Life

Life has gotten in the way of blogging lately. Last week was a rough week, but I'm so, so happy to say that everything turned out well. God is so good. I'll start at the beginning...

A couple of weeks ago, I took Whitt to his 9 month well visit (a month late, he's now 10 1/2 months old, but with your 3rd baby you're lucky if you even remember to schedule these things, let alone show up to them within a few weeks of the child's birthday) and our pediatrician was concerned about a few things. I've mentioned on the blog before that Whitt is developmentally delayed, and he's still pretty significantly delayed. The things that the pediatrician were concerned about would not normally matter in a "normal" (I hate that word) baby, but she was a little worried that they might be causing his delays so she said that she wanted to call and consult a pediatric neurologist at MUSC and see what he thought. She told me not to worry about it, it was probably nothing, so I didn't even mention it to Ben. The next day, I received a phone call from her saying that he wanted us to have blood work done on Whitt and get him in for a brain MRI the following week just to make sure that there weren't any neurological issues that were causing his delays---which, of course, caused us to freak out just a bit. I spent the next four days crying, praying, and basically worrying about all of the million things that could be wrong with our sweet, amazing little boy. Last Tuesday, Ben and I took Whitt to MUSC in Charleston and had to have him sedated for a brain MRI---not fun at all. Looking back, and knowing now that everything is fine, it wasn't that big of a deal, but at the time it was horrible. Lots of tears were shed and my heart was broken into a million pieces that day seeing him laying on that table sedated and worrying about all of the what if's. I love our pediatrician so much and am very thankful that she wanted to be sure that everything is okay, but she sure put us through the ringer! A few days later we got the results that Whitt's blood work and MRI came back perfectly normal, and although he is still delayed, there is no cause for the delays and we are to keep doing what we're doing and he doesn't need to be seen again until his one-year check-up. PHEW!!!! :)

Whitt is doing GREAT!!! He is currently in occupational therapy two mornings a week for an hour each, physical therapy two mornings a week for an hour each, and early intervention one morning a week for 30 minutes. I also do therapy with him at home in the afternoons, so his schedule is quite crazy, but it's so worth it. He has made huge improvements over the past few months. He's now sitting up on his own very well and can spin around in circles. He can't get into a sitting position on his own yet, but that will come with time. He is starting to be able to scoot around on his bottom and although his therapists want me to discourage that, I think it's pretty cute--he has to get around somehow, right? :) He can almost roll from his back to his tummy--he is SO close--and he can roll from tummy to back really well. We are really hopeful that he will be crawling by the time he's 12 or 13 months old, too. Whitt has the sweetest disposition---he is such a happy, easygoing baby. He is a great sleeper, too---he takes a long morning nap, a long afternoon nap, an occasional late-afternoon nap, and then sleeps 7-7 every night. At the same time, if he has to skip a nap he usually doesn't seem to mind--he just goes with the flow--but I guess he doesn't really have a choice! Such a sweet boy! :)

Oh, but there's more to our crazy life! Two days after Whitt's MRI (last Thursday), our sweet Emma Claire had her tonsils and adenoids taken out. She has had strep throat four times in the past five months so we really didn't have much of a choice. She has been a trooper, but it's been a bit of a rough road for our little drama queen. My awesome mother-in-law came to help out for several days, thank goodness, because EC decided she ONLY wanted her Gee Gee. She must have been mad at Ben and me because Nancy did pretty much all of Emma Claire's care for the first three days after her surgery. We're now on day 6 and she's still in pain but she's starting to feel a little better each day, and we're really looking forward to no more strep throat.

Since things always come in 3's there had to be something else, right? Yep! Last Wednesday, the day after the MRI and the day before the tonsil surgery, Grayson fell and split his chin open. A total freak accident---my mother-in-law had literally been at our house for maybe 10-15 minutes and I was doing dishes while on the phone with the surgery center answering their health questions about EC....Grayson was eating apples at the kitchen table, and MIL had EC, Whitt, and the little girl I babysit all sitting on her lap (other baby I babysit was upstairs screaming because he had just woken up)....all of a sudden I hear a chair topple over and Grayson screaming. I turn around to see Grayson on the floor and blood. I quickly hang up the phone and grab some paper towels. I don't do well when I see lots of blood coming from my children and I think I started to freak out a bit, but thankfully my mother-in-law is the calmest person on the planet and gave me a look that basically told me to get it together so I did (thanks, Nancy!!) so I left four children with her and threw Grayson in the car and raced off to the pediatrician. :) When we got there, the nurse practitioner told us that he needed stitches, but when the pediatrician came in Grayson was still hysterical so she decided she'd glue it instead---praise the Lord! My nerves were still shot from everything we'd been dealing with with Whitt, Ben was out of town that day, and I was wondering how I was going to handle my hysterical 4 year old with a gaping cut on his chin who needed stitches. Ten minutes later, some Dermabond glue, steri strips and a popsicle, and we were on our way home. Piece of cake! Ha!! He's fine now--it's healed quite nicely, besides the reaction he got from the darn Bandaid! :)

And now, for some fun pictures with no dramatic stories! God is good---we have healthy, happy children, and wonderful friends who we love so much. Our best friends are moving away this summer (only an hour and a half away, but I still am going to miss sweet moments like this, which I'm sure won't happen nearly enough anymore). :(

Gorgeous Tyler

Cutie pie Gibson

Silly Sanders

I think these might be some of my favorite pictures we've ever taken of these children. I can't wait for Whitt to be able to join them! Only a few more months, I'm sure!