And the winner is....

Ok so we aren't the winner, but I am very proud of Spencer. He took 2nd place in his age group with his pinewood derby car this weekend. He worked hard on it with his cousin Mark, Uncle Reg and dad....how thankful I am to have them! It was fun watching them race the 76 cars on Saturday. Grandma Marcia even got to be there when he got his award! Now he can go on to districts...make a few tweaks and hopefully he will have a winner. We will keep you posted!

Spencer's car is the second one from the right on the bottom row.

Hip, Hip Horray!!!

I am praising God today!!! Spencer's bone scan came back great! His density slightly improved so that means no medicine! He was most thrilled that he didn't have to have blood drawn...takes after his dad in that department. It's funny how your head starts to spin when you enter the doctors office and you get what I call "tunnel hearing". It didn't dawn on me until we were driving home that I should have asked REALLY what is slightly improved?? I mean at that point all I heard was improved and I didn't really care how much! So I won't be that pesky parent and call tomorrow, I will wait until I call to get the other results from the tests they had to send off. I must say that also visiting Children's Mercy Hospital and seeing so many different children, really puts things into perspective---we are richly blessed.

I am also so excited because tonight Sam and I sat down and played for about 20-30 minutes with her LeapFrog refrig stuff. I know big deal right? She has never been one to stay at a task very long. It was great! I hope my mom understands why my house isn't spic and span, I was living in the moment and thought to myself, this is what life really is all about...not a clean house.(I know my mom won't care....she will just be glad to see us) Sam also pointed at the letter "M" and said "mmmmm". We got the results back from her blood work and her seizure medicine was not working, so they put her on a second medicine. I hate that she has to take 2 right now, but am hopeful it will be what is best in the long run. It is hard not to get excited about all the great things we are seeing from her. Is it the Omega 3 or is it the new seizure medicine?? I am not sure, but won't question what God has done for her. I go to bed tonight with a very happy heart!

Doctors, Doctors, and more Doctors

So I call this our Children's Mercy month because both Spencer and Sami have their check ups on their aliments. Steve and I braved the cold and snow on Thursday to embark on our first visit this month. Never did it dawn on either of us that the doctor would not be able to make it in to the hospital. But this truly was a God send for us. You see the doctor that we originally were going to see, there really wasn't a huge connection there. I often left the appointments thinking "why did I even bring Sami??" You see he just looked at the charts and told me his plan of action. Because he couldn't make it in on Thursday, we saw a new doctor. He took the time to interact with Sami and do some simple little tests. He answered some questions that we had contacted the nurse of the 1st doctor NUMEROUS times. So what I thought was going to be a waste of our money because he didn't know the history truly was God intervening. So currently we are waiting on blood levels to come back to see if we will increase the seizure medicine or if we will need to change. Oh one more thing that I liked about this doctor...he wasn't against natural ways to help with the seizures..he said you do what works. We have Sam on a reduced gluten diet and on Omega 3 and have seen some improvement with the seizures and her development. Hard to know the variable that is making the difference but I am not willing to give up either one right now.
Spencer goes in for his bone scan on January 20th. I am hoping that he has maintained the density so he does not have to go back on medicine. Any prayers would be much appreciated!

Oh how I love a snow day....

Ok so EVERY other major school district was out today...but not us. We braved the cold weather and snow packed roads and trudged our way to school. Welcome to 2010! I arrived home and got all snuggly under a blanket on the couch and flipped on the news only to see that our district has already cancelled school for tomorrow. Now mind you, there is not a single flake falling and the temperature will actually be a bit warmer tomorrow. ????? So we are "supposed" to get hit with 3-6 inches around noon, so I guess they are taking a precaution. Ok, I'll take it, one day with kids and one day off...I like the pattern. I am thinking if we do get as much snow as they are calling for we will be off the rest of the week as Friday it is supposed to be negative 10! BRRRRR!

Success!!!!

Sami pooped on the potty today! We are having a very successful day! If only it would last.....

Oops..I forgot to include the four legged ones

Sydney and I realized that we forgot to include the furry friends that we have at our house. Snuggles is our 22 pound black cat. She is almost 6 years old.


Maddie and Zoey joined our family this summer after much begging to Steve. He finally gave in. They are the best of friends and are lost without each other.

Potty Training----UGH!!!

So anyone have a great idea when to potty train a developmentally delayed child that doesn't talk? We have been trying during break to potty train but have not had much success. She did come and sign to me potty today---AFTER she already went in her pants...She is also such a strong willed child that I fear she will potty whenever she gets upset with us...I don't know where she gets this trait from! So the next time you want to pass judgement of someone think of me and my strong willed child and know that I wish that she was potty trained...If only I could wear a button that says..."Yes I know she should be potty trained." Pray for us!!!

The Parentals Visit...

I cannot tell you the last time that my parents came here for Christmas. It was so nice to stay home and not travel. The bonus was that we have a clean house too! Have to pass the mom inspection...which I didn't...she pointed out the cobwebs in my bedroom. Oh well.. They arrived here on Sunday afternoon and we visited for awhile before heading over to Laura's for dinner. We were finishing up, or should I say Laura and Lorenzo...dinner prep when the electricity went out. We sat for awhile trying to see if it would come back on or if we were out of luck. While be waited we decided to opened presents. By the time we were finishing up it was getting pretty dark and we were making comments like "thanks, I THINK it's gray". It was a whole new experience once the lights came back on. However, they didn't come back on for 2 hours so we had our dinner by candle light. Lorenzo made the most amazing brisket! Ok so I live only a mile away so we could have gone there to eat dinner right??? Wrong..over 8,000 people were without electricity that night including us. I panicked once I realized the only way we had back into our house was with our garage door opener...the key was missing from my key chain! It truly made for a memorable Christmas.

Dad was so excited to find cookies that he thought they had discontinued in his suitcase we gave him!

Mom inspecting her gift

Sami kissing her new baby Grandma and Grandpa gave her.

Sydney was SOOOOO excited to get clothes for her American Girl Doll. No pictures of Spencer because he went out of turn and was clear across the room from me and it got dark on us!

Sami's favorite toy....the box!

Spur me on....

I am SO not a spur of the moment person, but fortunately my husband is...what a nice balance. After my parents left on Wednesday, Steve suggested we head down to Branson to catch the Silver Dollar City lights. Little did I know that it was the last day for the city to be open. We left home around 1:30 and arrived at 5:30..PERFECT! The lights were beautiful as always and we were even able to catch a few shows. Sydney loved A Christmas Carol and thought the Ghost of Christmas Present was the best. I LOVE her laugh! Sami was enthralled with the lights and couldn't get enough of them. What an awesome time we had!

Spencer in Sydney watching the tree lighting


Sami LOVE,LOVING, the lights!

Spencer took this picture...not bad!

Just being silly...