Here is one of the best pictures and it is of Emmalie taken at Christmas

Newman Kids Christmas 2008

Here is the best photo out of about 25 of the kids this Christmas. It is simply impossible to get it done.....

Madeline's birthday presents from Stacy her birthmom...

more birthday pictures

Madeline's birthday pictures

The Girls decorating the Gingerbread House for Christmas

The girls had such a good time doing this house. We do one every year and this year I didn't do any of it. I let the kids do it all!!

A Day in the Life....

Well, it could only happen at the Newman House....we are getting ready for Christmas and our trip to Texas , lo and behold we have two kids with fever's!!! Tessa had a 101 fever on Sunday and we had to make a trip to St Jude's , they gave her another IV antibiotic. Hopefully, this to shall pass....
Dana

A Day in the Life....

More photo's of the kids at Memphis. These are taken at a play area of the Memphis Zoo. I realize after going through all of the pictures we didn't get any of the animals! They enjoyed the trip, I think though that the Springfield zoo better for the little ones and actually you seem to be able to "get up close and personal" at the Springfield zoo more than the Memphis Zoo..

More photo's of the carrosel ride in Memphis...

I couldn't get many really good photo's because I kept getting "motion sickness" and I wasn't even on the carousel ride!!! Here is Tessa with Mike. She is finally getting to have some fun!Annie Grace looks like she is ready to fly off at any moment.I already knew that I wasn't riding on it as I have done that before and it made me sick. I thought that I would be safe this time....NOT....anyway I will try to get more photo's up.I is so hard with "dial up" Internet service to get anything posted.I feel like I am in the "Dark Ages"...

Our Last Week of Radiation!!YEA!!!

Mike is with Tessa this week for her last week of radiation....I thought it would never come! Things are going well there and she is looking forward to her "party" on Friday. They give the kids a presents, balloons and T-shirt when they are done with treatment.
We have snow on the ground and are so thankful that it is not ice!! I will try to take pictures and post.

Our week at St Judes....

I am going to try to upload some pictures of the kids that we took during our week at St Judes. We went to the zoo, rode the carousel at the mall and they went to a Christmas party at St Judes. I will say though that our girls remarked how they did not want to live in the city!! That was no surprise to us...

Another week down, two more to go....

well what a week it has been we have had six of our eight kids with us . We have gone to the zoo, the mall to ride on the carousel and a Christmas party. They are exhausted!! Not to mention mom and dad....lol....
Tessa is getting along really well and we haven't seen any burning on her skin at all which is so good.
Thanks again to everyone for their prayers! Also to Habitat of Hope for the meal they sent last night.
We are home for the weekend...Yeah...

Back after a long weekend...

we had a great break from treatment and it is soooo hard to come back but we are so very grateful to "Habitat for Hope" for this apt. It has made it possible for Mike and 6 of the kids to come with me. It is truely a blessing.
Tessa continues with the every 8 hours IV antibiotics but other wise appears to be doing well.
It is late and the kids need to get to bed so I will close

a better day

well, today was a better day and we got home around 1pm. we got our supplies and tonite her IV will be at 10pm and not midnite....whew! we see her Dr tomarrow so maybe we will have more info on this bug she has.

I am looking forward to going home on wed

Happy Thanksgivng thoughts

As I sit here in Memphis with Tessa and Annie Grace I can't help but be so very thankful for all the good in my life, even today as I try to deal with yet another problem caused by this horrible cancer I realize that we have so much to be thankful for! I met a woman in passing yesterday on the elevator and she was going up to the 4th floor. (On the 4th floor the kids have or are waiting for bone marrow transplants.) Her son was not doing well and there was nothing more that could be done for him. My heart went out to her.It could have easily been me saying the same words that mother was saying.
I am so thankful for my children . My son and his wife Marie, with out them we would not be able to manage . For my wonderful husband Mike, who is at home with 6 young children, cooking,cleaning,changing diapers and being both a mom and a dad while I am away. I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate him. For friends who have: cooked meals, pies, bacon green bean bundles(yum),sent packages to Tessa, called me or listened to me while I talked and prayed for us. I am thankful for perfect strangers who have given us gift cards for gas, meals and prayers....
I am thankful that I am not hearing bombs everyday and seeing death constantly, that my children have enough to eat and hopefully they will continue to grow up in a free Nation.I am very thankful to the American people for putting so much faith in man of color , so that he may in turn give hope to my children that they truly can be anything they want in life.
Most of all we are thankful to God for being so awesome !

sorry for being so slow!!!!

well, today was a very hectic day for us here, they have found a bacteria that is growing in Tessa's blood. So, she will have to have antibiotics every 8 hours and an oral one also...they only have the preliminary results back , so they may have to change the meds. I have to get up at midnite....those who know me know that I don't do good with out my sleep....I have Annie Grace with me and all things concidered she is being soooo good. Well, will try to do better on the updating..

back in Memphis....

well Tessa,Ella and I are back in Memphis . Tessa starts her radiation treatment in the morning. Soon it will all be over and hopefully it will seem like a bad dream that we have finally awakened from.
Hopefully the kids at home all get well, they have had strep and Emmalie isen't doing very well.
well I will keep the site updated ....

Tessa is home!!!

I went to pick up Tessa and Mike today .She is doing great and seems to be feeling fine. We looked at the apt where we will be staying thanks to "Habitat for Hope" in Memphis, it will be great to have some of the kids with us and hopefully we will get to do some things in Memphis.It will seem like a vacation for them.
I will attempt to keep updating the blog as often as I can but the kids want most/all of my attention...LOL
Dana

discharge hopefully tomarrow!!!

If Tessa has no fever tonite she should be able to come home tomarrow....YAY!!!! if she has a fever then she will have to have a lung scan to check for fungus . I will keep the blog updated (try)
I am so ready to get this all behind us, Tessa seems so little to have such a harsh treatment and we continue to pray that she will make a complete recovery. I think that we need a relaxing trip after all of this!! I haven't seen my son and his family in so long and am anxious to visit.....we will see.
Dana

counts still "o"....

I wish that I had something better to post but Tessa's bone marrow is just really taking a long time to recover this time. She has a 101 degree temp also....It seems like we are in limbo....Mike is at the hospital with Tessa and he is anxious to come home and get back to work....we forgot what income is....LOL...(I am trying to lighten things up)
The plan is all up in the air really depending on her counts.
Otherwise she is doing pretty good her appetite is poor but will improve I am sure when her counts do
Keep ya posted
Dana

Problems with my computor....

I am trying to get some pictures on here but having a heck of a time!! Tessa is still at St Judes with "o" counts. Hopefully she will come home by Thursday. Mike relieved me so I could come home...now it is on to how the heck to organize the next 6 wks!!
Dana

counts still "0"....

well I had hoped that things would be on the "up" swing but not so...I guess now they have some concern about her elevated heart rate and her blood pressure has been flucuating also. I am thinking she will be here all of next week.
We then have to come back the following week for tests and appts , then the next week (17th) the radiation will start...so it is looking like Memphis will be our permanent home for a while.
I am hoping that Mike finds a ride here today so I can get home and get our house in order and pack for the following weeks! Mikes brother Jim is having surgery tomarrow for his gall-bladder so please keep him in your prayer also.
Dana

counts still "0"....

Inpatient again.....

Well,Tessa began to run a fever while at the appt to get her new eye made so we had to rush back to the hospital and of course are admitted. Her counts have hit bottom and now she will recieve blood and hopefully we will get to go home in a few days. They are having a big Halloween party and she will get to "trick or treat" here so I will take alot of pictures and post them.
The girls at home are looking forward to their party which is tomarrow and tonite Marie will take them out to trick or treat!
Dana

No Mo Chemo!!!!!!

Well her last chemo is done with and she did great!! Tessa and I are back her at St Judes today for appointments and she is having her "new" eye done tomarrow. We are going to have to stay until Friday due to her lab values being low and they will transfuse her then also...
We now know that we will be starting radiation on Nov 17th...so that means we will be here through two holiday's but then it will be over...Yea!!!
thanks to all who have and continue to pray for Tessa and our family you guys have been awesome!
Dana

Back at St Judes

Tessa and I arrived at 8am YEAH!!! I made it...boy 4am comes early....
She is now is a procedure to check her hearing and get an echo on her heart.She should be done soon. Her last Chemo is set for Thursday . Praise the Lord I can see the light at the end of the tunnel....well kind of....Ha Ha.
I am trying to get a jump start on our housing for radiation treatment. We will be here for 5 wks
Monday thru Friday and the kids just didnt do well with me gone so I am trying to see if we can do something different, were we can alternate kids or stay some where that all of us (or most of us) can stay....
I will be going home after her eye exam tomarrow and then Mike will turn around and come back on Thursday and stay until Sunday when her treatment is done.
I am anxious to get her eye exam behind us because it seems like her eye has had more "funny" movements lately and that is what I saw with the eye they removed...
will update more later
Dana

Sorry for not updating sooner....

Tessa is home from the hospital! Praise the Lord! She is still having a fever at nite, they are not sure why. The Dr's are giving her a much needed break and she doesn't have to go back for 10 days. It is a welcome break but in some ways it makes it harder to go back!
She is out with her siblings playing and just being a kid. Thanks again to everyone who has sent packages,meals,prayers and support.
Dana

update from St Judes....

Tessa's counts are "0" again today. She will have two more transfusions (red cells and platelets) again today. She is still having fevers through the nite so it will be Tuesday at the earliest that she can come home...I just don't know what is causing the fever... I will update more later.

Tessa is back in the hospital

Tessa was admitted back into St Judes today. She has had a fever since Sunday and now her counts are down and will require a transfusion of Platelets and also red cells.Mike is there with her for this stay...I will keep the updates coming. Thanks for all of your prayers!
Dana

complications ???

Tessa has a fever today of 101, they are going to give her a dose of iv antibiotics and they have already drawn the blood cultures. We will still get to go home today but may have to come back at any time. I know that she will need blood transfusions also as he HGB is only 8.8 today. Home health will come tomarrow and draw blood tomarrow and that will show us where we are. So, some time today we will leave. It will be great to get home, I need a breathing treatment!!!!
Dana

Tessa update...

thwy are replacing fluids today, the chemo causes her to have an increased urine out put. hopefully all will go well today so we can go home tomarrow, she has only been sick once so far.
dana

back at St Jude's for another round of chemo....

This morning Tessa had her blood work and it was good so she will be admitted today and they will start chemo this evening after they hydrate her.
Last nite I had to take the cough medicine with codiene twice to try to stop coughing! Tessa's Dr listened to me this am and he said that I am pretty clear right now , so hopefully I will stay that way. We will be home on Sunday and then will probably have to come back on Thursday or Friday. We will keep everyone posted. Thanks again to everyone for all of the prayers,meals,thoughts and support to our family.
PS-if I have your dish I will get it back to you next week!
Dana

Goofy girls!!!

Here is Madeline,Katie and their sister in law, Marie having a girl moment! The kids have the best times with Marie!

Dana

Sophie Rose on yard patrol....

Our second from the youngest who also loves the out-doors and will scream at the top on her lungs if she doesn't get to go out the door when the others exit! We have never had a "screamer" quite like her. She is definately a soprano!

Dana

Ella Beatrice

Our "baby" Ella B , she is now mobile and quite a walker.What a joy that is! It is great to finally have everyone able to go under their own speed! She loves being outside and playing with the other kids.

Dana

Painting...

Have I told any-one lately how much I hate painting??? Well, I do. I am still trying to figure out why in the heck I painted my bedroom a federal blue with white trim. I believe I saw it in a magazine I read while I was at St Judes and fell in love with it. I just didn't realize how difficult it would be to paint. I will post it when I get it completed. Hopefully the white spot that Annie Grace painted on the wall will cover easily.:)
From the trenches,
Dana

Back to St Judes....

Well, due to me being sick we had to set up Tessa's Chemo for next week on Thursday. It has been a welcome break for us even if I was sick. I had asthmatic brochitis? I have never been asthmatic before but hey what ever. I am doing better due to drugs and inhalation treatment...
Dana

John' birthday party also...

I am having a hard time getting photo's to load on my computor so I am going to attemp AGAIN to get his picture up! He had a great time and loved his cake. It was very cute. His fire truck was a big hit for him also..

Dana

Birthday Girl, Tessa is 3!!!

We had her party and John's yesterday. They had a blast and it was a break from the St Jude's routine for her..

Sorry I am slow.....

We are home and I have certainly enjoyed it!! Tessa's counts are good except her platelets are low at 45. They have to be over 100 before she has another round of chemo. We will have her blood drawn again on Monday and if her platelets are up we leave again for St Judes on Tuesday. I know this will be over soon and that is what keeps us going!!
I will try to post some birthday,fair and other pictures soon. It has been so hard to do any computor work as I have dial up at home and it is soooo slow after having wireless at the hospital...LOL
Dana

waiting.....

I am waiting for Tessa's white count to see if we can go home today,her platelets have dropped again and I am not sure if they will give her more or not. She feels great and all of her cultures are neegative so we will see.I am hoping we go home, her birthday is on
thursdayWell, I will updatre when Iknow.
Dana

counts are low...

well, they will be giving her blood this morning as her HGB is low at 7.9 her platelets are still above 20 so she will probably have to have a transusion of them tomarrow. She is still sleeping and I have ordered her breakfast, hopefully she will "Perk" up after the blood.I will try to keep the blog updated. Thanks for all the prayers!!
Dana

Back to St Judes....

We are back at the hospital again..:( Tessa began to run a fever right before lunch and it just kept climbing up there. It was 101 by the time we got here. Her counts are :Hgb (red blood cells) is 8.6, if it falls below 8 she will get another RBC transfusion, her platelets are 38 I believe and if they fall below 20 or 25 she will get a platelet transfusion her "ANC" is O....that is white cells. So she is concidered neutrapenic and can't fight off any kind of infections.She is on IV antibiotics and they have takes bunches of cultures, so we will see. I am exhausted and so I will turn in for now.
Thanks to everyone for everything....:)
Dana

Counts are good!!!

Her counts are good but they are falling. We will go home with Home Health to draw labs on Monday so please keep us in your prayers for no fevers!!!
Dana

Counts are good!!

Tessa's counts are doing very well right now we will see on Thursday what they are and then we can go home and see how it goes. We are just so excited to possibly be able to get home!!Please continue to pray that we are able to go home and it will work out. It is so hard to leave home when the other kids are crying....
Madeline is here with us this time and Tessa is really enjoying having her sister here, I guess it is some little bit of normalcy for her.

Ready to go home!!!!

Tessa us is getting a blood transfusion now which will be done around 2pm then they say we can go home .It will only mean one day at home but I will take what I can!! I am anxious to see the other children and Mike. Will post more later.
Dana

Sat at St Judes

It is looking like we will be able to go home until Tuesday. They will test her blood in the am and see how it is doing and then we will leave and come back. Her counts likely won't fall until probably Wed or Thursday so they feel like she will be ok. She will go home on fluids still but at least it is home and I can see the other kids. I may be brave and bring one or two back we will just have to see how she is doing. It is very difficult to take care of her when she is sick and anyone else!
Her Dr has been out of the country and will be back on Tuesday so it will be nice to see what he has to say about the rest of her chemo and radiation treatment.
Dana

Chemo....

Tessa is sleeping now as a result of the Chem.That is a good thing though since she isen't feeling well. She isen't eatting now and one of the Dr's came in and told me that Tessa is very sensitive to the Chemo based on her blood work...I am not sure if that is a good thing or not...who knows. I will update more later.
Dana

update from St Judes

Tonite Tessa and I were invited over to one of the dr's home for dinner with him and his family. It was so nice of them. The food was excellent and they were so gracious. We had a nice time.
We are now back in the hospital and recieving her chemo. Hopefully this time it won't be as bad. Please continue to pray for her.
Dana

First Day back at St Judes....

Well, we have had our blood work and her counts are good enough to go ahead with Chemo on Thursday. It seems like we just did this!! Her hgb is still low at 8.4 so I would guess that pretty quick she will get transfused..we will see. Tomarrow she has her eye exam which they put her to sleep for and I will update the blog after I know some-thing.
We have really appreciated all of the nice things that others have done and are doing for us they include doing chores for us,putting up hay for us, praying for us, cooking for us, helping us pay for gas for all of our trips up here, working on our addition , the list goes on and on .THANK YOU!!! I haven't had time to send anyone thankyou notes as I had two days home and really wanted to just spend it with my family but I promise I will get caught up!
I will update tomarrow
Dana

We are released!!!

Tessa's counts are finally up and we are discharged. We are waiting for transportation to go home. We then come back Tuesday and it all begins again!
Thanks to everyone who has prayed,sent packages and called us. You can't imagine how good that makes us feel.
Dana

We are released!!!

YEA!!!!

Tessa's counts are starting to come up!!! I will post more later after I speak with the Dr.
I am using a lap-top that Dia and John Sawyer have lent to me. It is wonderful as I can sit here in the room with her and send updates! Thanks of course it will take me a little while to figure it out :)

Update on Tessa for Tuesday

Today was a hard day for little Tessa. Her counts are still "o" and she had to have another Platelet transfusion. She is still running fevers but all of her cultures are negative. The Dr's have said that if she continues tomarrow to run fever they will begin treating her for Fungus infection. I will be going to St Judes tomarrow so I will know more......
Please keep her in your prayers, we know that God is an Awesome God!

Update for Monday from St Judes

Well, unfortunately it isen't good news. Tessa's counts are still "O" and her HGB is under 8. I am not sure if they will transfuse her again today or not. I will post later, she still is having a fever...
I recieved an email from a friend , Melonie and her son Justin passed away last nite. Please keep that family in your prayers.
Dana

Guess Who????????

This was one of the photo's that was taken of us with the "Duchess of York" She is very friendly,caring and personable! I thought this would be a welcome change to our blog. I am going to try to catch up on the other girls to!

Dana

Update from St Judes....

Well, Mike is at the hospital and I am now at home for a few days!! This morning Tessa's counts were still "O" and her platelets had fallen so they are going to give her more platelets today. They say with this Chemo that this is common but it is sooo scary! She is basically fighting for her life . Please continue to pray for her to recover and that this harsh treatment will STOP the cancer...
Dana

Sat. Update 8.16.08

Tessa developed a fever over the night and we ended up taking cultures and blood earlier than expected. Unfortunately, her counts came back at ZERO and anything under 20 requires a blood transfusion. In other words, her counts weren't even beginning to increase!

We're getting a blood and platelet transfusion today. They're admitting her back to the hospital and the dr. said we'll be here at least 4 more days. He's worried about the abdominal pain she's been having and this fever. Hopefully, the cultures will show exactly what's going on.

Please pray for Tessa! Also, pray that we'll have wisdom to develop a plan for arranging the logistics of needing to be at the hospital AND at home.

Friday Update 8/15

Tess is still not eating and her color is pale. She is feeling a little more active today than yesterday. Tessa doesn't weigh much to begin with and has lost 2 lbs. this week alone. That's a lot for a little body!

She will get shots at 9am in the morning and then they'll draw her blood. If her counts have begun to rise we'll get to go home. If they're too low we'll be getting a transfusion and not coming home till they come up.

Home health is set up and will be coming twice a week to draw her blood at home. She'll still be receiving daily shots (OUCH!) We don't look forward to that at home! Lucky Me!

Please keep her in your prayers!

Thursday Update 8/14/08

Tessa's counts are very low and she's at a high risk for infection. She's been wearing a mask and I'm trying to keep her away from lots of people. She's not eating and has been lethargic. This is all very normal and goes hand in hand with this kind of intense chemo.

Until her counts begin to come back up we won't be able to come home. They'll draw labs again on Sat. and if they're raising we can come home then!
Keep us in your prayers,
Dana

Home-School....

Tessa and I went out to a store called " The Knowledge Tree" they had so much cool stuff I was pretty over whelmed! Of course I bought some things and now look forward to the new year. This year I have arranged for a Professor from the College to teach spanish , so we are looking forward to that. I have bought the stuff to do a unit study on Butterflies including the kit to see the life stages (in real life)....well, hope all of you are ready for school and if you have any free sites please share!!
Dana

Update for Wed.....

Well, today we just get the shot to help her blood cells mature. Hopefully tomorrow's labs will be good! Tessa is still not eatting well but at least is drinking...I have found possibly some housing options here in case Mike or another care-giver can come with some of the kids. We shall see....
Will update more tomarrow.

Update for Tuesday at St judes...

Well, Tessa is now off of IV fluids and starting to eat.(if you call 5 m&m's and one sausage eating). But praise the Lord she is really getting back to her old self. Tonite though she vomited again, I think that it is from some medicine she is taking because that is exactly when she vomited last nite to!!
We now wait for her blood counts to finish going down and start their way up before we can come home. Dr Galindo said probably not until Monday...:( we will see. It seems like everywhere I look today I see either a parent or a child crying. Some days it is really hard to watch and then you also have your own child that is critically ill on top of it. I comforted one mother who was crying because she was for the first time reading what her child had in print. It was just really sinking in. Some-times you just can't really believe it but when you read it , it is real. Please pray for all these children here...

Update for Sat from St Jude's...

Well, last nite was much better for both of us and we actually got some sleep! They have been able to control her vomiting with meds so that is good. She isen't really eating or drinking very well... I spoke with the Dr last nite and basically he told me that she will have a 80-85% cure rate if we do the radiation also. If we didn't do radiation therapy it would only be a 60% cure rate. He also did say that these are just estimates because of how agressive her cancer is , they have not had a child that has presented like her... I hope to be coming home a week from Monday but I am going to try to figure out a way for Mike to bring some of the kids . This is hard to be away from the other children especially the babies....I am sure that we will get everything figured out before the next round of chemo. Tessa has been a trouper and has a tenacious personality, which will help her get through all of this.It will be tough next week as I have to give her daily shots!! YIKES
Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers
Dana

update on Thursday....

We have been admitted to the hospital and Tessa has begun the meds that they give before Chemo...she will start Chemo at 6pm...she had a little bit of pain from the bone marrow aspiration and so they gave her some pain meds which gave me the time to come out and write an update. I can see that I really am going to want a lap-top...
I think I am beginning to get emotional now as the time grows nearer to the chemo starting.Frankly it really scares me. I know we are in good hands..(God's and St judes) but it is still the unknown.
The Dr's have said that they are going to want to do radiation therapy also at the end of chemo, if they do that would mean staying here for 5 wks. We will see how the therapy goes they said.
I will update as often as I can and thanks to everyone for their prayers, show of concern and calls.
Dana

Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!

Tessa's bone scan came back negative....Yea!!! I did speak with her Dr and he said he is leaning toward admitting her for the stronger chemo....we will see.

We went and got her some new glasses today they are cute and I will post later.

Madeline and Katie are taking their chickens to the fair tonite and the judging will be done tomarrow. Marie is taking them and will take pictures....thank goodness for her . I don't know what we would do with out her.

Well, again thanks to everyone for all of the prayer's

Update for Tuesday

Well, we are at St Judes and I have met with Tessa's oncologist. The news is really not as good as we first thought...(is that possible the news wasn't good anyway). Tessa's cancer has left the eye and they now know it is in the eye orbit. She still has to have all of the tests done and we will know more then but her treatment might be a little bit different now. They are talking about some real aggressive chemo that she will have to be hospitalized for and radiation at the end of it. It is all real scary . I hate that Mike is at home with all of the kids but we both know that I can handle the "medical" stuff the best. If she has to be hospitalized my hope is that Mike can come and bring three kids with him for me to visit with while he is at the hospital....we will see...
Tomorrow is the bone scan, I will keep updating as I can.
The big girls will be taking their chickens to the county fair tomorrow, I hate that I am missing their first fair but I know that Marie will take pictures.

Birthday, Birthday, Birthday!!!!!

Today we celebrated two birthdays. Annie Grace will be 4 on August 6th and Ella was 1 on July 26th. I won't be here for Annies so we just did a party today. They had a good time!

The Bad News....

I guess I just couldn't bring myself to sit down at the computor for a few days to update everyone on Tessa, I guess I just had to let the "dust settle".
We will return to St Judes on Tuesday and on Wed. they will do a bone scan,bone marrow aspiration, spinal tap , get a line placed and then Chemo on Thursday. Dr Galindo in his call to me last week said that he believed that the chance of dissemination (spreading) would be very minimal because the time between exams was only three weeks but he said that there is always a chance of course.He said that he was not comfortable with just removing the eye. She will have to have Chemo for 6 Mo's...it seems like an eternity when I think of it. I hope that she tolerates it as well as she did the first time around. They will be doing some switching around of the drugs t hey are going to use this time , so she may react differently.
I can't tell you guys how much comfort we have just knowing that so many people are praying for her to be well and for the well being of our family. This will be a stressful time for us so please excuse me (in advance) if I don't stay in contact as much as usual or seem short...
Thanks again to everyone who has prayed for Tessa and please continue. I know that God is smiling when he looks down upon Tessa, after all her middle name is Joy!!!

before and after

Today was the day to remove the eye dressing. Tessa had a walleyed fit!! I think she was just scared of what would happen and not that it hurt. It is no where near as bad as I thought it would be

Forgot to mention....

With all of the urgency in Tessa's situation, I totally forgot to mention John and his tonsilectomy...he came through the surgery great but didn't eat or drink very good so he got steroid shots every other day for a while. He seems pretty much back to normal just not eatting very good still...We will see if this helps with all of his sickness's. If Tessa has to have Chemo we will have to rethink the dev. daycare maybe...

Up Date on Tessa

I want to thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts and concideration during this time. Also, I want to thank Robin B. for painting!!
Tessa came through the surgery great. They did remove the eye and we will have to wait a week before we know if she has to have anymore Chemo. He thinks that she will but I am trying not to speculate until we get the results. It was pretty scarry that first nite after the surgery. Tessa was in alot of pain and Annie Grace who was along for the trip had some sort of virus and vomitted in the recovery room while Tessa was recovering....how crazy is that?Tessa is enjoying being home and Annie Grace is back to running wild on the farm (her favorite past-time) I am just plain tired and have tons of things to do...and life goes on.......

Day before surgery....

Today Tessa met with the child-life specialist who used dolls to talk to her about her surgery tomarrow. It was really a good thing as she seemed to understand the operation and what would happen. She is very bright and I knew that we needed to tell her before. I have Annie Grace with me also and I took them shopping at Target. They had a blast I am worn out!!
I will try to post tomarrow, her surgery is in the morning at 10:00am.

Our news....

I am at St Judes with Tessa for her follow up appt and we have recieved the news that she needs to have her eye removed. We will have surgery on Friday. If you are a praying person please include her.

Thanks

First day of swimming lessons

Here is Madeline , Annie Grace and Katie on their first day of swimming lessons ! They look so cute!
They were excited to go even though some are a little under the weather due to the strep throat issue.

Cutie Pie strep carrier!

We have found out that John is a strep carrier and he has to have his tonsils out on the 16th...we hope that it cures him and all of our other kids!! They have been sick for months...

Wow has it been that long???

I can't believe that 3 wks has passed since I last posted. Sorry. We just got back from St Judes last Wed. and the news was good. The laser is controlling the tumor .... for now. Dr Wilson is worried about the amount of "energy" that is going into her eye. He said that it can make her eye "sick" and it would have to be removed. We will continue to pray that the laser works and with out the negative effects! I am so glad for all of the prayers that have been said for Tessa and our family for that matter. Keep um coming!

When I am at St Judes it really hits home just how blessed our family has been.Tessa's cancer is the kind of cancer that if you have to have cancer it is the one to have...it has a very high cure rate but so many parents just don't know how long they will have with their kids. I meet them every time I go. They put on a brave face for their kids but I just know that they are just crying behind the brave face. Please try to keep all of the families in your prayers!

Great News!!!

Well, Tessa's MRI results showed that the tumor has not left the eye....YEA!! but.....it has really grown so please continue to pray as we wait until tomarrow to find out exactly what we will have to do.

Monday at St Judes

Well, Tessa had her blood work done in preparation for her her MRI in the morning hopefully we will know the results tomarrow afternoon. Tessa is getting alittel bored by it all today and it is HOT here!!
Mike has been at home with a sheet-rock crew and John Sawyer . We are so thankful for all of the people who have helped on our new addition.. God does provide!!

Here in Memphis....

Tessa and I got to Memphis tonite for her St Judes appts. I will try to keep the blog current as she goes through her tests. The plan is for her to have lab tomarrow , MRI on Tuesday, her exam under anesthesia on Wed and then who knows....Please continue to pray for her as she continues her fight with Retinoblastoma...

Summer Time..

Here is Mike enjoying one of first warm days with Emmalie on our swing.She loves being out-side. I am sure that she will enjoy her new room with a porch. I plan to put a bird bath and bird feeders out side for her to watch the birds playing.

What Grama says....

I had taken Annie Grace with me shopping and we were in a thrift store when a volunteer struck up a conversation with her...He said boy she is really something....she said yea my Grama says I am a "Pill"....this picture says it all...she is definately a "pill" and some days that is putting it mildly. She is strong willed just like her mom and dad... but she is so sweet and that cancels all of the "pill". As she sits on my lap with her "blue blankie" it is hard to immagine anything but sweet ,precious and just how lucky that God put her in our hands to mold for the future.What an awesome task we have.

Tessa's Retinoblastoma....

Our last visit to St Judes showed that Tessa's retinoblastoma has had a large resurgence in her right eye. We will go for another exam in June, we will learn what the next step will be. Please keep her in your prayers. Her name says it all Tessa Joy...she is a joy to our family!

Cherry Blossom Time.....

we are going to have a bumper crop this year finally! I can't wait to get my hands on those cherries. Ummmm I can taste the jelly, pies , cobblers ect...

Spring is in the air.....maybe

I am hoping that spring has sprung finally! We got the garden plowed and then a big storm came and dumped oodles of rain on the garden so it will be a while before our potatoes get in the ground. Mike has started plowing, getting ready to plant corn. We are thinking of doing a corn maze but I think we will be to busy this year. We had a set of meat goat twins this morning and it looks like one of them will be a bottle baby....bummer....I have enough bottles to feed as it is :)
Well, I will try to get back sooner....

Down on the farm...our new arrival

This our first goat baby of the year! The girls have named her Sunny and she is so cute. We weren't supposed to have any babies for another month but evidently her mommie thought different. So , she isen't a "meat" goat she is 3/4 dairy and 1/4 meat goat. Oh, well accidents happen...

The kids have had fun with her but she is now just to darn wild for them to get close to .

Emmalie in the hospital..

I just got home yesterday with Emmalie after being in the hospital overnite with her. Evidently, the new medicine given to her by her neurologist was much to strong for her and caused her to have breathing difficulties and also she had a stomach virus. She is much better today but was up alot last night very irritable. She just woke up tonite and we are hoping she goes back to sleep!! Mike is rocking her now and she is quiet , that is a good sign.

We have cought I think every single "bug" that is around. I am ready for Summer.

Birthday Girl Sophie Rose Iman

We have had a birthday, Sophie who is now one. I can't believe that she is already a year old. I will post a picture of the birthday girl. She is growing up, I noticed that this time when I took her for her eye exam at St Judes she didn't scream at everyone and demand that I hold her.. Whew that is huge improvement. I took her and Tessa both to St Judes before and I ended up pushing a twin stroller with Tessa in it and had to carry Sophie the WHOLE time or she would scream... you know I really realized that trip that I was getting just a little bit older..

on the mend....

Well, I am hoping that everyone is on the mend finally. When I went to St Judes for Tessa's exam I ended up going to the Dr there...boy I am glad that this illness is on its way out!! We had a work day on our house and it is coming together. It is really looking good and the room will be so good to have.We are all really looking forward to moving in it! We are very thankful for all of the help that we have gotten on it. I will post pictures later.

precious baby with RSV

This is precious baby Ella she has been fighting the flu and RSV. She absolutely hates breathing treatments but she is such a good baby and just smiles all the time.She continues to sleep through the nite even sick. Having her sure makes is hard to say no to another baby!!

Decisions,Decisions,Decisions....

Well , after the great influenza hit our house I began to realize that there just wasen't any way for us to leave the country to adopt. It is really sad for me because I have always dreamed of traveling to pick up a child from another country. I know that I will adjust to that fact but it will take some time...
So, I have changed the name of the blog and we will move on!! Now I am not saying that I wouldn't adopt any more period, just not internationally.

THE BIG INFLUENZA

Well, we have all been sick with the flu and boy howdie next year we will all get flu shots. This has been pretty horrible to say the least and the baby actually has the flu and R.S.V. so what a ride......

Agency

I have been looking into International adoption for the last 8 years and every time we get close to actually doing it we get a call for a placement here in the U.S. This time I am going to try to stay focused and see what happens. I have looked at many different agencies with programs in Ethiopia and have decided to use WACAP. They seem to have an awesome waiting child program and have a great reputation. So far everyone has been great and we are just waiting for our paper-work to arrive. We already have a home-study but it needs now to reflect Ethiopia as the country we are adopting from and what type of child we are hoping to adopt. More later....

This our Christmas '07 picture. I never realized how hard it would be to get eight kids to all look one way and smile! Not to mention the adults ...

I haven't really gotten the "hang" of this Blog deal yet so hang tight!