Rainy Tuesday
I figure I will make this one a public entry. For those who don’t know, we have (within the last month or two) found out that Rachel has a very significant vision problem that is actively degenerating her retina and her optic nerve is very affected. We have done lots of blood tests to find out the source but ultimately she needs to have an ERG test completed for a definitive answer. The ERG was scheduled for a few weeks ago but it was too much for her and we could barely even “drop her” (with the different kinds of eye drops required) so we are awaiting a miracle (LOL) in the schedule of Dr Ann Fulton at Children’s Hospital who can do an ERG under general anesthesia. We have upgraded her IEP for next year and as a part of that, Rachel is (RIGHT NOW!!!) undergoing a functional vision assessment at school by a Teacher of the Visually Impaired. The vision appears to be a symptom of something much bigger and we are working with a geneticist who is looking for specific stuff (including some chromosome deletions) that might be responsible for a great deal of things. All of this takes time.
Julie and Rachel will be out of school in about 2 weeks and my Juliebean is GRADUATING PRESCHOOL next week in preparation for Kindergarten! The girls both have their school concerts on Thursday so expect to see some pictures up here at the end of the week! Rachel is now 9 and Juliebean turned 5 in March.
The boys are doing well and are the best of friends. London is into playing Indiana Jones Legos and in the sandbox with Julie and Boston is a professional laptop destroyer and amateur escape artist. They are healthy and obnoxious and eating me into the poor house. Just as it should be. 
I have lots of doctor appointments lined up for Rachel and hopefully this summer will bring us some answers so we can know how to best apply our efforts. The girls won’t be doing summer school (at my request) so I will be trying to think of some fun summer ideas. We did join the zoo last week so I will certainly want to get my money’s worth (LOL).
Most importantly I look forward to watch them just be kids.
John had nose and throat surgery on Thursday so I’ve been playing nursemaid with the help of the kids. He is on the mend now but I am sure is drooling at the thought of steak right now even though he is nowhere near ready for that yet. I’m sure it will be another week before he is better. The nose is healing faster than the throat (he had his uvula out and his nose fixed). No more snoring!!
Drop me a comment if you’re out there…
Today was a hard day
It started off pretty good. I did a 10 mile bike ride to my parents and back. They had the girls for a sleepover so I stopped in and hung out with the girls for a bit and then my father and I rode back. It was nice to get out of the house, exercise a bit and be free of children for a little while. Shortly after I got home to the boys, John left for the shop and the girls were delivered off and the insanity began.
Suffice it to say I was very happy when bedtime rolled around tonight. I look forward to a blissful day of John’s help with the children. I’ll try and take some picture but I’ll have to find a new way to get them onto the internet as a certain 2yo dumped a class of water on my laptop today and fried the motherboard. *cry* London is very lucky he is so darn cute.
55.7lbs gone!
I figured since it had been a while since I had updated about this that y’all would think I was “off the wagon.” I did have a *heavenly* cheat day last week but that hasn’t stopped me.
I feel great!
My BMI has gone from 37.3 to 28.8.
Read More39.7lbs!
I feel really, really good. I think I am going to celebrate tonight by dragging myself and my friend to a bowling alley. I haven’t been bowling in many, many years.
Read More5 weeks and 32.9lbs
Today is officially the 5 week mark. I freakin’ *LOVE* Yoga!!! My wonderful husband is supposed to be taking some 30lb pictures of me but I’ve barely seen him all week (which is a good thing work wise).
I hit the 30lb mark this morning
For a total weight loss of 30.1 pounds. My restrictive diet and yoga everyday is certainly paying off.
Yay me! I’m not so much going for a numeric weight loss as I want more energy and to be able to move better. Chasing after 4 kiddos takes a limber and energetic Momma.
25.7 pounds GONE!
I’m not sure why my body decided to let go of almost 2 pounds since yesterday but I figure it must be leftover water weight from last week (if you get my drift, ladies?). 
I’ll take it!!
I’ll take another picture when I hit the 30lb mark.
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20.1 Pounds Lost
I have definitely found that eating less is a major adjustment but I can see now that it has been my intake that has caused my extra weight, not my physical activity level. I am still doing yoga every single day and my body has improved dramatically in its ability to stretch and hold difficult poses – I love YOGA!
I’ll post a picture later today!!
Read MoreWow
The weight is still coming off and I am still committed to yoga. I did a new class last night which was 90 minutes long. It was challenging but I felt like I really accomplished something by going! Here is a link to my “Spark People” page. I promise to post a picture on there when I hit the 20lb mark. Right now I have lost 17.7 pounds and am totally thrilled.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=KATEVON
Kids are doing really well and have taken an interest in learning some basic yoga poses. I wonder if this can turn into a family activity?
Read MoreYoga, anyone?
Does anyone who reads my blog do yoga or know anything about yoga? I’m really starting to get into it and would love some ideas or suggestions for new yoga tapes, websites, magazines…..
Thank you!!
Read MoreThe results are in on Yoga
I wasn’t really sure what to expect at a Yoga class but I did expect that it would be more cardio. There were a lot of funny positions that I wasn’t used to holding and with the breathing and concentration I definitely felt like I accomplished something. I slept like a baby that night and I am going to go again (definitely!). After the Yoga class I will definitely say that I felt relaxed and better able to deal with life. May I even go so far as to say I felt “centered?”
I went to Yoga with Mary: a woman who lives a few blocks over (well actually, it started out by my dragging her but she ended up really liking Yoga)…. Mary and I met because her job is to drive the “Preschool Bus” to and from school everyday and her awesomeness was so obvious that I begged her to do something with me outside of “the bus.”
I think we are also going to sign up for adult “Hip Hop” classes when the next session starts.
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TeamRachel aka mrskatvon is both a website to gain public awareness of Juvenile Batten Disease (which affects my oldest daughter) as well as a journal to remember the events in our lives.
Rachel was diagnosed with Batten Disease in July 2009 and while we knew something was "not right" we had no idea that such a nightmarish disease existed. There are dozens of nasty, orphan disease which affect people both very young and old.
Aside from dealing with the changes of Batten Disease in my daughter, Rachel, I have tasked myself with making life memorable for all of my children to make sure that (at least) 3 of them grow up to be as well adjusted and happy as possible.
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