One Busy Month

Today is the longest day of the year, but it feels like June has been the longest month ever! It is only the 21st, and Jamie and I have already done so much. We flew across the country to attend both weddings and funerals, we moved into our new house, I actually survived the last 2 weeks of school (and I've managed to NOT get laid off, by the way!), we went to multiple doctors' appointments for Sean, and Jamie went (and is currently at) a conference in Baltimore. We also somehow managed to thoroughly clean our old house in order to get our full security deposit back, set up our phone, TV, internet, etc., get our pool drained and cleaned (black algae makes for bad swimming), and hire a very nice man to do our landscaping (we're not sure that it's a "legal" business, so we won't say too much more about that!).

For those of you who enjoy keeping up with the Sean saga, the story continues as follows. Sean saw his regular pediatrician on Monday for his 4-month check-up and vaccinations. She chose to not give him his vaccinations until we figure out what's going on with him because she doesn't want to cause any problems. Sean weighed in at 19 pounds, 4 ounces and had a length of 27 and 3/4 inches. He's now above the 95th percentile on growth charts and is almost growing out of 6-9 month clothing. He's larger than his 8-month old cousin.



As an aside, Sean and his cousin Jack finally got to meet. It was too cute! These three pictures probably tell the story of their introduction much better than words ever could! Anyway, on Tuesday, Sean saw the Gastro-intestinal specialist. We explained to her that as long as I eat a low-protein diet (and completely cutting out red meat), we are not seeing the episodes. She acted like she didn't quite believe me at first, but she told me to continue doing what I'm doing if it produces desirable results. She also did a metabolic panel on him. She explained that his liver something-or-other was slightly higher than normal, but it wasn't enough to request a liver biopsy. She said that the only way we'd be sure that he's having difficulty digesting protein is if we give him a high protein meal and test his ammonia levels. And to be perfectly honest, I don't know that I'm ready to dig into a T-bone to intentionally give Sean an episode so that doctors can steal more blood from his little body and do more tests.

In other news, our move into the new house is finally starting to feel like home. Thanks to Dan and April, we were able to paint Sean's room, our bedroom, and one of the bathrooms before we moved in any furniture. We actually had to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning to get everything done, but we're 4 stubborn individuals, and if we say that something can get done, you can rest assured that we'll get it done! They also helped with a majority of the move. Can you imagine paying for plane tickets to fly across the country so that you can help somebody move?? That's pure dedication. My mom also came out during this past week to help me get the house settled while Jamie's away. I was able to paint the office and do A LOT of unpacking while she was here, so it was a huge help. Now all we have to do is make a list of all the crap we want to buy to fill the house (dining room furniture, formal living room furniture, etc.) and hope that we win the lottery!