Thoracic Thursday

Tomorrow morning, I will be undergoing the surgery I spoke of recently. It is called thoracic outlet surgery.

"Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is a complex condition involving compression,
irritation or direct injury of major structures within the thoracic outlet such
as the subclavian vein, subclavian artery and the Brachial Plexus. TOS can be
very painful, debilitating and sometimes life and limb threatening."

I'll be in the hospital overnight and then be home recovering. Overall, recovery is a month. I won't be able to lift my arms up for a whole month. That's the crazy part. Wondering how I'm going to figure out to do simple things like wash my hair, dry my hair, etc. Hmm! The hardest part will be fighting the urge to lift of my hands in church during worship. Makes me
very thankful for my arms. I'm sure I'll be back on the blog, but It will be a bit difficult typing with one hand. Well, slower anyway. :) HEHE!



Thank you for your prayers!

New Look, New Job, for a New Year!

President Obama is not the only one who started a new job today. So did Donny D. Today is Donny's first day at his new job. I'm so proud of you Donny! We are so thankful for all the prayers, encouragement, support and gifts that we have received during this time. We are so blessed! Thank you all!

Check out our new blog design! All the thanks goes to my sweet friend Hollie for putting this together. You rock Hollie! :)

Dear Donny...

When I was a little girl, I played make believe. I pretended to cook and clean and to be a Mommy to my baby dolls. (I did not role play walking around Super Target with screaming kids, because there are some things that you must experience to truly appreciate). But in my naive mind, I imagined a man, a husband. He was brave, strong, tall and very handsome. And he loved me. It was a dream. And some might call this a silly fairy tale or the immature longings of a girl who loved romance. But I call it my life. Because you are the man of my dreams. You are the first to hold me when I am afraid. You are my encourager when I doubt myself. You are the one who made me a Mother of five. You are also the one who still leaves his clothes on the floor. Ok so this is getting a bit better...just moved from the floor to the chair. (Just keeping it real).

I am not a little girl anymore. I am a woman and you are a man. But I can't help but think of the things I didn't dream about....I didn't dream that I would hear my husband praying over me as I laid in a hospital bed in ICU fighting for my life. . I didn't dream that my man would be a Chicken Fried Steak fairy, delivering me my favorite food while I lay in bed rest pregnant with quadruplets. I didn't dream that my husband would be the kind of father that blow dries his girls’ hair at night. I didn't dream that my man would face sudden job loss and show me what true confidence in God to provide looks like.

Today you turn 30 years old. And more than anything, I want you to know that I love you more than I ever dreamed. You are a man among men. You stand out as you lead our family. You are my heart, my life, my best friend, and my soul mate. Happy Birthday, Donny! I am so proud of you. Thank you for making my dreams come true.

I love you, I’m in love with you, and I choose to LOVE you forever!

The Latest and Greatest...

I know it has been a while. First of all, thank you for praying us through this last unexpected surgery. (If you did not hear through the grapevine, I had another ovarian surgery) Thankfully, this time they were able to do it laparoscopically. It could not have been any smoother or easier. And with my experience that is very hard to come by. I'm doing very well in recovery, and should be cleared to drive again tomorrow at my post-op visit. Whohoo!

Before all this unexpected surgery came about I had been seeing a thoracic specialist. The last year I have been going through physical therapy and had multiple tests and injections to treat my thoracic problems. Now the time has come and It looks like I will be having thoracic surgery next week. I'll be seeing the two different surgeons this week who will both be involved in my surgery. All the blood work will be done the next day. And the following day, Thursday the 22nd I will have the surgery. Please be in prayer for a safe and successful surgery. If the surgery is successful it will change my life. (Chronic issues, pains and numbness I deal with daily would go away). The surgery involves dividing a muscle in the neck and removing a portion of the first rib. It is a 5 hr surgery. Pray for D, at this point, he will be at work at his new job that day. :) (Yes that's right D got a new job! Well, actually he has been offered two positions, he accepted one...and if the background check comes back good he is in and starts next week. But we will see cause he has also had several interviews since for other companies and is one of the top candidates for another position with another company and will be meeting with them again Monday. So if he gets a job offer from them, that may change the direction he will go. Only God knows, and we will find out. But D hit the ground running looking for a job and has kept busy at it, and it is paying off. Yeah for Donny!!) As of today my blood levels were right where they need to be and I started on Lovinox shots. This is the last big medical issue I have been dealing with as a result from complications after the quads. So hopefully...after this I will be sitting pretty!

We appreciate your prayers!

In The Midst Of It

Here again, we are faced with another fire. Thankfully it has nothing to do with any health issues. This time it is financial. Donny was let go from his job Friday, due to downsizing throughout the company, and economic hard times facing the company as a whole. Here I thought he was getting out to talk to his buddies from work and enjoy the company Christmas party and having a nice day and then he returns with this news…boy was I wrong. Being a man of much sarcasm and a love of joking around, I did not know he was being serious when he first shared with me this news. After a few minutes of him repeating it, I realized this was far from a joke. Of course I was speechless, and emotional and upset. To go from everything being great for 7 years and then losing the only career he has ever had…all we have known…where do you go? What do you do? Unfortunately, they did not take our five children in consideration when choosing to let my husband go from his job. Don’t they know we have five little mouths to feed.? Our Christmas has taken a sudden twist, and wont be what we had originally planned. But we will still do everything possible to make Christmas day fun for the kids, and make them feel special. We don’t want the kids to feel our worry or problems, so we will do our best to make like everything is ok. Although, we do not know what the weeks and months to come have in store. All we can do now Is be in prayer for God’s direction, and provisions. We are waiting to see where God is going to take us and how is going to provide. We are scared and uncertain and feeling all kinds of emotions but we can only do so much and let God do the rest. Your prayers and job leads are most welcome and appreiciated.

Our Little Shepherd Boy

Logan's School Play, originally uploaded by mommyofmultiples.

Friday at school, Logan stared in his first play ever. It was a wonderful Christmas play full of songs and stories of Jesus. Logan was a shephard. He said his lines so well, and looked so cute on stage. It was hard not to brake down and cry. Seeing him involved in something like this, just reminds me that he growing up so fast. I am so proud of you Logan!!

(His favorite Christmas song is "Go Tell It On The Mountain.)"

Holly Jolly Christmas From The Dixon's

Make a Smilebox postcard

Pretty As A Princess

O Christmas Tree

The day after Thanksgiving, we made our annual trip up to the Christmas tree farm (a family tradition) to cut down a Christmas tree. This year, Nana, Pops, Uncle Doug & Aunt Rachel all joined us for this fun adventure. The kids had a blast and were able to enjoy it to the fullest this year. What a fun day...and we only got rained on a little bit. Below is a scrapbook of som of our day. Click on it and enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Candice's Praise Report & The Troll

Wonderful news!! Candice had her ABR (sedated hearing test) yesterday and she did great. Everything went very well, and best news of all, the test showed absolutely no hearing loss. In fact she has perfect hearing! So now we know everything from this point is developmentally, or vocal cord related. Thanks for your prayers!

(I had every intention on posting this update last night, but as I got online I was taken back by messages I had received. There is someone out on the Internet posing as the mother of our children. She has stolen pictures of our kids and is living in a pretend world of her own lies. Apparently, this troll has been up to no good for some time now and has taken advantage of many multiple birth families. I am working with some others to get her shut down).