A few months ago I decided to jump into potty training with Arthur. We had a really rough two months trying to get him to go sit on the toilet. There were a lot of meltdowns, crying, screaming, biting, hitting, and kicking on Arthur's part. There was also a lot of crying and yelling on my part. They were definitely not my best mommy moments.
Some of the times he was completely willing and happy to oblige, others were pure torture. I was consistent with him and he did fairly well with going pee, but struggled big time with the other part. Every single day I would know when to put him the toilet to go stinky, and without fail, Arthur also knew when he had to go stinky. If I tried to have him sit on the toilet when he had to go stinky he would be a thousand times worse with the tantrum. Even if he sat there for 30 minutes he would not go...he is very good at holding it apparently. Once he had his underwear back on, within about five minutes, he was always stinky. It was so awesome...I REALLY love cleaning up stinky underwear...waaaaaaaaaaaay better than changing stinky diapers. HA Yeah, right!
We kept at it for almost two months when the time came for our trip to Canada. I briefly thought of having him in his underwear for the trip, except for in the car, but that only lasted a few moments before I realized that was going to be extremely difficult. Yeah, we would have access to a washer and a dryer for almost the entire trip but there was no way I was going to be dealing with the stinky underwear accidents at least two times every day of those two and a half weeks. So I scratched that idea and put him back in his diapers, with the intention of going right back to underwear when we arrived home. That was a total joke.
Arthur was so much worse and way harder with the potty training the second time around. So...for now we have put potty training on the back burner with Arthur, which might actually be a good thing for him. He is really not ready for it yet. My plan is to start Camilla on the potty training in the next couple of weeks once things have slowed down a bit. We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us. After that I hope she is at the point where she wants to do it and maybe Arthur will follow as they always want to do whatever the other one is doing.
Well you might be wondering why we are going to be so busy for the next couple of weeks. It's actually been really busy ever since we came back home from Canada. We've had a lot of doctor appointments. Arthur had another visit with his rehab and orthopedic doctors in which we finally decided that it was time to have his MRI done. We did discuss it last year but I wasn't comfortable putting him under anesthesia at that point. I have had time to grow accustomed to the idea and felt like it was time to know one way or the other what his condition fully was.
I'm not sure if I mentioned it previously but his condition with cerebral palsy came either from a brain abnormality that happened during his development in the womb or it was an in utero stroke. We knew for sure it came about before he was even born but we didn't know how. The MRI is able to tell us that information as well as what area of the brain is effected and what areas he will most likely struggle in.
Well we scheduled the MRI and went in to have it done just over two weeks ago. I did it first thing in the morning because he had to be fasting for it and I know my little boy well enough to know that he is not a happy camper when he is told he can't eat when he wants to. Since it was so early in the morning Tim was able to come with me and just went into work late that day. Camilla stayed home with Grandma and Eliza went with us. Arthur did so well with everything. I was, and still am, so proud of how well-behaved he was through it all.
When we got there for check-in the ladies at the desk were so helpful and kind. One of them even let Arthur pick out a prize from their treasure chest and, later, brought in an Easter Tweety bird that sang and walked. He was able to keep both toys and he loved playing with them while we waited to be taken back. Eliza even played with the toys and absolutely loved Tweety! He got to wear some pretty awesome hospital clothing and they let him take home his little foam pillow and his oxygen mask! He thought he was in heaven. Luckily we are blessed with a little boy who loves the doctor which is definitely good when we have to go so often with him.
Before his MRI, we had to put him under with the anesthetic being breathed in. They put a little bit of some strawberry smelling stuff on the inside of his mask to make it smell better because I guess the gas has a pretty nasty smell. They gave him some laughing gas before they started the anesthetic. He did great until the anesthetic started. He loved the mask being on. Funny enough, even though they said the smell is pretty awful, I think what Arthur hated most is that he could feel himself getting sleepy and he didn't like it. Tim, Eliza, and I were able to all be with him as he feel asleep but then they immediately kicked us out to the waiting room and said they would have us come back to recovery before he woke up so he would see us first.
After we left they put an IV in his hand to administer the anesthetic that way as it could be a lower dosage and took off the mask. When we arrived in recovery to be with him he was in such a deep sleep with his mouth gaping open. He looked so adorable but unfortunately no electronics are allowed in that area of the hospital so I wasn't able to get a picture of that. We only had to wait about ten minutes before he woke up and he was soooooo groggy it was almost funny. Once he was awake they gave him some goldfish crackers and apple juice to make sure he could keep it down without throwing up. He ate it so well, even with how groggy he was. The nurse had told him that as soon as he was done eating she would take his IV out, and boy, once he was done, that is all he wanted. Immediately he was telling us that he wanted it out, and yet all before that he had been fine with it in his hand and left it completely alone.
As for the results from the MRI, we finally heard back from the doctor this past Wednesday. I still don't understand it fully and probably won't until we meet with a neurologist and a geneticist in November. So far this is what we know and what I understand. Arthur has a condition called polymicrogyria which broken down means he has too many small folds in a focal part of his brain. The problems this condition can cause are on a very broad spectrum. Arthur is one of those blessed to have an extremely mild form which is why his cerebral palsy is also so mild.
His condition was caused with the development of his brain, making it an abnormality. We also know the malformation is called septo-optic dysplasia. This can cause underdevelopment of the optic nerve, dysfunction of the pituitary gland, and absence of the septum pellucidum (a midline part of the brain). The effects can range on a large scale for this as well. Arthur has an appointment with the eye doctor this week so we can see if he has any problems in that area. We have never noticed anything with his eyes except that his eyes seem to be really irritated by bright lights, especially sunlight. I'm not sure exactly what this part of the diagnosis means for Arthur but I do know that even though he has it it doesn't necessarily mean that he will have any symptoms actually manifest themselves that are noticeable. I won't fully understand this part of Arthur's condition until I actually speak with the neurologist. We also know that it is not genetic and they don't know what causes this malformation to occur.
Today we go in for him to be fitted for a new orthotic. This time, instead of getting one that just goes up to his ankle, we will be getting one that will go all the way up to just under his knee. This type of orthotic is called an AFO. We have an appointment for him to also go in to get a new stretching cast which he will again only wear at night. The AFO will be worn all throughout the daytime hours.
He has started up with physical therapy again and Arthur is loving it. He has a new therapist, as his old one had a baby recently and we don't know when or if she will be returning. His new therapist is amazing with Arthur. We have only been to see him twice but Arthur is already warmed up to him. We have been working with Arthur to learn how to put his right heel down first when walking. He rocks with his left foot of course but his right a little harder. When we really get him focused he slows down and has gotten to the point of being able to put his whole foot down at once, which is a huge improvement from just always putting his toes down first, and sometimes the rest of the foot doesn't even touch the ground.
I am constantly amazed with Arthur and how resilient he is with everything he has had to go through, and it isn't even as bad as it could be. Every time I take him to the doctors I am reminded once again of how blessed we are and how much I have to be grateful. It is so hard to see these other children who have such extreme limitations and disabilities. The crazy thing, though, is how happy they all are. I often can see the strain on the parents but they are so vigilant and aware that you can't help but notice the intense amount of love they have for their children. It makes me even more aware of how much trust the Lord has in me to be exactly the kind of mother Arthur, Camilla, and Eliza all need me to be for each of them specifically. I am so grateful to have them in my life and to have the opportunity to teach them and help them grow.
There is a lot of expense going into all of these preventions to help Arthur. It is amazing how blessed we feel that we have had this time to live with my parents this past year and a half. The rental market here in Denver is crazy expensive and if it wasn't for the opportunity to have low-cost living we wouldn't have been able to afford all of the appointments and exams Arthur has had in the past year, as well as to be able to save up for a down payment in order to buy our own home.
Now as for the house hunt, well...the best that can be said is that we are still looking. The market for buying here is also crazy here but we have seen it slow down a little bit since school started. We are hoping that it will continue to come down just a bit more and maybe then we'll be able to finally have an offer accepted. I know that the Lord is there, helping us in this effort to find a home, and that makes such a difference. It does get rather stressful and overwhelming at times, though.
There have been a lot of bad days this summer with Arthur and Camilla. We have finally hit the terrible two's with Camilla and they are not fun. Arthur has a hard time being able to understand anything when he gets upset, making it nearly impossible to calm him down. Camilla just is being willfully disobedient and is so mischievous that it is all I can do to stay calm myself with her. I have had plenty of days where I feel all I do is yell at them and then cry because I feel so awful for doing so. I always try my best to apologize to them at those times. Don't mistake me in thinking it's all bad though, because it definitely is still good. I love playing with them, teaching them, and watching them grow.
Arthur is finally truly starting to say full on sentences. It is such a huge accomplishment. He is also beginning to have more endurance. So often I have heard him say the words, "I can't....it's too hard...I give up...I'm done." That's what he would say all the time with potty training and with riding his bike. However, at our ward Fourth of July breakfast Arthur actually rode his bike in the parade with all of the other kids and made it all the way around the course...twice! I was so amazed and proud of him. He had never gone so far before! Usually he would stop a whole bunch of times or just give up and leave his bike where it was. You could see the joy on his face when he was done. I'm confident he realized all on his own the milestone he had reached. So far he never has ridden his bike with the pedals so lately we have been working on that. Slowly he is starting to use them every now and then. He still struggles with it but he tries so hard.
Camilla is talking more and more each day. She imitates everything everyone says, especially her brother. I think she truly wants to be just like him. We are always laughing...well, maybe not always...at the way she eats. She hardly ever uses her fork or spoon to eat. Camilla has to touch everything before it goes in her mouth. It drives me a little crazy because it causes such a huge mess that I then have to clean up. Honestly it is adorable though. Milla loves to hop like bunnies and is so fast. I will turn my back for literally two seconds and the next thing I know she is gone. I will chase her but somehow she is way more than just a few steps in front of me. Often she is so quick I'm not even sure where in this big house she has gone and it takes a bit to find her. She won't answer you if you call though because she is too busy laughing since she got away. At least her laugh gives her away most of the time.
Eliza is growing leaps and bounds every day. She sat up for the first time on her own right around six months and since then has just continued to expand her horizons. Within another week or two she was able to army crawl everywhere and then by the time she was seven months she was really learning to crawl. She has been steadily crawling for the past two weeks and in addition to that is now pulling herself up with anything she can find to be her aid. Whenever she accomplishes something new she is so proud of herself and she has the biggest smile. Then again, she is always smiling and laughing unless she is tired or one of her siblings is bugging her. The things she loves most right now are clicking her tongue and squealing as loudly as possible. She has finally reached the attachment phase and rarely wants anyone other than mommy. That makes it rough on me to be able to get anything done so I have to be sneaky in the way I move away from her or distract her. Whenever she wants me and is crying, as soon as she sees me coming for her she will start to half laugh/half cry. It is one of the funniest and yet most pathetic sounds I have ever heard. She definitely knows how to calm me down when I am having a rough time. I still think she is our little peacemaker.
Now for a little bit about our family vacation. We left on Friday, July 18th, as soon as Tim was done at work and drove as far as Sheridan, Wyoming. Our plan had been to get there with enough time for the children to go swimming in the pool but we had a few stops to make along the way...you know, traveling with three children three and younger is not an easy task. They didn't mind though, as they had a blast in the room playing. The next morning we woke up early, ate breakfast, and hit the road. Only an hour into the drive we stopped at Little Bighorn Battlefield and walked around. The kids loved the visitors center and gift shop. We tried to get a family picture by the monument but the lady who took the picture sadly cut Eliza mostly out of the picture. I say mostly because you can still see a bit of her head. :) It's okay because we had many opportunities to have other family pictures on the trip.
We made a few more stops on the way up to Canada, one of which was in Billings. The children always love to visit the temple here in Denver and whenever we travel to Utah they love seeing the temples there. Well, Billings has a temple so we stopped for a small break to walk around and stretch our legs. After leaving the Billings temple they all three fell asleep and slept all the way to Great Falls! That's a good three and a half hour drive. Since they all slept that long they were awake for the rest of the drive which was about three hours but it was okay because they were happy until the last fifteen minutes.
We spent about four days at my grandma's house and did a bunch of things around there. The day after we arrived was Sunday and Camilla's second birthday. We celebrated by having Wagon Wheels for her birthday "cake". They are a Canadian treat, kind of like a Moon Pie, but better! Later that day we drove out to my cousin's farm and he hitched up the ponies to a wagon and we went on a ride. The kids loved it! Arthur loves horses and had a blast feeding them oats and petting them. Camilla was little more cautious, which is funny considering she is usually the more adventurous of the two.
Monday we drove out to my grandpa's grave and took him a white rose, my flower for him. There is significance in that for me but not really my grandpa. When I was in high school I wrote a story for my English class. I made up the story but used my grandpa as the central figure of the story and white roses where an integral part of it. Ever since then I always think of white roses when I think of my grandpa. That night we went back to my cousin's farm where we learned how to rope. It was so much fun. Tim picked up on it fairly quickly and one time I did manage to get my rope over one of the horns and the head. The children were just happy to run free and play with the horses, dogs, and the small child ride-on tractors.
We also took the children to a brand new splash park in the town. It was so warm before we went but as we arrived the clouds moved in and the wind was blowing like crazy. Even with that Arthur had so much fun running through the water. Camilla was too cold so she just watched until the timer ran out and it had to reset itself. During the time the water was off Camilla ran out and splashed in some of the small puddles that had formed. She was not happy when the water came back on.
The Wednesday after we arrived we left Grandma's house in the early afternoon to meet my sister, Chelsey, and her family at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. Arthur and Camilla were so happy to see their cousins and it was great to spend some time with my sister. We spent the night at a cabin with them before heading into Waterton, which is the Canadian part of Glacier International Peace Park. We spent some time visiting some favorite family sites before getting on The International, a boat that crosses from the Canadian side over to the American side of Waterton Lake. On the American side is a small boat dock and customs building and the only way to get there is to either take this boat or backpack in from the Glacier side of the park. The name of this place is Goat Haunt, Montana. It is a beautiful area but it was a really windy and cloudy day making it really chilly by the lake. We decided to join my sister's family in doing a hike over there before taking the later boat back across the lake. Once we were in the protection of the trees it was fine and we had cover from the rain and wind. That night my family reunion started and we spent time visiting with family before heading to bed.
The next day we drove back into Waterton to spend some more time in the townsite before driving to Cardston to visit the temple there. We walked around the temple grounds and spent some time in the visitors center before heading back to the lodge where the reunion was being held. For the rest of the day we played games, including some more roping, and visited a lot. It was wonderful to see family and catch up. I haven't been to one of these family reunions since before I was even engaged.
The next day was Saturday and we woke up early to pack up and head down to Rexburg. Tim's mom and grandma were visiting Rexburg from California because Tim's sister, Megan, had just graduated earlier that week. We pushed all the way through to Rexburg and arrived around seven that night. That meant we had time to have dinner with them that night and then we spent all day Sunday with them. It was great for the children to have some time with their grandmas.
The rest of the week we spent around Idaho Falls and Rexburg just having fun and visiting friends. Thursday Tim and I attended the first day of Education Week while Megan and her husband, Brian, watched the children for us. They also did that for us on Friday and half of Saturday. It was wonderful being able to attend the classes for Education Week and I felt so uplifted from what I was taught, by the teachers and the Spirit. It was so sad to leave on Saturday as Rexburg still has a feeling of home for us. There is definitely something special about that place and I truly love it, especially BYU-Idaho's campus.
After leaving Rexburg we stopped to visit some dear friends of ours. They were our upstairs neighbors when we lived in Rexburg but have since moved and we haven't seen them since Arthur was only about eight months or so. They have a little boy just a couple months younger than Arthur and a daughter right in between Camilla and Eliza. It was awesome to be able to see them and catch up. We really miss being their neighbors!
Then we stopped in to see Tim's grandparents who live in Logan. It was late at night but they stayed up late in order to see our little family. We were only able to stay for about an hour but I'm so grateful that we did. As soon as Eliza saw Tim's grandma she just lit up. She wouldn't stop smiling and talking to her. Eliza truly acted as though she knew Tim's grandma. It was one of those moments when you can feel heaven so close and just want to treasure it and hold it close.
The next morning we spent about an hour or so visiting one of Tim's missionary friends before heading back home. It was a really long day and after more than two weeks of being in the car, the children were so done. We discussed stopping in Rawlins, Wyoming for the night but thought we could keep pushing through because the children were being pretty good at that point. Well...as soon as we passed the last exit of the town all heck broke loose. To put it simply, it was a really, really, REALLY long drive from Rawlins to Cheyenne. It's about a two hour drive but it felt a whole lot longer than that. So even though Cheyenne is only a couple of hours from home we stopped and stayed at a hotel that night. We are glad we did, especially when we got to go visit my cousin, Trent, and his family before leaving Cheyenne.
I'm so grateful we made the time and saved the money to be able to make this family vacation possible. It was wonderful to see so many family members and even some great friends. It was so worth it to go even with the struggles that come with traveling with our little children. They all had fun and I know Tim and I did as well!
I know that this post was extremely long but there was a lot to catch up on. Here are a bunch of pictures to go along with this post! Some of them will be a little out of order but oh well...enjoy!
So proud of himself!
My happy girl!
Tim trying to let Arthur catch Eliza.
Camilla wanted to go down the slide holding Eliza...it ended with me dropping the phone to catch the baby, just in time too!
One of the "fun" parts of the drive.
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Billings Temple
Arthur eating fries while half asleep...silly kid!
Arthur trying to help Camilla up. So cute!
Arthur patiently waiting his turn.
So intent. I loved watching him with this because it took him awhile to figure it out but once he did I could see how much it was helping him to use his right arm.
Dancing!
Making a mess with ice cream!
Not as messy as his sister!
Playing with the train at Grandma Irene's!
Camilla waiting for us to sing to her!
Running wild at the farm!
Going on a ride with the ponies and cousin Brian!
These were some awesome swings at a park in Canada! I laid Eliza down and pushed her for about ten seconds before she was out. Right after she fell asleep we moved her into the shade while the rest of us played.
First time in a swing.
At Grandpa Arthur's grave.
Arthur couldn't stop petting the horse.
Camilla kept wanting to feed the horse hay but always stayed as far away as possible while trying to do so.
Taking a ride with Daddy!
Eliza playing with Grandpa Keith...or maybe it was the other way around! ;)
This was Eliza's makeshift bed while at Grandma Irene's house and Arthur wanted to climb in and cuddle with her! I love when he is gentle with her and she doesn't mind him being so close!
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Running in the rain!
Cameron Falls
Prince of Wales Hotel
On the boat across the lake!
Camilla and Eliza both fell asleep on the ride over to Goat Haunt!
Arthur really loved the hike and was doing his best to stay caught up with his cousins.
Goat Haunt side of Waterton Lake...Canada in the background!
The customs building and a pavilion.
At Cardston Temple!
Eating ice cream in Waterton...even though it was really windy and cold!
Throwing rocks in the lake!
Tim roping!
This will give you just a small idea of what we dealt with every now and then in the car. With this video we were only about an hour away from Rexburg and, not only is there only one rest spot along that stretch, but there was no way we were about to stop only to have to load them back up and still deal with the crying! However, this didn't last too long and then it went back to being all smiles and laughter in the back seat. It was times like this that we just had to laugh ourselves!
Camilla in a big kid swing!
I love baby cuddles!
At the bookstore on campus...so content to just read books!
Riding the carousel!
This was Eliza trying to get on her hands and knees!
So happy with herself!
Holding hands!
Picture with Grandma Gwen...this is totally their personalities!
Family picture with Grandma Lisa and Grandma Gwen!
Meeting up with Charlie! I miss this girl! When we lived in Moscow we became good friends with Charlie and her husband, Jordan. I was also her visiting teacher!
Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Bradford!
Getting to see some other friends from our time in Moscow! Brielle's parents live in Colorado Springs so we were able to see them while they were out her visiting! Eliza and their little girl are just a couple of months apart!
Arthur and Parker, also only a couple of months apart in age!
About as good as it ever gets trying to get a picture of all three! :)
Eliza kissing Arthur!
Eliza was so done with pictures!
Arthur seeing his rehab and orthopedic doctors! He got to wear some awesome shorts to get a pelvic x-ray! He thought they were so awesome he asked to bring them home, which they did!
He got Spider-Man stickers!
Getting ready for his MRI!
Trying not to smile...so Arthur!
Getting his blood pressure...wasn't so sure about it once it started getting tight but he still was fascinated by it!
So happy!
Watching the nurse and trying to figure out what was going on. He was calm though!
Laughing gas...and just fine with it.
This is about the time the anesthetic started and he was definitely not liking it. About ten seconds after we took this picture he was out!
