Happy Birthday Daniel Joshua Lee

Daniel turned three years old on October 10th.  However, we were on vacation in Utah at the time so we celebrated a few days early.  Daniel is a really hilarious kid.  He almost always refers to himself as "Daniel Joshua Lee".  In fact, as I am writing this post, he is sitting next to me squealing with delight and saying, "Hey, that's Daniel Joshua Lee!!"  Daniel loves to call Josh and me his buddies.  He's also a really good helper and is always right by my side helping me cook dinner.  Even if he's watching a movie or playing a really fun game, he will stop what he's doing if he hears the pots and pans moving around.  He comes up and asks, "you cooking dinner Mom?"  I love it.  He is also my yard work helper.  He loves helping me cut the grass and always stays with me to the bitter end, helping me put grass clippings in trash bags.  I hope this great work ethic stays with him for the rest of his life.
Daniel has a big comedic side to him.  Every time he takes a bite, doesn't matter the circumstance, he makes a sound effect to be sure you know he's eating.  He loves to dance and has some pretty sweet moves.  Daniel is also the most stubborn, strong willed three year old ever.  He often tells me, "I don't have no legs," or "I can't walk" or "I don't have no hands".  All of this to get out of whatever he doesn't want to do.  He can also throw a tantrum with the best of them.  It's awesome....
We had a great day celebrating this little man.  He LOVED that it was his birthday!  He totally ate it all up and loved being the center of attention.  We started out with a special breakfast and birthday candles.

 We let him open one present in the morning, which was a Thomas the Train piggy bank.  Daniel is really into holding pennies in his hand.  He often has a bulging handful of money that he carries around.  Every time he drops them, which is OFTEN, he cries and gets really upset.  Hence, the piggy bank.  Really this was a selfish gift I gave him because I didn't want him to keep crying about dropping money. Win-Win!

 I know I'm his mom, but I think he's adorable!

 He really melts my heart.  I'm so glad he's mine.

 The other day he was saying "cooky cock" and I repeated it back to him.  He then turns to scold me and says, "Mom, we don't say that.  That's a bad choice.  You made a bad choice!"  Haha!

 We went out to Texas Roadhouse that night and had such a fun time.  Daniel danced on the booth and was just as happy as could be.

 The lighting was terrible in there, and I have no flash.  I'm still glad we got some though.

 Daniel really loves dinosaurs and was so excited to see this big fellow.

 His face kills me.

 I know this is terribly dark but Daniel got to ride on a saddle while all of the employees sang to him.  He was super shy about it but was completely in heaven.  All of the kids thought it was the coolest thing!

 Daniel really has a sweet heart.  Here he is sharing his birthday ice-cream with his big brother.  Adorable.  We feel so blessed to have this sweet little man with us.  He's the best Daniel Joshua Lee around!

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

It amazes me how with one small moment of time, your life can be turned upside down.  Everything can be sunshine and roses and in an instant, you can know that nothing will ever be the same.  At least, those were the thoughts that were going through my head as Josh sat in our bedroom and told me he had had a seizure the night before.  All is well and under control now but every possible bad thought of what could happen went through my head as I learned that my sweetheart, the love of my life, may not be okay.  


Here's the story. 

Josh was away at a conference in Gainesville, FL a few weeks ago to present a paper.  That night he shared a room with another professor named Spencer, who is also in our ward here in Tallahassee.  Spencer said that at about 4:00 in the morning, he woke up to a loud noise that Josh made.  He quickly flipped on the light to see what was going on and saw Josh's body shaking.  Spencer, at the time, didn't really know what was going on and tried to yell Josh's name to wake him up.  He said that he couldn't wake him, and it looked like Josh was in a lot of pain.  He was foaming at the mouth a little and the whole episode lasted about a minute.  We now know it was a seizure.  

When Josh woke up in the morning, he went into the bathroom to take a shower, unaware of what had happened during the night.  When he came out, Spencer woke up and asked him if he was okay.  They then saw blood all over Josh's pillow that came as a result of him biting his cheeks so hard during the seizure that it left big bite marks on the inside of both of his cheeks.  

Josh spent the rest of the day having, what we like to call, "aftershocks" from the seizure.  He would feel okay and then suddenly have a little 30-60 second episode of horrible nausea and dizziness that would go throughout his whole body.  Josh got home from his trip around 2:30 and as soon as he walked in the door, I knew something was wrong.  I immediately asked him if he was sick or tired.  (Josh didn't want me to worry while he was away and waited to tell me about all of this when he returned home).  He kept having these aftershock symptoms about every 45 minutes-1.5 hours for most of the day.  He was also super tired all day and spent most of the day asleep on the couch.  All of the muscles in is whole body were incredibly sore for the next week.  I guess seizures cause all of the muscles in your body to tighten up, hence him being sore.  Josh kept describing it like his muscles felt like he had just run two marathons. 

Luckily, my parents were coming into town anyways for the weekend and my dad was able to give Josh a blessing. We called Josh's doctor and they couldn't see him until Thursday. We got so worried though and needed some peace of mind. There is quite a family history of tumors or other illness in his family, and at the time, all I could think of was the worst.  We decided that he should go into the ER so they could take a CT scan. While he was there, they also did an EKG of his heart along with a chest x-ray. All three tests came back clear. We were so relieved. With that being said though, the doctors at the ER said that they only look for big things and a neurologist needs to take a more in depth look.

We saw a neurologist the following week and told him everything that happened. He was very thorough, and we felt like he really listened to our concerns and answered our questions well. We told him about the seizure itself and about all of the "aftershocks," (called auras), that happened throughout the day following. Josh had also been having these auras back in June, but we didn't know what they were at the time. He seemed to be quite surprised that Josh was having as many auras as we described and said that due to the number of auras and the type of seizure, it is much more likely than not that he will have another seizure. We were both surprised to hear him say this as we thought that having these auras was relatively normal after a seizure. Auras are described as small, localized seizures in the temporal lobe of your brain.

The doctor proceeded to tell us that Josh needs to be medicated. He has started an anti-seizure medication. It's something he had to work up to before taking a full dosage. For the first week, he took one pill, the second week he took two and by week three he took three pills, which is a full dosage.  The medication has not caused him any major side effects yet, which we are thrilled about.  Josh isn't supposed to drive for the first six months after having a seizure.  While we were at the neurologist, Josh had an EEG done to measure the brain's electrical activity. He also just had an MRI done to give us a better understanding as to what is causing all of this. 

We just got back from a big trip to Utah.  While we were there, we talked to one of our good friends who just happens to be a neurologist and specializes in epilepsy.  We told him everything that happened and asked him a bunch of questions.  His name is Blake and is an incredibly smart, nice guy.  We also told him that Josh sometimes has memory problems.  Every now and then he has a hard time remembering small, insignificant things.  The neurologist asked him what he had for dinner the night before.  He was able to get to the memory but it took him several steps.  "Okay.  Today is Monday, so yesterday was Sunday.  We had dinner with the Carrs.  There was a crockpot.  Roast!"  It's a process.  Blake said that should get better with time.  We have lots of examples like that and sometimes he truly can't remember whatever it is I'm asking him about.  He said it's super weird knowing that you should remember something and there's just nothing there.  

Blake felt very confident that Josh has temporal lobe epilepsy.  He said he will have to be medicated for the rest of his life.  Even though epilepsy isn't something to ever desire to have, we felt so much better after talking to him.  We don't know the results of the MRI yet but he said he would "bet the farm" that it isn't a tumor causing this.  The more we think about it, the better we feel about it.  Yes, Josh has epilepsy.  Yes, he will have to take pills for the rest of his life.  However, the medication is doing it's job, and Josh is tolerating it wonderfully.  We can handle taking some pills for the rest of our lives.  Handling a brain tumor would be a much worse scenario.  

We have been incredibly blessed by good friends and family who have been praying for us, babysitting our kids, texting us to check in, and being there with us through all of this.  Josh has been feeling really well lately.  He may be a bit more tired than usual but that may just be because we've been incredibly busy.  We will find out results from the MRI soon, but we are expecting it to be clear.  Having epilepsy in today's age is really hopeful for leading a totally normal life.  There is great medication and good doctors that will take care of my sweetheart.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  We will keep everyone posted if we learn of anything else.  In the meantime, we would really appreciate prayers in his behalf.  We love you all.

Jenna's First Birthday

It's hard to describe how a mother truly loves her child.  Words don't seem to suffice.  Love is pure and deep and everlasting when you have a child.  No mistake or poor attitude can make you love your child any less.  No matter how often my children mess up or how mean they are to me or anything of the sort, one thing will always be constant and that is my love for them. 

When our little Jenna Marie was born, I was overwhelmed by the experience.  It was a hard delivery and completely unanticipated.  I remember when she came out and they took her away, all I could think of was how happy I was that it was over and the pain was gone.  I quickly bonded with her and it's been nothing but love since.  Jenna truly has a special spirit.  Our family needed her.  She brings a calmness to the chaos.  Before I had her, we used to joke that none of our kids would be mellow.  Josh and I are both strong willed, sometimes stubborn people (OK, always), so we knew our kids never stood a chance at being calm.  However, Jenna is just that.  She has the sweetest spirit about her.  She can just sit on my lap all day and be as content as could be.  By this age, Andrew was running circles around me and climbing up the walls.
Jenna is quick to smile.  She rarely cries.  She'll sleep anywhere and doesn't require entertainment to keep her happy.  With that being said, we are constantly playing peek-a-boo, singing songs to her, and asking her to wave to us.  She eats it up too.  She loves clapping for herself when she's proud of what she's done.  She's recently started brushing her own hair and likes to put on Anna's headbands by herself.  This girl has melted our hearts.  I would suffer every ounce of that pain again right this minute if it meant she could always be mine.  I truly and deeply love this child and all of her goodness.  It has been the best year of my life taking care of her.  Happy Birthday sweet Jenna.

Look how's she's grown.

I always feel nostalgic on birthdays.  I love thinking back to all the events and excitement leading up to their births.  I hate the pain of labor but I love the joy and anticipation that comes with it.  It truly is the best time of life.  We spent the day playing together, looking at old pictures from when she was born, reading her birth story again, and watching some home movies of the day she was born.  It was a great day to celebrate a great little girl.  

We found some old toys in the attic and wrapped them up for her.  She loved it.  We also bought her a few new outfits, and the big kids loved helping her open them.

I love the sequence of these next three pictures.  Watch her facial expression.

Hahaha!  "That was funny Dad."

I wanted to get some cake smashing photos of little Jenna but I forgot that she's a "lady" and doesn't like to get her hands dirty.  Pardon me.

We tried forcing her hands in it and she looked confused and then crawled away.  Ha!

It was a wonderful day and she's a perfect daughter.  We're totally smitten!

Back to School

To be perfectly honest, I was thrilled when school started.  We had a lot of fun this summer.  Don't get me wrong.  The kids were getting bored at home though, and it was just time for a change.  Anna is doing wonderfully in first grade.  She's adjusted well and is really starting to take on more responsibility for herself.  Her teacher, Mrs. Ingram, is really into the kids being independent and not relying on her or anyone else to do things for them.  I LOVE THAT!  Anna comes home happy and tired every day.  We have a good routine down though.  Things are going really well for her. 

 ;-)

 Here's my sweet girl in her new classroom right before the bell rang on the first day of school. Anna is pretty quiet in a school setting. She seemed pretty shy that morning, but I could tell she was excited to be there.

 The kids have to recite a school motto every morning about trying their best and working hard.  I love it.

 Anna's teacher actually had a baby just three weeks before school started so she wasn't there for the first several weeks of school.  Anna really liked her substitute.  Her teacher, Mrs. Ingram, is back now and Anna loves her.

 Andrew also started preschool this year.  It is so good for him to go every day.  Andrew has so much energy and is a really, really smart little guy.  I love that he gets to go and grow in a classroom setting like this.  I don't think he's really learning anything new but it's good for him to be there.

 I just adore him.

 Andrew's preschool teacher's name is Ms. Jennifer.  She's amazing.  She is incredibly nice but also is quite strict, and I love that.  She really knows how to control the classroom.  Andrew is learning to not talk out of turn and to follow the rules of school.  He comes home happy as can be every day.

 I am really enjoying my time at home.  My house is not drowning in the messes that four kids bring.  I can clean it and it stays clean for more than five minutes at a time.  It's awesome!  Jenna and I are loving our playing time.  I love that we get to spend one on one time with each other, even if it is running errands.

 

Daniel is also going to preschool.  We are doing a "mommy preschool" at home.  I got together with some of my friends to organize a preschool for our little ones who could really benefit from preschool but are just a bit too young.  It's been awesome.  There are five little kids in our group, and they are all as adorable as can be.  Daniel gets SOOO excited for preschool days.  He starts dancing around the house and just totally thinks he's grown up.  We're working on things like the alphabet, counting, shapes, sequencing, patterns, and such.  

School is great because it really gives a structure to our busy life.  I love it.  The kids love it.  Everyone is happy!