school pics

The kids got their school photos back the other day. I was worried about them because this year we had to pay in advance and Jackson is not known for taking the best pictures. His photo last year looked like a thug. Luckily I didn't have to buy those in advance. But this year's photo is a huge success! I think he looks soooo cute. And really old. Seriously, he hadn't even turned 7 yet. But alas, he is 7 and a 1st grader. Where does the time go?



And miss Emma's photo - a cutie for sure. This girl may take awkward photos at home, but put her in front of a professional and she's batting near 100% so far. Here she is 8 and in 3rd grade.

The baby of the family...

turns 4 today! I know I say it every time one of the kids has another birthday, but the year has just flown by! Brian is just one of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet, and I'm so thankful to be his mom. He's a funny, loving, kind, and very smart little boy. He's also proving to be an excellent student, just like his siblings. His teachers sing his praises pretty much every day I go to pick him up from preschool. Warms my heart. He is such a different kid than Emma or Jackson, his personality has been different from day one. But he fits in our family so perfectly. Like that last puzzle piece that you love to fight over. He is truly a joy to be with and a hysterical ball of energy with lots of things that "mommy, I hafta tell ya somethin' "- he leads with this phrase every time he needs our attention. We make fun of him saying that all the time but the truth is, I'll miss it when he doesn't say it anymore. A few other things he says that crack us up is when he counts he says five-teen instead of fifteen. He says he has the cough-ez or that he has a "tomach" ache. I have always held onto the little things like that, and it is funny at the time. But it's a bittersweet moment when they grow up a little and start using the correct words or phrases.
Brian and Jackson are going to share a birthday party this year since they both wanted a Star Wars themed party. It is Brian's first time inviting friends from school and I know he is really excited. It will be crazy having a house full of boys running around with pretend lightsabers, but Dave will be so proud!
I'm sitting here typing out this post recalling just what I was doing 4 years ago, and I have a few tears. It's still hard to think he's the last baby in our family. Just doesn't seem real sometimes. But he's the perfect ending to our family. Like the icing on the cake :-)

I've got tile!

So I've been saying that I wanted a tile backsplash since our first house in Crystal Lake. In each house I said I was going to do it but never got around to it. Well third time's a charm! I finally found tile that inspired me to get the job done. I bought the tile without Dave's approval while he was in PA with the kids and was really worried how he'd react. It definitely wasn't what he expected, me neither actually. And when it came in I second guessed myself for a few days. I also ended up having to change a couple things on the fly, but all in all it turned out so much better than I had anticipated. And Dave loves it, too. I wish I had done it sooner.


"before"


"after"

Back to school, back to school!

Jackson and Emma went back to school today. Emma took forever to fall asleep last night in anticipation of the day - it was so cute! They were both really excited to go this morning. It's fun to see each year start fresh, and look forward to how much they'll change and grow. And I didn't even get emotional this year. Now when Brian goes to preschool in a couple weeks, I'm sure I'll lose my mind.
Here are pics from this morning.






On a side note, Emma had her gh stim test last week and did well. It was a rough day, but she hung in there and now it's all behind her. I go on the 24th for the results. Fingers crossed.

New test date

Emma will be having the test done at Levine Childrens Hospital on August 13th. They have more specialized equipment to help locate a good vein for the IV so we're hopeful she won't endure multiple sticks like yesterday. I won't follow up with the dr for the results until the 24th, but I'll be sure to post what they find.
Funny thing about yesterday though was that they measured her before the test. Dave said they had her at 46 inches tall. If that is truly the accurate measurement then I don't think we'll have anything to worry about. The whole reason for this test was because at Emma's last check-up she was 45 1/4 inches tall, which dropped her down to the -2% for height. The dr. said since her growth had stalled again we should really do this test. They measured her twice that day to make sure it was accurate. So a month later she's 46 inches? If she grew 3/4 of an inch in a month we'll have worried for nothing. But, at least we'll know for sure. I'm guessing they either measured her w/shoes on or rounded since it wasn't an official check. But time will tell.

Thanks for keeping Emma in your prayers. She recovered quite quickly yesterday and had a normal day.

Growth Hormone Stim Test

UPDATE: no dice. they couldn't find a vein that would last more than a few seconds. Poor girl got poked multiple times all for nothing. So now we have to reschedule for another day to have the procedure done at Levine Children's hospital. So not happy about that.

Tomorrow (tuesday, aug. 4th) Emma is having this test. I can't explain it well, so I'll copy and paste the medical definition

Definition

The growth hormone (GH) stimulation test measures the plasma level of human growth hormone (hGH) after the administration of the amino acid arginine and/or GH-releasing hormone. It measures the ability of the pituitary to secrete GH.

How the test is performed

An angiocatheter (IV) is usually placed in a vein, typically in the inside of the elbow or the back of the hand. The puncture site is cleaned with antiseptic, and an elastic band or blood pressure cuff is placed around the upper arm to cause the veins below the band to swell with blood.

A needle is inserted into the vein, and then removed while the angiocatheter is left in the vein. The band is then removed to restore circulation.

Your blood will be drawn 5 times. To prevent multiple punctures of the vein, samples will be taken through the IV line instead of repeatedly re-inserting the needle.

The first sample will be drawn between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., then an intravenous (IV) infusion of arginine is started and continued for 30 minutes. After the 30-minute infusion, GH-releasing hormone is administered intravenously and then four more blood samples are drawn at 30-minute intervals.

Why the test is performed

This test is typically performed to identify hGH deficiency as a cause of growth retardation.

Normal Values

A normal peak value is at least 10 ng/mL; 5-10 ng/mL is indeterminate; 5 ng/mL is subnormal. (A normal value rules out hGH deficiency; in some laboratories, the normal level is 7 ng/mL.)

Note: ng/mL = nanogram per milliliter.

So that was taken from "How stuff works" website. It was the least medical of all the explanations I could find. The reason Emma is having to have this test is her growth had stalled again. She is closely monitored by an endocrinologist and up until now she had been holding her own. Even though she was tiny, she was at least maintaining her own growth curve. After this last appointment her dr. said she was in the -2% for height. I didn't even know there were negative percents! Emma does know about the test and she gets more nervous as each day passes. She does like the attention and drama (no idea where she gets that from - LOL) but I think she truly is scared. It won't be a big deal I don't think once the IV is in place though. Her dr. did say she'd feel pretty yucky but could eat as soon as the test was over. I will send her with a packed lunch I think. Dave is taking her so I can keep the babies here, and also so she doesn't see me upset. I'm not sure why, but I think I'm having a harder time with this than warranted. But she's already been put through a lot at such a young age, I just wish it was all behind her.

Please, if you think of it, pray for Emma tomorrow. She will be there from 8-11 or 12. I'll post how she does once they get home.

What a difference....

a year can make! I was just perusing some old photos and realized that other than the last day of Emma's preschool I have a picture for both the first and last days of school so far. It is so neat to see the changes in the kids from the start to the end. It is also astonishing when you see how different they are in the photos because it's so gradual to us living it day to day. I've even been lucky enough to have them wear the same clothes on the first and last days for the most part. That's pretty fun. Just thought I'd share in the fun with the photo "diary" of the kids growing up...sniff sniff...




First day of preschool (she was very ready to go, I wasn't)


Not last day but during summer after preschool...can't believe I forgot to take a picture on the last day!


First day of Kindergarten...


Last day of Kindergarten


First day of preschool for Jackson and 1st grade for Emma


Last day of preschool for JB


another of Emma on first day of 1st grade (anyone have the veggietales singing in their head right now?)


Emma on the last day of 1st grade (the biggest change for her I'd say so far)


first day of Kindergarten for Jackson and 2nd grade for Emma


last day of kindy for Jackson and 2nd grade for E....(huge change in Jack!)

I definitely hope to keep this going with them, for as long as they'll let me. And now I'm going to stop typing and go get some tissue!

We Have A Bruiser!

Well most of you know that our youngest son, Brian, is by far the biggest of the Turner children. He's always been close to the top of the charts for height and weight. Even though he was a month early he weighed 6 lbs 12 oz at birth. He would have easily been 9+ lbs if born near his due date. And from the get-go he's been a healthy kid. He's grown so fast it was astounding to us. He even caught up enough to now share some clothes with his brother who's 3 years older than he is. But unfortunately, my title to this post is misleading. See, I'm not referring to Brian's size....scroll down and see what I mean...














Doesn't that just hurt to look at it? OUCH!!!

Zoey

Update: Zoey is going to be just fine! She had her last blood draw last night and her red blood cell count was back up to 30%. This test made it clear that it was an infection that made her so sick. So the medicine is working and we get to keep our sweet little girl for a very long time! Yay!


Zoey is a sick little kitty. On her first birthday we had to rush her to animal emergency because she was extremely lethargic and falling over. We were afraid she had feline aids or leukemia but those tests were negative. Her red blood cell count was less than 10%. Under 8% is fatal. Had we not brought her in when we did she would have probably died overnight. She is currently receiving a blood transfusion to get her cell count back up. This is only a band-aid and they still need to figure out what's making her so anemic. Hopefully it's just an infection that can be treated. If it's not, we'll have no choice but to put her down. We won't know more until later this evening...

A better attempt

Here is Emma's performance from Asheville. They danced pretty well and the video is much better quality. Her jazz routine comes on right after the tap.



Competitions are done for the season. We're still unsure of what Emma will do next year. Her dance teacher said she can stay on the team she's on now, but she's most likely too old for it. They check birth certificates. I think technically she was too old for this team this year but she squeaked by somehow. But if she's with girls her own age she sticks out like a sore thumb (and by that I mean the cutest sore thumb anyone could ever hope for). So we'll see what next year holds. Emma has her recital on May 16th which will include these two dances as well as a ballet routine. And Jackson has his recital on May 30th - check back for videos of both of them. I can't wait to see Jackson and a whole group of goofy boys doing hip hop - should prove to be very entertaining!

She's (almost) famous

check out this link....and then read the names at the bottom...

http://www.heraldonline.com/143/story/1293965.html

Jackson takes a dive...

I got a call from the school nurse today. It was 12:17. I hate when I see the school number come up on caller ID. My stomach does a flip. Am I the only one? Anyway, I answer the phone and the nurse proceeds to tell me she has Jackson in the office. Immediately I'm thinking some crazy illness has hit because Jack never goes to the nurse (unlike his sister who goes if the wind blows too hard). She then goes on to tell me that he had fallen on the balance beam outside on the playground and hit his front teeth. She wanted to make sure he hadn't lost his baby teeth yet. I told her he hadn't which made her feel better. I guess I should have been more alarmed than I was, but I figured she'd make me come get him if it was bad. So I hang up and go about my day. When Jackson gets home from school I finally get to see the damage. And while at first glance it doesn't look too bad, if I touched his teeth they instantly started bleeding again. And he winced in pain. I was surprised that his front right tooth had come down quite a bit. I figured it would have been pushed upwards, but apparently he hit the gum line which pushed it down instead. He's got swelling and gashes on his lips and cheeks. But it's all inside so you don't notice it just looking at him. I decided to call the kids dentist just to make sure there wasn't anything we needed to do or be worried about. The receptionist told us to come in right away. Um, okay - that freaked me out. We got there and they immediately did an x-ray. After that the dentist came over and first looked at the x-ray. He saw it and said "Youch." Then he came over to J and took a look. He said that what he was worried about was a root fracture but we had been spared that nastiness. His teeth are really loose and the dentist said they wouldn't tighten back up and he'd have to learn to eat without using those teeth until they fall out. He's just now about to lose his first tooth on the bottom so he may end up loosing all 4 front teeth at the same time. Wouldn't that be so cute? For those that aren't squeamish - here's a picture. It doesn't do the damage justice. But it's the best I could get.



Can you see how the tooth on the left (his right) is lower than the other one?

Emma's first win

Emma's first competition. She is the one far back corner on the right. They are great little tappers!

Praise

Our God is so good. He tangibly answered prayer and I feel like He's holding my hand. With all the illness going around I was so afraid Emma would get sick before her competition last week. I prayed and prayed for her to stay healthy at least until Sunday. I knew that if she did get sick it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I just didn't want to put any more pressure on her dance teacher or fellow teammates. The little ones just don't adapt as well when one person is missing in the formation. Well, let me tell ya - not only did she stay healthy through competition, she's stayed healthy entirely! The rest of us all had something. Three of us had strep, the boys had the flu, and yet Emma remained completely unaffected. How amazing is that? I'm sorry, but you just cannot deny God's hand in that. By any logical expectation she should have gotten something, but she didn't. And her dance team took first for both tap and jazz in their age group, and their tap won third place overall in the junior division. Very exciting!
Another reason to praise our loving God is Emma is growing! We had a follow-up appointment with her endocrinologist yesterday and she has grown almost a full inch in 6 months. Her dr. said they should grow about 2 inches a year, so she's right on track. So for now we're in a holding pattern and just letting her be. If she has another drop in growth like the one that dropped her from the 50-75th% to below the 3rd%, then we'll go ahead with the growth hormone study to see if she has a deficiency. If she does, then we would go ahead with the replacement hormone most likely. If she does not, and the hormone replacement would be solely for esthetic purposes then we would forego that option. But who cares about that for now! She measured in at 45 inches tall and 47 pounds (although that was fully dressed in jeans and two shirts, but hey - we'll just ignore that fact). Those measurements still keep her below the 3rd % but she's maintaining a steady pattern and that's all that matters for now. Yay!
Jackson, while the sickest of us all, remained in good spirits throughout his quarantine. He never complained, ate well, took his medicine without a fight, and kept busy most of the time. You'd never have known he was as sick as he was if the Dr. hadn't told us. He's such a good little man! I'm just so thankful he wasn't miserable.
And just one more reason for praise(really there are too many to post). Brian is potty trained! And he did it himself! We still allow him to wear pull-ups simply because he's afraid to poop on the potty (sorry for TMI), and he's constipated most of the time so we never know when he'll go. I just don't want to clean up that mess. But he hasn't peed in his pull-up in almost a week, and he's telling us when he has to go now. So I'd call that done. I'll be honest, I was a little sad to see the last diaper go. I know, I'm pathetic. But I LOVE having babies and I think the Lord knew I needed a cutoff made for me because I'd have probably had at least one more if it hadn't been decided for me.
The kids have spring break next week but we'll be staying home this year. But Dave and I will be traveling in May on a much needed vacation. Our first "true" vacation since our honeymoon 12 years ago. We're both soooo excited.

Well, that's about all I have for now.

Wow

Jackson has been feeling somewhat under the weather for the last few days, but nothing major. He took a nosedive today so I decided to take him to the dr. He tested positive for both strep throat and the flu. I feel so unbelievably sad for him. He must feel just miserable.

So all three kids are on Tamiflu, and I'm praying like mad that Emma stays healthy because she's got a dance competition in Asheville this weekend.

Nothing like a little stress to make the week go by faster, eh?

Has it been 10 days already?

According to my ticker to the left it has been 10 days since I stopped drinking soda. I would have only guessed it to be 3 or 4 surprisingly. It's not nearly as hard as I thought. Now this isn't to say I won't have soda ever again, in fact I'll probably have it tonight. But Dave and I have stopped buying it or keeping it in the house. I will only allow myself a soda when we eat out. And because we're both trying to shed a few pounds, that's not very often. Tonight I'm going out with a group of moms I met at Jackson's preschool last year. A very wonderful group of ladies, actually. And we're going out to dinner for a little girls' night. I had planned on having soda tonight, but now that I saw that ticker I'm thinking I don't need it obviously, so why tempt myself. We'll see.
But I'm excited for my girls night out tonight. Doesn't seem fair to get to go out to dinner tonight, considering in exactly one week I'll be in Charleston with 11 other women enjoying a few days of R&R. But I'll take while I can!

sweetness

My sweet husband went to the store for me on his way home from work. That alone is such a blessing to me. But on this day, he also brought me home these....


and with them in his hand he said "I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate you." Wow - am I not the luckiest wife ever? He - is awesome.

Snow Day #3

Picture post...

We've hit a new phase of life...

I don't know who's more upset, Emma or me. See, we've entered into a new world - Emma is grounded. For two weeks. For lying to me. I'm at a loss. She's lied before, but she was young enough to punish in the toddler-way. Even taking away a privilege seemed sufficient. But not so much anymore. Last night Emma and I were getting ready to go to gymnastics - her favorite activity of the week. I told her to go to the bathroom before we left. Her first mistake was talking back to me by saying "I went when I got changed" - which was at 4:00. It was now 6:00. My response was - I didn't ask if you needed to go, I said go. Do not talk back and just do what I ask you to. So she trots off to the bathroom. At the same time I went into my room to change quick and came back out. I was in there maybe all of 45 seconds. When I come out of my room, Emma is already getting her shoes on. I knew there was no way in the world she could have undressed out of her pants and leotard, gone potty, gotten re-dressed in said leotard, washed her hands and been out in time to be putting her shoes on. No way in the world. So I immediately know she didn't go - so I asked her "did you go potty?" She responded "I did." My response - trying to give her a second chance "Are you sure you went - that was awfully fast" and she quickly responded with "I went!" Damn. She must think I'm so dumb. I called her over to me and said oh so sternly - "you're not telling me the truth, are you?" She stared at me blankly for a moment, and I just about lost it. Sensing this, she finally says "I didn't go." I told her she didn't get to go to gymnastics and sent her to her room. Once she was upstairs I talked to Dave about it and we both felt that keeping her from gymnastics wasn't the right punishment, since we're paying for her to be there. Instead we decided she wasn't allowed to play with her best friend (or any friend for that matter) for two weeks. What's hard about that for her is her friend lives across the street. So Emma has to see her outside playing and she doesn't get to - that'll sting. It's weird - she's not even 8. Where did I go wrong? And why did she choose this to mess up on? All I asked her to do was pee! Sheesh!

New look

Do you like it? If so, head over to www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com. They have free templates you can use or you can request custom templates for a cost. She's also doing a ton of stuff to support two babies that have been in the NICU for months. Maybe you'll want to enter one of the drawings to help support these families. I don't know baby Mia, but Kayleigh is a baby here in Charlotte and I "know" her parents (i.e. read a lot about them, and have seen their work around town). Both babies were near death, more than once, and have had an uphill battle. As of right now they're both winning the battle and it's great to read how strong the love of God has made these families.

So go forth and enjoy!

I know, I know...

It's been way too long since I blogged. I have excuses - do you want to hear them? Didn't think so. I haven't meant to be away so long, but life is life and it happens.

We had a wonderful christmas this year. We spent a week in the mountains with my side of the family. Got to spend some good time with my brother's kids - I just don't get to see them enough. And the adults got to hang out and play games. I love that my family likes to play games - it's so much fun. And while we could watch movies together every night, it's just not the same.
The kids did pretty well for themselves this year, despite the budget constraints. The highlight was Jackson and Emma getting pogo sticks - from Santa. I thought they were a little weirdo for requesting them, but they love them and can actually get on the things. Unfortunately the weight requirements for the sticks are 40-80 pounds so they don't really make them bounce much. But at least they'll get to use them for a long time. Sadly for me that means I cannot play with it, too. I had a pogo stick when I was a kid and I loved that thing - I used to count how many jumps I could do in my basement. I'm sure I drove my parents nuts. I think my highest was in the 140's - yes I was (am) a dork!
The week of New Year's, our good friend Alison and her boys came for a visit. Oh how I wish they lived near us. The kids play so well together and enjoy the same things. Only Emma went off on her own now and then since she was the only girl in a house of boys. And speaking of Emma, while the boys were in town she lost two teeth! And thank goodness she did. I had a call into the dentist to see if she needed to have them pulled. The two top front teeth just didn't want to come out before her permanent teeth came in. Just like what happened with her bottom teeth. This poor girl has such a small mouth that there just isn't room to wiggle. So we spent a good hour one evening wiggling and tugging one of the teeth and finally it came out! She was a superstar - seriously. I was pulling hard and most kids wouldn't have put up with that. I kept telling her I would stop anytime she wanted me to. She kept saying "don't stop until it's out!" She was determined to get it out. So we got one out and decided that was enough for the evening. The following morning, after discovering her $2 from the tooth fairy (hey, she worked hard for that one - worth an extra dollar in my opinion) she decided it was time for the other one to come out. This one was the tooth that has been sticking straight out for some time now - pushed out by the permanent tooth coming in behind it. I was so glad she wanted it out because it was obviously out of place. So we sat and worked on it again, and this one was even more difficult than the first. But once again she was the bravest little thing and we got it out. And yes, the tooth fairy gave her another $2 for that one as well. ;-)
So now school has started, I have Sarah during the week again, and Brian is back to solo-play. And I'd make a pun saying he's pretending to be Han Solo, but that would be inaccurate. He's pretending to be General Grevis, Anakin, or Obi Wan usually. Dave is so proud.
Sorry to slow up your computer, but here are a ton of pics from the last few weeks. Sorry they're not in any kind of order - enjoy!

















The pic above is of Emma in a dress I wore as a kid. It fit her just like it did me in the picture below. Funny thing though - I think I'm 4 in that picture. Emma is 7 1/2. I also think it shows she doesn't really look like me, even though most people say she does. But if you look at the last picture I do think it shows there is a little of me in Brian. I had to add that one because it surprised Dave and I how much it looks like Brian. Weird how kids change who they look like from year to year. I've stopped trying to figure it out!