Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Soccer!!!!
Our Saturday mornings have looked like this lately... it's been so much fun. Anna is becoming quite the soccer player and loves everything soccer. Sadly, her team has lost every game and not scored one goal. Our fingers are crossed that her team will score at least one goal before the season is over.
Colorado Cousins!
For the past week and a half we have had a blast with our Colorado family; my sister, brother-in-law and my two nieces. It's been such an amazing time! Here is some of what we did.
There was LOTS of swimming!
Girl cousin bonding time!
We enjoyed several outdoor picnics.
We got a little silly at times.
snack time!
And we even got some school work done.
It was an amazing week! Now the countdown begins for December when we get to do it all over again!
There was LOTS of swimming!
Fort playing time.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Easter & NF update
We had a fabulous Easter around here! It started Easter Eve when we gave our kids their framed words of blessings we had prayed over them for Lent.
The kids loved them and have them proudly displayed in their bedrooms.
The next morning we got ready for church and even had enough time for a quick picture, thanks to the timer on my camera.
After church, my parents joined us for an Easter meal and an Easter egg hunt.
Next time I actually need to get my parents in the picture along with Michael and I. I really only picked my camera up for about 5 minutes since I was busy in the kitchen and then after lunch, we sat outside and relaxed- it was so nice!
We also started our front yard remodel, it will be done in phases but phase 1 is done as we finally got our curbing laid. This will define our grass area and eventually everything on the outside of the curbing will be rocks. Next up is redoing the sprinkler system and bringing our grass back to life.
The next morning we got ready for church and even had enough time for a quick picture, thanks to the timer on my camera.
We also started our front yard remodel, it will be done in phases but phase 1 is done as we finally got our curbing laid. This will define our grass area and eventually everything on the outside of the curbing will be rocks. Next up is redoing the sprinkler system and bringing our grass back to life.
And just a little update on Camden...
We still have yet to schedule his MRI and we won't hear back from our insurance company about his blood work for another couple of weeks to see if they will approve the genetic test. But we do have the results from his skeletal X-ray, but not the full report. I have been playing phone tag with the nurse but from what I can read on the report that I picked up at the clinic; it looks like it is normal however there is one part in regards to his tibia and I'm not sure what it's saying so that is what I'm clarifying with the nurse. They had seen an abnormality on with his tibia on his last skeletal X-ray and this one compared it to that one and I just don't understand the fancy wording. My guess is what it's saying is that what they saw in 2009 is no longer there but I dont' want to get my hopes up if that's not what it's saying. So I remain passively optimistic until I have the final word from the nurse. Hopefully it's nothing and we call it a normal test and move on to the next one. I'll update as I hear more. :)
Thursday, April 5, 2012
NF, here we go again...
For a little history on this subject you can read this blog post from 2009.
For a quick recap: the past 5 years we have been dealing with the possibility of Camden (our 11 year old) having a disorder called neurofibromatosis (NF1). We have an amazing neurologist we see at PCH. Camden's last visit was July 2010 and we were overdue (by about 9 months) to see her for a follow up; so today was Camden's appoitment. We always learn a little more each time we go in.
Back in 2009 Camden had many tests ran, he had a skeletal survey (x-rays from head to toe- about 40 in all), an abdominal ultra sound, MRI of the brain and spinal cord and blood work. All these tests are to act as a baseline for the coming years. We also see an eye specialist to monitor his eyes because they can be affected by NF1 but overall his eyes are great. All the test results came back clear in 2009 (after a few repeats) but overall we got good news at that time.
NF can cause thinning of the bones, scoliosis, and can cause benign growths or lesions to form along the bones or skin. So when he goes in for a check up with the nerologist it's important for her to see what's going on inside and outside of his body. I didn't know what to expect for today's appointment as far as tests but after our visit we are having to repeat some of the tests from 2009 to make sure nothing has changed.
I wasn't aware that when they did his last skeletal survey in 09, they saw something on his tibia that could be indicitive of NF. So todays x-rays will be very telling. Hopefully whatever it was will be gone and all of his bones will look as they are supposed to. We get those results tomorrow. We will also be scheduling another sedated MRI of his brain and spinal cord. And we are hoping our insurance will finally accept the genetic blood test his doctor wants him to have. It's an expensive test and will specifically test the 17th chromosome (I think that's the right number) where this disorder is found. Last time our insurance denied it. So we will know in a few weeks if they will do it this time.
So where do we stand? Overall, Camden is a picture of health. He is a happy, vibrant, hardly ever sick kid and the neurologist said he looks great! As long as all the tests come back normal, he continues to be monitored each year and we hope nothing ever comes of it and no diagnosis is ever made. However we stand at the "probable NF1 diagnosis". It takes two diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis. He has one, with the multiple cafe au lait spots he has on his skin and he also has one supporting criteria (not to be used for a diagnosis) with his learning disabilities. A lot of the symptomology of NF can appear around puberty so the next couple of years will be very telling for us.
We are hopeful that this set of tests will come back clear like last time and we can just monitor him the next couple of years. I'm so thankful for health care, for a great doctor, and for PCH. They are on top of things and I'm so thankful Dr. Alarcio is well versed with NF. She even has patients that are dealing with a possible NF diagnosis just like Camden and they come see her from Flagstaff and Tucson.
I'll update you as we get test results back and get everything scheduled.
For a quick recap: the past 5 years we have been dealing with the possibility of Camden (our 11 year old) having a disorder called neurofibromatosis (NF1). We have an amazing neurologist we see at PCH. Camden's last visit was July 2010 and we were overdue (by about 9 months) to see her for a follow up; so today was Camden's appoitment. We always learn a little more each time we go in.
Back in 2009 Camden had many tests ran, he had a skeletal survey (x-rays from head to toe- about 40 in all), an abdominal ultra sound, MRI of the brain and spinal cord and blood work. All these tests are to act as a baseline for the coming years. We also see an eye specialist to monitor his eyes because they can be affected by NF1 but overall his eyes are great. All the test results came back clear in 2009 (after a few repeats) but overall we got good news at that time.
NF can cause thinning of the bones, scoliosis, and can cause benign growths or lesions to form along the bones or skin. So when he goes in for a check up with the nerologist it's important for her to see what's going on inside and outside of his body. I didn't know what to expect for today's appointment as far as tests but after our visit we are having to repeat some of the tests from 2009 to make sure nothing has changed.
I wasn't aware that when they did his last skeletal survey in 09, they saw something on his tibia that could be indicitive of NF. So todays x-rays will be very telling. Hopefully whatever it was will be gone and all of his bones will look as they are supposed to. We get those results tomorrow. We will also be scheduling another sedated MRI of his brain and spinal cord. And we are hoping our insurance will finally accept the genetic blood test his doctor wants him to have. It's an expensive test and will specifically test the 17th chromosome (I think that's the right number) where this disorder is found. Last time our insurance denied it. So we will know in a few weeks if they will do it this time.
So where do we stand? Overall, Camden is a picture of health. He is a happy, vibrant, hardly ever sick kid and the neurologist said he looks great! As long as all the tests come back normal, he continues to be monitored each year and we hope nothing ever comes of it and no diagnosis is ever made. However we stand at the "probable NF1 diagnosis". It takes two diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis. He has one, with the multiple cafe au lait spots he has on his skin and he also has one supporting criteria (not to be used for a diagnosis) with his learning disabilities. A lot of the symptomology of NF can appear around puberty so the next couple of years will be very telling for us.
We are hopeful that this set of tests will come back clear like last time and we can just monitor him the next couple of years. I'm so thankful for health care, for a great doctor, and for PCH. They are on top of things and I'm so thankful Dr. Alarcio is well versed with NF. She even has patients that are dealing with a possible NF diagnosis just like Camden and they come see her from Flagstaff and Tucson.
I'll update you as we get test results back and get everything scheduled.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
It's a tradition!
We started a tradition when Anna was just 14 months old and haven't stopped since. On Good Friday (or thereabouts depending on Michael's work schedule) we hike ASU mountain in honor of Good Friday. It's a great way to have discussions about the walk Jesus made to Golgotha where he was crucified. They always have a cross at the top of ASU mountain in honor of Easter, which makes it even more special. It's a tradition we look forward to every year. I started blogging in 2008 so I thought it would be fun to link my previous blog posts about our Good Friday hikes.
So here is our hike from 2008, just click here.
In 2009 Michael and I were living it up in Cozumel and were not in town for Good Friday. We were doing a little of this. But our kids didn't miss out on the hike because the kids' babysitter was kind enough to keep the tradition going and she took our kids on the hike at ASU mountain, I just don't have any pictures of that hike.
In 2010, we hiked a different location for Good Friday, the pics are here. But we decided after that hike, that is just wasn't the same so we will remain faithful to ASU mountain.
Look here for our 2011 Good Friday hike.
And that brings us to today. Here are some pics from our 2012 Good Friday hike.
So here is our hike from 2008, just click here.
In 2009 Michael and I were living it up in Cozumel and were not in town for Good Friday. We were doing a little of this. But our kids didn't miss out on the hike because the kids' babysitter was kind enough to keep the tradition going and she took our kids on the hike at ASU mountain, I just don't have any pictures of that hike.
In 2010, we hiked a different location for Good Friday, the pics are here. But we decided after that hike, that is just wasn't the same so we will remain faithful to ASU mountain.
Look here for our 2011 Good Friday hike.
And that brings us to today. Here are some pics from our 2012 Good Friday hike.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Reverse Lent: Project complete
Remember my post on reverse Lent? Well, we completed our 40 day challenge of praying a blessing a day over each of our children. We recorded these blessings on a piece of paper and then framed them in these cute little frames. I added some ribbon to the outside of a plain white frame. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. We will give these to our kids on Easter and then hang them in their bedrooms. It was such a great experience for Michael and I, something we will certainly do again.
I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just my handwriting our kids saw, but their daddy's too. Some nights we wrote the blessing late and night so we got a good laugh at some of the mistakes we made. We noticed Michael's "selfless" blessing ended up being written and "shelfless" on each one. Neither of us noticed it until today.
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