Lookin' Better

So, after 10 rough weeks..I think that's how many....in phase 3, Marc finally got approved for ghost phase. This is the last phase before he gets to go solo and it's only supposed to last 2 weeks. I think he has learned alot over the past phase 3 time and it has strengthened him to face solo status. In the past few weeks he has....had a crazy woman digging in the mud looking for her buried husband, this resulted in a mud covered Marc when he tried to restrain her. Then he had a 12 yr old girl, resist being taken home and bite 3 officers, including Marc, and then she tried to get his gun. She ended up with alot of blows to control her and being sent to Juvie. He's pulled his gun alot more than I thought would happen. That's always scary to me because you only pull your gun if you plan to shoot someone or something. That's a hard one for me I think because I'm not sure I could do that unless you were a direct threat to my child or family. I know that having several officers doubt Marc's ability to do this job has been very hard on him, but it also made him prove to them and I think to himself, that he is able to be this job. What a proud wife I am of my dedicated husband. His commitment and determination is such attractive qualities.

I had my first cleft lip & palate support group this week. It went as good as I could hope for. We had 3 families show up and it was very easy to open up to them and speak from my heart. I knew going into this that because I was the leader that I'd be expected to share my experiences. But when I started speaking about things that they had been through too it was such a relief because in that moment I knew they had the exact same stuff in their lives. It was so nice to share stories and answer questions for other parents, and to hear their stories. Mostly it was wonderful to see other little faces that had been manipulated and cut on and then sewn back together. To see a familiar scar on those sweet lips was healing to my heart. Just to be able to know that Maddy will see other people with signs of a past cleft was relieving. Thats all for now, chat at you later.

FInally Back

So we moved and didn't have interent for like FOREVER so we didn't post anything recently. However, that does not mean nothing has been happening. So let's see......what's been going on...
First, Marc's job is crazy. He is in South side where he doesn't speak Spanish and that's mostly what's spoken there. He's had a foot chase, a man resisting arrest, served a few warrants, written a few tickets and been really hot in this Texas heat. He has been struggling to find "his cop voice"...which means they think he's not asserting himself enough as the main man Big Cop. Whatever that means..who knows anymore. He's really struggling to get past the 3rd phase and move onto Ghost training. Woo Hoo! I think he just wants to be himself as a cop and they want robocop instead. God will provide and sustain in the end. We have firmly believed in and prayed for God's Will since he took the very first application for the Police Dept. so we have felt God in this whole experience.

Maddy is doing great..She has fully recovered from her surgery and is like brand new. She says new things daily and is combining up to 4 words at a time. It's wonderful to just watch her grow and explore and constantly be amazed at all the wonder in her eyes. It's hard to believe she's only a few months away from turning 2. I swear I was just holding her in the delivery room yesterday.

I am taking on the task of starting Fort Worth's first Cleft lip & Palate Support Group. It has been challenging but so very rewarding as well. We will have our first meeting Aug. 21st. It's exciting to be meeting other people living with a cleft in their life and to share the experiences with each other.

Well that's all for now, we are so sorry that we took this long to write again. We'll catch up with you later.