I've been all but absent from blogging for a few weeks. You could say, I've been a bit preoccupied. Not only have I been working to get As Makayla Sees It up and running and to shape it into the tool and resource I want it to be for other parents, you may have noticed that Happiness Is got a little bit of a makeover too!
In addition to our new look, we are now featuring ads for your blog or small business. To celebrate we are giving away 10 of our small ad spots!
All you need to do is visit the Sponsor tab at the top of our page and select the "Small" ad spot. Once you have uploaded your ad, you can enter the promo code GRANDOPENING for 100% off your small ad. This is on a first come, first serve basis, so hurry! And if the code is no longer working, it means you missed out...but do not fret, a small ad is only $7 or you could snag one of our large feature ads for only $20.
Now HURRY!
Happiness Is Banner
Friday, July 6, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
As Makayla Sees It
I have been neglecting this blog a bit lately.
I initially thought this blog would a place to share stories about my twins and keep family up to date on our journey to diagnose and treat Makayla's nystagmus, but as the number of visits to this blog increases (which I am so excited about and grateful for) I am connecting with fellow moms (twin moms, new moms, and moms of children with low vision) that are looking for very different information from my blog, and I'm finding that I don't really know who I'm writing to anymore.
So, I have moved all my posts about nystagmus and albinism over to my new blog, As Makayla Sees It, with a focus on Makayla's vision. I hope that it will be a resource for information for my fellow nystagmus and OA moms as well as a tool to communicate to all the people who love Makayla, the details of her progress and our journey.
This blog will remain a blog for me to share my mommy moments, tears and laughs and a peak at our family life. Of course, Makayla's vision will always be an important part of our life and I will continue to share important updates here, but maybe in less detail.
I initially thought this blog would a place to share stories about my twins and keep family up to date on our journey to diagnose and treat Makayla's nystagmus, but as the number of visits to this blog increases (which I am so excited about and grateful for) I am connecting with fellow moms (twin moms, new moms, and moms of children with low vision) that are looking for very different information from my blog, and I'm finding that I don't really know who I'm writing to anymore.
So, I have moved all my posts about nystagmus and albinism over to my new blog, As Makayla Sees It, with a focus on Makayla's vision. I hope that it will be a resource for information for my fellow nystagmus and OA moms as well as a tool to communicate to all the people who love Makayla, the details of her progress and our journey.
This blog will remain a blog for me to share my mommy moments, tears and laughs and a peak at our family life. Of course, Makayla's vision will always be an important part of our life and I will continue to share important updates here, but maybe in less detail.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
We have a WINNER!
The 4th of July giveaway ended yesterday and we have a winner!
Comment #18 is from Pamela Rote! Congrats Pamela! Please email me at acmoshier@gmail.com so I can set you up with your prize!
Please remember that everyone who entered the contest is eligible for 20% off their order with Gussied Up Bows through the 4th of July! They truly have some unique accessories and she creates custom bows for special occasions!
Please remember that everyone who entered the contest is eligible for 20% off their order with Gussied Up Bows through the 4th of July! They truly have some unique accessories and she creates custom bows for special occasions!
Monday, June 18, 2012
4th of July Giveaway!
It's summertime and it has certainly been heating up around here! If you're anything like me, you are looking forward to all the outdoor fun that comes with summertime, especially the 4th of July!
To help us get in the spirit and celebrate, Gussied Up Bows, designed an adorable Bedazzeled 4th of July Firecracker Bow, just for me to give away to one of my wonderful readers!
Gussied Up Bows makes unique and affordable hair bows and accessories for little girls. Make sure you check out all the other fun accessories they have on their Facebook page, because they are offering a 20% discount on everything through the 4th of July when you enter the giveaway below and use promo code FIREWORKS when placing your order between now and July 4th!
So, make sure you enter this giveaway so you can get your discount and win this fun bow for your little girl to wear, this 4th of July!
Entering is easy!
Make sure you visit and "like" Gussied Up Bow's facebook page here, and make sure you have "liked" Happiness Is on facebook, here, then leave a comment here on this blog post letting us know that you have done so!
If you would like to earn extra entries, you may do so by doing all or some of these tasks below. For each task you complete, make sure you leave an additional comment here on this blog letting us know that you have done so:
1) Share the contest on your facebook page
2) Share the contest on Twitter using hashtag #GussiedUpBows
3) Share the contest on your own blog, and leaving a comment here with a link to your blog post
4) Share the Gussied Up Bows facebook page on your facebook timeline.
5) Subscribe to this blog using the subscribe wigdet on the right column
6) Follog this blog using Google Friend Connect
That's up to seven possible entries! So, what are you waiting for? A winner will be drawn using Random.org on Friday, June 22nd! Good luck!
To help us get in the spirit and celebrate, Gussied Up Bows, designed an adorable Bedazzeled 4th of July Firecracker Bow, just for me to give away to one of my wonderful readers!
Gussied Up Bows makes unique and affordable hair bows and accessories for little girls. Make sure you check out all the other fun accessories they have on their Facebook page, because they are offering a 20% discount on everything through the 4th of July when you enter the giveaway below and use promo code FIREWORKS when placing your order between now and July 4th!
So, make sure you enter this giveaway so you can get your discount and win this fun bow for your little girl to wear, this 4th of July!
Entering is easy!
Make sure you visit and "like" Gussied Up Bow's facebook page here, and make sure you have "liked" Happiness Is on facebook, here, then leave a comment here on this blog post letting us know that you have done so!
If you would like to earn extra entries, you may do so by doing all or some of these tasks below. For each task you complete, make sure you leave an additional comment here on this blog letting us know that you have done so:
1) Share the contest on your facebook page
2) Share the contest on Twitter using hashtag #GussiedUpBows
3) Share the contest on your own blog, and leaving a comment here with a link to your blog post
4) Share the Gussied Up Bows facebook page on your facebook timeline.
5) Subscribe to this blog using the subscribe wigdet on the right column
6) Follog this blog using Google Friend Connect
That's up to seven possible entries! So, what are you waiting for? A winner will be drawn using Random.org on Friday, June 22nd! Good luck!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Morning Brain Spillage: Albinism
When Makayla was three months old, and her pediatrician diagnosed her with nystagmus, one of the first things they asked me was if it was possible that she was albino. I laughed and just said that she took after me, thinking to myself, "can they not see how light I am?"
My own dad (who is very dark in his skin, hair, and eyes) and I joked when I was a kid, that my mom's family was albino and that's why they, and I, were so, so, so pale (I actually REALLY hate the term pale, I prefer fair. Pale sounds sickly, fair is just really light.). But it was a joke! I already knew that nystagmus was common in people with albinism, but obviously the doctors were just jumping to conclusions, because my daughter has all the same coloring as me (my eyes are green now, but were blue through elementary school and started changing in 7th grade), and I could not possibly be albino, since my eyes are green, and I have freckles, and although none of my friends would call it a tan, my skin tone does change some, when I get sun. Although, my hair was white as a baby, whiter than Makayla's, it's now a very dark blonde, maybe even a light brown. Obviously, I can't be albino.
But with more and more doctors asking about Makayla being albino, and now with her ocular albinism diagnosis, I'm learning so much more about albinism. You might think of Powder or Whitey from Me, My Self & Irene when you think of someone with albinism, with the red or blue eyes, and the white hair and the translucent skin. In fact, there are many different types of albinism and some include having some levels of pigment. Now knowing this, I've asked doctors, if Makayla is albino, is it possible I am too? But I'm always shut down, told that since my eyes are fine, I can't be albino, and that if I were the one with albinism that it would have been passed down to Austin, not Makayla (There is a dominant gene carried by mothers and passed down to sons, without the father having to carry a recessive gene, because Makayla is effected, and not Austin, we know this is not the case for us).
The more I read, I'm realizing that just may not be true. It really is frustrating how much information doctors just blurt out without really knowing for sure.
I was catching up on my friend Amy's blog, Through the Eyes of Liam, and was reading a post she has on Oculocutaneous Albinism. In the post, she lists characteristics of the most common types of albinism, and I couldn't help but notice that this part, aside from the vision problems, describes me to a T:
There are many other types of albinism, so I have to wonder if there is one that would include the first half of this description, but leaves out the part about transillumination, or maybe the transillumination improves with age, because I remember being a lot more sensitive to light as a child than I am now. I remember my eyes aching when I stepped outside some mornings. I am just so curious... In a lot of ways it would make so much sense, like how my dad ca be so dark, but I'm so fair, and how I don't exactly tan in the sun, I turn a sort of pink color. It's not the same as a burn, but it's definitely not a a brown tan color.
I'm not sure what any of this actually means. It doesn't change my life in anyway, and it doesn't change the way we go about treating Makayla, but it sure is facinating to think that you can go 30 years and not know something to significant about your self. Regardless if I am albino or not, I probably at least carry the recessive gene, and my husband must also, in order for us to have passed it on to Makayla.
We are still waiting for the referral for genetic testing to come through. Our pediatrician has sent a request to Stanford, but they are so backed up with referrals we don't expect to hear from them until November and then probably wont have an appointment until early next year. That is just to see a geneticist and find out if our insurance will cover testing, which we don't think it does. Besides wanting to know to quiet my own curiosity, finding out will help us to learn how likely we would be to have more children with albinism, and how likely Makayla and Austin are to have children with albinism.
My own dad (who is very dark in his skin, hair, and eyes) and I joked when I was a kid, that my mom's family was albino and that's why they, and I, were so, so, so pale (I actually REALLY hate the term pale, I prefer fair. Pale sounds sickly, fair is just really light.). But it was a joke! I already knew that nystagmus was common in people with albinism, but obviously the doctors were just jumping to conclusions, because my daughter has all the same coloring as me (my eyes are green now, but were blue through elementary school and started changing in 7th grade), and I could not possibly be albino, since my eyes are green, and I have freckles, and although none of my friends would call it a tan, my skin tone does change some, when I get sun. Although, my hair was white as a baby, whiter than Makayla's, it's now a very dark blonde, maybe even a light brown. Obviously, I can't be albino.
But with more and more doctors asking about Makayla being albino, and now with her ocular albinism diagnosis, I'm learning so much more about albinism. You might think of Powder or Whitey from Me, My Self & Irene when you think of someone with albinism, with the red or blue eyes, and the white hair and the translucent skin. In fact, there are many different types of albinism and some include having some levels of pigment. Now knowing this, I've asked doctors, if Makayla is albino, is it possible I am too? But I'm always shut down, told that since my eyes are fine, I can't be albino, and that if I were the one with albinism that it would have been passed down to Austin, not Makayla (There is a dominant gene carried by mothers and passed down to sons, without the father having to carry a recessive gene, because Makayla is effected, and not Austin, we know this is not the case for us).
The more I read, I'm realizing that just may not be true. It really is frustrating how much information doctors just blurt out without really knowing for sure.
I was catching up on my friend Amy's blog, Through the Eyes of Liam, and was reading a post she has on Oculocutaneous Albinism. In the post, she lists characteristics of the most common types of albinism, and I couldn't help but notice that this part, aside from the vision problems, describes me to a T:
OCA1b- A quick rundown:
White or light yellow hair at birth but darkens with age, can change to a golden or light brownSkin remains white but often has some generalized pigmentationTans with sun exposureIris color remains blue or change to a hazel/green or brown/tanTransillumination shows in streaks or clumps of pigment in the irisFine granular pigment may develop over time in the retinaVisual acuity is usually between 20/100 and 20/200 but can be as good as 20/60Nystagmus and Strabismus is possible.Involves tyrosinase enzyme--which converts tyrosine (an amino acid) into melanin
There are many other types of albinism, so I have to wonder if there is one that would include the first half of this description, but leaves out the part about transillumination, or maybe the transillumination improves with age, because I remember being a lot more sensitive to light as a child than I am now. I remember my eyes aching when I stepped outside some mornings. I am just so curious... In a lot of ways it would make so much sense, like how my dad ca be so dark, but I'm so fair, and how I don't exactly tan in the sun, I turn a sort of pink color. It's not the same as a burn, but it's definitely not a a brown tan color.
I'm not sure what any of this actually means. It doesn't change my life in anyway, and it doesn't change the way we go about treating Makayla, but it sure is facinating to think that you can go 30 years and not know something to significant about your self. Regardless if I am albino or not, I probably at least carry the recessive gene, and my husband must also, in order for us to have passed it on to Makayla.
We are still waiting for the referral for genetic testing to come through. Our pediatrician has sent a request to Stanford, but they are so backed up with referrals we don't expect to hear from them until November and then probably wont have an appointment until early next year. That is just to see a geneticist and find out if our insurance will cover testing, which we don't think it does. Besides wanting to know to quiet my own curiosity, finding out will help us to learn how likely we would be to have more children with albinism, and how likely Makayla and Austin are to have children with albinism.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
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