Update on Isaiah

We have been admitted into the Epilepsy Specialty Monitoring unit at Texas Children’s Hospital for the week of January 4^th. Our pediatric neurologist, Dr. Jennifer Norman, trained there and regards this particular unit as the best in the country for pediatric epilepsy. Our physician will be Dr. Angus Wilfong.

 

While there, Isaiah will continually be hooked up to a video EEG which gets a constant reading on his brain activity. He has done two, one hour EEG’s here in Oklahoma City. Both read normal, but both occurred while he was not in a seizure. The idea is that over several days, he will have a seizure and/or abnormal brain activity and we will better understand his condition. Regardless, we would hope to have an accurate diagnosis at the conclusion of our stay, including an appropriate treatment plan.

 

This past week has been a challenge. He had two seizures, one on Saturday and one on Monday. Today, he had tubes but in both ears in an effort to end the ear infections that have accounted for the majority of his fevers which has resulted in a majority of his seizures. Jackson has tubes in both ears and has never had another ear infection. Isaiah has also not been sleeping or eating well on a daily basis. Several nights this past week have been all-nighters. Lee Anne and I will remind him of the inappropriateness of this later in life – likely when he is a teenager and trying it again.

 

We choose to remain positive and are having good and bad days. The good days have been great. The bad days stink. We love each of you and will keep you updated. We have faith and know that the good Lord is watching over our baby boy and going to heal him. We ask that you continue to pray for his health and strength for his mommy and daddy. 

 

Love,

Renzi, Lee Anne, Jackson and Isaiah

Elmo and the Skeleton

Here are my precious boys on Halloween!

Isaiah-4 months!

Here is Isaiah at month one and at month 4! He weighed in at 17.5 lbs at his four month appt. and was 26.5 inches long (both 90% percentile). He is really being smiley and fun these days!

Pumpkin Patch

We headed up to the lake this past Saturday morning and decided to spend the time outside, make a fire and just "try" to relax. Renzi ran up to the corner store and found out about this awesome pumpkin patch that was just over the Missouri border (about 8 miles from our lake house, who knew Missouri was so close? I didn't!). So we packed up the kiddos and off we went. This place was amazing! They had hay rides, slides, corn guns that you could shoot corn on the cobb onto bullseyes, pumpkin basketball, corn maizes, cow rides behind a tractor, a "corn" box (instead of a sand box), live music and a petting zoo. And they had the most amazing pumpkins at killer prices too! Here are a few pics from our trip....it was Isaiah's best day to date.

How they've grown....

So, I did this experiment with Jackson when he was in the first year of his life. I took a picture of him each month in his "Jackson" chair in the same position so you could see just how much he had grown. Here are Jackson's pics from one month and three months. We decided to do the same thing with Isaiah....so here are Isaiah's pics from one month and three months. Why is there no two month picture you ask? Well, the poor kid was crying so much from the colic during month two of this life, and we were such basket cases then that we just didn't get around to the two month picture. Sorry buddy! :)

Labor Day Weekend

What a fabulous time we had this past Labor Day weekend! We headed up to our house at Grand Lake on Friday and enjoyed some much needed family time. We swam, took the boat out, fished (errr, I didn't, but Jackson and Renzi did!), cooked out, played with friends and attempted to sleep.

Isaiah slept the second night we were there from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. straight. Too bad he hasn't done that since, and in fact, has been sleeping worse since! EEK!

What really made this trip special was the fact that this was the first time we have been at the lake where Isaiah did not scream the entire time we were there. In fact, he was downright pleasant to be around. :) Yiippeee! He loves being on the boat and really seems to enjoy it.

Here are some pics of the lake....the pic of Jackson taking his swim suit off? Well, that's just what he does these days when he is ready to go. Starts taking his clothes off.

P.S. Isaiah had his 2 month doc appt. yesterday (even though he is 3 months old!) and he weighs 15 pounds and is 25 inches long...both in the 97% in each respective category. WOW! That's a big boy folks. (see the pic of Isaiah sleeping in the stroller-he is wearing Jackson's swimsuit! and it fits!) The Pediatrician also said we could slowly start a new formula (Em Sue-it's Alimentum!) and see how he does. Here's hoping that it works, it's WAY cheaper than the Neocate he is on now!

Much love,

Lee

Happy 2nd Birthday Jackson!

My baby boy is 2!!! How did this happen??? Today is Jackson's actual birthday, but we celebrated on Saturday at Gymboree with some fun friends. Jackson had a ball (and so did all of the parents and friends!). Here are a couple of pics from the big partay. :)

P.S. Isaiah has a girlfriend! Her name is Sidney Kate and she is my friend Addie's little girl. Sidney is four days older than Isaiah. There are a few pics of them rolling around on the mat at the party. At one point Sidney tried to take her shirt off for Isaiah! :)

Renzi and I tried to think about something special to get Jackson for his birthday this year and I finally came up with a perfect present this past Saturday. Jackson is obsessed with fish, but when he says fish it sounds so funny. He curls his lip to the side (similar to Elvis) and says, "FFFiiisssshhhh." So, Saturday morning we loaded up and went to Petsmart and let him pick out his very own ffissshhhh. He chose a Blue Beta fish ($3.99 SCORE for mom and dad!) and we bought a fish bowl and some food and off we went. On the car ride home Renzi asked me what the over under would be that the fish was alive and I said, "24 hours." He chose the over on that one. Well, as soon as we got home Jackson wanted to hold his fish so I gave him the plastic bowl that the fish came in. He decided right then and there to throw a temper tantrum and threw the bowl on the ground. The bowl busted and the poor fish was wriggling around our laundry room floor without any water. Luckily, dad came to the rescue and saved the fish and he is now alive and well in our kitchen. Jackson has decided to name his fish "Natt Dee Dee," after his two girlfriends Natalie Heskett and my friend Addie (the one who's daughter is Sidney Kate that I mentioned earlier.)

Happy Birthday Jackson James! We love you to the moon and back.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy