Computers, Horner's Syndrome & Smoking Dogs (?), OH MY!

Let me start out by saying a big fat thank you to all of you for your responses and support in our tv-free living decision. I was still oh so anxious I would upset anyone after I hit that publish button, but phew, I made it! Thank you. I loved reading all of your stories and journeys on your own media decisions. I am so glad you shared them.

I agree with what many of you were saying about the computer being a big issue, too. I have such a love/dislike issue with the internet. Boy, can I get sucked into this thing as well, and I do need to watch myself. Thanks to our computer crashing last year, having to cancel internet, only using Kevin's work computer along with his crazy work hours, I barely spend time online anymore (see there was a silver lining, after all!). I think that this blog is a bit deceiving when it comes to the time I spend online, especially now that I am posting more than I used to. Ironically enough, I am online less now, yet I am posting more. Yeah, you do the math on that one, I have no clue how I am doing that, either!

I am on the computer about one hour a night. Just enough time to do my post and if I am lucky, also check e-mail and ravelry. If I am really lucky I'll even have time to respond to an e-mail or two. This scenario can be frustrating at times... ok quite often, but it really is a blessing in disguise. When we had a computer in our home all the time, I would find myself sneaking away quite often to check my e-mail or visit web pages throughout the day. I would then wonder how my day flew by so fast without getting anything accomplished. I do feel so far behind with everything online because of this, too, so it has it's good and bad points. Take this weekend for example. Kevin and Nara were out all night Thursday for SAR, then Friday he was at work until the early hours of Saturday, and then he left for work that morning before we even woke up not returning until midnight Saturday night. Not only have we not seen Kevin in days but since he has his computer, I haven't been able to get online since Friday morning - which explains why I am horribly behind in my response to comments from last week... ahem.

Anyways, I think that's enough rambling about the computer madness. Just know I feel your pain on that issue. Balance can be so hard to find sometimes, don't you think?

I never did update all of you on Baby L's Horner's Syndrome, did I?





I wish I had a lot to say on it but our visit with the specialist was quite uneventful. Actually the visit to the farmers market with our dog Beowulf before hand was almost more enlightening.



The doctor started out by checking Baby L's pupils and measuring them. His pupils are different sizes due to the Horner's syndrome but I am not sure why he has to keep measuring and checking them. He didn't say much about the measurements but did mention that his droopy lid looked better since the last time he saw him. Then he was pretty much done. He said he wanted to see him every 6 months to make sure his droopy lid isn't causing any issues with his vision but that's about it. He asked if we had any questions and it took us a bit to get them out there. I guess we were expecting more, and even maybe thinking that he would tell us a different prognosis or that somehow the Horner's had gone away. Foolish, wishful thinking, huh?



You can see his eye difference a bit in these pictures. It's not always visible but then sometimes it really stands out.



The doctor said that Baby L will always have Horner's - there is no cure for that, and that he will always have different sized pupils but that his eyelid made or may not get better. We just have to wait and see. Those aesthetic things didn't really matter to me, though. I just wanted to hear that my baby was going to be ok. I did ask him, again, about the cause of Baby L's Horner's and if any possible future children of ours could have it. I already knew the answer but I just needed that reassurance from him, once more, telling me it was not my fault.



So with all of that out there now, Baby L is growing like crazy. Much too fast for this Mama. His little personality is really starting to come out now, and what a cute one it is! Oh, and his giggles they are such sweet music to my ears. He is so very ticklish, unlike his sisters, so I get to hear them quite often.





I love to watch the concentration in his little face. Like in these pics when he was trying so hard to get my water bottle over to him.



Oh, my sweet little mellow guy. I just hope I can always be there for him and be strong enough to help him through this life.

And now for something completely random...



In preparation of K's upcoming birthday Kevin and I were planning our yearly apple picking extravaganza. We somehow or other completely forgot the name of the organic U-pick farm we went to last year. We searched through my photos from last September in the hopes that I took a picture of the farm's name. I didn't that time (of course!), but we figured it all out and have plans for picking soon. As I was looking through all of the photos I took last September, I came across this picture of C. I fell in love with her earth loving hands and chubby cheeks all over again.

Computers, Horner's Syndrome & Smoking Dogs (?), OH MY!