Just another day at the Dunnams

You never know what you're gonna get on any given day at the Dunnam household. Tonight was "see how many arm/leg farts you can do in 10 seconds" night. Luke cranked out 38 one time! Carleigh came in at a close second with 32. I know you wanted to know that. Today while we were swimming, my sweet friend shared how she was so proud her son had learned the art of the arm fart from my son, I'm sure and was showing it off to whomever would pay attention recently. I think they may have been at a restaurant if I'm not mistaken. What can I say? I'm a proud mama.

We finally got some rain around here, and it cooled off the pools a little bit, so we took the plunge today. The kids had a good time. I took Emma too. She seemed to enjoy it for the most part. She definitely lets you know when she's had enough though. Luke is getting braver when it comes to getting his face in the water. I think he's ready to retire the floaties, but he's just not quite confident enough yet. Maybe next year. Carleigh has really blossomed in the water this summer. She was pretty timid last year, but now she's a little mermaid.

We are taking Emma to the genetic doctor tomorrow. Hopefully they will do some blood work and not just ask us a bazillion questions. We need to isolate the screwed up DNA marker (I really don't know what I'm talking about here) so we can have the other kids and nieces and nephews tested to see if they are carriers for Batten Disease. I hope no one is. `

Life on Planet Mom

Life on Planet Mom is the new logo for MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) this year. How fitting since I feel as if I'm in my own little universe most of the time. I feel like my life and my head are spinning uncontrollably most of the time. I'm in sort of a fog...kind of like I'm outside a room looking in on the goings on around me, but I'm sort of detached from it all. I'm sure it probably has something to do with the fact that I'm watching a wretched disease take over the life of my baby girl. My precious soulmate and I are mourning the baby girl we once knew as we hold the baby girl she has become. We love her the same but now long for days gone by when she would run around the house and laugh and play. We are forever changed by the life of our precious baby girl. Her life has made such a tremendous impact on our lives as well as those we may never know.

Found this video of a great new song by Selah this morning on Kelly's blog. I look forward to the rest of the new cd...
(don't forget to pause the music on the blog first)

10 things I love about this girl

There are a ton of things I love about Emma. Here are 10 of them...

Not the greatest picture, I know, but can you tell they are painted?! Thank you, Whitney. We thought since Carleigh and Bailey had a pedicure on vacation, Emma should at least have her toes painted. Aren't they cute?! I thought you might agree.

Have a great weekend!

Not so wordless Wednesday

"Take our picture, Mommy!" Carleigh is such a sweet big sister. She loves to take pictures with her siblings, mostly her sisters. The other day she was talking to me and asked if I wished Batten Disease only lasted for a day. I told her I wished Batten Disease would just go away. She agreed. I think it is harder than we will ever know for this big sister as she struggles with her little sister deteriorating before her very eyes.

Emma does this cute thing where she raises her eyebrows and moves her eyes back and forth when she hears something new or familiar or when something is interesting or exciting for her. It's sweet to see her do that when Carleigh or Luke talks to her or when Cora cries out. You should have seen the coveted smiles Kelvin was getting last night when she was getting his full attention! Priceless!! I wish I could take photos with my eyes so I wouldn't miss the flashes of happiness that comes from my little angel girl. I will just have to tuck the image in the favorite memory file of my mind.

Before I forget, the neurologist called today and said there was no seizure activity on the EEG. There were new irregularities on the temporal lobes which suggest seizure activity is likely (I think I'm repeating this correctly) but nothing to suggest we need to increase her meds at this time.

Stay tuned for more from the Dunnam household and their summer activities with pictures hopefully tomorrow. Have a great evening. Wishing you cool evenings, bright stars, and a shower or two if you need one!

Love my friends

I have ever mentioned that I have the best friends in the whole world? I do, really. A couple of weeks ago, my two friends, Jana and Rachel, came by and got all four of my kids, and took them to The Painter Potter (I think), and made this beautiful hand print platter for me.





I love, love, love it! My precious friends also brought us some of the yummiest enchiladas and roast I have had in a long time! THANK YOU guys, you're the BEST!

I got tears in my eyes when I read the platter. I've thought about Emma as a butterfly for a long time now. I imagine her as being in the cocoon right now, restricted, not living to her full potential yet. When she emerges, she will fly freely. No pain, no cares, just freedom. When I see a butterfly I think of Emma and smile. She's my beautiful butterfly...

If I were a butterfly, would you be a butterfly?
Would you fly away too?
Cause I would fly.
Yes I would fly.
I’d be anything with you.
Yes, I’d be anything at all with you.

from Lullabies by Laura Kaufman

10 Random Things About Me

Bobbi over at Casa Camacho awarded me this...

I love reading her blog. She's always doing such cool projects with her kiddos! One day, I'll actually follow through with a project or two with mine.

I have to say 10 things about myself and then pass this award on to 10 other people.

Ready, set, here we go...

1. Sunday afternoon naps (especially when it rains) are the very best! I need to work on getting one more often.

2. I love the peacefulness that comes with watching a baby or child sleep.

3. Cruising in a boat in the evening on a hot summer day, watching the sun go down is one of my very favorite things.

4. Roasting marshmallows and eating them ranks at the top of my list of wonderful things!

5. Nothing sweeter than a baby smiling or laughing...especially mine!

6. I need to lose about 10 or so more pounds. I'm hoping to get into more of a routine when school starts to help make that happen.

7. I'm excited about our church's new building opening next month! Love our church.

8. I'm glad God created the earth with seasons. I find myself needing the change. Wish we had more of a fall and winter around these parts though.

9. I think before and after pictures are awesome! I'm an HGTV junkie...it's a good thing we don't have cable, or I'd probably watch it around the clock. I only get to watch it now when I go to friend's or family's homes that have it, or when we're on vacation. I know, it's sad.

10. Music is a must...all kinds (well almost all kinds) are good sometimes.

~~~

1. Life with Three Kids and a Husband

2. The 4 of Us

3. Life of the Hunt

4. Creatively Living

5. Chasing Butterflies

6. Taking a Deep Breath

7. Reinventing Dorsey

8. The Veronica Blog

9. Gavin's Voice

10. Betz Family Columbus

I have not fallen off the face of the earth...yet!

I cannot believe it has been over a week since I last posted something about our beautiful life! There are seriously not enough hours in a day. So sorry! We were on vacation last week. My intention was to post while we were gone, but our beloved friends kept me going from the time we rose in the morning until way past time for bed. We had a fantastic time. Love hanging out with great friends! It's been crazy ever since we returned, still trying to get the house back in order from the new floors (love, love, love them!), taking Emma for an EEG (haven't heard anything yet), riding in the boat in the evening and hanging out with more wonderful people, and the list goes on. I'm so behind on emails that it will take me a whole day to sift through them. Oh well, it's been a good week.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas. (Grapevine is an absolutely adorable town, I might add. Great restaurants, great shopping, and oh, so cute!) Great Wolf Lodge was guh-rate fun for the kids. The place is kid-geared all the way, down to the spa for little girls, Scoops. Carleigh and Bailey loved their pedicure



The grown-up spa is wonderful too! My pedicure and massage was the best. After my massage was over I asked the lovely massage therapist who worked on me, Shannon if she did children or baby massage. She said she had before. I told her a little about Emma, and she got permission to give Ems a massage. I wasn't sure how she would like it. What do you think?




She LOVEDit! I was so glad she enjoyed something so much. We discovered she really likes the hot tub too!




I guess she realized we were on vacation, because she slept solid as a rock the whole time we were gone. It was good to know she was resting so well. Since we've returned, she and Cora both think it's a great idea to get up around 4 in the morning. We'll have to figure that one out fast.

We all had a truly splendid time on our vacation...









Have a great Sunday!