7 years

Happy 7th Birthday Areya!!!

Where does the time go? I'm sure it was just a few years ago that I had her, not 7! Wow, it blows my mind to think that she has grown up so fast. Just this week she was telling me about a boy she likes. Hold on, she can't be old enough to start liking boys already, i'm not sure i'm ready for this stage. The boy she likes, that likes her too, is named Joey and it turns out that they have the same birthday. So while making his birthday card she asked me for a pictures of herself. I asked her what she wanted it for and she said it was so Joey could put it on his night stand next to his bed.( Funny right!) I was also informed that I had to leave her hair bows in because he liked them and wanted her to keep her hair like that for his party. (It cracks me up to listen to her) That night at Joey's party his mom told me that Joey has liked Areya since last year and that he told her "Areya makes my heart full of love."

Here is Areya with the help of Aniela opening her presents from mom & dad.

My very talented and amazing friend Tina was sweet enough to make her a Hannah Montana cake. (all while taking care of her 4 little ones) Areya loved it and Tina did a fabulous job, thank you again!!!

This is what she woke to birthday morning.

On Saturday we had a party for her with some friend from church and school. We had cake and ice cream, lots of junk food, a pinta and gifts. The kids had fun running all over the house and of course were way over loaded with sugar but they all had a great time. Thanks everyone for coming and for the gifts. It was fun having you over!

Thursday, which was Areya's birthday, I took the girls in for check ups and flu shots. Due to the high risk for Taevin the immunologist wanted us all to get flu shots and this was the only day I could get both girls in at the same time. What a great way to spend your birthday, right. Well, both girls are healthy and doing great.

Taevin also had a doctor's appointment this week. He saw the cardiologist. They did an EKG and listened to his heart. Every thing checked out great and we don't have to see him again for 3 months. The doctor did suggest that we look into getting Taevin the RSV shot. This shot is very expensive and he would need it every month until the end of RSV season. I hear they are around $1200 per shot. Not all insurance companies will cover it so we are looking into it.

Taevin is still having some issues with reflux but it is so much better then before. We did have to go back to smaller feedings more often (every 2 hours) to help with the reflux so we will have to keep a close eye on his weight. He did finally made it to 11 1/2 pounds (at 4 1/2 months) which is low but not low enough to cause alarm. I was talking to my brother and his baby at 1 month old is 9 lbs 10 oz. If he keeps growing like that he'll pass Taevin up.

A few more hair styles

This one is my favorite so far. It turned out really cute. I was informed that Areya's friend at school (her crush) really likes it too and wants her to keep it like that all the time.

I have been having so much fun doing her hair. I wish I could do some of these on my own hair.

Hair

There are a few ladies at church who do their girls hair so cute. I asked them where they get their ideas from and they told me about some hair blogs. So I have been trying to do some thing fun and different with Areya's hair every day before school. I have come up with a few of my own ideas but have also gotten plenty from the blogs. So far I have only done her hair the same twice. Mornings are so crazy that I only got pictures from 2 styles.

Areya is trying to grow out her bangs and this has been a great way to keep them out of her face. With her short hair I am a bit limited on things I can do but I guess it's good practice for when it grows out.

Here are the links to some of the hair blogs:

www.princesshairstyles.com

www.babesinhairland.com

Adopt A Do

Doctors, Doctors and more Doctors 2

It's been over a month since I posted about how Taevin is doing. We have been to so many appointments that I lose track. Let's see, since my last medical post (the end of July) we have seen:

*Early Intervention

*Speech (5 times)

*Developmental therapy (2 times)

*2 different GI doctors

*the Immunologist

*the Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose and Throat)

*the Pediatrician

and he is scheduled to see the Endocrinologist next week, the DiGeorge clinic the following week and the Cardiologist at the end of the month. (with a few others in there some where) He has also had Labs drawn twice. I have been one busy mommy. Lucky for me only a few of these appointments are in Chicago.

So after all these appointments I bet you're wondering how he's doing. Taevin is doing great, better then we could have ever hoped for.

Early Intervention came and did an evaluation to see what extra help he might need. We decided on Speech therapy to help with feedings, help vocalize more and help increase sound volume. He also has a Developmental therapist who comes and works on meeting mile stones. They each will come to my home twice a month to work with him.

As of right now we also see the speech therapist from Children's every 2 weeks until the EI one is up to speed. We found out that Taevin was aspirating on the thicken milk as well so we had to increase the amount of thickener. We are still working on tongue control, keeping a good seal and pacing during feedings. He is now up to 4 oz every 3 to 4 hours.

We had a follow up with the GI doctor and they said since he was gaining weight that they did not feel it necessary to put him back on the feeding tube. Thank goodness!!!!!! He has been doing better since being put and the Zantac but still has awful episodes. I'm not loving this GI doctor so I got the name of one from a friend and decided to try her out. She took him off the Reglan (which can causes Parkinson's like behavior) and put him back on the Prevacid. We'll see how he does on these. We're scheduled to see her again in a month.

Our visit to the Immunologist was very positive. Even though Taevin is missing his Thymus gland he seems to have a full T Count. They want to see him back in 6 months to recheck his levels and in the mean time he has to stay away from live virus immunizations and everyone has to get a flu shot. The girls are going to love that.

I don't know if you remember me talking about Taevin's weak cry and loud breathing but we went back to the ENT to see if there was any new information. They put a scope down his nose to get a look at his throat. They said it was very red and swollen most likely due to the acid reflux. They were not able to get a look at this vocal cords due to the swelling and extra skin that is growing around them. They are still not concerned with the loud breathing and they feel is cry has improved. We are scheduled to go back in 3 to 4 months for them to try again.

At the Pediatrician we finally had his 3 month check. He looks good and is growing. He now weighs 11 lbs 2 oz and is 23 1/2 inches long. This puts him in the 10th percentile for both his height and weight. He also got 4 immunizations. We go back in 2 months.

The labs he got drawn were for his appointment next week with the endocrinologist. She has been keeping an eye on his calcium levels. As of right now he is still taking a supplement 3 times a day and we are hoping to ween it back some more at this visit.

I think that's all........

It amazes me that I can keep all this straight. So many doctors and so much information, but with such great feed back I couldn't be happier.