Hi Friends!  I realize it has been a while since I have updated but, as you can imagine, (hopefully after reading my last post) we continue to deal with a lot of things.  I am still in the midst of the famine.  

**I would like to suggest to you (for those of you who continue to check back for updates and new developments) that you sign-up for automatic email updates.  You can do this by entering your email address in the left column of the blog, beneath the various photos of our children.  There is a space that reads: "Follow our journey by email - get automatic updates."  Enter your email address and then you will receive an email asking you to confirm your sign-up request.   You can also request to be on my manual e-mail list

 by sending me an email at prenderbergs@gmail.com.**

Jonah has healed quite well from his distractor removal in late March.  He continues to see the surgeon for periodic follow-ups as well as the Orthodontist on a regular basis, which up until last week was weekly.  I am so pleased that now his appointments will be bi-weekly for the next month and then hopefully after that will be down to once a month for a while.  Jonah also now sees a speech therapist on a weekly basis.  Fortunately, he really likes the therapist and the sessions go by too quickly in his opinion.  He enjoys working on the various tasks she gives to him but overall, Jonah still isn’t able to speak very well.  We find that it is more difficult to understand him after everything that has been done to him.  But he puts forth good effort in trying to speak.  He knows exactly what he's saying and his comprehension is excellent ... so we'll just keep working at it.

Rees continues to be followed by the surgeon as well and now does not need to return until the end of September.  He will have his follow-up with the neurosurgeon next week, which I am anxious for because I’d like to discuss the fact that the CSF leak continues.  He is scheduled for more surgery in late October and at this point the “plan of attack” for what will actually occur during the surgery is up in the air.  He continues to baffle the doctors but we are definitely happy that he is hanging in there and doing well for the most part. 

The boys like to hide from Dr. Denny before he comes in to each appointment.  They do it every time now and they think they are just so clever.  

Both boys are VERY EXCITED for school to begin and they don’t seem to understand why there have been so many days off of school. Each day they ask if it's a school day and I tell them "not today."  Jonah will then ask, "tomorrow?"  It's wonderful that they are so eager to go to school.  Here where we live, the kids do not go back to school until the day after Labor Day.

I hope to provide a better update in the future and will hopefully be able to share more ... thanks for hanging in there with us.