Today we made another visit to our pediatric ophthalmologist, Dr. Ludwig. It is really hard to believe that it has been 4 months since our first appointment. Carolyne has been such a trooper... patching her eye every day for four hours a day. To be honest, from the beginning I really dreaded the whole patching process. I anticipated that Carolyne would despise the treatment and would quickly learn how to either remove the patches or look around them. Instead, the whole thing has barely fazed her. She has never complained! She wears her patch every single day and acts as if she does not notice it at all. Her patience has definitely paid off. The daily patching has successfully altered the alignment of her left eye. During our first visit to Dr. Ludwig, we were told that Carolyne's eye was aligned at 35 degrees. At that time, her eye naturally rested in this position and she had to work constantly to pull it into focus with her right eye. Today, during a normal vision screen, her eye rested in normal alignment. It was only during the detailed exam that Dr. Ludwig could see any misalignment, and even then, only at 14 degrees. That is a huge improvement. We were more than thrilled! Dr. Ludwig was also thrilled and very complimentary of Carolyne. A lot of children struggle with patching. Not little Carolyne, she has been amazing! We were so happy to hear that Carolyne's eye is moving in the right direction. So, we are still a year or more away from making the decision about eye surgery. She will continue to wear her patch 3-4 hours, every day, for the next 8 months. Dr. Ludwig wants to get at least one year of patching behind us to see how her eye will improve. We will visit Carolyne's eye doctor, Dr. Orgain, in two months and then make another visit to Dr. Ludwig in four months. At least now, we know that the patching is working. The major improvement in her eye makes it all worthwhile. We are so proud of Carolyne! She continues to surprise us with how well she deals with her little challenges. Whether it is monthly fevers, glasses, or wearing an eye patch, she is always happy, smiling and having fun.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Way to Go Carolyne!!
Today we made another visit to our pediatric ophthalmologist, Dr. Ludwig. It is really hard to believe that it has been 4 months since our first appointment. Carolyne has been such a trooper... patching her eye every day for four hours a day. To be honest, from the beginning I really dreaded the whole patching process. I anticipated that Carolyne would despise the treatment and would quickly learn how to either remove the patches or look around them. Instead, the whole thing has barely fazed her. She has never complained! She wears her patch every single day and acts as if she does not notice it at all. Her patience has definitely paid off. The daily patching has successfully altered the alignment of her left eye. During our first visit to Dr. Ludwig, we were told that Carolyne's eye was aligned at 35 degrees. At that time, her eye naturally rested in this position and she had to work constantly to pull it into focus with her right eye. Today, during a normal vision screen, her eye rested in normal alignment. It was only during the detailed exam that Dr. Ludwig could see any misalignment, and even then, only at 14 degrees. That is a huge improvement. We were more than thrilled! Dr. Ludwig was also thrilled and very complimentary of Carolyne. A lot of children struggle with patching. Not little Carolyne, she has been amazing! We were so happy to hear that Carolyne's eye is moving in the right direction. So, we are still a year or more away from making the decision about eye surgery. She will continue to wear her patch 3-4 hours, every day, for the next 8 months. Dr. Ludwig wants to get at least one year of patching behind us to see how her eye will improve. We will visit Carolyne's eye doctor, Dr. Orgain, in two months and then make another visit to Dr. Ludwig in four months. At least now, we know that the patching is working. The major improvement in her eye makes it all worthwhile. We are so proud of Carolyne! She continues to surprise us with how well she deals with her little challenges. Whether it is monthly fevers, glasses, or wearing an eye patch, she is always happy, smiling and having fun.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Happy New Year!
This year we broke tradition and spent New Year's Eve away from home... although not far from home. This year we went with our friends Cecil, Chris, Carleigh, and Tucker Smith to Cecili's sister Beth's house for a fun night of food and games. The girls had so much fun playing Bingo and really enjoyed the New Year's raffle... Carolyne won a $10 gift card to Target. After the party, we headed to the Smith house for more fun and a family sleepover. The kids stayed up late and celebrated the New Year at 11:00 PM... I know, that is a little unfair, but it was technically midnight on the Disney Channel. They toasted glasses full of apple juice while watching some of their favorite 
Disney stars... it was too cute! Once all of the kids were off to bed, the grown ups rang in the new year with a game of Battle of the Sexes. With a game ending wild card draw, Jason and Chris took the prize... maybe Cecili and I will win next year. On New Year's morning, we headed to meet the Hitchcock family and the Allen family for a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It is so much fun to celebrate the New Year with great friends! We had a wonderful 2008 and are looking forward to an even better 2009!
Merry Christmas!
We love Christmas! Every year the girls get more excited in anticipation of the big day! This year was filled with tons of fun activities... school parties, friend parties, and family traditions. We were especially excited that this year both of our girls were able to really understand the true meaning of Christmas. This special day is about so much more than parties, gifts, and yummy treats... it is a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus. What a blessing!! The girls did have lots of fun getting ready for Christmas day. Their Aunt "T" joined us for dinner on Christmas Eve and helped us get ready for Santa. We sprinkled our front yard with reindeer food, baked cookies for Santa, and exchanged our family gifts. Then the girls were off to bed. Santa arrived at our house and spent lots of time getting everything ready for Christmas 
morning. He brought lots of wonderful toys... the little elves must have been busy this year! The girls were SO excited to wake up Christmas morning to find their stockings full and, once again, the discovery of the empty cookie plate and milk cup left a priceless look on their little faces. They were amazed by all of the presents left under the tree. Mary Grace really loved her new Littlest Pet Shop Fitness Club (the top item on her wish list) and her Barbie I-Design computer game. Carolyne was so happy to get her High School Musical Prom dolls (her top wish list pick) and her Leap Frog Tag Pen and Books. They also loved their new Polly Pocket Mega Mall and Cruise Ship, VTech KidiDoodle, VTech KidiJamz, and Hannah Montana 
Guitar Game. The list goes on and on... they really loved it all! After the rush of Christmas morning, we settled down for a wonderful breakfast and watched the Disney Christmas parade. We spent the rest of the morning playing with all of the new toys before heading to Nana and Pop's house for Christmas dinner. The next day we traveled to Auburn to celebrate Christmas with Jason's family. We had so much fun!! I have to say, I was a little sad to see Christmas day come and go. It seems like we spend so much time getting ready for Christmas and then it goes by way too fast. The girls are already making their list for next year... how crazy is that? It was, once again, such a blessing to spend the holidays with friends and family. That is always what makes it so very special.
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