ZRT

Sunday, July 7, 2013

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we decided to not go into Annapolis like we always do. It was causing me some anxiety knowing it was going to be my first 4th of July not being in Annapolis with family, but it ended up being a lot of fun. We had a cook-out for lunch with our neighbors and good friends Erin, Rod, EJ, Mya, and Derek. The kids all had a water balloon fight with Ben and had fun playing in the little pool and on the slip & slide. After the cook-out we had a quick nap and then went to Bel Air for a parade. The parade was so long (2 hours), but was really good and the kids had a blast. After the parade we went to watch fireworks also in Bel Air, but at a different location. We set up with blankets and chairs in a big field at a local high school. The kids all had fun running around playing with a bunch of other kids. We did some sparklers and then were ready for the fireworks which ended up being really good as well.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

IDF

Ryder and I had an amazing weekend in Baltimore while attending the IDF National Conference last weekend. I was able to learn so much information about CVID and so much more. It was amazing to get the opportunity to hear from the experts as well as have the chance to ask questions. At the gala on Friday night I had a once in a lifetime experience. IDF presented an award to Carol Ann Demaret who is David Vetter's mother. Many of you probably have no idea who that is, but if I tell you she is the mother of the infamous "bubble boy" then it would become a familiar name. Her son had a severe Immunodeficiency called SCID. She has been a big part of IDF and a role model for many parents with children who have CVID such as Ryder. She was all alone during her journey with her son David. I am so lucky to have found an amazing support group of other parents who have children going through similar experiences as Ryder. At this gala I was sitting at a table with a few of these parents I talk to online and Carol Ann walked past our table. We asked her if she would take a picture with us and she was honored to. She told us she was grateful we had such a support group and that we could use her story to help explain to people what our children are struggling with. Although Ryder's diagnosis is no as severe as David's many people understand once I somewhat compare to the "bubble boy" story.

At the conference I learned about a fundraiser that IDF will be holding in September. They are going to be doing their very first IDF Walk in Philadelphia on September 29. We have signed up a team called Ryder's Stripes. We would appreciate it if anybody could join and walk with us. If you are not able to walk with us it would be amazing if you could donate to our team to help raise money for IDF. You can join our team or donate at our personalized walk page.... Ryder's Stripes

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Baby Boy is 1!

I can't believe Tyler is 1 already. This year has flown by so quickly. I remember the events minute by minute as they occurred on the day he was born. He caught us by surprise and decided to come 1 day before my scheduled c-section date. This meant all of our planning went right out the window. Zak & Ryder rode in the car with me (yes, I drove myself to the hospital) while Ben dropped his work truck off at his office. The boys got to see me just before having my c-section and then came back the next day to meet Tyler.

Tyler had his 1 year appointment this week with the pediatrician. They are very happy with his development and pretty much said to just keep doing what we are doing. He was 22lb 11oz which is the 50%, 31.5 inches long which is the 95%, and his head circumference was 47cm which is the 75%. So he is growing well. He has gained a total of about 14.5 pounds and grown 11.5 inches in his first year of life.

His newest skill is walking!! Here is a video...

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Tyler's 9 Month Check-Up

This morning I took Tyler to the pediatrician for his 9 month check-up. As always, he is a big boy. He weighs 21 lb 6oz (75%), is 29 inches long (77%), and his head circumference was 46cm (77%). It is kind of funny to compare him to the older 2 at this age. According to their growth charts they did not hit this weight until 19 and 21 months old! The doctor said Tyler is doing great developmentally and to continue letting him eat as he is. We did talk about his habit of biting though.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Update

I promised to post an update so here I go...

April: I am still searching for a job. I have sent out several applications and resumes to various places. I have applied for a few jobs through the county school system which would be ideal to have summers off, but still haven't heard back from two of them (one already got filled). I have also been looking into daycare options for Tyler as well as before & after care for the older two. There are some options out there, but everything is so expensive. Once I do get a job I am going to apply for daycare assistance through the county which will help partially pay for daycare.

Ben: Ben has been coming over to see the boys most Thursdays and then on many weekends. We are still working out scheduling for the weekends since we only have the 1 car. We are working towards an every other weekend schedule, but as things come up (such as the boys' first basketball game) we have been pretty random with the schedule for now. Ben & I are still on good enough terms to really be able to talk, work things out regarding finances & the boys, and have some family time for the boys to enjoy.

Zak: Zak seems to be the only one who understands what is going on with Ben & I. Not that he knows all of the details, but he seems to really understand that daddy doesn't live here anymore even though he gets to see him still. He is doing very good in school which is great. As always, Zak loves his baby brother and is constantly playing with him. Unfortunately, his newest obsession is video games. He asks to play games on the Wii every second that he is awake and not at school. We are having to put limits on the gaming time as well as turning it off if he gets overly competitive about it. As an alternate sometimes he is allowed to play educational games on the Leap Pad or good old board games.

Ryder: Ryder has been extremely emotional recently (started before Ben moved out). He is doing OK in school, but struggles with homework sometimes. On Monday I took him to Kennedy Krieger for a full day of testing to see if we could determine and issues he might be having that we could help with. I will get the full written report in the next 4 weeks or so. They did briefly go over a few things that they found though. His overall IQ is just below the average range so they said it wasn't anything concerning. They discovered numbers seem to be a strength for him, but memory and early literacy are his big weaknesses academically. They feel he is having lots of new skills thrown at him and he is only picking up bits & pieces, but not mastering anything which can become an issue as things get harder and build on the basics. I am hoping when I give the report to the school they will agree to offer more services to help him in those areas. I am also looking into social skills groups for Ryder to help with those skills. After lots of talking with the psychologists who did the testing I realized Ryder thrives and craves 1-on-1 time so I need to figure out a way to provide more of that for him (and Zak). Ryder feels inferior in many situations within his daily life (school, sports, comparing to Zak, etc) and he doesn't feel that way during 1-on-1 time with me or when playing with younger children.

Tyler: He is such a big boy. He is almost 8.5 months old and weighs around 21 pounds. He is wearing 18 and 24 month clothing already! He is crawling, pulling up to stand, and cruising around while holding onto furniture. I have started to use gates to block him from the steps and kitchen to keep him out of trouble. He loves to play with his brothers and enjoys to cuddle. He is becoming very talkative now and has the best laugh ever! He has his 9 month check-up on January 30 so I will update with his new stats after that.

And now for the pictures...

Another Blog

I promise to make a real post on here with updates and pictures soon. Things have been very busy here so I have had to put the blog on the back burner. I did start another blog called ZRT 365. This new blog I will be posting pictures that I take of the boys everyday during 2013. I have started this type of project before, but never completed it so I am hoping to be more successful this time. I won't post everyday, but there will be a picture for everyday (I will post a few at a time usually). Feel free to check it out periodically to watch the boys throughout the year.