June Update

I believe Jordan's hemangioma has stopped growing.  The redness on her face continues to improve every week.  She saw Dr. Levey (her dermatologist) yesterday, and he was pleased with the report I gave him.  In the office, she brought me a book and told me the names of all the animals on each page.  Dr. Levey said, "There is nothing wrong with that brain."  We are just so lucky the hemangioma was not tied to PHACES syndrome.   Thank you Jesus!  Dr. Levey will talk with Jordan's plastic surgeon this week.

As far as Winston, the little fellow knows his colors.  I was shocked one day when I asked what the color of his plate was, and he was right.  I thought it was by accident.  Nope, he knows them!  I really love the day care they are going to.  He had to have learned them from there.  Jordan thinks everything is pink. 

This is just a brief update. They still have me running all the time.  They do go to day care twice a week.  This gives me a chance to buy groceries, clean the house, wash clothes.  All the fun stuf!  

22 Months

This is the third week of summer and these two monkeys are driving me crazy!  The picture doesn't show it, but they fight all the time.  Jordan has a knew roll now...boss.  She told on her brother the first time yesterday.  She walks around the house saying, "Bubbie, come here."  Winston climbs on everything.  I can't keep up with him.

Summer is Here!

21 Months

On the farm in Oakland.  

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day last Sunday.  I still look at my babies and can't believe they are mine.  What a blessing they are!  I can't say that motherhood has been easy this past year and a half.  Some days I didn't know how I was going to make it through, but the rewards outweigh the difficulties.

My favorite part of motherhood is when Jordan goes around the house calling my name, "Mommy...Mommy... Mommy."  I have always heard those words out of other children's mouths.  Now I hear it all the time.  It never gets old.  To look into Winston's big brown eyes...what more could I want?  I love my babies.  

Easter 2011

This fawn was in our front yard this week.    

20 Months

My babies are 20 months old this week.  Having two babies the same age is not easy.  We had a very tough time taking these pictures, because they each wanted to do something different.  My dad took these out at my grandpa's farm in Oakland.  I just knew we would not get any good shots, but I was surprised!

April Already

Jordan saw her plastic surgeon yesterday.  Because the hemangioma is still active, he will not do surgery for a good while.  Our next appointment is in October.  Dr. Harshbarger said he will not do her nose until she is four or five.  He wants to make sure the tissue from her forehead is healthy.  He wants both surgeries done before she starts Kindergarten.  I was a little disappointed that we will have to wait so long.  There must be a reason for this though and we have to trust in God's plan.  

Jordan continues to bring smiles to our faces everyday, and she is quite the perfectionist already.   

Winston's picture is blurry because I can't snap it fast enough before he is on to something else.  He always smiles after I take the picture.  

19 Months

We are sure loving these warmer temperatures! Jordan and Winston could live outside. We had a really great spring break. Even though Jordan and Winston still fight a lot with each other, they started playing together just this week. They are not needing my attention as much either, and that has really been nice. Things are getting a little easier.

Here is an update on things. At the end of February Jordan caught Rota-virus. I have never seen such diarrhea. She had it for five days and, of course, Winston got it as she was getting better. He had it from both ends. I had a little touch of it, but my poor dad had it about as long as the kids did. It was a very rough week. We are all better now. This past week I took the kids to get their 18 month check up. She said all looked great. They also saw the ENT this week. Dr. Zapata said their tubes are still in place, and we got the okay to go swimming.

Jordan also saw her dermatologist. She never got the steroid injections for her ulcerations because she was doing alright on the Propranolol. For the past two weeks she hasn't been sleeping again. We are going to try to drop her dosage down and see what the hemangioma does. If she continues to be restless at night and the hemangioma starts ulcerating again, Dr. Levey might laser the areas that are causing the problems. He said that Jordan will let us know what to do. I have a pretty good feeling that she will need to stop the Propranolol. She was up for two hours last night. Jordan will see the plastic surgeon in a couple of weeks.

Here are my two enjoying the outside!

Kids Being Silly

18 Months

Snow

Here are a few pictures of the kids in the little snow we had. Winston did not like walking in the frozen grass.

17 Months

I should have posted these pictures a few weeks ago, but winter has not been easy on us. I thought Winston was getting better last time I posted, but I was wrong. We took him to the doctor last Friday, and he was put on an antibiotic for a sinus infection. He still has a sore nose from wiping it for three weeks. This time, I think he will get better.

As for my sweet little Jordan, her hemangioma started to ulcerate again. Yes, we were told that it should stop growing at a year. It started to ulcerate in her lip last Monday and then moved to the tip of her nose. Her eye is very puffy too. She is now back on her Propranolol. Her dermatologist suggested we do steroid injections around the active areas. They will have to sedate her for this. We agreed that this is best since the Propranolol has caused her to be so restless at nights. Yesterday Jordan started having breathing issues again so the injections will have to wait until she is better. Her dermatologist has placed her on a strong dose of Prednisolone (steroid) to help with the swelling in her throat. If she is better by Monday, we will set up the injections (hopefully next week). Jordan is extremely fussy and is up a lot at night. I haven't spoken to the plastic surgeon yet, but I am sure her surgery will be pushed back. I guess now is just not the right time.

Just last week I heard on the radio to trust God to get you through it. That is what I am trying so hard to do!

January 2011

Christmas was pretty good this year. Jordan and Winston helped decorate the tree and, for the most part, left it alone. They enjoyed opening gifts and played with their toys at least five minutes. Winston started cutting teeth again and that has not been pleasent. Three have popped out in the last two weeks, and I see two more on the way. He has been battling a cold the past week and a half but I think he is on the road to recovery. Jordan loves to help out around the house. If I can't find something, I usually look in the dirty clothes basket. She puts everything in there. She has avoid getting Winston's cold, and I pray that she does not pick one up from daycare. All of the babies are sick. They both continue to increase their vocabulary. The new word today is...wow (whispered)!

Playing outside.

Winston's new fourwheeler.

Jordan started posing for pictures!

Winston loves to help build a fire in the fireplace!

16 Months

Winston and Jordan are at a really fun age. They are taking it all in and learning so much. Winston says more words right now than Jordan. Jordan still grunts a lot to communicate. They both know some sign language, and that is the cutest thing. They both love Christmas music. We have to listen to that everywhere we go. Winston really likes Polka music too.

Yesterday we saw Jordan's dermatologist and plastic surgeon. Her dermatologist is very pleased with her. She is off of all her medication for the hemangioma. He said it should continue to fade each year of her life. His only concern is when she turns 3 or 4 and other children start noticing. He does not want that to interfere with her self esteem, so we talked about doing some laser treatments on her when she has plastic surgery. It is up to us to make that decision.

Her plastic surgeon said we need to wait a few more months before he starts any reconstruction. He will fix her lip first. He said the recovery time for that is pretty quick. He talked to us about repairing her nose. That is going to be a big deal (my words, not his). He is still not sure when he will do this. Most doctors wait until children are between 5 and 8. I don't think he is going to wait that long but does want her to grow some more. He is going to have to take tissue from her forehead to help with the reconstruction. He said that whole process will take 2-3 months. She won't be in the hospital that long. He just has to do it in steps. I don't think I was ready to hear all of that yesterday but I guess I need time to prepare for this procedure. I have to leave it in God's hands and be thankful that her face can be fixed.

We live by faith, and not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

Hospital Visit

Jordan had another case of croup and another trip to the ER. She started having labored breathing this past Friday. Saturday it continued to get worse throughout the day. I thought we could manage this at home, but by 7:00 she was fighting to get air. She was given many breathing treatments at the hospital and was admitted for observations. She was released on Monday. Her breathing was fair. When we got home, she had another episode. We were able to calm her down and get her to sleep. She is a little better today but still breathing heavier than she should.

While we were in the hospital, Jordan could leave

the room as long as she wore a mask.

Winston got to spend quality time with his daddy.