Two By Two

OK so I'm going to shoot for a real update.. we'll see if I get to finish it. The weight loss is going awesome. Today is 3 weeks on the phentermine and it seems to be doing wonders. I am exercising 3 days a week, eating right, and drinking almost a gallon of water a day and today I weighed in at 177.0 which 16 lbs less than I weighed 3 weeks ago! WOOO HOOO. It's exciting to have the scale moving in the right direction again. Next Wednesday I go back to the clinic for another month supply and my first offical weigh in.

School is going well. Listening to all the students who have to be there for all the classes complain about the work load they have makes me very happy that I don't have to be there for any but the A&P this semester. We had our first test in A&P 2 today. I got a 95 :) 7 weeks of this semester to go.

Both boys have been sick this week. Really nasty colds. Journey got it far worse than River did but they are both on the mend now which is awesome. River is getting really good at letter recognition of capital letters. He also knows numbers by sight up to 20. We are going to start potty training him sometime in the next week or so. We went out and bought him underwear and a potty chair and we're ready to get him out of diapers. I really think he's ready, I just think he's lazy. So we'll see how it goes. Journey is doing well. He is pushing things all around the house to aide in walking. He is standing unassisted for brief periods of time. Cruising the furniture. He still isn't really talking at all. He babbles dadada all day long but he doesn't know what it means and it's the only sound (other than crying,laughing, shreiking) that makes. It's okay though, it'll come. He's on milk now (no more formula YAY) but still needs it to be thickened so he doesn't choke on it. He has NO interest what so ever on using a sippy cup. But he has discovered the love of food (usually) LOL

Doug and I have decided that we have lost ourselves somewhere along the line so we are going to be taking steps to remedy that. We're going down to one computer and we aren't going to be on it as much. We are going to go out and do things as a couple and as a family much more often. We need it. We are also going to chisel our a routine/schedule for the boys. River used to be on a schedule before Journey was born and the schedule has gotten very very lax since then and I think BOTH boys would very much benefit from the structure of it. We are interviewing a babysitter on Monday for occasional weekends for us so we can go out just the two of us. And we are also interviewing a woman who runs a daycare from her home that will let us bring River 2 or 3 days a week so he can get some socialization and so we can have some time away from him. We might also leave Journey with her once a week or so to get him used to other people (he has major stranger anxiety and seperation anxiety).
His appointment with the genetics center didn't happen.. they didn't get his test results all in in time so we had to reschedule. Their first available date wasn't until April 3rd so that's when we go back.. another LONG MONTH of waiting..

Doug's work is going well. He's working on getting the rest of the CEU's that he needs before his license needs to be renewed in August. He's getting paid more and more each check which is nice. We are moving up on getting bills paid off and getting more stable. It's nice to finally be moving forward.

The boys had their well child check ups today.

River had his hearing and eye sight checked. He passed both just fine. No shots. Goes back at 4 years.
He is:
Weight: 38.6 lbs (95th)
Height: 39.5 inches (89th)

Journey didn't get any shots done because he was running a 100.6 fever. We think it's his teeth but we'll watch it as he has a tendency to spike high fevers and has a history of febrile seizures. He's delayed (no surprise). He goes back in March for his Synagis and his MMR (if we decide to get it).. he won't be getting the Varicella one. He goes back at 15 months (May 18th) for his next visit.

He is:
Weight: 22 lbs even (34th)
Height: 28 inches (at the 3rd)
Head: 19 inches (91st)

My boys are officially 3 years old and 1 years old respectfully. I can't believe that it's been so long since I first held them in my arms. It's crazy.


I don't feel much like updating as I'm a bit down so here is a short version..


The Good:
- my boys had wonderful birthdays
- I am losing weight on the diet.. alot of weight
- School is going well
- Doug is still gainfully employed and getting more clients every day
- We are ahead in bills and doing well
- We got a call today from Early Intervention that they found a provider for Journey's therapy but she's not available until April. Meanwhile we'll continue to go to Judy for the feeding therapy.


The Bad:
- my boys are getting old and taking me with them
- We got a letter last Friday saying that we have been booked an appointment with the geneticist for this coming Friday (20th). When I called today she said it was a follow up to the testing. We were told we wouldn't have to come in unless there was something to discuss.
- my house is a mess and I don't have the energy to clean it


The Future:
- Tomorrow I have to make a run to the school for some shots so I can do clinicals
- Wednesday Journey and River have their well child visits at 10am and Journey has his feeding appt at 1pm
- Thursday I have class in the morning until about 12:30
- Friday the genetics appointment at 2pm
-Next week I have CPR training at some point, an appointment on Monday and and Journey's Speech appt on Wednesday.

Journey at 3 months old

Journey at 6 months old

Journey at 9 months old

Journey today at 1 year old

23 lbs 8 oz and 29 1/2 inches at 1 year

30 lbs 6 oz and 36 inches at 2 years

And now at 3 years old he is approximately 37 lbs and 41 inches

Well, the first semester of school is over. And I have a 4.0 GPA. That's right I got all A's this semester. Micro, English, Anatomy and Physiology 1 and Algebra. YAY!!! Semester 2 will be VERY easy for me. I have credit for the majority of the classes they need to take this semester so I only have to go on Thursdays from 8am until 12:30pm. Not bad at all. Should be able to make it through the semester with my 4.0 intact :)

Today I went to a local weight loss clinic. I had to go through a urinalaysis, blood work, and an EKG but I was found "fit enough" and "fat enough" to be part of the program. So I am taking diet pills and a multivitamin and calcium supplement. I go back in 30 days for a reweigh but will be weighing once a week at the house to monitor my loss. He says if I exercise, eat right, and still with the pills I should be at 140 by Christmas. We'll see. It would be wonderful. My goal weight is 132. I can't remember the last time I weighed 132. Probably elementary school :(

River went for his Early Intervention appointment on Monday. And BLEW THE TEST OUT OF THE WATER. It was never in our minds that he was delayed but we went to the EI appointment away because they said it would be a good resource. So needless to say, he doesn't qualify for the program. We did get a good lead on another place that handles more of the sensory issues and if we feel he needs it we can have him evaluated there. His birthday is next Wednesday (the 11th) I can't believe he's turning 3 already. He goes back on the 18th for his Well child check up so I'll have some new stats for him soon.

As for Journey.. I finally heard back from the genetics people (read.. I hounded them until someone finally gave me some information). Apparently there is NO specality lab in the state of Florida that tests for Noonan Syndrome. Since Journey is on state insurance because he gets disablity no lab outside the state will do the test either. So we're pretty much stuck. They are going to draw labs on him on Monday to test for abnormalities not associated with Noonan Syndrome. If it comes back with an abnormality then we know it's not Noonan and we don't have to worry about the other test. If it comes back clean we can decide whether to try and get someone to cover his test or whether we want to sit back and just watch him clinically for a year or so. According to the geneticist kids like this will sometimes manifest more signs of the syndrome as they grow and then she would be able to just diagnose him clinically and we wouldn't need the test. Journey turns 1 on the 15th (a week from Sunday). He too goes for his well child check up on the 18th. We're hoping for some length growth as he hasn't grown in length since about 8 months of age.

Guess that's it for now...