Lindsey's update

I am so relieved to say that Wednesday September 8th has come & gone, as yesterday was our day for Lindsey's appointment with the Neurologist.

I am so happy to report that the appointment went really well. The neurologist was a super nice guy & spent a good hour with us talking about Lindsey and thankfully, alleviated all of our fears.

Without going into all of the details, he thinks she is doing well and doesn't think their is a need for further diagnostic testing (like an MRI or a CAT scan). He spent quite some time examining her head & measuring it, as the size of her head compared to her weight/body size was listed as one of the concerns for the referral. She is still little (below 20% for weight) and still has a big head (which all of our babies have had, I say the bigger the head, the bigger the brain :-), but her head measurements are not off the charts and he thinks developing appropriately. He does however think she could be about 4-6 weeks developmentally delayed with her motor skills and recommended we have her evaluated for PT services, which we already are in the process of doing.

So all in all a very positive appointment. He wants to see us back in about 4 months just to check on her one more time, but then after that her case with him will be closed!
I appreciate and am thankful for friends & family who have expressed concern and prayed for us during this time.
Lindsey is just such a blessing to us and adds great joy our family!

Cameron's off to preschool... yes!

Cameron's first day of preschool was yesterday! Don't know who was more excited about preschool starting, me or him? I was definitely ready for him to start & I think he actually was too.

Its funny how each of your children can be so different when they hit new milestones. As with Zachary, we have had and continue to have major tears and separation anxiety with every new transition. Cameron, however, walked off yesterday into his classroom without saying goodbye or even looking back at me. Ironically, Zach happened to be with me for the drop off as he didn't have school yesterday and said, "wow Mom, Cameron didn't even say goodbye or cry." It was a wonderful teaching moment to be able to say, 'yep Zach, that's how its supposed to be :-)" And I thought to myself, 'and this is how its supposed to feel when you take one of your children to school.'



Brothers... the older brother proudly helping him pose for the exciting day ahead.

A chilly Labor Day

After the super hot summer we have had it was a bit of a bummer that the final official weekend of summer wasn't the perfect beach weather. We normally plant ourselves on the beach all weekend, but not this year so instead we enjoyed some other activities.



We hit the Sheboygan County Fair, which is full of fun things to do. It includes tons of animals and carny rides.
My parents also came for a night on their way back from a few days away in Door County.









riding the rides











Mark on the Ferris Wheel with the boys














The boys on the dragon ride which they both loved.















Our parents. Aren't they a beautiful bunch?


Our best shot in an attempt for the "perfect family picture." Didn't turn out as good as I
hoped, but oh well. Try again next year.










One thing the chilly weather was good for was for lots of time in Mark's Mom & Dad's new hot tub!
the boys loved it and went in there several times a day.

my fishes

We are truly spoiled to be able to spend summer weekends in Sheboygan, Wisconsin with lazy days at Lake Michigan's beach. My boys absolutely love it and are fishes in the water. Nothing they enjoy more then a day with big waves for them to jump in.

Zach doesn't seem to notice that the water is freezing and that I can't even make it past my knees, as sometimes I find it so cold. He seems to take after his father in this regard who also doesn't mind the frigid (well, I think they are frigid) temps and regularly can be found bathing in the lake. Boys will be boys, I guess.

1st Grader

Tuesday Zachary had his first day of 1st Grade.
I feel like it snuck up on us & I don't quite know what happened to summer. This was one of the fastest summers for me.

I am glad that the adjustment to a full day of school is behind us, as last year we had full day Kindergarten. But despite that fact, we still had a lot of tears Monday evening & Tuesday morning. I think Zach will just be one of those kids that struggles with new transitions & change brings on anxiety for him.

Although the morning was rough, I think he had a good first day and has another great teacher this year. He also has a few of his buddies from last year in his class.











My attempt at a picture with him & he was really crying at this point. Poor guy!









Helping him unpack his school supplies in the classroom. Does he look happy or what? This was right before the tears started again as it was time to say goodbye.

Lindsey 6 months old

Lindsey is 6 months today.
She's growing up so quickly!

Although, she doesn't seem like she's 6 months as she is still so little! Overall, she is doing well & continues to make her mama happy with her good sleeping habits.

She continues to gain weight, but still is below the 20th percentile and 90th percentile for height. However, we had quite the distressing 6 month check up on Thursday.

I went into the appointment expressing some of my concerns about her gross motor skills, i.e. rolling over, sitting up, tummy time, head control, etc.... As I feel like she could be further along than she is and I know I shouldn't keep comparing her to her brothers and their development, but I can't help myself. Anyway, I went into the appointment thinking they would probably hear my concerns, but say the standard doctor line of "all babies develop at different speeds and maybe she is just developing slower, give it time" and then maybe they would give me a referral to see if she qualifies for some physical therapy.

Well, as most moms know appointments with little ones at this age can be challenging no matter what time of day it is and all babies have usually had it by the time the doctor comes at them with numerous needles for their shots. So Lindsey was already crying at this point, then was screaming after she had her shots and the lady hands me a handful of paperwork about her shots, development, etc. and then she says, "here's a referral for Neurology for her to go to see Dr. blah blah blah (I didn't in the least catch his name).
I was like a deer in the head lights & didn't catch anything else she said about the reasons why she was referring us. Neurology? I did not see that coming.

Since then, I have had time to process and recover from the shock of the referral. We unfortunately can't get in to see the neurologist till Sept 8th, which is a long time to cope with our anxiety & worry. I have scheduled an appointment with our family physician for Monday to get a second opinion. I am trying to have faith that she is fine and is just experiencing some developmental delays and that going to see a neurologist will only confirm what we already believe. And if its some PT that she needs, so be it. It can only help her.
However, in the meantime, please keep Lindsey & us in your prayers, as we patiently wait to see more doctors and hopefully, receive positive reports.

New Buffalo

I am a bit late in posting this but still wanted to post it. My parents rented a cottage for a week in New Buffalo, Michigan for my sister & her family and us.

We had a great week! We were spoiled to have our own pool in addition access to Lake Michigan which was a small walk across the street.
The cousins had a great time playing together & spent countless hours swimming in the pool. As well as holding diving competitions, which was fun to see.

Thanks for hosting us Mom & Dad and we hope we can do it again sometime! (hint, hint...) It truly was a memorable week away!