MRI Results

So we finally got Mia's MRI results today. The only significant thing that was noticed is that she has less muscle tone around the left side of her rectum than the right side, the word that her doctor used was atrophied. That seems reasonable since she has more left sided weakness because of the stroke. He said that he didn't know if that would ultimately affect whether or not she could control her bowels...again, only time will tell. There wasn't anything else significant noted, so that's the positive news. Pray for us as we try to sort out the best way to start potty training.

Cubbies

Mia started the Cubbies Awana program at our church this year. She loves it. It's been so neat to listen to her memorize scripture. She has got a very good memory, I'm always so impressed with how quickly she can pick something up. Tonight she got her vest and her book and she was so excited about all of it. I can't wait to see how much more excited she'll be when she gets her first patch for her vest. Who knew that being 3 could be so much fun?!

And of course I'm trying to squeeze in as much cuddling time with Calvin that I can because I know it won't be too long before he doesn't want to cuddle anymore. Just this last week we stopped giving him an evening bottle...he's not a baby anymore.

The Fair

Yesterday we took the kids to the fair. They had a blast. Of course we hit up all the animals first and I was slightly disappointed when I realized that alot of the animals weren't actually there yet because the owners were still getting them to the fair, but then realized that it wasn't too hard to walk in there and there was just enough animals to make the kids happy, so I guess it was a good thing. We got to see a calf right after it was born, so sweet...walking around on it's wobbly newborn legs. And they had a petting zoo with so many animals in it, even a deer, several llamas, a wallaby, and a pig. Along with many goats and sheep...Mia was in animal heaven and Calvin too. Brad kept trying to show Mia the other animals, like the pig, but she kept saying, "look at the goat daddy"...she really could have cared less about the exotic animals. :) We had a great time!

Growing Up

My babies are growing up. I look at Mia and can't believe she is almost 4! She is loving school and has adjusted so well to her new class. Today she got her chicken pox immunization...we just kept putting it off and finally decided it was time, she was such a big girl about it. We have a book about Curious George going to the doctor and getting a shot, so we talked about that and she did great, no tears at all.

Calvin is also growing up. For the past couple of days he hasn't wanted to nurse at all. I really thought that I would be happy when this day came, but I can honestly say I am sad. I wasn't ready for it to end so abruptly. I keep thinking that maybe this will pass, but when I offer him a chance to nurse, he completely refuses it....so I guess it's time to wean.

On a different note, yesterday, or the day before, (the days tend to run together ;)), Calvin said Mama for the first time. It doesn't matter that he was crying in his crib and it was more of a "mamamamamamamamama", it was totally endearing still.

Back In The Saddle Again...

Today was Mia's first day back at MARE since we took a break for the summer. She loved it. She and Sally were happily riding in no time. Everyone was so pleased at how well she is talking and how much improvement overall she's making. They were also shocked to see Calvin walking. We got to check out a few horses in the barn while she was riding and Calvin was quite in awe of the large creatures. A fun day for us!

LA

Everything went really well today in LA. Mia did really well with the anesthesia and they were able to get an IV in on their second try. Our GI doctor could not find any tiny fistula, which is great news because that means we don't have to correct that. It will be a little while before we get back the results from the MRI, but we are hopeful that it will be positive.

Many of the staff remembered Mia and couldn't believe how big she's gotten. It was nice to reconnect with them and for them to see how well Mia is doing. It's been almost two years since we've been at the main hospital with her, November of 2009 was our last operation and major hospital stay for her. Hopefully everything will look normal on the MRI and we won't have to do anything else until next summer (the proposed time for unblocking her nostril again).

Praise God for a great day! Thank you for praying!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we are going down to UCLA to have her GI surgeon make sure there isn't a tiny fistula where it shouldn't be. She'll need to be put under for this and they are also going to do an MRI of her back and spine to make sure everything is ok there. Please be praying for us, pray that there are no complications with the anesthesia. Pray that they are able to easily get an IV put in. We'll keep you updated on what we find out.

An Ibex

So, I got the kids these ABC's that cling onto the walls and each of the letters has an animal with it too. They love them, well, Mia definitely loves them. As we were putting them up I realized that I had no clue what the animal with the letter I was...it looked like a goat to me and I was rather frustrated that they would pick such an obscure animal for that letter, not to mention confuse kids. Well, Brad came home and said it was an Impala and then we were discussing it with the grandparents and the name Ibex came up as an option also...well, we googled it and it looks more like an Ibex than an Impala, so that's what we are going with...anyway...this morning Mia and I were looking at the letters and she was asking what the I animal was, of which I responded...it's an "Ibex" and then I spelled it for her, and she looked at me and said "It's an Ibex, his name is Goat." Made my day!

Happy Labor Day Weekend

From our family to yours!

One new thing that has happened this weekend is that Calvin signed "more" for the first time...never mind that it was when I was feeding him birthday cake. He was very motivated to keep signing to get more. :)