Bennett...

I write this post this morning with knots in my stomach and tears in my eyes. It is a very important day for a special little boy. Most of you that read this blog probably already know who Bennett is. But for those of you that don't...he is having BRAIN SURGERY today.

He is having a temporal lobectomy to hopefully stop his seizures AND to find out whether he has a brain tumor. As if waiting to find out if this surgery will stop his seizures is not enough, his parents will also have to wait on the pathology report to find out if their son has cancer.

Bennett...I love you with all my heart. I will be thinking about you all day today and for the days to come. Your smile could melt anyone's heart. You are a very precious little boy and you have many, many people thinking about you and praying for you today.

To follow his story, click here.

Elsa and Charlie...

Charlie is 5 weeks old. Already!!! Life has been crazy. Time has been flying by...though it doesn't feel like it around 6pm when Sophie and Elsa are having meltdowns.

Today, Charlie had his 1 month checkup with the pediatrician. He now weighs 10 pounds 14 ounces and is 22 1/2 inches long (both 75% on the charts). He is hitting all the milestones. While he is on his belly, he can turn his head from side to side and he can even lift it up for a few seconds. He is making great eye contact and likes to smile. Today, he even cooed for me. Melted my heart. He is also grasping for toys that hang over his head.

Elsa had her 18 month checkup. She now weighs 21 pounds 4 oz and is 31 inches long (my peanut). She not only hit all the 18 month milestones but also a lot of the 2 year milestones. She says over 100 words. She is putting 2 words together. She can count to 10. She runs...REALLY fast...to escape from Sophie. She is my mischievous little girl. She has eyes that are so expressive that she can get away with about anything. She pushes the limit. She imitates EVERYTHING Sophie does...especially right after I tell Sophie to stop doing what she is doing at the moment. She loves shoes. She will go into the closet and dig through a pile of shoes to find the exact pair that she wants to wear. She is almost potty-trained. She tries to do everything on her own and will have a complete meltdown if you even attempt to help her. She is mommy's little helper. If she sees a dirty diaper laying around (with 3 kids in diapers there is bound to be a dirty diaper laying around somewhere), she will pick it up and throw it away in the trashcan. When I am unloading the dishwasher, she stands on her stepstool to reach everything off the top rack so she can hand it to me. Speaking of stepstools, she carries one around to give her the boost she needs to climb up on about anything. She can do puzzles and shapesorters. She can twist the cap off of ANYTHING. She knows what belongs to everyone...points to an object and says "DaDa's" or "Sophie's". She LOVES Sophie and is very concerned about her. She forgives Sophie very easily when Sophie hits or bites her. If Sophie goes to time-out, Elsa gets a sad look on her face and will keep repeating "Soph, Soph, Soph" until I get her out. She has a huge heart, a contagious laugh and she absolutely cracks me up.

Sweet Voice...

Here are a few words that I was able to capture on video. It was right after she woke up and she was in a really good mood. A time, not that long ago, we would have instead been cuddled up on the couch because the seizure monster would have taken over. Sophie always woke up happy but it was only moments later that a cluster of seizures would wipe her out. That I would have to hold her in my arms until she regained her strength back to face the day. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to start EVERY SINGLE DAY like that for OVER 3 YEARS. To have your brain in an electrical storm so bad that it takes over your entire body and drains all your energy. I treasure a lot of moments but now I especially treasure the moments right after she wakes up because they are no longer stolen from us.

Happy...

There is so much to say but I can't seem to motivate myself to update the blog. Not that I don't have MANY wonderful things to say...it's just that my mind is mush nowadays. Everytime I sit down at the computer, I stare at a blank screen and my fingers don't seem to move. So I'll try to update as much as I can right now while I feel somewhat coherent.

I'll start off by saying Sophie remains SEIZURE FREE!!! It has been 2 months and 3 days!!! Her development has really taken off. She is doing so much more than I would have ever expected. Both physically and cognitively. I had no idea that her physical development would take off too. She is hopping and running. Her gait is much more steady and normal. When she came out of physical therapy last week, she ran to me. Really ran to me. It wasn't her usual head down, knees locked, funky little run. She looked straight at me and ran by lifting her feet off the ground and bending her knees. My heart about bursted out of my chest with excitement. Her therapist said that she had worked on running that day. Therapy...what a wonderful thing. It is amazing how they know exactly how to put a child into position to help them learn. I remember when Sophie was learning how to transition from laying to sitting. There are so many steps involved that normally you wouldn't think about. But they know exactly what muscles are involved and what exercises need to be done to get those muscles working properly. I am so grateful for ALL of Sophie's therapist.

Sophie is learning NEW WORDS EVERYDAY!!! Words that I don't even teach her. She is picking them up on her own. Just this past Friday, I was talking to her therapist about how happy she is to go to therapy now. Before surgery, she would scream and cry when we walked into the building. Her therapist had to carry her off because she would cling to me or drop to the floor. After surgery, she wouldn't cry as hard but when we walked into the building she would point to the door and say "bye-bye" and "door". Now she is SO excited to go to therapy. She walks right into the building and plays with the toys in the waiting room. When the therapist comes to get her, she grabs their hand and walks away without giving me a second glance. So as her therapist and I were discussing how happy she is now, Sophie was busy munching away on a snack. I didn't think she was even paying attention to what I was talking about. That was until I was buckling her into her carseat. She said in a clear voice without her little spin on the word...HAPPY. Just like that. With no prompting. With no teaching. She is now learning things without having me sit down with her for hours trying to teach her something new. Absolutely amazing!!!

I promise to update again soon...with photos and a video. I am trying to capture some of Sophie's new words on video so you can hear her sweet voice.