And oh what a year it has been. This year has been an action packed year for us to say the least. Anytime you have one child living with Infantile Spasms and another child diagnosed with Type I Diabetes.. Well that's a lot to have to deal with in one year. The only thing that got us through to where we are to day is by the complete grace of God. He has been so good to us and has shown us so many things this year. 2008 has certainly been a turning point in my own personal life. God has shown Allison and I a lot about faith, trust, and being obedient to his will this year and has used situations like Dawson's and Katelin's to teach us so many things.
This exact time one year ago our lives were filled with such uncertainty and turmoil. Exactly one year later there is nothing but pure unadulterated joy as we watch Dawson continue to blossom in a world that doesn't involve seizures. He is healthy, smart, inquisitive, and social. He is everything you could ever want in a 15th month old toddler ( and then some.)
Katelin continues to be resilient and brave, faced with numerous blood checks and multiple injections of insulin everyday. I am so proud of these strong kiddos. Madison started pre school this year and it must be hard for her knowing something is wrong with her brother. She is such a great caretaker of him and her ability to adjust to these different scenarios as they come up is admirable. I am so proud of all four of them.
I believe in 2008 our family came under spiritual attacks. I believe that the evil in this world wanted to use these things to tear apart and break down a family that believes the word of God.
We turned to him in our time of need and he alone turned those bad situations into a situations that glorified him and continues to do so to this day. Through him we are victorious over the enemy.
We can't wait to see what 2009 will bring. We want to thank all of you who have kept up with us on a regular basis. Thank you to those who were prayer warriors in our darkest hours, and thank you to our family who didn't stand behind us, but beside us this past year.
God bless you and know that we love all of you
Jeff and Allison
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Some Christmas Pics
Dawson at Grampy's house
An artist at work maybe??
The Barnard clan
Dawson and his cousin Bryce
Mom and Dawson
nothing better than a Christmas Day kiss
Dawson and Grandmom
ALWAYS running ( seriously. ALWAYS!!)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
New progress
It just dawned on me that it has been a while since we have posted any pics or video of Dawson on here lately. I promise to work on that this week. He is just growing so big and doing so many new things now and as always we cant wait to show him off.
A few things we have learned this week.... Climbing onto the sofa all by himself, and stepping up onto the hearth on the fireplace. Definitely all boy! And you should see what he can do to all the ads in a Sunday paper WOW!~! its really impressive. As always, we are so glad to see him hit developmental milestones such as these
The other day he signed to Allison the sign for " More" and then immediately did the sign for "Bite" so needless to say he is picking that up pretty well and his speech is starting to take off again after a little lull in the action.
God continues to bless this little boy that we call a miracle. He is still to this day is showing no signs of developmental delays of any kind. Keep it up Dawson were proud of you!!
Thanks for your support and prayers we love all of you
Jeff and Allison
A few things we have learned this week.... Climbing onto the sofa all by himself, and stepping up onto the hearth on the fireplace. Definitely all boy! And you should see what he can do to all the ads in a Sunday paper WOW!~! its really impressive. As always, we are so glad to see him hit developmental milestones such as these
The other day he signed to Allison the sign for " More" and then immediately did the sign for "Bite" so needless to say he is picking that up pretty well and his speech is starting to take off again after a little lull in the action.
God continues to bless this little boy that we call a miracle. He is still to this day is showing no signs of developmental delays of any kind. Keep it up Dawson were proud of you!!
Thanks for your support and prayers we love all of you
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
All is well
Well I think we are all over our colds/ear infections/gross green stuff in the sinuses & non stop coughing and hacking. Everybody seems well and I think I'm going to ban my family from getting within 20 feet of anybody who even has the sniffles..
Seriously the kids are doing better and we are certainly thankful for that. Dawson is absolutely 100% walking now and its been near a week or more since I have seen him crawl anywhere. We are very very thankful he has completed this milestone and can't wait to see what he is going to accomplish next. He is repeating more and more words now and I can't help but think his speech skills are going to just take off. He's getting the hang of signing what he wants and has mastered the most important one of all..... eating. He has always been and continues to be a good eater. Oh and by the way, his sleep this week has actually been pretty good ( knocking on some wood) yeah, hes not waking up nearly as much as he has been and it feels really good to get more than a couple of hours sleep at a time. We hope the trend continues. Infantile spasms and seizures continue to be a thing of the past for us and Thursday will mark being seizure free for 200 days!!! Praise God He has now been seizure free longer than he was having seizures by a month and we are so thankful and blessed... Way to go Dawson!!
I haven't updated lately on Katelin so here goes....
It appears that she is out of her " honeymoon phase" She is back to requiring Insulin for almost every meal now. She is getting a half of unit of insulin for every 20 carbs and what her blood sugars will do next is a complete mystery. The challenge as always remains being ready for whats going to happen next and the amount of insulin she needs can change on a dime. She seems no worse for the wear and this brave little 7 year old who gets poked in the fingers/arms/stomach numerous times a day continues to " WOW " me with her bravery and no big deal attitude.
Thanks for looking in on us to see how we are doing. We appreciate each and every one of you
Jeff and Allison
Seriously the kids are doing better and we are certainly thankful for that. Dawson is absolutely 100% walking now and its been near a week or more since I have seen him crawl anywhere. We are very very thankful he has completed this milestone and can't wait to see what he is going to accomplish next. He is repeating more and more words now and I can't help but think his speech skills are going to just take off. He's getting the hang of signing what he wants and has mastered the most important one of all..... eating. He has always been and continues to be a good eater. Oh and by the way, his sleep this week has actually been pretty good ( knocking on some wood) yeah, hes not waking up nearly as much as he has been and it feels really good to get more than a couple of hours sleep at a time. We hope the trend continues. Infantile spasms and seizures continue to be a thing of the past for us and Thursday will mark being seizure free for 200 days!!! Praise God He has now been seizure free longer than he was having seizures by a month and we are so thankful and blessed... Way to go Dawson!!
I haven't updated lately on Katelin so here goes....
It appears that she is out of her " honeymoon phase" She is back to requiring Insulin for almost every meal now. She is getting a half of unit of insulin for every 20 carbs and what her blood sugars will do next is a complete mystery. The challenge as always remains being ready for whats going to happen next and the amount of insulin she needs can change on a dime. She seems no worse for the wear and this brave little 7 year old who gets poked in the fingers/arms/stomach numerous times a day continues to " WOW " me with her bravery and no big deal attitude.
Thanks for looking in on us to see how we are doing. We appreciate each and every one of you
Jeff and Allison
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Walking tall
We hope everybody is having a great weekend. We have had an unusually quiet weekend so far which is just fine with me. We got out and did some shopping this morning but other than that we have just kind of hung out around the house together.
I did want to just do a quick update for everyone who has been keeping up with Dawson's walking progress. He is now at about 95% walking every where he goes. As a matter of fact, I cant recall a time in the last three days that he crawled anywhere. God just continues to bless us with this miracle and Dawson continues to triumph over I.S.
We hope you guys have a safe and happy weekend and thanks for seeing how we are doing
Jeff and Allison
I did want to just do a quick update for everyone who has been keeping up with Dawson's walking progress. He is now at about 95% walking every where he goes. As a matter of fact, I cant recall a time in the last three days that he crawled anywhere. God just continues to bless us with this miracle and Dawson continues to triumph over I.S.
We hope you guys have a safe and happy weekend and thanks for seeing how we are doing
Jeff and Allison
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Lots of things today
Today Dawson woke up with a little fever so I decided I would stay home with him today. First of all, it got me out of having to go to work, and secondly its been a while since Dawson and I have gotten to hang out alone without a bunch of silly girls around us. We had a lot of different things going on today which made it a lot of fun.
This morning Dawson had his speech evaluator from Early Intervention come by. It was a good session and we got to talk about what all has been going on with Dawson developmentally and some speech concerns that I had. She agrees that he needs to be seen at least once a month just to make sure he continues to progress but said there was no need for us to be concerned with his speech. She said he is doing what a 15 month old should be doing and feels that his speech will continue to develop just fine. She did recommend that we start some basic sign language with him. She said it will help bridge what he is wanting, with being able to say it. She brought out some bubbles to blow and we taught him in about 10 min how to sign for " More" ( which is bringing all the fingers together) Not only was he able to sign it, he would point at her and said "more" a few times.
Tonight Allison and I were working with him signing for "bite" After a few times he would point at his mouth and would say " bite bite." This kids a smart one and so far the signing is going really well.
After a little nap it was time for occupational therapy and he did really well just as he always does. One full hour of therapy with no fussing.
Then to cap off the day, It snowed tonight. Allison and I have been planning on going out tonight and doing some Christmas shopping tonight for about a week now. While we were out it started snowing A LOT!! and within an hour there was a couple of inches on the ground and roads. It was kinda neat to be out Christmas shopping during the snow. It never snows here and it really added to festive spirit. We managed to get a lot done and had the stores to ourselves this evening which was really nice.
Dawson has been feeling a lot better the past couple of days and its nice to have our sweet little boy and his good mood back.
We hope everyone is doing well and thanks for looking in on us.
We love you
Jeff and Allison
This morning Dawson had his speech evaluator from Early Intervention come by. It was a good session and we got to talk about what all has been going on with Dawson developmentally and some speech concerns that I had. She agrees that he needs to be seen at least once a month just to make sure he continues to progress but said there was no need for us to be concerned with his speech. She said he is doing what a 15 month old should be doing and feels that his speech will continue to develop just fine. She did recommend that we start some basic sign language with him. She said it will help bridge what he is wanting, with being able to say it. She brought out some bubbles to blow and we taught him in about 10 min how to sign for " More" ( which is bringing all the fingers together) Not only was he able to sign it, he would point at her and said "more" a few times.
Tonight Allison and I were working with him signing for "bite" After a few times he would point at his mouth and would say " bite bite." This kids a smart one and so far the signing is going really well.
After a little nap it was time for occupational therapy and he did really well just as he always does. One full hour of therapy with no fussing.
Then to cap off the day, It snowed tonight. Allison and I have been planning on going out tonight and doing some Christmas shopping tonight for about a week now. While we were out it started snowing A LOT!! and within an hour there was a couple of inches on the ground and roads. It was kinda neat to be out Christmas shopping during the snow. It never snows here and it really added to festive spirit. We managed to get a lot done and had the stores to ourselves this evening which was really nice.
Dawson has been feeling a lot better the past couple of days and its nice to have our sweet little boy and his good mood back.
We hope everyone is doing well and thanks for looking in on us.
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Anybody seen our sweet little boy??
The past few days have been a little rough for Dawson which in turn always makes things a little rough on all of us. Not sure whats bothering the little guy but he has definitely had a mood swing this past week. He had an ear infection last week that may still be bothering him. He's had this terrible cold ( which we are all still fighting) lots of coughing, constant running nose and his appetite is down quite a bit. And sleeping......... well that's just a joke and always has been. It's been much worse for the most part this week. The only thing that seems to satisfy the little guy is mommy. As long as mommy is holding him and he can feel her skin then things are ok. Anything other than that just won't do. Were hoping that this crud that has invaded our house will soon be gone and we can all get to feeling better.
We have finally gotten a day set up for a speech therapy evaluation to see if he qualifies for therapy services. It will be this Thursday and we both feel he needs some help in this department. He has words that he says but he doesn't necessarily say them with what they mean. Example, He says the word Da Da but doesn't call me Da Da. He only repeats the word of you say it. The only things he associates with words is" Dog" ( when he sees one) and " bite" when hes being fed.
His vocabulary started off really well but he just hasn't built on is like we think he should. We just hope the evaluator sees these things too so he can get therapy.3
So were just working hard right now trying to get the kids over this bug and back to feeling 100% again. Thanks for your prayers and support we so appreciate it!!
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
We have finally gotten a day set up for a speech therapy evaluation to see if he qualifies for therapy services. It will be this Thursday and we both feel he needs some help in this department. He has words that he says but he doesn't necessarily say them with what they mean. Example, He says the word Da Da but doesn't call me Da Da. He only repeats the word of you say it. The only things he associates with words is" Dog" ( when he sees one) and " bite" when hes being fed.
His vocabulary started off really well but he just hasn't built on is like we think he should. We just hope the evaluator sees these things too so he can get therapy.3
So were just working hard right now trying to get the kids over this bug and back to feeling 100% again. Thanks for your prayers and support we so appreciate it!!
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Cough-a-thon
Everybody around here is still under the weather a bit. Me and Allison and Dawson and Madison have entered a Cough-a-thon, and so far I think Dawson is winning. Poor thing, he seems to have gotten the worst of it. Yesterday he felt so bad and you could see it in his eyes too. Besides the fact they were all weepy and matted, they just looked really bad. So this morning Dawson made a trip to the Doctor and he has an ear infection. Both him and Madison got their flu shots while they were there, along with a good antibiotic to clear up the ear infection.
Hopefully in a couple of days we will all be strong and healthy again, and all these head and chest colds will be a thing of the past.
Last night, Dawson was doing his usual " I'm going to wake up ever couple of hours or so just to let you know I don't want you to get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time thing." Anyway, at his 3:00 am wake up call I look over and Allison is missing. I didn't think a lot about it until the 3:30 wake up call from Dawson, and Allison is still missing in action. Come to find out...
Apparently, when I have a bad head cold, I snore a lot more than usual. Poor Allison couldn't take it anymore and abandoned post to go sleep in the kids play room just to get away from it.
Sorry sweetie, tonight Ill go back to the breath right strips....
So were all hanging in there, puny, but hanging in.
Oh BTW, the other day we went out to eat for lunch and Dawson started drinking from a straw.. Hooray for Dawson! We celebrate every new thing he learns to do.
God bless and we love you all
Jeff and Allison
Hopefully in a couple of days we will all be strong and healthy again, and all these head and chest colds will be a thing of the past.
Last night, Dawson was doing his usual " I'm going to wake up ever couple of hours or so just to let you know I don't want you to get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time thing." Anyway, at his 3:00 am wake up call I look over and Allison is missing. I didn't think a lot about it until the 3:30 wake up call from Dawson, and Allison is still missing in action. Come to find out...
Apparently, when I have a bad head cold, I snore a lot more than usual. Poor Allison couldn't take it anymore and abandoned post to go sleep in the kids play room just to get away from it.
Sorry sweetie, tonight Ill go back to the breath right strips....
So were all hanging in there, puny, but hanging in.
Oh BTW, the other day we went out to eat for lunch and Dawson started drinking from a straw.. Hooray for Dawson! We celebrate every new thing he learns to do.
God bless and we love you all
Jeff and Allison
Monday, December 1, 2008
I cant believe our little Madison turned 4 today. What a joy she is and those of you who know her know how special this little girl is. She is a constant ray of sunshine in our lives and there just aren't words to describe her or how we much we love her. Happy Birthday Madison!!! we love you so much
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Crud
The past couple of days the crud has been trying to eek its way into the house and this morning I think it finally took us over. Dawson has been hacking and coughing, Madison has been hacking and coughing, and after an entire day of some serious sinus drainage, I too woke up this morning hacking and coughing and just not feeling very well at all. So far the only one who is feeling worth anything at all this morning is Allison. She has that " Mommy Tuff'ness" thing going on I guess.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and got to eat tons of wonderful food and spend some time with our families. Yesterday, my folks spent the day with us and Dad made some wonderful seafood gumbo and then, after six long years, got to watch Alabama finally whip Auburn. Roll Tide!!!
Dawson is still doing really well and despite being sick he is still all smiles. He's walking around more and more and watching him grow and excel is such a treat to us. Thanks as always for checking on how he is doing.
We love you
Jeff and Allison
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and got to eat tons of wonderful food and spend some time with our families. Yesterday, my folks spent the day with us and Dad made some wonderful seafood gumbo and then, after six long years, got to watch Alabama finally whip Auburn. Roll Tide!!!
Dawson is still doing really well and despite being sick he is still all smiles. He's walking around more and more and watching him grow and excel is such a treat to us. Thanks as always for checking on how he is doing.
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
Well, this family certainly has much to be thankful for this year. God has done some amazing things and brought into our lives some amazing people. I just wanted to take a few minutes and list a few of them.
First of all we are thankful that as of today Dawson has been 182 days seizure free ( How AMAZING!!!)
We are so thankful to both our parents who live in town with us. They have played a major part in our lives this year and they take such great care of Dawson and Madison while we work. We are so lucky to both have such wonderful parents who live close to us.
We are thankful for Dawson who has taught us how to be strong and courageous in the face of adversity.
We are thankful for the wonderful people we have met through this ordeal who have never met us or Dawson yet continued to pray for him. ( Zoey's family, Reagan's family, Connor's family, Trevor's family, Jackson's family, Cameran's family,My uncle Don's Sunday school class in Chattanooga Tennessee, All wonderful people at Highland Baptist, my brother and his family in Prattville, Allison's sister and family in Montgomery, The Barnard clan in Johnson City Tennessee, The Barnard clan in Florida and all the many many others who have lifted Dawson up to the Lord in prayer. We are truly thankful to each and every one of you.
For the wonderful people I work with who have been nothing but supportive of our family this year.
Most of all, we are thankful that we serve a mighty God who is ALIVE today and still preforming miracles.
We hope that all of you have a very happy Thanksgiving day. God bless and we love you all very much.
Jeff and Allison
First of all we are thankful that as of today Dawson has been 182 days seizure free ( How AMAZING!!!)
We are so thankful to both our parents who live in town with us. They have played a major part in our lives this year and they take such great care of Dawson and Madison while we work. We are so lucky to both have such wonderful parents who live close to us.
We are thankful for Dawson who has taught us how to be strong and courageous in the face of adversity.
We are thankful for the wonderful people we have met through this ordeal who have never met us or Dawson yet continued to pray for him. ( Zoey's family, Reagan's family, Connor's family, Trevor's family, Jackson's family, Cameran's family,My uncle Don's Sunday school class in Chattanooga Tennessee, All wonderful people at Highland Baptist, my brother and his family in Prattville, Allison's sister and family in Montgomery, The Barnard clan in Johnson City Tennessee, The Barnard clan in Florida and all the many many others who have lifted Dawson up to the Lord in prayer. We are truly thankful to each and every one of you.
For the wonderful people I work with who have been nothing but supportive of our family this year.
Most of all, we are thankful that we serve a mighty God who is ALIVE today and still preforming miracles.
We hope that all of you have a very happy Thanksgiving day. God bless and we love you all very much.
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, November 23, 2008
video of Dawson walking
Here is a little snippet of Dawson doing some walking over at Granny and Grampy's house. He is getting better and better on his feet. Everybody here is doing well and we have had a busy but uneventful weekend. Thank you for the continued prayers and support for our family. Enjoy the video and we love you all
Jeff and Allison
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Walking like an old pro
Dawson is getting better and better each and every day with this whole walking thing. He is able to pretty much walk across the room now without any problems. Crawling is still the preferred method of travel but I suspect that will all be changing very soon. This will present us with a whole new set of challenges. Dawson has always been a curious one and we will probably have to do a little more " child proofing" now that we are standing and walking about.
Other than that, not too much to report. We continue to live in this wonderful life that does not involve seizures and we are thankful, thankful, THANKFUL for each and every one of those days. It is such a joy and blessing to be able to watch Dawson progress the way he has.
We are trying to get him set up with speech therapy through early intervention. He does have some words that he says but we are not satisfied with his talking. We both feel he should be saying a lot more than what he does. Hopefully we can get that rolling soon and be able to see some improvement.
Thanks for stopping by to check on us. We so appreciate every one of you.
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Other than that, not too much to report. We continue to live in this wonderful life that does not involve seizures and we are thankful, thankful, THANKFUL for each and every one of those days. It is such a joy and blessing to be able to watch Dawson progress the way he has.
We are trying to get him set up with speech therapy through early intervention. He does have some words that he says but we are not satisfied with his talking. We both feel he should be saying a lot more than what he does. Hopefully we can get that rolling soon and be able to see some improvement.
Thanks for stopping by to check on us. We so appreciate every one of you.
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Monday, November 17, 2008
Baby steps
We've done it. We are officially walking!!! Last night Allison and I were sitting a small distance from each other and we were asking Dawson to go give mommy/daddy his pacifier. It started with three steps and tonight he took 9 steps. Looks like were off and running.
Although I have seen 3 of my children learn to walk before........... Well, watching this one learn to walk has been kinda special to us and all thanks be to God for this continued miracle.
GO DAWSON GO!!!!!!!!! were so proud of him!!
Our love to all our family and friends
Jeff and Allison
Although I have seen 3 of my children learn to walk before........... Well, watching this one learn to walk has been kinda special to us and all thanks be to God for this continued miracle.
GO DAWSON GO!!!!!!!!! were so proud of him!!
Our love to all our family and friends
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Birthdays O' Plenty
Today we celebrate yet another birthday. Katelin has officially turned 7. Its been an interesting year for Katelin. As most of you know she was diagnosed several months ago with Type I Diabetes. Her bravery has helped her triumph over this and I, as her father, couldn't be more proud of this brave little girl. With my oldest daughter now in " double digits" as of last week and Katelin turning 7 today, not to mention that Madison's birthday is only weeks away......... Whew, all these birthdays in a row will make one feel a little OLD!!!...... AND BROKE!!
I know its not a big secret but I am very very proud of all my kids. They are each special in their own way and Im all smiles as I watch them grow. Speaking of kids making me proud.... Dawson is doing just great. He continues to triumph over and beat down this thing called Infantile Spasms. His teeth cutting sessions have decided to give him a little break and the past few days he has been all smiles and giggles. He is all over the house exploring and just doing normal 1 year old stuff. Keep it up little buddy we are all so very proud of you!!
So a big birthday wish goes out to my darling Katelin and thanks for checking in on us.
Jeff and Allison
I know its not a big secret but I am very very proud of all my kids. They are each special in their own way and Im all smiles as I watch them grow. Speaking of kids making me proud.... Dawson is doing just great. He continues to triumph over and beat down this thing called Infantile Spasms. His teeth cutting sessions have decided to give him a little break and the past few days he has been all smiles and giggles. He is all over the house exploring and just doing normal 1 year old stuff. Keep it up little buddy we are all so very proud of you!!
So a big birthday wish goes out to my darling Katelin and thanks for checking in on us.
Jeff and Allison
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Finally out of boxes...well, for the most part anyway
We have done it, we are out of boxes. There are a few small random boxes, mostly with stuff that just needs to be tossed out anyway. We all like the new house. Madison said to me tonight, "Mom, this house is so big, I can't even find you!" It was too cute. We are still making the much needed improvements. The kitchen and the kids room are the only ones that are close to being finished. It will just take time, time in between jobs and kids, which isn't much. Oh well, we are still so happy to be here none the less.
Dawson continues to do well. When I dropped him off at my parents yesterday and had turned to leave, I heard "Bye Bye" from behind me. I turned, thinking that it had to have been Madison, but she was still in on the couch, it was Dawson. He said Bye Bye clear as a bell. I tried to get him to say it again, but he just stared at me. He won't do it when you try to get him to, it has to be on his own time.
He still isn't walking. He will stand up on his own and stand forever but just won't take a step. I have been hearing for the past few weeks, "Yep, he'll be walking next week!" Nope, Jeff he won't, he just isn't ready.
We have been using the Melatonin for the past week and he sleeps better, not great, but better. Any improvement is good, so I can't complain. I have not dosed him in the middle of the night yet, only before bed. I just give him less then half of the max recommended dose so that I could dose him later if needed. He sleeps really soundly for the first half of the night and then usually wakes twice in the early morning hours, but goes back to sleep really easily. This morning he woke up early, about 5:30am. He did not go back to sleep. I had to get up to shower and he cried most of the time while I was in there. Sorry Jeff, no one would do but momma this morning, poor guy.
Today is Ashlyn's 10th birthday!!! Happy Birthday Ashlyn!!!! We can't believe she is ten, double digits. She already seems so grown up. She is playing basketball this year and her team is undefeated so far---Go Jaguars!!
Thanks for checking in on our family. We love you all and appreciate all the support.
Allison
Dawson continues to do well. When I dropped him off at my parents yesterday and had turned to leave, I heard "Bye Bye" from behind me. I turned, thinking that it had to have been Madison, but she was still in on the couch, it was Dawson. He said Bye Bye clear as a bell. I tried to get him to say it again, but he just stared at me. He won't do it when you try to get him to, it has to be on his own time.
He still isn't walking. He will stand up on his own and stand forever but just won't take a step. I have been hearing for the past few weeks, "Yep, he'll be walking next week!" Nope, Jeff he won't, he just isn't ready.
We have been using the Melatonin for the past week and he sleeps better, not great, but better. Any improvement is good, so I can't complain. I have not dosed him in the middle of the night yet, only before bed. I just give him less then half of the max recommended dose so that I could dose him later if needed. He sleeps really soundly for the first half of the night and then usually wakes twice in the early morning hours, but goes back to sleep really easily. This morning he woke up early, about 5:30am. He did not go back to sleep. I had to get up to shower and he cried most of the time while I was in there. Sorry Jeff, no one would do but momma this morning, poor guy.
Today is Ashlyn's 10th birthday!!! Happy Birthday Ashlyn!!!! We can't believe she is ten, double digits. She already seems so grown up. She is playing basketball this year and her team is undefeated so far---Go Jaguars!!
Thanks for checking in on our family. We love you all and appreciate all the support.
Allison
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Living with boxes
We had a very successful move. It took 3 trips in a 24 foot box truck and numerous car and truck loads but we made it. Everything we own is back under one roof again and now the trick is remembering what box you put what in. Were still digging out and It's looking like maybe a week before things are in some sort of organizational pattern again. A HUGE thank you to my parents and Allison's parents for all the help this weekend. Those who weren't moving things were watching kids for us and vice versa. An even bigger thanks to my brother in law Adam who has been right with me during the " double move" Thanks Adam!!!! We would have never made it without you guys.
We are waiting on Internet connection at home ( I can neither confirm nor deny that I am might or might not be doing this from my work computer) and hopefully withing the next couple of days they will be out to get us hooked up. Madison loves her new room and Dawson seems to be having a pretty good time in the new place as well. Lots of new places for him to go and explore.
Speaking of Dawson he continues to do very very well. We are still seizure free and we are going to Huntsville for an EEG on Thursday. This EEG was scheduled about a month ago and its his first EEG since being seizure free. Its been so long since hes had one and we are anxious to see some normal rhythmic brain waves. The EEG is going to be done in his Neuro's office which is nice because she can read it right then and there without having to wait and we will also be meeting with a Genetics specialist while we are there as well. So needless to say, Thursday will be a huge day for us. Pray with us for some awesome results.
We are waiting on Internet connection at home ( I can neither confirm nor deny that I am might or might not be doing this from my work computer) and hopefully withing the next couple of days they will be out to get us hooked up. Madison loves her new room and Dawson seems to be having a pretty good time in the new place as well. Lots of new places for him to go and explore.
Speaking of Dawson he continues to do very very well. We are still seizure free and we are going to Huntsville for an EEG on Thursday. This EEG was scheduled about a month ago and its his first EEG since being seizure free. Its been so long since hes had one and we are anxious to see some normal rhythmic brain waves. The EEG is going to be done in his Neuro's office which is nice because she can read it right then and there without having to wait and we will also be meeting with a Genetics specialist while we are there as well. So needless to say, Thursday will be a huge day for us. Pray with us for some awesome results.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Its been crazy busy
First of all I must say we are very sorry in such a long delay in posting. We have been in the process of moving. YUK!! Not only are we moving but we are having to move the person who is living in the house we are moving into. And if that weren't enough, while moving him this week we are also in the middle of remodeling the same house. Soooooo. As of tonight he is officially moved and we will be officially moving Saturday. This has been in the works for quite some time and we are both glad it is finally materializing. There is lots of work to be done ( and we are already exhausted) So that's why we haven't posted in a while. Sorry. As soon as we get moved well take some pics and share. The house is great and it has 7 acres of land with it so we will have plenty of room to move about.
Dawson is continuing to do just wonderful. He is standing in place for long periods of time without holding onto anything. He is so ready to walk. He just doesn't know he can yet. I'm going to bet within a week he will be taking his first steps. Well see how close I am.
He still cutting a lot of teeth at one time and he has moments where you can really tell they are bothering him. A few fussy spells and then hes back to happy baby again.
Say a prayer for us this weekend as were moving. Its been a stress filled week so far and were hoping for a smooth transition into the new house.
Thank you so much for checking in. We'll try hard not to wait so long to post again.
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friday October 24th
Thanks for all the kind and wonderful comments on our recent pictures. We agree that Dawson is a pretty awesome kid ( and we think he's kinda cute too!!!) We are so very proud of him and what he has been able to accomplish. All credit and glory to God for such a miracle. We did nothing but admit how truly weak we are and HE did all the rest. Dawson is such a blessing and I pray everyday that somehow, someway God will direct family's who's children suffer from this horrible seizure disorder to this site. We want this to be a place of HOPE for people who have just found out their child suffers from I.S. We want so badly for people to see that there are exceptions to the rule, and that Doctors do not have the last say in how their child will turn out. Statistically, Dawson is supposed to still be having seizures. Statistically Dawson is supposed to be Severely Developmental Delayed. Statistically, Dawson is supposed to,in some form or fashion,be mentally retarded. Instead, his seizures have stopped, he has ZERO developmental delays, and he is thriving and very very smart. If you were to meet him today there is no way you would ever be able to tell that he, just months ago, suffered from this catastrophic form of epilepsy.
Once again, we did nothing but cry out to God for help and I personally promised to follow him in wherever he wanted to lead me in this. Isn't he good!!!!!!
I know God is going to continue to bless our family and take care of Dawson, and Allison and I both hope that in some small way YOU have been blessed or changed by what you have seen him do for us. There are so many of you who have played such key roles in our lives through this. Strategically placed in our lives by God ( in this I have no doubt) and we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Just felt the need to tell you guys THANKS. Its so great to go down this road with our supportive families and friends old and new.
As of today, Dawson continues to do just wonderfully well. We have neared the 160 day mark for seizure freedom and with the exception of him cutting several teeth at once, hes been in a pretty dang good mood. Thank you so much for stopping by and checking on us
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Once again, we did nothing but cry out to God for help and I personally promised to follow him in wherever he wanted to lead me in this. Isn't he good!!!!!!
I know God is going to continue to bless our family and take care of Dawson, and Allison and I both hope that in some small way YOU have been blessed or changed by what you have seen him do for us. There are so many of you who have played such key roles in our lives through this. Strategically placed in our lives by God ( in this I have no doubt) and we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Just felt the need to tell you guys THANKS. Its so great to go down this road with our supportive families and friends old and new.
As of today, Dawson continues to do just wonderfully well. We have neared the 160 day mark for seizure freedom and with the exception of him cutting several teeth at once, hes been in a pretty dang good mood. Thank you so much for stopping by and checking on us
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Family Pics
Hope you guys enjoy the pics from our wonderful weekend. Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Monday, October 20, 2008
Back from Tennessee
We made it back safe and sound from our Tennessee trip this past weekend. We really had a great time and the weather was just perfect. It was so great to see my older brother and his family as we don't get to see them that often. Scott, Michelle, Megan and Drew... Thanks for coming and it was great to see you all again. We were able to get out Friday and Saturday and do some hiking and we hope to have pics from the trip posted tomorrow. You never know how young kids are going to do when put in a new environment but Dawson and Madison did just great. The entire weekend was just perfect and Allison and I really needed the trip away.
We have a new milestone to pass along. Saturday afternoon we were all sitting in the cabin and Dawson was playing around in the floor and he just all of a sudden stood right up. He was in a squatting position and just stood himself up just as pretty as you please without holding on to anything. We all yelled and clapped for him so of course he played to the crowd a little and did it several more times. What a miracle this kid is. He continues to grow and learn and thrive and we couldn't be more thrilled.
Thanks for looking in on our little buddy
We love you
Jeff and Allison
We have a new milestone to pass along. Saturday afternoon we were all sitting in the cabin and Dawson was playing around in the floor and he just all of a sudden stood right up. He was in a squatting position and just stood himself up just as pretty as you please without holding on to anything. We all yelled and clapped for him so of course he played to the crowd a little and did it several more times. What a miracle this kid is. He continues to grow and learn and thrive and we couldn't be more thrilled.
Thanks for looking in on our little buddy
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Weekend trip
First things first. Thanks for all of you who weighed in on the Melatonin issue. Your information and input, as always, means so much to us. We are going to try using Melatonin and we will let you all know how he does.
Secondly, we have been planning a family trip for some time now and the weekend is finally here. We are going to Pikeville TN to Fall Creek Falls State Park. We will be accompanied by my parents and we are meeting my brother from Prattville along with his family. We have really been looking forward to this weekend and according to the weather man, the weather is going to be just perfect. Well be sure to take some great pics to share with you all.
Dawson's teeth cutting has seemed to ease up the past couple of days as he has been back to his usual smiling, happy, laughing self.
Pray for us as we travel and please know how much each of you means to us.
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Secondly, we have been planning a family trip for some time now and the weekend is finally here. We are going to Pikeville TN to Fall Creek Falls State Park. We will be accompanied by my parents and we are meeting my brother from Prattville along with his family. We have really been looking forward to this weekend and according to the weather man, the weather is going to be just perfect. Well be sure to take some great pics to share with you all.
Dawson's teeth cutting has seemed to ease up the past couple of days as he has been back to his usual smiling, happy, laughing self.
Pray for us as we travel and please know how much each of you means to us.
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
To sleep or not to sleep??
Dawson has never been the worlds greatest sleeper. It is so much better than it used to be. Especially considering what he was like during those oh so wonderful ACTH days. But still he has his good days and bad days with sleeping. At night he goes right to sleep without any problems ( this is about 8:00) and has a couple of good solid hours of sleep. But the rest of the night is spent tossing and turning, sleep then awake, more tossing, some flipping, Head of the bed laying cross ways, foot of the bed, more spinning and flipping ( you get the point.) He wakes up a lot, lets out a loud wail, rummages around to a new spot then goes back to sleep. All the while, Allison and I are being kicked, punched, smacked across the face with a flailing arm, and every now and then headbutted. And lets face it, Dawson is not a small baby anymore. When he lays cross ways he takes us A LOT of room. So here we are in this big ole king sized bed. Me on the very very end ( trying not to get kicked) and Allison on the very very other end ( trying not to get punched) and Dawson in the middle.
For those of you who want to say " that boy is too old to be sleeping in your bed. He should be in his own bed." let me first say yes, you are exactly right. I agree totally. So there, you don't have to say it because we already know. The fact is, Like all I.S. kids, they are more prone to having seizures upon waking and going to sleep. So of course we had him in the bed with us so we could closely monitor his seizure activity. Now its just a habit for him to be in there. It would probably take about 7 days to get him out of our bed, and at the end of the day, neither Allison or I are in any kind of mood, nor do we have the energy to attempt it.
All this to say, I think we are going to try Meletonin. We have been urged by some others to try it because it worked so well for their kids. Its a natural supplement that the body produces to help induce and maintain sleep. Its not a drug and can be purchased over the counter at most Herbal stores. We would love some feed back positive/negative from anybody who has tried it for their kids.
Other than that, Dawson is still doing great. Yesterday was an off day for him. He is cutting some molars and I think they were really bothering him yesterday. His mood seemed to improve with some numbing gel and Tylenol.
Also we were told today by Early Intervention that he did not qualify for speech therapy since he is showing no developmental delays. His Neuro said this was not optional and she also said in the very beginning that he qualified for services just because of the diagnosis and its catastrophic tendencies.... We'll have to call her and tell her what they said and maybe she can work something out for us.
Until then, heres to Melatonin and we hope its helps him sleep better.
We love you guys
Jeff and Allison
For those of you who want to say " that boy is too old to be sleeping in your bed. He should be in his own bed." let me first say yes, you are exactly right. I agree totally. So there, you don't have to say it because we already know. The fact is, Like all I.S. kids, they are more prone to having seizures upon waking and going to sleep. So of course we had him in the bed with us so we could closely monitor his seizure activity. Now its just a habit for him to be in there. It would probably take about 7 days to get him out of our bed, and at the end of the day, neither Allison or I are in any kind of mood, nor do we have the energy to attempt it.
All this to say, I think we are going to try Meletonin. We have been urged by some others to try it because it worked so well for their kids. Its a natural supplement that the body produces to help induce and maintain sleep. Its not a drug and can be purchased over the counter at most Herbal stores. We would love some feed back positive/negative from anybody who has tried it for their kids.
Other than that, Dawson is still doing great. Yesterday was an off day for him. He is cutting some molars and I think they were really bothering him yesterday. His mood seemed to improve with some numbing gel and Tylenol.
Also we were told today by Early Intervention that he did not qualify for speech therapy since he is showing no developmental delays. His Neuro said this was not optional and she also said in the very beginning that he qualified for services just because of the diagnosis and its catastrophic tendencies.... We'll have to call her and tell her what they said and maybe she can work something out for us.
Until then, heres to Melatonin and we hope its helps him sleep better.
We love you guys
Jeff and Allison
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Saturday Mornin P.J time
Sorry about the crudeness of a web cam video but he just looks so great in his P.J's that we couldn't resist.
We are all doing really well and our house is once again full of kids this weekend. As you can see, Dawson is getting around pretty well now a days. He is also walking while holding on to only one hand as well. Just a matter of time I think and he will be walking on his own. He is able to stand unassisted for a few seconds at a time and that's always the starting point.
We hope that everybody has a great weekend and thanks for allowing us to show off our guy
Jeff and Allison
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Wednesday October 8th Update
Our little corner of Alabama still continues to go well. Dawson has had some "intestinal issues" for the past few days and Allison has come down with a terrible head cold. Madison has her own version of the the same thing and other than that everybody is pretty healthy. Things still continue to go very well for our miracle I.S kiddo.
I went to pick him up today and was greeted with a big ole, mouth wide open and smiling, HEEEEEYYYYYYYYY. I ask you, is there anything better??
Dawson had PT with his new therapist today and from what I hear everything went very well. We are still waiting on the call back about speech therapy. Hopefully we will be able to get that started soon. At this point we don't feel like he is in great need of speech therapy, but his Neuro said that not having it wasn't an option. So obviously we are going to add it.
He continues to get into everything and we have decided that cleaning the house is just about pointless. It takes him about 10 minutes scatter toys from one end of the house to the other.
And how grateful we are that he can.........
Our love to all and thanks for checking in to see how were doing
Jeff and Allison
I went to pick him up today and was greeted with a big ole, mouth wide open and smiling, HEEEEEYYYYYYYYY. I ask you, is there anything better??
Dawson had PT with his new therapist today and from what I hear everything went very well. We are still waiting on the call back about speech therapy. Hopefully we will be able to get that started soon. At this point we don't feel like he is in great need of speech therapy, but his Neuro said that not having it wasn't an option. So obviously we are going to add it.
He continues to get into everything and we have decided that cleaning the house is just about pointless. It takes him about 10 minutes scatter toys from one end of the house to the other.
And how grateful we are that he can.........
Our love to all and thanks for checking in to see how were doing
Jeff and Allison
Saturday, October 4, 2008
learning quickly
We are amazed at whats been going on with Dawson. Especially just in the past two weeks. There are some major changes taking place on just about a daily basis with his vocabulary and different things he is doing. In just the past 24 hours he has added " bye bye" and " duck" to his ever changing vocabulary list. Also you can ask him where his nose is and he points to it.
For those who don't know about Infantile Spasms, one could say Well whats the big deal with that? But for those who know about I.S and those who live in the I.S world daily.. Well you Know what a big deal it is. Not only is Dawson mobile, which is a huge deal for us, Most importantly, he is showing a great capability to learn which is an even bigger deal for us. To be quite honest, he is proving himself to be quite smart. God continues to reveal himself to us through this most amazing little boy. We couldn't be more proud of our miracle, nor could we be more humbled and thankful to God.
We hope all of you have a great weekend and thanks for checking in and seeing what we have been up to. Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
For those who don't know about Infantile Spasms, one could say Well whats the big deal with that? But for those who know about I.S and those who live in the I.S world daily.. Well you Know what a big deal it is. Not only is Dawson mobile, which is a huge deal for us, Most importantly, he is showing a great capability to learn which is an even bigger deal for us. To be quite honest, he is proving himself to be quite smart. God continues to reveal himself to us through this most amazing little boy. We couldn't be more proud of our miracle, nor could we be more humbled and thankful to God.
We hope all of you have a great weekend and thanks for checking in and seeing what we have been up to. Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Wednesday October 1st
Hard to believe another month has come and gone. The beginning of October has brought with it some cooler air and personally for me, there is nothing better than Fall weather.
Dawson is still doing really well. The only issue we are having at this point is maybe some small sleep issues. Generally speaking he sleeps pretty well and is much better than it used be. But he still has a lot of waking during the night. Not so much opening his eyes awake, but just a lot of twisting and turning and flipping and flopping all over the bed. Nothing like that 3:00 A.M. head butt, or the times around 2:00 in the morning when your kidneys feel like a soccer ball from being kicked constantly... Sleeping all the way through the night is still something were working on.
Monday the evaluator with Early Intervention stopped by to do an eval on Dawson. She commented on how well he was doing and he seems to still be learning new stuff on just about a weekly basis now. His vocabulary now is Ma Ma, Da Da, Dog, Hey, and last night we were working on showing him his ears, and he said what sounded like " eeees" several times.
Monday he learned to hold up one finger to show his age, and he has gotten very comfortable at walking around while holding on to something. He is even standing, coming from a squatting position, for a few seconds at a time unassisted.
Socially, you could not ask for any more. He is very interactive and loves to play all sorts of games. The only person that we have seen that he doesn't care for is his physical therapist, and that's only because she makes him work. He is full of smiles and we still to this day feel so blessed to be a witness to a miracle that continues on even today. Thank you God for giving us Dawson!! He is such a blessing to our entire family.
Thanks for checking on him and for your constant prayers and support
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Dawson is still doing really well. The only issue we are having at this point is maybe some small sleep issues. Generally speaking he sleeps pretty well and is much better than it used be. But he still has a lot of waking during the night. Not so much opening his eyes awake, but just a lot of twisting and turning and flipping and flopping all over the bed. Nothing like that 3:00 A.M. head butt, or the times around 2:00 in the morning when your kidneys feel like a soccer ball from being kicked constantly... Sleeping all the way through the night is still something were working on.
Monday the evaluator with Early Intervention stopped by to do an eval on Dawson. She commented on how well he was doing and he seems to still be learning new stuff on just about a weekly basis now. His vocabulary now is Ma Ma, Da Da, Dog, Hey, and last night we were working on showing him his ears, and he said what sounded like " eeees" several times.
Monday he learned to hold up one finger to show his age, and he has gotten very comfortable at walking around while holding on to something. He is even standing, coming from a squatting position, for a few seconds at a time unassisted.
Socially, you could not ask for any more. He is very interactive and loves to play all sorts of games. The only person that we have seen that he doesn't care for is his physical therapist, and that's only because she makes him work. He is full of smiles and we still to this day feel so blessed to be a witness to a miracle that continues on even today. Thank you God for giving us Dawson!! He is such a blessing to our entire family.
Thanks for checking on him and for your constant prayers and support
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday September 28th Update
Hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours has been wonderful. LOUD!! but wonderful. Our house has been full of kids this weekend and 5 minutes of peace and quiet sounds like a wonderful dream to us right now. Everyone is doing great though and we are thankful for that.
Dawson has held his own against the onslaught of all the girls this weekend. He has made a fun game of chasing them through the house. They squeal with delight that he is chasing them and he squeals with delight.. well just because they are I guess.. In between the chasing, he busies himself playing intently with his toys. Stopping only long enough for food and the occasional nap. He is such a happy kid and is getting into everything. It is not very hard to find Dawson nor is it hard to tell where he has been. There is a trail of destruction from the starting point all the way to where we find him sitting. He is all boy. As i sit here telling you this, he is in here with me with one toy in his mouth, and one in each hand as well. This weekend Dawson has been standing unassisted. The other night he just stood right up and held his balance for about 5 seconds. He didn't even realize what he was doing. As soon as he did, he eased right back down. He has done that several the past couple of days and we are so thrilled to see this progress. It appears that Walking is right around the corner for him.
Katelin is still doing really well and is only requiring an insulin shot at bedtime. If anything, we have struggled this weekend with her blood/sugar being too low. She is having some lows almost every day now but she is very good about telling us that she isn't feeling right. She is usually dead on when she thinks her b/s is low and we are glad she is paying such great attention to how she is feeling throughout the day. Please continue to pray for her. She seems like everything is great, but I know there have to be times she hates being 6 and having Diabetes
Thanks for your support and prayers. We love you all & ROLL TIDE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeff and Allison
Dawson has held his own against the onslaught of all the girls this weekend. He has made a fun game of chasing them through the house. They squeal with delight that he is chasing them and he squeals with delight.. well just because they are I guess.. In between the chasing, he busies himself playing intently with his toys. Stopping only long enough for food and the occasional nap. He is such a happy kid and is getting into everything. It is not very hard to find Dawson nor is it hard to tell where he has been. There is a trail of destruction from the starting point all the way to where we find him sitting. He is all boy. As i sit here telling you this, he is in here with me with one toy in his mouth, and one in each hand as well. This weekend Dawson has been standing unassisted. The other night he just stood right up and held his balance for about 5 seconds. He didn't even realize what he was doing. As soon as he did, he eased right back down. He has done that several the past couple of days and we are so thrilled to see this progress. It appears that Walking is right around the corner for him.
Katelin is still doing really well and is only requiring an insulin shot at bedtime. If anything, we have struggled this weekend with her blood/sugar being too low. She is having some lows almost every day now but she is very good about telling us that she isn't feeling right. She is usually dead on when she thinks her b/s is low and we are glad she is paying such great attention to how she is feeling throughout the day. Please continue to pray for her. She seems like everything is great, but I know there have to be times she hates being 6 and having Diabetes
Thanks for your support and prayers. We love you all & ROLL TIDE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeff and Allison
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thurs. Sept. 25
Guess what??? Dawson said momma today!!!! He has been saying it a little off and on very unintentionally, just while babbling. But today he said it with purpose. So haha, no more just dada dada dada!!
On another note, I would like to mention that Jeff & I have been married 5 years today. Whoo Hoo!!! Five jam packed years that I wouldn't trade for anything. Thank you Jeff for a wonderful five years, you are a wonderful man and I am truly Blessed to have you for my husband and father of our 2 wonderful children. Your faith and support are what has brought us through Dawson's diagnosis to the other side as better parents, as a better couple and as better people. You are inspiring!! I don't want to get too mushy on the blog so.... you are the BEST and I LOVE YOU and I am so PROUD to be your wife!!!
All my love,
Allison
On another note, I would like to mention that Jeff & I have been married 5 years today. Whoo Hoo!!! Five jam packed years that I wouldn't trade for anything. Thank you Jeff for a wonderful five years, you are a wonderful man and I am truly Blessed to have you for my husband and father of our 2 wonderful children. Your faith and support are what has brought us through Dawson's diagnosis to the other side as better parents, as a better couple and as better people. You are inspiring!! I don't want to get too mushy on the blog so.... you are the BEST and I LOVE YOU and I am so PROUD to be your wife!!!
All my love,
Allison
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Video
We hope you will take 4 min to watch the video in its entirety. We hope also that you are moved by it as much as we were when we saw it. Theres not much need to say a whole lot about it. The video speaks for itself.
We love you
Jeff and Allison
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday Sept 23
Dawson got his first pair of shoes this weekend. He wasn't too thrilled about them at first, but has grown accustomed to them now. We got him some high top white ones, his PT was recommending high top ones for ankle support. The shoes force him to crawl the right way and provides some extra balance for standing. He can stand alone briefly before needing to hold on or fall over.
I talked today to the coordinator of Early Intervention to see about adding in speech therapy. Dawson's Neuro said we needed to get that started since speech is an area that IS kids struggle in. She said that he was due to be reevaluated by the end of the month and after he does that we can see about adding it in. She said that the kids must show a delay to get the services, but when we met with her in the beginning, she said that he qualifies for services because of his diagnosis, even if he is not showing delays. So I will have to talk with her again to make sure what their policy is. He has pretty much caught back up for the most part developmentally, but he still has some things he struggles with. He still has left sided weakness. Maybe not weakness per say, but he still favors his right side. For example, when he claps, he brings his right hand to his left. He does not bring both of them together. When he takes steps (holding on) there is a difference in how much he picks up his right vs his left leg. Speech wise, he is supposed to be able to say about 2 other words besides mama and dada, he only says dada. He makes lots of sounds, but no other words. So, we'll see what they can or will do.
He is also starting to get in his molars. We can see and feel the bumps and he is chewing like crazy on stuff but they have not broken thru the surface yet. That should be lots of fun when they do come in. He is still all over the house and into everything. He and Madison play so well together too, it is so cute to watch them. Madison really loves her baby brother.
I would also like to take the opportunity to wish 2 sets of my aunts and uncles a happy anniversary for tomorrow, so....HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Jim & Wanda, and Rob & Jan (married for 39 and 31 yrs respectively) We love you!!!
Thanks for checking in on Dawson.
Love,
Allison & Jeff
I talked today to the coordinator of Early Intervention to see about adding in speech therapy. Dawson's Neuro said we needed to get that started since speech is an area that IS kids struggle in. She said that he was due to be reevaluated by the end of the month and after he does that we can see about adding it in. She said that the kids must show a delay to get the services, but when we met with her in the beginning, she said that he qualifies for services because of his diagnosis, even if he is not showing delays. So I will have to talk with her again to make sure what their policy is. He has pretty much caught back up for the most part developmentally, but he still has some things he struggles with. He still has left sided weakness. Maybe not weakness per say, but he still favors his right side. For example, when he claps, he brings his right hand to his left. He does not bring both of them together. When he takes steps (holding on) there is a difference in how much he picks up his right vs his left leg. Speech wise, he is supposed to be able to say about 2 other words besides mama and dada, he only says dada. He makes lots of sounds, but no other words. So, we'll see what they can or will do.
He is also starting to get in his molars. We can see and feel the bumps and he is chewing like crazy on stuff but they have not broken thru the surface yet. That should be lots of fun when they do come in. He is still all over the house and into everything. He and Madison play so well together too, it is so cute to watch them. Madison really loves her baby brother.
I would also like to take the opportunity to wish 2 sets of my aunts and uncles a happy anniversary for tomorrow, so....HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Jim & Wanda, and Rob & Jan (married for 39 and 31 yrs respectively) We love you!!!
Thanks for checking in on Dawson.
Love,
Allison & Jeff
Friday, September 19, 2008
Test Results
Today we had our meeting with Dr. Bebin in Huntsville. She was just amazed at how well he has progressed since our last visit with her months ago. We had to wait an unusual amount of time today ( over an hour and a half) in the waiting room before we were ever called back which we found to be a little frustrating. I mean you can only keep a 1 year old pacified for a certain amount of time. Dawson did his stuff though. He was the ham of the waiting room. Crawling around flashing that little smile at everybody. It turns out though that the long wait was not in vain. While waiting, we met a family of a three year old who was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms at around 6 months old. His seizures were not able to be controlled and has now progressed to Lennox Gastrout syndrome. Turns out they are from Florence as well and his pediatrician is the same as Dawsons. Small world huh?? They have been all over the country including John Hopkin's and they said that by far Dr Bebin was the best Pediatric Neurologist they had ever come in contact with. She has been the only one we have ever been with but Allison and I both have always felt blessed to have her as Dawson's doctor. Once again, Gods hand at work.
It was so nice to actually Meet somebody who totally understands what we have been through. Over the past 10 months we have met ( online) some of the most amazing people who's children suffer from the same thing Dawson has. We have networked, prayed for, prayed with, cried for, and allowed these wonderful families to be a source of comfort and prayer for us and we are grateful for each and every one of these families. We have fallen in love with your children and pray for them everyday. How nice though, to actually get to sit and talk face to face, with somebody who has traveled the same road as us. To actually get to sit and look at this beautiful boy was such a comfort to us. You see, even though we have met so many wonderful people, and our families here have been such an amazing source of comfort and support, we have always felt..... well, just so alone. Today that feeling of being all alone went away as we talked with this courageous mom. We gave her our email and phone number and we hope to get to speak with them more often. Once again, What seems like an extremely long wait at a Doctors office, actually turns into God's hand at work in our lives yet again.
On with the test results. Basically they gave us no indication that anything is wrong with Dawson. There were a couple of numbers that were off and the plan right now is to do a little blood work to check his thyroid. But there was nothing in the report that suggested to Dr. Bebin that anything more needs to be done at this point. Its one of those " No news is good news" type of deals. There is a local geneticist that she wants to confer with and wants us to meet so we are going back in November to have an EEG ( haven't had one of those since becoming seizure free) and then we are going to meet with this geneticist and Dr. Bebin after the EEG is done.
Initially I am not at all interested in doing more testing on Dawson. It seems like doing more testing equates to chasing a ghost. So there it is, months of waiting on pins and needles and the test results come back normal( with the exception of his resting metabolic rate which may suggest a thyroid issue. )
The long day has taken its toll on Dawson ( and us) and hopefully bedtime will come early tonight. Thanks for looking in on our little guy and we love you all dearly.
Jeff and Allison
It was so nice to actually Meet somebody who totally understands what we have been through. Over the past 10 months we have met ( online) some of the most amazing people who's children suffer from the same thing Dawson has. We have networked, prayed for, prayed with, cried for, and allowed these wonderful families to be a source of comfort and prayer for us and we are grateful for each and every one of these families. We have fallen in love with your children and pray for them everyday. How nice though, to actually get to sit and talk face to face, with somebody who has traveled the same road as us. To actually get to sit and look at this beautiful boy was such a comfort to us. You see, even though we have met so many wonderful people, and our families here have been such an amazing source of comfort and support, we have always felt..... well, just so alone. Today that feeling of being all alone went away as we talked with this courageous mom. We gave her our email and phone number and we hope to get to speak with them more often. Once again, What seems like an extremely long wait at a Doctors office, actually turns into God's hand at work in our lives yet again.
On with the test results. Basically they gave us no indication that anything is wrong with Dawson. There were a couple of numbers that were off and the plan right now is to do a little blood work to check his thyroid. But there was nothing in the report that suggested to Dr. Bebin that anything more needs to be done at this point. Its one of those " No news is good news" type of deals. There is a local geneticist that she wants to confer with and wants us to meet so we are going back in November to have an EEG ( haven't had one of those since becoming seizure free) and then we are going to meet with this geneticist and Dr. Bebin after the EEG is done.
Initially I am not at all interested in doing more testing on Dawson. It seems like doing more testing equates to chasing a ghost. So there it is, months of waiting on pins and needles and the test results come back normal( with the exception of his resting metabolic rate which may suggest a thyroid issue. )
The long day has taken its toll on Dawson ( and us) and hopefully bedtime will come early tonight. Thanks for looking in on our little guy and we love you all dearly.
Jeff and Allison
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wrestle Mania
Tomorrow is our Neuro visit in Huntsville. Say a prayer for us as we are expecting to get back some good results from all of the testing. We will make sure to pass on whatever info we get, when we get back tomorrow evening.
The past few days I have taken absolute joy in watching Dawson and Madison play. She has always been so good around him and is the sweetest little girl I have ever seen. But the past few days they have figured out how to wrestle ( ruff housing) together. Last night Dawson was literally chasing her down the hallway into the den. She would wait there for him and then he would climb up to her and almost tackle her. They have been rolling around and having the best time. Both of them squealing with delight at one another. Is there anything better???
They play so well together, and other than a couple of head butts, that put both of them in tears, it has just been plain ole fun watching them.
Dawson is just doing so well. Your prayers made that possible and we thank you so much.
Jeff and Allison
The past few days I have taken absolute joy in watching Dawson and Madison play. She has always been so good around him and is the sweetest little girl I have ever seen. But the past few days they have figured out how to wrestle ( ruff housing) together. Last night Dawson was literally chasing her down the hallway into the den. She would wait there for him and then he would climb up to her and almost tackle her. They have been rolling around and having the best time. Both of them squealing with delight at one another. Is there anything better???
They play so well together, and other than a couple of head butts, that put both of them in tears, it has just been plain ole fun watching them.
Dawson is just doing so well. Your prayers made that possible and we thank you so much.
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sunday September 14th
Hope everybody has had a wonderful weekend so far. Just a quick update today as things have not changed a bit for us ( Which is a good thing.) Dawson continues to do just great. He is all over the house getting into everything hes not supposed to. He's pulling up and cruising while holding onto the furniture. He is active, he is engaging, he is learning, and he has been seizure free for 107 days. Can you believe it?? 107 days!! I still find myself to be in complete awe about that.
We have a neuro visit next week and we will be discussing in detail the findings from the muscle biopsy/spinal tap. I find myself kinda looking forward to this visit because its been months since hes seen his doctors and I can't wait for them to see how well he is doing. He has been busy playing around the house all weekend long and stopping only for a short nap here and there to recharge his batteries.
Katelin is doing great also. She is still in her " Honeymoon " phase and is only requiring an insulin injection at night. This will not last and when she comes out of it she will have to go back to having shots with every meal. We are enjoying this phase while it lasts and our efforts right now are concentrated on making sure she continues to eat well.
Speaking of eating well, Allison just found out that I can fit 10 vanilla wafers in my mouth at one time. Can anybody beat that???
We love you guys and appreciate you so much
Jeff and Allison
We have a neuro visit next week and we will be discussing in detail the findings from the muscle biopsy/spinal tap. I find myself kinda looking forward to this visit because its been months since hes seen his doctors and I can't wait for them to see how well he is doing. He has been busy playing around the house all weekend long and stopping only for a short nap here and there to recharge his batteries.
Katelin is doing great also. She is still in her " Honeymoon " phase and is only requiring an insulin injection at night. This will not last and when she comes out of it she will have to go back to having shots with every meal. We are enjoying this phase while it lasts and our efforts right now are concentrated on making sure she continues to eat well.
Speaking of eating well, Allison just found out that I can fit 10 vanilla wafers in my mouth at one time. Can anybody beat that???
We love you guys and appreciate you so much
Jeff and Allison
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Are you kidding me
Yesterday Dawson had an appt with his local pediatrician. We went hoping to discuss the results from his Atlanta surgery but he had not received the entire packet of information. We received at home a 4 page synopsis of some of the results, but apparently the Doctors get the equivalent of a book on all his testing. His Neuro in Huntsville is awaiting the disc that contains all the information before she will talk to us either. Regardless, we showed his pediatrician what we had and he took the time to read the report and said there was nothing on there that he was really that concerned about. He also mentioned that some of the testing that was contained in the report was " Way out there" and that not only pediatricians, but neuro pediatricians would not even know about half of that stuff.
None the less, he was ecstatic at how well Dawson was doing ( as we all are.) He got to see him crawl, bear crawl, and even speak a couple of words during the visit. Dawson has been working on cruising lately. He has been pulling up on everything for a good while now, but now hes starting to walk around a little while holding on. How great is our God!!!!
This next thing is kinda funny. For Dawson's birthday, Allison went out and bought him a gift. It's an educational toy that has buttons and whistles and knobs and all sorts of things. Push something and the thing will talk to you and say different stuff. You get the picture.....
Dawson finally got around to playing with this new present the other night and Allison calls me into his room and says " Would you listen to this!!!" She starts pushing this button and the stupid thing will only speak SPANISH!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
Now, I refuse to use my son's medical blog to air out my political grievances, BUT do we as parents now have to read our kids toys to see what language its going to speak. ( and yes, its marked on the box that is speaks only Spanish.) Wake up people, this is America and English is our language. Nuff said
We are sorry for such the delay in this post, things have been crazy and is seems as though we run from daybreak to well past dark before anybody gets the chance to actually sit down and think about whats been going on. Dawson's progress continues at a rapid rate and we are so thankful that Doctors don't have the last word. As always, thanks for your prayers and support. We so appreciate everything that you have done for us.
Jeff and Allison
None the less, he was ecstatic at how well Dawson was doing ( as we all are.) He got to see him crawl, bear crawl, and even speak a couple of words during the visit. Dawson has been working on cruising lately. He has been pulling up on everything for a good while now, but now hes starting to walk around a little while holding on. How great is our God!!!!
This next thing is kinda funny. For Dawson's birthday, Allison went out and bought him a gift. It's an educational toy that has buttons and whistles and knobs and all sorts of things. Push something and the thing will talk to you and say different stuff. You get the picture.....
Dawson finally got around to playing with this new present the other night and Allison calls me into his room and says " Would you listen to this!!!" She starts pushing this button and the stupid thing will only speak SPANISH!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
Now, I refuse to use my son's medical blog to air out my political grievances, BUT do we as parents now have to read our kids toys to see what language its going to speak. ( and yes, its marked on the box that is speaks only Spanish.) Wake up people, this is America and English is our language. Nuff said
We are sorry for such the delay in this post, things have been crazy and is seems as though we run from daybreak to well past dark before anybody gets the chance to actually sit down and think about whats been going on. Dawson's progress continues at a rapid rate and we are so thankful that Doctors don't have the last word. As always, thanks for your prayers and support. We so appreciate everything that you have done for us.
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Dawson's birthday party
Yesterday we had Dawson's birthday party. Everybody had a great time and as expected Dawson enjoyed his birthday cake. Dawson had such a great time at his party and we appreciate everybody that came to celebrate this special day with us. We wanted to share a few of the pictures with everybody so we hope you enjoy them.
By the way, we FINALLY got the results back from all the testing he had done in Atlanta a few months ago. I have no idea what all the things contained in the report mean but we will see his neuro very soon and she is supposed to go over in detail what all the report is about. We will update everybody as we find out whats what. Thanks again for your prayers and support. We love you all
Jeff and Allison
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