School (or rather my on going saga)

We/I have once again changed my mind on school. Yes this is the final time. Well for this year or this month! Haha

I could bore you all with my train of thoughts, why I do what I do, etc. But I will spare you all. Lets just say I had a coming to God this summer and realized the life I planned might not be that of what God has planned.

The doors opened up for us to attend Coastal Christian and I was lead to go for it. I perused it and we were accepted. I feel great about this discussion and the kids, well Serafina, is beyond excited.

There you have it in a nut shell. I am fully prepared for the onslaught of I told you so's.

Let's look at this way, you all might get more blog posts this way.


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Complex

Ok I am beginning to get a complex with AJ. When he was just a little newborn born baby I constantly had people asking me if he was a preemie or much younger then he acutely was. It didn't really bother me much because a lot of people don't take there 48hr old baby to starbucks so people are not use to seeing that little of a baby.

However even at two months I was still getting ask questions like:

"how old is your baby? About 3 weeks?"

"no he is 2 months"

"oh my he is little, he must have been a premie"

Really? My child is not that small. I have seen smaller.

For about a month now I haven't got the preemie question but people always guess younger then his actual age, or are shocked at how old he is, and I get "wow he is small". Until yesterday...

I am sitting at Starbucks doing a little research on horners syndrome when someone innocently asks how old my baby is, who is cooing and smiling at said stranger. I happily answer "he will be four months in 2 days."

In a shocked tone they respond with, "oh wow, was he a preemie?"

Really people he was not a preemie and if he was are you really going to ask the proud mama that question?

I don't think it helped that I had just been to the eye doc with him and they might be sending him to a neurologist. Everything looks fine, no changes. He had no tumor markers in his urine and is abdominal ultrasound showed no abnormalities of his kidneys, tummy, and all those other digestive/potty organs. However, the doc did continue her research because you don't see this condition often and the research is very conflicting on the course of action. Basically because it involves nerves and the brain she thinks it might be good to have him evaluated by a neurologist. Since his test all came back negative she is first going to talk to the neurologist and consult with her weather or not we should be seen. So we might be going to a neurologist now or we might not! Crazy. I guess it is unclear weather this condition should be monitored by an opthomoligist, neurologist or both. In my heart of hearts I feel as if all is fine but you know!

So that is an update on my AJ, no he is not a preemie.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Testing

This is just a quick test post to see if I can use an app on my iPad to update my blog! If it works you might see a lot more post!

The iPad was our anniversary present to ourselves!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

True Parenting

You think:

What would be fun for a Friday evening?
Taking everyone bike riding on the Bob Jones trail.

SO:

You load the car-
1. Put bike rack on car
2. Load 3 bikes and trail-a-bike
3. Load bike trailer
4. Load Matteo's bike seat
5. Load5 helmets

Wait for daddy to get home

Then load the people in car:
Which entitles buckling 3 of your 4 children in car seats
Snacks, diaper bag, water, etc.

Drive to the Bob Jones Trail

Unload Bikes
(Reverse previous list of load bikes)

Begin hooking up the trail-a-bike and bike trailer

Hear a weird noise in the car

AND

Your two-year-old pukes.

Yes pukes

Right there in his car seat.

All over.

SO:

You unhook the trailer and the trail-a-bike
Load all the bikes back on the rack

While:

You do your best to remove the puke from the car seat
Clean up the Two-Year-Old
(good thing you brought a new pack of wipes and those nifty trash bags for your diaper bag that are meant for dirty diapers but you use them for so many other things.)

Then:

You drive home with all the windows open
Praying your child doesn't puke again
Thinking about how you have to disassemble the britax car seat to clean it.


Knowing you would do it all over again
That is True Parenting

Anyone out there..

still reading my blog?!?


I know it has been weeks since I updated my poor lonely blog but we have been busy enjoying the summer months. Our little Regusci clan has spent a long weekend in the Napa area, attended horse camp, gymnastic camp and VBS. We have also had two sets of cousin visit and spend a couple days in Santa Barbara at the zoo and a cupcake camp! Oh yeah and we managed to keep 4 children alive and happy. Needless to say it has left little time to blog.

Now we are starting to feel the summer winding down. We are sad and happy to be getting back into the routine of the school year (mainly mommy is, I love routine). I plan on spending the next few weeks of summer at the pool or hanging at home. So maybe if your lucky I will get to uploading pictures of our summer fun but if your not you will have to wait until we are back in the school year groove. Hope you all are enjoying your last few weeks of summer sun and fun.

And because no blog is right with out pictures here are two from our trip to the zoo ( we brought along our professional photographer, my dad!!!)

Five-Years-Old

Five years ago at 2am in the morning I woke and realized labor was starting. A couple hours later we were in the hospital and 9 hours later at 11:19am our world was change for ever as we welcomed Serafina into our lives, our firey angel.

Then

Now

So much has happened in our world in the last five years it is hard to believe it has only be that long but yet I am amazed that my baby is 5 and starting kindergarten. She is starting to read, do math and has an unstoppable desire to learn.

My baby who I watch role over for the first time, take her first steps, say her first words...turned one...

My baby who learned to sing, dance, and enjoy life..turned two...


My baby who learned her ABC, how to count, and how to jump....turned three...


My baby who learned to color, paint, and share...turned four...



My baby who has learned to be independent, brave, strong and yet still be my little girl....turned five today..

My baby is no longer a baby.

In five years she has become a little sister and a big sister.


Both roles she carries with great pride.

She has a love for gymnastics, swimming, and horses. She wants to be a mom and teacher; just like her Nana.

She cares more for others than her self.


She is beyond strong willed and can argue better then most lawyers.

She wears her name well. Serafina: Firey Angel

We love you Angel and we are proud of you.

Happy Birthday!

Seeing the World - AJ Style

Our adventures in AJ land have slowed but not stopped. One thing I hadn't mentioned in previous blogs about the young man was his eyes. About 5 days or so after we got home from the hospital I notices that his pupils were different sizes, like really different sizes. I tried to put it out of my mind and chalk it up to newborn eyes, like crossing etc. I asked the pediatrician about it a few days late (since we were making weekly visits at that point), he said we might want to have it check out by an ophthalmologist but didn't seem that concerned.

I knew deep down that it was not just a newborn thing, as much as I hoped it would be.

We made an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist and last week we took him in. The doctor checked him out and quickly determined that he has Congenital Horner's Syndrome. She stressed that if we are to google it we must make sure to put Congenital in the name because the syndrome can be acquired which then can mean scary thing!!

What is it you ask?

Basically the nerve that controls dilation of the eye runs from the brain down the spinal cord and back up to the eye. Since it is such a long route it is more likely to get damaged then other eye nerves. The congenital part means that this damage was caused during development or trauma at birth.

The good news?

All the syndrome means is that his one eye won't dilate as well as the other. There is a chance he will have two different colored eyes and there might be A-symmetry to his face. All things someone can definitely live with.

Do we have to do anything?

Yes and No. For his first year of life we have to take him to the ophthalmologist every 2 months to make sure that the eye does continue to dilate as much as it is now and that the brain doesn't get lazy and decided to just use the "good" eye. Then after that we will go to yearly appointments as long as there is no change.

And lastly there is a small, small chance this could have been caused by a neuroblastoma ( a tumor in a nerve). Both the pediatrician and the ophthalmologist don't believe this is the cause (for one it would or could have shown up in a prenatal ultrasound) but they feel we should test for one just in case. So we are collecting a urine sample to look for tumor markers and the pediatrician is ordering an ultrasound of the abdomen.


In other news on AJ, he had his 2 month appointment today. He weighs 10lbs 15oz and is 21inch long. This puts him just under the 10% for height and 20% for weight. The doctor was very happy with his motor control!

And lastly we have turned the baby over to his tummy to sleep and he now sleeps in 4hr blocks at night (he was doing 1.5-2hr). Wohoo!!!

All in all the boy is doing good in the big scheme his little eye thing is nothing but we are so happy we had it looked at! If all it is looks we can handle a couple extra ophthalmologist appointments!