Dax is 3!!

Dax had a birthday on the 25th of September and he turned the big 3!!! We had a great day full of moonbounces, treats, cupcakes, more treats, presents, family, friends, and more cupcakes! I think he had a great day. He kept repeating in his really, really loud voice "this is the best birthday ever!!" It was so cute. I was feeling a little guilty that we didn't get around to throwing him a party like we've done for Liala twice. Dax has yet to have a birthday where his friends are invited and it's a big to-do. This year with all that has been happening with Kye and the stress of all of that, we decided to just do something very low key. Next year will be his year. Maybe he'll still be requesting the bike parade like Liala had for her 4th birthday which was a big hit!

Can you tell what he got for his birthday?! He's obsessed with superhero's. He can't decide which one he wants to be for Halloween this year :) Happy Birthday, Super Hero!! We love you.

Creepy, Crawler

I meant to post yesterday but the day got away from me and before I knew it, the day was over. I am not a night owl to any degree. As soon as the 3 crazies are asleep my mind shouts "Go mamma, go! There's so much to get done now that there are no distractions." Then my body says "it's so quiet and peaceful, i think i'll just... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." Yep, that's how most evenings end up for us. Anyhow, since this blog has now become a journal of sorts I thought it was worth documenting all that took place this past week with Kye. On Friday I took him in to the Peds office b/c he hadn't been sleeping well at all- like 2 or 3 hours at a time. And he was really fussy which is out of character for him since he's a very pleasant, happy baby. My suspicions were confirmed. Another double ear infection.

So instead of treating him with oral antibiotics, they gave him 2 shots in his legs. While we were there, I asked if they could call the ENT for me to see if they could fit us in sooner than the 12th of October. They did call and fit us in the same day! So I took Kye in at 2:00 to see the ENT. It was a quick visit where he just confirmed that Kye needs ear tubes. The DR gave me the order and we were on our way. Once in the car, I called to schedule the surgery and they penciled us in for Thursday the 11th. Yeah~ we can finally see an end in sight for reoccurring ear infections! I'm looking forward to Thursday. So in the AM on Saturday I took Kye into the dr office for his 2nd round of shots. On Sunday morning I took him to Loudoun Hospital for the 3rd and final round. It took 3 hours total to get in and get out. We were actually checked into the same room that I was in with Dax when we stayed overnight with his eye infection, and we had some familiar nurses as well. Being there for 3 hours made for a long morning.

Once settled back in at home, we had family over for dinner and the last session of conference. While we were playing games after dinner our little Kye graduated from scooting to actual crawling!! I can't remember how old Liala or Dax were when they crawled so I'm not sure how this compares. I'm thinking 7 1/2 months is about average? Life has forever changed! We have another creepy, cralwer. Time to get the gates out!!

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.....