Happy 1st Birthday Mr. Blake!

Over the weekend, we celebrated Blake's first birthday!  He's such a big boy!  He weighs 2 pounds less than Vera, and he's rotten, funny, and so sweet.  I think that the next time I see him, he's going to be walking!!

As I thought about Blake's birthday on Friday, I remembered going to visit Mandy, Jeff and Blake in the hospital one year ago.  Adam was out of town, so we went with my parents and Vera was a maniac while we visited.  She bounced around from one thing to another, a typical 1 year-old busybody!  Not too much has changed there!

Blake had a happy birthday!  Here's just a few pictures from his party!  Happy birthday little guy!

The little guy was excited for new toys!

Vera offered her assistance when it came to gift-opening.

And she wasn't afraid to check them all out too.  I think the car below was her favorite. 

Pumpkin Patch

Two weekends ago, Mandy, Blake, Vera and I went to Brumbaugh Farms for the afternoon.  Vera was really excited to go.  We tried to go the weekend before, but it was really rainy and cool.  Vera was disappointed.  Believe it or not, it was really hot for our visit this year.  It was sunny and 80 degrees.  The heat did cause us to cut our trip a little shorter than it would've been if it were cooler.  Mandy and I were dying in the heat, and we decided not to push our luck with the little ones.  But, we were glad to have a nice day outside.

We checked out the shady Storybook Forest first.  We had to keep convincing Vera to keep moving, because she loved all the toys.

We came upon a "castle" in the forest (not this one) and Vera wanted to play inside.  There was a ladder climbing pretty high to a top look-out level.  Vera was insistent on climbing the ladder.  When she got to the look-out level, she was immediately scared and climbed right back down. 

We walked out to the big slide.  Mandy went down with Blake first.  I was getting ready to go after them and Vera sat down in front of me.  She let go and took off sliding down by herself.  I hollered down the tunnel for Mandy to grab her.  Vera wasn't too scared because as soon as her feet hit the ground, she took off to do it again.  The second time she was super-careful to hang on to me because she didn't want to go by herself another time. 

Vera was instantly attracted to the playground area.  It was really hot at this point, and Mandy and I weren't interested in hanging around too long.  We had to coax Vera out again.

I love this picture!

Blake, who is all boy, played in the dirt while Vera played in the house.

We checked out the farm animals, but it got short because Vera had to go potty.  It was miserable (for more than one reason) taking her in the port-a-pot.

We waited in line forever for the caterpillar ride.  Mandy took pictures while I rode with these two cute kids.

Vera needed a boost from Aunt Mandy for this picture.  Blake was sitting in the grass next to me.  The next thing I knew...

...he crawled over to his mama...

...and wanted his picture taken too!

Silly boy!

A Long Week!

Two weeks ago we learned of Vera's genetic condition.  It caused a lot of worry and rearranging of schedules for doctor's appointments.  It was a long week.

This past week was just as long.  On Monday, we had our appointment with the specialist in Dayton.  We also took Vera to our family doctor in the morning and learned of a double ear infection.  All week Vera was super-whiney, uncooperative, and trying.  It was understandable, but it took every ounce of patience we had!

Tuesday evening I went to school to work for a few hours.  Vera and Adam went to visit grandpa for a short while.  On the way home, Vera said to Adam, "Dad, I sick!"  Adam told her she was going to be ok, and no sooner had he said this, he heard her vomiting in the back seat.  It was all over herself, the car seat, and the car.  Adam emailed me a picture of the car seat, with the subject "Geez!"  I finished what I was doing and came home.  Vera was clean and watching a movie.  Adam had the hose out, the car seat torn a part and was scrubbing the car.  I started the washer, and helped get Vera to bed.  She was super-congested and I think all of the drainage upset her stomach.  Adam told me that as he was cleaning her up, she said, "Dad, I so sorry.  This is bisgusting!"  :)

Wednesday morning, about 5 minutes before I had to leave, Vera spilled her orange juice all over herself, the booster seat, down the chair, and all over the floor.  I sopped up as much as I could, changed Vera's clothes, and dashed out the door leaving behind a sticky seat and floor. 

After school, I had to stop by Midmark and switch vehicles before I could pick up Vera.  The car seat was still wet and torn apart, so I didn't have a car seat in my vehicle.  When I got home from work on Wednesday, I started in on the sticky mess.  I mopped the floor and tore the seat apart, scrubbing and washing it as best I could.  Adam spent some time putting the car seat back together and getting things put back together from the vomit incident.

On Thursday, I had my formal evaluation with my principal under the brand new teacher evaluation system.  It was stressful, mostly because it was something new and required a lot of extra paperwork.  I spent all week working on the evaluation, rearranging my schedule and lessons to make it work.  I had missed a few days of school because of Vera's situation, and it was kicking my butt.  I was buried at school!

On Thursday after school, as I walked into Patty's house, Vera came running to me like usual.  Immediately, Patty noticed that her pants seemed wet.  Vera, shamefully said she just peed her pants.  She told Patty that she was so sorry.  On my way home, I called Adam and told him I was running away.  It seemed to just keep coming!!  I was getting tired of cleaning up major messes.  Adam and I had very little patience left.  When we got home, Vera told me she was "so sorry for ruining Patty's day."  Aww!  I of course told her she didn't ruin her day.  I couldn't scold her, but calmly changed her clothes and we went to play.  Finally on Thursday, Vera started to feel better and return to her normal self.



We made this tower on Thursday as we waited for dad to get home from work!

Thursday evening I went to the grocery store for the first time in about 3 weeks.  It was massive and expensive.  I walked in the door at 8:30, Adam helped me carry in the loot, and he walked out the door to meet his sales rep at The Inn.  Vera was in bed, and I finally sat down around 9:30 to watch my show.  Thursday night I didn't sleep well at all.  I've been fighting a cold, and rest just didn't come, though I was exhausted. 

Thankfully, Friday went fairly smooth, and I made it through solely because it was finally Friday.  We went out on Friday and Saturday evenings for some much-needed adult time with friends.  We were able to sleep until 9 on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which was also much-needed. 

As we're on the brink of another week, here's to more pleasant days and restful nights for everyone in this household!

Some Tough News

About 3 weeks ago, Patty noticed that Vera was limping one day at her house.  We didn't think too much of it at first.  We examined her foot and leg with no obvious sign of redness, swelling, bruising or pain.  I thought maybe she had a bug bite or stepped on something that hurt her foot.  The limping went on for a few days, so we quit wearing Crocs and started wearing socks with shoes.  The limping continued.  We pressed on her foot, twisted it in all directions, and asked her daily if anything hurt.  Nothing.  One day she told me that her foot hurt because she ate too much.  haha  Not helpful.  One evening, I took her to buy new tennis shoes thinking that maybe shoes that fit well with good support would help.  Didn't help.  The limping continued.  I began to worry a bit.  I took her to Dr. Elshoff and he checked her over.  He said her hips were aligned properly, she had good range of motion and didn't show any signs of pain or swelling.  He said to keep an eye on it.

One Monday, after about 2 weeks of limping off and on, Patty was very concerned.  She said she felt something was definitely wrong.  We talked for a while about what we observed.  Patty said she's noticed that it takes Vera a very long time to go up and down her stairs compared to other kids.  She also runs a little wobbly.  I agreed.  I called Dr. Elshoff's office again and we went on Wednesday to have it checked.  We talked for a while, and I asked if we could have it x-rayed to make sure there wasn't a hairline fracture somewhere in her leg.  Dr. Elshoff agreed and sent us to Dayton Children's to have it done.  He advised having it done by Thursday so we could have the results before the weekend.  I had Parent/Teacher Conferences that night, so I met Adam after school and he decided to take her to Dayton to have the x-ray done that night.  The outpatient x-ray is open until 11. 

Adam said that Vera was exceptionally good at the hospital.  She was polite, cooperative and happy.  She was a little uneasy about the x-ray at first, but Adam stood beside her with a lead vest, and she was fine.  They had to wait after the x-ray to be sure that they got good pictures of what they needed.  They took 5 x-rays from the knee down on her right side.

I talked to Adam after conferences and he said they were still in Dayton, so I went to church for our parish mission speaker.  I did some praying for Vera, but honestly I wasn't overly worried. 

When I walked in the house, Vera was in bed and Adam was sitting on the couch with tears running down his face.  I was immediately worried, and he told me right away that Vera has the same condition that he has.  Multiple Osteochondromas.  He said that Dr. Elshoff called him before he left the hospital and shared the results of the x-ray.  We were pretty devastated.  Adam has a lot of painful memories of his experiences with this condition.  We sat and cried for a while.  I tried to be really positive.  I told him that we'd do whatever had to be done to take care of her.  We have good health insurance.  Medicine and technology have changed so much since he went through this 20 years ago.  I told Adam that this is God's plan for us, and God gives us what we can handle.  This is our Cross to walk.  I kept saying that it could be so much worse.  I did some praying and went and laid with Vera in her bed.  She was still awake and asked me to rock her to sleep.  I gladly took her to the chair and sang some songs to rock her to sleep.  What a long day!

Multiple osteochondromas is hereditary, and is basically extra growth of bone and cartilage at the end of long bones.  It is considered to be a tumor, but it is benign.  It tends to grow near growth plates because there's space for them to grow.  It can pinch nerves, and affect muscle and bone growth.  Adam had these growths in his wrist, ankle and knee.  The wrist and ankle required reconstructive surgery because the condition caused his bones to grow at an uneven rate.

This was Wednesday night.  We were referred to an orthopedic specialist at Dayton Children's.  Somehow, through the grace of God, we were able to get an appointment on Monday.  We did a lot of praying over the weekend, and it was hard to talk about.  We were fearful that we'd discover spots throughout her body.  We tried not to read too much about it on the internet.  We had very little information and a lot of questions. 



Meanwhile, through the night on Wednesday, Vera started coughing and barking like a seal.  She was running a low-grade fever.  I decided to stay home with her on Thursday morning and take her to Dr. Elshoff.  This was the second day in a row we visited that office.  Vera checked out with clear lungs, throat and ears.  Dr. Elshoff said she just had a bad cold.  Over the weekend, things didn't get any better.  We didn't get much restful sleep, and gave her Ibuprofen consistently.  Sunday night Vera's fever spiked to almost 102.  We decided not to go to after-hours because the pharmacies were already closed.  So first thing Monday morning, before we went to Dayton, Adam took her back to Dr. Elshoff--the third time in 5 days.  She had a double ear infection.  We had just enough time to get her prescription at the pharmacy, give her a dose, and throw her back in her car seat and head to Dayton. 



We held our sick Vera tight all through the weekend and prayed for the best!  Does Adam look sleep-deprived?  We all were!

After a long wait, we got to meet Dr. Albert, who seemed very nice and knowledgeable on multiple osteochondromas.  He asked about the family  history and looked at Adam's wrist and arms.  Then he physically examined Vera.  He felt and moved all of her joints, and checked her back and ribs.  He felt a small spot on her ankle and another smaller spot in her shoulder area.  He took a standing x-ray from her pelvis down to look further at the spots on her ankle and leg.  The x-ray showed two small spots on her right ankle.  One spot is growing on the smaller leg bone and it is growing posterior, toward the backside of her body.  The second spot is very tiny and it's on the outside of her leg.  He said at this point there is no reason to be overly concerned.  We need to monitor her as she grows to be sure that these spots don't interfere with her growth.  It's certain that these spots are going to grow, but it is uncertain how much.  He advised that we keep an eye on the limp.  If we notice it getting worse, he wants us to come back.  There is not a reason to worry about the spot on her shoulder as of now.  There wouldn't be any reason to remove it unless it is causing pain or discomfort.  This spot explains the grating sound we hear when she rotates her shoulder.


Waiting for the doctor.  Thank goodness we brought a whole bag of snacks and toys to keep Vera occupied during the long wait!

We talked briefly about future treatment if this causes nerve problems or uneven bone growth.  As we suspected, things have changed since Adam went down this road.  Instead of reconstructing, they use a plate of some sort to help the bones grow at an even rate.  We'll hope and pray we don't have to worry about those procedures.

He said there's a 50% chance that this can be passed to Vera's offspring as well as our future offspring.  From a genetic standpoint, they know exactly what happens to cause this.  I asked how commonly he sees this, and he said on a daily basis he sees this condition.  In fact, he had another patient in another exam room with the same thing. He showed us an x-ray of a patient who had this throughout his entire body so we could compare.  We could be a lot worse off!  Dr. Albert said that Vera's hips and legs look symmetrical and normal.  We need to go back in 6 months to look at the growth of these spots and ensure new ones aren't growing anywhere.

Adam and I were fairly relieved to hear this.  We were happy to hear that there aren't any spots in her wrists, elbows, knees, etc.  Hearing that this is a common condition put me more at ease.  In the meanwhile, we will continue to pray that new spots don't develop and the current spots don't grow much.

The true blessing is that Vera is not in pain and she's normal and happy.  We owe so much gratitude to Patty for alerting us to what she saw.  We have much to be grateful for.  We'll leave this in God's hands, pray for the best, and continue to count our blessings!

30 Months

Today Vera is 2 and a half!  Already!!  How would I describe Vera at 2 and a half?

She's busy!!  When she is awake, she's on the move--playing, talking, running, and acting crazy!  I always wonder where she gets her energy.  When she goes to bed at night, she is TIRED!  She plays so hard during the day with her friends.

We went to Ansonia's greenhouse for their Fall Open House, and this bounce house was there.  I think it might've been her first experience with it, and she couldn't get enough.

She is learning!  I love listening to her talk.  Recently she's referred to McDonald's as McMcDonald's.  Often she'll tell me that "everything is under control."  When asked how someone looks, she'll say "adorable" or "fabulous."  Yesterday she was giving me a pretend "haircut," and I asked her how I looked and she replied, "Not fabulous, mom!" Instead of saying "I am" she'll say "I maam."  So funny.  She uses words like "doed" instead of did, "waked" instead of "woke" and "goed" instead of went, and many others.  Cracks me up when she says, "Mom, look what I doed!"  :)

She's smart!  So far, Vera can count to about 20.  She can count to 10 in Spanish.  She knows her alphabet and the sounds of all of the letters.  For the most part, she can recognize all of the uppercase letters and her numbers to 10.  She knows all of her colors and shapes, including hexagon, oval, octagon and pentagon.  She knows several nursery rhymes and loves to sing songs.  She knows the order of the days of the week.  Though she can't write it, she knows how to spell her name.  She also knows her birthday, where her mom and dad work, and where she lives.  Today she was making patters with pieces of felt. 

She is petite!  At the doctor last week, she weighed 26 lbs.  She wears a size 2T pants, and can barely keep them up.  Thank goodness for the adjustable elastic waist.  Smaller sized pants are too short, though they fit in the waist.  Her shirts are mostly 3T because the 2T doesn't cover her belly.  It's already tough to find clothes for the poor girl.

She doesn't forget anything!  She can see something on TV, hear something once, or see someone do something and it's forever in her mind. 

She pretends!  We've started seeing her pretend with babies, coupons, coloring pictures and other random trinkets.  She uses her imagination to tell stories and make-believe.  I love watching her play, especially when she doesn't know I'm watching or listening. 

It's hard to tell, but this is us playing "beauty shop."  Vera had a whole pile of "pretties" to put in my hair.  She had two combs and a brush.  Surprisingly, nothing got stuck in my hair.

She can pray!  It's adorable to listen to her say her prayers.  She knows the Before Meal Prayer, Angel of God, and Hail Mary.  I just videoed her praying this morning.  It makes my heart smile when I hear her little voice praying.  She says things like "pray for our dinner" instead of "pray for us sinners."

She is sensitive!  Vera gets her feelings hurt very easily.  She doesn't like to be corrected, and she can turn the tears on and off very quickly. 

She has an attitude!  She is very good at getting what she wants, one way or another.  She throws fits and cries so hard that she doesn't breathe and passes out.  The first time or two, it scared us.  Now we just let her go, and correct her when she calms down. 

She requires a lot of sleep!  Lately, she's been asking to go to bed in the evenings.  We have to coax her out of bed most mornings.  It takes her 15 minutes to wake up and physically get out of bed in the morning.  She goes to bed most evenings no later than 8:30 and we get her up around 6:30.  It's a struggle to get her to eat breakfast, and sometimes she cries to have her hair fixed.  She still takes a nap everyday at Patty's house.  On the weekends at home, she'll nap for 2-3 hours.  Some days it's longer. 

She is a TV nerd!  She'd watch TV nonstop if we would allow it.  Her favorite shows are Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Henry Hugglemonster, and of course Mickey Mouse.  She also loves Toy Story.  We have all 3 on our DVR.  Lately she's shown an interest in Shrek. 

She ignores!  She's pretty good at wasting time, or dinking around, as Adam would call it.  At bedtime, she can mess around in her bed for an hour if you'd let her.  Vera has also perfected the ability to ignore us and what we say.  I guess that's what kids do, especially to their parents, huh!? 

She has her favorites!  "Bubble juice," grandma, grammy, Bailey, Blake, Goldfish, puzzles, mac & cheese, chocolate milk, ice cream, coloring, stickers, Toy Story, and her stuffed animals. 


When I put this in the cart, she asked what we should name him.  When I asked for her suggestion, she said we should name him grandma!

She's the sweetest baby girl!  I can't believe she's two and a half.  I saw a newborn baby today and forgot how small Vera used to be.  I can still rock her to sleep once in a while.  We lay down with Vera at bedtime most nights, and although some nights it is not my favorite thing to do, I always try to remind myself that before I'm ready, she won't want me to lay down with her.  She won't want me to hold her or help her do things. 

We love her to pieces, and she brings joy and challenges each day.  I told her tonight, and many days, that she'll always be my baby girl. 

Pumpkin Painting

Last weekend we had a campout with the Pearson family.  It was a fun weekend filled with food, games, and quality time.  As Brian, Adam, and Mindy would call it, a true "Bunday Funday Sunday!"  :)

Despite a rainy Sunday, we enjoyed football and pumpkin painting.  Vera and Bailey had a really good time painting theirs. 

 

 

We determined that Adam's pumpkin won in the "6 and Under" age group.  haha  Adam's art skills make me laugh, probably because I can't do any better. 

 

 

This was Vera's finished product.

I thought she did a pretty good job.  Surprisingly, no paint ended up on anyone's clothes.



And we determined that Bailey won the scariest pumpkin. 

 

It was a fun weekend, and it was fun to keep the pumpkin-painting tradition alive.  We've proudly displayed our spooky pumpkins on our porch!

A Ride With Papaw

My dad was combining beans a few weeks ago, so we took advantage of the opportunity to ride in the combine.  My mom drove us to the field, and we waited for grandpa to make his way toward us.  Vera was excited for a ride, but I don't think she completely understood what a combine ride meant. 

My dad helped Vera climb into the combine, and then they convinced me to ride along too.  I told my mom as I climbed the ladder to the combine that it's been a good 20 years since I've gone for a ride in a piece of machinery with my dad! 

The combine that my dad and Steve has is "new enough" to have a buddy seat, so Vera and I had a comfy seat to ride.  Vera sat on my lap and took everything in. 

First, dad swung out the auger and emptied the grain into the wagon.  Vera wasn't sure what was going on.  Then we rode out to the field, dad lowered the grain head, and we were combining.  It was super-dusty and we could hear the beans pinging off the cab as we were combining.  About four minutes into the ride, a few alarms started sounding with warning lights in the cab.  Immediately, my dad shut everything down and went to check it out.  After some investigating and checking, he figured out that a chain slipped off of the main auger.  We were done combining.  Vera broke the combine.  haha

My dad said we'll have to come back when he's shelling corn.  He said it's a lot more fun to watch.  Hopefully we don't break it next time!!