Big Week Ahead...

This weekend was great. The weather was so nice for our garage sale. It went really well...we had tons of people, but I ended up practically giving things away because I'm a sucker. I made a nice chunk of change, but definitely not enough to start the Listening Program, though it will help get me there! (click on the link to see which one I'm referring to!) Thanks for the suggestions for other more affordable options. I will be looking into them this week.

The boys (Kamden and his best buddy next door) decided to brave the pool. I thought it was entirely too cold, but they were determined. It definitely got me excited for this summer. It's nice to be outdoors more. The sun definitely makes me (and Chloe our lab) happy.

Kendall discovered the trampoline thanks to her brother. I tend to be overly protective of Kendall. To a fault. It may be me that denies her normal childhood adventures. I don't want her on the floor unattended, because there's germs and dog hair. I can't stand for her to be around crowds because I'm afraid of germs. If I could put her in a bubble, I would. Kamden on the other hand, wants her in his room when he has friends over. He wants her outside swinging when he's playing. And it was his idea to let her jump on the trampoline. I held her at first and when I heard her squeals of joy, I decided to put her down. (on the filthy, nasty, dusty trampoline...without a protective mat or net...since it dry rot last winter!) She LOVED it. She was singing and laughing like crazy. It made my heart happy. I so can't wait to get her in the pool this summer when it gets warmer!

This week will be busy. Both my kids have an appointment with the Ophthalmologist tomorrow. Kamden's been having headaches and complaining of blurred vision...and he's soooooo clumsy. So I decided to make an appointment for him the same time Kendall has a checkup. I'm sure we will be scheduling her next examination under anesthesia tomorrow. I'd like to try to put it off until May because April is crazy for us.

AND...I told the Neurologist I'd consider doing a muscle biopsy if Kendall was going under for anything else. This puts my tummy in knots. I don't really want to know if she has a Mitochondrial Disease. I really, really don't want to know. I wish I could put my head in the sand and ignore it, but I can't. So, I'll be deciding this week if we want to just go ahead and do it.

Tuesday she has her follow up with the Urologist to discuss the results of the Renal Ultrasound. And the same day we are headed to the Neurologist for our checkup. Kendall hasn't had a seizure in almost 10 weeks. But I do think it's a good idea to have another EEG to be sure. I'm not sure where we go from here. I know he'll say not to change anything, but I'm anxious to get her off the Keppra. It would be nice for her to be seizure med free and see her personality really come alive! So I'm crossing my fingers!

Our New Look!

Big thanks to Holly for the new header!! This is a picture she took of Kendall at the Easter Egg Hunt. She's very talented :) I just love it!

We have a garage sale planned for tomorrow. And can I just tell you how much I hate garage sales? Justin too. (he's volunteered to sit inside the whole time with Kendall so he doesn't have to deal with the people!) So, why am I doing it? I'm not really sure, other than the fact the third part of our garage is completely filled with junk I haven't been able to get rid of yet. And of course the money. The Listening Program we were interested in starting Kendall on is VERY expensive. I mean VERY. We have to pay the OT for her services as well as buy the program. I'm not super big on alternative things, mainly because I don't have the time to do my research and adjusting to being a one income family unexpectedly doesn't leave much room to throw money around on things that may or may not work. But I've heard several success stories on how it calms the nervous system and even helps with sleep! So, I'm willing to try it.

As I've been sorting through all of our things, it has been very bittersweet. I have a bizarre attachment to Kendall's old clothes. Who am I kidding? I have an attachment to Kamden's clothes, and mine too. It seems I have a story about every piece of clothing. I can remember events that happened when wearing certain things. So, a lot of memories of the past two years flooded back. I've spent a lot of time in the garage standing there in silence, looking around at things. I guess it was therapeutic, and getting rid of it will be too. Gosh, its just a garage sale! I need to get over it!

Things have been about the same all week around here. Kendall's not sleeping, and Cooper (my cocker spaniel) is getting into everything. Our house gets crazy around 3:15, and doesn't settle down until around midnight. Then, we wake up and do it all over again. I've come to love my coffee and time between 7:45 when the house is silent til 8:15 when Kendall gets up for meds. Its my time to blog and catch up on Tivo'd reality shows :) So, I'm off to do just that.

Updates...

We've been enjoying the nice weather. Kendall's been swinging a lot outside. She also has enjoyed being pushed in the jogger. (not slow, but fast...or over bumps!)

Things are starting to get back to our normal routine around here. Kendall has a new Physical Therapist we see twice a week. So far, we're off to a good start. She's definitely not going to be one to let Kendall run the show...and for those of you who know my little angel, you know she tends to think she can do that. Monkey Mouths Speech therapy is going well. They have opened another location in Flower Mound, so unfortunately our current therapist will be leaving. We should be starting with our new one this Friday. Since my new found focus on Kendall's oral motor development, she is babbling more and more each day.

Yesterday I was shocked and very saddened to find out our amazing ECI Speech Therapist Kristi is moving. As soon as she told me I started to cry. Through our journey with Kendall, her therapists and team of people who work with her on a daily basis have become my family. I don't handle saying goodbye very well. Especially when it comes to people who love my kids. I guess this is something I need to get used to. I'm sure we will have nurses, teachers, and therapists come and go...her whole life. But still. I'm sad. Thank you Kristi for all you've done to help Kendall (and me) over the past year and a half. You will be GREATLY missed :(

Yesterday Kendall also had her Renal Ultrasound. I swear the sonographers must take a class in how to have a "poker face" because I couldn't read his face one bit. Next week we meet with the Urologist to discuss the results. Ugh. I hate waiting. I figure if it were good news, we'd probably just have an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner, or get a phone call...

Kendall had music therapy again today. Because she didn't sleep much last night, she was a little groggy. But Nikki our therapist is really good with her. I wish I had the patience she has to wait for Kendall to make a move or a choice. Hopefully, I can learn that by watching her. Kendall has such determination on her face when reaching for an instrument. She's also learning to master cause and effect. When she plays an instrument, the song goes on. When she stops, it stops. Kendall would rather just arch her back and start screaming to make it go again...but we're trying to change that :)

Kamden is doing great. Despite recent inappropriate language at school, he's having a great year. I'm so proud of him. He will receive his advanced purple belt in Karate this month, and he can now flawlessly play 6 chords on the guitar, and one scale. And I'm sure he's going to learn even more in the next two weeks, seeing as he is grounded from ALL video games for 2 weeks!!

Easter Pictures

We enjoyed our Easter. Hope you did too!

Butterfly Exhibit

Today Kendall's speech therapy was canceled, and since she was already all packed up, Kam and I decided to take her to the butterfly exhibit at the Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens. It was a lovely day. Kendall was enamored by the beautiful butterflies in every color. Several times they flew past her and she reached out to grab them.

Kamden didn't have school, so we spent the day at the gardens, then shopping for flowers for our flowerbeds. It was the perfect spring afternoon for sure! (minus Kendall's meltdowns and my stubbing my toe on the shopping cart AGAIN!)

Easter dinner is at our house again this year. I'm excited to do an Easter egg hunt with the neighbor kids, and to spend the day with our amazing family. Hopefully my mom will be feeling better and able to be with us. There's lots to prepare for tomorrow, so I'm off to get some rest!