Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Googling=Bad, Blogging=Good

In the medical world, you'll often hear doctors tell their patients to never use Google.  
It's true, you shouldn't.
And I'm bad, because I did.

Upon hearing Jett's diagnosis over a year ago, I wanted to find out EVERYTHING about Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia.  It wasn't a pretty picture and I remember crying every time I would look it up.  The reports that I read were very straight-forward.  Of course, there isn't a whole lot of information on PCH, but what I read would always state the following:  List of symptoms (too many to list here), treatments (a bucket-load of medication), and the prognosis.

The prognosis.

This got me EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. In fact, I remember Cody walking in on me crying many times as I read the prognosis over and over.  And guess what?  It was only one sentence long.
"Most children with Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia live only into infancy or childhood."

  How could the author of the reports just state this so simply and matter-of-factly? It was like a slap in the face every time I read it and I wanted more details.  How was it going to happen?  How do I know when his time is up?  Why? Why? Why?

So I stopped.

I stopped Googling.  I stopped researching medical records.  I had too many questions and not enough answers.  It was a relief to make this decision.  I felt that I had dug myself into a deep, dark hole and that each time I read a medical report, I would dig myself deeper.

I began to appreciate the here and now.  I began to look at Jett as an individual, not a "case" or a "patient".  I realized that even within the PCH realm, each child is different.  I also began to look up blogs that were informative, positive, and written by real human beings with real human hearts!  No offense, doctors.  

Anyway, one day in my searching, I came across this website called "This Little Miggy".  The author is a mother of two girls, one of which, was born with limb differences.  You can read all about her HERE.  What I really liked about her blog was that each week she highlights a child with special needs.  As I would read through each story, my love grew for these precious children.  Each of their circumstances is so different, yet I felt a connection to them and their parents.  

Last week, I had my chance to write about my sweet, little Jett man.  As I wrote about our situation, I became overwhelmed with gratitude for the precious spirit that I have in my home.  I need to fall back on this more often.  There are times where I get too caught up in the bad moments.  I get caught up with the medical side of things. I get frustrated and angry.  It's not fun for anyone involved.  My goal is to write out my thoughts more often. If I don't do this, I may end up making more crafts (refer to previous post)...and then become a hoarder...and then get kicked out of my house because of it. 
 Let's not go there.  I promise to write out my thoughts more.

If you are interested in reading the post about Jett, go HERE.

OH! I almost forgot, we have new family pictures.  Exciting, right?  Getting family pictures, in itself, is a whole other story that I will have to write about sometime soon.  For now, I'll show you the "ummmm...yeah, this picture turned okay I guess" picture.



Thursday, February 21, 2013

Just Call Me Martha

Martha Stewart, that is.  Okay, don't...I'm actually not a huge fan of hers, but she is pretty crafty when she isn't committing felonies.

Lately, I have become quite the crafting diva according to my husband.  I used to loathe crafts.  I didn't understand why people wanted doilies hanging from their ceiling or wreaths made out of yarn.  Well, folks, times have changed.

Let's begin...

Here is what a typical day looks like in my household, except usually I'm not smiling like this.  Please notice the sweats (most likely stained with Jett's drool or stomach fluids), the energy drink in the background, pillows all over the floor, my crying child (obviously), and my messy hair.  Keep in mind that it is 9 p.m. and Jett is not in bed. In fact, he hadn't even had a bath yet and is buck naked underneath the blanket.  

At this point, making a wreath with yarn sounds GLORIOUS...



And so while Jett was doing this one afternoon....



                                               


I created this.  My first wreath EVER.






 And it doesn't stop there, folks.  Here we have a full-blown Valentine-making session going on (top picture) and a cute heart banner made out of burlap and felt. 
I know, I just keep surprising you, don't I?


To be perfectly honest, it's hard being a mom!  Being able to do little crafts during nap time has become therapeutic for me. I have found that it is so important to continue doing the things you love (or things you didn't know you loved) when faced with challenges.  Jett, is no doubt, the biggest challenge that I have ever taken on, but I am grateful for him!  He pushes me to my limits and makes me stronger, as a person, each and every day.


Here are a few more things that I have done this past month or two:



A Waffle Bar!  I had some friends over for brunch one morning. 
We stuffed ourselves silly and had some great conversation.




A Baby Shower!  I threw a "Sweets" themed baby shower for one of my friend's.  It was so fun coming up with different ideas for food and decorations.  Thank you Pinterest!




And finally....an Iron Chef Party!  Seriously, if you and your friends have not experienced an Iron Chef Party, you need to do so pronto.  My friend, Chelsea and I hosted the event and we went all out.  She is a food blogger and posted all about the party HERE

I am far too lazy to post all of the details, 
especially since she did such a good job describing it already.

However, I will say that the party was amazing and the food was divine.
It was such a fun date night with Cody, too, although he doesn't look too excited in the picture below.



Thursday, February 14, 2013

Kissing Booth


I am one broke mama this Valentine's Day...
but those kisses are worth it!

XOXO