Monday, January 4, 2010

2009 - a review!

I can't believe it's 2010. Remember when the world was supposed to come to a halt 10 years ago? I was pregnant with my Monkey boy and everyone was freaking out. I just knew it would be alright, because I had a little heartbeat in my stomach. :) So here we are, 2010 ... so what better to do than wrap up 2009?

January 2009 - We took a family trip to Santa Barbara. We went to the zoo, the aquarium, natural history museum, and the beach. It was a lot of fun! My Peanut became a pro at taking her socks off ... although not the conventional, boring way!



February 2009 - Not much happened this month. We like quiet times! :)



March 2009 - Monkey had to make a solar system project in 3rd grade. Peanut go her big girl bed!




April 2009 - We got annual passes to the local zoo, and I took this cute picture of the two most amazing kids!



May 2009 - Peanut had Special Olympics at her school. The general ed kids were matched up with the special ed kids. It's a HUGE deal at her school, and I just love it every year! This is also when we had our awesome photo shoot through Littlest Heroes!




June 2009 - Peanut and I were lucky enough to attend the 2nd Annual Convention for Children with Microcephaly! This was an absolutely amazing experience. I wish all these families could live in one little city so we could all be friends. It was truly incredible. We were able to meet Schuyler, whose dad writes about Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords!




School was over, summer began, and with it came the first of many pool parties at friends' houses. My Monkey boy turned 9 the end of June. Happy birthday!




July 2009 - This was a busy month. Peanut started it off by getting a virus that made her vomit past her fundoplication and become dehydrated. We spent a few days in the hospital getting her back to baseline.



During this time, we had tickets for the circus! Monkey and I went while Daddy spent some time in the hospital with Peanut. It was a lot of fun! After she was released from the hospital, my Monkey and I went to Disneyland for the first time since he was teeny. He LOVED it, and we got our first annual passes.




August 2009 - Peanut had to be admitted overnight for an MRI of her spinal cord. They were looking for a tethered cord, syrinx, or chiari malformation. The MRI came back normal thank goodness. She and I had to right through the hallways between the operating rooms to get to the pre-op place, so we had to gown up! Check out that awesome snuggly blanket from Lacey at Jaxson's Blankies!




August also brought my sister's wedding! She got married in the courthouse and then had a reception afterwards. The downside to August was the start of Peanut's epilepsy. On the 28th she had a massive and long-lasting grand mal seizure. A trip via ambulance to the ER brought us the epilepsy diagnosis and started us on the anti-epileptic drug journey.




September 2009 - This was a rough month, as Peanut had her Mitrofanoff surgery. It was the hardest recovery she has had from any of her surgeries. Months later I can truly say it was the best thing we did. It has made life so much easier!





September was also the first day back to school! Monkey entered 4th grade, and Peanut entered 1st. Us moms were thrilled for summer to be over, and ready for a mimosa breakfast at the pier!! :)





September was a busy month. Peanut had a sedated EEG, which showed lots of seizure activity.



October 2009 - The beginning of this month was rocky, as Peanut was still healing from her Mitrofanoff surgery. She had a leg bag for a long time, waiting for the Mitrofanoff to heal. Then came learning to catheterize through it. As I said, it was tough but it was worth it.




The month improved tons, as Peanut turned SIX in the middle of October!! :) Following that was Halloween, which is always fun.






November 2009 - We had Peanut's belated birthday party. Due to the Mitrofanoff the end of September, we decided to postpone her celebrations until she was feeling better.



In November, Peanut had another trip to the hospital for an MRI. This one was of her brain, because the EEG showed that all her seizures are starting from one specific spot. The neurologist wanted to be sure that there was nothing weird there. The MRI showed no cause for her seizures, leading to the idiopathic epilepsy diagnosis. Shortly after this hospital stay, we had a trip to the ER due to an allergic reaction to Lamictal.







December 2009 - Started with a bang when our Boston Terrier decided to fight with our Manchester Terrier. The resulting head wound caused an abcess which had to be surgically cleaned, and she came home with drains in her head. Ick!



Christmas came quickly, and then our 11th wedding anniversary on New Year's Eve.





Welcome to 2010!!! I hope it's a healthy, happy, and wonderful year for all our friends. I hope for less hospital stays, less ER trips, and many great memories!

7 comments:

The VW's said...

Looks like you had a very full year! (A few less hospital visits would have been nice though!)

Many blessings to you in 2010!! HUGS!!!

Becky said...

WOW! What a year. I hope 2010 is even better. :) Hey, will you send me info on the microcephaly conference? Never eve HEARD of it. Thanks!

Cathy said...

Thank you, I love the year in review.I didn't remember the tethered cord findings. But I am so forgetful. Glad she didn't have it. That is what Annabel is having her surgery for Friday. I hope it takes care of so much. It has the potential to clear up many of her problems. But will keep my hopes realistic.We will give the tethered cord surgery 6 weeks to see if it clears up urinary issues then will do the Mitranoff if not.
Also Annabel is not wanting to eat anything. She didn't have fundo but her tummy keeps filling with air so that many also be in the works. She wretches and gags much of the day. They say her gut is full of air and don't know why..
Praying that your 2010 is awesome. You are such a wealth of info to us moms.

Lacey said...

What a great review for last year. We are going to Disneyland the 5,6,7 of March, just for the weekend. We'll also be down the first week in June for a wedding, we are making that our vacation!

Tammy said...

Such a year! I hope that 2010 is awesome!

Tammy and Parker
www.prayingforparker.com

Michelle and Sean said...

Great pictures!

Hope this year is better and quieter for you guys.

Oh and I am so happy to hear that the surgery was worth it and everything worked out with that. It is so nice when something goes right!!

Tia said...

I'd say "what a year!" but I suspect life in your house is, like ours, pretty much a roller coaster pretty much most of the time. That is a precious precious picture of her demonstrating her new found sock removal skills!

Tia