Follow up

We had Logan's follow up ARD.  It went fine.  Hopefully everyone is on the same page.

Logan had his EEG in the hospital.  The results came back normal.  You're welcome for that BMW car payment Dr. P.

Logan is having one of his molar caps replaced this week under sedation.  You're welcome for that Audi car payment Mr. J.

Report cards came out a couple of weeks ago. Both kids did really well.  I'm very proud of how hard they both work.

We are in full on panic Thanksgiving mode. Less than 2 weeks away!  We have been doing some DIY craft projects.  One last week was a complete failure.  I wish I would have taken a picture.  Pitiful.  Isabel and I started another one today.  Hopefully it will turn out ok!  So far so good.

Brian fixed the broken shower head in the kids' bathroom and also put the tree up today.  Yay!

We bought a new shower head assembly with faucet for our shower, but I think I'm going to call a plumber to install it.  Soldering copper is not in Brian's bag of tricks.

Isabel has her soccer fun fest today.  It was supposed to be the end of the season but we still have 2 more games due to the rain outs.

The cutest little Mustangs!

And .....Christams is coming!

First ornament on the tree is all Logan

Doctor x 4

We've been to 4 doctor's appointments in 4 days.  Geneticist, dentist, neurologist, dentist again.  I'll give a 1-3 sentence recap.

Geneticist- recommend further parental testing, but none needed for Logan.  Gave us interesting info about ARVD.

Dentist 1- Will replace 2 caps under sedation on Thursday.

Neurologist-  keep on keepin on.  Don't sweat the small stuff and sucker punch anyone who dares give you 'the look' when out in public.  Also, still on track to transition to mainstream kinder.

Dentist 2-  caps went on well.  No more apples (unless cut up) or hard candy.  Don't let him run today.

Drug cocktail kicking in.

Getting out of the car.

Still loopy.

Crying.

More crying.

More crying.

Lots more crying.

Crying on our way to get Izzy.

I haven't had one of these days since the pre-diagnosis days.  Phew!

So there you have it.  Logan was super loopy until around 2pm today.  Walking like a drunken sailor and overall just a pain in the ass.  Since he wasn't in any pain (unlike the last time he had dental work done) it was really hard to be sympathetic.  I tried to watch movies with him, but his attention span was about 3 minutes.  He's cranky and tired.

Hudson has decided that Brian is evil and won't go anywhere near him.  I had to take Logan early this morning so Brian was left taking izzy to school and putting Hudson in the crate.  He said he had to chase Hudson around the yard to get him inside.  And then he pooped on the floor.  Oops.

We also had our HVAC system serviced this week.  While we were gone our drain pipe overflowed and we had water downstairs.  I fixed that and then the upstairs unit went out last week.  Brian fixed that, but we knew both units needed freon so I called Mr. Cool and he filled them up.  We desperately need new units, but that will have to wait a year or two.  Talk about hemorrhaging money this week!

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday and that there is a cool front coming through that promises RAIN!!!!!!  I don't even care if soccer is cancelled on Saturday.  I just want rain!

On a cute note....school pictures were today and Isabel looked pretty cute.

Minus the side braid.  This was outfit 'testing' last night.

First Day, Dentist, and Walking Pneumonia

Logan's first day at Kiker was today!  He did great!  He told me he had fun.  Ms. Martha said he had a little tear at the corner of his eye and was asking for Mommy, but it was at the end of the 3 hour day and it didn't end in him getting upset.  Tomorrow he can ride the bus the very short ride home.  I wasn't planning on doing the bus at all, but everyone of the 3 year olds rides the bus and I guess a couple of kids who weren't riding initially got really upset because they wanted to, so now everyone does.  It was definitely a challenge getting them out the door at 7:35am this morning!  Brian came home and asked Logan how school was and he said 'better.'  How sad/cute is that?  I think it's going to be a great fit.  :-)

After school we hit up a park, came home for lunch and then headed out to Isabel and Logan's dental checkups.  Logan's teeth looked good (thank the good lord), but Isabel had a tiny cavity.  It was so small that they didn't even numb her, just gave her some nitrous oxide and drilled and filled.  Easy peasy.  She was a rock star.  They both were SO good.  After that we raced over to dance class.  It was costume measuring day today.  Got that all done.  We hit up another park and then went home to wait for Brian so that I could go to the doctor.  I finally broke down after almost 3 weeks of this horrible cough and made an appointment with the easy care clinic for 6pm.  Turns out modern medicine does have its place in my body.  Something about walking pneumonia, whatever that means.  I'm now the proud owner of my very own peak flow meter.  Isabel and I will have contests.  At least with both of us taking the same meds we have tons of them on hand at any given moment.  But seriously, this cough has got to stop.  It's kept me up at night for way too many nights.

Brian also went to the doctor up North at lunch today.  He got loaded up with meds.  He's just on the 3rd day of a sinus infection and decided to seek help.  Because he's smart like that.  I really wish they would let you put in like $50,000/year in your healthcare flexible spending account.  We would use that up in about 3 months.

Big week for the US of A!

I can't believe it's Friday!  Actually, that's a lie.  The week has been looong.  But...but so much has happened!  Between the things going on in the Texas Senate and the DOMA stuff, my head is about to explode!

And then there's Aaron Hernandez.  OMG!

Ok, on to things that actually happened in my home.  Well, not much.  I swear, it must be the heat, but I just can't seem to do anything around the house!  The A/C units are going almost constantly trying to cool the house.  The upstairs unit is especially getting a workout on this 106 degree day.  Yep, we set a record!  It still hasn't been nearly has hot as last summer, so I can't complain too much.  We've been spending most afternoons at the pool.  Not exactly relaxing for me, but the kids really love it.

I know you might have been confused, but this isn't me.  And this isn't our neighborhood pool.

Snack at the pool.

Dancing at the pool.

Logan has another follow up dental appointment.  All went well, but he STILL had some damn plaque buildup.  We're using a rotating brush on his teeth at least 2x's a day and flossing!  I'm like come ON.  What is the deal?!  It's so frustrating.

I also had a quick chat with his speech therapist and she was thinking about reevaluating him soon because he's made such huge strides in the past few months that she thinks he might be 'on target.'  Say whaaa?  That's huge!  I actually hope she doesn't cut us off, because obviously he's made such big improvements with her that I would hate for us to lose this momentum!

Logan also had his preschool conference this week.  I talked a lot about what it would mean if Logan has an ASD diagnosis in a couple of weeks and what our options are.  Logan's teacher taught for 14 years in the PPCS program, specifically with children on the ASD, so she is a huge help.  Our neighbor also happens to teach there too.  Coincidentally I caught her the same day I had Logan's conference and we talked for a long time about services, etc etc.  She is amazing.  She has a special needs child, so she has the unique perspective of being an educator and mom of a special needs child.  While our preschool teacher thinks it would be so great for Logan to be in the program, our neighbor definitely told me to proceed with caution.  It seems like I've been really getting 2 very different opinions from people I talk to this about.  Hopefully when he is done with his evaluation and we go over everything we'll have some more clarity.

Isabel has had a pretty good week.  She is growing up so fast.  Some of the things that come out of her mouth just floor me.  She's definitely not a toddler anymore.  She is very opinionated and competitive, but is so fragile right now.  She gets absolutely crushed when she's disciplined for something unexpected or when she doesn't get the attention she wants.  It's hard to see her feelings hurt.  She's very curious about family and who is in her family and when she gets to see them, etc etc.  We WeChatted with Joanne today and she was thrilled to hear her voice!  She's been watching "Ni Hao Kai Lan" and picking up some Chinese.  It's pretty cute to hear Logan and Izzy repeating words back in Chinese.

A very rare 'safe' ice cream treat for Isabel (and Logan).  She dresses herself.  You try to tell her completely different flower patters/colors don't match.  I dare you.

Logan's teeth and Mother's Day

*I realized that the pictures are out of order and different sizes. Sorry.  I'm tired and just want to get an update out.  Hi GGB!

Logan's Teeth

We got a call on Friday that the dentist who was seeing Logan and was scheduled to perform his cap, pulpotomoty and possible other 2 caps, was no longer with the practice we were seeing.  Greeeeat.  The receptionist said that one of the co-owners (a husband and wife team) would be seeing Logan for his procedure Tuesday.  So we show up Tuesday on an empty stomach and the get Logan all demoroled up.  The hygienist starts the nitrous and she looks at his teeth and immediately is like "uh, I'm going to have Dr. Hernandez take a look at this tooth down here."  Huh.  So Logan tries to get into LaLa land.  Very difficult for him, and the dentist comes in.  She wants to get more xrays.  We get more xrays and it is abundantly clear to my non-dentist eyes that we have more problems.  There is decay all around.  :-(  She recommended general anesthesia because it will take at least 3 conscious sedation sessions to complete the necessary work.  Financially the cost was about the same, but I agreed with the dentist's recommendation. I didn't want Logan to dread going to the dentist and she said with conscious sedation that he would be in more pain than with general.

So we got an appointment with her husband, the practice's co-owner, for Thursday.  We had to be in Marble Falls at 6:45am.  Woohoo!  Logan actually did fantastic on the drive over and was super excited to be going to the dentist.  We've been telling him over and over again that the dentist will make his teeth feel better.

We arrived right on time and had (what I'm assuming was) Demerol.  The anesthesiologist talked to us for a long time (after talking to him via phone the previous day) and was very understanding and considerate of my super vigilant Mom questions.  After chatting for a bit and getting last minute question out of the way we headed back to the surgery room.  Logan kept saying he wanted a juice box and Dr. Wilson said 'as soon as we take 10 deep breaths you can have a juice box."  Yeah, 5 breaths in and I saw Logan's eyes roll back and he was out.  I gave him a big kiss and left.  The anesthesiologist administered the general anesthesia via an IV and Logan was totally out.

The dentist came in and we had a great chat.  We talked about Logan's baby teeth and why it was necessary to do everything we could to preserve, rather than extract, his molars.  I told the dentist to not hesitate to do whatever he felt necessary to help/improve Logan's dental health.  I was basically begging him to help little Logan's teeth.  I felt like every time someone looked in his mouth we had worse and worst news.  Dr. Hernandez was totally understanding and explained what he would be doing and what he hoped he would be doing.  He said he would try at all costs to save Logan's molars because of their importance in his developing mouth.  He said he would try to fill the cavities in his front teeth, but that they might need to be capped.

After about 90 minutes Dr. Hernandez came out to talk to me.  Apparently Logan had much more decay than they thought.  He ended up getting 8 caps and 6 pulpotemies (I'm sure that's not the correct spelling) on his molars.  He also had 4 caps on his upper front teeth.  Since the caps were SO so bright and small he filed down Logan's canines for aesthetic reasons.  He also told me that he was charging us the original bill and will charge the insurance for the extra work but will write off the rest of the bill.  I wanted to kiss him.  I am so thankful for the amazing care Logan received.

After Dr. Hernandez talked to me I heard Logan crying.  He was coming out of anesthesia and was not happy.  At all.  I'm pretty sure they tried to calm him down for my sake, but I just kept hearing him and finally got my stuff and marched back to see Logan.  He wouldn't open his eyes and had the shakes.  Once he heard my voice he started to become violent.  He was thrashing, grabbing, biting and kicking.  It was not fun and was terrifying and heart breaking at the same time.  I finally managed to get him in his car seat with the help of the nurse.  The hour long ride back to Austin was brutal.  Logan screamed and thrashed the entire time.  I thought it would get better when he was out of the car seat, but it got worse.

Logan screamed and was combative for about 3 hours.  It was as bad as you could imagine.  We were both in tears.  Finally around 11am Logan fell asleep on my chest.  He NEVER does that.  I was relieved, exhausted and ecstatic at the same time.  I wanted to freeze time.  He has never ever fallen asleep on me.  Such a precious memory.  I just wish that I hadn't forgotten to take out my contacts the night before (I never do that) and was up at 3am.  After a little 20 minute snooze he was in a little bit better mood, but still very swollen and sad.

We alternated acetaminophen and ibuprofen for 5 days around the clock.  Logan was up every 4 hours like clockwork for more meds.  He finally slept through the night Monday night, but then was up again last night.  I was worried about not being able to brush his teeth well.  I know they stressed how important it was to brush his teeth, but after 3 days of fighting him, headlocking him and prying his very sore mouth open I had had enough.  He usually has no problems brushing his teeth, so I knew for him to act like that he was in a lot of pain.

The dentist saw us Monday morning and she gave us some gauze soaked in antibacterial solution to wipe his teeth and gums with 3x's a day.  She said he's healing up pretty well, but that it will take time, especially with his front caps as they require much more force to be placed.  Brushing has been going better, so hopefully things are looking up.

So that's the long, long story of Logan's teeth.  It has been extremely challenging, nerve-racking and exhausting so far.  If you're not asleep, congratulations.

Mother's Day

We dog sat Fargo for a week while my parents were star-gazing in West Texas.  The ranch they were parked at didn't allow animals, so Fargo had to put up with us all week.  He was a good sport.  I'm pretty sure he had to kiss Isabel and Logan about 299494 times.  Only minimal puking the first day.  :)  I was very proud of Fargo.  He fit right in.  Now Tank seems depressed.

Sunday morning I woke up to a delicious breakfast that Brian spent a long time making.  Overnight blueberry french toast.  Soooo good, and I'm not really a french toast person.  It was beautiful!   I got to open some great cards.  Isabel's card had a pin attached to it that said "Today is all about me.  Me me me!"  and then on the inside it said "I'll be needing this back tomorrow."  Ha!  Logan's card was the same from the past 2 years.  It's so cute that Brian has no idea he keeps getting the same card.  I also had some beautiful artwork from Isabel.  She is quite the little artist when you don't pressure her to 'DRAW something for XY or Z'

Since my parents were staying in Fredricksburg we decided to stop over and hand off Fargo.  Fredricksburg is an old German settled town with tons of cute shops, wineries and German-esq restaurants.  We ended up going to the same restaurant and had the rueben plate with red and white sauerkraut.  Yum!!!  Logan actually ate.  He took a long time to eat mostly his bread, but he ate something!

RV in Fredricksburg.

Gramma spent the majority of the afternoon racing (literally) Logan around in his stroller.  I have no idea how she has so much energy.  I was tired just watching her.  It was a fun afternoon window shopping and browsing.  They have an amazing Christmas store that has has the largest display and supply of Department 56 stuff in the country.  Naturally we had to stop there twice.  They have a new "National Lampoons" themed house and the RV this year.  Um, yeah, that will be at Grandpa and Gramma's house this Christmas!  it was awesome.  They guy said it sold out immediately.

We distracted Isabel while Logan got some ice cream.  She never knew.  Win!  There is no open container law in Fredricksburg so you can walk around with beer or wine on the sidewalks.  Unfortunately I really can't stand any of the local wines, so it was a moot point.

Sunday night Brian had a nice dinner planned out to make.  We got back to Austin a little late, but he still made it and it was great.  A nice Mother's Day for sure!

Yo.  I'm still 2.

Playing 'where's mommy?'

Logan telling us he's Two for the last time tonight!  Don't look at my jacked up hair and no makeup.

Dumping out 2 in his dump truck.  That's right buddy.  No more 2s for you!

A rare nap on Mommy.

Totally random and awesome.  He did this by himself on my ipad.

Splash pad fun.

Poor sweet Logan.

Isabel declared this the PERFECT Mother's Day outfit.

One of the best dogs ever.

My little artist.

This is how they spend the good part of 2 days.

Ice cream?  For breakfast, lunch and dinner?  Yes, please!

I love Austin.

Dentist and Isabel's 4 year check up.

I finally took the kids to the dentist yesterday.  It was a day I was dreading for some time.  At Isabel's 3 year well check the pediatrician said that she needed to go to the dentist before she was 4.  Well, she was a day late.  I went ahead and took Logan too because I noticed that his teeth seemed a little more yellow than Isabel's teeth and he has an overbite.  Both kids did GREAT.  I was so pleasantly shocked.  I knew Isabel would likely do well.  She's really great at appointments and is very cooperative.  Logan is actually very cooperative with doctors.  His cardiologist actually said (and this is a direct quote) "he is the most well behaved 2 year old I've ever seen."  Hahahahahahaha.....I was like 'if you only knew.'  Anyway, he does pretty well.

Isabel went first and everything looked great and she'll be seen again in 6 months as per the norm.  Logan on the other hand....he needs some work.  Apparently he has incomplete enamel formation which makes him very susceptible to cavities and decay.  He has 2 cavities and one tooth that will need more work, including a baby root canal and cap.  Since he's not quite 3 they wanted to have it done at the hospital under general anesthesia.  He was doing so well with his cleaning that the dentist said that we could wait a month and try conscious sedation (giggle juice and laughing gas).  I'm all for that.  So he will go back in about a month for the cap and fillings.  He may need a partial cap on the other teeth once they are able to check them out further.  We'll see.  I'm also going to ask about sealing the rest of his baby teeth.  They don't normally do it (and it's not covered under insurance) but I would like to avoid the pain and financial burden of having caps and drilling done regularly.  Once his permanent teeth come in about 50% of incomplete enamel formation patients have issues with them as well.  Crossing my fingers he's not one of them.

I really liked the dentist.  She was understanding, patient and took the time after the appointment to come back out and talk to me after the assistant wasn't able to answer all of my questions.  The office is awesome.  It's strictly dental pediatrics, so there are big trees with 'animals' hanging in them, TV's, toys, etc etc.  The exam room is set up in a circle around a huge tree with Christmas LED lights all around it.  Perfect!  The circular thing threw me off at first because there were other kids getting cleanings at the same time in the same room, but I guess they know what they're doing because it seemed like the kids calmed each other down.  The bigger kids were just watching the TV's on the ceilings and acting like the whole thing was no big deal.  Obviously with conscious sedation the kids are in a private, separate room.

After the 2 hour appointment we met Brian for sandwiches.  Isabel was excited to show off her diamond tooth ring and Logan's slimy worm prize from the appointment.

Today Isabel saw the pediatrician for her 4 year well check.  Everything was great and she's doing fine.  We talked about side effects of long term Singulair use (since she just can't seem to get weaned off of if) and she had a hearing test.  Turns out she just has selective hearing.  A problem Dr. Frank assured me she inherited from her father.  Hopefully we can get her off of Singulair this Summer.