Surgery…Again

Well I was trying to hold off from posting about the eye doctor because Chris wanted to do it but since we had a power outage last night I won’t keep you all in suspense any longer. The Doctor says Tatum need to have surgery to fix her crossed eyes. She sees well tracks fine and her eyes are not lazy, just crossed. The surgery is going to take place sometime before she turns one. They are going to monitor her once a month for the next 4-6 months to make measurements so they do not over correct.

Chris is comparing the severity of this procedure to ear tubes…I though it was the end of the word when Emma got tubes in her ears, HA little did I know. As long as everything goes well with the cath and angioplasty on Wed. the cardiologist feels that the local anesthesia for the eye surgery should be fine.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us so I do not have time to dwell. We are going to Christine and Joel’s wedding on Sat. evening, gosh I am looking forward to that, no kids, and Emma is graduating into the head start program from the 2 year old class on Sat. afternoon. Oh yeah dance class in the morning, think I’ll be busy?????
We are breaking Autumn in this weekend she is babysitting Tatum, I hope not for the first and last time ;)

Let the cath countdown begin 4 day to go.

Jumperoo

The Jumperoo seems to be one of Tatum's new favorite toys, after Mommy loaded it with batteries that is. We were not sure how she would like it at first but she seems to dig it. She bounces all over the place, I give the jumperoo 2 thumbs up :)

Tomorrow is Tatums Eye Dr. apt. I am fully expecting her to return home with a patch at the very least. She tracks things well and from what we can tell sees fine but her right eye just turns in alot of the time. It has gotten better as she has gotten older but I am hoping that the Dr. can fix it right up. I just do not want to hear about yet another surgery that we have to put on hold because of her heart. It would then get in line behinde the disapearing hernia that we have not seen in months...

Super Dad Chris is handeling this apointment tomorrow, thank god, the end of the month is just to hard for me to get away. I feel very lucky to have such an involved husband and I know the girls love it too. He is so good about spending time with both of them. I caught Chris and Emma playing in her doll house the other night it was sooooo cute. AWEEE such a good Daddy, I think we'll keep him.

Without Limits

Who says I have to put limits on my child? I could not tell you today what Emma a perfectly "normal " child is going to be doing in 15 years so why should I be able to tell you what Tatum is going to be doing. It breaks my heart in half when I hear or read things about parents with disabled children underestimating them simply because of the label their children were given. If I was asked worst case Senecio about Tatum's future a greeter at Walmart or a bagger at the Giant ( not that there is anything wrong with either job) are not even close to what pops into my head. Maybe I am being over positive and I am in for the biggest let down of my life but I expect some sort of post HS education or a trade, I do not think that is too much to ask of anyone. If it does not happen then it doesn't but I am not ready to stop encourging it.

In the current world we live in I have so many aspirations. Tatum has technology she'll grow up with that enables her to be friends with children all over the world like they live next door. My god she is going to have no idea what non digital camera is heck Emma thinks my Mom's camera is so foreign just because it's not one, she has no idea that we did not always see the photo immediately. We have come such a long way in every aspect her teeth can be perfect her eyes fixed yada yada.... Now I am babbling my point is I guess Why..... Why put limits on your kids?!

Ok I know you all must think I am a total nut job. I almost think that between this post and my last one. Really I am not loosing it I'm going to make, hopefully ;) LOL

OVERWHELMED!!!

I have decided that I have no idea what I am doing, I can not handel two kids and a job. Quitting my job is not a option besides I do not think that I could stay home full time anyway. The worst part is I have no idea what to do about it but cry. WS aside if I knew then ( 16m) ago I would have never in a million years had two children unless I had full tim help. Don't get me wrong I love both my girls with everything in me but I am drowning. I'm sure I'll be fine maybe some sleep would help, who knows.

I pay 200 more a month for my mortgage then I pay for daycare!!! You would think for that I could find a Nannie... Worst thing is in my area my daycare is not overpriced it is one of the best and fairest priced in the area, they are great. I think my girls have gotten more out of going there then they would have ever gotten at home with Chris or I...Can I just SCREAM...

Venting IN MD!!!

3/10/77 - 10/16/05 C. D. C.

Duffy was one of my closest and dearest friends while I was in college, he was like a brother to me and his parents are like a second set of parents. Last year when we returned home from vacation I opened my email to find the most horrific news. My good friend Duffy had passed away. Duff fought a courageous battle with renal failure and spent his last 2.5 years on dialysis. His funeral was a year ago on the 20th. For those of you who have not buried a close friend that was to young to die it is a very tough thing. I think about how hard it was to stomach the dx with Tatum and have no clue how hard it would be to bury you only child. As Bruce and MJ ( Duff's parents) face the second year without their baby my heart goes out to them. I wish I could tell MJ that it is going to get better but I do not know.

What I do know is that Duff is someone I am never going to forget.I imangin that I'll be telling my girls funny stories about us for years to come. Life certainly is not the same without this crazy character around. I know one thing Tatum and Em have one crazy angel in heaven looking after them. I miss you Duffy and so does everyone else, it is amazing how many lives you touched.

Dirt Monkeys Have the Worst Germs

It's official dirt monkeys,(aka kids) germs SUCK!!! I made it through my work day yesterday although feeling very crappy. It was not until 4:45 that I finally called it a day and left to pick up the girls. Yvonne called me on the way to daycare, she was at 7-11. I was complaining abot how I felt like I was going to die an could hold nothing down but still so thirsty, we decided I needed Gatorade. We arrived to day care at the same time so I grabbed my drink and went to get Tatum, Yvonne got the big girls. As I walked out of daycare I had no energy I sat in my car ready to pull out and another Mom started to talk to me. I know she must have been so grossed out because as I was telling her from across the parking lot that I did not feel well, I began to projectile vomit( somewhat resembling Linda Blair from the Exorcist) it was aweful. I had to get it together because I still had a nice drive home ahead of me.

I thought the ride would never end I could not get home soon enough. I pulled up to the house got the girls out of the car and went directly to bed. I put Tatum in her swing and after minimal crying she got it together, thank god for Emma she held her bottle in her mouth and entertained her. Chris got home about 30 mins later and found me in bed and the girls watching the Simpsons, great roll model, D'OH! Hey Emma asked for cartoons and that was the first one I came to. Its not like Emma doesn't know exactly who the simpsons are...

After 14 hours on my death bed I am starting to feel a little better. I am hoping to make it to work this afternoon, I have so much to do. Beware of the stomach bug going around it is terrible.

What a Week...

Our vacation was wonderful, not so much sleep but a very nice time. The weather was not as warm as I would have liked but we still made it to the beach everyday except Thursday. That was a totally wash out, literally. It was a good think that I was on vacation if not I would have been stuck at home all week with sick Emma, poor baby. She did get better by the end out the week and played in the sand with the other kids that arrived.

Our friend started arriving on Wed and all were down by Friday. Everyone except Jody and Tim’s family had there own place, they stayed with us. This has sort of become a tradition, Dewy Beach Triathlon on Sat. morning( Way to go Angie (Chris' sister) on your 2 place age group finish!!) and Love Seed Mama Jump on Sat night. What a blast!!!

Friday Sat and Sunday was the best beach days, thanks god Emma was better by then, so we all really had a very good time. She was no longer stuck to my lap since there were about 8 other kids for her to play with and four of them were staying with us.

The kids were all such helpers with the baby and Emma I think I may have truly lost it without them…. I am happy to report that Tatum loved the beach and the sun she was happiest out on the sand with an ocean breeze. I clearly have two future beach bums in my house, just like their Mom and Dad.

Although we had fun visiting with family and seeing friends in a different environment it was nice to get home and sleep in my own bed in my own room without kids. I love my kids so much more when they are in their own beds:) It was so tough to get up this morning.

By the way the family photo turned out great!!

One more Day

Tomorrow is the last day of vacation. It has been a nice week but very long. I tried to post a few days ago but the internet conection is iffy at best. To sum up what I lost there has been more clouds then sun, no sleep at night, and two sick kids. FUN FUN FUN!!! I am very ready to go back to work on Monday...full time kids is hard work, I feel bad saying this but this week was my first time with both my kids at the same time for this long without daycare...they sure did break me in. Good thing I love those girls, they are pretty cute HAHA.


Aside from me complaining we really are having a nice time. Our friends all arrived Wednesday
and Thursday so it has gotten easier, Emma is not nearly as clingy with the other kids around. My Mom and her husband came down to babysit for us tonight so we are going to go out and listen to a band....PLEASE KIDS SLEEP ALL NIGHT FOR ME:)

We'll be home tomorrow for the Skins game...good thing it is a 8pm game LOL. I can not wait to get home and post a blog with pictures and vacation details...Talk to you all soon!!!

We're Here!!!

We got to the beach yesterday evening. We stopped in Baltimore on the way to the beach to see Baby Molly get baptized . . . I'm a Godmother!!! After that we went back to Julie's for some good food and Football:). We let the kids play for a while so we could enjoy a nice nap time ride to the beach, it worked.

Once we arrived and unpacked the car we headed into town. We got to enjoy the last day of Funland, Emma rode rides while Tatum enjoyed people watching. This is good and bad. Emma loves the rides so I was glad we got in one evening but now she is going to want to go back all week and it is closed. We ran into to Chris' cousin and Aunt Pat while in Funland so Naoh and Emma got to do a ride together.

The next few days are supposed to be a little chilly, darn Hurricane Florence. Although it is not raining, the wind is out of hand and the ocean, well lets just say I won't be swimming in it for a few days, the swells are huge. By Wednesday the weather should be much better and Florence should be all gone, poor Bermuda, glad I am not there.

Hmmmm I do not think I brought enough warm clothes for the family so I guess that means we'll be shopping, Lucky for me I LOVE shopping in Rehoboth. Wish us luck, we have a family picture today!!! Nice view from our porch to enjoy morning coffee eh... I could live here year around...

Lucky 13...

This morning started out no so great… Chris and I had an argument and he left for work. After that I finished getting the girls dressed and we headed out. Tatum had at doctors apt at 9:30 my plan was to drop Emma off and Daycare hit Starbucks and on to the Dr. This planned Changed a bit since Emma decided that she wanted to go with Tatum and I. So I hit Starbucks for Mom and Burger King for Em. Not going to daycare meant I had to feed her breakfast, what fun.

After our stops we continued on to the doctor. We pulled in the parking lot and Tatum was asleep, we ran in the pharmacy so Emma could go potty then left. On the path to the Dr office Tatum woke up. As Emma bent over to give her a kiss she spilled her entire jug of Milk inside Tatum’s car seat great eh. We went inside. I changed Tatum into a clean Diaper and no clothes since all her clothes and extra onesie were wet and we waited. And waited…I was beginning to wonder how much worse my morning was going to get. Finally after everyone in the waiting (that came in after us) had been called we were alone. I got up and asked the nurse how much longer… Finally she brought us to the exam rooms… all that was going through my mind was something bad was going to happen just to cap off the morning…

I was pleasantly surprised…. Tatum weighs 13.6 that’s over an lb of weight gain in a little less then a month. She grew 2in in height and her head circumference grew too. The Doctor was so happy with how she was doing. Chris and I are too she looks terrific and she is eating two meals a day. The Doctor said we could start three whenever she is ready. Maybe while we are on vacation I can get her on a three meal a day schedule.

Hopefully I can make I through the rest of my day drama free, although I am in a foul mood. This was the seen on the way home from work yesterday… Although proud she did not pee in her car seat I could stand to make it home with out stopping.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Fall is in the air

Yesterday I was super late to work and traffic was a total mess. I think rain around here is worse then snow, one drop and it is a parking lot so imagine a full on storm...I got to work at 11. I did not leave until 10, Tatum had PT and Susan was running late because of traffic...Anyway through all that rain and gloom came good news, PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE'S are out in your area Starbucks.... I LOVE FALL!!! I was certainly pleasantly surprised, and enjoyed every drop of my coffee.

Chris did his first OT today that was so helpful for me sinceTate had PT yesterday and a Dr. appt tomorrow for a weight check. Trying to put everything in the week before vacation is no fun. Once we return we hit the ground running with more Dr. appointments for her so we really do need the break.

Our vacation is officially in 4 days and counting. The weather is supposed to be nice so I think everyone should have a good time. I am mainly worried about Tatum in the heat so 80 -degree days at the beach sound perfect to me. Oh, I cannot wait, I love the beach in early fall and spending time with my family and no work…what fun. I think this is the most needed vacation for us yet. It looks so inviting, I think I can smell the ocean air just from the picture. Ok now I have lost it...LOL

New Experiences

Saturday was our area's WS picnic, although Chris was unable to attend I decided to go. No worries I did not try this alone I recruited Julie, and she was more then happy to attend. We piled all the girls in my car and were off.

We pulled up to the farm outside of Baltimore where the party was located , Julie looked at me and said "I have a pit in my stomach" is she a mind reader, I said, "you have a pit..." Anyway we unloaded the car and headed for the house. I really did not know what to expect. Funny enough it was a picnic...a regular old picnic. Kids running around everywhere and people eating, drinking, and socializing. We were greeted by the host, a super cool lady. Her son Justin? I think( I am so awful with names) is a teenager with WS, maybe 14 . . . We were there all of 5 min before he looked at us and said "Ok so who has WS? I nearly choked on my gum . . . I told him that Tatum did. Then he looked at my sister and said, “does your baby have it too?" This I think caught her a little off guard but she simple replied, “No, I'm with Tatum, LOL.” We decided yesterday Tatum was totally our meal ticket:)

I meet about 10 different people with WS, three were older adults and the rest were kids. The Adults should go to Vegas with the fool the guesser game because they appeared much older then they were but super friendly. The man that I spoke to holds down a job and lives alone in an apt close to his Mom's house and the older woman I did not really get a chance to speak too but she seemed to be doing just fine. Oh yeah then there was Javier, a 24-year-old UMD student. Julie and I decided he has an innocent crush on me, he was my shadow for the afternoon, but not at all annoying me I was so flattered. He made me promise to bring Chris and his race car to the next outing.

I think I was much more observant with the younger kids there due to the stage in life that I am in. There were two little girls in particular that I just could not get enough of Nichol, 12 and Reinea, three. I think that Reinea just touched me because she was Emma's age. She was not as mature as Emma but then again Em is a very mature 3-year-old. I can't get Emma to smile like that for a camara on commandlan, how cute. This little princess was also walking and talking, I bet she has to in order to keep up with her 4 brothers. Nicole was Miss Personality, she gave me so much hope and her parents were AWESOME!!!

When I first meet Nicole, she mush have asked me 100 questions, right down to my favorite Mary Kay lipstick. She was so cute just doing what 12 year-old girls do, she even put on her lip gloss before running off to play with the boys her age, it was great. I do not necessary want my daughter to have any problems but that was not the hand I was given. I got such hope from Nicole and Justin. The little boys there were really cute too but I did not spend much time with them. They were off doing little boy things.

It was so nice to be in a group where everyone knew what you were talking about and no child was left out. Emma played with younger and older kids and it was no big deal. This was I bet one of the best things I could have done for our situation, I am much more at ease about the whole WS thing now. I was the one there with the youngest kid but I bet it is not going to be like this forever and I actually found two little girls Emma's age with WS siblings. I guess Emma is always going to have girls to play with at these functions too.

My lesson learned is everyone is different and we have to accept it. The sooner I accept it the better everyone’s life is going to be. I guess right now "I am in the happiness business.” That is all I want for my family, happiness. If acceptance brings that then right on I'm ok with it. Tatum has WS and its cool. She is my baby and I’m going to be here with Chris and Emma for the long haul. I believe we all have a wonderful life ahead of us WS or not and this is something that I am in no way going ot compromise.

Tot's and Tonic

Last night was the first of many Tots and Tonic happy hours. Yvonne hosted a happy hour for some of the daycare Mommies and a few other friends with kids. This was a ton of fun not only for the grown ups but the kids as well. This is a picture of the late owles we closed the house down after 11...

We all know that Yvonne never does anything half assed so we had dinner drinks and even a cake. It was so nice to visit with friends while the kids ran around. Chris even came by on his way home from work and picked up Tatum. This made it a lot easier for me, and one is so much more manageable then two especially if your out sort of late.

This is not just Mommy exclusive anyone can come as long as you are going to have fun. Don't worry if you do not have a kid of your own to bring we can lend you one. HEHEHE. . . So I think this should be a new once a month tradition. I am giving it four stars!!!

BTW I think I need a new camera :(