Sunday, December 30, 2007

Christmas and more

We had a really nice, quiet Christmas at home this year. After opening all of her presents Casey was so tired. She crashed with Daddy on the couch and rested up before a full day playing with all her new toys.

I saw a show on the Food Network that showed a "Buche de Noel". Basically a french dessert that is made to look like a Yule log. Tim found one at a local bakery for us to have with our Holiday treats.

With the holidays we have not had a normal schedule lately. Tim and I have been doing as much OT, PT, and vision therapy with Casey as we can on our own. We start back up with the therapists this week. We will have one more session with each, then hit the road to Texas. It will be a few weeks to get settled in the new place then we will start up with new therapists in Austin.

We have been finishing up all of our appointments with all of Casey's different specialists. Our last one was on Thursday with Casey's Pulmonologists. He actually has a former colleague that is practicing in Austin now. That worked out great. We have put in all of the request for Casey's medical records to go to our new address. Hopefully they will be getting there around the same time as us.

This last week here I need to get my own medical records as well as Tim's, and finish up getting all of Casey's new therapies in place. We have already put in our forward request for mail. It just seems so surreal that this time next week I will already be well on my way to Austin.

Our apartment looks like a bomb went off. We have boxes and stacks of stuff everywhere. We have been selling tons of stuff too. We don't need to take our washer, dryer, fridge or microwave so rather than moving them we have put them all on Craig's List. The microwave went quickly. We use our oven for everything now. I made Lean Pockets for lunch the other day. In the microwave, 2 minutes. In the oven, 30 minutes. Our washer and dryer went on Friday. I will have to make a trip to a laundry mat later this week. I don't remember the last time I had to do that.

Tim's brother and his family come in to town on Tuesday. I am really looking forward to seeing them. Casey will have a great time with her cousins here to play with. I have not seen the kids since our wedding. It will be really nice to have them in town for a few days.

I am very excited to be getting back to Texas. I have been very homesick from time to time. Even still, this move is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I was trying to figure out why this morning and I think I get it. We have been in this apartment for 4 years. A lot has happened while living here. We got engaged, married, pregnant, and had Casey all while living here. Even though there are many things I really won't miss about this apartment, leaving the place where Tim and I started our family is hard. It will be worth it though. We will be able to give Casey so much more in Austin. That's all that really matters.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and will have a safe and happy New Year. And for all of you in Austin, we will see you soon!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Stinky Girl

We just got home from Mexico. The Stem Cell trip went really well. We were able to raise nearly half. Thank you to everyone, we could not have done this without your help.

Wednesday we took Casey into her Ortho appointment to get her cast off. Her feet came out really good. The doctor was very happy. The skin looks awful from being in cast for 10 weeks, and it is really stinky, but that's all expected. After the cast came off Casey was fitted into her leg/ankle braces. She has to wear them 12 hours a day. Luckily they are super cute.

After we got home from Ortho we ate a quick dinner, packed our bags and hit the road. It's just over 2 hours from our house to San Diego. Casey was so tired from a busy day and slept most of the way. She woke up about 20 miles out and was a little fussy. Overall the trip there went really great.

Tim had some meetings he had to take after we checked in, then we took it easy until check out today. After checkout we drove over to Mexico. It was about 20 miles from the hotel to the clinic. Casey was wide awake and taking it all in.

After we got there we had to wait a little while. Casey took a nap while we waited. They decided to inject in her belly again, maybe next year they will do the IV. She woke up, but did not cry at all. With in seconds she had the stinky breath. It is so foul. Now she has stinky breath and stinky feet.

We had to wait around for 15-20 minutes after the injection then we left for home. I am not sure what is going on in Mexico but for some reason all of the roads back to the US were blocked. Tim said that we may never get out of Mexico. After more than an hour of trying I was starting to think he may be right. Finally, and by accident, we ended up in a very long very slow line of cars that eventually crossed back into Cali. Casey was so good. She started to get hungry and had a wet diaper right when we were about to cross. We stopped after getting through the border mess to grab a bite, change Casey and hook up her food. She went to sleep and slept most of the way home. We hit some bad rain about 20 miles from home. Luckily it was only for a few miles then it let up to a drizzle.

It is nice to be back home. I think I will wash Casey's stinky feet (again) brush her stinky breath and get her to bed. It has been a long 2 days. Thanks again to everyone!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

I'm Back

I am back home and recovering well. The surgery went fine and they let me come home around 5:30-6:00 last night. I am a little sore, but nothing I can't handle. I am not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds which means I can't pick up Casey. I am really sad about that. Other than that though I really am doing well. Tim can pick her up and lay her on my left side and I can lay next to her on the bed, so I still some Casey cuddle time.

I do have the WORST timing. We have so much going on right now I don't think I could have picked a worse time to get sick. I need to be able to lift stuff so I can help pack and get ready for the move. Luckily we had already gotten a lot done. I can help load boxes, but I can't move them or do much to help now. In addition to moving we have a ton of medical stuff going on with getting Casey in to see all of her doctors one last time before we leave town. And, of course, we have the Mexico trip next week for stem cells.

I am getting around fine by the time we leave I should be fine for the trip. I imagine if it had ruptured it would have been much worse, and I am sure I would not have been sent home that same day. This makes 4 abdominal surgeries for me now, wow. 2 out of the 4 were severe ruptures. Those surgeries were much more painful. Comparing this one to those makes this seem like nothing. I have been trying really hard to pay attention to my body. Things that I don't feel as pain but notice them to be abnormal I am really watching closely. With Casey needing me I can't afford any more severe surgeries. This time I really didn't think it was serious, but I could tell something was going on. Luckily I went in and caught it before it got really bad. What a crazy mess.

Anyway, I am home, I am feeling much better, I am getting back to Casey's appointments, packing and getting ready for the Holiday. We will post more next week after Casey's casts come off and we make the stem cell trip.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Marty's Appendix

Marty had sudden severe pains early this morning on her lower right side. It did not seem to be going away, so she went in to the emergency room to have it looked at. After a CAT scan and some blood tests, they concluded that it was acute apendicitis and setup an emergency appendectomy. The surgery went well and she is resting comfortably now. The appendix had not ruptured thankfully. She should not have to be in the hospital for more than a day according to the doctors.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Here Comes Santa Clause

Casey finally got to see Santa today. We took her to the annual Jr. Blind Holiday party. Normally Stevie Wonder shows up and sings for the kids, but he was not there this year. The party was really big, lots of people there. We were able to meet some of the people that helped us get things set up over the phone, and Casey saw her Vision Therapist.

We started the day with our usual Saturday PT session. Casey worked really hard. After her session we got dressed and tried to take a family picture for our holiday cards.

By the time we got to the party Casey was so tired. When Tim was parking Casey dropped her head down and stayed asleep for a good portion of the party. She took a picture with Santa, but she had no idea. She did wake up (barley) in time to see the people she knew and listen to some Christmas music. While she was sleeping we made her an ornament for the tree with her name on it.

On our way home Casey was sporting her diva shades. She slept pretty much the whole way. She had a full day and is resting with Daddy.

Separate news, we have been looking online and Megan has been going to a few houses for us. A realtor Megan was working with took her to some places this week. We really liked one of the houses, and luckily it was still available. We were approved as renters Thursday night. We just signed the lease. We had a hard time deciding between North and South Austin. Most of our friends are in South Austin, but the hospital is in North. We ended up picking North. We figured it would be easier for Casey. We are so excited to be on our way. Less than a month now :)

Monday, December 03, 2007

Glasses



Casey finally got her glasses today and we thought we would post a picture since she looks adorable with them. She seems to like them and has been doing really well with focusing. It's just in time for the Junior Blind holiday party this weekend - Stevie Wonder usually shows up and sings for the kids so we are hoping he is there this year!