cardiology

Yesterday, we had Eve's cardiology appointment.  While her heart rate is high, her ultrasound and EKG were totally fine.  We have an appointment for a Holter (24hour heart monitor) to look for variation in her heart rate, but if that looks good we will need to follow up in 2 years.  If not?  Then we'll talk meds. 

Update:
Got a letter from the cardiologist.  Everything is fine.  So, two years it is.  

Seamus is 3!!

Last weekend, Seamus had his third birthday. Where has the time gone?  I can't believe my baby boy is three years old.  The week between the kids' birthdays, Jim's parents came for a visit.  It was lots of fun, and wouldn't you know this is the only decent picture we took???  Anyhow, it was a great visit. 

Seamus insisted on having a Gruffalo cake for his birthday.  (Don't know what a Gruffalo is?  Click here)  I convinced him to let me do cupcakes.  He wanted to help decorate them, so he put on his gear.

Here's the requisite Josie in a birthday hat shot.  Actually, in this one she's yawning which makes her look a little ferocious.  And silly. 

Here's what she looked like the other 99.9% of the time - bored. 

Yes, that's spittle.  Another reason to continue on with the cupcakes.  That way he only christens his own food. 

He's dancing here.

Here's the finished product (with an extra horn courtesy of Seamus):

Opening presents

The next day, we had friends over for a birthday BBQ.  Seamus was over the moon.  Notice JoJo.

Tonight, it started raining after dinner and Seamus wanted to go outside.  For some reason, he was only in his underwear.  He loved running around in the rain until he got cold and needed to come in. 

Little Buddha

Me disappointed

This past week, we had a wonderful visit from Jim's parents.  The kids had a blast and Seamus, in particular, was enamored with "Glammie" (Grammie) and PaPa.  He was very sad when they left and has asked about them every day since. 

Happy Birthday, Eve!

Today is Eve's birthday. I absolutely cannot believe my sweet baby girl is nine years old.  It's incredibly bittersweet for us.  I had a good old fashioned pity party in the shower this morning as I sobbed for the healthy and typical 9 year old girl that will never be.  It's like grieving, I think.  But, it was a special day for her and I tried to focus on that.  We bought her flowers because she is a girly girl.  Who doesn't love flowers?  She also had a pile of presents to open after dinner.

She had a great day at camp and was laughing a lot.  The whole camp sang happy birthday to her and she brought in ice pops to share.  Unfortunately, I think the little bit she had of one upset her stomach.  She came home exhausted and barely able to lift her head.  When her head was up (because I held it up) she was very gaggy.  She was also moaning and vocalizing a lot.  She seemed incredibly uncomfortable.  Fortunately, she settled down and is fine now.  I had bought an ice cream cake with the intention of giving her the tiniest lick, but decided that was not an option.  But we put a candle on it and sang to her anyhow.  Seamus helped blow out the candle. 

Frank and Virginia sent a fantastic moving and singing card that really made her smile:

Some of the gifts she got were books, a knitting machine, a snoopy snow cone maker (I wanted one so badly as a child....I am super excited to play with...I mean for HER to play with it), and a bubble machine.  Talk about a bubble blizzard:

Eve has some of the most kind-hearted people who work with her at the elementary school.  It truly is overwhelming.  Today she came home with a huge butterfly balloon and the most fabulous art piece made by her school nurse.  It's a little hard to see, but there are tiny lights that frame the piece.  It's so cool.  We can't wait to hang this in her room. 

We feel so blessed by the love that is showered upon our child and our family.  It's incredible and overwhelming.  Thank you all for the gifts and well wishes.  We love you, too!

pony rides

Last weekend, we went to our town's little Sunday celebration.  They have music, kids activities, and.....pony rides!  Now, Seamus has never seen a pony, and we weren't sure if he'd be into it.  We walked over to where they were and asked him if he wanted to ride one.  He pumped his fist into the air and shouted, "Yeah!!!!"  He happily traded his baseball hat in for a helmet and pet the pony.  Then he hopped right up.  No fear whatsoever.  He was so very happy; it was adorable.  The funniest part?  As I walked next to him and we went around some trees, he called over his shoulder, "Me coming back, Daddy!!"  The girl doing the ride told me to start saving now for a pony.  She was stunned that he's not even three yet. 

Eve stayed behind with Jim and gave some love to the other pony.  So cute. 

JoJo, you try it

This morning, Seamus was trying to open Eve's door.  He was really struggling with the knob, so he turned to the dog and said, "JoJo, you try it!"

Some of his r's come out like l's.  For example, he loves going in his "splinkler" when it's hot out.  He was talking about his "butt clack" this morning when putting on his underpants.  Speaking of which, yesterday went very very well.  No accidents!  He even jumped up from the dinner table because he had to use the potty.  Hopefully today goes just as well!

Scoliosis check

Yesterday was our trip to Shriner's hospital to check out Eve's spine.  It was not the best day, but I suppose it could have been much worse.

On our way there, we ran into a major detour.  A road I was planning to take was closed, and because of the mountains where we live, there aren't a lot of other options.  Fortunately, I gave myself extra time and we didn't run into any other traffic or construction.  When we arrived, we did a lot of waiting.  We waited in the waiting room for an hour before being called back.  Then we answered a lot of questions from a nurse.  My least favorite?  When she said the last time we were there was in '12 and we were supposed to follow up in 6 months, and why didn't we.  I wasn't able to maintain grace, because I just looked her in the eye and bluntly said, "Because we didn't think she was going to survive.  But she did and is in a stable place right now."  "Oh."

We waited a total of 2 hours past our appointment time, before a man came in and introduced himself as a PA (physician's assistant) who was helping out because the doctor was running behind.  The upshot?  He looked at her spine and it's fine.  Her hips are (still) dislocated, but if we're not going to do surgery, then that's that.  He offered to have their people look at her wheelchair, but after waiting for two hours, I just didn't want to spend any more time.  We have someone who works on her wheelchair.  So, we left.  We never saw the doctor.  Since there seems to be no problem with her spine, that's fine with me.  But what a waste of time. 

The ride home was relatively uneventful.  She started gagging in the last 20 minutes.  We had been gone for so long, the Dramamine I gave her wore off.  I had given her the lowest suggested dose, but she never got sleepy, so I think I can increase the dosage next time.  So, that was my day.  Oh, yeah.  And then I scraped up my car.  I was picking up Seamus from daycare and the parking there gets a little crowded sometimes.  I was trying to park the van out of the way when all I heard was a crunch/scrape sound.  I had scraped up against a rock wall and gouged both doors on the passenger side and dented one a little.  I cried.  Since we're re-doing the bathroom and the plumbing in several areas of the house, my wallet cried, too.  But we decided we will just fix the doors at the end of the summer, before we have to worry about salt on the roads and after we recover from the plumbing and remodel bills. 

What a day.  But, like I said, I suppose it really could have been worse.  I let out some frustration with a good workout when the kids went to bed.  And, as you can see from my previous post, old "sleeping hat" got me laughing. 

Potty training

Last night, Seamus was in a silly mood (as usual). When I asked him to put on his pajamas after his bath, he grabbed his pull-up and told me it was his "sleeping hat" and proceeded to put it on.  He's such a noodle. 

Speaking of pull-ups, today is the day that we begin potty training.  We've had him using the potty for months.  He can go on command, and very rarely will announce he has to poop and will run to the potty.  Usually, it's us telling him to go.  But, he hasn't mastered holding his pee yet.  We went through a very long time with no pooping in his pull-up, but he's had a recent regression.  Because today begins a holiday weekend and we'll be home together for 3 days, we are just going to go for it.  So, he's wearing underpants (only), and I am going to sit him on the potty every hour or so.  I've rolled up the rug and put a water proof pad on the chair.  He knows he's not allowed on the couch for now.  I am willing to keep him home from daycare for a few days next week until we get this licked.  I'm a bit nervous, but I hope it will just click for him.  We'll keep him in pull-ups for naps and nighttime until he can wake-up dry. 

Wish me luck.  I'm thinking this is like sleep training or ripping off a band aid.  Let's just get it over with instead of dragging out the torture.  I'd like him solidly potty trained before he starts preschool in September.  He just looks so darn cute in his underpants, right??

friends

 Our friends, Shelley and Anthony, had a baby.  Our kids just love baby Maura.  Here they are holding her. 

 Get ready for your heart to melt.  Here is Eve snuggling with Maura:

I don't think Eve could be any happier. 

We also had a visit from our friends, Karen and Kevin.  They took their awesome MG for a long drive across the state and stopped by for a bit.  It is always so wonderful to see them.  Here is Seamus, pretending to drive:

See you next time!!