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WOW my little baby girl is now old enough to start school.
And there she was- the pretty little girl with her "Apple" backpack- so ready!! It
is unreal. Andy and I brought her this morning (Drew too) and the
feeling was indescribable. So surreal. We weren’t sad really though –
just in awe of her and amazed on how fast time flies.

There were no tears out of Mary Elizabeth’s eyes. Just happiness and
excitement. I simply told her she’d stay there by herself and that
mommy would be back to pick her up. She repeated what I said and was
A-OK with it!

As the teacher and aide’s said…. She fit right in, she’s very
independent and had herself a great time. The nurse who attends with
her said she was the first to get up and dance when they put on
music… and she loved being outside. Also she did a bit of artwork
that she brought home too.

When I picked her up she was so excited about it and told me all about
her day. I am so happy for her because I know how much she did and will
enjoy preschool!

OK so summer is coming to an end but that doesn’t mean we’re any less busy.

We’ve been having lots of playdates with kids of family members or friends to keep Mary Elizabeth busy. It’s been a lot of fun. This Labor Day weekend we’re at Aunt Michelle & Uncle Ralph’s house visiting and then will celebrate labor day AND the 1st anniversary of Uncle Daniel & Aunt Amber as well. A big Congrats to them!

September 8th starts PRESCHOOL for Mary Elizabeth. WOW can’t believe it’s here. It’s sad that our little girl is growing up but this will be good for her. I know she will have a great time in school. She loves kids, learns well and enjoys staying busy.
September 8th will be a busy day though because after school we have to head down to the city for her follow up appointment from the Sclerotherapy. This will mark nearly 6 weeks since her surgery. As we’ve seen this is too early to see the final results but we’ll get updates from them and discuss what’s next I suppose. I doubt we will schedule any big surgeries for anytime before the holidays though.

October 2nd will bring Mommy & Daddy’s 10th year together officially as a couple. Sure it’s not our wedding anniversary but it is special to us nonetheless. We are looking to plan a little trip away for maybe the weekend or just overnight with the help of Grandma and Aunt Amber. It’ll be nearly 3 1/2 years since we had time away from the kids so I think we’re overdue. As anyone married or together long enough knows- special time as a couple is needed and we’re looking forward to it. Nothing is set in stone yet but we’re working on details. Anyone that knows us, knows we’ll probably find a concert or something musical to attend. As much as we’ll miss our little ones, it’s a short period of time and well happy parents = happy kids!

November seems to be around the corner too which is so sad because my little baby boy will be turning 1 before I know it. Birthday arrangements need to be made, and we can’t believe we’ll be starting that planning process already! WOW!

And well after that is holidays and the whole nine yards.

As for the stress that came into our lives when I lost my job, we’re working things out as we go. I am looking to watch a couple kids in my home for extra income. This will enable me to still be with my kids. Which has been good for me and them. Also good for Andy since I’m able to get some things done around the house without his help and get his dinner on the table after he comes home- haha.

As always we’ll see what God has in store for us. In the meantime we’ll stay strong and keep on going. Never letting the roadblocks we face stop us. We’re Walking by Faith as we always say. And it’s always been proven that in the end things work out. Ya know, if I didn’t say it before- we’re Blessed Beyond Measure 😉

Sorry we went MIA for a bit. We were even late on updating the photos for the month of July….

But you see, we were a little hectic at the Raia household. Mary Elizabeth has been recovering from her surgery on July 30th.  The time in the hospital wasn’t so bad – she seemed good and her swelling didn’t appear to be too bad either. But as we’ve learned it’s day 2 that shows the most swelling and it’s day 3 that she is the most uncomfortable. Well day 2 showed a lot of swelling but sure enough she was playing and doing alright. Day 3- she was still really swollen of course, but also really uncomfortable and having a lot of trouble. For a few days she was having a really rough time. Her tongue was so swollen she couldn’t eat or talk, and she was having trouble sleeping because of how awful she felt. She was on tylenol with codeine but that didn’t even help totally.

All in all it was not easy but eventually she didn’t need the tylenol with codeine (just motrin) and slowly her swelling came down. As it stands now she does have some swelling but not too much, just some in the areas they injected and her mouth a bit too. But she’s able to eat, talk and sleep. And yes, she’s happy and not uncomfortable. Phew! We really hate seeing her like that so it’s a relief that she’s feeling better.

She will have a follow up visit with the Dr in about 6 weeks and as we know we can see improvements from this surgery up to 3 months from now still. Keep her in your prayers.

In the meantime, enjoy the July photos.

So the surgery was yesterday, and we left the house at 5:30am with our 2 kids. So much fun! On the way down she started to get upset- the whole lip quiver and saying "no hospital" and "wanna go home". I felt terrible.

We got down there around 7ish and by

8:30am they have me bring her in. She was sooo upset, not as tantrumish as normal- just really upset and scared… she knew what was coming. She remembers 🙁 She’s older now.

ME got out of surgery around 11:30.

She looked pretty good after surgery. She was sleepy and slept most of the day. Even when she woke up she was pretty groggy.

The Dr came and told us everything went well. They used the "new to us" sclerosing agent we’ll call "B" and they also used the old one, we’ll call "D". She used "D" for the deeper and larger pockets of cysts. And "B" for the smaller ones because it has been successful in getting some of the smaller ones. We’re hoping that it has some good results because that would be great. Always keep in your prayers that any side effects are non-exsistant.

As always they tell us results can be seen in 6-8 weeks. But with ME it’s always been more like 3 months to see the true final results. So we shall see in time.  

This was the first time her daddy didn’t stay over with us. She was sad not to have him but he couldn’t keep taking time off. The good thing was ME was in a big girl hospital bed. And since she’s a peanut, there was plenty of room in the bed- so she had mommy right by her side most of the time. She loved having me there, and it made her happy.

Morning came and she was feeling a lot better, more awake and aware. But a bit more swollen too. I’ve seen her swelling worse, but it’s still pretty bad. And once again it’s been hard for her not being able to talk or eat by mouth (due to her being so swollen). But she’s a trooper. She was very excited when we were discharged and walked with me right out of the hospital and down to the parking garage. We got out of there nice and early so we were home just before noon.

Since we’ve been home she’s been up and about the house- playing with her toys and whatnot. So she’s in pretty good spirits considering.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers- keep em coming… we hope to see great results.

At 5:30 am our little family will be heading down to the hospital for another surgery for Mary Elizabeth.  She will be getting Sclerotherapy/Injections done. This has always proved to be a hard surgery recuperation-wise with the swelling/discomfort and it interrupts her life for a bit since she’s swollen in her mouth area as well- so talking/eating become difficult.

They will be using a different sclerosing agent this time around and we’re praying for good results, less swelling etc. Please join us in prayer for her. As she gets older, she’s more and more aware so it’s all a bit more tough on her.

We will be back with any updates and information we have.

God Bless.