freedom!

Today I took Jonah back to Iowa City to get his casts off. He has been a very good boy the last few weeks... I'm not sure who was more excited to get them off! When we got there he soaked in the sink to help soften the plaster for about 20 minutes. Then our nurse, Maria, cut them off and he just laid there, completely relaxed. As you can see- he was a pretty happy boy!


Dr. Ponsetti happened to come into work today, so we were lucky enough to get to meet him too! (People bring their children to him from all over the world to be treated- normally for clubfoot) He looked at Jonah's feet and said he thinks he shouldn't need any more casts, but we will go back in a month to follow up. I made sure to get a picture of the two of them- he is such a kind & gentle doctor! 94 years and still working- pretty amazing!

family photo

Here we are- a family of four. Mama, Dada, a sweet & silly two year old girl, and one baby boy who is changing every day. This is the first family picture someone has taken of us since Jonah was born so I thought we would share it will all of you!

Jayda's first haircut!

I decided to give Jayda her first haircut tonight during bath time. I was able to make her stay still by giving her two pieces of chocolate:) Take a look- Doesn't she look so cute?!

our little plaster bear

On Friday we took Jonah to Iowa City to get a second opinion on the treatment of his feet. The doctors there see this every day and they said the best thing is to put him in casts. They gave us the option of waiting a couple months, or they could do it that day. Just a few minutes later, we brought him into another room and three doctors started wrapping up his feet...and then his legs... and pretty soon his entire legs were covered in plaster.

He got pretty upset when they started stretching his feet, but as soon as I gave him the bottle he calmed down. You can see him here just staring at us. I can only imagine what he was thinking as his legs were being weighed down!


I will head back down to Iowa City this coming Wednesday to get another set of casts, and then again 5 days later. The doctors are hoping he will only need to be in casts for 10 days total, so we are praying for them to be right! He is taking it really well so far. His first night he was up about every two hours...oh and he already got poop on them:) I am pretty excited that his feet will be corrected so quickly, but I feel bad that he has to go through this.

Here are his casts after they were all dry. Come on over if you'd like to sign them! Ha:)

Metatarsus Adductus

When Jonah was 3 months old, Cliff's grandpa asked if there was something wrong with Jonah's feet. I had always wondered why they were so curved and why he didn't stand on the bottoms of his feet. The fact that someone else noticed his feet meant that I wasn't just being an over-concerned mommy. So a few weeks ago I took him to a foot doctor, who said he really didn't know if there was anything wrong... so we had to get a second opinion from Dr. Cervetti here in town, and found out that Jonah has Metatarsus Adductus. (I think it might be just a fancy term for being extremely pigeon toed???) He said there is a big misconception that this is normal and it will go away on its own, but that is not true.
So today I picked up his little "Wheaton Braces," which he is supposed to wear most of the day and night for about 3 months....As you can see, they are MUCH too big for him. (plus his little legs are too chubby to fit the upper part- haha!) They didn't try them on when I went in this morning, so I am hoping they will be able to order a smaller size and re-fit them to fit his legs. We are praying for a quick and painless adjustment for little Jonah. My biggest fear is that he will hate them and will not be able to get comfortable enough to sleep in them. Talk about nightmares... At least he got a kick out of us trying to put them on tonight!

chocolate

Apparently Jayda takes after her parents in one major weakness: CHOCOLATE!

This morning, she asked for "one choc mama???" I gave in. What's wrong with chocolate for breakfast??:) She loves the "blue choc" (they are actually green) Mint Bliss Chocolates.

Here she is this last weekend- smiling because she found the bag of Hershey's chocolate chips on the counter (with the help of her new stool- Thanks Jess!) Smart girl!

Jayda's own little language

In the last month, Jayda has learned so many new words. Last night when we were laying in bed, she pointed to the wall and said "wall mama!" It is so fun to hear her say new things, but it is also a reminder for me to be careful of what I say and how I say it.

Here are some examples of the way she interprets her world...

Jayda= Da
kitties= tithies
cow= boof
milk= munga (she has finally started saying milk- I was actually sad!!!)
coat= coke
talk= gauk
goat= goke
grandpa= ba-bach
grandma= ma-mach
Isaiah= I-zoe
thank you= ahgo
pancakes= pancak-ies
puppy= ruh-ruh
pizza= putcheese
parmesan= ball cheez
look= gook
where did it go? = er-go?
grapes= dbrapes (this one is so funny, I can't even pronounce how she says it!)

Jonah is 4 months today!

... I just realized today is Jonah's 4 month birthday and wanted to take some pictures before he went to bed. He loves to hang out (on my hip:) and just take everything in. Is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

outside

Since it was so nice out today, I thought it would be fun to let the big kids run around outside for a while. They had so much fun...they took turns on the slide...played catch...and ran all over chasing each other...Isaiah even decided to water my flowers. LOL- it looks like they could use it!

Jayda's new obsession

Ever since we moved the computer into our bedroom, Jayda has been obsessed with looking at pictures of herself. (and Isaiah) It's almost impossible for me to even check my email because she thinks it's time to look at pictures again! Silly girl! Oh- and that binky she has is Jonah's... it's been two full weeks since we got rid of the binky!!

3 months later...

Ok, here it goes. This is my first "post" and I'm not even sure where to start. There are so many cute stories and pictures for me to share of the last few months...part of the reason I wanted to start this is because I don't want to forget the little things...like tonight when Jayda opened the fridge and said, "choc munga" (chocolate milk) Cliff and I both looked at each other, like what! She is learning new words every day!


I am still working at Veridian and have been blessed with the opportunity to be job share with a co-worker and friend, Alisha. This means that I work 10 hour days on Tuesdays and Thursdays and have the rest of the week off...kind of:) Alisha and I agreed to watch each others children while the other is at work, so on Mondays and Wednesdays, Jayda's best buddy Isaiah (2) and Levi (3 months), get to come over and play with J & J. Things are going really well, and although there are lots of crazy moments (just ask my sister Heidi:)... I wouldn't change a thing.



Jonah "bear" will be 4 months soon and we decided to feed him his first bowl of cereal tonight. He actually took it pretty well...about 4 spoonfulls went in, and then back out...along with lots of funny faces:)

My little bear loves to sleep. He has also found his thumb at night. One night, last week, he slept 12 hours straight! Thank you Lord!!! :)


I could share lots of other things, but it is 10:30 and well past my bedtime. Thanks for reading!

08 13 08

Ok, I wanted to give this a shot. This is a pic Lo sent me when I was at the office the other day. That is Jayda after Lo told her to smile.

In other news, it is our anniversary today; four more years, four more years. I mean, it's been four great years.

-Cliff

Introduction

Well, we are here. This is Cliff, and I got this set up this morning. Hopefully, going forward, Laura will be updating this regularly. However, there are always more pictures at our Picasa website if you are interested. So bookmark this blog, and bookmark our pictures website: http://picasaweb.google.com/cliffrc360.

Happy blogging...