It was shortly after my last post last September that I started to notice Makenna was not putting pressure on her legs. At her 9 mo check up I talked to her doctor and she could see the lack of strenght in her legs. She sent her to a physical therapist to be evluated. When we say the PT they recommended she come twice a week for 6 months. This is when our long journey began. After being in PT for a couple months the therapist recommended seeing a neurologist. My poor baby had countless test done. Blood work, MRI's, etc. Thankfully they found nothing other than Hypotonia which is low muscle tone. She did have an episode that landed us in the ER with her having a rapid heart beat, lethargic and unresponsive for a brief amount of time. They never where able to find out what caused it but we are thankful it has not happened again.
Makenna was in PT twice a week until May at which time they dropped it to once a week in june to now once a month. She has been progressing wonderfully. She went from not crawling or standing to now walking and even trying to do a little bit of running.. All though she is still wobbly on her feet, it is amazing to Patrick and I how far she has come. She was prescribed something called Sure steps for her feet and ankles to give stability. Her therapist is so pleased with her progress that she thinks once she has grown out of the ones she has she will not need a replacement pair. Most of her time walking is without her sure steps which to me is fantastic cause it means she is gaining the strength she needs with out the support.
She is a strong willed and funny little girl. She has an amazing personality and a love that is so sweet and tender but an attitude that I think runs in the family. (Patrick's side of course!) :)
Kylee has been an amazing girl this last year. With all the stuff going on with Makenna she has shown little to no jealousy. She did love going to Makenna's therapy sessions because she got to play with all the toys. She is over joyed every time Makenna stands or walks.. She gets so excited and tells her she is so proud of her.
Kylee had her first year of ballet and absolutely loved it. She had a recital in May and as you can imagine with 3 yr olds, it was fun to watch.. They all did amazing and she is looking forward to another year of ballet. In addition this year she will be starting her first year of soccer. As you all know this is the year patrick has been waiting for.. His first child following in his foot steps.. He will be coaching Kylee's soccer team. Luckily for us the soccer fields are behind our back yard so not far to go. It will be interesting to see if she ends up favoring soccer or ballet since she is my girlie girl!
Patrick this last year had his gall bladder removed in october. It was causing him such pain and we are so happy that thing is gone now! Both my sister and my Mom came to Atlanta at separate times to help with his recovery. I don't know what I would have done with out them.
Patrick unfortunately was also laid off from his job in January. Although this was a rough time in his and our lives I have to say it just showed what an amazing man, husband and father he truely is. He didn't sit around and collect unemployment until he could find something he wanted to do. He went out and he got a job as a restaurant manager. He had to work rediculously long and hard hours and rarely saw the girls. He would have to be at work some days at 5 am and not get home until after their bed times or he would have to work until 3 am. Its a crazy business and one not condusive to having a family, but he did what he had to do to feed his family and pay the bills.
Luckily God blessed him with a job oppurtuntiy that allowed him to get back to work/life balance. He is a manager of operations at a company called Mail Centers Plus. They are outsourced by major corporations to handle their mail service, reproduction graphics along with various other services. He currently is on site at the Coca Cola Corporate headquarters here in Atlanta. He is enjoy his new job and building great relationships. He has a soccer tournament in Santa Cruz in Aug where he will get to play once again with all his Visalia soccer buddies. He is looking forward to it!
As for me.. well what can I say, other than I have been very busy. It has been an emotional year and I feel like I am finally starting to relax a bit. Patricks mother and Step Dad came for a visit to see the girls in early May. It was nice for them got get some bonding time. I know the girls really enjoyed the visit. My parents also came for a visit just after patricks. They were able to be here for my birthday as well as Kylee's first recital. It was a blessing to have them here. We were able to get away to Florida over Memorial weekend and spend some time with our friends and family. We got to see our cousins the Ottes family at Downtown Disney and went to the pier to send them off on their Disney Cruise. We spent some time with Kiki and Max at the beach too. It was a great weekend and just what I needed.
Now that you are all caught up, I will try not to let my posts be so few and far between.
Here are a few more recent pictures of the girls!
