Neurology Appointment

Hello All,  I deleted my last blog post about having Arnold Chiari Type 1 Malformation because my wonderful husband said he would prefer having all the facts before sharing it with everyone on the internet.

I had my Neurology appointment today.  I was slightly optimistic when he first read my file because he said Chiari Malformations are over diagnosed these days.  After looking at the MRI results, he did confirm I have it.  It is a condition, where part of the cerebellum (the tonsils) hang farther down than normal, going through the base of the skull.  The further down the hang, the increased chance of it restricting the flow of the cerebral spinal fluid.  He says that mine appears to be a mild case, and that the MRI shows that the cerebral spinal fluid is flowing freely everywhere it needs to be so it's not at all obstructed at this point.  I asked why this didn't show up years ago when I got an MRI.  In most cases of Chiari, you are born with it, but it doesn't manifest itself until later in life.  He says most likely it was just because MRI's have obviously gotten more advanced over the years and pick up more now.

He also said, it may never progress any further, or it might.  We just need to monitor it yearly, or sooner if I notice a worsening of symptoms.  In the mean time I just need to restrict high impact sports (not a problem), running (rarely a problem- unless I'm being chased), roller coasters (bummer), and heavy lifting.  All of those things can potentially cause symptoms to worsen.  The symptoms that I do have are fairly minor other than the ringing in the ears, which I will just need to learn to live with.  And since I've been dealing with migraines for the last 20 years,  we've got a pretty good plan in place for that. Most of my migraines, by the way, are not related to this, as they usually are in the front of my head and Chiari headaches are usually in the back.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them!  Thanks for the support!

"Baby" Ben

The other way on the way home from swim lessons, we were discussing the fact that Ben is becoming such a big boy.   Chris said, "Ben, are you a big boy?"  His response was "NO, I a Baby!"  Chris insisted again and said "No, you are a big boy!" and he said, "No, I'm Baby Ben!"

So fast forward a few days, and I am reading him his stories before bed.  I said "I love you Ben!  Do you love mommy?"  He laid his head down on my  lap and said, I still baby Ben."  "Baby loves you."

And then I dissolved into a puddle of goo and read him like 5 extra books.

Hi, I'm Mommy and I'll be your cruise director...

I don't really feel like we put our children into too many activities.  The ones that they participate in are all areas where their interests lie, and/or it's good for them.  It's just the fact that we have four children participating in different activities, that kind of bogs us down.  It's funny, now that all four kids are in school during the week, Chris was wondering what I will do with all of my free time.  It is nice, i have to admit.  I have 4 hours, three days a week to myself!  My big plans are exercise, cleaning the house and going grocery shopping.  By myself!  But other than that, here's our schedule.

Monday:  School, Michael-OT, Sam- Tae Kwon Do
Tuesday: School/Preschool, Molly- Ballet/Tap
Wednesday: School/Preschool, Molly-Soccer Practice, Sam- Tae Kwon Do
Thursday: School/Preschool, Michael- Gymnastics, Sam, Cub Scouts 2x per month
Friday:  School for the big kids,  but other than that, NOTHING.  Thank goodness!
Saturday:  Sam Tae Kwon Do, Molly Soccer

You may notice that Ben has no extracurriculars.  That's because he's the fourth born, and his extracurricular activity is watching his siblings participate in extracurricular activities.  And he is becoming quite the little tap dancing ninja who likes to kick balls!

Back to school

Well, it's official!  All four kids are in school!  First we have the big second grader who is really enjoying this year so far.  Unfortunately, he's enjoying bossing M&M around on the bus a little too much-  he says he just wants to be sure that they follow the rules.  Most likely a future safety patrol in training!

Next we have Michael-  very eager to start Kindergarten, mostly because he gets to ride the bus.  He likes his teacher and has no complaints so far.  He's definitely tired by the end of the day.  Too much structured activity most likely!

Next, Molly!  She was also super exited to start Kindergarten but a little nervous about being in a different classroom from Michael.  She's loved it so far though, and is very excited that there are a lot of girls in her class this year!  

Here is a photo of all three-  before the bus time battles ensued.  I told them that they all didn't have to sit together,  but they always do,  every time.  

And last, but certainly not least is Ben!  He is going to preschool for three days a week.  He is a little hesitant to go in, but never hesitant to go, so he must like it.  Ironically he isn't talking much in school,  which is interesting because he won't stop talking at home!  He tells me all about his day the whole ride home,  though I only understand about 25% of it.

So far so good!  Though homework hasn't started yet.  Talk to me in a few weeks!

Knee Deep In the Water Somewhere...

So-  another big thing happened this summer!  Thanks to Chris's parents, with help from his sister Stephanie, we were able to leave the kids for a few days to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary! 

This was the first time we were away from our kids (for more than an overnight), in four years!  It was much needed. We went to Secrets Silversands Resort, in Puerta Morelos, Mexico.  Since all we really wanted to do was relax and enjoy each others company, we thought this would be a great choice since it was all inclusive, and we didn't have to worry about anything.  We truly just slept in, relaxed by the pool, ate good food, drank lots of foof drinks, and decompressed.  And it was AWESOME.  Though both of us admit, that after  5 days of doing nothing, we had reached our limit of laziness. And Margaritas.

Here are a few pictures of the trip!

Radio Silence: Summer Camp Edition

Uh, so, I guess you can say that the kids have been keeping me busy?  Wow.  What a summer.  Michael and Molly have been out of preschool since the Friday before Memorial day, and Sam has been out since June 19th. 

We decided for my sanity and theirs, they could each do one camp per month (big kids), and then Ben would also do a camp at his preschool in August- kind of like a prep class.  Actually, by default, Michael and Molly got two camps in June, one before Sam got out, and one after (because they really wanted to do the one Sam was doing, but it wasn't offered earlier in the month).   So-  Gymnastics Camp!  They were a little uncertain starting it, because it wasn't terribly structured, but they really enjoyed it.  So much so- that Michael states he'd like to take classes.  Yay! We really want Michael to find something that he enjoys.  He did Tae Kwon Do for a while because Sam did it.  But he didn't really enjoy it...  He just wanted to do what big brother did.  And be a Ninja.  And then he really wanted to do Ice Skating lessons, but once he actually started, he decided that it really hurts when you fall.  And although he was super proud of the ribbon that he got for completing the classes, he said "he never wanted to skate again."  Since then, he's expressed interest in Gymnastics and we figured camp would be a good way to figure out if he'd actually like it or not.  Hopefully it will be something that he enjoys, and either way it will definitely be good for his strength and coordination.

The second camp that Sam, Michael, and Molly did was a farm camp at Frying Pan Park.  Michael and Molly really wanted to do it because Sam had so much fun last year.  Sam wanted to do it again, and as a special bonus, cousins' Will and Jack were going to participate too!  The problem was, Michael and Molly are in a younger age group- so their camp session was 9-1, whereas Sam's was 9-4.  Wow.  I severely underestimated how painful it would be making trips to the farm three times a day.  But they all had a fun time.  They got to milk the cow a couple times, ride on the carousel, and each day, the older group gets to cook a snack using ingredients from the farm.  Sam, the picky eater, really enjoyed the food they made-  cheese straws, pumpkin cookies (or muffins-  I forget), shortbread cookies, and oatmeal cookies.  The only thing he didn't like, ironically, was the ice cream.  The whole tonsillectomy has really turned him off from ice cream in any way, shape or form.

The month of July brought Lego Camp and Vacation Bible School for Molly.  Again, good in theory, but rough in execution.  Because Michael and Sam were in different age groups, Michael's camp was 9-12, and Sam's was 1-4.  Oh, and Molly's VBS was from 9-12:15, in a close, but different location.  So it was a tad hectic running between locations and getting everyone where they needed to be.  But they all seemed to really like it, and we only had one near miss on the W& OD trail where Michael almost got run over by a mean spirited biker, that proceeded to yell at him and tell him to "pay attention to the stop sign before someone gets hurt!"  He was too busy telling his siblings about what he had built that day to pay attention  to the stop sign.  That and the fact that he's five and can't read.  I was about to return fire, when another parent, a man, who was picking up his son said "What a Dick!" loud enough for him to hear.  He then tried to back peddle and make excuses for his behavior.

The month of August brought different camps... Sam was very excited to do his Catch Some Fun and Sun Camp at Lake Fairfax.  They did nature hikes, boat rides, and other activities in the morning but the draw is that they get to go to the Watermine water park in the afternoon.  He really enjoyed it again this year, but I think he'll like it even more next year, when his siblings are old enough to participate.  Molly, Michael, and Ben are in camp this week at M&M's old, and Ben's new Preschool.  I was very nervous as to how Ben would do, but he has really enjoyed it!  He hasn't cried once.  He marches right in every morning and seems to have fun.  He has cried twice- once because he saw Michael and Molly leaving the playground as he was coming on, and he wanted them to stay, and the other time because he didn't want to go inside when Water Day play outside was over.  All in all, I'd say very successful.  Michael and Molly have also enjoyed seeing some friends from school again!

Oh wait.  I forgot the most well received camp of all.  Sam decided that he was going to have camp for his siblings at home!  We sat down and came up with themes, and with some help from Pinterest, picked a snack and craft activity for each theme.  He also found coloring pages online, a book to read to them each day that went along with the theme, and thought of a game or activity for each as well.  It was quite fun, and they all really had fun with it. Sam really enjoyed being in charge, as any first born does.  As I told a friend, Sam had the vision, mommy did the grunt work.  But it was a success!  Next summer, they each want to host a camp!  I wonder if Molly will have the boys dancing ballet for her week? I'll leave you with some pics from  Sam Camp, since that's obviously the only camp that i attended...

Monday:  Lego Theme

Tuesday:  Dog theme

Wednesday:  Bug Theme

Thursday:  Colors theme

Friday:  Under the Sea Theme-  which included the grand finale of camp-  the water slide!

I think they really enjoyed it!  And I verified that I could never ever have the patience for home schooling.  

The Captain is BUSTED!

So today was a nice lazy Saturday for a change, after running around to Soccer and Tae Kwon Do this morning, we had absolutely nothing planned for the afternoon.  Sam went over to play at a friends house, and Ben was napping, so I decided this would be the perfect time to go to the grocery store.  Chris was playing Lego's with Michael when I left and was going to go play with Molly in her room after Michael had his daddy time.

I come home from the store to find Michael and Molly outside in the garage with the refrigerator and freezer open.  I asked them what they were doing, and Michael said, "Mommy!  You're home!  We had our very worst nightmare come true.  We couldn't find daddy anywhere.  We looked all over, but then we found him in his bed having a rest."  I said, "so what are you guys doing out here?"  They had decided that they needed another snack, and were trying to reach the push up pops in the freezer.  After I assisted them with that, I carried the groceries into the kitchen, where I found an empty yogurt cup in the trash and a spoon on the counter.  I said "who had the yogurt?"  and of course, Michael said "me!"  I said "so what, you can't find daddy, so you just decided to forage for food?"  And Michael said "yes mommy, and if we didn't get our own push up pops, we might die!"  Chris came downstairs a few minutes later when I was getting the rest of the groceries inside and I told him that they had totally squealed on him.

On another note:  A special Congratulations to my hard working husband on screening for Captain!  Molly is excited for the impending pay raise (even though it's at least a year away), because she thinks we can use the extra money to go back  to Disney World.  I am excited because I can teach the kids to call Chris "The Captain."  So when they get upset because daddy won't let them do something, I can just say "The Captain has spoken!"  We love you Chris!

                                        Twin cuteness....  I didn't even notice they were holding
                                         hands until someone pointed out!