I just returned home from visiting
Aiden and his Mommy and Daddy in the hospital. Oh what memories. November will be three years since Rachel's palate repair, but what you experience and what you go through are all things that won't be forgotten, or at least not hard to retrieve from the memory banks. Like how different their cry is after the palate is repaired, as soon as I heard Aiden cry, it instantly reminded me that Rachel's cry was different too after her repair.
Aiden and his family are the first cleft affected family that I've actually known in real life. Over the last few years, I've met many wonderful, wonderful families online, that have been affected by having a baby with a cleft of some sort, and being part of that "been there done that" club you have a special connection with those friends. But knowing someone in real life dealing with the same issues, the same hurdles, the exact same hospital and doctors, and being able to reach out (literally) is even more amazing.
Aiden had his lip repaired, his palate repaired, his gum (alveolar ridge) repaired, his nose repaired, AND he had tubes placed in his ears. That poor little guy went through the ringer today. He was having a rough time this evening, and really who blames him. Poor guy has had his ears messed with, his lip closed and no longer has a spot to run his tongue through, nor is his palate the large gaping hole it was when he started his day off this morning. He literally has a whole new mouth to get used to.
I know from having stayed the night with Rachel, Joy won't get much rest tonight. Pray that Aiden settles down and is able to be comforted without having to be walked all night long. And pray for Joy, and Dale, and even Aiden's older siblings. His older brother was having a rough time this afternoon, it's an adjustment for them too, they fell in love with Aiden with a wide smile and now he has an entirely new look about him.
I notice Joy's already posted an
update of her own, so check it out and keep checking back there for more updates and pictures!
Meeting Tinkerbell and her friends was the highlight of Rachel's day! She's even more excited to be TInkerbell in her school parade tomorrow and then at Trunk or Treat on Friday night!
The movie was extremely cute, and will probably end up in Rachel's stocking come Christmas. After the movie, we attempted to go meet Tinkerbell and a few of her fairy friends, however, they are still working out the kinks in the new attraction, that officially opens this week, and after standing in line for twenty minutes with barely any moving, we got out of line and will attempt another day (maybe Wednesday when we go with Gramma for our birthdays!)
The rest of our time, we spent back at Woody's Roundup enjoying the petting zoo and the beautiful Fall decorations. The girls sat and colored for well over an hour and it was nice to just sit and enjoy the season!
Gramie came this afternoon and picked Rachel up after preschool to spend the weekend at her house. This is the first time that Rachel will have Gramie all to her self! Hannah has a birthday party to attend on Saturday. Rachel was a little nervous, but once Gramie got here, she was super excited!
And tomorrow, Thursday, he's going in to have his palate repaired. His surgery is set for 10:00 Eastern Time, so that's 7:00 for us here in California. Would you please remember him and the plastic surgeon and the nurses and his Mommy, Janeen, and Daddy, Brian, and even his big sister, Ellie, who is Rachel's age, in your prayers. I know they would appreciate them!
We took the girls' bikes this time and that added to the fun of camping. The campground is has nicely paved and level streets and made for great riding. This is the bike that our friends found in the thrift store across the street from the campground when we came in July and we gave it to her for her birthday. 
Rachel LOVES the beach. She loves the sand, the water, and the splashing about. In the last picture, you can see just how much the sand likes her legs and little tooshy! LOL. 
Rachel also had tons of fun playing with her friend Caleb and Isaiah and Bethany when she came to visit on Saturday. She was sad Sunday afternoon when we were packing up camp and loading the van and saying goodbye to our friends. And the minute we were in the car she asked ""when we go camping again?". Which makes me happy that we're creating memories for our kids for years to come.
Rachel, enjoying her Lunchable. See the bright green ear plugs? The cool thing about this air show is they gave kids free ear plugs, we had planned on buying some once there, but hey, kids got them free! If we continue to go to air shows, I'm going to invest in a pair of those ear plugs/coverings they use when hunting and shooting guns. 
As part of their special birthday celebration at school, the birthday child gets to make their juice with the preschool director, the kids all think that's super cool. 
Enjoying her special day, once again, with all her Sunny Sunflower friends. They all loved the cupcakes and one little boy kept saying "these are the best cupcakes Rachel", her response, "You're welcome". LOL. 
In the four combined years that our girls have gone to that preschool, I've never once been there the day they've done this and it was a fun adventure walking with the Sunny Sunflowers.
The before and after pictures are amazing, aren't they? And what's even more amazing is that other smiles like hers can be fixed through Operation Smile for just $20 a month, or $240. If you'd like to give a child hope by donating a smile, visit Operation Smile.
