Packing

I don't think much more will fit. What do you think?

I spoke with the pre-op team yesterday. It was nice to be able to go over an extensive history with them and all of this information will be given to the anesthesiologist. Her scheduled surgery time is Tuesday at 7:30 and we need to be there at 6:30. That's so different than UCLA where they always ask us to be there hours before surgery and then we twiddle our thumbs and attempt to entertain an awake child. This is really nice. They told me that she is scheduled to stay overnight so that they can observe her, which I didn't realize, but am happy with because I think that's a smart choice. So, hopefully we'll be discharged Wednesday and able to come back home. Thanks for praying.

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Actually, you all must be praying for me because I am at total peace about Mia's surgery. We've been super busy also, so that's good for keeping my mind from worrying too much, but honestly, when I start to worry I've been focusing myself back on God and His promises and that worry goes away. Thank you Lord!

Yesterday we were out at MARE because that's what we do on Tuesdays. Mia loves to ride Cricket. I remembered to pack some baby carrots along and Mia got to give them to her horse as a treat after she was done. Cricket munched them up so quick, but it was neat to see Mia holding the bucket of baby carrots and really participating in taking care of her horse.

Her physical therapists have been commenting on how much stronger she is getting and how she is so close to being able to jump. Apparently it takes quite a bit of strength to be able to physically get both your feet off the ground at the same time. We've been playing the Wii quite a bit and we got Mia "Wii Fit for kids" and she loves it. One of the activities is jumping so we've been practicing that quite a bit and I did actually see her jump once with both feet off the ground. Praise God for continuing to strengthen her.

Calvin has a lot of things to say these days, even if we can't understand him. But bless his heart for repeating the same gibberish over and over and over again. :) Brad showed the kids a video on you tube...it was a hickory dickory dock animation song where different animals take turns running up the clock. Well, at the end there is an elephant and after it climbs the clock it ends up breaking the clock because it is so heavy. I finally figured out that Calvin was trying to desperately tell me something about this video...I thought he liked it and was just so excited about the elephant and the clock. Well, I put the video on this morning and he burst into tears when he saw the elephant...apparently he was trying to tell me that he did not like that part. Anyway, he can't stop talking about it and I now remind him that I turned it off and there is no more elephant and everything is ok.

Surgery

In less than 2 weeks we will be in San Francisco for Mia's pending nose surgery (Tuesday April 3rd). It still seems far away, but I know that day will be here quick enough. I remember a few years ago when the ENT we saw recommended we didn't do this surgery until she was in the 4-5 year age range and I remember thinking how grateful I was that she didn't need to have the surgery and how far away that seemed to be. But now it's here.

Last night at Bible study we were talking about something the speaker had mentioned at our women's retreat...how we have an inner and an outer circle. The outer circle are things that we have no control over, yet like to think we do. Like how our children behave or what our husband or wife does. The inner circle are things we can control, like how we respond to what our children do or how we pray, etc. I'm trying to remember that Mia and the doctors and everyone involved in this surgery are in my outer circle. I can't control that. But I can pray and I can trust God. It doesn't seem like much, but really it's everything. So, pray that I continue to give this all over to God and trust in His perfect plan for Mia. Pray for everyone involved, that Mia would get exceptional care and that this would be the last time we have to do this surgery for her. Pray that her body would be preparing itself even now for her surgery.

It doesn't get any easier thinking about your child going into a surgery. I wish I could say that having done this multiple times that I'm ready, but I'm not. Every surgery is a big deal for us. I'm grateful it's not an open heart surgery, but it is still a surgery. So thankful that we serve an awesome God who is in control and we can put our trust in Him about this. Keep praying that I would be reminded of that throughout these next couple of weeks.

28!

We've reached a record high today of 28 pounds! Woohoo! We have never officially seen an actual 28 with Mia, so this is great news. She's been eating like a trooper and this was super encouraging to see that number on the scale. Thank you Lord!

The Ides of March

When did March 15th get here? Seriously, I just realized that Saint Patrick's day is on Saturday...in two days...shows you how crazy busy we have been. I got the pleasure of sitting in Mia's preschool class today. She was so excited that her Mama was coming to school with her. During one of her "centers" she was sitting across the table from me and every time she'd look at me, she'd get this sweet smile and wave at me. I ate it up, I won't deny it. The others kids really enjoyed having Mia's mom in class too, they all wanted to hold my hand whenever we had to walk somewhere. And they called me Mom because they didn't know what else to call me. Anything different than the routine is exciting.

We are struggling with where to put Mia next year because her cognitive abilities are so strong (Praise God!), but she still has physical limitations. So, I really wanted to see how she interacts with her peers and her teachers and the different activities she does at school. There wasn't anything major that made me think, "oh no", but I did notice how she struggled with many simple tasks, like hanging up her backpack, taking off her jacket...even transitioning between activities. She still has some uneasiness about physically maneuvering her body and so when all the kids got up to move to different activities, she just sort of stayed until everyone else had settled and then she could get herself where she needed to go. She did very well with listening and following instructions, she even was used to the routines, but physically she's really far behind.

I love how her teacher would ask her to read things because she knows that she can read. It was integrated so easily into everything they were doing and it didn't seem to phase the other kids at all. It was nice to see her being challenged academically since she's further along than her peers in that area.

Anyway, the plan is for me to observe the different kindergarten options for her and we've been thinking of some other plans ourselves...private preschool is a potential option along with homeschooling. One of our concerns about public kindergarten or transitional kindergarten is that all the classes are going to be "all day", so rather than getting out at 11:30, they will go until 1:30 or 2. It ends up taking up a huge portion of our day and trying to fit in all of our therapies after that, along with Calvin's afternoon nap, might be a struggle. So, that might mean she'd be pulled out of school more to do some of our private therapies...we are just sifting through all of this and processing what is best for her. We have an IEP meeting at the end of April and hopefully by then I will have been able to see some classes and get more info for next year.

LA with 2.

I ventured on my first trip by myself to LA with both children. Believe it or not, I have have never done this with both kids by myself...I have a great support system at home with grandparents and a husband who give of themselves all the time to make sure I don't have to go to LA by myself. I was completely unsure how it would go, but we purchased a double stroller a few weeks ago, so I knew I could belt them both in if necessary for my sanity. :)

It went amazingly great...thankfully we have a portable DVD player, so they were happy the entire way watching DVD's. And by the grace of God I remembered to pack snacks, so when we had to wait nearly 2 hours to see the doctor, they at least were not hungry. The office we visited is new, so I wasn't sure what the layout was going to be, but it worked great...they had a playroom with a single door that I could sit by and make sure that my children stayed in the playroom rather than chasing them endlessly around the waiting room. That in itself was a complete life saver. And we ate at Carl's Jr for lunch...the best part is that they bring you your food, so I didn't have to leave my children unattended to go get it...I know, really minor, but a total blessing for me. And then, they slept the whole way home...yay!

We saw Mia's orthopaedic surgeon. A few weeks ago our pediatrician noticed she might have mild scoliosis, so we got her x-rayed in town. It came back showing scoliosis, so we scheduled an appt with her orthopaedic doctor to see what the plan is. He said that because she has overall muscle weakness, this contributes to the curved spine, but her curvature is so mild that they wouldn't do anything with it right now. If it gets to 20 degrees, she's less than 10 by their assessment, then they would brace her. So, right now, we'll just continue to follow up every 6 months and monitor it. Which is a huge praise. We are praying that it will either stay the same or get better...we know that our God is powerful enough to straighten her spine, if need be.

Now we are just happy to be back home. :)

Our next doctor visit is the first week of April. We will be in San Francisco for Mia's nose surgery, so you can keep us in prayer that everything would go smoothly and that the outcome would be great. We'll keep you updated on that as we get closer.

Away

It was really nice to get away this weekend with the women in our church. It was even more wonderful to come home to my sweet family. And the best part was that they did great without me. I can't say I wasn't a little bit sad when I got home and the kids saw me and were like, oh hi mom...and then ran off to do their own thing, it was like I hadn't even went away. But that's a great thing.

After I got home on Sunday, Mia and I turned around and went to LA on Monday to see her neurologist. She's doing great and we are just going to maintain what we've been doing, a very minor dose of keppra and we'll just keep monitoring her.

ABC's

Calvin had his 18 month check up today. He's doing great, still on the skinny side of things, but nothing that our pediatrician is worried about...especially since Calvin is such an active kid. His ear infection is looking much better, but he now has some wheezing when he breaths, so we started some albuterol treatments until that clears up.

Calvin has clearly developed a love for the ABC's like his sister. He really had no choice though, since most everywhere you look in our house there are ABC's. On the fridge, on the wall, foam letters for the bath, puzzles, books...they are everywhere. He has started to since the Alphabet song and it is so adorable. He doesn't get everything right, but you can clearly hear the tune and the rhythm. The best part is watching him bebop his head and attempt to dance...but, unfortunately, he has taken up the dancing gene from his parents...and that isn't much. It's still really cute to watch.

Pray for Brad this weekend, he is going to be a single dad as I go away on a women's retreat with our church. This is my first leaving Calvin since he's been born. It's really hard for me to leave my babies...I know that the grandparents will be helping out and so that will make Mia super happy, I'm sure they'll have a great weekend.