New Year, New Resolutions

Well, its been an awfully long time since I have written on my blog. Thought it was appropriate to start back and try again...after all, isn't that what new years and new resolutions are all about? Last time I wrote was right before me and Darein went on vacation! So lets see if I can catch up on time between now and then so that I can get a fresh start on this blog writing thing :)
We had a fantastic time on our vacation and saw so many things and met so many new relatives and saw some relatives that we already knew but hadn't seen in awhile and made some great connections. Once vacation was over it wasn't long before school started back. Darein has done an absolutely fabulous job of attending school and enjoying it this year. It is such a nice change from the last few years. I no longer have to worry if she is really sick when she tells me she is too sick to go to school because she absolutely loves school and hates to miss now. She says its because she was homeschooled for the past year and absolutely hated it and would much rather attend regular school than have to go back to being homeschooled :)She may have lost a year basically of school by being homeschooled but she definitely gained a life experience which is more than she could have ever learned at school. She met a cousin while on vacation that was a Vet Tech and talked to her extensively the day we visited with her about this and even got to visit her clinic that she worked at. This was a huge inspiration for Darein and she decided then that she definitely wanted to be a Vet Tech. It is so inspiring to see her have a goal and working now towards that goal. She is finding out everything that she can about that job career and doing what she can to work towards that goal. She took an Agriculture class and has joined FFA and is raising a guinea pig for her project. She is hoping to breed her :) We have a friend who bought a male for his daughter and so we are going to try to breed the two, this could be an interesting project! Darein's study skills teacher has a brother who owns the local veterinary clinic and so she set up a time for Darein to get a tour of the clinic and Darein enjoyed it very much. Darein also applied to be a volunteer at the local Dickerson Park Zoo but unfortunately was not chosen. She will try again next year and her study skills teacher has talked to me about trying to make sure that Darein gets on there. She also says that Darein should be eligible to be a part of the OTC Vo-Tech Vet Tech program over the next 3 years and then will be able to be a vet tech when she graduates high school. I am so proud of sis beyond words, never knew if she would make it this far or not. Her progress is absolutely incredible to me. Never say never because my daughter is absolutely living proof of how to overcome all odds at all costs. I understand that more and more everyday.
We went and spoke with her plastic surgeon at some point about the possibility of Darein having facial surgery. The plastic surgeon says maybe it isn't medically necessary as far as she can eat, breathe, etc. However, there are no guarantees that she won't have problems with these things later in life. We have had to decide whether we wanted to start this process or not and have had a difficult time with this decision. Darein has had about 8 surgeries or so and to be told that she could get by without surgery, it was definitely tempting to avoid the surgery. She would need braces for about 18 months, then while the braces are still on plastic surgery would then pull her top jaw forward and pull the mid-face forward. As that heals and the braces come off over the next 6 months, then somewhere in there they would take a part of Darein's rib and place it in her nose for a rhinoplasty...to give her a bridge in her nose. This is quite an undertaking and nothing to take lightly by any means. Me and Shane definitely had many different viewpoints on this area but have finally decided to proceed. In the midst of all of this, Darein as you know has scoliosis. This was improved by the time we went back after vacation and so no brace is needed at this time. She needs to continue to work on her posture and as long as she continues to work on her posture hopefully no brace will be necessary but we will continue to follow the orthopedic doctor every so often. We thought we had an orthodontist picked out but have received different reviews in regards to their office. They are the most expensive in town by about $1,500 - $2,000 which is quite a bit so we are seeking a second opinion and will go from there. She has an appointment tomorrow with the second opinion. She has a full year of new medical things going on and an awful lot going on at her school that she involved in. She is a freshman and made Freshman Homecoming Princess. We were so proud of her and the opportunity that she received by getting to participate in this honor among her classmates. She was absolutely beautiful and I am so grateful to her student body for nominating her and allowing her to be a participant in this special honor. I can't wait to see what all life has to offer her. She is definitely meeting it head on and I am so proud of her that I can't even put it into words. She is just an incredible person and I got to grow so much closer to her over vacation and really got to know her as a person. This was time that was invaluable and I will always cherish beyond belief. She will be attending a Blume conference with her Acteen group in July at Orlando, FL. She is very excited about this opportunity and the opportunity to get to fly for the first time in her life. She is definitely her momma's girl as far as her personality goes :)
Damein has had an incredible year. He went to Prince Edward Island, Canada for a mission trip and led the devotions in his group. I am so extremely proud of the young man that he is turning into. He went on a trip to the lake this summer after he got back from Canada and jumped from the boat onto the intertube and jammed his shoulder. He complained about it quite often but we told him that surely it would heal. He finally quit complaining about it and we assumed it has healed up on its own. Unfortunately, he was in weights one day and was doing an overhead military press and his shoulder fell out of socket. I guess, he about fainted and went white as a ghost but being the typical guy that he is, he didn't cry of course :) He went to the nurse's office and laid down and when he went to get up, it popped back into socket on its own. There was no need to take him to ER and I happened to be with Darein at the orthopedic doctor when I received the phone call. I spoke with her doctor and he agreed to see Damein and told us to schedule him with an appointment with his regular doctor and to get a specific MRI so he would have all the information when Damein came to see him. I did this and Damein ended up having shoulder. It was his left shoulder and an anchor was placed as the gasket in his left arm had been tore pretty bad. The doctor said he was quite a tough guy for it not to be hurting and for him to be doing as well as he was. He recovered from surgery well and has been attending physical therapy. He received the okay from his doctor the other day to start Healthtracks which is a form of physical therapy with strength training to get him back to baseball. He should be ready to start back to baseball in one month and so should be ready to start his senior year by the time the season starts. He has decided not to play baseball in college as he wishes to pursue other interests and concentrate on his studies. He plans to attend the University of Missouri and acquire a major in Chemical Engineering. He has taken about 8 college credits and I think the 2nd semester he will gain another 8 college credits before ever starting college which will help him tremendously. He is so smart and I am so proud of him. He really seems to have his act together and I hope that that continues for his sake. We took him to get a haircut today as he is scheduled to get his Senior pictures Saturday. He says that he is attending prom this year though he doesn't have a girlfriend at the time and doesn't know who he will attend with. Just glad to know that he is going to go since he chose not to go last year. It is a big year for him and he is very excited but mom is sad as I realize that he will be gone soon. Damein is in hopes of taking a Senior trip this summer so we will see what he comes up with and try to accomodate him. He has been applying for scholarships and I am in the process of filling out his FAFSA form. We still need to pay his admittance fee to MU, find out the cost once all of his financial aid forms and scholarship info is made available for review and then visit for a summer program and get more information in March from the college. So much to do still to get him to that final point of move in day :)
It will be mine and Shane's 20 year anniversary this year at the end of September. We have never had a honeymoon and as too many things are going on this year with the kids, we don't feel it is a good financial decision to try and take a trip together this year. Therefore, Shane is sending me and my best friend and my sister to Vegas for his anniversary present to me. Our birthday's are a week apart in May and so we have decided to go in March. If we decide that we are able to do something for our anniversary, all the trips with everyone will be done and out of the way by our anniversary and we can make an educated decision at that point.
2011 brings many new things for our life, some scary, some exciting and all brand new. I look forward to facing it head on and seeing what the new year brings :) I hope that I am able to write more often on my blog and keep up with it better and hope that everyone enjoys continuing to read it!
God Bless :)