Welcome Lilliana

My cousin Rachel had her baby September 10th at 10:07am. She weighed 6lb 8oz and is 20 inches long. Her name is Lilliana Elizabeth.

There were some complications and I would like to ask for your prayers and thoughts. Lilly was born with a syndrome known as Agenesis of the Corpus Collosum. That means that the part of her brain that connects the right and left hemispheres, the Corpus Collosum, is partially or completely missing. She was having some difficulty with breathing at birth, but has since gotten better. She was sent a few days ago, via ambulance to Children's Hospital of Detroit, for further evaluation. It has been a rough couple of days for the family as they digest all this new information and come to terms with the diagnosis. Rachel is doing well...she knows that Lilliana is a gift from God and she loves her no matter what.

I started posted this a few days ago and was interrupted, so I will finish with the updates from the past few days. She passed her vision and hearing tests. Her heart and lungs are functioning good. They did an MRI yesterday late afternoon. We are awaiting those results. IN the meantime, they have noticed that her sodium levels are too high and they don't know why. So, until they can figure that out, she will remain at Children's Hospital. The doctor said it could be a day, or it could be two weeks. Praying that it is something that can be managed and that she can come home soon! You can view her hospital pics by clicking here.

School is in full swing for the kids and me. Sebastian has gotten a lot better about going. I do not have to hear "I don't like school" every night and every morning. I do not know if/what his teacher is doing, but I did tell her about it in the note I sent her. She requested that each parent send a note telling her about our child so she find the best way to reach them. I think that is so awesome. You can tell she genuinely loves her job. I think she is going to be a positive influence on Sebastian and hopefully reshape his dislike for school.

Makenneh ended up not getting the teacher I requested because that teacher moved to a different building. So, the weekend before school started, I received a letter that she had a different teacher. Makenneh was very disappointed. She was really looked forward to having hte other teacher and she cried alligator tears. I assured her that this new teacher sounds very nice and read her the letter from the new teacher, pointing out the similarities they shared, such as a love for animals. She came home on the first day and was happy with the new teacher. My mother in law attended the back to school open house (bc I had class) and so was able to meet the teacher. The teacher uses hands on methods to teach kids and it sounds like the learning is going to be a blast in this classroom. For instance, to teach kids about money, she lets them earn "money" by good behavior and such. Then, once every so often (not sure if it's weekly, monthly, or what) she lets the kids use their earned money to shop at the store. The store is a bunch of small items she has purchased herself at dollar stores or whatever. The kids will have to learn how much money is needed to purchase what they want, how much change they should get back, etc. Very neat idea.

I like all my classes, except Art Appreciation. The teacher is a flake. And talks in monotone and goes on and on for the entire class, using powerpoint. With no point, it seems, to her lecture.

Mom and dad are in Georgia. They left Sept 11. They won't be back until Oct. 8th or so. Carrie was excited to be able to have them there for that long. Her C-section is scheduled for Sept 20th. She is hoping to be in the new house (in Alabama) by then. I don't know how realistic that goal is, but at least they have extra hands down there right now to help with it all.

Well, that's about it for me tonight. I feel like i don't have much time anymore to sit and think about things to post on here and when I do have things, well, i don't have time. So, til next time, take care and please keep Lilliana and the family in your thoughts and prayers!