Welllllll..... that makes sense, but I'm still bummed!!

Today I called Oasis, our homestudy agency, to see if they ever heard back from the Judge's office about our paperwork/approval.  They still haven't heard back, and I guess the judge's assistant (not sure what they are called) is no longer there, which is who she had left a message with last week.  She said that was a bad sign, but I'm not sure why, maybe because it will take longer or something.  Anyhow....  Oasis had faxed in the pictures of our pool fence in July.  The judge asked Oasis to also send in hard copies straight to her, so they did.  Today when Oasis called, they talked to someone else at the courts (the people that oversee the whole process or something like that), and they said they have no records of the hard copy being sent in.  Oasis is going to send it to that department now as well, just to make sure that everyone has what they need.

The problem, though, is that the courts have 60 days to respond (basically approve or deny your adoption petition) to the paperwork once it is submitted.  Whenever you send something new in, though, that re-sets that 60 day waiting period.  So basically, when we sent in the photos of the latches, that re-set the 60 days that they have to respond to us.  That would mean that we should hear back by mid September, UNLESS sending in the photos to the other department will re-set it again, and then we will still have up to 60 days!  AH!  Not cool! 

In better news, we went to the Children's Museum today and it was a blast!  My friend, Mary, had free passes for us (THANKS MARY!), so Kyla and I took the kids.  We brought Madi in her HKFOs (up ups) and helped her walk up the big climbing structure, go through the noodle forest, and all that good stuff.  The kids really loved it!  I also got to meet a local lady, Kiara, that has been a lot of support and help for our adoption, so that was really awesome!  We didn't know she would be there but bumped in to her, so that was neat.  Here's some pictures of our day:

All Quiet, Nothing to Report

Conner seems to be doing better with how often he has to urinate (YEAH!), Madi is stable medically (YEAH!), and life has been busy, but blessed. 

I wish I could say I had an adoption update, but sadly, I do not.  I really, really, really did not anticipate it taking this long to get approved in Arizona.  We finished our homestudy and had it all submitted to the Arizona court system by the third week in May, roughly.  And, since May, we have been waiting for approval.  Our agency called the judge in charge of our case and has not gotten any updates back yet (she called last week).   I keep picturing Ramya's face and imagining her sitting there without us, and it makes me sad.  I am really struggling, but just trying to see that it will all happen in God's timing, and that His timing is perfect.   So, to that end, please be praying for approval with us!

That's really all the news I have, which is really no news at all!  I hope to have an adoption update soon :).  Thanks for stopping by to check in on us!  Here's some pictures to make you smile!

Madi's new bathing suit

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"Benny Bear" from the Been Bear Club (from the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus association)

Conner doing what he's wanted to do every day this summer.... SWIM!

Conner found his Halloween cosume a little early this year and is very excited!

 A face full of spaghetti and still as beautiful as could be!

An Update on Conner's Testing

Wow, today has been a BUSY day!!  I'm beat!  This is the first time I'm sitting down today, and I wanted to come here and update everyone before I do anything else, since I know that we have had many people praying for us.  Scratch that.  Had to run and take my brother to pick up his car, then go to the grocery store, so now, for real, I am sitting down to type :). 

First off, THANK YOU for your prayers.  They seriously, genuinely mean the world to us!

Today Conner had an ultrasound to see if they could figure out why he is urinating so often.  They looked for masses putting pressure on his bladder or kidneys, they looked to see that he had all his tubing and that no tubes were fused together or anything, and they looked to see that everything was as it should be size-wise. 

They found that everything looks normal!  The only issue Conner has is that his urethra opening is too small (about 1/2 the size it should be).  Dr. Zuniga said that is common for circumcisions, as scar tissue forms from the circumcision, making the hole smaller than it should be.  I have to say, that was hard to hear.  It was hard to hear because I really, really, really did not want to circumcise Conner.  I fought David on it, but finally gave in.  My gut was telling me not to do it, and I gave in.  I am still mad at myself for that, because I did not trust my instincts.  I'm not knocking those who choose to, trust me, I'm not, I'm just mad because I just knew it would go wrong, and I didn't listen to that little voice telling me so.  They did not take off enough skin either, so he still looks uncircumcised (we have known they did not take off enough skin for a while now), but I told them they are not touching it again to fix it, unless he wants it done when he is older and can make that choice himself (which is how I wished we had handled it to begin with).  The doctor said it could be contributing to the problem, but he does not think it is the cause of the problem.  He said we just need to watch it.  If the opening does not continue to grow adequately, then he will need a surgery to make it bigger.  He said that wouldn't be until he was 7 or 8, though.

The doctor said it is very common for children Conner's age to have this problem, and that they normally grow out of it on their own.  He said allergy testing couldn't hurt, but he also did not feel that was the issue.  He said we need to watch it and just see what happens.  He said to expect it to take about 6 months to 1 1/2 years to go away, though it should slowly get better.  That's a long time to carry plastic cups for when we're driving and Conner has to go NOW and I have to pull over so he can go, but hey, I will GLADLY take that over the alternative :).  He also said to come back if he starts having accidents and being unable to make it to the bathroom.  He was a bit surprised he's waking up to go 1-3 times a night, but said that is ok too.

So, for now, we watch and wait, but we feel much better knowing it's nothing major (a mass, diabetes, etc...) and it's not a UTI. 

Conner has decided he loves the hospital.  After his appointment we went to the cafeteria to eat because it was past lunch time and we still had a 30 minute drive home.  On our way to eat, we saw.....

.... Star Wars characters!   They were set up in the hospital for the kids to see.  Madi hated them, but Conner loved them.  R2D2 was a robot controlled by remote control.  Conner LOVED it!  They also gave both of the kids a toy.  Conner chose an Anakin Skywalker (sp??) figurine and Madi chose a doll with a bottle.  Conner says he wants to come back to the hospital soon.  Oh, dear child, let's not say that.  We will be back soon enough.

In other news, we have a teenager, Kyla, staying with us for a while.  Her mom and younger siblings moved to be with her younger sibling's father (he moved for work) and she is staying with us to be able to finish up with highschool.  I helped her have a garage sale today to get some money for gas and all that fun stuff, and she made $150, which is great!  I'll help her again tomorrow.  The kids really love her, and she's great with them!

That's it for now, thanks again for the prayers!

Easy Canvas Prints Review

I was contacted by a member of Easy Canvas Prints and was offered a free 8 x 10 canvas in return for a review on our site.  I, of course, said yes.  I love the idea of putting your favorite pictures on canvas, and just happen to have a wall needing some sprucing up. 

There are many things I love about canvas, but a big one is that you don't need a picture frame.  I cannot tell you how many times we have accidentally bumped a frame off the wall and the glass broke.  Not to mention you have to worry about trying to find frames that match for all of your pictures.  Then you have the fact that the glass gets all smudgy when it gets touched or bumped, the reflection from the light coming in the windows makes the photos hard to see, and the frames get dusty and have to be cleaned often.  Basically, I'm not a fan of picture frames.  I do love canvases, though!

The last canvas I bought was through Costco.com.  Though their prices do initially seem cheaper, I found that Easy Canvas Prints offers free shipping pretty often and also run discounts pretty frequently.  The Easy Canvas Prints site was very easy to navigate.  They also have a quality rating so that you can make sure that the photo you are uploading will be a high enough quality to look good when you get it printed on the canvas.  The turn-around time is really fast, and you get your canvas quickly.

I was really impressed with the quality of our canvas and also with how vivid the colors were.  The photo looked clear and the detail was good as well.

I tried to get a good picture of our canvas, but it was hard because of the glare.  Here's how it came out, though.

And for comparison, here is the original picture...

Overall, I'm really happy with our canvas and think it came out great!

An Un-Update

Conner's final test results came back and everything looks normal.  His kidneys are functioning great, his white blood cell count is great, no culture grew, so no UTI, no diabetes, and whatever else they looked at is good as well.  Yeah!  He is still having the same symptoms, though, and now his boy parts are getting a bit sensitive, so right now we're just waiting to get the ultrasound next Friday.  Hopefully that will give us some sort of clue to what's up.  If not, I think we'll do allergy testing next.  Thanks for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers!

My little mystery man....

We got in the preliminary report from Sonora Quest and have a few questions answered, which leaves us with even more to ask.

Based on the preliminary reports, Conner does not have a UTI or diabetes.

The doctor is still waiting to hear back to see if his urine culture grows, and is also waiting on a white blood cell count to come in.

He is stumped and thinks we need to go to the urologist to have ultrasounds done to see if there is any abnormal swelling, blockage, bits and pieces growing oddly,  growths causing pressure, etc..... He does not think it is allergies, though he is open to testing again if we want to go that route.

Conner has shown no improvement, so that's disappointing.  I put him in a diaper tonight so he could just relax and sleep.  I know I'll kick myself for this later on, but the poor little guy is exhausted from not sleeping well and getting up multiple times a night to pee.  I wasn't sure what else try.  He just needs sleep.

I have noticed that if I give him a lot to drink, he pees often and a decent amount.  If I don't give him much to drink, he still thinks he needs to pee often, it's just that not is much coming out.  That worries me.  It makes me think there is something causing pressure to his system, which is making him think he has to pee, even when he doesn't. 

Honestly, I was hoping they would say he had a UTI and just wasn't showing symptoms.  I know that sounds silly, but that would have given us answers, as well as something easily treatable.

I do not think it is behavioral because he is having to pee during his favorite activities (watching a movie as a family, reading his favorite book, playing baseball out back, etc....), and the peeing is really bothering him emotionally.  I really think something is causing it.  I'm just not sure what.

Tomorrow I will call and get a referral to the urologist.  I also plan to call and try and talk to the urologist, as he knows us well. 

I will keep everyone updated.  Thanks for your prayers, and don't stop yet! 

Testing is done... now the wait!

Dr. Vitaro called just before 9 to tell us he was faxing in the paperwork for the tests.  I was just about to feed Conner when he said "Conner has been fasting, right?"  Thankfully, other than the cranberry tab, he had been.  My mom came over to watch Madi, since there is no way I could hold her and take care of holding Conner still and reassuring him at the same time (thank God for respite hours, the fact that my mom is our respite provider, and that she only lives 3 minutes away!!).  Conner and I packed him a little baggie of food (dry cereal, raisins, a fruit strip, and an organic sucker) for afterwards.

We got to Sonora Quest to get the blood draw and urine tests, and of course Conner already had to pee, so they let us do the urine part right away.  They knew Conner was fasting, so they put us at the top of the list to get in, which was awesome.  We only waited about 20 minutes, but it was packed in there, so it would have been much worse. 

The blood draw went well.  I won't lie. There were tears and some screaming, but he sat very still on my lap and let them do what they needed to do.  He did a great job.  Afterwards he had lots of questions about blood draws vs. mosquitoes. 

Now is the waiting.  I would have updated sooner, but we had to run off to speech about 20 minutes after we got home.  I will update as soon as I know something.  Thanks for the prayers and support!!

Here we go again with the unknowns....

Only this time it is for Conner.  It started early last week.  I noticed he had to pee, a lot; even at night when normally he would not need to pee.  He was also drinking a lot, but I didn't know if he was peeing from drinking a lot, or drinking a lot from peeing a lot and being dehydrated.  I did notice, though, that he would drink a ton at once, like a whole kid's water bottle worth in one car ride.  David and I also started a juice cleanse (watch Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Netflix, it's very motivating) on Monday, and Conner had been drinking our juice and smoothies, so he was having more liquid than normal as well. 

On Wednesday my mom and I took the kids to the water park.  He had to pee at least every hour, many times more often than that.  I figured it was the cold water, or the extra water from being outside, or..... I'm not sure, I just figured it would go away.  I sent David to sprouts to get cranberry tabs just as a precautionary measure, but really thought it would just stop.  It didn't.  Thursday came and it was pretty frequent, but not terrible. Thursday night came and it got bad.  Really bad. 

We were watching Mars Needs Moms as a family, and during that one movie, I had to pause it 9 times for him to pee.  Yes, 9.  Here's the crazy thing, though.  He pees almost every single time.  Not a full pee, but not droplets either.  A pretty decent amount. 

Friday was pretty frequent again, so I called the doctor's office, but it was after hours.  I talked to a nurse who asked me 999,999,999 questions, only to give me no information whatsoever.  All she told me was to go to the ER if I was worried.  Gee, thanks.  We decided to watch him very closely and see what happens. 

Saturday was filled with lots of peeing again.  We did not let him have any green juice or green smoothies today, just to be on the safe side.  I went Walgreens and got him a glucose monitor test kit to test his sugar levels, just to be safe (and the man at the pharmacy was AMAZING and walked me through exactly what to do, what to look for, what his numbers should be, etc....  That man was such a blessing!).  My game plan was to go to the ER if his blood sugar levels were high.  After he woke up from a nap, I tested him and he read 78, which is low.  I called our naturopathic doctor this time and left a message, hoping to get more feedback.  We went to a meet-and-greet for Church, where he peed many times, then came home and went to bed, a bit later than normal.  Conner did not fall asleep until midnight, though, because he could not rest, he just kept having to get up to pee.  Poor baby.  I tested him again in the morning, when he awoke bright and early at 7:15,  and this time his blood sugar level was 80, so again, a bit lower than normal (I guess 120 is average, and 100-200 is normal, so it's off, but not a ton). 

Today was the same, lots of peeing, no green smoothies or juice, just to be sure.  The naturopathic doctor called us back and was a lot of help.  He offered to go in to the office to get the forms to request testing done, but I told him Monday morning would be ok.  If Conner was acting funny in any sort of way... lethargic, having painful urination, having pain, having cloudy urine or stinky urine, seeming out of it, running a fever, etc..., I would have rushed him to the ER, but in every other way, he's just Conner.  He does have darker circles under his eyes, and he does seem a bit more squirrely than normal, but mostly, he's just Conner.

So, for now, we wait.  I hate this unknown.  It could be something HUGE, it could be nothing at all.  It could be food allergies again, or diabetes, or hypoglycemia, or cancer, or stress, or just plain nothing, or.... who knows!  Tomorrow morning paperwork will be faxed to Sanora Quest, a local lab, and we will go in to have some testing done.  We will test his urine for possible UTI and keotones (the keotones would tell us if this is diabetes), and will also be doing a blood draw to check his kidney functioning and other fun things like that. 

On an interesting note, I have always suspected David had some form of hypoglycemia/low blood sugar so I tested him. He came out low as well.  It was about 80 the first time, and 75 the second.  So, I'm wondering if whatever is wrong with Conner is also wrong with David.  They share many of the same traits.  They both crash and get grumpy if they don't have food in their system pretty often.  They both prefer to graze.  The both are effected negatively by sugar, but the both crave it.  They both like carbs and love fruit, and could eat fruit all day. 

For our prayer warriors, please pray:

1- That it is nothing major
2- That we diagnose the problem quickly
3- That Conner handles the blood draws well
4- For healing for whatever is causing this
5- For peace for Conner as this is really worrying him
6- For peace for the rest of us as we wait


We will keep you updated!

Our Dynamic Urodynamics Appointment

Ok, I admit, I failed at making the title enticing.  It's a bit hard to think of a clever title when you are talking about updates from the world of urology.  I tried, though.


Today Madi had a urodynamics study, her third thus far, and the results were pretty good! 


It was a looooooooooong study, much longer than normal.  First, the nurse had Madi lay down, but then left the room to talk to the doctor.  We happily waited.  Then, she cathed Madi and told me her urine was a little cloudy. I told her it was because I had to wake Madi up from a nap to get her there, and she had not had anything to drink since the last cathing, since she was napping.  She decided to test the urine, just to be safe (which was a decision I supported, don't get me wrong!), but left Madi all hooked up to the monitors and tubes while she left to test it.  The test showed a very slight infection, so she had the doctor spin it and look at it under a microscope.  The doctor did not see anything that looked like an infection/bad bacteria (bacteria is expected with a child cathed, so they only look for certain bacteria), so they sent it off to be cultured, then she came back to finish the test. 


The test itself took about 10 minutes, but poor Madi had to lay there closer to an hour.  She was SUCH a trooper, though!  They put a movie on for her, but she could care less about it, so I had to be creative in finding ways to convince her to lay still and not mess with the tubing.  Annie's organic gummy rabbits were amazing... for about 3 seconds until they were gone.  After that, the phone worked for a bit (looking at the photos and videos on it), then we read some books, played with her baby monkey stuffed animal, drew (while laying down), played with the stuffed animal more, sang songs, and did the etch-a-sketch.  Fun, fun!!


After the test, we met with the doctor, who said her bladder was not being spastic and appeared to be pretty normal, which is an improvement from last time.  He also said that it has grown and is holding more urine.  Though it is still not a "normal" bladder, which for her age would hold about 120 somethings of urine, it's pretty good, holding about 80 somethings of urine.  He started to tell me the dithropan was doing it's job, then remembered we took her off the dithropan ;). 


The plan is to watch and wait, and see what happens.  He moved her to once a year for her tests, which was nice.  Sadly, she cannot go off of antibiotics yet, though the doctor and I did have a nice lengthy discussion about why I hate them, and he agreed, so that was good.  He explained surgery options that might fix her reflux so that she didn't need it, and why those were just not good options right now.  So, for now, we watch and wait.


In other news, Madi also had wheelchair clinic this week at CRS.  She needed some small adjustments made to her chair.  Here's a picture of her and Conner goofing off together.  They had so much fun!

They tweaked the breaks to tighten them, lowered the foot plate, and we are good to go!  Madi hasn't even had this chair a year, and in the beginning, her feet did not come anywhere close to the foot plate.  This time they lowered the foot plate by 1 1/2 inches, so that her feet just rest nicely.  Good growing, big girl!

The first trimester stinks!

The joy, the anticipation, the nervous waiting until you get that first appointment (or approval ;)) and know that things are looking like they should, the longing, the excitement, and all those other feelings that come along with the first trimester.

And, no, I'm not pregnant, though I am longing for a very special someone!

I've heard people say that even with adoption, you go through trimesters.  We are in the first trimester. This is where you do all your paperwork, homestudies, and wait for approval. 

The funny thing is, I have physically gone through many things you would in the first trimester of pregnancy.  I gained weight, I would get sick if I did not eat, then sick after I ate, and was super tired.  I had cravings for all kinds of foods too, which just really helped that weight gain ;).  I even took a pregnancy test, because that's just how pregnant I felt (The chances of us getting pregnant are very slim, as David had a vasectomy about 2 1/2 years ago.  We knew we were finished birthing children, and were ready to move on to adopting them :)).    Thankfully all of that has passed, but I am still left with feelings that are new to me.  Usually I am an amazing multi-tasker that thrives on being busy and loves to be creative and productive.  Lately, not so much.

The worst thing is this adoption brain I have.  I seriously cannot focus on anything lately.  I am scatterbrained and forgetful.  The tasks that have come so easily to me in the past can be challenging some days.  Not in a sad/depressing sort of way, just in that I feel distracted, like my mind is elsewhere, so I find I'm not always fully paying attention to the task at hand.  I have been keeping myself busy with the kids to help keep my mind off of things.  We have played more card games, swam more times, and had more play dates than I can even count.  They are having a blast, so I suppose it is not all bad :).  Once we get approval from the state and things can move forward (meaning approval from Wacap and approval in India), I will feel sooooooooooooooo much better.  I seriously cannot wait!

I know that God has us waiting for a reason, even if I do not know that reason.  I also know that His timing is perfect, and I know I should be finding peace in that.  So, for my praying friends, please pray for peace  as we wait.  And, pray that the second trimester is just around the corner ;).

A beautiful new awareness necklace

Gretchen made a beautiful new spina bifida awareness necklace.  I just had to share!  She does great work, for a great cause!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/79411694/hand-stamped-blessed-awareness-necklace

Spina Bifida Stories: Monica

My name is Monica J. Foster and I am a woman with spina bifida at the L3/L4 level, a full-time wheelchair user and amputee in Landis, N.C. When I was born with spina bifida in the early 1970s, my mother was told by the 'experts' at the hospital I would not do the following: live, recognize her voice, sit up, walk, lead a quality life, go to school, be independent, graduate college, live on my own, have any meaningful impact on the world, find someone to love me. The list goes on.

As of today, I am a vibrant amputee on wheels after dealing with life-threatening infections in my left foot for a long time, In January 2010, I made the hard decision to literally cut my unhealthy losses and continue on the next successful 'leg' of my journey living life to the fullest with one and a half legs on wheels. I am married to my husband and soul mate, Bryan Foster, a stroke survivor who taught me that I could not only be my own best advocate as I got older, but his as well. I am a proud, nationally sought-after professional speaker, trainer, writer, life and career coach and consultant running my own business, BUTTERFLYWHEEL® Motivation, Advocacy & Consulting (www.butterflywheel.com). I have a college degree in English-Writing Studies with a over 20 years of combined experience in top-fold quality print journalism, customer service and disability civil rights. I am also hold professional certifications in life, life purpose and career coaching, vision board coaching and mental health peer support. Bryan is a juvenile court counselor and we have been accessible home owners for almost two years now. We have no children --at the moment -- but do enjoy our rambunctious kitty, Annabelle. Bryan and I are each and together active in various civic and community organizations as well.


We've both learned that no matter what people tell us we can't, won't or shouldn't do, we will find a way --- even if we have to do it in our own time and our own way. The sky's the limit!

Thank you so much, Monica, for sharing your story!!

A Few "Up Ups" and AFO Adjustments

This evening Madi had an appointment with Ron at Hanger.  Have I said how much Madi LOVES Ron (and, of course, I do too because he always takes amazing care of my little gal)?  She was not happy about getting in the car, but when I told her we were going to see Ron to get her up ups fixed, oh boy did her face light up. Then she yelled, "YEAH, RON!  LETS GO SEE HIM!" as loud as she could.  This is really a big blessing because normally a mention of the doctor gets the opposite reaction. 

(coloring on the paper examination table cover to keep Madi happy while her up ups got fixed)

Ron made Madi's up ups a little wider in the booty.  He also made them a little taller and moved the shin pads up so they would help keep her knees from popping out.  He added a pad to her AFOs so her heel does not pop out at night when she's wearing it.  Next he gave us a knee immobilizer so we can keep Madi's left leg (her tight leg that was casted to treat her clubbed foot and also had a heel cord lengthening) stretched out.  This will keep her leg straight at night, since she usually curls it in, and help keep her from getting tight in that leg.

Before we left, Madi had to show off her walking skills and, of course, it wasn't good enough that I hold her hands.  She insisted that Ron helped her.

Ron is walking in the local spina bifida association walk-n-roll, so we will get to see him again soon.  Madi will be excited!

Just to prove that Madi is a typical life-loving two year old (only possibly a little more mischievous), you can see what Madi did today.  I walked in to the family room and found that Madi had gotten in to my makeup bag. 

Yup, she spilled my charcoal grey powdered eye shadow and my blush.  It's hard to get mad, though, when you look at her and she is grinning from ear to ear looking like this...

I see makeup application lessons in our (very distant) future!  If you haven't already, please join Team Madi for the upcoming walk-n-roll.  Here's a link to join.  We hope to see you there! 

Encouraging Words

You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry .

Psalm 10:17

I "met" a wonderful woman, Sue, through our blog.  She had adopted a child with spina bifida and was needing some encouragement and advice.  She has also adopted two children from India, and had encouragement and advice to offer me.  It's the perfect match :).  Though I have never met Sue, and I have only known her for a short time, her words have always been uplifting and comforting, and I have appreciated having her in my life.  Today I got an e-mail from her that was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.  I just had to share part of it.

I wanted to share something with you before I forget!  The woman who headed up the India program for both of my Indian adoptions is coming to Delaware tomorrow.  There are five families now who have adopted from India after we did - mostly church families but not all.  Anyway, she is incredible with placing special needs children.  Long story short, she has been to the orphanage where Ramya is (I told her about you and Ramya and shared your blog address).  She said it was one of the best places she could be while you are waiting. 


Oh how I needed to hear that today.  This wait has been really hard on me emotionally.  I literally run to the mailbox as soon as I hear the mailman, and am always saddened when I find nothing from the courts in there.  I think about Ramya all the time, and pray for her often.  In a way, I think this waiting is good.  I believe that this yearning for her is going to help build attachment.  The wait is really hard, though.  David has a great attitude about it.  He says he sees it as a done deal and that things will happen in God's timing.  I know he is right and I envy his peace with it all.  I, on the other hand, feel like part of me is missing.  I feel distracted and pretty blah.  I am sure it is silly to feel that way since we have not even been approved yet, but I do.  So to hear Sue's words to me today were such a huge blessing. 
 

"She said it was one of the best places she could be while you are waiting." 
 

Praise God!

Our Schedule

I get questions pretty often on what our schedule looks like, so I thought I'd share :).  We are in "maintenance" mode with Madi's doctor's appointments, so that is awesome!  We used to have to see certain doctors weekly or monthly, but now, it's more like every 6 months!  WOO HOOOO!  Right now Conner is still in speech twice a week and goes to preschool twice a week.  Hopefully speech will taper off soon, and we will be a homeschooling family by next year for kindergarden :)

Weekly:
Monday:  Conner's Speech
Tuesday:  Madi's Physical Therapy (PT), Conner's Preschool
Wednesday: Madi's Occupational Therapy (OT), Conner's Speech
Thursday- Conner's Preschool (this is usually the day I help at school as well)
Friday- Rest :)

Every 6 Months:
Urology (tests we get include VCUGs, renal ultrasounds, and urodinamics)
Orthopedic Surgeon

Once a Year:
Neurosurgeon (tests include MRI, CT scan and X-Rays)
Pediatrician

As Needed:
Hanger (where Ron is at who makes her HKFOs and AFOs)
Wheelchair clinic


Not too bad, I don't think!