Stanford

About 2 weeks ago, Jon's brother Chris called and told us that a neurologist at Stanford had offered to review Jacob's MRI scans for free and give us a second opinion! How did this happen? Well, Chris works with a lady who's husband is a researcher at Stanford. Chris was sharing Jacob's story with her and she then talked to her husband. He got talking to this neurologist about Jacob and he made the offer. Small world, right? I immediately jumped on the phone to get a copy of the MRI and as much information as I could. Within 2 days, I had the CD in the mail to the doctor for his review. A few days later he emailed me with a request for more information. Again, I immediately got what he needed. I knew this was a blessing from God and it was my responsibility to grab it! Yesterday, we got a call from another doctor at Stanford, the Chief of Pediatric Neurology to be exact, and he wanted to see us today (Friday). We made quick arrangements for the triplets and Jon got the day off. Today, Jon and I took Jacob to Stanford for his appointment. We saw 2 doctors who both did a thorough physical and neurological exam on Jacob. They asked us a million questions and reviewed all of Jacob's lab work. Their findings were exactly what Jacob's current neurologists' were - they don't know. Jacob's MRI shows two areas of white brain matter. One explanation could be an infection. They only way to know this is to repeat the MRI in another month or two and see if the spots have reduced in size or are gone. This would indicate a possible infection. But, weather or not this is related to seizures, we don't know. We still have a few blood tests out, so something may come back on those. In one way, I'm relieved nothing different came up today. I was nervous that something serious would be revealed. But on the other hand, I wanted to at least get a little more information about what's going on. It's SO hard knowing that your 4-year-old has two areas of white brain matter and Epilepsy, but you don't know anything else. It's scary. So at this point, we wait for more lab results. We repeat the MRI in a month or two. We have a hearing test (Oct 1st). We keep taking his medication. We keep praying...

Bodega Bay

After Labor Day weekend, we headed to Rohnert Park for a visit with Jon's family. We started with a fun bbq at Jon's brother and sister-in-law's house. It was great to see everyone! It had been awhile since we have all gotten together. Thanks to Dan and Amy for hosting! Beautiful Sonoma County weather day! Loved it!

The following day we headed out to Bodega Bay with the kids, my friend Deb, Jon's parents and his nephew. Oh, and Uncle Jeff and his new puppy Stella joined us! Such a great day! I could not stop clicking my camera. Too many adorable and fun moments with the kids. The weather started off a bit foggy, but it cleared up quickly and turned out to be fabulous! The kids as usual LOVED the beach!

It always takes Megan a few minutes to get used to the sand on her feet.

The boys exploring the beach

Someone had dug this giant hole that the kids loved to jump and play in

Mommy and Meh-Meh

This very nice older couple walked by and of course said "wow, you've got your hands full!". I swear, if I had a nickle for every time we heard that! They went on to say what a beautiful family we had and how adorable the kids were. She offered to take our photo and this was the best we could get! I think I'm the only one looking at the camera! Oh well!

I LOVE this photo!

"Come on guys!"

Daddy leading the troops to check for crabs by the levy... unfortunately, no luck, but we did see a seal swimming along the shoreline later in the day!

Grandma A. and Megan

Grandma A. and Jacob

"I need a nap!"

Our babies

The kids were zonked out on the ride back to RP. We had a fantastic day at the beach!

Labor Day

We had such a fun Labor Day over at my mom and dad's house! Last year, my parents started a yearly tradition of swimming, dinner, fire pit with s'mores and an outdoor movie! Tons of fun! The little kids got to stay up this year for Madagascar 2, one of our families favorites. They loved the s'mores and everyone had an awesome time! Here's some of the fun moments:

The kids decided to hop on daddy for a little ride this morning. Don't they look like they're on one of those banana things you see behind a ski boat? Too funny! What's even funnier is the look on Ryan and Dylan's faces! Totally giving me the stink eye!


I met my mom tonight at Costco for some shopping. We were in desperate need of everything so I called in for help! Thanks mom!! I couldn't resist the table full of winter footie jammies so I picked up a pair for each of the kids. I think Jacob decided he was too old for footie's and got some space ship jammies instead. He thinks it looks like Star Wars! Of course, as soon as we got home from Costco, Jacob put his on and the little kids wanted to wear theirs to bed. Mind you, it was probably close to 100 degrees at our house today, but oh well! They'll probably wake up dripping in sweat! Good thing with have air conditioning! I can't wait for the fall weather to kick in.

Pizza picnic and the park

Yesterday we decided to pick up pizza and head to the park for a pizza picnic! It turned out really fun and the kids had a great time. We ate and then played frisbee. (As a side note, frisbee's purchased at the Dollar Tree don't fly worth a darn!). Dylan was still munchin' on his slice of pizza while we were trying to play frisbee and the ducks were about ready to pounce on him! It was pretty funny (only because it didn't happen!). The kids had a blast chasing the ducks around and thankfully nobody ended up in the little lake they have at the park! The kids were laughing and running around like crazy! Such a joy to watch. I got choked up watching them because we've had a rough summer and I just cherish those moments when everyone is happy, healthy and just running their little hearts out. After frisbee and duck chasing, we headed over to the play structure. This park has a pretty high and fast slide, which Jacob, Megan and Ryan loved - but Dylan - not so much. He did it one time and the look on his face was priceless! Poor little guy was terrified! So he stuck to the smaller twisty slide from then one. After that, we loaded up the van and headed home for baths and bedtime.

Jon and I were talking at the park how easy it is to just stay home and eat pizza and play in the backyard... but that's not what life is about for us. We want our kids to be out in the world, experiencing life and having fun. Not that we don't do those things at home, but it's too easy to not put in the extra work it involves to take four kids four and under out for a picnic. We're slowly figuring this whole thing out I guess! The greatest thing is that we are doing it together. Jon is such a supportive and understanding husband. He really gets how tough it is for me at home 24/7 with the kids and wants to spend his free time away from work with us doing family things together. I couldn't ask for a better husband, partner, father and friend... Ok, here come the tears again... I better stop typing! What a sap I am!

Railroad Museum

We took the kids to the Railroad Museum yesterday morning. We've been wanting to go check it out, so we were excited to finally get to go. The first floor is full of real trains and historic information. We got to walk through an original mail train, a dining car and a sleeper car. Very neat! Then the second floor has a bunch of Thomas the Train train tables set up for kids to play with. Needless to say, this was a hit with our four kiddos! I had to bribe them with salt water taffy to get them to leave for lunch! They were having a great time. It's fun to see them just loving life and being kids. We finally got them out of the museum and headed into Old Town for a picnic lunch. We got to see 3 trains go in and out of the train station while we ate, which the kids thought was pretty cool! After lunch, Jacob and I hit the candy store for some taffy and then we headed home for naptime. Thankfully, the kids stayed awake on the way home and then took a great nap. We had a fun family day and were exhausted by the time we got home!

First week of preschool

Jacob started his new preschool on Monday! He's going MWF mornings and so far, it's going good! Monday was a welcome day where mom's and dad's were able to stay with their kid to adjust to the new classroom. I went with Jacob and had a great time. We did puzzles, colored, played kitchen and lots of other fun things. Wednesday morning was the actual first day of class. He went in with no problem! I gave him a hug and kiss goodbye and off he went! We got his medical bracelet a few days before school started, as well as a new pair of Spiderman light-up sneakers - he was all set! I'm not a fan of the shoes ... I wanted to get the cute, stylish pair at Target, but Jon told me to let it go - "he's a boy"! So, I'm letting it go (even though they are ugly!). It's hard to believe that once this school year is over (on Jacob's 5th birthday), he's going to Kindergarten! The little kids were with me when I dropped Jacob off on Wednesday and when I got back in the car they kept asking - "where Jakey?" I think they asked me that about 100 times that morning - so cute! When we got home, Dylan found one of Jacob's Star Wars toys and he said - "Jakey, Star Wars". I told him to play his little heart out because Jacob wasn't here to tell him no! I think they enjoyed the alone time with mommy (and Jacob's toys!).