Windy city?

We're safe and sound in the Windy City, or whatever Dallas' nickname is. Tonight it's the windy city with the remnants of Gustav kicking up quite the breeze. Zack was wonderful on the flight! His mouth hasn't stopped running all day. New experiences with him can always go either way, so I held my breath until we were up in the air, but he did great. The most we had to do was remind him to use his inside voice! When we got off the plane, he said he wasn't even scared about surgery. "Because it's only Tuesday."

We made it to the hotel without much trouble...Dave and Zack are digging the 42" TV! We ventured out a bit to grab some Sonic for dinner...Zack's pick. Though I think he expected to find Mario & Sonic there. Pre-ops start at 9am, but we're less than a mile from the hospital, so we won't have to head out too early, thank goodness. It's been a long day!

All clear!

Just got the all clear from Zack's peditrician. We love her. She told him he talked like a 10-year-old...right after he told her that Lizzie said he couldn't play her DS on the plane and that "irritated" him. She made us promise to email her all our pictures/updates. We stopped by Servaati's for some cookies for our flight. The forecast for Dallas is looking a bit better...T-storms instead of T-storms plus wind. We'll take it. I considered trying to get on an earlier flight, but no seats, so we'll have to hedge our bets with the last flight of the night. Hopefully Zack won't see any lightning from the plane...that would sufficiently freak him out since he doesn't like thunderstorms anyway!

We'll update everyone tonight or tomorrow when we're settled. He's in great spirits today, which is helping to keep me upbeat even though I'm scared silly! Alex and Lizzie are all dropped off for the day, so Zack and I are hanging out...he's watching TV and I'm "working" while Nancy is cleaning the house. At least we'll come home to a nice clean house next week! Keep the prayers coming...we can feel them!

Quote of the day!

Zack: "Wait a minute! Am I having head surgery or eye surgery?"
Me: "Head surgery."
Zack: "OK. Cool."

God love him! Why head surgery sounded better than eye surgery, I'll never know. But, we'll take it!

BTW...here are pics of him from a family wedding last week for anyone who hasn't seen them yet.
Suitcases all packed...time to start filling up carry-ons with toys and games for all of us!

Here we go again...

Today is packing day. I haven't gotten very far. I hate packing! So far, I have suitcases filled for Alex and Lizzie, and their schedule e-mailed out to all the family members who will be taking care of them while we're gone. We've charged up all the cameras and located the cords so we can download all our pics. I've updated iTunes with lots of new songs and updated my iPod, though we still need to get Zack's updated with every Bon Jovi song ever recorded. We've got all the gifts that have arrived over the last couple weeks (thank you everyone!!!) I know those are going to come in handy when he gets grouchy on us.

Zack is doing pretty well, still. The only way we know it's bothering him is that he keeps asking us how many days until Tuesday. He said today that he was excited about the airplane ride, but not the surgery. That's one more thing than I'm excited about. At least it looks like "Gustav" ended up hitting earlier and less hard than first thought, so hopefully Dallas won't have too much wind and rain tomorrow!

We fly out of Dayton at 6:00 tomorrow, so it'll be a late night by the time we get settled in to the hotel. Pre-ops start at 9 am Wednesday. By lunchtime we should know whether we'll do the full reconstruction again or just the split-skull bone graft. It'll feel good to have that decision behind us.

I better get back to packing while the boys are napping...it hard to do much while they are both awake, and I'm hoping for an early night!

Thank you all for the love and prayers that have gotten us through this summer of anticipation. We'll keep you all posted once we get settled in Dallas.

Out of the mouths of babes...

So, I'm still on my never-ending quest to shed a few pounds. The stress of the last few months has made it damn near impossible. But, I've finally been having some success in the last week, and decided to try on the dress I bought for one of our back-to-back August weddings. Alex walked in and looked at me and said "You're a ballerina!"

Flattery will get you everywhere, kid! All the moments of exasperation lately with him were worth it for that one moment. I love you, Alex!

Weighing heavy...

I'm a wreck. The past few weeks have been filled with fatigue, nausea, tears, insomnia, and ravenous hunger. And before you go there, I'm NOT pregnant. I made an appt just in case it really is something physical, but more and more I'm starting to think it's the stress of what lies ahead that is eating away at me. I know we have to do this. Sometimes I'm just struck by the unfairness of it all...why does it have to be my kid that has to go to the O.R. 6 times in just over 4 years? How many times can I sign a release stating that I understand that death is a possible complication of the surgery he's about to have?

I did well focusing on the insurance and the scheduling and the flights. Now I'm in full-on panic mode. Some days I find enough to distract me, and others, like today, are pure hell. I've never been one to wish away a summer, but the next two months can not pass quickly enough. I hate feeling sad and out-of-control. I hope I snap out of it soon for everyone's sake.

We have a date!

Zachary's surgery is finally scheduled for September 5th. We'll be in Dallas from Septemeber 2-9 for pre-op appts and recovery. It still feels like a lifetime away, but I know it will sneak up on us as the summer continues to fly by.

I made a montage about his experience so far. It was therapeutic for me to go back through all the old photos and see how quickly his smile returned both times, but it was also difficult to remember how much he struggled immediately post-op.

The rest of the summer has been going great. We had a fabulous vacation in Hilton Head with Grandma, Uncle Craig, Aunt Elaina, and Reagan. Elizabeth enjoyed Girl Scout camp and is working very hard on the swim team. The nightly practices and weekly meets have greatly improved her strokes for sure...she swims a mean back stroke now and is working mostly on stamina. Last night she was leading until the very end before she ran out of steam and took 3rd place. We're so proud of how hard she's working! We'll try to get some video at an upcoming meet.

Alex is almost completely potty-trained now...M&M's work wonders as bribery! At some point we'll have to cut him off, but for now it's just too cute to hear him say, "I get MMM's?" whenever he's finished. Of course, now Zachary thinks he should get M&M's everytime he uses the bathroom too. Ahh, sibling rivelry...you gotta love it!