About a week and a half ago, Rachel finally started eating like her old self. For a while she was afraid of biting with her front teeth, due to the bone graft to her upper gum. And while she still shows a little favoritism at times to biting things when she can with her back teeth, she is back to eating!! And we are sooo happy about that. 
After swimming Rachel wanted to see where Isaiah's been living and together we boarded the elevator and went to see his Suite. 
One things for sure, this birthday party will be a memory for years to come. Rachel and Hannah both had a blast swimming in an indoor pool...just two days after Christmas!
When we took the girls to Toys R Us a few weeks back to get some ideas for Christmas presents, Rachel spotted this Backyard Safari Periscope and she LOVED it! After that day, I looked for it a few places and couldn't find it. 
This year, Rachel was in the Children's performance for our Christmas Eve service whereas she played two roles, a shepherd, and a wise man. The kids have been practicing following Sunday morning services for weeks and their practicing and the organization from the ladies who arranged it all, directed it, made costumes, props, etc did an amazing job and the performance was absolutely adorable!
Following our church service, we did something different this year for Christmas Eve, we went to my parents house along with my brother and sister-in-law, and our nieces, for dinner.
There were presents from their Great Grandma and Great Aunt and Uncle and cousins to open as well. And Papa and Gramma gave the girls their big combined present - a tetherball court!! My girls were beyond excited!
It was a relaxing evening, and not too late. The four girls had so much fun laughing and playing with their new things and just being silly. We headed for home around ten, it had been a full afternoon/evening that resulted in Rachel falling asleep on the ride home, which is only about five miles!
Rachel cooperated very well for the exam, and turns out she's a little far sighted. And to make a long conversation with the doctor short, Rachel will be given a very mild prescription for glasses to wear during her homework and reading here at home, and if she says she can see better when reading, then perhaps she'll then take the glasses to school for reading there as well. 
And here is how Rachel will look in her new glasses once they've been fitted with her prescription.
Good thing we got her nose fixed last month! She's always had trouble keeping sunglasses on her face because of the shape of her nose, and now the glasses will fit just perfectly!
In the last month, we've seen Rachel's nose change drastically. It really is an entirely different nose than what it was.
On Wednesday, all 100 first graders walked next door to the Senior Center/Apartments and performed in the recreational room for seniors who came to watch. They did a great job and had a warm response from all those who came to watch.
This afternoon, they did the performance for all the parents. Again, the five classes did a great job, and it appeared that our class' song was a huge hit and got the best and most response not only from the audience, but the other classes started moving about and doing the hand motions as well. LOL. 
It was a great performance, and as always, I enjoy seeing my girls, and the other kids perform.
After being placed in a room, I asked the nurse if I could weigh Rachel as her weight has been a little bit of a concern. And sure enough, she's down another pound since two weeks ago. She weighed 50 1/2 lbs today, 53 lbs at her pre-op. Her limited diet and her lack of an appetite is taking a toll on her little body. 
Dr. Martin said everything is healing up very nicely and looks great. Said the tissue in her nose will start to soften over the months. I asked him about the discoloration of her nose last week (that is now peeling) and sure enough, the reason was just as I had suspected. Because her nose swelled so much following surgery, stretching that skin, it was now dying thus changing colors and peeling. A little facial moisturizer will do the trick. 
As we were waiting for our next post op appointment to be made, Dr. Martin came to the desk and told us that they were comparing todays picture to those that were taken the days before surgery and what a difference there was! 
She's not eating much, and really hasn't been much since surgery. And when she does eat, admittedly so, her diet has not been a well balanced one. It's hard to come up with foods that are soft or can be eaten in the back of the mouth without taking a bite with your front teeth (ie sandwiches, crackers and peanut butter, cheese, etc). We have a post op appointment this afternoon and we're hoping that she'll be released as far as her diet limitations are concerned. 
Rachel also resumed Tae Kwon Do this last Monday night and Tuesday morning she woke up with her left leg hurting, this is the leg they took the hip bone tissue. With all the kicks and jumping about, I think it might have been a little soon to have resumed such activity, this was the most physically she'd done since surgery. 
She continues to look better and better each and every day. The redness around her nose is subsiding and so far there's been no swelling that Dr. Martin mentioned could happen after the removal of the stents. She has a few scabs in her nose, along with dissolvable stitches, but it's all looking great for just having had it all done 2 weeks ago.
Upon returning to school on Monday morning, Mrs. Thompson let me talk about Rachel's off track adventure of her surgery and spending the night in the hospital and what the things in her nose were (nasal stents) and most importantly how we need to be careful to not bump her, hit her in the face, etc. When I visited Rachel at lunch, her classmates shared Rachel's story with other kids who came to the table to see what the crowd was about. It was cute how they were so caring about her and concerned that every one knew not to bump her. There's been no negativity from any of the kids about Rachel and her 'new look'. It makes my heart smile to know she's surrounded by such loving and caring kids.
