We're Having Twins!

Most of you probably already know, but for those who don't - sorry I didn't post sooner. I'm 19 weeks along now and had meant to announce sooner, but then I got put on bed-rest and I don't have computer access much. We are super excited, especially because we're having boys! Of course, since twins are high risk already, and with my pregnancy issues, my problems started even earlier then usual. I started having contractions about a month ago and have been on bed-rest since then. We feel so incredibly blessed by amazing friends and family who have stepped in to help take care of our family. Brent is feeling the burden of being a single dad in many ways but we know that all these sacrifices will be worth the reward of bringing two sweet babies into our family. We have already had many miracles in this pregnancy. I feel so blessed that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows our needs and is watching over us. I am grateful I can trust in Him and lay aside all the fears I have.

I will try to post pictures sometime - I am already huge! No promises about how soon though ...

5 Days Since Our Last Accident

Ever see those signs in the movies, like in a factory or warehouse, that say "100 days since our last accident" and then someone gets hurt and they change the number to zero and start counting again? Well, Brent and I think that we need one for Sadie. For a while, we had a good streak. Maybe our sign would have said "50 days". But this last month we would have been resetting it to zero quite often. Luckily Sadie is a total trooper and seems to have a high tolerance for pain. When we tell her we need the doctor to fix "____" (chin, knee, etc.) she says "Ok, I go doctor, get better, get sucker and sticker." She knows the drill. I could do with a little less drama in our lives. Who knows, maybe our next accident-free streak will be a long one. We'll keep praying for that.

Chi-ca-go

We have been wanting to go visit Brent's parents in Chicago (seeing as it's been two years since we were last at their house) but airfare was outrageous (usually there are cheap fares but not so this year). Anyway, we discovered it only takes 14.5 hours to drive there - much better then we thought. However, our plans to go to Chicago kept getting thwarted by work. We had hoped to go on the 4th of July or even better when Brent's sister Becky and her family were there. We missed them by a few days. Evil work - why are we a slave to your beck and call? I mean, we adore you work, and are grateful we have a job. Anyway ... the weather in Chicago was slightly shocking at times to us Texans (brrrrrr 60s) but we had several pleasant days. We spent lots of time playing in the yard.

If this isn't the essence of a childhood summer, I don't know what is.

Of course Sadie stayed far far away from the slip in slide (although she adores the pool).


We were lucky to see Brent's sister Mindy and her husband Chris for a few days.

Love the petting zoo!

The girls loved driving the riding lawn-mower with Grandpa. Every time we went out in the garage they begged to ride "the tractor".

Brent's parents are always saying - go out we'll watch the girls. Well you don't have to ask us twice. We saw several movies and even snuck away to the city. Would you believe that in all the times we've gone to Chicago we've never gone into the city? It's a crime I tell you. Actually that's not totally true. A few years ago I dragged the whole family into some warehouse district, scary area to go to an amazing scrapbook store. No one complained - at least not to my face - about what a scrapbooking freak I am. Are you still reading - I'll try and cut the tangents.

Well I was thinking it'd be fun to go the the Art Institute of Chicago - it's an amazingly huge art museum. Oh come on, you know, the one in ferris bueller. So the fact that you can get in free in Thursday and Friday nights sealed the deal - we were going to the city. We decided to take the train in - and we almost missed the train thanks to my navigation skills, plus it was actually pretty expensive! But it's part of the experience. We walked around downtown, ate at an Italian restaurant that was not a chain, enjoyed the museum with about 10,000 other people who like to see free art (the Monet collection was worth it) and felt romantic because we were in a big city (kinda like the movies, right?) It was like a vacation within a vacation. Thank you thank you fabulous husband for letting me drag you to the art museum. Thank you thank you Brian and Sandy for watching the girls that afternoon/evening.

Our last day there was a city festival just down the street with bounce houses and fair food. Yummy yummy snowcones and funnel cake.

And what did we do with the rest of our time? Puzzles. 5 puzzles total. Fun fun times.

Vacations are so fun - I love not having a schedule. I love that the girls have grandparents who love kids. We are spoiled. And now we are home. The long hours in the car were worth it (although there were moments we thought we might pull our hair out). Luckily we all survived the ride to tell the tale and now I have written way way way too much.

But no, I'm not done yet! Wondering why Kate has an eye patch on? Well, I'm too tired to explain it all. But our standard answer is, her left eye is much more far-sighted then her right eye. So she wears a patch on her right eye to force her to use her left eye. If she can't retrain her brain to use that eye, it could eventually go blind. We've been doing this for months - it's been tough. It's been getting better but it's still a long road ahead. Please pray for our little girls eye - we would be so grateful.

And we're off ....

Been in Chicago visiting Brent's parents this last week ... it's been fabulous .... will post pictures when we get back

Finally, A Diagnosis

This little girl has had a rough last year - she seems to get hurt all the time. Little bumps and falls turn into big bruises (with goose-eggs) and big cuts needing stitches. She's had stitches (or dermabond glue) 6 times in the last year. Her legs are always black and blue and covered with goose-eggs. She seems to get hurt by things that wouldn't hurt your average kid, like falling and cutting her knee on a hard plastic toy. Every time she gets hurt we just wonder what is wrong with our little girl?? Of course every time I asked my doctor he would just say that she's a little kid, she's going to get bumps and bruises.

Well Brent and I couldn't shake the feeling that something is not normal with her skin. I started researching online (somewhat dangerous in my opinion, since that can just scare you). I found out about a skin disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that had symptoms very similar to those we had already noticed in Sadie: fragile skin, bruises and cuts easily, low muscle tone, even having a collapsed lung (which she had at birth). There were other symptoms listed that I checked to see if she had - velvety textured skin, hyper-elastic skin (stretches far when you pull on it) and she had both of those. Still, I wasn't totally sure if she had this skin disorder, since some of the pictures and symptoms listed online were more extreme then she had. So we decided to make an appointment with a pediatric dermatologist.

Meanwhile, Sadie had her 2 year check up (we had to do it late because of some weird insurance policy - lame!) and I again asked my doctor about her skin. He didn't think the injuries were any cause for worry, but I asked if he would check the elasticity of her skin. He did agree that it seemed more stretchy than normal, then he tested her joints for hyper-mobility by pulling her thumb towards her forearm - and she could totally touch it with no strain at all. He said she probably has a genetic skin disorder and wants me to see a geneticist for a diagnosis. Interesting .....

So we have an appointment with the geneticist for the end of September (these doctors are a rare speciality and so high in demand). I just decided to keep my appointment with the dermatologist for a second opinion. This lady was wonderful (Sadie hates doctors - surprise - so I really appreciate when we see a warm and patient doctor). After looking at Sadie's legs and knees, and the scars of the cuts she already has, she immediately said that Sadie has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is a genetic skin disorder. Typically someone else in our family would have this and passed it on to her, but we don't know of anyone else with similar symptoms in our family history. She said it also can happen because of a genetic mutation, but that is more rare. Sadie has all the symptoms of Classic EDS (rather then some of the more rare, scary forms) such as "doughy" and "velvety" skin, the way her scars spread as they heal, becoming more pronounced instead of straight, the hyper-elastic skin, the hyper-mobility of her joints (she said Sadie is very prone to dislocation and to avoid heavy contact sports), the bruising, the goose-eggs, the fragile skin that cuts easily, all these things are caused by this skin disorder.

There is nothing they can do to treat EDS and it doesn't affect mental abilities or life span, etc. It just means that she'll be more susceptible to injury. It is just a relief to have a diagnosis, to know there is a reason why she gets hurt so easily and know that we are not just paranoid parents. It also makes me grateful for the promptings of the Spirit (or as doctors call it - mother's intuition) that made Brent and I recognize that something wasn't right and try to figure it out. The dermatologist would also like us the meet with the geneticist to confirm the diagnosis and see if further testing is needed. I'm still learning about this disorder and am grateful that it is not something more serious. I'm grateful to live near a large city with all these specialists readily available. And I'm very grateful for a little girl who is so sweet and tender and keeps on smiling (unless she sees someone in scrubs and realizes that she's in a doctor's office).

sorry for the super long post - this is for my own journal too.

because you asked ...

Oh lovely blog readers. I apologize for my abandonment. My blog was deleted accidentally, and then I've been way too lazy and busy reading other people's blogs to post on my own. Ok, I have been doing a few other things too. Here's the pictures you asked for mom and Brandi - it will almost be like being here in person. Nope, not quite. Guess you better come see for yourself.

I give you - Brooke's wall of paint swatches - also known as hard proof that I'm completely indecisive and dramatic and feel like I'm making a lifetime commitment when it comes to anything, including paint colors. Please note that I painted the first blue swatch back in January. JANUARY people. I continued to accumulate colors until I finally picked one. The darker one on the right was the winner.

Painted it a couple weeks ago. We are in blue wall heaven. Brent and I both LOVE it.

And you think I'm indecisive about paint, well, I won't go into the torture that was buying a van. Let's just say that everyone is happy we finally made a decision on that one - both Brent and I can sleep at night without van nightmares, we have time to talk instead of looking at cars online all the time, and my family and friends no longer have to listen to my deliberations about this van versus that van, blah blah blah. We are loving it - now if only I could learn how to drive it without hitting the curb when I turn right .....

This is a view of the back seats. There is a removable 8th seat in the middle row. We just left it there for now since we don't really use the back, but you can take it out and slide the two captain chairs together or leave them separate.

And I can't post without a picture of the girlies. Laughter goes a long way in this house.

I'm back .....

we'll try the blog thing again ...