Happy Holidays!

Hello to all! Finally taking the breath cold air that stings the lungs indicates winter is on its way. What better place to start of a winter that in the Northwest? Shawna, Audrey and I took a rather quick trip to Idaho and Montana for Thanksgiving break from Sun 18th - Fri 23rd. Audrey needed constant attention for 5 hours from DC to Phoenix which was rather exhausting. However, she did do an awesome job using her walker through the airport in Boise.

We drove from Boise to Bozeman stopping at West Yellowstone to see the grizzly bears and wolves at the... Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.

In Bozeman we hiked up to Palisade falls, visited with Lauren and Dave and saw the rest of the Weavers minus the newly weds.  Wish you were here Eric and Stefanie!  On Thursday morning Audrey, Gramma Carol and I ran the Huffing for Stuffing 5K / 10K race.  Grampa Mike and Shawna were devout supporters.

We drove back to Boise after the race and had Thanksgiving Dinner with Shawna's parents.  They cooked a great meal as usual. Afterwards, we strolled over to the Festival of Trees at the Grove hotel. There were many creative trees and wreaths on display/for sale from various individuals and organizations. Proceeds go to the Saint Alphonsus Boise Emergency Department. On Friday we flew back to Maryland where my batch of Pumpkin Spiced Ale eagerly awaited to be bottled.

Today, Saturday Dec 1, Audrey truly walked for the first time unassisted. We enticed her to walk on the tiled kitchen floor (an even stable surface) by moving refrigerator magnets to a cooking pot approximately 5 feet away. We also bought a trampoline similar to Kessler and Caulder's in order to maximize leg strengthening exercises. Onward and upwards from here!!!!

Audrey's first haircut at the new NEX on base is a pleasant one

Audrey the airplane pest.  The iPad wasn't enough to appease her boredom and restlessness

Audrey wants a big bear hug at the discovery center in West Yellowstone

This wolf was looking at Audrey while licking his lips

Put your hands in the air!

This Grizzly Bear was turned into a comfy couch

Sledding up Hyalite Canyon. Rather icy but it's snow.

Greetings from Palisade Falls

Audrey discovers snowball chucking

Gramma Carol and Audrey snap the wishbone.  Audrey wins.

Huffing for Stuffing race @ the Museum of the Rockies

Finish Line!

Festival of Trees @ the Grove Hotel

Audrey, the Home Brew assistant.  She is a natural.

Shawna fills up a growler.

Audrey's first independent, unspotted steps today!

Oct 2012

 

It is officially fall in Maryland. We have been doing little trips on the weekend around Maryland and West Virginia. Audrey is 31 months now. Audrey has PT 2 week and uses a walker daily to have her own independence. She is working on more leg endurance.The state program for Audrey tested her expressive & receptive language skills. She had a score of 42 months old. She is doing great verball. She really enjoys reading, playing makebelieve and playing with her train and huge assortment of animals.

 Last week was her 3 month post op MRI. We received great news. Audrey's lipoma is smaller and the blood vessels have shrunk away, so there is no major blood supply feeding it at this time. We are very happy and relieved.

 

Shawna currently has 2 jobs in Virginia. 3 x a week, she works for the state of Virginia as a dental educator for the intellectually challenged. 1 x week as hygienist in a regular office. We bought a Nissan Sentra GXE for the 44 mile commute she will have to endure.

 

We went to a pumpkin patch in N Maryland.

fun activities

 

It took about an hour to do the maze

 & solve all the clues.

 

 



A Day at the Rock Hills Orchard N Maryland

 

Picking some apples. The trees are small so Audrey can reach.

 

Audrey playing with her food. We are going to make some pies. Yummy

 

The Audrey Aftermath

On JUN 22 Audrey underwent five tedious hours of laser surgery to remove the lipoma from inside her spinal column. The benign tumor had actually infiltrated inside the spinal cord which is obviously less than ideal. However, for what is was, the surgery was a success. Dr. Davidson stated that the instant the top of the four thoracic vertebrate were removed, there was an immediate relief of pressure on the spinal cord as indicated by an increase in amount of electrical activity in the legs and feet. After the tumor was removed, it only got better. After the completion of the surgery there was mention of possibly having to do the surgery again later on down the road if the lipoma decided to grow out of control again. Audrey will have an MRI in a couple months (for the 5th time) to set a baseline for the growth.  We shall crown Audrey the MRI queen. If anyone has a right to hate hospitals it's her. The pictures below show the lipoma progression.  At 2 weeks old, the lipoma is seen near the marker. At 27 mos, the lipoma has grown nearly 10x the original size severely compressing the spinal cord. The surgery took place next week, with the third MRI picture showing the result. One can see the remainder of the tumor inside the spinal cord.

MRI @ 2 weeks old MAR 26, 2010

MRI discovers tumor JUN 14, 2012

MRI Post Surgery JUN 24, 2012

Audrey has been doing very well after the surgery and can almost fully extend her legs. She does have a slight problem with her right foot angling outward which is due to her hip not rotating correctly. The physical therapist said this should correct itself over time. We built her some parallel (monkey) bars to assist with strengthening her legs and developing balance. 

A week after the surgery a Derecho (storm with high winds caused by the massive heat wave) knocked out our power for four days. Dad had flown in the night before so we all took a road trip up to Niagara Falls to beat the heat. We visited the Canadian side during Canada Day on July 1st and then the American side the next day. It was more spectacular than I had expected. Afterwards, we went to the Alleghany State Park and spend some time at the lake before going home and hoping our power had come back on.

Stay Puft Marshmallow Woman escorts Audrey to the OR

Daddy acting as an Ipad holder

Keeping whiny butt pacified

Frankenstein Scar... Cool!

Red House lake in the Allegheny State Park

Waiting for the 4th of July fireworks in front of the White House

Visiting Joel Salatin's farm in Western Virginia, dad's idyllic sustainable paradise

Bock... bock....  bock...  boggggoocck!

Audrey's magnificent monkey bars post surgery

It almost looks like she can walk!

The bunny and the bear pop up and down. Grotesquely cute.

Hi.

Petting the goats at the Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary

Swinging at the farm

Tour de Fat DC

Audrey's favorite station at Tour de Fat

Shawna busts out her clown skills and defies the ball pit. I wasn't so lucky.

Checking out Niagara Falls

Coldplay unplugged...

Coldplay plugged in.  30,000 wrist bands lit up the venue with "Charlie Brown"

count down

As most of you have heard. Our sweet little girl has to have a spinal surgery. Here is an image to show what has happened. Audrey goes to surgery Friday 6/22/2012, at NNMC. This is the hospital that Chad works at for the Navy. The  fat tumor (lipoma) is in the spinal canal taking up the room of the spinal cord. Smashing the spinal cord, so she can not walk without assistance. The neurosurgeons will remove 3-4 spines off the vertebrae from T9-T12. The surgeons are hoping to cut away the tumor without it being integrated into the spinal cords protective covering. Afterwards they will place her bone back on using self absorbing materials that will last a year, which allows time for her bone to grow back. We are all hoping the outcome will be that Audrey will have no lasting damage and will be able to walk on her own. Chad's dad will be coming out the 1st week of July and Shawna's parents will be out after that. Please keep us in your prayers. We will keep you updated.

not a surgeon

 

 

How many toddlers does it take to set up a tent?

Seneca Rocks W Virgina. Great rock climbing.

I was told there was going to be water. Where did it go?

Hike to the top of Seneca Rock 

grand view

First doughnut yummy

trying out the rocks