Dear Kiddos,
Every week passes by too quickly. How is it already November? Well, school this past week has been pretty typical.
Hannah you are working on word problems, estimating, and addition with carrying. Nathan, you are practicing your 9's multiplication facts and Hailey, you are working on counting to 20 without skipping 14...still not there yet.
We did some spin art this week and you three went nuts one morning creating all of the spin artwork.
And then the same day, you guys worked on drawing spooky characters.
Hannah, you've been wanting to take cooking classes with me, so you two are often hanging out in the kitchen in the afternoons, at last, helping me out more than hindering.
The days have been cool in the morning, but perfect in the afternoons, so we've been going on walks, scooter rides and bike rides almost every day.
On Halloween Eve, some friends dropped off special doughnuts for us to enjoy. They are so cool!
On Halloween, we set up an obstacle course outside on the driveway (chalk-drawn) for kids to get their candy and then for Halloween, we joined our neighbors for a Halloween party. They had lawn games set up,
We had a pizza picnic outside,
Painting craft, scavenger hunt and then afterwards, we all watched Coco in the backyard. It was a perfect evening for movies outside: just a little chill to get you in the fall mood.
In the evening we've been playing this game called Cover your Assests. Daddy mistakenly explained the meaning of the pun to you and now you guys giggle every time you purposely mis-pronounce the game. At first when I heard you say it, I was like, where did you even hear that word!?
Hannah, you are amazing at this game. You win almost all the time. Nathan thinks you cheat because you conveniently grab too many cards too often... I like this game, it is short, requires strategy and you both get to practice your mental addition when you count up your score at the end.
So quick update on Whole 30. Today was the 3rd day we've done it. 10% through, yahoo! We actually feel pretty great today, waking up before you guys woke us up even!
On Day 2, when we let you know that you would not be having oatmeal, cereal, or waffles for breakfast, you threw a tantrum!
Eventually I made the frittata for breakfast and you were ok with eating it.
For lunch, you ate salmon cakes wrapped in lettuce.
And we were finally able to harvest the lima beans from the plant that has been growing in our garden since COVID started. Hailey and Hannah shelled them, we cooked them up and they were delicious! Lima beans technically aren't allowed, but since they were green and home grown, I just let them slide. (we are early enough into the program, I think it'll be ok)
We also sprouted our own bean sprouts and added them to our salad tonight. Surprisingly, everyone ate all their sprouts!
This morning, Hailey you didn't throw a tantrum and accepted the home fries and eggs for breakfast. You refused to eat the spinach I had on the side, but I'll take it.
We finished our Weather unit up and finished our project over different types of clouds. It was cool to be able to see the different types of clouds just in this past week.
Hailey, today you had your appointment with the cardiologist. A few weeks ago, our doctor referred us because he heard a murmur in your heart that has not improved since last year. We arrived at the office and you did amazing! Compared to our last trip to the ENT, this was a completely different kid. You were good at following directions, you listened and you stayed still when you needed to.
We spent quite a lot of time at the ultrasound machine. It was super cool to be able to see all the chambers and blood vessels. It turns out that the muscle between your ventricles is too thick. The official name for your condition is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. You are on the thicker side of the spectrum and because the muscle is so bulky and tight, your heart can't fully rest, so that your heart can pump as efficiently as it should. The good news is that as long as it doesn't get worse, you should be able to live a normal life with medication for the rest of your life. The bad news is that a normal life would be one without competitive sports. Worst case scenario is that you would need a heart transplant.
It doesn't seem that scary, but what alarmed me was when the doctor commented on how calm I seemed after hearing the diagnosis. I'm almost wondering if it is worse than what I'm thinking it is. Should I have freaked out?
She recommended that with COVID, we stay safe (but not wrap you up with bubble wrap) because a respiratory illness, along with a heart condition is never a good mix.
So, for now, we wait and we pray. Daddy and I had a brief discussion about how much we want to tell you guys about the condition. On one hand, we want to be open, but on the other hand, we don't want you, Hailey, to feel limited in life by your condition. For now, older kids, Hailey's heart is not able to work as well as it should, so she may get tired easier. If she seems tired, don't push her, just let her go at her own pace. Hailey, if you start to feel pain around your belly and chest, please let us know.
Hailey is wearing a heart monitor for 24 hours at home so that the doctor can collect information on her heart rhythms. I'm wondering if an irregular rhythm is causing you to wake up at night.
There is a 50% chance that it's genetic condition passed down from either of us and 50% chance that it was an isolated mutation. If it's a genetic condition, the doctor wants us to get screened for it as well. So, we wait for the next steps.
So, lactose intolerance, tree nut allergy, heart condition, what else you got?
Until next week,
Love,
Mommy
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