Snow Day!

Well, I know it is unusual for me to post 2 times in one week, but I couldn't help it, this was our very first snow day (from School that is)! Of course we had to try and shovel the walk, so I put Josh in charge of it while Jacob sat back and watched, at least for a few minutes. He then decided, like everything else, that he should taste it. I am not sure if part of it was that he just couldn't get up to walk around because of all his layers, or if he just needed to be one with the snow. At any rate he enjoyed it until he decided to take off one of his boots.

We did not complete the job of shoveling, but we did manage to build a snowman with cranberry eyes and a carrot nose (from our garden). It is days like these that I miss our old house a little with it's small driveway and little sidewalk. It is definitely a disadvantage to live on a corner lot and have an extra long driveway when you get a lot of snow. It takes a lot more work and a lot longer to clear the snow. Oh well, we will leave the rest for Rick to do when he gets home from work!

No news is good news? and other daily happenings

Well, as usual I am getting to my posting a bit later than I intend, but at least I am trying to keep at it once or twice a month. So far all is well in the Wilkison household. Jacob is coming off yet another medicine and seems to be holding steady at the same amount of seizures per day. Josh is enjoying school still and has made lots of friends and even went to his first school friend birthday party (as you can see had a great time).
We still have not heard anything new from Seattle Children's Hospital, and I am thinking I either need to get over my feeling that I am bugging them and just give in and start calling every day to get things done myself, or just sit back and relax and take things as they come (that one I am not good at though, although my argument to myself would be that even with the seizures Jacob has, he is still doing remarkably well).

Jacob's new obsession is climbing into things. He for some reason loves laundry baskets especially, and I will often find him getting into a pile of clothes I am trying to fold, or clothes I have folded and left for Rick to put away. This has gotten him into a bit of trouble recently though. I was working on the computer the other day while he was playing in his room and suddenly I heard some crying. I went to investigate and found him. Apparently he decided that if the toys are comfortable in the toy bin in his closet, then he could be too (to his surprise). I had to dig him out. We will see if he does that again. So far we are back to staying with laundry baskets.

We had our first snow fall of the season, and Josh was so excited when he got up that he ran upstairs, got dressed all by himself (which he has know how to do for a long time, but since

Jacob has been born, every morning says in his most whiney voice "I can't do it all by myself, I don't know how"), and went out in the snow before he had even thought about breakfast. It melted off later that day, but the next morning started again and now seems to be here to stay at least for a little while. We got Jacob dressed for it too, but he did not seem quite as impressed.
We spent a nice Thanksgiving with my sister Shaun and her family, while my Mom and other sister Erin were in Italy spending some time exploring. Now we are just getting ready for the Christmas season and I can't believe it is already the end of November. Boy how time flies anymore.

Oh the fun!

I have so been enjoying the weather lately and still can't believe we have started November with days that are getting up into the 60's. Oh, but apparently that will all change next week :(

We had a good Halloween though, and the boys enjoyed going out trick or treating with friends. Jacob went as Nemo (Josh's old costume) and Josh went as an astronaut (which he had to put on and wear every day for 3 or 4 days until Halloween). Jacob was not quite sure of what he was supposed to be doing and had trouble figuring out why every time we went to someones door we did not go in. He also had no idea what they were giving him, but was happy when someone gave him the choice of grabbing his own candy (he was very good and only took one). Josh decided this year that he had to run to every house and felt he had to be the first one at every door, although he had to race with his friend Faith in order to do that. All in all they collected more candy than they need, or will probably eat, and had lots of fun.

So far we have not heard anything more from Seattle Children's Hospital, so I was beginning to feel like we were in "Limbo", so I called. They are going to be calling me back next week, but I think it must be a case of - they have been waiting for something, while we have been waiting for them, while our doctor waits for them, meanwhile I find out no one is doing anything because we are all waiting for the others. Who knows, I guess I will just have to keep bugging everybody until someone makes a decision about something. The good news is that Jacob is completely off another medication and is just down to 2 now, and has not had any increase in his seizures. (yaa!) In fact they may have even gotten a bit better. So he is doing pretty well, although he is giving us the definition of terrible twos already (something Josh never had so it is a bit new to us). I apologize to everyone out there that I said I don't know what your are talking about with the terrible twos, because I am finding out in a big way!

Life goes on

Well here it is already the middle of October, the leaves are changing colors, and We still don't really know what is in store for us with Jacob. We did hear from the Doctors in Seattle (sort of), but they did not tell us much more than they told us when we were there. They still think that Jacob's best option is surgery (a left hemispherectomy to be a bit more exact), but they would like to see more results from genetics testing (which we went in for a few months ago but the genetics lab would not do the tests due to their idea it was useless- we are letting the doctors duke it out with them). They feel if Jacob does not have the surgery the bad part of his brain (left side) will eventually destroy the good part (right side). They feel he will get to a point where his development will plateau or he will start to regress. Drugs have so far not made a huge impact, so our options there are becoming limited, so surgery is looking to be the most effective method to get control of his seizures and keep his development on track. It is not however without risks.

Good news (I think) is that we are coming off of another medication to see how Jacob will do. I am glad we are taking another one off his schedule, but I also hope it does not wreak havoc on him with many more seizures. So far, so good. We are still hoping to get more information about the conference that they did about Jacob, but who knows when that will be, so we just take things day by day.

(I call this one OMG)

We did have our family pictures taken last week by a photographer friend of mine Kim Mitchell, who also took our photos last year. I told her I would be happy to work a trade, so I am hoping I can return the favor soon and do her family photos. She got some great photos (as usual) and I am greatly appreciative. We will be sending out our Christmas cards with one or some of the images when it is time.

This weekend we spent doing chores and trying to get lost at the corn maze here in Meridian. Josh and Jacob had a great time trying to find our way around and Josh sliding and bouncing on all of the things they have there to do. We even tried to lose Rick and Jacob once, but they found us.

Back from Seattle

Well it has taken me until now to make a post about our trip because I was not sure exactly what to say yet (and I am still trying to figure it out).
We flew out Saturday 9-11 (of all the days to pick to leave on a plane), and both boys did very well on the flight. Jacob slept most of the flight and Josh looked out the window and asked a lot of questions. Our only little issue was when we were towards the end of the flight and the flight crew was preparing everything for landing and Jacob decided to gag on a small piece of pretzel I gave him and then proceed to throw up some of what he had eaten. The flight attendant was very good about helping me get things cleaned up very quickly and even hanging tea bags around us to prevent the smell from further affecting others on the plane. Of course he was able to do all of this before we landed on the ground. We arrived in Seattle around 3:30 pm Pacific time and then had to wait about an hour for our rental car details to get worked out, but we finally made it to West Seattle to Pat and Tom's house where we were greeted with wonderful food and great company. Liz, Gary, Pat and Tom are the greatest hosts! Sunday we hung out, relaxed, and went to the Sunday street market to look around and get some local berries, bread and such, and Josh spent lots of time playing with his Seattle friend Milo (who lives next door).
Monday we went to Seattle Children's Hospital, where they checked Jacob in and put on all of the leads for his overnight EEG. We then got to just hang out and wait for the seizures for the rest of the day. The nurses there were great at taking care of him and coming in and describing all of Jacobs seizure for the video so the doctors could better evaluate them later. My only complaint was that we did not get much sleep because it was noisy and they came in at midnight and woke him up just to take his blood pressure.

Tuesday he had the first MRI followed by a functional MRI and then they released him when he was awake from the anesthesia and able to eat and drink a bit. He did not like the hair do he was given and was very happy to leave!

Wednesday we came back and had a couple of appointments with the Neurosurgeon and the doctor we had seen before and he had another eye exam (his eyes are great). The doctors were very good at answering all of our questions and believe Jacob may be a good candidate for Surgery. All of the seizure activity is on the left side of his brain, and they think he may have already switched many of his functions to the right side that normally would be controlled on the left, but that they will revue all of the EEG and MRI data and give us more information in a couple of weeks. If they did surgery though, they thought it should be done in about 3 months or so. All in all, they gave us a lot of information to think about and will let us know what their recommendations are and what kind of options we have soon.

We made it back though and while Josh had a bit of trouble getting back into the routine of school (decided he hated school and wanted a couple more days off), we are getting settled again and just taking things day by day.

They grow up so fast

It was a nice labor day weekend in Boise, and we had a full weekend of balloons, huckleberries and Bronco football!

We started out our weekend by getting up early Saturday morning and going down to the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic. We got there just in time to see all of the balloons lifting off the ground and we even got to go right up and get close to them. It was amazing to watch them all and we had a great time, even if we did have to wake a couple of boys up early (we were able to bribe them with donuts though).

After that we piled into the truck and went up in search of the elusive huckleberry, along with my sister Erin and her son Charlie. We found a pretty good patch of them, but this year the huckleberries are pretty small and not quite as plentiful as last year (but they were sweeter), so it took us a bit longer to get enough for some pancakes and milkshakes.

Sunday was a day of yard work and just hanging around the house (and of course huckleberry pancakes). While Rick worked on the yard, Josh decided to build his own version of a roller coaster, but of course he needed a rider, so Jacob got to fill that duty. Jacob did not mind trying it out, but I had to make sure the roller coaster did not go too fast.
Monday, we got ready to watch the much talked about BSU Broncos in their game against Virginia Tech. We invited some friends and family over, and while there were a few nervous moments in the second half, BSU pulled it off in the end and won 33 to 30.

But today it is the start of a new day, and with that it is also the start of Josh's first day of preschool at Eagle Montessori. He was excited to go, but a bit nervous once he got there. I think he will have a great time though. I am sure he will come home with many new friends. He is only going half days right now, but he says if he likes it he wants us to put him in the full day program (we will give him a month or so to decide though).

We are also getting ready for the next trip to Seattle. We will leave on Saturday and will come back Wednesday evening. I am anxious to see what more they can tell us about Jacob's seizures and the possibility of some kind of long term solution. While he seems to be having a few less seizures, and seems to be in a bit of a better mood over all, he is still having more than I would like to see him have. So I don't know if I like the risks the new medicine brings with the amount of (little) good it is doing. I will update next week on Thursday, after we are back, I promise (so check back then)!

August, where did you go?

Well, I promised to be better at getting the posts up quicker, but what can I say? First I had no Internet for almost a whole week, then we went on vacation, then the doctors appointments, OK enough excuses.
We have had a pretty good month, we started out the end of July with a visit from Rick's sister Michelle and his nephew Dayton. We took them fishing and to the Snake River Stampede among other things and had a great time.

We then headed over to the Oregon Coast with Rick's mom Connie, and our friends Kevin, Angie, and Laney, for a week of vacation and to get out of the hot weather here in Boise (of course it cooled down when we left and warmed back up when we got back). It was a bit chilly and grey there, but we caught lots of crab, collected agates, relaxed and of course visited the Tillimook cheese factory for ice cream.

Rick, Josh, Jacob and I also took a day to head down to the Newport aquarium and stopped at Yaquina Head lighthouse, where we actually saw the sun for a little while.

Finally on our last day there the sun decided to make an appearance, (and we actually even put our shorts on). We went down and made sand castles on the beach (except Jacob decided to just eat the sand instead) and went over to the Cape Meares lighthouse and one last trip of crabbing.

All in all we had a great time, except that Jacob started the new medicine the doctors wanted him to get his eyes checked out for, so he was a bit grumpy and tired for the first few days of our trip. Now we are back home and settled in and getting ready for our trip to Seattle for more testing on Jacob. He is doing all right, the new medicine seems to be helping, but the seizures are not gone. They just raised the dose, so we have had another few days of being tired and cranky, but hopefully they can give us more ideas when we are in Seattle.

Right before we left for the coast though, Josh learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. He was very proud and excited, so we went out and bought him a new bike (he was getting a bit big for his old one anyway).

Now that August is gone, we are getting ready for a long weekend of doing some Huckleberry picking, and whatever else comes along. Hope everyone else has a great Labor day weekend!

Finally starting to walk

I took the boys for a haircut last week and Joshua decided he wanted to make his hair orange. I don't know what this is going to mean when he gets older? What other things do I have to look forward to? At least this washed out. Jacob still does not like getting his hair cut. He will hold still for the most part, but still cries through the whole thing (but when it is all done he looks at himself in the mirror, smiles, and seems to say "you are one handsome guy!").

Jacob has finally decided to do more of the 2 legged moving. He is doing more and more practicing every day and is finally walking longer stretches. He is so much more calculated at it then Josh was. Josh just got up and started going. Jacob takes his time and decides exactly were to put his feet.

We had a good weekend and My sister Erin and I celebrated our birthday on Saturday the family. Rick grilled us up some steaks and they even had a little suprise just for Erin and I of some crab legs (YUM!) It was awesome! I wouldn't mind still celebrating the day every year, but if there was just a way to stop the counting part, I think I would be happy. Oh well, this at least was not one of the big ones (next year :0).