The Difference between Day 1 and Day 9

Just thought I would add a day 1 and day 9 photo so you could see the difference in one blog.

Addisyn- Days 6-9

6 days post op 7 days post op
8 days post op...this pic was taken after an hour long screaming fit...
9 days post op...check out the difference in her forehead and the top of her head...

Addisyn is continuing to do awesome! We can not believe the difference in her face everyday!!! I am so happy that the Dr. did not laser the top of her head so that I am able to compare the red on her face to the red on top of her head...Huge Difference! I am hoping that by the end of this week coming up she will be back to her red face self with no bruising and no Vaseline!!!

Her face is of course still going to be a shade of Red. It can take up to 6 weeks to see the true results of this first laser treatment but I am super excited for the outcome when we see such a difference already!

I wanted to note that if you look at the very last pic of her in the pic shirt with her hand by her mouth you can see the top of her head. Her face used to be the same color as the red on the top of her head...

I am going to continue taking pictures of Addisyn everyday however I probably won't post any new pictures until the end of the week.

One more thing...Addisyn is completely off of Phenobarbital now and is doing awesome! She is no rolling over constantly from her back to her tummy which is a huge improvement! Looking forward to her learning all kinds of new things...

Brysen's first fishing trip!

Last weekend John took Brysen on his very first fishing trip! Brysen was so excited to go and spent a lot of time getting his tackle box ready! They went fishing with John's friend Shiloh and his daughter on their fishing boat.

John and Brysen caught two fish that day! He was a very happy boy and had a fantastic time! He can't wait to do it again....

Addisyn's Progress

2 Days Post Op...still very bruised and swollen 3 Days Post Op...Amazing!!
4 Days Post Op...really look at the difference in her forehead!
5 days...we are just amazed how much bruising is going away each day!

Just a quick note to let you all know that Addisyn is doing awesome! I was going to wait until Friday to do this update so that I had a full 7 days worth of pictures but several people have been asking to see them so for now you get to see 5 days worth... I somehow forgot to take a picture of her face 1 day post op but there are pics from 2days post op to 5 days post op. We are amazed how fast the bruising is going away especially on her forehead! We will be so happy when we don't have to do the vaseline anymore...that stuff is everywhere!!! Here hair is so greasy right now that it takes 3-4 times of washing each time she has a bath to even come close to having normal hair again. It is so hard keeping her face lubed up constantly but it will be so worth it in the end!

I will be continuing to update with pictures of Addisyn's progress for the next couple of weeks so please check back often! Addisyn has now been seizure free for 102 days and is completely off of the Phenobarbital!!!!!!!!!

Look at the post below to refer back to the picture the day of her laser! Amazing results!!!

Addisyn's 1st Laser Therapy!

This is the last picture I took of Brysen and Addisyn before her laser therapy The very last picture taken before her therapy began
After
Right side after..she doesn't look very happy here...

John, Addisyn and I made the journey to San Francisco yesterday for her very first laser therapy at UCSF! When we arrived in San Francisco we checked into The Ronald McDonald House. We were both very impressed with the house. We were placed in a room all the way up on the 3rd floor and had to carry all of our luggage, stroller, carseat and food with us up and down the stairs. They have no elevator! We definetly got a workout going up and down all day long. They had pizza delivered last night so we went downstairs to have dinner and ended up chit chatting with some of the other parents that are staying at the house long term. After eating dinner we went back up to our room for the rest of the night and just played with Addisyn and took some last minute before pictures of her and went to bed.

We had to get up early as Addisyn had to be at UCSF at 6:30 am. As most of you know there is no parking in San Francisco so we had to park 4 blocks away in the Kaisesr Parking garage. I felt so funny walking through San Francisco with our suitcases and everything else we had with us. LOL... Anyway we arrived at UCSF and made our way to the Ambulatory Surgery Center where we had to wait for what seemed like forever before they called us back. We must have met with 10 people that all were going to have some part in Addisyn's treatment. They allowed John and I to go back into the treatment room where I held Addisyn until she was completely asleep with the gas mask. John and I were told to go back to the waiting room and they would send someone out to get us once she was in the recovery room. I think we waited for about 30 minutes and it actually went really fast.

I started to get nervous as we were walking through to the recovery room. John and I had prepared ourselves for the worst and I think we are both glad we did because she looked a lot better than we thought. Of course it was still very shocking but we thought it would be much worse. Our precious baby girl went into the treatment with the Red face that she has had since the day she was born and came out with a face that was completely bruised. Her face was a Purplish Black color with some swelling. Even though it wasn't as bad as we thought it still broke my heart to see her face so much different than it has been for the last 8 months and all I could think was I just wanted to go back to yesterday when she was happy and had a Red face....

Anyway, Addisyn took quite a while to wake up and when she did she was not happy! We were given our instructions for the next few weeks and sent on our way. For the next two weeks we have to keep Vaseline on her face at all times. The Dr. said that it will take 2-3 weeks for the brusing to go away and it could take up to 6 weeks to see any results from this treatment.

Her face is swollen and she is more tired than usual but she is doing great! We are looking forward to seeing the results in the next month or two and heading back to San Francisco in September for the next laser therapy... I will keep everyone updated here on her healing and fading. Keep looking for new pictures...

Family Get Together at Ricks House

The Ross kid's and grandkids...

Papa Ross and Addisyn.. He was the only person I could put her with and she didn't screamDestiny Rae
Addie Jo and I...She was trying on the headband that Cousin Tracey made for Emma
Brysen and Autumn
Cousin Emma

Well as if we didn't have a busy enough weekend we decided to end it with one more event!

John's Aunt Donna finally succeeded in getting both of her siblings and all of their kids and grandkids together (well all except for one).

My Nonnie Drake and cousin Autumn came down to spend the night so we told them we could only come over for a little while. When we got there all the kid's were in the swimming pool so Brysen and Autumn decided to jump in too...

It was a really nice visit especially since we don't get to see some of the family very often at all. We even got to meet another new cousin, Emma. She is 7 months old and as cute as can be!

It wasn't that easy getting Brysen and Autumn to want to leave but I told them I would take them back later to swim some more if they wanted to.

So we left and went out to dinner with Nonnie Drake and then I took Brysen and Autumn back later that night to swim... Hope you enjoy the pics!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Brysen playing in the water Brysen eating his 3 foot long Gummy snake

Us on our first train ride of the dayThe Ross Family!
Pam and Joey
Brysen, Mena and Uncle Joey riding on Harold the Helicopter
Daddy and Addie waiting for Shouka

My two wonderful kid's who refused to look at me... Even Addisyn is covering her face...
Auntie Arlene on the hot air balloon ride with the kid's
Daddy with Brysen and Mena on the Teacups
Gavin and Addisyn playing...
Papa Ross and all of his grandkids...Super Cute!

John's Dad and Stepmom took the whole family to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Saturday! It was the first trip we have all taken together.

We had a fantastic day! It was so nice to see everyone so happy and having so much fun. Brysen of course latched on to his cousin Mena who he just adores. They were connected the whole day. Brysen, Mena and cousin Gavin went on every single ride they could find. Almost all the rides required an adult to go along so all the adults took turns going with the kids. What a blast!

I never really realized how much there was to see and do there until the day started coming to an end and we still had so much ground to cover. This day was really for the kid's so we made sure that they got to do everything that they wanted. We saw a couple of shows, went on rides, played in the water feature for a really long time! That was so adorable by the way and the kid's were all so happy!

We also stopped for lunch at Johnny Rocket's for a great luch with the whole family! Along the way we stopped several times at the little stores. Auntie Arlene and Uncle Joey bought all the kid's a huge sucker so I paid them back by buying Mena and Brysen a 3 Foot long Gummy snake...

Auntie Arlene and Uncle Joey bought everyone a cape that was either Superman, Superwoman or Batman so John and I went and bought the kid's all matching light up swords. Both things were a hit and they were all so cute!

We ended the day with some final rides, shopping for souveniers and watching some dance performance on our way out.

Thank you John and Pam for a wonderful day!

yn

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

My big boy getting ready for his first day of Preschool

Close up before school...

She fell asleep playing in her Jumperoo Look at how strong she is getting...
Close Up... Can't wait to see how much her face changes after she heals from the laser
Sitting Pretty!
On his way to his first day of Preschool

Well I am going to try and sum up the last week in one long post. We have been so busy that I just haven't had anytime for an update!

Brysen started Preschool last Monday and is loving it. He goes Monday and Wednesday for almost 2.5 hours. I was a little nervous about leaving him on the first day becasue I thought he was going to cry and not want me to leave. That was so not the case. I opened the door and he ran into the classroom and I never saw him again. LOL... I did not even get to say goodbye! I guess he was going to be ok after all. Right now he is signed up for just the month of July but I think John and I are going to sign him up for the school year which starts in August. He is learning all kinds of things and enjoys all the activities. Yesterday I went to pick him up and they were singing songs and counting to 20. He keeps singing a song that goes... I'm a pizza...But he doesn't remember the rest of it.

Brysen also started his second session of swimming lessons last Monday. He does lessons M-Th for two weeks straight. He is really enjoying this as well and we have seen ton's of improvement. He is the only kid in his class that does his own thing. All of the other kid's will be listening and staying on the wall waiting for instructions while Brysen is swimming under water and none of the teachers are watching him. All he wants to do is swim under water now. It is so cute! We are really hoping that they pass him this time so we can get him into the Seahorse class before summer is over. With last week being so hot and smokey John and I had to take turns taking Brysen to swimming lessons so one of us could stay home with Addisyn.

I thought I would add a little funny that Brysen did yesterday... He has this snake that you put in the water and it grows over several days. Well he had it on his lap yesterday and asked me if I wanted to pet it. I said sure, so he brought it over to me and I was petting it and telling him what nice and soft snake he had and he says: That will be 10 dollars mom! He actually thought that I was going to pay him for him letting me pet his snake. I was cracking up! What a smart little boy we have!!!

Addisyn is continuing to do well however the last few days we have all seemed to get a little cold of some sort. I am not sure if it is from all the smoke or what but she has been kind of miserable. I am getting a little nervous because she has her physical tomorrow so that she can have the laser surgery. If she is sick there is no way that UCSF is going to take her in and do the laser so we are hoping that she wakes up tomorrow morning back to her old self. She has also decided in the last couple weeks that she is a total Mama's girl and is ok if other people look at her and talk to her as long as they don't touch her! It is a good feeling that she wants me all the time but then it also makes it very difficult to get anything done.

On a more positive note, Addisyn has been seizure free for 94 days now!!! Yesterday we lowered her Phenobarbital for the last time. This Sunday will be her last day and I can't wait! John and I are both a little anxious about her medicine and her seizures right now with her feeling under the weather but we just have to keep positive and hope for the best! I will keep everyone posted on the whole Laser Surgery! It is scheduled for July 18th at 7:30 am.

BIG ADDIE JO NEWS!!!!

Well Everyone! Guess What???

Look at Addie Jo with no blankets all around her for support... Read below for all the news!!!

Addisyn rolled from her back to her tummy for the very first time yesterday! It was the first of many very emotional moments for John and I that day...

I had her laying on the floor and she just threw herself over. She did it a second time. I think it must have scared her because she cried after each time! Also while she was on the floor yesterday she managed to scoot on her back all the way across the living room and on to the tile in the Entryway!!!

Last night, she amazed us again and put weight on her legs over and over and even held onto her bottle for a few seconds...

Then today, I put her in her Doorway Jumper and she held her head up all by herself. I did not have to put any pillows or blankets around her to keep her supported!!! Since I was so excited about this new accomplishment I put her in her exersaucer and her Bumbo seat without any support and she did awesome!

I know these may seem like little milestones to most but they are huge for Addisyn and our family... We have waited so long for her to start doing these things. We both really feel that the delay is from the Phenobarbital. Tomorrow we will take her down another 1/2 a ml bringing her to 1 ml twice a day... A couple more weeks and she will be totally off of that stuff!!! We can't wait!

We are so busy these next two weeks.... Addisyn has a couple dr. appts. and then she will be having her first laser therapy at UCSF on the 18th! Very Excited!!! Brysen starts his second session of swimming lessons tomorrow as well as a one month trial of Preschool through the Parks and Recreation...

We are so very proud of our baby girl for working so hard and accomplishing so much over the weekend!

Micke Grove Zoo

He had to take this picture for Kole Amma...Measuring his wingspan...
Our big boy on a ride alone for the first time
I think he liked it better on the ground
Brysen on his first Roller Coaster Ride with Mommy
Daddy and Brysen riding the train
Baby Girl...

On Saturday John's Grandparents took us to Micke Grove Zoo and the Fun Town.

First, We spent some time at the Micke Grove Zoo which is really small but big enough for Brysen. He loves seeing the animals but seems to think that every Zoo he goes to must have the same animals. So, when there were no snakes or Bears he was a little upset. He kept saying that he wanted to go to the other zoo...

After the zoo we walked down to the rides where Brysen went on his very first Roller Coaster (with Mommy) and his very first ride alone... Very Cute Pictures! He was so brave however at first he said: " NO LIKE IT" when the the Roller Coaster started moving. I think he went on every ride and even one or two more than once. He had a great time as did we. He is getting so big and he amazes us everyday! It's hard to believe that our little baby boy is big enough to go on Carnival rides alone...