Benscoter Family: July 2016

To start off the month we had a visit at CHOP on July 1st. Tyler had a cardiology check up and a nutrition visit. He did very well and was as sweet as can be :) On July 2nd I had some pampering time-- I "cashed in" my Mother's Day gift of a spa day which included a massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure. It was so relaxing!

We had a low-key 4th of July, we just cleaned the house and had a BBQ with our neighbors the Shontofski's. It was fun! We were back at CHOP on July 5th for another cardiac appointment followed by his OT evaluation. It was a long day for our little man!

Tyler's birthday celebrations began on July 7th with our annual visit to Sesame Place with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great day going on rides, having lunch with Elmo and his friends, and watching the parade. It was really hot but we had a lot of fun! We had another visit to CHOP on July 8th and everything continued to look really good! Such a blessing.

July 9th was Tyler's 4th birthday! What a wonderful day it was! We were so excited to get to celebrate Tyler on his special day at home. We started the day with cinnamon rolls and a quiet morning watching the Disney Cars movie. Tyler's dinosaur birthday party was that afternoon. We had lots of neighbor friends come to celebrate. We had lots of fun games in the garage, dino snacks, and face painting/balloon making for the kids. It was a special day that was perfect for our handsome boy.

Our last birthday celebration was a Day Out with Thomas on July 10th. We got to see Thomas and went for a ride on a steam engine. Grandpa came along for the excitement and we had a nice time.

The kids and I met Meg, Orya, and Joey Chapa at a museum on July 13th. The kids had a lot of fun playing with cars, sand, and a giant Light Bright. Tyler also had a blast putting handkerchiefs in plastic tubing with suction. He could have played there all day!

We were back at CHOP on July 15th for his PT evaluation in the morning followed by his Rituximab infusion in the afternoon. Tyler developed a fever during his infusion so he was given Tylenol and we stayed until 9pm for observation. Luckily, we didn't have to spend the night. Whew!

We had dinner with the Rappa family on July 16th in which Sophia and Hunter got married again. Also, to make it interesting, Eden was named "the wedding Santa"...I'm not really sure where that came from!

Emily turned 6 months old on July 19th! She is better at sitting up and is super cute all of the time. We are still so surprised to have such a blonde baby!

We were in Philadelphia on July 22nd for Tyler's second dentist visit. We went for the application of medicine on his teeth that have cavities. Because he is waiting for a transplant, he is not going to be able to get dental work on his cavities. This medicine, called Silver Diamond Fluoride, helps to stop the cavities from getting larger. Our hope is that it will keep his teeth as healthy as possible until he is able to get more invasive dental work. We followed up with cardiology again after Tyler's dental visit. Once again, everything looked good!

Our friend Brusle came to visit on July 23rd with his friend Julia. We enjoyed spending time with Brusle and getting to know Julia. We didn't do much...just hung out around the house and went out for lunch on July 24th. That evening Julia and Brusle went back to DC and Nana and Aunt Melissa came to visit!

Emily had her 6 month check up on July 25th and we found out that she is in the 99th percentile for height and weight...she's such a big girl!

On July 26th we were at CHOP for Tyler's second IVIG infusion. The day was much more fun than usual since Nana, Emily, Sophia, and Aunt Melissa came to visit us. Aunt Melissa, Sophia, and I went for a walk in the sunny weather to get lunch at Shake Shack a few blocks from the hospital. The food was delicious and the company was amazing!

Joe and I took advantage of Nana visiting...we went on a date night to Cheesecake Factory on July 28th. I always enjoy some quiet time with my main squeeze!