Not so memorial memorial day

First of all, let me say a big thank you to all those who serve and have served in the armed forces protecting our country. This is your day and my family is so thankful for all you have done..

So far our Memorial Day has gone like this ( and its only noon) I started coming down with some kind of wicked head cold a couple of days ago and today it seems to be getting the best of me. Nonetheless, I have to work today so I am in sucking it up mode and trying to get out the door when I notice on of the car doors is standing wide open.. I think to myself.. Did i really leave the door open all night?? and then upon further investigation, I notice that on the two other cars we have, the doors are open on them as well.. Yep you guess it, somebody walked up, got into our cars ( which were unlocked) and helped themselves to a DVD player and a bible cover... The DVD player I get, but taking the bible cover off of Allison's bible and leaving the bible behind..... Having a little trouble understanding that one... They would have benefited from taking the Bible along with the cover... Who steals a bible cover???

Call the police to file a report which makes me late for work and then I get the call from work that Allison,who took off today to spend with the kids is home vomiting and needs me to come home and help with the kids... This is not what I had envisioned for our holiday!!

Allison is sleeping now and hopefully she will wake feeling a little better.

Tomorrow we head to Huntsville for an EEG. Its been a while since we have had one done and his Neuro wants to see if there are any changes. His seizures have been a little different as of late. Some of them are harder and instead of the very brief head dropping and arm flinging up, they are holding on a little longer and leaving him a little dazed looking in the eyes at times. Hopefully we can get some answers as well as a new direction. We've been on this current drug therapy for a while now and We think its time to scrap what hes on and move on to something different as we are seeing no results.

Please pray for us tomorrow as we head to Huntsville ( DVDless mind you) and that we will get co-operation from Dawson during the EEG. We need a change for the better and are still very prayerful that God will intervene and slay the seizure monster.

Our love to all and thank you for checking in on us

Jeff

Dawson dancing

Brace yourself... Dawson knows the stanky leg.





In other news..

Madison graduated preschool this week. We are so proud ( as you can imagine) of this little girl.. Allison and I talk all the time about how she got the best in both of us ( whatever thats worth lol ) ... What an amazing little girl she is. She is so incredibly smart and witty. She has a heart of gold... She is just a really really special kid!!

Seizures?? blah!!! about the same. Good days, OK days, and bad days.. No rhyme or reason to them. One thing that's a little concerning is that some of them are starting to hold on a little longer. Body stiffens, eyes glaze over and not that I care for ANY seizures, I really don't like these!! Other than that, our little hero is doing OK all things considered. This month is seeing improvements in speech. Nothing major, hes not learning and saying new words in leaps and bounds, BUT he is saying new words and the words he already knows are very fluent now and hes really communicating very nicely when it comes to basic things he needs. Hes also showing some good signs of being ready for potty training ( which we've started) He goes off to be by himself to use the bathroom, takes his diaper off immediately after peeing in it... things like that.. Soooooooo hopefully we will be doing some serious potty training soon.. Come on Dawson you can do it!!

So we continue on, waiting, hoping, and praying. Thanks to all of you who pray for us

Jeff and Allison

some pics of Dawson

Things around here have returned to at least some type of normalcy. Ashlyn is following in her sisters footsteps with controlling her diabetes and continues to show off her bravery. ( the picture above is Ashlyn and Katelin featured on the front page of our local newspaper. There was a nice article about them and dealing with diabetes) I have been such the proud daddy and showing them off to everybody i can think of.

Not much change in Dawson unfortunately. He is progressing, but at a VEERERRYYYYY slow pace. But progression is progression and well take it. Not satisfied, but well take it considering the alternative. I have to keep reminding myself that although this year has shown there are some delays, he is still a walking, talking miracle to me. When you think about the statictics and what he SHOULD be like..... He is still a miracle. He has numerous seizures daily and his two biggest delays are speech and social/behavioural issues. Other than that, you could never tell anything was going on with him at all. We still pray constantly for God's healing hand to touch our son and heal him of these seizures forever.. My faith tells me that one day will happen. The peace he gives us while we wait in indescribable. Sure, there are frustrations, setbacks, and even anger sometimes that we cant do "normal" things like going out to eat, going to church, going and watching the girls play softball, even going to Walmart is an issue because of the behavioral issues. But underneath all of those emotions, lies peace...

Were not sure what the next steps are for Dawson. The preliminary diet his Neuro put us on seemed to make seizures worse. I know that makes no sense, but the numbers tell the story. I know they made his behavior worse because now he couldnt eat all the things he wanted and Dawson doesn't do anger well.... at all!!!!

Please continue to pray for us as we continue to muddle our way through this horrible seizure world and all the nasty stuff that comes with it.

Pics above are Mommy and kids on mothers day and some pics of Dawson with his hat. He has started to love wearing hats
( as long as he can wear the backwards) what a cutie huh???

Thanks for the love and prayers

Jeff and Allison

Resiliency

Just amazing how resilient kids are. Way far more than I am now a days. Just one week ago, Ashlyn was lying in a hospital bed recovering after being life flighted to Vanderbilt Hospital. And today, not only is her ravenous appetite back, eating us out of house and home, but today we resume horseback riding. Watching her ride today really made my heart smile because I know how truly happy she is when she is riding.



Congrats Ashlyn for not only recuperating so quickly but for being so very resilient!!

In other news......................... wait for it..........................

Mr Dawson slept in his new bed, in his own room, and just did fantastic!!

Since Dawson no longer has clusters seizures after waking we decided wed go buy him a bed, put it in his room, and see how it goes. He has been sleeping with Allison and I every night since the seizures started at two months old. His seizures were Always centered around going in and coming out of sleep so we have always kept him right in our sights so we can monitor and count seizures.. My bed felt a lot bigger last night without Dawson in it.. YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

Hopefully he will continue to do well sleeping in his room. He only woke up twice last night which we thought was pretty good for a first time. Seizures continue to be awful. Yesterday was a not so good day as by the time he went to bed the seizure count was up to 16.. Please continue your prayers for this beautiful kid. He is so amazing, and he too has shown incredible resiliency. Is it obvious were proud of our kiddos??!! ha

Our love to you all

Jeff