Fetal Echo and Transplant Clinic

Nothing could have gone better today!  The morning started out with a breakfast at the hotel, followed by more breakfast at the hospital (Owen needed his protein fix).  My fetal echo was long and Owen had his echo in the room across the hall.  I heard him chatting with the echo tech the entire time... we were laughing. 

Baby looks totally normal.  The structure of his heart is perfect, his function is great and there are no concerns.  We were advised to plan on having an echo performed at the hospital prior to being discharged at birth to double check everything, but it appears this baby is perfect!  This little guy was flipping and flopping the entire echo so it took much longer than normal, which may have had my nerves on edge.  It's usually not a positive thing when it requires multiple echo techs, followed by a cardiologist to get images.  I thought for sure they saw something awful and kept looking to confirm it.  PTSD much? 

Owen's echo was followed up with transplant clinic.  His heart looks beautiful as well.  His labs were right on target and we even got the go ahead to kick his Steroids to the curb in the next few weeks!  No more steroids!!!  When those are gone, we can ditch the Bactrum and blood pressure meds as well.  That will leave him with Asprin, Cellcept, Prograf, Diltiazem, and Omeprazole.  For the first time in his life he will be on less than 9 meds!!  He will be on these five meds FOREVER, although I may get brave and ditch the Omeprazole soon.  We will also be adding some vitamins as he is orally eating mostly on his own, so we will need to do some supplements.  We will also have to add a statin at some point to help prevent the progression of Coronary Artery Disease.  

In October, we will return to LPCH for Owen's annual biopsy where they will check all his coronary arteries and check the stent in his SVC.  We will also check his DSAs (donor specific antibodies) to make sure they are still at zero. 

We feel extremely blessed by all the good news today! 

Owen and I visited his LPCH school today and he showed off for all his teachers. He had a great time on this trip and can't wait to come back in October.  He keeps telling me how great these trips are.  I love that he is so comfortable with HIS life and his normal. 

Thanks for reading and keeping us in your prayers!! 

Traveling Fun

It has been a long day of traveling with my favorite travel buddy.  We woke up early, took Sis to school, and came home to pack.  It doesn't matter if we pack for a week, or 24 hours, we have the same amount of luggage.  We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare.  Owen was loving that everyone kept stopping him to call him Superman (his shirt of choice this morning).  The trend has continued on throughout the day and he finally said.. "I love California.. it's like I'm famous or something!"  We checked into our hotel by 4pm and just in time to catch an episode of SpongeBob (gag!).  We ran to the RMH for dinner, had some magic fun with our friend Art the Clown, and then BINGO night.  Owen was the first to score BINGO and won himself a laser Lego set.  A quick stop at Chipotle for rice, beans, chips and "spicy salsa" for the little man and we are finally relaxing in our hotel room. 

We have an early morning check in at LPCH for my fetal echo on our baby boy and hope that everything is perfect with his tiny heart!  Owen will have his echo after mine and then we both have clinic appointments.  It's going to be a long day followed by another long day of travel.  I'm totally looking forward to our three day weekend coming up! 

Last weekend was a little crazy, but full of fun!  We had three family parties on Saturday.  Lucy's 7th birthday party in the AM.  Gpa Todd's surprise birthday party in the afternoon.  The evening was spent at the waterpark that the orthodontist rents out every year for patient appreciation.  I took tons of pictures but I only have energy to upload this one right now. More to come...

Prayers appreciated for tomorrow.  Hoping to stop a few of Owen's medications, most importantly, the steroids!!  Also, hoping for a perfect heart for baby #3!  I'm exhausted just typing this, time for more SpongeBob torture. 

After School Snacks with Bagel Bites

School is back in full swing and my days are busier than ever!!  I do a victory dance each morning at about 8:10am because I have successfully gotten everyone up and out of the house and to school on time!!  I have about three hours to get errands run, the house cleaned, emails/phone calls returned and I'm off to pick up Owen.

We come home and have a nice, long lunch together.  He loves to watch a movie, play quietly and just relax because he is so exhausted from those three hours of school.  Before we know it, it's time to hop in the car and get to the high school to pick up Kam.  That's when my days really begin!

As soon as we get home, I have two starving children.  I love to have plenty of quick and convenient snacks on hand.  Bagel Bites are easy to throw in the oven for 12 minutes and we are on the go again!  I like that they are baked, not fried.  They are made with real cheese and the tomato sauce is made from scratch.  My kids love them with some cut up veggies or a couple pieces of fruit.  They have full bellies and are happy!

Kam usually has at least three hours of homework, a couple hours of dance, practices her violin and she just joined the Japanese club on Friday afternoons.  She is a busy girl and so needless to say, she has only time to grab her food and GO!  As much as I love how active and busy she is... I do look forward to our weekends when we can slow down and enjoy some down time.

Owen, on the other hand, likes to take his time and eat.  He sits at the kitchen table with his after school snacks, plugs in his iPad and completes his reading homework on Raz-Kids.  He has 20 minutes of reading each day and it's the perfect time for him to read and enjoy his snack.  Since he likes his food a little spicy, I sprinkled on some red pepper flakes and gave him a side of spicy marinara sauce to dip them in.
Life is busy and we wouldn't have it any other way!  My kids are finally settled into a routine and both are loving school. Visit the Bagel Bites website for more information and you can find a coupon here!

 I'd love to hear what your kids' favorite after school snack is?!  Leave a comment below for a chance to win $100 Visa gift card provided by Bagel Bites!!

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Simmons Family BUSY Update

Whew.. life has been BUSY!!!  We made it through another week of school, curriculum nights, packing to move, dance, house shopping... I am exhausted!

Kam is loving High School!  We had curriculum night last week and it was good opportunity for me to walk through a day in her life at school.  I met all her teachers and was overwhelmed by their expectations... so glad Kam is self motivated... I was not.  This week we picked up calligraphy brushes for Japanese.  I could hardly understand her teacher for fifteen minutes, let alone learn the entire language and how to write characters in calligraphy ink. Go Kam!  She must love it, because she passed up Elite dance placement because it fell during the same hour as Japanese.  She also joined her first real High School Club.. the Japan Club.  She is dancing a lot this year and is in the intermediate class at school.  She did a solo audition for the dance teachers this week and is standing out.  Her curriculum is overwhelming, with very high expectations as she is in all honors classes.  She is doing fantastic, her teachers are noticing and she is enjoying just being with her friends all day. 

Owen is thriving in first grade.  He has a "girl" friend he talks about all the time.. it's really adorable.  He is the first to raise his hand and always gets the answer correct.  He loves following directions and being obedient.  I love when he tells me little stories like "after recess we line up, blow a bubble in our mouth, put our hands at our sides and wait to go in to class."  Or when I get a play by play of what Payton and he did at recess.. "Payton was wearing a pink shirt and pigtails today.  We played blow the leaves and found some spoons in the rocks.  She told me to throw the rocks, so I did.  I'll do anything pretty girls tell me to do."  Okay, so we had a chat at the dinner table about the last statement. :)  He is writing so much better, cruising through his math, excelling socially and academically!  I couldn't ask for more.  He still gets exhausted each day and only goes from 8am to 11am... then crashes hard from about 2pm to 4:30pm.  We somehow manage to squeeze in some homework and lots of playtime! 

C. and I are busy getting this house ready to sell.  We have been leasing for a couple years while we watch the market go up and down like a rollercoaster.  The homeowners are ready to sell, so we are super busy looking for a new home and getting packed up and organized.  We also have a trip to Stanford next week for Owen and his baby brother (fetal echo).  I'm exhausted most evenings and am fast asleep before my head even hits the pillow. 

Baby Simmons is doing great.  He is squiggling all over and there is no better feeling in the world!  Sometimes I get nervous that I haven't felt him move but as soon as I crank up the music, he starts dancing.  We love all the name suggestions we have gotten thus far, but we are so busy with other things, that this little guy will remain nameless a bit longer.  Owen is the most protective of his little bro telling me "mom, you can't drink that soda, it's not good for the baby!"  or "Are you sitting on the counter while talking on the phone... you are PREGNANT!"  or "You can't give me a piggy back, you have a baby in your tummy."  It's very sweet.. most of the time.

I'm offline to get busy finding a house!! 

20 Week Baby Bump and School Stories

This week is a pretty big milestone.. I am halfway done with this pregnancy! In 20 weeks, we will be meeting the future baby Simmons.  We are at a loss for boy names... ideas welcome!!  Here is the creepy bathroom selfie of my 20 week baby bump.  I finally felt our little guy move this week for the first time!  In the beginning of my pregnancy I craved fruit and protein made me gag. I'm still not a fan of any meat, but crave sushi (nothing raw obviously).  I am guilty of eating the occasional eggo waffle and today I tried a pop tart (gag!).  I feel great and have TONS of energy... let's hope that continues on for another 20 weeks!!

In other news... both kids finished their first week of school and survived.  I love hearing about their days!  Kam is getting used to high school and I feel like we have been living in the car going to an from dance/school/school supply shopping.  Kam got her a new haircut this week and she is finally embracing her curl!!! 

Owen loves first grade and is making lots of friends.  He even has his first crush on the first week of school.  The little girl in the Green Group.. Owen is in the red group.. but not captain of the red group, that is Ella.  Here are my FB posts...

Just picked Up Owen from school... "Mom..that girl I like in the green group...she was playing under the bridge at recess. She is so pretty. I went to play under the bridge at recess too. But I was too embarrassed to talk to her. "

Followup from yesterday. ."Mom...I know the girls name I like...Payton. I made her my friend. We played under the bridge at recess! She was eating beef jerky she found in the rocks. Relationships are serious." #1stgrade

These after school conversations are so sweet and we continue to hear about his school day at the dinner table.  I wish I had a tape recorder on all the time!  He is very obedient at school per his teachers and he is always ready to raise his hand and share.  Like when the teacher asked the students for their favorite sport.. "I raised my hand because I'm obedient.  I told the teacher that I am saving up all my energy to win the epic battle against Livvy.  Then I told her I like karate and I'm a kung fu master."  It's safe to say first grade is a hit!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Daddy will be home soon, Kam is off to her first High School party with friends, and I'm going to convince the boys to take me out for Sushi! 

First Day as a Freshman

I laid in bed at 5am, wide awake, waiting for my alarm clock to buzz and give me permission to get out of bed.  Kam came and climbed in bed with me and said she was up every hour, looking at the clock.  This is the first day of HIGH SCHOOL!!!!  I'm going to brag and say that we were 30 minutes early for school and she even gave me a kiss and said "I love you".  I am SO excited to pick her up at 2:30 and find out about her first day!! 

Don't blink.... this was her just yesterday starting her first day of Kindergarten!!  It really goes by so fast!

First

 

Second

Third Fourth

Fifth

 Sixth

Seventh

Eighth



I got Owen off to school only fifteen minutes late and now I am home.  The house is eerily quiet.  I'm missing my babies, but I have plenty to get done.  Off to clean house!!

First day of 1st grade

This morning was a pretty big deal as this little guy started 1st grade!  Forget the fact that we were 30 minutes late for school... we made it!  Last night as I was tucking Owen into bed, he asked "why can't you come to school with me?  Why can't we just always be together?"  My heart.  It's so hard to let go.  We met Owen's aide in the front office and we all walked him back to his first grade classroom.  Kam and I waited in the hall as he led the way into his 1st grade class... never looking back.   Walking out of the school without my littlest buddy was not easy. 

Here is a little throwback to last year... this was Owen's first day of Kindergarten at the LPCH Hospital School!  He has come SO far and that makes these firsts so very special. 

Owen is only going to 1st grade for a few hours a day to start and we'll work him up to a full day schedule. Since Kam doesn't start school until Wednesday and we had two hours to burn, we went for mani/pedis.  It's always fun to have one on one time with my favorite girl.  She helped the time pass quickly!

We picked up Owen just before lunch and he had a great time!  His aide said he was obedient, smart and made friends easily.  He told us every detail of his day... "I told Mrs. Z that I wasn't going to be at school on August 8th because the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie comes out that day.  She said okay."  Oy.  This boy.  We also heard all about recess and how the boys like to wrestle and trip each other.  Oh and when asked how he felt about school he responded with "it's knowledge."  He is excited to do his spelling homework and says he is excited to go back tomorrow.  So good news all around!!! 

We decided to make it an annual tradition to take all the kids out for a back to school lunch.  This year we met at Grimaldis for pizza.  Nana, Gpa and Gma joined us all as well.  Total chaos, but fun at the same time.

After pizza, we decided to spend a fortune on Gelato at Frost.  Kam took this picture of Grandpa walking all the kids across the mall in triple digit temps.  I drove in my air conditioned car.

What's not to love about gelato?  Aside from Owen torturing Olivia the entire time because he's a stinker.  The other kids were so good and just sat around and talked.

Why do I have no pictures of Nana and my mom? It was a great back to school treat for all of us.  I'm so sad summer is officially over.  We made it through the first day of school!!

Meet The Teacher.. Freshman Academy

It's that time of year.. back to school!  I am not the mom that enjoys sending her kids back.. I wish they would just stay home forever.  These two are so fun to have home all day and this summer has been a good one!  Last night was Freshman Academy for Kam and Meet the Teacher for Owen. 

Freshman Academy... let me just wrap my head around that.  My little girl is going to High School!  The instructions were to drop your freshman off at the auditorium at 4:15 (no parents allowed), send them with cash and pick them up at 7:30.  Kam was texting her friends the entire way to school and I'm pretty sure she jumped out of our car as it was still moving she was so excited to meet up with her friends. They had such a great evening!  They had a meeting in the auditorium with the principal and her crew.  They then split up into groups to take a tour of the high school.  They roamed the halls looking for al their classes.  They had a little pep rally in the gymnasium with cookies and water.  Then they went to the main hall to purchase their planners, PE locks, spirit shirts, ect.  I got a text a little before 7pm telling me she was with her friends hanging out in the dance room and to pick her up there.  SO it begins!  She is going to LOVE High School!!   This little girl is growing up so fast and she couldn't make us prouder.  She has a heavy load this year with dance, orchestra, Japanese and a full load of honors courses. 

Meet the Teacher night was just as it sounds.  We parked and found our way to the gymnasium to pick up a map of the school.. but first we passed the cafeteria and Owen said 'Man.. the school cafeteria stinks!"  Always.  Note to self.. in the future bring cash to meet the teacher night.. they were selling stuffed sharks and snow cones and I was unprepared.  Who knew?  We made our way to the 1st grade hall and found his classroom. We found his desk in a pod with three others and it is no coincidence that his desk was the closest to the front of the room and next to the teacher.  He danced around the room, talked to the other parents, his teacher and his peers.  I filled out paperwork.  I heard him "I got a new Hobbit Lego game for the Wii and I passed the hardest level.. I have a transplanted heart...I had four open heart surgeries.. they cut me open... ummm.. what is this??  A chore chart??  Chores in first grade??  This classroom is so disappointing."  His conversations went on and on.  His teacher was familiar with his IEP but knew very little about him, so I told her I'd just email her a little update.  He also has a full time one on one aide, so hopefully that will keep him focused and less chatty during lesson time.  I have no idea how he's going to do in 1st grade.. but I know he's going to have a great time!

We made our way to the library where he chatted with the librarian, then to the computer lab, visited the Kinder teacher that did his reading/math testing last year.  Visited the school nurse to make sure all paperwork is submitted.  Said hi to the front office crew and then we were done.  In the car.. "I don't know why I have to go to school anyway.  Why can't I just play video games the rest of my life?  I don't think I'm going to go to school on Monday.  Oh.. by the way.. just drop me off in the front office on Monday, I have an aide to take me to class!"  We'll see how it goes. :)

Owen starts school on Monday.. Kam on Wednesday.  It's going to be an adventure getting up and out the door before 7am!  Today we swim, lay by the pool and enjoy what's left of our summer vacation.