And so here we are.....

So it has been an exciting, frustrating week at the Dunbar house. Abby started puking on last Sunday, Skylar started on Wednesday, Weston blew on Thurs., Jamy and I rounded out the pukin' on Friday. Good news the bug only lasted a few hours for each of us, but yuck while it was here!

In the midst of the puke I got to go a few rounds with some people at the neurology clinic at Children's Mercy. I won't give you all of the frustrating details as they are too numerous to count. Someday maybe I will write a book and give you all a discount on a copy. Basically, on Tuesday we got the update from her pediatrician that I wrote about this week. Somewhat abnormal EEG, but probably nothing to worry about, go on with life. Yippeee!!! He did want me to confer with Children's just to make sure they weren't seeing something he didn't since they are the "experts". I called them. Noone called me back. Finally, after two days I called them back on Thursday. Got bounced all over the place, noone could figure out who her doctor was, who ordered the test or who could give me the results. Insert a day of lots of confusion, frustration and anxiety here. Finally, talked to the on-call neurologist that night. Guy has the beside manner of a skunk! He says.....EEG shows abnormal spikes consistent with someone prone to have seizures. I say....Okay we know she is prone to have febrile seizures so we are good right? He says....No someone with febrile seizures has a normal EEG. This is different. I say.....HUH and what does that mean? He says.....She may or may not have a seizure disorder. I am thinking......Gee, glad we paid you all that money to clear that one up. After a very frustrating, circular phone call with this guy I come away with......we won't know unless she starts having seizures not associated with fevers if something is wrong. Nothing to do but wait.
Gotta love a diagnosis like that. But sooooo much better than an outright your daughter has epilepsy and we need to get her on some mind numbing drugs right this minute. So that God for that.


I called her pediatrician back the next day who basically clarified that the other doctor was pretty much saying the same thing our doctor was, just in a much less reassuring way.

So here is where we are.......Abby is at a slightly higher risk of developing a seizure disorder because she has complex febrile seizures. She is also at a slightly higher risk of developing a seizure disorder because she has some abnormal spikes on her EEG. Something like 8% of the general population also show these spikes and never develop anything though. So for now, we do nothing except thank God for such a good diagnosis and pray that nothing more ever comes of it. We all just continue to let her be a normal kid doing normal kid things. For Jamy and I there will always be a little undercurrent of anxiety wondering if the other shoe is going to fall, but we will not worry about it anymore than we have to. Our kids could get stricken with much worse things at any minute and I am not going to spend my life worry about everyone of them. That is a good way to miss out on all of the good times.

So for now, please everyone say a prayer for Abby and remember her in your prayers from time to time. I am confident that no matter what comes of this she will grow to be an amazing person surrounded by lots of love and God will help us to help her become that person.

Take care and have a great beautiful evening. Finally, the weather here is warm so "YeeHaw!"

Welcome to Butterfly Stockco....

This is a magical place open only to those with the most vibrant of imaginations. In Butterfly Stockco the world is a perfect place. Princess Abby and Prince Weston rule. Princess Skylar can come too, but according to Princess Abby, P. Skylar doesn't quite know how to play yet.

Butterfly Stockco is a land that is always warm and cold. Fairies fly around waiting to help you out if you get in trouble. Butterflies let you ride on their backs if your feet get tired. All of the houses are magic rainbow houses that clean themselves so the children, mommies and daddies never have to do anything except play together.

Brothers and sisters, like the Prince and Princess, always get along. They share toys, they hold hands, and they kiss each other's booboos.

Each day in Butterfly Stockco brings new and exciting events. Some days there are concerts, some days there is storytime, the snacks are always full of sugar but it is okay because in this magical land that is healthy.

Naps and bedtime do not exist here because "we just never get tired" (probably all of the sugar!) Instead we play all day making up new parts to the world as we go.

Now you may be wondering how to get to this amazing place. It isn't hard to find you just have to close your eyes and remember back to when you were a kid and the whole world was whatever you wanted it to be.

Abby and Weston , all by themselves I might add, have invented this magical world, but they would love to have you visit anytime you feel like just being a kid.

Isn't a child's imagination amazing? When you put two kids with great imaginations together, whole new worlds appear.

Technology Rules..once you get it!

Here you go. If you take a gander to your right, unless you are standing on your head reading this then look left, you will see I have figured out how to get video onto my blog. It s not exactly the way I want it but it is there so, yeah!!! I will keep this spot and try to update it every now and then with new video of our exciting lives. YOu know, the one where we have been locked all together in our house for weeks now due to the flippin' cold and random illnesses that only seem to strike on days where the weather is nice. You gotta love those Kansas winters!!!

Enjoy!

Gettin' to be a big girl!

Here is our big girl again. These are the pictures of her getting ready to ride in her big girl car seat for the first time. Can you believe she still fits in the car seat we brought her home from the hospital in? We figured it was time to sit up and see the world though. She had a great ride and is lovin' it because now that I can see her she gets to eat some snacks in the car. And we all know, one of Little One's favorite things is.....snacks.

The last picture is one I forgot to post before. It is of her on the night of her birthday party after everyone left. She partied so hard she crashed. I have a similar picture of Abby after her 1st bday party. My party girls. THink they might give me trouble later?

Update on Abby.

Well, I just heard from Abby's pediatrician. The lead test they did at Children's Mercy showed a lead level of 5. Safe is anything under 9. Most kids test between 1-3. Skylar did the same thing at her nine month appointment. Her lead level was 5 as well. The doctors just check it again in 3 months and make sure it isn't going up. Skylar's came down to 3 this last time. We will check Abby again in 3 months and see what she is doing. Conclusion there....lead is not causing her febrile seizures.

Dr. Riordan also got the results of her EEG they did on Friday. While it is not completely normal it is not abnormal either. Apparently she does show some spikes in her brain waves but the doctors are saying that these are normal variants and don't indicate a seizure disorder. Diagnosis is still atypical complex febrile seizures brought on when she spikes a sudden high fever. Dr. Riordan's nurse told me that while he is not concerned at all about her results he does want us to consult back with the neurologist at Children's to be sure they agree with his interpretation of the EEG. He says that something like 7-8% of the population have these variants in there brain waves and have no seizures at all. I am sure it is the genius 7-8%. :) More active brain, you know. So right now, I am just waiting for Children's to call us back and confirm what our doctor thinks. I will keep you posted.

Happy Birthday, Skylar!!!

Here are the much overdue pictures of Sklar's birthday party. As you can see she wasn't too sure about the cake at first, but once she figured it out, "WOW!" She also had some great help opening her presents.

Thank you to everyone who could come. It means so much to have such a great "villiage" helping us raise our kiddos.

Each year on their birthday, or very soon after, I write each of the kids a letter. I hope one day they will look back at them and enjoy my thoughts on their childhoods and futures. The following is my letter to Skylar. Feel free to read and comment if you have any thoughts on her first year you would like to share with her.




Dear Skylar,

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! This is your birthday letter from Mommy. I hope one day you can look back, read this and get a sense of how very much you are loved.

Just 12 short months ago, I could feel you moving around in my tummy. I knew you then, what time you slept each day, when you liked to play, if you had the hiccups and what foods you really didn't like to eat, but what I didn't know yet is who you were. Then one beautiful day in January I got to meet you for the first time. Right from the start you were the best baby. I know every mother thinks that, but you really were. The nurses at the hospital even commented on what a content little angel you were.

As the months have passed, it has been incredible to watch you grow and change into a real little person. You remain the happiest baby I think I have ever seen. There is always the brightest smile on your face and you love it when people giggle with you. Laughter and snuggles seem to be your favorite things. Grammy can often be heard telling people how you are the "smiliest little thing". I know there will be days where you don't feel like smiling and being happy. Those days are good as well. You will learn as you get older, I hope, to appreciate the times that are rough because they help you to see and really appreciate the good times. One of my wishes for you is that the laughter and the light that is within you naturally will be with you always and will become something you come to see as one of your gifts to the world.

Let me tell you some things about who you are and what you like right now. First of all, you love your brother and sister. Often in the morning I can hear you when you first wake up calling from your crib for Abby. She usually comes in when she doesn't have school and plays in your room with you. I can hear you two in there just giggling and playing together. Sometimes I stand at the door where you guys can't see me and just watch. Having a sibling you can count on is so important. You guys will argue and probably hate each other at least for moments as you grow older. Another wish I have for you is that you will always know the true love and friendship of your siblings and that you will return that love and friendship unconditionally. There is no greater gift than a family that loves and supports you.

Right now you also love music and dancing. Whenever music comes on you usually start bobbing up and down with a big grin on your face. Doesn't matter what kind of music, but you did have a huge giggle fit this morning when Weston sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to you.

You also have yet to meet a food you don't like. I am not sure how you are staying such a tiny little thing, because most of the time I have to take the food away from you. I love it that you will try anything we put in front of you . Another wish for you is that you never lose that curiosity about the world and the willingness to try new things. Your life will only be as good as you make it. Each day you are going to have to wake up and make a choice about how your day will be. Make choices that lead you to adventure and happiness. Believe me some days it will be difficult to choose to be happy, but if you do nothing will bring you down.

I am a little late writing this letter to you because Abby has been sick and I wanted to write when I could really focus on what I wanted to say to you. It is just a couple of weeks after your actual birthday now, but wow how much has changed in just the last two days. This time three days ago you were just taking a few little steps here and there. Over the last couple of days you have taken off. Tonight you were even preferring to walk and not crawl. Seeing you up on your feet ready to take on the world is amazing! Oh the things you will accomplish now! I also wish for you that you come to know how blessed you are to be born into the world you were born into. You live in the greatest country in the world. You will have every opportunity and can become anything you want to be if you work hard and believe in yourself. Never take that for granted. There are still places in the world where young females don't have near the opportunities you have. Don't waste the freedoms you have been given.

I could ramble on and on but you hopefully will come to know the rest over the course of your life. My final wish for you on your first birthday is that you always know the love and support of your family. No matter what choices you make or how you decide to live your life, carry our love with you wherever you go, because it will always be there. We are the kind of family that sticks together. I hope Daddy and I will raise you in such a way that you will always know that love and understanding. There will come times when you don't understand us and we probably won't understand you. Teach us and trust us to teach you. Know that every decision we make, every rule we enforce, every good time we make available and every day that goes by your happiness, health and security are our first priority.

So there you go, Baby. May your second year be as wondrous as your first. May you continue to grow and learn your place in this world.

We love you and will be here for the whole journey!

Happy Birthday!

About Abby....

I apologize for not posting anything for awhile. 2008 has started out very eventful for us. The best news is that our baby turned one on the 8th. I will post some pictures and some more on that in another post in just a minute.

The bad news is that Abby had another seizure the night before SKylar's birthday. It happened just as quick as all of the others and really took us by surprise because she hasn't had one in almost two years and as they get closer to 5 or 6 they are supposed to outgrow them. We had deluded ourselves into thinking that stage of our lives was over. I tell ya, never let your guard down with these kiddos. I will spare you all of the details except that we went through two ambulance rides, two hospitals in two states in just a few hours. We ended up at Children's Mercy in KC again. The doctors there did a bunch of neuro tests and determined that they are nearly 100% certain that it is the same old thing as before. They said it is not completely abnormal for someone with a history like hers to go for awhile and then all of the sudden have a recurrance. Yeah, huh? Because she did go for two years without one and she is almost five they thought it was worth bringing her back for a full EEG just to make sure.

So, last Thursday my dad came and stayed with the other two while Jamy, Abby and I headed to KC. THanks Dad!! We stayed at the Ronald McDonald house right next door to the hospital as we had to keep her up until midnight and then wake her at 4 am and keep her up for her appointment at 9:15 am Friday morning. Whoever thought up that test obviously does not have small children. She did fantastic though and we await test results sometime around next Thursday. I will let you all know what they say. So say a prayer for a completely normal brain!

Saturday morning she woke up and said her tummy hurt. As the day went on she kept getting worse and worse. Finally at about 5:30 pm she barfed. Then she barfed again and then again. She didn't have a fever but we loaded her up on Tylenol just to hopefully keep her from spiking one. Today she seems better. STill not eating but much perkier, no sign of fever and no puke. Yeah!

So there you go. SHe hasn't been sick in almost two years and now she seems to catch crud whereever she goes. The same thing happened that winter that she had those seizures before so I am wondering if they just knock down her immunity somewhat. The good news is that she is starting to understand that when she sucks her thumb she puts "icky bugs" in her mouth that make her sick. We have seen lots less thumb sucking the last couple of days!! Between the busted lip a few weeks ago and the puke yesterday maybe we can get her broke of the bad habit!

I will keep you posted.....