Baseball is in "full Swing"

It is baseball season in the Wilkison house and all three boys are playing, so that has kept us pretty busy.  We seem to have either a game, or practice going on almost every night and usually 3 games on Saturdays.  Good thing we all love baseball!

Rick is the manager/head coach of Joshua's team, the Rockies, while Jacob is in his second year playing in the Challenger league, and Tucker is in his first year of Tball. They all are having loads of fun, but I have to admit it has thrown the schedules of bath, dinner and sleep off just a bit.  Fortunately I guess school is almost over and we will have plenty of time to catch up during summer break, right? 

The Rockies started out a with some challenges at the start of the season, but have really overcome quite a bit and are now currently second in their league.  They have also already beat the number one team twice, so it should make for good playoffs games and a real chance for taking the championship. 

Jacob is always just happy to be playing baseball like his brothers, but was not so happy when he found out that he was put on the Yankees team (truthfully though, neither were Rick or I).  Last year he was on the White Socks and was really thinking he would be on the same team.  He has adjusted though and now says he likes the Yankees the best. 

Tucker's team is called the River Dogs and he was very excited to b on a team with such a great name.  We thought it was pretty cool too, until we found out the River Dogs is a minor league team for the Yankees.  Oh well, what are you going to do?  Any way, he has really gotten into his role of baseball player and everyone is always commenting on how he looks like the perfect "mini" ballplayer because he likes to wear his baseball glasses every time he is out in the field.  He even has his slide into home base perfected (because every Tball player needs to slide into home base).  He still likes to take some time while out playing in the field to check out the dirt though.   

Well, hopefully when we get a few minutes, we will plan out some kind of summer vacation and I will try and keep the blog posts coming. 

5 years ago

 

5 years ago Jacob was taken back into an operating room for a very drastic surgery.  They told us that they had to remove about a third of the left hemisphere of his brain and disconnected the rest.  This was the only way that he would have a 50/50 chance to stop the seizures he was having on a daily bases (he was having anywhere from 75 on a good day to over a few hundred- when I would lose count).  Now, I know that 50/50 does not sound great to some, but to us it was either that or 100% chance of having seizures for the rest of his life (some that probably would have left him severely disabled or even worse, killed him).  5 years ago we put all our trust in his Neurosurgeon, Dr. Ojemann at Seattle Children's Hospital, and his team of skilled nurses and doctors to give Jacob a chance at a real life. 

Today I am so grateful for that chance they gave him to become the boy he is today!  He has been 5 years seizure free and growing and developing into this sweet, funny, and unique little boy.  He seems to be loved by everyone at school and I am sure could charm his way into just about anyone's heart. 

Jacob recently had his yearly check up at Seattle Children's Hospital and we saw Dr. Ojemann and the Neurologist, Dr. Novotny (that he has seen since he was a year and a half old).  We also had an appointment with the Rehab Dr., and from all of them we heard "Jacob is doing great!"  The best news of all though was when we were told that they don't need us to come back to visit them anymore.  We do still need to have a quick MRI done in about 2 years, but we can now do all of our checkups here in town and just send the info to Seattle, not that we don't love Seattle, but now when we go to visit, it will be strictly for fun! 

Jacob also recently celebrated his 7th birthday.  7 years ago, I had no idea what we would be in for when he was born, but looking back, it has been filled with anxiety, ups and downs, and a lot of stress, but it has been a fulfilling and rewarding experience.  I can only be excited for his future and the opportunities he will now have, opportunities he never would have had if it wasn't for that drastic surgery 5 years ago.  

2016 already?

Well, as usual, I am not the best at keeping up with the blog, but maybe that just means we have been busy.

The boys are all doing great.  They are all in school, Tucker in preK, Jacob in 1st grade, and Joshua in 4th grade. Jacob played his first year of Baseball last year and loved it, while Josh continued to play too.  Tucker chose to do soccer, but decided halfway through that he really would prefer to play baseball.  So it looks like we will have a full schedule of baseball this year because they are all 3 signed up (I can only hope we don't have too many overlapping games). 

We made it a point last summer to use our camper as much as we could and took it to the Oregon coast and out camping around Idaho too.  We all had a great time and I am sure we will do it again this summer (I will try to post photos during the summer this time though). 

Tucker learned how to ride a bike without training wheels this summer and so he got a new bike, which made Jacob a bit jealous.  So this fall, with the help of friends and family (a big Thank you to you all!) we were able to order him a special bike that is all his.  He loves it and even wants to ride it when it rains and snows.  I know he can't wait until the weather gets nice so we can take it out for rides again.  It is so great in helping him increase his strength in his right leg too, so win, win!

I am getting ready to take Jacob to Seattle for his annual check up at Seattle Children's Hospital, and can not believe we are coming up on his 5th "Hemiversary".  He is doing so amazingly well and I am so happy he has gotten the opportunity to live a life free of seizures! I am excited too for him to see his doctors there, and for them to see how much progress he has made.  So far every time we have gone,  it has always been good news and I sure don't expect anything different this time, but I promise to update when we get back.