The de Wolfe Times: April 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Mimi Visits!

My mom came to visit for six days! We had a great time, as always! The weather wasn't great for us to do lots of activities outside, but we made the most of it. My mom was able to accompany me to to Addyson's ultrasound. It is always nice to have an extra set of hands for Katelyn and an extra set of ears to hear what the doctor has to say. She was also here to watch the girls for my MRI so that Jason could go with me. I was very grateful not to have to worry about the girls and babysitters, etc. Jason surprised me with a night out in downtown Pittsburgh. My mom was kind enough to stay with the girls (thanks Mom) and Jason and I had fabulous alone time!!! While my mom was here we squeezed in a movie, a trip to the park, a craft store visit, Easter Sunday church and brunch, a walk around the neighborhood, a night eating out, a couple of games of mah-jongg (and my mom won for the first time....go Mom!!!), and lots of great conversation and laughs with the girls. Love you Mom and always love having you visit us!!!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter Egg Hunt...

After church we made brunch at home. We made cinnamon french toast and bacon for the girls. Then we made eggs benedict with canadian bacon and spinach. It turned out great! After the brunch, and my quick trip to Minute Clinic where they told me I had an ear infection and red throat, we had the Easter egg hunt inside (due to the CONSTANT rain)! The girls had a ball. Addy was happy she found the most eggs. And our little Katie Reese outsmarted us all by just finding enough eggs, then sitting down, shaking each egg to see if it had money or M&M's in it. She tossed aside the money and opened all the eggs with the candy! Little stinker! Then they ran wild from the sugar high!!! It was a great Easter (besides by horrible ear ache)!!

Happy Easter

Well, the Easter Bunny came to visit Addyson and Katelyn! After the girls looked at all the gifts the Easter Bunny left, we got ready for church. Katelyn was not too happy about the photo session as you can see from the pictures. Thank you Nana for the dresses! We did find sweaters and purses to complete the ensemble. The girls looked adorable! Addy and Kate carried their purses the entire time like champs! The church service was great and we got to celebrate Easter with my mom here!!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Too Cute...

I just ordered a travel Mah-Jongg set and it came in. The tiles are just like the regular ones except a lot smaller. They are the cutest things I have ever seen. They will be great for playing out at restaurants with the girls or on vacations! They are green sparkle on the back! They came with tiny dice too!!

Addy's New Scooter

Addy got a new scooter and helmet. I know we are super late in venturing into the scooter/bike arena, but if you have seen our driveway, you would know why! She is doing great on it. Jason took her to a vacant parking lot and taught her how to ride on it and how to stop. She loves it! Yesterday we took a walk with my mom and Addy rode her scooter the whole time!

Addy's Ultrasound

Here are Addyson and Katelyn playing in the train in the waiting room of the doctor. And the second picture is of Addy during her ultrasound. She did great. I explained everything about what would happen before we went. Lord knows she saw me get a million ultrasounds when I was pregnant with Katelyn! The technician was very nice and explained everything she did before she did it. They had disco lights going around in the room for Addy to look up at, which she liked. I did see her type 'right kidney' and 'left kidney' and measure both and take pictures. I have no idea if they are the right size, in the right place, or have cysts on them, but it appeared that there were two kidneys. I got a little teary eyed during this appointment because it brought back so many memories of ALL the ultrasounds I had with Katelyn and all the times I looked up at the monitor and saw a big blank space where her kidney should have been. I was just looking at the monitor today hoping and praying that I was not going to see a big blank space again. I was sad that it might be because of me that Addyson and Katelyn are going through all these tests, but I was happy to know that soon we will have some answers. When the technician left to give the results to the radiologist she said she would be back to tell us if they would need to look at Addy again as soon as the radiologist read the results. When she shut the door I told my mom, "it will be good news if they come back in and say they don't need to see her again." Sure enough, that is what happened. In my experience with Katelyn, they always had to have someone else, and sometimes more than two people, come in and look. Hopefully, my hunch is right. The results are being sent to Addyson's pediatrician today. Unfortunately he is on vacation until Tuesday so we won't know anything until Tuesday or Wednesday. I am hopeful everything is just fine with my little Addy Leigh! Next up on the appointments....Jen is getting an MRA on Monday morning to check her kidney function.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Kidney Sisters

Some of you may know that I have had high blood pressure since I was 23. I have been through years of on again, off again medications. After my dad passed away of a massive heart attack, I decided to have all these tests done to make sure everything was okay with my heart. I had stress tests, EKG's, an echocardiogram, and a renal ultra sound (ultrasound of the kidneys). All tests came back normal and I was diagnosed with hereditary high blood pressure. I have been medication free since before Kate was born, but it is starting to creep up again so I decided to see a cardiologist. I went on Thursday and got news that was astonishing. He recommended that I get an MRI to check my kidneys. After looking in my records he was that I had one in 2009 (as a recommendation from the last cardiologist I saw). He was reading the reports from that MRI and told me that I had a rare ectopic and cystic kidney. WHAT???? That is what Katelyn was diagnosed with when she was in my belly. Her ectopic and cystic kidney is now gone (absorbed in the body) and she only has one kidney. I was in shock. A- because no one told me this before (like whoever read my results from the MRI the first time) and B- because I have had an ultrasound of my kidneys and they said they looked fine. So- he is having me have an MRA (which is like an MRI but they inject dye to see if the kidneys are performing properly). I guess after that I will see a urologist and the genetic counselors to find out if this is a genetic thing. This could influence our decision to have more children!!! A lot of news to digest. I know I will have lots of testing done in the near future. Now that I know this information, I will have to have Addyson tested too. Her pediatrician has ordered an ultrasound of her kidneys. So I will have lots of doctor appointments coming up! I guess I will be using my babysitters for doctor appointments instead of mah jongg, dinners out, and date nights!!! I know that there is good in all of this, but I sure am ready for just one year to go by without some major thing happening, especially medically! Prayers for the kidney sisters please!!!

The Zoo...

On Saturday Katelyn and I woke up and got ready to hit the road for the zoo. We finally had a day that it was not supposed to rain and the high was supposed to get to 60. I decided we should go in the morning so it was less crowded. Kate fell asleep on the way there and seemed a little sleepy the entire time there. The animals seemed very sleepy also. The tigers, monkeys, lions, and bears were all napping. It ended up being 40 degrees while we were there, so it was a little chilly. Luckily I had packed us both an extra sweater so we were fine. Kate seemed to enjoy herself. When we got to the aquarium I let her out of her stroller which she loved! The funniest part of the day was the polar bear. It was the BEST polar bear experience I have had at the Pittsburgh Zoo because he was playing with a big plastic barrel. He would stand on the edge, hurl the barrel into the water, and then belly flop in the water on top of it! He made a huge splash, then he would play around in the water with the barrel and do the same thing over and over. It was amazing!! Well, Katelyn was terrified of him. Each time he would splash into the water she would freak out....screaming and crying! I was sad because I wanted to stay and watch, but Katelyn's screaming was distracting the other people so we took off. Overall, it was a great day at the zoo with my little Katie Reese!! After her nap we took a walk around the neighborhood. Notice her 'cheese' face again!!

Katelyn and Mommy

Jason and Addy went on a Daddy/daughter trip to Baltimore to see the Rangers, so Kate and I had the weekend to ourselves! I could tell that she truly enjoyed having me all to herself. She was almost a different child without Addy here. I enjoyed having her all by herself too (man was it easy only having one kiddo)!!!! On Friday we hung out and played around the house because it was cold and rainy all day. After her nap we loaded up and headed to the mall. She was able to get some energy out at the play area and I was able to get my Bath and Body Works hand soaps that I needed. This is Kate's new face...it is hilarious. When you hold up a camera or phone to take her picture she says, "cheeeeese" and squints her eyes. It is too cute!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Snow in April

Well, the first two days of April have been filled with snow! This is a shot from the front and back porch this morning when I woke up. Crazy!! I am experiencing major cabin fever! I need Spring to come soon!!!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Museum

Yesterday Addy had a field trip to the Carnegie Art and Science Museum. It was all about dinosaurs! She had a good time. Kate was quite the trooper considering it was smack dab in the middle of her nap time. Addy got to learn about and touch all kinds of dinosaur fossils. When I asked her what her favorite part about the trip was, she said, "the dig". They got to wear goggles and use tools to look for dinosaur bones. We had never been to this museum before and we had a good time!