Elias Singing Veggie Tales

Elias looooves his Veggie Tales movies! He tries hard to keep up with the song. One day he'll be able to do it :)

Naughty dog

Oh, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas.

Mommy and Daddy are mad.

I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas,

'Cause I ain't been nuttin but bad.

Growing Gavin and Our New House!

Every time I sit down to type up a post, something happens and I can never get anything out! So I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, because I think a little boy playing on the floor on his playmat might need a diaper change...here we go!

Gavin is 5 months now, and I missed posting his 4 month picture as well as his "stats". At his check up, he was 15lbs 2oz and 24 1/4 in. long! He's a chunker for sure! He's almost grown out of his 3-6mo clothes, and is fitting more snuggly every day into 6mo clothes. He is SO alert and active, not to mention happy 95% of time! He's rolling from his tummy to back pretty seamlessly now, and has rolled from back to tummy once or twice. Here's our little butterball's 4 month photos!

I haven't had a chance to upload his 5 month photo, but I do have a little video! As far as his stats go, since he doesn't have another doctors appointment until 6 months, I really think he's probably almost 16lbs. He's eating 10-12 oz before bed now, which I'm sure contributes to his (generally) blissful 10 hours of sleep every night. He's sitting up on his own for a good 20 seconds on his own, so I'm thinking maybe by Christmas he'll be able to sit up pretty well. He's starting to eat some baby cereal, although just like his brother did, he only likes it when flavored with some fruit.

In other news, we made an offer on a house we love and they accepted! It was a nerve-wracking few days while we waited to hear back because there was another offer we were up against, but ours was stronger, so they accepted our offer! We've submitted all the paperwork and documentation needed, and now we're just waiting for the underwriters approval to move forward with settlement!

The house is perfect for us. Its about 2400 sq feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, master bathroom with jacuazzi tub, huge master closet, finished basement, perfectly square backyard, generous sized kitchen with lots of counter space, an office, dining room, and nice big family room with a beautiful brick fireplace. There's space above the family room on the second floor that at the moment is basically a huge unfinished storage room, but if we end up needing another bedroom, it would pretty easily be made into a 4th bedroom, so there's definitely space to grow in this house! The kitchen cabinets are nice and new, but we need to replace the laminate countertops  so over Thanksgiving weekend we went to a granite showroom and picked out a beautiful slab that is now all ours and will be installed once we have the keys to the house! As soon we get the keys, we're going to get someone to come in and move the laundry from our basement to our big closet in our bedroom. The other thing we have to do right away is put in a fence, so we've been getting a few quotes from difference companies to get the best rate.  We'll do some changes to the landscaping in the spring (ie: move the rose bush and take out those two bushy bright green bushes on either side of the office window and replace with some different scrubs) Our mortgage agent is pretty confident we can settle and move in by Christmas. The home inspection went superbly well, with only a few minor things needing attention, like the lock on the electrical box and a piece of siding up near the roof that blew off during the hurricane. Other than that, the house is really great shape as far as everyone can tell. The appraisal went really well as well. It appraised for a lot more than we're paying for, so that;s instant equity for us! The current owner never actually lived in this house. They bought it from a foreclosure auction and did some updating and then put it back on the market 4 months later, so its really in great shape.

Elias had a cough that turned into pneumonia over Thanksgiving, so that wasn't much fun for him. We ended up in urgent care black Friday for a few hours, then were back to our pediatrician a few days later to listen to his chest to see if he was getting any better. He didn't sound good at all, so she sent us home with a nebulizer to use 3-4 times a day. For the first day or two, Elias really fought us and screamed for the whole treatment, but then he was totally calm as long as he had his new favorite show, Imagination Movers, on the IPad to watch.

Gavin Rolls Over & Fall Fun!

Gavin rolled over back on September 16th, but he hadn't done it again since, so I didn't really count it. Last night he rolled 3 times in a row, and more today, so I think its safe to say its official...he's rolling over!

One of the best things about living where we do is our kids beings able to play on a regular basis with their cousins. I didn't get to see my cousins much at all growing up, but when I did I never wanted to go home! Elias loves his cousin Zion, and asks for him daily, although it sounds like "Shannon" more than Zion :)

...But Mom, finger painting means dirty hands. Wipe, please?

We didn't have any paintbrushes, so we improvised with pencils.

Boys, did you miss the memo that boys=messy? Not that I'm complaining or anything...

New doctors. New plans.

On Monday we drove into Philly for Elias' appointment at Shriners Hospital for Children. Elias was treated there once before back when he was 2 months old and his cast slipped off while we were home for Christmas. He had his first tenotomy there, and then they redid his cast.  So this time Elias saw the same doctor he saw before, Dr. Van Bosse. I've done a lot of research on Arthrogryposis, and this doctor is one of the most sought after in the nation for this condition, so we're very fortunate to be able to see this doctor!

We arrived to the hospital on time (for once!) and were sitting in the waiting room, waiting to be called. Elias was running back and forth, wanting Kevin to chase him around (thats kinda their thing lately...Elias goes around saying "I'ma get-chu!"). Anyway, as he was running around, belly laughing, being his usual crazy happy self. As I glanced around the waiting room, tears came to my eyes as saw all the other kids waiting to be seen. As far as I could tell, every one of them in the waiting room had it worse off physically than Elias. Most were in wheelchairs, some had walkers, and other with casts, pins in their legs, etc. It brought me to my knees in thanks before the Lord that my children only have minor problems compared to most children that have their condition. But you know what? Every single one of those kids was happy and pleasant  Not one was complaining or whining. Isn't that incredible?!

Anyway. So after getting called into a room and waiting over an hour, the doctor finally came in. To sum things up, he said his left foot (the clubbed one) is healing well from his surgery, but it still needs more work. He said he has great dorsiflexion, which is when you lift your toes up closer to you. However, he has almost no plantarflexion, which is when you point your toes. The way to correct this? More casts.Yep. And the non-walking kind, just like he had after his surgery. Its going to be terrible. But we gotta do what we gotta do to give him the best chance of having a "normal" foot. After the cast, he wants to make him a new brace that is not hinged like the one he has now. He says he needs one that is more sturdy in the ankle. The doctor said this doesn't need to happen immediately, but sooner rather than later. So we decided that we'll get the cast put on after Christmas.

The doctor then looked at Elias' neck and somehow managed to stretch it as Elias screamed his head off. He said he actually has great range of motion in his neck and doesn't think he'll need that surgery we talked about before to loosen the tendon in his neck. So that's some good news! The doctor took a ton of x-rays on Elias' hips (which are totally fine, he was just double checking) and his feet. I'll upload the photos of the x-rays in a future post so you can see exactly what's going on with his bones. I wasn't with Kevin when they did the x-rays, but he said it was WWIII in there. Elias hates being held down (what toddler doesnt!?) and he hates even more his feet turned this way and that.

While the were getting x-rays I had to run down to the lobby and get Gavin's paperwork, because the doctor said he would see him too! Orignally the appointment was just for Elias. Since Gavin would be a new patient, the wait list to see this doctor is 3 months long. But while in the room with the doctor, he saw Gavin's boots, asked about him, and said "thats ridiculous, I'll just see him today while he's here".  Have I mentioned how awesome this doctor  is?

So now about Gavin. He said his feet look great! He said to continue using the Ponsetti boots at night and that his feet shouldn't need anything else done to them! Then the upper extremity doctor came down to the room to take a look at Gavin's hands. He said he thinks its a problem involving the tendons and the webbing space. He said he might need surgery to correct the webbing, but depending on how well his fingers respond to splinting, that might be all he needs. But one step at a time. So we went to OT and a wonderfully nice woman made Gavin two little hand splints then and there. He's to wear them at nighttime along with his boots. After just a few nights of wear, his fingers are already feeling looser!

After 6 hours at the hospital, we finally were on our way home, but no trip to Philly is complete without a Pats Cheesesteak. Mmmm :)

Kevin is loving his new job! Its a little new for us to have him here with us during he evenings, since back in MA he was gone 4/7 nights a week. But at the moment, youth group is just on Sunday nights, and he has his office hours during the day, so he's usually home for dinner and evenings, which is such a great thing for us as a family right now.

We went to the bank on spoke with them about pre-qualifying for a mortgage. At the end of our meeting, the guy said he's been doing this for over 30 years, and based on what we gave him, he doesn't think we'll have any trouble getting approved for the amount we're hoping for! YAY! So we should be hearing from him today or tomorrow, and in the mean time, we've set up an appointment with a realtor for this Saturday to begin our search for our very first home! Our hope is to be somewhere by Christmas, but we're not going to rush it. That's just our hope :)

Elias turns 2! And Kevin has a Job!

We spent the long holiday weekend in Philly at my parents house.

My youngest sister Brielle is a senior in high school and plays on the field hockey team and she had her senior recognition night while we were there. She's been recruited to play for American University next year. 

On Monday we went to the Please Touch Museum in Philly for Elias' birthday and had an absolutely wonderful time! Its perfect for toddlers-preschool aged kiddos. I'm so thankful there were more adults than kids in our group, because it literally took 2 or 3 of us to keep track of Elias running around!

Mickey Mouse is still Elias' favorite cartoon, so we ended up having another Mickey Mouse cake! It was a chocolate chip pound cake from a fabulous bakery in Berwyn, PA. Its the same cake and bakery we had for our wedding cake. Yummy!!

Gavin loves Mickey too!

On another note, Kevin is officially employed!!! Last week he was offered a Youth Pastor position at Zion United Methodist Church in York, PA. After spending a few days praying and watching another door close, we knew this is where the Lord is calling us to be. We're very excited about our new church and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us! In the next couple months we're going to try to start the process of trying to buy a house. We are SO thankful for our family that is allowing us to stay with them during this in between time, but look forward to settling into our own home, hopefully sooner rather than later! 

Gavin's 3 Months!

I drafted this a couple weeks ago, and am just now getting to posting...

Our little chunker who turned 3 months a few days ago!! Here's what he's been up to lately...

• Sleeping through the night from 10:00-8:30
• Drinking 6-7oz of formula
• Rolled from tummy to back on September 16th. However, he hasn't done it since then. 
• Starting to belly laugh now and not just giggle.
• Reaching for toys hanging above him, especially on his playmat. 
• Watching his brother and dog move around the room.

Daddy always knows how to make the boys laugh!

Elias' foot that had surgery 2 months ago is looking great! He got the cast off 4 days before we moved back to PA. The doctor told us he should be able to put weight on it almost immediately, so after almost 2 days of him refusing to stand, I started to worry. But then in typical Elias Lance style, he decided he wanted to walk again. It seriously was just as exciting as when he walked for the first time. Kevin and I stood at opposite ends of the room, saying "walk to daddy...walk to mommy". The week or so he was very stiff and had quite a big limp. But now, his limp is almost gone, and his foot is not turned in as much anymore! Without his brace on, the inside of his foot still turns up a little, but not as much as before!

Elias is missing his little friend Haddyn from seminary so much. Every day he says to me, "Haddy? Where you go?" Breaks my heart every time. Thank God for Skype!

How sweet is this picture of the two of them, though?! 

The Big Move

After what in some ways felt like an eternity, and others the blink of an eye, we finally made the move back to Pennsylvania.

To make a long story short, right before we moved, we were presented with the offer to live in a home, rent free, for 3 months. We accepted the offer, started planning accordingly especially in terms of packing, and were super excited. Then the day before we moved, we were informed they forgot to mention their strict no-dog policy. Super. So back to plan A, which was to move in with Kevin's parents. 

Friday, September 14th was "pack-the-truck" day. When Kevin and I picked up the truck earlier that morning, Kevin looked at it and said "there's no way we needed a truck this big". It was 26" by the way. Well, he was sorely mistaken! Thankfully one family and a few youth group kids showed up to help us pack up the truck. I have to say, I was a little disappointed in our Boxford church family. I had so many people come up to me our last Sunday asking when we'd be packing and saying they'd be there to help. Poor Kevin and Taylor had to carry all the heavy things by themselves. But the youth group students who came did an AWESOME job, taking apart our beds and making sure not to lose important pieces! My mom came up late Wednesday night, so we was there the whole time watching the kids so I could keep packing and direct where things went. If it wasn't for my mom, we never would have gotten out of there! Kevin's dad also came up to drive our truck back down to Pennsylvania. 

Saturday morning we finished packing up the truck, cleaned the house, and off we went! My mom and I drove with the kids, Kevin had the dog, and Dale had the truck. Then of course Kevin's car started spewing out oil. When we stopped for a lunch, the entire back of his car was covered in oil. It was terrible. All we could do at that point was put more oil in it and just pray it would make it home. It look 2 hours longer than it should have, but we finally made it safe and sound to Harrisburg. 

We were very sad to say goodbye to Elias' therapist, Bonnie. This wonderful woman had become a part of our family. Elias saw her twice a week for almost 2 years. She has made the biggest difference in Elias' life, and she will always have a special place in our hearts. Needless to say, it was very hard to say goodbye. We will miss you, Bonnie!

So its been a busy 2 weeks for us. I've been making tons of phone calls trying to get everything in order. I originally was going to take Gavin to Shriner's Hospital in Philly, but the first opening for the doctor we need to see is in January. So we might have to go with plan B and find another orthopedist in the area that can look at his hands sooner than that. I haven't decided quite yet what I want to do.

We should have an update on Kevin's job situation in a couple days, I'll keep you posted!

Gavin's 2 Month Stats

These past two months have just flown right past us! I remember with Elias, it felt like FOREVER until he smiled around 8 or 9 weeks. Probably because all I did all day/everyday was sit over him and make the most ridiculous faces until my cheeks hurt. I obviously don't have that kind of time on my hands anything with a slightly handicapped toddler (because of the casts). With Gavin, everything just seems to be happening so fast! He first smiled about 2 weeks ago, but it wasn't consistent and sometimes not even in response to anything. Just in the past week he's started smiling back at us when we smile and talk to him, and oh it just melts our hearts!

At 2 months, Gavin is:

• 10lbs 14 oz
• 22 1/4 in.
• Sleeping through the night! Usually from 11pm-6am.
• Drinking 5 oz every 4 hours or so.
• Fitting nicely into 0-3mo clothing.
• Starting to watch his brother.
• Loves snuggling with blankets, especially when they're up against his face.
• Somehow managing to wiggle out of his Ponsetti boots no matter how tight we buckle them.
• Hating tummy time
• Loosing the "old-man" face
• Chunkin' up in his face and belly!

My old man wrinkly forehead is gone!

Brotherly love

On another note, we've had a very difficult week saying goodbye to our church family. We went out for dinner with the youth group Wednesday night and then Kevin had to say his goodbyes. I'm sure he would agree that that moment was hands down one of the hardest things he's had to do in his life thus far. We will miss everyone so much at First Church Boxford. Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers over the past 3 years! We love you all!

Kevin had a phone interview for a church in New Jersey this morning that went well. He has 3 more interviews in the next 2 weeks, so hopefully something pans out for us soon. 

We're all scheduled to move  back to PA September 15th. Kevin's dad is coming up to drive the moving truck back down to Harrisburg, where we'll be moving in with Kevin's mom and stepdad until he gets a job. Next week the madness will ensue as we begin packing up the house.

Cute kids and hilarious husband

In my last post I mentioned I had a few photos I wanted to share but didn't have the right computer to upload them. Well, I've finally got the laptop back, so here's the latest!

Elias' foot before surgery

Big 'ol cast

No more casts for Gavin...on to the boots!

Fun with his playmat

Callie seems to like it more than Gavin!

Val and Dana came to visit us!

Has it really been 3 years already?!

Sweet baby Gavin

Daddy's the favorite around here these days!

He loves being snuggled in towels and blankets

Happy boy!

We're so blessed!

And now...some videos!

This is a super sweet video of Gavin and Callie...until the last 2 seconds...(don't worry, no one got hurt)

Learning manners early! Big boys eat with forks in our house :)

Gavin just hanging out on his playmat

There is NO stopping this boy! Not even a huge annoying cast!

Pretty much the funniest video ever...Kevin sleep talking.

Job search and Elias' surgery

Life has been pretty crazy in the Lance home the past few weeks!

Kevin didn't get the job he was candidating for in New Jersey. He's applied to a bunch of different churches over the past month, and now we're anxiously waiting for some calls. A few have already called and expressed interest in setting up interviews, so that's a step in the right direction. We decided we will stay in Massachusetts until Elias' cast is removed, which should be September 11th, so our move-out date is set for September 15th. If no job is offered by then, we will be moving in with Kevin's parents until Kevin can find something. Please lift us up in prayer regarding all this!

Elias' surgery 2 weeks ago on his foot went very well. The first 2 days were absolutely terrible. I have never seen him so miserable in his short little life. He literally sat on the couch for 2 days and cried what felt like all day long. But he realized if he wants to play with his toys, he's gotta get off the couch and go get them! So he mainly scoots around the floor, but just as of the past day or so he's really wanting to walk on his cast, and somehow manages to do it! The cast is bent at the knee to prevent it from slipping down, so it's at a really awkward angle for him to walk on, but this kid will do anything he sets his mind on! Not being as mobile these last few weeks has made him have to be more verbal to get what he wants, and now he is basically repeating anything we ask him to repeat! It's so much fun :) Our favorite thing to hear him say is our bedtime routine, where we say and he repeats, " goodnight, love you, see you tomorrow". He says "nigh-night, wuv you, see you". Melts our hearts every single time. 

Gavin is doing great! He is ALL DONE with casts for his feet!  After just 4 sets of casts his feet were corrected, praise the Lord! Now he has to wear the boots with the bar between them to keep them the say they are for 3 months all day/everyday, and then he'll only ha ve to wear them at night. We had
one hand caster 2 weeks ago, but the second cast slipped off and we haven't been able to get an appointment for a new one. I should mention that the doctor thinks the tendons in both his thumbs 
and middle fingers are short, causing them to be really tight and not able to stretch open like the others. Our hope with casting them is that it'll stretch them out to see how far they can go before we 
look at surgical options.  

The past 3/4 nights Gavin has slept for at least 6 hours. He's over 10 lbs now and drinks about 5oz at each feeding. He's chunking up! He's started smiling in just these past couple days, and just today started cooing pretty often. I can't believe he's already 7 weeks!

I have some really awesome pictures I've taken over the past few weeks but Kevin has the computer with him on his retreat this weekend, so the next post will be picture overload :)

Gavin's First Month

Its hard to believe Gavin has been with us a whole month already! His official one month check-up isn't until next Friday, but here's some of his "stats".

• Eating 4-5 oz per feeding, which is about every 4 hours (during the day)
• Only waking up once during the night now, between 4-5am. 
• Loves being swaddled, especially at night time. 
• Prefers swinging front to back in his swing, as opposed to side to side.
• Has had 4 sets of casts on his feet already.
• Really trying to hold his head up.

My favorite of the above is the only-waking-once stat. We feed him his last bottle around 11, then we go straight to bed, he's up between 4-5, and then not again until around 8am. Its pretty fabulous. In a month or two we'll slowly push up his bedtime so that eventually he'll go down when we put Elias down around 8:30.

Today I took Gavin to Boston for two appointments. 

First we saw Dr. Cassidy, his hand doctor. To put it simply, it seems like the tendons in his middle fingers and thumbs are short, causing them to not extend. So to treat it we're going to cast his hand to try and stretch out his fingers as much as possible. Both hands will be cast, but we only had one put on today to spare him the agony of having all 4 limbs in casts at the same time. I don't know where my boys get their toughness from...neither Kevin nor I have a high pain tolerance, but neither Gavin nor Elias shed a tear when getting these casts. We will go back once a week to get a new cast to stretch them more and more, just like we did with the feet. 

Then we had Gavin's appointment with Dr. Gholve for his feet, and we got some fantastic news. Gavin's feet have responded so well to the castings that this set he has on now will be his last!! Thats a total of only 4 sets  he'll have had. He doesn't need a tenotomy or any surgery on either foot! So next Friday Gavin will get his Ponsetti boots that he'll wear all day and night for 3 months. 

Dr. Gholve then threw me a curve ball and asked us if we wanted to have Elias' foot surgery next Thursday. So we're going to go in on Tuesday, take some x-rays and see if the bones have ossified, and if they have indeed done so, it looks like we'll be going in on Thursday for surgery. This will be a more major surgery for Elias, as he'll be in a full leg cast for 6 weeks post-op. We'll see how he likes that...

And I can't resist not sharing these sweet pictures of Elias' little friends, Haddyn and Wyatt. We love our playdates with the Backlunds!