Iowa trip #3

Soaking off his second set of casts and signing "more"... his first baby sign!

Waiting for his appointment

After cast #2, just look at those tootsies!

Dr. Morcuende, reassuring Shepherd that his feet are looking GREAT!

Ready for his next cast with a bottle in one hand and a chip in the other... what more does a guy need?

I had the pleasure of meeting up with an online friend, Jenny, and her daughter Kelly. Kelly was treated by Dr. Ponseti as an infant and was in Iowa for her yearly check-up.

Jenny is not only a great friend, but she has been my mentor when it comes to clubfoot. We 'met' when I was researching treatment options for Jude, shortly after we received his referral. I am forever grateful to her for giving me the 'push' I needed to take Jude to Iowa instead of trusting my sons' feet to a less experienced local doctor. Clearly, Shepherd likes her too :)

Shepherd is a pretty easy going guy. Here he is relaxing in the car on the way to lunch with Jenny and Kelly, all smiles!

This is the great room at the Ronald McDonald House. All these lovely quilts were handmade and donated to the kiddos who are staying at RMH. As you can see by his expression, Shepherd was initially overwhelmed by his options...

I chose this quilt because the John Deere reminded me of Iowa. Shepherd chose it for the adorable teddy bear attached :)

We were delayed by a day due to bad weather in Iowa. We decided to make the most of our time by spending some time at, where else? the MALL :) Here's Shepherd having a great time at the mall's mini playground

And then Shepherd had his first carousel ride! He was nervous at first...

Uhhh, nice horsie...

Realizing this is actually pretty FUN!

Some pre-bedtime chillin' on the couch and loving on his new teddy bear

Ready to go HOME! See you in a week!

Round one

I tried. It was painful, for me and for the kids. Or maybe the kids just were being antsy and thus they made it painful for me. Regardless, they weren't happy and I wasn't too happy. But heck, it was only a minute or two out of their lives and I have them all captured, together, on film. Minus Miss Tori, of course, who is away at summer school. I will be definitely trying again soon, undoubtedly armed with more bribes, but this will have to suffice for now.
We went out to eat last night and as we were leaving the gentleman next to us said, "Wow. That's a big family." My witty retort? "Uh, yes. Yes it is." That's me, thinking on my feet again. Gotta think of a better reply...

Fun down south

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Don't hate me 'cuz I'm white trash. I admit, I can't help but crack up every time I hear this darned thing. What is it about the dreaded fart that makes one double over with laughter? Especially because the fart machine produces no smell... only sounds :)
Chris came home with this the other day from work, someone, who knows why, actually left this remote-controlled gem at work when they relocated. And, for some crazy reason, he thought we might get a kick out of it. Man, have we ever. All the kids have enjoyed their respective turns with it. Jude loves to put it down his shorts and then turns to put his rear in Isabelle's face. Isabelle loves to carry it around and then sniffs it to be sure it's not a real fart escaping. Sophie, our shy girl, gets this pinched grin on her face, not quite laughing out loud, but giggling as quietly as she can manage. Dalton, Asher and Zach LOVE this thing, each of them planning an opportunity to try it out in public. NOT gonna happen. Shepherd, as you can see from the video, enjoys it also, and he even knows where those sounds usually emerge from ;) I couldn't resist posting this video of him smiling and laughing... he's such a sweet boy. Hope he doesn't hate me for this someday...

What's up with this?

How can this be? Is my writing so skewed and muddled that one might confuse it with the scribblings of true genius? Or is this a sick joke to make me feel like the old melon is more vacuous than that of a kindergartener? Any ideas what factors they base this on, or is it just random? I entered our site several times just to make sure it wasn't mistaken and it's still comin' up genius. Makes me feel all fancy dancy for a second or two. And then Jude pees through his diaper on the couch because I gave him 3 cups of juice and didn't change him or Shepherd eats the dog food because I forgot to close the laundry room door. And I am reminded... no geniuses 'round here, I'm afraid ;)

Iowa trip #2

Soaking his casts to make them easier to cut off... first full bath in a WEEK!

Cleaned up and all ready for his appointment (casts are covered with wet towels and plastic bags)

Look at those feet after only ONE cast! Dr. Morcuende was VERY happy with how his feet are responding to the casting!

Enjoying all the new toys at the Clubfoot Clinic

Surprise visit by THE Dr. Ponseti... Shepherd was not quite as excited as I was ;)

Lunch with Lisa and her handsome boys, who kept Shepherd happy by playing "catch- the- ketchup- pack"

After a long day a boy needs some sleep...
Bye bye, Iowa! See ya' in a week!

Brothers

Home sweet home

We're home, until Sunday when we'll make the whole trip once again... leaving on Sunday evening and coming home late Monday night. Thankfully Chris is able to take Mondays off for the next few weeks so we're all set as far as the kids go. And when everyone woke up on Tuesday morning, no one seemed to have noticed that I'd been gone ;)
I sure missed everyone, though. It felt like I'd been gone forever! The trip was quite an adventure and I am hopeful that our next trip won't be quite so, well, exciting (read: anxiety producing!) Once we arrived in Iowa everything went smoothly... the rental car, drive to RMH, stay at RMH (love the people at that place!) and our visit to see the fantastic folks at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital. It was wonderful to see Dr. Morcuende again, I have the utmost respect for him as a doctor and as someone dedicated to helping children in need. He travels all around the world to teach and educate others on the benefits of serial castings over surgery. He's even traveled to China several times and is hopeful that the Ponseti method will continue to gain momentum as a way to treat children born with clubfoot.
He examined Shepherd and said that he thinks his feet are similar to Jude's, but that Shepherd doesn't have a more affected foot like Jude did. I am holding out hope that Shepherd will only need 5-6 casts, Jude needed 7. But however many he needs, it's an incredibly small price to pay for perfect little feet!
Shepherd tolerated the casting pretty well. He didn't mind Dr. Morcuende fiddling with his feet and other than fussing when his feet were stretched, he barely cried at all. He seemed happy to take an O*reo in each hand when I offered them to him and soon his protests were a distant memory.
After we finished up at the UofI we headed to the mall for some fun on the kiddie rides and lunch with my good friend Lisa. Lisa and I met last summer when she took such wonderful care of us during our stay in Iowa last summer. She and her precious kiddos met us for lunch and as usual, we had a great time. It was a fast visit, as we had to get packed up and out of RMH by 3:00, but knowing we'd be back in a week made saying goodbye a whole lot easier!
We were able to get back to the airport, rental car returned and all bags accounted for in plenty of time for our flight (even after Shepherd had to have his hands and casts swabbed by TSA... go figure!?) Thankfully, there was no 3 hour delay for our flight this time and we flew out on time. We arrived home before 11:00PM and amazingly, our littlest traveler slept the entire night that night, new casts and all!

In Iowa!

I know we've been MIA for a few, but with good reason... we're in Iowa! Well, Shepherd and I are. We flew in last night, LATE, thanks to some bad weather in Atlanta and a very busy travel weekend due to the 4th of July. But we're HERE and our first appointment is this morning to see Dr. Morcuende and Dr. Ponseti. I am so excited for Shepherd, this is the beginning of a whole new life for him!