Submucous Cleft Palate - What the heck is that!

That is exactly what I thought when I heard those words...Lets start the story...

August 2008 - we get a new speech because our old one never shows up. She comes to our house and does the basic evaluation with the boys. I was a little steamed because I felt we were starting all over from scratch. Within the first hour she asks if the boys have allergies. I told her not that we were aware of. She states that she hears a nasally sound coming from the boys and that she suggests that we get them checked out by and ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat dr)just to rule out that there is nothing going on there. So I make the appointment thinking nothing is wrong and we are going to waste $30 in co-pays for them to say nothing is wrong they are perfectly healthy!

September 2008 - We go to ENT's office, fill out mounds of paperwork times two, I have two tired two year olds (can you feel the stress - LOL) We get in to see the dr and they ask a million questions. He looks in Justins ears first, then Joshua's. Justin has tons of fluid in his right ear which explains why he failed the hearing tests. Joshua's is fine, just a little fluid, but not a lot. Then he looks in their mouths and says, "So when did they have surgery" while still looking in their mouths....I said "what?" and he repeated himself. I told him they had never had surgery and asked why he thought they did....He then proceeded to tell me that they were both born with a submucous cleft palate and I said "a what?" So he showed me in their mouths and sure enough there is deformaty on the roof of their mouths and in fact they both have what they call a bifid uvula. this is where the roof of the mouth does not come together properly and causes them to have either two complete separate uvulas or one that is connected at the top but split at the bottom.

Joshua has two separate uvula, Justin's looks like a snake tongue, it's connected at the top and split at the bottom like a snakes tonge is forked. You can read about it more here http://www.cleftline.org/publications/submucous

The doctor asked about four times if I were sure they had never had surgery, because the scaring on the roof of their mouth is indicative of having surgery. Albiet it didn't heal properly, but it was fused together. Justin actually has a little dimple (hole) above his uvula. I finally told the doctor "I don't know how religious you are, but the only surgery they could have had is divine sugery, because they've never had any medical surgery". He kind of looked at me funny, but the nurse smiled. This is the only way I can explain any of this....a divine miracle.

It's kind of crazy and I was in shock and disbelief. The doctor kept asking me how long they were in NICU and all kinds of questions. Our question was how could the doctors in the NICU miss this. According to the doctor, this is common in premie babies and he thinks they should have checked for this. Especially with their feeding issues, swallowing, choking and subsequent ear infections over their first year of life. It explains so many things. It explains why they could never latch on very strong, which all the doctors told us that was normal in premies. So we believed them. It explains why they got choked very easily and why we had to use premie nipples for almost the whole first year of their life. And it explains why the speech delay....

However, the ENT is amazed at how well they are doing and have over come this on their own. He contributes it to a few things we did when they were little. We never laid them down while they were taking a bottle. We held them on an angle and we proped their beds up on a slight angle under the mattess. He thinks these few things we did on our own helped them not have as many ear infections as they had. Also the fact that they were speaking at all was amazing to him with the amount of problems they had going on.

Justin's left ear was so full of old fluid, he couldn't explain why it wasn't infected. So he gave him Nasonex to try for three weeks and if it wasn't cleared up, he recommended Justin for ear tubes. We went back in at the end of September only to find out there was no change in the fluid - so off to surgery we went.....

October 9, 2008 - Justin was set for surgery - we waited longer to see the doctor than the surgery took. About 10 minutes and it was all over. First words out of Justin's mouth after surgery was "where's Joshie". They can't be away from each other for very long. This was the first time they were apart for a long period of time. After surgery, we were going to go home and take a nap and leave Joshua at my sisters house for a bit, but Justin was so adiment on finding Josh that we thought it would be a good idea to get Joshua and put them both down for a nap....

Follow up visit went well for both boys - no fluid at all. Joshua's went away on it's own without getting infected! Another shock to the doctor (isn't God amazing!) He would have been scheduled for tubes next....so far so good though!

December 3, 2008 - both boys passed their hearing tests with flying colors! Just pray the tubes stay in place and that Joshua doesn't get any ear infections....we tend to keep their ears covered all the time now, especially in the cold...

So that is the long story, but felt I needed to document things for them....so now when they don't come when I call them I know they are ignoring me on purpose, not that they can't hear me!

Christmas Eve

We're here again - LOL We have decided to send out New Year's cards instead of the ever popular Christmas cards - We'll start the new year off appreciating those that mean so much to us!

We are off to my sister's house this year. We have had a few changes in plans since dad is not doing so well. However, he is doing way better than he was. His blood pressure is actually sometimes too low. His blood sugar however, continues to fluctuate - especially when no one is watching what he is eating! LOL

We are so very blessed to have such wonderful family and I thank God everday for allowing me to have such a terrific husband and beautiful, smart, healthy children!

At this time of year I always tend to get very emotional about things. Especially miss my mom so very much around the holidays - I miss her all the time, but these times seem to be especially difficult. I wish she could see my beautiful children and see how happy we are. I know she is "seeing" us, but I just wish I could talk to her and feel her hugs again........

Dan and I have been talking a lot about Christmas's past.....like when we were kids and so forth. I miss being a kid and not worrying about anything - just the excitement of the holidays. But then we have to stop and count our blessings also and think that if it weren't for all the things we have gone through, we probably wouldn't be here today - together and happy.....

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! I'm off to carve the ham!

Church Christmas Play

The kids were involved with the annual church Christmas program. The associate pastor's wife Meagan Nichols wanted the twins to come up also and join in. She has a daughter who is almost the same age. Well we tried...LOL They both went up and stood by Miranda for about 1 minute and then Justin was not going to have any of it - He came back by Dan and I. Joshua however decided he liked it and stayed most of the time. Dylan started the program off and Miranda sang the first verse of Away in a Manger - all by herself! I'm glad I video taped it! LOL I couldn't see very well through my watery eyes when she was actually singing.... Here is video of her song - a little off key, but oh so cute to this mommy! Hopefully next year she'll be playing the piano.......

My niece Amanda's wedding

December 20, 2008 What a beautiful day!



Amanda and Rich



Amanda, Rich and Randy

Randy starts his new job tomorrow!

Randy starts at Walsh Automotive tomorrow. He is very excited and I am too for him. This is what he wants to do in life and I think this will be a wonderful experience for him.

I like the fact that it is family owned and operated. Mrs. Walsh called him today to tell him what he will be doing tomorrow. They liked the fact that he is going to be pursuing a career in automotive technology and that he has worked with my dad who has been a mechanic for over 40 years! Dad is so proud of him too, not just because he's doing this type of work, but because he's doing so good in school and dad says he just "has it" when it comes to mechanics.

So - can I say again how proud I am of him? LOL

Twin slave?

Okay, this was really cute today, but it got me thinking.......I was putting the boys to bed and Joshua had said he wanted milk. I gave him some and put them to bed and shut the light off and went back to cleaning the kitchen...in walks Joshua a few minutes later saying he wanted milk. I told him he had milk in his cup, but he insisted - so being the persistent little booger he is, I opened up the cup to show him he did have milk - LOL I was shocked to see juice LOL then he calmly said Justin wants milk! LOL They are having a hard time speaking certain sounds and Joshua and Justin both sound almost the same. He looked at me and LAUGHED! LOL

However, it got me thinking that Justin has been bossing around his brother. Mind you they are only 2 1/2! I walked behind him to see what he was going to do and he went back into the bedroom, gave Justin the cup, and COVERED HIM UP! It was the cutest thing, but I wonder how long this bossing around thing is going to last before Joshua wises up! LOL

We also had a long day today. Miranda's girl scout troop is filling 6,000 bags of candy for Operation Santa Claus.....Dylan's boy scout troop and the fire department (Dan) hands out the candy on December 6th as the fire trucks go down the streets and the boys go door to door handing out candy.....we are going to be filling bags for quite a few more days! LOL At last count we had 1,100 bags filled today! Not too bad, but still a long way to go....

Good day! Dare I say we are potty trained!!!!!!! And piano lessons started!

I think we have done it! Woo Hoo! The boys have been dry for over a week now! I can't believe it. I never thought I would see this day! LOL We introduced the potty chairs when they turned 2, just like I did with all my other kids, but they just did not want anything to do with it! Then I had just had it about two weeks ago. I had picked up my last poopy diaper laying in the floor! They knew what they were doing and I was ready to get mad and stern with them and they did it!!!!!!!!!!!!! We started the rewards chart and it seemed to take off right away. I went cold turkey - no more diapers during the day. Even though they begged and cried for them! LOL We made a big deal about it and dare I say it? We've done it!!!! I was doing this with only 6 pairs of underwear.....I told them I would buy them more underwear when they didn't mess in them! It worked! So today we went out and bought 6 more pairs!

By the way - why do we say "pair" of underwear? There's only one!? Weird....anyway I'm so happy that I can hardly hold it in. Now we just have to figure out better clothes than jeans to wear in the house. They have a hard time getting them up and down. They have tons of jeans, and hardly any sweat pants or easier up and down clothes.....LOL For right now they have been in pj's for 3 days straight.....Hey, they don't go out of the house in them - it's easier on me and they are comfortable play wear! LOL

Today we also had Miranda's first piano lessons! We have wanted her to learn how to play piano for some time now. My biological mother was a concert pianist who won International awards. I however, did not get this gene...my parents paid for me to have lessons for years and I can't play anything....Maybe it helped me type faster? LOL Several people have told me that Miranda has "it", I guess they mean rhythm...We have tried to "afford" to send her to piano lessons and there was always something in our way.

Out of the blue the other day we were at the library and we met some of our old friends we knew a couple of years ago from our homeschooling group. We got to talking and catching up on things and I asked if her girls were still playing piano. I was inquiring about where they go for lessons as we live very close to them now. Come to find out her son who has been taking lessons for years teaches piano! For $5 a lesson! He's young and this is what he wants to do so it helps him towards his teaching skills. I can't say how thankful we are that this door opened up for us! Not to mention that we get to renew friendships with friends we haven't seen in a long time!

Miranda was on cloud nine today. After her piano lesson, us girls, all five of us, had a tea party with REAL CHINA and real hot tea! LOL We felt very special today. Now Mom is going to want to do this every week too! LOL I get 1/2 hour of "adult" conversation and she gets to learn! Friends are a wonderful thing in life!

Our day in the woods....

It has been so nice lately that we decided to take the kids to the woods today after school. We went to Bull Frog lake and had a picnic. Since the time change, it got dark on us fast and boy is it dark out there! LOL

The kids had a wonderful time playing outside and just running up and down the hill. It sure tired them out. We came home and the kids played a little more with daddy and Randy, Miranda and I had a tea party and then I gave the boys a bath - boy were they tired!

We had a wonderful day today as a family and hope for many more days like this, although Jerry Taft (weather guy) said it's all going away tomorrow! Boo Hoo! You've gotta love Chicago weather!

Potty training twins.....

Did I tell ya how much grey hair I have on my head now? We bought the potty chairs 9 months ago. The boys were just a little over 2 years. I read in a book to "introduce" the potty chair as a welcome addition to the family. Well we did this and every time they would sit on the potty they would tinkle. It got progressively better as time went on and they were actually telling me they had to go, but nothing came! LOL We let them run around with no underwear or diapers on during the day - but do you know how hard it is to run a household and try and keep an eye on them EVERY SECOND? It's not easy and I was so very tired of cleaning up messes - especially the #2 kind!!!! Remember the grey hair thing? LOL

I then introduced some psychology to the mix...."diapers are for babies" and that kind of stuff. We rented videos from the library that they LOVED! Now they run around the house and say "Potty Power" - LOL Well, I'm not sure what is working, but now I'm getting strict with them and we are no longer wearing diapers during they day. We have a potty chart where they get stickers (tried this in the beginning too, but didn't work as well as it is now) and a special one for #2! Dare I say I think we are almost there?

We have been dry for a week now, except for nap time and nights, but I think we're getting somewhere. The boys got new fishes to celebrate!

Exhausted!

Justin woke up this morning coughing and took a drink of his milk which had soured and must have made him sick to his stomach and turned into him throwing up on my bed! What a nice thing to wake up too. He cried for quite a while and we finally got him calmed down and as soon as my head hit the pillow again - in walks Joshua...So both are in bed with us now. Not to mention, my little "friend" (why do we call it that anyway - it is definitely NOT my friend - LOL) came right before bed last night and I didn't sleep very well with cramps. Sometimes I wonder if I could handle hot flashes and be gone with cramping, I'm already moody, so menopause could be a welcome thing! LOL

The day went okay, Justin started feeling better by around 11 a.m. and was up playing with Joshua again. You should have seen Joshua walking around like he didn't know what to do with himself since Justin was sleeping in. He would walk over to Justin and rub his forehead (he saw us doing it) and say "feel better yet?" It was so cute! By around 4 p.m. he was running around and we didn't give them a nap since they slept most of the morning - HUGE MISTAKE!!!!

They were outside playing with dad in the leaves and mom ran and voted. I came home, all was well. We sat down to eat dinner and you'd think we pressed the CRY button! They both were not happy with anything...They didn't want to be held, they didn't want to eat, they just cried and cried.......at one point while cooking dinner, getting back packs ready for tomorrow, I felt like sitting down and crying with them. Of course, the rest of the family was oblivious to what was going on.....We finally got them calmed down around 10:30 p.m. and they went to sleep...we started at 9:30 p.m.! I am sooo very thankful Dan was off tonight!

We let the older kids stay up late to watch the elections since these are historical times in our country. We discussed a few things, prayed and put them to bed. Now I'm off to bed - I'll do dishes in the morning!

Oh, we are so proud of Randy. A couple of months ago, one of his teachers at school recommended him to be an election judge. He went to the schooling and he was an election judge. He did have to get up at around 4 a.m., but he made us proud and he should also be proud to be a part of history in our country. Even if it is a small part, he'll remember this day forever. Now, I'm off to bed - just hoping and praying the boys stay sleeping!

Parent Teacher Conferences

We had Dylan and Miranda's PT conferences today. Miranda got all B's. Dylan did wonderful with 4 A's, 2 B's and 2 C's that were only points away from being B's! They are both on the Honor Roll!! I am so very proud of them. You can not imagine how proud I am when I see them struggle through things and then to get the final results and see how well they are doing. It makes a mom's heart beat with pride!

Dylan is still struggling with reading but he's come a long way! The teachers at his school are fantastic and I can't begin to tell you what an answer to prayer that is! Dan and I were so scared putting them into school when I was so sick when I was PG with the twins, that I prepared myself for the worst and I got the best! God truly knew we needed to move here! He paved the way completely....

Halloween 2008

So another year is come and gone for Halloween! Dan and Dylan's favorite "non" holiday - LOL They built more torture chambers again this year by adding the hanging gallows and a stockade. They are still in the process of building the fort in the backyard too. Never a dull moment around here for building projects with the boys.

The kids dressed up and we went trick or treating. It was a beautiful day! Usually here in the Windy City we are layering the kids so they don't get cold. This year we were taking clothes off so they didn't get hot! LOL

It was so fun to see the twins "getting into it" for ringing the doorbells and knocking! LOL But if they didn't answer right away, they were off running to the next house.

Randy had to work today so we missed him being there. We did have a TON of kids come by as our house was the scary house on the block! LOL I'm going to try and upload a video that you can see a little bit of the house......

All in all we had a wonderful day, gave out 50 lbs of candy and ran out at the end of the night - we started giving away some of ours! LOL Only for about two kids though.........

I'm burried!

Paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork! Seems everyone wants something in writing these past few days! Between work, schools and insurance companies - I'm burried in paperwork!

Randy had parent teacher conferences today......I am so proud of him. He (again) had four A's and three B's. He's even getting an A in Trigonometry - which he says is easy! LOL His hardest classes - Honors English IV and Forensic Science he's getting a B in both!

Dollinger Family Farm

We went to a fabulous place today (10/18/08). Dylan had been waiting for this for a long time. It was a Civil War Days Re-enactment complete with authentic clothes, guns, horses, and even a battle scene.

The place is called Dollinger Family Farm in Channahon, IL and it is also a pumpkin farm. So we killed two birds with one stone today. We got there for the Battle and then there was so much to see and do that we were there for five hours! Miranda was in seventh heaven with all the horses around. Joshua and Justin were so excited and they were actually really good for quite a while until Justin decided he just wanted to sit down and play in the rocks! I guess I have passed on my love for rocks to my kids! I remember going to places when I was a kid and wanting to bring a rock home from every place we have visited........I still do this LOL So they get it honestly!

Dan ate so much I thought he was going to blow up - he can't seem to pass up huge pork chops on a stick. These things had to be almost three inches thick and tender and juicy from "Dad's Grill"! Justin ate a whole hot dog - even the bread! Everyone ate well that day! LOL We will be making this a family tradition according to the boys in the family.....we missed Randy being there, he was busy and didn't come with.

Here are some pictures of the day and a video of the battle.

Miranda in her bonnet.....

They had their faces painted too. Joshua was a scary cat (see the fangs) and Justin had a spider web with a spider on his nose!

Joshua and Justin did NOT want to get off the train!

Finding his wings

Okay, so I've been a little melancholy lately. I've been doing all kinds of financial aid paperwork for Randy to be able to go to college and it has unknowingly made me a little upset. I can't believe my baby is going to be leaving me! I am so worried I can barely function. All I keep thinking about is how is he going to manage without me - LOL But what is really scary is how am *I* going to function without him being here! I'm not going to be there to remind him to do things, and tell him he needs to shave - LOL

I truly can't believe I have a son old enough to go to college when I'm still dealing with the totally terrifying 2's! LOL I just hope and pray that our family is going to be able to handle all the changes that are happening around us. My heart is breaking just thinking about it - how am I going to live through him leaving? I know we have done our best in raising him, so I guess now is the time to let him find his wings.........

My worst nightmare....

Okay, so you all know that my husband is a police officer. I thank the Lord daily that we have never had any horrible incidents, but these little ones are enough for me!

A couple of weeks ago, there was a shooting and they were chasing the car. Dan and another officer cut the car off and one of the offenders jumped out with a gun and started running. Dan ordered the guy to stop at gun point, but he didn't stop. Dan quickly caught the guy and tackled him. He continued to fight.

When Dan tackled the guy, he pulled the guy to the ground and when they fell, he twisted to knock the guy face first into the ground and in doing so his side hit the curb with a lot of force. Other officers ran over to assist, as the offender would not stop fighting, so another officer pepper sprayed him. Needless to say, Dan got it too, as his face was right there and the type of pepper spray that was used is like aerosol and is the police issued kind. The particles go EVERYWHERE.

Anyway, Dan got the shooter and the gun! He called to let me know that he would be late, as he needed to go get his face and eyes flushed. This has happened before so I wasn't too concerned, until his Lieutenant called to let me know he would be late also....Dan DID NOT tell me that they took him to the hospital via ambulance! Or that he had hurt his back! Then I began to get very worried, but he soon called to let me know he was okay, just bruised and burning from the pepper spray. That stuff is horrible. When he got home, his face looked like a tomato and the white part of his eyes were bloody, not just blood shot!

So he was off of work for about a week to heal his bruising and let his eyes get some rest.

Please keep him and all law enforcement in your prayers! We thank God daily for our blessings and for keeping him safe all the time!

A little bit about us...lately

Okay, so I decided that I needed to make a family page instead of everything being all about the twins......They are special, but so are the rest of my kids....So much has been happening lately and this will also give me a way to share our wonderful life with the rest of my family and friends. So I'm venturing into the BLOG world! So this one is probably going to be a little longer than most.........

We had a great summer enjoying the kids. We pretty much stayed around home this year. Gas prices are killing us! LOL We did, however, have to take a trip to Tennessee for my Granny's funeral. She was 101! She outlived my mom, and two of my uncles. She was an amazing woman and I'm so glad that my kids met her several times before she passed, but I just wish they could have known her as I did! She was a true mountain woman, all the way through her dark, weathered Indian skin.

On the way back home, we stopped and visited Nashville Auto Diesel College. This is where Randy wants to attend. Little did we know that his acceptance letter was at home when we visited the college. It's not in the best of area, but it is a great college. They offer free refresher courses for a lifetime once you complete their program. For instance, when new technology comes out in the automotive industry, he can go back down there and take the classes FREE, even if he's 50! LOL So he is accepted, now the paperwork beings. He is taking and entrance exam and Scholarship test next Saturday..........Please keep him in your prayers.

School started off without a hitch. Kids did really well. They both are realizing that school gets harder and harder the older you get, but they are doing great. Dylan is in 7th grade, and Miranda is in 3rd, and of course our Randy is a senior this year! Can you believe it?! I can't! I still look at all of them and think they should be little kids at home playing! Time does fly by too quickly!

Dan is still working the police department, fire department and for a hobby does firework displays - LOL

I am working at home still for Home Educators Resource Directory. It is an online directory for homeschoolers. I enjoy the work and love to help the homeschooling community as homeschooling is in my blood!

Okay, here is my first post.....I'm officially a blogger!

Above is a picture of my Granny! We love and miss you Granny!