Yet Another Colorado Trip...

Those of you who have read my previous posts and those who know me know about my dad. Back in May he was diagnosed with Leukemia. He had a bad lung infection at the time he was diagnosed and was put into a drug-induced coma for 7 weeks. He has had to go through lots of rehabilitation and has undergone chemo therapy. He has been in the hospital for almost 130 days now. About two weeks ago we went to visit him before he had another chemo treatment. He didn't know that we were coming, so we were able to surprise him.

Right before we left for Colorado we had our appointment at Primary Children's to get Rosaline's casts changed. She was more fussy than she usually is on the trip because of the cast change, but overall she did very well for her first road trip.

Our first day there we visited my dad at the hospital. It was so nice to see him, to see that he was doing so much better. He has very short hair, no facial hair and has lost about 40lbs. Needless to say, he looks different. He does look a lot better than the last pictures I saw of him. He was able to see all the kids, meet Rosaline, and chat for a bit. That evening we just hung out at my parents' where we learned that Gwendolyn has a a fondness for older men. She was very flirtatious with Stefan and especially Christian. I am glad that Christian's girlfriend is okay with the relationship that he and Gwendolyn now have.

The next day we hung out at my parents', with a fantastic visit with the Valerie and Nathan Witte family. Later on we did some shopping at the Flat Irons Mall and went to JCPenney's. I know, totally exciting. This post is totally sounding like a lame diary entry post, haha.

That evening JM and Heather came over and we got to hang out with them and meet their gigantic 2 month old, Bryce. I seriously think that kid could easily eat Rosaline.

Sunday we went to church with my mom and brothers. Afterward I went with my mom to the hospital and visited with my dad one last time before we left. We all had some good laughs together.

We went back to the house and visited with Dylan, Holly and Aspen and JM, Heather, Caleb and Bryce. We had lots of fun together. Mark had everyone sign Rosaline's casts. My family is very clever and goofy, so there were some good messages written on there.

Our last day we had breakfast with Papa, then hit the road!!! Sorry this post was not funny at all(maybe funny looking! Haha!) and not that interesting. I promise to liven up your day soon!!

A Tribute to the Club...

As many of you know my little girl was born with a "birth defect" known as clubfeet. We had a scare as to what the cause was about halfway through the pregnancy. Basically there was a possibility that our little baby girl wouldn't be with us. Fortunately, the Lord blessed us and her that she would only have the clubfeet and would get to live a fulfilling and normal life.
Clubfeet is something that is easily corrected these days. That is something that we are indeed grateful for. I knew that her feet would not look normal when she came out, but I did not know exactly how they would look. I do have to say it was very emotional when she was born to see that she indeed had the clubfeet. I was also uncomfortable with them at first. I know, it sounds awful, with her being my own child, but I had never even seen clubfeet in real life, and I didn't know what to expect. Mostly, I just had a hard time looking at them because it made me sad. It made me sad that my little girl was not normal. I didn't even really take a look at them until 24 hours later. No one expects their child to have a birth defect and no one wants that for their child. It is hard to have to see your child go through something that you will never go through.
I am grateful that if she was going to have a birth defect that it would be this one. One that she would live through and not have to suffer much. We are indeed blessed in this respect. We are also blessed that they are such incredibly cute little feet. Which brings me to my Debbie Downer moment...her cute and adorable feet and legs have been hidden from view!! I cannot touch them or look at them. They are in casts. What they do for clubfeet is this: Starting very early on in life(within the first month of life usually) they put the baby's feet and legs in casts for 6-7 weeks. This gradually stretches and molds the feet to where they need to be. These casts are changed every single week. Which for us means 2 hours of driving to Salt Lake every week and a $35 co-pay once a week. And with gas prices the way they are really makes me wish this doctor would make house calls!!After they do the casts for 6-7 weeks, they will cut the cord in her heel. Then she will have casts for 2-3 weeks after that. Then after that she will wear foot braces(shoes with a bar in between) 24/7 until she is a year old, then 12-14 hrs/day until she is about 3. Luckily, this is all when she is quite young, so chances are that she will not remember it.
Last week was the first official week of the casts. I was emotional about it. Sad to see her feet and legs covered and sad that I will not get to hold her as I once could. Her clubfeet made her so compact. She could just fold up quite nicely. She could cover her belly button and other parts with her feet. They were soft and cute and I miss them.

We had a nice doctor who explained the whole process to us. He was also very kind and gentle to Rosaline as he put her legs in the casts. She is a bit heavier than she was(she was only 7lbs. 7oz. when the casts were put on). She was fussy for the first couple days, but she is a sweet little baby who seems to tolerate her little restraints well. She has a couple more nicknames now, Pound Cake and Brick baby. Today we are getting the casts changed and hopefully she will handle it well again!!