Birthday, Seizure, School, Dr. appts, Paperwork....

September has been a VERY busy month! Autumn turned 3!!! This blows my mind that she is growing up and new things are happening in her life.  For her birthday I decided to invite family to join us in taking Autumn to the aquarium.  She LOVES looking at fish tanks and since she really does not interact much with people I figured this would be better than a party.  It was great! She was engaged the entire time.

 Afterwards, we all came back to my house for pizza, cupcakes, and presents.  Autumn had fallen asleep after the aquarium so she was not too thrilled to be woken up for pictures so we could all enjoy her cupcakes. She had a great birthday party though and we were so blessed that we had family with us to celebrate.

 Gage has been doing awesome in school this year and has not had any issues with attention span or too much goofy off...he actually has all E's and A's so far!  Madison has been extremely busy in middle school.  She's taking 3 out of 4 AP classes so it's been a lot to keep up with.  She has been doing great in Art and Theater as well and got a 100 on her first monologue...wish she would perform it for me but she won't. :(  She's also been busy performing at the 7th grade home football games and walked in the RHS homecoming parade.  She absolutely LOVES middle school and I've been so proud of the young woman she is becoming.

 Autumn aged out of ECI so we had the options of started her in the public school program called PPCD. I was extrememly nervous about it but after all the meetings and evaluations I knew it would be best for her.  She goes on Mon, Wed, & Fridays from 8am-11am with her nurse by her side the entire time.  They work on learning but she also receives OT, PT, and speech services as well.  She's only been twice so far but seems to be doing well with the adjustment.  Her teacher (pictures below) is so sweet and keeps in close contact with me.  Actually, all of Rockwall ISD teachers e-mail parents each week their lesson plans and makes it so easy to communicate & see what your child is learning. 

 We have also been busy getting evaluations done for additional therapy for Autumn.  I thought I was busy before but it's about to get worse.  She will most likely be receiving OT, PT, speech, and feeding therapy twice a week as well as school so our days look like they will be booked.  It's going to be hard on us but we can always cut back if it becomes too much for Autumn.  This week proved to be the hardest for her.  We weaned Autumn off her seizure meds last week in hopes we would never see another seizure or need meds.  Well, Sunday night Autumn had a seizure.  I was crushed because we had seen her personality come back after getting off phenobarb and I really did not want her to go back there.  Thankfully, her neuro does not care for phenobarb and suggested we start her on a different medication.  So, Monday morning she had her 3 year check-up and received her Hep B shot she had missed at birth and her flu vaccine.  Tuesday was a easy day at home but we did get her out for a morning stroll outside.  Wednesday was the first day of school.  Thursday we were in clinics for 6 hours..she had a CT scan, bloodwork, saw her neurosurgeon & neurologist.  Her CT scan looked fine and her neuro decided to start her on a seizure medicine called Keppra.  Friday she had her 2nd day of school but when she returned home she had a 101 fever.  So, now she's sick.  I am pretty sure it's the flu.  She runs fever & has the chills and once the fever goes down she's ok; then it all comes back 3 hours later.  Lungs sound good, no coughing or running nose.  This picture says it all....just think there is no sound followed with that screaming face.  ;)

So, this is where I left off writing my blog when I went to check on Autumn.  Her temp went from 102 to 105.6 in 15 minutes so off to the ER we went.  After IV, fluids, dispository, bloodwork, urinalysis, and chest x-rays they discovered she has an urinary tract infection.  She received IV antibiotics and we were discharged with an antibiotic (but not without having to plea our case first that we will be fine at home & did not want to be admitted & promise to take her to Children's if her temp went high again).  So, we are home sweet home again. 

Okay, back to how busy this month has been....in addition to ALL of that I signed up to be the volunteer coordinator for Gage's class (why I feel the need to add more to my plate is beyond me).  I've also been working on that 54 page application for adoption.  SO MUCH was to be done but all that is left to complete the application is TB tests for all 3 kids & a good health statement from Madison's dr(already got the other 2 kids done).  James & I need to get our fingerprinting done and then the application should be complete. Yay!  We go to training on Thurs, Fri, and Saturday ALL day so my mom is coming into town to help with driving kids around.  My kids are also off Wednesday for fair day so she will be able to join us for a fun day at the Texas State Fair.  ;)  Should be another busy, productive week.