I'm really bad at this...

Man, for someone who was REALLY looking forward to starting this blog, and PLANNED on updating it on a fairly regular basis, I sure am not doing a very good job at it.  Here goes again, looks like we are doing an update again.  Obviously since the last post, Dominic started 1st grade.  We got off to a rough start- I think it was a bigger transition for him than I planned for it to be, but he has a fantastic 1st grade teacher who is great at communicating with parents and we together have gotten Dominic in the right direction in school.  We just had his Fall conference and learned that he is reading past the mid 1st grade level right now (at the beginning of the year assessment) and she is continuously challenging him and pushing him to keep moving in the right direction. We got all good news at his conference which makes this Mama very happy. Look at the Difference that just 1 year makes!!

1st day of 1st grade

1st day of Kindergarten

Easton is growing up faster than fast as well! We had a bit of a health scare with him- all by accident not that long ago.  It all started when I noticed that Easton's feet had begun to peel badly around his toenails on both his feet and on the soles on the bottoms of his feet.  I was wondering if it possibly had to do with Hand, Foot & Mouth disease as it had been in daycare a couple weeks earlier.  I thought maybe Easton may have had a really minor case of it and didn't know it, so I did what they ALWAYS say NOT to do..I googled it.  Sure enough I found out that it is possible that for kiddos to get peeling feet a few weeks after having HFMD. I also noticed that something called Kawasaki Disease was coming up a lot as well.  Being curious, I started reading more about it and nearly lost my breath... many of the symptoms of Kawasaki disease Easton had exhibited back when he got sick in Kansas and since than.  One of the most red flag symptoms of Kawasaki disease is a high fever (102-104+) lasting at least 5 days and not being able to break it with the use of tylenol/ibuprofin. Other symptoms are red mucus membranes in the mouth (which he had with the fever), swollen lymph nodes in the neck (check), a rash on the middle of the body (check...i.e. the rash we thought was a possible allergic reaction to the antibiotics), and peeling of the hands and feet around the nails, soles & palms (check again).   At this point in time, I started to freak out about it because Kawasaki disease can cause inflammation of the blood vessels, causing aneurysms and possible heart attacks in young kids. It made me even more nervous knowing that Easton already has a heart condition. 

Easton getting his ECHO

Of course this was a Sunday morning and since I couldn't call his pediatrician, but needing some sort of medical feedback, I called my husbands Aunt Arla who is a nurse at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.  I told her about what I had read, the symptoms that Easton has displayed and asked her if I was crazy for freaking out about the possibility that he had this crazy rare disease. She told me I had reason to worry about it and to get in contact with his pediatric cardiologist and let her know what was happening and see what she thought should be the next steps.  THANK GOD we have the world's GREATEST cardiologist because she had given me her email address at our very 1st cardiology appt. when Easton was only 2 weeks old and told me to email her if I ever had any questions in between visits. I emailed her with all the info and she got back to me within 20 minutes of sending the email. She continued to email back and forth with me and said She was concerned about Easton and even though she was on rotation in the hospital that week, she would call the Heart Clinic and get Easton on her schedule to see him personally herself. She said there may be a chance that Easton may have to go on aspirin therapy short term to protect his heart.

Eastie watching his heart beat during the ECHO

Long story short, we ended up down at Children's for Easton to have an ECHO and after this Mama being full of panic and prepared to hear bad news, we actually found out that there was NO sign of any heart damage to his coronary arteries and no signs of aneurysms either! They also followed up on his Pulmonary Valve Stenosis (we weren't due for another ECHO until January 2013 near his 2nd Birthday) since we were there, and we were told that his PVS is holding steady and actually slightly improved from the last ECHO. The cardiologist was thrilled to see there was no damage to his heart and she said because of all of the symptoms that Easton had, she cannot say that he does not have Kawasaki Disease (there are no actual tests for this disease, it is diagnosed based on presenting symptoms) and that from now on, when he comes in for his ECHOS for his PVS, they will also be looking at his coronary arteries, making sure that he has not developed any inflammation of his arteries.  She also said that we will have to take serious any claims of chest pain or shortness of breath that he may have in the future, esp. as a young adult and have it checked out right away.  We also need to make sure that Easton eats really healthy, exercises regularly as he gets older and that he maintains a healthy, lean weight to keep his heart as healthy as possible.

 Other than the craziness of Dominic going back to school and keeping up with Easton, it makes for a busy life.  Give it a few more weeks and Dominic will be starting up hockey again and than it will really be a crazy fun chaos. This weekend we will be celebrating Dominic's 7th birthday with his birthday party on Saturday.  My baby won't officially be 7 until October 24th... how is it I have a 7 year old already?? It doesn't seem possible. Time needs to slow down, that's all I know! 

Best Bros

 As crazy as life can be with these 2 boys, I don't think I would trade anything in the world for being their Mama.  I can't imagine my life without them and I thank God every single day for choosing me as their Mama.