Long overdue

     Since Eli was born it has been a little...okay, A LOT busy for us. I have been terrible at updating because frankly I just don't have the time.  Work full-time + two kids, 1 with special needs + college + Lane and I having opposite work schedules = NO time   :-)

     Anyway, over the last few months Lane and I have been working on getting everything together pre-approval etc to build a house on a piece of property that we bought back in March. This 'said' house was going to be a 3300 square foot rambler, accessible for Noah. After going through months of paperwork, finalizing the plans and getting bank pre-approval we were ready to move forward.......until right before we go to finalize our construction loan the bank realizes they messed up. Long story short we need some documents that we can only get once our tax return is back for the 2013 tax year. So now....'said' house is no longer an option. Since talking with Lane and the fight that we have had trying to get this done, neither one of us feel that God wanted us to build this house anyway. It just so happened that I was looking at bigger houses to rent because currently we have no room and Eli needs his own bedroom as he is sleeping in his crib in our room, which isn't cutting it any more. As I was looking at listings I found a lease option house that I really liked....which sparked a new idea....lease option. We could get in a house and then get financed when we have our needed documents! We went and looked at the house and we fell in love. We put in an offer which the seller accepted and now the house is ours!! All our bedrooms are on the main floor with more rooms in the basement....It will be perfect for Noah, the kids will have a playroom and no more up and down stairs!!!!!!! We are ecstatic! Merry Christmas to us...we are so BLESSED!

New House  : )

    Yesterday we had Noah's routine SMA clinic appointment. He had a PT evaluation, Saw Dr. Swoboda and had an EMG and then DEXA scan.Needless to say it was a very long, rough day for him. He was sedated for the EMG and when the drug was wearing off he cried for about two hours straight....not a fun experience. The EMG showed that the disease is still progressing but not rapidly, so hopefully slowing down. In the next few months we are hoping he will plateau and stop losing function. His bone density of course is worse....but all in all it was a good appointment and it was all an expected outcome of SMA. He is doing well considering. Over the past few months since his birthday his cognitive development has flourished. He is talking like crazy and his personality is really shining through. He is so intelligent and so loving. He really does brighten the day.

Update on Eli.....at his 4 month appointment our pediatrician referred us to a plastic surgeon because the poor little guy has a very flat spot on the back of his head from the way he was positioned in utero. The plastic surgeon said on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the most severe....Eli is a 4. So, a few days later I took him and we had his head measured for a helmet. The helmet will allow his head to grow in areas that it needs to, it's really actually cool how it works. Anyway we should be getting that next week. We will have to build him up to wearing it for 23 hours a day for an estimated 12 weeks. Hoping it goes by quickly...we got it in blue camouflage so I'm sure it will be adorable on him : )

That's all for now, we hope everyone has a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! God Bless!!!!