Tropical Storm Issac

So were are all ready for this storm, we think. Water, non-perishable, flash-lights, etc.... We'll see what happens. We were going evacuate when the eye was headed for p-cola, but now that it's moved west a bit, we decided to stick around and have a stay-cation.

Shirts

I got some fabric Saturday to make appliqué shirts for the children for when baby bean is born and I just couldn't wait to get started.  I still need to get a shirt for Aggie, but that will come soon.

Chocolate Covered Berries Secret Reveled

I don't know about you, but I've had a time mastering the art of chocolate covered strawberries.  My first flaw; over heating the chocolate in the microwave.  The key to this problem is following the melting instructions on the bag~shocking~.  My next big issue was; even though I followed the instructions, once I started dipping my, chocolate would become clumpy quickly, and I was only able to get 10-20 berries covered with one-two bags of chocolate, and only the first ones looked "pretty".  Then a wiser friend informed me that the berries must be completely dry, not freshly rinsed.  Since I've obtained this knowledge I haven't made berries until this morning. I have a ladies night to go to and thought this would be a lovely treat. So the secret is............ rinse your berries, place them on a towel to dry for a bit, then execute the chocolate melting and berry covering.  Like gardening...... the ground work is key. Look how many I covered with one bag of chocolate.

Cytomagalovirus

I was negative, so no antigen was detected.

Aggie Medical Update

She's still remarkably cute.

It's been awhile since I've reported on the medical front. It has slowed down a bit, but we did have several appointments at the front of the month, they seem to come in groups, which in some ways is nice b/c then I get them all over with at once, then resume "normal" life after a full week.

We saw a new genetics Dr. August 9th, the same day as baby bean's big reveal ultrasound. The genetics Dr. in Birmingham who specializes in mitochondrial diseases wanted us to see a general genetics Dr. to "make sure she wasn't missing anything", as she is trying to decided whether or not to repeat the muscle biopsy that was done improperly last Fall.  So we saw one in Mobile. He was very nice, his conclusion at a glance is that Aggie doesn't have mitochondrial disease. That she had something happen in-utero. Which is the same conclusion everyone has drawn.  The one different thing that happened this time, is I mentioned that I had done some reading(i stumbled upon it in my pregnancy book) on CMV (cytomegalovirus) and was wondering why we were never tested for this since Aggie has many of the effects of someone who would have had it as a fetus (hearling loss, brain injury, small head).  He was surprised this was the case, and recommend we both be checked for the antibodies of the virus to see if we had in fact had it at some point in our lives.  It's been so long since her birth that it is possible she could have contracted it on this side of the womb, but if we both come back positive, it could be some useful puzzle pieces. This was yet another negligence of our original neurologist.  I had even mentioned to him when Aggie was 6 months old about the possibility of testing for antibioties of common intra-uterine infections, and he had basically told me that it would serve no purpose at this point. I do realize that God was sovereign in even this, but how extremely frustrating the thought of this has been, and all the possible things that could have been avoided if we do in-fact come back positive. I had my blood drawn last week, and will wait for my results before we get Aggies drawn.

We also saw the opthamologist that week, the 10th.  To get the stent removed from Aggies Left tear duct. That was placed there in hopes to keep it open. The idea is that the duct will heal open with the stent in, and once removed will continue to stay open. Time will tell. We now just need to go back annually for eye exams unless other problems arise.

Developmentally Aggie is pulling up to stand more often, on more things. She crawls all over our home all day long trying to get into things she ought not to. We keep the bathroom door closed now after finding her pulled up to the toilet a couple weeks ago. So she is doing "normal" activities for someone of her developmental age of 11 months.

ENT we see quarterly to check on the ear tubes.

Audiology we see for new ear molds or hearing aid problems.

Cardiology Annual Echo's and EEG's.

Neurology....... I almost forgot. Recently we had noticed Aggie having a new behavior that could or could not be a mild seizure(we are suppose to watch for those since she's "at risk").  After witnessing it several times we decided to call the neurologist in Birmingham They were very helpful! We sent a video to them of it, and they called us back promptly to inform us that they do not think it is seizures, but a behavior that is common of children with Aggies condition. We are grateful for the news, but are praying that this behavior will not continue all of her life. I am most of all grateful for the excellent care of the Dr. and his staff, as they will not be paid for their time by our insurance for their services, yet it saved us a 4 hour van ride there and back.

Therapy is going well, she is getting new ankle braces soon, as she is outgrowing her old ones.

Aggie in a nutshell.

22 weeks

This was last week, Shiloh captured it for me, a little blurry. I realized I'm over half way through the pregnancy and haven't taken a baby shot yet. So here we are growing.

In the classroom

We started school last week.  Mike has decided he is the math/science man, so he can tag-in if I am unable to get to something.  It is kind-of bittersweet for me. I am so thankful for the back-up help and his desire to be involved, but........ my favorite subjects are math and science :(.  We kicked off the 1st math lesson last Saturday all together so we could be on the same page.

Here is math in action. 

 Math for all my friends.

Science; learning what thunder and lighting are.  Maybe a little beyond their years. But everyone seems to be having fun.

World Travelers

My parents came for a visit the week of the 6th.  It was unplanned, the week prior they had just returned from a trip to Alaska, so I was very surprised when I spoke with my mom on Friday and she said " we are thinking of heading your way Sunday, would that be ok?" And sure enough they did, it was a short visit, but it was nice to have them. We of course hit the beach one day, ate lots of good food, and mom helped me get some work done around the house. She scrubbed my kitchen floor, Aggie had left her mark. We even organized the linen closet, a much needed event. It was nice to see them. The next planned visit is when we will be having baby bean.

Baby girl names?

Please help us name baby bean, we are stumped.  We usually can name the children in minutes, we've lost our skill.

Prayer Answered

I had requested prayer the other day as i was struggling with being anxious about finding someone to care for Aggie while I took the other children to our home-school co-op.  Today was our first co-op meeting for orientation. And God has provided abundantly for our little Aggie.  I have a good friend at our church who is from Bulgaria.  Her mother has come to the US to visit her and her sister through December.  She is a sweet older christian woman who speaks English moderately well. I have to choose my words wisely, but we are able to communicate.  She reads English well. As you can see where this is going. Mrs. Tanya didn't have much to occupy her through the week as the girls are both young working women.  She does not drive, but God has provided transportation opportunities to work out perfectly as well. Every Monday morning Aggie has physical therapy in Pensacola, 50 min. away from our home.  Mrs. Tanya lives in Pensacola, so I pick her up after therapy, she comes and stays the night with us and is here for Tuesday morning when I take the children to co-op.  Then Tuesday afternoon I take Aggie to speech and occupational therapy in Pace, about 30 min. from our home toward Pensacola, Mrs. Tanya's daughter comes and picks her up. Brilliant!! God has been so good to us!! I asked Mrs. Tanya today if she thought our arrangement would work well for her since it was our first round of it, I didn't want it to be to tiresome for her, and her reply was so sweet. "I love being with your family and your children are so sweet." The only potential problem we may have is that Mrs. Tanya wants to hold Aggie too much, when Aggie just wants to play on the floor.  I think it may be a cultural difference, as cleanliness of floors in Bulgaria may be a little different than in our home. Though some days that is debatable. :)

Ultrasound Photo Shoot

These were some of our favorite pictures of our newest little girl.  They were so generous we have about 10 of them.

 Foot Obviously 

 Her hands were very active, she kept pointing at us.  It must have been that americano I shared with Mike on the way.

Her sweet profile. 

It's a Girl!!

We found out yesterday that baby #4 is a girl!
Everyone was betting boy.  Goes to show what everyone knows :). Except Shiloh that is, she held fast on girl.  Hosea switched to girl 2 days prior to the reveal, a 6th sense maybe?  Little Schloss girls are so sweet, so I am thankful to welcome another, my little man is pretty great too though, just saying.

I am currently in the middle of my 20th week.  All the baby's measurements appeared to be right on target.  Good news.  Given my most recent maternal past they will do another ultrasound in 6 weeks to keep a close eye on things.