Seven Years...

Seven years.  That's the amount of time that I've known what unconditional love is.  This is going to be a short post, but I want to wish my kind, smart, wonderful little boy a very happy birthday.  I'm so happy that God chose me to be his mom, he means so much to me.  Happy birthday X-Man!

Curriculum 2013-2014

Just in case anyone was wondering, I wanted to share out curriculum choices for this year.

• Core (History, Language Arts, Bible): Sonlight Core A - I absolutely fell in love with this package when I saw it at a homeschool convention.  Last year we used Heart of Dakota, and it was okay; however, my kids didn't like the reading selections.  We really enjoyed their Bible and History, but we were ready for a change.We also purchased Sonlight's kindergarten and second grade readers/language arts.
• Science: Sonlight A.  Luckily, we found this on ebay in like-new condition.  I'm also pretty excited about this (it came with several books and a DVD). Last year we used Apologia.  I think Apologia would work well for older kids, but it didn't work well for my kids.  It was a big text book that in my opinion wasn't reader-friendly for younger children.
• Math: Staying with Math-U-See.  Little Lou will do Primer, X-Man will do Beta. LOVE MUS.  The only issue I have is that there are 30 lessons and our school year is 36 weeks.  Small issue, but I thought it was worth noting.
• Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears kindergarten and first grade.  Last year X-Man's handwriting improved VASTLY with the help of this program.  We really liked it, so we'll use it again this year.
• Health: Alpha and Omega, Horizons Health 1.  This year we added a health program.  It looks like it covers quite a bit of info, but only on the surface level.  There's 50 lessons, but they appear to be pretty simple, almost an introduction.
• Additional: We also purchased a PE book, some art appreciation books, and some classical music CDs.  Due to X-Man's fine motor delays, we also purchased a few activities that should help him (Little Lou is VERY interested as well!).

So, there you have it.  There are thirteen more days until school, and I've prepped for two weeks of them so far.  We're pretty excited!  We can't wait to share more with you throughout our school year!

Specialists and Evaluations and Therapies. Oh My!

I don't know how to start with this post.  I guess a warning would be good - this is probably going to be long.  I want to cover the last few months of what's been going on without skipping over details and all that our X-Man has been through.  So, grab a cup of coffee, and let's talk.

Last fall, X-Man started playing basketball.  We knew he wasn't going to be the star-athlete on the team.  He doesn't have much muscle mass (he weighs only 37 lbs at 6 years of age), and isn't quick on his feet (maybe from clubfoot).  What I wasn't expecting was to leave practice one night sobbing.

At his practice, I noticed something wasn't quite right.  When the other kids were listening to the coach, he was rocking back and forth staring at the ceiling.  When the other kids were dribbling the ball, he was jumping up and down and putting his hands all over the other kids and making unusual sounds.  When it was his turn to dribble across the court, he couldn't without trying to shoot a basket every time he walked past the basket.  He was the disruptive child on the team - the one the coach had to constantly redirect and correct.
My hubby was the assistant coach, and he started to notice too.  Basketball was pointless.  It was basically a time for X-Man to act excessively silly and disrupt the team.  There were a couple of games that the hubby couldn't make due to work, and I would have to walk across the court and try to calm/redirect/correct X-Man's behavior.  He played the whole season as I didn't want him to quit mid-season and he still loved going.  He was very discouraged that he hadn't made a basket, but he still had fun.
So, I called his pediatrician (whom we adore) and she asked that we come in to the office to observe him and help us come up with an action plan.

We spent time discussing things that concerned us, as well as some questions that she had for us.  She recommended that X-Man have evaluations for autism spectrum disorders, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.  We filled out multiple evaluation forms, met with specialists and came up with an action plan.  We would do PT once per month, OT once per week, and thankfully, it was determined that he does not have any form of autism.  It was, however, recommended that we have him screened for ADHD.

I've been having mixed feelings about getting a diagnosis for ADHD.  I feel that there is such a stigma attached; besides, I homeschool, so an IEP really isn't something that he needs at this point.  I talked to our pediatrician about these concerns and she explained that there are support groups and parent-led groups that could possibly help us learn how to cope and help him.  I told her about my concerns with stimulants and that I wouldn't be interested in putting him on medicines.  I'm biased, but X-Man is SO smart, and I'm concerned that medication would alter the way he thinks, and that's the last thing I want for my brilliant child.  I asked if there's some dietary changes we could implement to help his symptoms. She explained that there is no scientific proof that dietary changes help, but on a case-by-case basis, there's anecdotal evidence that it can help.  We decided to cut out gluten, red food dye, and cut back on other dyes, artificial flavors, and sugar.  It has seemed to help.  He was having daily meltdowns, now he has them every three days or so.

He did have the biggest meltdown of his life two weeks ago, which resulted in many stares, whispers, and judgmental glares by patrons of the zoo.  It also resulted in the biggest meltdown of my life, but that's another blog post on another day.

X-Man attended physical therapy in January, February, and March.  His therapist was very surprised.  She said that considering how inflexible his feet are, that he is able to do more than almost any other child that she's seen! In those three months, he greatly improved as we would spend time implementing stretches and exercises at home.  And, at our last visit, he 'graduated' from PT - she recommended that we put flexion-stops back on his magic shoes, and that we continue his exercises and stretches.  She said we could also contact her whenever we had concerns or questions.

X-Man has been going to occupational therapy each week.  Unfortunately, it took a while to get us in as the locations we preferred had no openings.  We go to the main children's hospital, which isn't as bad as I thought - I tend to stay in my quadrant of the city, so I think it's a good thing that I'm being pushed to go somewhere new.  And I absolutely adore his occupational therapist.  She is so patient and kind and easy to talk to, which is great.  About two weeks ago, she asked if we had ever had him assessed for sensory processing disorders.  I told her that we're going to get him assessed for ADHD, but that there had been no conversation about SPD.  So, she described it to us and explained that sometimes SPD is misdiagnosed as ADHD.  We filled out a questionnaire and Audrey (the fabulous OT) scored it for us.

He had two 'senses' that fell within the normal range (I think they were vision and body awareness), the rest fell in a light gray area, which means 'some problems'.  Thankfully, even though some were close, none fell in the dark gray 'definite dysfunction' area.  She also gave us a lot of information on SPD as well as activities to help him throughout the day, called a sensory diet.  So far, it seems to be helping.  He had one of his best, focused days of school to date.  We started the day by having him carry the jug of milk to the table, push a basket of laundry across the floor to the laundry room, load the washer, and then had him chew on chewy jellybeans while he did his math work.  He didn't complain about his math work, and didn't forget to do any of his problems (nearly every day he forgets to do a few problems).  His handwriting actually looked better too! 

There are many times where I think he is just not listening (constantly tossing a ball up in the air, acting very silly, getting very wired when he 'rough houses', making sounds over and over again, etc.), that may actually be him 'stimming', which is something he cannot control.  When we do certain activities on the list, it really seems to help - which is quite amazing.

I feel very happy that he isn't in the definite dysfunction category, and even happier that we now have ways to help him.  I'm still not sure about getting the ADHD diagnosis (or ruling it out), and I'm trying to figure out just what SPD means - I'm currently reading The Out of Sync Child which was recommended by some SPD parents and am spending probably too much time researching - but in the meantime, it feels good to have some answers.  We're going to keep working with him, and doing all that we can to help him.  If you or someone you know loves an SPD child, won't you please share any tips you have?  We could also use prayers for discernment (please no prayers for patience ;) ).  I also want to thank all my friends and family members who have already been praying for us and checking in for updates - your support means the world to us.

A Much Needed Change - Science Curriculum

Today was the smoothest day so far.  It went so well that we actually finished our school work before lunch (we normally have an hour or two to do after lunch). 

Yesterday went pretty well too - except, we started at 10:00 instead of 9:00.  Oh well.  My friend Emily brought us a ton of vegetables from her parents garden, so we ended yesterday with making zucchini bread (used this fantastic recipe but left out the walnuts since Lou isn't a fan).  That counts for math, right?!  The bread is almost gone - even my hubby ate some (and asked if I would make some more).  If you know how picky he is, that's saying a lot.

Today I was not looking forward to Science at all.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Science - it's been my favorite subject for as long as I can remember (except Chemistry.  I HATE Chemistry).  But, our first day of Science was rough.  We purchased Apologia's Astronomy book and the issue is that the book is for K-6th grade.  In order to make it though the book in one year, there's four or five pages of textbook reading per lesson.  Plus there's a journal and experiments.  I could tell on the first day that the book wasn't going to work for us.  At least not this year. 

I consulted with another homeschooling mom, and decided that I'm coming up with my own Science curriculum. We're going to study space, but in an easier, kindergarten appropriate way.  I want him to LOVE Science, not dread it.  So, I have a ton of small books about space, and we have a very extensive public library. We'll read two books about space per week.  My parents also gave me some of my favorite books from when I was a kid (Just Ask books by Weekly Reader).  So, today, we read "What is A Star?".   The kids LOVED it!  They know the order of heat intensity (blue is hottest, red is coolest), size classification (dwarf up to supergiant).  And learned so much more than they did using the textbook last week. 

We also made our own stars.  We each decided how hot we wanted our star to be (X-Man wanted the hottest - blue, and Little Lou wanted a star with mid-range heat - yellow).  Then, they decided which size (both wanted supergiant).  I helped them trace a circle on construction paper, they cut them out on their own (more fine motor work!).  Then on one side, X-Man wrote the name of his star, how hot it was, and the size.  On the front we swirled glitter glue to signify the gasses that swirl on each star.  It was amazing to me how much information they retained.

We're also going to spend time each week observing nature (Mason method) and using a notebook to sketch an observation.  I feel so much better about science now.  And less stressed.  So far, we pretty much love homeschool!

Homeschool - Two Days In

Thursday was our first day of homeschool; it went pretty well!  The day started with some french toast casserole that baked in our slow-cooker overnight.  School began with a prayer, pledge of allegiance, and calendar time.  Then we did a short history lesson - it came with a family tree that they filled out (I wrote Little Lou's for her) and colored.   As they were coloring, I did a short interview about their favorite things - I'm interested to see which items change at the end of the school year.

We also read a few pages in our science book.  It was obvious that I can't do science right after history again, too much reading for two little ones. We've changed the order of subjects - they'll also only do science two times a week (they'll do art some days instead).

Then we worked on a rhyme about the animals and which continents they live on (they got to run and jump so they were very excited about that!).  Next we had a short devotion and practiced our first memory verse (Matthew 19:14) - we have a CD which plays the verse in a song which has made it easy for me to memorize the verse (even Little Lou almost has it memorized!).

Next we had our first lesson.  At the beginning of each lesson (one new lesson per week), there is a DVD with a teacher explaining the new material - I LOVE this!  We did some practice with our cuisenaire rods and he did a worksheet  (he got every problem right - woohoo!).  I use a composition book as a math journal for Little Lou.  She practiced writing numbers 1-5 and then put that amount of stickers on each number.

Then, it was lunch time!  We also took a break before heading back to our classroom.

After lunch I had X-Man read a book on his own (he'll read a short book or one chapter out of a novel) while I worked on a phonics lesson with Little Lou.  After that, we did some handwriting - that was difficult.  X-Man has always had delays in fine and gross motor skills, so some things were very difficult for him.  He is also a perfectionist, so if his work doesn't look exactly as he would like it, he scribbles all over the page or cries (Mom, Dad, does this sound familiar?!).  He had a few meltdowns, so we cut the lesson short.  Day two was much better for handwriting - we actually were able to extend our lesson!  X-Man writes the letter 'F' like a champ now.

At the end of each day, all three of us read a book together.  Then we do a mini-book report.  I write the name of the book and author - then there's a place for both of them to note if they liked the book or not (X-Man has to write 'yes' or 'no' and Little Lou circles a happy or sad face).  We keep these on note cards attached to a binder ring.  This can help me keep track of which books we've already borrowed from the library and help me to determine which type of books they'll like going forward.

Then they get free time - I have a play kitchen and a few toys in our classroom they can play with.  They can also read books, or work on a maze/dot-to-dot book I made (printed free worksheets then put them in page protectors so they can use dry-erase markers on them over and over again).  They can also play with some sensory bottles I made, do tangrams, work on geoboards, flashcards, or artsy stuff.  We also listen to orchestral music (they can already recognize some of the parts from 'The Carnival of Animals') and I prepare our lessons for the next day.

After school, we got some frozen custard and then went to the pool - that's homeschool P.E., right?!  We ordered pizza for dinner - pretty much, the perfect day.

All in all, I think (two days in) that homeschooling is going to be a great fit for our family.  It's so nice to be able to customize each lesson to meet their needs.  It's also wonderful to get hugs and kisses all day from my sweethearts.  Yep, I'm a fan of homeschooling!

Homeschool Curriculum and Life

Hi Friends,

So let me tell you, I am LOVING life right now.  I've been unemployed for a little over a month, and so far it has been wonderful.  I've been able to spend the days doing whatever the kids want (pool, zoo, museum, etc) and, I'm sleeping during normal-people sleep hours!  It's great.  I feel refreshed and energized, which has provided me with time to focus on our next adventure: homeschooling.  We've received all of our curriculum selections and almost have our classroom in order (photos will be on my next post).  For now, I wanted to share with you what our curriculum choices are for this year.

The core of our curriculum is from Heart of Dakota (Little Hearts for His Glory).  It includes:

• History For Little Pilgrims
• History Stories For Children
• The Reading Lesson (I have a feeling we'll get through this in no time as X-Man has been reading since before his fourth birthday)
• Thinking Skills - Grade 1
• Family Time Bible
• Devotions for the Children's Hour
• Hide 'Em In Your HeartU Vol 1 CD
• Several Burgess reading books

For Science, we chose Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy (this was his choice).
For Math we chose Math-U-See - Alpha.
For Writing we'll be using Handwriting Without Tears Kindergarten.
Art - Art with a Purpose (this was given to us by a homeschooling friend) - also may be supplementing with some additional books including Drawing with Children.
Music - we'll be learning how to play the recorder and also will be borrowing classical music CDs from our library.
For Spelling, I found a couple of grade 1 workbooks for him to do - he LOVES workbooks!
I will also be using several poetry books, fairy tales, and novels to supplement reading.

We're getting pretty excited - here's a picture of him on our first 'box-day' - he can't wait for school to start!

Thanks for reading!

Curriculum Selection Time!

Hi friends,

We are in the process of choosing home school curriculum.  I wish I would have gone to a home school convention back in April; unfortunately, I was so busy with work stuff and thought I knew what I wanted to do (HA!), so I stayed home.  So, with the help of X-Man, we are beginning to choose what we would like to study next year.  I originally thought I would go with one company's curriculum so that I could do less work (all the school days would already be mapped out for us).  But, as I'm finding the time to do more research, I'm finding that we have SO much flexibility, so why not use that to our advantage?

X-Man LOVED learning about the planets in preschool this year (he knows the planets in order and loves looking for planets in the sky at night) so, we've decided that we're going to study Astronomy with Apologia this year.  Their elementary Science curricula are based on creation.  There are six topics to study for K-6 (which don't have to be studied in any particular order), so this year we'll do Astronomy - if we like it, we'll do it again when X-Man is in 6th grade and Little Lou is in 5th.  Next year, we'll let Little Lou select the science curriculum since whatever we do next year will be studied when she is in kindergarten and again when she's in 6th grade.  We also have some great friends who gave us a membership to one of the best Science Institutes in the country, so we'll be spending lots of time there.

For math, we've decided to use Math U See.  What I like about this is that there are DVDs that correspond with the lessons.  This means they'll be learning math from someone who knows what they're doing, and I'll be learning right along with them!  We'll likely supplement with some extra workbooks (X-Man LOVES workbooks!).

For reading, history/social studies, and Bible, I'm still doing some research.  This is where you come in!  If you are a homeschooling parent, please let me know if there's certain curricula that you've really liked (or didn't care for).  For social studies, I'm finding that most curricula begin with a study of your home state or home country.  To be honest, I'd rather that my children have a world view than a local view and would prefer to begin studying the world and over time focusing on our local history.  I've been feeling stronger and stronger urges to do some mission work and would love for us to do that as a family someday.

Also, X-Man is reading at an advanced level, so I'm having a tough time finding accelerated readers with kindergarten level English/writing lessons.  I'm thinking we'll do Handwriting Without Tears since he could use quite a bit of help with handwriting - then maybe doing a 1st or 2nd grade reading program (this is where our library comes in!).  I think I may also have him start a blog of his own as he gets better at spelling and writing (of course we will be VERY closely monitoring his blog).

We're getting very excited about home school, in fact, X-Man asked me today if we could start school tomorrow.  I told him we still have to order our books and will begin school in August.  His response: "Why don't we start in July, that's one month sooner."  This kid is SO excited to start school - hope this sentiment lasts all year! 

Anyways, any tips are greatly appreciated.  Thanks for reading!

April Fools!

It's April 1st, which just so happens to be one of my favorite days of the year.  People sometimes talk about their love languages, for some it's gifts, or affection, or acts of service.  My love language is pulling pranks on those I love.  I love that there is an entire day devoted to one of my favorite past times.

In the past, I've put change in my hubby's shoes, or 'short-sheeted' the bed, or made a drink that looked like sweet tea but wasn't.  I also (at least once a week) like to hide somewhere in the house and jump out at him when he's not expecting it. This year, rather than focus on pranking my husband (besides the scary leprechaun that was anxiously waiting for him in the bathroom this morning), I decided to focus my efforts on the little ones.

They're still pretty young, so I didn't want to do anything too mean; I decided to mess with their food.  For breakfast, they had gummy worms in their cereal.  I thought I was so clever.  That is, until church this morning when they were VERY loud and hyper.  Note to self: gummy worms are NOT an ideal breakfast food.

For lunch, I made them peanut butter and jelly and placed gummy worms in their sandwiches (I obviously learned my lesson from breakfast).  It was so funny to watch their faces as they unexpectedly bit into something rubbery in their sandwich.  We also finely chopped some cookies to make 'dirt' for their yogurt.  X-Man thought this was so cool!  Little Lou, on the other hand, threw a complete tantrum and cried under the table while yelling "We don't eat dirt!  Dirt is NOT yummy!".  She eventually came around.  I also gave them an apple with a gummy worm inside, and grape jell-o that looked like grape juice.  It was hilarious watching them try to drink out of their straws!

I've also enjoyed reading my friend's pranks on Facebook.  And several businesses (Google, Coffee-Mate, International Delight, Old Navy) have also had fantastic jokes today.  I sure would hate to have big news to share on April 1st.  I think you'd have to wait a day or else no one would believe you.

Anyways, I'm hoping to get a few more gags in today - especially for my sweet, unsuspecting hubby.  (Or, I could just be saying this so that he worries all day about my evil schemes...)  I hope you have a great April Fool's Day filled with great memories!

Thanks for reading!

Almost a year?!

So I have not blogged since March 8, 2011. How ridiculous is that? I've decided I'm not going to wait this long anymore. That's my commitment to you and the two other people that still read this blog :)

So here's the past year in a nutshell:

• The kids are good - I now have a three year old and five year old, how did that happen?! X goes to preschool fours days a week and absolutely LOVES it.
• We took the kids to Disneyworld and they absolutely loved it. In the six days we were there, I fell in love and learned lots of tips on how to save time, money, and sanity there. Maybe I'll do a blog on it.
• We went back to Iowa last month. X-Man had a great visit. Every time we go the doctor is surprised at how good his feet are looking. I credit it to Dr. M fully correcting his feet, nightly stretching, nightly bracing, and daily prayer by those who love us. Thank you so much if you're one of them!
• We made a very exciting decision in the past two weeks. We're going to home school X-Man (kindergarten) next year! Over the next few months I envision this blog becoming a place that I can record and store lesson plans including the ones that are greatly successful and the ones that are less than perfect. I hope you stick around - I see many adventures in the next few months!

So for now I'll keep it short and sweet. More to follow. I promise.

December Iowa Trip

We went to Iowa during the first week of December. I love traveling around Christmas time. It's so hard to believe that last year during the same time, we were flying every week to Iowa. I do miss seeing the airports decked out in their holiday cheer, and I miss that time that I got to spend with X-Man (or Little Lou when the husband took X-Man). This trip, all four of us drove to Iowa.

We made really good time - I was a little nervous for this trip because 1 - it was our first trip with a potty-trained kid, and 2 - it was December. We got to see a lot of snow. I believe snow in the country is so much more beautiful than our city snow. The drifts on the side of the road were beautiful.

'Icebergs' on the Mississippi

Once we made it to Iowa, we checked in at the Ronald McDonald House - it looked so beautiful with all the Christmas trees! We got to meet some wonderful people who helped put our lives in perspective. There were a couple clubfoot babies there, it was nice to be able to talk to a mom who was in my situation last year. I was excited for her on the changes that were going to happen to her baby! We also met a woman who had a child with several heart issues. She said her child had to be revived almost daily - whenever she gets upset there's a chance her child will lose consciousness. I can't even imagine how scary that must be for her. It helps me keep my life in perspective and want to help others whose children were born with defects.

Also, in the house I read this poem. I remember reading it before, but kind of forgot about it. I love it so much and it really does voice how I have felt and has helped me make the most of our situation:

Welcome to Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this…

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!" you say. "What do you mean, Holland?" I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to some horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy a new guidebook. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

The pain of that will never, ever, go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

Written by Emily Perl Kingsley

Love it. Every time I read it I get a little teary.

Okay, back to our Iowa visit. The morning of X-Man's visit, we had breakfast while the hubby loaded the car and warmed it up for us (since, Iowa is arctic-like in December!). Well, our car wouldn't start. Luckily, there's a free bus that goes between the parking lot across the street and the hospital. The kids actually LOVED the bus!

We arrived at the hospital and got in to see Dr. Morcuende very quickly. Unfortunately, X-Man decided that he needed to throw a huge tantrum. We were still able to get him to cooperate - Dr. Morcuende was very impressed by how good his feet look. He said we'll need to get at least one more set of Mitchell's with the plantarflexion stop, then we'll be able to get a 'normal' pair of Mitchell's.

After our appointment - we took a bus back to the RMH. We arrived just as AAA was finishing up with our car - luckily, it was just a dead car battery. I don't really remember our drive home, so it must have gone well!

I cannot tell you how incredibly thankful I am of all that Dr. Morcuende, and all the staff has done for my X-Man. I am so thankful for Dr. Ponseti who first implemented a non-surgical method of treatment and for all those that have followed in his footsteps.

Five months of catch ups - Quick look at October and November

Well, again - I'm a slacker. I think I just get overwhelmed once I let this blog thing go without a post for too long. Enough is enough. If you'll read, I'll post! It's been a busy five months, but I'm going to try to get you caught up.

OCTOBER

October was great - we went to three trick-or-treat events. X-Man was a zookeeper, Little Lou was the sweetest ladybug. X-Man also 'graduated' from physical therapy - he made wonderful progress and we are so thankful for Lindsay and all she's done for us.

NOVEMBER

In November, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our amazing family. We were filled with Christmas spirit before December and had all our Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving! X-Man had an appointment scheduled in November to see Dr. Morcuende but we had to reschedule until December. My next post will be all about that appointment!

Lou is two and X has flexible feet!

So, this time I'm not going to apologize for taking months (again) to post an entry. I'm a slacker. If you've been following, this is nothing new. Well, let me re-phrase... I'm a slacking-blogger. I'm a busy girl, for real. I've been busy taking care of my amazing kids, planning a two-year party for my darling Little Lou (she chose an insect themed party, which was AWESOME!), taking X-Man to weekly PT appointments and AWANA (more on that later), working more hours from home than ever (job-security yo!), all while trying to keep a clean home and sleeping eight hours a night. So, blog posts have been pretty low on the priority list - understandably so, right?!

As I mentioned, Little Lou is now two. It's so hard to believe. I remember when that sweet girl was born. Perhaps the most prominent memory is that of the first night in the hospital. In the middle of the night, I hear the LOUDEST baby coming down the hall. The baby was getting closer, and closer, and I think I may have said "That better not be my kid!" - guess who it was...

This girl:


Now, two years later, she is a confident, spunky, beautiful little girl. She loves animals (in fact, she has to kiss them when she sees them in books or in real life), baby dolls (she tries to sleep with five of them each night and names them all 'Kitty Cat' or 'Turtle'), and insects. If she sees a bug, she'll immediately try to hold it, and, if for some reason she's not allowed to hold the bug (because of pinchers on ickiness), she will stomp it until it no longer moves. She's passionate.

So, X-Man has started AWANA - he is a first year Cubbie and LOVES it! He is so good at memorizing scripture and enjoys earning things for his efforts. Tonight he earned his first patch for his vest, I am one proud Mama!

As I mentioned above, X-Man has been going to physical therapy each week. Three weeks ago, his physical therapist, measured his dorsiflexion, and it measured at... ready for this? Twelve-fifteen degrees. If you have a child with clubfoot, you know this is amazing, especially for my guy who was at zero less than a year ago! So, the following week, Lindsay (his PT) measured again, and both feet were again, between twelve-fifteen degrees. So, we are now going to PT every other week - we're very excited about this! We still stretch every evening, and I can tell there's a huge difference between now and even two months ago.

I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day of September. It's even harder to believe that a year ago I felt unsure and scared of X-Man's future with clubfoot. We thought for sure that he would have to have an ATTT and even that didn't have guaranteed results. Luckily, we were able to avoid that surgery and he is doing better than ever. He has a very confident walk - most people call it a strut, and he runs as quick as children his age without clubfoot. So, life has been good here. There's been a lot of craziness and keeping bust, but the big things are all in place, I feel incredibly blessed.

No news is...

Good news. Right? Things have been going very well here. I realize how much I complain, I am much better about posting when I'm complaining or worrying - luckily there hasn't been much of either lately!

So here's a recap of the last three months (yes, three months, I am a slacker).

In March - X-Man's foot did heal. In only a week or two he was back to being himself, running and jumping. Now, because of daily stretching and weekly PT, he can even stand on his toes and squat for a few seconds (YAY!).

In April his flexibility continued to improve. He gained a few degrees of dorsiflexion on each foot. In April we also found out that my husband was offered a new job. Unfortunately, that meant that beginning on May 1, we no longer had health insurance for a month (unless we chose to have Cobra which cost more than our mortgage payment!). I talked to his therapist and she was kind enough to let us come every other week and shorten the sessions so that our self-pay bill (which, BTW costs $231/hour) would be greatly reduced.

In May we went to Iowa for a follow up appointment. Because of Ben's new job, he wasn't able to come; however, my sister S stepped up in a big way and traveled with the kids and I. Dr. Morcuende seemed very happy with X-Man's flexibility. Since our last visit, X-Man had gained about 5 degrees of flexibility in each foot. He said the main thing is to continue stretching and going to PT. Nurse Maria was on maternity leave (in February she didn't even look pregnant - lucky lady!), we missed her but still had a good visit.

Aunt S with Little Lou and X-Man

X-Man at THE Ponseti Clubfoot Clinic (we are so blessed!)


In June we took a much needed vacation. Little Lou and X-Man fell in love with the ocean. Our church also had VBS which was a lot of fun. On June 1, our new insurance benefits kicked in so we went back to weekly PT visits. His therapist also gave me some information on the local University's physical therapy department. Because of his clubfoot, the students would like to study him and learn more about how to treat other children with similar conditions. I'm thinking about going, I just have to figure out childcare for Little Lou.

We've been having a pretty great summer so far. Near our home is a pretty large reservoir with many steps and a ramp right next to the steps. About once a week we go and walk up the ramp two or three times to stretch his feet. By the way, in case you were curious, there are 123 steps - in the photo below, X-Man and Ben are about halfway down (or up).


I know this post was short and sweet, I'm hoping to post more throughout the summer, but no promises! At any rate, I continue to see how incredibly blessed we are and am so thankful to have the life that I do.

A month later...

So, obviously I am not the most consistent of people, at least in terms of blogging. X-Man had a follow up visit on February 15, so a month later, I figured I'd update you all on how the appointment went as well as other happenings.

Mini-Vacation

So, we heard that it was supposed to snow on Sunday, the 14th, and maybe a little bit on the 15th (although our local meteorologist said the snow should miss us on Monday). We decided to head out to Iowa on Saturday evening and then spend Sunday in Coralville enjoying Valentine's Day together. The drive to Iowa went well. We ate in the car and changed diapers at gas stations. Outside of gas-stops, we only stopped at one rest stop. We made it to Iowa in a little over 9 hours, which is excellent time.
The kids as usual had a lot of fun at the Ronald McDonald house. We ran around and played games. A local church made us some delicious dinner and dessert. X-Man and Little Lou played in the playroom and we checked out the new library (they got brand new furniture and it looks amazing). Ben and I stayed up for hours playing chess. Ben and I have been together for over seven years, and I never knew he played chess (quite well!).
Sunday was Valentine's day. We headed into Coralville and spent a few hours at the mall. The babies LOVED watching the ice skaters (we're going to try to get X-Man into speed skating soon). We also went to the Iowa Children's Museum.

X-Man showing Little Lou how to get to the museum
The kids loved the exibits, and it was wonderful to get out of the house and do something different as a family. I think we'll have to do this more often during our Iowa trips. We came back to the house and played and then went out five to seven games and only won two times.

The appointment

We arrived for X-Man's appointment on time. Nurse Maria saw us in the waiting room and said "Hi X-Man (only she said his real name :))!", I think it is amazing that she remembers us by name. It just goes to show how much they really do care. When we went back to the room, X-Man didn't cry or fuss at all, that is, until I tried to get him to sit on the table! He wanted to sit on my lap the whole time, and luckily they were able to examine him on my lap.
X-Man was a little shy with Dr. Morcuende. This time, he had a physical therapist from Australia with him. I just love the education and awareness that is spreading about the Ponseti method.
Dr. Morcuende said that his feet were looking pretty good. Unfortunately, X-Man has complex clubfeet, so many of the rules of bracing don't really apply to him. His magic shoes were at 40 degrees (typical clubfoot is normally set around 60 degrees). but due to some sores, they decreased the angle to 30 degrees. Luckily, we have moved down to only 16 hours of bracing each day.
Dr. M wanted to see X-Man walk. I bragged about the fact that this is the best X-Man has ever walked. He doesn't limp or hyper-extend, he walks like a little boy with normal feet.
His dorsiflexion still isn't very good. He's got seven degrees in one foot and zero in the other (on one of my earlier posts, I mistakenly noted he had 15 degrees of dorsiflexion). The stiffness is likely because of the tendon lengthening surgery he had at 18 months of age. Unfortunately, at that time, we didn't realize that this surgery was not part of the Ponseti Method. Also, because of this surgery, a second tenotomy will not be possible. Dr. M does think that Physical Therapy could help with flexibility and strengthening.
Dr. M recommended that we find a Physical Therapist in our hometown to help with flexibility and strengthening.

Coming Home

We headed home after the appointment. The drive was going very smoothly until we got about three hours outside of our hometown. Then the snow started falling. We drove for about two hours (and traveled the same distance we normally travel in an hour and a half) and stopped at my favorite pizza place. It was nice to sit and relax. There was only two other people eating in the restaurant. As we ate, we realized that the snow was accumulating at a very rapid rate. We decided to pack up and have the babies eat their pizza in the car.
The rest of the drive was traveled at no faster than 40 MPH (in a 65 MPH zone). It was very scary, the snow was so heavy that you couldn't see where the road started and the shoulder began. We prayed quite a bit and made it home in about two to three hours. We saw many cars that had wrecked and even saw some that had flipped over (including a semi-truck). I was so happy to have made it home.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. We got to spend some time together as a family, had wonderful new at X-Man's appointment, and stayed safe. What could be better than that?

Snow!

So, here in Ohio, we have tons of snow. Not as much as the East Coast, but still, quite a bit. On Friday, we had no snow on the ground, by noon on Saturday, we had 15 inches. And I welcomed all 15 inches. It's beautiful, and the kids love it.

X-Man and Little Lou all bundled up

Fast forward to Tuesday. We got 4 more inches of snow. Once again, I welcomed all 4 inches, although my welcome wasn't nearly as warm.

Fast forward to today. I see that we're supposed to either get snow showers or 2-4 inches of snow on Monday. Snow has overstayed its welcome. Enough already. Don't get me wrong, I love the way it looks. It's gorgeous. It feels magical to watch it fall all day. However, we are headed to Iowa on Saturday for a 4 week follow up appointment on Monday. The weather is supposed to be decent on Saturday and Monday from Ohio to Iowa (minus Monday's snow showers), not so nice on Sunday... This is part of the reason that we'll be headed out early. We also thought it would be nice to take Little Lou and X-Man to the museum and maybe ice skating for Valentine's Day.

I'm hoping the appointment goes well. X-Man's feet are looking better and better. His left foot has almost completely dropped, his right foot still has maybe 5 mm until it drops all the way down into his shoe. Each day, we've been doing stretches for half an hour two times a day, and I can tell that they are helping. His feet don't feel nearly as stiff as they used to. And, X-Man is walking better than ever. Tonight he was running, and I was amazed at how fast he runs now! I am a little concerned about his right foot as it just doesn't seem 100% corrected yet. Dr. M said that there was a chance he would have to have a tenotomy on the right foot... I'm hoping we won't have to do this (as it would mean driving 10+ hours with a child who just had surgery, followed by 4 weeks of casting and relearning to walk... again), but, I have peace that Dr. M knows what he's doing. We're hoping and praying that we have safe travels and that X-Man's feet continue to progress.

Cast free is the way to be!

So, X-Man is cast free! We are so excited. He's been in casts since the middle of October, so we're so happy to have made it to this point.

We were able to get an Orthopedic office to take his casts off. I was so proud of X-Man, he didn't cry at all when he had his casts taken off; even the cast tech was impressed! He really did a great job. At one point, he did start to panic a little bit and started counting super-fast. The tech stopped for a minute and said, "it's alright, I'll give you a minute". I was really impressed with the tech, he was really good with X-Man and wanted to learn more about why we went to Iowa and X-Man's treatment (I love when I get the chance to educate people about the Ponseti method!). He even helped me figure out how to get X-Man's "magic shoes" on.

I can't wait to post photos of his new shoes - unfortunately, we seem to have miss-placed our camera. I have a feeling that a certain little girl hid it somewhere... She's lucky she's cute.

When we got home from his doctor appointment, he was so excited to take a bath in the bathroom (we've been doing waterless baths and sponge baths in the living room). His skin is so dry and his legs and feet are really sensitive. I can tell that his knees are sensitive to extension too (probably from being bent for so long!). He tried to stand up, but his legs were unable to hold him up. I'm sure this is temporary, but I think it scared him. Luckily, he has figured out how to crawl with his brace.

His feet look so much better than they did in October; when our camera is found, we'll post comparison photos - you'll be amazed.

Three years ago

X-Man on his birthday - pre-casts

Pre-casts, he was one or two days old

X-Man and his first set of casts, three days old

So sitting here, I just realized that exactly three years ago, X-Man got his first set of casts. I remember him being so tough. He was only three days old and was already the love of my life. I remember trying so hard not to cry while they put his casts on, but I couldn't hold back tears. I remember putting his clothes back on, trying to be careful with his new casts. I remember feeling the warmth of his casts and panicking, thinking that they were burning his legs. I remember calling my mom from the car, I was sitting in the backseat, to X-Man's right, I remember exactly where on interstate 71 that we were. And I remember sobbing, telling her that my sweet tiny boy had huge heavy casts all the way up his legs. I remember just wanting my mom and dad. I never felt more like a child in that moment. But also in that moment, I realized that ready or not, I was an adult and was responsible with the most beautiful child I had ever seen.

I teared up a little bit thinking back to that moment. But I wouldn't change it for the world. It was one of the most difficult, yet most wonderful moments of my life. And the past three years have been (hands down) the best years of my life. My X-Man continues to bless me everyday, he really is a tough, amazing guy. I don't know that many other children would do as well as he has with everything.

We really do have an easy life compared to so many people; we feel incredibly blessed to have two smart, kind, healthy children. Clubfoot has become a normal thing to our X-Man. He's not embarrassed, and neither are we. When people come to our house, he loves to show them his "cool, blue casts" and his new "magic shoes". On Wednesday, X-Man gets his last set of casts removed here in town. We've been telling him each day how many days until his casts are removed. Last night, as we were getting ready for bed, we told him "three more days until you get your casts off!" and he said "no, we leave my casts on!". He actually likes his casts!

When his casts are removed, he'll start wearing the Mitchell/Ponseti boots and bar 18 hours a day. It seems daunting and I was a little worried about his mobility. Then, I remembered that's what I was worried about when we started casting. Luckily, his casts haven't held him back, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if his braces met the same fate.

The past three years have been filled with so much love and amazement. I'm looking forward to the next three years; but for now, we'll enjoy one day at a time.

Lucky number seven

So last Monday (December 21) was week seven of our Iowa visits. Before we got to Iowa, we spent over thirteen hours in airports. Before I tell you about the good news we received, I'd like to tell you about our crazy travels.

So, Sunday morning, around 8:30 am, Ben dropped X-Man and I off at the airport, about two hours before our flight was to leave. As usual, TSA screenings went well - we had to sit in the clear box so they could test X-Man's casts, but it was no big deal. By the way, since we've done so much traveling (X has been on 21 flights in the past two months) we can now go through the expert traveler line! We did our Starbucks run so he could get his chocolate milk (he LOVES the organic chocolate milk and enjoys drinking it while watching the planes go by). We waited at our gate for a good hour and a half before the gate attendant announced that our plane would be delayed. The lady at the desk was very helpful and got us on a plane from Detroit to Cedar Rapids later in the day in case we missed our flight (due to our first flight being delayed).

Chocolate milk time!


Once our plane arrived, we had a smooth flight into Detroit. The flight attendant asked that everyone wait on the plane and let the people with short connections get off first (I thought this was wonderful - I've never had an attendant do this before). We got off the plane and walked very quickly to the gate for our next flight; unfortunately, we did miss our flight (it was 12:20 and our flight left at 12:10). Since we had seats on the next flight, X-Man and I walked around and had some lunch. We played and read books until about an hour before our next flight was scheduled to leave. Normally we don't go to the gate until right before the flight leaves, but for whatever reason, got there early this time. When we got there , the gate attendant announced that our flight (3:50) had been cancelled due to the weather. She was very helpful and got us onto a flight to Minneapolis (around 5:00) and then a flight to Cedar Rapids (we would arrive around 7 or 8).

Can I just tell you that the Detroit airport is beautiful? It was built in 2002 and is absolutely gorgeous. There's this crazy-long hall that connects the two terminals - it looks like you're under water and they play calming music with lights that change colors in rhythm to the music - very impressive. They also had a bunch of people dancing and doing karaoke (some girls were dancing to a song about "dropping a booty" or something - X-Man felt the need to sing this song for the next ten minutes), and they also have a tram and a bunch of really nice stores, it was like going to a mall.

While waiting for our flight, lots of people stared at us and asked what happened to X-Man. I also met a girl named Sarah who was really nice. She was getting irritated that so many people kept asking about X-Man. I told her how it used to bother me too, but now I consider it an educational opportunity. Our flight to Minneapolis was short and sweet, everything went well.

We didn't have a lot of time to spend in Minneapolis, so we grabbed some dinner and walked very quickly to our gate, which, naturally was on the complete opposite end of the airport. If you've ever flown into Minneapolis, you were probably taken aback by how huge the place is. I was sweating and out of breath by the time we got to our gate (we must have walked a mile to get there - no joke). When we arrived, we were told that our flight would be delayed, so we decided to eat. X-Man was so restless. By this point, we had already been traveling for 11 hours. So, we decided to walk on the moving sidewalks. Hey, anything to make the screaming two-year old happy! Our flight kept getting pushed back farther and farther, about two hours later.

Finally, around 9:30 central (two and a half hours after our flight was to depart) they decided to delay our flight until 7:15 am. Luckily, they gave us a hotel voucher for a very nice hotel suite and meal vouchers. When we got to our hotel, everyone in the lobby (there were probably 10 people in line ahead of us) let us go ahead of them. I was so touched.

We grabbed a snack and settled in around 10:30 central time. I called Ben and told him about all the craziness - God was certainly working overtime on me because I didn't lose my cool at all. Our hotel was so beautiful, some place that we never would stay in, so really, it was kind of a blessing. X-Man and I fell asleep around 12 central time. Can I just say that I love my little guy, but it is no fun to share a bed with a kicking two-year old in casts?! I woke up around 2 am and couldn't get back to sleep. I had to wake X-Man around 4:15 so we could get dressed, check out, and catch the shuttle to be back at the airport by 5 am. Oh, did I mention that the hotel room had a view of the Mall of America?! Man, I wish we could have gone! Oh well, casting is much more important!

The gorgeous bathroom in our hotel


The view from our hotel


When we arrived at the airport, X was very fussy. Luckily, those vouchers covered our breakfast. Our plane got us to Cedar Rapids without any issues. And the shuttle company was kind enough to waive our fees (we normally aren't charged because we normally go straight to the RMH) and take us to the University of Iowa. Ben had emailed Maria and Dr. Morcuende and told them that we would miss our 8am appointment due to our traveling issues. They said not to worry as they would be there all day.

X did better than ever when he got his casts off. Al, from Russia (who we met the week before) was getting his casts off at the same time. Once X-Man realized that Al wasn't crying, he also stopped crying. I was very impressed! Once they took his casts off, we waited in the waiting room. WW (X-Man's friend at the RMH) was coming in for her appointment at the same time, it was great to see them!

We didn't have to wait long. X-Man started crying as soon as we put him on the bed. We sang songs and I told Maria and Dr. M about how well he did in the casting room. Dr. M said "X-Man, Al is here, do you hear him crying?" X-Man stopped crying when he realized Al wasn't crying. Man, I wish we would've thought of this weeks ago!

Dr. M showed me how to put on X-Man's new braces. They are really, really nice. They're much softer than his old braces, and seem like they would be much more comfortable. Like I said last week, his left foot is 100% corrected, but even this week, his right foot still isn't 100%. Both feet are now at 15 degrees when dorsiflexed (normal feet are 25 degrees), so we're getting there. Unfortunately, Dr. M said he may just have stiff feet. It could be from unnecessary surgery, or it could just be how his feet are. He did have to get re-casted this week. Before we went to the appointment, I prayed "God, I don't want him to have to be re-casted, but if his feet aren't corrected, please let the doctor see that," so, even though I was hoping he would be out of casts for Christmas, I know that it's an answered prayer that he was re-casted.

His casting went well (after we reminded him that Al wasn't crying) and we scheduled our next appointment (for mid FEBRUARY!!!). We then waited in the lobby (while watching the piano) for our ride to come. Our ride had to pick up a couple of people on the way to the airport (one of which was an, um, interesting guy who informed us of the role that El Nino plays and how the meterologists have no idea what they're talking about). X-Man serenaded us with Sunday school songs. Oh, to have faith like a child!

When we got to Cedar Rapids, we tried to get on an earlier flight home (since ours was to arrive home at 10:20 pm) to no avail. We were stuck in the airport for at least four hours, so X and I used some more of our meal vouchers and had a nice sit-down lunch at a diner in the airport. We also bought some entertainment materials to keep us busy. The TSA employees recognized us right away as "regulars", I told them we wouldn't see them for a few months, they seemed genuinely happy for us.

After playing for a while, WW and her mom came in. X and WW got to play together for an hour or so, it was really nice. They scooted around the airport together (they're not allowed to walk on their casts for the first 24 hours) and we read books, and colored in X-Man's new coloring book. I love that X has had the opportunity to meet other kids in casts. It's truly been a rich time in our lives.

X-Man and WW (please ignore that my child is trying to play with an electrical outlet) - check out their awesome casts!


Our flights (THANK GOD) left and arrived on time. We got home around 10:30 or so... I have never been so tired in my life.

The good news is that X-Man is on his last set of casts. He'll wear these for three weeks, and then will have the casts removed in our hometown. Once the casts are removed, he'll wear his new braces (with a bar between them) for 18 hours a day. Fourteen of these hours will be while he's asleep, we'll just have to figure out when to do the other four hours... Any ideas or advice on this would be great. I'm worried that he's going to absolutely hate them since they will restrict his walking (although, I thought this about his casts and we see that they haven't held him back!). My wonderful sister Sam said that she's willing to help me make a padded cover for the bar. Maybe if we let him pick out the fabric, he'll like it a little more.

I'm thinking we'll postpone his party until after he gets his casts off so that we don't have to worry about him injuring anyone during his party (I got a black eye last week from his casts).

Iowa - week 6

I have a feeling this is going to be a pretty long post - so, unless you have five or ten minutes to read my ramblings, you may want to come back later :)

This week, we were thinking about driving to Iowa. Special thanks to my sister Kris who was willing to drive out with me. Luckily, on Thursday, Ben found some tickets for a very low rate as long as we flew out on Saturday instead of our typical Sunday.

So, our flight was around 4pm which gave us time to spend with the family before leaving. This week, X-Man and I went to Iowa, and Little Lou and Ben stayed home. The flights went well - as usual, X-Man was very well behaved. From the Cedar Rapids airport, we took a shuttle, the driver was VERY nice. He took us to the RMH - it was strange to be there on a Saturday, almost everyone of the 30+ rooms were booked.

Our home away from home


Since we would be in Iowa all day on Sunday with nothing to do, we decided to head into Coralville and visit the Iowa Children's Museum (it's free for RMH residents). A couple volunteers from the house drove us over to the museum. The museum is located in Coralville mall - we were quite impressed as there is a HUGE ice rink when you walk in. The museum was very nice too - there were lots of pretend stations (a grocery store, doctor's office, ambulance, dentist office, pizza parlor, post office, bank, house, farm and barn), a motion exhibit (you can build cars and tracks and send golf balls down the tracks, there was also a rock climbing wall), a puppet kingdom, and a new flight exhibit (with an actual cesna, hot air balloon, HUGE 2+ story slide, air rockets, air guns, pretend planes, flight simulators, control tower, etc). We had a lot of fun there, and spent 2-3 hours there. We took a break and got some lunch at Panera (their new macaroni and cheese is quite impressive) and walked the mall.

After lunch, we came back to the museum and met Dr. Dobbs' sister-in-law (he's an excellent Ponseti doctor in St. Louis). One thing that I love about being in Iowa City, is that I don't get the dirty looks that I do here; people don't stare at X-Man. People recognize X-Man's casts as clubfoot-treatment. Almost everyone I've run into in Iowa has been very non-judgemental and kind. People seem genuinely interested in him and how treatment is going. It's a great place to be.

Here are a few photos from the museum:

Dr. X-Man, DDS

X-Man the pizza-maker


Buying groceries
He LOVED this walker, in fact, he tried to steal one from a child at the RMH
X-Man the medic

Huge Slide - yes, I did get to carry him up the steps too many times to count!

When we were done at the museum, we called the RMH and asked if someone would be able to pick us up. Unfortunately, there weren't enough volunteers to give us a ride, so they suggested that we call a taxi company (the free bus doesn't run on Sundays). When I called the taxi company, they said they couldn't pick us up because I didn't have a carseat for X-Man. So, I went to the information desk at the mall and explained our situation. The girl I talked to gave us a number to another taxi company. I called them and asked if they could give us a ride. Since we didn't have a carseat, the dispatcher said that it would be up to the driver. Luckily, the driver was willing to give us a ride. It was my first time ever riding in a taxi, so I didn't know what to expect. The driver was super nice - he told me that he spent a lot of time in the RMH as a child for a genetic disorder that he has. I told him all about X-Man. He took us to the RMH and said, I'm not going to charge you. I said "Please, let me at least give you a tip" - he said that he wouldn't accept any money from us. How amazing is that? He could have made at least $15 off of us, but instead did a good deed. There are still good people in this world. Please, if you ever go to Iowa City, use the Yellow Cab Company.

We got back to the house and played in the playroom and had some dinner. A local sorority made us some very yummy cheese tortellini, salad and garlic bread. The girls were so nice, we walked into the kitchen and they immediately started talking to my little guy. We also met a few other children with clubfoot (I counted four other children there!) - there was someone from Russia (this was the 4th country that she's taken her son to for treatment) and someone from Colorado. It was really neat, I met one of the ladies that belongs to the Yahoo nosurgery4clubfoot group and her daughter WW!

Playing at the RMH

The rest of the evening, we played and read books. I gave X-Man a bath and we prayed for a good appointment on Monday morning (I stayed up late reading The Shack - so far, it's really good!).

On Monday morning we ate breakfast (donated by Panera - YUM!) and walked to the hospital. Oh - did I mention, last week, they had the worst blizzard in 20+ years? There was snow all over the place, but the sidewalks were clean. The weather wasn't too bad.

X-Man did much better than normal. He still cried, but not nearly as much as usual. We sang songs and looked at books. Dr. Morcuende said his left foot is 100% corrected (take that ATTT surgery!) but his right foot is still a little stiff. He's hoping that the right foot will be corrected after this cast. They took impressions of his feet for new braces - which should be in by our next appointment on Monday. His braces will need some special inserts because of the stiffness of his feet (likely because of his second surgery).

After his new casts were applied, Maria told me that they will give us his braces free of cost (they are over $500). How amazing is that? They are so good to us. I gave her a big hug and cried a little. I really feel like God has favor on us and takes care of us. I feel so silly when I worry about these things and they're solved in ways that I never would have thought of.

We walked back to the house and ran into Susann and her daughter WW. They were on their way to get casts with Dr. M.

We cleaned our room and did our chores and had some lunch before checking out. Then our shuttle came to pick us up (BTW - if you're ever in Cedar Rapids or Iowa City, please contact the Airport Shuttle Service - they give free rides to residents of the RMH). Susann and WW rode with us to the airport - it was so nice for X to have a friend with casts, and I loved talking to Susann about her experiences.

Our driver from Saturday night is also a TSA agent, we saw him and he recognized us right away. A lot of the other agents recognized us as well (one said - "I see you came with Mommy this week!") It's such a small airport, that they remember you after being there a couple times.

Our flight to Chicago went well. We had a two hour layover, so we did some Christmas shopping and ate dinner (we of course had to buy some more of their delicious popcorn!). The flight home went well, X-Man actually fell asleep.

Flight to Chicago


After our plane "taxied in", X-Man woke up and started coughing. Right as I asked him to please cover his mouth, he got sick. All over the place. He continued to get sick for the next five minutes. I think everything that was in his stomach came out. Everyone was so nice, people were grabbing bags, and giving us paper towels, someone even gave us all her baby wipes. After all the passengers left, I changed his clothes. The attendants (United Airlines) were so nice, they asked if we needed anything and patiently waited for us to get off the plane. The pilot walked us off and asked if we needed a ride. He also wished us luck in X-Man's treatment.

All in all, it was a great trip, minus the puke.

BTW - side note, if you need to get odors out of casts, make a paste of water and baking soda and apply it to the stinky parts. The baking soda will harden, but it won't smell bad!

Iowa - Week 5

Week 5 = festive casts!
This morning, X-Man got his 5th set of casts. As usual, he cried when they removed his casts, and when the doctors came in to apply his new ones. Ben was told that X-Man's left foot is progressing as expected (YAY!), but his right foot isn't as loose as they thought it would be. It sounds like he may need another cast on his left foot, but probably two or three more on his right. He may also need a tenotomy on his right foot (he had a tenotomy on both feet at seven or eight weeks of age).

I'm kind of bummed, but I know things will be alright. We were hoping to only go out one or two more times, but now it sounds like it may be closer to four times. His next appointment is on Monday, so we're hoping to get airline tickets for Sunday/Monday. Also, Nurse Joyce (she was Dr. Ponseti's nurse for years) gave us some information on Angel Flights. It's a charity that gives free private flights to children (and their families) for medical treatment. I think we may look into this option.

At any rate, please keep praying for us. Everyone has been so generous and kind, and we are forever thankful for that.