What a great summer so far! Overall, Quinn is doing quite well. She does still have her ups and downs. At times I feel she is borderline in need of the hospital, but we are working things out here at home, which is all I ever wanted. Those crazy doctors who told me that without her IV line, she would end up back in the hospital within a month. BUAHAHAHA!!! Ideally, I'm sure she'd do better with a line, but not for the consequences at this point in time.

We went to Sea World this summer! and Quinn had a blast! She's been talking about it so much lately and she wants to go back there soon! Maybe next summer, kiddo. I am so happy we were able to take her. Quinn also lost another tooth this summer, and again, we couldn't find it! So she had to write another note to the Tooth Fairy about how she lost her tooth... literally.

My little dog, Jezi got attacked by a coyote and survived! It was sooo scary! My dog Jezi is actually Quinn's dog Jezi. Those two are like two peas in a pod. She loves that little dog. Jezi is a chihuahua mix with a wiener dog (chihuweenie). So she's little. I was at my mom's house taking care of my sister's children and I had my dogs over there in the backyard. sometime right after the sun went down, my older dog, Jenna started barking hysterically. I let her bark for about 5 minutes (shame on me). I guess i just thought she was being over-dramatic and barking at someone walking by maybe. Well, she wouldn't stop barking and she was barking like a crazy dog so i went out there to see what was going on. She just kept barking and running from me to the middle of the yard and back again. I could tell she was telling me something. Then all of a sudden from the blackness of the night, Jezi comes shooting right past me and into the house all super fast. I was like.... ummm WHAT JUST HAPPENED? So I picked her up and she was grunting and breathing all weird and she was in shock. I examined her and she had drool ALL over her back and two puncture wounds on the sides of her and scratches all over her little legs. The only logical conclusion that we could come up with was that the coyote actually jumped the fence, picked up Jezi and tried carrying her back over the fence, but actually dropped her and she was able to escape. My poor little girl. She ended up on antibiotics for her wounds and had a broken rib. But that was it. She was lucky! Now we call her a warrior and she thinks she is a badass because she escaped the Jaws of a coyote.

I have been looking into buying a house. What I truly want is a place for Quinn to call home. I grew up in the Military and so I moved around a lot. I have no roots. I have no ties to any particular place in the Country. I have no strong relationships with much of anyone. I get jealous of friends and family who can drive around an area and say, "I grew up here." "I remember when this used to be." and etc... I want that for Quinn. I want her to have a home. I want her to develop life-long friendships. I want her to be able to reminisce about the past with people who were actually in her past to share that time with. I just don't have that and I want that for Quinn. There are a lot of things keeping me living where I am right now. I am not sure of programs like the one that Quinn and I are on in any other part of the Country. This program allows me to stay home and care for Quinn while being able to live a life of our own. If it weren't for the program we are on, Quinn would have to have a nurse and I would be working a lot to make ends meet. I wouldn't be able to be there for her if she goes inpatient as often as I am. I think she would be a lot sicker than she currently is as well. So, I choose not to move out of state. I also would like to move closer to the hospitals so that way I can just go home at night instead of having to worry about a hotel or sleeping on an uncomfortable bed. so that way I don't have to drive 2+ hours to get clothes and stuff. The problem with moving closer to hospitals is that the cost of living is extremely high. I couldn't afford it. I've checked into it and it's just too much. The place that I am currently living is the lowest cost of living here in California. I thought about moving further North, because I would really like to have grass and maybe a pond or lake nearby. right now we live in the desert, but I don't know of any good hospitals up in Northern California that could take good care of Quinn. Financially, best bet is to stay here. I think i could be happy here, but this is definitely not the predicament I ever expected to be in at this point in my life. I wanted to be well on my way to a nice career. Making at least a decent living and have a healthy child. My dreams seem so far away from me. I'm sure I will make it all work somehow.

Please pray for another mito warrior, Brent. He has had an incredibly difficult time and lately is really struggling in the hospital with a possible HLH flare up. Hang in there guys and keep fighting, Brent.

photo uploader is being really stupid for some reason.