I posted way back in April about the newest members of our family, Bebi and Sadie. I've been kind of in and out of here for some time since then and part of that is because of the issues that these puppies have been having.
There are many situations in which I post to facebook, deferring to a short 2 sentence update to get the statement out there to the world, and choosing to not put it on here. However, this is something that I've not posted anywhere.
So, the long and short of it is that the dogs were diagnosed with sarcoptic mange about a month ago. Just google that if you want to know alllllll about it. Basically, the long and short of it is that it is a treatable form of mange, but can be contagious to humans. Fantastic.
If you know me at all, you know that since college, I've been somewhat of a germaphobe. This issue started with me way back in college when I took a class called microbiology. This class basically taught me all about microbes, etc, and what they can do to the body and how they get into the body.
My germaphobia got worse when I started working in one of the only hospitals left in Texas that had a dedicated TB ward and it was impressed upon myself and my grad student that we were to be VERY careful.
Another escalation occurred when Caleb was in the NICU and yet another set of medical professionals ensured that not a moment passed by that I wasn't regaled on the detriment that I could be doing to my kid if I had not washed correctly.
I'm not one to wash constantly or not touch anything, my kids do get dirty, as do I, but I do have some non-negotiables when it comes to hand washing.
So, imagine my horror as I stood in that vet office, the vet refusing to even enter the room after the diagnosis, realizing that both of my kids had loved all over and carried these dogs all around for weeks. Not to mention the fact that they were both well beloved by the neighborhood kids and had come into contact with other pets on our street as well. I was sick to my stomach and wanted the floor to open up and swallow me.
From what we know now, the dogs came to us infected with the mites that cause this type of mange. Their mom was found wandering in the environment, who knows how long she had been there, so it stands to reason that she would have something that her puppies would likely get as well.
Anyway, after the diagnosis, we had to literally wash everything that we owned with bleach and clean everything that couldn't be washed, again with bleach. I spent the morning after the diagnosis washing down my walls, floors and hard surfaces, vacuuming (literally 9 times in one day) and bagging up all the stuffed animals and plush items that couldn't withstand a trip through the washing machine on hot. Those stuffed animals had to remain in a sealed trash bag for 2 weeks. For my girl, who is so totally attached to her "guys", as she calls them, this was heartbreaking for all of us.
I can still hear my washing machine and dryer groan as I approach them with a load, but I can say that we are in the clear now. Today, both Bebi and Sadie had an appointment with our vet and he feels that they are in the clear. However, we are continuing with their medication for another 2 weeks just to be sure. No one that is in or outside of our house that came into contact with them have had any symptoms and Sadie's hair has grown back (she had lost much of it from her hind legs and belly).
Both of our new furry babies are doing well, growing and are happy in their new home. We are thankful to have them and the kiddos are now able to love on them again without worry of getting something! Hooray!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Results
I juuuuuust realized that I never posted about my more recent medical drama.
Boy, this blog is all medical all the time. I really need to stop this.
Anywho, I recently turned tail and fled from my old endocrinologist due to his fact that he was just inept, uncaring, rude, lied to me on a regular basis, and had staff that couldn't read medical reports any better than I could. My new endo did a good overview of my health and decided that I needed to have my TH (thyroid hormone; would tell if I'm on the adequate dosage of synthetic hormone) and thyroglobulin (cancer marker) levels checked.
As a side note, I'm fairly certain that I have post traumatic stress disorder after this whole cancer thing went down last summer because I got the orders on a Wednesday and waited nearly a month before I got my blood drawn. Every tremor, increase in heart rate, hair lost and drop of sweat I developed over the past year had me "convinced" that the cancer had returned. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck.
Well, Dr. L called me while I was at work on a Tuesday night. I was in the middle of class and assumed that I could call him back the next day and talk with someone, until I heard the message he left. Basically he said something along the lines of the following, "We have your blood work back and now we need to talk about our next step." In my mind that meant the following: YOUR CANCER IS BACK AND YOU'RE GOING TO DIE AND LEAVE YOUR FAMILY ALL ALONE AND YOUR CHILDREN MOTHERLESS!!!!!
PTSD anyone?
After phone tag for the next 3 days (and a little stress related hair loss) I finally called his nurse and told her to tell him to call me anytime and I would stop my life to answer his call.
He called me on a Thursday night, right smack in the middle of my class, so I stopped and answered. Basically, my TH levels are right on the dot where they are supposed to be and my thyroglobulin was undetectable.
The best part is that my blood has always had antibodies in it, an indication that my immune system was trying to fight off the cancer and, essentially, kill my thyroid, and this time they were undetectable! The bad thing about any antibodies is that any blood test with them present is null and void because those antibodies skew the results. There was a long shot procedure that could have been done on a blood sample that involved some subjective analysis and a lengthy process involving sending it off to a California lab. Since the antibodies came back, essentially, negative, that was one expense we didn't have to worry about.
So, all in all, everything looks good. As soon as I talked to Dr L, all of my so-called symptoms were gone, another indication that this was all psychosomatic. In other words, I'm crazy...
Boy, this blog is all medical all the time. I really need to stop this.
Anywho, I recently turned tail and fled from my old endocrinologist due to his fact that he was just inept, uncaring, rude, lied to me on a regular basis, and had staff that couldn't read medical reports any better than I could. My new endo did a good overview of my health and decided that I needed to have my TH (thyroid hormone; would tell if I'm on the adequate dosage of synthetic hormone) and thyroglobulin (cancer marker) levels checked.
As a side note, I'm fairly certain that I have post traumatic stress disorder after this whole cancer thing went down last summer because I got the orders on a Wednesday and waited nearly a month before I got my blood drawn. Every tremor, increase in heart rate, hair lost and drop of sweat I developed over the past year had me "convinced" that the cancer had returned. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck.
Well, Dr. L called me while I was at work on a Tuesday night. I was in the middle of class and assumed that I could call him back the next day and talk with someone, until I heard the message he left. Basically he said something along the lines of the following, "We have your blood work back and now we need to talk about our next step." In my mind that meant the following: YOUR CANCER IS BACK AND YOU'RE GOING TO DIE AND LEAVE YOUR FAMILY ALL ALONE AND YOUR CHILDREN MOTHERLESS!!!!!
PTSD anyone?
After phone tag for the next 3 days (and a little stress related hair loss) I finally called his nurse and told her to tell him to call me anytime and I would stop my life to answer his call.
He called me on a Thursday night, right smack in the middle of my class, so I stopped and answered. Basically, my TH levels are right on the dot where they are supposed to be and my thyroglobulin was undetectable.
The best part is that my blood has always had antibodies in it, an indication that my immune system was trying to fight off the cancer and, essentially, kill my thyroid, and this time they were undetectable! The bad thing about any antibodies is that any blood test with them present is null and void because those antibodies skew the results. There was a long shot procedure that could have been done on a blood sample that involved some subjective analysis and a lengthy process involving sending it off to a California lab. Since the antibodies came back, essentially, negative, that was one expense we didn't have to worry about.
So, all in all, everything looks good. As soon as I talked to Dr L, all of my so-called symptoms were gone, another indication that this was all psychosomatic. In other words, I'm crazy...
Monday, April 25, 2011
Hearing
A couple of posts ago, I mentioned about the very basic, rudimentary, test that Caleb underwent during his 6 year well check that he failed. Today was our trip to the audiologist and our beloved ENT to have all this investigated.
The first step when we arrived was the actual hearing screen with the audiologist. Now, if you've been around this blog for a long time, then you will remember a very ill-fated 3-4 month span where we had at least 3 hearing tests with 3 different audiologists, with each one returning as inconclusive. We finally found a pediatric audiologist who could handle a crazy 3 year old boy and get a good test, which he passed with flying colors. So, I was a bit nervous about this go around but Caleb, as he is known to do, surprised me and cooperated and did great!
The long and short of the hearing test is that his right ear is just great, but his left has a measurable, but mild, hearing impairment.
The ENT did a very thorough exam of both his ears, looking for issues that he felt could be the cause, but found nothing. So, there are 2 options as to what is causing this. Either he has some calcification of the bones in his middle ear or he has a degenerative, genetic condition. With the first, Caleb could potentially have surgery at some point to have the calcification removed and restore his hearing. That issue is not progressive and he shouldn't have more hearing loss. The second, genetic, progressive condition will worsen with time and there is nothing to do about that short of fitting him with a hearing aid when it gets to the point at which he can't hear any longer from that ear.
We will go back in 6 months and will know pretty quickly which issue this is. Jes has always had issues with hearing, having trouble when we are in loud, busy places, which we've seen in Caleb. Jes's hearing hasn't worsened over the years, so I'm hoping that this is what this issue turns out to be like. The ENT and I discussed getting Jes in to be tested as well, which will give us another piece of the puzzle, so I'm working on him on that too.
So, that's the long and short of it all. Not great news, but not the absolute worst either.
The first step when we arrived was the actual hearing screen with the audiologist. Now, if you've been around this blog for a long time, then you will remember a very ill-fated 3-4 month span where we had at least 3 hearing tests with 3 different audiologists, with each one returning as inconclusive. We finally found a pediatric audiologist who could handle a crazy 3 year old boy and get a good test, which he passed with flying colors. So, I was a bit nervous about this go around but Caleb, as he is known to do, surprised me and cooperated and did great!
The long and short of the hearing test is that his right ear is just great, but his left has a measurable, but mild, hearing impairment.
The ENT did a very thorough exam of both his ears, looking for issues that he felt could be the cause, but found nothing. So, there are 2 options as to what is causing this. Either he has some calcification of the bones in his middle ear or he has a degenerative, genetic condition. With the first, Caleb could potentially have surgery at some point to have the calcification removed and restore his hearing. That issue is not progressive and he shouldn't have more hearing loss. The second, genetic, progressive condition will worsen with time and there is nothing to do about that short of fitting him with a hearing aid when it gets to the point at which he can't hear any longer from that ear.
We will go back in 6 months and will know pretty quickly which issue this is. Jes has always had issues with hearing, having trouble when we are in loud, busy places, which we've seen in Caleb. Jes's hearing hasn't worsened over the years, so I'm hoping that this is what this issue turns out to be like. The ENT and I discussed getting Jes in to be tested as well, which will give us another piece of the puzzle, so I'm working on him on that too.
So, that's the long and short of it all. Not great news, but not the absolute worst either.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Newest Mathis Family Members
Saturday was Caleb's birthday party and including the festivities that we had planned, we also had a huge surprise for him and Piper.
Basically, a friend of my cousin's took in a dog who was abandoned near her home on the coldest day of the year back in February. Little did she know, this dog was very pregnant and gave birth to a litter of 8 puppies. Seven of those puppies were black with white accents, like mom, but another was blonde.
Susan, my cousin, started linking to photos of these puppies on facebook and I did my dead level best to try to stay away from them, but the pull was just too strong. The kids had been asking for a dog for just over a year now, so I started thinking about these dogs, especially the blonde one.
After a couple of conversations with Jes, we decided that we would go out and get Bebi, the blonde puppy as a surprise for the kids. So, after the party, we packed everything up and hopped in the car and made the trek. When we got there we were welcomed by the family who had taken in the dogs and we set up shop in the back yard to meet he puppies. Caleb was super cute because he thought we were just there to pet them and visit.
This picture I took just as we told Caleb that we were going to take one home! He was SO thrilled!
As we observed the puppies, we quickly discovered that Bebi was quite timid, but super sweet so Jes was concerned that she would be very lonely. He decided that we would take one of Bebi's sisters as well. This came as a total surprise to me, so I guess we were all surprised all the way around.
Here are the kids with the puppies. Bebi is being held by Piper and Caleb is holding Sadie in the above photo. Needless to say, we are thrilled with our new family members. They are super sweet and surprisingly smart, now if I can just stop them from peeing on my carpet...
Basically, a friend of my cousin's took in a dog who was abandoned near her home on the coldest day of the year back in February. Little did she know, this dog was very pregnant and gave birth to a litter of 8 puppies. Seven of those puppies were black with white accents, like mom, but another was blonde.
Susan, my cousin, started linking to photos of these puppies on facebook and I did my dead level best to try to stay away from them, but the pull was just too strong. The kids had been asking for a dog for just over a year now, so I started thinking about these dogs, especially the blonde one.
After a couple of conversations with Jes, we decided that we would go out and get Bebi, the blonde puppy as a surprise for the kids. So, after the party, we packed everything up and hopped in the car and made the trek. When we got there we were welcomed by the family who had taken in the dogs and we set up shop in the back yard to meet he puppies. Caleb was super cute because he thought we were just there to pet them and visit.
This picture I took just as we told Caleb that we were going to take one home! He was SO thrilled!
As we observed the puppies, we quickly discovered that Bebi was quite timid, but super sweet so Jes was concerned that she would be very lonely. He decided that we would take one of Bebi's sisters as well. This came as a total surprise to me, so I guess we were all surprised all the way around.
Here are the kids with the puppies. Bebi is being held by Piper and Caleb is holding Sadie in the above photo. Needless to say, we are thrilled with our new family members. They are super sweet and surprisingly smart, now if I can just stop them from peeing on my carpet...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Caleb's 6 Year Appointment
Bright and early this morning, I packed up the kids and drove to our beloved pediatrician for Caleb's 6 year well appointment.
I came armed with a few questions and some expectations of what our appointment would be like and, true to form, it was a great experience, for the most part.
Basically, this is what we found out:
I came armed with a few questions and some expectations of what our appointment would be like and, true to form, it was a great experience, for the most part.
Basically, this is what we found out:
- Caleb is growing and developing as he should. He is in the 73rd percentile for weight (a decrease from last year), but in the 99th percentile for height. This did not come as any sort of surprise to me as all his clothes are not getting tighter, just shorter. And really, his gene pool pretty much guaranteed his tall-ness.
- This visit, they did the hearing test where they put the probe in his ears to measure the movement of his eardrum. If you've been around here at all then you will remember that we went through a series of these tests a few years ago where he failed each and every one. Our NP and I decided that instead of wasting more money for him to fail another of these tests, I am going to try to get him in right away to see the audiologist. I do not think that he has any hearing loss, but we need to be sure and get it checked out.
- Caleb is right on where he needs to be developmentally, even ahead, for his age. As always, they were very impressed by how intelligent he is, which is always good for a Mama's heart!
- The last thing that we got today was an unofficial diagnosis of ADHD. This does not come as a surprise to me at all as this is something that we have thought was in play for many years now. Since Caleb is not in the school setting, we are able to be much more flexible in treatments and working with him. He does not have any disruptions in his everyday life (eating, sleeping, etc) like many kids, so his is deemed mild and we are able to monitor everything for now. One thing that I really appreciate about our doctors is that they are not over-medicators and don't jump right to that, so we are going to wait, watch and work with him as we have been.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Seriously?!? What Is Wrong With me???
For the last 2+ years, I've been totally open about the fact that I don't ever want to be pregnant or have another baby ever again. Ever.
Then I got cancer.
That changes/changed everything. Last summer, as soon as I got my diagnosis, I immediately started wanting to have another baby. I totally thought I was out of my mind and just reacting to this major life issue and thought it would pass.
It never did.
It, in fact, has gotten much, much worse. To the point where I have had a gut wrenching, visceral reaction when friends recently announced that they were pregnant.
I have 2 kids who are pretty much in the age where they are fairly easy to go and do things with, so why in the world would I want to start over?
What in the world is wrong with me?
Then I got cancer.
That changes/changed everything. Last summer, as soon as I got my diagnosis, I immediately started wanting to have another baby. I totally thought I was out of my mind and just reacting to this major life issue and thought it would pass.
It never did.
It, in fact, has gotten much, much worse. To the point where I have had a gut wrenching, visceral reaction when friends recently announced that they were pregnant.
I have 2 kids who are pretty much in the age where they are fairly easy to go and do things with, so why in the world would I want to start over?
What in the world is wrong with me?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Eye Update
For the last year, Caleb has been wearing glasses. Last February, we took him in for his 6 month visit, something we had been doing for a year previous to that. It was determined at that time that he needed some sort of corrective lens, but only for one eye that had an astigmatism.
The other treatment that we were working with was that he was wearing a patch for 3 hours a day.
Now I know that sounds like SO much fun, but believe me when I tell you that it was a battle every single day.
This morning we went back to visit our family eye doctor to see where he was. His last visit occurred while I was in the hospital in August during my radiation treatment. During that visit, he did not see his regular doctor and Jes took him, all of which threw him totally off and he was less than cooperative. So, to say that we didn't have the best picture of where he stood.
I'm thinking that he was starting to have difficulty seeing at this point, but just wasn't able to articulate that. He's been telling me the past few months that he can't see certain things, usually small print, so I had an idea that this time around would be different.
Caleb is a typical first born and would rather not do something or try to fix a situation if it isn't working out just the way he wants it to. This is also true when it comes to his vision. He often would refuse to complete a task when he was having trouble seeing it, so I knew that we were going to have to have a good screening this time to ensure that we got his prescription correct.
So, before we went to see the doctor this morning, I had a talk with Caleb and let him know that all he had to do was say that he couldn't see something if he couldn't see it. This seemed to be exactly what he needed to hear and probably was what he needed to hear last year too.
Being a mother makes me feel so dumb sometimes. It was just so simple and I made it so hard.
Anyway, his last glasses only had one corrective lens, the left one, because his right eye was just barely outside of normal, not enough for a corrective lens.
However, this time around, his left eye was worse and his astigmatism in the same eye was worse, as was his right eye that was barely out last time.
So, Caleb got new glasses today. They are blue and he loves them.
The best news is that he doesn't have to wear his patch anymore! That's the benefit, I supposed, of his eyes both getting worse.
The other treatment that we were working with was that he was wearing a patch for 3 hours a day.
Now I know that sounds like SO much fun, but believe me when I tell you that it was a battle every single day.
This morning we went back to visit our family eye doctor to see where he was. His last visit occurred while I was in the hospital in August during my radiation treatment. During that visit, he did not see his regular doctor and Jes took him, all of which threw him totally off and he was less than cooperative. So, to say that we didn't have the best picture of where he stood.
I'm thinking that he was starting to have difficulty seeing at this point, but just wasn't able to articulate that. He's been telling me the past few months that he can't see certain things, usually small print, so I had an idea that this time around would be different.
Caleb is a typical first born and would rather not do something or try to fix a situation if it isn't working out just the way he wants it to. This is also true when it comes to his vision. He often would refuse to complete a task when he was having trouble seeing it, so I knew that we were going to have to have a good screening this time to ensure that we got his prescription correct.
So, before we went to see the doctor this morning, I had a talk with Caleb and let him know that all he had to do was say that he couldn't see something if he couldn't see it. This seemed to be exactly what he needed to hear and probably was what he needed to hear last year too.
Being a mother makes me feel so dumb sometimes. It was just so simple and I made it so hard.
Anyway, his last glasses only had one corrective lens, the left one, because his right eye was just barely outside of normal, not enough for a corrective lens.
However, this time around, his left eye was worse and his astigmatism in the same eye was worse, as was his right eye that was barely out last time.
So, Caleb got new glasses today. They are blue and he loves them.
The best news is that he doesn't have to wear his patch anymore! That's the benefit, I supposed, of his eyes both getting worse.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Feb 9-16, 2011
I take an inordinate amount of photos with my iphone. Mainly because it's usually in my hand when there is a cute moment or we are out somewhere. So, because of this, I've decided to do a weekly post with just the photos from my iphone from the week before.
iPhone Photos Feb 9-16 2011:
Last Wednesday, the 9th, we went to a playdate with some of our moms from our MOPS group to exchange Valentines and let the kids play.
Mostly, it was Piper's age and younger, but Caleb had a good time teaching those younger kiddos a thing or two...
On Wednesday, a friend of ours mentioned that she had a dollhouse that she was going to donate to our kid's consignment sale and asked if we would want it. I, of course, said yes because we had looked and looked for one for Piper at Christmas time. The one house I wanted was sold out before I got to go buy it, and it just so happened that this was the very one that our friend gave us! We were so excited and Piper loves it!!
After all of our snow and ice the last couple of weeks, my car was just filthy. I had taken the kids to Dairy Queen the night before and we got a free car wash, so we decided to just go through and knock the dirt off. Both of the kids are terrified of car washes, Piper in particular. Jes had to get her out of her car seat and she sat with me the whole time we went through.
Caleb is still a bit afraid of them too but not as much as his sister, so he decided to hide under a blanket that we keep in the backseat. It was a good thing that we were only in the car wash for a max of 3 minutes because they probably would have both had a nervous breakdown had we been in there for longer.
We love to go to Cabela's in Forth Worth to look around and the kids love their huge fish tanks! We happened to hit it at just the right time this go around to watch feeding time of all the fish.
The director of the aquarium actually donned a wetsuit and got into the tank with all these fish. The feed for the majority of the fish in the tank are other smaller fish, so I was a bit concerned that the kids would be bothered by this but they seemed to be unfazed and were just in awe!
Caleb is coming along in his school work. This week, we crossed over into lesser than/greater than in his math lessons. This is a concept that was very difficult, for many reasons, for me to learn as a student, so I was sort of dreading it. All I had to do was explain it to him once and he got it. He really does have a knack for math, something he definitely got from his dad!
iPhone Photos Feb 9-16 2011:
Last Wednesday, the 9th, we went to a playdate with some of our moms from our MOPS group to exchange Valentines and let the kids play.
Mostly, it was Piper's age and younger, but Caleb had a good time teaching those younger kiddos a thing or two... 
On Wednesday, a friend of ours mentioned that she had a dollhouse that she was going to donate to our kid's consignment sale and asked if we would want it. I, of course, said yes because we had looked and looked for one for Piper at Christmas time. The one house I wanted was sold out before I got to go buy it, and it just so happened that this was the very one that our friend gave us! We were so excited and Piper loves it!!
After all of our snow and ice the last couple of weeks, my car was just filthy. I had taken the kids to Dairy Queen the night before and we got a free car wash, so we decided to just go through and knock the dirt off. Both of the kids are terrified of car washes, Piper in particular. Jes had to get her out of her car seat and she sat with me the whole time we went through.
Caleb is still a bit afraid of them too but not as much as his sister, so he decided to hide under a blanket that we keep in the backseat. It was a good thing that we were only in the car wash for a max of 3 minutes because they probably would have both had a nervous breakdown had we been in there for longer.
We love to go to Cabela's in Forth Worth to look around and the kids love their huge fish tanks! We happened to hit it at just the right time this go around to watch feeding time of all the fish. This may seem like a strange photo, and is, really, quite bad, but I wanted to record this for the future. This, my friends, is my non-milk drinking girl drinking milk from a cup that she requested. Piper hasn't had any milk to drink since we gave up the bottles, so I've had to be extra diligent about ensuring that she gets plenty of calcium from other sources. So, when she requested milk in the middle of school yesterday, I jumped up and accommodated her request. She drank around half of what I put in the cup, something that I deem a huge success!
Piper, like most girls, is fascinated by my hair products and makeup. She has one of my brushes just for herself to play with while I'm getting ready to go somewhere. Yesterday, while I was getting ready to go to work, she wanted to play with my eyelash curler so I got my phone ready and handed it to her. I've tried to catch her doing this in the past and she will say she doesn't want me to take her picture, but I was faster this time! We have missed the last 2 dance classes because of the weather, so this morning when I informed Piper that we were going to dance, she promptly gathered up her "people" and off we went. In her left hand is Puppy, the little stuffed dog that Jes gave her for Valentine's Day. She hasn't let that dog out of her sight since she got it. In her right hand is Birdy. This stuffed bird was Jes's grandmother's and Piper just latched onto it at first sight. She has slept with, cried with, carried around, loved on Birdy for as long as we can remember! He's like another member of the family!
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Snow
So, there's been an inordinate amount of the above here in Texas.
Texas, people! This, we don't know how to deal with. Give us 45, 100+ days in a row and we can deal, but we haven't a clue how to do this!
That photo was taken at the beginning of a major weather event (imagine your most animated, panicked, weather man voice when you read that) that lasted most of last week and it's snowing now as I type this.
Needless to say, we're all super tired of all the white stuff and are ready for it to go back from whence it came!
We haven't really had any issues in the Mathis casa from all this cold weather, however I know quite a few people who have had to deal with frozen pipes, busted pipes, loss of heat and loss of electricity. So, the fun has worn off.
Schools were closed last week, 4 out of the 5 possible days. This meant that the college was closed as well. Couple that with the fact that I missed the Thursday the week before (terrible, horrible, nearly death causing GI bug that my family and I fell victim to) that and you can imagine the mess that our class schedules have become. Missing today is going to be a big problem as will tomorrow, if they decide to close school again.
So, I'm off to try to manipulate my syllabus, once again, to add some time in that doesn't exist. Anyone have any idea how I can increase the hours in the day, just for a little bit?
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Neglect
I had no idea that it's been nearly a month since I posted here...
I've got some posts swirling around in my head, one in particular, that I'll have done and up in the next week or so.
In the meantime, we've been recovering from a particularly nasty GI bug, nearly a week long confinement due to major amounts of ice and snow and are looking toward, but not forward to, more to come this week.
I've been in a near panic, trying to figure out just how I'm going to catch up on all the days we've missed due to weather, but my coworkers and I are about to come to a consensus on those issues. After we're clear on those things, I think I'll be able to breathe easy.
More to come. Stay tuned!
I've got some posts swirling around in my head, one in particular, that I'll have done and up in the next week or so.
In the meantime, we've been recovering from a particularly nasty GI bug, nearly a week long confinement due to major amounts of ice and snow and are looking toward, but not forward to, more to come this week.
I've been in a near panic, trying to figure out just how I'm going to catch up on all the days we've missed due to weather, but my coworkers and I are about to come to a consensus on those issues. After we're clear on those things, I think I'll be able to breathe easy.
More to come. Stay tuned!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Dance
Sometime ago, I met a nice lady who owns a dance studio. After we talked for a bit, she mentioned to me that she had a 2 year old dance class that was a Mommy and Me class. This dance class sounded right up our alley and something that Piper would really enjoy, so I signed us up.
When I talked with Piper about it, she got super excited and acted like she would really love it. Piper and I took some time out, left the boys at home and we went to a darling little dance shop in downtown McKinney to purchase her leotard, tights and shoes. She was so excited and danced around and had so much fun!
Our class is on Wednesday mornings and this past Wednesday was our first class. I didn't get a whole bunch of photos since it is a Mommy and Me class.
Here's my little dancer before we left for class on our first day! She was SO excited just to put on her new dance outfit and got more and more excited as we went along.
When I talked with Piper about it, she got super excited and acted like she would really love it. Piper and I took some time out, left the boys at home and we went to a darling little dance shop in downtown McKinney to purchase her leotard, tights and shoes. She was so excited and danced around and had so much fun!
Our class is on Wednesday mornings and this past Wednesday was our first class. I didn't get a whole bunch of photos since it is a Mommy and Me class.
Here's my little dancer before we left for class on our first day! She was SO excited just to put on her new dance outfit and got more and more excited as we went along.
We got to the studio a bit early, since it was our first day and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there (it's in a neighboring town). This actually worked to our favor because by the time that class started, Piper was totally comfortable in her new surroundings.
Caleb even had his own area to hang out in that has a window that opens up into the studio that Piper and I were in.
I was a bit worried that Piper wouldn't do what was asked of her because she's never been in school or taken any kind of class and she tends to be super shy and distrusting of strangers. However, she surprised me and paid close attention to the teacher, trying and sometimes mastering what was requested of her. The dance teacher asked me a couple of times if Piper was in gymnastics and was surprised when I told her no.
At the end of the class, all the girls got a butterfly stamp and she hasn't stopped talking about that since last week! We can hardly wait to go back this week!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
2 and a half
Dearest Piper,Today, you are officially 2 and a half. This means that in exactly 6 months, you will be 3, the big girl that you proclaim yourself to be every single day.
You are right at 3 feet tall and 32 pounds, but you still are my pocket sized diva. You love all things girly, but are such an enigma, equally loving to play in the dirt and mud. You love to do anything that requires running, jumping, swinging, climbing and just being physical. We have caught you on top of various pieces of furniture without knowing how you go there. Your Daddy and I have to watch you like a hawk, lest you break your neck completing one of these daring adventures of yours.
You are still not potty trained yet, but you are working on it. You love to sit on said potty and have me read you books, but the actual act, on a regular basis, eludes you. I'm really in no hurry to get this task accomplished and you are pretty laid back about the whole thing too, so we'll just wait until you are possessed with the spirit of determination on this front.
Just a few months ago, we decided that you needed to give up your crib and move to a big girl bed. We set out to purchase a daybed that would grow with you, but you had other ideas. You, my dear, sweet, bold girl were afraid of the big beds, but managed to crawl into and cover yourself up in a toddler bed. You can probably guess what we left the store with and you sleep in now. You alternately love and hate that bed all at once and are still adjusting to the idea of not having your walls that they crib provided you. We're working on this.
You have the most fun, sweet and equally frustrating personality, all at the same time. You are most definitely a 2 year old, wanting to constantly do it yourself, but also wanting help and love when you try and fail. You love to run around in your high heels, princess dress and boa, while wielding your brother's Light Saber, trying to rid the universe of the bad guys.
Your most favorite color is pink and everything in your world has to be some version of this color. You know all your shapes, numbers up to 20 and then 10's, most of your letters and all your colors. You are well educated in all things girl and boy. I suppose that is the benefit of having a big brother to teach you.
Caleb and your Daddy are two of your most favorite people, but, truth be told, you are a Mama's girl. I cannot tell you the joy that that gives my heart. One of my dreams was to have a little girl and to have the same kind of relationship with her that I do with my Mama. We have that, little one.I love you, my Pster! You are and always will be my most favorite girl in all the world!
Love,
Mama
Monday, December 20, 2010
Half Way Through
I've posted here many different times about our choice to homeschool, but it dawned on me this morning that I've not updated with Caleb's progress in the whole process.
One of the less academic, but needed things, that I was hoping for Caleb to learn during school, whether it was in a building or in my dining room, is that of self control. He is a very typical boy, busy, active, and yet super smart, but needed that ability to excel. During the past few months, we have watched our boy go from a kid who can't sit still for even a few moments or control his impulses to a boy who can sit through a whole church service quietly entertaining himself. I also just witnessed on Saturday Caleb holding a present in his lap upon my instructions to wait until we got all of them. He then opened one and waited me for my instructions to move on. This is a different, self-assured, controlled boy with an appropriate amount of confidence.
We are using My Father's World curriculum for K and supplementing with various other things based on his need and interest. The main curriculum provides 5 days worth of worksheets, with each week concentrating on a certain letter and topic. For example, last weeks letter was E and the study is over elephants, with the next few weeks contributing to this so that the whole month is study in non-farm animals (elephants, penguins, etc). It's really well organized and the work is very much on target for what it is written for (a kindergartner), so all in all we've been happy with it.
We only do school 3 (sometimes 4, at most) days a week and it only really takes us, at most, 2 hours to get through all the work that is assigned to him. At the beginning of the year I was pretty surprised at how fast we moved through his work, but we were able to ascertain that Caleb is quite ahead in some areas and we aren't dealing with 30 students here, so we can get done in a timely manner. I am firmly convinced that learning isn't all about sitting in the classroom at a desk, so we get out and make even ho-hum trips to Target a learning experience.
I usually combine Days 1 and 2 worksheets. Day 1 is introducing the letter and exploring the topic. The worksheet has the letters printed in both upper and lower case, prepping him for his handwriting lessons to come, as well as giving him some examples of other things that start with the letter of the week. These pictures are meant to be cut out, which gives him the practice he needs to master this task. When we first started, this was a big issue for us. Part of this was my fault because I wouldn't let him near scissors. Ever. Heh.
Day 2 worksheet is a handwriting practice on one side and a phonics practice on the other. Honestly, handwriting was one of the biggest things that I was worried about. Caleb wasn't even able to hold his pencil correctly before we started. After many frustrated mornings, many tears shed and me second guessing our choice, Caleb finally got it and is able to hold his pencil correctly and print well. Of all the things that he has accomplished thus far, this is the one that I'm the most happy about.
Phonics was a real issue, in my mind, as well when we started this whole process. Caleb started reading, by sight recognition, when he was 2 and would remember any word we told him from then on out. So, because of this, I was concerned that he would get a point where phonics would be lost on him. We've worked really hard just introducing the concepts of phonics that he needed to put it all together. It seems that he may have had a lot of the concepts needed for this all along, just needing someone to show him how to put it all together.
Day 3 and 5 worksheets are drawing, counting, and handwriting practice, while Day 4 is reading practice. All things he was doing well in (with the exception of handwriting) when we started this whole thing.
I have added some extra phonics and handwriting from Abeka that seems to be right up his alley. His most favorite, though, is math. I recently acquired a workbook from a friend of some 1st grade math concepts and we've been slowly working our way through that, ensuring that we don't get so far ahead that he's actually behind. As of now, we've made it all the way through addition and just started some simple subtraction.
This year, so I've been told, is more an exercise in learning what he needs and how he learns. I have to say that this is more true than I thought it would be. Caleb is doing really well and is enjoying the process, and I'm so happy and looking forward to the rest of the year.
One of the less academic, but needed things, that I was hoping for Caleb to learn during school, whether it was in a building or in my dining room, is that of self control. He is a very typical boy, busy, active, and yet super smart, but needed that ability to excel. During the past few months, we have watched our boy go from a kid who can't sit still for even a few moments or control his impulses to a boy who can sit through a whole church service quietly entertaining himself. I also just witnessed on Saturday Caleb holding a present in his lap upon my instructions to wait until we got all of them. He then opened one and waited me for my instructions to move on. This is a different, self-assured, controlled boy with an appropriate amount of confidence.
We are using My Father's World curriculum for K and supplementing with various other things based on his need and interest. The main curriculum provides 5 days worth of worksheets, with each week concentrating on a certain letter and topic. For example, last weeks letter was E and the study is over elephants, with the next few weeks contributing to this so that the whole month is study in non-farm animals (elephants, penguins, etc). It's really well organized and the work is very much on target for what it is written for (a kindergartner), so all in all we've been happy with it.
We only do school 3 (sometimes 4, at most) days a week and it only really takes us, at most, 2 hours to get through all the work that is assigned to him. At the beginning of the year I was pretty surprised at how fast we moved through his work, but we were able to ascertain that Caleb is quite ahead in some areas and we aren't dealing with 30 students here, so we can get done in a timely manner. I am firmly convinced that learning isn't all about sitting in the classroom at a desk, so we get out and make even ho-hum trips to Target a learning experience.
I usually combine Days 1 and 2 worksheets. Day 1 is introducing the letter and exploring the topic. The worksheet has the letters printed in both upper and lower case, prepping him for his handwriting lessons to come, as well as giving him some examples of other things that start with the letter of the week. These pictures are meant to be cut out, which gives him the practice he needs to master this task. When we first started, this was a big issue for us. Part of this was my fault because I wouldn't let him near scissors. Ever. Heh.
Day 2 worksheet is a handwriting practice on one side and a phonics practice on the other. Honestly, handwriting was one of the biggest things that I was worried about. Caleb wasn't even able to hold his pencil correctly before we started. After many frustrated mornings, many tears shed and me second guessing our choice, Caleb finally got it and is able to hold his pencil correctly and print well. Of all the things that he has accomplished thus far, this is the one that I'm the most happy about.
Phonics was a real issue, in my mind, as well when we started this whole process. Caleb started reading, by sight recognition, when he was 2 and would remember any word we told him from then on out. So, because of this, I was concerned that he would get a point where phonics would be lost on him. We've worked really hard just introducing the concepts of phonics that he needed to put it all together. It seems that he may have had a lot of the concepts needed for this all along, just needing someone to show him how to put it all together.
Day 3 and 5 worksheets are drawing, counting, and handwriting practice, while Day 4 is reading practice. All things he was doing well in (with the exception of handwriting) when we started this whole thing.
I have added some extra phonics and handwriting from Abeka that seems to be right up his alley. His most favorite, though, is math. I recently acquired a workbook from a friend of some 1st grade math concepts and we've been slowly working our way through that, ensuring that we don't get so far ahead that he's actually behind. As of now, we've made it all the way through addition and just started some simple subtraction.
This year, so I've been told, is more an exercise in learning what he needs and how he learns. I have to say that this is more true than I thought it would be. Caleb is doing really well and is enjoying the process, and I'm so happy and looking forward to the rest of the year.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Conversations with Caleb- Disturbed Edition
For the past couple of days, I have been fighting off some sort of mutant allergy attack that hit in full force last night. This morning, I made it very clear to the kids that we needed to take it easy today because mama didn't feel well.
We did venture out to grab lunch at Sonic because, really, what is better when you are sick but a bit of Sonic... After we got home, Caleb and I were talking during lunch and had the following coversation:
Caleb: Mama? Are you still sick?
Me: Yes
Caleb: *crying*
Me: Caleb! What is wrong?
Caleb: *still crying* I'm sad because you're sick. Are you going to have surgery again and go to the hospital again?
Hm. Maybe the events of this past summer affected him more than I thought.
I'm thinking we may need a therapist here...
We did venture out to grab lunch at Sonic because, really, what is better when you are sick but a bit of Sonic... After we got home, Caleb and I were talking during lunch and had the following coversation:
Caleb: Mama? Are you still sick?
Me: Yes
Caleb: *crying*
Me: Caleb! What is wrong?
Caleb: *still crying* I'm sad because you're sick. Are you going to have surgery again and go to the hospital again?
Hm. Maybe the events of this past summer affected him more than I thought.
I'm thinking we may need a therapist here...
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
The Boy Wonder (and his Mother) Needs Your Prayers **Updated**
UPDATED: So our visit with the doctor was this afternoon and he did a very (and I mean very) thorough exam on Caleb. With all our visits with medical practitioners through the years, Caleb has never had an exam where everything was looked at, all at once, with regard to his overall health, so this was refreshing and calming to a mama's nervous heart. It also gave the doctor the opportunity to evaluate Caleb in all aspects of his life, not just his basic health.
The overall result was that, yes, there seems to be some issues with the fact that Caleb's joints, most all of them, are overly flexible, but he has no other issues that would really form the diagnosis of anything super serious.
What we do have, for now, is a diagnosis of hyperflexibility. Basically, what this means is that his joints can dislocate much easier and he may have some real pain during growth. Frankly, I had significant pain during my formative years, especially those when I was growing large amounts at a time. One summer, I added 4-6 inches to my height and I remember that summer well because of the unrelenting pain that never seemed to end. I'm thinking that this was something, once again, that he got from me. Poor kid.
While I hate this for Caleb and I certainly don't want him to suffer at all, at least this way we will know what is going on. Since he has a diagnosis on the books too, we will have a fabulous doctor who will be evaluating him at every visit for problems and issues so that we can head them off at the pass.
Our doctor is going to consult with an orthopedist, just to make sure, but he was very confident that this was the issue.
I'll update if there is anything different that comes up in the coming days.
Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers.
About a year ago, I noticed Caleb had a popping sound coming from, what I thought, was his hip area. When he was in the NICU, one of his more minor issues that we were watching was the fact that one of his hip joints was "loose". It wasn't a huge issue, completely overshadowed by the more serious things, and seemed to resolve on its own. That's why when I heard that, I intially didn't think much of it.
Back in August, I realized that the popping noise was actually coming from his knee, and seemed to be getting louder. Now, I have one knee that has been looked at by more than one orthopedist and they all said that my ligaments are loose, so I was thinking that the same thing would be said of his. I took him to the doctor last week, partially to get it looked at before the end of the year and also because my mommy gut kept telling me to do it.
Well, during the work up, our wonderful nurse practitioner noticed that Caleb is super flexible and wondered outloud if this could be something more. Needless to say, knowing what I know about the human body and what can go wrong, my mind has since jumped from bad to worse.
The NP told me that she would discuss with our normal doc and call me back and he wants to see him.
We are going today.
I'm a nervous wreck.
This could be nothing or something completely life changing and life threatening. I'm seriously praying for the former.
The overall result was that, yes, there seems to be some issues with the fact that Caleb's joints, most all of them, are overly flexible, but he has no other issues that would really form the diagnosis of anything super serious.
What we do have, for now, is a diagnosis of hyperflexibility. Basically, what this means is that his joints can dislocate much easier and he may have some real pain during growth. Frankly, I had significant pain during my formative years, especially those when I was growing large amounts at a time. One summer, I added 4-6 inches to my height and I remember that summer well because of the unrelenting pain that never seemed to end. I'm thinking that this was something, once again, that he got from me. Poor kid.
While I hate this for Caleb and I certainly don't want him to suffer at all, at least this way we will know what is going on. Since he has a diagnosis on the books too, we will have a fabulous doctor who will be evaluating him at every visit for problems and issues so that we can head them off at the pass.
Our doctor is going to consult with an orthopedist, just to make sure, but he was very confident that this was the issue.
I'll update if there is anything different that comes up in the coming days.
Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers.
About a year ago, I noticed Caleb had a popping sound coming from, what I thought, was his hip area. When he was in the NICU, one of his more minor issues that we were watching was the fact that one of his hip joints was "loose". It wasn't a huge issue, completely overshadowed by the more serious things, and seemed to resolve on its own. That's why when I heard that, I intially didn't think much of it.
Back in August, I realized that the popping noise was actually coming from his knee, and seemed to be getting louder. Now, I have one knee that has been looked at by more than one orthopedist and they all said that my ligaments are loose, so I was thinking that the same thing would be said of his. I took him to the doctor last week, partially to get it looked at before the end of the year and also because my mommy gut kept telling me to do it.
Well, during the work up, our wonderful nurse practitioner noticed that Caleb is super flexible and wondered outloud if this could be something more. Needless to say, knowing what I know about the human body and what can go wrong, my mind has since jumped from bad to worse.
The NP told me that she would discuss with our normal doc and call me back and he wants to see him.
We are going today.
I'm a nervous wreck.
This could be nothing or something completely life changing and life threatening. I'm seriously praying for the former.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Pumpkin Bread Recipe
I am well known in my family and close, close friends as being good at many things, but baking is something that I, historically, have been terrible at. Jes makes fun of me and calls me his cardboard queen. He also will just shake his head when the kids ask me to make cookies and run to the freezer to pull out the break apart cookie dough.
This Thanksgiving, however, I was aiming high and decided to try my hand at 2 different pie recipes and a batch of cake balls. Other than opening too many cans of pumpkin, it all went off without a hitch and each of my desserts was a huge hit! My mom even remarked that I should be in charge of desserts every year and my dad is already putting in orders for the next batch of cake balls.
Needless to say, I have had a huge confidence boost and decided to use up said opened cans of pumpkin and make pumpkin bread.
I'm recording this here, partially to share with all you guys, but more so to have to written in one place before I forget it. Please note that this recipe was taken from allrecipes.com, but altered to my liking. So, without further ado, pumpkin bread:
Ingredients:
1 cup butter (can use margarine, but I'm against the stuff)- which is 2 sticks, softened
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
Feel free to add in all types of things. I had chocolate chips, so I put a small amount of that in there (my kids will eat anything with chocolate in it). I also had part of a medium sized bag of pecans left from one of my pies, so I put those in there too!
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Combine dry ingredients and stir into creamed mixture until moistened (I call this step my bicep workout!) Stir in can of pumpkin (I had a whole can and another 1/3 of one, so I just added it all). Pour in 2 greased 9 X 5 X 3 in loaf pans and bake at 350 for one hour. I wanted to have serving sizes for the kids and myself, so I baked mine in cupcake form, filling up the cupcake papers to almost full. If you are making the cupcake version, you will need to bake them for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through. I had a yield of just under 3 dozen, so we had plenty to freeze for a quick, healthy breakfast!
The kids tried these out as their sweet with lunch and they just loved them! Next time, I'll put in a bit of flax seed too to boost the omega-3s! I hope you all enjoy!
This Thanksgiving, however, I was aiming high and decided to try my hand at 2 different pie recipes and a batch of cake balls. Other than opening too many cans of pumpkin, it all went off without a hitch and each of my desserts was a huge hit! My mom even remarked that I should be in charge of desserts every year and my dad is already putting in orders for the next batch of cake balls.
Needless to say, I have had a huge confidence boost and decided to use up said opened cans of pumpkin and make pumpkin bread.
I'm recording this here, partially to share with all you guys, but more so to have to written in one place before I forget it. Please note that this recipe was taken from allrecipes.com, but altered to my liking. So, without further ado, pumpkin bread:
Ingredients:
1 cup butter (can use margarine, but I'm against the stuff)- which is 2 sticks, softened
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
Feel free to add in all types of things. I had chocolate chips, so I put a small amount of that in there (my kids will eat anything with chocolate in it). I also had part of a medium sized bag of pecans left from one of my pies, so I put those in there too!
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Combine dry ingredients and stir into creamed mixture until moistened (I call this step my bicep workout!) Stir in can of pumpkin (I had a whole can and another 1/3 of one, so I just added it all). Pour in 2 greased 9 X 5 X 3 in loaf pans and bake at 350 for one hour. I wanted to have serving sizes for the kids and myself, so I baked mine in cupcake form, filling up the cupcake papers to almost full. If you are making the cupcake version, you will need to bake them for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through. I had a yield of just under 3 dozen, so we had plenty to freeze for a quick, healthy breakfast!
The kids tried these out as their sweet with lunch and they just loved them! Next time, I'll put in a bit of flax seed too to boost the omega-3s! I hope you all enjoy!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Cancer and Competition
Have you guys ever noticed how competitive some folks are?
I'm pretty sure that everyone knows someone who when you engage in conversation with them they always have a come back about how they know someone or are better than your experiences.
I'm not naive and think that my experiences are far and away better than others or that they make me anywhere close to an expert on anything, but I do, however, feel like some of those competitive types of conversations should be taboo.
Obviously the title of my post being one of them.
A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to an acquaintance on a social networking website who had suffered from another type of cancer that, to look at her now, you would never know. Basically, she made me to feel, stopping short of actually saying, that my issue was far and away the most minor issue as compared to hers.
Here's the thing, how would she know when she's never walked the path that I have?
She bears no outward physical (we all have emotional) scars from her cancer. I have a huge one.
No, I didn't have to partake of months and months of chemo, but I did lose a large amount of my hair and eyelashes, much like her.
Do I even think that I can understand or empathize with her? Absolutely not.
I guess my whole point is that until we walk anothers path and know what the experience is to go through what they are going through, we should never assume that we know.
It doesn't matter who you are, you won't ever know.
I'm pretty sure that everyone knows someone who when you engage in conversation with them they always have a come back about how they know someone or are better than your experiences.
I'm not naive and think that my experiences are far and away better than others or that they make me anywhere close to an expert on anything, but I do, however, feel like some of those competitive types of conversations should be taboo.
Obviously the title of my post being one of them.
A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to an acquaintance on a social networking website who had suffered from another type of cancer that, to look at her now, you would never know. Basically, she made me to feel, stopping short of actually saying, that my issue was far and away the most minor issue as compared to hers.
Here's the thing, how would she know when she's never walked the path that I have?
She bears no outward physical (we all have emotional) scars from her cancer. I have a huge one.
No, I didn't have to partake of months and months of chemo, but I did lose a large amount of my hair and eyelashes, much like her.
Do I even think that I can understand or empathize with her? Absolutely not.
I guess my whole point is that until we walk anothers path and know what the experience is to go through what they are going through, we should never assume that we know.
It doesn't matter who you are, you won't ever know.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Yearly Photos with The Boy Wonder and his Trusty Side Kick
Every summer, I try to schedule an outdoor photo shoot for the kids to not only capture their adorable faces and antics, but also to capture them in their natural state. While I think there is a time and place for posed, studio type photos, I much prefer my kids to be in their natural state, running, laughing, jumping and having a great time. Just a few weeks ago, a former student of mine, who is trying to build her portfolio, offered to take their pictures. For. F-R-E-E! Yes, please.
Anyway, I wanted to share a few of my favorites, although it was so hard to narrow them down to just these few!
I have mentioned many times how much Caleb loves his sister. The above is just photographic evidence. He is her biggest cheerleader, favorite playmate, and often the one she runs to when she's sad/hurt/scared etc. If you were to split to the two of them up and take them separate places, they are lost. As an only child (with much step siblings, most of them MUCH older), I had no real idea what the idea of having a sibling to grow up with meant. Now that I have a pair of kids, I am so thankful that we were blessed with the two of them!
A bunch of people commented on this photo on facebook that is was so pretty and that it looked like a greeting card, but if you could read her mind you would hear that she was plotting taking a swim. What you can't see in this photo is me right behind her lunging toward her to catch her before she leapt into this pond! My girl is super sweet and so fun, but she has NO fear!
My boy! I love this boy more than words can say. We have gone to our highest highs and lowest lows with this little boy of ours and are so blessed that we have him for this short time.
I think that this is probably one of my most favorite photos of the kids. Ever. A good friend of our family once commented to me that Caleb always had a smile on his face, regardless of how gloomy the day was and I have to say that is so true! Piper always has hair in her face and is always laughing with her brother, while they move on to their next, newest adventure.
My sweet, curious baby (don't tell her) girl!
So, here's the thing about my kids, Caleb is 5 and can do SO much more than Piper, and Piper, being 2 and, in her mind, indestructible, will try to do everything her brother does. But, most of the time what you will see is Caleb coming down to a level where his sister can keep up and participate in his activities too. Yet another example of just how wondrous my boy wonder is and how blessed we are to have him!
Anyway, I wanted to share a few of my favorites, although it was so hard to narrow them down to just these few!
My sweet 2 year old. I'm not sure how we ended up at this point where my sweet little baby is a big 2 year old girl, but we are. She is super fun and loves all things girly. Love, love, love her!
I have mentioned many times how much Caleb loves his sister. The above is just photographic evidence. He is her biggest cheerleader, favorite playmate, and often the one she runs to when she's sad/hurt/scared etc. If you were to split to the two of them up and take them separate places, they are lost. As an only child (with much step siblings, most of them MUCH older), I had no real idea what the idea of having a sibling to grow up with meant. Now that I have a pair of kids, I am so thankful that we were blessed with the two of them!Can I just tell you how scary it is to have a walking, talking clone of yourself? We have compared photos of myself, my mom and Piper and it is very difficult to differentiate between all of us. She does have some of the more distinctive Mathis characteristics (her AMAZING eyelashes!), but she is mostly an exact replica of myself.
A bunch of people commented on this photo on facebook that is was so pretty and that it looked like a greeting card, but if you could read her mind you would hear that she was plotting taking a swim. What you can't see in this photo is me right behind her lunging toward her to catch her before she leapt into this pond! My girl is super sweet and so fun, but she has NO fear!
My boy! I love this boy more than words can say. We have gone to our highest highs and lowest lows with this little boy of ours and are so blessed that we have him for this short time.
I think that this is probably one of my most favorite photos of the kids. Ever. A good friend of our family once commented to me that Caleb always had a smile on his face, regardless of how gloomy the day was and I have to say that is so true! Piper always has hair in her face and is always laughing with her brother, while they move on to their next, newest adventure. My sweet, curious baby (don't tell her) girl!
So, here's the thing about my kids, Caleb is 5 and can do SO much more than Piper, and Piper, being 2 and, in her mind, indestructible, will try to do everything her brother does. But, most of the time what you will see is Caleb coming down to a level where his sister can keep up and participate in his activities too. Yet another example of just how wondrous my boy wonder is and how blessed we are to have him!Wednesday, October 27, 2010
3 Month Post Op Visits
The past two weeks have included many fun activities, but listed among them was my 3 month post-op visits with both my surgeon and my endocrinologist.
First up, I saw my surgeon. Let me just reiterate how much my family and I love my surgeon. The morning of my visit, Caleb was full of questions and curiosity (more than normal) and Piper peed on me (she's potty training and in Pull-ups, but that's another story for another day). My doctor didn't even bat and eye and we were able to carry on a conversation and get a physical exam in during all the chaos.
During my exam, my doctor was checking my incision and also checking for other swollen lymph nodes or lumps. He found none and felt that my prognosis was very, very good.
The next week I visited my endocrinologist and this visit I had the opportunity to see the nurse practitioner, whom I just love. In fact, I have opted to see just her from now on, with the exception of my once yearly visit with the "head" doctor. The last time I saw this NP, I had made an emergency appointment for a racing heart rate and the inability to write or hold a scalpel due to a severe tremor. During that visit, she put me on a beta blocker, a potent heart and blood pressure medication. So, needless to say, this visit was vastly different from the last.
Basically, she went through a long laundry list of symptoms, asking severity and if I was experiencing any of them. Mostly, these symptoms are negative, indicative of disease.
I explained to her that I have felt so terribly bad for so, so long that I wasn't even aware of how bad I was feeling or how sick I was and that now I felt like a totally different, well, whole person. Seriously guys, I haven't felt this well and good since I was probably a young teenager. Anyway, she took a look at all my blood work from August, the day of my whole body scan after my in-patient radiation treatment, during my appointment. Based on that bloodwork, it appears that the cancer is gone. I will have the blood work again in January at approximately 6 months. The only other thing that we had to do was the monitoring of my hormone levels to ensure that I have the correct amount from the synthetic hormone that I will take for the rest of my life. Right now, I am in suppressive mode, meaning that I'm taking a bit more hormone than the average hypothyroid patient. This type of therapy, for at least one year, decreases, dramatically, the ability and chance of any more cancer cells to grown and multiply. From what I gather, after a year on this type of treatment I will be retested, maybe by scan, and my medication will gradually be decreased to normal levels. I just had to up my dosage by a half a pill on Sundays and that's it.
So, that is the long and short of it all. Essentially, I'm well and healthy and waiting for my appointment in January. All in all, I'm super happy and forever thankful that I'm as well as I am!
First up, I saw my surgeon. Let me just reiterate how much my family and I love my surgeon. The morning of my visit, Caleb was full of questions and curiosity (more than normal) and Piper peed on me (she's potty training and in Pull-ups, but that's another story for another day). My doctor didn't even bat and eye and we were able to carry on a conversation and get a physical exam in during all the chaos.
During my exam, my doctor was checking my incision and also checking for other swollen lymph nodes or lumps. He found none and felt that my prognosis was very, very good.
The next week I visited my endocrinologist and this visit I had the opportunity to see the nurse practitioner, whom I just love. In fact, I have opted to see just her from now on, with the exception of my once yearly visit with the "head" doctor. The last time I saw this NP, I had made an emergency appointment for a racing heart rate and the inability to write or hold a scalpel due to a severe tremor. During that visit, she put me on a beta blocker, a potent heart and blood pressure medication. So, needless to say, this visit was vastly different from the last.
Basically, she went through a long laundry list of symptoms, asking severity and if I was experiencing any of them. Mostly, these symptoms are negative, indicative of disease.
I explained to her that I have felt so terribly bad for so, so long that I wasn't even aware of how bad I was feeling or how sick I was and that now I felt like a totally different, well, whole person. Seriously guys, I haven't felt this well and good since I was probably a young teenager. Anyway, she took a look at all my blood work from August, the day of my whole body scan after my in-patient radiation treatment, during my appointment. Based on that bloodwork, it appears that the cancer is gone. I will have the blood work again in January at approximately 6 months. The only other thing that we had to do was the monitoring of my hormone levels to ensure that I have the correct amount from the synthetic hormone that I will take for the rest of my life. Right now, I am in suppressive mode, meaning that I'm taking a bit more hormone than the average hypothyroid patient. This type of therapy, for at least one year, decreases, dramatically, the ability and chance of any more cancer cells to grown and multiply. From what I gather, after a year on this type of treatment I will be retested, maybe by scan, and my medication will gradually be decreased to normal levels. I just had to up my dosage by a half a pill on Sundays and that's it.
So, that is the long and short of it all. Essentially, I'm well and healthy and waiting for my appointment in January. All in all, I'm super happy and forever thankful that I'm as well as I am!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Homecoming 2010
About a week and a half ago, the family and I packed up the car and headed out to East Texas for my college homecoming weekend. It also, just so happened to be the 10 year anniversary of our graduation from said college.
Friday night, we drove to Tyler, about 2 hours east of our place in McKinney. For some reason we thought that driving half way there on Friday night and staying in a hotel would be easier on us and the kids than just getting up super early and driving all the way out to Marshall, about 4 hours from our home. Let's just say that we won't be trying a visit to a hotel again for awhile. Caleb, being the kid that he is and super laid back about sleeping somewhere other than home, did just fine. Piper, on the other hand, was a holy terror both Friday night and most of the day on Saturday due to sleep deprivation. Eventually, around 11pm Friday night, 4 hours after her normal bedtime, Jes put Piper in the car and drove her around until she fell asleep. He then had to hold her most of the night and then she was up super early.
Just suffice it to say that she was a real joy the next day. Can we say tantrums 'r us?!?
and I got to see some college friends that I don't get to talk to near or see often enough.
Even with the sleep deprivation it was a super fun weekend.
Friday night, we drove to Tyler, about 2 hours east of our place in McKinney. For some reason we thought that driving half way there on Friday night and staying in a hotel would be easier on us and the kids than just getting up super early and driving all the way out to Marshall, about 4 hours from our home. Let's just say that we won't be trying a visit to a hotel again for awhile. Caleb, being the kid that he is and super laid back about sleeping somewhere other than home, did just fine. Piper, on the other hand, was a holy terror both Friday night and most of the day on Saturday due to sleep deprivation. Eventually, around 11pm Friday night, 4 hours after her normal bedtime, Jes put Piper in the car and drove her around until she fell asleep. He then had to hold her most of the night and then she was up super early.
Just suffice it to say that she was a real joy the next day. Can we say tantrums 'r us?!?
Here is the boy wonder and his spit fire side kick in front of the sign at my alma mater, ETBU. I had forgotten how homey and comforting the campus was. When my parents and I were looking for a college, while I still in high school, we visited numerous schools, none of them feeling quite right. As soon as we pulled onto campus and got out of the car I knew that ETBU was where I was supposed to be. As it so happened, my future husband was a short 30 minutes down the road in Longview at LeTourneau, so it all worked out! :)
Here are the kids in front of the student center. This building holds the bookstore, the cafeteria and the mail room and boxes. I spent many a late night in this building studying, eating many and memorable (not necessarily in a good way) meals, and burning myself out on Chick fil A, our only on campus food choice that wasn't cafeteria food. The place smelled exactly the same and took me back!
We took the kids to the bookstore, thinking we would emerge with t-shirts for both, but both wanted some sort of stuffed animal. Caleb also got a cool camo ETBU hat and I got Piper a hooded sweatshirt that she'll be able to wear for a couple of years, so everyone was happy! Here they are with their new friends, Beary and Ribbet.
Caleb got to hang out with his friend Dallas,
and I got to see some college friends that I don't get to talk to near or see often enough.
Even with the sleep deprivation it was a super fun weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
