Update on Eli's feet

We went back for our follow-up visit with the pediatric orthopedic specialist.  As I had mentioned before, our pediatrician had noticed a problem with Eli's feet at his 2 month well-baby check. After an initial visit with the specialist, he said Eli had 'metatarsus adductus'. He showed us some physical therapy stretches to do and asked us to follow up with him in two months.  If they hadn't improved, Eli would need casts on his feet to help them develop normally.  

When we went to our pediatrician for his 4 month well-baby check in early May, I asked her to look at his feet and she said that she hadn't noticed any improvement.  We were pretty upset and frustrated because we had been doing those stretches as much as we possibly could and expected at least a little improvement.  I was fully prepared (and dreading) the visit to the specialist because I was pretty sure he was going to say we needed casts.

We showed up to our appointment at 8:30 last Tuesday, full of nerves, only to be told that somehow we had mixed up our appointment days.  Our appointment had actually been the day before at 8:30.  If you know me at all, you know that I never do that.  Like ever.  I'm usually very organized and can keep dates in my head like no one's business.  However, with the stress of our upcoming trip and all the showings with the house, I somehow got the dates mixed up.  Oops.  They were nice enough to find an opening for us the next morning.

Of course, they were somehow running an hour behind that day (!!!) which only added to my nerves as we waited to be seen.  Our hospital is a teaching hospital, so we were first seen by the resident.  He looked at Eli's feet, and with no hesitation said that the flexibility had remarkably improved and he didn't think there was any reason for casts at this time.  The specialist came in a few minutes later and agreed with his assessment, but told us to continue doing the stretches.  We are supposed to come back for another appointment in one year when he is walking, to make sure that his feet are developing normally and not causing him a problem.

To say that was a major relief would be a HUGE understatement.  I felt as though a weight of worry had been lifted of my shoulders.  I am so, so very grateful to my husband who was incredibly diligent at doing those stretches with Eli every chance he got because clearly, so far it has worked.  Hopefully, they won't cause him a problem learning to walk and we can put this whole mess behind us.  Until then, I can definitely breathe a little easier.

Eli - 5 months

My sweet Eli,

It's so hard for me to believe that you are already five months old and yet equally hard for me to believe that five months and a few days ago, you were still in my belly.  The extent to which you have changed our lives for the better sweet boy, is too much to even describe. 

Your big brother loves you SO, SO much.  You spend all day together at day care and still he wants to play with you and kiss on you when we get home.  You love to watch Caleb as he plays/dances around you.  My heart is warm watching the two of you play together.  He chatters at you and you give him these big, huge smiles and have even started to giggle a little.

You have mastered rolling over from your belly to your back and have started rolling from your back to your tummy.  You've almost got it, it's just the opposite arm that keeps getting stuck underneath you.  You love tummy time and are so strong lifting your head and shoulders off the ground.  You even like to move your legs a little when you are in that position and end up scooting yourself forward.  You have started finding interest in toys and I can tell your little brain moves faster than it is able to tell your hands to explore. 

You are a big boy and have outgrown a lot of your 6 month sleepers because you are so tall.  We think you will be able to wear 6 month summer clothes but I'm prepared with some 9 month clothes too. We've been able to be outside a lot in the last few days as the weather has gotten nicer and you love to look around and enjoy the breeze and sunshine.  I can't wait until it stays warmer and we can be outside more often.

You have the most adorable big, toothless smile that you flash at me and have started babbling when you are excited.  Speaking of toothless, I'm pretty sure that this is going to be the last week for that.  I can feel tiny little ridges on your lower gums, and know you are about to get your first tooth.  It seems way too soon for me because I still feel like you are my tiny baby but I know you do everything in your own time.  

 

I love sitting with you in the evenings while Daddy gives Caleb a bath so we can have some alone time.  I love talking to you and seeing you get so excited that you flail your arms and legs.  I am always amazed at how calm of a baby you are.  You usually just go with the flow and are a sweet, happy little boy which we adore.

You are continuing to nurse great and I treasure this bond we have because of it.  You are not too big on sleeping lately and really have only slept through the night a handful of times since you were born.  You used to wake up only once but the last few weeks you have started waking up two or three times per night.  We haven't quite figured out why, but we keep trying new things to see if that helps.

You are a wonderful baby and I am beyond blessed to be your Mommy.  Can't wait to see what this next month will hold!

Love always,

Mommy

Eli's baptism

A big day in our religion is the day a baby is baptized, which for us is scheduled soon after birth.  Our Church performs two baptisms at the weekend services once a month which as you can imagine, leads to some scheduling difficulties and a waiting list.  We were able to get Eli baptized when he was 4 months old, which is pretty lucky.  I've heard that some babies have to wait until 8 or 9 months depending on the waiting list at the time. 

Our Church is a little different than most these days in that it has the baptism celebration during the actual Mass, where as Caleb's was done in a small ceremony for families after Mass.  I felt as though we were on display for everyone which made me a little nervous but it was also nice to see so many people welcoming Eli into the Church and offering their blessings.

 Eli was introduced to the Church with us and his godparents. We chose my sister as his godmother and my cousin Ben as his godfather.  This was after the priest told Caleb that he was going to help with the ceremony.  Everybody got a good laugh.

My Aunt got some beautiful pictures of the actual baptism.  Eli was such a good boy and actual seemed to like the water on his head.  Unlike his brother, who screamed his head off when he was baptized.  

That play phone you see Caleb holding?  He would NOT let it go.  I figured it would be best to let him keep it and avoid the meltdown during Church while we sat in the front row, but little did I know that he was going to drop it while we were receiving a blessing which made a really loud noise!  Even the priest stopped and laughed. 

Love this picture of me and my sweet boy!  Caleb was able to wear Josh's baptism outfit when he was baptized which was pretty special to us and really cool to look back on pictures.  Caleb looks so much like him which made it all the better.  We had planned to have Eli wear the same outfit but my adorable, chubby baby was too big for it.  I ordered one off of Amazon that looked pretty similar and I think he looks very handsome in it. 

                                                              Eli and his godfather, Ben.

Eli and his godmother, Aunt Brittany.  She likes to call herself his 'fairy' godmother. 

And last but not least, my big boy smiling at the dinner afterwards.  He was so good during the ceremony and had a blast playing with everyone at the party.  Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating his baptism!  

We were so happy that our families were able to join us to celebrate and it meant a lot to us that some people traveled hours to be there.  Eli received some really adorable gifts.  He is a very loved little boy!

On the market

So, as I talked about in my last post, we decided to put our house on the market.  Josh and I bought our home 3.5 years ago in November of 2009 when it was just the two of us.  We had only been married 4 months and hadn't necessarily intended to purchase at that time, but then that whole 'First Time Home Buyers' $8,000 credit came along and we felt like taking advantage of that was right for us.  We bought a zero lot (share a wall with another person but have our own yard/driveway/etc) which are extremely popular in our area.  At the time, our 1700 square feet seemed like a huge mansion from our previous small apartment and we couldn't imagine needing more space.

Well, 3.5 years and two babies later, we are dying for more space.  The bedrooms of our current home are really good sized which is nice but we only have one living room.  We have said many times that if we just had a basement to play in, we would be able to stay here for at least a couple more years.  The toys, the dogs, everything feels like it is everywhere and we just need more space.

After slowing losing my mind for the past few months, we recently decided to put our house on the market.  When we bought our house, it was only a year old and we actually got into a bidding war over it and probably paid a bit more than we should have.  But such is life I suppose and at the time, we really wanted the house.  Our hope and prayer, is that we will be able to find a home with more space that is perhaps a little older so we can stay in a similar price range to what we are at now.  We shall see. 

Let me say though, putting a house on the market while having a toddler and a 4 month old at home is not an ideal situation.  I do NOT recommend it. We don't have any family within a 30 mile radius, so we've been mainly preparing the house for selling with the little ones home with us.  Not an easy task.  Every morning we pack up all the scattered toys, throw them in the back of the car, and head to work.  It's really all we can do.  We've moved a lot of the clutter and a lot of the kitchen stuff that we don't use on a regular basis to a storage unit, and have more we should actually move over tonight.  Our realtor is bringing the rest of the realtors from her company through tomorrow and then she is having an open house this weekend.  We pray for some interest and some good feedback. 

I've never sold a house before so maybe I'm not as informed as I should be, but I was pretty shocked with the rule that everything that is 'screwed into the walls' stays with the house unless we reserve it on the listing.  So for example, we had to reserve my decorative curtain rods in all the rooms of the house and also, my PHOTO GALLERY WALL.  Seriously??  Who thinks that family pictures and pretty curtain rods come with the house?  I realize I may be one of the few, but I would never think that.  I also realize that I sound like a 3 year old when I say, those are MINE.  I picked them out, waited for them to go on sale, and hung them with my two hands (that is a straight-up lie, my husband hung them with his two hands) and they are MINE.  And you can not have them.  So there. 

All. The. Things.

Can't believe I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks.  Life has been busy, busy and we've had just a few things going on (sarcasm anyone?).  As any full-time working mom of two little ones can likely tell you, there is never enough time in the world to do everything/anything as it seems lately!  Unfortunately, the realities of working full-time, maintaining a house, and keeping two littles alive and healthy doesn't leave much quality time to actually spend just hanging out with those little people. I would be lying if I said that fact has been really getting me down lately.  After stressing and worrying about it for months, we decided to do something about it. 

We realized the two things bothering me the most have been the lack of space in our current home and the fact that I feel like I spend very little time with the boys every day.  SO... we put our house on the market and I asked my boss to go part-time.  60% time to be exact.  Surprisingly, he was actually cool with it which I am so grateful for.  The details haven't been worked out yet, i.e. when I will start part-time, exact hours I will work every day, etc. but I'm hopeful that this will help me out with the time factor. 

Supposedly, in our area, homes are flying off the market and right now there is nothing listed in the same price range which is hopefully good.  We pray that ours goes quickly and also that we are able to find something a little older and a little bigger which would hopefully take some of the stress off.  It's so much work preparing the house for showings with two very little ones that we don't plan to leave it on the market forever.  If it doesn't sell within a certain amount of time that we have set for ourselves, then we will take it off and try again next year. Maybe it's just not the right time.

Along with the house and the part-time decision, we also have had a few other things on our plates:

* Our sweet baby Eli was baptized last Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and we were lucky enough to have our friends and family able to join us.  Our Church does it during the weekend masses and we shared the day with one other little one.  We rented a banquet room at a nearby hotel, and planned a dinner afterwards with our relatives, so I was busy preparing the food and cake for the celebration.  Eli received a lot of beautiful gifts and we are so grateful.  I'm hoping to get around to posting some pictures soon.

*  We took one of our dogs to the vet for a routine appointment where they told us that he not only needed to get his teeth cleaned, but one was actually infected and needed to be extracted immediately for a whopping $800! It's odd because he was just at the vet a year ago where they said his teeth looked fine.  I was under the impression that tooth decay is a rather slow process and it couldn't happen that fast, but apparently not.  He's actually there now and I hope that everything is going well.

* Tomorrow we have Eli's follow-up appointment with the orthopedic specialist.  I am SO nervous about it, mainly because I think I know what he is going to say.  We definitely have noticed a change in Eli's feet from the last appointment and we feel as though it's improving but I don't think it has improved as much as he wanted it to.  When I stand him up, he definitely puts weight on his feet but he also turns them in sometimes and ends up standing on the outside of his foot.  I can't imagine that is what they want.  I hope he doesn't recommend casts but I suppose if it is necessary for Eli to grow and walk, then of course that is what we will do.

* We also leave this week for a trip to visit Josh's parents and his twin brother, our sister-in-law, and our new baby nephew.  Josh's brother is in the Navy and has been stationed in Guam for the past 3 years.  We haven't seen him in 2 years since their wedding and we also haven't met our new baby nephew who was born 12 days before Eli.  He is being relocated to Virginia and is able to stop home for a visit before they have to report.  We are SO excited to be able to see them.  A lot of Josh's family are also coming for a visit also and his parents will sure have a full house.  We expect to have 3 babies two and under, 4 dogs, a set of grandparents, his parents, and the four of us plus other random guests.  It will be crazy and the 4 or so hour car ride to get there with two babies and two dogs will be great fun, but we are just so excited to spend time with them.

So just a few things going on at the moment, right? 

I need to chill....

Things stressing me out right now:

1. The hubby and I are considered a pretty large life change right now as I am pretty unhappy in my current work situation.  I am so much a planner that I always like to have all my ducks in a row before making a change and it's not looking like that is going to happen.  I'm kind of stuck between what my head says 'I should do as a responsible person' and what my heart wants to do as a mother of two young children.  I pretty much go back and forth on a minute by minute basis- no joke.  I'm trying to gather and explore all my options and pray that a clear path will be revealed. 

2. My house that never seems to stay clean no matter how much I try.  I know this is a common theme among mommies of little ones.  I know I am not alone but man, oh man am I over the constant mess.  I am currently breastfeeding/pumping while at work which while a wonderful, wonderful gift to share with my baby and worth every minute in my opinion (another post in itself), but is certainly a lot of time and work.  I pump before work, at work of course, and before bed when Eli doesn't eat everything I 'have', if you will.  That is necessary for me to keep up my supply but a giant time suck.  My husband has really picked up the slack for me in housekeeping duties while I spend a lot of my time doing that but still.... I just wish it could stay clean for .55 seconds.  As I sit here away from my house, I long to have 5 minutes to vacuum.  Or scrub the bathroom.  Ridiculous, right?

3.  The impending doom of potty training.  I feel like Caleb isn't ready so I haven't really pushed it but we're getting close to that point.  He was very excited about it a few months ago so we went out and bought him an Elmo potty seat which he was PUMPED about.  However, when he realized it was not a toy and Mommy wouldn't let him take it out of the bathroom and play with it, he decided it actually wasn't all that cool after all.  In fact, now he refuses to sit on the potty at all.  Which is awesome.

I realize that by no means are these 'big problems'.  I am very lucky that these are the things that are what is stressing me out! 

Sweet baby feet

My pregnancies with both of my boys were so very different which was surprising to me at the time and still is now.  Not only were they almost exactly two years to the day apart (so it's not like I was drastically older) but they were both boys.  I have heard that some people feel like there is a huge difference between carrying boys and girls but for me it was very different with two babies of the same gender. 

My pregnancy with Caleb was pretty eventful.  It seemed like every time we were at the doctor's office, they found one more (small) thing of concern which led to another appointment to check it, and another, and another.  My whole pregnancy with him probably needs another post itself.  Caleb was born two weeks early and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces.  Because the trend is that second babies are born earlier than first babies, I expected Eli to be born early too.  That indeed was not the case.  We welcomed sweet baby Eli into the world 3 days LATE at 9 pounds, 1 ounce.  Wowza. 

To say we were shocked would be an understatement.  No one, including the doctor's had expected him to be quite that big.  In fact, after he was born, the baby scale was being used by another delivery team. As we waited for it to become available, the small group of nurses and doctors in my room were taking guesses on how big he was based on his appearance.  We all guessed around 8 pounds or so, but we were very wrong.  He sure didn't look that big because he's also pretty long and we loved (love) every little adorable ounce of him.

Eli continues to grow on pace with his weight and height and he's Mommy's big boy.  At our two month well baby check-up, our doctor mentioned that she thought his feet looked like they turned in a little too much and referred us to an orthopedic specialist.  To be honest, I had never really noticed a problem.  I've always felt that babies are pretty flexible, especially as newborns, so we (and the rest of my family) thought his feet looked normal and I wasn't too concerned.  We took him to the specialist in March and he explained to us that Eli's feet are indeed turned in too much. He said he has a very common problem called 'metatarsus adductus'.  He explained to us that because he was such a big baby, he actually ran out of room in my belly to grow.  He showed us how he must have placed his feet to create more room for himself and by doing that, his feet grew a little more turned in than they should have.

The doctor showed us some physical therapy stretches to do with him as many times as we can a day.  The idea is that we can try to stretch out that ligament in his foot which right now is so tight that it prevents his foot from straightening completely. Hopefully, as the ligament is stretched, his foot will begin to correct itself and grow properly.  He said it is a slight problem and the stretches should help.  We have to return to see him mid-May so he can check his feet again.  Hopefully the stretches will have done their job but if not, he may have to wear a cast to correct them.  I'm not entirely sure for how long he would have to wear it but I figured that it wasn't worth worrying myself until we reached that bridge. 

I'm a pretty hardcore worrier so to say I haven't been anxious about this situation would be a complete lie.  It's hard to tell at this point if the stretches are helping.  Eli certainly does stretch his foot out straight when he is playing but then returns it to the regular position also.  I'm not even sure if the specialist expects the problem to be fixed by our next appointment, or if just by having it improve we can avoid the cast.  I know that this is not the worst problem in the world by any means and that if he does need a cast, catching it now as opposed to when he tries to walk is a good thing.  However, I'm sure no mother wishes for their child to have any health concerns including having to wear a cast.  We see his pediatrician next week for his 4 month well-baby check and I hope that she can give us some insight on if they look a little better than they did. So for now, we continue to do the stretches as often as we can and we pray that no further medical intervention is needed.