Strawberries

I discovered that our dear little Addy loves strawberries! It's so hard finding things that she "likes" or "tolerates" during feedings! It doesn't really look like it in the above pic but she was using her happy/excited scream, she's not mad like it looks! I had almost forgotten that I had a Baby Safe Feeder from One Step Ahead, I love their stuff! Addy took actual "bites" of the strawberries! Too cute!

We cannot keep this girl's feet off of the table!

Please continue to pray!

Please continue to pray for L, my principal, more tests are being run and the treatment hasn't been determined yet.

Jarika has once again sprained her ankle. This is the same ankle that she had surgically reconstructed in January of 2007. She is back in an air cast and has a referral to go and see a podiatrist. She hasn't seen one before, just orthopedists so maybe we'll get some new info on what we can do to save her ankle so she can continue to cheer! She REALLY wants to cheer in college!!

Wordless Wednesday

Prayer Request

I received this letter in the mail from my principal at school. I am re-typing it just as it was written. You can see how upbeat and positive this person is! I consider her a friend and she is an amazing person. She has brought a huge ray of sunshine to our school and she is a go getter! She used to be a Special Services Director and she does a great job with our special needs kids. I am devastated, she is just a year older than me and has a wonderful husband and two young children. Please add her to your prayers.

Hey Friends!!!

As you might have heard already, I have had some life altering news as of Thursday, July 23. I had a colonoscopy done on Monday and the results came back on Thursday that indicated a diagnosis of colon cancer. Yes, the "C" word. I do not know much of anything other than that. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and should know more with a plan of action at that time.

PRAY!!!! Please pray. At this time, it is all in the Lord's hands and I truly believe that this is happening for a reason. Maybe someone needs to be checked themselves or maybe we just need to be closer to the Lord.

It is time to KICK BUTT and CHEW BUBBLE GUM AND I'M ALL OUT OF BUBBLE GUM!!!!!!


Love you all,

L :)
(I am not including her name because I didn't ask if I could copy her work!)

As you may know, I lost my father to colon cancer. I am praying fervently that this has been caught early!

This is too cute!

Jill and Kevin's Wedding Entrance


Can someone tell me how to post this directly to my blog, I am obviously a You Tube novice!

Addy Update

I took Addy to Dr. Pediatrician yesterday to have her ear re-checked, again! It is clear, yeah! It took three rounds of antibiotics but it finally healed. We go to new Dr. ENT on the 4th of August for an audiogram and to decide if he wants to put in new tubes. Addy weighed in at a whopping 18lbs. 13 oz. and was 31 inches long. So since the 1st of July she has gained 2 oz. We go back on the 19th of August to do a weight check and hopefully by then the new doc will have her medical records, they still aren't in! I don't know why it takes so long to get records sent! Addy is so tiny I really hope we can do something to put some meat on her, he little bones just stick out and her legs are scrawny. She is going to be 3 in October and she looks so frail, I would love to chunk her up some! I'm attaching a pic of her when we first brought her home (8/6/07) she was 19lbs. 7 oz and 23 inches long! Just look at those rolls! Our doctor switched her formula (we didn't have hers available here) since it was 24 calories per ounce and she was overweight. She is on 20 calorie now, I'm thinking she needs the 24 calorie again!


She did something amazing during OT yesterday. Delene was irritating her and Addy signed "stop please"! She combined the two signs all by herself!! Yeah! That is a huge milestone! It was so great to see! Her communication skills are really blossoming, maybe I have done some things right this summer!

This is just a cute pic of our cat, Jorge Thumbs. He has two thumbs on each "hand" and he sucks one of the thumbs, it's too cute!

Camp

Well for the first time I sent Avery to church camp today! My mom took him for me since Jarika had a doctors appointment. He was so excited! I've already sent him an email but I know he's having a blast!

We had a good appointment with Jarika's doctor this morning and I think we have a good action plan. We're giving it about four weeks to see improvement and then we will go from there. She's had two good cheer practices so yeah!

I was just playing with my camera today. Addy is so funny, the flash kept making her blink but she didn't want to so she looked like Popeye in most of them!

IFSP

Today was nuts! Addy had speech therapy at 8:15, physical therapy at 9:30, and her annual IFSP meeting at 10:00. During that time I also had Jarika's cheerleading coach (who happens to be our neighbor and is going to be Cooper's fifth grade teacher) over for a visit about Jarika. Busy morning! I promised her that it usually isn't quite that crazy! It just was an overlapping morning! Addy had met all of her goals on her previous IFSP with the exception of crawling! She mastered having a spoon go past her lips, take at least three bites per meal, increase signs to at least 10 (I lost track at 20, I'm pretty stoked about that!), isolates finger to push a button, can stand with support, assists in dressing, identifies at least 3 body parts (she knows feet, toes, hands, arm, leg, nose, eyes, mouth, tongue, and tummy), and there were a couple of more but I can't remember them. I am very pleased with her progress, she has really blossomed this summer too. Especially with her signing, she picks up a new sign just about daily right now and is carrying them over! Today she picked up "pig" and "go"!
I don't reveal a whole lot of Jarika's issues she is dealing with but she is really struggling with panic attacks right now. It breaks my heart to see her suffer, it's horrible. She drove to Joplin yesterday (about and hour and a half away) all by herself. I was so proud of her! She did great! Until she started home today. Poor thing got lost and totally freaked out. It was awful. Fortunately the cousin of the person she stayed with (who is also a friend) was able to get off of work and found her and led her to the interstate, thank you Evan! So she made it home, but it definitely was not an easy trip. Please pray for her, we have a really good book that she is reading now about panic and I'm really hoping that we will see improvement soon, this is so hard on her!
Avery's ball game was cancelled tonight due to rain, again! We've had rain a lot lately, which is a good thing, but it may rain tomorrow during the big Extreme Homemakeover reveal. We may still go to the MOVE THAT BUS ceremony, Ashley Tisdale is performing a free concert. I know my nieces will love that! I'm sure Cooper and Avery would enjoy it too, just not so much in the rain! Here's Ty serenading Ashley today at the site. No this isn't my pic I stole it from a Facebook Friend! She's been there working every day!

Extreme Home Makover

Ty Pennington and his gang are just about to complete an Extreme Home Makeover for a family just north of Springfield. We went out there today to check it out. Several of my neighbors have gotten the opportunity to work there too, so that is so cool! This family was living in an 800 square foot cottage with 8 people in it! They were called and given an hour to decide if they would take in four nieces and nephews so they wouldn't go into foster care and they did! They have been living very cramped! That's all I know of the story, I can't wait to see it on tv! Here's Scott and the kids in front of the house, they have about 45 hours until completion! I'm trying to decide if I want to go for the MOVE THAT BUS ceremony, I think it would be so cool!

Addy is completely back to her spunky little self. I am still blown away by the way she acted in Oklahoma! It made me so sad that she was so unhappy. I think we are going to have to go on more road trips!



This is a picture of Jarika and one of her best friends, Gage. Many of you know that Jarika has really had a hard time lately and I'm so thankful that she has Gage in her life. He's a good kid and makes Jarika smile. That's something we don't see a whole lot of lately so I'm glad they got to spend some time together this week!

New Camera

I am so thrilled to report that my awesome hubby got me a new camera! He said Merry Christmas when he gave it to me but I think it should be for our anniversary since it's next month. I will definitely need a Christmas present don't ya think?? I got a Canon Rebel XS. It's way fancier than I'm used to so I'm going to take some classes and email all my wonderful blog buddies that have this camera! I got some sorta good shots of Avery last night during his game, but I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do so the fence would disappear. I have got to do some reading! Isn't this a wonderful slide? He was safe and they won 9 to 3 so they move on in the tournament. They play again tomorrow morning but I'm going to miss it. Addy and I are headed to El Dorado Springs to pick Cooper up from church camp at Camp Galilee!!! I miss him so much I can't wait to see him!

Visit

Yes those are tears, swollen eyes from crying and being tired and major drool from sucking our tongue.

Aw, how precious are they???

You know how you build things up in your mind about how you think things are going to be? I have been looking so forward to meeting the Urbans for so long! I knew it was going to be so fun watching Ava and Addy playing together and laughing and smiling and getting all of those amazing pictures of these little adopted angels who are loved so much. Well don't get me wrong, I LOVED my visit. Addy did NOT! She pretty much cried or screamed the entire time! I was so bummed! I felt so bad for the Urban kids that just wanted to hold her and play with her and all Addy did was push them or scream at them! She had little periods of time where she would be within the vicinity of them and even was held by them for a bit then she would lose it again! Poor little thing! Charissa and I decided that it was a combination of being absolutely worn out, new people, new surroundings, having a major diaper rash from antibiotics for her ear infection and just not feeling herself. Addy warmed up to John pretty quickly. That didn't surprise me too much because this girl is boy crazy! Avery had a BLAST with Simeon, Jude, Liesel, Hope and Ava. I think he wants to live there, their house is way more funner than ours. (yes those are his words, I do know that "funner" is not a word!). He really enjoyed playing with Ava, he said he can't wait until Addy crawls around like Ava does because she's so cute. I even got to meet the Wright family! It's so cool to meet these people that you read about their lives everyday. I felt like I already knew them!

Bald beauties!

Well my girl is back now that we are home, don't mind the crazy car seat hair, I'm just thrilled that the smile still exists!

Busy couple of days!

Sunday Cooper and a couple of other kids led the Praise Worship service! It was awesome! I have video but haven't uploaded it yet but I will. He said he was nervous and kept getting his claps off. Too cute!

Yesterday morning I was up way early and had to take Addy to see Dr. Heart. Everything looks good! Still no more signs of pulmonary hypertension and just a tiny hole that should still close. Even if it doesn't there's no concerns! Pulse ox was 99!

I'm gonna be out today, don't be jealous, but Avery, Addy and I are going here!

STILL infected

Well Addy still has her ear infection!! New Dr. Pediatrician got her tube out, it was just barely hanging on in there so he removed it. Her eardrum is really red but not bulging. So new antibiotics and we go see new Dr. ENT on August 6th. He's actually not new to me, he did Jarika's tubes when she was 11 months old and I loved him so I'm fine with the referral. I think he is pretty even with old Dr. ENT.

This week Addy has decided to hit the terrible twos! She is at that stage where she thinks she has to have some random item at all times and if you even think of taking it from her, you're history! Her items of the week are her pringle chip (the insert for her AFOs) that she is holding onto in the pic, hair detangler, a train piece and the item of this morning was an old prescription bottle that I took for the new doc to write a new script! She had it in her hands and he took it to get the dosage and she went nuts! Full blown screaming fit! He handed it back and she instantly turned off the tears and smiled ear to ear! I think we're in trouble!

Wordless Wednesday

No more nebs!

I took Addy for her yearly check with Dr. Lungs (i totally stole that from Stephanie , I hope you don't mind! ) He said that we no longer have to give Addy her daily nebs! Not that they are a big deal, but it's so nice to know that her lungs are beyond what people thought they would be! Yeah! She weighed 19 lbs. even with a wet diaper. Dr. Lungs is in the same office as new Dr. Pediatrician so his nurse stopped me to let me know that they have put in a referral for Addy to see a new ENT. I'm hoping maybe we can finally get that ABR done! You might remember what happened last time:click here
I went by the old pediatrician's office to sign the release for all of Addy's medical records since we had to switch. It's kinda sad leaving there, that office had been my pediatrician's office since I was 4! But as my dad always told me, it's not what happens to you it's how you handle it. So since we have had to completely switch medical coverage and medical networks I've decided that I'm just going to look forward to all of the good things that all of the new medical staff are going to do for this angel who is going to touch their hearts, just like she did everyone else!

4th of July

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th! We went to our annual 4th of July Parade here in Marshfield in the morning. You really can't say you're a Marshfieldian if you don't go to the parade on the 4th! Scott went to Kentucky on Tuesday and brought his mom back for a visit. She hadn't seen our new house (which is now 3 years old!) and she had only seen Addysen once last year when we were driving back from Florida. It was a nice visit. She didn't get to see Jarika because she was in Springfield with my mom since she had to work everyday. Too much driving for that girl! I didn't want her on the highway during the holiday anyway! Avery loves gathering the candy! Addy enjoyed it and had fun sharing a popsicle! She didn't much care for the trucks blaring their horns but I don't like it either! Scott grilled steak for dinner and we had strawberry shortcake and blackberry cobbler for dessert, yum! We went to my friend, Lisa's, house to watch fireworks, it was so much fun. My friend Susan and her husband and kids were there too so it was nice hanging out with friends for the 4th! Addy wasn't too keen on the fireworks this year but she handled them very well! She just whined a little when they would whistle really loud! We usually go to my brother's and watch a big fireworks show in their town but due to budget cuts they didn't put on a show this year!

This is TJ, he is a hoot! I have known TJ and his family since he was in first grade. He is now 19 and works at McDonald's and is just an all around awesome kid. He had the lead in our school play The Jellybean Conspiracy, he was fantastic! He was also a featured speaker at our Buddy Walk a couple of weeks ago. You can tell how Addy feels about him, I have decided that children (and adults for that matter) just know others who have DS, Addy seems to adore them and she gravitates to them! It's so cute!

If you have ever watched Nashville Star, this is Justin David, he was on the first season I think. He came in second and he is a local boy!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Still infected

I took Addysen to her new pediatrician this morning. I think I'm really going to like him! Yeah! Her right ear is still infected and her left one has fluid and is pink so it was on its way. He put her on Omnicef so hopefully it will kick it. I should have known that the Amoxicillan wasn't going to do anything, it never did with my other kids. Oh well, she is obviously not complaining! She weighed in at a whopping 18lbs. 10 oz. today, which is down from 19 something, I can't remember. We talked about her weight dropping and he said that he doesn't want to change anything until he can go over all of her records from St. Johns. I am fine with that, it just means waiting a little bit. He wants the records ASAP so he can know more about Addy. He took a glance at the running record I keep of her and thought that he just might need to go over all of "stuff" with a fine tooth comb! He is ordering a thyroid test and may also begin the process to test for Celiac. I'm pretty positive her former pediatrician didn't test those two things at all. So I will be hot on the phone tomorrow with her former pediatrician, opthamologist and ENT and current cardiologist, surgeon and pulmonologist to get him all of her records. He's going to have a ton of homework!

Scott is in Kentucky picking up his mom for a visit. They will come home tomorrow then he will have to drive all the way there and back on Sunday, yuck! So I better get moving, the house is a pit and I have zero motivation, I just started my vacation!