Good News!

I'm touching wood as I type, but we have had some really good news! As any of my readers are now aware, we have had some health issues going on between all of us , bar Bailey. Well ,Yaz has had the all-clear with her hip. Apparently it is loose ligaments and her hip will stablise as she gets older and grows into it...sort of. She just has to keep exercising and she is NOT to pop it out as her 'party trick' on purpose. So no operation is necessary and we are all so relieved. I get myself so wound up and I'm silly because I google to try and find diagnosis's...which is probably the worst thing you can do as you get hit with the worst case scenarios of the conditions! You don't even want to know where I got to in my head with Yaz's hip...but let me tell you I had sleepless nights of worry. Ian tells me all the time not to google it as he knows how worked up I get about things but I guess I like to know everything so that when I am at the Dr.s, I'm all clued up on what they're telling me! I also had some good news with my Haemotologist. My white cell count had gone up, slightly but enough for the Dr. to delay a bone marrow test...phew!!! Apparently I just have something called Neutropenia which comes in three stages-mild, medium and severe...guess which one I have, the severe one of course! It will always come and go and nothing in particlar sets it off so I now have to have 3 monthly blood tests just to keep an eye on the levels as I dropped to quite a critical stage at one point where if I got the slightest infection I could have turned septic!...lovely!!! So at least I know what the deal is and there really isn't anything I can do to prevent it but I just have to be sensible in managing it and getting plenty of rest when I know it's low again, which I can always tell as I just get completely zapped of energy, get headaches and under my eyes turn black, even if I get more than enough sleep! So we're all really happy that we're all O.K. as such and no more worrying...for now anyway!
Ian's hamstring is slowly getting better. He's been very smart and hasn't even tried to have a run around on it. I will try and break some of the scar tissue down now as it's not as painful anymore and get him on the mend as best as can be.
We were really sorry to hear about Dad's incident and pray for a speedy recovery and hope that you rest as much as possible and take things a bit easy! We're thinking of you and really believe that an Aussie holiday will make you all better! ;)
Bailey is in the middle of a dilemma...what to play for a summer sport. He doesn't want to do cricket anymore and we have thrown so many ideas at him and he's just not that interested! He is slightly keen on either tennis or touch football so we will try and get him into one of those. He will also be going back to the kids gym classes next week, which is only once a week and he will also be continuing swimming once a week too. It probably sounds like we're pushing him into doing something but we just want our children to give everything a go so that they know for themselves what they like and don't like. Also his metabolism is a little slower than normal and so he needs to burn things off quicker. Maybe I'm just being paranoid about Australia being the leaders of childhood obesity but we just want our kids to be as healthy and active as can be...for their own benefits. Yaz will try and get into touch footy for summer too and wants to pursue swimming again, which I'm really happy about as she is a fantastic little swimmer but we never pushed her into doing it, she had to want to and now she does. She has given just about everything a go and now knows what she likes and what she's good at.
I have also started back at the gym after having about 3 months off. I did my first workout today and felt physically ill after. It will take me a while I think to get to any decent level again, but I'm not going to push it as I know it's not worth it.
I still haven't got photos of Yaz's new haircut, I'll try again this week.
Yaz had her athletics carnival at school and did exceptionally well in it, despite having the flu! She was off for three days and wasn't right when she had to compete but she didn't want to miss out! She came first in high jump, triple jump and long jump....all with an unstable hip too! She's quite miraculous really!
Bailey had a 'Learning Celebration' at school last Friday. It was a little showcase of the work they've done this year so far and they put together a presentation. He did a speech on why Australia is the Lucky Country and I was very proud of him as he spoke clearly and had memorised almost all of it so had great eye contact with the audience. I'm just so proud of both of my children. They put in so much effort into everything and both really want to achieve high!
I think that's about all of the important stuff. We just want Dad to know that we were concerned and again, hope that you're taking it easy. Let's see if next weeks can be a 'drama-free' entry...it's certainly been a while since I've had one of those!
Wishing all of you good health and happiness xxx

POURING!!!...but not a drop of rain in sight!

When it rains it pours here...in this family anyway!...nothing to do with the weather! There seems to be one thing after another at the moment with no end in sight! Where do I begin? I'll write about all of the good stuff first before I even start on the dramas...

It's been two weeks since my last entry...sounds like a confession doesn't it?...and we have had Mum here visiting which has been simply splendid! She has been trying to do everything for me and won't sit still for a second! She has cooked and made her lovely fudge, cupcakes, rock cakes, etc...and I'm sure we have all put on about 3kg in 2 weeks! I think that was her plan...to fatten me up as I had lost a few kg recently from not being well. We haven't been able to do too much as I have been working still but Mum says that she came up here just wanting to spend time with us all. She has taken the kids to the movies and we have been down to Redcliffe a couple of times, having lunch, going to the markets etc...She goes home on Tuesday and the time has just flown by! I can't believe it has been two weeks already!!! Mum is really well though and looks great. I'm still trying to convince her to make the move up here...

During Mum's stay I was out two nights with pre-booked events to attend. One was the Wrestling with Bailey which Ian refused to take him too. I wasn't looking forward to it but we had a great night and it was really entertaining! Bailey had an absolute ball and maybe his excitement and enthusiasm was all I needed to enjoy it. The other event was seeing French and Saunders with Yaz, tickets that we both got from Ian for our birthdays. We went last night and it was hilarious! They were soooo funny and we just loved the show so much. I still laugh at some of the stuff they did...very worthwhile indeed.

So...back to the 'other stuff'...Ian played football last Friday night...even though I told him not to due to his recovering chronic knee condition...anyway if he had listened to me he wouldn't have torn his hamstring as bad as he did! He was only on for 10 minutes and it went on him. You should see the bruising! If it wasn't up into the groin area I would've taken a photo of it and shown you! His whole leg at the back is black! He has also obviously been in agony from it too with lots of inflammation. He has had to take the whole week off work as he can barely sit let alone drive, pick up heavy items and get on and off the back of his ute...and use the clutch in the ute! He's been elevating it and icing it and I personally thought he should see a physio but he won't...and just when he is thinking of heading back to work tomorrow, he's now come down with a sore throat and cold! Yazmin has also been to the Dr.s...she has the ability to literally 'pop' her hip out from the socket, quite easily. One side more than the other but both sides for sure. She thought this was normal and actually didn't bring it to our attention until a little while ago. Anyway, we were out shopping the other day and the right hip dislocated and she was in agony! She couldn't pop it back in like she normally does with ease, it took her a while and she couldn't move! So I made her an appointment with my Dr. who sent her for an x-ray straight away and the results of the x-ray are that she has very loose ligaments that aren't supporting her hip joint properly and it is getting slightly worn from the constant grinding happening. Yaz's hip is also starting to give her pain too and the Dr said that if we don't get it sorted now, she will inevitably get arthritis at a very early age. We have to take her to a specialist, in which I will make the appointment tomorrow morning. I don't know what's in store for Yaz, hopefully just an exercise regime in which she has to strenghten the supporting muscles but there is always the chance of an operation too...will keep you updated! I had my Haemotologist appointment at the hospital during the week and they sent me for more blood tests to rule out basically anything and everything...from auto-immune diseases to leukaemia. I had 11 vials of blood taken and will get the results in just over a week. If my white cells are still drastically low and everything else comes back negative, then they will send me for a bone marow test to get to the bottom of it. I am keeping everything crossed that my test will come back normal as I am actually feeling really well now, so hoping that whatever hit me was just a virus and that it's all over...will keep you updated! I feel like a bit of a contortionist at the moment having everything crossed for everyone's ailments! Touch wood...that Bailey remains as healthy as he is as there is not a thing wrong with him. Even Mum got a little sick being here, had a cold and a cough...just visiting us makes you sick now!

Yaz had a lovely haircut the other day. She has been umming and ahhing about getting the chop for a while now and finally did it. It sits just below her hairline, not quite shoulder length and is slightly layered all over with face defining layers also. She looks absolutely stunning!...and about 3 years older! She had gorgeous hair before and I wasn't sure if she would like it but we said that we wouldn't know unless she got it done and thankfully she loves it. She is soooo pretty anyway and really could get away with anything! I will take a photo of it for next weeks entry. Bailey got his cut too as it was getting quite lengthy and he is now short at the back and has a lengthy side fringe which looks really cute. Yaz tried to convince him to get a Zac Effron style but Bailey wouldn't have a bar of it.

This coming week is back to reality with Mum leaving on Tuesday, the children back at school on Tuesday, Ian back to work-hopefully, and my life of working, cleaning, cooking, taxiing my kids around etc...I'm not complaining though as I love my life and my family and wouldn't have it any other way...well maybe having a heathy family would make things easier but then we wouldn't be who we are and I wouldn't have this weekly drama to write about for you. Wishing you all a happy and healthy week and if you could throw some our way we would really appreciate it...also if you could keep everything crossed for our ailments too we would appreciate that also xxxx