Life as a Leach

5 mm...tiny, right?  Welp, it's not so tiny when it's traveling through your body.   5 mm is how big the kidney stone is that I have right now.  I've had many in my adult life, but none this big.  It sent me to the ER last night because Dr. Google had convinced me I had a terrible disease! The ER doctor thought it was appendicitis.  With that prediction, I sent Matt home to pack me a bag.  After drinking 32 oz of contrast and getting injected with it as well, the ct scan showed my little 5 mm friend taking his sweet time rolling around inside.  He gave me lots of meds (including an antibiotic, since the size of the stone could cause an infection) and we came home around 2 am.  I'm going to follow up with a urologist because it's uncertain as to whether I will pass this one on my own.  Yay! And yes, stones can be worse than childbirth!  I've had 2 babies without drugs, so I can say that at least you get a break between contractions during...

Our friend Karsyn has an entire carnival named for her, to celebrate Down's Syndrome!  Abby and Karsyn are friends from the Young Athletes program, and we love to support the carnival.  It's huge and I just found out today from Karsyn's dad that they had over 1,000 people come!! Caleb's favorite game was this one, where you shot nerf guns to knock down little people. Abby wasn't too interested in playing games, but she loved the animals! They had a decorate-your-own-cupcake stand, which is always sure to be a fun, messy activity! Caleb also liked this catapulting game. Yes, that's my kid in long sleeves and jeans in 80 degree weather. Spidey Selfie! No characters for Abs, but she'll take a selfie with Momma! It is always such a fun event to raise awareness and funds for Down's Syndrome.  Karsyn's family is exceptional, and I'm so proud to know them!

This guy is THRILLED to be doing a space camp, a performing arts camp, golf lessons, and fencing lessons this summer!!   The space camp is with our local community college and they bring in NASA employees to instruct.  They even have a flight simulator. The performing arts camp is held at our church and is run by a kids' arts company.  The kids will take classes for acting, dancing, improv, etc.  they will put on a show at the end of the week.   Caleb has really shown an interest in golf.  After finding a used kids' set of clubs online, Matt taught him some basics.  He will participate in a clinic in a few weeks.  Fencing lessons will start in June and go through the summer.  He has been wanting to learn to fence for FOREVER, and he was ecstatic when we heard about this class.  The best part?!  It's free!!! With all of this activity, he's certain to have a wonderful summer!

Sorry I've been quite here recently...same old busy! Abby has really improved since we have been home.  Last week she started running and this week she has started jumping and hopping a little!  Her back still hurts now and then, but stretching seems to really help.   So does yoga!!  We have discovered that Abby really loves yoga!  I found some kids' yoga shows on On Demand that we enjoy doing together.  Some things need to be modified, but it really seems to help her back feel better.  I'll often see her in the floor stretching out when she's hurting. We have been doing pt at an outpatient center an hour from home  in addition to being with our awesome ITP therapist.  The extra boost has really helped her improve her skills!  I've set up a speech eval there to get some extra speech services as well.  I really like the center, although I wish it were a little closer.   Abby went back to school last Tuesday and has overall done ...

Abby is doing great!  She is pretty much her normal self, except that she does get tired easily and takes a few naps each day.  She hasn't had anything except Tylenol in 24 hours, but she also hasn't done anything very strenuous.  The real test will be tomorrow's pt appointment! She can't sit comfortably in a 5-point harness because of where the straps hit, so we have switched her to a booster seat.  She has been big enough for a while, but now we didn't have much of a choice.  She's quite happy with her new seat!   My awesome brother in law picked us up from the hospital because Matt was swamped at work.  Thanks for going way above and beyond, B!  Abby was thrilled to go home! Caleb and Abby are back to their normal arguing-one-minute-and-hugging-the-next! :). They are glad to be back together though.  Here's a picture of the incision when the doctor was changing the bandage.  It actually goes a little farther under the arm than th...