It should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me to read that I like movies. I have literally hundreds of movies on DVD and blu-ray. And then I rewatch some of them because they're my favorites.
Every October, I watch scary or suspenseful movies. The last couple years were devoted to Hitchcock because those aren't as traumatizing to small children who might wander in. Some years, though, I do a theme of ghost (Session 9, The Changeling, The Others, Poltergeist, etc) or gore (Evil Dead, Cabin in the Woods, 28 Days Later, etc). Sometimes it's suspense like Panic Room or Red Eye. Anything that gets the adrenaline pumping is awesome.
There's not a ton of Thanksgiving movies, but I do try to watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles every couple of years. John Candy and Steve Martin road tripping against their will is always going to be funny. For a while, our family watched Flash Gordon every year and that. is. terrible. As Dad would say, it's so bad it's good. It's camp.
Jaws, of course, is great for the 4th of July. Or really anytime of year. It's Jaws. What's not to love? Though if Jaws isn't your speed, there's obviously Independence Day because if you don't like blowing up sharks, you might like blowing up invading aliens.
There are plenty of romantic movies, both dramas and comedies, to watch around Valentine's Day and war movies to watch around Memorial and Veteran's Day.
My favorite time of year, though, is December when it's time for Christmas movies.
Growing up, we didn't have a TV until I was 10. Mom and Dad had a TV-VCR combo at the office for educational purposes and over the Christmas break they'd bring it home and we'd binge watch movies before that was really a thing. We'd all go to Videoville and everyone got one movie then we'd go home and watch them all that night and go back the next day. I saw a few movies I probably shouldn't have at young ages, like Lethal Weapon and other similar movies. I remember very little about those films but it was always my favorite time of year. Piling everyone on the foldout sofa bed to watch movies and roast marshmallows in the fireplace was so much fun for a little kid. The older kids probably didn't like it at much, but who cares.
When I got out on my own, I started doing my own version of movies in December. I started out with stereotypical Christmas movies, like A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation. (I'm really not a fan of It's a Wonderful Life or White Christmas so I don't watch them if I don't have to.) I added in While You Were Sleeping at some point because I really love that movie. It's not TECHNICALLY a Christmas movie, though, so that began a new twist to my tradition: the non-traditional Christmas movies.
It's been disputed recently in our household what exactly that means. We've come to a fairly simple explanation. A Non-Traditional Christmas Movie (NTCM from now on) takes place at or around Christmas for the whole movie. Christmas is a key part of the plot, but not the reason for it. You could take Christmas out of the movie and it would still make sense.
Examples where the movie wouldn't make sense if it weren't Christmas: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, any iteration of A Christmas Carol (though the writers could probably figure it out), Elf, The Santa Clause, Miracle on 34th Street, Polar Express, Christmas with the Kranks, etc. The list goes on and on. It's easy to find traditional Christmas movies. It's not easy to find traditional Christmas movies that don't have Santa and since we don't "do" Santa, that makes it tricky for us.
Movies that meet the NTCM requirements might surprise you. This is MY opinion, so if you disagree, that's fine. But think about it.
Home Alone: family could forget Kevin at ANY time of year (and seriously, they do it twice. I don't feel like such a terrible mom when I think about that). Terrible parenting and frantic traveling happen all the time. Granted, it's more frantic at Christmas and there's more motivation for the thieves, but still. Could happen any time.
Die Hard: He could have been going to LA just to see his family, or for his kid's birthday, or whatever. It didn't HAVE to be for Christmas. They could have been having a party to celebrate a big merger or something. Same for Die Hard 2: She could have been flying anytime. Again, Christmas makes it easier to explain crowded areas, but it could be rewritten to be anytime.
Trading Places: it takes place around the holidays but the only part that really matters for that is the reading of the orange crops at the end. I have no idea when that happens in real life or of there's something similar that could be substituted, but I'm betting yes.
Gremlins: It's been a while since I saw this, but when I did, I'd totally forgotten that it took place at Christmas.
Love Actually: Christmas definitely helps to tie all the threads together.
Silver Linings Playbook: I can't remember, but I want to say it's around Christmas? I feel like I remember Christmas lights. I haven't seen it since it came out.
A Nightmare at Christmas is kind of in a gray area as to whether it's traditional or not. It covers two holidays, but Christmas is an integral part of the plot.
Movies that I personally think DON'T count as Christmas movies, even though they have Christmas scenes:
Harry Potter
Bridget Jones
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
When Harry Met Sally
Raising Arizona
So every year, we make a pile of our favorite traditional and NT Christmas movies and watch them throughout the month. It's fun and comforting and I look forward to it every year. It's probably my favorite part of the month, second only to the excitement from the kids when they open their presents. The shopping and hiding and wrapping and the cooking and cleaning and transporting and keeping track of are stressful and tiring.
So what'd I miss? What are your favorite Traditional and NT Christmas movies? What movies do I need to add to my roster? Nearly everything I've mentioned I own, which shows you have extensive our collection is. If you don't watch a movie with Christmas in it, what do you watch? We also used to watch The Sound of Music at Thanksgiving, but it's soooo long. I like to keep it at or under 2 hours.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Two out of four doctors agree, and that's good enough for me.
We had a cardio appointment today an I know you're all DYING to know what happened, so I won't beat around the bush.
The decision has been not to do surgery.
Yes, I realize we were told this back in August and then were thrown into limbo in September as we waited to hear from everyone and then in November were told "probably soon." It's been a roller coaster of emotion for me, too. Getting myself emotionally and mentally prepared to take my baby daughter half way across the country so a doctor I've never met can cut open her chest is not easy. And I've done it twice this year.
Dr. S heard from the doctor at Stanford, Dr. H, and he said he wouldn't touch Eden. Her sats are great, she's growing well, she shows no symptoms of any negative sort. According to Dr. S, Stanford is the hospital that does this heart the best, so she's giving his opinion a little more weight than the others. Dr. F in Dallas doesn't feel that her VSD (hole in the bottom) is big enough to properly do the double switch operation, so were he to repair her heart, it would involve a pacemaker, which would increase the likelihood of a heart transplant later in life and would almost definitely lead to heart block. As great as heart transplants are for people who need them, I really don't want Eden to be one of those people. Dr. B at Columbia thinks the VSD IS big enough and says he could do the surgery without heart block becoming an issue later on. Dr. S agrees that the VSD isn't big enough, so she was glad to hear that Dr. H agreed with her assessment.
As you can see, this kind of heart if controversial. Dr. S said you could show the same heart to three cardiologists and three cardio-thoracic surgeons and get 6 different opinions. Which is not terribly helpful to the worried parents.
Dr. S was brutally honest and said that she has not seen a lot of good long term outcomes from doing surgery to repair hearts like this on babies. They generally do much better when they're older, so obviously I want to wait even more now. Like, maybe 50 or 60 years. If we ever do it.
So yes, more wait and see. Wait and see if she gets bluer, wait and see if she continues to grow and hit her developmental milestones in an appropriate time frame, wait and see if she starts to get tired more easily and more quickly. All those will be signs that the right side of her heart is struggling and weakening and that will be the go ahead for the doctors to once again evaluate updated scans and tests and determine the best course of action.
Unfortunately, we have no idea when or if this would happen. Some people live their whole lives with no real problems, some start experiencing issues in their 40's, some in their 20's, some sooner. We will have to watch her her whole life. I really hope she's up for the constant scrutiny.
We'll see Dr. S again a couple of weeks after Eden's first birthday and then not again until June. We'll go to an every four month schedule instead of a monthly schedule and will go to Dallas for a sedated Echo once a year.
As for Eden's ptosis, we were thinking she'd have surgery before her June 2016 appointment. If and when we do something about that, Dr. S wants us to go to Children's for it. Currently, she's doing fine. Her vision seems to be just fine but if it gets to the point that it needs correcting surgically, they don't want surgeons in Abilene to touch her. We may go ahead and get a referral to a pediatric ophthalmologist at Children's and have them look at her next year, but we may not. I'm really hoping it's simply a cosmetic thing that she can live with for a long time.
This, I'm choosing to believe, is great news. I'm happy with it. I do see the side of "let's do surgery before she really starts to NEED it," but at the same time, I really don't want my daughter's chest to be cut open. Like, I can't even begin to describe how much I don't want that.
So Merry Christmas to everyone! It'll definitely be a happy one around here without this awful thing hanging over our heads. And she's such a happy girl, it's hard to be in a bad mood around her. She has the best smiles.
The decision has been not to do surgery.
Yes, I realize we were told this back in August and then were thrown into limbo in September as we waited to hear from everyone and then in November were told "probably soon." It's been a roller coaster of emotion for me, too. Getting myself emotionally and mentally prepared to take my baby daughter half way across the country so a doctor I've never met can cut open her chest is not easy. And I've done it twice this year.
Dr. S heard from the doctor at Stanford, Dr. H, and he said he wouldn't touch Eden. Her sats are great, she's growing well, she shows no symptoms of any negative sort. According to Dr. S, Stanford is the hospital that does this heart the best, so she's giving his opinion a little more weight than the others. Dr. F in Dallas doesn't feel that her VSD (hole in the bottom) is big enough to properly do the double switch operation, so were he to repair her heart, it would involve a pacemaker, which would increase the likelihood of a heart transplant later in life and would almost definitely lead to heart block. As great as heart transplants are for people who need them, I really don't want Eden to be one of those people. Dr. B at Columbia thinks the VSD IS big enough and says he could do the surgery without heart block becoming an issue later on. Dr. S agrees that the VSD isn't big enough, so she was glad to hear that Dr. H agreed with her assessment.
As you can see, this kind of heart if controversial. Dr. S said you could show the same heart to three cardiologists and three cardio-thoracic surgeons and get 6 different opinions. Which is not terribly helpful to the worried parents.
Dr. S was brutally honest and said that she has not seen a lot of good long term outcomes from doing surgery to repair hearts like this on babies. They generally do much better when they're older, so obviously I want to wait even more now. Like, maybe 50 or 60 years. If we ever do it.
So yes, more wait and see. Wait and see if she gets bluer, wait and see if she continues to grow and hit her developmental milestones in an appropriate time frame, wait and see if she starts to get tired more easily and more quickly. All those will be signs that the right side of her heart is struggling and weakening and that will be the go ahead for the doctors to once again evaluate updated scans and tests and determine the best course of action.
Unfortunately, we have no idea when or if this would happen. Some people live their whole lives with no real problems, some start experiencing issues in their 40's, some in their 20's, some sooner. We will have to watch her her whole life. I really hope she's up for the constant scrutiny.
We'll see Dr. S again a couple of weeks after Eden's first birthday and then not again until June. We'll go to an every four month schedule instead of a monthly schedule and will go to Dallas for a sedated Echo once a year.
As for Eden's ptosis, we were thinking she'd have surgery before her June 2016 appointment. If and when we do something about that, Dr. S wants us to go to Children's for it. Currently, she's doing fine. Her vision seems to be just fine but if it gets to the point that it needs correcting surgically, they don't want surgeons in Abilene to touch her. We may go ahead and get a referral to a pediatric ophthalmologist at Children's and have them look at her next year, but we may not. I'm really hoping it's simply a cosmetic thing that she can live with for a long time.
This, I'm choosing to believe, is great news. I'm happy with it. I do see the side of "let's do surgery before she really starts to NEED it," but at the same time, I really don't want my daughter's chest to be cut open. Like, I can't even begin to describe how much I don't want that.
So Merry Christmas to everyone! It'll definitely be a happy one around here without this awful thing hanging over our heads. And she's such a happy girl, it's hard to be in a bad mood around her. She has the best smiles.
Waiting for the Christmas program at church.
Smiling at Mommy
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Time is passing me by and I've lost my watch
You guys. I'm 32 now. Thirty-two! How did that happen? And when? The line "I don't remember getting older" has been running through my head recently. It seriously feels like just a little while ago that I was in college and that was over ten years. Ten. Years.
Aging is such a strange thing. I think our minds kind of quit aging really around our teens. That's why it's so hard for us to realize how old we are sometimes. That's why time slips by so quickly. I don't feel that different emotionally and mentally now than when I was 16 or 17. More confident and self assured, definitely. More knowledgeable about a great many different things for sure. But older? Good lord no. It doesn't feel like 16 was 16 years ago. I've been driving for over half my life. I've been out of mandatory school for 14.5 years. I've been married for 7.5 years. I have THREE CHILDREN (who decided THAT was a smart move? Me taking care of three kids seems like a bad idea.) I've got a son who is almost 5 and I've been in this current house for over 5 years, the longest I've lived anywhere since moving out of my parents house to go to college. When I sit down to add all the numbers up, I get to 32 years old and it still doesn't make sense.
It's like trying to balance a check book: the numbers are all there and (hopefully) add up evenly, but sometimes it still doesn't make sense. Did I fall asleep and miss something? Did I hit a time warp at some point? Maybe that was it. Time warp makes as much sense as anything else. That or I'm secretly Rip van Winkle.
And then at other times, yes, I am ABSOLUTELY 32. The idea of going out to clubs or bars or taking wild vacations or drinking all night (you know, stereotypical 20-something behavior) sounds exhausting. I'd much rather sit at home and cross-stitch and watch Netflix or Hulu or watch a dvd or listen to an audio book. (Maybe I'm actually OLDER than 32, based on my favorite activities. I'm ready to sign up for AARP! Cripes.) Chasing my children around a park or playground is tiring. Taking a big trip SOUNDS fun, but actually doing it is so not fun. We recently went on our annual New Braunfels trip and it was a lot. Packing for three kids and myself away for four days and planning on cooking while we're there....well, I filled my car and Austin's with our gear. And we used every bit of it. We played the games, spread the toys across the floor, watched the dvds, ate the food, wore the clothes, changed the diapers, used the Go-Pod and the pack-n-play, mixed up the bottles, drank, then washed the bottles. The last 24 hours I was essentially on my own. Yes, family was around but it's still really me. And it was tiring.
I'm 32 now! I'm getting older! My hair is still thick and dark, but now the color is helped along. I've got shiny silver hairs taking over and pushing the dark ones aside. My skin is still fairly smooth, but it's starting to loosen and crease. My body is thicker than 16 years ago, and for good reason. It's been stretched and filled and emptied three times. I've been marked by my 32 years on this planet. I've been physically scarred, and torn. I've been formed by life and changed from who I was, like a lump of clay. And the clay has been painted and now the paint is starting slowly to fade and chip away, but the cracks could be beautiful, too, if I let them.
If I embrace my new 32 year old self, embrace the stretch marks and gray hairs and coming wrinkles (though my mom doesn't have many so fingers crossed), embrace the canvas and the paint, then I'll be setting a good example for my children AND making my life easier. Complaining about how I look isn't good for anyone. I'm soft for little heads to lay on and my hair is silver to shine in the darkness when they're scared and need Mommy.
It's been an eventful 32 years. Moves, deaths, marriages, births, work, play, sleep, sleeplessness, so much has happened. And so much is still to come.
But seriously. Thirty-two years. Time flies when you're having fun.
Aging is such a strange thing. I think our minds kind of quit aging really around our teens. That's why it's so hard for us to realize how old we are sometimes. That's why time slips by so quickly. I don't feel that different emotionally and mentally now than when I was 16 or 17. More confident and self assured, definitely. More knowledgeable about a great many different things for sure. But older? Good lord no. It doesn't feel like 16 was 16 years ago. I've been driving for over half my life. I've been out of mandatory school for 14.5 years. I've been married for 7.5 years. I have THREE CHILDREN (who decided THAT was a smart move? Me taking care of three kids seems like a bad idea.) I've got a son who is almost 5 and I've been in this current house for over 5 years, the longest I've lived anywhere since moving out of my parents house to go to college. When I sit down to add all the numbers up, I get to 32 years old and it still doesn't make sense.
It's like trying to balance a check book: the numbers are all there and (hopefully) add up evenly, but sometimes it still doesn't make sense. Did I fall asleep and miss something? Did I hit a time warp at some point? Maybe that was it. Time warp makes as much sense as anything else. That or I'm secretly Rip van Winkle.
And then at other times, yes, I am ABSOLUTELY 32. The idea of going out to clubs or bars or taking wild vacations or drinking all night (you know, stereotypical 20-something behavior) sounds exhausting. I'd much rather sit at home and cross-stitch and watch Netflix or Hulu or watch a dvd or listen to an audio book. (Maybe I'm actually OLDER than 32, based on my favorite activities. I'm ready to sign up for AARP! Cripes.) Chasing my children around a park or playground is tiring. Taking a big trip SOUNDS fun, but actually doing it is so not fun. We recently went on our annual New Braunfels trip and it was a lot. Packing for three kids and myself away for four days and planning on cooking while we're there....well, I filled my car and Austin's with our gear. And we used every bit of it. We played the games, spread the toys across the floor, watched the dvds, ate the food, wore the clothes, changed the diapers, used the Go-Pod and the pack-n-play, mixed up the bottles, drank, then washed the bottles. The last 24 hours I was essentially on my own. Yes, family was around but it's still really me. And it was tiring.
I'm 32 now! I'm getting older! My hair is still thick and dark, but now the color is helped along. I've got shiny silver hairs taking over and pushing the dark ones aside. My skin is still fairly smooth, but it's starting to loosen and crease. My body is thicker than 16 years ago, and for good reason. It's been stretched and filled and emptied three times. I've been marked by my 32 years on this planet. I've been physically scarred, and torn. I've been formed by life and changed from who I was, like a lump of clay. And the clay has been painted and now the paint is starting slowly to fade and chip away, but the cracks could be beautiful, too, if I let them.
If I embrace my new 32 year old self, embrace the stretch marks and gray hairs and coming wrinkles (though my mom doesn't have many so fingers crossed), embrace the canvas and the paint, then I'll be setting a good example for my children AND making my life easier. Complaining about how I look isn't good for anyone. I'm soft for little heads to lay on and my hair is silver to shine in the darkness when they're scared and need Mommy.
It's been an eventful 32 years. Moves, deaths, marriages, births, work, play, sleep, sleeplessness, so much has happened. And so much is still to come.
But seriously. Thirty-two years. Time flies when you're having fun.
I was seriously a cute toddler. Look at me!
In college: scraping wallpaper in our tiny bathroom to repaint it. We found something like 4 layers of paper. Not even kidding. I still have that shirt. It does NOT fit as well as it used to.
This past weekend at my birthday dinner.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Ambiguity is kind of annoying, but also kind of not.
Sorry for the long delay! As I wrote, October is a crazy month for us normally and then the three kids all getting sick it made this year worse. November's been ok so far.
Today was Eden's monthly exam. We didn't have one in October, so it's been two months since the doctor has seen her. She was thrilled with Eden's growth and stats. Her oxygen levels have been great, above 90 even when she had croup, and her weight gain is good, too. She's active and healthy and happy and just a great little girl. She's up to 18#12 and 27.5" long.
When we saw Dr. S, she started off by telling me about her attempts to get Eden approved for the anti-body shot. The peer she did a peer-to-peer with is an oncologist who works with adults, so he didn't completely understand her description of Eden's cardiac anatomy. So he denied us. Dr. S has requested an appeal and is hoping that whoever she talks to will have a better understanding of the heart. We're all a bit skeptical.
Then, the part we've ALL been waiting for: surgical talk.
If you recall from my August post, Dr. S wanted to send Eden's chart and file to doctors at Stanford and Columbia to get a consensus because her gut reaction was to leave Eden alone for a while and not do surgery. There's a chance of heart block because of how everything is laid out, which would be bad. There's also a risk of heart block if they do nothing. Since she's not a surgeon, she wanted to get everyone's thoughts on Eden and see what they all thought. She's heard back from Columbia.
Dr. M is the doctor at Columbia and based on Eden's chart, he thinks he can do her surgery without the risk of heart block later on. He would want to do the surgery sooner rather than later.
Dr. F is the doctor at Children's in Dallas and he was initially saying he wasn't sure if he could do it without there still being a chance for heart block. He wants to do a heart cath once Eden is a year old and then potentially do the surgery shortly after.
I don't have a name for the doctor at Stanford, but a quick internet search only brings up one cardiac surgeon. They're having some kind of conference soon and Eden's case is going to be discussed. Hopefully Dr. S and Dr. F will get the info quickly after. Then, they'll sit down with all the info from all the doctors and be able to present several options to us. Afterwards, Dr. S said she recommends we talk to the doctors personally to ask any questions we might have.
We have final say in what happens, where we go, what surgery Eden has. The doctors are all there to help us make the best, most informed decision we can. Dr. S promised to be brutally honest with us as to her opinion as to what would be our best option, even if it's not them. No matter what, she'll be our pre and post care provider.
If we go with Stanford or Columbia's plan, we'd do the heart cath and surgery there....meaning traveling and being across the country for weeks. There's a slim chance that one of those hospitals will suggest a surgical plan that Dr. F thinks we can do in Dallas, and that's what I'm hoping for but I'm very skeptical.
So again, things are still ambiguous. But a little more definitive? Something. We're fairly certain that we'll be having a catheter procedure in the first three months or so of next year and very likely surgery shortly after that.
It makes me want to throw up.
I don't like hospitals or big cities and I despise the thought of Eden cut open and in pain during the recovery period. I hate the prospect of being so far away from the boys for so long. I hate the turmoil this is going to bring to my family and the uncertainty of the whole situation. I wish I could just ignore it and it would go away.
We're thinking we'll hear something definitive by mid December. Our next appointment is December 17, the week before Christmas. The next two months will be a lot of thinking and researching and talking and planning. And hopefully by this time next year, all the big scary stuff will be behind us.
In happier news, Eden is pulling up. She doesn't know how to sit back down so she kid of releases and falls, which makes her cry. I haven't gotten a picture yet, but she's pretty cute and SO proud of herself when she gets upright.
Austin has officially taken over as praise leader for Grace Falls at First Christian Church. So if you've ever wanted to sing or play an instrument in church, hit him up! He's looking for new blood for the band and pretty much anyone will be welcomed.
Eden's Medical Fund
Today was Eden's monthly exam. We didn't have one in October, so it's been two months since the doctor has seen her. She was thrilled with Eden's growth and stats. Her oxygen levels have been great, above 90 even when she had croup, and her weight gain is good, too. She's active and healthy and happy and just a great little girl. She's up to 18#12 and 27.5" long.
When we saw Dr. S, she started off by telling me about her attempts to get Eden approved for the anti-body shot. The peer she did a peer-to-peer with is an oncologist who works with adults, so he didn't completely understand her description of Eden's cardiac anatomy. So he denied us. Dr. S has requested an appeal and is hoping that whoever she talks to will have a better understanding of the heart. We're all a bit skeptical.
Then, the part we've ALL been waiting for: surgical talk.
If you recall from my August post, Dr. S wanted to send Eden's chart and file to doctors at Stanford and Columbia to get a consensus because her gut reaction was to leave Eden alone for a while and not do surgery. There's a chance of heart block because of how everything is laid out, which would be bad. There's also a risk of heart block if they do nothing. Since she's not a surgeon, she wanted to get everyone's thoughts on Eden and see what they all thought. She's heard back from Columbia.
Dr. M is the doctor at Columbia and based on Eden's chart, he thinks he can do her surgery without the risk of heart block later on. He would want to do the surgery sooner rather than later.
Dr. F is the doctor at Children's in Dallas and he was initially saying he wasn't sure if he could do it without there still being a chance for heart block. He wants to do a heart cath once Eden is a year old and then potentially do the surgery shortly after.
I don't have a name for the doctor at Stanford, but a quick internet search only brings up one cardiac surgeon. They're having some kind of conference soon and Eden's case is going to be discussed. Hopefully Dr. S and Dr. F will get the info quickly after. Then, they'll sit down with all the info from all the doctors and be able to present several options to us. Afterwards, Dr. S said she recommends we talk to the doctors personally to ask any questions we might have.
We have final say in what happens, where we go, what surgery Eden has. The doctors are all there to help us make the best, most informed decision we can. Dr. S promised to be brutally honest with us as to her opinion as to what would be our best option, even if it's not them. No matter what, she'll be our pre and post care provider.
If we go with Stanford or Columbia's plan, we'd do the heart cath and surgery there....meaning traveling and being across the country for weeks. There's a slim chance that one of those hospitals will suggest a surgical plan that Dr. F thinks we can do in Dallas, and that's what I'm hoping for but I'm very skeptical.
So again, things are still ambiguous. But a little more definitive? Something. We're fairly certain that we'll be having a catheter procedure in the first three months or so of next year and very likely surgery shortly after that.
It makes me want to throw up.
I don't like hospitals or big cities and I despise the thought of Eden cut open and in pain during the recovery period. I hate the prospect of being so far away from the boys for so long. I hate the turmoil this is going to bring to my family and the uncertainty of the whole situation. I wish I could just ignore it and it would go away.
We're thinking we'll hear something definitive by mid December. Our next appointment is December 17, the week before Christmas. The next two months will be a lot of thinking and researching and talking and planning. And hopefully by this time next year, all the big scary stuff will be behind us.
In happier news, Eden is pulling up. She doesn't know how to sit back down so she kid of releases and falls, which makes her cry. I haven't gotten a picture yet, but she's pretty cute and SO proud of herself when she gets upright.
Austin has officially taken over as praise leader for Grace Falls at First Christian Church. So if you've ever wanted to sing or play an instrument in church, hit him up! He's looking for new blood for the band and pretty much anyone will be welcomed.
Eden's Medical Fund
She was fascinated by the baby in the mirror.
Her hospital gown was a little too big. Maybe in a year or two it'll fit. lol
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
We Survived October!
It's been a while, I know. I'm sorry. In my defense, October is a bad month for us. Austin has the BEST robotics competition nearly every Saturday and works on it most evenings and this October, I had three weeks of the kids being sick, one after the other. I mean, I guess I appreciate that they didn't do it all together? But gah. It was not fun. When Eden woke up with croup after her brothers had had it the two weeks prior, I called the doctor and she just called in a prescription, saving me the $40 sickness visit charge.
Since I last wrote, mostly we've been dealing with the croup. First Elijah, then Asher, then Eden. Both boys started it off with vomiting and fever, then just the coughing and loss of voice that is croup. Elijah got done then two days later it was Asher and two days after him was Eden. Eden, surprisingly, handled it the best and Asher was the worst. Eden didn't throw up, she mostly just coughed and whimpered a little and was a bit more clingy than usual, but overall she did great. Asher whined and complained and cried and just generally got the short end of the patience stick because I was SO over it at that point.
Halloween was good for us. No trunk or treat by our church but the neighboring one had one that was pretty sad. We were the Ghostbusters family, with Austin and I dressed as Ghostbusters (t-shirts we got on Amazon), Asher a random skeleton (sure, why not), Elijah as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (costume crafting is NOT my strong point) and Eden as Slimer (she was perfect.) The kids and I wore our costumes for their Halloween party at FKO and then again on Saturday for the trunk or treat and then actual trick or treating in a friend's neighborhood. We came home with three buckets of candy. Not too shabby. lol
Mom organized the annual International Gift Festival (that thing has had so many names its hard keeping track) over Halloween weekend and I think it did pretty well. I haven't heard the final numbers, but when I was there working for 2 hours Saturday morning we had a steady stream of customers.
Austin's parents came down for the weekend to shop at the craft fair and to trick or treat with us. They wore t-shirts with the Ghostbusters logo on it, so they were part of the theme, too.
On Eden's medical front, we still have no news. I know, it's annoying. No one is more aggravated than me. It's been three months since the visit where we got the news we might not do surgery and no confirmation or denial of that. We didn't have an appointment in October because she's doing so well and there wasn't much need for one. Even with croup, her oxygen levels didn't drop much. She was in the mid-80s consistently during the spring and early summer but over the last several weeks, she's been mainly in the lower-90s, sometimes even the mid-90s. With croup, she was in the upper-80s.
She's crawling and thinking about standing up (she'll put her palms flat on the floor and straighten her legs into a standing position with her butt in the air, stand there for a moment, then sit back down like "well that didn't work." She still isn't a fan of baby food and does ok with table foods we give her. She loves puffs and yogurt melts and gnawing on basically whatever she can get into her mouth. Which recently has become her toes. Teeth into toes is not a sensation she cares for, yet it continues to happen.
So we're trucking along. Nothing terribly exciting happening around here. The kids are like puppies half the time, the boys rolling around wrestling on the floor while Eden gnaws on a toy nearby. Austin is finally getting to relax a bit since BEST is now basically over (there's a regional competition in Garland in a couple weeks) and I'm gearing up for the Thanksgiving expedition to New Braunfels. We have our next cardio appointment November 19 and I'm REALLY hoping they'll have something to tell us.
Until the next post, have a great week! Or month, as the case may be. In my defense, I only think "oh, I should post" at inopportune times, like laying in bed trying to fall asleep, or in the shower, or driving to somewhere. Never when I'm at home just hanging out.
Since I last wrote, mostly we've been dealing with the croup. First Elijah, then Asher, then Eden. Both boys started it off with vomiting and fever, then just the coughing and loss of voice that is croup. Elijah got done then two days later it was Asher and two days after him was Eden. Eden, surprisingly, handled it the best and Asher was the worst. Eden didn't throw up, she mostly just coughed and whimpered a little and was a bit more clingy than usual, but overall she did great. Asher whined and complained and cried and just generally got the short end of the patience stick because I was SO over it at that point.
Halloween was good for us. No trunk or treat by our church but the neighboring one had one that was pretty sad. We were the Ghostbusters family, with Austin and I dressed as Ghostbusters (t-shirts we got on Amazon), Asher a random skeleton (sure, why not), Elijah as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (costume crafting is NOT my strong point) and Eden as Slimer (she was perfect.) The kids and I wore our costumes for their Halloween party at FKO and then again on Saturday for the trunk or treat and then actual trick or treating in a friend's neighborhood. We came home with three buckets of candy. Not too shabby. lol
Mom organized the annual International Gift Festival (that thing has had so many names its hard keeping track) over Halloween weekend and I think it did pretty well. I haven't heard the final numbers, but when I was there working for 2 hours Saturday morning we had a steady stream of customers.
Austin's parents came down for the weekend to shop at the craft fair and to trick or treat with us. They wore t-shirts with the Ghostbusters logo on it, so they were part of the theme, too.
On Eden's medical front, we still have no news. I know, it's annoying. No one is more aggravated than me. It's been three months since the visit where we got the news we might not do surgery and no confirmation or denial of that. We didn't have an appointment in October because she's doing so well and there wasn't much need for one. Even with croup, her oxygen levels didn't drop much. She was in the mid-80s consistently during the spring and early summer but over the last several weeks, she's been mainly in the lower-90s, sometimes even the mid-90s. With croup, she was in the upper-80s.
She's crawling and thinking about standing up (she'll put her palms flat on the floor and straighten her legs into a standing position with her butt in the air, stand there for a moment, then sit back down like "well that didn't work." She still isn't a fan of baby food and does ok with table foods we give her. She loves puffs and yogurt melts and gnawing on basically whatever she can get into her mouth. Which recently has become her toes. Teeth into toes is not a sensation she cares for, yet it continues to happen.
So we're trucking along. Nothing terribly exciting happening around here. The kids are like puppies half the time, the boys rolling around wrestling on the floor while Eden gnaws on a toy nearby. Austin is finally getting to relax a bit since BEST is now basically over (there's a regional competition in Garland in a couple weeks) and I'm gearing up for the Thanksgiving expedition to New Braunfels. We have our next cardio appointment November 19 and I'm REALLY hoping they'll have something to tell us.
Until the next post, have a great week! Or month, as the case may be. In my defense, I only think "oh, I should post" at inopportune times, like laying in bed trying to fall asleep, or in the shower, or driving to somewhere. Never when I'm at home just hanging out.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
TastyKakes!
A while back, I joined a thing online called Influenster where I review products and occasionally get free products in the mail to try and review. Our first box was full of TastyKakes Minis, little chocolate cupcakes. Elijah, needless to say, was thrilled. That boy loves him some cupcakes.
I've always wanted to try TastyKake because of the Stephanie Plum books. THese did not disappoint. They do have that processed taste like most prepackaged snack cakes, but the mini size was great. It was just a bite for me and Austin and fit perfectly in Elijah's hand. There could have been more cream filling but it wasn't too bad, overall.
We don't usually buy stuff like this to have around the house because we would eat them and we don't need to, but that's really the only reason I wouldn't buy more. Austin and Elijah and I all enjoyed them. And Asher likes so little, he's not really an indicator of anything. Overall, we'd give them 4 out of 5 stars!
I've always wanted to try TastyKake because of the Stephanie Plum books. THese did not disappoint. They do have that processed taste like most prepackaged snack cakes, but the mini size was great. It was just a bite for me and Austin and fit perfectly in Elijah's hand. There could have been more cream filling but it wasn't too bad, overall.
We don't usually buy stuff like this to have around the house because we would eat them and we don't need to, but that's really the only reason I wouldn't buy more. Austin and Elijah and I all enjoyed them. And Asher likes so little, he's not really an indicator of anything. Overall, we'd give them 4 out of 5 stars!
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
All's Quiet on the Home Front
Hello everyone!
Sorry for the long delay, but again, there's nothing to report on Eden. It gets redundant saying that, but it is what it is. I choose to see this as a good thing.
On the family front, Austin and Elijah both had birthdays and are now 32 and 3, respectively. We spent the weekend of Austin's birthday at a hotel so the boys could go swimming because they didn't get to swim nearly enough this summer. It was fun, though they were wiped out and slept most of Sunday and Monday once we got home. That Sunday, Austin flew to Canada for work for a few days. He had an adventure getting to Ottawa, but it was simple getting home, so that was nice. We four had a good week: I went to Dittos and finished out Eden's winter wardrobe and got some extra shirts for the boys as well as a couple Christmas presents for them.
Thursday, I took Elijah out for lunch for his birthday and he had a blast running and playing at Chik-Fil-A with no brother around to boss him around. Asher was upset about not getting to go so this Thursday I'll take him to lunch by himself. Eden doesn't seem to care, since she gets lots of one-on-one time with me anyway.
Saturday was the Abilene Heart Walk. We got up and went to show our support, though we didn't raise any money. Asher cried and whined the whole way. Eden was fine, Elijah was great. Austin and I could have done a couple laps but because of Asher, we packed it in after just the one. Next year, we'll try to be more on top of things. Maybe bring the wagon or another stroller for the kids.
All through September, we asked Elijah what he wanted for his birthday, what dinner he'd like to have, how old he was going to be. We always got the same answer: two cupcakes. So he got two cupcakes for his birthday. Don't worry, we got him a couple small things. He's 3, he doesn't need a lot of presents. Besides, BB and Papa took care of that: he got a pile of books (that Asher commandeered), three trains for his collection, a plate and bowl set that match his backpack, and a Fisher Price record player. He ignored everything but the trains....which he's already attempted to flush down the toilet. So that was fun. After his birthday, we asked him how old he was and he said "Inspector Gadget" so...there's that.
Asher has been doing great with his bowel issues. He's even back in regular underwear during the day! This is huge. He still has discomfort when he goes to the bathroom, but not as bad as before. And he's USING the toilet and feels that he needs to. He went a whole week with no accidents so he got a special treat: a dvd he'd been wanting for a while. Luckily, I got it for free in a giveaway, but he doesn't care.
Eden is doing great. Her weight gain has slowed down a lot but she's not stalled or going backwards so I think we're ok on that front. She was going to slow down anyway. She's currently got a little cold or something so is a bit irritable, but not too bad. She's mostly got a runny nose and she hates having her nose wiped but her oxygen sats haven't decreased so we're mostly just keeping an eye on it. She hasn't had any fever so I'm hoping its maybe some kind of allergies or something.
She's got two teeth now, though not showing a ton of interest in using them. She doesn't want to be fed anything, she only wants to feed herself, which severely limits what I give her. She isn't terribly interested in the baby food frozen drops I made her (pour a jar of baby food in a baggie, snip a corner, squeeze it onto a cookie sheet in drops and freeze) but she loves the Gerber puffs and cookies and soft breads, basically things that all but dissolve. I've started just giving her tiny pieces of whatever we're eating and she sometimes eats it, sometimes looks at me like I'm crazy. She's going to be the oldest person still on formula.
She's still not crawling or pushing herself into a sitting position, but she manages to scoot around anyway. She always ends up underneath furniture, which is getting to be amusing. She'll get up on her hands and knees and kind of bounce her butt, then she'll go back to her tummy. I keep thinking any day she'll start crawling, but we thought her tooth would pop through any day and it ended up being two months. She's really happy just being carried.
I think she likes being a baby. Cute clothes, someone gives you food that's easy to eat, people carry you everywhere, what's not to love? Really, the only thing she doesn't like is being alone in a room. She likes to have a family member nearby.
Mostly, we're just a family doing things. Nothing terribly interesting, either. The kids go to day care twice a week, we go to church once a week, Austin goes to work five times a week (though now that it's October it'll be six times a week), I read books and cook food and do whatever shopping and errands need to be done for the family to get by. I take the kids to MOPS and the library and sometimes to lunch to play. We think about the zoo (but ugh) and the park (double ugh) but stay pretty close to home because I'm lazy.
All is well here. Nothing new to report, nothing exciting going on. Kind of like a family without a heart baby.
Sorry for the long delay, but again, there's nothing to report on Eden. It gets redundant saying that, but it is what it is. I choose to see this as a good thing.
On the family front, Austin and Elijah both had birthdays and are now 32 and 3, respectively. We spent the weekend of Austin's birthday at a hotel so the boys could go swimming because they didn't get to swim nearly enough this summer. It was fun, though they were wiped out and slept most of Sunday and Monday once we got home. That Sunday, Austin flew to Canada for work for a few days. He had an adventure getting to Ottawa, but it was simple getting home, so that was nice. We four had a good week: I went to Dittos and finished out Eden's winter wardrobe and got some extra shirts for the boys as well as a couple Christmas presents for them.
Thursday, I took Elijah out for lunch for his birthday and he had a blast running and playing at Chik-Fil-A with no brother around to boss him around. Asher was upset about not getting to go so this Thursday I'll take him to lunch by himself. Eden doesn't seem to care, since she gets lots of one-on-one time with me anyway.
Saturday was the Abilene Heart Walk. We got up and went to show our support, though we didn't raise any money. Asher cried and whined the whole way. Eden was fine, Elijah was great. Austin and I could have done a couple laps but because of Asher, we packed it in after just the one. Next year, we'll try to be more on top of things. Maybe bring the wagon or another stroller for the kids.
All through September, we asked Elijah what he wanted for his birthday, what dinner he'd like to have, how old he was going to be. We always got the same answer: two cupcakes. So he got two cupcakes for his birthday. Don't worry, we got him a couple small things. He's 3, he doesn't need a lot of presents. Besides, BB and Papa took care of that: he got a pile of books (that Asher commandeered), three trains for his collection, a plate and bowl set that match his backpack, and a Fisher Price record player. He ignored everything but the trains....which he's already attempted to flush down the toilet. So that was fun. After his birthday, we asked him how old he was and he said "Inspector Gadget" so...there's that.
Asher has been doing great with his bowel issues. He's even back in regular underwear during the day! This is huge. He still has discomfort when he goes to the bathroom, but not as bad as before. And he's USING the toilet and feels that he needs to. He went a whole week with no accidents so he got a special treat: a dvd he'd been wanting for a while. Luckily, I got it for free in a giveaway, but he doesn't care.
Eden is doing great. Her weight gain has slowed down a lot but she's not stalled or going backwards so I think we're ok on that front. She was going to slow down anyway. She's currently got a little cold or something so is a bit irritable, but not too bad. She's mostly got a runny nose and she hates having her nose wiped but her oxygen sats haven't decreased so we're mostly just keeping an eye on it. She hasn't had any fever so I'm hoping its maybe some kind of allergies or something.
She's got two teeth now, though not showing a ton of interest in using them. She doesn't want to be fed anything, she only wants to feed herself, which severely limits what I give her. She isn't terribly interested in the baby food frozen drops I made her (pour a jar of baby food in a baggie, snip a corner, squeeze it onto a cookie sheet in drops and freeze) but she loves the Gerber puffs and cookies and soft breads, basically things that all but dissolve. I've started just giving her tiny pieces of whatever we're eating and she sometimes eats it, sometimes looks at me like I'm crazy. She's going to be the oldest person still on formula.
She's still not crawling or pushing herself into a sitting position, but she manages to scoot around anyway. She always ends up underneath furniture, which is getting to be amusing. She'll get up on her hands and knees and kind of bounce her butt, then she'll go back to her tummy. I keep thinking any day she'll start crawling, but we thought her tooth would pop through any day and it ended up being two months. She's really happy just being carried.
I think she likes being a baby. Cute clothes, someone gives you food that's easy to eat, people carry you everywhere, what's not to love? Really, the only thing she doesn't like is being alone in a room. She likes to have a family member nearby.
Mostly, we're just a family doing things. Nothing terribly interesting, either. The kids go to day care twice a week, we go to church once a week, Austin goes to work five times a week (though now that it's October it'll be six times a week), I read books and cook food and do whatever shopping and errands need to be done for the family to get by. I take the kids to MOPS and the library and sometimes to lunch to play. We think about the zoo (but ugh) and the park (double ugh) but stay pretty close to home because I'm lazy.
All is well here. Nothing new to report, nothing exciting going on. Kind of like a family without a heart baby.
Under Oma's couch. Because that's where the baby goes, right?
She gave up halfway through and went to sleep. Gotta love the baby butt in the air sleeping position.
Elijah's birthday lunch. Too busy eating to take a decent picture, this is the best I got.
Elijah's birthday breakfast. When they heard it was his birthday, they gave him a free donut!
Asher only wanted donut holes.
Eden was willing to help anyone who might want to lose a donut her way. No one did.
Me and Elijah on his birthday. It's hard to get him to sit still long enough to get a picture. The back lighting doesn't help.
Asher with his new dvd!
Walking in the Heart Walk
Asher is screaming about being tired or something. Elijah's excited to be outside walking.
Asher declined having a picture taken with the helicopter.
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