Daddy and his baby girl!

I love them together!

Caught!

I brought home this dollhouse from my classroom, to give it a good scrubbing for the new school year. Well, I knew Carli would love it. She played with almost every toy she owned on it. It was a castle for her Barbies, house for her Little People and Littlest Pet Shop, Ponyville for her My Little Ponies, and a dog house for her puppies. BUT what I didn't know was how much Tyler would like it! HA HA HA!!! I caught him playing on it with his wrestlers!!!

Girl time

The other day when I went and had my "ME TIME", Carli went and had her GIRL TIME! She stayed over at Olivia's house for a few hours. Carli couldn't wait to go over there. She loves Olivia and she has a real kitty cat and puppy dog!! She had so much FUN! They are pretty much alike in the things they like to play with. My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Dress up. Playdough, scissors, and painting seemed to be the highlight of their time. All Carli wants to do at home now are those things! Thank you Lindsay for a fun day AND for sending me these pictures!

TWO HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!!

My cousin Jason and his wife Joy are having their birthday today! YES, they both have the same birthday, they're the same age, and born at the same hospital too!! HOW CUTE!! Hope you guys have an amazing day!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON AND JOY!!

ME time!

What's been goin' on with my blogging? UH, SLACKING!
Well, Let's chalk it up to LIFE! I've been quite busy, isn't everyone? Between family, school, work, the house chores, etc., computer time has been on the back burner (with the exception of Austin updates). I've got some pictures I need to upload and then once I do, I'll get back on the blogging track! I'm sure that'll make Grandma Mary and Mimi happy!
I'm praying that all the sickness that is spreading like wild fire around town will stay out of our way. I did feel like I was starting to get sick, but it wasn't nothin' a little (or a lot) of Vitamin C, the weekend, and sleep would'nt cure!
Over all, kids are doing good.
Anthony is doing good.
Me? GOOD! I have been cooking and baking a lot. Gluten free/ Dairy free (see blog post about Austin below). It takes some time, but I feel so great preparing very healthy foods for my family. I've had some "ME TIMES" lately and that sure does a momma good!! I went for dinner at Gringo's last Friday with a great friend. We had a few laughs, but some tears too. She's moving out of state next month. On Tuesday morning, I dropped Carli off at her gal pal, Olivia's house (THANK YOU LINDSAY!) and I WENT FOR A HOT STONE PEDICURE! OH YES I DID! I have to tell you that I received a gift certificate, for an end of the year teacher gift, in MAY, and I FINALLY made myself go use it! It was pure heaven! Ahhhh...that may be a treat that I give myself on a regular basis?! After that, I went, got me some lunch, and shopped a little at Target. This Friday, it's out to dinner with co-workers! I can't wait!
Today, I sit at home on my day off. Hangin' with my sweet girlie. We played outside in the wonderful feelin' fall air! The house is clean. Laundry is almost done. It's a good day! REJOICE!

This is IT!

I started this post Friday, Sept. 18th.
Before I tell you what IT is, I have other things to say first.
For YEARS, we’ve dealt with seizures. YEARS! People always ask, “How do you do it?”. My answer, “God”.We trust in Him. He gives us peace. We know He has a plan for Austin and we follow it. We do what we gotta do. This doesn’t mean that I am fine with it. This doesn’t mean that I don’t worry, get sad or mad. I DO! Believe me, I DO!
This is a long hard road! Some may wonder why we don’t pursue other doctors, clinics, etc? When you have a special needs child who has seizures, you live day by day. Putting one foot in front of the other. Survival mode if you will. However, we were the ones who told the doctors what was causing him to have seizures (certain foods, drinks), only to get strange looks. Lately it was found out there was something wrong. Genetic syndromes have already been ruled out, leaving some type of metabolic disorder. Yet, still no answer as to what type and so on…I finally (with the help of a great friend) got it in me to research other options. CeCe was on her computer, I was on mine. Sending links and contacts back and forth. Even when I would read about all of the metabolic disorders, they still didn’t fit Austin. Then, BAM! I found this…PLEASE, you have to read this!
http://www.drlwilson.com/Articles/epilepsy.htm
OH MY HEAVENS! THIS IS IT! This article completely describes Austin! Anthony, myself and the kids sat around the kitchen table as we read it aloud in complete amazement! It’s like we struck gold! We just kept saying, “THIS IS AUSTIN!”. So I then quickly sent the link to CeCe as she was about to send me the SAME THING! I then sent the link to our neurologist and said that this is IT! I also sent it to his teacher and he told me this morning that of course it sounds like Austin. I still just shake my head! Now, we just need to do the hair follicle test, see a doctor that will help us set a plan up, and I truly believe this will help reduce the amount of seizures or completely rid them! I can NOW see a light at the end of the tunnel!!! Thank you for you prayers. I kept saying that night that those prayers that were for God to show us the direction to go for healing Austin…well, folks, they were ANSWERED! Again, thank you! Especially to my “researcher, stalker, kick in the butt” friend, CeCe! As always, I’ll keep you posted!
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this has to be the right direction! It just has to!

To all my face book friends: You’ll find the answer to my status in that article(the distilled water!).

Austin report

Monday, the 14th, Austin had an appointment with the neurologist. We went over his results of his 23 hour EEG. I will try my best to explain it.
Quick info on an EEG: it monitors the brainwaves. Electrical discharges, which are seizures. An EEG can show that a person is having seizures even if you can’t physically see them. Austin’s EEG shows that he is having seizures all day and night! {deep breath, in and out} More of course during the night, this is normal for people with seizures (although you don’t want that). They’re coming from all over his brain. The main concern is lots of quick electrical discharges (seizures) that are happening in the front part of his brain (frontal lobe). Your frontal lobe is responsible for many things: rational thinking, emotions, speaking, short term memory-the list goes on. This makes me sad, but explains so much! Austin does have a low IQ, but that part is not effected by this, it just adds to what he’s already dealing with. Because of the frontal lobe seizures, and some other things on the EEG, it tells us that he has either some genetic disorder or metabolic disorder. Well, we’ve been to the geneticist and did genetic testing already-no syndromes of any type. We already knew that he has a metabolic disorder. We will now go back to the geneticist for further testing and probe more into the Metabolic disorder.
Bottom line is, we will not increase his medication. YES, it is helping some, but it’s not going to completely make them stop, because there is an underlying issue that has to be treated. We can not just figure out what foods to avoid and do just that (which we‘ve been trying to do). We need to figure out what type of metabolic disorder it is, figure out what he can’t have, and TREAT this before it continues to do further damage! Because it will.
Our neurologist is consulting with a few geneticists so they can get more together on this and then we’ll meet. Am I ever so thankful to God that we live near the best Medical Center in the United States!
On another note, Austin's height and weight has always been an issue since he has Hypothyroidism and growth hormone deficiency. WELL, we were so excited to find out that he is 4ft.11in. tall! AND 86lbs.! His projected height (if he stays on a good growing pattern) is 5ft.1in. This is fine with us...hey, he's got short parents! :) I can't wait for his next Endocrinologist appointment so she can see him!
Thank you for always keeping our Austin in your prayers!

A year ago

It's hard to believe that this time last year, we were dealing with this:Hurricane IKE hitting the Galveston Seawall!
We had evacuated to my grandmother's house and the whole night we stayed awake, watching the TV, waiting for it make landfall. We were sick with worry over what this hurricane was going to do? Would we have a home or town to come back to? What about all of our friends, where did they all go to and who stayed behind? Though we don't live in Galveston, our town is very close and we were effected by this hurricane! WOW, what a time! Here are my posts from last year:
Evacuating.
Returning.
Hard at work.
Finally.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Today our lil' cousin Rachel turns 6 years old! It makes me so happy to see her with her brother and sister...you'd never know she started off as a preemie, weighing under four pounds! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rachel! We love you and hope you have a FUN day!

First Day of Preschool!

On Wednesday the 9th, Carli and I had our first day ofCarli is in the Younger 3's classroom and was very excited to start back to school with all her friends! I am teaching the Older 3's classroom. It's nice to be next door to each other AND our classes share a bathroom, so I can always take a peak into her room. Here's Carli before we left for school. Baby Doll did not go with us. She stayed in the car! Chocolate covered oreos with sprinkles that we made for her teachers! An apple that one of my kiddos gave to me! CUTE!
My class and their parents seem so sweet. Carli had a good day too. She actually talked to her teachers. She gave me the complete play by play of her day on the way home!
I think we're really going to have a good year!

C is for Cookie...

My sweet friend Kathy, who made Anthony's birthday cake, Carli's Fall Fest cookies, Valentine's cookies, and Easter cookies, gave ME the greatest gift! It was packaged so cute: cookie cutters, cookie sheet, parchment paper and... HER cookie and icing recipe! OH HEAVENS YES!! Everyone gooshes over these cookies, me included. I could not believe she gave me this! I was excited, but at the same time scared! Well, I did it, I made them. They don't look as amazing as her's do, BUT they taste exactly like her's! I figure with time, I'll learn how to ice them way better, oh, and add food coloring. Here's the first batch. Now, the later batches I made (not pictured), I made thicker, so we liked those. SOMEONE decorated them. I didn't want sprinkles, but I figured Carli would enjoy it more! It makes a lot, and that's just fine, because we ate alot!
Thank you Kathy!

Happy Birthday Emily!

Our wonderful EMILY is having a birthday today! She's 10!!!!!!!!!! Oh how we love this little lady! Emmy, we hope you have an AWESOME 10th BIRTHDAY! God bless you sweetheart!

Lazy Labor Day Weekend

We've had a pretty low key three day weekend. Just hangin' around. We did go out for pizza.And then Austin learned to pump gas!
And Carli was pooped! This is what happens every time we get in the car since she doesn't take naps at home or school anymore!
Hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend!

Belated Birthdays

Seems I've missed a couple of our lil' cousins' birthdays! I'm sorry, I just got caught up in back to school.
First up, MISS IRIS!HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY! We love you!
Next up, MISS ARLYSSA!
HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY! We love you! Now you girls tell your mommas that you would LOVE to come see us! :)