Clinic visit....

Zoe had clinic on Thursday. She has been doing sooooo good lately, I knew it was going to be a good visit! Her BMI is sitting right at 60%! She sounded clear....looks and acts great! She did her throat culture without crying this time. She is growing up to be quite a little lady!
Received her culture results today.....for the first time in I can't remember when....she cultured....drum rollllllll........NORMAL ORAL FLORA!!!! WOOOOHOOO!! Which explains why she has had such a good couple of months now.
We are busy swimming, doing some school here and there, dentist and ortho appts., literally just enjoying this time of 'wellness'!
Hope you all are having a lovely summer also!
Take care,
Jada

Happy Dad's Day!!!

Happy Dad's Day !!!! We have had a lovely day! Scott worked until 11, came home, we swam in the pool all afternoon, I read my new cook book, then we did treatments, started par-boiling the ribs for Scott's Dad's day dinner! It was then time to make the salad...I normally do this myself....but considering the girls have a garden (totally organic...yeah!!!) and we have our first cucumber and yellow pepper from it....I thought it would be great if we did it together! Zoe got to "cut" something for the very first time. Of course I have this "kid proof" knife that I had ordered from Pampered Chef YEARS ago. It is awesome! You can saw and saw.....but not cut yourself!
The garden!!




Madison, Sydney, Zoe cutting their veggies!!1







Zoe is still doing awesome! Yeah!



I hope you all had a very terrific Dad's day and weekend!!

Jada

This weeks happenings....

I feel so blessed lately. Honestly. To go months without being in the hospital in the CF world. Wow. It's almost like I can live a "normal" life.....is there such a thing in the CF spectrum? Don't know. If anyone has the answer....let me know.

Anyways...we were invited to the "Dream Night at the Zoo". It is just for children with medical issues. A night where you can go to the zoo, ride the carousel to your hearts content (normally $2.00 a ride), pet the stingrays (normally $2.00), feed the giraffes (normally $2.00), ride the train (normally $4.00) ...eat a dinner they made.....had popcorn, icecream, drinks......ALL FOR FREE!!!! It was so awesome! Zoe and the girls rode the carousel 4 times!!!!!!! It is Zoe's favorite part of the zoo. Of course, she loves the maze also......

Alex, Madison, Sydney, Zoe on the metal elephant

the giraffe feeding!!!

the walkway through the zoo

we are home to the Jacksonville Jaguars Football team.....so naturally we have Jaguars at our zoo....the mommy Jaguar just had her first baby....his name is Harry....isn't he cute????????

Zoe at the wishing well....she literally does not pass up the chance to make a wish...whether it be a 'wishing flower' or a 'wishing fountain'....we have to do them all....

the carousel that we rode 4 times!!

exiting the maze......

famous Florida Manatee picture

getting a little tired now.....

this is the view from the walking path at the zoo....the river in Jacksonville.....absolutley BEAUTIFULL!!!!

girls making "projects" for when Ms. Mel comes to visit......still have to wonder....Mel....

tonight, I cut my foot somehow...don't know how...all I know is all of a sudden I saw a blood trail all along the kitchen floor.... my family came to my rescue....including the "boo-boo bunny" that Sydney insisted on being on my foot....Zoe received the "boo-boo bunny" as a gift last time she was in the hospital....

now, they had to put a bandaid on it.....MOM is ALL fixed up now!!! It has been a good weekend so far.... Zoe has been doing very well health wise. We feel very blessed! Almost like a normal family........except always waiting for the 'other shoe' to drop....doesn't CF suck??? Take care all......

Sundaes and homemade salsa....

Last night we had sundaes! Actually I should clarify this.....the GIRLS had sundaes.....I had a glass of wine... Considering the fact that Scott and I have started back on our Weight Watchers and working out....sundaes just don't quite fit in to the picture. Uggghh.

But tonight....I got to COOK again! I made California Fish Tacos....with a homemade salsa that Scott helped me make!! It turned out very yummy-and low in calories/fat!

I think the worse thing about me dieting is the fact that I can't spend my 1-2 hours in the kitchen, listening to my 'chillin mom-making dinner cd', having a glass (or two) of wine, and creating a meal for everyone to enjoy. I LOVE this part of my day. When we are dieting...we tend to do a Lean Cuisine, salad, tons of veggies. BORING!!!!

Sooooo....tonight I send you pics of sundaes....that I don't dare go NEAR....and the homemade salsa that Scott and I made....which is kind of pica in case you were wondering...(pica means HOT in spanish!)! Oh so fresh though! YUMMMM!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Take care of you and yours!

Jada

Visitors Galore!!!

Last week started with an unexpected visit with Scott's youngest son, Connor! We haven't seen him in 5 years, so it was very nice!! He is a great kid! He wins a lot of skate boarding competitions. Hopefully we can get him down to visit in the summer.

Wednesday Scott's dad arrived. Scott's mom decided this time to fly all the way back to Vermont instead of making the long drive, can't say that I blame her! We miss her terribly! Pa is a great addition to our already crazy family....he is cooking for me tonight and tomorrow night!! Yeah!!!

Thursday evening is when Tom (Just1More), Jo (TestifytoLove), (blogging friends from CF.com) and their lovely 8 children came to visit. I tried very hard to get the kids names down pat by the time they left, but at the end of the night, I was calling one of their sweet daughters Johanna. Uggghhh! They were in the door about 3 minutes and I had already kidnapped the baby! He is such a sweet baby! Ansu, their oldest is soft spoken (with that beautiful African accent), sweet and very helpful. Jo said he was sent to her from God, I believe it. Emily is next, I can't say that I saw her much, her and my Madison hit it off immediately, hence were off doing 'girlie' things the whole night. Caleb is their 'future engineer' or whatever involves a lot of brains....he is one smart little guy! Chetan was the birthday boy....I think he really enjoyed his dirt & worm cake. He has a very sweet, gentle spirit! Micah is their little CF'er. He is a sweetie also....I do believe he has more energy than I have ever had my entire life!! He loved throwing the ball for Tamber, he was amazed that she would bring it back to him! Tom and Jo have done an AMAZING job with Micah. Honestly, he was in really rough shape when they adopted him. They deserve a special place in heaven for their love and care! Ragan (what a GREAT name by the way)was a little distraught because her new necklace broke, I felt bad for her, but Jo and Tom eased her tears with promises of a new one. She has absolutely beautiful eyes!! Little Elena....what a cutie! She was shy at first, staying in Tom's arms. She finally warmed up enough to get down. She really liked swimming! Our pool was FULL of kids! There she was right in the middle of it all, in her little float ring! Then there is the finale....baby Judah! Ooohhh I just loved holding him, especially after he fell asleep, there is nothing like cuddling with a sleeping baby! He NEVER gets put down, they said there is always someone holding him! I can see why, he is just so darn cute! It was great meeting them all! We had a very nice night (a little loud and crazy....but fun).

Have a GREAT weekend!!

Jada

Yucky week for Zoe...

Zoe caught a cold last week so we have been watching her. It seems to be all in her nose. Completely congested and drippy. Then she started Sunday with lower abdominal pain. She had that off and on until yesterday afternoon, when her G.I. doc wanted a x-ray to make sure there was no blockage. At this point she came down with a 102 fever! Thank God, there was no blockage. Her CF clinic calls to tell me lab results (which I already knew), that she had cultured OSSA (just regular ole Staph.), asked if she was sick at all, to which I replied with the complete last week and a half run down. Soooo...she started Bactrim today. They don't want her sinuses to get any worse.
Scott's dad arrived today, he will be here with us until Monday. He is great to have around, keeps the kids busy playing games, cards, etc.... :)

Tom, Jo, and their 8 lovely children will be over tomorrow on their way home from their Make-A-Wish trip to Disney. (They are blogging friends from Cf.com). They will be having dinner and b-day cake here (one of their son's b-day is tomorrow). We can't wait to meet them all in person!

That is what is happening around here. Take care!
Jada

I'm an Aunt again!!!

My youngest brother and his lovely wife had their first baby this week! Her name is Stella Nicole Jenkins, weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. They are on cloud 9! Patrick is the last one of us ( out of 10 kids) to have a baby, so it was pretty exciting! She is beautiful!

By the way....recognize that purple bracelet??? It sais 'Breathe', the other side sais "Cure Cystic Fibrosis'....Patrick and Misty both wear one for Zoe.....I had them made and sell them....if anyone wants any, just let me know!

Zoe had her ENT appt. on Thursday....she had come down with a cold the beginning of the week, but I haven't called clinic because she really isn't coughing. It seems to be all in the nasal passages. Granted, it could progress, but we decided to wait and let her ENT look. She agreed, it is all sinusitis right now. She did give me a script for Bactrim, if she doesn't improve, or develops a cough, we will start it. Her culture from last week grew Staph. We'll take that. At least it wasn't her MRSA. Other than that, we go back to Cf clinic, GI, and ENT all in July.

Have a wonderful weekend.....take care of you and yours....

Jada