my iphone, unleashed

this is a picture of just how bruised Kye was when he was born. Because of this picture, we thought that the Horner's Syndrome MUST HAVE been caused by his rocket ride. Guess not because all the doctor's say they don't think it's linked. He looks like a grape with a hat on!

After the swelling and bruising went away, he looked like a normal newborn. I just LOVE bald babies!! I don't think we'll ever produce anything but the beautiful bald type :) No complaints here!

Had to throw a picture in here of Ryan! More pics from Disneyland to come later. I love this guy!!

Just because she's so dang cute!!

Dax is extremely excited to be at the doctor's office, can you tell?! I think this was Kye's 2 week check up or something like that. See, my brain is already fuzzy with the details.

Liala showing her smile with her two missing front teeth. She lost them before she turned 5 and was super excited for the tooth fairy to come! We had just gotten back from Hershey Park in PA and she and Ryan headed downtown to the Memorial Day Concert on the lawn of the Nation's Capital building. It's one of our favorite times of the year and the concert is always so much fun!! That's face paint on her face if you can't tell :)

This picture of Kye really shows the Horner's Syndrome with the droopping of the right eye. Kind of crazy.

Yet another picture depicting what a ham Dax can be!

Liala at the dentist for like the 6th time. Poor thing had to have 4 cavities filled that morning. But she was a trooper and I think it kind of scared her into brushing and flossing her teeth better. Their trips to the dentist are like a fairytale compared to the memories I have from when I was a kid. Man, we've come a long way!!

If you look closely, you can see the left eye is much more dialated than the right one. Another sign of Horner's Syndrome. But isn't he cute?!!!

Wish I could say I always felt this happy! Maybe that should be my goal for the next week. Look for the funny in every situation and don't take life so seriously. Someone once told me- It's not just "endure to the end" it's "enjoy to the end". Words to live by.

3 little blessings

This is a picture of Liala on her first day of Kindergarten! She was so excited but a little bit nervous as well. I think she's doing great and seems to enjoy school; especially recess. As for homework, that's another story :) We have already had a few instances where she's had a complete meltdown at the table. With this being our first experience with school, there's definetly been a learning curve. We are a month in now and I think we've gotten the routine down enough that the days come and go with just the normal bumps. I can hardly believe that our daughter is old enough to be in school! I am really thankful that I kept Liala home with me all those days instead of sending her to preschool. I'll never get that time back and I really treasure being able to have those precious moments together with her. I realize now more than ever what a blessing it is to be able to stay home and be a fixture in the lives of my children. I feel very blessed to be a mom. It's the best job in the world- even on the hard days.

This is our Dax. This pictures speaks a thousand words- for real. He has got the most amazing personality. He's such a fun little boy to be around. You just never know what you're gonna get when you're in his presence. I like "happy Dax" the most. You just have to remind him of this alter ego and he flashes this big, huge smile for you. He's a very sensitive boy and will sometimes run out of the room because he wasn't the center of everyone's conversation. He's got an amazing imagination. Right now, he's got a few imaginary friends named Mike and Mia. It's fun to listen and watch him interact with them. He's my little buddy and I love him so much. Little boys make life fun, loud, messy, and chaotic. I wouldn't change it for anything!!

Baby Kye. What a sweet little boy. A lot has happened in his short 6 1/2 months. The latest MRI took place on Tuesday the 18th and all went well. He came out of the anesthesia and I could hear him crying in the MRI room. So I stood up and walked out of our little waiting room. Right at the same time as I was walking out to see what was happening the nurse called us back. He was a little loopy but when I was able to hold and cuddle him he found his thumb and my shoulder and all was well. We did the same routine as last time and then headed home to wait for word from the doctors. Time takes on a different feeling when you're waiting for a doctor's phone call. Seriously, it felt like we were stuck in a time warp and things were happening around us but the time wasn't changing on the clock. Finally, at around 4:30 in the afternoon and after several phone calls to the office the eye doctor called to give us the news. We stepped outside away from the family chaos that we erupting from a game the kids were playing and our hearts were racing as we were prepared to hear the worst. The first words to come out of her mouth were heart melting. "I've looked over the scans and they are clean. No tumor to report." Sigh. Relief. Sigh again. Did she just say what I think she said?! WOW! So many emotions, thoughts, and questions raced through my mind in the few seconds it took her to finish her sentences. We asked about a hundred follow up questions and then hung up with her. A few long hugs and some unspoken prayers were offered on that porch that afternoon. And there continue to be spoken prayers and conversations. We feel so blessed to know that for now he is tumor free and he'll continue to grow and develop as he should. There will be follow up visits in the next 6 months to check the measurements of his eyes. If things have changed at all then they will repeat the MRI's to see if any tumors have grown that were undetected on the initial scans. But for now they think it's a case of congenital Horner's Syndrome~ something he was born with. It shouldn't affect his vision or anything; he'll just have some big, beautiful, blue eyes that don't look the same as yours and mine. I'm okay with that. And I'm sure he will be too :)

more in love with you today

To My Dear Ryan, I can hardly believe that 10 years has passed since we said "I DO!" I am more in love with you today than I was the first day I saw you in your khaki capris walking through the door of the Boulevard House! We have had one adventurous journey thus far; one that I wouldn't change. Believe me when I say that! Because of this journey that we've been able to share I feel like I'm coming out the other side with a full heart and clear eyes. I feel so blessed to have you in my life and I want you to know how proud I am to call you my husband. I feel so lucky and so at ease knowing that we are a team and we can face anything and everything together. Even with this health scare of Kye's I feel like we just grow closer and closer and I thank God everyday that I've been blessed with such an amazing companion. Here's to ten more adventurous years! Cuz heaven knows that with you and I, things will always be interesting! Love you to the moon and back a zillion times!

One down, one to go

On Wednesday, September 12th, we went to Fairfax Hospital with Kye for the first of two MRI's. It was really sad to see his eyes roll back into his head when they put the gas mask on his face. And then having to walk out of the room and wait; it seemed like time stood still. After an hour and fourty-five minutes the anesthesiologist came to our little waiting area to get us and we walked with her and the stretcher holding Kye into the recovery room. He was still asleep and it took around 5 minutes for him to roll over and start crying. I was expecting him to be out of control upset but once he found his thumb and my shoulder he calmed down a bit. It wasn't until I was able to feed him that he seemed to relax. After a visit with the recovery nurses' boss to explain why they were doing 2 MRI's on 2 different days, we were able to leave with a copy on CD of the images. The time from leaving the hospital to when I was able to actually speak to the doctor the following day was slow and draining. We tried to keep positive and focus on other things but it's always in the back of your mind- does our baby possibly have a brain tumor? If so, what's in store for our family over the next several months? Around lunchtime on Thursday after I got the boys down for naps I was able to call the Opthomologist, Dr. Kern, on her cell phone and luckily, I caught up with her. She told me that his brain scan was normal!!! YEAH!! And she said the report showed a few enlarged lymphnodes that she would let the Pediatrician's office look at and determine if they were of any concern. Dr. Kern seemed very upbeat about there not being anything on the first MRI. She told me that in her career she's had 4 cases of children testing positive on the cocaine test and all four had neuroblastoma's (tumors) of some kind. But all 4 cases are doing well and survived. So we aren't out of the woods just yet; we are so thankful there's nothing in his brain or his neck. My thoughts are now turned to Tuesday's scan and the news that will come on Wednesday. We just keep praying for a positive outcome and we've turned it over to the Lord. An update to come next week.

Some Cocaine Eye Drops and Horner's Syndrome

When the Dr referenced the cocaine drops I had to ask her if she was serious. She assured me they were safe and would not be getting into his bloodstream. They are just a quick way to get eyes to dialate more deeply than the regular dialation they had done. So we worked out with the pharmacy how and when to get them to our DR office since we are dealing with COCAINE! Kye was scheduled to have the test done on Tuesday, August 28th. It all sounds like not a big deal, right? Well yes, to some degree. But when she told us that if he does have Horner's Syndrome then they will be looking for a tumor of some kind to be the root cause of the syndrome. He'd be required to have an MRI of his brain, neck, head, torso, and abdomen to look for a TUMOR. Every. Mom's. Nightmare. Life can change in the blink of an eye. And it has for us. You start to think differently when your child could be facing something as big as a tumor. It changes your outlook on the littlest things. Your focus shifts from the outside world and all its distractions to the most important things like family, prayer, and the meaningful relationships you hold dear to your heart. So we researched Horner's and then decided not to bogg our minds with all the stuff that could or could not be true. We just waited. Then the visit came with Dr. Chaudri and we met the cocaine drops face to face. She did 3 sets of drops looking for both of his eyes to dialate the same size. They didn't. The test confirmed what she had suspected- he has Horner's Syndrome. Now the question is what's the cause. Could it be just his genetic make-up? Or something more daunting? We've held family fasts, prayed our hearts out, and turned our pleas over to God. Now we wait. His first MRI is scheduled for the morning of September 12th. Until then, we continue to battle his ear infections. Just today he had his 6 month immunizations and they put him on his 3rd round of antiobiotics because the other 2 kinds have not worked. And we have a referal to see an ENT at the end of the month for possible tubes. Poor baby Kye. I'm learning that the saying "when it rains, it pours" is a crappy but real part of life. I just keep telling myself to count my blessings because we don't have any bad news to deal with today. What we do have is a beautiful, happy, smiling baby boy who is itching to crawl around and slobber on everything in his path! It's the little things in life that matter most :) Please keep Kye in your prayers. An update to come when we know more.....

A few years older and wiser too

It's been a long time since I've blogged about anything. Life catches up and things have gotten hectic as we've added to our family. Dax was just a baby when I last posted. Now he's coming up on his 3rd birthday in a few weeks! And Liala has started Kindergarten!! Hard to believe we have a child old enough for school. Where does the time go?! Here's a little update with no pictures. I have to figure out how to find some more memory on this old laptop of ours before we can post any new photos. Kye Haven Berg was born into our family on February 23 of this year after a crazy pregnancy which included bedrest and a lot of hormonal roller coaster rides. Bedrest doesn't sound so bad at first but after about a week of laying on the couch or in bed, your mind does funny things to you and it's hard to stay positive. I was laid up for close to 4 months. Thank heavens for a wonderful family and a "SuperDad" husband or I wouldn't have made it through. I went into labor on my own around 2:30 in the AM 2 1/2 weeks early and he was born around 1:30 in the afternoon, I think. My brain cells aren't all functioning as they once were so I may be off a little :) He came through the birth canal so quickly that he was bruised pretty badly and was purple for about a week and a half after we brought him home. Because of this, we spent everyday for 7 days going to have his heel pricked to check his belirubin count. Eventually, his little body recovered from the rocket ride he took and we settled into life at home with 2 energetic kids and a baby! Thank heavens for family being close by because I forgot to mention that Ryan had to travel on business sometimes 3 days out of the week right after we brought Kye home. Anyhow, Kye has a story to tell and I'll get to all of that. He's kind of the reason I decided to start blogging again. I've been thinking about journaling and this seems like the best way to do just that so my family and friends can have the latest updates without my faulty memory getting in the way. Fact: pregnancy causes lots of brain cells to mysteriously disappear. When I get to the other side I'm gonna ask God why this was so! The best way to tell Kye's story is to start back in August when we took a family vacation to California. Ryan had a few business meetings lined up so we worked our vacation around this. We slept in hotels, ate out a lot, played at the pool, went to the beach, did Santa Monica Pier, visited friends, and finally made our way to DISNEYLAND!!! The day before Disneyland we were visiting with the Blank's at their house and it was after lunchtime when the kids went out to play in the sprinkler. Dax, being the curious 2 year old he is was on the cement slab and decided to see what would happen if he threw a ceramic pot. After the pot shattered, he went to step over it and the sharp edge sliced open the top of his foot. Hannah and I weren't sure what to do at first but then we looked at his cut and decided the ER was our best option. So I left Liala and sleeping Kye with her and took Dax to the ER to get an X-ray and 8 stitches. I'll post those pictures later. We were there for about 4 hours and Dax was such a brave little boy. He seemed so grown up and mature about the whole thing. After a few tears when they put him in the blue straight jacket thing, they stitched him up and he fell asleep right there on the table! After we got back to VA, Dax's stitches got infected so they put him on an antibiotic. He was scheduled to have his stitches removed on Friday the 17th. Ryan was out of town for a business trip on Thursday night of the 16th I had put Liala and Dax to bed. I had a few precious, quiet moments with just myself and Kye before we went to bed too. He was laying on a pillow on my bed facing me and we were just talking when I noticed that his left pupil was dialated almost as big as his eye while his right eye was normal. It threw me off a little bit and I spoke to Ryan, my mom and my mother in law that night after I put him to bed and they all said to mention at the doctor visit the following day for Dax's stitches. So while Dr. Nguyen was taking Dax's stitches out I mentioned this weird happening and told her that his left eye wasn't as dialated as the previous night but the pupils were different sizes. And do you know what she asked me?!! She asked if I had dropped him on his head!! Hello!! I would have told you if I had dropped him on his head! We'd be in here not only for stitches but for a head injury!! As Liala would say, "DUH!" So she looked Kye over and asked a bunch of questions. Then she referred us to a pediatric optomologist and said we needed to be seen as soon as they could get us in. That made me a little nervous. So I called and they fit us in on Tuesday the 21st. Dr Chaudri dialated his eyes, did a few tests, measured a few things, asked a handful of questions, measured again and then asked to see some recent photos. She and I then looked at older pictures on my phone and we realized that he's had this weird eye thing for some time. When I say "some time" it really doesn't mean much since he's only been alive for 6 months! We decided that he's had this noticeable difference since around 3 months of age. The Dr then told me she suspected Kye has something called Horner's Syndrome but to be sure she needed to do a Cocaine Eye Drop Test. Yes, you read that right! Cocaine! In my babies eyes?! What!???