September

The rest of September was pretty much business as usual. Getting adjusted to our new schedule with two kids in school, plus Addison in clinic based physical therapy. We were mostly happy to be back in a routine again. A few minor adjustments with our sleep habits were a bit tricky... in other words, I miss sleep! ;)

September did bring a sad goodbye for Addison. Our developmental therapist, Kaitlyn who has been with us since Addie's initial eval at 6 wks old left Easter Seals.. We are super excited for her as she embarks on a new journey in her life but we will miss her!! Kaitlyn and I discussed it and decided not to replace the position of development therapist at this time, so we are down two less therapy sessions a month. YAY for that!

Addison tried on her dress she's supposed to wear to meet Mickey Mouse! Aunt Missy made it and she looks super cute cute in it if we say so ourselves!! We are getting ready to leave for Disney on September the 25th. Addie's first trip and the first time I've been back since the hydro diagnosis. We are all looking forward to some much needed celebratory magic! 

Meanwhile, Miss Addison is into EVERYTHING. We are having to watch her like a hawk... we don't have any child proof locks on this cabinet cus we don't keep any chemicals under the sink. And she entertains herself for hours pulling plastic containers and kitchen towels out. Fun for a 15 mth old! 

A beautiful sunset I was blessed to witness one morning as I was getting the boys ready for school.

Grayson asked if he could read to his brother one night... too sweet. Had to snap this picture! 

Addie in her new pjs for the upcoming fall (thanks Aunt Missy!) and trying on Jack's mouse ears!!! 

Addie chased Jack down for some of his sucker and pretty much wrestled him to the ground for it. She's discovered the power of her head butt... let  me tell you, that big ol noggin of hers is heavy and it hurts when she hits you with it. We call it the 'hydro hammer'. I see a future for Addie in the WWF. ;)

Addie got some PawPaw time in recently when mom and dad had to come in for a doctor's appt. We snuck over to Aunt Missy's house for dinner and to watch Monday Night Football with them. She snuggled right up to PawPaw. 

Waiting for her PT appointment in the car, I snapped this pic of Addie talking on her 'phone'. She turned 16 months old that day. 

The doggies are going to stay with a friend while we are going to Disney next week, so I gave Hannah a wash and a cut. She wasn't too happy about it. 

Jackson Starts Pre-K!

Jackson started pre-k this Fall!! It was a big deal around our house, especially for momma!  Two kids in school is HUGE!  Jack was very excited but also pretty nervous... we tried to get his feet wet a little bit at at time, so to speak. We drove by his school a few times this summer, checked out his way cool, used to be at the Dairy Queen, playground, took him with me when I had to drop off paperwork, and went to the orientation to gradually get him used to the idea. He was so brave! He would ask me every day for over a week if his school started the 'next day'.

His reaction when we told him his first day of school was the 'next day'.

Big boy on his first day!

Addie got to ride with us! We switched her to her forward facing car seat because it's easier to get her in and out of it and boy are we getting her in and out more! We are go go going this year! (and yes we have adjusted her straps since this was taking so she's not so slumped down in her seat)

Thankfully Daddy was off on Jack's first day and we all were able to go up there with him. We left a very upset Jack, which was hard. He tried to be so brave but lost the battle as we were walking down the hall way. I had to peel him off of me and walk away, as we had been instructed to do. We did call about 45 mins after we left him and we were told he was playing with Leggos and having a great time - no tears! YAY!! 

It was strange being out with just one kid most of the day! We enjoyed running our errands - Adam  had to pick up a new key for work, I had to obtain a copy of Addie's birth certificate for our upcoming flight to Disney, and we managed to grab lunch at Torchy's just the three of us!  We made it back in plenty of time to pick him up and he said his school was 'the best school ever'! 

2nd day of pre-k for Mr. Jack the rockstar

A lot less tears on the second day so we were able to snap a picture in front of his classroom!

August and Back to School

After we returned from our mini vacation to Houston, we tried our best to get back into some semblance of a routine. The kids were going to bed at the same time every night to slowly get them rotated back to a school schedule. Grayson was doing math and reading every day, and I was working with Jackson on writing his name in preparation for pre-k!

Addie saw a neurologist for the first time ever on August 10th. The appointment was suggested by the NICU on her discharge papers but Dr. George had always said we didn't need a neurologist unless she started having seizures (which Thank God so far she hasn't!). But in March when we were realizing she did have a definite CP diagnosis, I had called to get in with a neurologist and it was  5 month wait to get in as a new patient! Holy Cow! So we kept the appointment if for no other reason than to get our foot in the door. I feel like a kid that has abnormal brain anatomy and CP needs a neurologist on their medical team!

I'm happy to report that Dr. K was extremely impressed with Miss Addison's development. He did say that she has some white brain matter damage (which we knew...it's what the fluid and pressure "washed away" but the good news is she doesn't have any grey matter damage. The way it's been explained to me is that the grey matter stores the information and the white matter transfers the information around her brain. In a baby, the brain has time to learn to get information around her brain by going another route. So we feel like this explains a lot about why Miss Addison is doing well. He also said she has partial agenesis of the corpus collosum not complete which was good news. Dr. K said since her hydro was a secondary complication to her arachnoid cyst that it also explains why she's developing so well for a child that has technically severe hydrocephalus.

The best news: He doesn't want to see us back !! We can always go to him if we need him, he said whether it be 4 days or 4 years but he didn't require a follow up! It was a GREAT appointment!!!

She crawled up in her little chair and sat down looking at my notebook.

Miss Addison has a thing for paper... she is her mother's daughter after all and I have a thing for notebooks and pens and anything do to with scrapping or planning! And apparently Addie follows in those footsteps. She always wants my notebooks or my planner. 

And here she's playing with my old planner that I keep in that basket specifically hoping she'll leave my current planner alone!

Addie and Jack in the tub together!

Waiting for her ENT follow up. Ears look good and she passed her first full hearing test! PTL!

Chuy, our chihuahua waits patiently hoping Addie will drop some food or feed him a bite.

Back to school shoe shopping for Mr. Jack!

And a back to school hair cut!

Jack requested Torchy's tacos after his haircut and then ordered a breakfast taco at 5pm! lol

Miss Addison on her 15 month birthday and a pile of laundry (the normal around here) in the background.

Aunt Missy bought Addison the cuuuuuuuuutest pair of sparkly TOMS Mary Janes!

Waiting for Dr. R, her ophthalmologist. The doc feels like her eye is improving and that she's not crossing as often so we have increased patching (which is nearly impossible because Addison rips it off) and are going back in October after we get back from Duke.

FIRST day of FOURTH Grade!!!!! My baby is getting so big!! He is loving fourth grade and his teacher and is kicking butt on his school work. He started meds last April  to help him focus and they are making such a difference. Kicking myself for not getting him on them sooner.

Jackson had pre-k orientation at his school! He was really trying to be a brave boy while I had to go to the parent orientation meeting in a different building.