A Zoo Wedding

Last weekend Steve's parents came down to watch the kids and we headed to Chicago for my cousin Michelle's wedding which was held at the Brookfield ZOO. We met up with Sam and my mom earlier in the day for a fantastic lunch and then it was back to his place for some quick R&R.

The wedding was wonderful. She worked really hard and put in a lot of personal touches to make the day special. Sam and I did a reading which was fun. It is called "The Invitation." It is a really neat passage and if you click on the title it'll take you to a site where you can read it.

The reception was nicely done - the food was amazing. The best part was the time with Sam, my mom and Steve. We did visit with other family as well that we hadn't seen in quite some time but just that uninterrupted, adult time was precious. We did a lot of laughing, talking and smiling... just what we all needed I think!!

Thanks Darrell and Judy for watching the kids and thanks mom, Steve and Sam for a great time!!

Playing with Evan

Back to school also means having regular playdates with our best buddy Evan. Evan is here every Monday right now and Braden looks forward to it all weekend. :)

Last week we baked cookies with some Crayola dough which I purchased thinking it would be fun for the kids (and it was) but it totally grosses me out to even think about all the dye in it. UGH!

They made volcano's, flowers, bugs, etc. and then we put mini-chocolate chips in as a finishing touch. What we didn't use ended up secretly in the garbage. I think we'll look for more natural ways to color our dough in the future.

Olivia's Latest

I got a call from Rheumatology today and here is the latest:

-Bloodwork all looked good (she listed off the numerous things they tested but I'd be lucky to remember two!)
-Liver and Kidney function is good
-There were traces of blood in her urine but then upon microscopic look it appeared not to be a concern - I didn't really get this but I was told not to worry about it so I happily won't. :)
-Lymes came back elevated again on the initial test but the confirmation test came back negative so it is now confirmed that she does NOT have Lymes

So... We have a follow-up appointment on the 30th after which she will have an outpatient procedure to inject a steroid into her knee to hopefully put the arthritis into remission and they will X-ray her leg bones to measure for any discrepancy in length. If for some reason the limp drastically improves or goes away before the 30th they'll cancel the appointment but for now that's the plan.

I will also schedule an eye exam in the very near future but other than that we sit still and just hope that she continues to be pain-free and the busy body she's always been. Yeah Olivia. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end - only time will tell but we'll continue to wish for the best.

Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. :)

GO Thunder!

Braden had his first soccer game today and he LOVED it! We weren't exactly sure how it would go but couldn't have been happier with how it turned out.

They started with a large practice where there were 4 teams (about 50 kids 4-6 years old) on the field. They practiced dribbling the ball and stopping it with their feet. After, they played a mini-game. Mind you - some of them, like Braden, have never had any instruction on soccer... so it was part hilarious and part adorable! His team played a team that was a bit older and you could tell had played before but they still scored some goals and had a great time.

We knew that Daniel would be on his team but we didn't know that we'd recognize so many other families there. I am really excited about this weekly family time that we'll have and I am soooooo glad that Braden had fun. Go Thunder!!! :)

Still Riding the Roller Coaster!

Wow - Well today was Olivia's big day. The day we'd been waiting for... for answers, for information, for a plan of action. Her appointment at Rheumatology was at 8:15. Steve was able to come with us and for that I am sooooo thankful. We had an enormous amount of information thrown at us and I am hoping between the two of us we gathered most of it.

I have to start by once again saying how thankful I am that we live close to Children's Hospital and not just any Children's Hospital but ours. It was ranked 3rd in the Nation last year and each time I walk inside it's clearly written on the walls why it is one of the best. Everyone from the information desk to the specialists are kind, warm hearted and child-centered. It's an amazing place and we are blessed to have it as a resource.

So here is where we are at... which is still on the roller coaster.

They DO NOT think Olivia has Lymes. This took me for a major loop and although that would delight me I was having a hard time grasping what they were saying as it was a polar opposite from what we were told last week. It's a long story as to why but it sounds like the tests are fairly complicated and not as clear as one would hope. They did another blood draw today to retest which will hopefully confirm that she doesn't have it but we'll see. Results should be back in a week to 10 days.

With that said, they did say she had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis(JRA). This can be both a positive and a negative at this point. Worst case scenario ... it's manageable, best case scenario she grows out of it eventually which about 50% of children do.

In the mean time, and proceeding assuming that the Lymes is negative, we'll be visiting Children's quite a bit and monitoring quite a lot. This includes...

-Having an outpatient procedure to have a steroid shot into her knee to put the arthritis into remission. If that doesn't work she'll need physical therapy.

-Having her leg bones measured to be sure that a growth plate hasn't been stunted making her right leg slightly shorter than the left. If this is the case she'll need a lift in her shoe to help everything grow correctly but he said she'd grow out of it eventually.

-Monitoring her eyes on a pretty consistent basis because a side effect of JRA is a potential eye/vision problem called uveitis.

-Monitoring her kidneys and liver due to the Naproxen (which is basically Aleve) being a long term therapy/medicine.

SO... We left today feeling overwhelmed but hopeful. Our little Olivia has a few big months ahead of her. If I was understanding correctly the Lymes test results won't change the outcome (JRA) but will change how we treat it.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who has been sending emails and leaving voice messages letting us know you were thinking about us. It is greatly appreciated!!

Like I said... Keeps a SMILE on my face!

I just found myself giggling while remembering a conversation I had with Braden from this morning...

I was putting on make-up getting ready to go over and register him for 4K and he said, "Mama, what is that on your face?" It was cover up under my eyes.

I said, "It's make-up." He asked, "What's it for?" I replied, "It's to make mommy look pretty."

He matter of factly looked at me and said, "I wish you looked African."

I said, "What?"

He said, "I wish you looked African so then you'd look stylish and fashiony."

So I guess I need to work on my make-up application or something! Then maybe I'll be more stylish and fashiony. Hehe

Super Hero Mode

Braden has been in full Super Hero mode lately. With all that has been going on he keeps a HUGE smile on my face. This is exactly how he watched cartoons this morning. What a kid.