You Capture, Summer

This weeks challenge over at I Should Be Folding Laundry was summer. When I think of summer I think of hot lazy days at the pool. Unfortunately we no longer live by our parents who both have a pool, so we now use sprinklers. (Note, not as much "fun" for me this way!) Since I just used pictures of the kids in sprinklers, I had to move on. The next thing I thought of was ice pops! We LOVE ice pops at this house.
I love the colors and the lines! To see some more great captures head over to Beth's!

You Capture - Nature

This week's challenge was nature. I did not have to go very far to get some fun pictures. What is that nursery rhyme? Mary, Mary, quite contrary how does your garden grow? These pictures were all taken from my flower garden and they are SOC.

I had to include our 'mato plant because the Tater was just so excited to see that we had 'matoes growing!!

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to check out some great captures!

On a totally unrelated note, I know I have been kind of absent from the blog lately. It seems I am kind of in a funk. I have a ton of stuff to write about, but the words are not coming. Yesterday it was all I could do to get my weigh in post up and it was not very wordy. Anyway, be on the lookout for three or four posts coming soon (probably after the weekend).

Weigh-In Wednesday

GO TEAM NAVY!!!!

Well, this past week has been fairly good for me. I have not done the best working out, but I have done pretty good eating. Still I managed to lose 1/2 a pound! Yay!

My goals for this coming week are to actually get up before my children in order to exercise and to continue eating healthy.

You Capture: Feel

Feel. When I first saw this challenge I was a little stumped. Feel, maybe feelings...nope that won't work. I mulled it over for awhile, then it was like a light bulb went off in my brain. Feel. Blankets! My kids love to feel their blankets!
Hannah is a picker. She picks at the seams when she is falling asleep.
While Alex loves to feel the tag.

Unfortunately the other shots did not turn out! I had the wrong settings on, so when I took a shot with their face included it was a little blurred.

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry for more Captures!

Hannah's Story Part Two

We finally got to see Dr. Pauli!! For those of you who do not know, Dr. Pauli is on the Medical Advisory Board for LPA and has several articles published about dwarfism. In fact, he is a renowned specialist in the dwarfism community!

Here is what Dr. Pauli had to say about Hannah:
He was quite excited to see her because he thought she would be somewhat of a "medical mystery" due to her past. Her FGFR3 gene was tested for achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia when she was younger and it was negative. So either she is one of the very rare individuals with some other mutation in FGFR3 or she has hypochondroplasia, which only 60% of individuals with hypochondroplasia have an identifiable mutation in FGFR3.
He reviewed her past x-rays and CT scan. He noted that the CT showed her foramen magnum to be small for average height children, but quite large compared with standards for achondroplasia. The features he saw on the x-rays are intermediate between those classically seen in achondroplasia and those that would be most consistent with hypochondroplasia. Due to the fact that she has had no medical issues related to achondroplasia, he thinks that hypchondroplasia may be the correct diagnosis in her.
He did a complete physical exam on her, noted all of her features and said based on the combination of her radiological features and clinical characteristics, the appropriate diagnosis would be hypochondroplasia. He also said that if we wanted to find out if this was the correct diagnosis we could pursue other testing, like sequencing of the entire FGFR3 gene. However, he also said that we could just wait since the primary justification for molecular confirmation relates to Hannah's reproductive risks rather than medical issues. So, I think for now we are just going to wait and accept her clinical diagnosis.
He went on to explain that there are far fewer issues with individuals with hypochondroplasia than those with achondroplasia. We have 4 things to watch: growth, ears/hearing, respiratory characteristics (some develop sleep apnea) and bowing of legs. He also mentioned that there has been some research showing a correlation between hypochondroplasia and learning disabilities, however in his words, "She certainly does seem to be cognitively normal."
We were quite pleased with Dr. Pauli and his knowledge and look forward to seeing him again in the future!