MIA

You probably think that I have abandoned this blog... well, I will admit that I have been avoiding it! We have had so much going on that I don't think my hands would have been able to keep up!

So, I just fill you in on the here and now... Marseille is turning 2 on Saturday. Can you believe it?! I cannot!

She has quite the personality! I love her and all her craziness.

O What A Glorious Day!

If you enter our house on a given day, you will hear music at some point in your stay. It is usually on in every room, sometimes at the same time! We love it! Here is a little snippet of how much Bentley and Marseille enjoy it... and food!

Marseille enjoys singing and dancing... just not obeying ;)

Bentley update

Thanks to all who were praying and thinking about us yesterday. We did have to go to the ER with Bentley because he was throwing up green bile. I talked with two on-call doctors (the GI and Peds) and that is what they had suggested.

Since the middle of April Bentley has thrown up one morning every 6-9 days. He wakes up around 6am with sharp pain and then vomits 2-3 times and is normal, literally back to normal by 10AM.

This particular episode, he woke up at 6am, vomiting and continued to vomit 5 more times. Every time he took small sips of water, he would throw it back up. He had gotten to the point where he was throwing up green bile, and that is when we got concerned. But by the time all phone calls were returned and we were at the ER and then finally seen by the ER Dr. It was 9am and he had turned the corner, the Dr. saw nothing wrong with Bentley and sent us home. Always my concern with bring them to the ER! I think that Dr. thought we were over-reactors by some of the comments he made. Oh well, my hope is to never see him again :)

I explained to him that I had been charting these episodes and that we were going to the GI soon. Which in return said that they would be able to pin point better what tests to do, because he wasn't going to do random tests to try and find something, which I can appreciate.

Marseille has a GI appointment on Tuesday, which the Nephrologist told us to bring up Bentley in that appointment. All the Nephrologist's testing came back stable, so he is thinking the GI can help us. So we shall see :) Praying that we can have some clue as to what's going on with little to no testing.

Many of you have asked how you can help and how we are doing. We are really doing fine. God's grace truly is sufficient in our time of need. I have not felt overwhelmed or discouraged by any of this. It's definitely not fun, but it's a part of my life! We don't have any needs at the moment. Because these episodes are so far apart, we are still able to get around and do things, even the day that he has them (though we usually don't do anything those days!)

One thing that I do ask is if you are interested in watching Marseille while we have testing and the like done, please email me. This maybe spontaneousness as well as planned. Thank you!!

Nephrology Appointment

Well, we had a good appointment today. Bentley and Marseille are both stable. Their organs looked good-- as good as they can-- with little to no change. What a blessing.

We were ready for this appointment because Bentley has been throwing up randomly and has been complaining of being tired a lot. He had 3 throwing up episodes in past four weeks with no real sickness attached to them, and no new unusual foods. I thought that his blood pressure medication might be too high for him now, but his blood pressure was good when they checked it so his medicine is going to stay the same. At first it was high and they had to recheck it.

I was really proud of Marseille, it was the first appointment in her entire life so far that she didn't cry the whole time. The Dr. actually got to feel her stomach :) YAY! Though she did cry the two of the three times that she had to get her blood pressure taken... we're working on that! Marseille's blood pressure was still high after her not crying reading, so we have to up her dosage.

Anyway. Another good thing that came out of the appointment, in a round about way, was their blood pressure prescription. We no longer have to get it compounded, this will save us a lot of money and time! Because compounding is expensive for pharmacies they don't take insurance, but now since Marseille's dosage changed we can just get the pill form. And because we live in America and a lot of people have high blood pressure, it is on the $4 list at most pharmacies!! What a huge blessing!! I just have to crush it for them :)

Now on to the issues! Both Bentley and Marseille came back with high CO2 counts. The Dr. is thinking that they might have Respiratory Acidosis. Basically Respiratory Acidosis is an acid imbalance in the body caused by breathing problems. There is an excess of CO2 and if forms an acid in the blood. The "remedy" for them is sodium bicabonate or an antacid.

The Dr. was also concerned with how small Marseille is. She has not grown much in the last year and Bentley has capped off too. PKD does make children smaller, but not as small as Marseille. Danny's and my heights were factored into his thinking, but the high CO2 can definitely be contributing to her size. He was okay with their weight, just not with their growth. They ordered more blood work for their blood gases and to get a more accurate CO2 count. The Dr. said that they would call with the results and they scheduled our next appointment for August.

So, we drove over to the hospital to have the kids get their fingers pricked. As soon as we stepped into the room to get their fingers pricked, Bentley put his head down and said very quickly, "I don't like these people!" and then began to wail. The respiratory lab workers were definitely not used to drawing blood from kids, but the kids left on good terms :)

So, overall it wasn't a bad visit! We will let everyone know the results!

Thank you again to all who prayed for us this morning and continually lift us up in our prayers! We are grateful :)

Wow, friends, it's been too long!

Hi there, stranger(s)!

Here is a little update. it's been far too long with way too much excitement. As you know, we did have our first craft fair. The day began very windy and ended sunny with a ton of wind! But what you might not know was... that we made a "emergency" trip to the doctor and the ER. In one day!!!

Wednesday, April 6th both Bentley and Marseille had accidents. Marseille bit through the skin under her lip and Bentley hit his head on the coffee table. Marseille's skin was glued back together and Bentley ended up with three stitches in his forehead. What a day!

It started off like every other Wednesday, which is cleaning day. Just as I was preparing lunch, I heard a scream and walked into the room to see Marseille's mouth covered it blood and all swollen. Poor girl. I cleaned her up and she kept sucking on the swollen part in her mouth which kept making it bleed in the front. After a couple of phone calls, I took her to the doctor. He glued it and said that it would scar. It's tiny so eventually you won't be able to see it.

So, we get back home and finish cleaning. I got a phone call that the host home for cg has a sick child. As easily as my kids get sick, I opted not to go, but said that I could host it here since the house was clean. I found a dessert mix in my pantry and put it together. By the time the dessert was done and we were done with dinner, the ladies began to arrive. As, I was still cleaning up Bentley was talking to some of the ladies and he bent down to get a toy and slipped (I'm going by his story) and hit the coffee table leg. He must have hit it just right, the force of the hit popped his forehead open. Upon scooping him up, I knew we were going to have to get stitches. He was so brave and did so well. The Dr. was amazed that they didn't have to have a nurse hold him down as she put the stitches in. They gave him a race car that he is mighty proud of.

Thursday was Danny's birthday. I made him Shrimp and Chroizo. Then for dessert, we had rice crispy treats and ice cream. Bentley thought that was a lot of fun! One more year for Danny and he will be 30! After all the excitement of the day before it was very laid back.

On Friday, Bentley had a three year old check up and everything is looking good for him :)

Saturday, was a crazy. My friend's George and Danielle got married :) Early that morning, I got a call saying that the bride's dress was too big. She ended up bringing it over and I fixed it. I was a mess until she got here, trying to figure out ideas on how to fix it without having to sew it. I ended up having to sew it! After they left, I followed them because I was helping with the bridesmaids dresses. Whew! It was a lot of work, but it was worth it because the couple is happily married :)

Sunday, we had mini-cg and that was relaxing!

Monday, I prepared for the craft fair.

Tuesday, the kids had their ultrasounds. They did extremely well for having to fast. We won't have results until the beginning of May.

Wednesday, Bentley ended up throwing up in the car after our first errand, which lead to another unusual Wednesday. Right before Danny left for cg the kids got into Vaseline. I couldn't help but laugh! Thankfully we got everything cleaned up, I just couldn't believe all the strange things that kept happening! Wednesday is the day that I want to get things done and God keeps showing me that there is more at stake than my to-do list.

Thursday, Bentley ended up sick so we took it easy.

Friday, I ran errands like a mad woman trying to get everything ready. Thankfully, my mother in law was here to help me with the kids and getting last minute details done! She ended up taking them to her house so they could get rest while we had our busy Saturday! Thanks Mom!!

Saturday, we didn't have a great turn out to our craft fair, but I did sell some stuff and got some orders. I was pleased. This is the first time I've ever done something like this so it was good for me :) I have plenty of alterations to keep me busy, plus these orders on top of that!

While I was at the craft fair, Danny had band practice. I love having the band over at our house. I love hearing them practice and prepare to serve our church :)

After that, we got to go on a date night. It's been a long, long time!! We went to Trio a great dinner and Luna Rosa for gelato! Along with the great food, we had great conversation. It was a very refreshing time!

Sunday, we had an amazing, I mean AMAZING message, given to us. More on that later... that's just how important it was to me. Then we headed to pick up the kiddos from their grandparents house!

It's been a fun, crazy, busy month, but isn't that life?! I cannot believe that this month is more that half over!

You'll probably be burnt out soon....

but here is another plug for my business!

FYI: The English translation for the business name is Marseille and Me. What can I say I love French, hence, the French name and furthermore.... it's pronounced (mar-say-A-m-wah)!

Marseille et Moi Blog

Marseille et Moi Etsy

Marseille et Moi Facebook Fan Page

Thanks everyone for putting up with my shameless plugs!!

Indielicious Boutique Bazaar

Check out my first of many sneak peeks as I'm gearing up for my upcoming boutique bazaar at Marseille Et Moi !!

Here is the info for the boutique bazaar that I'm participating in:

Indielicious Boutique Bazaar

Please join us for a morning of crafty goodness and boutique yumminess!

Saturday, April 16 · 10:00am - 2:00pm

Bent Creek Club House

104 Marcie Rush Lane

Greer, SC 29651

The boutique bazaar will be featuring goodness from:

Banana Village - super fun and unique customization for your entire family

Ella Marie Clothing- Unique, Hipp, Modest clothing for girls sizes 7-16

klb designs - Classic, Elegant, and Chic One of Kind Jewelry

Magpie Boutique - homemade and crochet boutique

Marseille & Moi - unique accessories and home decor

Please pass this information on and invite your friends!!