ROAD TRIPPIN'

We had scheduled a doctors appointment with a pediatric orthopedic specialist at Shriner's Hospital in Salt Lake City. The week before our appointment my parents and Hendricks family were planning a trip to California to go to Disneyland and watch Scotty play ball. When talking to my dad about our plans, he invited us along for the trip! Unfortunately this Law school thing is kind of a big deal, so Wes couldn't come with us :( But I was super excited to take the kiddo's to Disneyland and have fun playing with everyone! It worked out great, because most of my family was also going to be in St. George a few days before the Disney trip because Scotty (who plays ball at BYU-H) was going to be playing Dixie!!

So Sunday February 9th we left our house at 8:30 a.m. and drove to Grand Island, Ne (about 2 hours north of Omaha) It was pretty windy and snowy, which didn't help my nervousness. Wes stayed with us up until we went through security. Our plane finally ended up leaving at 12:30, which was an hour behind scheduled. The kids did okay on the flight, they were great until about half way through, then Austin started getting tired and hungry and wouldn't fall asleep, and then Hailey started having a melt down. So yes, we definitely got a few sidelong glances from other flyers. But we survived!!! We ended up arriving in Vegas about 2:30pm (vegas time), where Jamie and Mom Mangum were already waiting for us. I was just so happy to be in the ground again! I am not a big fan of flying, but I am getting much better. We stopped in Mesquite for a bite to eat, and arrived in Cedar City about 8:30pm. (which was 9:30 Nebraska time). It was the longest day ever!!! I decided from now on we will be flying directly out of Omaha.

Monday 10th: Jamie, Hailey, Austin, and I went to lunch at McDonalds so Hay could play on the playground. We went swimming at the Cedar City Aquatic Center-H&A really enjoyed it! Mom and Dad Mangum came down a little later to play with the kids and eat dinner.

Tuesday 11th: Mom Friel, Jenn, and Ethan picked us up at 9:30am to go down to St. George. We went swimming, to the store, out to dinner at Pizza Factory, and Scotty's basketball game at Dixie. It was great because my parents, all the Hendricks, Jenn & her kids, and Krissy were all able to come down and watch!  Scotty got to come over later that night for a bit, and Hailey absolutely adored him! She sat on his lap the whole time and was pretty sad to see him go.

The fab five siblings after Scotty's game

Wednesday 12th: 11:30 a.m. we headed out for Cali!!!The drive really wasn't too bad, and the kids did great. We rode with my parents, with the Hendricks following behind.

Thursday 13th: We got a three day hopper pass between Disneyland and California Adventure. We stayed in Disneyland all day today. Our hotel was about 5-10 minute drive to Disneyland, it was great because our hotel had a shuttle that would take us back and forth. Today was great! The lines weren't bad at all, the weather was awesome, and the kids loved it! Hailey had such a fun time going on rides, getting autographs, and playing with her cousins. Austin loved it because he got to be packed around in his Ergo baby carrier most the day! Which is just the way he likes it! I was worried that since he slept quite a bit that he wouldn't go to bed when we got to the hotel that night-but the boy must've been pooped cause he was out! We only stayed until about 3 because Scotty had a basketball game that evening in _______ which was about 45 minutes away from Anaheim. It was fun being able to see him again, even if it was just to watch him play!

Friday 14th: Today we got up early because Disneyland normally opens at 8 but if you had a hopper pass you could get in on Fridays at 7 :) So of course we took advantage of that! We stayed in Disneyland until 11am, then Mom and Dad left to go to one more of Scotty's game. Then the rest of us went to California Adventure for a bit. Missy and I took Hailey, Austin, Riley, and Jordan back to the hotel to take naps about 1230 and then came back to California Adventure for the rest of the evening. After my parents got back to the hotel we put the kids down and Missy, Kal, and I went on a Valentines date! Yes, I third wheeled, but it was fun! We went bowling and got some ice cream!

Saturday 15th: We spent the whole day in Disneyland and we got in a ton of rides! I was actually surprised by how many rides Hailey could go on, and even more surprised by how many Austin could! Mom and Missy were so helpful in taking turns packing Austin around... he loved it, and napped quite a bit! We even took turns going on some of the bigger rides by getting parent passes which was awesome! After we got back to the hotel and put the kids down to bed, my parents stayed while us "Adults" went back to Disneyland and hit up a few more of the bigger rides, it was lots of fun and the lines were quick! Then we stopped a Denny's for a bit to eat :)

Sunday 16th: We drove to Las Vegas to stay the night. We went swimming at the hotel and ordered pizza when we got there, but it was a little cool so the swimming didn't last too long.

Monday17th: We made it back to Utah! The trip was crazy, busy, and so much fun! All the kids did really well. Hailey just LOVED playing with her cousins, and I think she thought she died and went to heaven when she was in Disneyland, especially getting all the characters autographs :) Some of her favorite things included: Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, the flying Dumbo ride, Alice in Wonderland ride, mini hot air balloon ride in California Adventure, the bus ride (back and forth to the parks), and playing with her cousins.

Thursday 20th: Before we flied out of Salt Lake City, UT, I had a doctors appointment at Shriner's Hospital. I was a little anxious/nervous just not knowing what to expect is the hardest part of dealing with Austin's foot. First off, Austin is now 8 months old and he just started crawling! He is doing great developmentally wise, which is a good sign. I really enjoyed the doctor that saw Austin. She and the staff seemed quite knowledgeable on his condition. It appears that has a form of Tibial Hemimelia. It was comforting to know they have dealt with this before, whereas the doctors we had seen in Omaha were quite unfamiliar with the situation. Our previous doctor basically said we'd probably have to do amputation and it'd need to be done before he is one! Which is quite a shock to hear when you are not expecting that. But after the doctors checked Austin out, got ex-rays, and thoroughly examined him, we discussed the possible outcomes and steps we could take. It was nice hearing we don't need to quite rush into things like the previously doctor suggested. At this point we can't really tell what the difference in length will be between his two legs, which can greatly weigh in which direction we take. Amputation and a prosthetic is still an option, if the difference will be more. Also, leg lengthening of his right leg, or possible pausing the growth of his left leg so his right can catch up, or possibly both. Since leg lengthening can be challenging she suggests only doing that if you would only need one round of it so it wouldn't be so hard on the child. So right now we are just playing the waiting game, which kind of seems like the hardest part of it all. The not knowing. Not knowing what to expect, not know what the treatments are going to be, not know the outcome. But I felt 100% better about Shriners Hospital and the doctors that helped us today. The doctors would like to see him again around his 1st birthday, so we will be taking him back sometime near the end of summer, and this time Wes will be able to come!

Anyways, our flight left that evening and Wes picked us up at the Omaha airport. The trip was great, and lots of fun, but it is good being back home!!!

Painting Time

We've s.l.o.w.l.y been getting some of our house painted. When we moved in I was not very fond of the colors...at all! First of all our place does not get a ton of natural light, and then on top of that both the bedrooms and kitchen were painted VERY dark colors...I felt like we lived in a cave! We got the kitchen painted during the first semester, and we painted the kids room two weekends ago, and yesterday we got our bedroom done! Yay! I am pretty pleased with the results. I'll put up some before and after pics after I get it all organized :)

 

Hailey got in a little painting time of her own! :) She loves painting and "doing crafts"

 

 

Austin's Orthopedic Appointment

Before all the holiday craziness we were able to get Austin into a Pediatric Orthopedic Specialist in Omaha. As far as we knew, from Austin's pediatricians(both here and in Utah) his foot was not that big of a deal. His right foot has three toes, and is a little smaller and narrower than his left foot. We were also suspecting that his right leg was a little shorter than his left-which our pediatricians had just thought with a shoe lift everything would be fine. Unfortunately, after a few ex-rays and an examination from the doctor, we realized it may not be as simple as a shoe lift. The doctor told us that his case is pretty rare, his tibia bone is a smaller/shorter than normal, making his leg shorter, and also making his knee and ankle weak. What makes this harder is the doctor didn't have a name for his condition, he said that cases similar to his it is usually the fibula bone that is short or missing, but he has never seen or heard of it in the tibia bone. At that point he gave us three options:

1. Leg lengthening
2. Leg shortening (in the left leg)
3. Amputation-in the most severe cases

I think I was kind of in shock at this point, because I was just expecting a simple solution, no one wants to hear any of those words, especially amputation. Neither of us  really asked many questions, because like I said, we weren't really prepared for that news. He kinda left it like that, and we set up a follow up appointment. After the appointment Wes and I both agreed that neither of us felt very good about the doctor that we had just saw. So we knew we'd definitely be researching and getting second opinions.

I love Austin so much, and I wouldn't change a thing about him, but it's just hard to hear news like this, cause he's my baby and I don't want him to go through any of those things. When I was pregnant with him I received a blessing that told me Austin was going to be very special boy, and I firmly believe it. Not just because his leg, but because he has such a sweet, happy spirit about him, I can't imagine our family without him.

Right now I've just been researching as best I can (its really hard though because I can't find anything that is the exact same...only cases that are kind of similar). We have a doctors appointment set in February with another Pediatric Orthopedic Specialist at the Shriner's hospital in Salt Lake City. Which is going to be another struggle in itself just getting there! As crazy fearful as I am flying, plus doing it by myself with two kids-yikes! I'm trying not to stress about it too much. You gotta do what you gotta do! Until then we'll just keep having faith and praying for Austin, no matter what the outcome will be. 

Hailey adores "Austy Boy" as she calls him

Christmas Surprise!

We were planning on staying in Nebraska for the holidays, but we spontaneously decided to go to Utah! On December 16th (about two days after we made the decision) we were all packed up and in the car at 6:00 a.m. We were shooting on trying to leave by 5am-so we weren't too far off schedule. The car was packed to its peak! We had Christmas presents, luggage, all the baby gear, a bunch of snacks and treats, and of course the kids! With two kids, especially with one of them only being 6 months, and the drive alone is 14 hours, we were prepared for it to be one VERY long day.

We ended up arriving in Beaver, Utah about 7:30 p.m. The kids were absolute ROCK STARS on the drive! We only had one minor case of car sickness from Hailey when we were going through the Rocky Mountain pass. Luckily I was turned around in my seat when she decided to toss the cookies, so yes I caught it in my hand :) Cause I'm awesome like that. But other than that the ride went smoothly and Austin did amazing! I think it helped that we were all so excited to get there and see family. Another big thing was neither of our families knew that we were coming. Seeing that we had only known a couple days before, we decided to just show up on their doorsteps and SURPRISE them! And let me just say, it was pricless!!!! Needless to say everyone was excited to see us, and when I say us, I mean Austin and Hailey. We also caught it all on video tape, so we've had fun going back and watching their reactions :)

 We spent the first week and a half in Southern Utah with Wes's family, and then we went up north the rest of the time. The bummer part of the trip was that everyone got sick, and when I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE! First Hailey and Austin caught some nasty colds while we were in Beaver, then Hailey got the flu, then I caught the flu, then Austin, and then my parents and siblings and their kids!! I think the only two left standing by the end was Wes and my dad. Yeah it was bad. But besides that......we had a great time seeing family and friends in Utah.

On the trip home we decided to stay overnight in Laramie, Wyoming just to split the trip up. For some reason the ride home seemed MUCH longer than the one out. It didn't help that poor Austin caught another bad cold and had a pretty high temperature. It was 102.4 when we woke up in Laramie. We were about to take him in somewhere, but then we were able to get it to go down with a warm bath and some medicine. We were sad to leave Utah, but glad to get back to our home in Nebraska.

Some fun presents that Hailey received:
Elmo Fold out sofa, Ladybug ride one toy, princess slippers, Belle princess dress and wand, Fisher-price play kitchen, clothes, Sofia the First DVD, play cupcake set, light up pillow pet

Some great presents Austin received:
An Exersaucer, a music/noise play station(don't know official name), alligator ball popper, clothes(including some cute camo ones!), toys/rattles.

Some awesome present Wes received:
Custom and engraved bullet/deer horn pen, socks :), gift card to go out to eat, BYU long sleeve T, a few movies, and his VERY favorite gift of all GEORGE STRAIT concert tickets!! (in Omaha) Going to a George Strait concert has been one of his dreams forever! And yes, his dream is finally coming true :)  Lets just say there may have been a tear or two shed when he realized what they were, haha, and yes it's all on videotape!

Some totally sweet presents Emily received:
Kitchen Aid, JcPenney gift card, some cute clothes, Target gift card, socks, A Christmas decoration, jewelry...
Needless to say we were all spoiled and got some great gifts from some great people!!!

Some fun things that we did in between everyone getting sick:

Slept over at Mom and Dad Mangum's, played lots of games, stayed a couple nights at Jason and Jamie's, played lots of games, played a few rounds of basketball in beaver, went to St. George and

saw some friends-Lindsey, Luke, and Shyley Tebbs, went and saw Santa(Hailey was not shy at all), Stayed a few nights and  Mom and Dad Friel's, hit a couple Christmas parties, spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Yorgason(they had us over for some pizza benders!), swimming with the Hendricks, checked out the Ice Castles, stayed a couple nights at the Hendricks and Jenne's, sledding, chucky cheese, Girls night... and I'm sure there was even more!

Playing in the Ice Castles in Midway

Chuck E. Cheese is always a hit!

 

 

Austy Boy loved all the attention!!

 

Partying it up with Mom, Dad, Krissy and the Hendricks on New Years Eve

Hailey was pretty excited...if you can't tell :)

Playing Minute-to-win-it games

Christmas morning in Beaver with the whole Mangum Family....so fun!!!!

Austin showing off his yoga skills

Hailey at home with her Christmas present from Grandma&Grandpa Cookie

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving was a little different for us this year from what we are use to. Instead of spending it with family, we spent it with some great friends! It was us, Shelby and Jayden, and Matt and Emily who were so nice to host it at their house. Wes met Jayden and Matt through Law School, and they both live in Villagegreen with us. It has been awesome to get to know them and become friends.  Though it may have been different- we had such a GREAT time and really enjoyed it! And of course the food was DELICIOUS!!!!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

oh! And a little bit after Thanksgiving Emily, Shelby, and I got together for a little craft night and made a Christmas decoration :)

Cute Little BUGS!

Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!! I've always loved Halloween! Decorating, dressing up, loading up on candy, what gets better than this?! Hailey has been SO excited to dress up as a LADY BUG this whole month! The second anybody would start talking to her (no matter who it was) she would say, "I dress up as a lady bug, and Austy be a bumblebee"!!! So she could not WAIT to put her lady bug costume on today! It was the first time that we had taken her out trick-or-treating, and I don't know if she or I was more excited :) It took her a few houses to get the hang of it, but then she was rearing to go! It was nice that the weather was pretty good too! We just went around to the townhomes that we live in, it worked out great, and Hailey/I got a pretty good stash of candy!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!