The Kinnaird Family

CIT here we go again

2012-01-27T06:20:00.002-05:00

We're going to do another three+ weeks of contraint-induced therapy. The cast goes on today. I am excited because I know Shelby is at a critical point right now with leftie where she has a ton of potential to increase its use. Her left arm and shoulder have become much stronger since she began crawling in earnest last fall. I am apprehensive because she is going to hate having this cast put on and I don't like for her to be unhappy. Thinking about Shelby's round of CIT when she was six months old helps remind me how worthwhile this therapy will be though. Before she was casted two years ago, Shelby did not even realize she had a left arm. By the end of the three weeks, she was using leftie to put pacifiers in her mouth. Remember this amazing video:

Payoff like this makes the three difficult weeks so worthwhile, but this skill of using leftie to hold a paci disappeared after the cast came off (because she could more easily use rightie). If you remember from last year, we did constraint therapy a second time but it was a bit of a fiasco. Shelby's friends at school helped her pull the cast off and "free" her early on in the process, and she kept taking the cast off regularly after that. This time around we will do things differently. The cast will not be a bi-valve, so hopefully it will be impossible for houdini girl to remove. We are also drastically increasing her OT and PT schedules for the next three weeks. She will have OT seven days a week, starting tomorrow (sometimes twice a day) and PT two times a week. We are lucky to have an OT who is as excited as we are about CIT and that is willing to work so much with Shelby during this three weeks.

Our main goal here is function. Shelby knows leftie doesn't work like her right arm and hand and has started attempting to intentionally use leftie to help her hold objects, but she struggles a great deal with grasp and release and cannot use leftie to do anything with the object. We'd like to improve this, but are breaking this goal down into increments. For week one, we want Shelby to begin reaching with shoulder flexion (>90 degrees) and to move the shoulder without overcompensating with her trunk and chest. We'll keep you updated....CIT here we go again!

Weekend Trip to Banner Elk

2012-01-24T20:43:00.002-05:00

A couple weekends ago, my parents offered us their timeshare in Banner Elk, NC. Trip and I jumped at the chance to get out of town and relax with the kids for a couple days. We rented movies, read books, went to a great Mexican restaurant and enjoyed the resort's indoor pool. This is actually the first time we have gone anywhere by ourselves as a "family of four" and it was lovely.

Harding and Trip about to go tubing at Sugar Mountain (thank goodness for snow machines).

We stopped at our land on the way home for a hike.

Shelby has become really attached to "baby".

New Year, New Bedroom

2012-01-24T20:25:00.005-05:00

People say that your bedroom should be a sanctuary....for the past 7 years mine has been the stash-all room to throw things in where we happen to sleep. My mom made Trip and me a beautiful batik quilt for Christmas and it inspired me to organize the bedroom, purchase a bed, and paint the room seafoam blue. Since this photo was taken, Trip has hung curtains and pictures. I feel like we finally have a "grown-up" bedroom, and it is definitely a sanctuary (which can be a problem when the alarm rings at 5:30 a.m.). Huge thanks to my talented mom for the quilt and to dad for helping us paint!

Holiday re-cap

2012-01-02T18:31:00.004-05:00

Today we had the unexpected gift of a snow day at home on what was to be the kids and my first day back to school. I've been cleaning out my closet like a mad woman and purging things like black pleather boots that I can't remember ever wearing. I've also been enjoying some extra time with Harding and Shelby and reflecting on our holidays.

I did not take nearly enough photos this Christmas break, but we spent some wonderful time with friends and family, despite my getting a stomach bug (fortunately no one else got it). My brother and Cambridge were here from Richmond and my sister, Grant and Riley were here from Atlanta. This made for some fun times and exceptionally delicious food at my parents' house. I absolutely loved being with them and watching Harding, Shelby and Riley play together. After Christmas, Trip's family from Nacogdoches, Texas came for a visit. Here's the play-by-play with the few pictures I took.

Christmas Eve:

Also known as my birthday. :) My parents and Stephen and Cambridge came over with my grandmother Burney and cooked dinner.

Stephen dancing with Shelby Frances

Turkey frying on Christmas Eve (requisite beer in hand)!

A very excited Harding supervising the turkey frying.

Shelby didn't have the attention span for "Twas the night before Christmas"

Christmas morning:

The kids' haul from Santa (sleeping bags, tent, sheep for Shelby, transformer for H)

Shelby's vision teacher wants her to play with more realistic toys. She must have told Santa because he delivered with this sheep. Mommy and Daddy got her some sheep books to go with it.

MoMo and Bop have their hands full these days with three grandkids!

Morning of the 26th:

Vegging at my parent's house and recovering from Christmas festivities. Chris, Cambridge and I also went to the shoe store because Nana had hooked us up with gift certificates.

Precious picture of Harding and Riley watching cartoons...so excited Riley and her parents will be moving to Asheville pretty soon so we can do more of this!

The 27th:

Trip's grandpa and aunt and uncle drove in from Texas and we all hung out at Trip's parents house. As always, It was greating seeing the Texas Kinnairds. I'd add more pictures of this time, but my sister-in-law Ashlee is busy with new baby Landen and hasn't had time to email them to me. :)

Grandpa and Harding crafting together. Harding enjoys a captive audience, and Grandpa was game.

The 31st:

We spent New Year's Eve at Matt and Ashlee's new house on our land ringing in 2012 and celebrating Matt's 30th birthday with some old friends. It was perfect. I got to do some hiking that afternoon out on the property by myself while the kids napped and Trip was watching football.

New Year's Eve solo hike--perfect for end of year reflection.

New Year's Day:

It was absolutely gorgeous--warm and sunny. Here are Harding and his friend Sofi (and three dogs) running up the driveway at our land.

2012 Y'all!

2012-01-01T13:18:00.000-05:00

Love and peace to all of you and a very happy New Year from the Kinnairds!

Neurologist Appointment/EEG results

2011-12-30T15:08:00.002-05:00

As predicted, getting all those EEG nodes on Shelby was a terrible ordeal, but somehow we made it through. She was so tired from screaming and fighting with us, that once the nodes were on, she slept through the actual EEG which is ideal for the study. Unfortunately, the EEG results showed several abnormal continuous spikes in Shelby's right hemisphere that were more frequent than in previous studies. Dr. Poplawski thinks this may have to do with the shunt revision, but Shelby's blood work also showed low Keppra levels. Hopefully increasing Shelby's Keppra dosage will help. We'll go back for more blood work in a few weeks to re-check her levels. Dr. P was impressed with Shelby's overall development and commented on how her hemipelegia (sp?) had improved since our last visit.

Appointments today....

2011-12-29T11:08:00.002-05:00

Shelby goes to see the neurologist today for her first check-up since the shunt revision, and before that we'll do the dreaded EEG. Helping a technician to hold my screaming daughter down while they attempt to get a whole bunch of nodes glued onto her head in order to monitor brain (and/or seizure) activity is torture for Shelby and for me. The poor girl does not like to be messed with by medical people and I don't blame her at all....I hate that she has to go through stuff like this. Sometimes I want to indulge in a little "It's not fair" moping.... No time for that today though, I've got to go clip Shelby's fingernails to protect myself from her wrath during the EEG...

Raggedy Andy

2011-12-22T07:32:00.002-05:00

Harding performed in his school's Christmas program on Tuesday. His pre-K class dressed up as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls. Harding loves any costume and wore this wig for the rest of the day. He did great in the performance and we were very proud of him...it is hard not to tear up while watching children singing--especially when one of them is your child. If interested, you can check out the YouTube videos linked to this blog.

Weight gain!

2011-12-18T21:17:00.000-05:00

Maybe its all the butter, the extra scoop of formula we've been adding to her whole milk, or the flax we put in her daily yogurt. Whatever it is, we don't care.....we're just happy that Shelby is gaining weight again. We went to see the pediatrician for Shelby's check-up on Friday and her weight had jumped to 24 lbs, 5 oz....she's broken out of the bottom 5th percentile!

We're back!

2011-12-16T21:58:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it, I've had a hard time getting into the spirit of the season. We have been going, going, going since Thanksgiving with Harding's birthday, doctor appointments, work (as usual), and my final exams for grad school. We have put up and decorated our tree and the elf on the shelf has made his appearance, but that is where it has ended....no lights outside, no stockings hung, no Christmas china, Christmas snow village, or Christmas cards ordered at all. I have dropped the ball on creating holiday magic for my kids. There's still time though, right?

I turned in my last final this week and we are about to get serious about Christmas in the Kinnaird house. Tomorrow Harding and I are decking the halls, Trip is going to string some lights, we'll begin doing some baking and wrapping gifts. I plan to take the kids to the Grove Park Inn on Sunday to see the famous Gingerbread House exhibit.

And on Tuesday, the fun will really start. Harding's school Christmas pageant is that morning--Harding has been practicing the songs for weeks and I can't wait to see him in his costume (pictures and possibly a video to come soon). Plus, Tuesday is our last day of school and a break is long overdue.

Also, there is a new Kinnaird on the block. Welcome to our nephew, Landen Taylor Kinnaird. He was born on December 12th and is a big (9 lb, 3 oz) adorable bundle of joy. You did very well Matt and Ashlee. We're looking forward to spoiling little Landen!

Funny anecdote: the kids were not allowed to visit their new cousin in the hospital. Harding was unhappy about this rule and told me earlier in the week, "Its okay mommy, I'll just wear my batman costume to the hospital, and they won't know I'm a boy. I know they'll let me in!" He was glad to finally get aquainted with Landen this afternoon.

Speech eval and Shelby singing!

2011-12-06T18:53:00.001-05:00

Last week an evaluation was done on Shelby's speech and language so that she could begin speech therapy. The results of the evaluation put her in the 18-21 month range for both receptive and expressive language. She will begin speech once a week with the same therapist that works with her on feeding. Honestly, speech is not something that we are too worried about. I feel like a great deal of it will come on its own, but since she is already comfortable with this therapist, we thought we'd give it a shot.

She is getting better every day at expressing herself and constantly adding new words and phrases to her vocabulary. Just last night, I asked, "Where are you Shelby?" and she answered, "Here I am!" from under the train table. When we got home from school this afternoon and I was organizing the stuff I needed to bring in from the car, Shelby announced from her car seat, "Want out!". She amazes me constantly.

Shelby has always loved music and has been requesting (or demanding) that her favorite songs be sung to her regularly for about a year now. Recently, she has started doing some of the singing herself. If you can get past the scratched cheek, booger, and snot in this video, it is pretty darn cute. Without further ado, here is Shelby's rendition of Baa Baa Black Sheep:
Also, notice the use of lefty to help hold her Elmo doll!

Failed Christmas Card Picture Attempts

2011-12-04T20:32:00.000-05:00

They don't have to have a picture on them, do they?

Sigh.

The little stinker...

2011-11-30T20:47:00.001-05:00

who used to be in my belly....

and was so tiny not too long ago....

went and turned 5 today!

Where has the time gone?

We love him so much!

In which Harding attempts to climb the refridgerator.

2011-11-20T20:54:00.001-05:00

Step 1: Magnets on feet.

Step 2: Feet on fridge.

Step 3: Step up.

Step 4: Try the other leg.

Repeat.

Something tells me we haven't seen the last of this....he really wants to be Spiderman.

Talking to your son about his sister's special needs.

2011-11-12T15:27:00.001-05:00

We've been fielding lots of questions from Harding lately about his sister. He is starting to notice how she is different from other kids her age. For example, on Friday morning after we took Shelby to try on glasses (and she screamed the entire time) he said, "If Shelby is 2 and Riley is 1, how come Riley can walk and Shelby can't?" I answered by explaining that Shelby's brain works a little differently from most other people, and that because of this, she has trouble doing certain things like using her left arm and leg. I told him that it will take Shelby longer than other kids to learn to walk. I also told him that he could always ask me or Daddy if he ever had questions about Shelby because we would be honest with him. Harding was quiet for a few minutes and then he said, "I need to be honest with you about Shelby too, mommy.......she really does NOT want glasses!" Harding is always looking out for his sister, he told me he would get glasses instead of Shelby. Trip and I have said from the beginning that we would be open with Harding about Shelby. Here we go....

Conundrums

2011-11-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

Shelby has shown an interest in self-feeding during the past few months. When a bowl of apple sauce or yogurt (probably her two favorite foods) is placed in front of her, she will hold the spoon and feed herself slowly and deliberately. It is an incredibly messy process with lots of spoon banging and throwing (sometimes she even throws the bowl). This is good though....another move towards doing something independently.
We are constantly in the process of moving Shelby's diet towards being more varied and textured. Gone are the days when she gagged when a piece of food was too big or the texture was unmanageable. She seems to be gradually getting the idea of how to chew. Baby Steps. We no longer use the food processer to blend up Shelby's food and are moving towards cutting the items that can't be fork mashed into tiny pieces. The idea is to slowly get the pieces bigger and bigger and to get her chewing and eating normal table food.Here's the conundrum: Shelby is still tiny for her age--in the bottom 5th percentile, she needs to be taking in as many calories as possible. We already add formula to her whole milk and butter/olive oil to all her food. Food is not a motivator for her....she eats cheerios, but would never pick them up and put them in her mouth if they were put in front of her (she would throw them one by one on the floor).
Working on independent skills like self-feeding is difficult for her...and it reduces her food intake. Working on maturing her diet and increasing calories is also difficult. Both focus areas can make mealtime difficult and stressful for Shelby. What is most important right now, or is there a way to focus on both? For now, we're trying to end her meals with a bowl of yogurt or apple sauce that she can work on by herself. Our OT and ST are consulting on this issue. Any suggestions?


Shelby and my great-grandmother Burney playing "boogedy" last week.

Then there is the potty issue...Shelby has started to regularly tell us that her diaper needs changing or that she is pooping. I have said all along that we would put off potty training for a good long time and frankly, diapers are the least of our worries right now. However, I certainly don't want to miss a window if she is ready. But Shelby can't get on a potty or even pull her pants down on her own, so it seems like we should wait. But if she is ready, am I shortchanging her?

beep beep

2011-11-04T20:37:00.001-04:00

Shelby's teachers recently discovered that she will sit happily in the cars on the playground at school and even push herself backwards in them. This is good for many reasons: she doesn't have to be in the stroller, the teacher's arms, or being pushed in the swing during playground time....AND this is something she can do by herself (or with her classmates, like in the pictures). Plus, now I know one thing Shelby might like for Christmas!

Happy Halloween from Never Land!

2011-10-31T16:36:00.001-04:00

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell would like to wish everyone a very happy Halloween!

This picture on the bottom cracks me up because Shelby is making the same face as the pumpkin. :)

Choosing pumpkins

2011-10-23T20:45:00.000-04:00

Helping Shelby choose one:

Required photo-op:

No more pictures mommy! Can we just get these?

To be carved later on this week....

Duke visit last week

2011-10-20T20:50:00.003-04:00

My mom and I took Shelby (and Harding) back to Duke last Thursday for her 1 month post-surgery appointment with Dr. Grant. We started the day with a CT scan which they attempted to do without sedation. That was a no-go. Shelby is still extremely afraid of being "messed with" (or even looked at) by people who resemble doctors or nurses since her recent hospital experience, despite the excellent staff at Duke going above and beyond the call of duty to win her over. After sedation, things went pretty smoothly though. Shelby was extremely sweet coming out of sedation--blowing kisses and saying "meow", "I love", and shouting "hooray" repeatedly.

We headed up to the Children's Hospital clinic after the brain scan to meet with Dr. Grant and get the results. Her brain looks good--the ventricles have returned to their usual size, (for Shelby anyway)--proof that the shunt is essential. I am so thankful that there is such a device and that we have excellent neurosurgeons to take care of business when a new one is needed! We go back to Durham in 6 months for another scan (this time an MRI) and check-up with Dr. G.

One more thing--Shelby is participating in a study at Duke about stem cell therapy and hydrocephalus. She'll be part of the control group of course (since we unfortunately didn't find out about Shelby's hydrocephalus in time to save her cord blood), but I'm glad that we can help with this important research that could benefit babies diagnosed with hydrocephalus in the future.

Thanks to my mom for driving down and back with us to Duke....I enjoyed the company and couldn't have done such a long day without her! And thanks to my sweet cousin Katy who has class at Duke on Thursdays and came by to hang out with us (and entertain the kids) in the waiting room....always good to see her!

Fall Splendor in WNC

2011-10-18T18:25:00.000-04:00

It is flat out breathtaking here this time of year. Need proof? Check out these pictures taken at our land last weekend. One day we'll have a house with this view! I don't know who said this originally, but it rings true for me, "If you're lucky enough to live in the mountains, you're lucky enough!"

Harding took this picture of Trip and me, not bad!

Wooly Worm Festival - Banner Elk, NC

2011-10-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went to Banner Elk with the Gillilands for the Wooly Worm Festival, wondering what the heck to expect...it was interesting and the kids had a great time. We met up with MoMo and Bop at the festival and they were kind enough to purchase a wooly worm for Harding.

Aubrey, Shelby, Harding and Derek all bundled up and cooperating.

Posing here was the only thing that didn't have a price tag. The boys were happy to oblige.

Bop, Daddy and Momo help Harding pick out his Wooly Worm.

Here is where the worm races take place...they have to crawl up a string. Entering was 5 dollars, so we decided to have our own race later (for free).

Yikes...Festival Guy

Julie and I with the Wooly Worm Mascot

Harding named his wooly worm "Super Speedy". Derek named his "Captain America". When we got home later, Harding and Derek raced their wooly worms and then released them to the wild. Of course each boy thought their wooly worm was the winner...Harding is still talking about how Super Speedy really won. Although the adults were not huge fans of the festival, it was a beautiful weekend to drive through the mountains with friends--the leaves were at their peak and the Gillilands are always fun to be with.

H's performance

2011-10-11T18:49:00.001-04:00

Our sweet boy singing LOUDLY with some of his classmates last Sunday. Have a listen, you can't miss Harding's voice. Trip and I were very proud of him.

Recent antics

2011-10-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

I just can't help it....I think my kids are hilarious and adorable! If you are one of the seven people who read this blog, I'm assuming you think they're pretty funny and cute too.....(BeBe, MoMo, Nana, Grandpa Kinnaird, Granny and Papa Gene, and Nana)...

Shelby loves cell phones, but we won't buy her one because we think an iPad is ample technology for a two year old. Unphased, she has turned her foot into a phone. Flexible and creative! She puts her foot to her ear and says "Heh-yo".

Here's a sneak peek of Halloween. Harding was so excited when his Peter Pan costume came in the mail this week, but visibly disappointed that he couldn't fly when he tried it on. Luckily Daddy was there to help him out.

OT and PT this week...

2011-10-06T18:56:00.002-04:00

Shelby's therapy sessions this week have been a study in opposites. I left work early on Tuesday to pick Shelby up from daycare in order to take her home for PT with Beth. Shelby fussed and cried and screamed the entire time and virtually nothing was accomplished. Although she did do some standing. I was incredibly frustrated Tuesday evening....these sessions are not free, and leaving work early is hard, so for the entire session to not be worthwhile because Shelby was grumpy did not sit well.

This may be the only time in the entire 45 minutes when she wasn't crying.

Today I was nervous because we had OT with Adam this afternoon, and I didn't want a repeat of Tuesday. Thankfully, she did great and showed off some crawling skills for Adam. He also worked with her on using both hands to hold and drink a cup.

Usually she gets mad when people "help" her, but today the princess was tolerant.

Using lefty on the iPad while Harding eats his afternoon snack.

Adam tried to get her to climb up the stairs to get a toy, but she wasn't sure.

After Adam left, I looked over and Shelby was climbing the stairs on her own....the little stinker! Not sure how I feel about this, we may be in trouble!

There she goes! Thank goodness we had a productive therapy session today. I think that Tuesday was just a fluke....everyone has bad days from time to time....

She crawls!

2011-10-02T06:30:00.001-04:00

My mom watched Shelby when her school was closed on Friday and followed her around with the camera to get this video of her crawling...so exciting!

Appt. Week and Crawling

2011-10-01T08:31:00.001-04:00

We spent last week making up appointments we had missed back when Shelby was having her shunt replaced. On Monday we went to the orthopedist to check on her hip dysplasia. There was no change in the angles measurements of her hips from her last xrays in May. Our plan is to stay the course. Shelby will still wear the rhino cruiser brace at night. Dr. Hooker is hoping that when Shelby is up and walking and doing more weight bearing, that the mild dysplasia will correct itself. If not, then surgery will be considered. Honestly, Shelby's hips are the least of our worries at this point in time, so we're fine with the current plan.

We went to see Dr. Bachinsky (ophthalmologist) on Thursday. Shelby did great on her test with the orthoptist and her vision was measured at 20/180. It was neat to see the difference in her cognitive ability this time around. Sally would say, "Can you point to the stripes on the card?", and Shelby would! It made me feel like the test was a bit more accurate, althought Sally and Dr. Bachinsky said that Shelby's vision could be better than she tested. I had been worried that there was further damage done to the optic nerve because of the shunt malfunction. Dr. Bachinsky got a good look at it, and thank God that was not the case! Finally, Dr. Bachinsky gave us a prescription for glasses to fill if we want to. Shelby is far sighted, so they could possibly help her see better. We'll probably try them out, because we want to help her vision as much as we can, but honestly, I don't think she'll keep them on her head.

One more thing, Shelby has started crawling! A week and a half ago, Trip looked over and the little stinker was crawling upright on her arms like it was nothing at all. We couldn't believe it. Anyway, she has been doing that more and more and we are tickled to death. The weight bearing (especially on her left hand/arm) is so good for her! We are trying to get some issues straightened out with our insurance company so that we can increase Shelby's OT and PT and begin another round of constraint therapy soon.

Open House at Shelby's school Thursday night.

Sleepover party

2011-09-24T08:38:00.001-04:00

Last night, we watched Harding's buddies' Isaac and Haven while their parents (who live across the street and next-door) enjoyed a Friday night out, without their kids. It is probably safe to say that Harding and Shelby go to sleep earlier than any of the other kids in our neighborhood (since we have to wake up so early). Anyway, we told Harding that he could stay up late with his friends last night and watch a movie. He was so excited, but just couldn't do it. These pictures were taken at 9 pm...the movie wasn't even halfway over.

Passed out...good thing Haven and Isaac aren't into pranking yet!

I'm behind the couch holding Shelby up for this picture. She stayed awake for all of the festivities. :)

Back to school transition

2011-09-24T08:02:00.000-04:00

Harding, Shelby, Trip, and I have been back to our fall school schedule since mid-August. There have been more than a few bumps in the road in our month of transitions, but we are slowly getting in to the groove of things.

Harding has returned to his old school that he attended before Shelby was born for Pre-K. He calls it his "new-old school" and has settled in really well. He has made new friends and become re-acquainted with old ones, is learning new things every day, loves his teacher (Ms. Kim), and is excited about everything but nap time. It is really neat to watch him learn his letters and write his name...I know that in the next year or so he will be reading and I am beyond excited about that huge step in his development and learning. It is hard for me to believe that he will be in kindergarten next year, where has the time gone?

Thankfully, Shelby did not have much of a transition this year. She is in the same early head start classroom at the same preschool she attended last year, with the exact same teachers and students. We are so happy with her school situation and thrilled that she gets one more year there. Shelby makes it clear to all of us that she absolutely loves school. Any time we put on her orthotics and shoes, she says "school" in hopes that we are headed that way. She talks about her teachers (Tara, Eduard, and Marilyn) constantly. She also mentions her favorite classmates, Taj and Zaraina regularly. In the week after Shelby's surgery, my mom and mother-in-law would take Shelby to school for circle time, because she obviously missed being there. Barbara told me that when they got there and she put Shelby down, Shelby took off immediately for her favorite shelf of musical instruments, and then all the kids surrounded her and were covering her with hugs and kisses. I wish I could have seen it. I worry sometimes about her being the only non-walker there, but with three teachers and seven classmates that all know her and love her, I know she is in good hands.

This year, Trip is taking both kids to school. It is nice for me, but really tough on Trip. Getting two kids out of the house and to their respective schools is no easy feat. Most days we've got it down though. From 5:30 to 6:50 when I walk out the door, he and I are working together to get ourselves ready, and then the kids dressed and fed. As I leave the house, Trip is beginning Shelby's morning therapy routine. Trip also meets Shelby's various therapists and vision teacher at her school a couple days in the week to work with Shelby. Also, on evenings when I have class, Trip puts the kids to bed by himself. Yes, he is wonderful!

I have had a pretty smooth back-to-school transition this fall. I'm working with a great team of teachers and our group of students is delightful. The tough part is coordinating being a working mom with all of Shelby's after-school specialist and therapy appointments AND my graduate classes. Unfortunately, I decided to take two this semester. Huge mistake! I realized after Shelby's surgery that two classes was way too much, but there is no going back now. I'm trying my best to stay afloat and not be too hard on myself, but I am unfortunately not superwoman (the state of our house attests to that fact). It would be safe to say that I am more than a little stressed, but I have learned my lesson and will not be taking so much on next semester.

Since our schedule is so insane, I am once again incredibly thankful for my parents and Trip's parents who help us out in innumerable ways. We could not do it without them, and are blessed to have them close by.

One week post surgery

2011-09-15T21:09:00.000-04:00

Shelby is pretty much back to her old self one-week after her shunt revision. She is elbow crawling all over the place, talking up a storm, trying to pull up on furniture, demanding that her favorite songs be sung (with the proper hand motions, mind you) and continuing to keep us on our toes in terms of supervision.

We went to the pediatrician today (Dr. Love) for a general post-surgery check-up. Both incision sites are healing nicely, and Shelby now has clearance to return to PT, OT, and preschool. She'll resume those activities next week. The only difference we have noticed in Shelby since the shunt malfunction is her eyes. They are far more "jiggly" than they were before and they seem to get stuck upwards from time to time. Her brain was under pressure and the ventricles were enlarged during the shunt malfunction, so I am assuming the eyes may have been affected. I have emailed Dr. Grant (her neurosurgeon) about this and Dr. Love suggested I also contact Shelby's ophthalmologist as well. Possibly all this will go back to normal as the new shunt does its thing. I am really hoping Shelby's vision hasn't been affected by the shunt malfunction...time will tell.

This experience was scary for sure, but not unexpected. Shunts can stop working for various reasons at any time. Now that we have one shunt revision under out belts, I feel like we know what to look for in terms of symptoms, and we won't question ourselves as much the next time this happens. We are hoping that Shelby will have this shunt for a really long time though. Thanks so much for your continued thoughts and prayers! We felt very loved and supported last week!

Shelbs doing "the elbow crawl".

Trying to pull up (she needs to be using lefty though).

She is obsessed with cars and trucks and says "vroom vroom" as she pushes them. Love it!

Superboy and his trusty sidekick

2011-09-15T06:56:00.001-04:00

Harding's interests are quite varied right now. He still loves his trains, but is no longer obsessed with them. He is becoming interested in Star Wars, which is interesting to me, because he hasn't ever seen the movies (notice the Darth Vader hoodie that he is wearing above). The superhero obsession continues in full force though. He wants to put on his cape as soon as he wakes in the morning, and begs us to let him wear it to school. He is constantly tying shirts around Bailey's neck so that the super doggie can have her cape as well. Bailey is not excited about her new role, but every respectable superhero needs to have a sidekick!

Sassy new 'do!

2011-09-12T12:26:00.000-04:00

Post-surgery, Shelby is sassier than ever. Now she has a haircut to go with her attitude!

Mommy won't be torturing her with pigtails and braids for a few months which is a bonus as far as Shelby is concerned.

Thanks to the talented Tena at Ananda in Asheville. She does a great job cutting a moving target's hair. Shelby was a bit scared at first, but once she realized that Tena wasn't there to poke or prod her with needles, she did really well. And as Tena told me, the asymmetrical cut is in, so Shelby is at the height of fashion. :)

Home sweet home!

2011-09-11T07:37:00.003-04:00

We got home yesterday afternoon and Shelby and I are so glad to be back here with Harding and Trip. On the morning after Shelby's surgery, she was still only content burrowed into my arms. By that evening, she was trying to crawl across the hospital bed, demanding her toys and her ipad, and just generally raising hell. I am so glad that my cousin Katy was there with us to help me keep Shelby entertained. Anytime the door would open to our room after a soft knock, Shelby would get really still and say, "Oh, shoot." Yep, back to her old self! She learned really quickly what people were there to play with her and what people were there to mess with her. Anytime medical personnel came into the door, she would burrow into me again trying to hide and I can't say I blame her. Yesterday morning was spent waiting around for all the paperwork and procedures to be complete that would allow us to be discharged. As we were walking out of the peds floor and the hospital itself around mid-day, Shelby alternated between saying and waving, "bye bye" and shouting, "hooray". It was pretty cute! When we got home, she went right for all of her favorite toys and was elbow crawling slowly all over the place playing with them. In the past few weeks, she had mostly resorted to commando crawling with her belly dragging across the floor. I don't know if that is because her shunt was slowly failing or if she preferred that faster travel mode. Now she is back on her elbows with her belly off the floor. I am relieved about this because the neurosurgeon told us her abdomen would be pretty sore for awhile (she has an incision there too). That's all for now, I want to get some snuggle time in with Harding while Shelby and Trip are still sleeping. I'll try to put some pictures up later today though. P.S. Shelby has a haircut appointment scheduled for Monday morning.

Surgery, Recovery, etc

2011-09-09T04:57:00.003-04:00

Shelby was sleepy and subdued all day yesterday, but her sassiness came out anytime a nurse had to mess with her. She actually won the catheter battle with two nurses--shocking them (but not me) with her strength. We waited a long time for an available OR yesterday, and they finally got Shelby in around 3:50 in the afternoon. The surgery went well. The catheter part of the valve in Shelby's old shunt was completely blocked and there was fluid back-up in other parts of the shunt so they decided to replace the whole thing to be safe. The new shunt is similar to the old one, but it has a non-syphoning valve that is better for standing upright since Shelby is moving in that direction developmentally.

Shelby is a bit sleepy, and obviously in some pain but has managed to sleep most of the night. She has been drinking water and eating bites of applesauce. We'll try something more filling later today. She keeps pulling at her bandages, and I think that might continue as she regains strength. Also, she has a new haircut, where they shaved around the incision that I am trying to not get too sad about. She needed this surgery and everything went well, that is the important thing--hair grows.

Trip just left to go back to Asheville. He is out of vacation time (thanks to three days of jury duty last week) and we didn't want another day without pay. Plus Harding will probably appreciate him being home tonight. My cousin Katy, who lives here in Durham is coming to keep me company (and help occupy Shelby) today. If Shelby continues to do well, she will be discharged tomorrow and we can go home. I am looking forward to a return to normalcy, although Shelby can't go back to school for 2 weeks. Thanks to everyone for the prayers, thoughts, phone calls, texts, and emails. They help so much!

Here at Duke awaiting surgery

2011-09-08T04:52:00.003-04:00

After a series of unexplained calamities that kept us from getting out of Asheville (we are not happy with our experience at the Mission ER), we were finally transported via ambulance to Duke Medical Center. We arrived around 1:30 a.m. and Shelby was assessed and monitored (she is stable but has some irregular heartbeat stuff going on) while the chief peds neurosurgeon did an emergency surgery on another two-year-old. Dr. Fuchs is napping now till the daytime OR folks show up at 6:30. They are going to try to work Shelby's shunt revision in wherever they can find a spot sometime this morning. Trip is napping with Shelby in her bed right now and I will try to nap as well as soon as I eat these crackers the nurse just brought me. We feel good about the care that Shelby is receiving now and am so glad we're finally at Duke. Will update when she comes out of surgery.

Shunt malfunction

2011-09-07T17:52:00.000-04:00

Bad news...we are at the Asheville ER awaiting helicopter transport to Duke Hospital. It appears that Shelby's shunt is failing. She will most likely be having a shunt revision surgery sometime tonight. We will update when we can but in the meantime please keep Shelbs in your prayers!

Harding Randoms

2011-08-21T09:40:00.007-04:00

No more pictures mom!

Making homemade pizza.

angry birds + lincoln logs = AWESOME!

Post chocolate ice cream cone beard:

Watch out for the fierce skeleton dragon!

Beach Trip #2

2011-08-21T07:43:00.017-04:00

We went to Holden Beach with the Mattice side of the family at the end of August, and it was a great way to relax, reconnect, stuff ourselves with yummy food, and say goodbye to summer vacation! I especially loved watching Harding, Shelby and Riley playing....they are already kindling their cousin love for each other!

This is what our daily beach camp looked like. The kiddie pool was key to keeping Riley and Shelby happy.
The surf fishing was phenomenal and Harding was allowed to reel in several fish.

Part of one day's catch. We also caught several small sharks and didn't keep them. Pretty creepy what you share the ocean with when you are swimming!

End of the week feast from the fish that we had caught. Plus green beans and tomato pie! We had a lot of fun with the lazy susan on this big table.
Harding and Riley making cookies with my mom.
Shelby getting some snuggle time with Cambridge.
Harding became quite attached to this feather and used it to draw several pictures in the sand.
Sadly, this is one of our better attempts at a picture of all three of the kids.
Being silly with Nana.
This is Harding's take on a sand flea.

BeBe, Papa, and all the Young'ins.
The whole crew!

The Elbow Crawl

2011-08-05T07:48:00.003-04:00

Shelby has learned to how to crawl, on elbows and knees, with her BELLY OFF THE GROUND. She's been working towards it all summer and I knew it was only a matter of time. Here is the video that my sister took of her earlier this week, please excuse the blaring Fleetwood Mac music in the background as well as my sister's exuberant cheers (we're at the beach).

Shelby is getting faster at this crawling every day....I'm so excited for her and can't wait to see what's next!

Gwynn's Island

2011-08-02T15:30:00.011-04:00

Wow, is it really already August already? My friend Laura and I are both school teachers and were talking about how August can feel like a perpetual Sunday if you let it (you know that sinking feeling that the weekend is about to end)? Anyway, I am determined not to feel that way. Its really not that hard right now, since we're at Holden Beach with my family having a great time. But more about that later.

Rewind to July--a couple weeks ago my mom and I traveled to the Chesapeake Bay with the kids to stay at my Aunt Dearing's house on Gwynn's Island with Dearing, my cousin Kate, and her daughter, Allie Grace. We had so much fun enjoying the water, good food, chick flicks, and each other's company. Harding spent most of his time playing with the dogs by the water and trying to get Allie Grace to laugh at him, which she did a lot. Shelby was content to play in the kiddie pool by the water. These pictures are all from Kate's camera.

Shelby cackling:

Serious little Allie Grace:

Mom and Dearing (scary how much they resemble one another):

Harding throwing the ball for Muddy:

A gorgeous full moon on the island:

Thanks Dearing!

Shelby - various updates

2011-07-26T21:51:00.006-04:00

Shelby's been a busy girl this summer. She has seen her various doctors (all 5 of them), had a CT Scan, an EEG, and kept up her regular appointments with her three therapists. I have talked about her self-feeding milestones, but she has made significant progress in other areas as well. As Beth, her PT said today, this has been a summer of awakening.

Shelby had an EEG done before going to the neurologist at the end of June. Dr. Poplawski was pleased with the EEG, as compared to the one she had back in December. The Dec. 2010 EEG showed epileptiform discharges on both sides of her brain. The one in June showed less frequent discharges, and only on the right side of her brain. We decided to keep her Keppra levels the same.

Our physical therapist and orthopaedist decided that Shelby was ready for orthotics, so she was fitted for Cascade A.F.O's in June. Shelby is wearing them most of the day now, and it has been fine. They help with her stability and she is tolerating the standing position more and holding her left foot in a better position with them on. So far we have been pleased.

We had Shelby's 2-year well visit with the pediatrician a couple weeks ago. She is still in the 3rd percentile for weight at 22 lbs, but is now in almost the 75th percentile for height at 34 and a half inches. Since she has been eating so well, we are not nearly as concerned about her feeding intake. Dr. Love said she will probably be tall and thin like her dad. He was especially impressed with Shelby's language skills, which are pretty much on target for her age. It feels really good to be able to say that she is "on schedule" for something developmentally.

On a much lighter note, I was able to get Shelby to sit still long enough to french braid her hair this morning for the first time ever. She looked adorable:

And lastly, Shelby seems to be in a really good place with her therapists right now. We had a rough spring as far as therapy goes...Shelby seemed to shut down and resist any of her therapists efforts. Thankfully, she has done great with PT and ST this summer. I had mentioned that she started with a new OT recently. He is enthusiastic and has plenty of ideas and Shelby seems to like him, but the two of them have been engaging in a power struggle that has held up progress--you know how stubborn she is! Today we did a joint session with PT and OT and we had a breakthrough. Shelby did great, and the entire hour was actually fun for everyone involved as you can see from the pictures below:
Two different times, Shelby started to pull up by herself at Harding's train table. I hope to see more of that in the near future!
The nice thing about having the summer off (besides being able to go on multiple vacations) is that I have been able to be at all of Shelby's therapy sessions. She has come a long way this summer, and I feel like we are in a good place going into this school year. We'll be doing some type of modified constraint therapy in the fall and I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll do with leftie then.

Self-feeding

2011-07-20T12:46:00.005-04:00

True to form, Shelby is highly resistant of my summer project for her, and has decided to develop a project of her own. On Sunday night when Trip had finished brushing her teeth, Shelby grabbed the toothbrush from him and started brushing them herself. We talked about it that night and wondered if she would do the same thing with a spoon.

Sure enough, Shelby started grabbing the spoon from us and feeding herself the next day. Since then, she has started to take the spoon and dip it into the food on her own! If you have ever watched Trip or me feed Shelby, then you know what a frustrating and laborious process it can be, but it feels like there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. She even is doing better with textures and the speech therapist thinks that Shelby is beginning to chew. Well done Shelby!

Summer projects....kid edition.

2011-07-18T15:35:00.007-04:00

Shelby's Project: Eye Patching

Shelby's ophthalmologist suggested that we start patching Shelby's stronger right eye for two hours a day to strengthen the left eye (this is the exact same concept as the constraint induced therapy casting of her arm). Poor girl! This infuriates her and so far, the longest amount of time I've been able to keep the patch on her is 30 minutes. I can distract her for a little while with the ipad and her favorite toys, but then she remembers the patch and attempts to rip it off (which I know hurts). Then I move to things I don't normally let her mess with, like my cell phone or our computer. I'm hoping to build up to the full two hours of patching in the next couple weeks.

Harding's project - Swimming

Harding has taken swim lessons several times, but due to lack of regular exposure to the pool after his lessons, he hasn't been able to stay completely comfortable in the water. This summer, we joined a pool and are working on teaching Harding to swim in earnest. Here he is below with my mom and my niece Riley:

Beach Week #1 Complete

2011-07-04T18:57:00.018-04:00

We've been "off the grid" for the past week as we vacationed with the Kinnaird clan on Folly Beach outside of Charleston. It was lovely.

Indeed :)

John and Barb
My sweet babies and me.
Harding loved catching waves in the shallow surf and couldn't stop grinning.

Don't let this picture fool you, Shelby is cutting molars right now and wasn't an angel the entire trip. But she did settle in to the beach life towards the end.
Obligatory picture of all four John Harding Kinnairds. Harding was the only one cooperating.

I can finally get Harding to pose for pictures...now if he would just teach his sister.
Harding poses with Uncle Matt, Aunt Ash, and his future cousin here. The newest Kinnaird addition will arrive in December.
The whole gang on the Folly Pier.
Harding spent a great deal of time getting Grandpa Kinnaird to read to him.

Low Country Boil....yum!

I love that they are making the same face here.

Trip trying to get a fussy Shelby to nap in the hammock. I love the effect of the fogged up camera.

Hydrocephalus 101 Video

2011-06-25T18:27:00.004-04:00

A friend emailed me the link to this video from Children's Hospital Boston. It has a really excellent explanation (complete with drawings) of hydrocephalus and the different treatments that are available. Check it out if you are interested: http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1116/mainpageS1116P0.html.

Simple and Delicious

2011-06-23T13:21:00.005-04:00

Butter + Marshmallows + Rice Krispies = Rice Krispies Treats

Yummy Sticky Goodness.

Harding is a huge fan!

New OT

2011-06-16T10:43:00.003-04:00

Shelby started last week with her new occupational therapist, Adam. Here they are practicing holding on to the swing with leftie. She was getting pretty good at it by the end of the session, and she and I have continued to work on it together throughout the week. I'm hoping to see some significant progress this summer with OT, PT, and feeding since I'll have much more time to re-enforce concepts outside of therapy.

Weekend Getaway/Neurosurgeon Check-up

2011-06-13T17:45:00.005-04:00

We've just returned home from a fun weekend in Raleigh/Durham. Shelby had a cat-scan this morning and we saw Dr. Grant afterward. He said that her brain looks exactly the same as it did in December and the shunt is working fine. That is just fine with us!

To make this trip about more than doctor's visits, we traveled on Saturday to Carrboro to hang out with my college buddy Kristin and her boyfriend Dave. They took us to their neighborhood park and entertained Harding and Shelby for us. We were going to have a picnic dinner Saturday evening with them, but there were severe thunderstorms, so we hung out on their porch instead. We spent Saturday and Sunday night with my mom's cousin Fran in Raleigh (who is the best hostess ever) and really enjoyed spending time with her and her daughter Meredith. We also visited my cousin Katy and Aunt Nora on Sunday, went swimming, ate some delicious eastern NC barbecue, and toured the NC Museum of Life and Science (pictures below). It was great catching up with friends and family this weekend and since school ended on Friday, this was a wonderful way to start out summer break.

Right now, Harding and Trip are building an elaborate train track together, Shelby is re-acquainting herself with her favorite toys on the floor, and I'm about to start my first book of the summer. Life is good!

School's Out for the Summer!

2011-06-10T06:04:00.012-04:00

Who is ready for summer?

They are! (Swinging at the Chromey's house across the street).

Harding is! (Playing in the creek at the park in Montreat).

They are! (Chowing down on fruit, chips, and chicken nuggets at Shelby's birthday party).

Shelby is! (Swinging at her birthday party in Montreat).

They are! (Going for a ride on the Kubota at our land Saturday afternoon).

They are! (Aubrey serenading us while Shelby scoots around).

Shelby is! (Girlfriend loves to swing).

Last weekend truly felt like summer to me. We had a wonderful, carefree weekend full of being outside and hanging out with dear friends. But really, summer officially begins for us this afternoon since today is the last day of school. I am so looking forward to it!

Appointment Rounds

2011-06-08T21:43:00.002-04:00

Shelby just turned 2, so that means we have had check-ups with her various doctors in the past few weeks and there will be a couple more this summer. Here's a quick run-down of the one's we have had so far:

Orthopedist:
Asheville finally got a pediatric orthopedist at the children's hospital, so we decided to try her out (versus traveling to Shelby's previous doctor in Charlotte)--especially since Shelby's hip dysplasia is a minor concern. We liked Dr. Hooker and will continue to see her. They did x-rays and one side of Shelby's hip still shows borderline dysplasia so we are to continue with the hip abducation brace at night. Dr. Hooker also wrote a prescription for A.F.O. braces for Shelby's feet and she was fitted for them last Friday. They should come in in a couple of weeks.

Ophthalmologist:
Shelby did the visual accuity test and scored really low: 20/2700. Trip and I know she sees better than that. The doctor assured us that these tests are not accurate, especially when they are done on two year olds. Shelby was just fussy and not the least bit interested in looking at the black and white cards. Once Shelby is cognitively able to identify pictures, we'll get a much better idea what and how much she sees. It is obvious she is seeing a lot though, which is amazing to behold! Dr. Bachinsky said eventually Shelby will get glasses to protect her eyes and magnify things, but not yet. We also may look at doing surgery to correct her strabismus (eye crossing) at some point, but not yet since both eyes cross at times but not consistently. Dr. Bachinsky feels that Shelby's right eye is stronger than her left one (no surprise there), so we are going to start patching the right eye a couple hours a day in order to strengthen the left one (this is the same concept as contraint induced therapy for her right arm).

New Occupational Therapist:
We met Shelby's new OT on Monday for an initial evaluation. I am optimistic about working with him. He is a recent graduate, has many new ideas, and seems very enthusiastic. He also has experience working with people who are visually impaired. I liked how he came right in and instead of chatting with me, crawled under the table to greet Shelby and get to know her. She immediately called him "Matt" even though his name is Adam which is a good sign because Uncle Matt is one of Shelby's all-time favorite people. Some of our goals for OT include using her hands for bilateral play, learning to use a spoon for self-feeding, opening up the fist on her left hand, and increasing the use of that left hand. Adam has his work cut out for him because Shelby has her own ideas about what she wants to do during therapy.

We head to Duke on Monday for a CT scan and an appointment with Dr. Grant (the neurosurgeon). We'll see the pediatrician and neurologist in July.

Nice picture of the two of us

2011-06-06T22:13:00.002-04:00

My mom snapped this picture of Trip and me at a friend's wedding we attended a couple weekends ago. Even though we were looking into the sun, its the best picture I have seen of the two of us in a long time.

Look for updates on Shelby soon....we've been slammed with various appointments and evaluations lately and there is much to share.

Two Years Old!

2011-06-05T07:47:00.003-04:00

Two years ago today, it was Shelby's due date, my water had broken around 6 a.m., and we were checked-in to the hospital, walking the halls, breathing through contractions, excited about meeting our baby girl. She came on schedule around 6 that evening and our lives have never been the same since. She is beautiful, sassy, and amazing and we love her so much. This morning Harding, Trip, and I woke Shelby up singing "Happy Birthday". Today we will do all of Shelby's favorite things, including snuggling, singing the wheels on the bus repeatedly, reading lots of books, swinging at the park, and splashing in the swimming pool. Happy birthday Shelby Frances!

Anniversary Breakfast!

2011-06-04T07:30:00.004-04:00

Six years ago, I married my best friend. I love him for so many different reasons--one of them being his ability to put together beautiful and tasty dishes like the one above. This was Trip's take on Sunny Point Cafe's Huevos Rancheros. He very appropriately surprised me with these this morning. During the short pre-kids period of our marriage, we would eat breakfast at Sunny Point every weekend. That habit became less convenient after Harding was born. I'm enjoying lounging around the house in pajamas with the whole family this morning though. Don't worry, we've got a kid-less weekend planned for later in the month when things aren't so crazy. But for now, we have to get ready for Shelby's birthday party which is today.

Sippy Cup - Check!

2011-05-18T10:35:00.001-04:00

We have a lot of goals we are working on with Shelby right now (drinking by herself, eating solid foods, feeding herself, pulling up, standing, crawling, walking, more use of her left arm, vision, etc). With that much going on, it can be hard to dedicate enough time to any one goal. As a result it seems like she progresses in each area, but achieving the actual goal can take a long time. That makes it really nice when we can accomplish one of our goals, and then focus more time on other areas.

I really believe that Shelby is physically capable of achieving many of our listed goals, but pretty much just does them when she is good and ready. For example, yesterday, Shelby decided it would be a good idea to start drinking from a sippy cup on her own. Again, she has been physically able to lift a cup to her mouth for quite a while now, but never showed any desire in (indeed resisted) drinking on her own. But now she does it like it's no big deal.

We also think she's close to a few of her other goals like pulling up consistently, and crawling on hands and knees. I am sure one day we will find her doing both of those like she's been doing it for months.

Pictures to follow.

shunt confusion

2011-05-09T13:02:00.005-04:00

Last night was interesting. Shelby went to sleep at 7:30 as usual. Around 9:30, she woke up screaming, wailing, and thrashing around with this weird high-pitched cry. This continued for a couple hours. She seemed exhausted, but completely out of sorts, and we could do nothing to console her. What really had us worried though, was the odd high pitched scream in the middle of her constant crying. Dr. Grant had told us that was one sign of shunt malfunction, so I called Duke Children's and spoke to the neurosurgeon on-call. He could hear her clearly over the phone and said that we should go to the ER in case the shunt was failing. Trip and I ran around the house packing a bag for Shelby and me, and I stuck her in the car and headed to the hospital. As soon as the car started moving, Shelby quit crying and seemed to calm down...I pulled her onto my lap when we got to the hospital trying to figure out what to do. She seemed fine and was even talking and giving me kisses. After a quick phone conversation with Trip, I buckled Shelby back in her car seat and drove home, thinking I could easily head back if she freaked out again. I feel like I know Shelby pretty well and am learning to distinguish between sickness and a shunt malfunction. We don't get as nervous when she vomits or runs a fever these days, but last night's episode has us scratching our heads. I stayed home with her today, and she thankfully seems fine. We head to Duke for a check-up with Dr. Grant on June 13th, and I'll be relieved when we get the results of the CT scan we'll do that day.

Mother's Day weekend shenannigans

2011-05-08T18:39:00.012-04:00

These two are always happiest in the morning, in their pj's, bed head and all.

Partners in crime:

Harding: "Shelby, you play and I'll sing." :)

Family shot after H's Saturday morning soccer game:

Not my best, but too cute of Shelby not to include:

What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I feel blessed beyond measure to be a mama to my two sweet angels, and to have such a great mom and mother-in-law myself. Mom and Barbara, who are referred to by their grandbabies as "BeBe and MoMo" have helped Trip and me in countless ways since we became parents (especially in the past two years) and enrich the lives of Harding and Shelby. I know we couldn't do it without them. We love you!

Control is an Illusion

2011-05-01T17:23:00.012-04:00

I am a planner. I like being in control and knowing how things will turn out. I usually know on Monday exactly what we will be doing the following weekend. Control is an illusion for any parent--I found this out the hard way two days after Shelby was born when we got the results of her MRI. A very influential person in my life reminded me that there is only one keeper when I was having a tough time dealing with this lack of control, and it has helped me a great deal. Coming to grips with the unknowns in Shelby's future is a constant struggle for me, the control freak. Sometimes I get caught up in worry about whether Shelby will ever be able to eat normal food, what school will be like for her, or what level of independence she will have as an adult. Praying, giving myself over to the reality that I am not really in control, that God can handle it much better than I can, and staying in the present with this delightful girl who amazes me every single day are the things that sustain me through those times of fear.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T16:29:00.014-04:00

A rabbit delivered baskets of goodies sometime last night, the kids have on spiffy church clothes, our bellies are stuffed from eating for two days, we've spent time with family, we've gone to church, eggs have been hunted (three times), and it is a gorgeous spring day outside. What a wonderful Easter weekend!

Intent on the hunt:

Success!

Shelby "stepping".

Happy Easter!

Our Spring Break in pictures

2011-04-17T17:03:00.035-04:00

Prepare yourselves. This is a lengthy one. Here's what we've been up to:

Hanging out in our pajamas till mid-morning.

Getting some work done on our land. See http://www.kinnairdsfolly.blogspot.com/ for pictures.

Meeting our buddies to play at the park. Driving to Virginia to visit Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins Learning how to drive a tractor there:

Supervising the tractor driving with my cousin Samuel:Snuggling with Uncle Stephen and Aunt Cambridge: More snuggles with cousin Allie Grace: Meeting friends at Maymont Park in Richmond (Mo and Oia from Unexpected Lessons).

Harding and Oia were like two peas in a pod. They played nonstop, giving Mo and I plenty of time to chat. Maymont has an indoor nature center with river otters. Shelby was in the midst of throwing a major tantrum when she noticed them and finally settled down to get acquainted with one:

Otter kisses?It was nice to finally meet Mo and Oia in person....we've been communicating through email and following each other's blogs for awhile now. I'm glad to know them and was thrilled that Harding and Oia hit it off.

There were tornado watches and severe thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, but then the sun came out in the evening and Harding was inspired by the puddles between Dearing's and Stephen and Cambridge's houses. Muddy joined in on the fun (living up to his name, maybe). These two were babies at the same time. Maybe they still share that bond. Harding, Shelby and I have had a wonderful week together. We missed Trip (who was saving his vacation time for this summer) and it is great to be home now. I'm sad the break is over though...back to the grind tomorrow. But summer is just around the corner and I'll have two whole months to hang out with my family nonstop then. I love this one of Harding running down my Aunt Dearing's driveway....he really had the best time staying there (as did I).

Y Soccer

2011-04-11T08:32:00.005-04:00

Harding is playing soccer for the YMCA this spring. This is his first venture with organized sports, and the first game was on Saturday. We figured soccer would be a good sport to start with since he loves to run around and since Harding has been watching Trip play on Sunday afternoons since he was a baby. The first game went about how we expected it would. I think he had fun, which is the important thing.

Here are the Batmen huddled together after scoring a goal for the other team:

Harding pretty much kept a commentary going with us as we watched from the sidelines the entire game. He wanted our reassurance of what he was supposed to do, asking questions like, "So its okay to take the ball from the yellow team, right?". Here he is demonstrating his batman skills. He takes the team name a little too seriously.

At this point, all the players were at the other goal and Harding says, "Hey look at me Daddy, I'm a helicoptor." Not Trip's proudest moment, but it was hilarious just the same.

Other memorable moments included Harding running off his field in the middle of the game and onto his buddy Derek's field in the middle of their game to play with him. He didn't quite understand about staying within the lines. We quickly bribed Harding with ice cream if he finished out the game.

Here H is with teammate and family friend Sofi after the game.

We delivered on our promise of post-game ice cream. They both chose chocolate.

Spring randoms

2011-04-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Daddy and his princess.

Cute kiddos.

Harding got to camp on the floor in our room when there were severe thunderstorm warnings last week. He was thrilled to have Bailey join him.

Couldn't resist this one. He may kill me when he learns to use the internet and sees that I have posted this. The Spidey obsession continues....

Granny, Papa Gene, and Ethel

2011-04-10T17:57:00.010-04:00

We stopped by Granny and Papa Gene's house in Decatur on the way home from Atlanta. Harding wanted to show off his new bubble gun to Papa Gene.

As well as his jumping skills:

And flying skills:

We made one more stop in North Georgia on the way home at my college roommate's parents' house. Amanda was there for a visit and we dropped in at chicken feeding time, which Harding is still talking about. This is Ethel eating...

She even let Harding pet her.

Ethel and her friends let us take home a dozen of their yummy eggs:

I don't know why I didn't get a picture of Amanda and me, but it was really good to see her and catch up briefly (she lives in Seattle so we don't get to hang out often).

Riley is 1!

2011-04-08T16:42:00.000-04:00

I just went through the pictures on my camera card and realized that I never posted pictures I had intended to back in March. It has been a crazy month, with me taking mid-terms, Shelby being pretty sick for an extended period of time (thank goodness she is finally better), and all the OT stuff. Shelby had a severe cold the weekend of Riley's 1st birthday party, so Trip stayed in Asheville and snuggled with her while Harding and I made the trek to Atlanta by ourselves. It was a great party (with everything a one-year-old could want).

Riley wore the same snazzy outfit that Shelby wore to her first birthday party.

She learned how to properly eat a cupcake from an expert.

She got to hang out with her doting Aunt Tiff.

And there was bubble fun with her two older boy cousins.

It was a great day, and I was glad that Harding and I were able to be there for all the festivities. Love this sweet little girl.

OT woes...

2011-04-08T08:18:00.003-04:00

So for a while now, I have been thinking that Shelby's occupational therapist wasn't the best fit for our family. She (through no fault of her own) doesn't have the schedule flexibility to meet with us at home in the afternoons or on weekends. Around the time of Shelby's three weeks of constraint therapy, our service coordinator began looking for other OT options for us. Another pediatric OT with constraint therapy experience and an excellent reputation had a spot that was opening up in mid-March and we decided that we would make the switch to her. Then at the last minute, Trip and I changed our minds because we felt we hadn't given Shelby's current OT (who we like personally and who Shelby responds well to) a fair shot. We communicated our needs and wishes to her and she agreed to work with Shelby at home once a month in the afternoons when I could be there. Then last week we found out that she was drastically reducing her contract hours and would only be available to work with Shelby once a week at 12:30 (right smack in the middle of nap time). I frantically called the OT whose available spot we had just turned down and it was already filled. Not only that, but there are no OTs that contract through early intervention who have openings right now in our area. So now Shelby is left without occupational therapy at all during a time when she desperately needs it. She is using her left hand and arm more than ever and I would like her to continue to make strides. We're in the process of trying to get her some OT appointments through the hospital and hopefully there will be an opening soon through early intervention. I will never again hesitate to follow my gut when it comes to making decisions for my children. Lesson learned, but I hate that it was at Shelby's expense. Also, if you are exploring career options right now, I suggest becoming an OT. They are certainly not hurting for work in this economy!

Shorts in March!

2011-03-19T08:30:00.003-04:00

It has been unseasonably warm lately and we can't get enough of being outside. Harding looked especially dapper in his shorts last Sunday, so I snapped a few pictures of him in front of the daffodils before the four of us headed on to church.

CIT Recap and recent "inchstones"

2011-03-18T19:40:00.008-04:00

I've finally recovered enough from the three and a half weeks of constraint induced therapy to write about it. The good news is that Shelby made significant progress with her left arm and hand. She did not gain supination or learn how to hold things, but her arm got much stronger. She learned how to use the left arm for support and she started reaching up and touching objects with her left hand. The really neat thing that happened as a result of casting is that Shelby now knows how to purposefully isolate her left hand. Even two weeks out of casting, if we ask her to turn a page or touch my nose with "lefty" she can do it. We still have the cast and plan to use it during OT sessions in the near future.

In other news, Shelby has all the sudden become interested in walking. We can hold her hands and stand behind her and she will take steps across the room--grinning the entire way. She has even cruised a tiny bit while standing in front of the couch. This is exciting, but she still has to figure out how to pull herself up to a stand. We'll be working on that in PT.

Therapy is a challenge these days with our stubborn, independent, and willful Shelby Frances. She likes to do things on her own terms and she doesn't want any help. She has started to throw major tantrums when she thinks we (as in mommy, daddy, grandparents, therapists) are trying to "help". I guess this is typical for her age. At any rate, we measure progress in inchstones around here and all of Shelby's recent accomplishments are incredible!

2011-03-12T08:07:00.012-05:00

Life has been way busy for us lately and we haven't taken the time to blog it. I'll try to catch up over the next week, but in the meantime here are some pictures for the greatgrandparents (and any other readers out there) to enjoy.

My crazy haired girl and Spiderman being cute and sweet this Saturday morning:

This one is from last weekend. Harding is in this costume whenever we let him and insists on being addressed as "Spiderman" while wearing it.

A couple weekends ago, we went hiking with the Gillilands. Derek and Harding had a great time taking turns being first. Harding had his walking stick and Derek had his camelback and they were cute together. Four-year-olds are much more cooperative when it comes to posing for pictures.

Spring is just around the corner and I am ready for more hikes and camping with the kids!

TGIF!

2011-02-25T20:19:00.004-05:00

It is Friday night and we're all so glad the weekend is here! Harding got a haircut this afternoon, asked the stylist to fix his hair "crazy", and was quite full of himself when Trip took this picture. Shelby was in a silly giggly mood all evening. Looking forward to a couple days home with these precious kids....

what happened to my baby?

2011-02-23T17:21:00.004-05:00

Shelby's teacher emailed me these pictures of her on the playground this afternoon. Where did our baby go? She looks like such a big girl here!

And check out the use of her left hand.

random update

2011-02-22T07:49:00.006-05:00

Constraint therapy update:
Shelby has started to use her left arm a whole lot to reach out for things. She has also gotten really good at carrying toys with her mouth, which is not the goal of this therapy. Our girl is resourceful, that is for sure. Shelby still struggles with using her left hand though. Last night, she was reaching out for my father-in-law's glasses, grabbing them, and throwing them on the floor. To the detriment of his glasses, John let her play this game repeatedly, and she got some good practice with grasping. I'm thinking that in the week we have left of constraint therapy, those fine motor skills are going to really develop. I am home with her this morning because a) I really miss her, and b) Beth is coming over for a PT session. Shelby does her best therapy work at home, so I'm hoping we'll have a good session together.

This whole 3-week-casting-with-daily-therapy-appointments thing has gotten me reexamining my priorities. I wish I had more time with Shelby. With the economy in the state that it is in, I know that we are incredibly blessed. Trip and I both have good jobs and I get excellent health insurance through the state (which is a must with Shelby's medical conditions). Trip's job has enough flexibility that he can go to many of Shelby's weekly therapies. Shelby is at a great school and her teachers and therapists are wonderful. We are blessed to have my parents and Trip's parents nearby--they are always more than willing to help out and we couldn't do it without them.

However, juggling and organizing everything can be exhausting and I really miss my kids. On days when teaching is tough (and let's face it, I teach middle school, there are those days), I long to be with my daughter who has some special needs and would probably benefit from having more time with me. But that is not really an option for us right now. I do know that there are things I can change though. I have realized that teaching full time and taking two graduate classes is WAY too much for me and my family. I will definitely be scaling back on my counseling classes in the future. Until then, I'm taking one day, week, and month at a time, attempting to make the most of the time I do get with the kids, trying not to be too hard on myself, and counting my many blessings.

our "Houdini" girl

2011-02-07T20:24:00.004-05:00

Shelby's little houdini maneuver with the cast has me a bit unraveled! It was tricky to schedule the casting appointment and to get her daily therapies with 2 different OT's and 1 PT set up for the whole three weeks.

The cast went on last Thursday, and she was understandably grumpy and frustrated for the first 24 hours because she couldn't figure out how to sit herself up or commando crawl with her right hand constrained. But the cast did not hold her back for long, and she was moving around at full speed by Sunday. She also stopped fisting her left hand the first day and was using "lefty" to turn the pages in books by day 2.

She started fisting lefty again as soon as the cast was gone, but Trip said she could still turn the pages with that arm tonight. I hate it that some of what we have already accomplished has been reversed and that we have to start this inconvenient and frustrating process over again on Wednesday. Shelby certainly won this battle.

FREEDOM!!!

2011-02-07T18:49:00.002-05:00

With help from a classmate, Shelby liberated herself from her cast today (2 and a half weeks ahead of schedule). This was supposed to be a non-removable cast. So much for that.

Needless to say, she was very pleased with herself, and was in an exceptionally fine mood all day.

We have another appointment on Wednesday to re-cast her.

dinner with the Alexanders

2011-02-06T18:51:00.006-05:00

Trip and Bill were childhood friends. They are still friends today and we are lucky to all live in Asheville together now. Bill's wife, Laura is great and I think it is pretty neat that our kids are becoming friends now too.

Harding and Sofi

All the children ganging up on Uncle Matt

Maya is one of the few kids that Shelby will allow to hold her. Notice the beautiful braid in Maya's hair? A very talented lady did that. ;)

Thanks for a fun evening and delicious dinner Laura and Bill!

Covington visit

2011-02-06T17:49:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, after Saturday school (yuck), we loaded up the car and drove to Covington, GA for the 25th anniversary celebration of Mr. Billy's (a.k.a. the Reverend William B. Wade's) ministry at First Presbyterian Church. It was a whirlwind of a weekend. We had a wonderful dinner at the Wade's on Saturday night and saw many dear friends. We spent the night at the Krieger's and enjoyed catching up with them and watching Harding follow Ian and Anderson all over their house. We went to church Sunday morning, had lunch at my great aunt and uncle's house, then returned to church Sunday afternoon for the Mr. Billy celebration service. I was one of the speakers (along with my sister and my long-time friend Emily) and was incredibly nervous, but we did just fine and it was great being back at our home church and seeing so many people who have been influential in my life. If interested, here is a great article from the Covington News about Mr. Billy:
A quarter-century of service

On the way back, we drove by the house I grew up in to show Harding. It looked beautiful and I was happy to see kids playing basketball in the driveway. I hope they didn't notice me taking pictures from the car. I loved growing up in this house and seeing it brought back some great memories.We also drove by the two houses that Trip grew up in (his parents built both of them on their own), but I couldn't get a good photograph. Good times. What a nostalgic weekend!

MLK Weekend

2011-02-06T17:16:00.005-05:00

I just downloaded pictures off of my camera and realized I have some blog catching up to do. We were supposed to drive down to Atlanta for Chris's birthday, but the whole city was covered in a sheet of ice. So Chris, Grant, and their cute baby Riley brought the party to us and we all spent the night at my mom and dad's house. It was nice relaxing and getting to hang out with sweet Riley. I love being an Aunt!

Here, Harding and Riley helped my mom empty the dishwasher.

Harding's mission in life is to make Riles laugh.
My mom got a train cake pan for Christmas. This was our first attempt at decorating it.
Chris, why don't you guys just move to Asheville? We miss you!

Constraint Therapy, Round 2

2011-02-02T18:22:00.004-05:00

About a year ago, Shelby had 3 weeks of constraint induced therapy (CIT). In layman's terms, a cast was put on her favored right arm to force her brain to learn to use the left arm. It was amazingly successful and Shelby started using her left arm for the first time during that three weeks and continued afterwards. Here are the blog posts we did about it:
http://shelbyfrances.blogspot.com/2010/02/constraint-induced-therapy.html
http://shelbyfrances.blogspot.com/2010/02/constraint-therapy-update.html

Anyway, Trip and I have decided that Shelby is ready to do casting again. Her left arm has gotten stronger and she isn't fisting her left hand nearly as much as she used to. We're hoping to accomplish a couple things through this round of CIT with Shelby: develop some fine motor skills with the left hand and learn how to play bilaterally.

We are really looking forward to seeing Shelby increase her strength and skills with that left arm and hand during the casting period. However, I am not looking forward to dealing with Shelby's frustration and wrath over having the cast on! She can be pretty stubborn.

Oh well, she is ready for this therapy and the cast goes on tomorrow. Shelby will have PT or OT every day during the three week period. We'll keep you updated.

Shelby Frances at 19 Months

2011-01-17T11:30:00.003-05:00

Words she says regularly: mama, dada, and uh uh (which she says any time we try to feed her or fix her hair), yeah, bye bye, BeBe (my mom), mah mah (for my mother-in-law, and pronounced differently than when she is referring to me), Baby (for her baby doll and for our dog, Bailey) Matt (for Uncle Matt), and ah ah (for Aunt Ashlee). Two months ago, the only words she regularly said were mama, dada, and uh uh. Her vocabulary has really increased in the past month and she is particularly drawn to people's names. Harding can't wait to be added to the list of names she says.

Favorite activities: dancing to music (her favorite album is Paul Simon's Graceland), making silly sounds with her mouth, playing peek-a-boo with her "lovie", army-crawling after toys she has thrown, reading books, splashing in the bathtub, snuggling with her favorite people, and pointing at body parts when we say their name.

Favorite toys: Her fish tank that plays music when she puts the three rattle fish inside it (thanks for loaning it cousin Riley, sorry because we will probably never return it) and her piano that MoMo gave her for her first birthday.

Cute things she does: Reaches out to people (even strangers) that she wants to hold her and fusses until they do hold her, sways and reaches up with her right hand to move it to music with a good beat. This is hard to narrow down because pretty much everything she does is adorable.

Things that soothe her when she's upset: Paci, pink lovie, snuggling, people singing to her (especially the song we learned in Kindermusik "Hop Up My Baby")

Favorite foods: yo baby banana and Earth's Best Tender Beef and Spinach baby food (ick), and mashed avocado.

Shelby is the princess of the family and pretty much has everyone wrapped around her little finger. Her older brother adores her and is constantly trying to play with her. He sings to her when she is upset. Shelbs is spunky and sassy and likes to have her way. This "sass" has made things difficult for her physcial, occupational, and speech therapists lately, but I think it will help her with some of the challenges that she faces. She has unmanageable, crazy, curly hair that we are reluctant to cut. Her smile and laughter are infectious and have the power to put anyone in a good mood. We love her so much!

Harding at 4 Years

2011-01-17T11:25:00.003-05:00

Favorite foods: pizza, pancakes, anything with peanut butter, chicken nuggets, chicken noodle soup, apples, bananas, dessert

Current Favorite Books: A book of fairy tales he got for his birthday, an illustrated copy of the Hobbit that he got for Christmas, the kids Bible he borrowed from the church library. He is an expert at getting his parents to read him "one more story" before bed and nap. If we want him to go to sleep on time, we have to start the bedtime routine an hour before to incorporate all the reading.

Interests: Ellie (his huge stuffed elephant that he takes almost everywhere), trains, superheros, Toy Story stuff, reading books, singing and dancing, watching t.v. (when he can talk us into letting him), wearing costumes, riding his bike, sledding, hanging out with his friend Derek, and going to his grandparents houses.

Things that make him nervous: loud noises like vacuum cleaners and blenders.

Wants to be at teacher when he grows up (as of last week).

Harding has always had a huge vocabulary and is a listener and a thinker. Trip and I have to be incredibly careful what we say around him, because he often pipes in and asks us about our conversations. He will also shock us with deep, existential questions about death or the meaning of life from time to time. If we tell him to do anything, he wants to know "why"? He often plays independently and has a huge imagination. But he still wants help from us with things like getting dressed. He still will not get out of bed on his own and lies there looking at books or playing with his stuffed animals until we come upstairs to get him in the morning. This comes in handy on weekends when we want to sleep late. Harding is the best big brother that Shelby could ask for. He accompanies her to countless doctor appointments and therapy sessions, tells us if she is doing something she's not supposed to be doing (like chewing a cord or crawling into another room), and announces to us that Shelby is hungry or needs a new diaper or doesn't like the food we are feeding her.

My cautious boy is growing up fast. He has gotten much taller, but hasn't gained any weight so he seems skinny. He has definitely lost all of his toddler pudge. I teared up last week when he walked over to our next door neighbor's house by himself to get a toy he had left there. He asked Trip and I yesterday where he would live when he grew up. We answered truthfully, "I hope not too far away". Harding, you truly are a blessing to us. How did we get so lucky?

A Winter Outing

2011-01-11T14:32:00.004-05:00

After mastering all the hills in our neighborhood, Trip decided that he and Harding were ready for some bigger sledding. We picked Trip up from work on his lunch break and drove around in the Subaru (which handles beautifully in the snow) until we found this great hill on a golf course. I snapped this picture from the warm car while Trip and H dragged the sled back up the hill after one of their rides. Shelby slept the whole time in her carseat. She doesn't really like the snow anyway.

snow day craftiness

2011-01-10T15:36:00.009-05:00

We're right in the middle of a big winter storm here that is affecting much of the southeast. The snow is piling up in Asheville and the ice is forecasted to come in tonight. I think we could potentially be out of school most of this week, which means that we'll very likely be making up this missed time on subsequent Saturdays and over spring break. I'm trying not to think about that though.

We've had a great snowy weekend here with our neighbors. There has been sledding, football watching, and massive amounts of chili and cornbread consuming. Beyond that, I've used any available time when Trip could supervise the kids to go downstairs and work on my quilt. Here is the top almost complete--it just needs another border. Once I get the batting and backing, I can quilt it all together. I'll post pictures of the final product when it is all done (which may be a while).
This productive time at home has made me miss last year when I stayed at home all year with the kids. I don't have much time to dwell on this though. Its back to the grind again soon with my graduate classes starting next week.

Operation Complete

2011-01-08T09:21:00.004-05:00

Trip threw a small birthday party for me on December 23rd. Having 20 guests come over was a great motivator for cleaning, organizing, decorating, and putting the final touches on our living room makeover. We hung pictures, cleaned out closets and drawers and Trip installed the quarter round on the edges of the floors. I took pictures because with two small kids and Christmas coming, I knew that the living room would become overrun with toys and life soon. Here is our house looking its best ever.

Great news!

2011-01-07T06:36:00.010-05:00

Back in December, I blogged about Shelby's 18-month check up with Dr. Love and mentioned that she has been hovering in the 2nd-3rd weight percentile for the last year. We have gone to a pediatric nutritionist in the past about fattening our girl up and she's been on what I call the "Paula Dean diet" ever since. Everything she eats has extra melted butter or olive oil added to it for extra calories. All her whole milk has a scoop of formula added to it for extra calories and protein. Over Christmas break, Shelby just seemed heavier. Her thighs have been looking thick and her cheeks and belly have plumped up. A month ago, Shelby weighed 19 lbs, 10 oz. When I took Shelby to the doctor's office yesterday for her monthly RSV shot, I was eager to get her on the scale. She weighed in at a whopping 21 lbs, 4.5 oz!!! I was ecstatic! Finally the Paula Dean diet has started to pay off. I made the nurse go plug the updated numbers into the computer and she came back with this lovely printout:

Shelby is now in the 9th-10th percentile range! Sweet! We're still a long way from where she needs to be with feeding, but I'll take this victory. The 9th percentile is a lot less worrisome. I am constantly telling myself (and others) that Shelby is on her own developmental time schedule, but honestly, its nice to see a chart where she is getting towards the "normal" range on something. Thank goodness we just got a Maclaren stroller--21 pounds is a lot to carry around!

Spoiler Alert!

2010-12-30T10:18:00.002-05:00

Happy 2011 New Year's

Create photo new year's cards with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Sorry for the spoiler to those who will get this in the mail, but posting this got me a 25 dollar discount on my holiday cards.... :)

Neurology Appt.

2010-12-29T08:32:00.008-05:00

(Shelby's Braille Alphabet Blocks from Aunt Ash and Uncle Matt)

Dr. Grant, the neurosurgeon called me before Christmas with the news that not only did the mri show that Shelby's shunt is in proper working order, but that her brain is growing! We knew this from the 18-month head measurements at the pediatrician, but I still harbored a small fear leftover from the radiologist's report that maybe her head was swollen or under pressure. Thankfully that is not the case.

Shelby had bloodwork to check her Keppra (seizure medication) levels and an EEG on December 23rd. We went to see Dr. Poplawski yesterday to get the results. Shelby's EEG showed abnormal epileptiform discharges in two different parts of her brain. This is not surprising since Shelby's brain is not typical, but it basically means that she is very prone to seizures (which we knew). Even though we have only noticed seizures a few times, and not at all since October, the doctor thinks it would be detrimental to take her off the Keppra. This is fine with Trip and me, because Shelby doesn't seem to have any side effects on this medicine. If she starts to have more frequent seizure episodes, then we may increase her dosage.

Dr. P was very impressed with Shelby's development over the past 6 months--especially with how much her cortical visual impairment has improved. We're done with doctor appointments for awhile....yippee! (As you can see below, Shelby is in complete agreement with this sentiment).

A Merry Christmas!

2010-12-27T17:44:00.009-05:00

We have had a wonderful quiet Christmas complete with about 8 inches of beautiful snow. Here are a few of the pictures I took.

Aunt Ashlee helping Shelby unwrap the scarf she made for her: I think Harding looks a bit like the younger kid from the movie, "A Christmas Story" right here after his mom bundled him up:
Is there any other way to eat hot chicken noodle soup than by the light of your new headlamp?

Shelby was in a particularly good mood on Christmas day. I think she looks beautiful here.
Exploring her new drum from Papa and BeBe.

Trip and Harding took a long walk around the neighborhood after it got dark Christmas evening. Harding pretended he was at the North Pole the entire time.

I haven't left the house since Christmas Eve and have loved being snowed in with my family. Harding and Shelby have enjoyed playing with their new toys and Trip and I have been doing a lot of reading and relaxing. They finally plowed our road today, so Trip was able to go to the grocery store. He and Harding are busy in the kitchen now making Beef Massaman Curry (Trip got a new Asian cook book from his parents). I plan to start on a quilt today which I can hopefully finish before Christmas break is over.

No school!

2010-12-13T11:34:00.007-05:00

Another snowy day here, which means that school was canceled yet again. Harding is ecstatic. He has gotten to watch the Polar Express this morning in pajamas and is now having a play-date with our neighbor, Isaac. I'm trying to share his enthusiasm and enjoy this unexpected time home with my family instead of dreading the probability of having to make up this and other missed school days on some Saturday next Spring.

H-man and Isaac playing trains on the stairs:

Shelby being silly with Bailey:

visitors and pre-holiday snow

2010-12-12T11:04:00.012-05:00

My friend Melanie came to town yesterday with her 17 month old, Henry. Melanie and I took Shelby and Henry on a very baby-friendly outing...antique shopping. Luckily they were willing to hang out in their strollers and (for the most part) behave. Last night, Trip watched the kids while Melanie and I went out to dinner. It was so nice to get to relax and catch up with my old friend over wine and a ridiculously good meal.

We woke up this morning to a couple inches of slushy snow on the ground. Henry got to walk around in it for the first time. Isn't he cute?

My little snow bunny. First snowball fight of the year.
Whoops! Daddy accidentally got him in the face.
Hot chocolate cures everything!

A great weekend, which will likely continue as long as we don't lose power.....

Shelby's MRI and 18 mo. well visit

2010-12-11T07:51:00.013-05:00

Picture of Shelby at Thanksgiving

I took Shelby to her MRI appointment on Tuesday afternoon. They had to sedate her for this and as usual, the nurse had a hard time finding a vein to get the medicine in her. After 3 sticks, they were successful. Unfortunately, Shelby seems to have gotten to the point where she realizes what they are trying to do and resists (not that I blame her). I really don't want her to become afraid of doctors since she sees them so often. She handled the sedation just fine, they got a good scan, and she was snuggly and subdued for the rest of the afternoon. The mri c.d. and report will be sent to Dr. Grant at Duke (Shelby's neurosurgeon).

We went to her 18 month well check-up with the pediatrician on Wednesday afternoon. I think Shelby remembered her doctor experience from the MRI the day before because she cried any time Dr. Love came near her. Anyway, though Shelby has gained weight and is almost to 20 pounds, she is still in the 2nd weight percentile. The good news is that Shelby's head is starting to grow a little bit. Maybe one day, it will be on the charts! It is a good thing she has big hair....

Dr. Love already had the radiologist's report on the MRI. According to the report, one of Shelby's ventricles appeared swollen when compared to the scans from last June. This could indicate that her shunt is slowly malfunctioning. Dr. Love assured us that this was not an emergency situation, and that the radiologist may have even misread it--especially because it is nearly impossible to get the same cross sections on each scan. Since I knew it would be a few days before we would hear anything from Dr. Grant, I called Shelby's neurologist on the way home. He pulled up both of Shelby's brain scans on the computer and compared them. He did not see any significant difference. Now we are just praying and waiting for that same reassurance from Dr. Grant. I don't think he would want to do a shunt revision unless Shelby were actually showing outward signs of a malfunction, which she thankfully isn't. But it is frightening to think of her brain (which has already been through so much) under any kind of pressure.

We've got an EEG and appointment with the neurologist coming up after Christmas and will keep everyone posted on the results.....

Picture Woes

2010-12-07T09:12:00.014-05:00

On Sunday, we attended the annual Christmas tea at my grandmother's nursing home. They always have professional photographers on hand to take pictures of family members attending the tea. Here's what we got.

I actually think this photo is pretty hilarious. It was the best of several attempts. Harding was being impish and uncooperative. Shelbs was simply not having it. I finally had the brilliant idea of bribing Harding with chocolate. That worked instantly. But at that same point Shelby was done (and so were the rest of us). So we had Harding take a picture with just Burney and it turned out completely adorable.

Chocolate is a huge motivator for Harding--he comes by it honestly. I plan to use this to my advantage again in the near future. If only it worked with his little sister...

Shelby is difficult to photograph to say the least. She does not sit still or smile for the camera. We had a snow day yesterday, and I decided to order our Christmas photocards while the kids were napping. As I sifted through all our picture files, I was once again reminded of how impossible it is to capture Shelby and Harding smiling (or even looking at the camera) at the same time. Don't think I am striving for perfection, I just want to get a decent, card-worthy shot of the four of us.

(Picture taken of Shelby Frances last October. Doesn't she look mischevious? This is actually a pretty accurate representation of her personality...the little stinker!)

Harding's 4th Birthday

2010-12-05T09:39:00.014-05:00

The actual birthday was on November 30th, but the celebration has been drawn out over the course of a week and a half. On Thanksgiving day, my parents gave Harding their birthday gift--a Sheriff Woody doll "with a pull string" as Harding called it. This has been a huge hit.

Last Saturday, we stopped in the middle of bamboo floor installation chaos and went to a puppet show of Aesop's fables. Harding loved it! Here he is with Momo and Bop.

Harding poses with his four wrapped gifts from Trip and me on the morning of his birthday. He was very pumped!

Perhaps his favorite gift of the morning--an E.T. t-shirt which he wore to school that day. Harding has been a big fan of E.T. since he saw the movie a few months ago.

Forced birthday pose with mommy. When you have gone through the ordeal of birthing a child, you deserve to get a good picture with them on the anniversary of that day. But try telling that to him!

Birthday dinner at Papas and Beer. Here he is wearing the birthday sombrero that was plopped on his head when all the wait staff sang to him. You can tell how unsure he was about that situation.

Every four-year-old deserves to own a bicycle. Unfortunately, the one we picked out was too big. We'll exchange it for a smaller one this afternoon.

Our friends the Gillilands came over for dinner last night and brought Harding a gift--costumes! Harding has been either Spiderman or Woody ever since.

Here is Spiderman with his train cake:

And here is when spiderman blew out the candles on the train cake:

Derek spent the night with us last night and the boys had the best time playing together. They were thrilled to wake up to the first snow of the season this morning. Here they are on the front porch (Harding still in pajamas).

My baby boy is growing up. It seems like yesterday that Trip and I were still adjusting to our new life as parents to a tiny little newborn. It is amazing how much they grow and change over the course of 4 years......I love you Harding! Thanks for making me a mom!

Thanksgiving 2010, 2

2010-12-04T10:13:00.003-05:00

And.....to top it all off, we got to see my mom's entire side of the family the day after Thanksgiving at the house they rented in Montreat. Love this motley crew!

Thanksgiving Festivities

2010-11-29T20:49:00.010-05:00

What?! Did you think we did nothing but work on home renovations the entire holiday? Trip announced that he was not going to do any work on turkey day. That seemed reasonable to me, partly because the bamboo planks needed to acclimate to the humidity in our house for a couple days before being installed and especially because Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is all about food and family and gratitude and it doesn't involve very much stress on my part (since I haven't ever hosted Thanksgiving). Growing up, we always had Thanksgiving at my Nana and Grandpa's house in Johnson City, Tennessee. All my cousins and aunts and uncles from my dad's side would be there. We kids would sprawl out all over the floor in the downstairs living room (the grownups got the bedrooms) and watch movies and catch up on what had been going on in each others' lives since the previous summer. We watched the Macy's parade together and played with Nana's scottie dog, Charlie outside. I have so many wonderful memories of Thanksgiving with my family.

When my grandfather died, I wondered what Thanksgiving would be like without him there to carve the turkey. He always seemed quite stern to me (he was a retired army colonel), but I also remember an amused twinkle in his eye as he listened to all of us talking at the table. Thanksgiving is different now--we have dinner in Arden at my parents' house, more people participate in the cooking, and our extended family has grown by leaps and bounds. But the key elements are the same--family, food, friendship, love and laughter. Plus, we have added yard games to the mix, which is brilliant! I think of Grandpa every year when we sit around the table for the Thanksgiving meal. I know he is pleased that we still get together as a big extended family--that was important to him. He and my grandmother are the reason that I am so close to my aunts and uncles and cousins and I am grateful for that gift.

Almost finished!

2010-11-28T19:18:00.004-05:00

I think Harding and Shelby are happy to no longer be "rug rats". Trip and his dad and brother have worked really hard for the past two days to get this beautiful bamboo flooring in. I can hardly believe that this is my house...I absolutely love it! Once we put the quarter round on, this home makeover project will thankfully be done. Now to go rug shopping....

"Non-toys"

2010-11-23T06:37:00.000-05:00

Trip and I have been racking our brains trying to figure out what Shelby might like for Christmas. She's a tough one. Her favorite activity lately is army crawling to the bookshelf and pulling books down to chew on. She is really starting to explore her surroundings these days. Last week she crawled all the way into the kitchen for the first time. She found the top to a to-go coffee cup on the floor and started throwing it and absolutely cracking up at the sound it made when it fell on the floor. The video is pretty cute. Maybe she'll get a stocking full of coffee cup tops this year....

House Anniversary and Projects

2010-11-21T20:39:00.009-05:00

We have been homeowners for 6 years this week! As an anniversary gift to our house, we've got some big projects underway. Trip and I (with the help of my dad) spent the weekend painting our living room. It has been bright yellow and it was time for something more neutral, especially since we plan to sell our house in a couple years.

I will miss the cheerful yellow though. Here is Trip cutting in with the new color, "milestone". Painting this tall room is quite an undertaking! Harding wanted to "help".
We've been thinking of putting in bamboo floors for a long time. We finally have saved enough money and they went on sale last week so we ordered them. They should come in Wednesday and we're going to install them in the living room and dining room next weekend (gulp)! Thank goodness Trip's parents have done this before and are going to help us.

My sister, Chris is in town for Thanksgiving. She came over with Riley today to watch the kids and give Trip and I moral support as we finished painting. I love these two baby girls!

Things are certainly busy around here, but our house deserves some love after 6 years and the final product is going to be really nice....happy anniversary house!

Ophthalmologist and Orthopedist Updates

2010-11-19T13:55:00.005-05:00

We have a wave of check-ups with all of Shelby's specialists every six months. It is that time again, so last week we went to the Orthopedist in Charlotte and yesterday we went to the Ophthalmologist here in Asheville. Shelby will have an MRI at the beginning of December which we will mail to her neurosurgeon so that he can check on her brain growth and shunt. Thankfully, if there are no problems we won't have to travel to Duke for that. Then Shelby will have an EEG and go to the neurologist after Christmas.

At Shelby's ortho check-up, Dr. Casey noticed that Shelby's left leg is shorter than her right leg. Apparently it is pretty common in cerebral palsy patients for the weaker leg to be a tad shorter, so that was not surprising. Plus, several family members on Trip's side have one leg that is shorter, so there are probably genetic factors playing into this as well. She may wear lifts to correct this in the future. Shelby's hip x-rays looked great. Her hip socket is deepening nicely. Shelby will keep wearing the hip abduction brace at night for another six months to make sure that her hip dysplasia continues to improve. We also talked about using AFO's (ankle foot orthotics) in the future on Shelby's left foot when she begins to pull up to standing because there is a good deal of muscle tightness on that side. Basically, Dr. Casey and our PT, Beth are monitoring Shelby closely. When she starts crawling and walking, we want her to do it as symmetrically as possible.

Shelby's ophthalmology appointment went well. Dr. Bachinsky was pleased with the huge CVI (cortical visual impairment) improvements she has made. Shelby is still far sighted, but within the normal range for her age, so no glasses at this point. When they dilated her eyes, Shelby's optic nerve showed no further damage than it did six months ago and that is not expected to change. I asked what the optic nerve damage meant for Shelby's vision. Dr. Bachinsky said that Shelby will probably need assistive devices in school to help her read. She also encouraged us to look into pre-braille instruction in a couple years. Learning braille will give Shelby another reading option on days that her eyes are tired. It is frustrating to not know how much your child sees, and we won't really know until she can tell us. But it is so exciting that she sees and that her vision is improving!

I feel so much better going into this wave of appointments then I did a year ago and am incredibly thankful for that. Shelby is doing great, which tells me that her brain is still "happy" as her neurosurgeon, Dr. Grant told us a year ago. It'll be nice to see it on the MRI too though. More doctor updates coming in the next month....

Weekends make me happy!

2010-11-14T21:00:00.004-05:00

I really appreciate and revel in the weekend now that I am a working mom. I love to wake up without an alarm clock. I love to keep my pajamas on all morning and drink coffee and eat breakfast at a leisurely pace. Most of all, I love being with my family for extended periods of time.

This weekend was especially full of fun. Friday night, we went to a puppet show in West Asheville. Harding has been begging us to take him to a puppet show, so this free one near our house was perfect. All of the puppets were handmade by the puppeteer.The "scary" puppets were Harding's favorites. He was enthralled by this one's tongue which touched the ground when it came out.

Conveniently, the puppet show happened to have been at an ice cream shop. Yay for me!

Of course Harding chose chocolate ice cream.

We got to have a lovely lunch with Nana on Saturday. Here she is telling Shelby a story.

The kids model their latest set of matching pajamas. Harding was so excited to be a snowman. He kept saying, "If you touch me, you will become frozen".
This picture is actually from last weekend, but the meal Trip made was particularly amazing and worthy of being photographed. Trip loves ethnic foods. He mastered Mexican cooking a long time ago, but is now on a huge Asian kick. The balti lamb pictured below was to die for. We also had boc choy, papaya, and naan on the side.
My only complaint about the weekend is it goes too quickly! Now back to my lesson planning for next week.

As promised....

2010-11-14T20:42:00.004-05:00

More Halloween pictures.

Trip's lovely jack-o-lantern:

Harding as a scary spider:

The four of us at trunk-or-treat:

Shelby kept cracking up at the sound of the crunching leaves:

Harding and Shelby's jack-o-lanterns:

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T12:35:00.005-04:00

Harding is wound up and ready for Halloween. Every morning this week, the first words out of his mouth have been, "Is it Halloween yet"? This morning, he was overjoyed when the answer was yes.

The kids and I paid a surprise visit to Burney yesterday morning. Here is Harding and Shelby with their great-grandmother.
Pumpkin carving with daddy:

Harding dressed as a skeleton for his Halloween party at school on Friday. He is fascinated with all things "scary" and wanted to be either a spider or a skeleton or a ghost. At 1:00 today, he is still undecided about what he will wear this evening.

Sweet little butterfly Shelby (who is not thrilled with her costume):

Our afternoon will include the trunk-or-treat at church and then trick-or-treating in West Asheville later tonight. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Stephen and Cambridge's Wedding

2010-10-26T20:02:00.009-04:00

My little brother got married last weekend on our Aunt Dearing's farm in Ashland, VA. It was a gorgeous fall day. The temperature was perfect--crisp and cool, but not cold. The leaves were at their peak of color. The wedding was casual and intimate. I loved being there and seeing Stephen so happy and I couldn't be more thrilled with my newest sister-in-law, Cambridge.

Here are Stephen and Cambridge saying their vows in front of the river birch arbor that Stephen made and Cambridge decorated:

My dad was the best man.

The groom's precious niece and nephew before the service:

Proud sisters with their little bro: