Back to REAL Life

Winter is almost out of here and we are all smiles!  Jett received a new piece of physical therapy equipment (a stander) and he is looking like such a big boy in it.  His favorite place to stand and play is right next to our back door with the sun shining on his face.  I love having a piece of equipment that actually DOES something for his muscles, his bone density, his lungs...I could go on and on. For some reason, Jett's favorite "toy" is this Christmas garland.  It must be the color and/or shine, but he just goes for it.  He's usually not happy unless he is interacting with another human, but put some Christmas garland in front of him and he's hooked for at least five minutes...gives me time to go to the bathroom or something. LOL.

  A couple weekends ago, I left my little Jett man with Cody for the entire weekend while I went to a wedding for my college friend, Kara, in Savannah, Georgia.  From what I hear, Jett and his daddy partied, ate ice cream, and stayed up late without mommy around! Even though it was so strange to fly somewhere by myself, I found great comfort in knowing that Jett had his daddy to take such good care of him.  With that said, I had the TIME OF MY LIFE!!  I can't believe that my college friends and I haven't planned a girls trip sooner because we had a blast.  Kara was a STUNNING bride and I was so happy to be there to witness her marriage.  Savannah is such a beautiful town; a town that I have always wanted to visit.  I shared a hotel room with my friends Ally and Jana and when we reunited, it was just like old times!  

I've been lucky in the traveling department lately because the following week (just last weekend), Cody, Jett, and I went to Chicago, which is hands down, one of my favorite U.S. cities.  Cody and his dad had a Special Care Dentistry conference to attend so while they sat in boring lecture after lecture (from what I hear...haha), Jett and I got to tour the city.  Our hotel (thank you Jerald) was right in the heart of the city so you could literally walk out the front door and you were downtown.  I LOVED IT!  To sum up Chicago in two words, they would be: FOOD & WALKING.  It's definitely good that we did a lot of walking because we sure ate a lot of good food.  We didn't have a meal that we didn't love.  We had Chicago Dogs at Portillo's, Stuffed Pizza at Lou Malnati's, Carne Asada at Cantina Laredo, and the BIGGEST meal that I have ever seen at Hash House A-Go-Go.  Oh my, just thinking about it, makes my stomach feel bloated.  We've definitely had to go back to our healthy eating ways (for the most part) now that we're back in Omaha. 

We're back to real life now, but real life isn't so bad!  It's crazy busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Jett is my main focus (and my favorite at that) and I've had the privilege to be doing and working on a lot of other things as well.  I took an aerial yoga class a couple weeks ago, which felt wonderful, but I'm pretty sure I'm still dizzy from hanging upside down.  I've also been busy working as a Director of Marketing for The Shanahan Plan.  It really is one of the funnest and most challenging jobs that I've ever had.  I love creating and writing new Paleo recipes, coming up with marketing strategies, and expanding Terry's online business.  We have some really fun things in the works, which include a collaboration with my Paleo Plate Treat business. 

  

Cody is incredibly busy with school and finals, but is getting closer and closer every day to being finished.  He gets tired of studying and will usually find a good reason to not do so...it typically involves playing with Jett, but can you blame him?

My Mom…The Cat Lady

Summer was not complete without a visit from Jett's other Grandpa and Grandma, Ray and Charlene.  My parents arrived on my birthday and spoiled me like crazy, which, by the way, does not get old no matter how old you are or how many kids you have.

Here they are sporting their Jett shirts and new eyewear.  Just so you know, my mom did NOT want her picture taken…so I'll make sure that I make the picture extra large on this blog.  

Its always nice to still be a kid every once in awhile. They took us out to dinner, took me shopping, cleaned my house,  and spent their days here cuddling Jett and a new cat…yup, a new cat.

Now, I need to preface this story. If any of you know my mom well, you know that she is a huge animal lover. That is my nice way of saying that she is a "cat lady".  In her neighborhood back home, I am certain that all of the stray cats meet together and discuss which house to go beg from.  For some strange reason, all of the cats end up at my mom's house.  She has gone to many lengths to ensure the comfort of these dirty, ratty, stray cats (one of which is missing both ears) such as canned cat food, their own cat house that sits on the porch, and a warm room and bed for one cat to give birth in. In all honesty, I admire what my mom does.  She doesn't like to see any animal suffer and that love has been instilled in me.  However, I do enjoy poking fun at my mom whenever I can.

So fast forward to their trip out to Omaha, Nebraska.  My parents had only been in town for a total of four hours and OUT OF NOWHERE a flipping black cat showed up at our house.  Seriously, do cats have phones?  This cat knew that my mom would feed and take care of it and did not back down.  Just imagine the most annoying "nails down the chalkboard" cat meow that you can and that would describe the sound that this cat made. Kusaba would freak out every time the cat came clawing and meowing at our door, which was not okay with us.  My mom tried to convince me that we needed a cat.  "Well can't you just let it stay on the other side of the fence and just feed it every day?"  No…no, I can't.

Mr. Black Cat took a special liking to my Dad

So to make a long story somewhat short, my mom wanted to take the cat home with her back to Utah.  She was willing to pay for the cat to fly home, but when I called the airlines, they informed me that no animals were allowed to fly due to intense heat conditions.  Well, crap.  My parents ended up taking Mr. Black Cat to the Omaha Humane Society...but my mom made sure first that the cat would not be euthanized if it wasn't adopted.  I wouldn't be surprised if she has called back to make sure that they're holding true to their promise.  

My parents were able to come to a couple of Jett's physical therapy appointments.  The pictures below are of Jett's feet being measured for braces.  Braces are custom-made to provide ankle stability.  We had these braces made and ready to go by the time my parents were here.  Cody and I decided that they look like wakeboard bindings. What do you think?

Jett was NOT a fan of his first time in a stander.  I won't post the pissed off pictures, but just know that he was NOT happy!  I ended up singing to him (in my awful voice) and that seemed to do the trick.  He tolerated everything after that.

The purpose of a stander is not to make Jett do things that we know he cannot.  There are many great benefits for putting him in this ginormous contraption.  First off, it's good for him to be upright every once in awhile.  Our bodies are not meant to lay horizontal all of the time.  For those who lay flat most of the time are at greater risk of pneumonia and other complications.  Putting Jett in a stander allows all of the gunk to get out of his lungs and lets everything move downward. Another great benefit of a stander is that it allows the muscles around Jett's joints to be strengthened.  The braces support Jett's ankles and allow him to stand using his own body weight.  I'm glad my parents were there with me! Cody was super busy with clinics at school and wasn't able to come. There are a lot of different things that I've had to experience as a special needs mom and I'm incredibly grateful that I have an amazing support system. 

Jett loved cuddling with his Grandma!

I gave up cooking the week that my parents were here and we were able to try some fun Omaha restaurants.  One of our favorites was Wheatfields in Old Market.  Jett did AMAZING in his wheelchair while we ate some yummy food.  Sorry for the blurry phone pics, but I caught a rare, and very cute smile, from Jett.

My dad ordered a BRICK of lasagna.  No big deal.

I ordered a Cobb Salad and pretty much ate all the goodies on top.  Does anyone else do that?

Annndddd....we can't forget about Kusaba.  He was WORN out by the time my parents left, but still was alert enough to protect all of his tennis balls.

Thanks for coming to visit MOM and DAD!

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.

Hibernation

I have now been working on this post for about five weeks now...and finally getting around to actually publishing it.  You would think that with my title, "Hibernation", that I would have gotten around to publishing sooner!  

It is true, though.  Jett and I are hibernating until spring decides to roll around.

This winter has been nasty; and I'm not talking about the weather.

SICKNESS!

Frankly, we are sick of it, and I bet you would agree.  

EVERYONE has been hit this season including us.  

There is a more detailed account HERE about what Jett dealt with, but let's just say that we are glad that he stuck around.  It was incredibly scary there for a bit and we were worried that we might lose him.  We weren't quite ready for that to happen (we never will be) and he wasn't ready either.  He wanted to show us how strong he really is.  I would prefer to not have him be forced to prove that again.  It takes a toll on everyone.  

Get ready for major picture overload below.  

I did  A LOT of baking over the holidays and loved every minute of it.  I jammed out to the Christmas radio station and test-tasted all of my cookie dough...to make sure it was safe, of course.

 The day before we traveled back to Utah, we found out that my parents' dog, Buddy, passed away.  He was really sick with pneumonia and his kidneys were failing him.  I begged my parents to keep him alive (he had to be put down) for one more day so that I see him, but Buddy was too sick.  

He was such a great dog and companion for my dad.  I always looked forward to taking Buddy and Kusaba for walks together.  They would always try to bump each other off of the sidewalk as they walked.  Oh...and his breath.  He had the stinkiest doggie breath EVER.

I miss him, but he's happy and healthy now in heaven.

The first day back in Utah was a beautiful, sunny day.  Jett and I had some fun in the sun.  He loved feeling the warmth on his face and gave me some good smiles.  This was, of course, before the dreaded sicknesses hit.

Cody's dad, Jerald, turned the Big 6-0 while we were in Utah and we HAD to throw him a surprise party...only because he hates them so much.  A huge crowd showed up to celebrate.   We had fun dressing up in the "photo booth".

Jett was wiped out toward the end of the party and cuddled with his Aunt Tiffany (my sister).  She has the special touch.  Cody and I try to imitate how she tickles Jett's head, but can't do it quite like her.

Tiffany and I were able to spend some quality time together...pedicures, Cheesecake factory, and wearing mustaches as we drove around Salt Lake.  

We spent Christmas up in Logan with my side of the family.  Our Christmas Eve party was definitely something we'll remember...for both the good and the bad.  

The good:  Our White Elephant party.  Let's just say that Cody and I are the king and queen of white elephant gifts.  Is that something we should be proud of??

The bad: This was the night that we discovered that Jett was really sick with something...we just didn't quite know what yet.  Poor baby.

Our first trip to the ER...at Logan Regional Hospital.  Definitely not our favorite hospital, but when you're in a pinch (no pun intended), you go there.  This is where we found out Jett had C. Diff.

By the way, if you understood my pun above, props to you. Hee hee.

Even though Jett was terribly sick, we tried to still make the best of our trip.  As you can see, I let Cody play dentist on me, but I didn't get any happy gas.  Booooooo.

We also went out to eat a lot.  That's what you're supposed to do during the holidays, right?

Second trip to the ER with Jett for some IV fluids...this time at Primary Children's Hospital. 

Back home in Omaha, things took a turn for the worse.  I tried to keep Jett at home throughout his sickness since we have all of the required medical equipment.  However, his lungs began to worsen and I didn't want to chance anything.  Jett ended up at the Omaha Children's Hospital for five days.  It was a little stressful, to say the least, because during his stay, I came down with the flu bug.  I was DOWN and OUT.  The hospital nurses didn't want me there until I was feeling better.  That was somewhat difficult to be laying in bed at home while your baby is deathly ill in the hospital.  Not fun.

            

"I will conquer!!", says Jett.

Flash forward to today, we are on the mend! We are so ready for spring to be here.  Honestly, the winter hasn't been that bad, but I think we need some warmth and sunshine just because.  

 I am super hesitant about going out where there might be a lot of germs.

 I've turned into Mama Bear, so watch out.  

"Put that hand sanitizer on NOWWWWWW!" roars Mama Bear.