Alright, on to more important things....

Well, lets see, where do we start.

Lets start with the youngest....Andrew. Andrew has thrown this family for a loop. He is the toothless wonder still. At almost 14 months, he is starting to get the desire to walk - but not much. He will stand alone if he does it and doesn't realize it. When we try to practice with him, he will collapse and throw a fit. Again, just the way that he has shown he wants to do things on his own.
The latest news on him - well - he had a yucky YUCKY ear infection on Christmas day. We woke up with him and his fever, thinking for sure it was teeth. It wasn't. I took him in on Friday and lo and behold - his first ear infection, a doozy too. We left with antibotics, and a sigh of relief, that he would feel better soon.
We made it through the weekend with a happy baby returning. Monday, I take him to daycare, go to work, and come back. His daycare lady was all a fluster, telling me to look at this 'thing' on his neck. She said she had just noticed it. I called hubbs to tell him about this huge knot on the side of Andrew's neck. Hubbs said, lets watch it.
I agreed, at least for that night.
On Tuesday I called the doc, she wanted to see us that day. Got Andrew in, and she was just as perplexed. We set up an ultrasound for the next morning to get it looked at.
Let me tell you - holding a 1 year old down for an ultrasound on his neck is like wrestling a drunk cat - it just doesn't work. But they were able to get some good shots - and here is what we know.
Andrew has a congential malformation of his Lymphatic system. We are lucky - if you google it - it can get pretty ugly. Andrew's is isolated, not through his whole system. What he has are called Cystic Hygroma's. He has three cysts where his lympatic system did not connect with the rest of it, thus causing cysts. Short term treatment, we watch. Everytime he gets an infection or a virus they will grow. Long term, they will have to be drained or removed. Did I mention they are on his jugular vein? Yea, like I needed another reason for sleepless nights.

John IV...well - he is keeping on keeping on. He is just an awesome little boy - despite all the odds thrown his way.
He is active in boyscouts, and is proud to have earned his badges so far. He received his report card for the second grading period and he had a perfect report card. We love his first grade teacher and she accepts no excuses when it comes to work. Kindergarten was very touchy feely, First grade - is the 'real world.'
Medically - he has new issues. He is starting down the path with thyroid problems. We will make sure that we test him as much as possible to make sure that we are on top of it. I am so grateful that we have doctor's who are proactive and listen to us!

Me - I have been at my new job for a few months now. I am happy about the change - I hate the fact that I have learning curve and hate the fact that I have failed at sooooo many things so far. BUT - that is all apart of the process. And while I understand it - doesn't mean I have to like it.

Hubbs - he is doing alright. He has started his latest and greatest hobby - sewing. The man never ceases to amaze me.
We are facing some health issues, but I think we have it nailed down. He has one final test to go to on Monday, and hopefully - we will be able to move forward with treatment. I will post more when we know what is going on.

Our holidays weren't with out stress - but it was good to see family. We each got what we wanted (although sleeping in was on my list - maybe next year!!)

Stick with me folks, I feel like I have a lot of recapping to do. I wonder how I will be able to re-cap the past 3 years....the feelings, the trials, the failures, the surviving...but I will manage....