Summer at the Speed of Juliana
June 21, 2009 8:00 PM

This child never slows down! She was back at school a week after surgery. But of course recovery could not have gone that smoothly: She came down with pneumonia, which took her out of school for a whole week. But she was right back at 100 MPH.

The remainder of the school year was great. She continued to excel in everything. She will be starting summer school tomorrow. She definitely thrives on the structure of school. It is only 4 hours, three days a week, but at least it will keep her mind moving towards first grade. Yep, first grade already! Unbelievable!

She was so precious at her kindergarten graduation. She marched in with all of the kindergarteners. They all sang a couple of songs together. And she walked across the bridge and shook hands with the principal when they announced her name. Thom and I were so proud of her.

The same year that our baby graduated from kindergarten, our oldest daughter, Kaitlyn, graduated from high school. We went to Maine last week to see her ceremony and spend some time with family. We love you, Bob and Michelle. Thank you for putting up with the chaos that we call life.

It is hard to believe that when I met Thom, Kaitlyn was Kendra's age now. Wow, how life has changed in the past 10 years. Never did I dream that this is what God had in his plans for me. I wouldn't change a bit of it! We have four amazing kids who are becoming amazing adults.

I am still trying to recover from the trip. The laundry is almost caught up, just in time to pack it back up again. We will be leaving on Wednesday to go to Dallas. We are so excited to be attending the Children's Craniofacial Association (CCA) annual retreat.

The retreat is in a different location each year; last year we went to Myrtle Beach. This year is the 20th anniversary and it is going to be held at the Great Wolf Lodge. It looks awesome from the pictures! We can't wait to see the friends that we made last year. The retreat is such a safe place for the kids. Nobody is staring at anybody else, they are just all kids there to have a good time.

No time to relax this summer! Summer school will continue most of July while Thom is gone to Virginia to school for the entire month. In addition to shopping for new sneakers and school supplies in August, we will be preparing for Juliana's next surgery. She is scheduled for August 20th.

The tissue expander in her back has been expanded to its fullest for quite a while now. That tissue will be separated from her back and attached to her right cheek area, in the same way that her left cheek was formed. Her left cheek will receive the final de-bulking process. And the most exciting part is that her BAHA (hearing aid) implants will be exposed so that we can attach her hearing aids directly to her head rather than using the headband that she has been with for the past several years.

I am most excited about her BAHA's. The headband is a pain sometimes for her to wear, and this will give her better contact between her skull and the hearing aids. She will have no more excuses for not listening to me!

—Tami