Seriously??

So, John got in to see an orthopedist today & found out that not only is his toe broken, but he also has two other bones in his foot that are broken. And, his other ankle is sprained. He is having surgery Friday morning to put some pins in his toe. They will be in for 4 weeks. What fun! It really isn't the way we planned to start our new year. John says that 2009 is already looking like it will be as good as 2008 has been.

O My Broken Toe!

Somewhere north of the probability of winning the Publishers Clearing House grand prize is the likelihood of breaking your toe when falling down some steps. Correction... one step. Joshua's bedroom is two steps up from the landing of the first-to-second floor staircase. As I was coming down those steps this morning, my right ankle rolled out from under me. Reflexively, my left leg tried to correct. Unfortunately the landing bent my toes up and over. I sat a the top of the stairs for a few minutes to let the adrenaline induce nausea subside while my wife laughed at me and made comments about needing a life-alert system ("I've fallen and I can't get up"). After an hour of increasing pain and swelling in my left foot, I determined that things were not looking good for an ice-and-elevate recovery. Chris dropped me off at a local doc-in-a-box. After a brief 3 hour wait, X-rays confirmed that the middle bone in my big toe was snapped like a twig. The doctor told me to follow up with an orthopedist on Monday. Chris took this lovely picture after the first Lortab kicked in.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!! It was a crazy 24 hours at our house, including meals with both of our parents & my grandparents, lots of gifts, even more shredded tissue paper & wrapping paper, cakes & pie, and a visit from Santa. By early this afternoon we were exhausted & all managed to get a little nap....Joshua seems to think he doesn't need naps anymore, so this was a great Christmas gift! I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating with your families!   

  

Friends??

They still aren't friends, although Joshua really wants to be. Joshua has finally learned to sit & pet Belle gently....for a few minutes, anyway, before he tries to rub his head on her or pull her tail. Today Belle was so cold that she was shivering & she actually let Joshua sit next to her & even put his head on her - all without growling at him!

Trouble

I left the room for about 5 minutes today. I heard what sounded like balls from the ball pit being poured down the stairs. I thought, "Surely not! Maybe they just dumped them out upstairs." No, no.....I walked out to Joshua running around with at least 150 balls from his ball pit covering the stairs & dining room. They were having a great time!

Answers

We are finally getting some answers about Joshua - nearly 11 months after his first seizure. It isn't what we had hoped for, but at least we are learning more about what is going on. I talked to Joshua's neurologist Friday afternoon, and she told me that his MRI was abnormal as well. He has what is called a neuronal migration disorder. Basically, during pregnancy, some of the neurons in the outer layer of his brain did not make it to the correct place while the brain was developing. This is a birth defect & it has been linked to about 25 different genetic disorders. At this point, we don't know which disorder Joshua may have. The neurologist said it "could" be linked to a genetic disorder, which made me think it may not be; but, the few things we have read said that this is always genetic. We really don't know much about this at this point. The neurologist told me that there are areas on both sides of the outer layer of his brain that are a little bit thicker than normal, and there is a place on the back of his brain where some of the brain is protruding into the outer layer a little bit (I think...it is a little confusing). She said that the seizures would be originating in one or more of these areas. From what we have read, seizures & developmental delays are common with these disorders. I think the doctors will try to narrow down which disorders they think Joshua may have & then do blood work to test for those. It will probably take 6 weeks or more to get those results, and we don't even go to see the neurologist until next month (we are going to see a different neurologist who specializes in seizures....this appointment was made before we got all of these results). There could be other things that we will have do to deal with, depending on which (if any) of these genetic disorders he has. The most likely would be some learning problems. Right now, we won't be doing anything different with him. The main goal at this point is to get the seizures under control. He is still having one or more seizures every 1-3 weeks. We will continue with the current medication and if it doesn't start working, he will be changed to another medication. We will continue with the therapy he is already in to address the speech delay. Please continue to pray that the seizures will be controlled soon. That is definitely the biggest cause of stress in our lives right now. We feel like the other issues would be much more manageable if we weren't constantly worried about him having a seizure. You can also pray for John & I to have wisdom as we learn more about what is going on & how we can best help Joshua to be successful & overcome as many of the challenges ahead as possible. We have been so blessed to live in an area where there are so many excellent doctors and resources for him. We know that the road ahead will have challenges, but we know that God will continue to prepare us for each step.

Update

Joshua made it through the MRI very well. He was in a great mood before & after. The only issue was that he needed a good bit more medication than they planned to get him to be completely sound asleep. That didn't really surprise me, as they have had to give him high doses of medication for other issues in the past for the medication to be effective. Anyway, we are thankful that he made it through with no complications. We should have the results by tomorrow. Of course, we were supposed to have the EEG results within 3 days & it took 8, so we'll see. There is a slight chance we will get them this afternoon, but I'm not optimistic about that.

Also, I talked to Joshua's pediatrician on the phone last night (have I ever mentioned how much we LOVE our pediatrician??). He gave a little more info about the EEG report. He said that the spikes on the EEG were consistent with what they see for complex partial seizures (which is what we thought Joshua was having) & that it is consistent with patterns they see in early onset epilepsy. He agreed that the MRI combined with the EEG would give more information. Maybe I will have more information by the end of the day tomorrow. Thanks for continuing to pray!

More Tests

Joshua is continuing to go through tests to get more information on his seizures and any possible causes. He had blood work sent out last month that we are still waiting for. He had an EEG last week and we got the results yesterday. This one was not normal, as his first one was. This time there were spikes in the electrical activity in two lobes of the brain & the neurologist said the seizures could be happening in one of these areas. She wants to see his MRI results before we discuss it any further. His MRI is tomorrow. He will have to be sedated since he is still so young & won't be able to be still for the length of the MRI. The MRI is to look for any abnormalities in his brain that could be causing the seizures. John & I are quite nervous about this test for a couple of reasons. First, sedation is a little scary just because Joshua is still little & has never had it done before. Second, there are so many things that the MRI could find that are just scary. John read about all sorts of seizure disorders online last night that are terrifying to think of having to go through. (We try not to do much reading on the internet for this very reason). Of course, we also know that the MRI combined with the EEG will give his neurologist a very good picture of what could be going on. Please continue to pray for all three of us as Joshua goes through the MRI tomorrow and as we await the results. Also, Joshua is continuing to have clusters of seizures every 1-3 weeks....he is currently going through one, and it is the worst cluster he has had since starting the medication three and a half months ago. At this point, we aren't sure if the medication he is on is helping or not (today I don't think it is, but I change my mind often in this matter).

Cute Pictures

John must do a better job as photographer than I do. He took these pictures last night & they are probably the best pictures we have taken of Joshua in months. He ususally won't sit still long enough for the camera to focus & take the picture. Also, I should say that we have both Alabama & Auburn outfits in Joshua's closet. John & I (gasp!) aren't really fans of either (our wedding started minutes after the Iron Bowl ended....I know - what were we thinking??). However, we have relatives on both sides of the family that are die hard fans of each team.

Decorating for Christmas

You know how sometimes you think about how things are going to work out & it seems so nice in your head....but then you actually do it & it is nothing like you imagined?? That is how our Christmas is going so far. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to decorate a tree with a 2 year old who is way too curious for his own good. We decided to just do lights & ribbon. When we got that done & stood back to look at the tree, it was just a disappointment. I mean, it really reminded me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. So, I started trying to think of ornaments that wouldn't break. I looked online & finally justed headed to Walmart to see what I could find that would look ok & not cost a fortune. I found "shatterproof" (aka plastic) ornaments that look just like the glass ball ornaments. Now, I have to admit that my thought was "Shatterproof? Yeah right! Give Joshua 3 minutes or less & this thing will be in bits!". Surprisingly, he has thrown them down the hall, bitten them, played with them, etc & they are all still in one piece! And, they only cost $5 a box & don't look bad at all. Our tree now has red & gold ornaments, which is something I have wanted to do for a few years now (we don't do a themed tree). Anyway, Joshua LOVES the Christmas tree. He gets excited every single time he sees it. I mean, it is really like he is seeing it for the first time every time. And he is continually pulling the ornaments off. He has gotten to the point of putting them back on the branch when I catch him. Here are some pictures of him enjoying the tree:

Christmas Horses

Joshua & I were at Target this morning & decided to walk through the Christmas section since he was getting fussy. He loves Christmas trees....we are in for an interesting time at our house this holiday season. While I was looking at ornaments, he started pulling up on his hair. I wasn't sure what he was doing....I looked around & didn't see any hats anywhere. I said, "I see your hair," but he kept pulling on it. We walked around & he pointed up to the large light-up designs that you put in your front yard....snowmen, reindeer, even a moose that moves its head. As we turned the corner & he was facing those things again, he started putting his hand on his head again & playing with his hair. Then I understood....he was trying to do the sign for horse. I laughed & said, "Oh, horse!" He smiled really big. I told him they were reindeer but that they do sort of look like horses. I think those may be his favorite decorations this year (he loves horses)....but he did try to pull on every tree we walked past. Maybe I should take a poll of how many times people think our Christmas tree will be pulled down this year? John & I are still debating on where to put it this year to minimize disasters.

"Airplane, please"

I really do need to post an update on Joshua. There have been many doctors appointments & therapy sessions & there are a couple of upcoming tests. He has made tons of progress. I will try to get an update posted in the next few days. But for now...

He has learned a ton of signs to communicate....probably 50 or so. He has been putting 2 together to ask for things (cookie please, eat more, more cracker, etc). Today he even put three together...more cookie please. Anyway, a few days ago we were playing in the playroom & I heard an airplane. Airplanes are one of his favorite things & we see them all the time when we are out walking & even from the front windows in our house. I asked Joshua if he heard the airplane & he ran over to the window. During the 3-5 minutes or so that we sat there we saw 6 airplanes fly overhead. After the last one was gone, Joshua looked at me & signed "airplane, please". All I could do was laugh. Too bad I can't make airplanes appear!

Four Years

We celebrated our four year anniversary this week. Life has changed alot since this picture was taken. We actually spent a couple of hours at an attorney's office taking care of some business & then an hour and a half at the doctor's office with Joshua....not the ideal way to celebrate your anniversary, but that's just the way it works out sometimes. Looking back, we have really gone through alot of things we never expected to have to face. John summed it up well when I brought Joshua downstairs the morning of our anniversary..."Buddy, today we are celebrating 3 years of bliss....and this last year." That wasn't a complaint...just a statement of fact. While we have faced a lot of difficult situations during our fourth year of marriage, we are sure that although things aren't always good, they do work together for good, and we know that our faith & our marriage will be stronger because of the path we have travelled thus far. We are thankful for all of the blessings of the past 4 years & are looking forward to many, many more!


November 2004

A Second Loss

I think many of you already know this, but I wanted to take a moment to let everyone know what we are going through. Last week, we went through our second miscarriage. It has been very difficult, and yet we are very much at peace. For some reason, I thought it would be easier to go through if it happened again....and I guess I didn't really think it would happen again. I was wrong in both of those thoughts. It wasn't as scary to go through the second time since I knew what to expect but the loss was every bit as painful. I was only 5 weeks pregnant this time, so there were no ultrasounds...only lots of lab work. I have learned many things through this process, but I will wait until later to share that, when I have more time. Thank you to all of you have continued to pray for our little family throughout this year!

Second Birthday

Its hard to believe that our little one is two already. It has not been what we expected, but he has been such a blessing. We had a great time at his birthday party.

Playing in his tent.

Checking out all of his gifts.

Loving his cupcake!

I actually made him panda cupcakes. They were far from perfect, but I was happy that you could tell they were supposed to be pandas!

Happy Halloween!

Confession: This picture wasn't taken on Halloween. It was actually taken a couple of weeks ago when I first bought his costume. I had intended to take a picture last night before our attempt at trick-or-treating, but it just got hectic. We went to all of the houses on our street & only found two families at home. Our street never gets trick-or-treaters, so we were kind of expecting that. Joshua sat in front of everyone's door & was upset that he couldn't go in! Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween with your little ones.

I will have birthday pictures posted in the next day or so! Its hard to believe he turned two this week!

October Playgroup

We had our monthly playgroup today & all of the little ones wore their costumes. To say that Joshua was unhappy would be huge understatement. He screamed & kicked the entire time! I think the costume made him hot & mad. But he also wanted to run around & got mad whenever I would turn him around to go back to the group. Needless to say, we did not get any pictures with the other kids sitting in the hay with a pumpkin. The only ones we managed were in the parking lot in stollers (which also made him very unhappy). There were a few other little ones that showed up after these pictures were taken. I wish I could have gotten some pictures of them as well, but I was way too busy chasing mine around!

We had a bumblebee, a dog, the cookie monster, a pumpkin, and a bear.

Our Pumpkin

Our second year to carve a pumpkin:

Zoo With Daddy

John's first time with the Lorikeets. He loved it, and Joshua was so excited that he forgot to try to touch them. That is actually a good thing, though! At one point John had about a dozen birds all over him.

The best picture I could get of these two. The tiger is right up at the glass on the days I forget my camera, so we were glad that he somewhat cooperated the day I had my camera!

The carousel was decorated for Halloween & was running backwards. The ride seemed to last forever (& I was watching from the outside)....John was a little disoriented when he came off. I mean, it really ran for like 3 entire songs!

Carousel

He loves the carousel!

Playgroup at the Zoo

They've grown up so much since last year when we went! Below is a picture from last September.

Then & Now

Pumpkin Patch October 2007

Pumpkin Patch October 2008

It's amazing how fast things change! This year we had a hard time getting him to sit still long enough to take a picture.

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch again this year. We decided to venture into the petting zoo...though I think they called it a "Learning Farm". Joshua loved it! They had bunnies, a pig, a pony, an alpaca, goats, sheep, chickens, and a calf. The goats were very hungry...they tried to bite our pants & stroller!

Our best attempt at a family portrait. Joshua just wanted to run around. He loved running in the teepees they had set up.