Brodie's Surgery Number Two

Brodie has Surgery number two on Thursday. We thought Dr Lee would just go in and drill a hole through his mastoid bone to help the air circulate throughout his left ear system. Well, when Dr Lee got in there he found some cholesteatoma which had pulled his eardrum into the "gutter" and damaged the back half of the eardrum. So, Dr Lee had to clear out the cholesteatoma and reconstruct the back half of his eardrum using some muscle tissue. Brodie had a tough day on Thursday and Thursday night. He was somewhat better on Friday. Today, he is almost back to his old self! It is amazing how fast children bounce back from these things! He is definitely my trooper! I am so proud of him! Dr Lee told us he was thankful that we were persistent in getting his second surgery so soon. We both carry insurance right now and we wanted to get him all taken care of before second grade. He said that if we had waited, his eardrum would be gone and his hearing bones would have been eaten by the cholesteatoma. Now, he will have to have an exploratory surgery in December to make sure the cholesteatoma has not come back. Thanks for all of your prayers!!

Ducklings

For those of you who don't know, I am a Store Manager for CJ Banks at The Streets of Indian Lake in Hendersonville. Well, outside our back door a mama duck decided to make a nest and lay some eggs. I only saw four eggs! Well last Saturday she had 11 ducklings! They were sooo cute! I talked about that Mama Duck for three weeks! I so looked forward to the Ducklings hatching! It was nice to look forward to something so simple!

Who’s Ready for a Spring Giveaway!!!?!!

My Friend Brea's super talented sister Ali, is giving away some super cute key fobs! Check them out here!

http://maggiemoosmom.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/whose-ready-for-a-giveaway/

Ali has also made my kiddos really cute Tee's! You can see them here!

http://maggiemoosmom.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/brodie-julia/

Update

I have not posted anything in awhile so I thought I would give a quick update...

Brodie had his 1st hearing test since the surgery and he had amazing results! Before the surgery he was at 35db's which is a moderate loss, and now he is at 10db's which is excellent hearing in both ears!

Julia lost her first back tooth this week! The tooth fairy brought her five dollars! I think I got a quarter when I was a kid!

Work has been crazy for me! We had our friends and family event last weekend and had our biggest day yet! I am very excited about that! We are seeing new customers every day which gives me hope that we will be a top volume store by the end of the year!

Jason is almost done with his new cd! Meanwhile, he is doing a podcast once a month! You can check him out at www.jason-kabler.com

That is it for now! Happy Spring!

Encores and More North Children's Consignment Sale!

This is a post off of Brea Freeman's Blog! Brea and Jonathon have provided so many blessings by doing this sale!

Encores and More North
Have I mentioned I run a children's consignment sale?

Well, it's THAT time of year again. In a few short weeks, hundreds of women and men dropping off for their women will be bringing carloads of goodies to the old Goody's at Rivergate (between Old Navy and Best Buy). We will inspect every item that comes through our doors, display it all nice and neat in our 32,000 sq. ft. space, and then sit back and watch it all leave in a matter of 7 days. It's truly amazing and if you've never been, you must come this time.

It seems crazy to me that just four years ago we were having our first sale. We had just a little over 50 consignors (mainly friends of mine pittying me!). I just KNEW God was telling me to start a sale north of Nashville that was a service to the community. Honestly, it was NEVER about money. I just knew we had to do it. The first few sales, we grew 70% EACH SALE. Unbelievable and only GOD! Well, here we are four years later with over 700 consignors. The amount we are able to donate both financially and physically to the community is amazing. I love finding out about families that are truly in need and having them come pick up what they need. I love that especially in these tough financial times we are offering EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING you could ever need for a child at a fraction of retail.

I'm telling you all this so you can see the person and the heart behind Encores North. It is my passion. I give GOD all the glory, without him I am nothing and this sale is nothing.

I want everyone in Nashville to know how great Encores North is and I need your help. We are asking anyone and everyone to help spread the word by doing a blog post, post on facebook, myspace, etc. Tell everyone what you think about Encores North (and please, if you have issues with us, email me at cheapbrea@gmail.com-we want to address ANY concerns). We will be doing a drawing on March 1 for 3 $25 gift certificates. All you have to do to be entered is leave me a comment letting me know how you are spreading the word! Blog entries get you two entries, everything else is one entry. Be sure you put a link to our website www.encoresandmorenorth.com in your blog post, shout out on facebook, etc.

I have a feeling this will be the BIGGEST AND BEST sale yet. THANK YOU to everyone that makes this sale awesome.

My Husband is a Saint

Today it was bitterly cold! The wind would slice right through you! Your skin would burn it was so cold out today.

I had to take Jason this morning because he has a sinus infection and needed medication. We then made a quick stop at Sally's so Jason could get his special silver shampoo. Then on the way back through the center, there was a man wrestling with a donation sign for the Salvation Army. I said "that poor guy it is so cold we should stop and help him" so Jason said to please stop so we could help him. We pulled up and his sign and his tent were completely knocked over by the wind. We helped get the tent cover and sign back in his truck. Jason let me go back to the car because it was so cold. The man, Charles then asked if he could use our cell phone to call the office. The office told him to stay with the truck and not to worry about the sign. We then went and got Charles a coffee and hot meal to help him get through the rest of the day.

I just thought it was awesome of Jason to help after he had worked all night and spent the morning in the doctor's office! Jason you are a Saint!

If you have any donations, Charles has a salvation army truck by the Ethan Allen by Target in Hendersonville! Tell him we said hello!

Brodie's Surgery

Brodie's Surgery went well! Dr Lee was amazed at how there was not as much damage as we had thought. The Surgery only took about an hour and a half instead of 2 to 3 hours.

The Cholesteatoma was not fully formed, therefore there was not near as much damage or clean up as anticipated. The Mastoid never fully formed so they did have to drill a hole through it so Brodie gets air in the ear passages. The eardrum was repairable and did not have to be reconstructed. They will not have to do the second surgery right away now! Brodie will still be deaf in the right ear for two months while the eardrum hears. Apparently they put gel around it to help it heal and stay intact. The only rough part was the affects of the anesthesia, he had a lot of nausea and had to throw up a few times.

Today we took the bandaging off and the incision looks great. It looks much better than I anticipated! We had Brodie's hair cut rather short, so Dr Lee did not have to shave any of his hair. The incision is in the fold of the back of his ear. So, I don't think the scarring will be very noticiable, Dr Lee did a fabulous job, and was wonderful with Brodie, and great at explaining things to us!

Thank for all of your prayers! We believe in the power of prayer!

Brodie's Surgery

is set for Thursday Jan 22nd. It will be a 2 to 3 hour surgery. He will be deaf in his right ear for two months. Then they will do surgery on the left ear. Please pray for Brodie. We pray that it will only be two surgeries, and that it is only cholesteatoma and nothing worse.