Isaac's Surgery is Over

Today was a very stressful day for all of us especially Isaac. I think the waiting is the hardest part for sure. We scheduled this surgery about 6 weeks ago and it was here before we knew it, but today was the longest day. We arrived at Children's Hospital at 6am. Pre-op stuff until 7:30, they took him back at 7:45am and surgery lasted until a little after 10am. He was getting some dental work done today and two scars repaired from when he was an infant in the NICU. The scars kept getting sores on them so they scrapped off the old scar, sewed him up with stitches on the inside and glued the top skin together. We thought the dental work was going to be the easy part...but...we were wrong. Once the dentist got in there they x-rayed his mouth and called us in the waiting room to explain that they found a little more than they anticipated. There were cavities starting between all of his teeth. Due to his big brother having bad teeth, and due to his Down Syndrome, and due to the fact that he has major sensory issues with his mouth he said he would be putting crowns on a few teeth instead of just filling them. Tom and I were like OK. Whatever you have to do is fine. So an hour and a half later they called us back to recovery and we were stunned at what we saw. Poor Isaac has ALL of his bottom teeth crowned and all his top molars crowned. The other teeth still exposed are the top front four teeth. Its quite a site to see. Don't get me wrong, we weren't upset about it, just a little stunned by the site of a completely silver mouth. I still have not gotten the greatest photo of that to share, but I will.

Until then, here are photos from today taken from my cell phone (what a day for me to forget my camera!!) Has anyone EVER seen a kid with all crowns?????

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Specs4Us

We finally got around to getting some of these great frames for the boys. This is a wonderful line of glasses made especially for little faces of children with Down Syndrome. You wouldn't even believe how hard it is to find something to fit them. They have a wide bridge on their nose and most glasses just really dont fit. We have been through four pair of glasses already and none fit as well as these ones do.

Maria is the Founder/Owner of Specs4Us and she was really great to deal with. There wasn't an optician in my area that carried these frames so she mailed me samples to try on and even a return envelope with postage to send back the ones we did not want. She went out of her way to help and I so appreciate everything she did.

Here's our BEFORE shot of our other glasses that didn't work so well, but still looked cute on:


Here are a few photos of the boys I got today. It was a beautiful evening and we went out for a walk around the farm and got these cute pictures:







I know, I know AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Garden Update

I haven't been taking photos of the garden like I wanted to but I am very excited to report that we had dinner tonight directly from the garden and ONLY garden food. Honestly it wasn't a very big hit with the kids but Tom and I really enjoyed it. We had breaded zucchini (YUMMY!), tomato and cucumber salad, and fresh broccoli. Not a usual dinner for sure but one that I am very proud of. The twins actually ate some of the broccoli and they love cucumbers. The zucchini got spit out and tossed on the floor in disapproval. Oh well more for mom and dad.

I must admit my husband was so very right in suggesting that I not do a garden for the past three years. With the twins being so ill and needing lots of extra attention at the beginning, there was no way I could have gotten out there to weed and harvest. Its still super hard now to get it all done and honestly the weeds are growing like crazy. I try to keep the area right around the crop cleared out and have let the rest go. But all in all, I would have to say I am very happy we decided to do the garden this year. Its going to save us money and I know that I grew the food organically and its going to be better for us.

The twins got some Specs4Us

Finally, after four pair of glasses that just did not fit and ended up not being used. We found a pair that fit nicely, look nice, and they are cooperating very nicely with keeping them on. We're upto about three or four hours a day already. I haven't gotten the best photo of them both yet, but this one was cute.

More Birthday pics

We had a beautiful day so we held Elijah's birthday party down at our pond. We are excited because we just got a new paddle boat and the kids loved going out in it. Isaac was very scared of it at first but after one time out we couldn't keep him out.



(Thank you Aunt Vicki and Uncle Dave!!!)

My handsome nephew Brady:


Isaac and Caleb both like sitting on the four wheeler too:



All the yummies:


Fun was had by all and we topped the night off with a fire and s'mores. I always enjoy getting together with family and friends. And I love celebrating kids' birthdays :)

Elijah's Monster Birthday Pizza

About a year ago I went to Tristins Girl Scout meeting with her and they had a pizza party. They got this HUGE party pizza from a local restaurant and I decided to get one for Elijah's birthday. It is a 28" round pizza. Let me tell you, we had to tilt the box just to get it in my house. I knew better than to go and pick it up, there's no way it would fit in my car with all the car seats and all.

Elijah and his daddy have been watching a show on the Food Network called Man vs. Food. Its about this guy who travels to these restaurants that have food competitions or have awards for eating the hottest wings or the biggest burger etc. Well, when Elijah saw this pizza he says "Mom, I think its time for Boy vs. Food" We laughed so hard, and I tried to document his pizza eating adventure to see how far he could get.



Here he goes:




He's getting there:


I'm impressed, maybe he'll do it:


AWWWWW Shucks!


You gave it a good try honey :)

Now here is everyone else eating their pizza. This is worth sharing, these slices were SOOO BIG!!

Camille:


Trisin:


Caleb:


Isaac:


Mom:


Dad:


Needless to say, this pizza fed a family of 7 three different meals.

Elijah's 6th Birthday

Dear Elijah,

This year has been an amazing year dear son. You started school and grew up before our eyes. No longer do we have a noisy little toddler running around screaming his head off for no reason at all, but now we see a young gentleman forming who loves to read, enjoys playing rather difficult games on the computer, is great with numbers and facts and loves doing mazes. You have such a loving and caring personality. Hugs and kisses for mom and dad, little brothers and grandparents. You still are a ball of energy but your learning how and when to use up that energy. I love watching you race the dog three times around the house, you sure are fast!! And I'm proud of how well you've learned sign language to help us teach your little brothers, and the love and attention you show them on a daily basis. Your a wonderful big brother, ya still need a little work at being a little brother....LOL or is driving your sisters nuts part of that equation?

I look forward to what this next year brings with you dear Elijah. Your smile lights up my heart and your jokes and laughter bring so much joy to my ears. I thank the Lord for each and every child of mine, and today especially I feel so extra blessed to have you for a son. I love you more than words can even express.

Love
Mom

Cute site to explain Down Syndrome

I was searching around today to find information on explaining Down Syndrome to children and I cam across this link with the help of downsyn.com:

http://downtownds.com/kidzone.html

H E R S H E Y

We are here in Hershey for our annual trip. Tom always has a conference here with the AICPA each year for his continuing education credits and we "the rest of the family" come to hang out at the hotel and have fun. This year we brought my 10 year old niece with us to help out with the twins. So basically that means me and six kids at the pool all day equals fun fun fun!!! The twins are doing rather well. Caleb is swimmer, Isaac is fearful of the water. They are currently taking a nap and kids are watching TV so I get a bit of quiet and relaxation for today. This truly means vacation to me. Usually when twins are sleeping and kids are watching tv, I kick into gear and get housework done or whatever else may need tended to. This is a treat to kick back on a bed with my feet up and blog ;)

Here are some photos from yesterday. We headed to Chocolate World and then to our hotel. We stay at the Hershey Lodge, its so nice here and there's lots to do with the kids so we don't need to leave this place again until its time to go home.

Kids getting their pretend chocolate fulfillment:


All the kiddo's right in a row:


My sweet Isaac, he had more fun just sitting and watching everyone swim. He plays in knee hit to waste high water but he's still a bit timid.


My Double Trouble :)


We always luck out and get beautiful weather. I'm so thankful for my hubby wanting us to come along with him. Due to the size of our family we have to rent two joining rooms each visit, and that AIN'T cheap!! More photos later.

UHHH!!*&#%$ This can't be good............

As we were packing up and getting ready to leave for Hershey I heard a loud scream coming from the kids bathroom, this is what I found:



Oh lovely! Any guesses as to how many toys you can fit into a toilet? LOL

Caleb is being silly...

Usually my little ham is Isaac, but Caleb saw the camera come out the other day and he was all about smiling for the camera. Of course I had to capture that !!

Now if this Ain't Cute, then I dunno what is....

ENT Appointment

Today the twins had a follow up appointment with the ENT from a month ago when they couldn't see in their ears due to wax. Today they still could not see in Calebs ears but ended up doing a pressure test in his ears. We found out that his right tube is out and he still has his left tube. Since he has not been having any problems we will go with out tubes and see what happens. Isaac on the other hand, he's had a few more infections and we already have a surgery scheduled for July 29th for some dental work and some scar repairs so we will have the ENT clean out Isaac's ears and determine if he needs more tubes while he's under. The boys DO NOT like what the ENT does or anything to do with their ears for that matter.

This was Caleb before:


This was Caleb after LOTS of screaming and crying:


This was Isaac during his temperature check:


This was some of the activities they did before and during the exam:




They had fun crinkling the paper on the table and making lots of noise:




Isaac in the big boy chair:


AND OUR BIG NEWS is that today was the first day that Tom and I had the twins walk to and from their appointment. We always take them everywhere in their double stroller but today they were walkers.

Our 14 Year Anniversary

Its so hard to believe that Tom and I have been married for 14 years already. July 1, 1995 was our big day. The time has gone so quickly and yet he's still the man I've always dreamed of. He's a wonderful husband, he's the best father I could have ever asked for and he's a great friend who can make me laugh and be silly like we're teenagers yet. I admire him for his hard work as a CPA. Lord knows that I would be laying my head down on folded arms on the desktop snoozing if I had to look at all those numbers all day long. He has achieved more that we ever talked about when we were in our dreaming stages of life and in such a short amount of time. He's a partner at a good firm here in town, he's a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and he's the treasurer at our church. He has come so far and without any complaints of his long hard hours...its been me complaining of that...lol. His efforts have allowed me to be a stay at home mom to our five children and that's the best gift he could ever think of giving me. I am so happy with my life, with my husband, with my children that I thank God daily for blessing me with such a wonderful life. We have struggles just like any other couple, but with our faith in God and our love and respect for each other we have conquered many obstacles together.

Looking back I laugh at the things we expected from our lives. I never would have thought we would have five children. Tom is from a family of five children and I always thought they had such a big family. I never would have thought we would have twins, or for that matter twins with special needs. I so enjoy remembering how we used to map out our plans for where we were headed in life and be disappointed that it didn't go as planned. I am so thankful that God has had this amazing journey already mapped out for us. I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride and hope that we have at least another 40 years to enjoy it together.

My funny for the day is that I took the girls to a dentist appointment. I always dread dental exams as we do not have dental insurance. I took $175 in cash with me hoping that maybe...just maybe.. I would have a few extra bucks left over to run to the store and buy Tom something. Well, after the girls were done with their appointment..cleaning, fluoride, x-rays, and one extraction(it was a wiggly baby tooth and cost us $70!!)......I went to the desk to hear the total amount for the appointment was $453!!!! OUCH!! So needless to say, Tom just got a kiss and a hug and a love ya honey from his wife this year. You know what?? He loved it :)

Love Ya Tom!!