HUGE NEWS!!!!

Addisyn had her follow with her Neurologist today! She came in and Addisyn was so vocal and so happy! She was kicking all over the place and just acting wild overall....

Anyway, Dr. Brown asked all of the usual questions about her seizures and so on and then told us what we wanted to hear so badly....

Addisyn is going to be weaned off of the Phenobarbital!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was going to scream....I was so excited yet so freaked out at the same time! She is currently on a very small dose of Phenobarbital and Keppra however her Phenobarbital has never been increased since day one so she has kind of been self weaning for a couple of months anyway. John and I can't wait to see if things start to speed up with her once she is completely off that medication. I have been told over and over by several families that once their babies were off of the Phenobarb they were totally different kids... some could finally hold their head on their own or start crawling or standing....We are so optimistic that good things will be coming in the near future!

So, Dr. Brown went out to write up a plan for the weaning and then brought it into us to review. We were to start the weaning process TONIGHT!!!! When she said that I kind of got nervous.... It was so soon, but it was something that we have wanted for what seems like forever!!!! We are to take her dose down .5 a CC every week. She will be completely off of the Phenobarbital as of July 21st. Now, it is possible that she will have some breakthrough seizures between now and then so if that happens there is plenty of room to increase her Keppra. The plan is to get her on just one medication!

Thank you all for you continued prayers and support!

Love,
Krissta

P.S. I will try my hardest to do a blog tonight or tomorrow with all new updated pictures!

Nothing really new....

Hi Everyone!

I hope that all of the Fathers out there had a very Happy Father's day today! We spent the day running errands and going out to a late lunch with John's family and had a wonderful time.

I will try to have an update by the end of the week or the beginning of next week for sure... Brysen has another full week of swimming lessons and then he is done. I think he is going to be so sad when I tell him it is over.... Addisyn has a busy week as well with healing and therapy. She has a Neurology appt. on Monday so please keep your fingers crossed that all goes well. She has been seizure free for 65 days now!!!! Major accomplishment....

I am going to try my hardest to put up some new pics of the kids from the last week hopefully tomorrow....

Love,
Krissta

Brysen's first day of swimming lessons

Here are a few pictures from this morning!

We had a very exciting morning! Brysen had his very first swimming lesson... He has been so excited to go and was really trying to push me out the door this morning.

We arrived about 20 minutes early so Brysen went to play on the playground until the gates opened. Once we were allowed in, we were introduced to about 6 or 7 swim teachers. They then called out all the kids names and asked what their favorite color was. Brysen said Blue! After that they asked all the kids to get in a line and put their hands on the kid in front of them shoulder and they would pretend they were a choo choo train. Well Brysen decided at that point that he was not going to participate and wanted to go home! I knew at that point that we were in for an interesting lesson. The teachers asked all of the parents to go on the other side of the gates so that the kids wouldnt be looking to escape to their parents. Since Brysen decided he was not touching the boy in front of him, he got to be the leader of the last half of the train...

Once they had all the kids lined up on the edge of the pool they all let go and sat down. The teachers talked to the kids for a few minutes and then had them get into the pool. Well Brysen got in and got right back out. He then ran like a mad man all the way to the other side where the really big pool was. I was very tempted to go back in and talk to him but I knew my job was to stay on the outside and let them deal with him. It ended up taking 3 teachers to get him back in the water. I couldnt help but laugh. I could hear him screaming at them saying... NO LIKE IT!!! over and over again. About half way through the 35 minute lesson he decided that it was pretty fun after all and joined in. At the end he didn't want to get out and asked if he could do it again.

I was so shocked that he acted like that because he is already such a big swimmer at Dan Amma's house. We took him over there yesterday to swim and he jumped right in on his own before John even got in the pool with him. Now, he does have a life jacket on when swims at Dan Amma's and there are no life jackets in swimming lessons so maybe he felt a little scared. The pool that he is in is 1 ft. deep at one end and 2 ft. deep at the other so he can totally stand or even sit and be ok!

I really hope that tomorrow goes a lot smoother and he jumps right in and stays there... I am adding a couple of pictures from today...It was really hard to take pictures from the other side of the fence but I did my best!

Quick Update.... 6/6/08

Just a quick update....

I found out that there was going to be swimming lessons starting next week for 2 weeks so I went and signed Brysen up yesterday! He is super excited...I almost wish I did not tell him until that day...lol... I will be sure to update on Monday after his first lesson with a bunch of pictures.

My little Miss Addisyn is trying so incredibly hard to roll over from her back to her tummy... For the last two days she has been working on it and now has the upper half of her body turned over...now she only has to get the bottom half and she will be there....She is also making a full circle on the floor. We will lay her down on the floor and somehow she manages to scoot around on her back until she makes a full circle. Rarely does she stay where we originally put her! She is really catching up and doing amazing! Oh yeah and she is a very vocal little girl....hmm...Wonder where she get's that from? LOL... I think she get's it from her daddy!

We are off to Chuckee Cheese tomorrow with Amma Mary, Papa Bob and Dan Amma.... I am sure I will have pictures of that too...

I hope everyone is enjoying my new blog....Have a great weekend...

Love,

Krissta

My first blog with long update!

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my first blog posting! I am very excited to keep you all updated through blogging. I hope that you all are doing wonderful!

All is well at the Ross house! We recently invited my cousin Tyler to stay with us for the summer while he interns for a great company in Lodi. This is his second week here! He has been a delightful addition to our family. Brysen absolutely loves him and calls him "cousin". He is a great sport and plays with both kids and helps with whatever we need!

As you all know Brysen just turned 3. John and I bought him a new big boy bike with training wheels for his birthday. For the first week he wanted nothing to do with it and only wanted to ride the "baby" bikes however last week he surprised us all and took off down the street all on his own. He is now riding around the block daily and has even taken a couple of long rides to Dan Ammas house...That is a pretty long ride for a 3 year old just starting out but he doesn't think anything of it! John follows behind him but I think he may need to start riding his bike as well so he can keep up with him!
Brysen is learning new things everyday and can now count to 12 with no problems, ride his bike all by himself, he really likes to play soccer and baseball. He is getting so big and is super duper smart!
He keeps telling me that he wants to go to school but that won't be until next August. He will do a year of preschool before he goes into Kindergarten! My baby is growing up way to fast!

Addisyn is now 7 months (5 months adjusted) and is doing amazing! She is getting stronger and stronger everyday! I am hoping that she will soon be able to hold her head on her own all the time and start gaining some control of her whole body! I can now put her in the infant side of her bathtub and most times she will sit up with the support of the back of the tub! We are still working on a lot of things such as rolling over from back to stomach( haven't done it yet but are getting pretty good from side to stomach), tracking toys from side to side and top to bottom, infant massage and Lot's of tummy time! She is now eating 3 baby food cubes 3 times a day which is equivalent to 1.5 jars at each feeding and is drinking 5 oz. in each bottle! She is getting so chubby! She is currently 14 pounds or at least she was the last time I checked.

Addisyn has now been seizure free for 53 days! That is a huge accomplishment and I get very excited each day that passes with no activity! She has another follow up with her Neurologist on June 23rd. I am very excited about this appointment and am very confident that we will make it seizure free until then!

Addisyn is a very busy little girl this summer between Neuro follow ups, multiple eye exams under GA with follow ups, healing and laser therapy! Her first laser therapy is set to begin on July 18Th. It is an outpatient procedure and have been told that we should be on our way home by noon! I am very excited about the laser but also very hesitant...I know all will work out the way it is supposed to though!!!!

John is keeping busy at work these days and has been working almost every Sunday for over a month now! He will be at US Cold Storage for 4 years next month! Hard to believe it has been that long already. They are currently in negotiations with their contract which has me a little nervous but I trust it will all work out in the end!

I have been really busy with the kids and running back and forth to appointments however they have settled down drastically! As long as nothing new comes up I wont be seeing another doctors office until Addisyn follow up with the Neuro on the 23rd! I never thought I would stop going to doctors several times a week but for now it is a great thing! I will continue to take Addisyn to healing during the summer which is twice a week in Livermore but we both really enjoy that time and we are seeing amazing things and understanding a lot more a lot better!!!

We were hoping to take several little trips here and there this summer but it doesn't look like we will be doing much however my grandparents will be here at the end of this month from AZ so the kids and I will be spending time with them at my parents. John will come up for the weekend so I am super excited about that! In August we will be taking a road trip to San Diego with John's dad and step mom. Brysen seems to have all of his grandparents wrapped around his finger and has them taking us all to Seaworld and Legoland! He is so excited and thinks we are going every morning when he wakes up! It is so hard trying to tell a 3 year old that it's not for 2 more months!

We hope to get Lot's and Lot's of swimming in at Dan Amma's this summer and hopefully will be able to take a boat trip or two to the lake!


I am really going to try and keep this blog updated as often as possible so be sure to check back often!

Love,
Krissta