What a ZOO!

We took Jace to the Zoo on Friday! He LOVED it! 

We had gone last year for an Easter party with our company but he was so out of it from all the nasty seizures that he really didn't enjoy it. 

This time around he was ALL into it! 

We put Jace on the carousel. At first he freaked about sitting on the ride but once it started he was ok. 

He really liked it and after he kept saying "Ride!" :) 

He enjoyed the bird house once we saw an owl! 

At the Children's Zoo we let him play - even on the "big kid" playgrounds......

Climbing up, up, up and away! 

At the TOP! 

I think he favorite part of the animals were the monkeys......

but THE favorite part of this trip was Dora! LOL 

There were advertisements for a 4D show all over the place for Dora. 

If we knew he would wear 3D glasses we probably would have watched the show but I don't think Jace is quite ready to keep glasses on for the show. 

Jace the monkey!! 

Up close and personal with a Chimpanzee! 

Saturday was the 2012 Step Forward to Cure Tuberous Sclerosis Walk. 

I think there were more people there this year than last. 

It was fun but HOT! 

Everyone on our team, Jace's Prayer Posse, all had children under the age of 3!

Between stopping to deal with the tots and a overly pregnant woman walking we were the last one to pass the finish line! LOL It was not a race but it was funny that our team was last. 

Jace and his cousin, Brayden, sharing the wagon. 

After the walk we had lunch and the kids played. 

I was still eating but Jace wanted me to take him to see the firetruck. 

He was pretty tired and hot but still wanted to go go go. 

I was taking too long to get up and take him to the firetruck and I got THIS look! 

It starts already?!!? 

Sunday JB had to fly out for work so my parents came over and my mom stayed for the few days he was gone. I really appreciated her help since dealing with Jace one on one these days is exhausting. 

On Sunday while both my dad and mom were over we went to the park. 

Paw paw was all over the slides and playground with Jace! 

Jace was LOVING IT! 

He really takes to the men in his life.

After the park it was time for swinging and the bubble gun in the backyard!  

I am officially FULL TERM......36 weeks! 

I still feel better than I did with Jace at this point. I am not swelling nearly as bad. 

I am also a lot more active - I have to be. Jace has me on my toes! :) 

I went to my weekly appointment and I went from being a fingertip dilated to a full 1 cm. 

Everything is still thick and high but dilating some is good enough progress for me. 

At least the pressure I have been feeling hasn't been frivolous. 

This time the baby was active and the heart rate was 165. My belly measured only a week ahead (37 cm). 

I think this is the point where Jace slowed down the growth from being 2 weeks ahead to being closer to the "expected" size. Next week we get to see June Bug again for a growth ultrasound! 

This Friday we go to Jace's appointment for his EEG results! I am SO excited to hear the results!

I can't wait to tell Dr. Von Allmen about how far Jace has advanced in the past 5-6 months since surgery! 

Test and Tractors!

We took Jace for his EEG and MRI on the 26th. He did VERY well considering he couldn't eat anything before. They have to sedate him for the MRI so he needed to have an empty tummy. 

Since the sedation can skew EEGs we had to do it before the MRI. 

This was just a routine EEG (20 mins of monitoring) and not a 24 hour EEG. 

This meant no yucky glue that takes days to weeks to come out. 

He was a little upset but quickly relaxed and watched his movie. 

After the EEG we had to wait for the MRI.......Thank goodness for portable DVD players! 

Gotta watch the movie all the way from waiting to the MRI area

Waking up from the MRI was not fun at all.....but at least I have my mommy and daddy! 

This past weekend we went to the barn. 

Jace got to help Daddy do some work on the land.

Helping shovel dirt to level out some areas.....

...and doing some tractor work! 

I was so excited after watching Jace sweat this weekend......his curls are coming back! 

Oh how I missed those sweet curls! 

I am not sure if its the looming change of the new baby or Jace just hitting THAT age.....but its been rough! 

The tantrums have been kicked up a notch from almost non existent to non stop.

A lot of the behaviors have been towards me. He either wants nothing BUT mommy or he wants to hit me. It's calmed down some this week - or maybe we are getting better at avoiding or calming them. 

We went to see Dr. Tandon, Jace's neurosurgeon, to follow up on the MRI. 

Waiting for the doctor Jace was playing doctor and checking the files on the computer ;) 

We got to see the MRI pictures and its amazing to see how much of the brain was actually removed. 

I asked if we can treat Jace like a normal child rather than being cautious about his head and we can. 

What a relief it is to not have to treat him like he is fragile anymore. 

Dr. Tandon discharged us from his care. We don't have to see him ever again. 

This is bittersweet. Its not typical to have a surgeon with such incredible bedside manner! 

Dr. Tandon and Jace! 

June Bug had an appointment this week as well. 

I had my Strep B test done and then was checked to see if I had any progress happening. 

I was told that I am dilated about a fingertip. That is not much considering all the contractions I have had for months now. However, it is WAY more than I ever had with Jace! LOL 

This baby also has not dropped yet so I trying to sit on the exercise/yoga/birthing ball as often as possible to help get that baby locked and loaded! 

Next update I will post about the Zoo trip we had today and the Step Forward to Cure TSC Walk tomorrow! FUN but a BUSY weekend is ahead of us! 

Post Op EEG and MRI

Tomorrow is Jace's post op EEG and MRI. We have to check in at 6:30 am and the EEG will be at 7 am. 

Right after that we will be brought into the MRI to get sedated. 

We will get to see the MRI on May 3rd with the neurosurgeon and the EEG results we will get May 11th. 

Please continue to pray that we get results that are astonishing and can only point to the work of our God's hands! I know the results will come back perfect and we have been praying to God in thanksgiving for this! 

Jace's language has been improving and impressing us big time. 

Its exciting to see all the new things he has picked up and to see him bloom! 

He tells us his name now! :)

Daddy has been taking Jace to ride bikes in the afternoons after work. 

He has done pretty well pedaling (while we push) his bike. 

He isn't quite strong enough and his legs aren't quite long enough yet to pedal by himself but he does great!

I took Jace to the park the other day and he had a BLAST! 

We were there for 2 hours.....I was exhausted afterwards but it was worth it! 

That evening Jace was playing with his puzzle and surprised me by actually doing it!! 

We are proud! :)

Jace loves to watch me cook. He pulls a chair up next to the stove and we cook! 

I was making spaghetti the other day and had all the spices setting out. He thought he would help by stacking all the spices up. Now....if I can get him to either alphabetize them or put them in order that I add them to the sauce. 

We are down to 6 weeks until June Bug's estimated debut date. 

This baby is way feistier than Jace was! 

Jace is a pretty laid back person (like me) but I think one is going to be JB all over! ;) 

Bye Bye Piggies!

Yep - its that time ......they are slowly disappearing! 

I went in for a check up today with my OB. June bug's heartbeat is still in the 140s (142 bpm).

I am still measuring ahead 1.5 to 2 weeks. Dr. Cole remembered that Jace measured ahead like that. He was 8 lbs. 3 oz. when he was born and I told her I was an 8 lb baby as well. I may bot be a big person but I seem to just make big babies :) 

I mentioned to her the cramping feeling I had last week and some this week. She said that it was ok as long as it was sporadic. If there is a rhythm or there are other "things" that go on then I need to go in. 

If not, I go back in 2 weeks for another check up. 

Jace's follow up EEG and MRI has been scheduled for April 26th. 

I am probably more excited about this than I should be! 

I am excited that this EEG will show no more seizures and we will get to wean him from his medications.

I am asking for our prayer posse to keep this in prayer. I want the results of these tests to come back SO great that only glory can be given to God! 

Today was Jace's 3 month eye check up. I was worried how well he would do with the eye drops and the exam since he is MUCH more aware of everything now. He did INCREDIBLE!!! 

I told the doctor that Jace's eyes water BAD sometimes when he watches TV. I mean it looks like has bawling sometimes! I was concerned and hoped it was not a vision problem and was allergies. 

He checked his focusing and it was fine.....then asked if Jace would allow him to use the slit lamp on him. 

I was not sure but I figured its worth a shot! 

This is the slit lamp:

Jace actually let him use this! I was so proud that he was a big boy and let him check his eyes with this. 

He could tell with this exam that his eye issue is indeed just allergies. He wrote a prescription for allergy eye drops and we were sent on our way. I decided to get back on the Zyrtec before using the eye drops. If its allergies it means that the random running nose and all need to be treated as well. Since the eye allergy is not bad and Jace's eyes are never red I wanted to do something to handle the full picture. 

Starting the Zyrtec again tonight made me realize that I think Jace is still traumatized from unusual syringes. 

I tried to use a CVS syringe and not the one from the specialty pharmacy for his typical meds and he freaked! I had to use the syringe we always use and even then he was NOT happy about taking anything but his regular medication. 

Jace saw some blocks in the store when we went grocery shopping last Friday. 

He was so excited about them that Daddy got them for him! :) 

Showing his blocks off :) 

This past Saturday we went to Justin's sister house for a crawfish boil. YUM! 

They had a vintage rocking/bouncing horse and Jace LOVED it! 

Jace asks almost everyday for "Baf" (Bath)......not just any bath but a bubble bath! 

We play with his foam letters in his bath all the time and he knows a few letters like M and O. 

But he surprised me and he said "ax" and sure enough he had the letter X! 

We hadn't even gone over that letter at all during the bath or even that day! 

I stuck the X on his belly and we took a picture :) 

This is his new serious cheese face! 

He takes his picture taking serious! LOL

No bubbles tonight but the ones that Jace was blowing LOL 

 

Bring the Rain

Labor day weekend was full of fun!
We went out to Justin's brothers barn where they had a get together/BBQ. We had a couple friends from Houston come with us as well. We all had a blast and the kids did as well.

At Marty's barn there are ALWAYS horses! Now that Jace is getting older and more into animals I thought it was a perfect time to introduce him to the horses.

First we put him on Bulls Eye. He was a little apprehensive but he did well for the first time on a horse :)

After a go on Bulls Eye, JB hopped on Nacho and we put Jace up there with him.

That is one proud little boy :)

Sunday we had Justin's other brother over for dinner and to watch some college football.
Jace and Lincoln played so hard! They are boys and they are rough but they play very well together!

Jace was trying to fix the wheel on his wheelbarrow with his screw driver.

After working on his wheelbarrow he picked up the guitar and it was time to jam!

He LOVES to bring me the guitar and dance but this time him and Lincoln played it.
They started to really dance and get down to the music.

Sorry for the shakiness but I was laughing SO hard at Jace's "moves"

WE are SO close to being finished in the barn. We just have the trim and baseboard to sand and paint.

It minor details that make a HUGE difference. Doing these little jobs are not easy to do with Jace there but sometimes we can get him involved. :)

Daddy got him to help him sand the baseboards to be painted.

Wonder if he will have the same great building skills that JB and his Papa have?

On to much sadder issues.....the Texas Wildfires!

By Monday, we knew about the Bastrop fire that erupted over the weekend and realized how devastating it quickly became. I did not even imagine it would happen to be an issue all over East Texas.

We made it home and were getting ready for the next work week. JB stepped outside and called me outside.
We smelled smoke.........and then I was looking around and started to see ash falling like little snowflakes!
We looked around and saw the smoke plumes coming from the Magnolia area.
The media was not quite onto this fire yet so the unknown of the smoke smell and ashes falling frankly had me freaked out! We left the house for a bit to get dinner and when we returned more info was out about the fire in Montgomery County. This was about 15 miles away and as of today it is still burning. The evacuation areas extends to 7 miles away from us but the fire itself is not near. (I don't believe)
We are prepared to evacuate should we need to but I have a feeling we will be fine - as long as the winds don't pick back up and they continue to keep it contained.

This fire alone has cause smoke to spread MILES and MILES away down south!
We even smell the smoke and see the fog like haze in Katy.

The smoke plumes we saw Monday on the way back home from going to dinner in Cypress

The road that goes to our neighborhood - too close for comfort!

We NEED rain! A slow steady heavy rain!
We pray for rain and we will continue to pray for rain and for relief of the fires.
We also pray for peace to come to those families that have just lost EVERYTHING!
This is so sad to think about!

I heard back from Jace's epileptologist on the EEG results. It is just a preliminary report but he is still showing abnormal discharges in the left frontal lobe and at times the right as well. It sounded like there really was no change from December besides his right side not having as much abnormal activity.

At this moment I do not know what this means as far as a plan of action. We are going to wait for the official report of the EEG to be completed and then go from there.