Tuesday, December 28, 2010

diagnosis confirmed

For the past 5 months we have been on a journey with Adam.  From the time my little man was born he was small, well not his weight, but his height.  He started off in the 25% and gradually went down to the 3-5% from there.  I knew from the very beginning, actually while in utero, that something was different.  I saw his little legs on the sonogram and noticed his measurements, but no one seemed to see any cause for concern.  When he was born his legs were so short, but otherwise seemed "normal".  I asked his pedi every visit about his height, but he wasn't too concerned until his 18 mo check up in August.  He started to plateau on the growth chart, and was no longer on the curve.  Now his pedi was concerned enough to send us to the endocrinologist,  who totally freaked me out, and then sent us to a specialist.  The specialist visit eased some of my fears and did some tests-bone scan, bone age, and DNA testing to look for a mutation in a specific gene. 

Today, 5 weeks later, I get a phone call from the genetic counselor.  The genes they were looking at came back normal-no mutation, but the xrays/bone scans were sent to Cedars Sinai hospital in California where they specialize in bone disorders.  The specialist there did agree with the diagnosis of hypochondroplasia, which is a bone disorder that affects the growth of the long bones in the arms and legs.  What this means is that Adam will be small, like me.  He will develop normally except that his arms and legs will be of disproportionate size/length compared to his body. 

Although I have always know that he was different as far as his size goes, it is hard to think about all the challenges he will face.  As a child, I was always the shortest in my class, but it didn't really bother me because I am a girl, and being small is acceptable for females.  Not so much for males.  I just hope that he will continue to keep his happy little personality and not allow these things to interfere with his life.  I will always feel a little heartbroken for him, but will never allow him to see this.  No matter, he is perfect just the was he is!

Our next steps are to continue to see the doctors on a regular basis to follow up on his growth, have bone scans/xrays every couple of years, and live our lives as we normally would.  Ava is next in the process because she is small as well, and then me.  I know that I am the carrier of this disorder.  My parents are both average/tall-dad 5'11-6'0, mom 5'8, brother 6'0, and me 4'10--quite the discrepancy.  If we choose to have more children they have a 50/50 chance of inheriting this disorder as well.  Another thing to think about, but we will cross that bridge soon enough. 

No matter what, I know that we are blessed to have beautiful, healthy children (and I wouldn't trade that for the world!)  They are just packaged a little differently!



Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Oh Christmas tree...

Have I mentioned how much I LOOOOOOVE Christmas time!  Every year when I was little my family would venture out to the Christmas tree farm and cut down our tree.  Well, since having our own little family, we have only had a fake tree.  So this year we put up our fake tree and then decided to go get another smaller tree. 


Adam off exploring on his own.

Ava making sure he is okay...neither of them
are really interested in the tree finding or cutting

Very content with his new sticks.
That's what we were there for.

Off we went to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm, with bells on.  The kids had fun cutting down our little Charlie Brown tree.  But, they had the most fun playing with sticks in the dirt and sword fighting with the sticks that they just had to bring home.  Really???  We have sticks all over the back yard and you are throwing a fit to bring the "special sticks" home.   Adam decided he would follow another family around for a little while and hang with them.  Ava did not like that one bit.  "Adam Joseph, you better get over here right now or you're gonna be in big trouble!"  His response to this was a "you gotta be kidding" look, a very assertive "NO" and ran away in the opposite direction of Ava.  She was honestly just trying to be motherly to him and keep him with us, but he wanted to be his little independent self, so off he went.  She was almost in tears, so I got him back on track with us and they played with the sticks and dirt some more.

Another fun moment. There were signs all over "Please watch for stickers and fire ants".  And even though we specifically said not to sit down on the ground...they did...and we were in screaming sticker city. Both of them at the same time.  They had stickers everywhere...on their butts, shoes, shirts.  Man those things hurt.  So our last few minutes in the tree area were no fun, but that was easily forgotten by the hay ride back to the front with our little tree.

The tree they picked is somewhat of a crooked little tree, but it's their tree and it's going in their playroom.  Okay, it is totally crooked, but I just try not to look at it so much. I really had to put my OCD thoughts aside and allow them to choose their first tree. 

Afterwards, since we were in Elgin, we went to eat some bbq.  Yum!  Nothing like a bunch of greasy meat to end our day.  Then the kids had some ice cream to solidify the fat they had just ingested.  Hmmm...what could be considered vegetables or at least somewhat nutritional in that meal?  At least they had something that consisted of milk.

We had fun, and I hope to make this a tradition for them as it was for me growing up. 
YEAH CHRISTMAS!!!

P.S.- does anyone really know the words to the song "Oh Christmas Tree"? I haven't a clue.

Ava picked the tree.

Ava and Daddy cutting down our tree.





Our family with our little tree.


Hayride back with our tree...Adam is not impressed


Friday, November 26, 2010

giving thanks

Ava what are you thankful for?
A:  Well...my movies, my toys, my roxy (her dog she has had since she was born) and...
(she smiles and pauses)
Me: Is that it?
A:  mom, I'm just kidding.  I'm thankful for Adam and Daddy and Mommy and Nunny and Nonno Tony and Nonna and Nonno and all my friends.
Me:  Ava that's really sweet.
A:  Yeah, I was tricking on you.
Me:  Oh yeah! Well you're pretty funny.  It's okay to be thankful for that other stuff too. 
A:  I know, but I have to be thankful for you guys because that's how I get all my other things.
Me:  ...awesome. 

So we had a great Thanksgiving.  It was much more laid back and relaxing than years past.  We went to his mom's house and ate lunch, then came back to our house to get ready for dinner.  We usually head over to my Nonna's house, but her and my Nonno were both sick.  So my dad came over in the morning to get the turkey going at our house.  We came home, my mom came over, the kids took a nap, and when they got up dinner was ready.  We ate,cleaned up, watched football, and then ate pie.  Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but my pie's were sooo yummy...pat, pat, pat.  I would say the best I have ever made.  Lemon meringue, pecan, pumpkin, and apple.  Oh yes, on Thanksgiving I am a pie makin' fool.  It was all delicious and we had a great time together.

I am very thankful for my beautiful, wonderful children.  They make me laugh and smile every day.  I'm so thankful that they are healthy and happy and that they have each other as siblings.  I'm so thankful for Rolies, who is so laid back and caring.  He always puts the kids and our family first, and I couldn't ask for a better husband.  I'm so thankful for my family.  They are so supportive and wonderful.  I could not ask for more or anything better!

THANKFUL...GRATEFUL...BLESSED...ALWAYS!!!

Friday, November 19, 2010

I can hardly contain myself

Holiday, celebrate...

So it is a tad bit early, but I can smell it in the air.  It is the sweet smell of the holidays.  I have always loved holidays, but since having children, my love for this has grown and changed in many ways.  I do enjoy Thanksgiving.  Totally love being with all my family and eating turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, pie--well, I'm kinda getting off topic here and becoming increasingly hungry as I sit here picturing this yummy table of food.  But my number one pick for favorite holiday is...CHRISTMAS! 

Christmas, Christmas time is here...can anyone else hear the Chipmunks singing???



I love seeing the very first colorful shine of lights on the day after Thanksgiving, bundling up on chilly nights with the family to walk around the neighborhood searching for the house with the best light set up, making endless trips to the mall and toy stores to make sure that I have the perfect gifts for everyone who was "nice" on my list, taking the kids to see Santa (this year should be interesting),singing Christmas songs with Ava over and over and over again, and like a friend reminded me--getting all the different holiday cards from family and friends.  

This does remind me of another thing...oh my goodness...it's that time again too.  It's time for the annual Vasquez family Christmas card.  Oh no, there is no sarcasm here.  We love having to take dozens, make that hundreds, of pictures to make sure that we have just the right picture for our photo card that we send out yearly. 

It started off in 2006 with my beautiful baby girl.  A couple of pics, and done.  She was adorable and had the card all to herself for 3 years in a row.  It got a little tougher as she got older, maybe because she's so darn cute or possibly because she is hard headed and only wanted to smile when it suited her. Either way '06-'08 were great years for cards.  Now, 2009 changed a bit.  My beautiful baby boy was born and added a whole new light to taking pictures.  We wanted the perfect family picture...ha ha ha.  The children had other plans.  They decided to make this a challenge...one that I was willing to accept and win.  Although it took HOURS to get a decent picture, looking back I think it was worth it.  The card was great and no one had any clue the agony that we went through to get it done.

So, here we are again--Christmas card time.   I was totally searching the web for the cutest holiday photo cards when a friend pointed me in the direction of Shutterfly.  If you have kids and you take pictures, I'm sure that you know of them.  They have the best selection of Christmas/Holiday cards.  I have spend hours already, trying to pick out the perfect card.  It's really hard with their huge selection, but I think I've narrowed it down to the few contenders.


Okay, so it wasn't so easy, and I don't have our Christmas/Holiday card picked out just yet. And for everyone out there who knows me, you also know that I am indecisive and want things to be perfect.  If anyone can check out this site once and pick out a card, then I am jealous. Check out their holiday photo cards here

They also have all kinds of other items and gifts for the family.  Although I thought it was a tad bit much at first, the photo calendars are really cute.  A friend had one made for my Nonna and it was so adorable. Check those our here.  If my grandma loved them, I'm sure any other family members who may not live so close would love to see the little ones and the family every day all year long.  They also have the mini desk calendars here, which are smaller, but still super cute.

Oh...FYI to bloggers...Shutterfly has an awesome promotion here.  They are giving out free holiday photo cards.  Yeah!

I'm so excited.  Now, I have an unspoken rule, which tends to bite me in the biscuits every year, but I never start Christmas shopping until December.  I tried it once and it didn't work--it stressed me out to hang on to the presents for so long.  So I still have about a week and a half to choose the perfect Christmas card...then I will be off and running with the other holiday shoppers.

I can't wait...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...(I would go on, but I don't know the rest of the song...so I'll just keep repeating that part and making up the other words in my head)


Monday, November 1, 2010

october fun 2010

Although October has come and gone, here are a few things we did during this fly by month.
We took a trip to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm/Pumpkin Patch.  I have to say that I like Sweetberry Farms in Marble Falls better, but we opted to not drive for over an hour, and still had a good time for the most part.  It was quite warm, which let to some minor melt downs, but snacks seem to make everything better. We got some pumpkins there which quickly rot and got tossed over our fence.

We also decorated our Halloween cookies which went a little like this:
Kids:  yeah, yeah, mmmm...icing
me:  no, stop licking the spoon. we can't give away cookies if you lick the spoon.
kids:  (icing cookies nicely and then licking the icing off the cookies)
me: gross

 
 

FYI-If you did receive cookies from us, they were the "safe" ones.  I only let them decorate a few cookies, which turned into the kids devouring 1/2 container of icing...sick.



Then we went to another church pumpkin patch where we picked out many pumpkins.























Then came Daddy's birthday...so excited for cake!














Last, but not least...Halloween.  Ava dressed up as Alice in Wonderland, and Adam was a puppy.  He didn't give us many options.  We had to choose a costume where everything was attached b/c he was not too fond of dressing up in anything.

















Ava as Alice, Adam as a Puppy, and Nonna-on her 78th birthday-as a genie,or as Ava referred to her "Princess Jasmine"

Wow...what a busy month!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

port aransas


Last week we ventured off on our first family vacation.  Well, not really our first vacation, just our first vacation as a family without anyone else.  It was fun and...interesting at times.  First off, I decided it would be a great idea to get Ava a new car seat so that Adam could have hers.  I thought it would be better for him to be facing out instead of backwards.  I thought they would both be more comfortable and it would make our 4.5 hour drive a lot smoother.  I thought wrong.  On the way there Ava slept for about 15 minutes and asked when we were going to be there about 117 times.  I really thought that only happened in movies...not so much.  Adam on the other hand slept for about 10 minutes and screamed for the other 260 minutes of our ride.  I was not in a good state of mind when we reached the ferry loading and there was an hour wait. But, I was willing to put all that aside when I heard the water and saw the dolphins.

The kids had lots of fun playing in the sand and in the "blue water", as Ava refers to the pool.  We played/walked/sat in the very shallow water at the beach, but that's about as far as that went. I think we might have gone out to our knees...yes, we are quite the adventurous family.


Adam got pinched by a crab right in between his big toe and second toe.  Poor baby.  He was screaming and I didn't know what to do.  Do I pull it off and risk it totally cutting his little sausage toes? No worries...this kid took matters into his own hands and ripped off that little crab like a champ.  Good thing I was there to help. 


We took a trip to the Corpus Christie Aquarium which was fun.  Adam was amazed and Ava enjoyed most of the time we spent there.  The ride back was awesome.  They both slept the whole way back to the condo.



Sleeping arrangements were super awesome too.  We brought Adam's little pack-n-play, which he hasn't been in since he was about 2 months old.  He totally loved it. Not really.  He actually had to be rocked completely to sleep in order to be put into it.  Thank goodness the condo had a rocking reclining chair and a king size bed.  It was so great to be awakened by Adam at 2am every night and then to have all of us in the bed together.  I was so tired at one point that I couldn't stop laughing at our sleeping situation.  Roly was on one side, Ava next to him, Adam next to her, and then me. How long did this last?  Oh, about 2 minutes.  These kids have super fun moves at night, and I just happened to be the only one that this bothered.  I got the kung fu panda moves to the neck, face, and stomach all in about 15 minutes.  And to top that off with a cherry...they ALL snore.  It was awesome! 

We had some good food, got some cute pics, and had some good times at the beach.  It does make me question summer vacations with more than two kids though.  Not sure if I could hang.
Adam decided he needed some time away from the waves.
Ava "keeping Adam safe from the crabs and the waves"

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

green bean drama

Today my mom, aka Nunny, stopped by after work and had dinner with us.  All was fine until Ava decided to try to get out of eating her green beans.

Ava: (sad face)
Nunny:  Ava what's wrong?
Ava:  I'm sad. (pouting)
Nunny:  Why are you sad?
Ava:  Because my green beans don't like me.
Me:  What are you talking about Ava?
Nunny:  Your green beans don't like you.  How do you know that?
Ava:  They're being so mean to me.  They said that they are not my friend. 
Nunny:  Oh.  Well you know why they probably said that?  Green beans are vegetables that love to be eaten.  If you don't eat them they will be upset with you.  You know, if you eat them then they will like you.
Ava: They said I'm ugly.
Nunny: You should try eating them to see how they feel about you after that.
Ava:  (smiling) Close your eyes Nunny and Mom

I'm obviously watching her with my eyes partially closed and I noticed her eating her green beans.  She shoves them a few at a time into her mouth until they are completely gone.

Ava:  Now open your eyes.
Nunny:  Wow, you ate all those green beans?
Ava:  Yes. They were so good.
Nunny:  So, how do the green beans feel about you now?
Ava:  Oh, they like me.  They said, "Thank you Ava.  We can be friends now."
Nunny:  Well I'm glad you worked that out.
Ava: Yeah, me too.  Can you pass me the bowl of green beans?  I'm gonna eat them all.

Thanks Nunny.  You might want to stop by tomorrow night...we are having broccoli.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

peach picking

A couple weeks ago we wanted to do something fun with the kids. I remember doing stuff like this with my family when I was younger, so we headed out to Fredericksburg to pick some peaches.  We went to a cute little retired couples house/peach farm, maybe it's called a peach orchard, but anyways we drove out there and set off to pick some peaches.  It was a nice day, breezy and not too hot.  Of course we get there and we both tell each other, "let's not go toocrazy, just a few peaches."  Well...35 lbs. of peaches and a container of blackberries later...oops. But who can resist when the peaches are so good and plus we were walking up and down the rows of peach trees, we just got caught in the moment and happened to get a little carried away.  Ava had fun picking peaches and Adam kinda had fun in his stroller eating them. We did finally decide it was time to go when both kids were totally and completely done with this whole family time experience.  Adam was throwing a massive fit in his stroller, and Ava was crying and whining...what a sight to see.  But being that the peaches were so delicious, I was in an okay place with the fit throwing and such. 












































What did we do with all the peaches you ask.  Well, we obviously didn't eat them all, who could?  We gave our neighbors and families some little bags of them, froze a couple bags, and I made two delicious peach pies and a totally awesome peach and blackberry cobbler. Yep, just call me Betty Crocker.  I should have taken some pictures of them, but they were devoured by some onlookers before that could happen.
The peaches didn't last long, but it was a fun experience!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

PATIENCE PLEASE

Today I:

* had lunch with a friend and her daughter--ahh, adult conversation

* found 4 uncapped markers on my bed, under my sheets--Ava has no idea how they got there, but she did express that the stains that they made on the sheets AND MATTRESS looked like flowers

* found Adam eating chalk from Ava's easel

* washed the floors

* mopped the floor again after Adam took the cornstarch out of the pantry and dumped it all over the floor mixing it with his apple juice in the 3 minutes it took me to get the clothes from the laundry room to his room

* listened to the kids fight over toys that neither of them EVER want to play with until the other gets a hold of them

* put Adam back to sleep when he woke up after a two hour nap--he was still grumpy and I needed some quiet time

* made a lite brite picture with Ava while Adam was in round 2 of his nap--we were both getting frustrated.  Her little fingers couldn't push those darn pegs in between the others, and I was keeping my frustration to myself, but goodness me, how long does it take to make a lite brite picture of an ice cream cone???

* decided sandwiches would be dinner

* pretended to go to the bathroom, but instead took my book into the closet to read while Roly entertained the kids

Today was just one of those days.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

oh dishwasher...how i love thee

Dear Dishwasher,
Although we have been living together for most of my life, I have ignored you.  But it wasn't because I didn't like you.  I was actually afraid of you.  You can do things that I cannot.  You are something that I am not.  But now that I have given you a chance, I think we make a perfect match.  Thank you dear dishwasher for allowing me to feel like I have accomplished something at the end of the day--even if all I did was load you up.  You keep a cluttered mess out of my kitchen.  I often find myself looking for other dirty dishes so that I can push those pretty little buttons of yours and listen to your soothing sound--often pretending that they are waves at the beach and ignoring the screaming children in the background.  You are my solution to the dirty dishes that I despise.  You complete me. 

Sincerely,
Your BFF, and tired mommy

p.s--being that dirty dishes and cleaning bathrooms are on my top 10 list of things I despise doing, do you have any friends that you could hook me up with in the bathroom department as you do in the kitchen?  If so, please give them my number. Just don't tell my husband.

Friday, June 11, 2010

4 years old and the trip to the pediatrician

So Ava turned 4 on May 21st.  I can't believe how time flies--truly.  It kind of makes me sad because she is definitely not a baby anymore, even though my she looks like she's about 2.  (Sorry honey, you got mommy's genes.) 

She is so funny.  I love listening to her and watching her.  She says and does the funniest things.  She loves to sing and dance and doesn't care who is watching.  She is obsessed with shoes, and thinks she knows everything--actually, she will tell you that she knows everything. She has also decided she wants to be on tv and has asked her dad several times "Daddy, how are you gonna get me on tv?"  Hmmm... 
Anyway, she is a mess, but she makes me laugh and smile and be silly every day.  She makes my life...I truly have no idea what I was doing before she was here!

Here she is...just being Ava...and funny poses are her new thing!


Well, now that you've seen the wonderfully silly side of Ava, let's talk about her 4 year checkup with the pediatrician.

First of all, we totally love our pediatrician, Dr. Ramirez.  He is wonderful with the kids and is so easy to talk to.  Ava adores him. 
I went into the visit knowing that shots would be in the very very near future.  They did the normal little things like weight and height, but this time it was a real little persons physical.  They checked her blood pressure and did a vision and hearing screen, and Ava's favorite part--she got to pee in a cup.  She was truly excited about that part, though I'm not completely sure why.
The doctor saw her, checked her out, talked to her and played for a while.  She is definitely petite 5% for both weight and height--28 lbs & 37 in...but she is healthy and growing, slowly but surely. 

"So, Mrs. V, you know that today she will be needing several vaccines, right? Now, you have two options 3 today and none next year, or 2 today and 1 next year?"
I opted for the "get it all out of the way" package, which he totally agreed with. 
So the doctor leaves and Ava is so excited to go because I told her we would go to Starbucks when we were finished, knowing we would need something to look forward to.

Ava:  Let's go mommy.
me:  well, Ava, you know at the end of Adam's doctor appointments something else happens
Ava:  ya, he gets shots (as she is saying this her eyes get bigger and she is now aware of what is going to happen next)
me:  Right.  Well, since you are 4 now, you have to get some shots so that you can stay healthy and not get really really sick.
Ava:  But I don't want any.
me:  I know.  Mommy will hold you and you can squeeze me tight and then we will be done and go to Starbucks. 
Ava:  (tears)

So the nurse comes in and Ava begins screaming.  The nurse talks to her and I'm holding her trying to keep her calm...no such luck.
Before the shots even happen, she wouldn't even let the nurse touch her legs, so  I had to hold her down.  It is truly amazing the strength of such a tiny little person. 
I'm laying over her holding the top part of her body down, and the nurse is holding her legs, and she is totally screaming and crying hysterically.  I just wanted to take her and say forget it, but I know that it is super important for her to get these, so I held on and tried to stay calm myself.  Nurse gets the two shots in one leg and one in the other and we are done.  At this point I am sweating and my ear is ringing from the screaming.  She was a great nurse, but this was by far the worst regular doctor visit. 
I had to hold her for about 5 minutes in the room doing deep breathing with her to calm her down.  It was really hard--for both of us! 
I carry her out and as we are leaving the nurse comes over and apologizes to her for having to give her all those nasty shots.  Ava turns to her and says with tears in her eyes, " It's okay. I'm gonna go get some coffee now." 

Whatever gets us through certain situations!

Monday, June 7, 2010

adam's first haircut

So we ventured out finally to get Adam's first haircut.  I had every excuse not to do it each day we planned to get his haircut, until I started to see the out of control mini mullet--maybe it was time.  We took him to a kids place so that he would be distracted by the movies, the noise, and the fire truck and car seats.  All was well with him.  I was the one who was completely not ready.

me: just trim it a little bit
super patient haircut lady:  ok mom, do you want it cut around his ears
me: well...i'm not sure...what do you think
super patient haircut lady:  we usually do, just so it looks better, but it's up to you
me:  ok, whatever you  think, just not too short (i still want him to look like a baby)

So she starts cutting away.  It looks like she is cutting it way too short, and she must have seen the horror in my face, so she starts talking me through it a little more.

super patient haircut lady:  I know it looks like a lot, but it's very little that I'm actually cutting.  These are all the little stray hairs
me: oh...ok

Adam is sitting there like a champ.  Not too interested in the movie, very interested in driving the fire engine and loving the bell
All is well...until she busts out the clippers.

me:  wait, wait, wait.  What are you going to use those for?
dad:  she's just going to go around the edges and clean them up and his sideburns
me:  (still waiting for her to answer)
super patient haircut lady:  exactly.  Is that okay?
me: (No) oh, sure.
super patient haircut lady:  It's okay mom. He'll look more like a little boy now.
me:  :(

So she finishes and styles it with some hair junk--which I quickly wiped out after we paid--comments on his good behavior and we are off.  I was exhausted.  This was definitely harder than Ava's first haircut.  Maybe because he's a boy and he probably will not have hair that long again anytime soon. 

Before
Ok...so he looks a little upset here, but check out the hair.  I thought it was cute, but needed a little taming.

He did great!  What a handsome little boy!

Later that day, after taking a bath and his hair drying on its own, I realized that I did not like it because it reminded me of something...

but after taming it to the side, I guess it's not so bad.