Big brother turns 7

                                           Avery holding daddy's thumb

                                           Fun on the trampoline

                                                        Grandma Dollie and Avery


Yesterday we celebrated Gage's 7th birthday. We got him a trampoline.  Oh what fun! I think my husband enjoyed it more than the kids. 

Avery had another hearing test

Yesterday Avery had another hearing test. They are very time consuming and she has to be asleep. This one took 2 hours. I think I'm more exhasted than she is after its done. They told me that she still has no hearing in her right ear and her left ear has severe hearing loss now. I'm really not sure what this means except when she hears my voice she turns and smiles. This is her third hearing test since she has been born. It seems her left ear has got a little worse, since before they said there was moderate damage, nows its severe. We meet with the pediatric audiologist on August 9th to go over our options and see what the next step will be. She is also scheduled to see the neurologist for another ultrasound of her head, so I will talk to him and see if he has any ideas to why she has hearing loss. Today we met with Dan the physical therapist, we love seeing him, he is so kind and really loves Avery, you can tell.

                                                3 months old

                                                         Finally some smiles

Hard to believe Avery is 3 months old already. I feel like I have just met her.

Back from a great vacation

                                           Avery going for a bike ride

                                           Jeremy and Titan

                                           Gage

                                           Watching a movie with dad

                                             Gage bit the dust during our bike ride

                                            Madi and Julia after kayaking

                                             Avery taking a snooze

                                             Madi

                                           Julia

                                                        My little Avery Bear

                                             Shelley took the girls kayaking

 

                                           Elk

                                           Madi and Julia

                                          Gage, Carter, and Titan

                                                            Avery

                                                        Playing in the creek

                                           Gage

                                           Carter

                                           Daddy giving smooches

                                           Shelley and Travis

                                                        Sweet Girl

                                           After a long day of play

                                           Amber

                                           Titan and Gage

                                           Madi and I jumped together

                                                        Mom and daughter, good fun!

                                                        Madi

                                          Jeremy

                                          Madi

                                            Gage

                                              Madi and Julia


We got home this morning at 3am from a glorious vacation. Tons of fun. We went to Jeremy's family's cabin in northern Michigan. We went with our friends, Shelley, Travis and their son Carter. Madison took a friend too. We spent a week there, fishing, kayaking, bike riding, elk hunting, basketball, swimming, swimming, and more swimming. It was hot in the 90's, so the water was great. I turned 34 while we were gone, for my birthday my husband took all the laundry (10 loads) to the laundry mat, while the rest of us played. What a great husband. It was nice to come home and put everything away, no washing.

Another day at U of M

Yesterday I spent the day at U of M. Avery had 4 appts throughout the day. First one was an ultrasound to see how her shunt was working, everything looked good. Next appt was with the neurologist. I had a few questions to ask him about Avery's hearing. I told him about her failing her hearing test and asked if it could be related to the chiari. He said that its unusual for it to be related to the chiari but not impossible. I asked what he thought could be done and he said we would have to wait and see, she is till so young still. She is growing quite fast and is now weighing 10 lbs 3 oz. Wow, I knew she was growing her clothes are getting tight. The next appt was with physical therapy. Dan worked on Avery's foot and gave me some more helpful tips on how to get her to hold her head up and push up with her arms and well as putting weight on her feet. Our last appt was with Occupational therepy, this was the first time I had met Dr Green and was very pleased, Avery has been so lucky to have such great doctors taking care of her. She looked over Avery and told me what I might expect to see in the next couple of years. Basically she said that we will work with Avery on walking but she may end up in a wheelchair. Some kids just don't have the drive to walk, so they choose a chair, and thats okay. She wanted me to know this because some parents don't accept that their kids can't walk.  Anyhow, I'm not going to lie the conversation was a little discuraging, but the best part of the day, was when we left. On our way out we saw a girl and her mom sitting on a bench by the elevator. Her mom looked at Avery and said, "Oh she has a shunt too." She was referring to her daughter. Come to find out her 13 year old daughter has spina bifida too and its in the same place as Averys. We sat there and talked for over an hour about everything. This little girl showed me all her scars and I showed her Averys, she also walks. Once again, God has shown me who's in control, its not me and its not the doctors, its him. Tonight we are leaving for a week to go up north, its going to be so nice, not doctors appts. Yayyyyyy.

Visit with Grandma, Great-Grandchild #20

Last week we went and saw Grandma Doris and family. They hadn't met little Avery yet. It was a great visit, lots of fun.

A very productive day!!

                                                         Two cool dudes!



Today the kids and I cleaned out our mud room. It was a dissaster, we still had winter clothes and snow boots in there, as well as many other things. It took about 4 hours. My motivation tool was a trip to the lake when we were finished. It payed off.