What ELSE has been happening in my life . . .

Enough about the hearing situation . . . super quick update and then info about what ELSE has happened in my life since the 7th of July! I was able to talk to a friend of a friend of Nancy Chandler's in Dallas who went through this last year. She hooked me up with the email of the nation's top doc in SSNHL, Dr. Jeffrey P. Harris in San Diego. Figuring he would never email back, I took a shot at it anyway . . . and. . . he emailed me back in 10 minutes! Then we corresponded back and forth several times. . . he is AMAZING! He wanted me to go to a guy in Houston who is out of town on vacation, but they got me in with another doc in the same clinic. So, I have now moved from my fabulous, wonderful, delightful, Dr. Fred Owens: to this hunk of a doc, Dr. Robert Williamson:

who also happens to be one heck of a physician. He started me on Prednisone for 3 weeks (woo hoo!) and a diuretic with it, in addition to all the Dr. Owens Niacin 3x day, Lipoflavonoids 2x day, C-Histamine 2x day, Benadryl, and no caffeine, low-sodium diet. Still praying something will work--if not, Dr. Williamson has let me know about several hearing options I have. Could I be more blessed to have an audiologist in the family?? Regardless of the outcome of all this, I will still be able to hear, with or without assistance, and that itself is a HUGE blessing!

Okay--I'm going to start with the most recent and work my way back, because it's easiest for me mentally . . .football season is coming upon us and my little guy has decided that he HAS to play football this fall. And, of course, at age 7, that means FULL TACKLE football. He and Dad went out and started practicing last night. . . .look at these guys . . . .

And have I mentioned lately that my husband has the BEST legs in the world?? Whew--I can't keep looking . . .must. get. cold.water. Of course, during "half-time," our little guy did what every good football player does . . .he read a Time-Life book about "Living Wonders: The Marvels of the Earth." He is just something else, I tell you . . . such diverse interests!

Last Friday, July 25, my precious baby girl decided to use scissors for something other than she had been instructed to do . . . lecture after lecture after lecture about scissors are for paper only resulted in this:
And no, I haven't told my sister or mom yet--I'm thinking it will be better for them just to see it for themselves when we go to Chicago next Tuesday . . . but won't that be cute for the wedding on May 30th?? At least she cut the groom's side view and left the bride's side aisle view for cuteness . . . .of course, she'll have to stand with the groomsmen during the ceremony if my sister wants her standing during the ceremony! I'm thinking that her love affair with my gag-gift-birthday present of the pink "Foxy" hat might actually be an okay thing . . . .
Izzy continues to grow more and more adorable every single day. I don't think God could have created a more perfect Bichon. She is LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Even my vet recommended that we breed her--everytime she goes for grooming, the groomers all freak out at how adorable she is, and she is so CALM compared to Belle, our crazy last little pup. She's a little dream--could she BE any cuter??? Last week while I was driving, we witnessed the most perfect clouds I have seen in a while, and of course, I grabbed my camera and started snapping without looking through the viewfinder (I was driving, people!), hoping to capture a little bit of what my eyes were seeing--amazing! On July 22, the most precious friend in the world, Stephanie Oliver, hosted a little surprise shindig for me at the Museum of East Texas. Samie Montes helped with decorations, as did Michelle Combs (who created the centerpieces by spray painting tree branches--these people are too talented for me, I tell you), and everyone brought something yummy to eat. And please look at this cake! Mom and Dad sent the flowers . . .I am beyond blessed to have such incredible people in my life--they make me feel so very special and I will never deserve them! This birthday party came after a weekend at the beach with the girls that was just phenomenal. If you ever go to Galveston, Texas, you need to stay at Pointe West. It is the most beautiful I have ever seen Galveston--truly--they actually had blue ocean water and sand that you could walk on--a sand bar that stretched for miles, three pools, a lazy river, workout room--it's incredible! What a great wy to feel wonderful about turning 36!

The week before my beach getaway was spent in Dallas with family and friends. After a fun day with Aunt KK on Tuesday, we spent Wednesday, Wednesday night, and Thursday morning with the Nutting crew, who are truly like family to us. The kids HAD A BALL and the Nutting's new (enormous) house was just beautiful. Alison is a once in a lifetime friend--they had flown in from a two-week trip to Savannah the day before, yet she still opened her doors wide and embraced us. As you can see, the kids didn't have fun at all . . . .

Okay, a few more pics--while Kevin was in Ireland for 10 days (I didn't mention that until he was home safe and sound--never know who is reading this!), this is what our bed looked like:

(And yes, I did squirm in there after taking this picture)

And here are the final pics: my ballerina swimmer and Star Wars fan--I LOVE MY BABIES!!!