A tiny little star.....

Who would have thought that a tiny little star could hold such meaning and significance for me? Yes, folks, that's right - that's a goal award from Weight Watchers. I can't believe it's MINE.

I earned it on Saturday at my meeting. I have worked so hard to get it, and I am so proud of myself. I have lost 111 pounds. That's like, 2 1/2 of my kids. I can't even fathom that much weight! I feel good about myself and although I'm not where I'd like to be (I have about another 25 to go to get to where I want to be) I'm proud how far I've come and what I've accomplished. And no one can take that away from me.

The family is doing fairly well. Gene is healthy, except for a sprained wrist that is giving him fits. It's not really healing very well because he's using it all the time at work, but we can't afford for him to take the time off to let it heal completely. He really doesn't like his job because he's overqualified and everyone else knows it, but until something better comes along, he's kind of stuck where he's at. Audrey's eye doctor appointment went well on 2/13. The doctor said her eyes look great, and there's no sign of inflammation. We are to stay the course for another 3 or 4 weeks, and then he will re-evaluate taking her off some of her medications. Bryce is doing really well in speech therapy. I can't believe how far the little guy has come. His private therapist is very pleased with how well he's doing, and said that since his speech therapist at school is so on top of things, that we can cut back to every other week while he's in school, then take a short break, and hit it hard again weekly during the summer when he's not receiving speech in school. When he wants to he can be such a little angel - but there are other times.....

There was a wonderful article on Infantile Spasms in the March Ensign. As soon as it's posted online I'll post a link. I'm grateful that we've had a fairly good outcome, considering what could have been. On Sunday in Sunday School, we were talking about how the Spriit answers us. And sometimes the answer is yes, but that it doesn't mean right now. For example, we were promised that Bryce would be healed. But it still hasn't fully been realized. But I also know that if we wouldn't have had to travel down this road the last 4 years, I wouldn't have faced a lot of the things that I have. I wouldn't have learned how to navigate the special ed system to get the services Bryce needs. I wouldn't have learned how to be grateful for silly things - like a child learning to walk and talk. I wouldn't see how much struggle Bryce sometimes go through daily to tell us things, but that he never gives up trying. My kids are amazing, and I am so grateful for them!