A Randall's Ramblings

I'm a horrible blogger

2012-02-05T14:09:00.008-07:00

I realized this afternoon that it's been nearly 2 months since I last posted anything here But partly in my defense, that's because SO much has happened between my last update and now. Where to start? Probably best to go with the order of things as they happened. I'll do separate posts for each, as every update has a bucketload of pictures with it.

On the 18h of December, my little Nugget turned 3. I can't believe how much time has flown by. He shouldn't be 3 already!! He got spoiled, of course.

This was a little button puzzle type thing his Aunt Heidi got him..he LOVED it:

At the time, he was mildly obsessed with Sesame Street. So we got him a Sesame Street cake fit for any Nugget:

And here he is kissing and luvin up on a stuffed monkey of Grandma's that he just LOVES. He held onto it most of the night before presents:

And what would any birthday post be without the newborn picture?

This little dude came into our lives at about 9:19pm December 18th of 2008 weighing just a bitty 6lbs 9oz and measuring a tiny 18inches long.

I don't care how big he gets. He'll always be my baby Nugget. He has brought challenges, fears, joys, lessons in patience and adaptation, and love into our lives. He touches the lives of everyone he meets, be it family, friend, or total stranger. He has a light about him, a pure unadulterated joy that people just notice in even the barest of interactions with him. A smile, a 'hello!' from him in passing in the grocery store, his constant jabbering and hilarious comments, his enthusiasm to learn and just soak up as much of life as he possibly can in a 24hour time period...people notice him, are drawn to him, whether they want to be or not. And I love it. I love him. I can't even imagine, can't even remember what life was like before that snowy night he was born. Mommy loves you so much, Lovebug.

Every new beginning is some other beginning's end

2011-12-13T12:49:00.004-07:00

The day that had only been looming in the back of my mind for the last 3 years.....well that day came and went this morning.

Caden turns 3 on Sunday. Today he had his last class with his little Early Intervention play group, and had the last therapy appointment he will ever have with any of his 'team'. He has officially exited the program.

I knew this day existed. From day one in the program I knew it was out there. I knew what it meant. I thought my having a hard time with it would be solely because it meant my baby was growing up into a big boy.

I was wrong. I was so wrong.

I woke up this morning prepared. Or so I thought. I got up, got him dressed, did his hair, drove Branden to work; it was business as usual. Until I pulled into the school's parking lot. It suddenly hit me: Every person in that building we saw today, today would likely be the last day we saw any of them personally. His little brain wouldn't understand what that meant.

Mine did.

We saw his PT, Barbara, in the halls before his class started. We talked. He even got to see one of his first speech therapists we didn't see at the Christmas party, remembered her (I think) and gave her a hug. I was *fine*....until it was time to go into class and Barbara knelt down on the floor at Caden's level and he walked up to her, laid his head down on her shoulder in a hug, and gave her a kiss. It was a good thing that we both had places to be, because my composure was sliding fast.

He played hard in class, I was fine again during the parent group they have in the building while their kids are in class. Then it was time to go. I was ok getting him from the classroom, relatively composed as he gave each of his teachers and hug and a love and told them 'bye bye, see you!', did fairly good as I gave 'Teacher Sue' a hug myself and we walked down the hall and out of the building.

I dissolved in the car.

You don't interact with those kinds of people on that kind of level for 3 years and not get attached. I don't know how they do it kid after kid after kid, because I was a completely mental, sobbing basket-case on the drive home.

I snapped back into 'keep it together woman!' mode for his last speech therapist appointment, which was right after class and at home, and held it together long enough to get him fed lunch and put down for a nap. Once he was asleep it hit me again.

We were done.

I know that he will have a new support team as he moves into his preschool at Canyonview. He'll love his new class. He'll learn new things. He'll grow. He'll be fine. Where does that leave Mommy? His turning 3 didn't just mean he was growing up, moving on, it meant leaving behind people that have been part of my life, coming into my home every other week and every month since he was 6 weeks old. They became every bit as much MY support team as they were Caden's.

I love them all. And as corny as it might sound, I feel as though I've lost dear friends.

I am going to miss having their beautiful spirits as a presence in my home.

Touched by Angels

2011-12-07T20:25:00.005-07:00

I can't believe I'm writing this. Caden will be 3 years old in less than 2 weeks. Wait, 3..?!? Where the HECK did the time go? I am quite certain that just a few weeks ago I was holding him in my arms for the first time ever and marveling at how right he felt in that place. Now he'll have preschool, and be riding a school bus, and meeting new little friends and having new experiences that might overwhelm or even frighten him at first. Man,turning 3 is going to be so hard....on Mommy. Not just because he's getting to be such a big boy and learning and growing in leaps and bounds, but because of what turning 3 means we have to now leave behind us.

I had very specific dreams / visions of first-time motherhood. My baby would curl their little fist around my finger as they nursed, their little feet would scrunch up against me as I held them chest-to-chest, and their little body would be just as perfect as could possibly be.

Then I had Caden.

Those dreams dissolved, awash in diagnoses I barely understood. My baby couldn't curl his fist around my finger because his own fingers didn't bend, he couldn't scrunch his feet up against my chest because he lived the first 4 weeks of life in plaster casts and the rest of the time in boots with a bar between his feet, and his little body overall was far from 'perfect'. We were told he probably wouldn't walk without some kind of external adaptive means of aid, were warned that he might never hold a pencil or crayon or spoon or be able to feed and dress himself. What a reality, I thought.

Then I met the 'team' from Early Intervention that was chosen to work with him, as they came and went in his life and in terms of his care as each saw him. Now, because of them, I have a new reality: My baby can curl all but his very top knuckle on both hands, he learned to walk on his own (even if late) without any external means to keep him upright, he's learned to hold pencils and crayons and spoons, and has met every other major milestone so far in his life either on time or just a few months (instead of years) behind. Because of them, Caden has a new reality as well. They helped him get to where he is today; a stupidly happy 3 year old who loves school, loves people, loves life, and can experience it as most any other toddler his age would. They helped him express that joy when it came time to master sign language and then speech, and fed that joy with an outpouring of love whenever they saw him, in a therapy setting or not.

His little mind may need some jogging in the years to come to recall their names and faces....but his mother will NEVER forget. As he moves into his 3rd birthday and we prepare to leave these precious people, I know that his 'team' will never leave us. They have made their mark. And I can look people in the eye and declare without hesitation - or doubt - that my life has been touched by Angels.

Tonight at the Early Intervention Christmas party, I gave them (as a group) a little plant with bright yellow leaves, with a little note I'd written that read simply:

"Doctors told Mom I was 'different',
People said I'd be slow,
So I just wanted to say thank-you...
For helping me grow."

My heart is so full, and 'Thank you' will never be enough for these people.

Caden's Early Intervention team:

Bottom, L to R: Teacher Becky, Teacher Sue, Judy (OT)
Top, L to R: Barbara (PT), Suellen (Speech), Michelle (RN)

Flynn the fire engine

2011-11-04T15:17:00.022-06:00

Wednesday was field trip day for Caden's Early Intervention little preschool class group. This field trip was, hands down, the best one yet. They went to the South Ogden Fire Department. Caden could have died right then and have had all his life wishes fulfilled.

In one of his Thomas videos, the engines meet a fire engine named Flynn. Flynn the Fire Engine. He's their hero, and Caden's too. ALL he could talk about Tuesday night was going to see Flynn the fire engine in the morning. He almost couldn't contain the excitement as we got in the car Wednesday morning. And he about exploded when the tour guide firemen got the group to the back and into the garage of the department.

Sitting in the back seats of the fire truck:

One of the firemen showing Caden some fire engine innards:

Sitting in the ambulance:

Then back to the fire truck to sit in the front driver's seat. Pushing every button within reach. Honking horns:

And then he got to ride the hydraulic stretcher from the back of the ambulance:

Then it was over to the other side of the garage where the support vehicles were. The four-wheeler, checkin his side mirrors and revin the engine:

The rescue buggy:

And of course he had to move around to check out the back of said rescue buggy:

He was a little wary of when the fireman got all dressed up in his digs (but this was the point of the excursion, to get little ones used to seeing them like this and know they're friendly):

Then the guy took his goggles off and looked down, thus the 'O' face here. Caden could see the guy's eyes and was like 'Oh so THAT'S who it really is. Oh okay then.' And then he was fine:

After the pictures the firemen got out of the gear. As he was standing back just in his blue cargos and t-shirt, having just stepped out of his boots and set them aside, Caden goes "Take off gray shirt?" figuring hey if you're going to undress you need to finish all the steps. Bless his heart the guy goes "As much as the mothers of this group might like that, no." We died.

The day was so fun. We spent almost an hour an a half exploring every nook and cranny of the South Ogden Fire Department's garage. He came home with tire grease on his face and hands, a little plastic fireman's hat, and a day of joy he will never forget in his little toddler mind.

Ending note: He fell asleep for nap after this at about 1:30.....and didn't wake up until 15 minutes to 5pm. Yeah. I think he enjoyed the day.

Mastered the toddler years, I have

2011-11-02T21:58:00.009-06:00

The Force is strong with this one.

This year for Halloween, Caden was Yoda. I found the costume on the site ThinkGeek.com for $12 and we just had to do it. It wasn't quite the caliber of the lobster costume of last year, but I don't think we'll ever top that one. The walking stick was homemade, hooray for big trees and a yard.

Inside a bounce house at the Davis Fairgrounds for the Halloween party Daddy's work held on the 18th:

Pondering all things both Jedi and toddler:

On Sunday we painted pumpkins at Grandma Berrett's. Well, Caden painted his pumpkin....and Mommy painted Caden (he'd already smeared some of the paints on his face unintentionally, so I thought why not make it art):

So intent on getting the paint in JUST the right spot on this pumpkin:

Then I added to the toll-paint tatts just before dinner:

And this is where he ended up before having a gloriously toddler dinner of corndog (we usually can't get him to eat hotdogs or a lot of any kind of meat, so this was huge), roll, and Halloween cupcake (he loves baths, anytime, and having one at Grandma's house is extra special):

The actual night of Halloween started at about 4 in the afternoon and lasted until about 8 and consisted of 2 parties, lots of food at each, and visits to all the family's houses. It goes unsaid that he crashed about as hardcore as a little boy can when we got home and had bath and bed. Holidays, any holiday, are so much more fun with kids. Love my Nugget.

My child of God

2011-10-23T15:31:00.002-06:00

Caden loves to sing along to songs that are sung to him, songs he's memorized. This is him solo-singing "I Am a Child of God" and 'playing' the piano with my mom, about a week ago. It doesn't get much more precious, more pure and closer to God, than this.

Schooooooooool!

2011-10-23T14:58:00.005-06:00

Tuesday the 4th was a major milestone for my little Nugget. His first Early Intervention pre-preschool class without Mommy in the room. Same teacher, same aid, no parents. This is what they call their 'transition class'. Kids going to the little weekly classes (they call them 'groups'), which is what he's been doin every Tuesday since January, are put into the transition group glass 3 months before they turn 3 years old to get them ready should they qualify for a preschool program (which most of them do) when they do turn 3. I was SO nervous/worried about this transition. Why? Nursery. Caden simply cannot handle Nursery on Sundays. If I'm in the room he is mostly okay; he can look around, find me, and have something to ground himself on. When he flies solo? Nuh-uh. He only lasts about 5 or 10 min before they have to bring him to me, and we're not talking 'mom's gone so I'm going to pitch a fit' carrying-on, we're talking full-on wringing the ears, shaking, resistant to every act of attempted calming, meltdown...genuinely freaked out. So I was so so so worried about how he would handle going solo in his preschool group.

I shouldn't have.

Mom, really? Another picture? You're embarrassing me...:

And just before the door opened:
I'm ready! Can I go in now? Huh? Now? Can I?

About 5 min before the little class was to end, they came to the room us parents were hanging out in and just made my day. They said "He did SO good. He just loved it. He looked around every so often and would go 'Mommy? Where Mommy go?' but then was fine, like he knew you were gone, but big deal." I was thrilled! And mucho surprised. When I walked into the classroom he squealed "Mommy! HI Mommy!" then came over to me, pulled me down to my knees in front of him, grabbed my face with both hands to make sure I was paying attention, and proceeded to tell me ALLL about the day (only about 4 words of which I actually was able to decipher). He jabbered about it all the way home, had to tell Grawmma (my mom) all about it when she called later that afternoon to see how it went...he was so excited. Every class since has been the same thing. He does fine when I leave, has a blast during class, then can't get it out fast enough when he tries to tell me about it later.

I love my little dude so much, and am so proud of him. But I don't like how fast he is growing up! Can't someone slow down the clock a little....please?

Caden Gump (or Adventures in Podiatry)

2011-09-08T16:39:00.007-06:00

Another day, another trip to Shriners, and another set of braces. This time a pair of DAFO's (dynamic ankle/foot orthotic). Because of his tight hips, he's been having problems with walking on the balls of his feet. These braces, if you click and enlarge and look closer at the outside edge near the ankle, have a joint in them that allows him to flex his toes (bring them up) but not extend them (point them downwards), forcing him to walk with his feet flat on the ground. They're hoping this'll put the stretch on his hips during the day.

Chillin in the exam room, waiting for the doc to come back in with some adjustments made:

His iPad Angry Birds game keeping him company while yet another adjustment is made to the length of the footpads:

The final fitting with new shoes (he had to get special ones from them cause the ones I had with me were all to small to fit to go home in, d'oh!) before a test run around the room:

His ski-boots. These shoes really do look huge on him:

And with the angle of flexion this holds his ankles at (think how you feel if you've ever worn rollerblades or ski boots), it's taken him a bit of practice to re-learn how to walk without tipping over backwards or forwards. Stairs are a conundrum for him again. And trying to get up to standing from sitting on the floor is an exercise in persistence and a plethora of frustrated grunts and 'sthuck!' (stuck!) exclamations. But my Nugget is a fighter, Mr. Adaptable, and it won't take him long.

School's in session

2011-08-24T12:13:00.013-06:00

And while Caden's not quite ready to toddle off to school himself just yet, his group with Early Intervention DID get to go on a bus. Since so many of the kids in the program end up being placed in a preschool of some kind, one of the things they do is take the kids on bus ride to get them used to school buses. This trip was on the 3rd of this month. I'm just a slacker and haven't gotten around to the pictures until now.

I was a little worried about how Caden would handle it, he kind of has issues with enclosed spaces he's not familiar with. Yeah. I shouldn't have worried, hehe. He LOVED IT. He squealed when he saw it in the parking lot. He was so excited to get on it. Not sure that I like how excited he got though....hm. Don't want my baby growing up so fast!

He's so SMALL next to such a big bus:

Scoping out the best possible seat:

Found it!

Watching the other kids get on the bus:

So much seat for so little body:

Special Ed buses have the COOLEST feature; behind the flap of the seat is a carseat harness and the kids just get buckled right into the seat. SO much less 16th century than the harnesses you used to have to strap onto the kids and then clip to the anchors on older buses. Caden LOVED the carseat, thus the 'squeal face' here:

Loved being so close to the window to look out it during the drive:

We stopped at a playground where the kids got to goof around for a bit, have some snacks and popsicles (it was HOT) and juice. There were tears when we had to get off the bus at the playground, and it was pretty much only this horse that consoled him and kept him entertained enough till it was time to get back on the bus and go home.

It's a zoo, and we like it like that

2011-08-19T23:58:00.007-06:00

2 weeks ago we went to the zoo. The day was perfect. It was very overcast, so no fear of burning, but warm. Nugget LOVES the zoo. He loves the giraffes (couldn't get a decent picture of him with them) and the elephants and, while the zoo has them, the dinosaurs. Apologies for the scant few pictures, but Caden simply doesn't slow down enough to allow for many photo ops!

Of course everyone who's ever been to Hogle Zoo has to have a lion drinking fountain picture:

Poor bug, you can really see the lordosis (curve) in his lower spine on a side-on shot like this.

One of the animatronic dinosaurs they have throughout the zoo right now - this particular one sprays water at unsuspecting passers-by. Caden loved it.

Diggin in the dirt with Daddy:

The train ride. A little apprehension at first cause he didn't really know why we were so excited about him sitting on a bench that wasn't going anywhere:

And then OMIGOSH I'M ON A TRAIN!!!!! The kid was literally vibrating in his seat the entire train ride he was so excited.

Outings with Caden are always such a treat. Not just because of how much he enjoys them, but because of the joy other people get when they see him. I get comments all the time about how just soulfully happy this child is, comments from strangers about how much they loved watching him on the train, or by the ducks, or around the animals. He just touches everyone who happens to cross his path because he has such pure unadulterated joy for absolutely everything he sees. Love my little man.

The Fourth frivolities

2011-07-10T00:07:00.004-06:00

This Forth of July was going to be great. We had a great cabin trip planned, a trip we'd been planning and looking forward to for at least a couple of months. We'd leave Friday right after Branden got off work, and come back Monday night.

Friday night rolled around and this was where we were instead:

And this is where we were come Saturday morning:

Thursday afternoon, Caden woke up from his nap with a fever of 102. I couldn't get it to come down. At bath that night, he screamed when water got in one of his ears. And on the way to the last-minute doctor's appointment Friday morning, he threw up in the car. Out of nowhere, he suddenly had a raging ear infection in his right ear and viral tummy bug. So instead of going home to pack sleeping bags and goodies for the cabin, we went straight for apple juice and prescription antibiotics. Sigh.

But we managed to have fun that weekend regardless. Last year he was kind of too young to understand, or care, what he was seeing when we did family fireworks. This year? Not so. This year at my nephew's birthday party, I was kind of worried about how Caden would handle them. I shouldn't have. We about DIED watching his reactions; the bigger the boom, the bigger the startle it gave him, the more hilarious he found them, and the little stink couldn't catch his breath he was laughing so hard. Little adrenaline junkie. He played hard, laughed hard, stayed up till almost 10 that night, and it was all I could do to keep him from falling asleep and drowning in the tub during a quick hose down to get the firework smell out of his hair before passing out during story time.

Monday morning, he got to watch the parade with "Mama" and "Papa".

He loved the fire engines, the horns and sirens, the horses, pretty much all of it. My little Nugget was so tired when he got back, he fell asleep for his nap at about 1:30.....and I had to wake him up at almost quarter to 5. At one point in checking to make sure he was at least still breathing, he was so out cold he was on his stomach, legs spread, arms splayed out to the sides, big ol' drool spot on the fitted sheet. Totally and completely zonkered. So freaking cute. While this Fourth didn't go exactly as we'd planned, I definitely can't say it was a bad weekend.

I'm so grateful that I can even be writing this. God bless everyone that has ever stood up for, fought for, died for, sacrificed for this country. I am eternally grateful that because of you, my son can grow up in a healthy, stable, and safe environment, where the booms he hears at night this month are fireworks he loves rather than mortars he has to learn to fear. Land of the free, because of the brave.

Now I know my abc's...

2011-07-07T11:39:00.003-06:00

Daddy was playing the ABC song on the piano for Caden last night. This morning, Caden decided to try his fancy fingers at it. This is his attempt, with him singing along as he 'plays'.

Just some fun

2011-04-30T22:59:00.004-06:00

Nothing much to report, but I got a couple of things on camera in the last couple of days that I found hilarious. Caden's taken to trying on and then walking in my shoes, Branden's shoes, guest's shoes, whatever shoes he can find around the house that aren't his. Couple of nights ago I caught him taking a stroll in my sandals:

He didn't know I was behind him with the camera. Love that 'I didn't do it!' innocent face:

And I would simply die to know what goes through his little brain when he decides to do something like this:

My little Nugget keeps me laughing in sad times and keeps me on my toes during times I think the world is calm (calm, yeah right, that word doesn't exist in a parent's vocab when they have a toddler in the house!).

Easter 2011

2011-04-23T21:06:00.004-06:00

Easter has been so much fun (and it's only Saturday!) this year. Caden had a BLAST. We had two families to go to today, first was our friend (and B's 2nd cousin) Tyson and his parents' house. His brother Colby and his wife Rae were there with their 3 boys. Caden had so much fun running around picking up the eggs that me and Branden would point out. He found bubbles and a chocolate bunny that he kept calling "Nunny ook" (Bunny book...we have a Curious George book with bunnies in it we've been reading at night), and after the hunt he had fun first helping Colby's oldest son pull the younger 2 in a wagon, and then getting a ride in the wagon himself. After that we went straight to Branden's mom's where he went on another egg hunt and then colored some eggs in their garage. He was so exhausted by the time we got home (which was about 5:30pm and he'd had no nap or snooze or even a blink all day) that he just kind of dazedly played in the living room with his cars until bath, and then basically passed out in my arms during story time before bed. The weather was a little chilly, but that didn't seem to deter him a bit, and he had an awesome time. He was ridiculously fun to watch and the "*gasp*, wow!" every time he found and then opened an egg was so blasted cute. Can't get over how much I love this boy.

While Easter always has special meaning, it means a little something more to me this year. My Grandpa Bylund (dad's dad) passed away on the 18th of this month. He'd been sick. He'd been...well, not Grandpa.

My fondest memories of my Grandpa will always be of our fishing trips. Him and me and my Aunt Joy and Dad, out wherever we wanted, fishing all day but not necessarily catching anything....and not caring if we didn't. I'll remember him helping to teach me how to fish, how to cast, reminding me not to throw rocks in the lake because it would scare the fish away, and chatting up any groups around us as if he'd known them for years (personally I think he was just trying to soften them up to get them to give up their secrets if they were having better success than we were). I'll remember him teaching me card games, and then getting 'mad' at me when, after the first hand of a game I'd just learned, I'd whomp him and Dad in a sweeping win.

My most recent memory, and now probably one of my most cherished, was just a couple of months ago. I was visiting him at the VA home with my mom, dad, and cousin Rachel in February (I forget the day). Grandpa was in his wheelchair by his bed. He kept acting like he had something in his eye - reaching up and dabbing at it with the back of a finger, blinking a lot - something that he couldn't get out. So I asked him, "Got something in your eye, Grandpa?" His voice was quiet, kind of that dazed quiet he had recently, as he said, "Yeah. Can you look?" So, gullible me, got up and went to him and bent down real close to his face and peered into his eye. You'd think after all these years and knowing the tricks he'd pull to woo the ladies, I'd have known better. The moment I got that close, Grandpa tilted his head back and up and stole a kiss. Rachel was laughing and said "Oooo he's still got it, he got you good!" And he goes, "Yeah, I did," as I'm 'scolding' him for bamboozling me and he's looking at me with this impish grin. For a moment that night, Grandpa was Grandpa again.

I will miss how hard working he was, how excited he was to do ANYthing outdoors, and how much he absolutely loved his family. You could see in his eyes, in his face, at every new baby blessing or birthday party that his kids and his grandkids and his great-grandkids were his pride and joy.

My favorite picture of my Grandpa, holding Caden on his blessing day. Is that the face of a proud man or what? He's almost busting at the seams.

I'm so grateful this Easter for my Savior and for the Resurrection so that I have the knowledge that I will see family on the other side of the veil. I love you, Grandpa, and hope you've found the perfect fishing hole in Heaven (even if you don't necessarily catch anything).

Turning 30 and other scary milestones

2011-03-18T12:04:00.004-06:00

Milestones are funny things. You know they're coming. And they either excite you, depress you, or scare the boogies out of you. And sometimes they do it all at the same time.

I turned 30 last Friday. Which of the three did this milestone hit me with? None. Some people have a really hard time with birthdays. Not me. It's just a number. It's coming, there's nothing I can do about it. Do I feel older? A little. I'm pretty aware, for example, that while I'm 30 and have a 2 year old, most of my friends are not 30 yet and are on baby #3 or #4. So I guess I lied. Turning 30 did make me something... it made me anxious to keep the family wagon rolling, hehe. I'm definitely getting 'the itch'.

The milestone of the month that's affected me most, however, is my son's. See below:

Now he's not actually potty-trained yet. Yet. But I know it's coming. He's giving me aaaallll the signs of physical and emotional readiness. He hides from me when he's poopin. He tells me when he needs a bum change (he mixes 'change' and 'bum' into "chum". Freakin hilarious), he knows the order of the bathroom - go in, turn on the light, lift the lid, sit, do yer stuff, close, flush, wash - and loves to do the same on his own potty, he can have a 2 hour nap and wake up dry, and perhaps the biggest reason we're ready to get the training going is that his diapers are starting to irritate his sensitive skin. He's ready to be done with diapers. He's ready. Mommy's not. I'm goin into this kicking and screamin. I don't want my baby's little skinny bum to be in little cute briefs. I don't want him to be independent. I don't want him to not be 'baby' anymore. At the same time, I'm excited to be at this new phase with him. He's growing up so cute, and I love every minute of it. Wish us all luck, cause we're jumpin into this feet first next weekend!

In non-milestone news, this week Caden's PT made my entire month. We, along with his OT, have been discussing ways to help him hold onto zippers; he can't curl his fingers so he can't get or keep a good grip. Two weeks ago the three of us batted around hooking a safety pin to the end of them, molding some putty/clay stuff, had all sorts of ideas. Well then this Tuesday at his class, his teacher handed me this:

Barbara, his PT, had found it somewhere during the week before and had bought it just for him. It's only about an inch long, and just thick enough for him to grab and hold onto. I love it. He definitely has a hold on this therapists' hearts.

Robinson Carusoe day

2011-02-15T15:55:00.018-07:00

Ok not nearly as retro as that movie. But we did go up in a faux tree-house, so it's still just as cool.

Caden's Early Intervention preschool group had a field trip today to the Ogden's Treehouse Museum. I'd not taken him there yet so this was his first time. Oh .. my .. goodness. Once he got over the obligatory 'I have to be shy because this is new to me' thing, I could not keep up with him. Hence why a good chunk of the pictures are of his back or taken from the side in a 'hope my fingers are quick enough' snapshot.

The day was so incredibly awesome for him. At the beginning, staffers took the group into the little stage area and sang some songs and had some stories. Caden got all excited when it was time to sing Old McDonald and the guy drug out a bunch of animal puppets. He apparently got the most excited over the donkey because the staffer told him "You got most excited about the donkey, you wanna come hold our donkey for us for the song?" So Caden (mommy in tow of course) got to go sit on the stage and hold a huge donkey puppet through the song. He LOVED IT. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of this as he was sitting on my lap on the stage (and I didn't think in time to have my cousin, who was there with her little boy too, take one for me, d'oh!). After that it was free time, and oh my gosh did Caden take advantage. I'm surprised he didn't sleep like a dead thing during naptime after everything he explored.

First stop. The dinosaur table. How convenient that it was just his height!

Caden's Early Intervention 'girlfriend' Ella. They play so cute together during classes on Tuesdays, why would I expect anything different at a kid's museum?

Up in the big tree-house (spiral staircase) in the center. He loved walking back and forth across this bridge.

Right outside the castle area. My buff little prince Aurthur. Check out those biceps rippling!

Into the chess room. I tried to get him on the throne in the background there, but he would have none of it after he saw what was inside this room.

Some of the chess pieces - the king, queen, and bishops - were as tall as he was. He moved a bunch around for about 10 minutes. He'll be the next Bobbie Fischer, just you wait.

Up to the music room next. He could have stayed in here all day long if I'd let him.

Cabana baby!

But alas, music must take the back seat when you have a country to run. You'll have to excuse him a moment while he takes that call, that's the Secretary of Defense on the phone there..

Can't you see it 30 years from now? He's got his foot in the door, baby.

And of course when you're 2, national security gets shoved to the back burner when you see what's downstairs, so off he goes.

Behold, the fire truck. He stayed longest here, and who can blame him?

Of course just driving isn't enough, we needed the hat.

And then out came the fireman jacket as he ever-so-gentlemanly like slid over to let the lady take the wheel.

But who has time to save the day all day when there are train sets to be played with?

Okay, just one last loop through my district, then I'm done, I'm serious..

We had to stop at the fire truck for a final work-over before going back into the auditorium for a good-bye song and story. All in all we were there for about 2 hours, and they were the funnest 2 hours I've spent in a LONG time. We will definitely be going back.

Unintentional movie night

2011-02-12T20:44:00.004-07:00

Caden's love of trains has taken the back burner while he nurses a newfound obsession with cars. Anything cars. Not just what we think of as a 'car', we're talking anything with wheels and a fender or is otherwise generally cozily snuggled under the "vehicle" umbrella. Knowing this, Branden and I decided to see if we could feed this passion and tonight, after he woke up from his nap, we went to Best Buy and picked up this movie:

Disney Pixar's "Cars". We picked up some take-out and got home about 6:45. We figured we'd pop in the movie, see if he liked it. Yeah. 'Like' is a bit of a colossal understatement. We ended up eating dinner on the floor (because we unwisely popped in the movie before we had the take-out set out and ready to go) because he could not take his eyes off the screen. I wound up feeding him half of his own dinner (finger food fare, just so you know) because he was so entranced. All through the movie it was "Is a cah? Is a cah. Cah!" 'Cah' is how he says car because he doesn't put the 'r' on the end. He sat stone still through the whole thing, back against the edge of the futon, head on the cushion. Every now and again he'd say "Done" and stand up like he was ready to go for his bath finally, but then sit back down and push my hand away. Eating and drinking, Mom? Piffle, more Cars please!

All 3 of us wound up sitting on the floor snarfin down a slaved over take-out meal and watching Cars. It didn't finish until 8:45. Nugget was so tired by bath that his eyes were red and he about fell asleep in my arms during sippy of warm milk and bedtime story; didn't wind up getting into bed until about 9:30. I had some things I'd wanted to get done after he went to bed at his normal time. But screw it all :) I wouldn't change a bit of tonight for anything in the world.

Harry Potter wannabe

2011-02-01T14:08:00.004-07:00

Ok, he's never actually even seen a Harry Potter movie yet (not for several years yet!). Today we went to his little pre-preschool class that Early Intervention offers every Tuesday, and he found this little Fisher Price doctor kit during free play time. And he found these glasses:

He *loves* glasses. He calls them 'eyes'. In fact when I got out of the shower this morning before we left, he goes "Eyes?" and hands me my glasses from off the bathroom counter. Thank you, Love Bug, for reminding mommy that she needs her 'eyes' before she can leave the house. It is physically impossible to love this little dude any more. But I'll manage.

"You Are a Pirate"

2011-01-27T23:18:00.004-07:00

I'm proud to say it, and my brothers can just deal with it: my baby boy can boogie. Caden LOVES to dance. If he finds a songs he likes, he has absolutely zero qualms about getting jiggy with it and busting a move. Tonight's flavah was a goofy song called "You Are a Pirate." We had it playing through Branden's computer speakers and Caden was getting so into it he almost couldn't keep his balance. In fact, he kept his hands up by/on the computer desk through most of it so he didn't turf it on his face (which, with the way his little hips are so tight right now, he has a very frequent tendency to do... and it's kind of funny/sad to witness). The giggles never stop with this child, honestly, every single day he does - and now says - (insert 'sqeeeee' here, yes, he's talking now finally) things that just totally crack me up.

I wish I had video going 24/7.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-06T10:11:00.005-07:00

This Christmas was so much fun. Caden was so much fun. I really believe now that Christmas is all about the kids. It was so great to watch him rip off wrapping paper and discover the treasures underneath. I daresay that, save for a couple of choice presents, he had just as much fun opening the gifts than he did with the gifts themselves.

We had a busy busy day. We let him open his presents at home before it was off to Grandma Berrett's (Branden's mom) to eat breakfast and open presents there. After that it was back in the car and over to Branden's Grandma's for the family party. He was hilarious, 'oooo'ing and 'wow!'ing over a remote control helicopter one of Branden's cousins got. We were able to sneak in a nap after that before it was up again and off to Grandma and Grandpa Bylund's for that family party. Here was where Nugget hit jackpot. He got great stuff (and we got a breadmaker, huzzah!) and stayed up late. He was halfway asleep on the drive home, and sleeping like a dead thing about 20 min after we got home and had bath.

The last month we've been teaching him 'feeling' signs. His favorite, and ours, is 'surprised'. It was very applicable this holiday. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

And in case you're wondering, yes, Caden would do surprised! face on command. Absolutely unadulterated Christmas Day hilarity.

Little boy in a big-boy bed

2011-01-03T21:20:00.006-07:00

I'm in a sad and happy place. It was finally time to get Caden out of his crib and into a big bed. He just couldn't get or stay completely comfortable in the crib anymore, his clubfoot brace bar would smack against the sides when he'd try to roll over, and in the nights he wasn't in the brace, his feet would stick through the crib rails when he'd lay cross-wise in the crib. We'd gotten a bed from a friend, and for a couple of days now it's been in the living room so he could get used to it. He'd lay on it, play on it, seemed to absolutely love the space he had on it, and today I put it up and in his room (we had to wait till today to get the mattress).

His bedroom pre-big-boy-bed:

And after:

'nother view from the door. I had to do just a little rearrangin but everything still fits:

I had this brilliant plan for tonight; I took his crib down this morning after he woke up, and kept him up all day. No nap. I was hoping that he'd just be so ready for bed, so tired, that'd he'd go right to sleep and immediately associate the new fun bed with sleep instead of play. We had bath, snuggle, story, and he fell asleep in my arms sometime during the second verse of "I Am a Child of God". So I gave him one last snuggle and laid him down. Now, Caden's small for his age anyway. But man...this bed just swallows him! SO much bed for such a little boy (just for reference, his feet end only about half of the way between the top of the striped sheet and the top of the blue comforter):

I went grocery shopping afterwards and when I got back - only about an hour after I laid him down - he was crying and the battle of wills between him and his oh-so-comfy bed began. Took him about an hour and a half of me and daddy alternating going in and singing and letting him know this was where he needed to sleep now. It's been about twenty/thirty minutes since the last whimper, so I think he and bed have made friends and he's sleeping (mostly) soundly now. I know he'll be a lot more comfy in this bed. Here's hoping he sleeps through the night.

Rockin with Thomas

2010-12-27T19:29:00.002-07:00

Caden loves Thomas. There's no other way to say it. He can name the engines in the beginning and closing credits of every video. He can mimic some of the videos and 'say' what the characters say. He parrots with a 'yes sir' (and he says it so clearly, it's hilarious) when the engines talk to the railway owner, Sir Topamm Hatt. The most recent installment of hilarity is the video below - Caden rocking out to a music video at the end of one his mostest favoritest videos, The Great Discovery:

Christmas Eve chaos

2010-12-24T21:52:00.013-07:00

What a busy day! But it was so much fun. We went to Branden's dad's in the morning and Caden got some GREAT police vehicles - a jeep and a helicopter - and a super cute outfit. After naptime we went to the Randall Christmas Eve party. It started with some 'look how much room I have to explore!' playtime on the stage:

Then there was some zoning out at dinner while Brad's wife Lori gave him a splendid back rub (something's he's loved since he was teeny tiny):

We had one meltdown which required some away time...in the nursery where he found his bestest train friend Percy:

This find brought much joy:

Which was followed by some 'who the heck are you, mommy says not to talk to strangers' anxiety (this was as close as we could get him to Santa this year. Oh well):

We came home just in time to start making cookies for Santa:

I showed him how to use the dough dropper:

He had to show me my dough dropper:

Had to do some more stirring:

And then had to put the dough globs (from the second batch) on the pan all by himself as well as putting Santa's cookies on the plate:

After all was said and done, he had his bath, sippy cup cuddle, T'was The Night Before Christmas story time, all followed by the quickest and hardest crash since his birthday fun (he was rubbing his blanket wad over his face just as I snapped, so his face is blurry):

And while visions of trains named Percy and Thomas danced in his head, Santa helped me wrap his presents and set them just so under the tree:

I'm so excited for Christmas morning I can't hardly stand it. Whoever says Christmas is just for kids is SO wrong. It's for the kids' parents so they can see their children's faces.

Caden Temple

2010-12-23T11:19:00.003-07:00

I turned my son into Shirley Temple. The male version. He had Early Intervention people coming yesterday and his hair was bedhead-y so I spritzed it to tame it...and he sprouted a head full of curls. It's just like his daddy when his daddy was this age, and I love it. Am I a bad mother for being tempted to see what he would look like with a girly headband?

The back:

2 years and a few 'where the heck did the last 24 months go' squeals

2010-12-18T23:02:00.006-07:00

Wow, really? 2 already?! It's so hard to believe that my little Nugget is 2 years old today. 2 years ago today (2 years and about 2 hours to be exact) we welcomed our special little boy into our lives. As the days and months progressed, we came to realize just how special he is to our entire family. He has such a sweet spirit, embodies such a pure joy, and I cannot imagine life without him. I can't seem to recall, or understand, how life was before him. He's getting so big (relatively speaking; lil runt barely tops the scales at 24lbs right now, hehe) and so smart and I love it and hate it at the same time.

Birthday hijinks ensued today. He got such fun stuff, and was so excited about the most hilarious stuff. First present he got to he peeled open rather delicately...and then his eyes got so big and he let out this little exclamation of absolute joy when he saw it was a bag of fishy crackers for his very own. His great-grandma Randall couldn't get the bag open fast enough for him, and he thanked her (in his cute sign language) profusely for several seconds and on and off for the rest of the night. He was so patient when we'd stick another present in front of him to open when I could tell all he wanted to do was play with the one he'd just opened a few seconds ago. He wanted nothing to do with his cake because he noticed the Thomas the Tank Engine cake topper on it - which he quickly made off with. He was happy all night, made the rest of us laugh all night, and all around was a very busy birthday boy. Mommy and Daddy love you so much, Caden!

The Thomas cake:

1 lonely unopened present on the coffee table (rest were in the kitchen out of sight still):

And inside he discovered the best present ever, the fishy crackers:

I can open this one too, right?

Taking a break for fishy crackers:

Back at it:

A set of mini Fisher Price's Little People cars he couldn't stop playing with:

This one is SURE to have something fun inside:

Opening presents is hard! (he was making grunting 'heave-ho' noises here):

Thomas pj's!!

Bow-headed:

Cake time!

Ppfftt, forget the cake, I just want the Thomas topper:

Hypnotized...

Such a big boy!

My "Thankful for" 's

2010-11-27T01:11:00.006-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know, I've been like the apostatized blogger with how long it's been between this post and my last. I shall make my "I'm really not that pathetic" pathetic amends with this post.

There've been a lot of people doing this 30 days of Thanksgiving thing on Facebook, using each day to jot down and share what they're thankful for. I've been naughty and haven't updated on Facebook in forever either, so I'm doing 'em here. In no particular order that has anything to do with its level of importance to me (yeah, this is pretty much just a brain-vomit), my "Thankful for" 's. They may or may not have an explanation attached:

~ Family
~ Friends (both here at home and abroad)
~ Modern medicine (and, thanks to said modern medicine, pain meds)
~ My Nugget
~ The way the human brain works in perfect harmony with its body's needs. Caden will be 2 in 3 weeks. His spoken vocab at this point is probably no greater than about 10 words. If even that many. Why? Because of his birth. From Day 1 with him, the almost entire majority of focus in treatment for him was centered on the physical; his hands, his feet, his limbs, his joints, fine motor, gross motor, everything motor, all trying to get his little tight body to loosen up, straighten out, just work properly. Babies and toddlers cannot multitask cognitively. If they're trying to master, say, talking, then chances are their gross motor skills - crawling or standing or walking - will take the back seat. With all the emphasis being on the body, this was what my Nugget's little brain zeroed in on, so it was speech that got stuffed into the broom closet so he could focus, undistracted, on moving. His therapists say that this is the reason he is walking without help, walking at all. Now that he has that down pat, his speech is starting to develop because his little brain can bring it out of the cellar and dust it off. We're in so much trouble. He's going to be rattling off the Declaration in a few weeks.
~ Sign language. With his speech delayed because of what's noted in the paragraph above, I've still been able to communicate with my monster because of sign language. He's been able to tell me when he wants to eat, when he's had enough, when he wants more, what he wants to drink (milk, juice or water), when he wants his bath, and 'say' things like Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Sessie (Aunt Steph), cracker, cereal, book, train (so he can watch Thomas), signing (so he can watch his Signing Time videos), and so much more. Frustration (and thus tantrums) is virtually nonexistent because communication is still possible. All of his needs can be met when they need to be, with me understanding what he needs/wants when he tells me and he can tell me. All of my adult life I've worked with the disabled, and the vast majority of that was with the deaf. Now I know why.
~ Our new house (which I still need to post the decorated pictures of...)
~ A husband that works so hard to give me and Nugget what we need
~ A close ward
~ Technology that keeps me close to loved ones not nearby
~ Lots and lots of blankets
~ Hot chocolate!!!
~ Specialist doctors. I cannot imagine what Caden's quality of life would be like right now if it weren't for doctors like Ponseti who were inspired enough (and in tune enough with that inspiration) to develop the treatments they did. He'd have had goodness knows how many major surgeries by now, all of which would have been painful and would result in even more restricted mobility later in life, if not for the simple method of casting and with those castings moving the foot into proper place.
~ Therapists. Not going to name names, but they know who they are. To give of their time to come to my home and use their talents to help my Nugget a day 2, 3, sometimes 4 weeks out of the month almost swamps me with gratitude I'll never be able to adequately, or fully, express.
~ Knowledge of the gospel
~ Date nights (when we get them)
~ My sense of humor
~ Being able to keep said sense of humor during crappy times
~ Snow (*gasp* I know. But Caden'll actually be able to really experience it this year, and I'm way excited)
~ Clean water
~ A healthy son
~ Stuff to make him feel better for the times he's not so healthy
~ My skills in writing
~ My lack of skills in winter sports (with how much my body, 'specially the hands, hates cold, I can't imagine biffing it into snow from skis and calling it 'fun')

I really could just keep going. It's amazing how the stuff just starts flowing once you think about life from minute to minute, about what you do or have in those minutes from day to day.

I know I don't have any pictures to go with this update (is that even legal in the blogging world?), so I promise to put some up with the next post. Hopefully some of Halloween, and the house with, y'know, stuff actually in it. Which'll probably be....not tonight. Seeing as it's 2 in the morning, I'm going to hobble my way to bed and crash. Which leaves me with a very big 'thankful for':

~ Look, a bed! *claps hands once and dives on*

He's out!

2010-08-24T00:39:00.004-06:00

Shriners appointment today, and Caden's out of the casts! And he doesn't need another set. They still don't know if he'll need the AFO's or not, so they're going to watch him for 2 months, then see him back. If his heels are popping up again in that time, he'll need them. If not, he won't. But between then and now he has feet again! Or rather, he has feetsies I can kiss again :) He's not a huge fan of the actual process of getting the casts off (he's a little phobic of things that go buzz, go figure), but once they were off he was raring to get walking. And it was hilarious. As we were waiting to get him fit for the next size up in Mitchell clubfoot boots, he kept clomping around as if he still had the casts on because he was used the weight. He was a little wobbly for a couple hours (and he turfed it HARD at Aunt Sessie's work), but by the time it was bathtime, he had his land legs back.

The bath. OH the bath. Bath bliss. For both of us. He was a little wary of getting into the tub (we've been having 'lay on the kitchen counter' sponge baths for 2 weeks), but once his feet hit the warm water and the water came up to his knees, he just kinda went "ooooooooo" and sat down like "oh MAN that feels gooooood." He was so relaxed after the bath, he must have felt so much better to have a real soaky bath again. And I know he smelled better, he had stinky cast feet. We put on his new "n-night shoes", had us a good snuggle with the bottle, book, and toothbrush (yes, he likes to hold onto his toothbrush during storytime....nut), and then he was out cold in about 10 minutes flat.

It's days like today when my feelings are at diametric odds. I get so discouraged, so sad for him, when he has to have things done (like these casts), or when I think ahead or even think of now and realize I have to buy shoes that'll fit braces, buy jammies that'll accommodate the Mitchell boots and bar instead of ones that look cute or super warm, or think of the things he might not be able to do later like hold a pencil securely, squeeze the handlebar brakes of his first bike, and can't do now like make a fist. On the same token, it has been so rewarding to watch him adapt through this all. He's writing his own rules to the development book, and those rules work for him JUST FINE. He is the personification of perseverance for me. He doesn't care what's thrown down in front of him. Life tosses him lemons? He doesn't make himself a mere glass of lemonade, he puts up a stand and makes bank off the earnings.

I love my Nugget so much. His journey has been scary, things we've been told during it have been disheartening at times, but I wouldn't change a bit of it. My 19 month old son has shown me what it means to be a real man, and he's my superhero.

New 'wheels'

2010-08-09T18:35:00.002-06:00

Not a very fun day for mommy and baby today. For about 2 weeks I've been noticing that Caden was walking on the balls of his feet, instead of his heels coming all the way to the floor. I wondered if that meant a relapse in his clubfeet (which is possible with his Arthrogryposis alongside the clubfeet), so I called his care coordinator at Shriners last Thursday. They wanted to see him as soon as they could, so they made us an appointment for this morning. So me and my mom and Nugget drove down and sure enough, x-rays revealed that it's not just his tendons and muscles that are tight, but his heel bone is no longer where it should be, it's slid up again a bit. Really aggressive therapy just wasn't going to be enough, so they had to put him back in casts. Luckily for us both, they're not the hip-to-toe casts that his initial castings were because they're not trying to correct recurvature of his feet, just trying to stretch his Achilles back out. They also said the reason that he's walking on the balls of his feet is because of his Arthrogryposis - his legs don't straighten so with his knees contracted like they are (albeit not as severe as they could be), the only way for him to find balance in that 'hunchback' position was to pop his heel up and walk on the balls of his feet. He might need some AFO's to correct that after he's out of these casts, but they'll make that determination in 2 weeks when the casts come off.
For viewing pleasure, here's my hero already figuring out how to walk around the house in his casts without holding my hand, not 2 hours after he was casted. I love my man:

We moved! (The "befores")

2010-08-04T21:12:00.010-06:00

FINALLY. We're finally out of that awful apartment complex, and more importantly, away from our psychotic violent neighbor. We've moved to a little home in North Ogden on the E side of Washington Blvd, and we love it. It has a huge yard (yay, Nugget's never had a yard of his own!), two massive living/entertainment rooms, an enormous kitchen, great laundry area...everything about it is just fantastic. Caden loves it. He was so sad every time, while moving, we had to leave the house and go back to the apartment at nights....there's so much room for him to grow. Here are the 'before' pictures. I'll put the 'after it's decorated' pictures up as soon as, well, everything's decorated and it no longer looks like we just moved in!

Standing in the back of the kitchen, looking into the laundry/storage area that leads to the back door/carport:

Right side of the kitchen (laundry room door in the corner there), standing at the doorway between kitchen and first living room:

Left side of kitchen, standing in the same place. Sliding glass doors lead onto a cement patio:

Right side of the second living room, looking from about the half-way point. Door leads to the patio off the kitchen:

Standing in the hallway to the bedrooms/bath, looking across first living room into the second. Front door is on the left of the big window, kitchen entrance is to the right:

Flipped around in the hallway now, looking into the bathroom, which is on the left of the hall:

Master bed, right across from the bath. Second bedroom is on the left at the end behind Brando...forgot to get that picture:

The back yard, looking from the driveway next to the back door. Yes that whole thing is yard for Caden (shared with the house to the right - which you can only see the back garage of - that Branden's aunt lives in), complete with a dog named Max:

"Mom" guilt in technicolor

2010-07-20T11:35:00.004-06:00

So here are the pictures. Proof of my failed reflexes and of Nugget's trooper-ness through all of this. Took these yesterday, and he'd gotten burned on Thursday night. This one's from the top:

View from the side.

Bless his heart, he's so brave every time I have to change the dressings. If I can distract him with the camera (he likes to thumb through the 'review' feature and look at all the pictures already on the camera), Branden only has to hold him down through about half of the process (the cleaning, re-ointmenting is the worst). I did end up throwing the curling iron out. He's definitely doing better with all of this than his mom.

"Mom" guilt

2010-07-15T21:27:00.003-06:00

Right now I am grateful for several things. First thing - adrenaline. Why? It hijacks every other synapse in the brain but 'action'. Second - pure melalueca oil, non-stick Telfa bandages, Coban, and I thank GOD for an aunt and grandmother guardian angels that have faster hands than I do.

I was curling my hair before a family picnic in Kaysville. I finished. I turned the iron off. I didn't even have time to move the cord out of my baby's reach when his curiosity spurned him to pull on it and the iron caught him down the right leg. I've heard that scream before, when he had those horrid sores and pressure wounds from his clubfoot braces, and tonight I heard it again. At first Branden and I couldn't see where it had caught him, and then when I turned him around to check his face, we saw his knee. The iron was so hot still that where it touched him first, it took the skin with it right away, and where it hit him second blistered instantaneously. I had Branden hold him to keep his hands away from it while I dumped out my medicine drawer, scrabbling, PRAYING that I could find some melalueca oil...I wasn't even sure I had any in the house. Found some. Doused a cotton ball, soaked his leg with it, drenched a Telfa bandage and slapped that on the burns, then wrapped it all with coban to keep it on and keep his leg clean. I had time enough to grab a shirt (forget the bra) and the diaper bag before we ran out the house and up the ER.

My little Nugget was SO brave. The oil numbed him enough to calm him down on the drive, and he held my hand while I sat in the backseat with him, eating his cherry puffs and drinking his milk from his sippy cup and playing with his toes. He was even smiling and jabbering as we waited a few minutes in the waiting room. They're second degree burns. Sooo the doctor and nurse put some topical lidacaine on, gave him some num-nums (ibuprofen, he likes it), and let it all peak before they came back and had to debride the skin away. THAT was not cool. He screamed...but the fact that there were no tears associated with it was the dead giveaway with him that he wasn't actually in pain, he was just PISSED as all get out. When they were done and had him wrapped up again, he sat up and started grinning, jabbering, eating more puffs. And as we walked out about 90 minutes after arriving, he told the nurse 'thank-you' (he signs it), and just made the whole nurse's station smile. He didn't cry a bit on the drive home, just snugged his blanket. When we got home I wiped him down with a warm washrag, slathered his favorite lotion on his arms and chest, and we had a bottle and he went right to sleep.

I know he's okay, really...I've had 2nd degree sunburns before, I know they heal and they heal without issues...But the guilt. My word, the guilt. The cruel irony....I curl my hair about twice a year, if even that. I thought tonight it would be fun to have it wavy, look good since I just got it colored. I'm tempted to throw my iron out now, I get sick just looking at it. I know it could have been so much worse....he could have grabbed the barrel with his hand, it could have rolled down his face or his chest, but it didn't. It got the top of his right knee only, where it won't crease in a joint, he won't sleep on it, I can keep him in onesies or shorts for sleep so it won't rub on anything, and his clubfoot braces will keep his legs apart. It'll sting tomorrow, but I know he'll be fine. Now if I could just get rid of my guilt as quickly or as easily....why does your children's growing up have to be so hard on the parents?

Surgery and twice-baked Nugget

2010-06-16T01:28:00.004-06:00

Life has been interesting lately. I know I've been slacking in my blogging, and I apologize. I've been having some problems with my left foot for about 2 months. At first they thought it was something called plantar faschiitis. They did an MRI to figure out what they could do. That MRI showed what appeared to be a cyst over the nerve junction on the top of my foot. I had surgery on Friday the 11th to remove it....
...and there was no cyst there.
Yup. Had my post-op follow up yesterday and, long story short, I have a muscle running down the front of my ankle that, instead of stopping there like it should, goes all the way down to my big toe, and the doctor said it's HUGE. It's been basically crushing the nerve into the bone below it, and the 'cyst' he was seeing on the contrast MRI was actually a build up of fluid from the inflamation from the damaged nerve. Owie:

We'll know in about 5 months, he said, whether or not permanent damage has been done; there's no way to tell how long this uber muscle has been squishing the nerve. If the damage is permanent, then the nerve is dead and and he'll have to go back in and resect it, or take it out. Until then, it's a waiting game. In the meantime, I'm off my foot save for potty breaks, only minimal weight bearing for 2 to 3 weeks. It's SO hard. Caden doesn't understand why Mommy won't get up and play with him when he grabs her finger. It upsets him, which upsets me. Luckily for both of us, both Grandmas have been taking good care of him. He's been having fun and knowing that he's taken care of helps me rest easier. I'll have pictures of his hijinks at Grandma Berrett's up in a few days when I get them off the camera.
And speaking of the little monster, a couple of days before the surgery he discovered a wonderful new place to play:

I was washing some dishes and had my back turned to him. He was taking pots out of the drawer in the bottom of the oven, and then I heard 'clank bang clank' and turned around...and nearly wet my pants I was laughing so hard. He had climbed in and had this grin on his face like he was king of the mountain. He played/sat in there for almost 45 minutes. He thought he was so cool. I love my little Nugget. His personality is going to make my recovery so much better.

He's walking!!!

2010-05-03T19:05:00.004-06:00

It's been a couple of weeks now, but this is the first time I've been able to get a really good shot of it on video. Caden is walking!!!! We were told so many times when he was tiny that because of his Arthrogryposis that he probably wouldn't be able to without the help of walkers or arm crutches or some kind of adaptive equipment, but my little Nugget just gave all his doctors the royal "I'll show YOU" finger. His legs are still kinda stiff, and he kinda does the penguin as he walks, but he's walking. Not all the time, and not everywhere, but I'm going to take what I can get. Love this man. I'm so proud of him. He thinks he's all bad, and he is :) You go, Monster.

The mohawk hairdo is not his norm, by the way, but it's like that because he was so tired the night before I shot this, that he went to bed without wanting his bath first so he had hair gell in and woke up with crazy-head, hehe.

Fishies!!

2010-04-09T21:00:00.009-06:00

Caden LOVES fish. He loves to watch "Finding Nemo" and he makes fishy faces when he does. So with Branden and mine's combined parental genius, we got us some season pass tickets to the Aquarium. We took him today. After we ditched the stroller (he was FREAKING OUT because of the gobs of people and how dark it was) and just had B hold him, he had a ball. He got to touch the manta rays in their pool (drenched his sleeves, didn't care). He squealed and put his face right up to the glass with the coral tank. Made fishy faces and giggled at the ginormous fish in another tank, and had penguins right up in his face next to the glass. We had so much fun. And he crashed HARD on the drive home. This and the zoo passes we got last month are probably going to wind up being the best investments we have ever made.

Lemme in, lemme in!!

These last 3 were in a little boat prop they had in one of the hallways. My little safari dude:

Nugget overboard!

Random goofiness

2010-03-28T20:48:00.003-06:00

Hadn't posted in a few days, so I thought I'd share some goofy pictures of a week or so ago. We were at a party at Grandma's (Branden's) house and Caden was making us all laugh when he started imitating his Aunt Shantel's (Branden's sister) fishy faces. He thought he was the center of attention...and of course, he was.

And this is (still) what we wake up to every morning. He is the happiest little snot right out of bed..he immediately is full of bounces and giggles and absolutely raring to go for the day. Here he is fresh out of bed, full of life and ready to live it to its baby fullest. How can I not love it?

I love this child so much, some days it feels impossible to contain. I am so absolutely blessed to have him here, crooked as he came out. I love everything about him, and I thank my Heavenly Father daily for the opportunity I've been given to be handed this special, sweet soul to raise. What a show of trust on my Father's part, to make me a mother to him. I hope that I am, and might continue to be, able to do that job the justice my little Nugget deserves. I love you, Monster.

A tragedy

2010-03-15T23:02:00.003-06:00

It's a sad, sad day for me. I've had a Pound Puppy since I was about 6 years old. I've played with him, slept with him, and generally had him around wherever I go since I got him. Even since I got married, I've had him with me. Well, I knew this day would come eventually, but still I wasn't prepared for it. I've lost this Pound Puppy. He has been assimilated by none other than:

He was having a hard time going down for an afternoon nap today; he was SO tired but just wouldn't sleep. So I took him into our bedroom to wrestle on the bed. Well after just a few minutes he started snuggin with the Pound Puppy so I laid him down again with the puppy and lo and behold, he went right to sleep. So I left it in his crib for bedtime, and when I checked on him at about 10 tonight, I found his seahorse moved out of the way and the puppy over his chest. Goofy boy.

I'm a slacker..but my baby's a shiner!

2010-03-10T17:49:00.007-07:00

Or rather, he HAS a shiner (apologies for the lack of blogage, life became crazy), over his right eye. His very first. Mommy's so proud -insert sarcasm here-
Yesterday he was standing by the glass door leading to our deck, wanted to move to the sofa a few feet away, reached out to grab the drums to get there...but missed and landed eyeball-first on the edge of the stand. Here's some progressive shots of the beauty: First one is just a normal straight-on shot of it, but it's half hidden by his eyelid/eyeball - just wait, it gets better...

This one is a little closer view of it, from a little more underneath, you can see the swelling a lot better here:

Here's the real winner - close-up, with his eyelid kind of pulled up so you can see what a pretty dark red eyeshadow he's sporting:

It's a good things kids are so durable, this is a tough age on them (and on Mommy's nerves)!

Birthday boy...again

2010-01-16T12:19:00.004-07:00

Sorry this took so long. These are some of the pictures from the party Caden had at Grandma Berrett's (Branden's mom's) house on Sunday the 20th. He had a blast, of course, and entertained us all. As you'll see in one of the slideshow pictures, Branden's mom thought it would be hilarious if, after Caden got two handfuls of sticky cake, she asked him "where's your ears?" Thanks Grandma ;) Needless to say, we had a bath at Grandma Berrett's house that night before going home!

So grown up

2009-12-18T21:22:00.007-07:00

At just before 9:20 pm this day last year, my life changed forever. Little Caden Bradley (soon to be forever coined "Nugget") was born. How that year has flown by. He's faced so many challenges and accomplished so much despite that. He's touched lives of people who only see him once - they see his smile and like a shopper in Wal-Mart told me last month, "That just speaks to a total inner joy." How true she was. Caden's been such a blessing. We've had so much fun with him this year, and he's blessed us in so many ways. I've learned so much about adaptation and perseverance from him. He will always be our happy boy. Happy Birthday, Nugget, Mom and Dad love you so much.

Thanksgiving Day luvins

2009-12-09T21:04:00.005-07:00

I know this comes a little after the fact, but here it is. I've never had more to be grateful for than I was this past Thanksgiving. I'm grateful that my Heavenly Father trusted me enough to send me my Nugget and his special needs. I'm grateful I have such a fantastic family and husband to support him. And I'm grateful that Caden's personality is the way it is - for all he's needed done, for all he will still need to be put through, I can say without hesitation that he is a child of pure joy. I hear his laugh, and the feeling I get is what I envision it must feel like to see God smile.
This Thanksgiving, he decided to spread his love with my sister, his Aunt Leicha. She was lying on the floor in a turkey-coma and he waddled over to share his blankie. Every time she'd snug up to it, he'd go "awwww" and snug right down next to her:

Lettin her give him some cuddles:

And him giving snuggles back:

The boy entertained the whole family for a good 30 minutes that night. I have a feeling he'll be doing that his entire life.

Favorite time of day

2009-11-24T23:07:00.002-07:00

Caden LOVES bath time. Absolutely loves it, and he has ever since he was teeny tiny. Well it's become such an established routine, and baths have been at about the same time every night, that tonight when mommy was a little slow in getting the bath stuff ready, he decided he would just get himself ready. At about 7:30 pm he army crawled down the hall, poked his head into the bathroom, I wasn't there so he moved across the hall to his bedroom...I wasn't there either, so he moved back into the hall between the two rooms, rolled onto his side, and started trying to get his sock off. I about cried I was laughing so hard while watching him from the other end of the hall. Unadulterated hilarity. Every day I wonder how he could possibly do anything to make me love him more...and then tonight happened and the love-o-meter just shot up a bazillion points.

Mr. Happy Pants in his favorite place to play...the bathtub:

Sock puppets

2009-11-19T14:52:00.002-07:00

Physical therapy from Early Intervention came last week. They gave me a pair of socks with little beads sewn into the top cuff, something fun to see and play with to make Nugget more aware of his feet (since they've been hidden in boots or casts most of his life) so he'll play with his toes and get a good stretch on his spine. Well he got bored with them on his feet so I stuck them on his hands:

Cash Cab and not-quite-butterfly kisses

2009-11-19T14:41:00.003-07:00

For reasons we still don't understand, Caden loves Cash Cab. It's a show on the Discovery Channel - this cab driver is really the host of a little game show and when you get into his cab, he quizzes you with general knowledge type questions all the way to your destination and you win money as you get answers correct. We don't know if it's the timbre or sound of this guy's voice or the lights in the cab itself, but Nugget will stop EVERYTHING he's doing if he hears the theme song and he'll watch an entire 30 min of it without losing interest. Here he is staring at the host:

And still staring (same episode, 20 min in) as the lights go disco and blink and flash on the roof of the cab:

And new this week; kisses. Or sort-of kisses. When I'm holding Caden...if I chew on something, or even if I have nothing in my mouth and just make the sound and motion of chowin down, he'll open his mouth wide and come in for the lunge. I can't decide if they're kisses or if he just thinks he's a bird and and I'll give him the food in my mouth. If you look close (pictures enlarge if clicked on) you can see his tongue out (and my mouth closed of course). I think in this particular shot, I had some Reese's Pieces in there. Nutjob:

Halloween '09

2009-11-01T17:34:00.006-07:00

So, this Halloween was kind of a 'poke fun at' holiday. Some therapists that work with kids with the Distal Arthrogryposis (which is what Caden has) lovingly call them "lobsters" because of the way their hands are kind of stiff and move like little mittens or 'claws'. Darn it all if I didn't find a lobster costume on Babies R Us's website...

This is what the back looked like as he was on his tummy and hands:

And this is the full Halloween get-up at my Mom's house Halloween night; Me and Brando the chefs and our little lobster. YUM. (he's squeal-laughing, by the way, not crying) Where's the butter?

Halloween was so fun. Nugget was so patient. Didn't mind being stuffed into the costume for 3 days, didn't mind sittin in his pot. And actually he thought the pot was kinda fun, just put his hands on the edges and hung out like it was some fun ride as we toted him around. The family loved him, and the pictures turned out so cute. Great day. The holidays are going to be so much more fun now that we have a kid of our own.

Ponseti's Angels

2009-10-18T20:07:00.001-06:00

Every once in a while a person of note whom you've never met will fall ill, face a tragedy, or pass away ... and you suddenly find yourself feeling emotions for that person who is unknown to you. When I read today that Doctor Ignacio Ponseti, father of the Ponseti method of treatment for clubfeet, passed away I felt like crying. He was 95 and up until a couple of years ago, was still seeing and actively treating patients. And then I DID cry. I have not been one of the blessed parents to have met him personally, and at first I was a little surprised at the strength of the emotions that I felt toward this man I never met. And yet, in a profound way, he HAS touched my life, and especially the life of my Nugget, in a way that truly is miraculous. When I think of what COULD have been, what his life COULD have been like, and now isn't and won't be because of the tremendous accomplishments and strides Ponseti made in the medical field, I have nothing but overwhelming gratitude for the impact he has made upon, literally, the entire world. I know I will always be grateful for what he has done for me and for the precious children whom he has given a new and normal stride in life....Ponseti's Angels. I fill with gratitude, and a little heartbreak now, to say that Caden is among them.

Bittersweet nostaglia

2009-10-11T19:57:00.006-06:00

This may not look like much and in fact from this vantage point, it seems like rather plain old potato soup in a big pot on the stove.

It's my grandmother's clam chowder. I decided it was soup weather a few days ago, and called my mom for the recipe. Decidedly easy to make. Decidedly difficult to get down tear free.
Through no skill of my own, I'm sure, it turned out just like hers. The smell of it brought back memories of her little kitchen with its funky carpet and the wall next to the table that was always warm to the touch (it was actually where the vents to the furnace were, heh). I could smell the house, I could hear the clink of the spoons against the china bowls she'd serve it in, I could see her in the room, sitting across the table watching us eat it with that smile of hers....she always looked so regal, her features so refined in their age, her hair just the right shade of gray.
I didn't realize until tonight how much I actually miss my Grandma Trotta. I was living in Washington still when she passed away, and wasn't able to make it back for the funeral. I had no one to share the grief with, no one to seek the comfort from because they were hurting just like me. Worst, though, I think...I never got to say good-bye. My good-bye came in the form of a few emailed words written by me and spoken by my sister at her funeral, and a few fingers kissed to her gravestone-less mound of grass at the cemetery when I flew down for Memorial Day.
I guess this is as fitting a tribute as any, really. If there was one thing Grandma Trotta loved, it was to do things for the family, to make us grandkids smile. Well it did just that, Grandma, even if there were more than a few tears mixed in, and your little Nugget great-grandson got to try some as well; I do wish you could see him now, but I'm comforted here in knowing that the day he was born, he left your arms for mine. I miss you so much, and love you always. Give Otis a few extra belly rubs from me.

If one were to ask me how my day went, in the spirit of Grandma Trotta, my answer would be a smile and the simple words, "Miserably well."

"I gots rhythm"

2009-09-05T22:47:00.004-06:00

Men out there, look away, and my deepest apologies to my brothers; my son is a dancer.

His exersaucer has a tree that plays music if its buttons are pushed enough times. Caden was pushing them deliberately to get to the music, and then as soon as it would kick up he'd start jivin - bouncing his feet, smackin his hands on the edge of the saucer, grinning. I managed to get the camera in time to catch him in the act. He'd stop when the music did, reach up and push the buttons, and then boogie once the music started up again. Absolutely hysterical. Honestly, when does this child not make us laugh?

Bouncy mattress + hilarious 8 month old =

2009-09-01T18:04:00.003-06:00

...this. Last night I'd undressed him in preparation for bath time and had him in his crib. Well he discovered that his mattress is both soft and bouncy. He can sit up mostly on his own and now only tips backwards when he wants to. And he wanted to. Every time I sat him up, he'd flop backwards, bounce as he hit, and then laugh. Dunno if you can see it in the video (you can on the camera cause it's a little less grainy) but he's got little ab lines on his tummy from hoistin the casts and now his bar around. My kid is ripped! (and I'm kinda jealous!)

Camping...kind of

2009-09-01T17:57:00.004-06:00

So the family camping trip to the cabin came and went a little faster for me and Nugget than it did the rest of the fam. We got the okay from the pediatrician to go up, and on Thursday he did just fine. Thursday night to Friday, not so much. He was up 4 times through the night (for a kid that's been sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old) and then wouldn't nap at all on Friday. After a trip to Mirror Lake on Friday afternoon, he threw up everything so I called it quits and he and I came home Friday night. We did manage to get a few fun shots of him though. This first one is when we just got there and I pulled him out of the car. He loves the outdoors:

This was a little later that day, Thursday. I put him in a back carrier and toted him about. LOVED it...obviously:

Thursday night. Both him and I are beat:

Nugget's nasty week

2009-08-09T23:25:00.002-06:00

We've been really really lucky since Caden was born, and he's only had 1 cold since December. Well his luck wore out this week :( Last Monday night he was kinda grump, and Tuesday morning he woke up at about midnight with a fever of close to 101, had a horrible nasty diaper, and was all around just discontent. All that day he kept having nasty diapers, I couldn't keep his fever down, and he was completely uninterested in solids OR his bottles. Took him to his pediatrician and they're culturing for crypto, giardia (or however that's spelled) and rotovirus. Well the diarrhea kept on but by Friday he was KIND of acting better, his fever broke, and he was a little more interested in food. But he's gone back downhill now. The fever's back, the diarrhea's back, and now tonight he threw up twice and I had to force him to take his post-bath bottle, something he NEVER doesn't want. And his little bum is just so raw from it all, the diaper rash is horrible and it hurts him to sit for too long.

Dad and Aaron (thank you!) came over tonight to give him a blessing and he seems to be sleeping peacefully. I'll be calling the pediatrician again tomorrow regardless because after his bath tonight I noticed that his little fontanel is starting to get a little concave, beginnings of dehydration methinks. What a week to fall ill :( If he doesn't vastly improve by Tuesday, I'm going to have to call off camping with the family up at the cabin this weekend and stay home alone with him. No WAY would I be taking him up to the Uintas while he's like this. Poor Nugget. Get better soon, love!

"Tha's mah blanket.."

2009-07-23T22:36:00.003-06:00

We discovered a couple of months back that Caden's a blanket baby. He never really took to a pacifier, and didn't stay interested in his thumbs for too long. But he loves him a good snuggle with a blanket. Tonight I went in to check on him around 10, and I just had to get a picture of the way he was cuddled with his blanket. He HAS to have it tucked under one or between both arms, and since my mom got him a seahorse that plays music and bubble noises, he has to be touching that too. I find it hysterically ironic, given everything, that his favorite blanket is his feet blanket.
Sweetest dreams, Nugget...

It's a zoo

2009-07-23T22:24:00.003-06:00

We were kind of spontaneous on Wednesday and decided after Caden woke up from his after-therapy nap to go to the zoo. We packed up, headed down. He wasn't too impressed with the bigger animals, the open-enclosure type, because he couldn't really see 'em or understand what he WAS seeing when he did. But he loved the smaller critters. He squealed and scared a porcupine. Loved the leaves in the Madagascar hut. He liked the up close and personal encounter with the giraffe. One was in the barn and we walked in to say hi. His eyes kind of scanned up its legs and then he leaned back to look at the rest of it and his eyes got HUGE. So cute. His hair was also way spiky that day, and you can really see it against the backlight on the fence (picture enlarges when clickied).

We left about 5 ish, maybe 5:30 and realized we'd need gas before going home, so we stopped at a Sinclair in downtown Salt Lake. We filled up, I went in to buy some drinks, and when I came out Branden goes "You're going to love this," gets into the car, turns the key ... and nothing. Totally dead. It's near 100 degrees and Caden's asleep in his car seat in the backseat. Splendid. So in a "oh please oh please have left work late" frenzy, I call my sister. Aunt Sessie and her primo Nissan to the rescue - she was close enough that she flipped a u-ie and came back to meet us. We used her car to jump our (took us about 20 min to get enough of a charge though) and then she followed us home. Who knew a trip to the zoo really would turn out to be a zoo? In the 10 minute drive from the zoo to the gas station, the battery had totally died. Bless Nugget though, he was so patient. Didn't know what the heck was going on, didn't know why we were out playin' in the heat on a street corner but he enjoyed looking at the cars in the intersection and he got to spit-wash his Aunt Sessie's sunglasses, so what wasn't to like about the day?

"I can't stoooooop!"

2009-07-16T20:32:00.003-06:00

We put Caden in his bouncer this afternoon....and he would NOT stop bouncing. He just kept going, right in time with the music of the bouncer. I only captured a few seconds of what went on for literally 7 minutes straight.

The "Caden Cuteness Trifecta"

2009-07-16T20:26:00.004-06:00

We've discovered a few things about our Nugget. He's cute when his hair is spiky. He's way cute in stripes. And he's cute-coma inducing when he's in bib overalls. What do you get when you put all 3 together on the same day? Behold:

Blowing raspberries at the camera:

Martinis and formula all around!

2009-06-04T11:21:00.002-06:00

Caden just rolled over! I've been working with him on rolling him from his back to his tummy, which is hard for him because with his Arthrogryposis, his hips are kind of stiff. Before I knew it, he'd tucked one arm, pushed up on the other, and over to his back he went. I thought, ok was that just an accident? Luck of the balance? Nope. I put him on his tummy again and not a minute and a half later, over he went. And then he did it 3 more times. No accident :D This is SUCH a huge accomplishment for him given the Arthrogryposis. And I found out yesterday that his name is Gaelic, and means "little battle" or "little fight". Little battle indeed :D Way to go, Nugget.

5 month pictures

2009-05-16T23:53:00.004-06:00

We had Caden's 5 month pictures done earlier this afternoon. Ordinarily this would have been forbidden (taking a shot with my phone while the photographer was shooting), but I wanted to send a shot to Grandma in Texas and he was being so dang cute with the photographer she let me :D He LOVES his baths, so we had to use a bathtub prop :) More pictures to come, I'll post the link to the proofs when JP Penney uploads them.

900 numbers at this tender age?

2009-05-11T16:48:00.004-06:00

Nope! But he's discovered that he can hold the phone for a few seconds all by himself, and he knows that Grandma's voice comes out of it.

And if Grandma won't come out of the phone now, he says, I'll just gum her out myself.

Linkage

2009-05-09T09:48:00.003-06:00

So, I've gotten some questions regarding how to get at my book. Here's a link to the Amazon.com-ish site where it's being sold.

https://www.createspace.com/3381464

The price listed was not set by me (mine'd have been much lower!!), but it was the minimum allowed given the paper, the design of the cover, number of pages, etc.

So anyway, yeah. There she be :)

Bookworm

2009-05-05T16:35:00.002-06:00

2 years ago, I did this thing called National Novel Writing Month. They hold a contest every November, and the goal is to write 50,000 words of a mini-novel in just one month. Well I won, got my 50k words in. The prize was an offer of free printing by a company that's an extension of Amazon.com called CreateSpace. So here it is, my first published and printed book ever. Was actually quite a rush to get this in the mail :D

Easter, a lazy day, and Mr. Gooey Face

2009-04-28T21:14:00.006-06:00

Decided we needed an Easter picture. Caden here is chillin on the floor (still in his casts) in his Easter onesie, clearly not an unhappy child.

Here he is a couple days before that. His grandmother (my mom, bless her) has taught my boy how to suck his thumb. But why suck just one, when you can have both at the same time?

A couple of days after his casts came off, it was too warm in the apartment for snuggy clothes, but too cold for the AC. The solution? Bathrobe and bedslippers all afternoon :D That's a true man.

And last but not least, today we gave him his first try of baby cereal. He looked SO SMALL in the high chair! Little runt. So cute though. He was so patient just sitting there watch us get it ready, and then he nommed away. Only got about one out of every 4 mouthfuls actually in and down, but darn it was fun to watch him try.

Free!

2009-04-28T21:08:00.005-06:00

Woohoo! We're out of the infernal casts! Hopefully for the very last time EVER. Here are a couple of pictures of him before his first soaky bath in 3 weeks. Bliss.

Can we all see the "thumbs up" in the one below? Yeah, we were excited. And just look at his beautiful feeties! They're SO straight now, and he can flex them all the way like they should. Amazing.

Ahoy!

2009-04-10T15:51:00.004-06:00

So, I got a little trigger happy with the camera today. Bless his heart, he's not had hardly any sleep in the last 3 or 4 days, he's just been so uncomfortable in the casts that he couldn't settle into a deep enough sleep to STAY asleep. Finally last night we got the okay to give him some baby liquid Loratab, and that helped him enough that he slept like a dead thing. When he woke up he was happy, so I took a picture of him in his new sunhat (his one eye is wet looking because he's got a clogged tear-duct, not cause he's crying, hehe).

Took this one below the day before yesterday, when he was wide awake and had been for nearly 12 hours. He was "crabby" (friggin Garanimals onsies...)

He played in Grandma Bylund's swing for the first time the same day as the above picture was taken. Wasn't too sure what to make of it this time.

Knifed!

2009-04-02T14:17:00.003-06:00

Ok, so the title makes it sound worse than it really was, hehe, but it was still surgery. Caden had both Achilles tendons cut and lengthened at Shriners on the 31st of March. Bless his heart, he was SO sore the day after, but he's still trying to be a happy boy. Kids are so tough, WAY tougher than mama is through all this, that's for sure!

Just some fun

2009-04-01T21:42:00.006-06:00

So I realized I'd not updated this in a bit, at least not as far as putting up recent pictures goes. I managed to take some pretty cute ones in the last week, week and a half, so I'll slap 'em up below. This first one is what his new braces look like, the Mitchell Abduction Brace. SO much more baby friendly, with support that went all the way up the back of his calf instead of hackin at him right at the heel like the others did.

This is what the brace looks like with the bar detached. Yep, it snaps on and off. Again, so much nicer than the others where the bar didn't detach - we got a better fit with these cause we could put him in them just like regular shoes then slide the bar on. Poor kid, 2 months old here and already makin a fashion faux pas; socks and sandals...

This was what HE looked like after I put the bar back ON. His scowl is epic:

I took him up to get the mail again a couple days ago, but alas, in true Utah weather glory, it snowed that day. So I got him up in his Pooh snowsuit. He's a bit bigger than he was last time I tried this!

So there's a few updated pictures of my Nugget. He's getting so big! Early Intervention weighed and measured him on Monday, and he's now 11lbs 10oz, and a whopping 23 1/2 inches long. Heavyweight! Will update again with pictures and progress of Caden's tenotomy.

Little setback

2009-03-24T15:53:00.004-06:00

Well, we've had a bit of a setback with Caden's clubfeet. While he was healing from the sores the first abduction brace caused, his feet relapsed. A relapse which was made worse by his Arthrogryposis. His heels tightened back up. We had an appointment at Shriners today, and he'll have to have his Achilles cut. They set us up for it next Tuesday.

It's an outpatient procedure; they'll put some numbing cream on the backs of his heels then let it set for about an hour (which is when the effect peaks), then they take him up to the OR and give a shot of lidocaine (the cream numbs him so he doesn't feel the lidocaine injection), after which they make about a 1/4 inch cut, move aside the tissue and stuff from the tendon, snip it, close it, and then immediately cast his feet to hold them in place so the Achilles can grow back to a longer, looser and proper length. He'll have to keep those casts on for 3 weeks straight, no changing them every week like we did in the beginning.

Poor Nugget, with new casts on it's back to the sponge baths. We won't be able to have fun full-dunking bath time anymore for a little while :( I really believe stuff like this is way harder on mom than it will be baby!

365 days, one little miracle

2009-03-07T17:59:00.002-07:00

I was updating Caden's little event calendar tonight and something struck me as I looked at the date. One year ago today, I lost our last little one. That was miscarriage # 3 for us, and I thought for sure that that meant that I just wasn't destined to have children. It was always such a struggle just to get pregnant, and then when we did, I'd lose them within weeks. I almost didn't want to try again; I wasn't sure I wanted to go through the heartache again, wasn't sure that I could. But we did end up trying again, and after a lot of extra care from my OB and some extra medication to help, the gorilla glue finally stuck fast and we were blessed with this a week before Christmas:

Is he not the most yummy baby you've ever seen? Can't tell that I'm biased at all :) I cannot imagine loving something so small so much, so completely, so fast after first meeting him. It took 365 days of pills, some morning sickness, extra doctor's visits, and a lot of worries to do it but he's here, he's ours, and I wouldn't change anything about him, crooked feet and all, for anything in the world and I'd do it all over again just to snuggle him close and have him giggle in my face. I love you, little Nugget!

Blessing Day

2009-03-06T12:30:00.003-07:00

I know I've been slacking on updating this. Here are some of the pictures from Caden's blessing day, February 8, 2009:

It was so wonderful. The blessing made everything so much more real. He really is here, he really is ours. It's so humbling to think that my Heavenly Father trusts me enough to send this special guy, with his special needs, to me to take care of for Him. Talk about overwhelmed.

Cheese!

2009-02-04T13:06:00.003-07:00

This is the Caden I'm used to, not the sad boy he was a week and a half ago...stupid snowboard. He's my happy boy.

They SEEM innocent enough...

2009-01-27T12:14:00.005-07:00

Friday Caden got his last set of casts off and was ready for his boot braces. He got to kick around for about an hour before we were sent over to rehab to have him fitted for his snowboard:

It was incredibly hard to get on the first time, and that night at home was not a good one. He wasn't used to not moving his legs independent of each other and the bar is significantly heavier than what the casts were. The ortho and rehab nurses told us to remove the braces every few hours for a few minutes to check for blisters and play with his feet to get them used to being touched - after 3 weeks in casts, they were hypersensitive. So we did. I bathed him at 9:30 that night, he fell asleep at about 10. Mind you, this was after he'd been crying and was pretty much inconsolable all day. He woke up at 2am to eat, and I changed his bum and took the braces off for about 5 minutes. His feet and ankles were a little red, nothing too serious. Put the braces back on, laid him back down. He slept again till about 7:30, ate, got a clean bum....
...and after only about 8.5 hours, this was what I found Saturday morning:

This blister (above) is what was on his right foot and where my pinkie finger is is a little black pressure sore. Below is what I found on his left foot. 2 blisters on the inside of his foot and that massive pressure sore all around the back of his ankle.

Put a call into the orthopedic surgeon on call and was told the braces stay off until we saw the orthopedic doctor treating his clubfeet on Monday. The blisters only got bigger and the pressure sore never diminished. He was squirmy and cranky all day Saturday (who could blame him?!) but by Sunday afternoon the screaming had turned into that high-pitched "I'm in pain!" chin-shaking, breath-holding wail. We ended up in the ER at Primary Children's getting the blisters lanced and the sores treated and making sure the little infections around the wounds were only localized and not spreading. We got home at about 10, and he cried/screamed until about 4 Monday morning. Saw his ortho on Monday afternoon. Braces are off indefinitely obviously until he fully heals. At that point she said we'll have to go to a plan B in his treatment. He'll probably need a couple of re-castings done to correct whatever margin of curvature his feet re-take after so much time without any support, but after that they'll have to find some other method of treatment since it's appearing he can't tolerate the boots. This doesn't make us happy campers, as it appears (and the ortho that saw us in the ER said so) that the reason he developed such serious sores so fast was that they probably mis-fit the braces in the first place. Grrrr. We were sent home with specialized dressings we change twice a day until we see her again on Friday to check the healing and discuss optoins for the rest of the treatment.

The sores looked better this morning and he seems to be going back to his normal mellow happy self. He's only needed Tylenol twice since early Monday morning as opposed to during the weekend, needing it every 4-5 hours, and he's sleeping a lot harder and falling asleep faster. He's actually doing better than his mama...I haven't cried this hard or prayed so honestly for someone else's relief in my life. My poor Nugget :(

One month old and full of good news!

2009-01-18T16:55:00.002-07:00

Gosh, has it really been 30 days already?? I can't believe that. It seems like just a little while ago Branden and I were all "Gosh I can't believe we only have a couple months left." Went so fast! I can't imagine the last month without our little Burrito though, smooshed feet and all.

What also went fast was Caden's healing with his little feet. Great news there! This 3rd set of casts he has now are likely his last. His feet got that straight that fast. Next week they'll assess him but more than likely he'll graduate from the casting to his little snowboard (boot braces with bar). And he won't need either Achilles snipped! The orthopedic could get his left foot to flex just as much as his right this time, and they're both doing what they should be. He also had his ultrasound on Friday to check his hips (breech babies are high risk for and often born with hip dysplasia), and it appears that they're just fine.

Needless to say, Friday was a great day (we won't talk about how Friday night/Saturday went, hehe, that first day after new casts is miserable for both of us). Today the casts are fully dry and he's used to the new positioning of his feet. He's a happy boy. Happy 30-day Birthday little Nugget.

When stampers attack

2009-01-16T10:14:00.002-07:00

Grandma and Aunt Sessie got bored last Sunday...

...and today we get this set taken off and replaced with the 3rd set. Luckily we get to keep the casts, so he'll have some art to hang onto.

"I can't put my arms down!"

2009-01-15T15:20:00.004-07:00

So, I decided I need to go get the mail yesterday. But I had a conundrum. I couldn't yet carry bebe in his car seat, but would need my hands to open the mailbox so I couldn't carry him up in my arms. Then it hit me - we got a sling, I could put him in that! So I did. I bundled him up in his snowsuit...and then realized that it still doesn't fit him. As you can see below, it drowns him, but he had enough of his arms IN the arms that when he moved, the whole suit arm moved too. Hilarious. He loved the sling. Wasn't sure what to make of the snowsuit though. I kept getting a raised eyebrow and "Uh, Mom? What gives?" looks on the walk.

Lil' straighter

2009-01-09T22:38:00.002-07:00

Had the first casts removed today and the second set put on. The picture's kind of grainy because it was taken with my cell phone, but this is Caden's right foot after the casts came off this afternoon. Looking at it now won't mean much unless you know that before the casts, this foot was the worse of the two; it bent inwards almost 45 degrees and the toes were bent back up towards the top of his foot. Now after just the first casting, it's nearly straight. His left foot is even better. The doctor thinks he'll only need this second casting on the left to get it totally straightened out, but his right foot'll need the full set of 4 castings. More news on the Achilles too - his right foot won't need it cut but his left one will. So we're half lucky, hehe. But after the casts come the booties and physical therapy (yay we get to start work on his little fingers then too!) and then by the time he's ready to crawl, he'll be good to go. Lot of work on a tiny body, but I'm so grateful this is something they can fix early and with relative ease on him!

You should see the other guy...

2009-01-02T18:42:00.004-07:00

Our poor dude had the first of his castings done this afternoon (picture enlarges when clicked on). He'll need probably 4, maybe 5 all together; this one and 3 more. By the last one they'll know if they need the 5th or not. After the castings are done he'll be in little boots that are attached together by a bar for 23 hours a day until he's 3 months old, and then after that he'll only wear those braces at night until he's about 2 or 3 years. We might be lucky. 95% of babies with clubfeet have to have their Achilles cut to allow their heel bone to descend out of their ankle joint. The orthopedic can already feel his heel bone (instead of that area in the back of his feet being just squishy), so he could be one of the very few kids that doesn't need that procedure done. The doc'll know more by the end of his castings. We can hope!

Baby's 1st Christmas

2009-01-02T18:04:00.005-07:00

The Randall family Christmas night. Isn't our little Santa so handsome?

Here's a couple of more pictures from Christmas Day. The first one below is Caden cozy in a gorgeous blanket our sister-in-law sent. Love the Pooh! The second is just him in his bouncer dressed in his red Christmas outfit. We had a good Christmas. I had a bit of a recovery glitch, I started bleeding really heavily early that morning, so we had to stay in so I could stay down. But a quiet holiday as opposed to one spent trying to visit 5 families in one day was a nice change. And it was nice to spend our second Christmas since moving back from Seattle here at home.

Finally here

2008-12-25T00:00:00.014-07:00

After much anticipation and frustrations, little Caden Bradley is finally here. I had just a regular OB appointment on Thursday the 18th, but when we got to it I was contracting, and had been for 2 hours. The OB decided to take Caden that night and told us to be back at the hospital at 7pm. At 8pm they prepped me, and at 9:19pm Caden came into the world weighing 6lbs 9oz and measuring a bitty 18 inches long. Pictures (unfortunately for me because I'm bloated from the fluids they had pumping into me) enlarge when ya click on em.

He spent his first day being cuddled and loved and posing for his first photo shoot:

His second day chillaxing in his hospital bed, flashin Gang Baby "brutha" signs:

When he was awake, he was so alert, so bright eyed. Even at just 3 and a half days old.

Here he is all ready to go home on Monday. I had to use 2 of the hospital's blankets to stuff around him on both sides because he was so tiny inside his carseat. You can see here, he's clearly impressed by the process:

My mom and dad had cleaned the apartment for me on Sunday, since I didn't get the chance before he was born, and we came home to a little tree set up. And what's a tree without a little present underneath it?

He's just hangin out all bundled and comfy in his bouncer, little Santa hat and snowman blanket and all:

"Whoooa...what are you gunna do with dat?" is the question going through his head right here, I'm sure of it. Grandma Berrett was over visiting and we gave him his first bath.

So there he is. My handsome little circus peanut in the flesh. We've discovered fun things already. Sneezes and hiccups are a good way to make daddy laugh. Some things I thought that couldn't get any bigger, did (and then some!). And he likes to be wrapped in his blankets like a little burrito. He's got some little clubbed feet that will need some casting done to correct (we see the pediatrician on Monday to set that up), but other than that, he's just as perfect as can be.

I'm recovering pretty well, though I've decided the most annoying thing about the c-section is that it's robbed me of my core muscle control, so my back is WAY sore from overcompensating to keep me upright. We're getting ready for Christmas, and will be sure to post most pictures then. Happy Holidays everyone!

Just 7 days left

2008-12-13T10:07:00.003-07:00

Yep, that's right. We got the date at my OB appointment on Thursday. If I don't go on my own before next Thursday (I'm 50% effaced so he thought there could be a chance I would), then the doc's going to take him; we scheduled a C-section for the 20th because baby is stubborn and hasn't turned yet...and probably won't by that time. Little stinker. But he'll get to share Brando's birthday! From now on, B's birthday presents will be the opportunity to put all of Caden's toys together. He's so excited, I know it.

Nursery time

2008-12-08T14:49:00.007-07:00

As promised, I took pictures of the nursery now that we've got it all finished and everything set up. The decor was a set from Babies R Us called the Lambs & Ivy, and it's their jungle theme. Super cute. If you want to see detail, the pictures embiggen when clicked on. This is from the doorway looking in.

This one is from the window by the bookshelf looking towards the other wall and closet.

And this one is from the bookshelf looking back towards the doorway. The little hanging thing on the wall by the door is a little bag that's got a hard bottom and a split opening down the center so you can stack a bunch of diapers inside it. Very convenient.

So the room's all done and I have everything else I need (after a great final shopping trip today provided by my older sister to net me a nursing bra (or 3, thanks Leich!) and some bottle liners). Now all we need is baby!

2 weeks and counting...?

2008-12-03T18:50:00.003-07:00

Well, looks like it's pretty certain that we're going to get a before-Christmas baby. Just got home from an OB appointment. My Braxton-Hicks contractions are coming pretty consisent and strong now (at least 10 or 11 in a day, every day) and I've started to thin a bit, but not only that, the little Randall Runt is still breech and my OB says that if he hasn't turned on his own by my next appointment on Thursday the 11th, it's likely he's not going to because he can't (my uterus is a little abnormally shaped, which he said is probably why the baby never turned to begin with). But they won't try and manipulate him, or do what they call a "version" to turn him because this far into the game that procedure puts undue stress on the baby, is just horrifically painful for the mom-to-be, and can cause more complications than it is at all beneficial. So, if he hasn't turned by the 11th then we'll likely end up scheduling a C-section for the next week; we're far enough along that he'll be considered full-term and will be fine. Boggles the mind to think we very well could be welcoming little Caden into this crazy family in just 2 weeks!

Cradle ... and the cow that jumped over the moon

2008-11-14T22:36:00.008-07:00

This is a cradle we got from Branden's sister, who I think got it from a grandparent. We'll be using it in our bedroom until baby is ready to be in his own crib in his room. It looks pink in the lighting, but the bedding is actually just white with little yellow dots on the bumpers.

Aaaaaand as requested, another belly shot. Much to my dismay (and after discovering those stretch marks), this is what I look like at almost 34 weeks. I was on bed-rest earlier in the week because of contractions I had Sunday, and my OB made me laugh when he took me off it on Thursday and said, instead, I'd be on "restricted activity." Hello. Is movement while 8.5 months pregnant normal activity? Had to chuckle. Sigh...are we there yet? hehe

Onwards and upw..er, sidewards

2008-11-06T23:29:00.004-07:00

Had my 32 week appointment yesterday. Things are going really well. He's 4lbs now and my OB says he's on track, gaining a half a pound a week, to be right around 7-7.5lbs on his birthday. No new picture this time, he was rather shy so the scan wasn't very clear. He's also a little breech-bum right now, his noggin right up in my diaphragm. Makes breathing and eating rather adventurous. Not that I feel much like eating; not only is he pushin on my tummy, I'm freaking huge! Or feel huge. I've found my first belly stretch marks (sob) and it really is quite impossible to shave my legs. Good thing we're going into winter where I can hide the shag beneath a wardrobe of long pants every day!

Cheek chub

2008-10-15T19:53:00.007-06:00

Had my 29 week ultrasound today and everything's looking good. Especially my not-so-little-anymore circus peanut :) He's 2.5lbs now and starting to fill out. Look at his cheeks! This scan was awesome. We got to watch him yawn (twice) little yawns and at the end of the second one he promptly stuffed one fist into his mouth. His little nose even scrunched up as he tried to get all his fingers in and then started nomming away at his hand. I think I'm in love.

October in Utah

2008-10-12T13:43:00.005-06:00

This was what we woke up to this morning....

You can always tell when it's snowed overnight, because you wake up to this total dead silence. 6-7 inches by the time it was all over. Typical Utah winter weather...and we're not even out of October yet! Luckily we're back up into the high 60's by the middle of the week.

6 Quirks

2008-10-12T10:58:00.003-06:00

(Tagged by Carrie)
Definition of a quirk: Noun
1) A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncracy: "Every man has his own quirks and twists." Harriet Beecher Stowe.
2) An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.

Rules: Link the person that tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag a few fellow bloggers to do the same, then leave a comment somewhere on their blog to let them know they've been tagged.

1. I never let the microwave finish..I stop it at 1 or 2 seconds before beeping, then open it. Drives Branden crazy because I never clear it afterwards.

2. I have a Pound Puppy I got when I was like 4 that I still sleep with. It doesn't matter where I am (at home, camping, at our cabin), I have to have him shoved up under one arm.

3. I read in the tub. I won't lie in bed or on the couch...if I get a book, I wait till it's bathtime and then read it while I soak.

4. I don't like it when my food touches. If there is more than one thing on my plate, I have to have each thing separated in its own little pile cause it bothers me if it touches something else.

5. I hate wrinkles. I'll smooth out the bed covers before I climb into bed at night. Each time I or someone else gets off our one sofa, I'll smooth out the wrinkles in the slip cover. OCD? Yeah probably, hehe.

6. I hate getting water in my face. I'll do anything I can not to 'go under' while swimming, and I freak when I get splashed by spray from the shower.

Now that you know how "quirky" I am, I'm gonna tag the following:
~Heidi
~Jen
~Steph

Beluuuuga!

2008-10-10T20:46:00.006-06:00

I was petitioned to do another belly shot. So I did. And I regret it, hehehe. This is me at 28, almost 29 weeks. I feel huge!
...
I look huge! And I'm in a pair of Branden's sweats, so the fact I can't wear my own makes me feel even bigger, hehe. But the belly button turkey-timer hasn't popped yet, so I figure I've still got room to grow.

Insert stress here

2008-10-07T15:08:00.005-06:00

I'm not a happy camper. Or more accurate really I should say I'm a stressed camper. Branden's company has thrown us another 'fun' situation. They're sending him to Dallas for about a week for some training. Now training's not a bad thing at all....except that they're sending him there in December. Hello. I'm DUE in December. Regardless of what week they actually send him, I could literally go at any point in that month. They've already jipped him out of being able to come to my OB appointments, ok fine whatever, but sending him away during the month his wife's due to give birth to their first? Negatory.

He's been trying to secure another job for about the last 3 months now. We badly need it. We'd really appreciate any prayers or good voodoo vibes that we find that something before December.

Grandma couldn't wait

2008-09-28T20:59:00.003-06:00

I'm a huge sucker for the sleeper outfits and beanie hats. My mom knows this, and found this newborn sized (5-9lbs) one early. Of course she couldn't resist. It's made out of that really impossibly soft velur fuzzy type fabric, and the paw print on the foot of the sleeper just kills me.

Hello baaaaby

2008-09-04T15:44:00.005-06:00

World, meet Caden Bradley :D I had a targeted ultrasound today, which is just a really in-depth scan where they measure every bone in his body they can find, take a peek at his heart valves, check his spine and kidneys, and all around just make sure he's doing what he should be doing. We also got our first stills of the 4D. And our first profile shots.

In this first one he's all wadded into a little ball, with his hands up by his forehead and his feet by his hands. In the one below, he's sucking on one of his hands. You can see his thumbnail there by his little nose, and then he's got his fingers, from pinkie to pointer, shoved in his mouth. He's almost 1 and a half pounds now. My handsome little monster :)

Not short but getting wider

2008-08-21T17:42:00.004-06:00

Had a rather unique ultrasound today. Apparently there's some linkages between high-risk pregnancies, which is what mine was labeled for the first almost 16 weeks, and what's called "short cervix". If the cervix is less than like 1.8 inches, it's called "short" cervix, and that can lead to premature labor. I qualified to have a free ultrasound done to measure mine, and I'm happy to report I'm nice and long. I was also petitioned to post a new belly shot. So here I am at 21 weeks (got a new ticker). And yes, this is me officially in maternity pants. Buy-bye zippers! (and actually, that's really nice!!)

Memories...

2008-08-05T15:20:00.000-06:00

(snagged from Heidi)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Since this is our family blog, feel free to leave a memory about either of us.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :)

No secret now

2008-07-23T20:33:00.006-06:00

You wouldn't believe what I had to do to get this image to stay upright instead of flopping back sideways when I'd upload from my photo well. So enjoy it, hehe. Here's a belly picture of me at about 17 weeks :) No hiding it now, I can't even "suck it in" and fake a flat tummy anymore.

Blue booties!

2008-07-12T22:36:00.002-06:00

Yup! That's right. Had my appointment on Friday, and we gots us a little bitty boy on board :) No real question as to what that "third leg" was this time, hehe. The images don't show it, heh. But WOW. The ultrasound was amazing. We got to see a lot of it in 3D, and holy cow. It was unreal. And actually made this all seem so much MORE real. I really have a little dude in there. We could watch him play with his mouth, his hands up by his face. He wiggled so much this time. He pulled a really cute "gah, too much light!" pose, kind of throwing his hands up in front of his eyes, palms out. And getting so big; about 6.5 inches head to foot, and a whopping 3 ounces. That's my boy.

He's on his side facing the camera here, sitting Indian-style and with his hands bunched in fists by his little tummy. His face is kind of down towards his chest, so all ya really get here is a noggin view.

He was kind of squashed in this one. He's on his back. His legs are all bunched up over his tummy and chest, his feet almost at his head.

So alike

2008-07-02T01:37:00.004-06:00

I saw this video on Youtube the other night, and cried. I don't think I've ever laughed and cried happy tears at the same time! Whomever says that animals can't feel and are purely instinctual creatures needs to watch this.

And if you don't believe the video...here's the link to the story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-452820/Christian-lion-lived-London-
living-room.html

My Washington Mom

2008-06-29T00:13:00.003-06:00

Branden and I got to go down to Provo tonight and see the woman we met while we lived in Washington; she was here for her daughter's wedding. Bashawn "adopted" me the first week we got there, took me in, fed us, mother-hen'd me, and all around took care of me when I was so far away from my own mom. I could not have made it up there without her, and she's proof that the Lord watches out for us at just the times we need. We love you Bashawn!

"I love weddings, drinks all around!"

2008-06-27T15:59:00.003-06:00

A few of our own pictures from Leicha's wedding. She looked wonderful, so happy. And the scene was perfect (even the backhoe sitting in the yard next door, hehe).

Getting bigger

2008-06-25T16:20:00.005-06:00

Yep, 'nother belly picture. Not a huge change, at least from the outside. Baby was SO active this time, we could watch it wiggle and squirm - it was on its back then squished its face to the "camera" then rolled over and gave us a bum shot. Unfortunately I don't have the ultrasound images to go with this, the OB was on his way to a delivery at the end of my appointment so he kinda forgot to pull a still image from the machine. Oh well, next appointment in 2 weeks I'll have one for sure :)

Symptom swap

2008-06-21T16:28:00.002-06:00

I've reached another blessed milestone - the "morning" sickness is gone. Unfortunately, it's been replaced by insomnia. Lately it doesn't seem to matter how bone tired I am, when I lie down at night my body won't settle, so I end up not sleeping at all. The last 4 nights or so I've been getting about an hour and a half's worth of sleep each night. I've heard that insomnia is normal but normal or not, it's downright annoying.

Takin' shape

2008-06-10T21:12:00.005-06:00

And I'm not just talking about my belly taking on more shape. This is baby at 11 weeks. And you can actually tell it's a baby now. Its little legs are there on the right as it's lying on its back lounging about. The best part about seeing this much progress from 3 weeks ago? I got to hear the heartbeat :) The doppler was strong enough to pick it up, and it was clear as a bell. Just thumpin' away like a pro. And in about 4-6 more weeks, we should be able to find out whether our little circus peanut is a he or a she.

Weekend getaway part deux

2008-06-08T11:55:00.003-06:00

So we went to the cabin again this weekend. We had great weather for the first 2 days, and on the third, it snowed. The first picture is Branden staring perplexedly at the fire he was trying to make in the firepit outside with winds thwarting his Boy Scout prowess with flame. The second picture was of the snowman we built on Saturday morning. We named him Osgood. He melted within about 3 hours.

Obligatory milestone belly picture

2008-06-02T00:22:00.005-06:00

So, we've hit a milestone. Today I'm officially 5 days past when the last pregnancy went to pot. This required the first belly picture :) I'm 9 weeks in this. I can't believe I already have a little pouch! Way to go junior! I have another appointment on the 10th, and I can't wait to see how much the little one's developed since my last visit 3 weeks ago. All's going well so far. Now if I could just convince baby to stop making me sick at night!