One thing leads to another :) And a birthday too!

Can you believe that this last week our beautiful little girl turned 4! Seems like it was just yesterday she was born. These last four years have been a roller coaster ride to say the least but not a ride I would trade for the world. She has blessed us all, and anyone who is lucky enough to know her in so many ways. Happy Birthday to my sweet princess warrior Payton!

We are going to be spending lots of the month of July on vacations. We are heading to Mount Rushmore to go camping next week (shhhhhhhh the kids don't know :) ). Then on July 24 we will be heading to the Aicardi Family Conference in Chicago. Thanks to the generosity of so many friends and family that have helped to make this trip a reality for our family. It just makes me want to cry thinking about it. 

Payton also has lots of Dr's appointments and tests coming up. She has to go back to the orthopedic Dr since her scoliosis has gotten worse in the last year. So much so that it is causing a lump in her back. Hopefully we can get her fitted for a brace and get her straightened back out. We are working on standing more with her in hopes that will straighten her out too. She is also going to have a sleep study done. They believe that Payton has apnea and we need to figure out what kind she has and how bad it is. We also got the Dr to write out a prescription for diapers for Payton. Now that she is 4 insurance will pay for her diapers. That will be so nice not to have that expense every month. They also wrote out a prescription/recommendation for a sleep safe bed for Payton. Insurance should pick up the cost for that as well since it is the safest option for Payton. Typical twin size beds are not safe for her and a hospital bed is an even worse idea. We see the cardiologist next week for the narrowing that they found in her pulmonary artery as well as the CT scan revealed that the stricture in her throat is several blood vessels wrapping around her esophagus and squeezing in on it. The cardiologist might be able to fix this for her but we won't know until next week. 

On another happy note Ryan will be starting his CNA class on June 30th! This means that he will finish by the end of July and should begin receiving pay for taking care of Payton in August. So glad that the state we live in has this program for families like ours. It has been a struggle being a single income family for the last four years since one of us has to be home to be with Payton. This will take so much pressure off of us and allow us some breathing room with our finances and best of all the option to start saving again :). 

OOOOOHHHH I almost forgot I am so proud of my wonderful son Robert! He has been chosen to be an ambassador at his school for the coming school year. This means he has to go back a few days before his friends and he will be showing the incoming 6th graders around and making sure that they are doing well the first few weeks and mentor them through the transition from elementary to middle school. He is so excited to get to do this for these kids. I love the heart of service that God has given him. He is always ready to be there for others. What a blessing he is!