Monday, February 24, 2014

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Just Because They Are Adorable!

My loves!

(Notice how happy the cat looks)


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Jurbala Updates

It's been a very busy 2014 and it is only mid-February.

Gwen can read.  She blows us away with her reading and writing.  We have been reading BoB books with her each night and she even read one to her class!!!  There are times that she will look at the page, read to herself, then read out loud.  It's amazing!  She can also identify colors by their name and count well over 100.   She is, and has been, ready for Kindergarten.  She is above and beyond her classmates, which is always nice to hear.  We were having problems with her behavior at home.  I realized it was because Leo was constantly being celebrated for peeing on the potty or sleeping until the light was green.  We weren't celebrating her like we should have been.  Now we celebrate her just as much.  She is keeping busy with Swimming and Cheer (which she loves). 

Leo is starting to get ready to potty train.  Let's just say Gwen was fully potty trained at 27 months.  Leo is now 30 months and is starting to tell us when he has to go, or ask us to change his wet diaper.  He even peed standing up at school.  He wants to at home, but is too short since we have him use the regular toilets (I find the kid ones disgusting and unsanitary).  I still want to give it a little more time, but the 3 Day Potty Training is in his future!! 

Mike and I, are doing well.  We have been doing Insanity for the past month (one more month to go).  We have been going on some great dates and having fun.  We found an amazing babysitter, who is in high school and so eager to watch the kids.  It's great!!

For me it's been pretty tough work wise as well as some personal stuff (Leo's health issues and my mom needing a hysterectomy), but I am managing.  I need a break and will hopefully get one when I head to NY, with Gwen, to help my mom/dad after my mom's surgery.

That's the update for now.  Here's hoping for a less stressful time for us in the coming months!







Monday, February 10, 2014

Leo's 2nd Upper GI Scope

Not sure how it happened, but I have that allergy kid.  You know the one you are like "God I hope my kid isn't like that".  Yep, that's us and we are those parents too.  I'm lucky in that my friends/family are normally very great about keeping anything he's allergic to away (peanuts, tree nuts, fish, peas, and mustard).  Leo has had skin tests which identified those items as allergens. 

What we hadn't realized is the extent to his allergies.  Leo gags and pukes.  We have no idea what causes it, so we had a scope done on him about a year ago.  They were looking to identify this rare, but growing, medical issue called EoE (essentially Esophogeal Allergies).  A year ago, it was borderline, so we have been treating for acid reflux.  He had his second scope today.

Let's just say that I held back my tears when I saw the pictures of his esophagus and the doc says "that is definitely not normal".  The color wasn't right, it was so swollen that it was almost shut, and it had white spots/scabby looking things.  I cried the moment she walked out of the room.  She is 99% positive it is EoE.  The biopsy results will come back this week.  The first thing our GI wants, is to heal his esophagus since it is a mess.  He will start a new medication that is like a topical steroid for his esophagus and eventually get off Prevacid, as it's not reflux.

Our next steps will be to work with a food allergy specialist/EoE specialist to see what is causing the reactions.   Leo is already on the wait list to see the specialist.  Luckily we have one of the best Children's Hospitals in the country, and they now have an EoE department, of which 2 of the best food allergy specialist from National Jewish, will run (one of which Leo will see).   It's going to be a long process, with multiple steps and scopes, but at least we have something identified.

Our saving grace is our son.  He is so laid back and happy.  He loves the attention he gets at the hospital and is sadly so used to it, that it doesn't bother him.  Just listening to him say "hospital" cracks me up.  A couple fun things:

1.  When he was handed purple pants to put on, he said "I'm a boy".
2.  On his chart, under the social issues section, a nurse wrote "Adorable!"

Here are some pictures from his big day.  He was passed out after the procedure and loved his grape slushy.  Since he couldn't eat all day, they told us to slowly add back in food.  Yeah right.  That kid ate some mac/cheese like nobody's business!






Monday, January 20, 2014

Wednesday, January 8, 2014