Wednesday, June 25, 2008

You'll be Missed!


The past couple of weeks have been difficult for our family. Two weeks ago Pete's father was admitted into the hospital for kidney failure. He'd recently been there for the same problem and had undergone dialysis. He was diagnosed with lung cancer a year and a half ago and over the past few weeks his health began to deteriorate. Pete and his family spent everyday by his bedside...not knowing if he'd ever come home. When Hospice was introduced to continue his care everyone knew it would be a matter of days. Around 4 a.m. Monday morning...the day after Father's Day...Donald passed way. He left behind a wife, daughter, son, and three grandchildren. He was the only grandfather for Paige and Bree...unfortunately they will never remember him. Services were held in Worcester, MA...where we just returned from. Even though we knew his time was coming, the passing of a loved one is never easy.
This post is dedicated the a man who will never be forgotten.

Donald Coderre
March 31, 1946 - June 16, 2008

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Nathaniel's Hope Make 'm Smile 2008


The girls and I attended an event today called Make 'm Smile... a day dedicated to honoring and celebrating kid with special needs. This is the 6th year held in Orlando at beautiful Lake Eola. We were paired with other families for a "Buddy Walk" around the park...visiting all the booths and enjoying the entertainment. It was especially exciting for us because we were able to me a mommy and daughter frome the Infantile Spasms support group on Yahoo! Amy, and daughter Katelyn, have kept in contact with us through email and phone calls for quite a few months now. Today we were finally able to meet face-to-face. Everyone had a great time...enduring the heat and humidity...and brought home bags full of goodies. The vendors there were great and we can't wait to go back next year. A special thank you to Amy for inviting the girls and I. We can't wait to see you guys again.

Visit Nathaniel's Hope for more information!

Also visit our photo album for photos of the day. There are also new pictures in the "12mths and up" album.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

So much to do...too little time

So it has been quite some time since my last entry. I've lost 8 lbs. and feeling better everyday. Connor's last day of Kindergarten is tomorrow and we're excited to start our summer. He spends most of his days in his new pool and I perdict that's where he will be for the next couple of months. His 6th birthday party was lots of fun. Anytime we have family and friends over it's always a good time. The girls are doing great. We just had an appointment with the geneticist on Monday. She was very pleased with their development so far. She want to repeat the test she did 6 months ago... an organic acids test... she wasn't satisfied with the results. She also mentioned another test that is fairly new and unknown if it is covered by insurance. Until that is known we'll have to wait. She said she's at the end of the road for tests. It looks as though we may never know what happened to our little angels.
The girls are still teething and continue to be fussy throughout the day. There are good days...some for Paige and some for Bree. We continue to work with Paige on getting into the sitting position. For Bree, we're still working on her balance and position will sitting. Both are showing interests in crawling... I'll find them on their hands and knees often. Paige has even started to "army crawl". Bree is working on focusing on toys as she plays with them while Paige is working on releasing toys into a bucket. They are becoming more vocal and babble sounds as if they are really telling you something. Their weight continues to concern me. Paige has lost .5 lb. in the past 3 months. While I know she become more active in the passing months... with her constant appetite I would expect some gain if not maintaining the weight she had. Bree has stayed constant in her weight... neither gaining nor losing.
This weekend the girls and I will be attending an event in Orlando at Lake Eola for families and kids with Special Needs. It's called Make M' Smile... a day filled with fun activites, free food, entertainment, and the opportunity to meet other's in our situation. I will be getting together with a mom from Melbourne who had a two year old daughter with IS. We've emailed and talked on the phone for many months now and I excited to finally meet her. I will let all of you know how everything goes and promise to add more photos.