Evie the Extraordinary and Her Mommy: The Journey As We Go

You know you're a mom when your phone rings, and you recognize the number as the one for the school nurse, and promptly hold your breath, imagining the worst.  Usually they say right away "Evie's ok," and then continue on.  Today they didn't say that, and I was having a minor heart attack with every second that passed when someone who WASN'T the school nurse was calling me FOR the school nurse.   Apparently there was a substitute nurse today (and for the next 2 weeks), and she was having trouble getting Evie's g-tube extension connected to her stomach port.  Somehow the whole g-tube button came out of her stomach, and the one other time this happened at school, the school nurse knew exactly how to get it back in and didn't even call me until it was back in.  Not today.  The person calling me said that she was calling for the nurse, and that Evie's g-tube button fell out, and would I like to come and put it in?  I said, well, I'...

How many optometrists does it take to find Evie's glasses prescription?  Today I found out the answer is 3. Over the last several months, I thought I noticed Evie squinting.  I at first brushed it off because her last retinoscopy (the process of determining one's glasses prescription by watching the direction of the light reflex on the retina) had shown a mild myopic/near-sighted prescription.  But I got to thinking that it had been a couple years since this anesthetized exam (aka Exam Under Anesthesia (EUA)), and decided to take her to a pediatric ophthalmologist known for her touch with kids with special needs. It was a battle zone.  We tried it the nice way, but Evie kept saying Bye Bye and trying to open the exam room door.  I held Evie down while my husband kept her legs from flailing, and the ophthalmologist pried her tight lids open while trying to take 1-second swipes with her retinoscope to see the retinal reflex.  After we were all a sweaty me...

Hi Evie fans!  I see some favorite things being featured on Amazon Prime Day (July 15-16), so I thought I'd share them. I'll keep adding as deals get released the next couple days! EVIE's RECS: Tegu Blocks: Evie got these when she was quite young, and as she ages, she appreciates the Tegu Blocks more and more.  They have a satisfying magnetic click, come in different shapes and sizes and colors, and they build fine motor skills! Anything Peppa.  Enough said. This isn't exactly on super sale, but we love it so much, that I wanted to share it anyway. Peppa's house has lights and sounds as well. You can turn off the sounds once you get annoyed (it took me about a week to get annoyed). I just bought Connect 4 for Evie today because she has shown so much interest in this game after watching Blippi play it on Youtube.  If you want to be the most awesome house there is, you can buy the lawn version of Connect 4 and we will spend all day with you! Th...