Status update...

Well, I knew it would happen...I slacked off. The girls have been cruising along with school and softball. Getting lots of A's and making great plays.

We have had a little hiccup with Renee this past week. She told me Tuesday morning that she couldn't open her eyes all the way. They just wanted to close. It was fine when she looked down, but not when she looked straight ahead. It was FCAT day, the state's standardized testing that determines everything. She said she could do it so we let her go to school. We called her Endocrinologist and the Optometrist while she was at school. The eye appointment didn't help. The Dr. couldn't get her to 20/20 in either eye and she was a 2 out of 10 for eye dryness. She said the muscles weren't responding properly. The thyroid Doc got back to Rod late in the day and said we needed to get her tested for Myasthenia Gravis the next day with our Pediatrician.

She went to school the next day and then to the Ped. Doc. She couldn't run the test and refereed us to a list of Pediatric Neurologists. Beginning of April was the best any of them could do. Of course that was not good enough! Thursday, the Ped Doc told us to take her to Florida Hospital Pediatric ER to get blood tests started and a CT scan run. The good new there was that the ER docs really didn't think it looked like MG and the brain and blood were both fine. They sent us home that night.

Friday, we let her sleep in and then took her for a follow-up with the Neurologist. They did a bunch of tests on her and she passed. The woman working with her said her eyelids looked more swollen than droopy, but that we knew her best.

This morning we knew she was out of her Rx for her thyroid medicine and Rod went to get the container so we could get it refilled. He said that there were 15 pills in there, but it should be empty. Renee had taken 1/2 of a 125mg pill every morning. She cut it in half with the cutter every other day. In Feb. the Dr. upped her dosage from 62 (half of a 125) to 75, just a straight 75mg pill. The 75 mg pill bottle had 15 pills in it and was sitting next to the 125mg empty pill bottle. We believe that she has over dosaged herself. She thought she was taking 75, but actually was taking 125, BIG difference!

Today she took a 75mg pill and tomorrow she will not take a pill. The symptoms of too much include blurred vision, sensitivity to light and swollen eye lids. We are hoping that this is the real problem and that she may be back to "normal" soon.

This has been the scariest few days. We hope this will be over soon. I did not share sooner because is was too upsetting. Now, that we might have some answers, I can share.

2 Future Rebels!

Renee made it onto the 16U Future Rebels team yesterday! She is very proud of herself! It is really neat to see that when the girls have that pride in themselves. Renee has had a lot to be proud of lately! Way to go Renee!

Growing!

 

This picture was taken in December 2008. Mike, Lauren, Renee and Janie. Notice that Lauren is the shortest cousin.

 

This picture was taken in June of 2009. We are standing on level ground. Yes, Renee is taller than me. But, the kid better look out because Lauren is hot on her heels!

Some old favorites...

I like making birthday cakes.

 

Lauren had a Monkey birthday this year, but I didn't have any chocolate frosting, so I talked her into a different color.

 

The pink panther cake has been used for both girls. We use the strawberry cake mix and frosting. Yummy!

 

This polka-dot cake was a frost-it-while-the kids-are-already-here cake. Renee had liked some polka-dot napkins, so that was the inspiration. A couple of the girls saw me "creating" it and were pretty impressed when I managed to frost the chocolate parts after the dots were already on.

 

I'm sure I have a better shot of this one somewhere... Lauren had a "day at the beach" themed part a few years back. The sand castle idea came from Family Fun magazine and the sand is graham crackers.

I have taken a couple of Wilton classes that have improved some of my techniques. But, mostly I just love a chance to be creative!

Congrats girls!

Renee tried out for the High School Softball program. She beat out several girls, including 2 returners, to make a spot on the JV team! Results were posted last week Tuesday. She has had at least 2 hours of practice every school day since. They have been working the girls very hard. She has been working as a pitcher and that involves even more rigorous training. Her first game will be next Friday. It will be a Varsity mixed with JV playing against themselves. We are so excited to see her play again!

Go Bulldogs!

 

Lauren had been going to work-outs and try-outs for the team she played for before Christmas. The Future Rebels have invited her to join! The team is just going to be practicing until they get a few more members. Then they will start entering tournaments about every other weekend. Sometimes it's exciting just to watch some of the drills they do in practice. There is no way the girls she was with before could have done them. We are excited to see how much she is going to grow and improve over this next season!

Go Future Rebels!

 

The Future Rebels also have a 16 and Under team. They will not start games until after High School season is over, bu they are holding try-outs now. Renee is going to try out tomorrow. This will be a super competitive program geared to improving the players and getting them seen by college scouts so they can be invited to join college programs. They can't talk to the girls until they are Juniors, but they will start playing in the Showcase tournaments to get comfortable with them and compete at the highest levels. They have already had a round of try-outs and there aren't many spots left, but we are excited for Renee to show them what she can do.

Go Renee!

Sister, can you spare a scraper?!

 

The weather has now warmed up, but we were almost late one morning because we had to sit in the car and wait while the windshields defrosted! Alas, the first thing I did when I moved to Florida was leave behind my window scrapers. If I would have know that 10 years later I would need it...nah, I was glad to leave it behind.

Sally says, "Brrrrr"!

So, the dog can't really talk, but if she could... I think my poor pup would be crying for an electric blanket.

 

This is her "pool". Now it is her ice rink. The ice was actually only about a quarter of an inch thick, but her water bucket was several inches deep and frozen solid.

 

After we went for a walk I took this shot of the thermometer out by our pool. No wonder hers was frozen!

 

Fortunately, a little lovin' and a pig ear can go a long way towards making this dog forget her woes.