Regional Meeting in Myrtle Beach

We just got home from a weekend meeting down in Myrtle Beach for Eddie's work. It is a long weekend with some meetings for the FA's, one meeting for the spouses, and a lot of fun for families. The theme this year was Royalty.... from the Crown, to the royal wedding... it was fun to see it carried out!

 We arrived Thursday and got checked in to the hotel. We had a meeting at 4 we had to attend. Then it was dinner time!

 There was a falconer there who had birds to show us- they were massive and not my most favorite....hahah and the kids all received awards for their various accomplishments over the year. Once they got their award, they posed with the bird man for a picture.... again, no thank you- haha

After dinner, there was a movie for the kids, but we decided to let our kids run wild on the beach. It was the most gorgeous night ever! My brother came down with his youngest daughter, and my brother in law came solo, so we had quite a group! The kids played so so hard and had the best time. Finally we headed up to the room after 9 (after a quick dip in the pool!)

 I so love this picture of them:

Friday morning, the spouses had a meeting as well. I was super excited about this meeting though because Adrienne Wood was talking! Do y'all know her? She writes a blog called Tales from the Educated Debutante. Find her on facebook or click that link. She is hilarious and a great read. So she came and spoke to us and I loved it! She was funny and so relate-able. She's not writing about fashion (although her posts about lululemon are amazing....), but her posts will hit home.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach- but I didn't take any pictures (gasp!). I had to keep an eye on the boys, who played nonstop in the water and I didn't have my phone on me.

That night, we went to Medieval Times for dinner. It is quite an establishment..... it is HUGE! It is like a Medieval dinner feast....with a show. The boys enjoyed it for the most part, although we struggled to understand the accents- haha

When you walk in, everyone is given crowns. 

It was at this point that I could not stop laughing. 

This group picture sums it alllll up.... and might be my favorite one from the whole weekend- hahahahaha

 Saturday day was spent on the beach with lots of fun games. Someone sent me these pics of the boys limbo-ing:

And then that night, we had the awards dinner. An excuse to get all dressed up and celebrate the hard work Eddie has done this year! Also great to celebrate my dad and brother and brother in law too! I thought my mom looked absolutely stunning- pink is her color!

 The original four:

My daddy-

And Eddie!!!

 Chris came over during the awards and was goofing off. We were not behaving- my mom was not pleased :)

 Three very special men! I was so proud of them (add in Chris, who had already taken off- haha)

We woke up Sunday (our anniversary!) and loaded the car to head on home. We were all exhausted from a fun and busy weekend!




 




 

Andy Update

I want to write about this before I forget it all....excuse the boring post.

As I  mentioned a million years ago, Andy's new doctor at UNC recommended him for PT to help with his bathroom issues. The PT called me soon after his appointment and told me they weren't even booking appointments because they were booked so far out, so it would be a long while before he was seen. Greeeeeeat.

Well, they finally called last week and booked his first appointment...and then the next several appointments, every single week for a while. wow. His first appointment was going to be August 16th.

The next day, I got a call, they had an opening for Thursday morning, could we make it? We were heading out of town for the weekend at noon that day, but we were anxious to go, so we jumped all over it. We met with our new physical therapist and she was so so so nice. She asked a bunch of questions to both me and Andy and listened to everything that's been going on. She asked what sorts of things we have tried so far and I took a deep breath and started listing and listing and listing....y'all....we've tried a LOT. She was even shocked/stunned/jaw open at everything we have tried.

So then- here is where it gets good.....

She had Andy stand up and try several different moves: touching his thumb to his forearm, bending down and touching his toes, hyper extending his knees, etc etc.... I assumed she was just checking out the normal stuff.

She asked if anyone had gone over the results of the test with us. I told her we basically were told his muscles were not coordinated down there. She sort of shook her head and explained...

(more than you ever wanted to know ALERT)...
Basically, the anus has an internal and external function. The external is voluntary and controlled by your brain, the internal is NOT voluntary, and just does what it is supposed to do. Andy's external is working totally fine; his internal is not at all. This is a big red flag  because it should be working without any effort on his behalf.

THEN, so when Andy had the test run, they inserted a deflated balloon inside his bowel and asked him to tell them when he could feel it as they inflated it. Andy failed that test, big time. When he should have felt it, he didn't. Apparently, he let it go way past the point of detecting it, which denotes that his sensors are all out of whack.

THEN, she told me the series of exercises she had him do at the beginning, scored him an 8/9 in hyper mobility, which is where the tissues in his body are extra stretchy, which could effect his bowel sensors! She said there is an extremely high correlation between kids with hyper mobility and bowel issues. 

Okay, so what does this all mean? Basically, this kiddo has some significant factors working against him. Like, big time. She got out her calendar and booked us for every single week through summer and even the start of school. Andy will be working with her once a week to try and fix this problem. Is it ideal to drag a kid to PT once a week during the summer? I mean, no, not really....but, come on.... if she can help him work through this, how huge would that be?!?

I haven't given an update sine starting the new meds. He should be going 5-6 times a week on them. Today, as I type this, it's Sunday. He hasn't gone since Wednesday. They aren't working, sadly. So something has to give!

The PT sent us home with some homework this week:
- more fluid (27 ounces at least every day)
- set toilet time every day (set a timer for ten minutes)
- attempt the squatty potty again (we have tried this before, and it wasn't enjoyed- ha)

SO, there you have it. No real progress, but some exciting news. I left feeling thrilled. We were starting to wonder if he was withholding it, but the PT really did not believe that was the case. I was tearing up listening to her talk about the factors he is up against. Praying we can get this under control soon.

Thankfully, he's up for the challenge.... I hope!



 

Last day of school!

The boys had their last day of school (a while ago....). We had to take the obligatory pictures before school...

Andy took his teacher flowers on the first day....

 ...and again on the last....

 And, for some comparison pictures. Cal hasn't changed too too much (other than growing!); Andy's change is shocking to me. That is a HUGE difference!

I picked the boys up after school expecting cheers and happiness.

Cal walked out and leaned in to me for a hug. Andy ran ahead to the car. I put my arm around Cal and he burst into tears because his buddy from his class is going to another school next year. He was worried he would never see him again. We walked to the car and when we got there, I found a SOBBING Andy. He was hysterical. He was so sad about leaving his teacher.

Insert mommy note here: I am beyond grateful that my boys had such great school years. I feel so so so happy, thrilled, ecstatic that my child had a teacher whom he cared for so deeply- and their bond is incredibly special to me. If I could build her a statue, I would- ha! Equally so, I am so thankful Cal had such a great friend in his class. A really good kid, with a similar mindset of Cal's. These two were tight this year, and I, too, was sad to hear of him going to another school. 

The tears did not fade away quickly- in fact, Andy's stuck around for quite a while. I finally suggested he make a video to send to beloved teacher. I am praying this loads because I want to save it forever and ever. He got choked up in the first one....watch the lip quiver:

So then he had to gather himself and tried again:

Fast forward a week, and the tears have stopped...however, the talking about this teacher has not. Pretty sure a day has not passed where she was not mentioned in some sort of discussion....
driving down the road, "did you know Mrs. Lee is a fast runner?"
"Wonder what Dolly is doing all day with Mrs. Lee not at school."
"Can we go by school and see if Mrs. Lee is there?"
"Pretty sure Mrs. Lee lives around here. Let's look for her." #stalker

 So that's a wrap on 1st and 2nd grade! I can NOT believe I will have a 2nd and 3rd grader in a few short months! I remember 3rd grade- actually really well! I met my best friend in 3rd grade (who was then my maid of honor in our wedding!!!). It just seems so old to me. I love watching them grow, but want them to stay my little guys forever and ever.

 

Where have I been?

Life is coming at me FAST and finding time to sit and do this just hasn't happened lately. I need to try to do more, shorter posts.

But for now.... here is a little look at life:

---We went to the beach for Memorial Day weekend. Highlights: new boat! nonstop outside time! great weather!

----I got a new niece AND a new nephew! Eddie's sister and her husband (Tricia and Tommy) welcomed Hallie Grace on May 25th, and my brother and his wife (Chris and Elizabeth) welcomed Christian Robert on June 1st! Both babies are healthy and both mamas are doing great too.

---Baseball season ended (with a loss in the championship game!)

----and swim team has started:

---- golf has wrapped up: both boys moved up a level- Cal to 100 yards, Andy to 50!

Sooooo in the process of completing this post- you can see where I have been and why I have not posted anything at all- hahaha. We have been BUSY! But good. Really really good! We are already soaking up summer!