Sick

We've been dealing with a sick child, Calvin has an ear infection, of which he started some antibiotics on Saturday, and he's just super congested...so that makes sleeping really really hard for him. Which makes sleeping really really hard for the mama. I don't know what it is, but when you are sick, you just want your mama. So, I've just felt overly needed these past few days, I will be so happy when he is better.

Mia has been doing great. She's been eating like a trooper, which is so great. On Saturday I weighed her and she's finally back to her highest point ever...so close to 28 pounds, but not quite there.

Brad's sister Rachel's family is in town for an extended stay. They have a 3 year old daughter, Joy, and the kids have been having a great time playing together. :)

An Update

We decided to do Mia's nose surgery in San Francisco at UCSF. We think it should be done at a major hospital with pediatric anesthesiologists. We were thinking of possibly redoing it at UCLA, however the doctor who did it before said she wouldn't do it without another CT of her head...that would be 4 CT's of Mia's head and she's only 4 years old, the doctor in San Francisco is ok with doing it without the CT scan. It is just so much radiation for her and we'd do it if it was medically necessary, but it doesn't appear to be necessary. So, the plan is for us to consult with the doctor the Monday before Easter and to then do the surgery the following Tuesday. We'll update you with more info as we get closer.

Mia's really been enjoying her water therapy. The therapist told us yesterday how she uses her left side and right side equally in the water, which is wonderful, so we are excited to see how this benefits her.

Please be praying for Mia, we found out that she might have the start of scoliosis. We are meeting with her orthopaedic surgeon in a few weeks to discuss the xray that shows some mild scoliosis. We are praying that it would resolve on its own...that she wouldn't need a brace, just so many things we'd rather not have her go through and we'd appreciate any prayers for her regarding this.

Daddy's Birthday

We celebrated Daddy's birthday and here are a few photos of the fun.

Disneyland and the Aquarium

Here are a few photos from our trip.

Cousins Napping...

Mickey!

The Aquarium

Ready to go home after a fun day!

Another ENT Visit

So, we ended up heading to LA today to meet the ENT who initially did Mia's surgery on her blocked nostril. We are feeling strongly that we need to do this at a major hospital with pediatric anesthesiologists...especially since we got several voices of concern about the local doctor that looked at Mia. She was happy to see Mia and said that in order to do the surgery she would need a very basic CT of her head done and that hopefully, since she is a little bigger, the result is a little better. Her thoughts for managing it afterwards were to watch and see how she does and if needed, do some nose dilations, similar to anal dilations...except they'd be done under general anesthesia, if need be. So, quite a bit to process, but ultimately, we want what's best for Mia. She didn't notice any fluid build up in Mia's ear, but she also said that fluid comes and goes. We feel strongly about not putting an ear tube in Mia's ear at the moment and waiting and seeing how she does after her nose surgery. Lots for us to process in the next few weeks, so please be praying for discernment as we sort things out.

This past weekend we got to take a special trip down to LA to visit the Long Beach Aquarium and...Disneyland! The kids had a blast, we met up with Brad's Aunt and Uncle and Cousins at Disneyland on Monday and just had such a great time. I need to load the pictures on the computer, but Calvin loved Mickey Mouse, we stood in line to take a picture and he was completely enamored the the big guy. Mia really enjoyed It's A Small World and Toon Town...they both also really liked the seals and sea lions at the Aquarium. It was nice to get away and do something fun. :) I will post some pictures here when I get a chance.

Horse and Water, Yes Please

Mia started back to MARE on Tuesday. It was a super cold, rainy, windy day...so they had a barn activity instead of riding horses. She had a blast, she got to groom Lady and feed her also, they had her doing really good activities with her hands and speech. She was really excited to be back.

Today she started with aquatic therapy. It's once a week and it's with her regular Occupational Therapist, whom she loves...so it's perfect. Brad got to take her because it was after work hours, this was really nice because he doesn't always get to see her therapy sessions. She loved being in the water and did not want to get out...they had her working on blowing bubbles in the water, clapping her hands under water, and some other activities. She's had a great two days of activities.

We started her new appetite medicine on Monday and yesterday she was so completely drugged that we decided to cut the dose in half and slowly work our way up. She's holding steady at 27 1/2 pounds, so we'll see how she does here...if the medicine makes a difference.

Calvin has started the tantrum phase of life...everything Mia has he wants and when he can't have it he will run around crying and then throw himself on the floor in his ultimate display of upset. I sure hope this stage passes quickly. :)

ENT visit

We met with a local ENT today who has a large amount of pediatric patients in his practice. He told us he does 1-2 surgeries a year for choanal atresia (Mia's blocked nostril), so we decided to get an opinion from him regarding a second surgery. He noticed that her right ear was opaque when he looked in and then he did a test to see the pressure in here and it's really low because she has quite a bit of fluid build up behind her eardrum from her blocked nostril. He said her hearing is at about 30% in that ear because of it. His recommendation is to do the surgery, but also to put in an ear tube in that ear to drain the fluid and to keep it drained for about 9 months. He would do the surgery at a local hospital and in talking with him, his knowledge of the procedure and what to aligns up with all the other doctors at major hospitals that we've talked to...so, pray for wisdom as we sort through whether or not to do this in Bakersfield. If we did do it here, it could be done in the next couple of weeks sometime, so it looks like it is a surgery we are closely approaching in the near future.

What A Big Boy!

This week I tried Calvin at the big table in a booster chair...he loves it. So far he's doing great eating off of a plate...I'm hoping he doesn't realize he can throw his plate on the floor. So far, so good.


And of course anything that sissy does, brother wants to be a part of...so if sissy is reading books on the potty, the brother is right there too.