Since many of you don't know Shayleigh I would just like to share a few little things about her so that you will feel like you really know her. She is a little red headed firecracker! We can't go anywhere without someone stopping us to talk to her. She literally stops people in their tracks! She is super friendly. She loves to sing. Her favorite songs are Amazing Grace, The old rugged cross, twinkle twinkle, jingle bells and Jesus loves me. She can sing them all! She loves to dance and Nick and I are going to have to lock her up when she gets older because she likes to shake it. She is super smart and has been talking in sentences since about 16 months. She is very intuitive. After we found out the news, I started crying and she said "Take a deep breath Mommy. It is going to be ok, Mommy." And then she started singing Jesus Loves Me. She is super sweet and so very smart. She loves to read! She is such a mommy & she likes to mommy everyone. She is also bossy (she gets that from her daddy-haha). She loves babies and she will stop whatever she is doing to kiss on them. She is very busy and hardly ever stops. She is always moving. She loves to run. She also likes to play outside, swing and take wagon rides. I could go on and on,but I will quit now. HAHA. She probably sounds like every other 2 year old to those of yall with kids, but to us..she is soooooo super duper special!! She has been such a blessing to our family!!
Shayleigh has no idea what is going on. I am sure she knows something is going on because she is sooo super smart, but I Nick and I decided to keep everything as normal as possible. Her life could potentially change overnight, but we are keeping it as normal as possible up until that point. We do not plan on altering any of our plans. The only changes we are making is that we are having Christmas this Monday. This doesn't mean we don't believe that a miracle will happen, we just really wanna have something to celebrate after the news from this past week. She told us the other day "I know Santa Clause loves little boys and girls, but I just don't love Santa Claus." Maybe after she gets her gifts she will feel different. lol.
Now, lets get down to the nitty gritty. If it is needed, we have scheduled surgery for next Friday December 21 at LSU. We were offered 4 dates. 2 before Christmas and 2 after. The neurosurgeon told us that we could wait until after Christmas, but Nick and I won't be able to enjoy Christmas anyway so we might as well go ahead and get it taken care of. The first date was next Tuesday. Nick and I felt that was way to quick and we needed to get things in order. The other dates we were given were all at LSU. We felt that LSU would be a great place for her because we know they see this more often. Plus, Nick's cousin works at LSU and she will make sure that everything is taken care of. She has already done a ton of research for us and helped us out tremendously. We will be meeting with the surgeon again on Wednesday. We are bringing our parents & Nick's cousin (who has been super amazing through this) will be coming as well. I have been in touch with a child life specialist at LSU and I am awaiting a call back from her to set up a meeting. The child life specialist will take her around the hospital and show her around and I don't really know what else they will do. Basically, whether or not we have the surgery it won't hurt her to be brought around a hospital.
I believe in a miracle. I really do, but I also believe that if a miracle isn't in God's plan we need to be prepared. I don't know if that is the correct way to go about it, but it really helps keep me calm. I am a planner and I like to have things in order.
Many of you might be wondering how I am doing. And even if you are not, I am about to tell you. lol. (as if this blog isn't long enough) I am doing suprisingly well. I honestly spend so much time NOT thinking about it so I don't break down in front of her that I feel like I am a robot. I have been suprisingly calm. That alone scares me because I am a very anxious person. I haven't been completely optimistic, but I am not as pessimistic as I normally am. It is so weird. The only thing I can attribute this too is all the prayers!! Again, I can't thank you guys enough for that!! I know these posts are super long, but I want to keep people updated. Plus, it has been therapuetic for me to put my feelings into words.
Until next time,
Nikki
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| Picking out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch |
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| Nick, Shayleigh and me |
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| The cutest little pumpkin ever!! |
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| The LA state fair |
When my Justin had brain surgery on '07, he was at LSU. They were amazing with him in the PICU and on the floor. It gets a bad wrap, but those doctors and nurses saved my baby's life. I'm still praying that Shayleigh does NOT need to have surgery !! Give her hugs for us =)
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