For Becky

So all in favor of Becky taking over.... Thanks, Sis! You do a much better job than I do! So, here's a token photo at least. Isn't Miss L beautiful? We have an amazing birth mom to thank for that! Our little one is growing up too fast!

Update on the Dummers

This is Shannon's sister Becky. I have officially hacked her blog. I keep telling my sister that she needs to post what is happening on her blog so that her friends and family can be up to date. She has not listened to the wise advice of her younger sister! So I am doing it for her.

The Dummer's finally got their perfect baby. After two failed adoptions they were blessed with Elizabeth Marisa (Lizzy) who was born at the end of September. She is amazing and fits right in the Dummer clan. Shannon and Kevin were able to take a mini vacation to California to pick her up. They were able to do this because of Shannon's amazing sister who came to watch the other kids (oh wait, that's me!) J/K We were all very excited to meet Lizzy, especially Ellie! Ellie informed us all that Lizzy is her baby sister and no one else could hold her. The Dummer family is complete, unless I can talk my sister into adopting one more for me to hold!

Now on to the next great news! Ellie had her heart echo done in November. We (or I should say I) was thinking that her next open heart surgery would be in March. I am happy to tell you all that I was wrong. Her heart looks amazing!!! There has not been any real significant changes since her last echo was done. Great news!!!! The cardiologist is going to try to postpone surgery until late summer or early fall! Also, Ellie is no longer tube fed. She is a big fan of 5 guy burgers and fries. I guess that saying no news is good news applies to the Dummer family.

Check back frequently because I now have full access to the Dummer blog and will update it! Shannon picks sleep over blogging. I don't blame her. She is an amazing mom to her 5 kids! Hopefully she can get some sleep soon! Love you Sis!

Coming Soon...Heart Cath and New Baby

Turbo update...Ellie will be having her heart cath this Friday. Our whole family has had the stomach flu, so I'm hoping they don't change the date. I'm looking forward to getting some answers on the status of her ticker, but I'm nervous as to what they might find. She doesn't tend to do anything by the book! Also, we will be adopting a baby at the end of April! We are so excited to welcome a new little person into the family chaos and hope that timing works out with whatever Ellie may throw at us. More later. Sleep now!

To Junior High (But Not Beyond)!

It's official...my eighth grader is smarter than I am. I couldn't understand her math homework last night and I had to look up the definition for one of the words in the poem she wrote for an assignment. For those who are interested, the word paladin means "A knight renowned for heroism and chivalry." Sixth grade math is giving me a run for my money too. Sigh...

A Little Drama is Good, Right?

We celebrated Ellie's birthday this year by coming home from Primary's after an unanticipated 5 day stay. She had gone in Friday morning for a minor surgery to remove her adenoids in hopes of solving her sleep apnea problems. During the surgery, her airway shut down and she went into cardiac arrest. We are very grateful for a well prepared medical staff who quickly resuscitated her. They gave her a lot of fluid during this time, which ended up causing some problems in her lungs as she recovered. So, we got to spend some time in the new PICU unit that had been under construction during her last hospital stay. It's quite nice, actually!

After a slow recovery, we have our happy, sassy girl back. She's back to telling us, "NO!", climbing in the pantry, throwing objects down the stairs (the larger, the better), and has discovered what a lovely sound my dishes (yes, plural) make when they are launched onto the tile floor! Unfortunately, she needs oxygen full time to get her bursts of energy. We have daily battles about keeping the oxygen on, but she is learning that it helps her feel better. Having a toddler on a 50 ft. "leash" makes my day interesting to say the least!

We went to Cardiology last week to see how Ellie's heart fared after all the excitement had died down. Her function has decreased a little. It looks like the plan is to try to get through the RSV/flu season and then take a look at her heart in the cath lab. Hopefully she has just developed some extra vessels that can be coiled off to increase her oxygen levels. If not, we're looking at a possible third open heart surgery (the Fontan) as early as March. We're not sure where that puts us with our plans to adopt a baby in the near future. We've had our paperwork done for a couple of months now. Sigh...never a dull moment.

After all is said and done, we're just happy to have our little bundle of attitude still with us! I guess a little drama is good sometimes--it helps me realize how lucky I am to have Ellie in our family. When we left the hospital, the doctor gave us a discharge summary that included a depressing and lengthy list of everything that is wrong with our daughter. Well, there's a lot right with her too. She smiles in spite of her struggles, says thank you without being told, talks up a storm, makes us laugh daily, simply loves us back, and the list goes on....

Lazy Blogger Post

I'm a little short on time these days. Here are a few (very few) photo highlights of our cute girl's baptism, kids' pictures (finally after 2 years), and our amazing Alaska adventure to visit my sister.

Muddy!

Aren't they a little old for this?