One of the Answers

Well...I started writing this last week.  Last Thursday night to be exact.  But, it was way too long and provided you with way too much information.  And, I'm more of a 'cut to the chase' kind of a girl, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

I think we've found one of the answers.

Yep, you heard that right.  

You know those things that keep you awake at night.  The to do lists, the worries, the stresses....well, one of my biggest 'keep me up at night' worries is Andrew and his frustrations with speech. 

I don't worry so much about him understanding these words we work on every day, it's the frustration and the stress that it's causing him, that keeps me up at night.  He is trying his hardest to say these sounds, to make the words come out just right, but something is holding him back. 

And, last Thursday, we got an answer.  A reason for his mispronunciations...a reason for his frustrations and stress and anxiety about speaking.  

Last Thursday we found out that Andrew has tongue tie.  And {unfortunately} he's got it pretty bad.  

Like, so bad that, while leaning back in the dentist chair, he cannot touch his tongue to the roof of his mouth.  Not only that, but he's got it on his upper lip as well.  

Talk about an eye opener.

The dentist said, 'Try imagining that you have a web under your arm and you need to scratch your head.  You wouldn't be able to do it like most people and it would be frustrating...although you would find a way to do it, it wouldn't be quite right.'

Then he said, 'Now try saying spiderman without touching the roof of your mouth.'

It was impossible.

We tried a few other words and I couldn't believe it.  

The dentist went on to say that a lot of people are skeptical of this procedure, but in most of his patients, they can hear a speech improvement the very next day. 

Crazy.  I know.  But, so so so so amazing!

I think this is it.  I truly believe this is one of the answers and is going to help our Andrew so much with his words.  

We've got the appointment scheduled and, although I'm super nervous about the pain he is going to feel from this procedure {the pediatric dentist we are seeing uses a laser to do it}, I know it will be short-lived once he realizes what he can do.

Plus, he'll get a lot of popsicles.  Which is nice.

Have any of you experienced this?  What was it like?  I'd love any advice or recommendations you might have!

Oh, and thank you for thinking of us, praying for Andrew, and for your words of wisdom and advice throughout the past year, since first making the call to ask for help with Andrew's speech.  It means the world to us!

The Green Light to Summer

It's summer!  As Andrew would say, 'Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah,' while doing a little booty shake.

I can't believe school's out {and it has been for a month now}!

I can't believe we're midway through the month of June.

And, I can't believe how fast these days seem to be flying by.  It's incredible.  I never knew life could be so full!

Between baseball games {t-ball, but don't try telling either one of my boys that's what they're playing}, a few trips to the pool, bike rides {our first, ever, bike ride through town to city park and then to our favorite fro yo hang out}, picnics, mud pies in the sand box, getting the house painted, piano lessons, camping trips, and cool evening walks with Bella, we are definitely not taking this whole summer thing lightly.

As soon as summer gave us the green light, we've been sprinting to the finish line and not slowing down for much of anything...except maybe for a thunderstorm here and there or a little summer reading.

And, what is our green light to summer?  Our annual trip to Uncle Riff and Aunt Carol's farm over Memorial Day Weekend.

As usual, the Riffel family delivered a fun weekend and kick-off to summer.

The cousins loved it.

And, after a day or two of rain, the clouds cleared out, the boots started stompin', kites were flying, four wheelers romping through the acres of rolling land, stomp rockets dove into the air, wonderful meals were shared, and another year of memories of our family camping Memorial Day Weekend was in the books.

As the cousins get older, every year we wonder who will be able to make it the next year.  And, I'll admit, our time is now limited to only a couple of days, I don't think this is a tradition that is going to end anytime soon.

After all, it is our green light to summer.  It's how we get this season started.

Happy Summer!

A Sigh of Relief

I've been wanting it to be 10:00 am on this day for a week now.

To hear the words I knew were true, but needed {another} professional to tell us.

That Andrew's heart murmur was completely 'normal' and nothing to worry about.  With photos and scans to prove it.

Yep.  At 10:00 this morning, I had a major sigh of relief.

And, now my mind is at ease and I can think of other things.  Like camping.  And swimming.  And Father's Day.  And gardens and flowers.  And home improvements.  And running.  And get togethers.   And summer reading.  And my mind feels like it's finally not consumed by fear of the unknown.

For the past few weeks I've been living in a fog.  I've been going through the motions, but no matter what I was doing, my mind was always traveling back to sweet Andrew's heart.  I was worried when he would run, when he would go to sleep, when I was sitting at work and he was with Brandon or one of the girls.  I was worried pretty much every minute of the day that something was wrong with his heart and I wasn't doing anything about it.  So, although our family doctor told us it was a weak murmur and nothing to worry about, I couldn't get it out of my head and needed to know more.

So, we visited Kansas City Pediatric Cardiology.  I'm so glad we did!

This place was amazing.  They had crafts, puzzles, and videos for the kids.  Not to mention, during the echo cardiogram, they gave Andrew his very own hand-held game system to play with...and turned on a little PBS Kids.  They even let Parker decorate a tile for their wall.

But, the best part of our trip up to Kansas City?!  The Cardiologist confirmed that Andrew's murmur was weak...and absolutely nothing to worry about.  Prayers answered.

Being a parent is amazing.  But, it's also the scariest thing I've ever done.  And I'm afraid it's only going to get harder, the older my kiddos get.  But, for now, I'm soaking in all in and taking it one day at a time.  Really.  One.  Day.  At.  A.  Time.

I'm so excited about what the next few weeks are going to bring.  Hopefully I'll keep this little blog up and running throughout the summer.  But, for now, just know that we are all happy, healthy, and wonderfully blessed in so many ways!