Blessings

On March 2nd we blessed Eliza in church. It was truly a wonderful day! As Tim stood up to give Eliza her name and her blessing it was so reverent and I could feel so many spirits there. I know many of mine and Tim's ancestors were there for the sacred occasion. Eliza was wide awake all before the blessing and was looking around everywhere. She was still awake when Tim stood up with her but by the time he came back she was sound asleep.

Amazingly Arthur and Camilla were both quiet for the blessing. Camilla sat completely still on my lap and Arthur got away from me. He wanted to follow Tim to the front of the chapel but walked really slowly. I kept one eye closed and watched Arthur with my other so I could keep track of what he was doing in case I needed to chase after him. Arthur just watched Tim with Eliza really closely as he walked up to where Tim and my dad were standing in the circle. He made it there just before Tim closed the blessing and when he first got to Tim's side he just reached out to Tim's leg and watched in awe. When Tim finished the blessing and opened his eyes he looked down at Arthur and took him by the hand to walk back to the bench with him. It was so sweet to see Arthur's reaction to it all.

After sacrament meeting I went home with all three children as Arthur and Camilla both had really bad runny noses and I didn't want them going to nursery and getting the other children at church sick. Eliza was also a little sick with some sniffles as her brother and sister love to kiss her and don't understand how germs are spread. Oh well, at least they love each other! Here are a few pictures from that very special day!

Arthur's third birthday was on March 4th. On the day we blessed Eliza Tim had to fly out that evening to go to Kansas for work. He was gone that entire week as well as the one following but was able to come for the weekend in between. It was a long two weeks for the children to not see Tim everyday as they really missed him but Skype is amazing and such a blessing to have for when Tim needs to travel.

Since Tim was gone that week he missed Arthur's birthday as well as my own. I didn't mind him missing my birthday as it wasn't a big deal to me and Arthur is still young enough he doesn't even understand what his birthday means.

We decided we save the family celebration for Arthur until the weekend when Tim was home but I still did a few things to make Arthur's day a little bit more special. We played at home most of the day but I did take him to the store, just a mommy and son outing. Arthur got to ride on a mechanical horse and pick out doughnuts and ice cream to take home.

Later at dinner Arthur finished eating before Camilla and then they decided to play. Arthur started taking bites off of Camilla's plate and then wiping food off of her face with his finger and eating it! I couldn't stop laughing at their silliness. However, it didn't end there. Then Camilla started feeding Arthur bites with her fork and they would just laugh and laugh. They definitely make my life more humorous!

After dinner that night he and Camilla each had a doughnut. We Skyped with Tim so he could sing with us while we sang "Happy Birthday" and Arthur blew out his candle. Arthur got to blow out the candle three times! He loved being able to do so and then, when Camilla wanted to blow it out as well, Arthur made sure she got to do so. It was so sweet of him to take care of her wants as well. He truly is a great big brother to both Camilla and Eliza.

These next couple of pictures are of the brownies I made that next Sunday when Tim was home. Arthur really loves Elephants and so we added a little toy elephant my mom had bought for him previously. He thought it was awesome and loved blowing out the candles again! He also really enjoyed his brownie with ice cream!

These two pictures were taken when we took the kids to Tim's office. It was the first day Tim was back from Kansas for the weekend between the two weeks he was gone. Tim needed to go to the office to get a few things done and we wanted to make sure the kids still had time with him as it was a busy weekend with church things. Both Camilla and Arthur loved seeing Daddy's work and getting to play for a few minutes in an empty office just across from Tim's cubicle. You would have thought it was one of the most fun places for kids to play with how happy the two of them were.

My grandma came for a visit during this time. She arrived on my birthday and spent about a week with us. It was so fun to have her here. Arthur is still asking about "Grandma Annie" and telling me he wants her to come back. She is one of the wonderful women that Eliza Ann is named for.

Arthur brought his pillow and blankets into mine and Tim's room one night and climbed on the bed with them. He then proceeded to lay down and asked to hold Eliza, one of his favorite activities at present time. Camilla wanted to join in as well and it was just so cute to see them be so loving toward one another. It's times like this that I cherish and want to always remember. Sure there are times that being a mom is tough but those instances are nothing in comparison to all of the wonderful and glorious moments that help me see those things that truly matter most!

One of the places that our children love to visit the most is the Disney Store. Both Arthur and Camilla love everything Disney and could play in this store for hours if we let them. We don't let them, but we do go there every now and then for about an hour each time. They play with the toys and the stuffed animals, but most of all they love finding the backpack/roller suitcases and pull them around the store with them. Camilla is definitely a girl because she loves all of the shoes. I see her quite often looking at the various shoes.

Another place they love is the grocery store as children get a free cookie and free rides on the mechanical horses. I love going to this one because they each can ride their own horse. I am sure that my grandpa taught them all about horses before they came to earth because they sure seem to share his love for them. In this picture they were both saying "yee-haw" but they also like to "giddy-up" and click their tongues!

Since they both love Disney so much we took them on an adventure in December to see Disney on Ice. We all enjoyed the family experience and were actually able to get the tickets majorly discounted, which is why we decided to do it.

Well, just before Arthur's birthday we saw that another Disney on Ice show was coming to Denver at the end of March. We knew Arthur would love to do that for his birthday and we know someone that was able to get us tickets that were almost front row for free! Technically they were second row seats which in some ways was better because we could keep our children secured and blocked in so they couldn't run to the ice, which wasn't allowed anyways!

It was amazing! Arthur and Camilla were enthralled the entire time. They did start to get cranky the last 10-15 minutes as it was just past their bedtime but snacks kept them going just long enough to get us through the end of the show. This particular Disney on Ice the characters come to the sides of the ice at the very end and wave the children at the front to come up and see them. Tim took Arthur up and so Arthur was able to shake hands with Simba, Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and, of course, Mickey Mouse!!! He thought it was so awesome! I also took Camilla and Eliza up but Camilla just stared for the most part. She did point and say their names but that was about it. Little Eliza did so well through the whole show. She mostly slept but by the end was completely alert and so happy!

This is Arthur at the store trying to decide which treat he wanted to take to Disney on Ice. He kept walking up and down the row and then would stop and put his hands on his waist. It was so adorable and definitely cracked us up!

Family pictures!!!

This was pretty much Arthur's expression throughout the entire show! He was so cute to watch! Actually Tim had a very similar look on his face most of the time, too! ;)

It has been a crazy and busy time these past couple of months but so much fun as well. Already Tim has been out of town on business three weeks of the year and there will be many more to come. He is loving his job and the experiences he is having. This past week he has been working closer to home and is going to be closer for the next two weeks. It's so much nicer when he doesn't have to drive very far, or fly anywhere!

Arthur is growing and talking more in full sentences. His foot is doing alright but we definitely need to do more physical therapy at home to help his tendon stay stretched. He is a very observant and caring little boy. Any time that he sees someone in distress he is immediately there trying to comfort and help. Lately he has taken to rubbing my back when he is tired and, in the morning, he comes to give me a kiss to wake me up!

Camilla is truly becoming a big girl as her personality becomes more evident. She is stubborn and very strong-willed. She knows her own mind and cannot be deterred from what she wants without a meltdown of some sort. She tries to do everything Arthur does and is pretty good at keeping up with him. Her new thing lately is to do something for us to get after her for and then she will laugh and say "ah-ha". She loves running and is actually really fast already.

Eliza is a very content baby for the most part. She sleeps really well, especially at night. I can usually get her to go to bed around 10 or 11 at night and then she will sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning! It's wonderful and helps a lot with taking care of Arthur and Camilla. Especially Arthur as he still wakes up in the middle of the night. Eliza smiles all the time but still won't giggle except in her sleep. It's so funny whenever it happens. During the day she will fuss only when she is hungry or needs a diaper change, and every now and then it is because she just wants attention. Whenever someone walks into her view she is immediately all smiles and coos and if you try to walk away she will immediately start to fuss again.

I am really enjoying being at home with the children. It is definitely harder on some days but we are starting to get into a good routine with three little ones around. I'm starting up my study of Portuguese again as I feel pretty strongly that I need to learn the language. It is a hard language to learn but I do enjoy it. I think I am especially enjoying the fact that it is a challenge as I miss school in many ways. After a year of being graduated from college I am still trying to get used to being just a mom, and not a student as well. It is a completely different experience. I love the little things my crazy children come up with and I am often reminding myself to laugh throughout the day, and even the night. I am truly loving life and trying hard to stay focused on all of my blessings as it makes everything so much better!

Eliza Ann's Story

On Saturday, January 18th, after weeks of inconsistent labor pains, I finally started to have regular contractions. However, these contractions were still about ten minutes apart unless I was walking, in which case they came about every two to three minutes. For most of that evening I had stop and go contractions; they would come for about 30 minutes to an hour (which if you do the math is only about 3 to 6 contractions since they were about 10 minutes apart) and then they would stop again for another hour before picking up again.

It went on like this for most of the evening until around eleven o'clock when the contractions actually started to progressively get closer and closer. Over the course of an hour they went from ten minutes apart to five minutes apart. Then in a matter of minutes they were coming every two minutes. We decided to call the doctor and go to the hospital. Since it was after hours we had to call the on-call operator for the OB office and he told us he would send the message on to the on-call doctor and then the doctor would contact us. Well, it took three calls to the operator and over an hour before we finally were able to talk to the doctor. In that time my contractions had slowed down considerably and were once again only coming about every 8-10 minutes. After talking to the doctor we went to the hospital.

While walking into the hospital and up to the exam room the contractions came about three minutes apart and then I was on the bed being hooked up to the monitors and contractions slowed down once again. When they examined me I was at 4 cm and 80% effaced. Even with that and how strong my contractions were, I'm sure that my nurses didn't actually believe me that I was in labor because the contractions were so far apart. However, when they came back to check me a little later I had progressed a half centimeter, which was still progress. The nurse asked if I wanted to be admitted to the hospital or go home to rest. I told her I thought I should probably stay because once my body reaches that 4 cm point I progress to the 10 cm mark within a few short hours. By the time I was admitted to the hospital and moved to the labor and delivery room it was about 4 o'clock in the morning.

For the next two to three hours Tim and I slept as much as possible. Since the contractions were so far apart I was actually getting quite a bit of sleep. I would only wake up a bit when the contraction would start and then go right back to sleep when it ended. Tim would wake up too because I would be squeezing his hand as I breathed through the contraction. I decided to still go completely natural with this birth as I had with the other two. There was definitely pain during contractions but since they weren't too close together I was managing the pain even better than I had with the labor of either Arthur or Camilla.

At about 6:30 my nurse came in to check my cervix again and by that point it was somewhere between 6 and 7 cm. I was definitely still progressing. If I hadn't slept for those two or so hours and had been walking instead I might have been closer to delivering but I was so grateful for that sleep. I was even more grateful for it when I didn't get a nap for the rest of that day. The nurse let me know at that point that the doctor would be in within the next hour to check me as well and to break my water if I would like. I was excited by that thought because I knew that with my past experience that my water breaking usually meant a baby being born within ten minutes or so.

So the doctor arrived a little while later and I was at 7 cm. Then for the next 20 minutes she kept trying to break my water. Fluid kept coming out but there was never much. At first she thought Eliza's head was blocking all of the amniotic fluid from gushing out but then determined the bag was still intact. It took a good four or five times with the hook before the water finally fully broke. At 8:10 the doctor said she would just be out in the hallway and to call if I needed anything but she felt sure that we would have a baby within another half hour or so. (Her prediction wasn't far off as Eliza was born 45 minutes later at 8:55 am.)

After she left the room the contractions finally started to pick up again and increased a lot more in strength and intensity. At about 8:30 I was uncomfortable enough I needed to stand up in order to deal better with the pain and I figured that standing would help with getting Eliza to finally drop as she was still up high. It definitely did that as within only a few more contractions the pressure was much stronger and the urge to push was so overwhelming. That was when we called the doctor back in and they got everything set up. I started pushing just a couple of minutes before she was born and once again it only took a contraction and a half and a few pushes before she was out; just one push and she was crowning.

We named her Eliza Ann after quite a few wonderful women. Eliza comes from two of my great-great-grandma's and Tim's great-great-grandma. Ann is my mom's middle name and also comes from my mom's mom, Grandma Annie. Eliza was 7 lbs 8 oz, which is exactly one pound more than Arthur and Camilla weighed. I wasn't expecting that at all. I figured she wouldn't weigh any more than 7 pounds. At her two week appointment she had not only regained her birth weight but actually exceeded that by half a pound. She is now 8 pounds and growing more each day. In the hospital they told us she was 20 inches long but at her newborn appointment two days later she was measured at 19 inches. I even had the nurse double check to make sure and she was definitely only 19 inches in length.

The entire labor and delivery went so perfectly and Eliza even came out really pink. That was actually one of the first things the doctor said after Eliza was born. I am honestly so incredibly grateful for how smoothly everything went with this baby's birth. I know that the Lord was with me throughout it all and that He gave me the strength I needed. I bounced back really quickly and recovery has been very smooth. I hardly even notice that I gave birth only two and a half weeks ago. The only issue we had was that Eliza also had jaundice. Her numbers were never as high as Camilla's but she still was on the bili blanket for five days. Eliza still has a little bit of yellow in her cheeks and nose but other than that is doing well.

This picture was taken only a half hour before Eliza was born.

Finally in my arms! I was so happy to have her here!

Tim was even more excited than I was, I think, to have Eliza finally here. She already has him wrapped around her finger.

Arthur and Camilla having their first look of Eliza. They were in awe of her. Both adore their baby sister and are so wonderful at helping me out with taking care of Eliza.

Camilla couldn't stop giving her kisses.

Eliza meeting Grandpa Keith.

With Grandpa Keith and Grandma Cathy.

Our little family...Arthur wasn't in the mood for sitting still and Camilla still couldn't keep her eyes (or hands) off of Eliza.

Only about two hours old and she already found her thumb.

All set to go home!

Her first time outside! Luckily it was a warmer day when we left the hospital.

Eliza was only home for a minute before Arthur was asking to hold her. Since then he spends half his day asking to hold her, burp her, or kiss her. He is always telling me when she is hungry, wet, stinky, or tired. Amazingly Arthur will always calm right down from any meltdown if we put Eliza in his arms or next to him.

Here are a few pictures of Eliza that I took on Sunday at two weeks old. She is already smiling a ton!

Arthur's Diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy

For the past few months I have been somewhat compiling this post in my mind. At first I put it off because we didn't have all the facts and then I waited because I just wasn't sure how to word all of my thoughts and feelings I have had. It has been a very busy time in our family, especially with all of Arthur's appointments that have occurred. He has had visits with orthopedists, rehab specialists, neurologist surgeons, and therapists.

I guess I should start off by writing that the first time I heard cerebral palsy in connection to Arthur was August 12 of this year. It wasn't too hard for me to take in mostly because I could see how fine Arthur really was and that I shouldn't be too concerned. This diagnosis wasn't needed to be a horrible thing and at least now I knew the next steps to take in order to help him. The first doctor to mention it to me even stressed to me that if it really was cerebral palsy it was an extremely mild case. I believe he said mild about 5 times before he even said cerebral palsy to me.

We first noticed something was wrong with Arthur when he was only a few months old. When he started to reach for toys and other things he would always use his left arm to reach. It only concerned us for a couple of weeks and then he started to use his right arm little by little and so we forgot all about it and moved on with life. Then when Arthur was 15 months old he started to walk and he had a slight limp and his right leg lagged a little bit behind his left. He also toe-walked on his right foot, and only his right. I wasn't concerned at first because he had just learned to walk and it seemed normal for a brand new walking toddler. My mom came to visit that next month though and she noticed the limp as well. She suggested we bring it up at his next appointment with the pediatrician and see what they thought of it.

His next appointment was at 18 months and as we had just moved to Moscow, Idaho it was also his very first at a new pediatrician's office. The doctor we saw didn't seem concerned and said that we would just watch it for the next six months and if, at his two year appointment, it was the same or worse we would discuss what to do. She assured us that it would most likely correct itself by his two year birthday and that it was normal for children to walk the way he was walking.

Well his second birthday came and he still was walking that way except now it was more pronounced and it was worse. He didn't let it slow him down at all but he sure had a difficult time keeping from tripping over his own feet. It was hard to watch him with all the other little boys his age at church and see how hard he tried to keep up. He didn't let it slow him down at all, he would just bounce back up after falling and keep on going. Arthur has a lot of determination to do everything he wants to do.

At his two year appointment we addressed it with the pediatrician again. This time the doctor referred us to an orthopedist at Shriner's Hospital in Spokane, Washington. They told us it would most likely take a few weeks for us to be able to get in to see them but they would call and get it set up. It only took one week, on March 12, before we heard from them and they just so happened to have an appointment that was only a little over two hours from the time they called. Spokane is about a 90 minute drive from Moscow and so we knew we could make it if we just loaded up and left. We rushed out the door and made it to the hospital at the appointed time. At the appointment we discussed various things with Arthur and by this point in time both Tim and I had forgotten all about the way Arthur used to only reach for things with his left arm. So when a question came up about his right arm we said he used it fine and never had any problems. They diagnosed him with a tight Achilles heel tendon and just taught us some stretches to do at home and gave us a little boot splint that he could wear to bed at night to help stretch the tendon and muscles.

Within another couple of months we started to see something new. Arthur was beginning to hold his right arm at an almost perfect right angle when he would run and even when he was just walking at times. He would hold his right arm close to his body, especially when he was running, but his left was always much more loose and free in movement. However, by the time we started realizing this it was about the time to move to Denver. So we waited until we arrived in Colorado and then I set up an appointment with a new pediatrician. He then referred us to an orthopedist. This is the same doctor who first brought up cerebral palsy with me and he helped me get signed up for a clinic with three other doctor's so they could also see Arthur and talk together to see if they all agreed on the diagnosis. The official diagnosis was right-side hemiparesis, which means that his right side is weaker than his left and he has reduced muscular strength on the right side as well. His muscles are tighter on the right and that causes them to be weaker.

The clinic is where Arthur was able to meet with another orthopedist, a rehab specialist, and a neuro surgeon. All three agreed that it was cerebral palsy. The neuro surgeon talked about Arthur having a MRI to look at his brain and see if the cause was from a in-utero stroke or from a deformity in the brain while it was developing. The rehab doctor talked about a possibility of injecting botox into his ankle in the future as it helps to loosen the tendons and muscles enough to stretch them more. Finally the orthopedist talked about a stretching cast that Arthur would wear during the night and for naps.

For now we decided not to even worry about botox since it is a very mild condition Arthur has. That option may come up in the future if the tendon or muscles become too tight that stretching isn't even working. Most likely that possibility will occur because of a growth spurt and if we aren't completely religious with doing his stretching exercises. The MRI we decided to put off for now as Arthur will have to be put out in order to have it done and we want him to be a bit older before we do something like that to him. We will probably make a decision about when to do it at his next appointment in about six more months.

As for the stretching cast we decided to move forward with that. At the beginning of October we went in and got his cast. They just wrapped his leg for the cast, cut it off, and made it into a splint that could be taken on and off. He actually liked most of the process, except where they used the little saw to cut the cast off. He didn't like the noise so much. When the nurse asked him to pick a color out for the cast, I showed him the different colors. The first was red and he pointed to it and said "Lightening" as he associates that color with Lightening McQueen. Then the next color was a light blue and I asked if he wanted blue like Thomas, as in Thomas the tank engine. He immediately jumped on that and kept saying Thomas, there was no red option after that. Now he calls his cast "Thomas" and actually requests it quite often.

Since he started wearing his Thomas boot, as we call it, he has started walking much better. There isn't much toe-walking anymore and the limp is almost completely gone. However, his arch is starting to collapse now as he turns his foot in as he walks, which is a whole new issue. The rehab doctor he goes to see now prescribed him to get a SMAFO, Supra Malleolar Ankle Foot Orthosis. This is a boot that will be worn during the day and will give him the arch support he needs and help him from rolling his foot in as he walks. However, they did warn us that he will most likely start walking on his toes a bit again. This will just be an issue that he will deal with for the rest of his life.

In the months since his official diagnosis he has also been to physical therapy several times and occupational therapy twice. We decided that since he uses his right arm so well and just as much as his left, just for different things, that we would not worry about occupational therapy for now. In the future we will revisit the option and go from there. He was having physical therapy for his leg once a week for about two months straight but it was starting to become a little much for Arthur and so we have talked with his therapist and will be decreasing it to about once a month. He really loves his therapist and asks for her often. He tells us that she makes his leg feel better.

For the most part, the cerebral palsy hasn't done too much to change our lives other than Arthur had a lot of doctors appointments for a few months which a bit of a stress on me. He also deals with a lot of pain which causes other issues. If he is hurting and something happens to make him upset then the tantrum becomes way worse than it otherwise would be. He often wakes in the middle of the night too, either because of pain or from startling awake from random twitches and jerks that occur while he is sleeping.

There is still a lot for us to learn and figure out when it comes to Arthur but we are really trying to understand and work with him. I think the best part of the diagnosis has been knowing what I can actually do to help him. The worst part is not being able to make him completely better. I watch him at times and wish I could just take the pain from him and help him to fully understand what is happening with him. Now that he is learning more words and can communicate more it is beginning to become a little better but that doesn't make it much easier. I'm slowly learning how to better deal with his tantrums and his pain. It's a slow process but we are figuring things out. We feel very blessed knowing that he has such a mild case of cerebral palsy. We are just so grateful to have Arthur in our lives as he truly is a joy to us. He has such a wonderful personality and spirit.

This is at Arthur's first orthopedist appointment. He loved playing with the ball and wearing the gloves the doctor gave him.

Arthur waiting for his cast to dry before they cut it off to make his Thomas boot.

The doctor let him pick out a toy from the toy box and he chose these silly purple glasses. He thought they were hilarious.

Arthur showing off his boot. I put one of my socks over it so it doesn't scratch the wood floors when he's walking around the house.

He really loves it, at least most of the time. There are nights where he doesn't want to wear it and fights it tooth and nail.