A visit from Grandpa and Grandma Belcher

My parents came to visit this last week and we had so much fun with them. It was fun to go and tour Williamsburg with them. We couldn't have asked for better weather while they were here. It was great!

We toured Colonial Williamsburg

Dad's always on the phone. We tried to get pictures of him each place we went when he was on the phone. :)

We ate lots!

Dad taking another call...

Went to a fun blow-up bouncy place

Mom and dad racing through the maze. Dad is on the left and mom on the right.

:)

Went to Virginia Beach.

Very cold and windy that day. 

Played at the park.

Ate some more.

Toured the Law School

Saw Jamestown settlement.

Proof that Matt came with us somewhere.

We had a Thanksgiving dinner since I am going to my sisters for Thanksgiving...leaving Matt behind.

Helping Grandma make an apple pie.

Went to Yorktown. It's beautiful!

Phone!

And of course spent quality time with Grandma and Grandpa

Karlee was in heaven the whole time. She loved having gma and gpa here and so did we.

Karlee's Eyes

Karlee has been doing pretty good with her eye patch. Some days we have to convince her of how cool it is to wear it. But once we get it on her she won't touch it. She'll ask for it to come off but she won't actually take it off her self. I think she's getting a little tired of having to wear it everyday. But she seems to be able to see just fine with and without it.

Grandpa was a good sport and wore an eye patch with Karlee. She thought it was pretty cool that he had one on too.

Then of course she had to put her "sticker" on a piece of paper and color it.

Yesterday we finally got her glasses. She isn't so sure about them. She will wear them on and off. I'm not sure she's convinced that they are going to help her. But she looks darling with them on. Hopefully we will figure out a way to get her to leave them on all day. Wish us luck!

Anisonmetropic Amblyopia

Earlier this week Kim took Karlee to the pediatrician for her 2 year well check up.  Karlee's doctor realized that something was wrong with her left eye (namely, she believed there to be too much white on Karlee's fundus at certain angles).  She referred us to a pediatric optometrist. Yesterday as a family we went in to find out just what was going on with Karlee.  After shooting down any abnormalities with Karlee's fundus and discussing the asymmetric nature of my face and drawing conclusions that Karlee and I share some cosmetic deficiencies in the alignment of our eyes we moved on to an explanation of how the eyes develop and what problems could exist.  They dilated Karlee's eyes then we returned to the chair for some more determination of what is going on. 

Our Doctor determined that what Karlee has is Anisonmetropic Amblyopia which in English basically means that Karlee has an imbalance in the focus that both eyes exhibit.  Where one eye is normal or close thereto and the other is abnormal in it's vision.  The discrepancy between the functioning and focus of the eyes causes the brain to focus on the dominant or good eye and ignore the blurry images that the bad eye produces.  Over time the part of the brain that controls the weaker eye will completely give up so to speak leaving the individual with an eye that has slower reaction time and a complete lack of visual clarity.  The good news. . . while this happens in less than 2% of children, it is beatable and can be overcome with treatment. Complete development of the eye and vision does not take place till age 6 or 7, and the brain can be trained to overcome deficiencies.  Also the earlier this is caught and treated the better chance of 20/20 vision by age 10.

Karlee will soon be the proud owner of the cutest Pink glasses we can find and will have to wear those permanently (or atleast until her left eye catches up the far more superior right eye (5-8 yrs). We will also have to "penalize" or patch the good eye for a few hours a day in order to make her brain focus on the development of the weaker eye.  We are trying our best to make Karlee excited about wearing glasses, although the varying prescription will make her eyes appear as different sizes it will help her to reach a manageable visual condition later in life. I have decided to take up wearing glasses much more frequently just so she can see how cool it is. Because we all know if Dad does it, then it must be cool.

Trials never come to any of us when we expect them. However with the right perspective and faith that in the end all will be okay we can overcome the fears that can consume our souls. Karlee's trial though undeserved at such an age will be with her for years and will likely play a role in all aspects of her development.  The battle for our family now becomes overcoming together the unexpected bumps in the road.  Wait that has always been our battle. . . as it is for all of you.  Here's to success for all of us.