New Words, New Boots

I think its time for an "Elias Update".

Elias is so close to walking now. He takes on average 6-8 steps at a time, but doesn't have quite enough control to just stop and stand still once he starts walking. However, he could stand in one spot for extended periods of time now. Its just when he gets that momentum going, he can't seem to stop. We're still a little head over heels :)

We've really been trying to get him to talk for the past few months, and he just seemed content with "Mama, Baba, and Dada". Seemingly all of the sudden over Christmas break he started trying to say some new words. In the past couple weeks his vocabulary has expanded a little more. Words he says now are:

Go
PopPop (my dad)
Mom
Buh-Bye
Sli (his word for slide)
Shhha (his way of saying shoe)

My perfect little eater has turned into a picky monster. For a while I could get him to eat PB&J, grilled cheese, mac&cheese...the typical toddler meals. Now he'll take one or two bites and be done with it. Chicken nuggets are my backup meal, and yogurt is still always a go. Thankfully he really likes fruit, so I can usually get him to eat a good bit of that in a sitting. Oh, and forget veggies. Oatmeal is hit or miss depending on the day, as well as spaghetti.  I really hope this phase doesn't last very long, because I really want him to have a balanced diet, and for sure that is not happening at the moment.

And now for a medical update:

Right before we left for Christmas I took Elias in to see his orthopedist. His braces were getting a little short, especially on his right foot (the one that had the dislocated bone). Dr. Gholve was very happy with how his feet are looking! The concern we always have is that his clubbed foot will regress and lose its range of motion.  The possibility of this happening, especially because of the type of clubbed foot he has, is very likely. So every time Dr. Gholve says its looking great, its a sigh of relief. Even with the foot doing as well as it is at the moment, we're pretty sure he'll need atleast one more surgery when hes 2 or 3 to do another tendon release. This will be necessary because while his foot hasn't gotten any worse, without the brace it still turns in some, almost like in someone thats pigeon toed. He also stands on the outside of the foot w/o the brace, so the tenotomy would release the tendon that's pulling up on the inside so that he has more of a chance of walking on a flatter foot. Did that make sense? Its hard to explain without using his foot as a visual.

Dr. Gholve also said he doesn't need the brace anymore for the right foot at all (yaaay!!!). So that foot is pretty much in the clear, praise the Lord. The doctor also recommended that to help combat the tendency of the clubbed foot wanting to turn in, we put him in a Ponsetti brace at bedtime. This is the brace most kids with clubbed feet have. Its basically shoes that have a bar the clips onto the bottom of them. Since the right foot doesn't need anymore correction, that foot is kept at a neutral position. When clipped onto the bar, the left foot is rotated outward, at a 115 degree angle. So basically we're over-rotating it in hopes it will help the foot turn out more before he needs surgery. I waited until after we got back from Christmas to put in on him simply because of how poorly he already sleeps when we're traveling. Now that we're back, its been quite the adventure getting him to wear them to sleep. Its like being strapped to a snowboard. He is so confused when we wakes up in the middle of the night and can't roll over. I've been trying to put them on a little bit before he goes to bed so he can get used to them. Its just so hard for me when he wakes up in the middle of the night screaming because hes so confused and scared. Giving him a binky and turning on his mobile doesn't calm him down like it normally would if he were to wake up. So I end up taking off the bar so that he can fall back to sleep. So bad of me, I know. But if you woke up with your feet tied together, wouldn't you freak out too???

Christmas and TWO Babies!!!

 We had a wonderful Christmas with both sides of the family. We spent the first few days leading up to Christmas Eve in Harrisburg with Kevin's family, and then headed to West Chester to be with my family for Christmas morning and the next few days. We were blessed with some wonderful gifts, but more importantly made more memories with loved ones that will last a lifetime.

The Lance family also has a very exciting announcement! We will be expecting TWO babies in July! Before you fall off your rocker, we're NOT having twins. Kevin's brother and his wife are expecting baby number 2 as well! They're due July 27th, just 3 weeks after our little one! We're beyond ecstatic for these little ones to be so close and for our family to be growing. It'll be a busy summer for sure :)

Abby at 9 weeks & Me at 12

As you can see in the picture above, I'm starting to show already, which I expected the second time around. I have a feeling I'll be much bigger this time around by the end of the pregnancy. And for the record, I'm pretty positive its a boy. We have the gender ultrasound scheduled for January 30th, so soon enough we shall be sure :)

Elias' First Steps!!!

Today during Elias' physical therapy session Elias took his first unassisted steps. Luckily I grabbed my iphone just in time and turned on the video just before he did it. I don't think he'll be taking off tomorrow, but this proves it won't be much longer!

Almost Walking and Ultrasound

Elias and I spent the past week and a half in Pennsylvania staying and visiting with family. Kevin was able to be with us for the first half, but then had to return to MA for church and for classes. He took the MegaBus down Thursday (which BTW, it cost us a whopping $5.50) and he and I were able to go to our good friends wedding.

While we were home, Elias started walking while pushing his toy.  Heres one of the first few times he did it. We were in the middle of getting him changed for bed (hence the no-pants) and he wanted to take off. Our goal in physical therapy was to have him walking on his own by Christmas. Before Thanksgiving I was thinking that definitely wasn't going to happen. But now I have hope that maybe, just maybe, he'll take a step or two before Christmas.

Our very dear friends Katie and Oliver tied the knot over the weekend. Katie looked like a princess straight out of a Disney movie, she was absolutely stunning. They are one of the most beautiful couples I know, both inside and out. The way Oliver looked at her throughout the whole wedding was so endearing, there love was just so apparent to all of us. Oli's from Germany, and Katie did a fabulous job of combining American traditions with German ones. It was just wonderful to be a part of their special day.

We had our first "real" ultrasound this morning! I say "real" because the last one was literally 5 minutes and was just to see a heart beat and get a due date. The baby looks much more like a baby now, and less like a blob! The heart beat was measured at 168 bpm, and as far as they can tell so far so good! They did find a cyst on my right ovary, so they're going to keep a close eye on it over the next few months. We have another level 2 ultrasound in 2 weeks that will screen for chromosomal abnormalities, such as downs. The baby does a lot of growing in the next two weeks, so it'll be nice to see more of the baby next time. But so far so good! 

Party of 4!!!

Kevin and I have been talking for a few months now about baby #2. We decided we want our kids about 2 years apart, give or take a few months, and that come October we were going to just going to see what happened. I thought it would take a few months. A few weeks ago I started having the same symptoms I experience with Elias. I craved cheese. Yes, gooey-melted cheese. Ever have those soft pretzels with cheese from Buffalo Wild Wings? Well they're delicious. I craved those every single day for 2 weeks. And mind you, I'm still on my diet/workout plan, so this was NOT good. I decided to take a test a few days before my missed period, and figured even if I was positive, it wouldn't show up yet. Silly me, I grabbed the digital test that just says straight up pregnant/not pregnant, so when it said PREGNANT there was no guessing game like there would be with those two pink lines. 

We had our first appointment on Friday and the doctor gave us a quick ultrasound just to get due date and to see a heartbeat. There's only one baby (phew!), there was a heartbeat that beating perfectly, and it looks like our new addition will be arriving July 4th 2012! 

Since Elias was a high risk pregnancy, this pregnancy is considered high risk until its determined this baby is deemed "okay". The good news is that the doctor that diagnosed Elias with arthrogryposis says that he's never come across more than one child in a family with the disorder. So please join us in praying for the health of this baby, and for it to be a smooth pregnancy for me. I've felt pretty great so far. I'm just a lot more sensitive to food smells than I was with Elias. Basically, if I'm not craving it, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. But other than that, just the typical first trimester sleepiness. 

I am still working out with my trainer 3 times a week. I've lost 10lbs and I'm holding steady. Hopefully I'll be able to loose a few more before I start packing them on again. My goal for this pregnancy is only 15-20 lbs, so we'll see how I can do! 

So as of today we are 6 weeks 4 days. We'll have another ultrasound December 5th to get a better view of the baby. 

Medical Update and Photo Shoot

Earlier today we took Elias to our local Picture People in the mall and had his 1yr photos taken. I really wish we could do some outdoor photos, the more photojournalistic style, but our photographer we love is in Philly. So until we move back to Pennsylvania, Picture People has been doing a fantastic job of capturing some special moments. Along with some 1yr photo's, we took a few Halloween pictures of him in his cowboy outfit. Here's a few of our favorites.

I also thought I'd update on Elias' medical "stuff". We went to his hand doctor last week to talk about where things stand with his thumb. If you didn't know, Elias' left thumb has some problems with his tendons and the bottom joint if not constructed correctly. To give you a visual, if he was to hold his hand up to high five you, it looks as if he's counting and has put his thumb down first, but if looks like this all the time. They've given us brace after brace for him to wear to try and pull his thumb out more from his hand, but he takes them off within 10 minutes, so they've been pretty useless. However, this thumb problem has never stopped him from doing what he wants to do. He's learned how to use it, and surprisingly, his left had has been his dominate hand so far. I know they say you can't tell which hand will be their writing hand, but I wouldn't be surprised if its his left. And when he wants to, he can bring his thumb out much further than you think it can go. He picks up his food with it, he can fully grip a ball with it...my point is he uses it. So Kevin and I were concerned that if  they operated he wouldn't be able to do as much as he can now with it.  The doctor assured us that it will be better than it is now, and those were the words we wanted to hear.  Our window is right now to do this surgery.  After this window, the only option we have would be to fuse the joint, and in that case he would be able to bend his thumb, so we want to avoid that as much as we can. So with all that said, Elias will have surgery once we return from Christmas vacation. Recovery will consist of a pin with a cast for 6 weeks.

In the mean time, Elias is loving his physical therapy and is really doing to well! Now that we were finally able to find shoes wide enough to fit his braces, we're focusing of getting him interested in taking some steps. He loves to cruise on furniture (and is so fast!) but we had absolutely no interest in holding you hands and taking steps. And any parent knows that if your kid isn't interested in it, its not gonna happen. It's all on his terms...for now at least :)

Mickey Mouse Party

We had such a great time visiting all our family in Pennsylvania last week. Elias was a spoiled little boy and had 2 birthday parties! It turned out to be a beautiful day, and it couldn't have happened without the help of my fabulous mother-in-law and wonderful grandmother-in-law. I'm just so blessed to be a part of their family! And I can't forget my amazing sister in law, Abby, who helped me make the Mickey cupcakes. Here's some pictures from his Mickey Mouse themed birthday party.