Morgan's Funnies

This is just for Mommy's record so I don't forget!

1.....2.....3 We're HOOOOMMMMMEEE! (Said as we come down over the little hill and turn onto our street)

I do awesome

Mommy, helpy me?

I have stinky feety

It's way hot....

I play my Mickey Mouse. Play me Mommy?

My crockies (Crocs) - I wuv my crockies

I bounce and bounce and bounce (on the trampoline)

I take a bafffff

Yes? (not yeah, uh-huh, yep but YES)

Mommy Joy

Will John Sipper

Ewic Wynn

Morgan CARE

Hello and Goodbye Kelli's Room (her preschool classroom)

She LOVES Emmy, Chels, Kelli and JoJo - her preschool teachers. Usually on the weekends, she asks "Where Emmy go?, Where Chels go? Where my JoJo?", etc

Compassion

Last April, Angie Smith was a guest blogger on a trip with Compassion Ministries to India. As I read her updates about these children, the poverty they live in and the desperate need for sponsors, I was incredibly moved. Eric & I prayed about it for a few days and felt like God was really calling us to sponsor a child from India. We are so blessed & proud to introduce you to Vijaya.

This precious boy lives with his parents and 4 siblings in India. We look at his beautiful face and feel blessed to be able to pray for him, help support him, and to support Compassion and the amazing work they do "Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name". There has been nothing sweeter than hearing Will remind me at night..."Mom, we need to pray for Vijaya" and last night when Will prayed for fresh drinking water, clothing and food for Vijaya I had tears in my eyes. I'm so grateful we have this opportunity to pray for and help support this sweet boy.

Just Hanging Around

We had a fun week off when the kids daycare was closed....lots of time outside enjoying the weather. We were all coming down with something towards the end of the week as we headed out to Chicago, but we got in some swimming and just goofing off before the virus hit!

Me and my little BIG guy

Little Miss Princess didn't like the water too well...

Hanging out in Mom's bed watching movies...

JRA Update

I think my van can drive the route to UIHC from our house by heart...I don't even need to steer anymore :). We've visited UIHC 6 times this summer as we're trying to manage Will's JRA. A little background...As I understand it, the first line of defense medication is Hydroxychloroquine. Will was on this from when he was diagnosed until March 2008. In combination with the Corticosteriod injections he received, Plaquenil worked very well to control the inflammation in his knees. He was weaned from that drug in March 2008 and was asymptomatic from then until January 2009. His swollen knee (this time only the right) returned so we tried another injection in March 2009. It didn't work and as Dr. Ferguson (Will's rheumetologist) was weighing the options, a routine eye exam showed trouble with Will's left eye. JRA can cause eye inflammation, that left untreated, can cause blindness. I'm so thankful that Dr. Ferguson advised me from the first time she saw him to have his eyes checked in the Pediatric Opthalmalogy dept at UIHC. They are experts and they KNOW what they're looking for. So we added steriod eye drops every two hours to our medication list along with Methotrexate and Folic Acid (aids in the how the body metabolizes Methotrexate). Fast forward to Tuesday Aug 18th. NO MORE EYE DROPS! There was no evidence of inflammation in Will's eye! We'll continue to see Dr. Longmuir 4 times a year for continued monitoring. Another positive is that his vision in great...just shy of 20/20. On the other hand, it's been 13 weeks on the Methotrexate/Folic combination with no reduction in swelling or inflammation in the right knee or either ankles (both are now involved). At our most recent visit with Dr. Ferguson (also the 18th...talk about a long day!), she upped his Methotrexate dose and has added Hydroxychloroquine back to his regime. Thankfully, he's doing wonderfully taking pills, so we no longer have to compound it, so no more ICKY taste! His labs have also been great, showing he's tolerating the Methotrexate well. It's a chemo drug - obviously given in much lower doses to JRA patients, but there are still some scary side effects that we need to monitor with labs every 2 weeks. We go back in early November and we're praying that the Methotrexate/Hydroxy.../Folic combination works. Our next step in Will's treatment isn't one I'm quite ready for. The next step is biologic agents - namely Enbrel - a TNF protein blocker. It's approved by the FDA for use in adults and children, but just received a "black box" warning for children. Dr. Ferguson is doing more research and we will discuss more at Will's November appointment, if this is the treatment she suggests.

I'm so grateful for Will's doctors. They don't talk down to me. They treat me as an equal in the care of my son. They are caring and kind and Will enjoys them too. We are blessed to be so near a world class facility. I have to keep reminding myself of this as I struggle with decisions to be made.

1st Day!

Will's 1st day of 1st grade was last Thursday. He was so excited to start school (I hope that continues!!). We went Tuesday night to Meet the Teacher Night and found his classroom, locker & desk and dropped off all of his supplies with Mrs. Bennett. He was also excited to see all of his friends and eat ice cream as they talked about their summers. Thursday morning he was with Dad, so when I picked him up on Thursday afternoon, I got the full rundown. ;)

How was school? Great!!!

What did you do? We had pizza for lunch, we had art, um, I don't remember what else

Did you have fun? Yeah, hey Mom, what's for dinner?

So that's how his first day went. I was surprised I got that much info out of him - usually he can't remember what he had for lunch. :) He was excited to go back on Friday...not so much this morning when I roused him at 630. One of his favorite things is his new Cubs backpack (a birthday gift from Nana).

Off we go into another year...I can't quite believe my big guy's in 1st grade!

Chicago - Not the best decision we've ever made!

We headed out for Chicago on Thursday morning...all of us with some sort of ailment. I think we were all fighting a virus but it was causing different symptoms in each of us. Eric was fighting an upset stomach, I had a headache, Morgan was just grumpy, and Will had a cough that just kept getting worse. Turn around! Turn around! (Both E&I thought that but we had promised Will and pre-paid for the hotel so we thought we'd make the best of it). Well, it turns out that the I-80 bridge was closed over the Mississippi leading us on a detour of southeast Iowa/southwest Illinois. *Good job honey, I was obviously NOT the best choice for navigator that day!!* The kids did remarkably well during the longer than expected trip but more fun awaited us at the hotel. Eric was keeping track of the munchkins as I went to check in and "Oh, I'm sorry Ms. Schipper, we didn't charge your room ahead of time." UMMMM, WHAT??? I have a confirmation number from March 2009 stating that I would get this incredible rate right on Michigan Avenue ONLY if I prepaid the room. Well, no, they messed up - didn't charge the room and gave us a 2 double bed room instead of the King with a rollaway that I had requested. Yay. This was not a good start to what would be a good, but frustrating and exhausting weekend. We made do with the room, Eric on one bed, me and Will on the other and Morgan on a comforter on the floor. Oh, and have I mentioned that Will turns into an Octopus when he sleeps (I swear he grows arms or legs and then he rolls around all night!!). Anyway, after we settled in a bit we ventured out onto Michigan Ave and had fun wandering the streets. We LOVED the Lego store!Friday was the big game and MAN was it a game. Except Eric & Morgan didn't get to enjoy it with us. Morgan was exhausted, needed a nap, and Eric was still fighting his bug. So off Will and I went to Wrigley. We watched as the Cubs took out their frustrations on the Pirates with a 17-2 win (including an incredible 10 run second inning). It wasn't nearly as fun without our other 1/2 but we did enjoy the game and found our brick. Friday night was collapsing after more wandering Michigan in search of Garrett's popcorn (please tell me why they don't have a store anymore on Michigan??). We headed home Saturday morning a little poorer, much more tired, but SO thankful for our beautiful home and our beds.
**Note to self - Check credit card next time to make sure pre-paid reservation was actually paid.**

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL!

It's my big guy's 7th birthday! It sounds cliche to say, but time moves so quickly! Some days it feels as if it was just yesterday that I cuddled and rocked him to sleep and today he's almost too big for my lap! We're celebrating with chinese (Will's choice), cake & presents tonight, then with his buddies at a Cedar Rapids Kernals game on Sunday. We're off to a great weekend.

Fast Forward

Ok, where did the summer go? Will starts school *2* weeks from Thursday for Pete's sake! Time goes quickly but my heavens I don't know where this summer has gone. We have the craziest two weeks ahead of us until school starts...it feels like someone hit the fast forward button. This week Will has swimming, a trip to Adventureland with dad, a birthday party, HIS OWN 7th birthday, and then his birthday party with our local baseball team on Sunday. Next week, Eric & I are both taking vacation as the kids' daycare is closed and we're looking forward to swimming, mini golfing, maybe a movie and then on Thursday - CHICAGO! We can't wait for the Shedd Aquarium, water taxi rides, a visit to the top of the Sears tower, breakfasts at our favorite Corner Bakery Cafe, and of course, rooting on our Cubbies! Let's hope they can get back to 1st place! The week right before school includes 4, yes 4, doctor's appointments for Mr. Will. His JRA is flaring again and the methotrexate doesn't seem to be working at the current dosage so we're hoping that we can get some answers prior to the start of school. Then the big day, August 20th! Will told me this morning "Mom, I can't WAIT to go back to school"! I'm thrilled he has that attitude. :) Well, I'm off to start the race...it's going to be an awesome couple of weeks! What are you up to before the kiddos head back to school??

OH! I had to post this adorable picture of Morgan and Nana...just because it's so adorable! :)