Happy Birthday!!!

My baby boy turned 4 yesterday!!!  I can't believe he's sooooo big! 

We started the day by singing Happy Birthday and letting Ava Kate wake him up...

birthday streamers and balloons...

a little balloon game to start the morning...

We spent the morning lounging in our pajamas, letting the birthday boy open presents, and making donuts!

Owen has been really wanting donuts lately and after looking for a low-fat version and coming up short....we decided to make our own!  We found a low fat recipe here and used a baby cakes donut maker to make mini donuts that were around 1 grams of fat per donut (way better than 23 grams for 1 Krispy Kreme donut)!  They turned out pretty good and Owen loved them...especially the chocolate ones with sprinkles!

yummy!

Happy Birthday to you...

...Happy Birthday to you, 

...Happy Birthday to Owen, Happy Birthday to You!

delish! 

Yum...

After breakfast, we took Ava Kate to daycare so we could spend the day with Owen!  Our first stop...Bowling!!  

It was Owen's first time to go bowling and he had a blast!  

wipe out....

a little help from daddy....

his happy dance....

our first game...

After a second game, we decided it was time for some lunch.  The birthday boy requested a cinnamon roll so we headed to Stonemill Bread Company (since they have delicious fat free cinnamon rolls)!

diggin' in...

The next stop...Toys R Us!

After playing in the store for what felt like 2 hours, the final decision came down to these....

the winners...

After a much needed nap, Owen woke to more presents from Beema and Papa Joe...

Trying out his new Big Wheel! 

After a few spins around the block, it was time for dinner and Birthday cake!  Owen requested "white" noodles and strawberry cake and ice cream....

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday You....

Ava Kate joining in on the birthday celebration with a little cake and ice cream...

Sunshine House Anniversary

Our daycare celebrated their 5th Anniversary with a party at Chuck E Cheese!!

The kids had a blast!

They all seemed a little surprised that all their friends and teacher were there.

Owen and Daddy doing a little racing!

This was Ava Kate's first time to experience Chuck E Cheese.  She was a little overwhelmed at first but warmed up fast!

Ava Kate and her buddy Graham loved climbing the stairs and going down the slide!  

A little more competition between Owen and Daddy...

I think Ava Kate loved skee ball as much as her mommy!

One of Owen's favorite games at Chuck E Cheese....

Snow Skiing....

We went on an adult only vacation in early January....snow skiing in Breckenridge, CO with Sarah, Derek, Jenn,  and John! 

It was -16 the first day (way too cold!!), so the girls went shopping while the boys hit the slopes!

It warmed up a little on the second day....I think it actually got up to 0!  So we all decided to give skiing a try.  It was definitely cold, but a ton of fun!!

We ate a lot of good food while we were there, but the sushi at Mountain Flying Fish was definitely a favorite for all!!!  It was sooooo good that we all ordered seconds!

Spending the day skiing with the boys!

We all took the 3rd day off for massages, shopping, and a little pub crawling!

Dinner out at Ollie's...the best burgers in town!

I got a little brave on the last day and decided to ride the T-bar to the top!  The view was incredible!!

Trying to manage the moguls.   Luckily Josh took the pic while I was on my feet! Ha!

Valentines...

Our Valentines became a little crafty this year with Owen's new super hero obsession and a little help from pinterest!

It was a little time consuming, but Owen was ALL about it and loved every minutes of it!

The finished product.... Super Hero Suckers!

And we couldn't leave Miss Ava Kate out....

Her valentines were a lot less involved but just as much fun!

 The finished product...

We kicked off all the parties the Tuesday before Valentines with Owen's school party at Shiloh...

eating "real" pizza and loving every minute of it...

A craft project, a game, snacks, and a valentine exchange all packed into 30 minutes!

exchanging Valentines with his buddy Knox...

My babies sporting pink in red on Valentine's morning...

 They woke to streamers hanging from their doors and the hallway filled with balloons!  And I'm pretty sure this was their favorite part of their entire day...who would have thought!

 a few Valentine surprises before heading to school....

Valentines morning...

With all the school parties, Josh and I decided to take the "divide and conquer" approach at daycare.  So...Josh went to Ava's party and I went to Owen's.  The only problem...Josh forgot to take pictures!

All the boys were obsessed with the fun dip and their colored tongues....

A little craft time....

The many faces of my silly boy....

We finished the day with a candle light dinner at Chick-fil-a!

The chick-fil-a cow handed out flowers to all the kids...

 A flower from my sweet boy...

Daddy's girl....

they also had live music....

Eating Ketchup...

Baby girl loves her Ketchup...apparently as a main dish rather than a condiment!!  Such a silly girl!

Genetics Appointment

Owen had a follow up Genetics appointment on February 7th.  We've moved all follow up/maintenance appointments to The Center for Children in Lowell since Owen in doing well, our head geneticist still oversees everything, and it's a lot more convenient to drive 20 minutes rather than 3 hours.  Arkansas Children's Hospital flies up different geneticist trough out the month and we have finally found one that we mesh with...Dr. Elizabeth Sellars!  She was up to date on the happenings of Owen, knowledgable about VLCAD, and actively listened to our concerns.  We still love Dr. Kahler and always will, but it's great to have someone here that we can trust as well. 

As usual we met with the geneticist, Dr. Sellars, then the nutritionist, Dallas, and finished the appointment up with Owen's least favorite part...lab work! (He's old enough now and has had enough of these appointments, that he knows what getting "labs" drawn means).  Unfortunately the blood work is the main reason we have these appointments so frequently and the only way we can truly know how Owen is doing. 

Our main concerns going into this appointment were: 1) Owen's continual complaint of leg pain that frequently wakes him in the night and has become more frequent in the last 3 months 2)  Owen's mood swings, which have also become more frequent and consistent 3)  Our ongoing battle with insurance to cover Owen's formula (MCT Procal).   

The results:  They think that it's time to increase Owen's MCT procal from 2 packets a day to 3 packets  a day with 1 at breakfast, lunch and just before bed. He has always had it first thing in the morning and again at night, but they are thinking that he may be fasting too long at night....so they are asking that we give the last MCT procal right before bed.  They also feel that because he is so active (like every other 3 year old) that additional MCT in the middle of the day would prevent muscle break down and eliminate the leg pain he has been experiencing.  As for the insurance battle, the nutritionist and geneticist are writing additional letters of medical necessaity to help everyone better understand Owen's disorder and that the MCT procal is life sustaining not just a nutritional supplement.  

Owen will continue on his low fat/high carb diet with a few changes.   He will stay at 22-24 grams of fat a day but we are also going to try and add more "complex" crabs.  

We got his lab results back about 2 weeks after the appointment....most everything looked good but his cpk levels were slightly elevated supporting their theory that he was having some muscle break down.   For now, we are documenting daily activity, keeping a food journal, and documenting leg pain and mood swings to see if there is any correlation as well as battling our insurance company. 

Dance Party with daddy...

Apparently riding in daddy's truck is way more fun!!!!