Family Update

I'm sorry it has been so long. We have been so busy!

Ellie has been doing great! She has had no major illnesses since the bad respiratory bug she had over Christmas. She has been really alert and smiling a lot and just plain interacting more than ever. She is such a joy to the whole family, and often we will just *have* to stop and kiss her cheeks while going about our daily routines. This past week Ellie went to the hospital for two tests. The first was a kidney test that would tell how well her kidneys are functioning. You may remember her kidney reflux that was causing all of her UTIs this past summer. They caused quite a bit of damage to the right kidney, and this test will tell us sort of a baseline of how well the right kidney is functioning. She also had her first MRI since last year at this time. We are hoping the MRI will tell us more details about the problems with her white matter and myelin in her brain. We will know the results within a week I hope.

The boys have been doing great. Noah and I are still doing school pretty regularly. He is reading easy readers and doing addition in math. We have been learning about animals and the human body, as well as the Greeks and Romans. It has been a fun year so far, but there is still much to be done before Summer.

Seth turned 4 years old last week! He thinks he is 6 and wants to do everything Noah does. They are the best buds and spend hours playing Legos, Playmobil, and anything to do with Star Wars.

Adam has been busy with work and his side business, Fishbone Technology Services. He has also been going to the gym every day during his lunch hour and we are proud of him for meeting his goals.

The whole family has been busy with some other big news: we are going to put our house up for sale this Spring! We of course have been thinking about it off and on since Ellie was born. We live in an older 2 story house that no matter how we look at it will not accommodate Ellie's increasing special needs. After going back and forth on the issue, we really feel like now is the time to try to sell. So, if you know anyone who wants an awesome house in Alger Heights, let us know ;) Also keep your eyes open for ranch-style houses that can be adapted to become barrier-free.

It is a super busy and exciting time for us, and we look with anticipation to the Spring for more exciting things to come. We have a new niece and nephew coming in the next 4-6 weeks home from Ethiopia. My brother and sister-in-law and their 2 children are adding to their family and we can't wait to meet the new children.

So that is the news. We hope you are doing well and please forgive us for not updating sooner.

The Vedras