Exhale...

Wow, what a week it has been for Price (and mom)! His sweet head has been subjected to so much - a casting, doctor check, and then finally an ultrasound on Friday. I am finally catching my breath to fill everyone in who has been asking and praying for him (many thank-you's by the way).

First, let me say that the Lord answered a huge prayer for us on Friday. Back when we found out that our pediatrician had ordered an ultrasound on Price's head, the nurse called that afternoon to inform us our appointment at Texas Children's Hospital would be on March 18th. March 18th? Are you kidding? You are telling me that there could be something wrong with my son's head and I have to wait more than three weeks to find out? That is what went through my head but over the phone I just replied, "Wow, that seems like a long time to wait but thank you." Well, since that day I just kept praying that somehow we could get in earlier. I called once to check for cancellations but no such luck. So I just kept praying. And on Friday morning I decided to check once more. Ellery and I prayed as I dialed the number to the diagnostic clinic at TCH. I told the lady on the phone that I wanted to see if there had been any appointment cancellations that would allow us to get in on an earlier date. She checked and replied that there were no appointments until April! I think she could sense my disappointment and then told me to hold while she checked one more thing. She came back over the phone and asked if we could be there at 1 pm that afternoon. Yes, we could be there! Ellery and I jumped up and down about how the Lord had answered our prayer. He is good.

So, my mom picked E up from school that day and Price and I headed to TCH. As I was standing in line to check-in, I realized the family in front of me was one that I have been receiving CarePage updates on and praying for since Ellery was a newborn. They attend our church and the mother, Olivia, spoke at our MOPS group way back when. I was so touched by her son Joshua's story and their unwavering faith and commitment to prayer. Finally, I was able to introduce myself and officially meet her. You can keep up with this special family here. Neat timing.

Let me say that I went into this appointment pretty calm. It seemed like just a precautionary check because Price's head circumference had jumped up in percentiles over the past two months. Not a big deal in my opinion, if you consider his families of origin. We went back to the ultrasound room and the technician did her thing. She rubbed the gel all over his bald head and I laughed to myself at the thought of his first little hairdo. She didn't say anything after she was done but that she was going to take the results to the radiologist, and the radiologist may or may not want to scan his little (okay, not so little) head some more. That made me a little nervous, I am not going to lie. After what seemed like an hour of waiting with a very unhappy and tired little guy, the radiologist finally arrived to give me the news that Price has something called benign external hydrocephalus. I know enough about hydrocephalus that I was alarmed. She talked some more and said I would need to consult my pediatrician for further details. I left feeling so confused and worried for my little guy.

Thankfully our pediatrician (whom I cannot say enough good things about) called late that afternoon to go over his results with me. Basically, Price has some fluid around his brain but not around his ventricles. Dr. Spinner pulled up his scans (which is the great thing about going to a TCH doctor-it is all in the computer system) and said that there was nothing to be concerned about. He said that some infants, especially those with larger head circumferences, have this fluid. It usually disappears by the time they are 18 months to two years of age, and at that time their head size also becomes more average. We will just monitor the situation from here on out, but it almost always resolves without any kind of treatment. We have an appointment next week for his 6 month check-up and I have some more questions to bug him with, but for now we are breathing a sigh of relief that everything seems to be okay.

Finally, this whole post makes me think of Ali, Cy, and baby Cole. Please keep praying for Cole and his sweet head and overall health. For updates on him, go here.

Berry Best Friends

A deep thought

This morning I found out that a girl I went to high school with committed suicide last night. She was in a couple of my classes throughout the years and I always really liked her, but we were never great friends. She was even in my Brownie Troop in Kindergarten. I am frustrated that I wasn't better friends with her. That I never got a chance to really get to know her. I don't know if she knew the Lord, and I hope so much that she did. I wish I could have hung out with her, listened to what was going so wrong in her life, tell her of Christ's love. I know that I wouldn't have made a huge difference, I just wish I had the chance.

I wonder how many other people I never really got to know because I didn't take the time or because they were not like me (whatever that is)? I pray I will never miss an opportunity to be a friend to someone. My eyes have truly been opened to this lately. I want my relationships and conversations with people to be based on so much more than just the exterior, superficial things. I want to be about honesty and transparency, the real deal.

Yeehaw for Race for Wishes!

I told my sister, Paige, that I would post this on our blog. I am not sure who she thinks reads our blog, probably all of 20 people! Anyways, come race for wishes! We are!


The Fort Worth Race for Wishes this year is taking place in Stockyards Station (near Downtown Fort Worth) on March 28th, 2009. It is a 5K/1mile Run or Walk and all proceeds go directly towards our Foundation.

If you aren't familiar with Make A Wish please check out our website at http://www.makeawish.org/. It is something that is really close to my heart! We now have our website UP and running! If you or anyone you know is interested in donating towards the race online or putting together a team to walk/run yourself I would be SO appreciative of your support!
Also, if your business/company is interested in any sponsorship levels we are way down in our sponsors at this time so that is another way to get involved. When you sponsor the race you get some extra "perks" so if you are interested in that at all please let me know and I can get you that information.
You can access everything from the following website: http://swraceforwishes09.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=295590 Please forward this on to anyone you think may be interested. Thanks to all of you! I hope you all are doing great!!

Paige


The Yeehaw part of this blog title is that it was Rodeo Day at E's school. Her daddy got her dressed this morning and even took pictures. I think he did a great job! When I picked Ellery up from school she told me that some of the kids had on hats. I asked her if she wanted a cowboy hat to which she replied, " No, I need a cowGIRL hat, mom!" Like, duh, I totally need to get with it.

Price's least favorite day

Today was the day! We took Price to get "casted" for his helmet. It was definitely a sad sight to see but surprisingly I held up just fine. Price screamed like I have never heard him scream before. I actually was thankful to see a little bit of feistiness in him as he is usually so calm and even-tempered. I forgot my camera so the only pictures we have are from Nathan's phone and a few that Dr. Bob took.

This is for you Katie - a great mug shot.

Isn't this pitiful?

Measurements and pictures were taken so that we could see his weekly progress in the helmet. The actual helmet should arrive in about 10 days. We are still up in the air as to how we will decorate it. It will be a permanent accessory for about 2 1/2 months so I definitely think we should do something fun!

After Price's casting appointment, we were off to his pediatrician to do a little follow-up on his head. I was a little disappointed to find out that he wants us to do an ultrasound at Texas Children's to just make sure everything checks out okay with his noggin. I am praying everything will look good, and that in the meantime I will not worry (as I tend to do)!

Blonds, Legally and Helmeted

Just a few happenings so far this week -

Nathan and I went on our Valentine's date last night to the Hobby Center to see the musical Legally Blonde. It was so funny! As we were finding our seats, one of the ladies sitting by us asked me how I managed to drag my husband to this musical. I wasn't really sure what to say because the whole evening was his idea. I don't think Nathan knew how outnumbered he would be at the theatre! I did, however, manage to catch him laughing throughout the show. The UPS guy was my favorite - remember him and the famous "bend and snap"? We enjoyed the show and a nice dinner beforehand. It was the perfect date. We are kind of anti-Valentine's Day daters because who wants to pay a ton of money to go out to eat and fight huge crowds? We have been known to order the heart-shaped pizza from Dominoes in the past.

This week we have had a couple of doctor appointments for Price concerning his head. Consensus is that he has plagiocephaly (a fancy word for flat head) from primarily sleeping on one side. We went to Texas Children's Hospital today and were relieved to know that it is completely a cosmetic issue. So....drum roll....Price is getting his first helmet in a couple of weeks. It was a tough decision for us but ultimately we both decided that we would have wanted our parents to do the same for us if our heads looked like his. We don't want to regret not doing anything. The doctor thinks he will wear it about 2 1/2 months which in the scheme of things, is not that long. We go back in a week to get measurements taken and then will pick up the helmet the following week. I am going to get in all of the head-rubbing and kissing I can possibly do these next couple of weeks! Of course Nathan wants Price's helmet painted to look like an authentic Texas Longhorns helmet. I was hoping for airplanes or something a little less burnt orange!


We have a friend's birthday dinner tomorrow night and then we are looking forward to a weekend visit from Bebe and Pops!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Nathan's 31st birthday! He did not want a single thing for his birthday so Ellery and I decided to just decorate our kitchen in his favorite colors (orange and white) and bake him a cake with sprinkles. It is possibly the ugliest cake you have ever seen but it was baked with lots of love. Last night we went to dinner with some of our close friends and had the best time! Nathan decided to be funny man and wear his tuxedo to dinner. We looked like an odd couple since I was wearing jeans and heels.

Today one of Nathan's good friends decided to be jokster back and had an Austin Powers singing telegram arrive at his office. Supposedly there is video footage that I can't wait to check out!

In other news, Price officially started solids. Milk was not cutting it for this little linebacker. So far he has only had rice cereal and sweet potatoes and of course, devours them both. And HUGE news is that Ellery had her 1st poop on the potty! She just went into the bathroom, closed the door, and did her thing. I couldn't be prouder! Somewhere along this potty training adventure, Lulu mentioned getting her a horse if she went poop on the potty. Ellery, who seems to remember everything, had to get Lulu on the phone immediately to make good on her promise.

Lulu tried to remind Ellery that the promise was a stuffed horse or play horse and I am not sure E was buying it. It will be interesting to see how the shopping trip goes tomorrow!

E wore her "birthday shirt" in honor daddy's big day

A little pre-Valentines Day love