It is Official

Here is the traditional pic of the kids
in front of the tree.


Well, we got the official word from the neurologist that the episode that Evan had earlier in the month was definitley a seizure and when I voiced my suspicions about another possible episode this past thursday the Dr. decided we should put Evan on an anti seizure medication. So we will see how things go. I am really sad, angry, frustated and scared about entering the world of seizures. For me it is so unknown and now so many new things have cropped up for me to worry about. I hate that my sweet little boy has to go through this among all the other stuff he deals with. It just seems so unfair. I feel the same way about other kids I know who have special needs and seizures along with it.

Cynthia's 16th Birthday

We had family over to celebrate Cynthia's birthday
and 2 weeks later she had a party with a few friends.
Yes, that is $100 from Grandma & Grandpa Justinich

Sixteen candles make a lovely light


Cynthia with her friends, she had a party and
the house was brother free for the occasion.
Rudy and I can't believe she is 16, she will
be heading off to college before we know it.

Christmas

Our Stockings, I finally finished Evan's this year, he had a store bought stocking for his 3 Christmases.
Leaving Cookies for Santa
Gabriel in his pajamas that mommy made him-love the face
Mommy made Evan horse pajamas
Cynthia got a guitar on her shirt and striped pants

Evan Loves Elmo

Auntie Karen and Uncle Gary got Evan a Tickle me Elmo for Christmas. The pictures do not show but Evan was trying to do whatever Elmo did, he would fall on the floor and laugh and try to follow elmo, it was so cute.

Evan holding Elmo in the car on the drive home. Notice how great he looks in his Britax Traveler Plus car seat. (courtesy of alta)

Pictures from Christmas

Evan really enjoyed being pulled on the sled

Here are some fun pics from our visit to my Aunt and Uncles house in the mountains, the kids had fun playing in the snow

What's New in the New Year

I know it has been a while since I have posted. So here is an update, no pictures but those will come later.

Evan starts back to school tomorrow after being off for 4 weeks. I am so excited about this.

We had a great visit with Dr. Hart at Shriner's, Evan will go on February 12th to get Botox injections in his leg and foot. Botox injections help paralyze the muscles in order to get more stretching and flexibility out of them. Very good for kids with spastic CP. One week after the injections Evan will get a walking cast on his foot and wear that for two weeks and then we will be re-evaluated and he may get another one and may not just depends how it all works out. After the botox and serial casting then Evan will be re-evaluated for a new pair of orthotics. In May we will go back to Shriner's and have botox injections in his hand and arm. I am also hoping to get a hand splint out of this as well.

On the same day as his Shriner's appt which was January 2nd, we believe that Evan had his first seizure. Now this is what is called an absence seizure so it is not the typical grand mal seizures that most people think of seizures as. Here is what happened. Evan fell asleep on the way home from Shriner's so Rudy took him to the couch and laid with him there, they both fell asleep and Rudy woke up to Evan gagging, so Rudy sat Evan on the floor with a towel in front of him in case he vomitted. Rudy went to the bathroom and then ordered a pizza he then walked back into the living room and Evan was sitting in the same spot staring at the couch with his right hand out Rudy called his name and then picked him up, Evan was still staring and did not respond to his name or Rudy trying to turn his head to face him, this went on for about 30 seconds to one minute not to count the 5 or so minutes while Rudy was in the bathroom, Cynthia was watching Evan during this time and she said he was just staring at the couch. So the next hour Evan was basically doing three things crying, lethargic, gagging and laying on the couch or our shoulders. He did not want his milk, he did not want to eat his favorite food Pizza, nothing would console him. I was holding him and he vomitted then we walked down the hall and I laid him in my bed and was asleep within 10 minutes, he then woke about 30 minutes later and vomitted 2 more times then was out again. And his vomit was mostly mucous and not really any stomach contents although he had not eaten well that day. So all together he slept 4 hours. He woke up at 10:30pm back to his regular self and ate some pizza and drank milk and the went to sleep around 12midnight and slept very well. I was at the dentist with Gabe when this all started so I did not see the staring part, but I was there for the crankiness and the rest of it. I called the neuro the next day and he did not call me back. But we see him on Feb 1st. I cannot say that this was 100% a seizure but my gut and some research I did online tells me that this was an absence seizure. Even though I do not want to Evan to have another seizure, I would like to be able to get one on film to show the neurologist because I know he is going to tell me to videotape it. Double edged sword for sure in that one.

Gabriel and Cynthia are both doing very well in school and getting good grades

Cynthia got Guitar hero III for Christmas and this has been a family favorite game to play.

We visited my Auntie Karen and Uncle Gary in the mountains the weekend before Christmas and a few weeks later sadly Auntie Karen's dad Gene Bonner passed away from Cancer, we are sad to see him go but glad that he is no longer suffering.

My brother and his girlfriend Alicia are officially engaged as of Christmas Eve and are expecting their little girl in April. I went with Alicia to register on Saturday the 12th, it was fun especially since I won't be having anymore children. I will be excited to be an auntie again though.

We finally got Evan's feeding chair and it is working out Ok, Rudy needs to do a little adjusting to it but it is nice for him to be in a chair that fits him and also he can sit at the table and feel like a big boy. We are still struggling with his feeding and he seems to be very picky on what he eats and is not eating as much as he used to. I have gone back to trying to feed him because he is just not getting enough in his mouth doing it on his own. Feeding Evan is a very slow process because he does not chew and he keeps food in his mouth for a very long time. Evan would be happy to live on Graham crackers and milk with the occasional bowl of oatmeal and of course a few cookies and happy meals thrown in. I have to get him out of this pick stage. I am going to try a new cup with a straw in hopes of getting him off of the nuby cups or bottles as most people call them.

And now for the biggie our beautiful daughter Cynthia is now 16years old, she turned 16 on January 7th and we had some family over to celebrate. This coming friday will be the party with her friends.

Hope everyone has had a great year so far. I will be posting pics this week since I will now have a little more time since Evan will be back in school.

What an Experience

Well, we were adventurous and took pictures of my 3 kids and my nephew and 2 nieces (sisters kids) . What an experience trying to get 5 kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time. My daughter Cynthia who is 15 is pretty experienced at smiling and looking at the camera while me and the photographer try to get the boys to look and smile so she looked great in all the pictures. Evan has discovered that he can crawl behind the backdrop so I told the photographers that we needed to keep him contained(hence the sleigh). All in all it was pretty fun, but there was not one pic that was so great we had to have it. I think that was the hardest part. Everyone did not look great in one pic, we would have 5 looking great and one not etc. But these were my two faves. The one without the sleigh is the one that we chose. We will be doing this again next year since my brother and sister n' law will have a new baby, which will bring the total for my parents up to 7 grandkids.

Cynthia 15 1/2 (almost 16)

Nathan 9 1/2 (almost 10)

Celeste 7

Gabriel 6 1/2 (almost 7)

Mia 5

Evan 3