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Showing posts from December, 2014

Pancreas Drama

I've determined that Abby's pancreas is a drama queen, just like her.  As I've mentioned, Abby had what we thought was the stomach bug. When she just kept throwing up everything (even 6 hours after drinking it) with absolutely no other symptoms (she's a wild child!), we thought there might be more to it.  Our GI said to keep in touch if it didn't get better, so I sent her an email over the weekend.  She ordered blood work, which came back today as elevated liver functioning.  Of the two enzymes that point directly to pancreatitis, one is actually below normal and the other is a slow test that hasn't come back yet.  So... Abby's going to have an ultrasound tomorrow to check for gall stones.  Tonight, I put her on just pedialyte.  I started at a very slow rate and am increasing by 5 ml/hour each hour until I get to 50 ml/hour.  (It's gonna be a long night!)  If she doesn't tolerate that, then we are to head to the ER in the morning with the e...

Back to Mount Washington!

But this time, we were volunteers!  My sister, niece, mom, friend Karen, and I did a snowman craft with the kids today.  We also took little "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" Bags with play dough and everything needed to build a snowman.  The kids seemed to enjoy everything, although we only had 2 kids.  A lot of kids were contagious and unable to come out, but we enjoyed the time with the two we had! I think we all enjoyed spreading a little cheer! :)

Christmas recap

While illness tried its best to mess with our holiday plans, we all ended up being healthy enough to celebrate with family! The highlight of MY day was watching Caleb's reaction to getting a Kindle.  He really didn't think he was getting one, and he actually cried when he saw it.  He was so grateful and excited!  It was very sweet. Abby got an American girl doll named Marie Grace, along with a doll bed and a doll table/chairs.  She was thrilled and her two dolls are snug in their new bed as we speak! Other highlights for Caleb: * several awesome Lego sets he is looking forward to putting together * all of the Star Wars movies on dvd * an under armour MD shirt * lots of new books to read! Other highlights for Abby: * lots of doll clothes for her new doll * a spinny swing that we hung from the treehouse * a Frozen microphone * Chapstick with her name on it! (It's always fancier with your name on it!) I was so surprised and excited to get a lovely Pandora bracelet with ...

All I Want for Christmas...

Lol!  Hope this made you smile!

What?? What??

That's what we hear from Abby all day long because the girl can't hear a thing!  We were hoping that this hearing loss was a result of a malfunctioning tube, but Dr. T. checked out her ears during her jaw surgery and everything was a-ok...except that her left ear now has a substantial hole in it that will need to be fixed when she is older. So since the hearing loss wasn't fluid related, we were anxious to hear what the audiology report was.  Abby had a hearing test yesterday and cooperated very well.  The audiologist was very good and worked hard to get all of the information she needed.  I feel confident that it was a valid report. Abby's right ear has always been worse, but this time her left  ear showed moderate to severe hearing loss and her right ear showed moderate.  Her left ear has never been anything but normal (her last test was in July), so Dr. T. thinks this hole is causing more problems than he thought.  Because of her age and the gro...

The Caregiver's Notebook

A few months ago, I was given an opportunity to review a notebook designed to organize information for the caregiver of a special needs child or chronically ill person.  I loved the idea and wanted to see what the end product looked like, so I agreed. I received The Caregiver's Notebook while Abby was in the hospital (timely!) and was so impressed with the thought that was put into this book.  The author, Jolene Philo, really included everything a caregiver could possible need!  I wish I'd had this notebook when I first started out on our special needs journey. The notebook is separated with tabs and includes emergency information, a calendar, a list of meds, contact info, medical history, insurance, legal documents, and schedules.  And there's A LOT of space!  This is almost always an issue for us when we fill out medical forms for Abby.  "See attached sheet" is pretty much always written! What I like most though is the encouragement this book gives...

Throwback Thursday

Abby's handprint on her first Christmas at 2 months old.  She was SO tiny!  Whenever I see this handprint, I'm reminded of God's faithfulness and I'm so thankful for how far she has come!!

Wordless Wednesday

The First Christmas Ever by Dennis Jones

When I was given the opportunity to review this book, I was excited to have a new Christmas book for the kids.  While we aren't of the mindset that Santa is wrong and we do "do" Santa, we naturally want to focus as much as possible on the true meaning of Christmas.  I love how Zonderkids kept this story so simple, but the message was very clear.  My husband also liked that the wise men came at the proper time in the story, because it irks him when people say the wise men were at the manger. The kids enjoyed the illustrations, although I almost felt like it was a mockery of the story at times...almost like they were caricatures rather than illustrations.  It wasn't a deal breaker though, and the story made up for it. Disclaimer:  I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

RMH Holiday Party

Last week, I took the kids to the RMH holiday party.  I started to question my sanity as I sat in crazy traffic on 97, but thankfully we made it!  The kids had a great time at the Ronald show.  Caleb even got to be one of the volunteers! They even got to visit with Santa! I am so grateful for the friendships I have made at RMH.  It's so much more than a hotel...it's a family! It was SO good to see several of my friends and catch up on our lives a bit.  Our kids liked playing together too!  :) Thank you Lord for the Ronald McDonald House!!

Quilted With Love

I have known Mrs. Livingston practically my entire life.  I grew up with her oldest son (who now works at our church!), and she was the youth choir director.  I went on countless trips, performed in countless plays, and sang countless songs under Mrs. L's direction.  She was a big influence in my life and I have lots of great memories with her! Mrs. L moved to North Carolina a few years ago, but she was sweet enough to mail Abby a beautiful quilt that she made!  The quilt blocks are Fancy Nancy scenes--a little girl who loves  tutus!  Embroidered in the middle is "Keep Calm and Wear a Tutu!" with Abby's full name and birth date at the bottom.  Needless to say, Abby LOVES it!!

A Sincere Thank You!

I cannot even begin to express our appreciation for all of the prayers, cards, gifts, and well-wishes for Abby during her hospital stay!!!  Everyone who walked in her room was amazed at the number of cards hung up on her wall.  It was pretty incredible to see the outpouring of love for our little girl! All of the craft items, Frozen toys, dolls, blankets, and even a bean bag chair (which she LOVES!) made Abby smile so much!  I would pull out a new toy when she would start to get bored or done  with the hospital, and it would most definitely brighten up her day. THANK YOU for loving my girl.  Thank you for praying us through this time that ended up being a lot tougher than we thought.  Thank you for celebrating with us when we finally returned home. Thank you for being people we can count on. We are blessed.  So very blessed.

Moments

Here are some glimpses into our last few days at the Mount.   I did a little photo shoot by the tree! Abby is cracking me up with her joyful shrieks of "Girl Time!" whenever we do something together.  Darlin', we have had a whole month of girl time!! Abby's boundless energy earned her a pass to go outside and enjoy the unseasonably nice day.  We kicked a ball around, blew bubbles, and drew with chalk. Abby spent time with both therapy dogs!!  This pretty much makes it the best day ever, in Abby's book. Abby so enjoyed playing with Abdallah!  He is a 6 year old from Dubai who is awaiting a kidney transplant.  It was beautiful to watch these kids overcome ethnic, religious, and language barriers and just enjoy being kids! When Abby heard that Abdallah had never seen Frozen, she was appalled and was determined to remedy that situation ASAP!  Although I'm not sure how much he understood, he seemed to enjoy it! I was able to have great conversations with Ab...

Whirlwind

I feel like we come home from a long hospitalization chomping at the bit to get back into normalcy...so much so, that I feel like I'm going crazy!  You have NO idea how much stuff accumulates after a month away.  It takes forever to put away!  We're still not really done, but at least we can move around the house again! Here's a quick recap of the last few days since we have been home: Wednesday:  We got home around 2:00, furiously unpacked as much as we could, and surprised Caleb at the bus stop at 4:00.  He had absolutely NO idea Abby was coming home (which is why we didn't post anything!), and it was so sweet to see him run to Abby and give her a huge, long hug!  Videos don't post well on here, but you definitely need to check it out on Facebook.  It's pretty sweet! After our happy reunion, Matt headed to church for youth group and we went to a birthday dinner for my mom.  My dad came home from the hospital the same day, so it was a great...

We are home!!!

Actually, we got home Wednesday.  I'm just horrible about posting after we get home from a hospitalization because it is soooooo chaotic.  You should see my living room!! Anyway, we are home and it was a joyous reunion between brother and sister.  We didn't post anything ahead of time because it was a surprise for Caleb. :) I jumped back into work with both feet, so it's time to go!