Spooky House

Check out our spooky house - created by the collaborative efforts of Daddy, Juliana and Olivia

Beautiful mums for the porch

 

Thank you so much team for making our house the best spooky house on the block!

Best Day Ever

Okay - best day in a really long time.  Don't get me wrong, times have not been terrible, but since all these meds changes we haven't really had "our Juliana" in awhile.  And this day proved she was back!  We had told them the night before we would be going to the Fair if everyone behaved at Sunday school and church.  Well, check that off the list.  Livi had a great day and Juliana stayed awake and alert (first time) and actually answered questions on her Tobii.  She also stayed awake through the entire mass at church (also a first in a long time).  So this was the face after church.  I think it's safe to say she knows she earned her day at the fair!

 

 Liv was just as excited.  Not really sure how they knew the fair would be awesome since Liv had never been.  In fact the last time we went to the State Fair of Texas Juliana was about 15 months old, I was about 5 months pregnant and it was 100 degrees in October.  Oh yeah, then Juliana threw up all over me, so then we left the fair covered in throw up and 100 degrees. 

 And it was soooooo cold this day too!  Low 50's and some drizzle.  Do you think she minded?

 First stop was the German dancers that always bring a smile (and laughter) to my face since it totally brings me back to Chevy Chase in Europeon Vacation.

 Livi the butterfly

 And out of the thousands and thousands of people at the fair, Liv ran into a classmate

 Then we decided before we start stuffing our face with junk food we should start with some rides.  Liv wanted to ride everything with no fear.  Juliana looked willing to try as well, so we started with this one.  For my El Pasoans, it is like the Himalaya at Western Playland (basically goes around in circles really fast while playing really loud music). I got a little nervous midway because I didn't remember it going this fast, but good news, both girls loved it! They were all smiles!

 After that we made a cotton candy stop.  Juj ended up with a Cotton Candy Gotee.  She rocked it.

 Then they rode this roller coaster.

 Roger's looking a little nervous - don't worry daddy!

 This is Liv showing the strangers next to her how she is going to raise her hands in the air!

 From there we moved onto my favorite part of the day- The Roasted Corn!  This is why I come to the fair.  Don't know what it is about it, but I could eat my weight in roasted corn. 

 Everybody loved the corn!

And I mean EVERYBODY! (Another first - she has never been so motivated to actually take a bite of corn off of the cob!)

You missed the part where we devoured several funnel cakes - all in the name of using up our tickets before we left.

And here we are at the famous Midway

And then to top off the evening we stayed for part of the Chinese Lantern Parade.  It was amazing.  

 By this time we were going on almost 5 hours of the fair, in cold weather and two kids who had not had naps. Right about this time we passed one of those obnoxious booths selling those stupid light sticks and other hodge podge shenanigans to get your money. So guess who decided they wanted one and continued to throw a fit about a light stick. So this is where we followed the parade out to our exit and left the fair!

The coolest thing about this day, is that it was completely unexpected.  I thought Juliana would not like the fair, that it would be too many people, too many noises, too much anxiety.  I figured we would go for about an hour and then have to leave because it would be torture for her.  But, the only consistent thing about Juliana is that she is inconsistent.  She loved every second - no doubt about it.  She loved the noise, the people, the food, the rides.  So today - WE WON!  Take that Rett Syndrome! And we will try to never assume what she will like or not like.  Rather we will try it out - whatever it may be.

Enjoying Beautiful Weather

It's officially fall in Texas!  At least for awhile.  We have had the greatest weather we had to get out and bask in it.  Unfortunately Juliana's swing was a no go due to the fact that it was full of nasty rain water from the previous days rain so we rode together.

 Liv was in charge of bubbles

 

 Not sure what I was doing here.  Don't judge.  I might have been midsneeze as I was having a terrible allergy day that day.  Whatever!

 

iFratelli's Give Back Night

Dough Nation Night Totally Rocked!  First of all we LOVE iFratelli's - second so many people came out to support our team!

 It was so cool to walk into the restaurant and see Linda, Micki, Jamie Mays and her family, Barbara and Ray Vick, Julie Garcia and Julia Landry.  The girls were especially excited to see Mrs. West.  She was their first care giver up until a year ago for Livi and they will always hold a special place in their hearts for her.  Look at Juliana's smile with her!

Adventure at North Park Mall

Headed out to North Park for new lenses in Juliana's glasses.  We love the mall.  Here is Juliana at the Disney Store.  Her favorite store.  She really wanted Lamby - from Doc McStuffins.  I decided against it since I'm pretty sure we have at least 20,000 stuffed animals. But that was a pretty compelling face.

 Here was Liv amongst the tropical plants at the mall.  She told me she was in a jungle!

 And this is where Olivia prefers to shop - NOT!

Time for a Change

So, here's the thing. Juliana has a very hard time staying awake through out a day.  Part of that is due to the fact that she takes a large amount of seizure meds that do cause drowsiness and the other part is simply put she has Rett Syndrome; and everything she does requires so much work that even the most menial of tasks for her takes so much.  So much physically and so much mentally.  So, what do you do?  Well, initially we tried Ritalin, but this is what it did to my girl.

 And for those that know my girl, this is not her!  She is the most mellow, happy-go-lucky kind of girl.  The girl in this picture is a very agitated, impatient and sad girl. 

So we said goodbye to Ritalin and hello to a new type of drug (Thank you so much Dr. Djukic).  And I am so happy to say that our girl is back! It's so sad to say that I hadn't realized that Juliana stopped laughing the whole time she was on Ritalin.  The momement I heard that contagious giggle come out of her I realized just how long it had been since we heard it.  I missed her so much and I am so glad to have my giggle box back.  She is still struggling with staying awake all day at school, but I'll take a giggles anytime over grouchy girl.  The rest we will figure out.

Olivia being Olivia

These glasses came on a Minnie Mouse doll that Juliana got for her birthday, but Olivia decided they looked better on her.  She called them her spy glasses.  Ok.