Give Thanks

This year we are thankful for

• for our growing family. Norah is making such great progress, she amazes us daily.Grant is making great improvement with talking.  His speech has been delayed, making us worry at times. I guess he was too busy to talk.
• having jobs, especially ones that are flexible so we don't need to rely on daycare.
• the previous leads to Jason and I being able at home most of the time the last couple of years with our children, watching them grow and creating amazing memories. Jason was able to work from home and myself working every other weekend and one day of the week.
• finally finishing (or near finishing) some home improvement projects that have taken a couple years to complete.
• all the generous donations our family and friends gave us to support the Hydrocephalus Associations.
• Jason making a Thanksgiving day feast while I am working my holiday shift in the ER, I hope this shift is uneventful and I can be home on time to enjoy our feast...I let you know how it turned out.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends, we are thankful to have you be part of our lives.

Silly Faces

Weekend Project: Backdoor

This weekend we (alright 98% Jason....I helped pick out the door, carry it and held in place for a minute) tackled replacing the back door to our house with a new door. The old door was cracked and the storm door hinge gave way to rust this week. Before the first winter storm hits, we thought we'd change the door and keep a little more of the heat inside. Grant was anxious to be his Daddy's little helper.

While his demanding enthusiasm to help slowed things down at times, we were given some unforgettable memories.

And don't think Norah didn't want in on the action as well.

We kept her on the outside of the gate and she helped me clean the kitchen.  I was happy to sneak into the basement to clean the laundry room, do some spider control and started to weed through some stuff that we need to find a new home for (preferably out of our home).

Hopefully we be able to finish the drywall and tile work in the back entry in the next couple of weeks and cross that project off our long list!!

Standing Tall

This week we finally found a pair of tennis shoes to fit Norah's tiny size 3 feet. Did you know most tennis shoes start at size 4? Her physical therapist has been wanting her in shoes for a few weeks. Hopefully Norah will gain more control over her balance with a solid shoe base. She has done a really good job leaving her shoes on her feet, and I see her cruising along the furniture with more control and a faster pace. In the next few weeks we'll see if just the shoes will be enough to get her standing independently or do we need some ankle foot orthodics (AFOs).

Please ignore all the toys under the couch, I had no idea that much junk had been pushed under there throughout the day. I had just cleaned it out that morning! I'm still learning (in denial) that with little one your house never stays clean.

Prayers for Matthew

A little boy, Matthew, who was also born with hydrocephalus is in need of some prayers tonight. He has been sick for a few weeks now with severe vomiting. I have been keeping up on his families frustrating journey through their blog. His mom, Jill has a amazing letter that she has written to families that happen upon her blog because their child is diagnosed with hydrocephalus. I find her to be a truly remarkable lady and caring mother to her children. Please send them some prayers tonight as the drive from Nebraska to Minnesota with their sick boy and find some healing answers for his illness.

Matthew 21:22 "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Why is Norah so happy?

Norah saw her neurologist on Tuesday. We were able to finally get some insight into her MRI that she had in September. I am still going to request her medical records so I can get more information, I guess it's the nurse in me that feels like doctors are not always sharing everything with you, I have seen that practiced by some doctors. So what do we know, her MRI points towards a hydrocephalus caused by aqueductal stenosis and a chiari malformation. This may lead to more surgeries in the future. If it begins to cause problems, the cerebellum getting pushed to far into the spinal cord, it will manifest similarly to shunt failure. We will have to talk to our neurosurgeon more about this at our next appointment but that isn't until the end of January.

Overall the neurologist thinks Norah is doing great, and from her side of things she doesn't see the need to see her again. She said we are welcome to see her again in a year  for followup, but not necessary and if any concerns were to arise she would see us promptly (I think for her that would be within two months, since our appointment usually gets bumped two or three times before we can get in). Hooray, finally an appointment were we weren't referred to another doctor and we have been turned loose.

While I am excited about this milestone, part of me worries that things will change tomorrow. This is when my fantastic husband steps in and reminds me not to dwell on the what-ifs and to enjoy what we have here-and-now.

As for more Norah news, she continues to crawl and pulls herself up. She is starting to get better at cruising, but would prefer to not bend and flex her hips and knees. I am working on find a good pair of shoes with arch supports, do know how hard that is to find in a size 3. I think may end up with some mini AFOs for just her foot and ankle in the near future. Norah still prefers a bottle over a sippy cup, but we are making progress in that daily. She was just over 18 pounds at the neurologist office, I think the pediasure is helping.  Our pediasure tip: banana flavor is our favorite, and make it super cold. Norah will take the Strawberry flavor, but shows favor to banana. Her language skills are growing. It is fun to hear her trying to say words, or at least trying to match syllables and sounds. Grant has been delay with his speech so I think they will learn some things together.

Now that we are updated, time for bed :)

Halloween Fun

Happy Halloween from our little lion and tulip fairy!

Halloween brought fun memories as we took turns walking Grant from house to house in our neighborhood on Friday night. We watched him roar and learn how to say "trick-or-treat." Norah hung out at the house inspecting all the candy, making sure we were passing out only good stuff. Jason and I both agree that Grant enjoyed passing out the candy much more than actually getting his own stash of candy. I'm sure that will change by next year. I had to spend the weekend working but Jason and the kids headed out to The Boo At the Zoo. Grant was able to hang out with lion friends. We enjoyed our halloween without the trick, but plenty of treats!

Crocheted Sweater

I made my 1st crocheted baby sweater. I have made quite a few hats lately and ready for something different.
How did it turn out?

I now working on a ruffle scarf for myself, it's looking good so far.