Don't Get Excited...

So I'm updating my blog, but if you're waiting breathlessly for Florida pictures or an interesting post, start breathing. I'm fighting with my photo software again, so I'm trying to set up Picasa, and I haven't had enough time to get my pictures sorted yet. Some of the problem COULD be attributed to Miss Olivia, who took pictures about every three seconds of their road trip, so there's LOTS of pictures to go through! :-)

Many of you will have heard the story about Gilbert. To drastically oversimplify it, Gilbert has been having spasms or seizures for over a month. The pediatrician up north didn't worry much about it, but when Bethaney started doing some research online, she became concerned and brought Gilbert down to the children's hospital in Syracuse. This was while we were still in Florida, which meant we all were feeling useless that we couldn't be there helping. Within a few days, they had diagnosed Gilbert with West syndrome, based on an EEG. I had never heard of West syndrome, but it is NOT something you want your baby to get-- very high probability of severe mental retardation, seizures lasting for year, etc. We were all crushed by the news that little Gilbert would have such a tough road. After the day he was diagnosed, though, he started to improve dramatically! Since the seizures had started, he had stopped smiling and interacting with people-- one of the heartbreaking results of West syndrome. Now, though, the smiles were back, he was blowing raspberries, etc. Before starting the shots to combat the seizures, the doctors decided to do another EEG-- and this one was normal! The neurologist has NO explanation for this. West syndrome is not something babies recover from. Whatever happened, we are just so glad Gilbert's prognosis seems so much more positive, and we're crossing our fingers that he continues to be the sweet happy baby he is now! (As I prefaced this paragraph-- this is all highly abbreviated and simplified-- I'm sure it felt like more than a paragraph to Bet and Justin!)

So, Elliott, Marilla and I got home on Wednesday, and the Cottens left Saturday morning. Today, I finally got the suitcases put away, and the house semi-organized! Lots of vacation wash and STUFF, plus five little cousins busily playing with all the toys in the house for several days meant that I did not sit down much today, but it is finally livable again. Evan is working part of the night doing repairs at a store in the mall, so once I sweep all the pretzel crumbs and leftover Polly Pocket shoes off the living room floor, I am heading to bed!