First and most important Gabrielle has started Kindergarten!!! I can't believe it, I really can't. I can remember the day she was born like it was last Friday, how can she possibly be in "big school" already? So lets see what I can tell you about. We have gotten to meet her teacher, Ms Krouse, a few times so far this year and I absolutely love her! She is very sweet and enthusiastic and the biggest thing is that Gabrielle loves her too!! Second to Ms Krouse my most favorite person at the school so far has to be the school nurse, Ms Millette. She has made this transition into elementary school a breeze and has helped Gabrielle be more comfortable. She has trained her co-workers to take top notch care of Gabrielle and I couldn't be happier. Gabrielle has been doing great on all of her class work and homework. Every afternoon when she gets home, she and Bart sit down and do her homework and review her sight words. Then in the evenings once I am home sometimes she will try to read books with us a bedtime. Right at this very moment as I type that is what I am hearing in the background... it makes my heart sing! Yesterday she got to participate in the PBIS school party because she got straight A's in conduct since starting school. The only downfall with starting school is that with a new school comes new germs and unfortunately she has had strep throat pretty much since she started school. Yesterday, I took her to see a ENT in Baton Rouge. She looked at Gabrielle's tonsils and said that she didn't think they were currently infected but that they were abnormally large. Dr. Scallan suspects they have been large since birth and that with each strep infection they get larger. She asked me several questions like does Gabrielle snore and does she gag when trying to eat. She does gag quite often even when not eating, sometimes she will look up at something high up and gag. The doctor said that the removal of her tonsils and adenoids will do nothing but benefit her both from reduced infections to eating better. She is scheduled for surgery October 26th... so there goes our surgery/procedure free year. We are hopeful and praying for a quick recovery so that she can be out trick or treating on Saturday night.
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| Gabrielle's first day of Kindergarten |
Just an update on the rest of us Himels. I, Selena, am doing just fine health wise and have started a new position at the pharmacy where I work. Next summer I will hit my 10 year anniversary with the company I work for and still love it just as much as the day I started working for them. Avery is becoming a big girl herself. She has moved up to the 2 year class at daycare and is potty training. It was a rough start but with lots of help from her sweet teacher Ms Kasyn she is getting there. Lastly would be Bart and he and I will both be needing your prayers coming up. For quite some time now Bart has had issues with his back both his thoracic and lumbar. He has been diagnosed with degenerative spinal osteoarthritis in his spinal column. His lumbar area has continued a steady decline and is to the point where it requires surgery. On October 15th he will go in for surgery to repair a disc that is bulging into the space that is reserved for the nerves in your spine. Lately the pressure has been off in his spinal column also causing headaches and nausea. The plan for surgery is the remove the problematic disc and replace it with an artificial disc and to also room for it to fit correctly in the space where it should go. The disc itself will be held in place by 2 rods and some screws. The recovery will be anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks. Please pray that he gets no infections and recovery isn't as painful as we are anticipating. I'm not handling the thought of this surgery as well as I would like. With Gabrielle's surgeries I have always seemed to be able to prepare myself to handle them. I always know that I have to be strong for her. Bart is my back bone, my crutch the one in my life that I have turned to for the last 15 years. He is my strength, he is the major provider for our family and I can't imagine what he is about to go through. I love him with all my heart and he is my best friend. Please pray for my heart to acceptance and that everything is going to come out ok in the end. I know he is going to be in good hands during the surgery.
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| Bart and his sweet girls all decked out for the LSU game |
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I almost forgot! Along with Gabrielle's list of first things happening to her... she also got to take her first trip to a beach with myself, her nanny Kate and Avery. And while we were there she lost her first tooth!!! And then a week later lost her second tooth. She let Ms. Krouse pull it during lunch one day at school. Then she was absent the next day due to strep throat and when Bart went to go pick up the tooth from Ms. Krouse she had written the tooth fairy a letter. Apparently there was a lot of excitement with the pulling of the tooth and it was an early dismissal day so the tooth had been safely put away in Ms. Krouse's lunch bag and then the bag didn't get brought to school Friday. The note to the tooth fairy explained it all and apologized (so cute!). The following week we got the tooth under the pillow and found out that Gabrielle's tooth fairy's name is Maribelle Molar :)
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| Gabby and Avery at the beach in Biloxi, MS |
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| Nanny Kate taking the girls out to the water for the first time |
As always we appreciate your continued prayers for our sweet Gabrielle and our entire family. Thank you all and god bless!
