This has been one crazy year. We are all doing well, just running around like a bunch of headless chickens ;o)
So, to recap, Adron hurt his back in January. Turns out he ruptured a disk and had to have surgery on in in January. Now, 8 months later, he is much better, but still in a good bit of pain. Poor guy - but he's tough!
Around the same time, I started having some random memory issues. Things like drawing a total blank on whatever was going on 2-3 times a week. I assumed this was due to being on an antidepressant (fairly high dose) for the past 10 years. Over the course of about 6-8 weeks, I weaned myself off of it, and expected to see a gradual improvement in my memory. No such luck. Finally, by about July or so, I was having episodes every day, usually 2-3x/day and they lasted about 30 seconds - 2 minutes. Bigger things, like driving down the road and realizing that the street names sounded vaguely familiar, but I had no idea where I was or where I was going. Or, I would look at my kids and *know* that they were my kids, but have no idea what their names were, how old they were, etc., etc. Colors looked more vivid, I could see so much beauty in people and things around me, but I felt totally confused and disoriented for the minute or two it was going on. My sisters were totally freaking out, and insisted that I go to the doctor, as they were suspecting severe blood sugar problems. LOL! If only! Well, the nurse practitioner checked my iron and sugar levels, as well as my white count, but found nothing abnormal. I was referred to a neurologist, but thought that was kinda silly, so I scheduled an appointment with a regular pcp doctor. Of course, since I've not seen her before, I had the pleasure of scheduling a complete physical, but the first available appointment wasn't for 2 months. I figured I may as well go see the neuro, *just in case* there was something like a tumor going on. Good thing I did - no tumor, but the doctor suspects that I'm having seizures! He started me on a medicine 2 weeks ago, but my symptoms haven't really improved until the past 3-4 days. I think we're on the right track!
Jonah, bless him, is just the sweetest little thing, unless he's teething lol! He is 17 months, and just as amazing and smart and charming a little guy as you could ever hope to meet <3 We had a therapist working with him twice a month, and a speech therapist twice a month, as well, because he wasn't eating or drinking anything that wasn't from the boob lol! He has improved SO much, and we've actually been able to cut down to quarterly on speech, and bimonthly on the other. We are so blessed to have been assigned such incredible ladies who have done so much for sweet Jojo! Right now, we still see some traits that tell us there's something there, but he is pretty much on par with his peers. His walking is still really unsteady, even after he's been walking for 7 months, so he's being referred to a physical therapist for an evaluation, but I'll be surprised if they feel there's much of an issue. Poor little guy constantly has gashes, scratches, and bruises all over!
Audrey is playing soccer now, and is happier than I've seen her in ages. That is such a great thing for a 15 year old girl! Madeline and Ellie are struggling with middle child syndrome, but are doing well in school. Maddie's Girl Scout troop has just started back up, and we're trying to get Ellie into a troop, too. Noah, well, is still 3. Trying me to my core! But he'll be 4 next month, and hopefully there will be an attitude change in the near future. Of course, he and Ellie have been super destructive, and I'm getting tired of having to replace things or deal without them. My recliner has been jumped on to the point where I can barely put up the foot rest, my laptop case is cracked from being stood on, and every can/bottle/jar of personal care products or cleaning products has been dumped out somewhere in the house. And pens/markers/crayons have been used on every surface imaginable! Ah well, while I sometimes feel like spending the next 10 years hiding in my sewing room, I honestly wouldn't give up these years for anything. It's frustrating, but those sweet little hugs, "I love you, Mommy"s, snuggles, and sticky smiles make it all worthwhile <3
I've not been able to do a whole lot of anything lately, particularly in my sewing room. The air conditioner up there just can't compensate for the horrifically hot weather we had this summer. I built a set of shelves with a 4'x6' top as a cutting table for my sewing room, but I still have to finish painting them lol! I have, however, done a fair amount of knitting, and started dabbling in a little digiscrapping again lololol! These seizure (or whatever they are) episodes seriously sap me of my creativity, so I'm hoping that the meds will help me get back on track.
I did open an etsy shop, but only have one thing listed right now. I need to get some more knitting done and to my photographers so I can get some stuff moving in there! If you wanna see the one little thing I've got, feel free to check it out
here. So that's been my year - how have my beautiful blog friends been???? I really have missed you all, and totally appreciate the sweet notes some of you have sent! It's so good to feel loved ;o) HUGS to all of you!!!!!
I plan to come back with a few pics for your viewing pleasure sometime in the very near future, but no promises lol! However, here's one that was taken back in June as a Fathers Day present for Adron:
