Sunday, February 28, 2010

Ordinary and Amazing Weekend

 

Where did this weekend go?  As I sit here trying to think about it, it is as if it was all a blur.  I know I am not the only one that has weekends or days like this.
The weekend wasn't too out of the ordinary.  On Saturday Zach and I cleaned house some.  I took a break to take Joshua to the swimming pool.  The last time he went swimming was about 6-7 months ago and he did great.  Well, this time around was anything but.  He was so scared and kept screaming.  His high pitched scream was not nice on the ears...I think they are still ringing.  Poor guy, took forever to get him into the water and by that time I was ready to go but he didn't want to leave.  I gave in and played with him in the water for a little bit but I started to get cold so I called it quits.  I took him trying to prepare him for his birthday party which is in a few weeks.  I plan on doing a pool party at the local YMCA for him.

We got home so I could finish organizing all the children's clothes and putting them away.  Oh, what fun...zzzzzzzz...sorry all that excitement was making me tired.  Let's just say the children's closets look amazing, now if they can only stay that way.  After the closet overhaul I decided to try and feed Josiah.  Since Josiah is breastfed he hasn't wanted to take solid foods from me so either Zach or other friends have had success at feeding him.  At last he decided to take solid food from me!  Woohoo.  This boy scarfed down two little tubs of stage 2 baby food, one of sweet potatoes and one of bananas.  This boy loves his bananas.  He is doing great at taking solid food since he started on the day of the Super Bowl, can't remember what day that was.  Now he is eating solids on a daily basis instead of every few days.  My baby is growing up:(

Sunday; today, we went to church as usual.  This Sunday Zach was singing and he was wonderful as always.  Later we went out to the lake with some others from Zach's unit to just get together.  The kids had fun playing while the rest of us threw a football and kicked a soccer ball around.  While we took a break to eat some food the wind started blowing like crazy and it got cold very quickly.  We had to call it quits and head out.  I don't know what it is with the wind in Oklahoma but it can chill you to the bone and is not nice on when you are trying to go somewhere and you want your hair looking nice.  I do appreciate the wind more so in the summer to help cut through some of the heat.  Anyways, made our weekly trip to the grocery store and home for dinner, putting kids to bed, the usual.  Through all of that, I noticed something new on Josiah tonight.  His second bottom tooth broke through his gums.  Josiah is making so much progress, especially in crawling.  You put that boy down on the floor and he is gone.  I have to keep the floor clear of anything that is small enough for him to swallow.  The vacuum cleaner is now a permanent fixture in the living room.  This little one is keeping me on my toys.  I know this will only last as long as it will take him to start walking which I think won't be too long.  I am hoping he will wait till he is 15 months old as he is almost 9 months old now; well he will be 9 months old in about 2 weeks.  One can hope!

See that photo of my little cutie Josiah up-top?  It is true, he is 100% cute and so is Joshua and Hannah.  What an ordinary and amazing weekend full of the everyday things and the milestones my children are reaching.  God has blessed me with three wonderful children who are ever changing and I love seeing those changes in them!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Stinky Fun Afternoon


Just so you know, this photo was taken awhile ago on our cell phone.  Zach was trying to have a funny face.  Well, I felt this face was so fitting to go along with the first word of the post 'stinky.'  After we had taken the kids bowling today with Zach's unit we decided to head down to Wichita Falls.  I don't think we had ever seen so many skunks on the side of the road, on the same road, for the stretch we had been on.  During that 45 minute drive I swear there were about 12-15 dead skunks.  It smelled terrible.  After the first few we just had to start laughing at the stench and the number of them.  Can someone please tell me what is the importance of skunks?  Purpose?  I would sure love to know.  I swear their smell is still lingering...ewwwww.

While in Wichita Falls, TX we went to a few stores getting some things we need.  For Hannah we got her some No Bite nail polish in hopes this will help her with her finger sucking.  She has never taken a pacifier, she just sucks on the same two fingers which drives me nuts and I know isn't any good for her fingers or her teeth.  I am hoping this No Bite polish works because I am at a loss of what to do for her to get her to stop sucking those fingers of hers.

For Joshua we went to Academy to try and find him some shin guards for soccer.  I know soccer season is right around the corner and my goodness was the store wiped out of the tiny ones for kids.  We did manage to find one pair for him to use that fit relatively okay.  We also tried finding him some cleats but they don't make them or at least this store didn't sell them in his size.  He wears a toddler size 6-7 and most won't start till size 10.  So we will just have to improvise.

We didn't need anything for Josiah until...he had another blow-out!  This boy has some talent at making messes which very few of his mess will actually be in his diaper.  Grrr.  We just happened to be at a Sam's Club which was huge (I guess the saying is true that everything is bigger in Texas...lol) so we got him some clothes there since I forgot to pack a spare set of clothes in the diaper bag.  I can't remember everything:(  Oh well, it was a good laugh.

We went a few other places but it was nice to get out of Lawton and go for a drive with my family.  It was fun, even including the skunks and a blow-out.  On the drive home Joshua just would not shut his mouth.  This kid does not know how to be quiet so he sang his ABC's and various other songs. He probably sang 'Old McDonald Had A Farm' for about 20 minutes going through every animal he could think of which was just fine with us since all we did was sit there while he sang it all by himself.  After that he decided he needed to count to 100 which he did a great job with, then counted in Spanish to ten, told us all the shapes, colors and whatever other random thought that came into that brain of his.  The drive home went quickly thank goodness, to where the children got a bath, pj's on, bedtime routine and off into lala land they all went without a peep.  Can you hear the crickets?  So peaceful!  What a good night.

So that was our stinky fun afternoon.  Hope yours was just as equally fun ;)

Oh, if you were wondering, we never did get a call back from Joshua's doctor.  Hopefully we will hear back from her on Monday.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Lab Work

"Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-


Here's my handsome boy playing with what he loves, blocks.  Daddy helped him out but he is doing well at creating smaller scale models all by himself.  I love this little guy!

Yesterday, I took Joshua to the hospital to have some lab work drawn up on him so that we might finally get some answers as to why he is not growing.  I don't know about you but doctor scribble is so hard to make out so I had to ask the lab tech what were all the things he was being tested for.  Please click on each one so you can understand what the test are specifically.  Through all of this, it is definately making me more aware of a lot of medical knowledge which if others hear me talk to a doctor they really wouldn't have a clue as to what we are saying...lol.  There is still so much I need to learn, so I ask for clarification from the doctors so I can know exactly what is going on at each stage.  Knowledge is power!

(1) Health Panel:
          CBC
          CMP
          TSH

(2) T4

(3) IGF-1


Because of all the testing that Joshua has had to have done, he is terrified to even walk into a medical facility and will freak out.  He looked at the lab tech and said, "Oh, no.  Not you again!"  Then started trying to make every excuse as to why he didn't need to be there, but I just had to laugh at what he said.  He hadn't seen that tech in almost a year, yet he still remembered her face.  Joshua has a memory like no other. 

It took a few tries to get his blood but they finally got it.  He has several problems with his veins.  1-that they are still the size of an infant, 2-they roll, 3-they blow easily, 4-his blood clots very quickly and will cause no more blood to go up into the needle, and 5-he throws the biggest fit and has to be held down by several adults.  I hate; let me repeat, I hate it when he has to get anything done in a lab!  I know it is only temporary but Joshua doesn't forget.

So hopefully in the next few days I should be receiving a call from the doctor to tell me the results of the blood work.  We are praying for answers.  It is so hard to not know.  As of now he is still labeled as saying that he has a Constitutional Growth Delay.  With that diagnosis, there isn't an answer.  But I don't believe that is his problem and I don't think the pediatric endocrinologist believes that either because of how severely behind he is.

So if everything comes back normal; which all the other tests he has had done have come back normal, we are going to start to looking elsewhere for different opinions.  Before I get hasty, I will just have to wait for the doctors call.  Waiting is usually the hardest part for people but I am so use to it, that unfortunately it doesn't phase me anymore.  That could be a good and bad thing.  In the meantime I have the kiddos to keep me busy and housework that needs to be done.  Life must go on!


Monday, February 22, 2010

Still no answer.

A military wife's life is easier than you think. All you have to do is accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, bear the intolerable, and be able to smile at anything.
 ~ Anonymous

The above comment I do agree with but I still love the one I heard from years ago... IMPROVISE - ADAPT - OVERCOME

Each one bears on my heart today.  Some of you know the ongoing medical issues with the kids but for those of you who don't know, I will give you a brief overview.  Since Joshua and Hannah were born they have been on the smaller side and from about 9 months old and on their growth for some reason has been slowing down.  So they were diagnosed with failure to thrive and with that diagnosis comes monthly doctors appointments, keep a log of what they eat, etc.  They have had bone age xrays done, that is when they take xrays of the childrens hands to see how much physically they are maturing.  My children have been behind on that.  So they have seen specialist such as gastroenterologists and pediatric endocrinologists which have performed various tests and all have come back normal.  So the waiting game, let's wait a few more months then re-evaluate everything.

Well, I have been putting the appointment off for a year and finally went today.  It was not what I was expecting to hear.


Hannah Rose is a petite little girl.  She has been on the smaller side but for her height for age she just hit the 5th percentile line today!  The is great that she even made it onto the growth chart.  Her xrays revealed that she has the bone age of a 13-14 month old and right now she is 2 years and 5 months old.  She is 82 cm tall and weighs 22 pounds with clothes on.  She is still cute as ever and does exceptionally well at the doctors office.  For now all we are doing is going to continue to have follow-up appointments to track her progress or the lack there of.




Joshua Trier is a little boy.  No one believes me he is as old as he is until he opens his mouth.  He is very smart for his age so don't let his size fool you.  Joshua is 87 cm and weighs 28 pounds with clothes on.  There is a lot of heart in this little guy though when he is at the doctors all he has is fear.  He has seen many doctors and has many tests, that now he is terribly frightened when we go to the doctors or sees someone with a white coat on.  I try to help calm him but not much works.  My heart breaks for him when he has tears streaming down his face because he generally knows something is going to happen to  him.  I was very proud of him today, getting his xrays done for the first time without having to have an adult hold him down. 

Well, I thought the appointment was going well till we got the xrays back.  The look on the doctors face was not good.  She looked at me and said he has to be retested.  His bone age hasn't changed in over a year, his bone age is that of a 12 month old.  Even when I looked at the xrays I could see that Hannah's were a little more developed then his were.  So I ask the obvious question, "What would cause him to not grow?"  The doctor replied with, "It is most likely his growth hormones or possibly something wrong with his pituitary or thyroid like a tumor..."  My mind kind went blank after she started going.  I am just thinking, excuse me, we have had growth hormone testing done before which came back normal, we have had some genetic testing done and that has come back normal plus various other test, all which have come back normal.  So to date we have no answer as to why he isn't growing.

So tomorrow I will take Joshua in to have more bloodwork drawn...oh, this should be fun, NOT!  So hopefully we can get some answers.  I will have to wait a few days for the results but I guess from there we will either start him on growth hormones or figure out what other tests need to be done.  Right now his doctor; pediatric endocrinologist, is still calling it constitutional growth delay, which means that he will develop much more slowly then other children and might not mature until he is in his late 30's and even then she said he might only reach 5 feet 4 inches.  But after the blood test I am hoping that she will change her diagnosis for him.  Both Hannah and Joshua have changed from failure to thrive to short stature.  For some, this may not seem like a big deal but to me it means a lot.  It means less doctors visits, less intrusion, etc.

Even though Joshua will be four years old next month and is little, to him, he has no understanding of what is going on with him physically.  Mentally he is right up there.  Just like it says uptop; improvise, adapt and overcome.  That is what I need to do with both my children.  I need to improvise when things aren't 'kid friendly' for my kids.  I need to help my kids adapt to what is around by showing them how to do things that work for them.  I need to help them overcome anything by showing them that no matter how big or small someone is there is always a way to do things.  I believe my kids can do anything they put their minds too, I just need to remember to treat them like they are just any other kid.  Until now I looked at their shortness as an obstacle but what it really is, is that I am their roadblock by babying them.  They will continue to go about life and find ways to do things as long as they are not treated like they have a handicap.  I need to look at this in a positive light...not sure what that is now but I know God has a plan.  Every good and perfect thing comes from Him!

So please, please pray that we might be able to get some answers one way or another!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Welcome to our new blog home!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to our new blog home! We have moved somewhere over the rainbow where the skies are blue... We haven't physically moved but our blog has.  Aren't the photos of the rainbow lovely? I was washing dishes one day and looked out the window to see two beautiful rainbows. They were so vibrant that a photo had to be taken and these do not do it justice. Well, the same will be for this blog. I will try my best to put up post and take photos to show what is going on in my families life but I know it will not even compare to us actually living it. My hope is that you can catch a glimpse of how we live life and come along for a ride with us.

Leave comments and or request of what you would like me to put up or just to let us know you are enjoying what I am posting. So come back and visit often. You can also always go to our old place at Life Happens

Genesis 9:12-16