The Neatowhites

Aidan's first day of preschool was last week. He was very excited to go.

Isn't he cute?!

But once he got there, he wasn't so sure.

"You're not really going to leave me here, are you?"

Once he warmed up, he had a blast! He has lots of fun playing with 'those guys' (he can't remember his buddies names yet!) He loves the playground, eating lunch, playing, . . . . I'm sure he likes other things, but that's about all I can get out of him!

What a big boy!!!

I haven't posted any pics for a while. And there's a reason for that: trouble 1 and trouble 2, aka AnnaBeth and Aidan. They decided that the card reader where I upload my pictures was the perfect place to stick coins in. Grrrrrrrrr. . . . . .

We got most of them out, but then I got a paperclip stuck trying to get that one last penny that is wedged in there. Rick got the paperclip out tonight. But we still have that one stubborn coin.

What the heck were they thinking?

So God heard our prayers for baby Juliet's belly button and decided to answer! HE is so Good!!
The surgeon today said, "It looks good. Keep sunscreen on it and make sure she wears a one-piece bathing suit." I was a little confused. "So no surgery?" That was Rick. I was still in shock. "Nope, it looks good." That was when Rick and I looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear. What a Great God we serve! And why I'm shocked, I don't know. I knew He could heal, I asked Him to heal, and He did. Again, how Great is He. I really can't say it enough!
Our job now is to watch it for any signs of drainage, or of any 'lumps' in her belly that would indicate fluid building up inside. Other than that, we go back in a year.
I gotta say it one more time, Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!

I think I'd mentioned a few posts back that Juliet's belly button took a while to heal. Well, it did, but it didn't.
The doc carterized it a few weeks ago, and it appeared to be better. It still had a little pink to it, which I just assumed was new skin. But this past week it once again started looking yucky. I took her in to the doc yesterday to have it checked out and she referred us to a pediatric surgeon. Thank goodness they could get us in right away -- I'm sure I would have started to worry and imagine the worst!
Her condition has a name that I can't pronounce - but basically she still has connections to her bowel and bladder. If left untreated, these connections could lead to infections. The solution is a small incision, the disconnecting and tying off of the passageways, and sewing her back up. Since she'll have to go under anesthesia for the procedure we'll wait until she's 3 mths old to have this done. (If they are under 3 mths, a night in the hospital is required) Until then, she carterized it again and applied silver nitrate to hopefully ward off any infection.
She did say that there's a slim chance that the carterization will heal it. Actually what she said was it probably wouldn't heal it and our only solution would be surgery. So . . . to me, there's a 'slim chance'! But because we serve a God who is the ultimate healer and can do the impossible when our chances are slim to none, the White family is praying that God will heal Juliet's belly button issues in the next two weeks (before we see the doc again.) I'd love it if you'd join us!
If He chooses not to heal her, I trust in Him. This is, again, a good reminder to me where I am in relation to my Lord. I love my children dearly, but they are not my idols. My life revolves around my Savior and I will not let my fears have victory over that. Whatever happens, Blessed be His Name!

Today is the first day of kindergarten for AnnaBeth and of second grade for Raegan. Our school district still does 1/2 day kindergarten (thank goodness), so AB will be home before lunch. When asked if she was excited to go to school, she said no. When asked why not, she answered, "I don't know how to read yet!" She has since been told that's why she's going to school. Funny girl.
Raegan was very ready for school-- she's even startrd setting an alarm clock at night so I won't have to wake them up in the morning. She's very responsible!
Here are the girls before heading off to school this morning.

Juliet's umbilical cord was ripped off a little early so her belly button took a while to heal. But we were finally able to give her a real bath this past week. You can see by her smiles that she enjoyed herself!

All done!

Raegan got glasses today! Her vision isn't too bad at 20/50. But hopefully this will help her not squint while watching TV and help her to see the board clearly at school. She's pretty excited about having her specs . . . we'll see how long that lasts!

I really get excited when I'm able to save money, so I have to share this. Because we went to an MD (opthalmologist instead of optometrist) we only had to pay our copay for a specialist. We don't have a vision plan on our insurance so this was totally unexpected. Also, Walmart was having a back to school sale, so kids' lenses were half off. And my darling Raegan found some plain pink frames she liked for $10, instead of the $68 ones that were "High School Musical" brand. She's my bargain shopper junior! So intead of paying around $300 like I was expecting, we spent only $75 total for her eye exam and glasses. Nothing like saving a couple hundred dollars to brighten your day. Thank you Lord for surprise blessings!

Juliet is getting really good at lifting her head while on her tummy. She's even started rolling over! Hopefully a video documenting her amazing skills will follow soon!