EEG

I've been  meaning to give an update on Tuba's seizures. In April he had an EEG. His last EEG was about 8 years ago! Whoa. I couldn't believe that much time had passed. When the Dr. ordered a new EEG I was not excited. In the past every time he had one we learned new information and none of it was good news. Also, when he was tiny we used to have to do what is called a "sleep deprived" study. This means me had to get Tuba up at 4:00 a.m. and keep him awake until the EEG at around 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. This meant I had to have my MIL ride in the back seat with Tuba and keep him from falling asleep. It was awful! He would be so tired and CRABBY! Not to mention that I was also sleep deprived. Then we'd have to try and get him to hold still and fall asleep for the EEG...with a bunch of electrodes glued all over his head. I would tickle his face and sing to him for HOURS to make this happen. It was always a VERY long day.

I was relieved to find out we no longer had to bring him in sleep deprived. Yeah! That was the first piece of good news. I was worried that Tuba wouldn't tolerate the gluing to his head. But, he surprised me by holding very still and turning on all the charm for the technician. He was an angel! Yeah! More good news.

Now, the REALLY good news! The results of Tuba's EEG showed: Abnormal focal discharge with slowing on the left back side. Now, this might not seem like good news. But, the right side had normal rhythm. The very good news is that 8 years ago his EEG showed abnormal on both sides. Overall his EEG is MUCH improved. Not only on the right side but the slowing on the left side is less than it used to be! So...YIPEE!! I'm so happy. They went on to say that he may never have a normal EEG but that it could continue to improve over the years. Glory!

As for seizure activity we see about 1-2 very small ones a week. This is such good news. After years of horrible (100+ a day huge seizures) lack of control. I pray (pray with me too) that he continues to have less and less and that his brain will continue to heal.

Humble

God has sent me my children to keep me humble...or to teach me to be humble.

Last week I took the kids to the library. We always stop at the Library Coffee Shop for a treat on our way in. The kids choose one item...chips, cookie, or hot cocoa with whip cream. The two littlest kids chose cocoa. I reminded them to be careful not to spill. After about three minutes sitting at our table Sis spilled her drink. Whooosh...all across the table...leaving a blop of whip cream in the middle of the table while the cocoa dripped off onto the floor. Inwardly I was exasperated. I sighed, I jumped up and gathered napkins and began cleaning it up. The woman who owns the coffee shop came right over with kind words. Words that I didn't come up with. She assured Sis that it was only an accident and that she would quickly make a new drink.

I continued to clean up the floor and table. I relaxed a little and told Sis it was okay and that she could have a new one. Inwardly though I was still feeling annoyed. Annoyed that this little girl spills her drinks A LOT. Annoyed at myself for not putting the lid on the cup. Annoyed, annoyed, annoyed.

Then Baby George looked at me and asked, "Mommy, when you were little did you ever spill your cocoa?".

Oh. That little boy humbled me to the core. Instantly I softened and gave Sis the reassurance that she needed. We enjoyed our treats and then headed in to the library.

Thank you God for the gift of my sweet children and the lessons they teach me.

Raspberry Cupcakes

Baby George picked out his birthday dessert and then helped me make them. You can find the recipe HERE. Delicious Raspberry Cupcakes. The recipe was for strawberry but we improvised. BG is a great help. He can help measure all the ingredients and can crack eggs on is own. He is great at stirring and really great at licking the spoon!

Watching our yummy treats cook.

This is one of the best things about summer!

Ta-da! We also used plain whipping cream instead of frosting. So good. Light and fresh. Mmmmm.

Baby Boy is 4!

Baby George had his birthday! That's two birthdays down and two to go in our b-day season this summer.

His actual big day landed on a weekday so we celebrated on Saturday as a family by going to the beach. We headed out to a state park that is beautiful. The sun was out too...bonus!

The kids had a blast throwing rocks in the water and digging in the sand.

 Cam also gave the kids another rock skipping lesson.

 We had a lovely picnic too.

 And played and played and played.

Then home for PRESENTS!!! Baby George REALLY wanted a scooter! I love that you can see the joy on his face!!

Weeeeee! He really loves it!

 We then celebrated again yesterday. I'll post pics of his cupcakes tomorrow.

***What I wanted to write about is the fact that I spent yesterday getting teared up every time I thought about how big my baby has gotten. Whaaa! I really miss my babies! But, I'll save that for another post. Sniff, sniff...***

Happy Birthday to my sweet beautiful joyous baby boy! You are the exclamation point on our family! You love playing dress-up...especially as Super Heroes. You are very smart....yesterday you pointed out a stairwell landing and told me it was an octagon! You love books...ones read to you and also you can sit for hours looking at books on your own. You do not like it when your siblings get punished...even when the offender did something to you. You are a cautious boy which makes Mama happy. You LOVE Jesus and talk about Him constantly. When you grow up you want to be St. George! I know you will slay the dragon! Love you my sweet boy....especially because yesterday you told me you would be my baby FOREVER!

4th of July

The 4th of July is past us now but I'm getting caught up on blogging and I can't leave out one of my favorite holidays! I love the 4th of July!

We attended our local town parade. It was AWESOME!!!

Cam's Mom and Dad joined us for the parade. We lined up an hour early to get a good spot on the street. We had coffee and treats from Grandma (suckers) while we waited for it to start. One of my favorite things about the parade and the 4th is seeing all the red/white/blue. Love!! Such a show of patriotism. And the matchy/matchy thing...well, you know I love that! It's my dream some day to have a beach house and decorate it in red/white/blue. Dream big!

Sweetie brothers.

 Grandpa giving the kids the BIG BOUNCE. They love it! Grandpa's back? Probably not.

My girl and I.

BG is notorious for NOT wanting his photo taken....but I got this sort of okay one of him and his pre-parade sucker. It's called the pre-parade sucker because he ate about 5 more during the parade.

The parade was so good! It started off with some Navy sailors rocking out in the back of a truck. I mean ROCKING! They were a rock band and were jammin' out. It was so fun! The lead singer was a woman and she was belting it out. Loved it!

There were lots of Veterans. Riding in classic cars, and on floats, and in military vehicles and boats on trailers. So humbling to see them. My sweet hubby always shouts out to them and tells them thank you for our freedom. It's touching to see their response. Some nod, some put their hand over their heart, many salute, they all say you're welcome.

This year they had something new in the parade. There were about 25 huge banners with the photographs of servicemen and women from our area that have been killed in the current wars. Very sad to see the pictures. The banners had the dates of birth and death and the local town the person was from. So young. Such sacrifice.

Some of my other favorite things from the parade....stilt walkers were amazing to watch, a young guy performing tricks on a bicycle (the mom in me was wincing and watching through squinted eyes....and I had to laugh when more than one of my kids commented that he wasn't wearing a helmet!), the Rodeo Queens on horses (I thought Sis would faint. She LOVES horses and she loves princesses. She yelled, "Mommy, it's Barbie on a horse!"), And I LOVE marching bands!! There were such great bands and a couple groups of drill teams...one with a sassy head snapping march. Again Sis was in LOVE. Also, the Chinese dancers with the dragon...very cool. So much fun!! And the streamers shot out of a horn by some circus performers. Wow!!

After the parade we headed to our friend's house for a delicious BBQ. Fun with friends in the sun. The kids ran and ran and ran. We opted to go home before fireworks this year since Cam had to get up at 5:30 the next day for work. Boo!

We had the kids in bed by 8:15. I laid in bed and read and then enjoyed an amazing fireworks display (while Cam slept). I could see across the water to the islands and watch everyone's show. I did however fall asleep before our local big show at 10:20. Oh, well...it was a full fun day. Thank you to the  service members past and present who made it possible!! God bless YOU!

Mr. P is 9!

The Birthday Season has begun!! Mr. P starts it off in June. He turned the big 9!! Whoa! Where has my baby boy gone? He was lucky to have his big day land on a weekend. We packed up the car and headed for another old military fort. He LOVED it! The weather was rainy and a bit cool (I wore a down coat). But, none of that matters to a 9 year old boy. Adventure. That is what matters.

All of the boys (well, not Baby George) loved exploring the fort. Me, ummm....no. But, we Mamas do what we got to do to make a fun day for our birthday boys. Even if that means boots, umbrella, warm coat and faking interest. :)

In case you take your small children here...be warned...it is NOT safe for wee ones. High concrete walkways, no rails or railing that hits above the height of little ones with concrete below. Oh! I had about 100 heart attacks....much to the annoyance of my boys (including Cam). Tuba and I stayed down on main level with Baby George....and hollered directions to be careful. I know, what a fun mom!

The boys had so much fun running through the dark tunnels and exploring.

Here is BG posing for me. He usually refuses to be in photos.

The best part was that the rain let up and we walked down to the beach. Had I known the trail was so close I would have headed to the beach and skipped the fort. I love the beach!

The kids were nice to sit and pose for the obligatory group shot.

Busy Guy is practicing his camera skills and got this one of my sweetie and I. Yes, that is the world's largest umbrella.

Climbing on driftwood...so fun.

Tuba loves the beach as much as I do.

After the beach we headed home to change our wet wet clothes and shoes. We went out for our favorite pizza and then home for cake. Mr. P chose ice cream (vanilla and strawberry) cake with Oreo crust. Yummy and easy to make.

Happy Birthday to my sweet thoughtful smart boy. You are a great little brother to Tuba! You are a fantastic reader and I love to see you reading books all the time. Also, a great athlete. You are really doing well at TKD and will have your black belt in no time. You have a heart for the poor and are very compassionate. You do not have any tolerance for bullies. I am so thrilled to watch you grow. Mama loves you!! God loves you!