Georgia Cardiology Visit

We met our new GA cardiologist today.  It was a good visit.  The best part was that the office ran on time, actually a few minutes early, and they told me to budget 2 to 2.5 hours for the appointment, and we were out of there in 1 hour and 50 minutes.  I've NEVER been to a pediatric cardiology office in CA, FL, or OK that ran anywhere close to on time.  I've also repeatedly been closed in a small exam room (usually with 3 small children) for well over an hour to wait to see a doctor, after having waited in the waiting room for at least a half hour.  That's the end of my rant.  So... so far, so good.

The doctor seemed great.  The echo today looked pretty much like the description from Clayton's last echo last July.  There was perhaps a little more leakage on the tricuspid valve, which makes my stomach turn, but maybe that was just a difference of opinion in the echo interpretation.  We'll see in the next echo.  Clayton had that valve repaired during his Glenn, at three months old, and it's held like a champ, so I'm praying it continues to do so because another repair is probably not an option for him.  Our new doctor did want to add in a new med to Clayton's regimen, which is always the joy in changing cardiologists, but he was quite convincing, so as of tonight, Clayton's back on a very small amount of diuretics.  I was seriously questioned by the pharmacist as to why a six year old would be on diuretics, but I appreciate she's paying attention to patient profiles while filling her scripts.

Perhaps the best news was that Clayton weighed in at a whopping 36.5 pounds!  That's up 6 pounds in the last year, something I don't think he's done since his first year of life.  I pray that he will continue to grow like this.

First T-ball Practice



I wasn't sure if we'd venture into t-ball again, but when Ryan asked the boys if they'd like to play this spring, they were all about it.  One of the churches in town runs their own t-ball/baseball/softball league.  It's similar to Upward sports, and looked like a great place to learn a little about t-ball.  The best part is that Clayton and Eli get to be on the same team (K-4/Kinder).  Eli just barely made the age cut off, and we're thrilled to only have one set of practices and games to attend.

The last time Clayton played t-ball, his arthritis was so bad, he usually couldn't run the entire way from the plate to first.  This year is a different story.  His joints are doing great, and he's built up a little muscle too.  When he got home from his first practice, he ran inside to tell me that he had run all the way around the bases at the end of practice.  He was so proud.  Most kids can't imagine not being able to do something as easy as run the bases, but we don't take it for granted around here.  Hearing his excitement brought tears to my eyes.  It was music to my ears.



Recent Injuries

On Thursday, March 7, Clayton was walking and talking and walked right into the corner of our media cabinet.  I was making a quick run to the grocery store and came home a few minutes after the incident.  It was still bleeding, A LOT.  It was obviously going to need medical attention, so I took Clayton up to the ER.  Three and a half hours and five stitches later, we were out of there and picking up a Frosty on the way home.  Here he is two days later.  It was still swollen, and the bruising was getting darker.

Then on Friday, just over a week later, Aaron had a nasty fall outside in the street in front of our house.  Ryan's parents were visiting, and we had to put Papa's birthday party on hold for a bit while we tended to Aaron.  He didn't need to go to the ER, but he was was beat up pretty badly.

This doesn't even begin to show how bad Aaron looked.  There was a lot of blood, and later I started to think that one of his top teeth had actually bitten through the bottom lip.  I'm not 100% sure about that, but there's a puncture on the inside and one on the outside in about the same place.

The face was only one part of his injury.  The most painful part has been this giant scrape down his side.  My poor baby.  And yes, he has a giant belly.  He's okay with it.

Thankfully, kids heal quickly.  This happened Friday night, and he looks so much better now.  My poor kids have had a rough few days.  I think this is just the way it is when you have three boys.



Happy Birthday Ryan!

March 9th!  Happy birthday Dad!

A Few Homeschool Memories, Part 1

Homeschool has been a new adventure for us this year.  I had never pictured myself as a homeschooling mom until I was actually doing it.  Teaching Clayton while managing Eli and Aaron is definitely a challenge, and no two days are exactly alike.  We do some things all together, other things individually, and some things the big boys work on together.  I plan mostly for Clayton, and then whoever else wants to participate is welcome.  So far, it works on most days, and so far, I'm happy with the arrangement.

Most days I'm up to my elbows in the nitty gritty, but every now and then I remember to grab my camera so we can remember a few of these kindergarten moments.

We ordered our curriculum from Sonlight this year.  I had a couple friends already using Sonlight, it is a heavily literature based curriculum, and it comes with 180 day lesson plans.  It was a good fit for a busy Christian mom who loves to read and wants her children to love reading too.  Clayton was so excited to receive our books.  He unpacked the box book by book.

When Clayton saw The Story of Ping, he was sold.  This is a family favorite.

Of course Curious George is exciting too.

This was our first day of homeschool.  We talked about dinosaurs and both boys were excited to try to identify their toy dinosaurs.

Our first official field trip was to the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, OK.  It was a million degrees outside, and the campus was much larger and spread out than I realized, but the boys did great.  It is really a beautiful place to learn about Chickasaw history and culture.

When studying weather, we made this rainbow pizza on a sugar cookie crust with cream cheese frosting.  Needless to say, it didn't last long.

Let's eat!

In October, I took the boys to Myriad Garden's Pumpkinville.  It was so much fun.  I love Myriad Gardens, and it's one of the places I miss most about OKC.

Painting pumpkins

Checking out the tractor

Hello Aaron.

Eli

Aaron likes to teach too. Here he is saying, "One, two, three, ten.  One, two, three, ten."  We've been working on that.

It was about this time that we packed up and moved to Georgia, so I'll stop here for now.  We're all learning a lot this year, moving slowly but surely at our own pace, studying the things we like, while focusing a lot of our energy on reading, writing, and arithmetic.