He's Home

Thank you! Thank You! Thank you Uncle John for taking such good care of our Joseph.
Happy boy before...
Very mellow boy after...
Just like his mother: give him a Sonic drink and a comfy couch to feel better.

Jeffery and Joseph got home this afternoon. Joseph just wanted Mom to sit with him 'til dinner, which I happily did. He's doing good as long as no one touches his legs, or toes. I'm just glad to have him home.

On a side note: A quick story about Riley I want to remember. Monday night after Jeff and Joseph left for NM, Riley asked that since Dad and Joseph were gone, if we could please have a special dinner. When I asked him what he thought would be a special dinner, he asked if we could please eat cereal. Of course! I love that type of dinner too!

Update on Joseph

The surgery went well today. Joseph received lots of special care from Uncle John and his staff. Which I am very thankful for. I was so glad that John did the surgery, I know it made a big difference having somebody Joseph was comfortable being with. Both legs were operated on and then cast. Jeffery has the camera, so tomorrow night I'll post pictures. However, it seems that Joseph remains true to his character. Jeffery was trying to get him to wake-up enough to check out of the surgical center, but once Joseph has decided that he wants to rest and sleep it is hard to convince him otherwise. So Joseph didn't want to wake-up...until Jeffery said he needed to take his picture. Joseph opened his eyes with a big smile right away, and then went back to resting. Tonight Joseph called me on the phone to talk, he's doing pretty good. However, Jeffery on the other hand is not feeling too well. He left yesterday afternoon with an upset stomach. Jeffery was telling me tonight that his legs were hurting. In the background I heard Joseph pipe up "No, my legs hurt." Joseph is feeling good if he's back to making his wise-cracks. That's our Joseph. Tonight I think will be harder for me than last night. Now I know he's hurting and I'm not there with him. He'll be home sometime tomorrow, I hope. Thsnk you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

My Superman

The blogging continues to keep my mind off of the surgery. Did you know that I live with the real Superman? Look he even vacuums! Now that is a superman. Boyd has loved Superman now for over a year and a half. We have three different costumes, pjs, and most likely a Superman shirt for every day of the week. Can you guess what Boyd says he wants to be when he grows up? Thats right-Superman. He pretends he's superman every day. He puts his hands out in front him and flies super fast around the house. He stands with his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out, because thats how Superman stands. He's our Super funny Super Boyd.

New Beginnings

So I am in the YW presidency in our ward and was in charge of New Beginnings. It was wonderful. I am so thankful for all the help from the other leaders, they made it so much easier. The YW did an excellant job with their assignments and talks. It was a beautiful evening with the spirit. I am grateful I got to be apart of it.

Thanks Kara for all the letters for the handout- they turned out so cute!

Guess Who's 5!

Happy Birthday Joseph!

I can't believe that my little Joseph is 5! Where- oh where has the time gone? Life with Joseph has been full of... life thats for sure. Jeffery and I have figured him out-we have no idea what that kid will say or do next. He loves everyone and thinks of others first. He is so confident and enjoys life. Jeffery and I feel so blessed to have him in our family.

Joseph had a wonderful fifth birthday. I think. He took sugar cookie lollipops to preschool. We went to a McDonalds playland for dinner (his choice), Grandpa and Grandma Clouse came down from Flagstaff to help celebrate, and he wore himself out playing with them and his cousins.

Happy Valentine's day!

I know that it's been more than a week since Valentine's day, but that how my life has been...busy, busy, busy. Tonight, Jeffery is on his way to Alamogordo, NM with our Joseph for surgery on Joseph's feet. So to keep my mind off of the surgery tomorrow and the fact that I am not going to be with him, I decided I would spend the night blogging. So back a week or so to Valentine's Day:

The boys and their cousin Rachel go to the same preschool. Here they are decorating their goodie bags.

One of the cool things about the preschool is that it is part of Tucson Parks and Rec and the center also has a Senior Citizen program at the same time. The kids often go and sing songs to them but for Valentines Day they hand delivered cards. It really was the best part of Valentine's day this year.

And of course Riley...

in the first grade the "party" was more subdued, but he still had a great time.

As for my valentine and me....The Friday before was Jeff's Friday off, so we went to breakfast together and enjoyed a morning date together before I had to run off to the schools. I love my Valentines...all four of them.

The Story of Joseph's Feet

It's the night before Joseph's surgery so I thought I would share his story of his feet.

A little over five years ago at a routine ultrasound, Jeffery and I were informed that our baby would be born with club feet. (the right foot being the worse) These pictures were taken a couple days after Joseph was born. We brought our new little son home with two full leg casts on. The next three months were busy with doctor appointments every two weeks or so to get new casts. The Dr. would manipulate and stretch Joseph's feet before recasting them. The Dr. and his staff were always complimenting me about Joseph. He was such a good baby. Hardly ever cried as the dr. would play with his foot and then recast them. I remember that many times, Joseph would simply fall alseep while the dr. did his job.
After three months with a very heavy baby, the final cast came off. For some reason a few casts were plaster like the ones above, but most were like the one below that you could just peel away.

Jeffery came to the last casting appointment with me, and wanted to do the honor of freeing his son.

Again, Joseph was just as calm as a lamb, with very VERY ticklish legs!
Then the part I really disliked- THE BAR. Once the serial casting was complete, next was the Dennis-Brown bar. It was a pair of open-toed shoes attached to a bar. Joseph was to wear the bar 23 hrs/day. It was awful. He was awkward to hold and to nurse and at night we would prop his little legs up on a pillow so he could sleep. There were a few good points with the bar. The first being that changing diapers became easier...just grab the bar and lift. The second, he couldn't roll around at night, or for that matter at all. To this day Joseph sleeps flat on his back, and does not move all through the night. I remember if Joseph was really grumpy it was a cinch to make him happy-remove the bar for a few minutes and he was all smiles.
I don't have a lot of pictures with a good shot of the bar- here's one though with Riley on the left and his cousin Elijah on the right.

He wore the bar all day long for several months and then just at night until he learned how to walk. Joseph was a late walker. He lost the instincts newborns have to step -up. Then to spend so long in casts not bending his legs just to go to not being able to move them one at a time. Once the bar was off, he had to learn how to move and bend his legs independently. After the bar, we were advised to put his shoes on the opposite feet. After a while though that started to hurt his feet so we stopped. So after waiting for his gait pattern to get established and then his bones to become big enough, the time has come for the surgery. He'll have surgery on both feet tomorrow morning. We feel so blessed to have Jeffery's brother John, a podiatrist, do the surgery. We know he's the best and that our Joseph is in the best hands.

These pictures were taken last night. He's only recently started to complain that his feet hurt sometimes. After seeing the x-rays back in December, he's probably has been in pain all along just doesn't know any different. It's time for him to feel better.