A much needed update

It has been forever since I've blogged about the family happenings...probably because I have been insanely busy. We are now almost 3/4 of the way through another school year. Daddy made it home safely in October. Life is returning to as normal as this house and the military will allow. The family as a whole and as individuals have all grown so much in the last year it is mind blowing.
Colton continues to grow and develop so much so that he is no longer eligible for EDIS services...which was a very bittersweet transition. We are so very thrilled that he has come such a long way, but the ladies that came to see us weekly made such a big impact in our lives. He is walking, climbing, trying to run, talking some and signing things like more, please, and thank you. We are still struggling with is digestion and nutritional needs but we are thankfully blessed with an amazing group of physicians both here at Bragg and up at UNC Children's hospital. He turned 18months old yesterday...he's growing up to be a smart (rotten) little boy ;)
The girls continue to grow as well. I keep telling them to stop...pants are all getting a little too short; thank goodness its about time for capris and shorts again. We've been able to pinpoint what exactly it is that we are dealing with which has been the struggle since day one. Krystal is now officially getting the help she needs at school after a long list of testing we have discovered she has issues with perceptual reasoning and spacial organization. She's such a good kid though that she was compensating and would have fallen through the cracks had I not pushed the issue. She's been constantly improving and now hopefully there will be a larger jump in her future scores.
Miss Evey still has her issues though thankfully she is getting better. We are figuring out how truly troubled she really was by her previous upbringing. Attachment disorder is the diagnosis that fits best and that just aggravates the PTSD, ODD, and ADHD that we already knew she was dealing with. The poor thing is so precious and loving it breaks my heart when the anger and pain start showing their ugly faces. Though we've been doing counseling for awhile I've actually found one an hour from here that specializes in children like her and I'm hoping to work with her over the summer to see if we can't mend this broken heart.
Deanne is sprouting like a weed and has been a huge help around the house. Such a mother hen that one. Does great in school and thanks to the help of Concerta the teacher actually says she's a pleasure to have in class :).
It's really nice though to have a second adult around...the house stays cleaner and my stress level is down considerably. Darrell is starting school in 3 days!!! He continues playing Army man with hopes of getting out and moving back to the midwest next year.
As for me I stay busy between chasing little ones...Colton, Bella our 2 year old ShihTzu, and Reese's the new American Bulldog/Boxer mix pup we added in late January. I also now am an Independent consultant for two companies and loving every minute of it. Allows me to socialize and feel like I'm contributing financially to the family while still being at home with my babies.
So very blessed and thankful for all the wonderful friends and family that has stood behind us these last three years. We may not like it here at Bragg somedays, but we are definitely here for a reason.

Back to School

Well its that time of year again. I've survived another summer. Being back home in the midwest and with family I'm sure had something to do with it. The kids got lots of pool time, some outside play time, learned about lightning bugs, and how to pick fruits and veggies from the garden. Had our first experience at Great Wolf Lodge KC while Daddy was home on leave. A little pricey but a lot of fun. Love that us fair skinned girls can play all day and not worry about getting sunburnt. We all really enjoyed Play Bounce and Jump in LV. An indoor place to play and they had an awesome toddler area for Colton. Saw my first Polar Bear at the KC zoo!

The kids got their new back packs packed full of school supplies and the older two packed their lunches for tomorrow. Little Miss Kindergarten doesn't know what to think. Wants to start school now, but has orientation tomorrow then gets to do a full day Friday, which I pray goes well. I foresee one tired little bug curled up on the couch Friday afternoon fast asleep.

Colton and I will have to get used to it just being us for most of the day. Will give me time to work with him so we can continue making progress in his development. I think that little guy is going to wear my rear out though. He's quick and gets into everything. What else would I expect? He will be a year old next month!

If this week hasn't been exciting enough we had a 5.9 earthquake here on the East Coast (which I somehow didn't feel) and are expecting to be dealing with Hurricane Irene this weekend.

I'm looking forward to what the next few months will bring to this family...I will be working from home as an Independent Avon Representative, studying for my National Pharmacy Technician Certification exam, and continuing on my couponing and donating adventures. Also inevitably there will be more changes as we prepare for Daddy's return and the next chapter of our military life.

Summertime Update

It's been about 6 months since I last updated on the family. Colton has made mind blowing progress since March. His weight is no longer a concern and his height is still doing fairly well. Developmentally he is still behind by about a month and a half but still continues to make leaps and bounds progress. While back in KC he learned how to become fully mobile. He can roll, sit up, crawl, and pull to a standing position all on his own now. He can walk down furniture pretty well and learned to climb the stairs a few days ago. Still has no desire to walk and standing is still a challenge. Still struggles to get down after he stands up sometimes. He's the happiest and most rotten little boy. Very persistent when he wants something he knows he isn't supposed to have. Babbling and talking some...lots of DADAs and no Mommas lol. Loves music and likes to bounce with it.

We did have a minor set back a few weeks ago. Constipation is an issue for any child especially when introducing new foods. Well Colton's health issues make it an even bigger concern for us. We ended up in the ER in Springfield MO because of it. So thankful they were able to help us but so sad that my little man had to go through all of that. Seeing him in so much pain was heartbreaking. Needless to say I will be staying more on top of things from now on and will be speaking with the surgeon on better methods to prevent that from ever happening again.

All in all the family as a whole is doing well. We only have a few months left of Darrell being gone,

Progress

First off so much has been going on in our life especially in regards to little Colton and his health. We have gotten the all clear on his heart, kidneys, and bladder...will do follow up ultrasounds in a year just to make sure. Got a call today that the Developmental Peditrician had a cancellation (been on her wait list for 2 months). Reviewed our case with Early Intervention (EDIS) and then saw the DR. To say I have been blessed by having these ladies in our court fighting for Colton would be a drastic understatement. I have to say that the team of DRs working on him right now are all top of their departments and have great bedside manners.
So Dr. Cooper made a list of all of the conditions/concerns currently facing my son, she had already read the Early Intervention report and talked with our case worker prior to the meeting, and then proceeded to do a physical evaluation. She then started listing off the tests she wanted to be run and wants them done before I go back to UNC on 10 March. We are seeing 4 DRs that day so having all of this information will help them even more.
Seeing the actual numbers placed on my sons developmental delays was a bit disheartening though I think I already knew it. The frustrating part is he has good days and bad and depending on the situation or location of the appointment it can seem like there is literally nothing wrong. He's had such a rough start to life we really just want to make sure that we are not overlooking something. So basically my poor baby is going to be undergoing a lot of testing over the next few weeks to months and until all the results are in we don't really know what we are dealing with. All we know is what we see...some tasks are not easy for him, he startles easy and doesn't handle busy situations well (in our house that is a problem lol), and things like his congestion we haven't figured out a cause and want to make sure it isn't affecting his lungs or ears. I will continue to work with his motor skills and neck strength at home. We will be seen weekly by physical therapy and early intervention so they can give me new things to work with. Thankfully I have the happiest and cutest little guy a mom could ever ask for. He's been such a trooper through all of this and wins the hearts of all the nurses and doctors he meets.

On a side note two of the doctors we deal with have agreed to take on the girls ADHD issues so that will hopefully help make my life a little easier very soon.

ENT appointment

Today was a very stressful day. I woke up late causing the girls to be late for school, had to rush Evey over to a friend's house and then drive up to Chapel Hill. Well I admit it...I actually got lost. Had no idea how to find the place I was looking for and had already been driving for 2 hours. Get there and get checked in. They finally call us back to do vitals and they just weigh him clothes and extremely heavy diaper. They put us in this little tiny room. The Dr comes in a few minutes later and asks what is going on. I explain my concerns, she looks in his ears, nose, mouth etc... then she goes back out to read his surgical reports from UNC. Comes back in fills out two pieces of paper and says she wants to do a group evaluation on him so she will schedule some appts for us at UNC for March 10th. I was floored...really I drove over 150 miles round trip for 5 minutes of your time, to make my March 10th day an all day extravaganza! These days are long enough with one appointment but to have to see 3-5 different doctors?!?! Okay glad they are working together as she wants our current Surgeon, Pulminology, GI, and ENT to all work together since he has so many different issues already. I didn't get any insight into her thoughts...and I really don't like feeling like I'm being rushed out of the room. Its okay though, because when I get all those doctors together in one room we are going to get these issues addressed!
Also I think I forgot to post, but Colton had his follow up Cardiology appointment and it went really well. So well I could have cried...it appears the VSD he was born with has closed on it's own!!!

Nutritionist appt

Here's another Colton update as we continue to make leaps and bounds progress in understanding what is bothering him and small baby steps in improving his quality of life. First of all he is the happiest most content little guy you will ever meet especially considering all he has been through. Nutritionist wants us to gain more weight as he is on the small size and his head is normal size for his age and takes up a 1/4 of his body weight. He weighed in at 12lbs 10oz today and 23.1in long at 4months and 1.5 weeks old. Over the past few weeks I finally realized he was having the congestion due to the possibility of having a milk protein allergy. I began giving him Nutramigen a hypoallergenic formula made by enfamil and it helped his nose but seemed to upset his tummy and he didn't like it much either. So back to Gentlease we went. Now we are trying the Alimentum same thing but by Similac as the nutritionist told me it is better tasting and better tolerated. Of course if it does work we have to convince WIC to let us use it as they are pushing Enfamil products.

During examination we discovered that a lot of the muscles in his body are very tense including his cheeks and tongue. I have to massage his cheeks in a C shaped manner 5 times 3x a day to help loosen them up...I always thought they felt swollen and they are just extremely thick just like his tongue. All of these things should help his eating abilities improve drastically though I have to add he has done a really good job eating baby food so far.

VATER Association is an acronym being used to describe the many anamolies we are dealing with. It covers the heart problems, lack of an anus, thyroid and acid reflux along with urinary tract and many more.

We have his 4 month check up in the morning with the pediatrician so that I can up date him with progress and see what the next step is.

Colton's almost 3 months old!

Where has the time gone? He's been so tiny for so long, and now all of a sudden he looks like a big boy :(. He's grown enough he can wear his tennis shoes Aunt Rachel bought for him. He's out grown all the NB stuff and may be skipping 0-3mo all together. He's found his thumb and could care less about his binky. He can sit up on the couch by himself too. Thankfully he does better than Deanne did with sleeping. We get on average 3-5 hours at a time. I'm so thankful to get to spend all this time with him.