Belated Father's Day

I'm only a few.. four days late with this post but you know how it goes! We celebrated Bub the hub all this past weekend, and hopefully he felt special. He should definitely feel special about getting to sleep in both Saturday and Sunday... I'm not gonna lie, I reeeallly look forward to my Saturday morning sleep ins. For me to donate one means I must reeeally love you ♥♥♥.

Both girls got crafty and made the hub some cute art for his office. Maddie and I also picked out a new Aggie grill cover for him, and made him a coupon for a new wallet. One of Maddie's favorite pastimes is picking out greeting cards. Seriously, she could stand there all day and go through them all. She was pretty excited to pick this monster one out for daddy.

On Father's Day, and every day, we appreciate Bub the hub to eternity and back. He keeps us all grounded, and his patience astounds me. Maddie's first question of the day is always, "is daddy here?" I'm sure it would also be Avery's if she could verbalize. He's an amazing father and he's all OURS!!! love you, babe.

Modified Atkins

We've officially been on Avery's new diet plan for two weeks! What an education. I actually had it in my head that my girls' diet was in the somewhat healthy range. HAHAHAHAHAHA

Little did I know how many carbs they were really eating every day. Eye-opening! And I thought that giving up juice and milk would be super hard, but it really only took Avery a couple of days to adjust to the flavored water. Now I think she is drinking more liquids than ever, which we have always struggled with, so that's a positive. Negatives are the delicious weekly meals she had to give up: Saturday lunch at Chick-fil-a, Freebirds burrito and Daddy's yummy spaghetti. Really, she's been handling it like a champ and we've only had a couple angry and annoyed meals. 

Gone are the Amy's cheddar bunnies, yogurt raisins and goldfish snacks. CHEESE is our saving grace, and I am trying to get used to serving her so much protein. The modified Atkins diet is all about fats, so we are soaking up small amounts of approved veggies in butter and making cream sauces for her meats.

The new diet has already affected Maddie's food as well, even though she's not technically on the diet. She started eating celery! And she hasn't had french fries in more than two weeks either... because I am NOT going to make Avery smell or watch her sister eat them, that would be cruel! Little sister has not been too thrilled about this but hasn't put up a huge fight either, thank goodness.

Last week I did a little research on low carb treats and came across a very low (almost no) carb pasta on Amazon. So I ordered it of course! 

Shirataki pasta--- it comes in a little baggie filled with water

and it's apparently made from plants

It cooks up a little transluscent and needs drying...

The final product is a little gummier than real pasta, but it does the trick and Avery really seemed to enjoy her faux pasta with a tiny bit of sauce and lotsa cheese! I tried to get some post dinner pics with lil'bub but she was not in a big smiling mood. It was the very end of the day, but I still thought she looked like a little bit'o'sunshine, even with the get-the-camera-out-of-my-face expressions :) 

One half smile for mommy and daddy

She continues to have one seizure pretty much every day, but they are short and she still recovers quickly. We're hoping another week or two on the diet and we may see some changes.

Update Overdue

This is the longest I've gone without blogging in awhile... I think about posting all of the time, but to be honest, most of what's been going on are things I'd rather put behind me.

I have not felt like myself for a good three months. At first it was because I was pregnant, and the nausea was overwhelming. And then it was because the doctor told me I was going to miscarry, and the nausea continued anyway. Increased, even. And then after another three incredibly hard, long weeks, I had a miscarriage. I still don't feel like myself yet, but I'm getting there. 

This wasn't something I had planned on blogging about, but it's been a big part of our life this year. The nausea and tiredness have just worn me down. And the emotions, oh the emotions. My poor husband.

Last week we were able to take a little getaway, our first vacation since Hawaii back in March 2014. We went up north a little, to a lakeside resort in Conroe. The girls had a really good time, and Bub the hub and I were able to relax a bit. We didn't take very many photos, and most of them are currently being held hostage on my camera that refuses to connect with my computer. Sigh. At least the hub got a nice one on my phone with Avery!

Avery enjoyed being poolside and floating, and Maddie had the time of her life. She's already got a tan that I envy. 

The only negative on vacation was that we started seeing Avery have very long, scary seizures in the middle of the night. We are not sure how long these have been going on... the reason we caught them was because we were sleeping in the same room with her for the first time in a long time. We do have a video monitor on her at home, but we had not been awoken by these before. She does not make very much noise when they are happening, but her little body is going through a lot.

After some grueling doctor visits and an MRI, we have adjusted Avery's meds a little and have decided to start her on a new diet which may be able to more successfully control her seizure activity. It's a big change and prayers are appreciated... she will not be able to have most of the things that she enjoys eating every day. It's going to be a long learning process for the hub and I as well.

We are halfway though Avery's first summer break from school, so keeping her busy and happy is also a challenge. We are taking it all day by day, which is the only way we can. 

xoxo,