I am busy! My husband got an awesome job on the other side of the state, thank the Lord! So we are moving again! We have yet to find a house and I am a little stressed about that. We move in two weeks. Monday we fly in to look and find a place and then Edward has a series of appointments at Children's. Edward was cast for his spine on Tuesday. His last X-ray showed that his spine hadn't gotten much worse! Praise the Lord! So we decided that a brace would be the best option to hold his spine from getting worse. We will get his brace this Wednesday.
So, I just listened to an amazing sermon! "Joy in suffering"
http://marshill.com/media/rebels-guide-to-joy/the-rebels-guide-to-joy-in-suffering
Everybody suffers. In some way shape or form and I want to suffer well. You know, sometimes I like to play the victim. Sometimes I like people to feel sorry for me and what I have been through. I think, "don't people understand what I have been through? If they knew they would be nicer to me." That sucks to admit, but it is true. That is not suffering well. I don't want to use my hurt as a crutch to gain attention or even praise for my own ego. I don't want Edward to be in vain. He is so precious and God's true work in form that I want his story/life to be for God's glory. I know it will be. I want to be humble enough so God can use me, too. I want my 'suffering' to be purposeful not purposeless! I believe that joy is a choice. I can decide to be happy in all circumstances. 2 Corinthians 12:10 "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulites. For when I am weak, then I am strong." James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.." Romans 5:3 "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.." I loved this quote by a Romanian pastor who suffered under Communist rule, "Christians are like nails, the harder you hit them, the deeper they go." I want to know God better through my trials. That is why I want to suffer well.
My boys be crazy. Seriously! Harvey likes to annoy Edward. Edward, in turn, likes to make awful sounds when he is annoyed! Most the time, Edward adores Harv. Harvey will jump or sing or do whatever to make him laugh or smile. Every morning when he wakes up, he tells me to go get Edward. I love seeing their relationship get stronger! Harv is very protective of his baby brother!
At Edward's last cast appointment he weighed 11.9 lbs! That is pretty good...I would like to see 13, but I will take it! He gets his AFO's on Monday! Yay! I will post more pictures when he gets his brace and afo's!

awesome

"I was born awesome"

Hi everybody! So Edward is ONE! Can't hardly believe it. He is such an awesome kid! He is a good natured boy and definetly lets me know when he wants/needs something. He loves attention, the mornings, and his brother. I could go on and on.
His feet look pretty good! I can't wait for him to be in his AFO's so we can work on walking!
There is a lot change that is about to happen in our lives. We might be moving again. (Exhausting to even think about.) Lame, but we are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us!
Last weekend I was able to meet my new niece! My husband's brother and his wife had their fourth child and their first girl! She is such a doll! I fell madly in-love with her! I wasn't expecting it but afterwards I was really emotional. After holding Mikayla and cuddling with her, I realized that that's how I should be holding my baby! I mean I have held other babies since Edward but it was the very first time that I have actually felt 'sorry' for Edward. (I hope he forgives me for this.) It was an awful, awful, awful feeling. I felt sorry for the things he won't be ble to do in life...things he should be able to do. I mean, poor Edward, he gets pity stares alllllllllllll the freaking time! The last thing he needs is for his mom to feel that way. So I got it out of my system and am better now. I realized that I need to treat Edge like I do his brother. He will be able to do anything he puts his mind to. And that's that.
Edward is fricking awesome! So is his brother!
It was also brought to my attention that I need to watch the motives of the people I let hang around my kids. The very thought of people befriending my boys so that their kids can learn 'compassion' makes my blood boil! Makes me SICK just thinking of it! How about YOU teach your kids to be kind NO matter the situation. Oh man...
That's about it!

so so so unhappy

the 90 degree looks odd to me!

pins in bottom of feet

Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Boy! 

Subdue the emotion of it all

We had a neurology appointment on Monday to explain Edward's soft spot in his brain. He said it was most likely there since birth and could possibly effect his motor developement in his right side. He said it could have happened during the third trimester from me and my blood. That sucked to hear.
After his appointments I went to some thrift stores and I found the most amazing pair of boots for $1.29!! Yup, it was my lucky day! My size and everything!!! I was on a mad high from that amazing score. Then my brother and his wife threw the BEST surprise birthday party for Edward! It was the sweetest thing in the world! I adored it! Thank you guys!
Monday night was tough because I had to follow Edwards surgery feeding schedule. I was up with him at 1:30 am, 3:30, and 5:30 making sure he was full...then we checked in at 6:15. I was strangely calm the whole day! It was weird. Could have been because I was still so thrilled about my boot find...haha. Edward is such an awesome kid. Surgery was faster then expected. Our doctor is a rock star! I was soooooooo excited to see Edward! Our doc said that he was "über" pleased with how Edward's feet turned out and said that the talectomy was nessecary. He said that there was no fluid around the joint and that his tendons and ligaments that were stuck to his bone were like glue. (which is why there was no movement...that is just so crazy to me.) The bad news is that his hip joint is pretty much the same. They formed a sudo-like joint up by the top of his pelvis. He said the joint is like cartilage which is why, again, there is hardly any movement. So he doesn't think reducing his hips will be an option. Instead, he thinks it might be best if we break his femur bones and put them into a better position for hygeine reasons. So he would break the bone and put pins in. Suckage!! I just pray he will walk and sit at a 90 degree angle. And we only got like three degrees from clipping his abductor muscles. Boo.

at home sleeping

my amazing $1.29 boots

look at those feet!

having a reaction to some meds

right before he was taken back

I felt super humbled by the support that we got from family and friends. I literally have the best family and friends anyone could ask for! Even acquaintances texted me with prayers and support. And the prayers that I am not aware of, thank you! I know that through all the prayers I was able to handle everything and that Edward was in the Lord's hands. This is the thing, I don't want to think about it all. I don't want to get emotional. I know that if I let myself go and really feel everything, I would loose it. I have experienced that once before (a year ago) and don't ever want to experience it again. I have to keep everything at bay. Edward's birthday is coming and I don't want to be emotional. I just want to be in the now and not look back at what happened a year ago. I am beyond thankful for my life and my boys and I want to focus on that. Dwelling one the past is not healthy, right? Pictures are bad. This year has been one heck of a freaking year but we made it and we are all better for it! Edward is God's gift to me and my family, for His glory, and I would do it alllll over in a heartbeat! And I would take 10 more FSS babies. I need to focus on the now and Edward's spine and the many more surgeries that are coming in the very near future.
So, with that said, all your prayers and concern for Edward have meant the world to me! God's love is good! Psalm 30:12 "To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever." What an awesome verse of joy, gratitude, and thankfulness. I love it.

Surgery is coming...soon

sleeping

cutest face ever!

love edjy's face

big bro needs to be center of attention

new haircut

This will be quick. In one week we visited the urgent care, er, and two visits to our pediatrician. Edward got a CAT scan at the er and he probably caught the flu there. In that same week it was my husbands 30th birthday! It was a very stressful week. The good news out of all that was that Edward now weighs 10.6 lbs! I can't tell you how relieved I was that he has gained weight!
As surgery creeps closer, I am starting to get really nervous about it. Aaahhhh!! This is a big surgery and he will be under for probably five hours. That in itself is scary and the fact that we are removing a bone from his foot is very unsettling. I have done my homework on this surgery and I feel confident in our doctors ability. There is no right or wrong decision so I have to pray that this will have a good outcome for Edward. Ahhhh! I hate this feeling! I have had a lot of outside opinions and that is very hard to deal with. I just have to put my trust in the Lord that He will work it out! Ahhh! Please pray for Edward! I have been house bound for the past two weeks and we are going a little crazy. A lot crazy really. April 3rd is the day.

hand braces

omg the sweetest

poor babes spine

Could you guys also pray for his spine. That is one thing that is one thing that really weighs heavy on me. It can affect his organs and in turn his life span. I pray everyday that the Lord will stop the progression and straighten it out. His curve is large enough for surgery right now. After he heals from his feet, we will start bracing his spine asap, well pending hip status.

my boys running outside...edward loves it

roaming Target making a mess

lovely

Here is a quick list of the current happenings:
-spine is getting worse by about 7 degrees in past four months
-surgery has been delayed for six weeks due to his RSV and double ear infection he had three weeks ago and another more recent cold on top of it
-Edward had his first tooth that surfaced yesterday
-he is ten months old
-he weighs 9.9lbs
-he cries/whines whenever he sees me so he can get what he wants

Yup. What do you do? I wish his surgery wasn't so far out. I feel like life can begin after this surgery. In my mind (fictional thinking) I feel like Edward will magically become a "normal" ten month old. Not true. It will always be the next surgery, the next brace, the next cast, the next "thing." Such is our wonderfully blessed life.:)
So I have to tell you about my little struggle that I recently went through. A couple weeks ago I went to a moms group at church and the speaker spoke about depression. (haha I just remembered that I had walked into the church that day with TWO different shoes on!!!! I couldn't believe it! That should have been everybodys first clue that something was off! But they just laughed at me.) I had been emotionally struggling for awhile but I held it together while listening to the speaker. The thing that hit me was when she spoke about her pride and thinking she was mentally strong enough to fight the battle herself. Ok. So whatever, I went home and went on with life. The next week, last week, we had to go to Seattle for preop appointments. At the same time my friend was having her baby, and side note, I know about eight or nine friends who are pregnant around me. The day we traveled to Seattle was probably my lowest day. Adam was seriously worried about me. I had gotten myself into such a pity party that I couldn't see the light. I have this problem of comparing my life to others and I couldn't see the blessings in front of me. It just seemed like everybody else was getting their 'fairytale' life. Here I am traveling across state to deal with one of many surgery appointments for my baby boy. What parent wants that? And it could be soo much worse and I know that, but I couldn't accept that, my situation was the worst in the frame of mind I was in. I didn't really talk the whole trip as I was battling in my mind with no avail. Then I remembered that I couldn't get myself out of my mind myself. Words from the depression talk come back to me. I started to pray hard. I realized the devil was attacking me and I asked Jesus to fight the battle for me, I couldn't do it myself. And He did! I kinda snapped out of it. I think as Christians we have to be mindful that the enemy is actively trying to bring us down and that we desperately need the Lord to help us fight the battle. Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing or your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing, and perfect will."
So, I am doing well. I have to do my do diligence and keep my eyes fixed on the important things. Enjoy the present and read my Bible everyday. Edward is God's perfect will and I get to be his mom. I love my life.

funny big brother

sweetness

he loves his finger! (all my awesome pics are on instagram but can't figure out how to get them on here yet)

Bros be bros

Last Friday went well. Edward and I got up super early and drove five hours and rolled into our appointment. They took xrays and Dr. Mosca told us that Edward needs to have a pretty rare surgery called a talectomy...they remove his talus bone. Then we drove home. Sweet long hours in the car.
Surgery, as of now, is scheduled for March 1st. This will be a pretty involved surgery, his biggest yet.
I took this video of my boys....you need to watch it to the end. Pretty typical of brothers/siblings or youngest to oldest behavior. It gave me validation with my siblings. hahaha
http://vimeo.com/36496621