine within a few hours.
On Tuesday, I will take Major to see the surgeon for a follow-up visit.

Myrna was such a big help with the girls and Karroll. June and Greg took the girls to a steak house on Friday night so they were spoiled over the weekend. Kari was a HUGE support for me at the hospital. She also makes a pretty funny monkey impression!!! Major enjoyed it.

Sydney's dance camp

Sydney spent all day on Saturday at a local high school participating in a dance camp. She learned some new dance moves and then performed for us at the end of the day. She had a wonderful time.

Update on Surgery

Okay, I apologize to everyone for not updating the blog like I said I would two weeks ago. A lot happened in the past two weeks. First of all, Karroll did not break any bones from the fall but he was very bruised and sore for about a week. The night he went to the ER got worse. Karroll and Major both came down with a stomach virus. Poor Major lost 2 pounds that week from all of the vomiting and diarrhea. We had to cancel his surgery because he was too weak so the surgery has been rescheduled to this Friday 9/28/07. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. Our entire family had some form of the stomach virus that week so I spent the weekend using Lysol throughout the house.

What a Week!

I just want to share the excitement of the week. Please keep Major in prayers this week. He is having major urological surgery on Thursday afternoon(9/13). The urologist is going to close his vesicostomy(put his bladder back into his body), cut the valves in his urethera(this is the obstruction that caused all the kidney damage), and possible reimplant his ureters into the bladder. Overall, he will be in surgery most of the afternoon and admitted to the hospital for several days. This is the reconstructive surgery that he needs before he can have his transplant. We are thankful that my mom is coming down to help with the girls. I will update you all after surgery this week.

Keep Karroll in your prayers too. He fell down the stairs(about 2-3 steps) at the house this afternoon with Major. As he was trying to protect Major from the fall on the tile, Karroll hurt his shoulder, elbow, and hip. As I write this note, he is being evaluated in the Emergency Room because he was in so much pain. He's a pretty tough guy so I know he must be hurting. I'll write more tomorrow when I hear about the x-ray results.

Lemonade Stand

Here are the girls with their neighborhood friends having a lemonade stand last weekend.

They worked hard for 3 hours in the blazing sun to earn $20. The girls were very excited with their profits. My Taylor is bound to be a Longhorn one day. Look at that Hook em Horn sign!!!!

First Days of School

Taylor had a great first day back to school. She chose to take the bus and find her class by herself. Now we did meet her teacher last week and visited her class so she had an idea where to go. When my independent first grader drove away on the bus, I had tears in my eyes. They grow up so quickly and I don't want to miss out on those special "little moments." As you can see in the picture, Taylor is loosing her teeth. She lost two within 15 hours. Poor tooth fairy will go broke at that rate. Unfortunately, Sydney did not get to start preschool until today because she had a stomach virus since Saturday.

Video Shoot

Today we spent the entire afternoon from 1pm-5:30pm shooting video footage with a local television station to develop a 30 minute video about Major and our family. The Children's Miracel Network wanted a video about Major's story to share with the community and to use for fundraisers for the new Dell Childrens Medical Center. The TV station set up the lights and camera at our house. KK and I interviewd for hours telling his hospital story and why he is a true Miracle. June and Greg were also interviewed because they played such a pivotal role in helping our family. They also interviewed the girls which was fun. And of course, our little star was a big hit!!!

Scooty Booty

Well Major has finally learned about mobility. We call him "Scooty Booty" at our house. He crosses his legs and scoots all over on his bottom using a thrusting motion of his pelvis to move. It is hilarious to watch how quickly he can move from one place to another. He seems rather proud of himself!!! Now we have to install gates on the stairs and childproof the house for and from him.



We went to church this morning as a family which was wonderful. KK and I have not felt comfortable leaving Major in the nursery until recently. Major would only stay for about 25 minutes before he wanted us. It was so nice to be a family at church again and be able to worship and praise the Lord together. GOD is so good to us all!!!



The girls and I spent all afternoon yesterday shopping for school supplies and new shoes. I must be crazy to venture out on tax-free weekend. I love those Target gift cards!!!!

New to Blogging

Hello all! I am taking Kari's advice and starting a blog page for our family and friends. I don't know what I am doing so bear with me over the next few weeks. I love the idea of keeping up with others and sharing about my own family's busy and fun lives.

We are currently testing Karroll to see if he can be Major's kidney donor. So far, his blood work looks good and next week he has an ultrasound of his kidneys and bladder. If all goes well, we will be able to schedule Major and Karroll's kidney swap in the next few months. Major still needs a few urological surgeries to correct the obstruction in his urethera and prepare his bladder for an adult size and functioning kidney. We are both excited and nervous about another life changing event. But we know God is in total control!!! We have chosen the transplant center in San Antonio.

Taylor is ready to start first grade in the next few weeks and I am ready too. The sibling rivarly over the past week is unbearable. I am ready to play mom again not referee. Taylor will also start soccer this Fall and I will live vicariously through her soccer energy. Sydney has chosen to take ballet and tap this Fall. She is such a graceful girlie girl! She will also be in preschool three days a week .

Karroll has been having fun creating a new landscape at our new house. We moved across the street in April. We had admired this house for years and finally the owners decided to move and asked us if we wanted their house. Well it must have been in God's plan because we sold our own house in 8 days and moved here soon after. I can see us living here until the kids graduate high school. We have a nice greenbelt in the back and enough room to spread out some! He is going to plant four new trees tomorrow with the help of a neighbor.