UGH!

Yesterday was the big appointments day. I ended up not taking all the kids to the first appointment at 8am so Gracie and I got up, and out the door at 6:50. Once we got there, the doctor had ordered xrays. When the tech gave her a gown to change into, I asked why since we were checking on her leg and she was wearing a little cotton dress. He said the doctor ordered xrays of her spine. I totally forgot about us talking about doing some spine xrays the last time we met with him. She did fine with the xrays but her being a worrier, you could tell she was a little scared. We had about a 45 minute wait before we could see the doctor but it was fine since we never get to be alone much and she is so well behaved. When he pulled up the xrays without him saying anything, I knew there was a big problem. He officially diagnosed Gracie with scoliosis. She will have a MRI on the 13th which she has to be put to sleep for. They will check to make sure the spinal cord isn't tethered. If it is he will call me right away but if it's not, we will be back in December to see if she has to go in a brace. Her leg that had the 6 hour surgery also has to have surgery again but he has referred us to a colleague he does surgeries with a lot in plastic surgery because she will need a skin graft on the back of her knee.
I have said it since she was a itty bitty baby and I still feel this way, if nothing else, I hope she never loses that God given smile. I hope this cruel world doesn't take that from her and I hope the diagnosis don't as well.
The worse part right now that affects her is her not being able to participate in activities such as gymnastics, dance, etc. She wants nothing more than to be right along Madi dancing her little heart out. I was again advised against such activities yesterday.
We headed home to get the rest of the family. We went to lunch and then left Ricky so he could go to work and we could go to the other two appointments. It rained so hard on the way back to the medical center that there were times I couldn't even see to drive but luckily we made it safe and sound.
At the Developmental Pediatrician, I received more bad news but it's really not worth going into. We didn't leave Texas Children's until 5:30pm so we were in rush hour traffic on the way home. We met Ricky for dinner and got home at 8pm.

No matter what diagnosis shatters our picture of what we want for the future, HOPE picks up those pieces and FAITH gives us the strength to adapt. I am thankful because I know how lucky we are even if the mountain we climb is more challenging. We are BL3SS3ED beyond measure!

Of course being human, I want to kick and scream and ask why us. We have been through so much it's exhausting. What has kept me going was foolishly thinking once we get to this age or that then we would be "normal" and one day forget what the inside of Texas Children's looks like. But facts are facts and I have a son who is legally blind with major brain issues and I have a daughter with major skeletal issues not to mention all the other things they both face. It's all something I take complete responsibility for, I feel like it's a personal attack. It's a huge weight I carry every single day of my life for the past 4 years.
Anyway, Gracie could use some prayers. I'll update soon.

Krista

Our week in pictures

Madi has talked about getting married nonstop for a couple weeks now. At first she said she was going to marry a prince and dance on the stage like mommy and daddy but now she is going to marry daddy. She will get married first, Gracie will follow, and Brody will get married last. Luckily, she hasn't tried to marry Truette off. Anyway, I decided I'd let her try on my wedding dress. She was in heaven! Isn't she beautiful!?!! Gracie wants no part of this business, thank goodness! 

Sound asleep 

Madi went behind the counter at Chic Fil A and made ice cream for her, Brody & Gracie

Madi and I taking a #selfie 

I tried to take one with Truette but she wouldn't look

And then I got this gem and CANNOT stop laughing at her expression 

Late night bubbles in the driveway 

Salena came to cut our hair and Brody loved it

The kids got new car seats and LOVE them

Love watching my little TuTu sleep

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." -Lena Horne

Brody had his eye appointment with the retina specialist on Thursday. They were very impressed with the changes in his right eye do to the consistent patching of his left eye. Since there was so much improvement, unfortunately, we have to continue the eye patching which will stay the same, 4 hours per day every single day.
The big news is Brody will be having surgery on his eye very soon. The reason he is tilting his head is because the left eye- the actual eye is not straight. He leans his head to the side so it straightens out and he can see. This isn't a must have surgery but it also isn't a petty surgery either. Him having this surgery gives him a more "normal" life with his vision. Would you like to tilt your head way to the side to see? I wouldn't. It was tentatively set for August 8th but they are confirming that with the hospital. We are kind of rushing this surgery so his eye is healed before he starts school.

Gracie's appointment with the Orthopedic is on Tuesday morning to find out when we can have surgery on her leg. It would be really good to do it as soon as possible like the following week, so she can be at least somewhat healed before school starts as well.

Her and Brody also have their annually appointments with the Developmental Pediatrician on Tuesday afternoon so it will be an extremely long day.

The last few weeks of summer are going by quickly. We've got a couple more major appointments before school starts.

Truette is doing great. This little girl eats so much! 8 ounces with around 4-6 tbsp of cereal every 2.5-4 hours. I let her sleep through the night now for the past couple weeks and she does really well. Depending on if she is just starving to death or not, she will either go to sleep at 9pm- 11pm and sleep until 9am-9:30am the next day without waking up. The triplets slept like this too and I am so thankful for good babies that sleep well! She smiles, laughs, and coos ALL the time and it's the most precious thing EVER! I cannot believe she is 12 weeks this Thursday. The time is going by so fast!

Madi is doing good and still bossy as ever!

KP

forgot to post our update!

We've had one very great but very busy summer! I can't believe we are in the final weeks of it. I am eagerly looking forward to school starting for everyone. It will be a new season in our lives. I went to my school today but forgot something so I have to go back tomorrow to get everything done and register. It's so nice to have the hour ride each way. There aren't a million questions coming from the backseat and I can listen to whatever I want at whatever volume I want!
We took the kids school clothes shopping this past weekend. We've not really bought the kids clothes because we've had hand me downs from friends of mine and also the kids have stayed in the same size for extended times in each size. Anyway, their clothes started to look worn so we decided to update their wardrobe. They are so excited about their new "special" school clothes. I'm also super excited because they've grown a size! Maid is now in 3t in pants and shirts, Gracie is 2t in pants and 3t in shirts, and poor Brody is still 18 months in pants but 3t in shirts. We got everything at Carter's which they were having a awesome sale with the entire store being 40% off and an extra 30% on clearance plus cash back on a certain amount. We also got Truette's Halloween outfit!
Speaking of Truette, I call her TuTu and Ricky calls her TrueTrue, the kids call her Choo Choo. Anyway, she is the sweetest little thing EVER! She smiles all the time, coos, and laughs. I could eat her up! And all those little rolls, I LOVE that she is a butterball! Her eyes are GORGEOUS!
Brody has his follow up eye appointment on Thursday to see how the patching has worked.

When we sold our house in Kingwood, it was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath and a little under 1600 square feet. We are now in a 4 bedroom, 2 bath that is 2,000 square feet. Guess what, we don't even use the 4th bedroom. it's full of junk. It was initially going to be Truette's room but it's at the front of the house and I'm not comfortable with that so she will never be in there. She is still in our room, her crib is next to my bed (the few times she's been in it). Anyway, we have a lot of space here but we are both extremely interested in the tiny house movement. Heard of it? Basically, you get rid of 99% of the junk you have and live in anywhere from 100 square feet to 1,000 square feet.
  <<<< this one is my favorite and is a little over 800 square feet.
They can either be built on a trailer so they can be moved, pier and beam, or even a concrete slab. The beauty of this, they can cost as little as $5,000 to as much as $100,000 to build but the ones we've looked at and like have cost a whopping $30,000! We'd like to purchase a lake lot and build a pier and beam house, live in it for a couple years until we complete school and build our dream home. We'd then have a lake house completely paid for. We are strongly leaning towards doing this but building a large deck on the back so we could have an outdoor kitchen and to have some extra space.
Think we're crazy? Well most people do but we do not like debt and do our best to have as little as possible. We don't believe in living on credit cards and my Tahoe has an interest rate of 1.99% so anything that is financed is at a low rate. We could go out and buy a mini mansion tomorrow if we wanted to, Ricky could be in a brand new truck that he wants, etc but we are making temporary sacrifices now to live the way we want before we know it. We want to be able to provide for our kids without any worry and go and do what we want. The only hesitation I have is we live so close to Ricky's job now so it's really great and I'm scared to live in the country! But with our house being a chaotic mess with clothes and kids toys everywhere, getting rid of it all and living tiny sounds so appealing! I guess we'll see how it plays out. The goal is for us to both graduate without any college debt!

Update soon!

KP

Pensacola, Florida

Saturday night at 9:30 we decided to go to Florida. We booked the hotel, packed, loaded the car, and was on the road by 10 pm. We were only able to stay a little under 24 hours because Ricky had to be to work tonight. We had the BEST time. The kids did really great in the car. It took 9 hours to get there and 8 hours to get back. This was the first time the kids have been out of state. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort which was amazing! They had a huge pool area that was extremely kid friendly and even a lazy river. I took a short nap in a hammock, my goodness that is the life I really want to live! The water was beautiful as was the weather. We hung out on the beach a little Sunday morning then went to the pool. Later that evening we went back out to the beach and really enjoyed every second of our time there. We had dinner at a place called Red Fish Blue Fish that is literally right on the bay area. The scenery was amazing and the food was great too.

There is something about beaches in Florida and now having been to Destin, Miami, Key West, and Pensacola, (as an adult) it doesn't matter where. They have all been fantastically maintained, the water is beautiful, and there is something about that sand! I know that we will one day call Florida home. We just love it that much. 

It was so nice to just go and not worry about the details. 

KP

Kids' doctor visit update

The kids had their appointments today. We set a new family record, we were up, dressed, and out the door in 25 minutes! We arrived right on time for the appointment too so we're pretty much rock star status now. Trust me, it's no easy task getting 6 people ready. Especially when you have some fashionistas on your hands!
Anyway, the kids are all about going to visit Dr. Leach. They really like him- a lot! While Ricky was with the trips and nurse getting weights, I got Truette ready for her weigh in. I'm not sure how in the world I use to do those appointments by myself because when they are younger than a year, they have to be weighed in nothing but a dry diaper. I realize it's a piece of cake with only one baby. Drum roll for Truette's weight..... 10 pounds 12 ounces and she is 20.5 inches long. She is actually in the 50th% for her height and weight. This is a first because as of today the triplets are still not on that damn growth chart!
Brody was 25 pounds and the girls were 26 pounds.
Everyone had to have their shots and Truette went first. Of course Madi and Gracie were standing on the step of the bed to watch. Madi's reaction was priceless! She had the worse look on her face like she was sad, why are they doing that to her sister, and what can she do to help. She said something along the lines of "oh no mommy". After Truette I asked who wanted to go first. What do you know Madi yelled out it was Gracie's turn. Seriously hilarious! Gracie started crying immediately and I put her up there anyway. After she was done I asked again who was next and Madi screamed out it was Brody's turn so up he went. He wanted to cry but he also wanted to be the big man so he decided against the crying. Then it was Madi's turn and she initially said no she didn't want to because it was going to hurt but of course I put her up there. And she said, "ouch, it hurts it hurts" in the most pathetic voice so I fell for that but she didn't cry. When it was all said and done, our favorite nurse asked to get a picture with all the kids and said over and over how good they did.
Dr. Leach did tell me that when Brody's stomach is blown up and he is out of it neurologically, it's equivalent to when we would feel sick like needing to throw up and being out of it. It's the same effect. After 3 very difficult pregnancy with a LOT of morning (all day) sickness, I totally know the feeling. I'm happy to have this information now.
Also, we are waiting to find out all the details but it looks like Gracie will need surgery on her bad leg again. She has scar tissue that is so tight from where the infection was after surgery that it's causing her to be contracted at 15 degrees. This means she is unable to straighten her leg all the way again and this is causing problems in her foot, hips, and can eventually cause issues with her back because the way she walks. She also has a LOT of muscle loss in her leg but she never really had it to begin with so she didn't really "lose" it. The other thing we were told was she is extremely vulnerable for fractures because the way she's messed up her leg and everything else that is a result of that. This means she cannot do anything like dance, gymnastics, tball, etc. which we were going to put her in because she is finally potty trained and that was the deal but we were told no way at this point. She will also have to have therapy at the minimum 2 times per week. So now I'm trying to get hold of her Orthopedic to schedule an appointment and get a plan together. And I really need to get this done before school starts so she isn't missing school but also so she isn't trying to heal from surgery with all the school germs she'll be exposed to.
Speaking of school, the kids are beyond excited to start school. We really hope we can get Madi into preschool and will know August 7th!
Ricky is very busy at work right now so it looks like he will be working every weekend for a while. We are thankful for the stability of course but it would be nice for him to be able to have a 40 hour work week sometimes. Then again, he hasn't had that in a very long time so I guess we just keep the crazy schedule going.
Update soon.

KP

Truette is 2 months!

Truette turned 2 months today. Simply put, she is AWESOME!

In her short 2 months, she's been on 2 vacations. She did so well this past weekend at the resort. She basically napped pool side the entire day. Brother and sisters still adore her and now quickly get her pacifier if she is fussing. They also keep an eye on her while we are traveling and let us know what she needs. She is eating 7.5-8 oz every 2.5-4 hours. Just depends on if she is sleeping on the feeding times. She is lifting her head a lot now and for a longer time each time. Her little personality is really shinning through more every day. She laughs, coos, talks, and smiles a lot. It's the sweetest ever! We all love her so much!

She will go for her two month shots and check up on Thursday. I'm excited to see how much she has grown. 

KP 

"The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance." -Benjamin Franklin

We had the best week celebrating the kids' 4th birthday. We took them to an indoor bounce house place on their actual birthday, lunch, and had a small party for them before Ricky had to go to work. Thursday I sat up a tent in the living room so they could camp using their new lanterns they got as one of their gifts. I also found some glow bracelets we had so they thought it was really cool to camp. Friday Ricky bought fireworks so we grilled and popped them. We didn't know but a lot of people do fireworks in this neighborhood so we watched thousands of dollars in fireworks being popped for hours. Saturday Ricky and I cleaned and sorted every single thing in the kids' rooms. We also realized they have way too much stuff. Sunday we headed to Grapevine, Texas to stay at Great Wolf Lodge. We came back today and we will be back to the resort and to do other things in the Grapevine area. Ricky and I had never been to this part of Dallas and we had no idea how pretty it is up there. There is still land everywhere that hasn't been over developed. The kids LOVED the resort. It's so neat the entire park looks like a huge lodge. It's very well kept and very clean. It's a 4 hour trip one way so next time we will stay much longer than one night. On the way we talked about what each of their full names are, how old they are, where they live, etc. I'm excited to say they have this information down now. It's so adorable to hear them say Spring, Texas and their full names.
This week the triplets will go for their four year shots and Truette will go for her 2 month shots. I cannot believe she will be 2 months tomorrow!
Ricky's school starts this week and I have a test to take at my school.

Update soon.

KP