Birthday Kisses and Wishes

                                   Jacie's first party when she got home. It was in July of 2010.
                                                       Her birthday (of course) is April.

She was so tiny.

                                                   
                                                           My 11 year old. Amazing, really~

Life is a crazy mix of chaos, confusion and busyness that keeps me away from my computer on most days. Yet, it is so beautifully good that I wouldn't have it any other way. Jacie is growing, everyday it seems. She is almost as tall as me now. Those of you who have met me know that is no big feat but I tell you what, I thought maybe with her Asian heritage she would be shorter than I~

She is very excited to celebrate her 11th birthday this week. I am excited as well because this will be her first birthday in America that she has not been in a wheelchair through it. She has been here almost three years now and is celebrating her third American birthday. How time does seem to fly~

She had an appointment with Dr. Nowicki last week. We haven't seen him since October. She had grown 1 1/2 inches in 6 months. That growth not only leveled her leg length discrepancy, it went further. Her left leg (that was originally 1 inch shorter than the right leg) is now longer than the right one. Interesting, huh? The methods to this madness are not always easy to understand for me because I have such limited knowledge but listening to the Dr. talk about it- he seems to have a handle on things. We are blessed to have a Dr. such as him managing Jacie's care. The funny thing is, Jacie has taken to ignoring him again. She tends to do that when he starts to talk about surgery. We have been through it two times previously and she treated him to the cold shoulder both of those times. Now, number three is following suit. Though I mentioned that Jacie will not be in a wheelchair through her birthday, she is looking at having another small surgery to remove one of the growth plates in her right leg in the next few months. Dr. Nowicki is leaving the other plate in for now in order to help correct the knock-knee problem that she has developed. That one will stay in for another year and then be removed. So she will have a surgery every year for the first four years in America. Ugghh....

This whole journey has been amazing. There are times that I look at all that Jacie has walked and wondered how in the world I am the one that has been blessed enough to walk with her. She is funny and smart. She makes me laugh. She makes me want to grab the world by the tail and hand deliver it to her. She is my heart. For that I am grateful.

~Camo Pants